#here I am with yet another ramble about the giant robots

[lets-try-some-writing]

This is very important and I am up at 1 am wildly asking you this

DO BOTS DREAM

And if so

WHAT DO THEY DREAM ABOUT? DO THEY HAVE BIT NIGHTMARES? IS THERE A BOT EQUIVALENT OF THE GO TO CLASS IN YOUR UNDERWEAR NIGHTMARE?

I NEED ANSWERS AND YOU FEEL LIKE THE MOST QUALIFIED EXPERT TO ASK

Mwahah! You came to the right writer for this dear anon! I have enough thoughts on Cybertronian culture and biology to write a novel!

Cybertronians and Recharge Cycles

As a general rule, Cybertronians do not "sleep" or hibernate as organics do. While there are certain medical conditions that replicate the phenomenon to a degree, those are rare, and often temporary. Instead of sleep, Cybertronians have recharge cycles which they use as their way to sort through data, clear their processors of unnecessary sensory information, and run through alerts and protocols that are hyperactive. In short it is a chance for their systems to relax and for their minds to be cleared of stress inducing data that may clutter the processors and make functioning harder.

The frequency of recharge cycles depends entirely on the level of stress a Cybertronian is experiencing. Sparklings recharge frequently so that their processors can go through the data they collect and catalogue or discard it. Younglings recharge less as they know more and have largely set up their processors with all the basic knowledge needed to function, but lots of physical activity can lead to more frequent recharge cycles. In fully developed adults recharge cycles are a rare thing since their processors have adapted and their frames have grown into an equilibrium.

Of course there are also minor recharging cycles that function almost like a nap, and those are taken rather frequently, often a few times in a human week and lasting for up to three hours. In those instances the bot in question shuts down a large portion of their sensory capabilities and higher processing to sort through surface level data and allow their systems to have a brief break. They can still perform basic actions, but they are largely unaware and will be left incredibly groggy if broken from their half recharging state. However true recharge cycles are long and rare things that are often only taken once every few human months, often lasting for a few days at a time. It is polite to allow a recharging bot to remain untouched and to offer them energon when they wake since they will be rather starved for fuel.

The concept of "dreaming" is a bit of a foreign one for Cybertronians as a whole. Most often bots do not "dream" in the human sense. Their processors instead review memory files from all over the course of the time in between recharge cycles. Often the Cybertronian in question does not recall this process as their higher functioning is nearly entirely shut off so their systems can recalibrate. However that does not mean they do not experience anything while recharging. Young sparklings often tend to "dream" in that their processors recreate an event as best as possible based on how the sparkling sees it to try and collect the most important data. The sparkling relives moments, usually small ones while they rest and that helps them to fully absorb what they learn.

Younglings can still have this happen, but more often than not their processors run through probability sequences instead. While recharging their processors use their memories and experiences to recreate possible outcomes to events that already happened. So if a bot were to have been anxious about classes but still have had a reasonable cycle going to them, their processors may conceive the worst case scenario just to test probability. In such an instance they may predict a situation in which their plating is not properly cleaned or where they are without any of their outer armor, instead left bare in their protoform through some inconceivable event. Such predictions are the closest thing they have to "nightmares".

With grown bots, these predictions stop for the most part, especially as they grow older and have more experience and thus less need to play the probability game. At most they will have an odd prediction routine run when they are particularly stressed or going into a new environment. But once again, as soon as they are acquainted with a new environment or situation, their processors will stop such "dreams" because experience makes up for it.

Of course these rules only apply to normal Cybertronians. With the war, recharging properly has become impossible, and that has led to recharging having some unusual consequences.

With shortened recharge cycles or little to none, when a Cybertronian fighting in the war does recharge, it is often not a fun experience. For younglings it is... intense to say the least. Often they can spend a week or more recharging when allowed simply because there is so much to review. Not only that, but their prediction routines run at high paces to try and get through the millions of outcomes, often leaving younglings groggy or even traumatized if they recall the "dreams". Their frames also tend to be so very exhausted from sometimes years of nonstop effort that when they do finally drop, they can be left passing out randomly for weeks afterwards as their processors try to get through whatever it might have been unable to fully review.

For grown Cybertronians, the consequences of little to no recharge come in a variety of forms. For some, they suffer much like younglings and are forced to endure horrendous prediction sequences that leave them struggling against their own minds. Others recall nothing but are left to endure complete and total shutdown, with absolutely no way to wake them until their recharge cycle is complete. They wake far more happy and effective than others, but during that time they are totally exposed and vulnerable, a glaring weakness during war. It certainly doesn't help that these recharge cycles can come upon a bot almost randomly with at most a few minutes before they drop.

Cybertronians who have experienced more trauma than others may find their frames wandering the halls as their minds struggle against all sorts of predictions and scenarios. Their minds are more rested, but they often are left sluggish and unhappy due to how little rest the remainder of their frame received. A scant few who suffer the most may end up unable to recharge properly due to how severe the prediction routines are. Those unfortunate few end up living near entirely off partial recharges and can only endure a day or so of proper recharge before they wake barely rested enough to continue onward.

However its not all doom and gloom.

Cybertronians can have happy "dreams" too. It is a rarer thing, but in response to extreme stress or increadible joy, Cybertronians can pull up old memory files of happier times, or when none are available, create predictions based off of hopes and dreams. Those sorts of "dreams" are rarely remembered, but they have shown to have a soothing effect on a strained mind.

[corey-beepington]

Hello! After re-watching your Deltarune short film, Eviction Day, I can confidently say that I:

Am SO happy to find that you have a tumblr blog! :D

Absolutely LOVE that film, despite not being in the Deltarune fandom but still intrigued by the concept/story of Spamton and the Addisons - I genuinely think this is perhaps the BEST interpretation of Spamton's story (and possibly the best Deltarune fan project) I've ever seen!

I'd like to ask a couple of questions regarding the short film if that's okay with you:

What parts of the Addisons' personality did you want to show through your designs (the way they wear their jackets, their eye colour, body type, hairstyle, etc.) and why?

What inspired you to focus on Blue Addison's perspective for the film?

While I understand the references to Spamton Neo with the 'twisted angel' imagery, am I correct in theorising that 'Big Shot' equated to the whole angel thing Spamton became obsessed with (please correct me if this is not the case)?

(Btw I absolutely adore your design of Blue Addison - he's adorable and looks like he'd give the best hugs! And I think he definitely needs a hug after what he witnessed in the short film.)

Thanks for enjoying my silly short film...first time ive ever gotten a big ol string of questions about it sooooo -puts on my reading glasses screen or whatever would be the equivalent for a silly little television-

There we go, i do love talking alot about what goes into a cartoon sooooo

here goes the Ramble

I love the addisons, and I LOVE when people give them individual body types instead of copy/pasting the same skinny twink..I think it adds alot more personality to them..especially since their entire personality is...I guess having no personality. I like to think they have an "advertising" personality which is copy/paste but once theyre off duty, they're themselves. I wanted to show this with one scene in Eviction Day where Blue Advertises when trying to rehearse what to say.

As for each Addison's design itself...Well..I knew the full group of addisons would have very very little screentime, yet I wanted the audience to FEEL for them ya know?

Actually, in the first first first draft of Eviction Day, the diner scene was MUCH longer...but it made Pink WAAAAAY too unlikeable...and I didn't wanna animate all of it.

So I had to make the designs count

In general, I love them with blacked out eyes, it makes them feel more...robotic...even a tad bit frightening...also a fan of their eye's being glowy and think a black scalera would amplify it. I remember seeing blacked out eyes for addisons one day when scrolling instagram..I don't remember the artist sadly, but I latched onto that hc almost instantly.

Their suits are pretty copy-paste with the exception of Pink who doesnt wear an undershirt and lets his fluff sort of hang out...it feels very Pink to me...speaking

Anyway, each design individually

Pink

Pink is..well Pink, very sharp, probably the one who gets the most sales and thus designed to be the most "conventionally attractive" out of the bunch. As mentioned above, I wanted to show how proud he is by him being the only addison who doesn't wear an undershirt and preferring to let his fluff hang out.

He's only in a few shots..but he exists to well...foreshadow...I mentioned in another ask, I don't see Pink as a jerk, more as a guy overcompensating on his hate towards Spamton to cover up deep down missing him and being worried. He worried once Blue shows signs of distress.

Very superficial.

Yellow

My yellow, unlike popular hc, is far more chill, a gentle giant if you would...like he's a guy you can depend on, but very shy despite his looks. He never appears until the end at the Trash Zone so this gives me the "he's shy" hc...or he's also not much a seller. I see Yellow as a guy who sets up his group's store front...and probably beats up viruses with his bare hands, you know the behind the scenes backstage guy.

He's dependable and friendly, and that's why he is how he is.

Orange

He exists.

Like...I'm not super attached to Orange...So he's just...Orange...generic...I see him more as holding a managerial position over the group over selling (he does try to scam you)..but he was never doing anything major in the short so he just...Exists I guess.

BLUE

BOY BABY BOY. HE IS MY FAVORITE.

Blue strikes me as the friendliest and most huggable of the group, in game he doesn't scam you....or even try to...he just gives you free samples...and you can take as many as you want!

I wanna think he's not a great salesmen, but he's built at "marketable plushie" size so he can at very least draw people in...considering your intent to hug him, I think it's working.

For some weird reason, a handful of people have asked in a "is this a fetish" way or even been upset at me for making blue plus sized and to that I say

go outside.

You'll find that people of all shapes exist in the real world <3

Just for you anon, here's some old concept art. I wanna give a big big thanks to my friend SPAMiGO who helped me tie down their designs. I'm not the best character designer, so he was a huge help in making these designs nice!

2. Why Blue?

Awhile ago, I made an animation called "Spamton's Biggest Deal"

Alot of people liked it for some reason.

I wanted to do something like that again...I honestly didn't quite like this cartoon, it was rushed and ew old spamton art...

I didn't want it being my only contribution to the Deltarune fandom...I was feeling...quite ambitious....

So it crawled so Eviction Day could run.

I'm a horror artist by nature, I LOVE horror and I wanted to MAKE another horror deltarune cartoon because it was VERY heavily requested...but i didn't know what

Over the summer in 2022, I ended up cosplaying the Blue Addison..in my research...I found the line about garbage noise...

I think every scary thing that could be done with spamton has been done.

But this

This detail was so overlooked.

There was SO MUCH horror to be had in this scene that I just HAD to do something with it.

And so I wrote the first script in august...I really fell in love with the blue addison around this time and wanted to share my love of this overlooked character with other people.

Also I ship blue addison and spamton really hard and struggled to find Content

(disclaimer because someone will ask: I do not headcanon the addisons as brothers)

So this was another way to spread my gospel...albeit subtly....

Ships do things to a person.

When Undertale's anniverssary came around, I re-posted it to twitter and asked

"why the hell did you guys like this"

I got alot of good answers, i asked what was good, what was bad, what you'd like to see

And then weaved it all together.

I officially began on the short in september of 2022.

but tldr: i liked the character, i liked the horror, 123 addisons making out cyber cafe.

