#bombshell au

[zoe-oneesama]

Quick, what's an evil version of "Fox Trot"?

Episode 53 Part 4 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50, Ep 51, Ep 52

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[edorazzi]

Finally - page 1 of my Miraculous Mentor AU webcomic A Matter of Trust! I'm so excited to finally start releasing this monster project! ( ♡ᗜ♡)

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[varpusvaras]

Beru found out about their new neighbour on a one pretty unremarkable day.

Owen was out that afternoon, gone to recycle some of the old machinery parts they had left after one of their perimeter sensors had finally been worn down by the increased storms. The desert was calm that day, thankfully, as Luke had started to become very restless from not getting to go outside in days.

Perhaps Beru should've realised that such restlessness was going to make Luke forget their usual rules, in his haste to get out of the house, as all of a sudden she noticed that the immediate area around the house was uncharacteristically quiet, and not full of noises made by little boy playing space battles.

She didn't, however, get too far in her searches, when there was a tall shadow casted onto the sand right next to hers.

"Excuse me-" The man didn't even get to finish what he was saying, when Beru had already reacher for the prybar in the toolbox and turned around, gripping it tightly and ready to strike.

The Suns were partially behind the man, obscuring his features momentarily from her. She was tall and broad-shouldered, standing straight with his head held high even in the heat of the day. On his arms he held Luke, who had his arms around the man's neck in a relaxed, loose grip.

That made her loosen up her grip from the prybar just a little. Luke had the gift of knowing when to trust people, even if sometimes that trust overextended itself a little. The man's hold of Luke was, however, also relaxed, which made him a bit more trustworthy to Beru.

The man bend down and placed Luke onto the ground, and by doing so, he gave his face enough shadow for Beru to see him better.

He looked young, if a bit weathered, with some lines already forming on his face, though Beru could tell that they were in places that usually got creased up when someone was constantly concerned about something. There was a long scar running down the side of his face, showing up starkly as the skin around it had tanned more recently. It was the thing that told Beru that the man had not spent too much time on the desert yet, despite his clothes having already been weathered as well, and his footing being even enough on the sand. His dark, curly hair looked like it had only now started to grow out of a very well-maintained shorter cut. Another sign of him being a newcomer.

Still, there was something familiar in him, something Beru couldn't quite place, and she wasn't quite sure if that should've made her relax more or be more suspicious of him.

The man looked at her. His dark eyes were just as weathered as the rest of him, but still kind.

Beru made her decision. She lowered the prybar, and let go of it with her other hand, grabbing at Luke instead.

The man's shoulders lowered a bit as well.

"Excuse me", he said. "I saw your nephew had gotten a bit far away from the house."

Beru looked down at Luke. He looked up at her, and gave her a bit of a sheepish smile.

"Yes", Beru said, and looked back up at the man. "Thank you."

The man nodded.

"No problem at all", he said to her, and then turned to speak to Luke. "Stay where you're supposed to. The desert is a dangerous place."

"But you were there by yourself as well", Luke piped up, not able to resist the urge to talk back just a little.

The man smiled at him. Beru though he had a rather nice smile, even if it was worn down as well. She wondered what kind of hardships he had gone through, out there in the Galaxy, to seem like he had been sanded down by a multiple of storms already.

"I've seen a lot of places that are worse than this, kid", the man said. "I'll be just fine."

He then nodded his head again at Beru, lifted the back of the dark blue cape he had draped over his shoulders over his head, turned around and walked into the desert without another word.

Beru watched him go, ever so slightly confused about the whole interaction. She only moved his eyes away when Luke tugged at her hand.

"Did you know him?" He asked. "I've never seen him before. Not here or in town."

Beru shook her head.

"No", she said. "Did he say anything to you?"

She had not had the mind to even ask the man his name. She looked back out in the desert. He had already disappeared somewhere beyond the dunes.

Luke shook his head.

"He did know you are my aunt", he said. "And not my mom."

True, Beru realised. He had called Luke her nephew, without any introductions.

She decided not to be too alarmed about that. There weren't a lot of people who lived in the area. Chances were that the man had just heard about them already, and remembered who lived in the house.

Still. Not a lot people lived in the area, and even less had any business around there either. On top of that, even though she was more than sure that she had never seen the man before, Beru thought he had looked awfully familiar in some way.

"He seemed nice", Luke said. "He felt nice."

"If you say so, my little sun", Beru said. "Your feelings are often very precise."

She decided not to tell Owen about the man that evening. He would've just gotten unnecessarily worried about it.

----

Beru saw a dark blue cape in the corner of her eye.

When she turned, it wasn't the man from the desert, even if she was sure it was the same cape, with the tattered edges and faded shoulders.

She did know the man wearing it, though. Ben seemed to feel her eyes on him, as he also turned to look at her, and very briefly nodded at her before he went back to dealing with a customer.

Beru thought about it as she went on her business, and she walked back by Ben's stall as she came back.

Ben was already packing up by then, and Beru saw that he had also made purchases, as he was tying some wares that Beru didn't believe he had brought all the way from his house to the town. At the top were a new bedroll, and a pair of boots that even from afar looked too big for Ben's feet.

Beru smiled, before turning away. It really seemed like Ben wasn't alone anymore. That was good.

[goldenamaranthe-blog]

All I Want for Christmas Is....

Yang: (clinging to the door frame for dear life as an unknown entity pulls her away)

Sun: (nails screeching across the floor as he's pulled by the tail by the same entity, finally catching the doorframe)

Jaune: (crying and screaming like a little girl as he's being dragged through the building like a ragdoll by the same entity as Sun and Yang)

Yang & Sun: (grab Jaune just as he's about to fly passed the doorway)

Jaune: (holding on for dear life) Thanks, guys!

Yang & Sun: Don't mention it!

Ruby: (from the couch and watching the scene unfold) What's going on?

Neptune: I have no idea, but it's funny. (munches popcorn)

Blake: Should... should we do something?

Weiss: We don't even know what has them.

Emerald: (Walks in) Oh, Santa must be gathering all the materials he needs to deliver presents.

RNBW: Say what now?

YSJ: (struggling to hold on) People....have....got to stop....asking for....attractive, heart of gold, golden retriever personified blondes for Christ- (slowly disappear from view) -maaaaaaas!

Ruby: Uh.... Blake, Neptune, aren't you guys right here?

Weiss: And your partners just got spirited away because someone else wished for them from Santa?

Blake & Neptune: (leap from their seats with their weapons drawn) OH, HELL, NO!!! (give chase)

Blake: Get back here with my blonde, Fat Man!!!

Neptune: That is MY muscle, monkey, boytoy!

Santa: Ho-Ho-Holy Fuck!!! Bring it on, children! I'll put both of you on the naughty list!

RWE: (blink) Uhhhh...

Penny: (suddenly being levitated passed the window, stiff as a board) Hello, girlfriend Ruby! Goodbye, girlfriend Ruby!

Ruby: Hey! That one's mine! (lock and loads Crescent Rose and gives chase)

[un-pearable]

i can’t actually finish the “everyone gets yoinked from different parts of the series by time travel” fic until i finish my rewatch/catch-up but i am never not thinking about it

wip chronology decisions. poor kai trying to wrangle everyone into actually solving the problem and going home. he thought pixal was normal and would be able to help but then he got Monologued™

[mixelation]

when i first started posting about the reborn au, i must have gotten 10+ asks about minato/kushina/kakashi/jiraiya's reaction to tori's icha icha theories. and i never replied because i couldn't think of anything i thought was sufficiently funny/interesting. until now

kushina: aren't you a little young to be reading that?

tori: if i'm old enough to kill, i'm old enough to read porn, aren't i?

kushina: i guess........

tori, feeling mischievous: hey, you know jiraiya, right?

kushina: oh, yes!

tori: (debating best way to ask if kushina has noticed satsuki is TOTALLY orochimaru)

kushina, proudly: fuyuko-chan is totally based on me, you know!!!!!!!

tori: (drops her book)

[wonderwomanpleasesteponme]

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 150 YEARS

For @compaculaaa's wtfiys for the sparkling sibling au.

