#i’m shooting for around 40k but...

[epicbuddieficrecs]

Throwback Rec!

Helloooooooo!

I've mentioned this when I first started the blog, but unlike with my previous rec blogs, there was quite a long period of time between the time when I started reading buddie fics and when I started this blog (live, five-ish months). Consequently, there's a lot of fics I've read during that period that I've never recced! So I thought I'd try to do a "Throwback" rec once in a while to rec these fics. Enjoy!

this must be the place by euadnes/ @kananjarus (Canon Divergent, Post-Shooting | 75K | Teen): Every life altering event is often led up to with a series of other important events. In this case, there were at least three: An unstoppable fire. An afternoon spent underneath a blanket of California blue sky. But firstly, and maybe the most important of all: There was the impeccable aiming of an ex-sharpshooter. *** Or, the Buck is also shot by the sniper AU that no one asked for.

🔥 Benign Fatality by EtoileGarden/ @etoilegarden (Time Loop AU, Season 2-4 | 23K | Teen): Buck repeats days until he doesn't die in them, has an underdeveloped sense of self worth, and Eddie is the one who wants to step in with him.

must be some kind of twist, I could get used to this by soyxunxperdedor/ @messyhairdiaz (Post-S4, Accidental Marriage | 38K | Explicit): He doesn’t remember much from last night, even less after the fourth or fifth tequila shot. So he certainly doesn’t remember bringing someone back to his room. He steels himself for the lancing pain and cracks his eyes open. Oh. Oh no. This is either really bad or… Well, not really good, but just. Not really bad, and that’s probably all Buck can ask for it to be. Because Eddie is in his bed, Eddie’s arm is wrapped around his waist, Eddie’s legs are tangled with his. And he has no idea why.

🔥 in the night we trust by glorious_spoon/ @glorious-spoon (Canon Divergent, Pre-S4 | 29K | Explicit): Eddie and Buck start sleeping together when they're all stuck at Buck's place during lockdown. It still takes them almost three years to notice that they're in love.

🔥 Didn't think you meant it by EtoileGarden/ @etoilegarden (Friends to Fiancés to Lovers, Post-S5 | 33K | Explicit): “I want - I want to get to - to have some sort of - of promise that I’m… loved. And. And worthy. And that I get to always go to bed knowing I’m - I’m fully, like, mentally, physically, legally committed to this person who - who’ll always have my back, who’ll always - always be there when I need them. But I guess,” Buck shook his head. “I guess I’m starting to really - really believe that maybe I’m not actually built for that. For - for someone actually wanting to commit to me, to marry me. So I - I think seeing the wedding today just kinda cemented in my brain that no one would want to marry me.”  “I’d marry you,” Eddie said, patted his knee. 

🔥 standing on the brink of emptiness by woodchoc_magnum/ @woodchoc-magnum (Post-Shooting | 71K | Mature): In which Eddie is struggling in the aftermath of being shot, learning how to take care of himself and realising he's in love with Buck; and Buck is dating Taylor, taking care of Eddie and Christopher and trying to figure out why he's so goddamn confused about everything.

🔥 Muscle Memory by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Amnesia AU | 40K | Teen): After a disappointment in his personal life, Buck wakes up one morning to find everyone he loves has forgotten him completely. No memories. No recognition. Almost like he was never really there.

oh, my dream (never quite as it seems) by woodchoc_magnum/ @woodchoc-magnum (S6, Friends with Benefits | 44K | Explicit): In which Buck and Eddie are trying out a friends-with-benefits thing (that's rapidly turning into more) when the world comes crashing down on them. As Buck hovers somewhere between life and death, Eddie has to deal with their friends, family and the Buckley parents.

It’s Not the Roaring Dream, It’s the Silent Lightning by giselleslash (Coma AU | 15K | Mature): Buck gets struck by lightning and wakes up in another life where he has everything he’s ever wanted, but soon that life starts to crumble around him and the painful pull back into reality nearly breaks his heart. (or the one where Buck is married to Eddie in a coma dream and he doesn’t want to let the dream go.)

found a park bench for a throne by withoutthetiger / @rewritetheending (Post-S6 | 23K | Teen): Set in S7, when Buck goes back to therapy and Eddie is there to comfort him after each session, much like Buck did for him in 5x14. They're friends, of course, but Eddie can only soothe Buck for so long before it becomes impossible to deny that they're also so much more.

I love the way you spoil me, baby by rosebuddiekin/ @giddyupbuck (Sugar Daddy Buck AU | 33K | Explicit): Buck is a sugar daddy who wants to spoil Eddie rotten and take care of everything for him. Eddie has never had that sort of relationship but is willing to give it a try. There is plenty of adventure along the way.

🔥 In the Gray You are Golden by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (Zombie Apocalypse AU | 26K | Explicit): When the world fell apart, Eddie did his best to keep his son safe. But now winter's coming on, their supplies are dwindling, and Christopher needs medical attention, so Eddie takes the chance to move them across the country to the west coast, where the rumored 118 Safezone takes in all survivors. Buck's proud to be a member of the 118's search and rescue teams, but he can't shake the conviction that his lost sister is still alive in the wasteland. When he sneaks out to find her, he runs into Eddie and Chris instead, and vows to get them to the 118 safely. But the wasteland has many ways of tearing people apart, and the undead are just one trick up its sleeve...

🔥 you and me by woodchoc_magnum/ @woodchoc-magnum (S6 Fix-It | 55K | Mature): An alternate ending to Season 6, where Buck realises that what he's been searching for has been right in front of him the whole time.

🔥 The Education of Eddie Diaz by mansikka (Pre-S4, Friends With Benefits | 32K | Explicit): Eddie doesn't really know how it happened. One moment the 118 are drunk in a bar after a hard shift, confessions slipping from his mouth as he playfully kisses Buck on the cheek. The next he is on Buck's couch, taking up Buck's offer of an education that could be asking for trouble. But it's just sex, and they're just friends; it doesn't mean anything to either of them. So why is his time alone with Buck the highlight of his week?

🔥 i see you in my sheets (i see you in my sleep) by elless (Post-S6A, Friends with Benefits | 25K | Explicit): Buck and Eddie are FWB, act like boyfriends, and are suuuuper dumb and oblivious about everything.

🔥 a bleeding sun on a silver screen by rarakiplin (gmontys)/ @hoediaz (Actors AU, Friends With Benefits | 130K | Mature): One day, Buck will tell an interviewer that he would be happy to make movies with Eddie Diaz until the day he dies. But first, years before that, he sees Eddie for the first time on the set of Chimney’s fifth movie.

handle me with care by woodchoc_magnum/ @woodchoc-magnum (Canon to S6E9, Getting Together | 42K | Mature): In which Eddie tries dating again, and slowly comes to terms with his feelings for Buck.

Your Kiss Might Kill Me (So Won't You Kill Me) by morganofthefairies (PWP, BDSM | 9K | Explicit): Buck hadn’t been a virgin by the time he’d hit Peru – not even close. He still considered Peru a critical point in his sexual history, though, because Peru had brought him Fiona, and he was pretty sure he could credit her with like 80% of his sexual knowledge. None of that was the point, though. The point was that, six years later, when Eddie called for the jaws to get to a woman pinned in her car while responding to an 8-car pileup, and absentmindedly called him a good boy as Buck handed them over, he had a totally normal reaction to it.

#epic buddie fic rec #buddie #buddie fic #buddie fanfiction #buddie fanfic #buddie fic rec

[chimcess]

A Picture’s Worth || jjk (teaser)

Pairings: Jungkook x Reader Other Tags: Ex-Art Thief!Reader, Ex-Assassin!Reader, Ex-Gang member!Reader, Gang member!Jungkook, Assassin!Jungkook, Hitman!Jungkook, Thief!Jungkook Genre: Strangers to lovers, gang AU, mafia AU, Fluff, Angst, Smut Estimated Release Date: 07/2023 Est. Word Count: ~35-40k+ Summary: After pulling off the largest art heist of her career, Y/N has put that life behind her. However, after 4 years out of the business, she comes home to find a stranger in her house. Warnings: violence, blood, gang activity, mafia activity, mentions of death, crime, robberies, graphic depictions of injuries, guns, knives, major character(s) injured, police corruption, I’m not a gang member or anything so I could be wrong about that stuff, bad Russian, I tried my best; tbd... Author’s Note: It’s been a while since I’ve written a one-shot- especially something this long. So, I thought “why not?” I’ve already gotten A TON written, but still going. Editing will be... fun, to say the least. This has been really exciting to write so far, though :)

I knew something was off when a new motorcycle was parked out front. Briefly checking the plates, I was even more weary when they were from Jersey. I knew far too many people in that corner of the US. Still, I told myself that it could be anybody. Perhaps one of my new neighbors was from Hoboken. That was highly unlikely, though. Eyeing the red leather jacket hanging from one of the handles, I only knew one person who owned something like that. I guess I will be seeing Jimin tonight. The thought bothered me far more than I thought it would.

Taking my time going up the stairs, I considered calling Hoseok and demanding to know why Park was sniffing around my apartment. I knew I should have moved out, should have tried something new, but the thought of leaving the only home I ever knew bothered me. Using the time climbing to my advantage, I slowly steeled myself. Jimin could smell weakness from a mile away. He was also one person who could convince me to do bad things.

The excitement that ran through me at the idea sickened me.

Starting at the 4 on the door, I braced myself. When I walked into that hallway all traces of the new me had to disappear. There can be no laughter, no crying, and no open hostility. I would have to be a blank slate. With one small breath, I pulled the door and went into the hall.

There wasn’t a body in sight, but I knew better than to go off of that. Jimin could get into my apartment with relative ease. No one would notice either. Everyone else that lived was too busy making ends meet to pay attention to the stranger sneaking into my house.

Taking my keys out of my purse, I unlocked the door and walked inside. I could smell him. It was, however, not Jimin. Jimin only wore Orange Blossom by Jo Malone. Whoever this was smelled like baby powder and flowers. My guard completely up now, I continued further into the studio and kicked the door closed behind me. Whoever it was, I knew had been standing behind the door. The smell was not as potent as it had been before. 

Going into the kitchen, I shrugged my coat off before throwing it behind me. I heard it hit something and it was a blur after that. I quickly snatched a kitchen knife from the drying rack and threw myself to the ground. The man grabbed my hands. Kicking his inner thigh, I rolled from underneath him and shot up. He threw his arms up.

“Stop!”

Ignoring him, I threw the knife. The man reacted quickly, catching the blade in between his hands before throwing it down on the floor. While he was distracted, I slid on the floor and grabbed the pistol from under my bed. Pointing it at the man, he rolled his eyes dramatically.