3.

Ah...the mural....

Ok I'll spill the beans, the mural was the very first shot that beamed itself into my head when Eviction Day was barely a thought...just the image of Blue Addison staring at something...horrible...

It was the sole reason I made the film

I plan on doing a more elaborate post on my patreon in the future about it because there was SO MUCH thought that went into this one 5 second shot.

as for your question specifically

There's many ways to interperet the mural tbh...I wanna think Spamton saw himself as a savior...an angel...one who would bring the light and become big..bigger than anything

A God.

or something like that.

That's all the time for now anon. I hope this answered your questions....as I said I will ramble on and on about pre-production stuff, sometimes ill throw stuff up on the patreon as well (the animatic is there now actually) if you wanna support more stuff like it too!

Now go take a rest...your eyes must be so sleepy reading all this

[fallen-gravity]

Intellectual Adequacy

Stan hates to start any unnecessary conflict, especially when there’s a very real chance that Ford will be moving to California next year, but he knows deep down that if they don’t talk about this now then he’ll never have the courage to bring it up again.

“Wait,” Stan shouts to Ford, and he stops dead in his tracks.

~~

Notes: In which one little plot bunny that was preventing me from getting any work done becomes its own rabbit hole.

I genuinely cannot believe that in the six-seven years I've been in this fandom, I've never tried my hand at the fix-it-fic where Stan and Ford just talk it out as teenagers, just like they should've in canon. I've seen a lot of different approaches, but I feel like I've yet to see one that tackles it from the perspective of Stan's own battle with his self-worth, rather than the actions he or Ford have already taken.

AO3

Stan hates the principal’s office more than anywhere else in the world.

He swears, he’s called down every other week for something that’s not even his fault. He punched Crampelter in the nose for harassing some poor freshman? Principal’s office. He talks back to a teacher calling his classmate stupid for forgetting an “obvious” geometry equation? Principal’s office. He accidentally drops his pencil during an exam and bends over to pick it up? He must be cheating. Principal’s office.

If you asked him, the whole idea of sending kids to the principal’s office is pointless to begin with. Oh, you did something bad, and now we’re gonna make the big man in charge tell your mommy and daddy? How old do these people think they are?

Stan wishes he could say that this time is okay because they’re not even talking to him. They’re talking up a storm to Ford in there about another college scholarship and all the reasons why he and he alone would be the perfect candidate for some random school all the way out in California

But it’s not okay, because the longer Stan sits in the dumb waiting room the more he’s starting to feel like chopped liver. They’ve been in there for at least five minutes with no sign of stopping anytime soon, but every time Stan asks the secretary if he can just go back to class already she dismisses him with a wave of her hand and it’ll be your turn soon, sit back down.

He’s thinking of just sneaking out the next time the secretary buries her nose back into her magazine. It’s simple: just wait for her to pull it out from her desk, sneak by as quick as he can, and slip out the door and back to class before she can even notice he’s gone.

He stands from his chair, pretending to stretch and preparing to execute, but freezes solid when he hears his name being spoken from within the principal’s office.

“…What about our little free spirit Stanley?”

It’s Ma, and whatever it is they’re talking about in there, she isn’t happy about it. Frowning, Stan glances over at the secretary to make sure that she isn’t staring at him, and presses his ear to the office door to listen to their conversation more carefully.

The principal laughs in response. “That clown? At this rate he’ll be lucky if he graduates high school”

Stan’s taken aback by the harsh choice of words, but if he knows Ford, then he won’t just sit there and let the principal talk about him like that. He presses his ear further into the door, waiting for Ford to interrupt the principal’s rambling about how he’s never going to amount to anything with you just don’t know him like I do, or something along those lines, but it never comes.

Not a single interjection that…anything he’s saying is wrong. Not from Pa, not from Ford….and not even from Ma.

They don’t…all really believe that, right?

There has to be something else he’s missing. He bets they’re defending his honor right now, and the reason they’re not making a big scene about it is because they’re in public.

Yeah.

He’s got nothing to worry about.

He peeks into the window, expecting to see Ma glaring daggers into the principal, or Ford silently cursing him out behind his back, but what he’s met with is so much worse. Ma and Pa are exchanging warm smiles, and Ford is frantically shaking hands with the principal, beaming brighter than Stan’s ever seen in his entire life.

Matter of fact, Stan’s not sure he’s ever seen any of them look so happy in his entire life.

He’s worthless, he’ll never go anywhere, and they’re all smiling about it.

Stan’s heart drops to his stomach, and he slides to the floor to join it.

Is this some kind of cruel joke? Were they expecting him to listen in on their conversation? Is this their cruel workaround of telling him he’ll never amount to shit?

He sighs.

He stays there on the cold tiled floor for what feels like hours, contemplating all the times he’s been called dumb, or stupid, or a terrible influence on his brother. All of those times when he could brush it off just because it was coming from someone he didn’t care about.

But worthless?

Behind his back, spoken directly to people he loves, and they won’t even bother to defend him?

That one’s new, and if Stan is going to be completely honest with himself, it’s much harder to brush off his shoulders than all those other times.

Stan doesn’t even notice the office door opening until it nearly smacks him in the back of his head. He quickly jumps to his feet and brushes himself off, pretending the best that he can that he wasn’t just eavesdropping on them for the past ten minutes.

“Stanley!” Ford comes bursting out of the room, his grin threatening to split his face in two. “I just received the most incredible news! The admissions team at West Coast Tech heard about my science fair project, and-”

The beam suddenly slips from his face, replaced with some sort of mix of confusion and concern. “Is...Something wrong?”

Stan rubs at his eyes to make sure he hadn’t started tearing up without realizing it, but no, his eyes are bone dry.

Curse Ford’s stupid ability to read his mind.

Stan covers up the gesture of rubbing at his eyes with a yawn, and stretches his arms in the air. “Nothing except you taking forever in there” he flashes a fake smile easily. “Talk about a blabbermouth, am I right?” Stan gestures towards the principal with his thumb.

Ford laughs, and returns his gaze to the pamphlet in his hands. “I don’t know,” he says. “I don’t think he’s so bad”

Stan opens his mouth to quip back, but Ford doesn’t seem to be paying much attention anymore. He’s just staring at that dumb pamphlet, his grin slowly but surely returning to his face again.