It has been a long time since they’ve done this, and ‘this’ being a family dinner. It has been a good 150 years since their family has been in the same place. 96 years since Archa 7 where Elita 1 was left behind to become the spiderformer known as Black Arachnia and claimed that she wanted nothing to do with her brothers who had seemly left her behind, 96 years since Optimus was expelled from Autobot Academy by his own sire when he took the fall for his older brother, Sentinel, 50 years since Optimus’ space bridge repair crew was attacked by Megatron leaving them trapped in stasis pods on an unknown planet, 3 years since Optimus’ team awoke on Earth, and a year since Ultra Magnus was attacked by the Decepticon spy Shockwave, who turned out to be Longarm Prime their old daycare teacher turned head of intelligence, and left in a coma for a year.

With Optimus’ return from Earth with a captured Megatron, Lugnut, Starscream’s dead body and the missing Autobot scientist Mesothulas. With everything that has happened to them and how badly the siblings’ relationship has deteriorated over these last few years none of the thought that this family dinner was going to end well. What they weren’t prepared for was Alpha Trion to bring out the family photo album and start telling them stories from when they were younger.

The Prime family dinner so far has been awkward to say the least to say the least so far. They had tried getting Uncle Maccadam to come, but Maccadam’s Old Oil House’s annual drinking contest ended up falling on the same the day that everyone else could agree on to meet, so he wouldn’t join them until much later. Ultra Magnus originally didn’t want to join them and leave it to just be a Carrier/Creation bonding day, as he was set to join the crew of the Lost Light captained by Rodimus Prime after stepping down from being the Magnus, but Alpha Trion had forced him into coming as he wouldn’t be on Cybertron for possibly years.

Finally Alpha Trion had enough of the awkwardness and practicality no one talking to each other. Alpha Trion pulled out a thick oldish looking book from his subspace and slammed it down on the table startling the other members of his family.

“Since nobody’s talking to each other, I think it’s time we go down a little trip down memory lane,” said Alpha Trion as he flipped through pages.

The siblings and their sire nervously looked at each other not knowing what the oldest member of their family was going to throw at them. Finally, he stopped at a page he liked and held up the book so his family could see. The picture was of Ultra Magnus up a five-year-old Sentinel so the shopkeeper of the store that they were in could see him. The shopkeeper was a tall lanky bot who looked a little like Shockwave with their clawed servos and singular yellow optic surrounded by black nothingness. The shopkeeper held up a pointed digit up towards Sentinel with a tired expression while Sentinel gave them a look that could only be read as ‘get the pit out of my face’.

“Darling, you remember this don’t you?” asked Alpha Trion.

Ultra Magnus’ face was filled with displeasure and disappointment looking at the shopkeeper in the photo. Black Arachnia and Optimus found it in themselves to snicker at sparkling Sentinel’s face while grown up Sentinel sat in between them presently. Ultra Magnus gave a sigh before saying that he does.

“I hardly doubt that any of you kids would remember this, but this was when Optimus had that weird obsession with trains and clocks, and wanted a clock that was also a train, I had just wanted to buy a cheap plastic toy train and the glue a small pocket watch on it, but your sire was having none of that and insisted on getting a costume one made,” said Alpha Trion before pausing the story to take a sip of his drink.

“After the war there weren’t many places selling physical clocks that weren’t apart of kitchen appliances, because every bot switched over to using their internal chronometer, so your sire ended up searching all over the planet looking for someone to make this clock, and the only bot who makes costume clocks anymore turned out to be Whirl, who was apart of the last platoon he taught when he was just a drill sergeant,” said Alpha Trion laughing lightly.

That would explain their sire’s sour mode when he saw Whirl in the image. They’ve all heard stories of how all their sire’s Autobot bootcamp students going on to be great and decorated war heroes. So, one having end up as a simple shopkeeper selling and making clocks would be like one of them becoming a dock worker and not going into the military or in a science field.

Optimus felt embarrassed to have his childhood obsession with trains and clocks, of all things, brought up again after having long grown out of it. At least Sari and Bumblebee weren’t there to hear that, because knowing them they would mercilessly bully him for it, albeit playful bullying. Both Sentinel and Black Arachnia gave the faintest of ghost smiles upon being reminded of Optimus’ childhood obsession.

Alpha Trion started flipping back through the book before finding another photo he liked. Once again, he held the book up high for everyone to see.

The photo was another of Sentinel when he was younger, this time he was a youngling instead of a sparkling. He was sitting on the floor, arms crossed and pouting, looking clearly beaten up. Standing beside him was their sire looking disappointed in his son. Next to them was another beaten up kid and their parent. The other kid although was of a smaller frame build, but their armor looked much thicker than Sentinel’s, with a purple, black and yellow paint job and bug like features, and on top of that the kid looked clearly proud of themself. The parent was another tall lanky bot whose most notable feature was that two of their wheels were encased in metal skeleton wings with two arch shaped metal pieces below each of the wings, they had orange coloured optics, which was rare for an Autobot, and the thing holding the look together was their rust red and sliver colour scheme. The winged bot as though they were barely keeping themselves from laughing.

Sentinel’s face flushed upon seeing the picture as he stood up. It looked like Sentinel remembered clearly what led up to that picture being taken.

“Don’t you dare tell them about that!” Sentinel yelled while pointing at their carrier.

While making no attempt to hide the fact that she was laughing, Black Arachnia grabbed ahold of one of Sentinel’s arms. Optimus followed his sister’s lead and grabbed ahold of Sentinel’s other arm. Both of them pulled Sentinel back into his seat while shaking him slightly.

“Come Senty, let carrier tell us the story,” said Black Arachnia in a sing song voice.

“Plus, it had happened a long time ago,” added Optimus.

Sentinel made a face of disgust at them before snaring.

“Well it isn’t your embarrassment being outed,” replied Sentinel.

“Sentinel, it’s in the family album it’s meant to be something to look back and laugh at,” said Black Arachnia in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sentinel crossed his arms and slumped down into his chair. Optimus thought that it made Sentinel look just like he did in the picture, which made Optimus laugh.

“The story behind this, was that Sentinel had gotten into a fight with the kid next to him. Sentinel thought it was a fight he could easily win, but the kid he was fighting with easily beat him,” said Alpha Trion looking fondly on the memory.

“Your sire wasn’t even mad that he got into the fight, but that he lost it, your sire was even more upset with the fact that the kid’s carrier found the whole thing hilarious and said, ‘at least you didn’t lose’ to their kid,” said Alpha Trion.

Black Arachnia and Optimus couldn’t keep it back and burst out laughing. Sentinel glared at his siblings but that made them laugh even harder than before.

“Hot damn, they look fine though,” commented Black Arachnia.

Black Arachnia’s comment made Ultra Magnus spit his drink and for Optimus to stop laughing. Sentinel audibly ew’d at his sister’s comment.

“I’m sorry?” asked Ultra Magnus, still in shock.

“I said what I said that kid’s carrier is fine,” replied Black Arachnia.

“Elita you can’t say that about people you don’t know,” said Alpha Trion.

Black Arachnia let out a low growl at being called Elita. She scoffed and rolled her optics’ at her carrier’s comment.

“Relax carrier, I do know them, they’re the one who introduced me to Sliverbolt in the first place,” said Black Arachnia.

For everyone other than Alpha Trion and Black Arachnia this was their first-time hearing about this Sliverbolt bot. Ultra Magnus had the worst-case scenario pop up in his mind. Was his baby girl courting someone without him knowing? Ultra Magnus shook that thought from his head, there was no way his daughter got into something that serious without telling any of them.