“What are you going to do? Shoot me?”

To join the taglist, ask, message, or check out my FAQ page in my bio!

#apicturesworth #jeon jungkook #jungkook #jungkook x you #jungkook x reader #jungkook x y/n #bts #bts x reader #bts x y/n #bts x you #jungkook fiction #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fanfiction #jungkook fluff #jungkook smut #jungkook angst #bts mafia au #bts assassin au #jungkook oneshot #bts angst #bts smut #bts fluff #assassin reader #jungkook gang au #assassin jungkook #art thief reader #min yoongi #kim taehyung #kim namjoon #kim seokjin

[cyborgdragongirl]

i’ve gone full arms trader / bounty hunter in starfield

My character is a mercenary gun for hire and the first thing i spent money on was my minigun. Saw a shattering minigun with armor piercing rounds on the first major city i visited in the shop, and did as many quests as i could as fast as i could to get it before it despawned and i got it. only cost 40k. but literally day one, hour like, 8 I had this bitch and have put 4 points into ballistics, and 4 points into heavy weapons so she’s a real monster :3

but shattering + AP ammo just tears apart enemies, I’ve gunned down several level 50’s with it, and thanks to the mobility of the skip boostpacks I can bounce around picking them off.

And I just found an armor that reduces all weapon weight by 50%, so it only weighs 7.5lbs, and my other guns are all pistols (i’ve got two 11mm rifles for now, but they’re really only kept on me for when i’m running low on food for the minigun)

(also at any given time i’ve got a minimum of two shotguns, 1 minigun, 1 rifle, 3 handguns quickslotted and i just run around blasting till everything is empty or nobody’s shooting at me and reload EVERYTHING at once

hello yes, I identify as an A10 Warthog, thank you very much

nyooooom BZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTT

anyway, i’m just picking up bounties for scalps and taking all their guns and ammo to sell for more minigun ammo. she’s HUNGRY >:3

After buying my minigun I upgraded my boat so now it’s got a range of 20LY, 4x electron blasters (17/17 shields/hull) and 4x cannons (5(?)/23 shields hull), and has 2200 storage. She’s a solid fighter and still fairly maneuverable.

#sprenposting #starfield

[jellyfishinajamjar]

Tau units that I think would be baller as hell please hire me James Workshop

The Tau, despite having been around for longer than the iPod mini, Webkinz, and the scramjet engine, have a strangely truncated model line. This is partially attributable to unique deficiencies in the army’s intended method of play, but nonetheless do exist. I want to fill those gaps and make Tau cool as fuck. Here’s some ideas

Plenty of armies in 40K have a simple ‘one army, three sub-armies’ make up. For example, the Drukari have the wonderfully alliterative and easy to remember Cabals, Covens, and Cults, each taking an aspect of dark eldar philosophy and filling a role in the larger army. Cabals are your boats and baddies playstyle, Covens having twisted abominations, and Cults do something that I would know about if I was a Drukari player

Necron have Dynasties, Flayers, and Destroyer Cults, with flayers filling fast attack roles and destroyers being self evident

Tau have 1 and a halfish sub-armies. You’ve got the Tau, who do shooting, Kroot, who do fast attack and some melee, and a Vespid, who have one unit. Clearly, something went wrong here. Why do we have two fast attack sub-armies despite having fine fast attack in our main army? Why do we have Kroot as bad at shooting and at melee? Why don’t Vespid exist?

I want to fix this. To do so I’m going to propose a frankly radical solution GW would never do, but I want to see anyways. Give us five sub-armies

We’ve already got Tau, Kroot, and Vespid. I’m not changing any already existing model lines, cause that’ll never happen. Instead, I’m going to round off incomplete lines and introduce a few new ones

Tau. Tau are fine as is. I’d love to see melee battlesuits, but this isn’t the place for more sword mech propaganda. Tau having gaps in their line is the whole point of having auxiliaries, so it’s fine

If I might make a personal request, I would love to see burst cannon equipped infantry. Not all of them, maybe like one in 10 strike warriors could replace their pulse rifle with a burst cannon, or have a wargear option to replace the sms on the support turret with a burst cannon. Trade indirect fire for direct anti infantry. That would be especially useful in boarding action, and not having the turret is a hit to fire warrior’s strength there

Kroot. Kroot are the second healthiest Tau Empire model line by virtue of being the one that actually exists. I think it’s good as is. I have two suggestions here, mostly for my own desire to see Kroot fuck. Give us big Kroot and enormous Kroot.

I want a Kroot melee elite unit. Elite both in unit designation and like Elites from Halo. Gimmie big beefy boys in a 3-6 unit that absolutely slaughter in melee. These will be our melee heavy hitters, our line holders, our brick shithouse with arm swords made of bone and chitin. Like a Kroot ate a space marine and got jacked. Size of a terminator big. These guys should have baller models and fill a much needed gap in the Tau as immovable objects you can park on objectives and laugh as your opponent tries to melee you off.

The other Kroot unit I would want is a dinosaur. Look, James, if you aren’t going to give us exodites at least let our Kroot be dinosaurs. I’m thinking a Knight equivalent, melee focus with big tau guns mounted on it, like that one tau’nar kitbash with the t-rex body and the tau’nar arms. Give use dinos.

And lastly for Kroot, we don’t need it but I think it would be funny lookin as hell, so I’ll mention it. Kroot flyers. They’re already lizard birds, I want to see a Kroot plane equivalent. Like a pterodactyl with a Kroot face and a Shaper on its back holding a pair of reins. Give it transport capacity so it can drop off Kroot or Krootox, or like if it overflies and enemy it can make a claw attack and if it hits it picks up a model or two and eats them to recover wounds. Just be wild with it. It’ll never see competitive play outside of Kroot only lists, but it’ll be a cool looking shelf piece and will give more for the three exodite diehards to kitbash so they don’t go insane waiting for official confirmation that they exist.

Vespid. Of the existing lines, Vespid definitely need the most work. They’re supposed to fill a fast attack role in an army that already has two fast attack infantry units. Here’s some ideas to start us off on a decently well rounded sub-army.

Vespid tank equivalent. I think we should keep with the wasp ascetic, and make a vespid tank. Big ol honeycomb on hover engines, stinger looking gun on top, that sort of thing. We’ve already got IFV and light tank roles filled by the devilfish and hammerhead respectively, so this will be our medium to heavy tank. Our Rougle Dorn equivalent. Slow, heavy hitting, tons of staying power, but weak to melee, so you can counter by rushing it. It’s not going to be taking points by itself, and you’ll want to screen with vespid to keep it safe. Anti infantry guns, big gun on top, with an alt build as a transport for Vespid. Give it some kind of energy shield to take hits and you’re golden.

Vespid shaper equivalent. Make it some kind of vespid queen or princess or something, an hq choice you would only ever use with vespid. Buffs vespid, maybe some pusdo-psychic abilities if you’re feeling generous.

Vespid melee equivalent to the current model line. Can even be one of those ‘one box, but you can build it two ways!’ things, like how the fire warrior box builds a strike team or a breacher team. Cheap trade pieces you throw at your enemies infantry to soften them up. I’m thinking some kind of stinger spear, hits once then you get shot and die for that bee experience. Maybe for every wound you do to the enemy unit, they’re moral test is worsened by one, cause the poison makes em want to run away and die. Moral tests aren’t really around in 10th, so maybe something like reducing oc on units they wound, so they’re really good at weakening enemies holding points but have like OC 0 so they’re never gonna hold it by themselves, they need other vespid to push up behind them and hold

And now, we’re truly in uncharted waters. No existing GW model lines to guide us. These last two sub-armies are going to be less standardized, and I think somewhat smaller

Gue’vesa. Was there ever any question? It’s like the most famous auxiliary, with no official table rep. Give us literally anything. IG units with an upgrade sprue, upgrade sprues for fire warriors with human legs and heads, rules for proxing in IG units wholesale, I’ll take anything. Hell, even just confirmation you can have humans in regular fire caste units, anything.

If we’re going to have a dedicated gue’vesa sub-army however, it can’t just be IG but in Tau colors. It needs its own flavor. I’d actually prefer human auxiliaries get absorbed into other castes rather than making a new one just because humans don’t have a designated shtick. But that’s just my preference. And I’m doing it anyways, so you can’t stop me.

And lastly, my final suggestion for a sub-army. This one isn’t actually it’s own ‘you could run this as it’s own army and do reasonably well in low points games’, it’s mostly just a place to stick everything else Tau need. Give use more weird one off units that fill gaps. We don’t need a full sub-army for phychic, that’d be insane. But we do need some phychic phase rep. Give us like one model that’s a psychic jellyfish in a fish tank carried by a drone that gives you deny the witch and smite. It doesn’t need to be the best pycher in the game, in fact I don’t think it should be all that good. But just something to get around the fact that we have nothing phychic going on.

A jokero weapons smith that’s buffs shooting in an aura or attaches to a unit or something. Adds ap and damage, bypasses invulnerable, just like something to make one big gun crazy good

Sentient mycanoid blob that spawns an equivalent to tyranid bio-mine balloons so you can make objectives deadly to retake

Just more weird Tau auxiliaries

#jellyfish jams #tau empire #games workshop #james workshop #40k #warhammer 40k

[strandnreyes]

almost at 40k with this one...

“You look so good, baby,” TK mumbles against Carlos’ mouth. “It’s a miracle I made it this far into this thing before dragging you in here.”

It’s a welcome relief after hours of civil conversation and trading looks from across the room, donning a carefully constructed image of acquaintances as if Carlos wasn’t the one who knotted his tie only an hour prior to separately walking through the front door. 

TK’s hands are everywhere, unsure of if they want to pull off the sweater covering Carlos’ shirt and tie or continue to admire the look as a whole. He doesn’t know what room they ended up in, likely a spare bedroom from the looks of it, just that it was empty and tucked as far away from the wrap party happening downstairs as they could get. 

They’ve perfected their craft over the months, each party they attend only improving their ability to slip away. Even as a first-time guest in the Ryder home, it was simple enough for TK to fall back on one of his go-to excuses. A bathroom break or a smoke break. Faking a headache and the need for solace in a quiet room. And Carlos never fails to catch his two tap signal with his hand, TK only having to wait no more than a minute before there’s a soft knock on the door and he’s pressing Carlos against the other side of it.

Carlos’ head clunks back against the wood when TK’s mouth pays particular attention to the spot just below his ear. “And here I thought you barely noticed me all night.”

His voice is teasing, but TK can still hear the underlying tone that conveys his lack of presence was missed.

He slows his movements, resting his hands on his waist and kissing him thoroughly. “Impossible,” he says quietly. “I had to force myself to keep my distance. I’m not that good of an actor.” 