Instead, Stan shoves his hands in his pockets and shrugs, turning his gaze to the floor. “Yeah, I guess you’re right”

~~~

Stan feels like he’s in a haze for the rest of the day. Even when he tries to focus on class to take his mind off of things and redirect it on anything else, he can’t get his mind to stick.  Not even final period gym class can save him, which is really saying something, because the gymnasium is usually the one place where he thrives.

Worthless.

The word won’t stop bouncing around in his skull, hitting him where he’s most sensitive.

It doesn’t help a thing that Ford is dead silent on their walk home from school. He’s usually chatting up a storm to Stan about stuff he doesn’t really understand, and under normal circumstances Stan can’t wait to get home so he can bury his head in his pillow and drown out the sound of Ford’s babbling.

But today he’s not even looking in Stan’s direction, just burying his nose in the West Coast Tech brochure with stars in his eyes, and now Stan wants nothing more than to hear Ford babbling on about his advanced physics classes.

It’s almost insulting.

Stan sighs, and lightly taps on Ford’s shoulder to catch his attention. “Can we talk?”

“Hmm?” Ford blinks, like he needs a few moments to readjust to reality. “Oh! Of course. I was actually planning on asking you the same thing” he places the brochure in his pocket. “Same place as always?”

Stan nods. “Same place as always”.

It’s a quick change of direction and a shortcut to the beach before they find themselves on their old swing set. By now they’re both too heavy to use it properly without a risk of snapping it, but they still find it’s a good place to go when they just need to get away and talk.

“You’re not really thinking of going to that stuffy old school, are you?” Stan asks as soon as Ford sits on the swing beside him. “They’ve gotta be crazy if they think four more years of essays and exams are better lookin’ than tanned babes and gold chains. We’re so close to finishing up the Stan-O-War. Soon as graduation rolls around we’re outta here, just like we always promised”.

Ford chuckles. “That is a nice thought, but…” he pulls the brochure out of his pocket again, and unfolds it for Stan to see. “You have to understand that I can’t just pass up an opportunity like this. Maybe I don’t need a degree from any old state school, but this is West Coast Tech we’re talking about!” he beams, the stars returning to his eyes. “They’ve got cutting edge technology and multidimensional paradigm theory”

Stan rolls his eyes, but he can’t help but admit to himself it’s nice to have his brother back again after an entire day of radio silence.

“Beep boop, giant nerd robot oncoming” Stan punches Ford in the arm.

Ford’s grin only widens. “I figured you’d say that, but it’s too late to change my mind. The head of admissions already flew in this morning, and with my go-ahead they’re going to check out my science fair project later tonight and let me know then and there if they want me at their school”

“Well that seems kind of harsh” Stan quips. “What if they say no?”

Ford shrugs. “Well, then it’s like you said. If they don’t want me, you and I sail off on the Stan-O War and never look back”.

Stan frowns at the strong emphasis on if. He really thinks he’s going to get this, doesn’t he? Stan can’t exactly blame him when he’s been the reigning valedictorian of their class every year since they were kids.

“And if they say yes?”

Ford grins. “Well, then you better visit me on the other side of the country” he punches Stan in the shoulder, and stands to his feet without saying another word.

Stan can’t bring himself to join him. He knows that Ford didn’t mean anything by it, but he can’t help feel wounded by his brother’s implication that while he’s off in California having the time of his life, Stan’s still gonna be stuck living with their parents in New Jersey.

It’s just like their principal said. He’ll never amount to anything anyway, so why wouldn’t he stay in New Jersey? Where else would a worthless piece of shit like him end up?

Stan shifts on his swing and watches as Ford walks away, and he can’t help but wonder just how much of the principal’s tangent that Ford believed.

All of it?

Some of it?

Had Ford even been listening to what he said at all?

As he continues to watch his brother walk away, he can’t help the feeling in his gut that he has to know. He hates to start any unnecessary conflict, especially when there’s a very real chance that Ford will be moving to California next year, but Stan knows deep down that if they don’t talk about this now then he’ll never have the courage to bring it up again.

“Wait,” Stan shouts to Ford, and he stops dead in his tracks.

“Yeah?” Ford says, turning around to face him. Stan suddenly finds himself very aware of his heart loudly pounding against his chest, but he forces himself to squash that down. He’s never felt shy or anxious about asking his brother anything, and he sure as hell isn’t letting that start now.

“You don’t…uh,” he swallows. “You don’t think I’m…worthless, do you?”

Ford looks appalled. He neatly folds the brochure back into his pocket and starts walking- no, jogging, almost sprinting back to the swing set. He pauses in front of the empty swing beside Stan for a moment, like he’s debating whether he should sit down or not, but eventually he shakes his head and sits down anyway.

“What on earth makes you say that?”  There’s a hint of anger to his tone, but Stan’s not entirely convinced it’s directed at him. “Why would I think you’re worthless? You’re my twin brother! What could’ve possibly put the idea in your head that I thought that?”

There’s a tiny voice in the back of his head screaming at him to back out, brush it off with a joke and have this conversation later, but there’s an even louder voice shouting at him that it needs to be had now.

Stan sighs. “I…overheard everything in the principal’s office today”

Ford blinks, like he doesn’t understand a word that Stan just said. “About…West Coast Tech? Is this because you’re afraid that I’ll get in, but you know you won’t because you’re not even interested in applying anyway, but you know you’re going to miss me, and you’re not sure if you can handle-”

“About me, Sixer!” Stan shouts, and tries his damn hardest to ignore the waver in his voice. “He practically called me a useless piece of shit directly to Ma and Pa and neither of them said a word about it!” He scrubs his hands down his face because he’s not choking up, not over something so pointless and stupid. “You’re going to travel the world and become the smartest person the scientific community has ever seen, or whatever, but me? Apparently I’ll always be stuck here in New Jersey to pick up after everyone else’s messes, because that’s all I’m ever good for”

Stan buries his face in his hands. He hadn’t meant to blow up, and he certainly hadn’t meant to direct his anger at Ford, but he just feels so hopeless, and he’s the only one around who’s willing to listen. He wouldn’t be surprised if Ford returned with anger of his own, or told him off for being selfish, or even if he just decided to stand up and walk away from him for being such an embarrassment.

The silence that follows is thick and heavy. Stan is so convinced that he must’ve driven Ford away that when he feels a hand on his shoulder he nearly jumps a mile out of his skin. When he finally pulls his hands out of his face to meet Ford’s eyes, his face is flushed pink and he looks…embarrassed.

“Stan, I had no idea, I…” he awkwardly pulls his hand away and grips tightly to the chain of his swing. Stan can see Ford’s face shifting through about a dozen different emotions at once. “I…must’ve been too focused on everything else to realize he was saying those things about you.” He shakes his head. “I know it’s not an excuse, but…” he sighs. “I’m sorry”

There’s another bout of silence between them. Stan’s half-expecting that to be the end of it, and for Ford to walk away without another word.  

But Ford breaks the silence with a sigh, and when Stan glances over at him he’s staring down at the ground.

“If it’s any consolation...you’re much smarter than me in a lot more places than you realize”

Okay, now Stan has to laugh. “Okay, now you’re being too nice to me. You don’t need to lie to make me feel better”

“I’m serious!” Ford’s cheeks flush pink again, and he adjusts his glasses before returning his gaze towards Stan. “There’s actually been a fascinating number of studies about intelligence lately, and, well…” Ford’s face is turning redder by the minute, Stan swears. “It turns out that…there’s more than one type”

Stan raises an eyebrow. “You’re losing me here, Sixer”

“Well, you see, I thrive in academic intelligence. Math, science, history, you know, school stuff. That’s the most commonly known type of intelligence because a lot of our formative years are based on it”

Stan doesn’t say anything, just raises his eyebrow even further.

“But,” Ford continues quickly, “They’ve also made discoveries about the existence of social intelligence”

“Social?” Stan blinks, suddenly finding himself significantly more interested. “You mean like talking to people and stuff?”

Ford nods. “Precisely. They say people with high social intelligence are much better at picking up on social cues, and can make friends with others much easier than those with lower social intelligence.” Ford kicks at the sand. “The reason social intelligence hasn’t been recognized is because it’s often mistaken for having a friendly personality”.  His face flushes pink again, like he’s afraid he said the wrong thing. “Not that a person can’t have both, but…”

Stan smirks, nudging at Ford with his elbow. “Stanford Pines, are you calling your good-for-nothing brother intelligent?” He teases, but can’t help the genuine smile creeping to his face.

“Think about it!” Ford throws an arm into the air, the other one tightly gripped on the swing to prevent himself from falling off. “Every time Ma and Pa leave us in charge of the shop so they can go to Atlantic City for the weekend, who’s the one bringing in all the customers? Who’s the one selling out our daily stock less than two hours after we’re open? You are, Stan, just by being yourself. You know how to persuade people into buying our stock at ten times the listed price.”

“You can’t learn that from twelve years of public school. They can try to teach you, but at the end of the day it’s all about your ability to connect with people” Ford rubs at his arm. “I’ve tried teaching myself those kinds of tricks for years, but at the end of the day…” he shakes his head. “I’ve never been able to catch up.” He smiles. “I raise my white flag to you, Stan. You’ve outsmarted the smartest brother in the world”

Stan chuckles. “Try telling that to Principal Comb-over. He hears you saying the so-called dumbest clown in the entire school system is smarter than you and he’s going to cart you away to the loony bin”

Ford laughs. “You know, now that I think about it, there may actually be a way to tell him off for what he said about you and get away with it scott-free”

Stan raises an eyebrow. “Yeah? How so?”

Ford smirks. “I think you should try to graduate out of spite”

Stan’s not sure he follows. “Whaddya mean?”

“I mean, think about it” Ford stands from his swing and begins to pace back and forth. “The principal called both of us down even though he only wanted to speak to me, and then he talked shit about you even though he knew you were sitting right outside his door?” he pauses in his pacing. “Stan, he knew that you could hear him. Maybe he didn’t intend for you to listen in when he was talking to Ma and Pa about my scholarship opportunity, but he knew you’d be listening the moment you were brought up in the conversation”

That’s…true. Stan was just about to sneak out before he heard them say his name.

“He’s expecting you to fail, and he wants to put it in everyone else’s head too. He thinks it’s the easy way out, because if you choose to fail out on your own than he doesn’t have to take responsibility for being such a shitty educator. It gives him the chance to say look how he didn’t even try instead of look at how we failed him.”

“But if you proved him wrong? Imagine the look on his face when he has to be the one to place that diploma in your hand. Imagine him having to look you dead in the eyes and tell you he’s proud of you. You’ll know he’s speaking bullshit, but he knows he can’t talk shit about you anymore without making himself look bad.” Ford smirks. “Matter of fact, imagine the looks on the faces of everyone who’s ever doubted you walking across that stage. Pa alone is gonna have a heart attack”

Ford’s smile softens. “I already know that you’re much smarter than you’re given credit for, and I think it’s about time that everyone else recognizes that too”.

Stan’s cheeks burn red, and he shyly kicks at the sand. “Heh, thanks. I appreciate it.” He says. “But even if I did manage to graduate, what am I supposed to do with a high school diploma? Every job application I’ve been skinning through recently says college, college, college”

“Well…” Ford taps at his chin. “Then why not go out for college?”

Okay, now he’s taking things too far.

“Pardon?” Stan mocks, because if Ford thinks that Stan’s going to willingly take four more years of classes than maybe he should be carted away to a loony bin.

“I’m serious!” Ford blushes. “Maybe not a high intensity school like West Coast Tech, but college is so much more freeing than high school, Stanley. It’s not class after class on subjects that other people tell you to take. It’s personalized. If you hate science class so much, you never have to take another science class again”

Ford’s blush darkens. “I know that school is a big drag and all, but if you asked me?” he averts his gaze. “I think you’d really benefit from business school. Charisma and social intelligence is the number one thing that big name businesses are looking for, and I know you’re filled to the brim with both. Ultimately it is your decision, but…” Ford fiddles with his thumbs. “Just…just consider it, okay?”

For a brief moment, Stan just wants to burst out into hysterical laughter. Ford’s been offered the opportunity of a lifetime at one of the best schools in the country, and he’s still taking the time to help out his good-for-nothing brother who’s been cheating off of his exams for the past ten years.

Instead he settles for a roll of his eyes. “Alright, Professor Poindexter, I’ll consider it”

Ford giggles at that, and for a few moments neither of them says anything, watching the waves gently lapping on the beach in the short distance. It’s a comfortable silence, a reassuring sort of feeling that Stan hasn’t felt in a long time.

The frantic beeping of Pa’s wristwatch interrupts them, and both boys flinch at the sound in unison. For a moment Stan is worried that Pa’s standing behind them having heard every word, but when he glances over at Ford, he sees him rolling up his shirt sleeve to reveal that he’s the one wearing the watch, and clicks the alarm off.

“Pa made me borrow it so I wouldn’t be late for the presentation with the school board” he rubs awkwardly at the back of his head. “I’ll probably give it back as soon as I get home tonight”

Stan smirks. “You still hate the sound of that thing too, huh?”

“I can still hear it in my nightmares,” Ford exaggerates, his eyes going wide, and the twins burst into laughter as they both stand from the swings and stretch their arms and legs to wake them up from sitting for so long.

Ford wipes at his eye as he fidgets with the wristwatch. “So…do you think you’re going to be okay?”

That in itself is a pretty loaded question that could take him all night to answer, but all things considering…

“Yeah,” Stan smiles. “I think I’ll be okay”

Ford smiles back, and gestures with his thumb towards the direction of the pawn shop. “Then I’m going to head home and get ready for my presentation. You coming?”

Stan shakes his head. “I think I’ll stay out here and just…watch the ocean for a little while longer”

Ford’s smile softens, but he doesn’t say anything else. He turns heel and walks back towards the house, and it feels as though a giant weight has just been lifted off of Stan’s chest. He glances back to watch Ford go, but finds comfort in the feeling that he feels nothing at all.

~~~

Nearly five hours later, Stan sits at home, watching television on the couch to pass the time. Just out of the corner of his eye he sees Ford slip into the kitchen and gently click the door closed. Stan shuts the TV off, and spins around on the couch to face his brother.

“Well?” Stan asks, though he knows he doesn’t even need to bother asking, given that Ford looks like he’s about to burst. With a shaking hand, Ford reaches into his pocket and pulls out a glinting white envelope.

If he’s trying to keep an air of mystery about it, he’s doing a really bad job, because all at once his composure breaks and the smile that spreads across his face looks as though it could burn out the sun.

“They loved me!” He shouts, excitedly pacing the floor. “They told me they’ve never seen anyone else like me!”

His smile is so contagious that it hurts.

Perhaps another day, in another timeline, Stan would take offense to Ford’s excitement to bounce off to the other end of the country without him. Perhaps he’d even lash out, or do something he would’ve immediately regretted.

But here and now, Stan couldn’t be happier for his brother if he tried.

[monomonomagines]

Part One of the V3 Girls as Monsters with a Human S/o

Hey! I’m really sorry for Kirumi and Kaede being so long while Angie and Tenko’s are a lot shorter. For Kaede and Kirumi it was plot relevance that required them to belong but my lack of self-control that made Tenko’s especially short. I just love her and orcs way too much. Regardless of my rambles, I hope you guys still enjoy this as much as I did writing them. 

(Part 2 here)

Kaede (Siren)

You hadn't expected to ever win a cruise from a giveaway. You just decided to try your luck for the heck of it as it was free.

But then next thing you knew you were on board and were ready to set sail to your first destination.

It was a luxury that you were unaccustomed to but it wasn't necessarily bad. The sea was a whole new territory that you hadn't ventured in before that day but it was exciting none the less.