“Who’s Sliverbolt?” Optimus asked.

“Oh, he’s just a friend, Acidbrust introduced to me at a science conference when he was helping them move some things that they needed for their presentation,” said Black Arachnia a little too quickly and while rubbing the back of her head with her servo.

Black Arachnia’s older brothers and sire looked at her speciously, already not trusting this Sliverbolt bot.

“And how do you know Acidburst?” asked Ultra Magnus.

“Oh, I met them after my accident in one of Fortress Maximus’ many labs, they were originally assigned to my case but managed to convince Perceptor to let them transfer back to the project they were working before mine,” said Black Arachnia more casually than when she was talking about Sliverbolt.

Ultra Magnus let the relief wash over him. ‘Good, so this Sliverbot bot is just a lab assistant that she met, nothing to worry about,’ thought Ultra Magnus. Unlike their sire Sentinel and Optimus couldn’t care less if their sister was courting someone or not, it was none of their business and her decision. They would only get involved in their sister’s love life if the guy she happened to be an afthole.

During the time that Ultra Magnus, Sentinel and Optimus took to question Black Arachnia, Alpha Trion flipped through the photo album again looking for another picture he liked. Finally, he found one, slamming his servos down on the table to get everyone’s attention. Once again, he held the book up for everyone to see the image clearly.

The photo was of a Black Arachnia when she was Elita 1 as a young child. Elita appeared not to be happy whatsoever. Laying around her were some of her childhood dolls, and next to her was another youngling who appeared to be holding one of Elita’s dolls and giving Elita a questioning look. The youngling was a femme of a larger build, she also had the same colour scheme as the kid that Sentinel had gotten into a fight with only with slight barely noticeable alterations, on top of her helm was two large grey horns and a red visor covering her optics. All of this gave the youngling Decepticon look.

“As all of you know Elita used to be a bit of a brat when she was younger,” started Alpha Trion, “this was when we decided that you kids needed some friends who weren’t also children of high council members, even though I don’t think that you even got along with most of them.”

Sentinel, Optimus and Black Arachnia remembered their creators painful attempt at getting them to try to make more friends. All the younglings that they tried to get Black Arachnia to befriend all liked to rough house and run around screaming when she didn’t, the kids Optimus was forced to be friends with were way too into horror and gore to be healthy for younglings their age when he couldn’t stand that kind of things at all, and Sentinel could not get along with anyone outside of council kids at all back then. It was a disaster to say the least.

“Elita couldn’t stand the kids we set up playdates with, especially Shrapnel here, because according to Elita she was ‘too wild’, which is funny to look back on when you realize that Shrapnel is also Acidburst’s creation along with the kid, Bombshell, in the picture with Sentinel I just showed you,” said Alpha Trion while smiling.

Now that was kind of funny knowing that Black Arachnia was friends with Acidburst themself and with someone they introduced to her. Black Arachnia had changed quite a lot since childhood especially when her accident happened, so it made sense that she was able to get along with bots that before she normally wouldn’t have gotten along with. Sentinel made a mental note to look up Bombshell’s name in the Autobot database to see what he had been up since their last meeting. Optimus also wondered what they were up nowadays, so he also made a mental note to look up each of Acidburst’s creations on the database.

Black Arachnia cringed thinking about her past behaviour, it was just too embarrassing to be something that she would do now with her disfigurements. She also felt even more embarrassed because her creators were cooing over how cute she used to be as a sparkling and her brothers laughing slightly at it.

” Well, since you told us about our childhood, how about you tell us about yours?” asked Black Arachnia, “it only seems fair.”

Alpha Trion laughed at his child’s comment. Ultra Magnus was worried about this because he knew, judging off the stories he was told by Alpha Trion and Maccadam, that his conjunx and his siblings were menaces to society when they were younger.

“Of course, my child, because unlike some bots I am not ashamed of my childhood misadventures,” said Alpha Trion.

Alpha Trion flipped to the front of the book where the pages had yellowed, and the edges of the paper were heavily damaged. That section of the book was very thin, making everyone else realize that because this was so long-ago Alpha Trion probably didn’t have that many photos of his siblings that survived the years. After a shot time Alpha Trion, found a photo that he liked. Alpha Trion looked sadly at the photo before holding it up for the rest of the family to see.

The photo displayed a youngling of about 13 vorns old, with a dark almost purple blue and black paintjob, a crown like headpiece and a flowing purple cape with stars all over it, but the thing that caught everyone’s attention was the fact that the youngling’s face was obscured was a blinding that travelled down to their chasis, sitting down in front of a fountain. Behind the youngling and fountain in the sky, clear as day was two older younglings sword frighting each other. The two younglings were being lifted into the sky by the thrusters in their pedes, they were quite obviously flyers. The one on the left had a white and magenta paintjob with gold highlights, with rather untraditional wings making it obvious that they weren’t a seeker or any kind of jet. The one on the right had a primarily red paintjob with some white here and there and some purple on their helm, without a doubt the figure in the picture was Alpha Trion when he was a youngling.

“You’re a flyer!” yelled Sentinel in shock.

Black Arachnia froze when she realized this, now that she thought about it, she had never saw her carrier transform for all she knew her carrier could have been forged a monoformer. Suddenly a lot of things made sense for Optimus now knowing the information that his carrier is a flyer. Like how he was able to master flying around with his jetpack on Earth so quickly despite never having flown like that before and why Slipstream had thought that he was Starscream. Sentinel did not like flyers at all, mostly because it seemed like all of them were Decepticons, but he did like the jettwins because the council had complete control over them, so the information that his own carrier was a flyer it him the hardest. Ultra Magnus had known about Alpha Trion’s altmode since they started courting and will forever be guilty about the fact that he made it practically illegal to be a flyer or have an altmode that was warframe aligned on Cybertron, even though Alpha Trion was the one who suggested the law as a way to end the war.

“This was when one of my brothers, Vector, and I had gotten into a fight over something I had long forgotten about and we ended photobombing a picture our carrier was trying to take of our youngest sibling, Orionus,  in front of a fountain in the newly founded Metroplex, unseen in this image is Beta laughing like a manic as she climbed a building to try and join our fight while our oldest sibling, Prima,  tried to break up our fight,” said Alpha Trion while laughing remembering his siblings and his antics when they were younger.

Everyone took some time to fully process that story. Getting into a fight with one of your siblings and accidentally photobombing their carrier as they tried to take a picture of one of their other siblings seemed like that Sentinel, Optimus and Black Arachnia would do. Ultra Magnus looked like he was glad that his conjunx was no longer like that and has since grown into the role of wise old mentor.

“Who’s Beta?” asked Optimus, “they aren’t in our family tree.”

Alpha Trion’s optics went wide at the question before realizing he was the one who brought up Beta in the first place, before a sad look came across his face. Ultra Magnus looked concerned for his conjunx, he knew that Beta was a sour topic for Alpha Trion. Alpha Trion had only mention Beta a servo full of times, he could count the number of times Alpha Trion mentioned Beta to him on one servo, but from what he knew, Beta was a freedom fighter in the early days of a war long forgotten to modern day historians and later a general in the Destrons army, the combined forces of the Autobots and Decepticons’ military back when they were a single faction.

“Beta was my only conjunx before bonding with your sire, she died long before the Autobot/Decepticon war had begun, the only reason why she wasn’t in any of the family trees was because back then we only added conjunxs to the tree after they had a creation with the family member they were bonded, and well, Beta and I never had any creations during the time we were bonded for,” said Alpha Trion sadly.

This was the most information that Ultra Magnus had ever heard about Beta. He always suspected that Alpha Trion had been involved before, but the elder bot had never told him about any of his past lovers, and he had no interest in finding out about them. The siblings also became sad upon learning about their carrier’s dead conjunx, everyone knew that losing a bondmate was one of the most painful things that could happen to someone not only because they were losing someone, they loved but because they were also losing apart of their spark as well.