Carlos hums. “All those people down there would have to disagree.” 

TK tilts his head, creating an inch or two of space for the first time since they came in here. “What do you mean?”

Carlos smiles at him, his thumb running over the bone of TK’s cheek. “Not that I’m in any way complaining about the turn of events, but before you nodded to me that you were coming up here I was in the middle of a conversation with Richard Maxwell.”

“I noticed.” That was part of the reason he snuck them away when he did, recalling Carlos’ distaste for conversing with the higher ups and his worry about saying the wrong thing, mind the fact that Carlos’ natural personality is exactly what the studio wants anyway. It seems as if this time around Carlos wasn't all that against the exchange, however. “I didn’t get you in trouble for leaving in the middle, did I?”

“No,” Carlos chuckles. “He saw the final cut of the film yesterday and he was unable to stop talking about a few of the performances. Yours, in particular.” 

He hates the way his heart pounds automatically and his uncertainty must be evident because Carlos cups his face, his thumb smoothing over TK’s brow. “He said Tony better have made your contract a long one because he wants your talent in this studio for years to come.”

“The head of the studio thinks my performance was good?”

“I believe his words were ‘god damn brilliant’,” Carlos praises. TK lets out a disbelieving laugh and Carlos shifts his hand to feel the curve of his smile. “You did good work, TK. I already knew that, and everyone else does as well.” 

“I-” TK sighs. “I don’t even know what to say. I’m starting to regret coming up here,” TK pulls back, faking on reaching for the handle of the door. “Maybe I should let you get back out there if it means delivering news like this to me.”

Carlos pulls him close again. “Now you’re just getting greedy,” he teases before kissing TK deeply. “I’m proud of you.”

“I’m proud of you,” TK shoots right back.

“Huh?” Carlos laughs adorably. 

TK taps his finger into his chest. “You said Richard was stuck on a few of the performances. I know one of those had to be yours.”

The way Carlos ducks his head with a quiet smile is enough of an answer. “You would be correct.”

TK tilts his head back up, crowding in closer before whispering, “We make quite the pair, don’t we?”

#911 lone star #tarlos #tk strand #carlos reyes #wip wednesday

[gasha40k]

Progress is being made, slowly but surely, as per usual! I’ve been getting VERY into kitbashing and converting minis recently, so I’ve got some cool stuff to show off this time around.

This is my old Primaris Apothecary. I bought and built him nearly a year ago, when I was still very new to kitbashing and conversions. He’s unique, which is good. The sword and tilting plate makes him stand out, but it’s a largely uninspired kitbash that doesn’t have a lot to it. The paint job is also… not great, to put it lightly? It wasn’t my first time painting white, but it was my first time painting Corax White, and it obviously didn’t go well. To put it simply, I kind of hate this model, and stopped using it largely because it simply did not really make me happy to look at.

My own fuckening isn’t the only reason I dislike my Primaris Apothecary, though. The stock standard model that GW sells for this unit has so much shit going on that it’s kind of hard to look at to me. There’s fifty thousands fucking baubles on him, and it’s very distracting! It’s a fine enough model, don’t get me wrong, but it’s way too busy for my tastes.

The Firstborn Apothecary, specifically the one depicted in Dawn of War 2, on the other hand, is simple but distinguishable. It’s very pleasant to look at, and not just because I’m a Mark VII enjoyer. There’s a certain level of visual clarity present here that the model really lacks. The paint scheme on the Firstborn model looks better in my opinion, as well, since it fits more cleanly into a uniform army scheme.

Because of all this, and the fact that I’m already reworking the majority of my army, I decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to did my least favorite model by cannibalizing it and making a new one.

This as of yet unnamed Primaris Apothecary is my take on what that Firstborn Apothecary would look like if he crossed the Rubicon Primaris, and didn’t look like the stock model. This model is a mixture of Intercessor, Assault Intercessor, and Primaris Apothecary. I really like how he looks! Simple but distinguishable, just like the Firstborn model, with a clear visual clarity. This was an incredibly basic kitbash, but one with incredibly satisfying results, and I’m much happier with him than I was with the old one.

That’s not the only kitbash I’ve done recently! Meet Inquisitor Nullhame, the Ordo Malleus Inquisitor currently investigating the Calthradia Crusade. Inquisitor Nullhame is an overly heroic, fanciful fellow with a small but close cohort. This was my first time building a custom model wholly from scratch, subsequently being my real first time using greenstuff. Nullhame isn’t a Psyker, but he’s a charismatic warrior with a keen mind, naturally resistant to the whispers of Chaos. On the tabletop he’s represented by the Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in Terminator Armor datasheet, and he’s equipped with a force stave (more of a glaive), a storm bolter, and psyk-out grenades. Interestingly enough, though, Nullhame doesn’t actually wield a storm bolter.

He leaves that to a little goon in custom human sized power armor. This guy’s entire purpose in life is to follow the Inquisitor around and shoot aliens for him. He doesn’t have wounds or a datasheet and is purely decorative on the tabletop. Obviously, the mini isn’t done, but once I slap a Skitarii Vanguard helmet on that dome, it will be, and Nullhame will be ready to battle even the biggest of daemons.

Beyond this, I’ve been working my way through getting the Thunderbearers battle ready again. It’s going slowly, as a recent move has me lacking both time and table space, but I got a good half of my men primed today, which is pretty exciting.

In the time between now and the last post, I also read the entirety of Horus Rising. Good ass book! I think I like it more than Helsreach (the only other piece of 40k literature that I’ve read), which I thought was absolutely not going to happen. Dan Abnett, however, has an incredibly vivid way of painting scenes. He strikes me as a very detail oriented author, which I appreciate immensely. ADB, however, seems to focus much more on punchy, jargon-based scenes, which is equally captivating and makes for a lot of very intense moments. I’m currently at the beginning of False Gods, and after I finish the trilogy, I’m going to read as many World Eaters books as possible, and there’s no ulterior motives behind that decision.

And on the subject of Horus, I’ve been doing a lot of very chaotic shit recently. Some evil is happening around here. The end of 2022 was suitably Chaotic. I’m biting my tongue for now, but I’ll just say: new year, new army.

#warhammer 40k #miniatures #building #kitbash #calthradia crusade #adeptus astartes #inquisition #thunderbearers #bookposting

[deflare]

Day 8 means we’re back to successor chapters, and today is the first chapter I didn’t recognize on sight. Today I learned about: the Silver Templars!

Focus and Fury!

The Silver Templars are another Ultramarine successor (we’ll get to the Ultramarines next week, I promise). The reason I didn’t know about them is that they’re brand new--the Silver Templars are one of the first purely Primaris chapters.

See, Primaris Space Marines are the product of a mad genius named Belisarius Cawl, who’s spent thousands of years tinkering with the Emperor’s original supersoldier formula. Cawl had a bunch of test marines sealed in stasis, along with the tools to turn Firstborn marines into Primaris, and the tools to raise up new aspirants as Primaris right out of the box. The debut of these Primaris soldiers was the ‘Ultima Founding’. Many of the new marines went to already-existing chapters whose geneseed they used, filling out their ranks with a wave of new extra-big recruits. But many new chapters were founded around this time, made entirely of Primaris marines, and the Silver Templars are one of them.

The Templars’ main claim to fame is their focus on one-on-one duels. They believe in focus-firing down one opponent at a time, and on a broader strategic level, will often carve a bloody swath through the enemy army to murder their leader. Interestingly, this resembles the behavior of one of the lost traitor legions, the III Legion Emperor’s Children (who got so lost in their pursuit of military perfection that they fell to Slaanesh). Hopefully the Silver Templars don’t walk the same path.

The Silver Templars also have a culture of bonding with their weapons*. They’ll formally and ritually connect themselves to a particular weapon, mastering that particular tool’s use. Losing the bonded weapon is a Big No-No, and they’ll go through hell to get their bonded weapon back.

So that’s the Silver Templars. They don’t have a ton of lore, since they’re so new; as far as I can tell, their backstory is mostly told in some rulebooks and a single novella. But they’re kinda neat. I like their aesthetic, and being “the super duelist-focused chapter” is a cool distinctive trait while still mechanically being similar to others. Sometimes it’s nice to learn about a new thing.

*Hey, what weapons do Space Marines use, anyway?

All the little guys in my advent calendar are holding bolters. A bolter is a weapon designed based on cutting-edge speculative future tech... in the ‘80s. They’re gyrojet weapons (which means the bullets have their own little rockets that propel them once they’re fired) with giant explosive bullets. They’re designed to hit armor, punch through, and then detonate inside the target, turning their insides to soup. Bolters are the standard firearm of the Space Marines, and they come in a wide variety, including sniper, machine-gun, and super-fancy-rounds.

The next step up in power is plasma weaponry. These are glowy blue guns that shoot a lump of super-heated... well... plasma at the enemy, hitting enemies with star-stuff. Plasma weapons can be super-charged to shoot enemies real hard, but the Imperium is bad at making and maintaining plasma weapons, so there’s always a risk that they’ll get too hot and explode on their user.

Then there are specialized ranged weapons. Melta guns use the power of nuclear fusion to punch holes in any solid matter at close range (they’re used for tank-hunting). Flamers are flamethrowers, burninating large swathes of enemy nerds. Missile launchers shoot missiles, it’s not that complicated. Tanks and heavy weapons platforms will carry large auto-weapons (basically a regular gun) and laser weapons. They’re rare these days, but the Legions used to also use graviton weapons (gravity guns that use a target’s weight against them) and volkite weapons (basically heat rays, cooking people inside their armor). I’m probably missing a lot of other obvious weapon types; Space Marines are not short on ways to kill people.

Warhammer 40k is a world that loves its hand-to-hand combat, too, and Space Marines have options in spades. The standard close-combat weapon is a chainsword, which is exactly what it sounds like--a chainsaw stuck on a sword hilt, used to saw through enemy armor (no, this would not actually be effective). Chain weapons also come in axe and bayonet form. Then there are power weapons, which have an in-built force field that reacts violently to any matter they encounter and can thus cut through armor like it’s butter. There are normal-looking power weapons (swords, axes, clubs, Wolverine claws), then there’s thunder hammers (they go ‘boom’ when they hit something), and then there’s power fists. Power fists are giant gauntlets that Space Marines use to punch tanks to death. Some power fists come with a chain-blade attachment, and they’re called chainfists. This shit gets silly.

Last major weapon category is force weapons. A force weapon is basically a power weapon, but instead of having ancient super-tech juicing it up, force weapons are powered by the wielder’s own psychic power. Obviously, they’re only really usable by psykers; for anyone else, it’s just an overly-fancy normal weapon. They’re really good at fucking up daemons.