Maybe because of how exciting it was, you were kept up at night.

All you could do was toss and turn and fiddle with a ring your mother had given to see you off when your ears picked up a sound in the distance.

At first, you assumed it was some kind of animal or something but as you walked onto the deck it almost sounded like some kind of weird wailing.

Was someone calling to your boat for help or something? You strained your ears trying to pick up the sound by getting closer and closer.

Before you knew it you were drawn in by the sound so much that you disregarded when you pressed yourself up against the rails on the deck.

That is until you fell over into the dark ocean water. Before you could know what was happening it felt as though what you thought to be wailing before drew closer and closer until you lost consciousness.

When you had awoken though, you were on a beach shore with a blonde girl looking over at you. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I think so? Did you...save me?" You ask confused as to what happened.

"Well technically, although you might've fallen overboard because of me..." She retorts sounding as though she was blaming herself.

You were confused by her remark only disregarding it due to how worn out you were as you sat up to look at her. However, that's when it clicked.

She was a mermaid, or rather a siren. Yet she saved you? This just made you more confused and maybe it was because of how disoriented you still felt but all you could think of was how you should repay her.

You didn't have anything on you other than your ring so without thinking you pressed into her palm without thinking. "Here.."

Your mind was in a haze still but you knew for sure what was happening next for certain, she was pulling you into an embrace.

"I didn't realize humans were so bold. Of course, I'll marry you!" She beams excitedly adding, "This is just like in the fairy tales and things!"

"Oh y-yeah?" She was so excited that you really didn't want to burst her bubble so for you decided to just prioritize getting back. If you had to with a new wife than so be it.

You explain to her that you need to get back to the cruise ship and she immediately would talk about how she's heard of a witch that could help.

"I'll get her to help us! I'll get a disguise or maybe some legs like you and we'll get you back to the ship safe and sound!"

Well at least she had a plan you thought but there'd be a lot of explaining to do when you'd see your family again.

Kirumi (High Ranking Demon)

When your friend sent you a text and a link to some demon summoning ritual you thought that this would just be another boring night.

You'd try to summon some demon, nothing would happen because they're not real and then you'd just continue to text your buddies after.

Fate had other plans for you though. As soon as you had completed the ritual you hadn't been taking serious a cloud of smoke rose up from the summoning circle and out stepped a pristine looking demon.

You immediately fall back on your ass as you gaze up at her as she daintily steps towards you, giving a small curtsy.

"Hello, Master. What may I assist you with?" She asks in earnest, merely gazing up at you with her one uncovered eye as she waits patiently for a response.

In a moment of panic, you quickly send a text saying you need to go to your friends and look back up at her. "Help me with?"

"Yes, I am here to assist, so please do not hesitate to issue an order for me." She repeats, seeming far more robotic than demonic to you.

"What if I.....what if I don't have a request right now?" You ask, finally standing from your position on the floor.

"Then I shall wait until you do. For now, I will assume the role of a housekeeper by default but do feel free to use my powers for anything that comes to mind."

She draws closer as the conversation dips, adding in an eery tone. "I am fully capable to do anything you want. I never leave a client unsatisfied and have served thousands of others, including Satan himself so please do not hesitate to request whatever your heart desires."

 Man was she scary and even if you did request anything that article said she'd take life force in exchange for your request. So how could you do anything knowing that?

For the time being, she simply served as something similar to a housewife. She cleaned, she cooked, and she offered to fulfill your wildest desires for the price of some of your life force.

Ok, it definitely wasn't normal but you did grow to enjoy her presence still as time went on.

You two had a sort of bond that was inexplainable but you knew you wanted to deepen it as you grew close.

And so, you finally had one request of her. "Kirumi I finally know what I want."

"Yes, what is it?" She asks tilting her head as she stops her usual cleaning.

"I want you to stay with me forever Kirumi." You admit rather bashfully as you notice her put a gloved finger up to her eyes to brush away a stray tear.

You didn't know demons could cry but you were just as surprised to be hearing what you wanted to, as to be seeing the tears streaming down her cheeks at that moment. "It's a deal."

Angie (Water Nymph)

You had been taking a walk to clear your head when you had come across a lake.

Today had been a long and stressful day so you decided to sit down by the lake as you let out an audible sigh.

Sometimes it felt like you were all alone, so you simply gazed down at your reflection cast by the lake when you noticed something odd.

Why was there a face other than yours in the water? Before you could think on it further that same grinning face popped out of the water with a sprightly laugh.

"Nyahahaha! Peek-a-boo!" Her voice rings loud and clear as you nearly fall over.

"Wha-what!? How were you under the water!?" You question completely drenched by her sudden appearance.

"That? It's because of Atua's miracles! He made me as I am so now I can be one with the water!" She proudly announces, not midding a beat as you just look on in utter confusion.

"So you're like a water nymph and Atua is like a Greek God then?"

"No, no, no!" She chides, Atua is completely different! How silly of you to think that some Greek God made me."

"Yeah....silly me?" You question not sure what she wants until she grabs ahold of your hands with her own smaller ones.

"Yes! I've seen you come by here before but I've decided!" She announces again.

"Decided what?" You really weren't following her at all. She's a Nymph but she isn't Greek somehow and now she's deciding something. Based on what?

"I've decided that you have to be mine! Atua predicted you would come so there's no choice. We'll be together forever!"

"Hold on, I can't live in a lake, I-" Before you can finish she tries to pull you into the lake only to end up with the two of you becoming even more drenched.

"How about I take you home instead? I really can't live in the water like you." You try to negotiate, knowing that there's' no getting away from her.

"Yes, yes! That's a perfect idea!" She agrees holding you tight as she whispers in your ear. "We'll never be apart!"

Tenko (Orc)

You had been walking through the woods, trying to clear your head when you happened to bump into a man. 

You didn’t mean anything by it of course but it seemed that trouble was attracted to you today. 

You really weren’t expecting this at all though. How could anyone expect to be harassed for something as simple as bumping into someone on a night stroll?

You were already in quite the amount of disbelief but that only continued when a giant orc woman came flying out of nowhere.

It felt like one of those superhero movies or something with the way she arrived in the nick of time.

As soon as that man you ran into nearly put his hands on you she came flying out of nowhere, kicking your assailant right in the face.

He was immediately KO'd and now you were left with your savior. A giant hulking orc woman.

"Hmph, what a degenerate male, picking a fight with someone so much weaker than them!" She scoffs soon turning back to you.

You really weren't as weak as she thought but it was still nice of her to protect you.

"Are you ok?" She asks looking you over.

"Yeah, I'm alright thanks to you but how could I ever repay you?" You ask noticing how her cheeks flush even in the dark of the night.

"Ah well....you know...I..." She could barely spit it out as you patiently waited for her to finish. "You could give me a date!"

A date? A date with your hero!? You may not have been having the best day but this was certainly the highlight of it.

"Sure I can give you a date, but you want to date me?" You point to yourself as if to emphasize your point when she shakes her head profusely.

"Of course I do! You're..you're so cute after all so how couldn't I!?"

After that night you were going to your first of many dates with Tenko and you were more excited than anything. 

You two would go to dinner and she’d walk you home holding your smaller hand in her own. 

As you’d approach the door you’d give her a small peck on the cheek that she’d return with her own bone-crushing hug.

“You’re so cute! I love you, S/o!”

[wondergal2001]

Little Lamb: Part Seven

When Charlie first woke up and calmed down from her initial deja vu, the silence was wonderful. It was serene and healing; everything she needed in her life right now. Her head had been filled with so much shit the last few years, it piled up and up until all that noise was pounding in her head. Slamming against her skull demanding to be released. But the silence in this room was just... so silent. For once the only thing in Charlie's head, was her, just her. The silence was her balm, her blissful saviour.

But now it was choking her.

The soothing, healing silence had escaped the room with the cold, no-nonsense woman in a pantsuit. Erica Sloane, if Charlie remembered correctly. But to be honest she wasn't really paying much attention. She completely blanked out the second she made eye contact with the giant man with the ugly moustache. The one from the warehouse. The one who saved her, but also seemed like he couldn't care less for her life.

Ms. Sloane had strut in here like she owned the place, which Charlie din't know yet but she did, said some blah blah explanation about what happened to her, like Charlie didn't already know how she got into this situation and what those disgusting people were gonna do with her. It was old news to her, she lost interest almost immediately, she almost didn't notice when Waller left the room. What really interested her was why the not so friendly giant, looked more uncomfortable being in this room than she did. As soon as that door closed she was on the case to find out why. And thus the staring contest began.

They had both been staring at each other for some time now, what felt like hours but really was only a handful of minutes. Both pairs of eyes roaming the others figure. Trying to surmise every fact, every small tiny detail about each other without opening their mouths. Charlie could feel this man's inquisitive gave travel over every square inch of her person, inspecting every bruise, every scar, every freckle on her blemished skin. She made sure to put her best poker face on; she wasn't going to show this random man just how unsettled she was being in this room with him with complete lack of noise.

He was just as tall and just as wide as she remembered him being. He looked pretty much the same as the last time she faced him, just maybe a little cleaner. His previous sand, dirt, and blood stained outfit had been replaced with a pair of black trousers and a tight, knit sweater. The dark navy blue of the garment contrasting well with his light eyes. He stood, leaning his shoulder against the wall, about a metre away from the door. His arms were crossed at his chest, making his already big arms even huger.

The silence was suffocating her again. Sucking all the air out of her body, she couldn't breathe. This was past quiet, way more than silence. It felt like all the air and all possible noise had evaporated from the room. All thought disappeared from her frazzled head, all she could do was not blink. She knew what this was. It was a test for dominance, to see who was the top dog, who was gonna be in charge of this conversation, in charge of this relationship. She could do it, she knew she could. Charlie flippin' Granger was her name and stubborn was her game. She could hold the blinks back and show this dangerous specimen who was boss.

Charlie was quite the stubborn person, stubborn as an ox most people would say. She was often stubborn to a fault.  In fact that was probably the second word used to describe her. The first word was always the same one.

Awkward.

"So who talks first? I talk first? You talk first?", she finally broke, managing to keep her voice steady. Still trying to keep all of her emotions close to her chest, but she just couldn't keep her lack of comfort inside any longer.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a very piercing stare sir. I mean like seriously, what are you doing? Looking into my soul, trying to see my future? Cause I can tell you now, there is nothing particularly interesting to see here. Nope, nada. Probably just a crazy cat lady with a thousand plants.", god she just kept rambling. The word vomit just kept coming and coming, she couldn't make it stop. She sent a quick prayer to mother Karma that she needed to be stopped, and stopped quickly.

It seemed karma took pity on her. A quiet, smooth chuff of air, left the very, very large chest; sounding suspiciously like amusement. She looked over at him, now sitting in a chair that looked much too small for a man of his stature. When he moved there she couldn't tell you, it must have been when she was stuck in her head. She saw his blank face turn into a delicious smirk. Lips pulling up to the side just enough to show his amusement. That accompanied by the mischief in his eyes from her babbling, making his beautiful face look like a total douchebag. Finally, after their intense stare down he spoke.