Before they could become even more depressed by this information the dinning room door suddenly slammed open. Everyone immediately turned their heads to who had opened the door. Standing in the doorway was Uncle Maccadam and an unknown bot with a white and sliver paintjob who looked like in another life they could have been a flyer but appeared to have a sports car altmode.

“Hopefully, I’m not too late,” said Uncle Maccadam, “also I found this one pacing around outside, he said that he had wanted to talk to Black Arachnia.”

Black Arachnia looked surprised to see the sliver bot there before blushing and turning her face away from him. Ultra Magnus saw this and did not like the picture that was forming in his head.

“Hi,” said the newcomer while waving, “the name’s Sliverbolt.”

The boys and their sire were surprised to hear that this was Sliverbolt because he did not look like a lab assistant, especially one that would be in a biology lab. That was when they noticed his Autobot insignia was that of the Elite guard but there was a thin line of red surrounding it signalling him to be a member of the Autobot Airforce. That was when it hit Ultra Magnus on who Sliverbolt was, he was the youngest Airforce captain, even though when he was just a pilot, he wasn’t named the youngest pilot because that title belonged to a monoformer by the name of Nyx and was the commander of a small team known as the Airealbots despite having a fear of heights. At least he was someone that he could keep tabs on and not some random shopkeeper, but that still doesn’t mean he trusts Sliverbolt’s intentions with his daughter.

Sentinel looked grumpy to find out that Sliverbolt was a member of the airforce but Optimus was just glad to meet someone who was able to make his sister happy after her accident. Sliverbolt looked nervous to see all of Black Arachnia’s family there, he obviously wasn’t expecting a family dinner to be going. Alpha Trion waved at them to join them at the table. It took everything in Ultra Magnus to not turn the family dinner into an interrogation by questioning Sliverbolt about his relationship with Black Arachnia.

The rest of the afternoon went by smoothly. Even though Ultra Magnus and Sentinel were staring daggers at Sliverbolt and Uncle Maccadam annoying the ever-living spark out of Alpha Trion. They spent the afternoon playing boardgames and going over more photos from the photo album with Sliverbolt sharing a few stories about his team which made Optimus respond with stories of his own team. All in all this afternoon made them realize that there was still hope for their family despite all the tragedy their family faced in recent years.

[crying-fantasies]

Grain offerings

Once, you tried to work near home, no one really wanted to and you were part of that group, everyone knows what kind of things are in a now abandoned house way too near, you didn't saw them but every other person apparently did with every detail or they are simply lying to get everyone in a paranoia nervousness that sits thick even in the market.

You didn't live during the havock of the war but humans still got their reservations about cybertronians, you have seen people escape from them even when all they do is ask for directions, you have seen videos of them playing volleyball with humanson the next town by a video, even a couple of different species out in a date like it was totally not frowned upon, different from where you live, you get it, really do, most people in town have been scarred to some level by the war and you've seen a few cybertronians that are a pain in the ass, but time and hostility may have made them act in such a way especially to the adults when you were younger, some could describe you as strange by not acting the same way your parents or everyone else did, maybe it was because you weren't alive during the war or the cybertronian temporary occupation that bordered in constant danger, or maybe it was the almost faded memory of a decepticon that lived near scaring away bullies that were making fun of your group of friends when blood was finally spilled by a cruel joke that involved rocks impacting with your head.

"Can't even put a leash on their spawns, I swear", no one believed any of you, no one would, but you would forever remember that once a decepticon called Needlenose helped you that cloudy day before everyone believed he was the one that caused the damage, ending in him getting out of town with his brother.

That would explain why the number of cybertronian residents is minimal if not non-existent on your town, and why the idea of interacting with one was so tempting, so interesting, but that is only a mere desire that would never come, it was time to go back to reality, forget about friendly cybertronians or how cool it would be to have a friend that could carry you back home in a jet.

So, with business almost beyond salvation and a whole batch of rice bags full of insects and almost rotten you try to dispose of it in order to prevent the lost of more bags, only to see the next day that the bag was gone even before the trash truck passed by, there is no leftovers, only markings on the ground that go back to where no one should go.

The place many said a cybertronian made it's home.

It wasn't as bad as it sounded, the main worry was that some of the most hateful human citizens in town went there to say a piece of their mind to the supposed new neighbor, only to come back crying out loud for mercy or swearing they would have their head on a plate even when they were near to drop dead on a puddle on their own urine, no real physical damage was done so police wasn't involved and since no cybertronian was in the best terms with anyone it wasn't an option to ask them for help.

Imagine your surprise when you noticed a big insect, consuming almost in a crazed trance all the rice that falls from a tearing in the big bag, it jumps backwards at the sight of you, you have never seen something like that, no cybertronian like that, the fear is instantaneous, but no by the mechanical insect, far from it, it comes back once in a while, especially when you get the rotten rice out, he seems to get what is left back to wherever he comes from.

You decide to call it a him, since he called you: "flesh bag" with a quite interesting voice that could even be perceived as playful, like he was making fun of you, almost deciding if he can get near you before looking back, full his mandibles at full capacity before dragging the whole bag back to who knows where, it may take time but he still comes, even when you don't get the spoiled rice out, he looks at the remaining things inside the shop and it doesn't take long to consider that, as strange as it can be, he really eats rice, and he may want to eat the fruit that is not in the dumpster but the one inside, his hunger makes you feel bad, he has damaged legs and one of his eyes blinks in and out of function, and something that looks like drool escapes his mandibles, it's sad, because you know a cybertronian only comes to live here if they can't go anywhere else, sometimes even enduring to be damaged by someone, laws don't protect cybertronians the same way they protect humans and it's unfair, but you could never say a word of C. Yeager's pro transformers speech in this town without becoming an outcast yourself in the eyes of your own family.

But what they don't know or hear doesn't hurt them, so you get money out of your wallet and put it in the counter, put a bag full of red apples in front of the injured cybertronian in front of you, his movements are so fast that he makes you fall, taking the whole bag back from where he comes every few days, and come back he does, one day dragging with him a new transformers that looks like him to some degree, and then another that literally has no head attached to the rest of his body, all of them expect something and you can't deny it even when the money you're saving from this very same work are expended in buying rice and wheat that fall from your hands to their waiting mandibles or flour in the case of the one without head, feeling bad for them and asking to yourself who could've been so vicious to do such a thing while something similar to a tongue laps at your hand which helps him to consume water at the lack of mouth, no giving a second thought in the way their glossa smeared in between your fingers that almost made you think of inadequate things at the moment.

Maybe you should've know better, not all people are good ones, the same applied for cybertronians, the same applied to decepticons, especially decepticons that are very well know to be disgusted by organics.

But, far from it, your new friends (you choose to call them like that to yourself) have no problem while interacting with you, in touching you, maybe a little zap of electricity when touching them without warning but that fades away fast as they push against your open palm to receive more food or pats on the head or on the body in Bombshell's case, the fact they finally told you their names, which are as curious as any other cybertronian name you have heard so far, there is happiness in how things go, no longer looking with logging or envy videos of people around the globe, the moment Sharpnel let's you rest against his body makes you giddy, silly chuckles escaping you while Kickback cleans your hand of every remaining oil of the hamburgers you got for them and that didn't last more than a few seconds, his mandibles catch at your skin, before your blood drops to the ground of their nest Sharpnel has already hissed against the youngest while Bombshell pushed him far away by the mere movement of one of his legs, it is also the first time they listen to you after asking them to stop, they are damaged enough as it is already.

The changes are little but the biggest of all is how they seem to be healing, to be regenerating, and is undeniable when you see Bombshell's face for the first time one day when he is the one to get you back to their nest after work, it doesn't stop him from asking for flour or to be feed by hand, despite Kickback's protests and how it's "no fair!" in how you're playing favorites.