Again, I’m sure there are obvious weapons I’m forgetting. It gets hard to keep track of all the ways that Space Marines have to murder people. And when they’re in a pinch, they always have their acid spit.

Master post here

#warhammer 40k #space marines #advent calendar #lore dump #text heavy #40k advent #silver templars

[bonafidexdopeness]

MORE.NEW.BETTER

Dodging Bullets

It happens to everyone. I’m not looking to pitch or convince. I am simply doing the work.

I’m getting closer.

When do you love what you do? When you decide to. When you invest in it and train yourself to see the positives. What we all want is to feel accepted. This is juts a memory. You’re only reliving it; remembering how the day went. You’re viewing what landed you in heaven or hell in real time. If you believe in that stuff. Never forget: to be in the right place at the right time can change the trajectory of your life. If what you have in your head can make you money and you see how it can be sustainable and secure don’t leave it in your head or to live as notes. Actualize and draw it out. Draw. Pull. Pull it out into reality.

Illustrate, conceptualize, collaborate, trouble shoot, reverse engineer, and tweak daily. You can’t be “the game-changer”, “genius” who “didn’t take the common road and broke social norms that changed history and the status quo” and “exposed the agenda of the secret government” by applying to schooling debt, believing what you never researched for yourself, applying to dream killing 9-5’s, never doing the work and letting it speak for itself by letting quality defend it and consistency promote it. If a 16K animation gig is sitting in your email and you start training for your restaurant manager job tonight so you can save enough money to become an animator is clocking-in placing you in a right place right time scenario? Why not clock in as the animator? This is a memory, remember? Do you not remember today changing your life?

No one else is supposed to say you make sense for creating your own fantasy world and living in it. When to be around you means to forget what you thought you knew, that’s when you’re causing rifts. Shortly there will be glimpses of your fantasy bleeding into other’s realities too and being around you is more like being in your world to them. This world does not exist without you to them at this point. But to achieve this your fantasy world must not cease to exist despite what your ears, your eyes, you bank, your day, your family, your friends attempt to convince you. Unless you asked to be here, this world owes you something and you can have anything. You must be adamant about convincing yourself that you don’t have to make sense to anyone but to those who will show you the roads and open the doors. Honestly everyone else are just bots.

So where you at the desk when you got the email? The one about the job with the 40K monthly retainer, the 40K sign on bonus, and the 280K salary? Or did you have to quit a job to respond because your boss said no phones. Was it your office desk? No office? The desk in your home studio? No house? Were you working on your apartment coffee table on the couch? Because your life is about to change from doing the work. Not from getting your life together so you can do the work. Tell yourself you love it.

#WilliamConradErwinII #WilliamErwin #William #WILLIAM CONRAD ERWIN II (BXD™) #High PointCNSPRCY #HPC #High Point #highpointnorthcarolina #north carolina #EarnSomeHeight® Studio #earnsomeheight #bonafidexdopeness

[seeyouspacegoth]

a rough and dirty character sheet of Medea just to give an idea of her Vibes™. not 100% on that skintone but trying to match her in game one is actually a Nightmare so sdjfklsdhlkjdhskl it’s Close Enough.

Other info/fun facts about her:

is a colonist and sole survivor. joined the alliance basically because she has a death wish that ironically keeps getting thwarted.

lived in rural greece with her grandparents after the massacre on mindoir until she joined the alliance at 18.

has always been a goth it just gets more intense as she gets older.

is a renegade but less in a “i’m an asshole” kind of way and more in a “yes i will shoot a grandma if she’s in the way of the mission” kinda way, she just doesn’t have time for platitudes/kindness on the job.

while she’s very racist against batarians (for fairly obvious reasons) she’s actually very progressive, culturally sensitive and overall interested and respectful of other species. recognizes her own biases against batarians and tries to shunt off decisions regarding them of to garrus when she can because of it.

comes off as aloof, cold and distant to most because she is. genuinely only has a personality around like 5 people.

has considered herself to be dead since she was 16. this psychology only gets more complex after the start of ME2

extremely goal/mission oriented. very competent and good at her job.

got into warhammer 40k after she enlisted bc it’s a cult thing in the alliance like a lot of old space war media is. 40k tho resonated with her because it was one of the most bleak and horrific and it made her feel seen.

vanguard. has 1v1′d a krogan with a pistol and won and will do it again.

while she’s fond of all her crewmates, garrus is the only one she will admit is her friend and that’s more for his benefit than her own.

wasn’t religious at all until she met thane. thought there was no higher power and if there was they didn’t care until talking to him and finding the drell theology actually resonated intensely with her and converted.

actually becomes almost a real person with like, emotions, in ME2 thanks to thane, tali, mordin and garrus’ influence but loses all that progress after thane’s (and mordin’s but mainly thane’s) death and just speed runs to her own death saving the galaxy.

leaves everything she owns to garrus and kolyat. (garrus gets most of the Things and koylat her savings bc it’s weird to leave ur lover’s son like, ur baby photos when you’ve only met like once)

#medea shepard #mass effect #thanemancer #female shepard #i just remembered while typing out the fun facts that there's a genuine mental disorder about thinking you're dead/a corpse jfdsfsds #it's not impossible she has that i mean she's been VERY GOOD at lying on her psych evals #otherwise they NEVER would have even let her enlist ksjdfgjkldsldsl

[gritandpowerarmor]

10th Edition 40k: Dark Pacts and Death

So, finally, got some games of 10th in. Went head first for a Rogue Trader Tournament. The good news after playing this game for so long, it’s still Warhammer 40,000.  10th’s different from 9th and so on, but it’s not an alien experience. Mostly. 

My List:

Chaos Lord (90 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh  • Warlord  • 1x Accursed weapon    1x Plasma pistol  • Enhancement: Intoxicating Elixir Master of Executions (80 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh  • 1x Axe of dismemberment    1x Bolt pistol Master of Executions (80 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh  • 1x Axe of dismemberment    1x Bolt pistol Sorcerer (60 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh  • 1x Bolt pistol    1x Force weapon    1x Infernal Gaze BATTLELINE Cultist Mob (55 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Khorne  • 1x Cultist Champion    • 1x Bolt pistol      1x Brutal assault weapon  • 9x Chaos Cultist    • 9x Autopistol      9x Brutal assault weapon Legionaries (200 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh  • 1x Aspiring Champion    • 1x Chaos Icon      1x Close combat weapon      1x Heavy melee weapon      1x Plasma pistol  • 9x Legionary    • 6x Astartes chainsword      9x Bolt pistol      9x Close combat weapon      1x Heavy melee weapon      1x Meltagun      1x Plasma gun Legionaries (200 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh  • 1x Aspiring Champion    • 1x Chaos Icon      1x Close combat weapon      1x Heavy melee weapon      1x Plasma pistol  • 9x Legionary    • 6x Astartes chainsword      9x Bolt pistol      9x Close combat weapon      1x Heavy melee weapon      1x Meltagun      1x Plasma gun DEDICATED TRANSPORT Chaos Rhino (85 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Nurgle  • 1x Armoured tracks    1x Combi-bolter    1x Combi-weapon    1x Havoc launcher Chaos Rhino (85 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Nurgle  • 1x Armoured tracks    1x Combi-bolter    1x Combi-weapon    1x Havoc launcher OTHER DATASHEETS Forgefiend (165 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Nurgle  • 1x Armoured limbs    2x Ectoplasma cannon    1x Ectoplasma cannon Forgefiend (165 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Nurgle  • 1x Armoured limbs    2x Ectoplasma cannon    1x Ectoplasma cannon Helbrute (155 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Nurgle  • 1x Close combat weapon    1x Combi-bolter    1x Helbrute fist    1x Helbrute plasma cannon Obliterators (320 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch  • 4x Crushing fists    4x Fleshmetal guns Raptors (190 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Khorne  • 1x Raptor Champion    • 1x Plasma pistol      1x Power fist  • 9x Raptor    • 5x Astartes chainsword      5x Bolt pistol      4x Close combat weapon      4x Meltagun Traitor Guardsmen Squad (70 points)  • Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch  • 1x Traitor Sergeant    • 1x Boltgun      1x Close combat weapon  • 9x Traitor Guardsmen    • 9x Close combat weapon      1x Cultist grenade launcher      6x Lasgun      1x Meltagun      1x Plasma gun

There were my first games, but I wasn’t going in blind. This list was split between bringing things I wanted (Raptors, Legionaries, Chaos Lord) and things I’d thought would be useful (Forgefiends, Helbrute, Obliterators).  The Raptors should have probably been Slaanesh for access to Advance and Charge, which would have been useful here and there. 

Game 1: Death Guard

This mostly went my way. I made one error with the Dark Obscuration ability: I thought it turned off targeting completely if 12″ away. It’s a bit more complicated than that. It does that, but only after the first unit to shoot it gets to make its attacks. It’s decent, but not as powerful as it could be. Small thing but it dictated my opponent's decisions early on. 

The big lesson here is that Overwatch happens in the movement phase, as I lost quite a few Legionaries to Deathshroud flamers. But overall I’m able to pick the Death Guard apart. My units just hit harder, and by the end I’m able to effectively overrun the board or shoot what I need to. Both Forgefiends die shooting, but hey that’s what they’re there for. There’s not a whole to say about this game, because I was able to outfight my opponent at every turn. 

Game 2: Chaos Daemons

Lot of big Monsters, around Be’lakor, including a Bloodthirster, Lord of Change and Shalaxi Hellbane, with tons of Flamers of Tzeentch.

Hey, did you know overwatch happens in the Movement phase? I did, but I walked my Legionaries right into Flamer of Tzeentch range. With a Lord of Change near them, the flamers did a lot of damage. The main thing I did wrong here was attacking the Daemons when I didn’t need to. I could have held my side of the board fairly comfortably and left the daemons to their side. Most of the objectives were on my side, and I didn’t need to go over there. I was doing fairly well at first, and the fact that the daemons were able to butcher my army in short order once I ran over to them, so my mistake. 

The big error I made was nuking Be’lakor with a Forgefiend when I had a Legionary squad set up to take him out. There  was a Bloodthirster they might have been able to take down and they were now woefully out of position. Shalaxi then walked over and ate them. Oops. 

It wasn’t totally my game to lose, but bad choices meant I lost. It’s a lot of little things, mostly playing aggressively when holding back would have been better, while also making wrong decisions on targeting. 

Game 3: Ultramarines

Last game and my brain was burning out (I need to bring more water to these things) also the only game that went to time. 

I’ll be honest, this game is the one I found completely tedious. Not because of my opponent, who was absolutely great and it was super close coming down 54-50 on turn 4, with a loss for me.