"That totally makes sense, you seem like that kind of person.", he said sounding just a tiny bit mocking. Still looking at her with that small smile on his face, as if she was the most hilarious person in the world. But not the type of hilarious where they tell jokes that make you pee your pants, the type of hilarious that's only funny to the people watching. The difference between laughing with and laughing at.

"And what kind of person is that Mr. Steroids?", she retorted with some not so hidden venom in her voice. Kind of insulted that he agreed with her lonely, depressing view of her future.

"You don't have great conversation skills do you?", he spoke through a laugh, his mouth breaking into a huge grin showing off his perfect teeth. Of course he has prefect stinking teeth, Charlie thought bitterly. He seemed to relax more, as he leaned back into the chair, sitting like an actual normal person instead of some perfect posture robot. If Charlie heard that sound a year ago, she would have blushed like crazy. She would be trying, and failing, to flirt back with this handsome stranger. She would have answered yes she does have excellent communication skills, and she always believed people had the best intentions at heart. But she knew better now.

"Well considering the last real conversation I had, I was begging not to be kidnapped I think I'm doing pretty well. Sorry to disappoint.", she said the last bit with all the sarcasm she could muster. Hoping to cover up the real sadness and fear that was bleeding out of her confession.

It seemed her retort had woken him up. He swiftly shifted his weight forwards, leaning his elbows on his spread knees, with his large hands clasped together hanging in between. The previous laughter on his face disappeared, being replaced by a serious face with remorseful eyes that glanced down away from her person towards his fiddling hands. After a few seconds of silence, as her admission sank into both of them, his eyes connected with hers again. The look on his face seeming to plead with her to believe what he would say next.

"You're doing wonderfully. Even though there is no right or wrong way to handle what you've been through, to handle trauma, I can tell you are doing the best you can. And that's great, that's the first step. Always.", he said so seriously she actually believed him. Everything about him right now screamed sincere. Nothing about his face, body language, or tone made her think he was lying to her. That he was giving the classic victim spiel. He looked like a golden retriever right now, he appeared to be so loyal, patient and trusting; someone she could count on to help her through this. As much as his words comforted her, the prolonged eye contact was starting to make her uncomfortable. She quickly cleared her throat, looking away from his piercing gaze.

"Where are we? Who are you? I'm pretty sure we are in some medical facility, and no offence dude but you don't look like my doctor." she questioned, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

So she was deflecting again, sue her. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate his words, she did. Charlie wasn't ready to go down that hole yet. And she'd rather deal with her trauma in her home, or at the very least, when an extremely attractive man isn't there to see her burst open. He didn't seem all that surprised at her dismissal, if anything it seemed like he expected it. His face shifted again, this time becoming a the neutral, calm government official he was. He rose from his chair, standing up to his full height, his arms found their natural habitat crossing his chest. He seemed to ponder his response, Charlie watched a million thoughts run in and out of his head before he finally formulated his answer.

"You are in a US government medical facility in Virginia. You've been unconscious for several hours now which is to be expected with your injuries. I am the government agent who rescued you and who now has been assigned to help rehabilitate you and assist you in getting back into society. Long story short, that means where you go, I go. And before you ask, yes I am essentially your babysitter. My name's August.", he said sounding nothing like the man she had first met. He actually sounded...friendly. But it didn't matter how friendly he made himself seem, Charlie was not happy, nope not one bit. But she was too lazy and not mention too tired to argue with him. She knew, no matter what she said she wouldn't be able to change his mind, so she settled for showing her anger in another more healthy way. She pouted and glared.

"Tt, babysitter.", she scoffed, finding his blue eyes again staring straight at her. She returned his gaze with a fiery glare, putting all the anger and discontent she could muster right now behind it. She thought she came off as serious and intimidating, but really she just looked like kid when they are told no they can't have cake for dinner. A fact August didn't hesitate to let her know.

"It's cute, you trying to intimidate me. Adorable but useless, not to mention unnecessary. I don't like this anymore than you do.", August admitted with absolutely no shame and a sarcastic smile. He was secretly glad the light-hearted atmosphere was back, and that she took it so well. No yelling or fighting or major resisting. This he could deal with.

"First things first, now that you have woken up, we are going to move you to a safe house where you can finish your recovery.", he declared, sounding like the bossy man she knew he was just from the moustache alone. He started to move towards her, coming to stand right next to her on the left side of her bed. He reached for her arm to help her out of bed and onto the wheelchair close by. He stopped about a couple inches away from touching her skin. She looked at him questioningly, maybe there is a glitch in the matrix, she thought trying to understand what he was doing.

"Can I touch you?", he asked softly, as if he could shatter her by speaking any louder.

"What?", she asked. Her face scrunched up in confusion, her eye brows furrowed together, mouth slightly open in pause. After inhaling a deep breath he elaborated his previous question.

"Do I have your consent to touch you? To grab your arm to help you out of bed?", finally clarifying what he was after. Charlie's scrunched up face melted away into one of open shock. No one had ever asked her that before, not her previous partners, not random people she met out in public, and most definitely not the people she had encountered in the last year. Finally getting her wits together she answered back honestly.

"That depends.", she said equally as quiet as August, and equally as serious. His eyebrow quirked a little, in an inquisitive manner. The eyebrow was enough to ask her to elaborate without opening his mouth, a talent she was definitely going to ask him to teach her later.

"Were you really gonna do it?", she asked with no emotion in her voice, no emotion on her face either. She made sure to gaze at his face to see what he was feeling, she wanted to be certain.

"Do what?", he asked even more confused than he was before. He tried to imagine what she could have been talking about. They hadn't known each other for more than a day. This was their first conversation together, what could he have done to make her question him like this?

"Were you really going let him kill me?", she finally revealed. Looking him right in the eye to make sure he knew that she was watching and that she wasn't going to settle for anything less than the truth.

Finally after several seconds of silence, and even more intense eye contact he gave her a look. What it meant she didn't understand at the time, but would later learn to understand every word he wasn't saying. It was a simple yes or no question but he didn't answer. All he did was gently grasp her arm in his large, warm hand.

To everyone who is still interested in reading this: I am so sorry it took so long. Writing isn’t my strong suit and I just have to be in the mood for it. I will try my best to write more regularly and often. I will be trying to make a master list (it will be pinned on my blog) and a taglist so let me know if you want to be tagged. 

[voyager-into-the-unknown]

An Afternoon in the Garden

This is my very first fanfic. It is Plance fic, of course, with a brief mention of Kallura.

Comments and reblogs are always welcome.

“An Afternoon in the Garden” by truegryffindorforever2

Lance had roamed the corridors of the Galaxy Garrison’s Science Division for three quarters of an hour, searching for a particular petite young scientist. He was determined to find her before he lost his nerve.

“You’ve got to do it today, you coward,” he said to himself. What would Hunk think of him after what he confessed over breakfast this morning? He would never forgive himself if he chickened out. After all, he was a Paladin of Voltron. He had faced down Galra soldiers, giant robeasts, space pirates, bloodthirsty alien monsters, and even a space mall cop. He could do this.

She wasn’t in her usual place, working alongside her brother in the robotics department, nor was she in her own office, writing code on her laptop. He didn’t find her assisting her father in one of the engineering laboratories either. There was one more place he had to check before leaving, which was Colleen’s hydroponics lab. He approached the door, noticing the holographic poster advertising the upcoming Garrison Ball. His heart began to beat faster and his palms began to sweat. Maybe he could talk to her tomorrow...

“Hey, Lance!” He nearly jumped out of his skin. There she was, round glasses perched on the end of her little upturned nose and thick, unruly brown hair crammed into a messy ponytail. (When had it gotten so long that she could do that? How would she look with her hair down around her shoulders? Her eyes were so pretty...how would she look without those glasses on? Stop staring, he told himself.)

“Uh, hi, Pidge. I was just looking for you actually. Need any help?” She was carrying a tray of little green seedlings, suspended in a nutrient solution.

“Mom has been in a meeting all afternoon, and I promised her I would check up on her experiments. There’s another tray exactly like this one that needs to be moved to greenhouse three. See it over there?”

“Yeah. I’ll get that for you.” He picked up the tray and followed her into the greenhouse.

“These are ready for 12 hours of simulated radiation from a type G2 star,” she said putting her tray down under the designated sun lamp. Lance placed his tray of seedlings next to hers.

“Trying to see if these will grow in earth-like conditions, right?”

“Yep. Now I need to check on the growth of the tomatoes on aisle seven, and I’ll be done here. What’s up?”

“Well, I was wondering about something. Did you see all of those holos reminding everyone about the Garrison Ball?”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “I don’t need a holo to remind me about that. Mom has been nagging me to go shopping for a new dress every day. She expects me to go to the ball whether I have a date or not.”

“But you don’t have a date yet, right?”

“Look, if you’re just came down here to make fun of me too, Mom already does that.”

“No, I just wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Well, there’s this girl I really like, and I want to ask her to go to the ball with me, but I am afraid to do it. Help me, please.”

“Don’t tell me that you are afraid of being rejected. That never stopped you from asking out girls before.”

“It’s more than that. This girl means everything to me. I don’t want to mess this up.”

“Um, you know that Keith has already asked Allura to go to the ball with him, and she said yes, right?”

“This isn’t about them. I got over my crush on Allura ages ago.”

“Oh, really?” Pidge raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Well, if this girl you like is so important to you, you should just tell her how you feel about her.” She crossed her arms and stared at him as if to challenge him.

“It’s not that easy. If I ask her out and she says no, it might make things weird between us. She might not want to be around me anymore.”

“But what if she says yes?”

“Then we will start dating, and I will inevitably say or do something stupid and she’ll break up with me and then she won’t want to be friends with me anymore and I won’t be able to handle it. I can’t lose her. She’s one of my best friends in the entire universe!”

Pidge smiled up at him, her cheeks slightly pink, and her eyes full of hope. She smirked and said, “But suppose you say and do stupid things around her all the time, and she still loves you anyway.”

Lance groaned. “Thanks, Pidge. That’s the way to boost my self-esteem,” he said, and then sighed. “I’m hopeless.”

“Well, maybe you came to the wrong person for advice about dating, since, according to my mother, I’m the one who’s hopeless. She makes fun of me all the time for having a crush on a boy that barely even realizes that I’m a female, and who flirts with every pretty girl he sees right in front of me, as if I don’t even exist!”

Lance gaped at her, speechless. Could it be? Was he imagining things? He blinked. There was a long silence, as Pidge stared at him, her face red with anger.

Lance stood with his feet apart and fists on his hips. “Do I know this boy you like so much? He sounds like he’s kind of a jerk.”

Pidge turned away from him. “He’s not a jerk,” she said in a small voice. “He’s actually really sweet, and clueless.” She sniffled. Was she crying? This boy had hurt her, and at that moment Lance wanted to punch him, whoever he was. “Do I know this guy? What’s he like?”

“Tall.” Pidge sniffled a bit as she wiped her eyes.