It keeps changing, slowly but surely, and everything you learned from mister Yeager's speech about human and cybertronian peaceful cohabitation has already been overstepped in all possible ways when Sharpnel connects his mouth to yours, only a few seconds ago you were showing him that very same speech on your cellphone, yes, you're indeed close, but you can only put your hands on both sides of his faceplate while you keep hearing: "there is more than one reason we clashed with one another", trying to get near him as much as you can, his big body looming above you, the video keeps on, you hear people cheering on the background, agreeing with every word, "and I'm asking you, what do you think being human means?", having almost forgotten of the others you feel the sensation of different servos on your hips, Bombshell's helm rubbing on your shoulder, purring above your clothes, Kickback is looking at you from afar, his pleads at Sharpnel to "please let me touch, I want some too" get mixed with the "that's what we do, we make mistakes" and it's almost like an alarm, a warning, for you to run way from Sharpnel that has started to rub his hips against your belly, from Bombshell that is now sneaking his servos under your pants, from Kickback that is now licking the skin now reveled by the movement of the others.

You are surrounded, and far from it to create discomfort it makes you move along with them while catching Sharpnel's lips against yours again, kissing messily in ways you have never kissed anyone and hoping he doesn't get freaked out, he doesn't, imitating you and doing his own part, maybe you aren't the only one new with this, and it's evident in how he makes himself littler to cup your ass with his servos, moving away his other companions with a hissing sound coming from his box, pushing you down at the bed of blankets they built a week after you started to see them, placing himself above you while the others watch expectantly, "I'm going to crown you, you" he growled, almost like a menacing promise, and if he was trying to drive you away he gets the contrary to what he desires when you legs lock him close to you, and they seem happy, because they start to chitter in the same way they always do when you appear with food, if only they seem more excited.

"Sometimes out of those mistakes come the most amazing things" your cellphone is now forgotten, maybe one of them steeped on it along the way and stopped the video, but you don't mind, you don't care anymore, you only cling to that chance when Sharpnel finally releases inside of you and his voice is promising endlessly to keep you warm, feed and everything in between what your little heart so desires.

[brown-little-robin]

Mrs. Kageyama Reaches ???%

People have different sides to them. Mrs. Kageyama is fine with that. She knew getting into motherhood that her kids would bring some things to their parents, and other things, they’d want to deal with on their own. That’s fine. That’s what people do!

She, for instance, worries over her kids out loud, in front of them, but only about the little things. Bumps and scrapes. Bent spoons, dropped dishes. Not the big things. She locks the big things away like an adult, only letting them out a little bit at a time so she doesn’t explode. She whispers to her husband in the dark when the kids won’t overhear them: are there any psychics in your family? Do you think your parents would know anything about how to help Shige?

As far as either Kageyama parent can tell, there aren’t any psychics in their extended families at all. Shigeo Kageyama was the first person out of the ordinary in both entire bloodlines, all the way back to the farmers (on Mrs. Kageyama’s side) and fishermen (on Mr. Kageyama’s side) who started keeping records of their family lines. And oh, it worries Mrs. Kageyama that she doesn’t know how to connect with that side of him.

There’s nothing she can do. Shigeo floats in the air as a baby, and Mr. Kageyama pulls him down like a balloon, but he floats right back up again, and there’s nothing Mrs. Kageyama can do but wait until her baby gets hungry and comes down to her again.

As a toddler, Shigeo talks to things Mrs. Kageyama couldn’t see. He repeats swear words she couldn’t hear the spirits teaching him. Actually, in that case, there is something she could do; one conversation later, Shigeo understands some social niceties he didn’t know about before.

But she can’t help with the root problem of the spirits who teach him words that he shouldn’t know. She wishes she was a psychic, too, not because it seems like fun—it certainly doesn’t, not to her—but because at least she would know what her son was dealing with.

But it isn’t that big of a deal, probably. Shige manages fine. He floats potato chips around to make Ritsu laugh and levitates all the small objects around him when he cries. It’s just another side of him. Shigeo is clearly bothered when other kids think he’s weird, but the Kageyamas let him deal with that by himself. All they can do, really, is keep loving him, feeding him, and making sure he gets to bed on time. The rest will sort itself out. Some things just wouldn’t be helped by parents getting involved.

Shigeo gets quieter as he got older. He still smiles and plays, but he doesn’t laugh out loud as much. He got self-conscious, Mrs. Kageyama thinks, because of those other little kids. Part of Mrs. Kageyama wishes she could talk to him about it, but that’s not how these things are done. Even if she tried to coax Shigeo’s hidden hurt feelings out into the open, all the parenting advice says that that would just stop him from developing the strength to deal with it on his own. And besides, real adults don’t make their children deal with their parents’ emotions.

So she hides that side of herself away. She whispers to her dear husband late at night, what if Shigeo is actually being bullied? What’s the point where we should step in?

He doesn’t know. He says, I think the boy is doing fine for now. Let’s let him socialize by himself for a while. She agrees. They let him socialize by himself. Sometimes he comes home from the park muted and weary, but he usually perks up once he’s eaten dinner, and Ritsu never fails to get a smile out of Shige.

Ritsu can connect with that side of Shigeo that Mrs. Kageyama can’t. His delight in his brother’s powers makes Shigeo smile where Mrs. Kageyama’s loving concern would just be smothering. So that’s all right. Different people can help with different needs.

Shige and Ritsu are good kids. They’re good kids, and they love each other, and they love their parents. But there are things they don’t come to their parents for. And that’s natural.

One New Year’s Day, Mrs. Kageyama got a call from a concerned neighbor and rushed to her sons. She found Shigeo standing stunned, blank-eyed, a few feet away from Ritsu, who was bleeding heavily from a head wound. Head wounds bleed a lot, she was informed by the doctors who stitched Ritsu’s precious little head up. That’s normal.

There was more blood on the ground than what could be explained by Ritsu’s head. Since she didn’t have to do anything about it, Mrs. Kageyama allowed herself to forget that fact. And then she forgot it again whenever she thought of it. Forcefully.

Ritsu didn’t explain what happened. He just went along with his mother and the doctors in a stunned, disbelieving kind of silence. He was a model patient, the doctors said.

Alarmingly, Shigeo didn’t explain what happened, either.

Mrs. Kageyama scrubbed the blood off his face in the hospital bathroom, and he didn’t resist at all. His hair didn’t rise up off his forehead in discomfort, and nothing floated, not even the water from the sink.

She squinted at him. Something was strange about him. Looking into his cast-down eyes, she could almost see something behind Shigeo’s blank expression. Something…

Something…

“Shige…?”

Shigeo made dull eye contact, and for a moment she saw with perfect clarity a boy behind his eyes, a boy with white eyes, screaming.

And then she un-saw it. Forcefully.

After all, there was nothing she could do; everyone has different sides to them, and that’s normal. Not everyone can deal with all the sides of everyone else.

After that, something is different in the Kageyama household. It feels almost like the boys had hit puberty early. Mrs. Kageyama heard from other mothers and parenting books about teenagers, how difficult they were, almost like they became different people overnight. It’s like that with Shigeo and Ritsu, only they’re still baby-faced little boys, not teenagers at all.

The tendency Shigeo always had to turn into a muted shadow of himself after a particularly hard day becomes the norm. He’s quiet. Too quiet. He’s calm. Too calm. He doesn’t laugh at all anymore. It becomes hard to remember that Shigeo was ever genuinely, visibly happy. His smiles at dinner are muted, his eyes always tired, even when he’s thanking Ritsu for unbending his spoons.

He doesn’t use his powers anymore. Not on purpose, anyway.