But dear Dark Gods, does Oaths of Moment suck to play against. The list had 20 Desolator Marines, who have anti tank rockets and a bunch of Indirect, with the big squad having an attached Librarian with Bolter Discipline. Watching them wear down my mostly concealed Raptor squad, then squish a Forgefiend was rough. It took forever too. It’s the agony of thinking the  Raptors might have survived that really, really eats. It let comparatively few Space Marines just do massive amounts of damage. I don’t know how I would have felt if I had gone second. Like crap probably, as I would have taken huge losses right away. 

Not that I’m without sin. Master of Executions allow for absolutely insane amount of rerolls too, and Slaanesh Dark Pacts generate insane amounts of hits. By the end I was re-rolling fists of dice too. Also tedious. If you are connected to 40k at all, and the lead up to 10th. GW said they were reducing rerolling. That was not as true as they wanted it to be. 

There was a highlight though: My sorcerer/MoE squad jumped out of their Rhino, used the Slaanesh stratagem to advance,   dodge a full Overwatch unscathe shoot up some Assault Terminators, then charge into the castle full of Desolators, (dID yoU KNow YoU CaN OvERWatCH IN thE MoveMent phaSE?1?) and stab the Ultra-bastards through the floor. If I’d been smarter I would have focused all my attacks on the Bolter Discipline squad, but I didn’t. Small thing that cost my models that would have survived otherwise. But still an absolute great moment.

Honestly it felt like this.

Again, a close game, but I felt like I was taking huge losses from comparatively few models, and a lot of it was Indirect. One change I would have made was use my own Indirect from the Obliterators right away by starting them on the board and maybe blasting the Bolter Discipline squad to pieces (or at least hurting it with their medium weapon profile and the Helbrute helping. 

General thoughts on 10th, in no particular order:

1. This is a “less deadly” edition if you don’t have tons of rerolls and are attacking with low strength weapons without any tricks. Otherwise, it’s as deadly, if not deadlier, than ever. And rerolls and tricks are everywhere.

2. Greater Daemons feel Greater. Big pile of wounds, dangerous attacks. Scary bastards. Didn’t run any myself, but my first impression is that they feel right, at least. 

3. Oh God, the rerolls.

4. Melee is a mixed thing. It’s not as as bad as reports indicated, but it’s harder. My last opponent was surprised that I was running it, and didn’t expect me in his face so quickly.  But it can still be super deadly if done right. 

5. There’s still a lot of rules. If the big selling point was simple, it’s not. It’s just that that rules are now in a thousand different cards. 

6. Missions are good. Cards are nice. Tactical Objectives is best and feels good. Genuine improvement there. 

7. I dodged the most of the meta boogeymen of the moment, knight and Eldar, while running into Desolator Marine castle. Eldar (with thirty Warp Spiders and a Wraithknight) took the tourney, but I don’t see a win path against them, honestly.

8. Hazardous for overcharge feels better than the old rules. I used plasma with less fear than anytime previously.   And it was hilarious to watch my Forgefiends burn themselves alive keeping up their rate of fire. 

9. Battleshock is meaningless. It’s just doesn’t do enough, and game is so deadly it rarely comes up.  A big miss and just eh. 

8 Thoughts on CSM:

1. Raptors aren’t there. Two hundred points for Legionaries that are faster, but no more hard hitting isn’t a great use of points (no characters to help them besides Haarken, which sucks) . They’re just not that impressive. I did miss their abilities the few times they would have been useful, but they died badly. 

2. Dark Pacts is good, and can feel absolutely insane with the right attack volume and a little luck. Sustained Hits 5+ just cuts through anything in the MEQ/TEQ weight class. Nurgle Sustained Hits for shooting was extremally reliable all around. The Helbrute was a great shooting boost and alright on his own. 

3. Slaanesh Legionaries feel good with leading characters. The base unit is too expensive, and could drop to 180 or even 175 safely. They need at at least one character, really a Master of Executions, to give them some energy. But Advance+ Shoot+ Charge is still pretty gnarly, and might be really nasty in the right hands. 

4. The Chaos Lord feels useful, finally. After the loss of jump packs and a lot of options, at least Chaos Lords have a use  as a free stratagem dispenser and a pretty alright melee combatant. Bringing a power fist next time to get the most out of the attacks he can pump out with his Finest Hour ability.  It’s personally pretty huge for me that a Chaos Lord isn’t just a bad choice on purpose. 

5.  The army doesn’t feel bad. I felt like I lost my games honestly, not because I was getting punched in the skull over and over. I dodged Knights and Eldar, so maybe that contributed. But I came close to beating Desolator Spam, so there’s legs here. 

6. Forgefiends, after struggling for relevance for nearly a decade, have finally become a unit to use without it being a meme. It’s only the ectoplasma cannon version, but it’s something. The dinobot made good, finally. 

7. Sorcerer felt kind of eh. Lightweight in combat, with a gun that didn’t do much for me. Again, forgetting abilities, but not that great still. The -1 to hit for the squad he joins doesn’t matter against full rerolls. Not useless, but the low point cost reflects where he should be. Fun fact: it was my Sorcerer Legionary squad that got overwatched all three times. 

8. Obliterators feel good. Right price, deadly, tough enough that if they can’t be focused down by super attacks they’ll stick around. I like them. 

#warhammer 40000 #chaos space marines

[cyanophore-fiction]

Navigation Terminal

Welcome! I’ll be using this post to index the writing I’ve put up on Tumblr. Skip to the “keep reading” section for that. 

I tend to write short pieces, maybe a thousand words or two, that often feature ongoing characters and settings. I don’t know if I should call these settings “Works In Progress” because I’m not working on an overarching novel or anything, I just use them as a basis for brief narratives every so often. I’ve got introductory blurbs on each one and associated stories linked below. Eventually, I’ll put together a coherent, detailed lore post for each one. Eventually. 

Only content warning is some violence here and there, but it’ll be tagged. My stuff is all SFW. Expect lots of sci-fi. I love writing non-human characters, especially artificial beings: sapient machines, synthetic organisms, and so forth. Anthro/furry characters come up a fair bit as well--to be honest, they’re around more because I enjoy the look and for the fun of it than for narrative or thematic reasons. 

Thank you for reading. Genuinely. I hope you find something you enjoy!

Ongoing Settings:

Vargheist - a sci-fi adventure set in the solar system, centered on a few anthro pilots and a sapient ICBM guidance AI. Shooting for some fun space combat, character interactions during long sublight hauls, and visits to various worlds.  

Vargheist - Part 1 

Vargheist - Part 2

Ballistic Guidance (a sapient missile squares off with a fleet in a simulator)

The Battle of Europa (war story from a megacorporation invading Europa - violence warning)

Thumbtack City (recounts a ship stealing hydrogen from Jupiter)

Packmates (a short dive into the backstory of Rau, one of the main characters. cw for trauma and grief)

Coyote and Pala - a pair of military AIs flee from a life of servitude. They are hunted by former allies who remain in service, as well as a network of weapon satellites controlled by a distant strategic AI. 

Adoption (under orders from a distant strategic AI, a scout robot combs the Nevada desert for a dangerous entity)

When None Pursue (standalone continuation of Adoption, follows a scout robot and a companion it has committed to protecting)

Field Maintenance (having found a freshwater spring somewhere in the desert, Coyote and Pala take a much-needed break to repair and relax.)

The Congregation - an older concept that I might start messing around with again. Plot is centered on a very ancient being named Ramiel, who travels the galaxy and collects copies of sapient people to add to their “Congregation.”

Hunting Trip (short piece introducing a few main characters and concepts)

Contact

One-Shots:

Dirk Shitshine (absurd fiction with religious elements concerning a man who smuggles people into Heaven)

Armistice (flash fiction on the hopeful side, follows a centuries-old combat drone and a curious alien who sets out to repair it)

The Thing From Above (short flash fiction piece, celestial being interacting with a guy from Florida)

60 Meters (very short second-person piece in the spirit of old SCP)

Mr. Landry’s Solution (some kind of apocalyptic fiction thing)

The Ascent of Magos Thea (Warhammer 40k flash fiction, Mechanicus vs. Necron flavored)

#pinned post #writeblr #flash fiction #short story #science fiction

[kingonafiftymetreroad]

Can we hear more about ur college fic?

Hmm what exactly do you want to know? I’m won’t give too much away besides sharing small snippets so don’t go crazy with the questions 😅

#i’m glad youre curious tho! #it’s 17k words but i legit have no estimate on how long it’ll be #i’m shooting for around 40k but... #knowing me it’ll end up a lot longer lol #I’ll prob post it in multiple chapters too #idk we’ll see! #ask #anonymous #college au

[latetaektalk]

(he)art thief | jjk [i, preview]

“jungkook is charming, kind, smart, and funny. jungkook is the guy to fall in love with. he is perfect in every sense, except that he is also a member of a notorious heist group and only getting close to you to steal from you. but what does he do when he starts to fall for you? who does he choose? his brothers or you?

genre: heist! AU, thief! jungkook, art curator daughter! oc, ocean’s! AU, fluff, angst, sexual themes/implied smut (in later chapters)

pairing: jungkook x female reader

estimated word count: 35 to 40k

warnings: cursing/swearing, a bit of alcohol consumption

a/n: this is loosely based off the ocean’s film! to be added to the taglist, shoot me an ask/message! also, gureum is jungkook’s dog! and thank you to movie club for helping me come up with this amazing title!!

coming sunday, may 30th 2021  

Jungkook avoids playgrounds.

Does so because when he was at the tender age of just seven, he fell off a swing. He ended up in the hospital (his first but not last visit); seven stitches, his mother told him, but he could swear it was a million.

Needless to say, Jungkook has been avoiding playgrounds like the plague ever since.

But here he is, in the middle of one, dog leash in his hand, and heart pounding in his chest so violently it might just explode.

A mob of boys runs past him, all of them no older than six—which means that, for the most part at least, they’re harmless—but still, Jungkook flinches. It’s embarrassing, even more so because Gureum turns and stares at him. If one of them should flinch, it should be Gureum, with him being a dog and Jungkook a full grown adult, but God, today is just not his day. He’s stressed! Out of it! Nervous! A wreck-

“Did you just flinch?”

Jungkook feels his heart drop. Fuck, he thought he walked out of sight!

“No, I didn’t, Tae,” he hisses, pressing the earpiece further into his ear.

“You flinched! We can still see you- ah, okay, not anymore. But we saw that-”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I definitely did not flinch-”

“Denying it is pointless. We all saw it. Back me up here, Jimin.”

“You definitely flinched.”