“Tall? Pidge, compared to you, every guy is tall. Give me something to go on here.” She laughed quietly, then turned to him. She took off her glasses to wipe away the last of her tears, then seemed to brace herself, as if to face a new challenge or to do something foolishly brave.

“Um, okay. He’s a great pilot. He’s a daredevil...fearless, or at least he pretends to be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I know he gets really scared sometimes, but he always overcomes his fear, especially when someone he cares about is in danger. He loves his family and friends so much that he wouldn’t hesitate to protect them by putting his life on the line to keep them safe. He would even do that for a total stranger if it was the right thing to do. He’s saved countless lives. He’s a real hero.”

“Wow...I...” Lance began. “He sounds like an amazing guy.”

Pidge looked up at him with shining eyes. “He is, but he often doesn’t realize it. He’s fun to be with, and has a great sense of humor. He always makes me laugh when I least expect it. And he’s kind. He has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know, and he desperately wants to love and be loved in return. And the saddest thing of all is that he sometimes thinks he doesn’t deserve that kind of happiness.” The tears rolled down her cheeks once more, but she made no effort to hide them this time. Even though Lance knew his own eyes weren’t dry, he moved closer to her, lifted her chin, and brushed away her tears with his thumbs. Her golden brown eyes were so big, he could have gotten lost in them. He felt a pang of jealousy directed at this boy that Pidge apparently had a crush on.

“I’ll bet he’s totally ugly though, am I right? Probably looks like the back end of a weblum or something.” He wiped his face on the sleeve of his uniform.

Pidge giggled. He grinned at her. “Eh, not really. I’d say he’s okay-looking.”

“Okay-looking?!” Lance said in mock offense. “I imagined your Mr. Perfect as being some drop-dead gorgeous guy. You know...like me.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, and they both laughed.

“Well, some girls thinks he’s handsome. I guess I think he’s at least kind of cute.”

“Kind of? Just how cute is he?”

“As cute as a yalmor.” Lance cackled, then eventually frowned, remembering something she once said. There was a long silence between them.

“Lance?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Yeah, that usually takes a while.”

“Hey!” Lance cried, pretending to be offended, but then he grinned at her.

“I didn’t say that he was smart,” she mumbled.

“What was that?”

“I never said that the guy I like is smart...especially when it comes to figuring out when a girl likes him.”

“Well, if he’s so slow on the uptake, maybe you should just tell him exactly how you feel about him.”

“Hmm...no. I think the guy should make the first move.”

“Sure. But do you know how terrifying that is?” Lance began to ramble, without thinking. “Even if the girl I lo—like says yes, she might make fun of me for being such a hopeless romantic. She’s already one of the people I care about the most in the entire universe. I’m afraid if we start dating I will ruin our friendship because, let’s face it, Pidge. I’m an idiot. I’m bound to do something stupid.”

“I know you will, Lance, but if this girl is really worth it, then that’s a risk that you’ll have to take. It’s like my father always says: If you worry too much about what could go wrong...”

“You might miss your chance to do something great,” he finished. It is now or never, he thought. Do it now, before you lose your nerve.

“Pidge,” he began, then stopped. “Meeting You was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. You are my best friend. You make me laugh like no one else can, and you make my head spin with how incredibly clever you are. You’re courageous and kind, and honestly I think you are as beautiful as you are brilliant, and that is saying something because you are one of the smartest people I have ever met. Will you go to the Garrison Ball with me?”

“I’ll have to think about it,” she said with a lopsided grin. She was teasing him, of course, but Lance panicked, once again fearing rejection.

“Pidge!”

She giggled. “Of course, I will go to the ball with you...I just wanted to see the look on your face when—“

Lance didn’t know what she was going to say next because he cut her off with a loud whoop, and then picked her up in a tight hug. “That’s a yes, then. You are actually going to go on a date with me.”

“Yes, I am actually going to go to the ball with you, Mr. Perfect.”

He set her down, beaming at her. “Then that boy you have a crush on—“

“Is you. It’s always been you, ever since we were cadets,” she said softly, then stood on tiptoe to kiss him gently on the lips. Lance leaned down and kissed her back, feeling her fingers ruffling his short, messy hair as he held her in a warm embrace. Kissing her was as thrilling as flying, and his heart raced just as fast as it had the first time he flew Blue Lion. She had been clinging to him with urgency then as well. They deepened the kiss, and his heart beat even faster, like the first time he flew Red. He realized that in that moment he was the happiest he had ever been. It was better than being accepted into the Garrison, better than becoming a Paladin, even better than being chosen as Black Paladin (not that he fantasized about that...much.) He would have hoped to stay like this forever, cradling her slender body in his arms, and kissing her with such tenderness until...

“Katie? Are you down here, sweetheart?”

Lance and Pidge immediately broke their kiss and sprang apart from each other. Pidge mouthed the words “It’s my mom!” She smoothed her rumpled lab coat.

“I know!” whispered Lance frantically, as he finger combed his hair, but it stood up at odd angles anyway. Both of them were blushing as red as Colleen’s tomato plants.

“There you are! Katie, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Oh! Hello, Lance.”

“Mom! Um, we were just down here, um...”

“Watering the plants,” said Lance, trying to finish her statement.

“Lance, dear, this is a hydroponics garden. The plants are watered all the time. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two were up to something. Anyway, Katie is going on a trip to the mall with her mother. I’m helping her pick out a new dress for the ball, whether she likes it or not. She thinks that because she can’t get a date that I will excuse her from going—“

Pidge interrupted her mother. “Mom, I have a date.”

“More than a date,” Lance added. “She’s got a boyfriend.” He draped one long arm around Pidge’s narrow shoulders in an all-too-familiar way to emphasize what he was saying. Pidge gave her mother an impish grin.

“Boyfriend?!” Colleen sputtered, clearly in shock.

“Yes ma’am. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to tag along with you two lovely ladies on your trip to the mall. I need to rent a tuxedo.”

[s-trawberryv-eins]

An Introduction

(NOT MY GIF)

AN INTRODUCTION TO CAROLINE STARK

A/N: Hi! Thanks for reading! So, after months of waffling about wanting to write, I finally sat down and did it. It’s pretty complicated, so it’s pretty important to read this one before you start with anything else. I’ve created an original character, who lives in a slightly alternative universe to the one we were left with after Endgame. I’d like to state that none of my personal changes are reflections of my opinions of what DID happen, but in order to build her as I wish, some things needed to be slightly different.

1)    Steve didn’t go back to Peggy after he returned the stones

2)    Hulk and Banner didn't become one, they’re still two separate beings

3)    Natasha was brought back by Steve as he was able to return the soul stone in return for her life

4)    The compound was rebuilt after the Battle of Earth. There is a memorial for Tony where he died.

A few other things to note:

1)    My first piece of writing will be a background that is applicable to all of the fics. However, many of them will be stand alone, unless I state otherwise. I’ll be creating a masterlist which will lay everything out very clearly, but please feel free to ask if you need to 😊

 Thanks for reading the boring stuff. Everything will be up soon!

 Summary: An introduction to the secret Stark sister. Who is she? Why was she kept a secret? And what happens when everybody finds out?

 Warnings: Abandonment, injury, PTSD, death, blood, but there's plenty of soft love too.

 Word count: 1921

 SUMMER 2004

MALIBU, CALIFORNIA

"Yes, yes, two seconds!" Tottering over to the front door of her bosses lavish Malibu home, Pepper Potts grumbled under her breath, annoyed by the fact that she was the one answering the incessant knocking. "I’m not your maid, Tony!” Sighing, she unlocked the door and prepared to shoo whichever reporter, play bunny, or cold caller had decided that 10 PM on a Tuesday evening was a good time to show up. However, she was greeted with something entirely unexpected.

“Oh! Hello! Are you lost? Where’s your Mom?" In front of Miss Potts stood a small girl, 7 years of age, a sparkly pink bag held tightly in her little hand. Pepper greeted the young girl with the cheeriest voice she could manage in her surprise. Sticking her head out of the door, she looked around, but with a furrowed brow she realised that they were alone. There wasn’t another figure or car in sight.

“Momma said I had to give you this." In her tiny outstretched hand was a thick envelope. "She said my Daddy lives here.” The look on her face told Pepper that she knew exactly what had happened. Even as young as she was, she had an obvious maturity that would break hearts. Her mother had abandoned her, and the girl understood that entirely.

With eyes so wide it hurt, Pepper took the envelope, peeking inside to find a passport, a letter, and a photograph of Mr Stark and a woman. The girls' mother, Pepper presumed. Shock was written into the PAs face, but she forced a smile all the same. After a quick look at the passport, she ushered the child inside.

"Come on in, Caroline. We’ll sort you out, okay?”

 LATE 2008

NEW YORK

A series of loud bangs on her bedroom door pulled Caroline from her daydream. Not even having a chance to respond, the door burst open and three young girls practically fell into her room.

“Turn the TV on!"

“As if you weren’t famous enough!"

“Did you know? You must've known?!"

Wide eyed and clueless as to what her friends were talking about, Caroline blinked back gormlessly as Amelie grabbed the remote and turned the TV on.

“What channel?“

“Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?" The 11-year-old spoke up, and all three heads turned to face her, humour in their eyes as they stated what was seemingly obvious.

“Your dad, Care.” Caroline knew her Father had been in some trouble. Happy had shown up outside the halls of residence, whisking her away immediately. The panic set in as her heart sped up violently. As the girls scrambled through the channels, they froze as a man in a suit appeared on the screen. Caroline's dad. Tony Stark. They watched in awe as he addressed his audience. As his daughter, she'd watched a few press conferences before. They were a bore, however, she couldn't lie.

The TV remote fell from Amelie’s hand as he spoke the four words that changed history.

“I am Iron Man.”

 MAY 2012

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

Footage of the Chitauri destroying the very ground she stood on flashed through Caroline’s mind. Gripping Happy’s arm as she sobbed, the 14-year-old girl cried out desperately for her Father. Their relationship had been very rocky for a while. He’d rejected his new responsibility at first, leaving Pepper to parent the girl. He’d even shipped her off to boarding school, where he further pushed away his long-lost child. It wasn’t until Pepper dragged him by the sleeve to the young girl’s dorm room and forced him inside that he’d actually spoken to his daughter. From there, they established a solid relationship. Caroline, of course, fell head over heels for her Father. He could do no wrong in her eyes. That never changed, even as she grew.

Fear wracked her body at the thought of Tony not surviving the battle. Staring at the sky, she prayed and prayed that he return from that giant swirling hole of death that currently dominated New York. When she saw his body fall through the sky, her fear both vanished and increased ten-fold.

-

Later that evening, JARVIS informed her of her Fathers arrival at the beaten-up tower. Racing to find him, she threw her arms around his neck and cried. She cried and cried until she ran out, but she never let go of his hand.

 MAY 2015

NOVI GRAD, SOKOVIA

“Daddy?” Her voice came out a whimper. She felt weak and small.

“Hey baby girl, I’m uh…I’m guessing you’ve seen, right? Yeah, it’s bad, Care.”

“Dad, what’s going on?”