It hurts the side of Mrs. Kageyama that she has hidden away, the side that wants to stare deep into Shigeo’s eyes and talk to him honestly, to show him her overpowering concern for the part of himself that Shigeo doesn’t come to her for help with.

It’s not like he’s a teenage delinquent or anything, though. He’s perfectly polite. In some ways, he’s exactly the same as before. He still returns from school tired and distant but cheers up at the dinner table, even though his expressions are subtler, nowadays.

But unlike before, Ritsu can’t cheer Shigeo up.

It’s similar with Ritsu: it’s impossible to explain to other mothers how he’s changed. He’s still a model child. He’s still cheerful and helpful and nice. He just…

Sometimes Mrs. Kageyama hears him crying at night. Sometimes she catches sight of him staring at objects with such a fierce expression that she knows instantly what he’s trying to do.

The parenting advice doesn’t cover what you do when one of your children hurt the other one but both of them refuse to acknowledge that anything is wrong. The parenting advice says that if your children are angry at each other, you should give them some advice but mostly let them work it out on their own. But what if they don’t work it out? What if they never even try? There’s nothing to say.

Their family name, Kageyama, begins to seem like a cruel joke. Kage, shadow, figure, dark omen; yama, mountain, something huge and powerful. Mr. Kageyama is the one who points that out, late at night, whispering to his wife. He asks, do you think we’re cursed? Our family?

She lies, No, I think we’re fine. This is pretty normal, I think. People have different sides to them.

He thinks that over. I think you’re right. This is just… like puberty.

Now that the boys are middle schoolers, “puberty” becomes an excellent excuse to explain why the boys don’t share their other sides with their parents or each other. Everyone in the household embraces the excuse with relief.

Ritsu gets good grades. Excellent grades. He’s diligent. Too diligent. He’s a perfect son and brother. Too perfect. Everyone accepts it.

It’s been years since the New Years incident, and Ritsu and Mob—Shigeo goes by Mob at school, Mrs. Kageyama learns from his homeroom teacher—still treat each other with polite respect and no genuineness.

And—Mob? Mob? It’s a name of no identity. Mrs. Kageyama finds that nickname more and more saddening as her son’s other side drifts further and further out of reach. She calls him Shige at the dinner table and he smiles. There’s a shadow self behind his eyes, just as there’s a shadow self behind Mrs. Kageyama’s eyes.

But, after all, people have different sides to them, and that’s only natural. It used to be Ritsu who could make Shigeo happy about his powers, who could touch that side of him that Mrs. Kageyama cannot. Now, there’s someone else in her son’s life who does that: one Reigen Arataka. Her son’s after-school part-time employer and master in the psychic arts.

Shigeo doesn’t show his psychic powers to his parents, not on purpose, anyway, but she’s so, so glad he has somewhere to go to use that part of him. He’s hard to read, but Mrs. Kageyama thinks he gets something really good out of those after-school consultation hours. He often comes home thoughtful, or happier, his shoulders a little lighter, the shadow self behind his eyes not so noticeably unhappy.

She’s happy Reigen Arataka is in her son’s life.

It’s a tremendous relief when Shigeo begins to blossom in middle school. He joins a club. A club! It’s amazing!

Of all things, he chose the Body Improvement Club, which baffles Mrs. Kageyama. Shige has never been… athletic. But she’s not complaining. She’s happy for him. She nearly gasps out loud, one night, when Shigeo tentatively refers to some girl associated with (but not part of?) the Body Improvement Club, Tome Kurata, as his friend.

She nearly gasps out loud, but not quite. She hides her true excitement in that other side of herself. Her shadow self and Shigeo’s shadow self are similar, she thinks—they’re too much for the dinner table. The dinner table is a place of relaxation. Never, never does any Kageyama disturb the sacred peace of the relaxed atmosphere of the dinner table.

Which is why it’s so strange when Ritsu starts acting up and declines to eat dinner with the family.

Something is going on with Ritsu. There’s another side to him, too, but it’s locked away where Mrs. Kageyama can barely even see it. Sometimes, she forgets it’s even there. She’s ashamed of that, but there it is: Shigeo’s troubles are so much more obvious and clear-cut than Ritsu’s that… well… anyway, it becomes obvious that something is going on with Ritsu.

His grins are sharp, his eyes deadly, mannerisms completely changed. It’s as if he doesn’t realize that Mr. and Mrs. Kageyama know him. It’s as if Ritsu doesn’t realize that his parents watch both their sons closely, knowing they’re going through things that they can’t help with because they’re just normal parents and you have to let your children work things out on their own.

Mrs. Kageyama begins to wonder if Ritsu is going to confront Shigeo, finally, with the way Ritsu looks at his brother, eyes venomous. She hopes nothing bad happens. So does her husband.

But then something good happens. Something involving Reigen Arataka and psychic powers, if Mrs. Kageyama had to bet. Shigeo and Ritsu miss dinner. They come home late at night, and in the darkness, straining her ears, tense all over so that she doesn’t make a sound and scare her sons off, she hears Ritsu and Shige stopping in the hall. She hears Ritsu say goodnight, Nii-san, and Shigeo answer, mm. goodnight, Ritsu. And then—amazingly—there’s a cloth-muffled thump that might have been someone clapping someone else on the shoulder, and a quiet, happy huff that can’t have been anyone but Ritsu.

Shige doesn’t touch Ritsu. He never touches Ritsu anymore.

And yet—!

Maybe kids do work things out on their own.

After the boys’ doors close, Mr. Kageyama shifts and hugs Mrs. Kageyama tight in sheer relief. She hugs him back, fiercely, silently, choked up. She’s close to tears.

The next day, Ritsu…. Ritsu has powers. He doesn’t show them off in front of his parents, but Shigeo accidentally bends a spoon at dinner, and while Mrs. Kageyama is scolding him and arguing with Mr. Kageyama in their well-worn, comfortable ritual, Ritsu takes the spoon and just looks at it, and it unbends with a happy little flourish.

Mrs. Kageyama is so happy she could cry, and probably will cry, later, actually, when the boys aren’t around to catch her. At the dinner table, she just lets those feelings slide into her other self and grumbles, “What’s with these kids?” to make them smile.

“Here, Nii-san,” Ritsu says.

“Thanks, Ritsu,” Shigeo says, accepting the spoon. And he smiles.

Shigeo continues to change. He comes out of his shell, little by little. Ritsu gets happier, seeming younger every day. Shigeo’s friends become a bigger part of his life. He starts leaving the house not only for Reigen Arataka but for his friends, not just for the club activities, either, but for karaoke, to go out for ramen, and just to hang out.

More psychic incidents happen. The Kageyama parents can’t help with that, but they can make dinner. They can tease Shige and Ritsu about their powers. They can watch, knowing something is wrong but not pressing Shigeo on it, when he comes home from a job one day with something deep and thoughtful in his eyes. Shigeo starts drinking water instead of milk for a few days. He flinches at the sound of crows and shies away when people move too fast. Mrs. Kageyama is torn in half with the desire to ask him about it, but she doesn’t. Shigeo deals with it on his own.

Shigeo temporarily quits working with Reigen Arataka, and the Kageyamas provide a no-questions-asked, relaxed atmosphere for Shigeo to come home to. It seems to help. They see Shigeo playing video games with Ritsu and they know that Shigeo and Ritsu are going to be fine. They’re taking care of each other, better than their parents can, in some ways. Kids are resilient. Their kids are resilient. They’re so proud of them. They don’t tell them how much they know.

They cheer for Shigeo at the school marathon with all their hearts, even though the sight of him with a skinned knee gives Mrs. Kageyama a jolt of pure terror. Well, he seems to have it under control now. He doesn’t even see them as he keeps running. He’s so big.

When Ritsu opens the door to a red-headed and clearly psychic “friend of his” they’ve never heard of before and looks at them with terror in his eyes, they pretend to believe him when he asks them to leave for a spur-of-the-moment onsen trip.