Jungkook stops dead in his tracks, is about to walk back to the car and tell them that they must be hallucinating because he definitely did not flinch when-

“Can you see her already, Kook?” Namjoon asks and for a moment, Jungkook forgot why he is here, you.

He looks around himself, and it doesn’t take him long to find you, sitting on a bench, under a big tree, soft shadows dancing on your skin.

“Yeah, I-I see her,” Jungkook says under his breath.

“Okay, good. I’m gonna need you to focus up then,” Namjoon continues, and Jungkook nods like Namjoon could see him.

“Yeah, if you screw this up, it’s your fault if we end up in jail-”

“Tae!” Namjoon warns, and judging from the ‘ow’ that follows, someone punched him. Jungkook’s guess is Jimin.

“What? I’m just saying-”

“I knew I shouldn’t have let you come,” Namjoon mumbles and runs a hand down his face. “Hey, Kook, don’t listen to Tae, yeah? He’s just messing with you.”

“Yeah… I know,” Jungkook mutters, and he means it. He really does know that Taehyung is messing with him, but there’s a part of him that takes it to heart, that is worried sick about how he’s going to fuck this up and be the reason for why they all end up in jail.

“Don’t worry, Kook,” Jimin cuts in, taking the phone from Namjoon. “We’ve got your back. All you have to do is repeat after me, say what I say. You’ve got this. Remember what I taught you?”

“Always smile and laugh and never talk about yourself. Keep the conversation about the other person because people love talking about themselves,” Jungkook repeats, and looks at you again, heart heavy in his chest.

He shouldn’t feel like this, wishes he wouldn’t. But he can’t help it. This isn’t how he imagined he’d meet you. Jungkook thought he’d meet you at some fancy event, sipping expensive champagne, or at some luxury clothing store maxing out your parents’ credit card—after all, your mother is a world famous art curator. But instead you spend your time at playgrounds, babysitting.

There’s actually no reason for Jungkook to be this nervous. Jimin did practise with him this exact scenario, but he can’t help but think that with a flute in his hands and some alcohol buzzing through his system, he’d feel more comfortable. But here he is, in the middle of a sea of children.

“Kook, do you copy?”

“What? Sorry, I wasn’t…” Jungkook pauses. He shouldn’t admit that he wasn’t listening.

“Get your head in the game, please,” Namjoon tells him over the earpiece.

“Sorry, you’re right. I’m here,” Jungkook says and starts to walk again even though he still feels fucking lost as a goddamn adult at a playground. Gureum follows him when he tugs on the dog leash.

“Okay, good. Just- just try your best,” Namjoon says, voice a bit muffled. “You’ve got this.”

Jungkook could swear that there’s a waiver to his words.

“Don’t worry. We’re here,” Taehyung tells him before Jungkook can think about it too much, distracting him from the quiver he heard.

He stops behind a tree, close enough for Gureum to spot you, but not close enough for you to spot them. His knees crack when he kneels down to stroke Gureum’s ear.

“Hey, Gureum? I’m gonna unleash you in a second and then I’m gonna need you to run towards,” Jungkook points as discreetly as possible to you, “her, yeah? Just like we practised? Remember? Remember how you ran towards Seok and Yoongi? Do it exactly like that again, okay? If you do, I’ll get you your favourite treat.”

Gureum doesn’t run away instantly when Jungkook unclips him because he’s trained, but when he points at you and whistles, he’s gone.

You react surprisingly calm to a dog barreling towards you, barely flinching. You lean down and greet Gureum.

“Approaching target now,” Jungkook mumbles quietly and can only faintly register how Namjoon tells Taehyung to be quiet from now on, all of his attention on the mission now.

With the leash in his hand, Jungkook jogs towards you, heaving extra hard to sell the act of a dog-owner-who-has-been-chasing-his-dog-for-the-last-ten-minutes to you.

You look up to him when he stops in front of you, eyeing him. Jungkook stands there, bend over, his hands on his knees, breathing like he’s struggling to catch his breath.

“Uh…. hi,” you start, brows pinched together.

Jungkook puts on his most charming smile, ignoring his thumping heart to the best of his abilities.

“Hi.”

“Oh, we’re starting- okay, showtime: I’m sorry, are you okay? My dog- he just ran and I couldn’t stop him. I’m so sorry,” Jimin says in his ear.

“I-I’m so sorry.” There’s a quiver to Jungkook’s voice, and it isn’t on purpose. “Are you okay? He just ran and I-”

“It’s fine,” you tell him with a small smile, still petting Gureum who has clearly taken a liking to you. During practise with Seokjin and Yoongi, Gureum always ran back to Jungkook, but now he’s staying at your feet, relishing in your pets. “Is that your dog?”

“Yes, yes, it is. I’m so sorry. I just unleashed him for a second, but then he ran away and I couldn’t catch up with him. Are you okay?”

“Yes, and I’m so sorry. I just unleashed him for a moment, thinking it was okay, but-”

“Can you prove it?” you interrupt and Jungkook pauses. “I mean that it’s your dog. It’s just that he isn’t really reacting to you, you know?”

Jimin’s response comes a bit late. “Oh, yes, I can. His name’s Gureum and he is- what’s the breed of your dog again? I don’t remember. If you look at his collar, you’ll see I’m telling the truth.”

“Oh, yeah, I can,” Jungkook smiles, wiping the non existent sweat from his temple. “His name’s Gureum and he’s a white Maltese dog. If you look at his collar, you’ll see that I’m not lying.”

You actually look at the collar and part of Jungkook is offended that you don’t just believe him. Does he look like a liar to you? “Actually, I have pictures too-”

“No, no, it’s fine. I believe you,” you say before gesturing for Gureum to go back to Jungkook. He does, but somewhat reluctantly and Jungkook doesn’t know how to interpret this.

“Ask her if she’s okay again.”

“Are you really okay?” Jungkook says and offers you a smile the way Jimin taught him to. “I really am sorry about-”

“It’s fine,” you tell him and wave him off. “Nothing happened. Don’t worry about it. Just leash your dog.”

And then, you turn away from him. Jungkook stands there awkwardly for another moment before kneeling down to Gureum, absentmindedly petting him, mind filled with questions because what now? How does he communicate to the others that you turned away from him? That the conversation has ended and he has no idea how to start it again?

“What’s going on Kook? Is she smiling-”

“Ah, Gureum, no,” Jungkook cuts in. “Don’t turn away- I can’t leash you if you do that. Don’t turn away.”

“Oh, shit, she turned away, huh?”

“What now, Jimin?”

“Shush, Joon. Let me think, yeah?”

Jungkook fiddles with the leash like he has a problem clipping it, hoping that maybe you’re going to offer him your help. You don’t. And why would you? He’s an adult after all.

Before Jimin can come up with anything though, the solution to the problem presents itself. It comes in the form of a girl running and tripping right next to Jungkook and him catching her just in time before she can faceplant in the dirt and scrape her knees open.

“Oh, hey, careful here!” Jungkook brings the girl back up on her two feet. She stares at him with big eyes, and he recognises her from the pictures. It’s Siyeon, the seven year old girl you babysit regularly, the reason why you’re spending your afternoon at a playground today. ”You okay?”

“Kook, what’s happening right now?” Namjoon asks.

Siyeon looks at you, and you’re already kneeling beside her, fixing her hair.

“Siyeon, I told you not to run. See, you almost fell now!” You say it the same way a mother would, less strict though. “If he hadn’t caught you, you would have hurt yourself, wouldn’t you have? Now, what do you say?”

“T-thank you,” Siyeon mumbles, and Jungkook isn’t sure if she’s staring at her hands because she’s embarrassed or just about to cry.

“Who’s that? Who are you talking to? Who’s he talking to?”

“Was that a kid?”

“Are you okay?” Jungkook asks Siyeon, ignoring Namjoon and Taehyung to the best of his abilities.

“Y-yes, thank you.” She won’t look at him.

Jungkook smiles. “Well, I’m happy that you didn’t get hurt there.”

“Kook, answer please. Do you need help?”

“Should we interfere?”

Jungkook’s about to snap. Does it seriously sound like he needs help? He’s talking to a seven year old, for fuck’s sake! Sure, he didn’t practise this scenario, but God, he was capable of improvising!

“Thank you. She’s really clumsy,” you say to Jungkook.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I’m like that too. After all, I let,” he looks down at Gureum and finishes his sentence by gesturing to him and then you. You laugh.

And that’s when Siyeon seems to notice Gureum for the first time, eyes growing big at his sight like she has never seen a dog before. A chance.

“His name’s Gureum. You wanna-”

“Do you think we should go over there? See if he’s okay?”

And with that, Jungkook snaps. Yoongi is going to give him an earful for destroying his oh so precious equipment, but he can’t do this any longer with Jimin, Namjoon and Taehyung in his ear. So in one smooth movement, Jungkook digs out the earpiece and crushes it between his fingers, hiding it in his hand.

“Sorry, a fly, I think,” Jungkook says, swatting at his ear, and before you can think about it, he moves on. “Do you wanna pet Gureum, S- Is it okay if I call you Siyeon?”

Siyeon stares at Jungkook like he can’t believe he just asked her that. It’s probably the first time an adult has asked her for permission to call her by her name, and she seems to appreciate it immensely because she beams at him and gives him a huge nod.

“Okay, Siyeon, do you maybe wanna pet Gureum? He doesn’t bite, I promise.” Jungkook can feel your eyes on him. He’s doing it, charming you!

Siyeon turns to you.

“Can I-?”

You hum. “If Gureum is okay with it-”

Siyeon kneels down. “Hello, Mr Gureum. Sir, can I please pet you?”

Jungkook melts, and so do you.

Receiving no response from Gureum, Siyeon looks back up to you. Jungkook quickly takes his paw and waves. “Hello, Mrs Siyeon, if you promise not to hurt me, you can pet me. I like it especially if humans pet me at the back of my head. Just, please, be nice to me.”

In all of the years he has had Gureum, Jungkook has never tried to imagine what his voice would sound like, but he knows for a fact that he doesn’t sound like a chain smoker. It’s a questionable choice, but he doesn’t regret it. Because not only does it make Siyeon laugh, it also elicits a chuckle from you.

You look at him with a grin. “I don’t think I’ve introduced myself yet, have I?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Jungkook says, and you two rise to your feet when Siyeon starts to pet Gureum and he doesn’t bite her.

“Well,” you stretch out your hand, “I’m Y/N.”

Jungkook swallows the ‘I know’ that wants to slip him and takes your hand. He has to stop himself from bursting with pride, only allowing his smile to grow into a blinding grin.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N,” he says, and he means it. It’s really nice to meet you. “I’m Jungkook.”

coming sunday, may 30th 2021

#jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #bts angst #bts fluff #jungkook x reader #bts fanfic #jungkook fanfic #bts x reader #jungkook #bts #linh.preview #(he)art thief

[safarigirlsp]

Shootin’ Gallery

Shootin’ Gallery

Flip Zimmerman x Reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Language. Humor. Fluff.