“Listen, baby, I’ve gotta end this. Me and Thor, uh, we think we’ve got a way. A lot of people will die if we don’t do this. You're the best thing, you know?" His voice was soft, even as he continued to fight off robots and save the world. The line grew staticky and Caroline couldn’t stop the tears that spilled from her eyes. "I'm so glad you showed up on my doorstep all those years ago. I’m sorry for taking so long."

“Why does it sound like you're saying goodbye? Daddy you're scaring me!” Her voice was a desperate whimper, and a pain in her chest bloomed violently.

“I love you, Caroline. Remember th-" Horror erupted over her features as the line went dead. Not knowing whether she'd ever see him again, she made her way to New York, her heart dragging painfully behind her.

 NEW YEARS EVE 2015

AVENGERS COMPOUND

UPSTATE NEW YORK

Caroline and her Father walked through one of the many laboratories of the new compound. On her 18th birthday the Stark girl was offered a position as a biomechanical engineer for the new era S.H.I.E.L.D. program, built following its collapse in 2014. Taking after her Dad, she had excelled in school, and to the amazement of her new bosses, had landed a glowing recommendation from Iron Man himself. The decision for her to live under a different last name to Tony was one he himself had requested in a bid to keep her safe for as long as he could. She had never really met the other Avengers, and only three other people knew of her existence; Pepper, Happy, and Natasha Romanoff. It was easy enough to hide her identity.

Caroline didn’t mind too much. She could still see her parents as much as she pleased, and it prevented any special treatment from schools and professors. Those around Caroline herself knew; her school friends knew, she didn't want to keep a secret from them, and besides, she didn't know any better when she told them at 8 years old.

“How’re you settling in? Are you sure this isn’t too soon? This is too soon. I’m taking you-“ midway through his rambling, Tony realised his daughter both lived and worked at the compound, rendering his threat useless. "I'll take you somewhere. Details, schmetails."  

“Dad! Calm down! You’re spiralling. I’m fine, I’m settling in just fine! Now come on, I need to meet everyone.” A proud smile graced the young girls features as she tried to rid her rather of any worry. With a sigh, he took his daughters hand in his own and led her to the Avengers quarters. Separating just before they entered the room, Caroline took a shaky breath.

“Folks gather round. This is our new Doc. With Banner MIA," his brows drew together as he spoke, and his gaze fell to the floor for a second before finding Caroline "she’s our go to! This is Caroline. Caroline Lockwood.”  A half smile appeared on his face, the bittersweet moment getting the best of him. After a few brief introductions, the girl bid them goodbye to get ready for one of Tony Starks famous New Year’s Eve parties.

 JUNE 2018

AVENGERS COMPOUND

UPSTATE NEW YORK

Pepper sat with her daughter, a blanket around the two of them as they hid. They sat in silence, unable to find the words. Trying to maintain hope when everything around them told them to give up was the hardest battle they'd fought yet. “Momma? We’ll be fine, right? We always win.” Her voice nothing but a whisper in the darkness, she felt her adoptive mothers’ fingers tighten around her own.

“We'll be fine, baby. Your Dad will do what he always does. He'll save us. He'll save everybody.” The sad smile on Caroline's face couldn’t be seen in the dark, but Pepper could tell the moment that it fell. She felt the energy in the air shift. Did they lose? “Baby? Baby what’s wrong?" Placing her soft hands either side of her daughter’s face, she gasped sharply as the blanket fell around them, no longer supported by two bodies. Instead, a dark ash took the place of the youngest Stark.

“I’m sorry, Momma" she choked out before disintegrating completely "I'm sorry.”

Pepper was left alone, covered in heartbreak, grief, and the ashes her child left behind.

OCTOBER 2023

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

"Hey, sweetie. Do you want Mom?" Morgan shook her head and stepped closer to her sister.

“Can you help me? You’re my sister.” With sad, glazed over eyes, Caroline nodded. It's not difficult to sympathise with the two girls. Morgan knew all about her big sister. Stories were told, and pictures were framed in every inch of the house. Morgan idolised her before she’d ever met her. And when, by some miracle, they did meet, it was a few days before their fathers’ funeral. Two days before that, Caroline had been dead.

Dead.

It'd been one hell of a week.

To say the oldest Stark sister walked on eggshells around the younger one would be an understatement. Allowing their relationship to be on Morgan’s terms was the least she could do. The thought that Morgan may reject her completely never left her mind, despite Peppers constant reassurance. “I can braid your hair, if you’d like. Momma taught me when I was a little girl."

-

"Where's Morgan?" Pepper's voice barely registered in Caroline’s brain. She could feel herself drifting further and further away every day. But she didn't have the strength to fight it.

“Happy took her for cheeseburgers.” A hint of smile traced her mouth, but it didn't stick. It never stuck. The bags under her eyes were heavy and dark, and the once rich brown of her eyes seemed to have dulled miserably. After receiving her own private recording from Stark, she felt as if she'd broken completely. Turning to face Pepper, she struggled to continue, her voice hoarse from crying and screaming in the night. "They should be back an-"

“MOMMY SISSY UNCLE HAPPY BOUGHT EXTRA.” Watching the tiny girl stumble through the door, a brown paper bag clutched tightly to her chest, Caroline just stared in awe. Of course, Morgan was too young to really understand what happened. She missed her Daddy, and she knew he wasn’t coming home, but she managed to smile. Her eyes shined bright as ever. The world hadn't tainted her hope, it hadn’t torn away her faith.

It would be so, so easy to just let go. To just give up and fall into the oblivion that called her name. But in doing so, she'd miss even more time with her sister. Watching her eat with a pensive look on her face, clutching on to Pepper and watching all the strangers around her, Caroline made a choice. She could do it for Morgan. She could hold on and keep going.

So, she did.

TAGS:

@bucky-castiel​

[blacknpurplewarpster]

[IDW Skywarp Headcanon]

More about his awful comments/attitude towards others

I know I’ve written about this before but I cant seem to find it anywhere on my blog. I was rereading the original comic series and thought I’d elaborate a little bit more than what I had previously wrote. I was going to include a snippet from Unicron #2 

Skywarp: “Among others. Could you try bumbling into trouble a little closer to the mainland next time? This was decidedly inconvenient.”  Helix: “I think he means ‘Glad you guys are okay. Sorry it took so long to reach you.’ Isn’t that right, Skywarp?” Skywarp: “I suppose. I would have been more annoyed if we had come all this way and they were already dead.” Helix: “Do you actually know when you’re being awful?” Skywarp: “Almost always. Fortunately, showing up and being remarkable are more important to being a G.I. Joe than unnecessary human pleasantries.” 

Skywarp mentions that he knows when he is being awful with his comments and just overall to others when Helix calls him out on it after just saving part of his team. This team he has been with for a few years and is close to them, even Rock. Going through the comments, he makes snarky ass comments towards Rock and doesn’t give a shit about what his friend thinks either. I’ll come back to Rock in a bit here. Some of his comments towards Rock are rather hilarious in the way Skywarp is portrayed doing them. Not to say Rock deserves his shitty attitude. But later on, they become better and closer friends. 

Even though he is no longer a Decepticon, he still puts duty above everything else, even if it means stepping on others toes or hurting others feelings. Thing is, Skywarp doesn’t care. He feels being blunt is better than beating around the bush or sugarcoating things. He will tell others straight up what he feels and doesn’t give a shit about what it might do. 

Another example is he even says this to Thundercracker, whom he hasn’t seen in a decade or more. 

Thundercracker: “Last time I saw you, you shot me in the face.” Skywarp: “Eh, you deserved it.” 

Like jeezus straight to his face. I think it was like the second sentence he said to Thundercracker after not seeing him for YEARS. Like harsh much? 

So pretty much no one can hide from this. The one thing I have noticed, his snarky comments seem to back off once there’s a tighter bond between himself and whomever else. This happens once Skywarp has a change of heart once he realized how Rock and himself are a lot more similar than he thought. Rock repeatedly tells Skywarp about being alone but he finally realizes this at one important moment. Rock decides to own up to his mistakes of paralyzing Grand Slam and wants to sacrifice his life to blow up the Fatal Fluffies in hopes to get rid of his guilt but its also a sense of pride from him. Skywarp decides to stay back with Rock and decides to stay even when the detonator goes off--surprise surprise, he saves Rock and their bond grows close. 

Here’s some of their conversations between one another just to show you: You can skip all the way down to see my final thoughts. 

---------------------------------------------------------------- GI Joe #1: Rock: Hey, uhh, Skywarp… I was wondering… seeing as we’re teammates… you think I could ride back with you? Skywarp: Are you asking me…to open up my cockpit… and allow you to climb inside of me? Rock: Umm.. yes? Skywarp: Jets off Rock: Looks like I’m with you again.

GI Joe #4

Skywarp: “Look at them. Squabbling in the dirt like… like insects! They can’t do anything. They can accomplish nothing… without me!” Rock: “Hey Skywarp… Instead of waiting for transpo, I was thinking that if you don’t mind, maybe we could.. you know.” Skywarp: Squints hard and jets off Rock: “Jerk.”

Gi Joe #5 Skywarp: “Tell me… you geeks got your data…?” Skywarp: “This isn’t working! I’m tired of you insects leaning on me! Why am I the only one— GAAAH!” Covergirl: “Don’t worry, Skywarp…the calvary’s arrived!” Skywarp: “Now you cowards show up, after sending me ahead.” Rock: “Hey now… I offered to ride with you.” Skywarp: “You know my feelings on that.” Skywarp: “Are you even helping at all?!” Rock: “Honestly? Not really. But if you’d let me ride with—ooofh-!” Skywarp: “Gahhh!” Covergirl: “Skywarp! Come in! Do you read us?!” Skywarp: Khhkkthhhkkt Rock: “Skywarp! Are… are you ok?” Skywarp: “kkhkt No…But I will be there once we will that thing. Were you getting emotional, you sentimental insect?” Rock: “What? I was… No…”

GI Joe #6 Skywarp: “Hrmph. I’ll be the judge of that. Crude ugly thing. If this is the best you can do, no wonder you can’t fix me.” Roadblock: “Four Joes. Skywarp counts.” 

Rock: Turns into this monster from the Fatal Fluffies Skywarp: “I know what this is really about...” Rock: “Hunh?” Skywarp: “...You’re sad I wouldn’t give you a ride. But don’t worry, you’ll get what you want...When i carry you out in pieces.”

GI Joe #7 Skywarp: Is fighting mega-Rock and knows to be gentle and junk. “You are as arrogant as the rest of them! Even enlarged! even with horns and claws! You are nothing but an insec--Urlkh--!” Is being choked out.

Skywarp: “Hey! You watch your mouth!”

Rock: “I know. That’s why I’m volunteering. I’ve done enough damage more than enough. Let me redeem myself please.” Skywarp: “Sure but you aren’t going alone. Someone needs to defend your position while you set up the bomb.” Rock: “But I.. I threw you into the mole pod. the explosion was..” Skywarp: “Yeah, so another one doesn’t scare me much, besides...as soon as the bombs in place, before you hit the button... I”m getting out of here.” 