Maybe it’s selfish. Mrs. Kageyama asks her husband that as they eat dinner that night, pleasantly boiled-feeling from the hot water. “Do you think it’s selfish, leaving them to deal with their psychic problems on their own?”

“Oh, they’ll be okay,” Mr. Kageyama says. “We couldn’t do anything to help them anyway. I mean, look at that!”

He points at the television, where the news is going over the psychic terrorist attack in Seasoning City yet again, with not much more information than last time. There’s live footage of police cars floating in the air.

“After all—”

The TV frizzles and fills with static. Mr. Kageyama laughs a short, helpless little laugh.

“I get it,” Mrs. Kageyama sighs. “I just worry about those boys.”

The honest side of herself writhes in pain at the understatement, but she keeps it down.

“It’s all right as long as they’re together. Shigeo will have it handled,” Mr. Kageyama says. “He’d never let Ritsu get hurt.”

There’s a moment of uncomfortable silence. In each other’s eyes, Mr. and Mrs. Kageyama see Ritsu bleeding and Shigeo with blood spattered on his face.

“That’s true,” Mrs. Kageyama says, hoping it’s true. “They’re very capable kids now.”

When Mr. and Mrs. Kageyama return home, their house has been replaced with an almost identical house. They burst into muffled laughter together in their room, covering their mouths. The pattern of the floorboards in the hall is different. How—how?

They don’t tell Shigeo and Ritsu how much they know.

Everyone has different sides to them. The Kageyama parents are at peace with this. They are at peace with the fact that they are background characters in their sons’ lives. The four Kageyamas show each other a gentle, relaxed side of themselves. It’s a sorely needed safe haven for all of them.

They could keep this up forever. Mrs. and Mr. Kageyama giggle with each other sometimes at night about how Ritsu probably won’t know they knew he was having delusions of grandeur until they’re old and gray, and maybe not even then.

Everything is alright. Still, Mrs. Kageyama sometimes misses Shigeo as a carefree little boy. Still, her shadow self yearns to connect with his.

There’s a specific kind of loneliness she thinks she shares with her older son, something not quite shared by Ritsu or her husband, although they have their own versions. She sees Ritsu use his powers to open drawers and float his school bag over, and she sees Shigeo walk across the room to get his bag, and she thinks: Shige is still stuck in his head. But she doesn’t say anything.

It’s not because of the parenting advice anymore, and it’s not because she’s worried about stunting his personal development. Shigeo is a strong person. He’s been a strong person for a long time. It’s because it’s a habit, and every time Mrs. Kageyama thinks of cornering Shigeo and just… asking him, Shige, can we talk about your powers?, she remembers that she doesn’t have powers, and how can she dare to try to connect with that side of him now, when she hasn’t really tried to do that for Shigeo’s entire life?

It’s guilt. It’s shame. It’s a habit. It’s more comfortable to stagnate.

Kids work things out on their own, right?

Besides, Shigeo isn’t repressing his emotions so much anymore, just his powers. For instance, she heard him calling Mrs. Takane, the mother of one of Mob’s childhood friends. He’s going to talk to his childhood friend again! Mrs. Kageyama is curious what he might talk to Tsubomi-chan about. Is it possible that he might finally be processing the minor bullying that used to bother him so much? But that’s probably just overthinking on her part. Shigeo doesn’t talk about it around his parents, but she’s pretty sure he used to have a crush on Tsubomi-chan, and he might still have a crush on her. Adorable. He’s growing up so fast.

When the earthquakes hit, they hit her right in the guilty conscience.

It’s Shigeo. She knows it’s him. She never really had motherly instincts, but this isn’t a motherly instinct. This is her shadow self recognizing his shadow self, which is so much like hers. The boy with white eyes, screaming. She understands what he’s doing. He’s letting out all of the destructive guilt and shame and fear and rage at himself and everything else that Mrs. Kageyama has been seeing behind his eyes for years and years.

It’s Shigeo’s shadow self, and maybe if Mrs. Kageyama had managed to be brave for once in her life and talk to him about powers, secrets, and emotions, this wouldn’t be happening.

She stares at her phone, where a grainy photo of her oldest son blurs in her vision, and she feels the sob rise in her throat and the tear drip onto the phone, obscuring the bouquet in his hand, as if someone else was doing it.

She doesn’t go out to look for him. She doesn’t have powers. She’d get killed.

It’s Reigen Arataka who brings her son home—Reigen Arataka, who she’s only met once or twice before. He’s uncharacteristically disheveled and red-eyed with crying, and his head is bleeding. Shige did that to him—it’s obvious. Shige has clearly also been crying. He looks up at his mother and father, sniffs bravely, and starts crying again.

Mrs. Kageyama kneels and hugs Shige tight. Mr. Kageyama’s arms close around her and Shigeo, encircling them, and she starts crying again.

The government gets involved, in the form of a bored-looking bald man with a strange cigarette who shows up in a helicopter. He jumps down to ground level, interrupting the crying Kageyama family and the awkwardly standing by Reigen Arataka, and says to Shigeo, “Long time no see.”

Mrs. Kageyama does not like the implication that Shigeo has met this man before.

Shigeo pushes his parents’ arms away, gently but firmly, and steps up to meet the man. He says, “I’m sorry. I’d like to help.”

“Sure, sure,” the government man says dismissively. “Might take a while to rebuild the city, but I can pretty much guarantee no one’s going to mess with you. No one died, so…” he gestures lazily with his cigarette. “This kind of thing happens every once in a while with kid espers. Just thought you might like to know.”

The government man doesn’t spare even a glance for Shigeo’s parents. They don’t ask him anything. It’s like introducing themselves might shatter the illusion of good news and make the man shout, “Gotcha! Your son is going to esper jail right now!”

The government man returns to the helicopter and lifts off. And then it’s just Shigeo, standing awkwardly on the street and not quite making eye contact with his parents, and the voice of Reigen Arataka on the phone summoning other psychics, and a man with an umbrella, “Mob”’s coworker, apparently, arriving and nervously spiriting Shigeo away to meet up with some other psychics, including the one who apparently recreated the Kageyama’s house that one time.

So they don’t address the incident immediately. Shigeo comes home that night so exhausted that he falls asleep at the table. Ritsu looks more awake, but also so dreamily happy that his parents just… don’t ask him any questions. They don’t want to disturb that happiness.

The next day, they don’t address it again. Shigeo is a heavy sleeper. He wakes up slowly, brushes his teeth, and sets off for school, which didn’t get destroyed during his shadow self’s meltdown, probably for the same reason that their house went practically untouched, though shaken, among the earthquakes. Shige doesn’t come home until very late again, and when Mrs. Kageyama gives him a bento box to eat before bed, he just says thank you. To her tentative question—were you helping with the city today, Shige?—he gives an exhausted, affirming “mm.”

He’s tired. She lets him wobble off to bed.

It doesn’t actually take very long for the city to be healed. Shige stops being tired all the time right away after his bedtime gets back to normal. He’s livelier than Mrs. Kageyama has seen him in years—smiling, joking with Ritsu, arguing with him sometimes, sulking when he feels like it. He laughs again.

He’s so different. But he’s still Shigeo. And he still has something behind his eyes. At dinner, when their eyes meet, Mrs. Kageyama’s shadow self reaches out to her son’s shadow self, still.

Which is a strange sensation, because Shigeo isn’t repressing his emotions anymore, or his powers, either. But there’s still something there, something or someone existing in reserve behind his eyes. She second-guesses herself about it at first, particularly when Mob laughs or scowls or displays his powers and emotions like he’s never thought twice about it. He seems so… whole. It’s not a child made of shadows anymore. But in other moments—when he’s watching Ritsu or when he doesn’t have much to say, when he hesitates, when he has a forgetful spell—Mrs. Kageyama is sure she sees it. Another presence within her son.