AO3 Link

Author��s Note: This is a snippet from my big fic, Bad Moon Risin,’ but I thought it’d be fun to post it as a little one shot for those folks who don’t feel like reading a 40k halloween fic lol! Plus to tide everyone over until some more fics drop.

“How’s your aim?” was the first thing Flip asked when he picked you up for an evening out at the local fall carnival, as he opened the door to his truck for you. Around you, the trees were tinged with autumn and the palette reds, oranges, and yellows of their dying leaves, and a crisp breeze swirled around you, rustling Flip’s hair.

“That depends on what you mean, big boy,” you answered teasingly, raising up on your toes to kiss him. Flip couldn’t resist smacking your ass as you climbed into his truck.

The truck canted with his heavy weight when he took his seat behind the wheel. As soon as he cranked his engine, his right hand found its usual place on your thigh, squeezing you affectionately.

“I’m gonna show off for you tonight,” he told you with his cocky grin, turned slightly toward you as he drove with one hand.

“I think you’ve already done that,” you assured him, returning his smile, resting your smaller hand on top of his enormous one. 

“Sugar, I’m gonna win you a whole pack of teddy bears at the shootin’ galleries,” he declared proudly. “Including the biggest one in the whole damn carnival.”

“You must really want to put all those teenagers to shame,” you laughed pleasantly.

“You’re damn right I do.” Flip nodded, laughing himself. “Teenagers make my life hell this time of year anyway. I’m gonna shame the fuck outta all of ‘em.”

“Is that how you became a decorated marksman? Shooting ducks in a row and winning teddy bears?” you teased, as he drove past the city limits toward the colored lights of the carnival flickering in the distance.

“If I show off my real shootin’ skills, I think I’d make too much of a scene,” he joked back.

“You’d sure make a splash in the papers, though,” you teased, raising your eyebrows expectantly.

“Sugar, if this mug appears in the paper, I’d be more famous than I can handle,” he said with a smirk, quickly lifting his hand from your thigh to pinch your tit faster than you could smack him away.

“Only until they get a picture of me next to you and I steal the show.” Smirking yourself, you played by his rules. Pinning Flip’s hand to your thigh where he had returned it with your right, you shot your left hand out to pinch his own nipple, twisting it roughly as he flinched, grunting with surprise.

“Fuck, sugar,” he huffed, yanking his hand back from you to rub his chest, glaring at you playfully. “Don’t worry, I’m just fine bein’ your arm candy.”

Flip pulled to a stop in the dirt lot of the carnival. It was set in an abandoned farm. Tall rows of corn stretched across the property as far as you could see in the darkness, an ocean of tawny gold framed by trees on either side.

The cool autumn air hit you when you stepped out of Flip’s truck. Thankfully, Flip alleviated it almost immediately, taking your hand and pulling you tight to his side against his furnace of a body as you walked into the carnival. Lacing his giant fingers through yours, he raised your hand to his lips, placing a hot scruffy kiss on your skin.

After buying tickets, Flip made a beeline for the shooting games, all but dragging you along with him in his excited gait.

Standing at a booth housing rows of yellow tin ducks bobbing along on a track, Flip smirked down at you, holding his toy rifle, comically small in his huge hands. Flashing you a cocky wink, he twirled the gun in his right hand like John Wayne readying a lever-action.

Throwing the rifle up, the butt had barely made contact with his shoulder, his eyes sighting down the barrel for only a fraction of a second, before he squeezed off his first round, hitting a duck dead center with a resounding ping. Flip didn’t slow or take his eyes from his targets, firing round after round until he had run out of turns. He didn’t miss a single shot.

Just as he promised, Flip won you the best prize at the shooting gallery. He grinned at you when the young attendant handed you a medium-sized teddy bear. Holding your bear, you rewarded Flip by pulling him by his flannel lapels down into a kiss, putting the young couples around you to shame.

You were turning to look for the next game when Flip grabbed the bear from you, shoving the rifle into your hands.

“Now that you’ve seen the master in action,” he told you, puffing his chest like a smug jackass, “Let’s see what you’ve got, sugar.”

Rolling your eyes at him, you raised the gun to your shoulder. Taking the time to pick each target, you squeezed off shot after shot, only missing your mark twice out of your battery of shots. You lacked Flip’s panache, but you were a pretty decent shot yourself.

“I’m impressed.” Flip nodded in surprise, raising his eyebrows at you.

“I know how to take care of myself, handsome,” you said just as smugly as he would. “That I let you take care of me is a privilege, not a necessity.”

“I’m honored, sugar,” he huffed a laugh at your ribbing as the attendant handed you another bear, one size smaller than the one Flip had won for you.

“I better see this taken care of properly in your cabin,” you told him in a playful threat, handing him his bear and taking yours back from him.

Looping your free arm back through his, you each held your bears in your outside arms as you strolled through the carnival. Flip was in a great mood, only glaring with mild ferocity at a few teenagers whose eyes lingered on your figure too long.

Ahead, you spotted a tall lighted pillar with a big round bell at the top, the kind they ding in boxing matches only larger. At the bottom of the pillar was a red cushion, and an oversize mallet rested against the pillar. A scrawny attendant beckoned Flip forward, taunting him to see if he was man enough to ring the bell and win the strong man contest.

“You’ve rung my bell plenty of times,” you said loud enough for the kid to hear, bumping Flip with your shoulder. “Let’s see how you do with this one.”

Walking to the game in that naturally masculine way of his, Flip put his hands on his hips, evaluating the setup. The bell looked higher than usual, a typical travelling carnival trick to make it unwinnable.

“Has anybody ever rung that bell?” Flip asked the kid, who only shrugged his shoulders sullenly in reply.

“Alright, how many people since you set up shop here?” you joined in, questioning the kid. You had to press with several more attempts like he was a recalcitrant witness in a case, but he finally divulged that he had never seen anyone ring the bell.

“Then, it’s about damn time,” Flipped bragged, squaring his shoulders. 

Paying the teenager, Flip took the mallet, weighing it in his hands. It was around four feet long with a bulbous head, its handle candy striped with red and yellow.

Flip had swinging a heavy weapon down to an art form from his years of chopping wood. Stepping up to the game, Flip raised the mallet high, inhaling on his upswing as he reared back, and then with a huffed exhale, he slammed the mallet down viciously, putting all of his heavy weight into his strike.

The puck shot to the top of the pillar like a lightning bolt, ringing the bell loudly for all to hear.

You clapped your hands together heartily, applauding Flip when he turned to flash you his smug grin. Before picking out another teddy bear, Flip claimed his real prize, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you flush against his body for a heated kiss. Behind you, several other men lined up, preparing to disappoint their girlfriends when they failed to ring the bell after Flip.

“Wow, you’re strong mister,” exclaimed the teenager, as he handed you a giant oversized teddy bear to add to your carnival bounty. This bear’s plump body was larger than Flip’s torso.

“I didn’t think this through,” Flip grumbled as he took the large bear from you, carrying it for you so that your hands were free to touch him instead. Placing its neck in the crook of his arm, he carried it through the carnival in a headlock. “Are you gonna post this thing up somewhere in your bedroom where it’s lookin’ at me while I’m fuckin’ you?”

“Don’t pretend that you wouldn’t like an audience.” You looked up at him with a mischievous grin.

“People can watch me all night long, sugar, but no one but me is gonna be lookin’ at those curves of yours.” Flip shook his head at the thought, reaching his free hand down to pinch your ass before placing it on the small of your back possessively as you walked.

Next in your path was a stand selling all of the fatty sweet foods carnivals were renown for. Raising his nose into the air, Flip inhaled some of the greasy sweetness.

“Pick your poison,” you said, pulling him toward the stand.

“Give us your finest funnel cake,” Flip told the attendant, before commenting to you in a voice that was still too loud for privacy, “But it’s not gonna taste nearly as sweet as you, sugar.”

Taking the desert in his free hand, Flip sat it and your cache of bears down on a nearby table. Seating himself first, Flip pulled you down into his lap, locking his left arm around your waist, not giving you the opportunity to sit anywhere else. Laughing at his affection, you looped an arm around his shoulders, happy to have the best seat in the house.

You grabbed a sugary piece of funnel cake, offering it to Flip. He took it from your fingers between his lips, growling with pleasure as he then sucked the sweetness off your fingertips. Leaning down, you kissed some of the powdered sugar off his lips before having a piece yourself.

“Teddy bears, PDA, and dessert all in one evening?” you teased, twirling your fingers through Flip’s hair with your hand that draped over his shoulders. “What would the boys at the station think?”

“They’d think, ‘Goddamn, I wish I could get a girl like that,’” Flip purred in a tone richer than the dessert you both enjoyed. “And I’m gonna make damn sure I keep you happy.”

“I think you’re getting soft on me, Detective,” you said with a smile, kissing him again.

“Oh, I’m still plenty hard for you, sugar.” Flip grinned at you, bucking his hips up beneath you, grinding his half-hard cock into you.

After finishing the funnel cake, Flip eating the lion’s share and still somehow complaining about being hungry, he took you on every ride that struck your fancy, enjoying the way you clung tight to his arm on the faster rides. He made it a point to kiss you deeply at the top of the Ferris Wheel with the entire neon carnival glowing below you and the crystal white stars shimmering above you.

Somehow, you even managed to drag Flip into a photobooth, forcing him to sit through several rounds of pictures. In most of them, he was making a face that was some version of a growl or a grimace, but in a few he was smirking in that handsome way of his, and in a few others, he was kissing your neck and cheek while you again sat in his lap.

Calling it a night, you both headed out, walking arm in arm back to Flip’s truck, through the lights of the carnival that seemed as dazzling as the starry sky. Flip fumbled for his keys, cursing under his breath at having to juggle his armful of teddy bears, only making your smile widen. It had been as perfect a date night as you could imagine. Of course, once you got home, Flip ensured your evening was filled with even more fireworks than all of the lights of the carnival combined.

*******************************************************************************************

Tagging some buddies: @babbushka @in-silks-and-flesh-and-leather @mrs-gucci @mrs-zimmerman @iamburdened @gabesprincess @rynwritesstuff @candycanes19 @caillea @cas-backwards-tie @queeniebee @mythrielofsolitude @ghoulian13 @icarusinthesea @darkhairedmenrule @reyloaddict55 @fizzywoohoo @heartlight-starlight @clydesfavoritegirl @emi11ie @bensolodyad @danidanisara @thepalaceofmelanie @celiholland @durangoninetyfive @hopelovepinkglitter

#my stuff! #my writing #halloween #flip zimmerman x reader #flip zimmerman x you #best #fic #flip

[gasha40k]

My last post involving Custodes was around 4 months ago. Since then, a lot of stuff has happened, both on the 40k front and in my personal life.