Call it motherly instincts or call it Mrs. Kageyama’s shadow self resonating with her son’s shadow self—either way, she knows. Shigeo Kageyama is still hiding another side within himself, even though that other side is happier now.

So one day, a few months after the incident, once she’s sure Shigeo is really stable like this… Mrs. Kageyama catches Shigeo before school and asks him to come home and have a talk with her after school.

He looks surprised, then nervous, then pleased.

“Yes, mom,” he says. And that’s that.

Talking to a teenager is easier than they said! That’s Mrs. Kageyama’s first, indignant thought. And then right on the heels of that thought comes what am I getting myself into?!

After school, Shigeo comes right home. Mr. Kageyama will stay at work for a while, and Ritsu has student council today; it’s the perfect time. Mrs. Kageyama sits down with her son and finds herself at a loss, not knowing exactly what to say.

Shigeo waits, watching her seriously.

“Shige,” she says, and feels her shadow self rise up in her, telling her to just break down and cry. Her voice wobbles as she tries again. “Shige, I want to tell you something. I think you’re old enough…”

Mortified alarm flashes across Shigeo’s face. Oh no! She waves her hands, trying to erase what he’s thinking.

“About your psychic powers,” she says hastily.

He looks relieved for a split second, and then his eyes widen. His hair rises up off his forehead, and she hears a slosh as something happens to the water in the sink. He’s scared? Of all things, she had not expected Shigeo to be frightened of talking about his powers. She expected him to be irritated and dismissive, like the parenting advice says that teenagers always are. The parenting advice was wrong. Again.

Suddenly reaching her limit, Mrs. Kageyama throws out all the parenting advice she’s ever heard and just… tells the truth.

“Or, ah, not about psychic powers exactly. About… Shige, I think something runs in our family, and it’s not powers, but I think you and I share it.”

Shige’s eyes grow impossibly wider. He waits like his mother is about to reveal the secrets of the universe, and in a way, she supposes, she is.

“Tell me if I’m wrong,” she says carefully. “But you have more than one “self”, don’t you?”

He opens his mouth, and nothing comes out.

Nothing at all.

Mrs. Kageyama says, “You split yourself in half, back then… I saw it happen. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know how to help, because I… I didn’t know what to do about my shadow self, either.”

“Your shadow self, mom?”

His voice is quiet, so quiet. Mrs. Kageyama nods, feeling her shadow self sob and writhe in her head. It’s an unsightly thing. It’s so possessive, so emotional. She can’t let it do whatever it wants. That would hurt her children, and she loves her children, so, so much. She would never hurt them.

“I kept it quiet because I thought…” she takes a sharp breath. “It’s too much, and I wanted to keep you and Ritsu… comfortable. Parents can’t ask their children to carry their worries.”

“What do you mean?” Shigeo asks. He sounds so young, and so hurt.

“I never asked you what it was like to have powers,” she blurts out, and the wave of guilt that follows is tremendous, but so is the relief. “I’m so sorry. I let you deal with everything on your own. I didn’t realize…”

Shigeo’s lips are trembling. He says, “Mom, you have a shadow self too?”

“You’re just like me,” she says, and how, how did she never know that honesty could feel so right? “I knew you were just like me, and I didn’t tell you. I thought you could deal with it on your own. I’m so sorry, Shige.”

“Mom,” he says, and starts crying.

To hell with parenting advice. To hell with keeping her shadow self from shattering the relaxed facade of the Kageyama household. Shigeo deserves better.

Mrs. Kageyama stumbles out of her kneeling posture and grabs her son and holds him close.

“Shige,” she says into his hair. “Shige. Shige.”

“I thought it was just me,” Shigeo gasps. “I thought it was just me in the dark.”

And, with a start, she realizes why his shadow self is different now. They switched places, didn’t they? The Shigeo she’s talking to right now is the one her shadow self used to stare at longingly across the dinner table.

“So you’re that one,” she says, with all the shaky, weepy tenderness she's been repressing for years. “Hello. I’m so pleased to finally meet you again.”

Shige sobs. Everything in the room is floating. She could cry. She does.

Then Shigeo pushes himself out of the hug and looks at his mother, trembling but clearly happy and calm in a way she’s rarely ever seen him, even when he was young.

“You're wrong,” he says. “I am myself. I accepted both parts.”

“So you’re—” Mrs. Kageyama stops, thinking that over. Does it not matter anymore, to Shigeo? Which “self” is which?

Could it not matter to her, either, someday?

Tentatively, she lets more of herself out.

“I’m so sorry, Shige. I listened to the wrong advice. I should be the one helping you figure this out, not the other way around.”

Shigeo looks her in the eye. He says, “Adults can change too. It’s not too late.”

She looks back, and in his eyes she sees both of him, and she knows that now he sees both of her too. And she is not afraid to show him.

Not anymore.

[sakujeanz]

do you guys get my vision PLEASE PLEAPSLEE???? GENSHIN BOMBSHELS😭😭😭😭🔥

[ghostofwriting]

Part 12 is absolutely not ready to go but I have ideas, I have thoughts and they aren’t pleasant

Thanks for everything! Appreciate all of you so much

[tinderina-belle]

I’d just like to take this moment to thank the movie Bombshell(2019) for letting us know what it could be like if Stereotypical Barbie and Weird Barbie were to hook up.

[beej-machinations]

Tuttle and Marilyn episodes but they both happen at the same time

Hawkeye is running separate rackets with Trap and Charles, and he gets his wires crossed:

Tuttle ends up in Hollywood and Marilyn Monroe is pronounced a casualty of war.

[transingthoseformers]

G1 SG au: How should Nightbird become sapient and break free of Fujiyama's control?

In canon there was a cerebro-shell (and reprogramming??), but Bombshell isn't on Earth in the au.

Hmnnn do we have any available characters who could fill a similar role??

[mlim8]

JAYDICK ART DUMP 2 ------- [PART 1]

AKA people mentioned things in (mostly) the JD group chat and I drew them lol - and then I went back and made some of them nicer last night uwu

1) May 2021 - Xan said “thinking about the boys as FF classes” and Hex said “Dick as miqo’te and Jason as his tall bunny lad” lol I went back and realized that it was suppose to be Jason in Fran’s armour - I’m sorrryyyy I didn’t realize that’s what my ugly doodle was suppose to originally be lmaooooo he’s in like... super basic amour now lol

2) Mar 2022 - Wanted to play around with 3D models and tried to explain how I use them to @horseyw lol and so Bombshells!Dick came about

3) Aug 2022 - @elwon mentioned bunny/lingerie!Dick sitting in Jason’s lap but I’m only good for chibis

4) Oct 2021 - AJ said this would be a good JD couple Halloween costume idea lmao 

5) Dec 2021 - Fae Dick after a song that @nerd-by-definition shared with me

6+7) April 2021 - Grease!AU Jaydick after @epistemologys and @nerd-by-definition were talking about it and Dick in a poodle skirt lol ;w;

EDIT: LMAO I ALWAYS FORGET TO DO THIS, THANK YOU @starstruck4moony I HAVE MERCH LOL 

[willkimurashat]

We Spoke in Flower

Hello everyone! So, you know one of those times you raise your hand in class, and you’re like, “I don’t know where I’m going with this, but for some reason I’m still speaking?” Well, that’s what this is. I don’t know why or how I wrote it, but I did, and I made myself cry doing it, so uhh, yeah lol. I couldn't get the story out of my head, so it's here now. Feel free to check it out, if you so wish! I hope you can find something likable about this:) Happy reading!

Will/MC | 7.4k words | flower shop au

Summary: Alienated by the world and disillusioned by life, a stranger wanders into a flower shop, finding comfort in another lonesome soul.

Here’s a link to ao3 :)