First and foremost, the ongoing crusade that I’m helming is in full swing. The eastern front grows evermore saturated with xenos scum, and on the west coast, an endless tide of Goffs crashes against Space Marine vanguard forces made up of Thunderbearers and my brother’s Ultramarines Successors, the Cobalt Lancers.

This has been our most active turn by far. While threats to the Imperium cover every inch of this doomed land, the Inquisition has ordered Imperial forces to secure the crashed planetary fragment at all costs— orders that have re-shifted the goal of the Calthradian Crusade for many. The Cobalt Lancers arrived to the planet alongside these Inquisitorial orders, and immediately made to relieve their Thunderbearers brothers.

They were, of course, met by Orks, in what would become the Battle of Deadside Pass. Deadside Pass is the name of a tight, mountainous passageway from the beachhead— the only entrance from the coast to the mainland. The Cobalt Lancers positioned themselves in the pass, waiting to stop any Orks pushing through.

Unfortunately for the Cobalt Lancers, Rex Manticore, the Goffs leader, had only grown from his encounter with the Thunderbearers. The Goffs wiped the Ultramarines, claiming the pass. Now the Thunderbearers make way to strike back against the Orks, and to reclaim the pass.

Meanwhile, the Cobalt Lancers move towards the objective: the fragment.

This is the “thing” from last post: the moon fragment that the Cobalt Lancers are moving towards. I wanted to try and make a cool set piece for this special story mission, and I think it went pretty well. All of this shit is from a nearby craft store and it was mostly just styrofoam and acrylic paint.

She’s gross! I’m very happy with this and I think it was a great learning experience. You can just do fucking anything with cardboard, it’s crazy.

So this is the mission objective. But who will the Cobalt Lancers be fighting for it?

Shadowkeepers. Finally putting paint on these dudes after like, 6 months, and I’m excited to pull them out for this story mission, as well. It should be very fun. My brother doesn’t have any experience fighting Custodes, either, so it’ll be grand to see his reaction when he realizes that he can’t shoot any of them unless he has AP weapons.

The main thing holding me back from finishing these dudes was my unfinished Lockwarden, but I bit the bullet and just finished him. Here he is. While it isn’t quite the hooded weirdo I wanted it to be, the helmet’s brutality does convey “warden,” and the seals help to convey the esoteric nature of the Shadowkeepers. He’s suitably intimidating and cool, and with all my men built and based, I can sit my goofy ass down and finish them. The next step is those bases; green stuff & fancy rollers are a bit out of my pay grade at the moment, so I’ll likely be hitting up the Michael’s and getting clay and whatever texture rollers they have there.

If there’s something I’ve learned, it’s that it takes me forever to finish anything. It’s taken me around 5 months to get these guys done. It took me around 5 months to finish my Intercessors. Maybe I’ve got a magic number thing going on.

#warhammer 40k #miniatures #painting #building #terrain #calthradia crusade #battle report #adeptus astartes #orks #adeptus custodes #cobalt lancers #goffs #shadowkeepers

[macgyvertape]

D2 Witch Queen thoughts

gameplay thoughts here, full and post campaign story spoilers below cut

Legendary campaign is fun right up until the last mission with feels like a slog

The 20% buff exotic primaries got feels great, especially since so many encounters on legendary are fought at far range where you want infinite ammo

Really the glaive reminds me much more of a 40k Adeptus Custodes Guardian Spear with both the melee and shooting than any glaive I’ve swung around irl. It’s a fun weapon and I look forward to trying it in raids

Legendary difficulty enemy AI feels different, it’s like Halo level of smart to take cover and flank and its difficult without bullet sponges and bullshit mechanics of champions. That world enemies will kill me and run off actually challenges me to not just throw myself at them and wipe

The soundtrack is so great, great sections with heavy brass and also just a wide range in melodies. I didn’t really like the Shadowkeep soundtrack but I really enjoy the tracks that play when fighting hive bosses

Ranged void melee on warlock is so nice but i wish we had also had the old close one

Honestly void and stasis feel op (in a good way) with the reworked classes, and that the play on Legendary is to always weaken or crowd control enemies. The devs were right when they predicted that

The graphics looks better especially the prerendered cutscenes, wish I could play this game above medium settings

A lot of fun seeing enemies in open world with skulls next to them who hit hard. Arbalast absolutely shreds through them when they're frozen by stasis

The weapon forging seems like it needs refinement, the grind of materials due to cost of reforging, as well as having to level a second roll of the same weapon due to cost or quick swapping doesn’t disincentivize hoarding random rolls like the devs wanted it too

Wellspring events are fun, reminds me a lot of Reckoning from Season of the Drifter. I’ll wait to grind out the quest required weapon frames until after drop rate is buffed

Doing a legendary dares 15 below power level, now i know how those new lights felt last season. Final boss phase took so long it went enraged, and it was an actual adrenaline rush

So we’re allied with the cabal but go and slaughter a lot of them to use the cannon, if we’re supposed to feel bad about killing ghosts are we supposed to feel about about killing those guards just doing their job during a ceasefire?

Great visual design with Savathun’s gothic cathedral looking ship that still has obvious Hive influences, reminds me of 40k Imperium space cathedral ships

Lego table looking weapon crafting system still looks a bit silly, curious beyond that is it finally a weapon testing range or a yet to be discovered secret

Fynch is pretty charming even if he’s overly earnest

Oh the ghosts chose the hive? Why didn’t some chose the Eliksni unless the Hive’s magic powers pre-qualified them

Immaru what an asshole (fondly),  I have a weakness for sarcastic antagonists

Glad the game lets you know with the brutal modifier when you’re significantly below power level. Aside from like power level stuff normal campaign mission has felt pretty easy so I’m gonna switch to legendary with friends

Mission 3 The Ghosts is night and day difficulty on Legendary (even with a full fireteam it’s a lot harder than solo on normal) especially with such close quarters to the Boss and his burn attacks

The shifting passage maze of expunge feels like the predecessor to the pyramid level, and the truesight with the Shatter realms feels like the prototype for Deepsight

Cool seeing all the weird statues in the pyramid, some look kinda like horses which I’m not sure if its meant to be Star Horse or just trying to make the abstract make sense

Strike and public events with the moving platform are super cool, bet it took a lot of testing to get those objects moving without bugs

The Cunning mission was stand out great, the boss showed that each mission forces you to play a bit differently, the surprise ahamkara is a great first time playthrough twist, and then the vehicle escape segment is what I’ve been wanting from campaigns since the red war. (I love vehicle escapes in the Bungie Halo games) 

This whole campaign felt like a proper and varied expansion, since it was both longer than Curse of Osiris and Warmind and had more variety than the go kill x members of council of Shadowkeep and Beyond Light

Glad Ikora gets to be the main protagonist this expansion, again glad they recast the VA because I enjoyed her character arc about her doubts due to not spotting Savathun’s disguise as Osiris, but also continuing elements of her story from the Red War in regards to faith in the Traveler

Hilarious that ghost doesn’t recognize the whole “devotion requires bravery” quote thats like the running theme for destiny 2

Its hard to write a clever villain who outsmarts the protagonists who are supposed to be clever as well, without it feeling like people have to have to hold the idiot ball especially because showing someone is smart is a lot harder to write than just telling the audience they are clever. Think the writing team pulled it off here

Wow Savathun justs asks the Traveler for the light and gets it, I think that would again completely re-enforce Eramis’ views of: traveler unfair and bad

Didn’t realize that the “hive were tricked by the worm gods” was a surprise revelation, thought it was a pretty common fan theory and just the characters not knowing what the player knows was why it hadn’t been addressed

The weapon crafting table does actually look cool when pieces are moving and transforming

Aside: wow Sathona is super skeletal uncanny valley with the exposed teeth even more like a skeleton. Somehow that form of hers is the creepiest 

Getting top the top of the ship to see all of the throne room was great, to just appreciate how nicely designed the map was. All the membrane looking eyes on the wall and the giant tolling bell kinda reminds be a bit of bloodborne vibes (the swamps help too)

Immaru got away, a loose end that means Savathun can come back

Cutscene with the Witness looked cool, lots of detailed effects and moving parts, right up until we saw a goofy looking face instead of keeping it just a stream of skulls. Can’t wait to see that plot thread elaborated upon in the raid

I know they consolidated the player character voice actors, nice to see the payoff with a lot more voiced Guardian

I never felt bad for killing the hive ghosts: 1) its a lot more of the game forcing us to do so instead of just zapping them with a draining device and running off with them, 2) the Hive guardians still have not stopped attacking guardians/humanity so its us vs them

I’d been wondering since Broodhold strike like what if someone put a worm in a human like some fucked up version of a Star Trek Trill, but didn’t expect Mara to volunteer, lmao

Agonizing that Flynch will say “the hive’s got something to hide, lets play hide and seek” instead of hive and seek. THE PUNS RIGHT THERE!

Whole campaign but like 1 mention of Xivu Arath which is a conspicuous absence

Exotic worm launcher questline: unlike the Hive ghosts I don’t find the worm cute, but the new strike is pretty cool. The implication that I should be distrustful that Mara’s made contingencies to kill a variety of people falls flat considering the point of Elsie in Beyond Light was we aren’t immune from becoming one of the horrors of the Darkest Timeline.

The final worm quest (parasitic pilgrimage) is the jumping puzzle trap hell, Pit of Heresy style; it's awful solo but the weapon is fun. The worm bitching at you the whole time is why I don’t like it

Pretty great bait and switch with the whole “host” thing, doing the quest again with a friend, it was very letter of the agreement not spirit of (Spider was so fond of that)

I do think this questline did a good job at letting Mara have doubts that for a change aren’t tied to Uldren/Crow, more humanizing character moments are great since I think her character has been increasingly inscrutable to new players as more things are vaulted. It’s easy to believe Mara’s public moment of weakness and doubt was a ploy to trick the worm though the emotions behind it are genuine.

The altar of reflection quests are cool though hard to find initially; Savathun keeps her mystique after being dead and just starts more questions and mysteries.

The Lucent Hive Executioners are a good challenge in open world, shame theyre just hard to find on a slow timer for the quest

#destiny 2 #destiny 2 witch queen #witch queen spoilers #destiny 2 spoilers #mac plays video games #yeah due to fear that this might one day be vaulted #ive just started to jot down notes as i play through new content #liveblog