GI Joe #8 Rock: “Almost read! You gotta jet!” Skywarp: “You’ll be overrun before you can hit it! Besides...It’s an honor to stand by your side. You are a true warrior.” Rock: “No...I’m a Joe. We both are.”  Skywarp saves Rock by letting him ride inside of his cockpit in order to get away from the blast.

Gi Joe #9 Rock: “He wouldn’t let me use the radio.” Skywarp: “You haven’t earned the privilege!” Rock: “Whatever. You ready for the blast beat?”  Skywarp: “Do we have to call it that?”  Skywarp and Rock: “Yoooooooo Joooooooe!”  Rock: “Thanks to Skywarp! Hes letting me ride with him!” Skywarp: “Once! Only once!” 

GI Joe First Strike #1

Skywarp: “You need to get him his own jet!”

Scarletts Strike Force 1 Rock: Skywarp, I”m serious! Seriously! Doc: You know he’s the only one who can put up with your grouchy metal butt.. Skywarp: I thought you liked-- Doc: Nope Skywarp: .... Fine Rock: Hey! Piggyback ride! Skywarp: Start using that shotgun or I’m doing barrel rolls!

---- This is where Skywarps attitude really changes. -------

Rock: And they were chanting this name...glub? golob..goolub? Hey! Are you even listening to me? Skywarp: Its a boring story about something that didn’t actually happen! Why would I listen to it?! Rock: Because it’s stressing me out, man. It felt...different.. Skywarp: Different from your other dreams? Rock: Yeah dude Skywarp: Different from your Jem dreams? Rock: Come on man.. Skywarp: A holograms fan. You’re not metal. Rock: They have some serious riffs, alright!?

Scarletts Strike Force #2

Skywarp: Can you fix my teleportation? Or are you techgeeks just as worthless as everyone else in the Lemuria? Rock: Dude, I’m standing right here. Hey man can I help? Grand Slam: I’ve got it Rock. You only ruined the bottom half of me. Skywarp: Getting m teleportation fixed is the only reason I threw in with you insects! why havent you fixed it yet? You’ve been trying and failing since the EDC!  Grand Slam: Like I told you: We don’t have the tech, or the knowledge. or the materials.

Scarletts Strike Force #3 Skywarp: Yeah. Me. And you’re welcome. Don’t act so shocked. you insects think a giant robot doesn’t know his way around a rudimentary geothermal generator? You’ve been recruited. We’ll rendezvous in DC. You have three minutes to find yourselves a ride before surveillance is back up. Helix: Aren’t you letting people ride inside of you now? Skywarp: Only Rock ‘n Roll! 

Unicron #2 The first set of quotes goes right here in events wise. 

----------------------------------------------------------------

This is the end of their interactions. I know I didn’t show everything but it shows a huge chunk of how you can see how Skywarp is only “nice” to Rock really because in his optics, he isn’t respected by some of the others, especially Grand Slam. So in his mindset, why does he have to be nice if he doesn’t have the respect? 

He figures he lost his respect towards Thundercracker (or rather TC lost respect for Skywarp) because of what he’d done to him so he resets back to being an ass. He thinks their history doesn’t matter anymore, so he resorts to just tell him straight-up. Perhaps he was always straight up before their meeting with Starscream and he’s resorting back to his normal or preset attitude/maturity. That all of what has gone on from him shooting TC out of the sky onwards, smacked him so hard it woke him up from this “fantasy.” If that makes sense?? I’m tired and rambling. 

Deep down, I truly believe he cares but he isn’t going to show that side. He needs to put duty before anything else because that’s the motto Skywarp lives by. You can see a lot of this change in him throughout the entire series but it really sets out from AHM series onwards. His whole attitude flips and starts to really develop his character and we see this. I have a feeling he didn’t used to be like this but what he’s done in his life has shaped him to act in this way. Perhaps its a way of not letting others get close to him. It might very well be a defense mechanism. Who knows, we truly won’t know canon wise since the series ended. 

THANKS FOR BEING HERE FOR MY HEADCANON AND RAMBLE OF THOUGHTS. 

[supercasey]

So I watched Batman Ninja with my buddy Jason the other night...

Under a readmore because I'm screaming and y'all normal people don't need to see this shitshow.

So, like, to begin with; the animation is gorgeous- I will in no way try to deny that- and does a lot of cool things with the art style. You can tell a lot of work went into this movie, and while I personally find it so bad that it's funny, I'm not gonna shit on anyone who likes this film more seriously. (Also, I'm gonna shit on the outfits a lot, so sorry if that comes off as unintentionally racist. I am white and stupid.)

However, other than that... What the shit??? Was that??? I'm still reeling 48 hours later.

The basic plot of this wild ass movie (that I could figure out): Gorilla Grodd has built a time machine so he can go back in time and rule over Feudal Japan and change history (it never really specifies why he chose Japan of all places but go off, DC). He brings Deathstroke (my fav obviously), The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and The Joker + Harley Quinn (because if you want your plans to work you should absolutely bring in the disaster piece of shit that is The Joker).

Also Catwoman is here but from what I can tell it was accidental on her part/I think she's the one who fucked up the time machine??? Unclear.

So everyone goes to the past, including Batman, Alfred, and all the Robins (Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Damian Wayne as Robin) (none of the girls but let's be honest, I think they dodged a fucking bullet).

Batman ends up behind everyone else during the time traveling??? Not really explained, but now everyone has been in Japan for two years and Catwoman has depression.

Okay onto me rambling:

They have this scene where every villain gets a title card/one-liner, and everyone else but Deathstroke gets a line that fits their shtick. I feel like they had no idea what to do for a pun/joke, so there's just a literal pause then "... Yeah :)" from Deathstroke. I straight up scream-laughed so fucking hard.

All the Robins look so fucking stupid except for Tim. Nightwing looks like Goku, Red Hood has the tallest bucket on his head I've ever seen, and Damian's hair... good fucking lord.

Also, Damian is completely out of character. The people making this movie, I think, have never read a comic with Damian, and just made him into "annoyingly happy child character that is annoying as all fuck and talks to animals for no reason except Baby" and let me tell you, I got such whiplash from seeing that. Also Damian and Red Hood are apparently voiced by the same guy and my buddy Jason is freaking out about it lmao.

Joker's fucking UGLY next question.

Harley sounds low-key annoying in this film but that might just be me... feels like a lot of people who try to voice her make their voices as high-pitched as possible and it's very grating after awhile.

There's an amnesia plot??? Where Harley and Joker get amnesia after a boat fire??? Red Hood beats the fuck out of them and while I feel bad for Harley, fuck Joker, he can die. They get their memories back by seeing a plant... that looks like Joker's face... as my boy Deathstroke would say: "... Yeah."

There's a clan of Batman ninjas from the past and, tbh, they look pretty fucking cool and I thought they were a really neat concept. Doesn't excuse the bat ghost thing.

OH GOD THE ENDING FIGHT

Through a series of unfortunate events, Gorilla Grodd and all the other villains start fighting each other in giant mechas in order to decide who will rule Japan because of course they do.

My favorite parts from the villain fights:

Two-Face's robot is the shit of nightmares. At one point Deathstroke and Grodd are going at it, Two-Face gets between them, then FLIPS A COIN FOR WHO HE'LL BEAT ON (very in-character I guess but I was still screeching). Btw, he chooses to attack Grodd, and Slade just stands back like "... Yeah :)"

Can you tell that I'm not over that stupid line yet?

PENGUIN HAS SEMI-SENTIENT PENGUINS WORKING ON THE INSIDE OF HIS ROBOT WTF!?!? WHERE DID HE GET THEM!?

Poison Ivy is beautiful, next question.

Okay, back to everything in general:

Grodd reveals that he has been low-key mind controlling all of the other villains this entire time, and that he's the one who made everyone build giant robots. He attempts to take full control of everyone, but Joker does instead. This is maybe the most sane part of this entire goddamn movie.

ALL OF THE ROBOTS MORE OR LESS FORM VOLTRON, LADS!!!

So now our heroes (Batman, the Batsquad, and the Batclan) need to take on this giant robot... so what's a boy to do? Well, if you're Damian Wayne in this movie, you get a magic flute from Grodd after he nearly dies for you, and with the help of your baby monkey friend, summon an army of millions of monkeys that form a giant monkey.

This is a Batman movie. Just thought I'd remind y'all of that.

At first it doesn't work, but don't worry! Another monkey (wearing a pink bow to remind us that she's a girl and the other monkey's love interest) comes and helps Damian play the flute better so the monkeys are better.

Monkeys still aren't enough, so with the power of bats and probably a lot of weed being smoked, the bats that came out of literally nowhere form a giant Batman to punch Voltron.

(Side note: they destroy the arm that Deathstroke was controlling so I don't know why he isn't dead. Never explained. He isn't even really hurt!!!)

The Robins enter Voltron to fight the villains because Joker loses control of everyone: Nightwing vs Penguin, Red Hood vs Deathstroke, and I forget the other match-ups, but nothing matters except that Red Hood walking up to Deathstroke and saying "Tell you what... I'll let you take the first shot" was badass and the best part of the movie.

Too bad we didn't get full fights scenes between everyone 🙃

Batman nearly died??? But lived??? I was so lost at this point and probably should've been paying better attention, but I was too busy trying to convince myself this wasn't a fever dream.

They got back to the present and everyone lived happily ever after, the end :)

Notes: I'm sure I missed some shit but Jesus fucking Christmas, it was a wild ride from start to finish. It was, like, not that great storytelling wise, but it was so bad it was funny??? It was the "The Room" of Animated Batman films.

Batman is a fucking HIMBO in this movie. I dunno how to exactly explain it, but he makes so many stupid ass decisions throughout the movie, it's so funny. When he's trying to blend in with the townsfolk HE LITERALLY CUTS HIS HAIR TO HAVE THE BATSYMBOL ON THE TOP OF HIS FUCKING HEAD!!! WHO APPROVED THIS MOVIE!?!?

I have decided that Deathstroke didn't die because trans rights. Is he canon trans? Well, he is in my heart.

Jason Todd's voice actor did a great job with him, tbh I wish he had been more prominent in the movie.

I literally forgot Tim and Dick were there most of the time they were so unneeded in the plot.

I hated Damian but whatever.

I honestly did enjoy the movie, but probably not for the reasons the creators wanted me to. Again, nothing against the creators, but this was such an odd movie for 90% of it's run time.

7/10 would watch again, if only because it was so funny and nonsensical.

Ratings all together:

Animation: 10/10

Voice Acting: 7/10

Story (If taken seriously): 2/10

Story (if not serious): 8/10

All together; watch this if you're a Batman fan that feels like having a hilarious time and doesn't mind seeing your favorite characters be OOC or doing weird shit. I feel like this movie is best enjoyed on call/while hanging out with friends.

[blue-likethebird]

*lays 3 buttons and a feather down* can i have a gooey fluffy tsuchako fic? Im thirsty in the barren waste land of tsuchako.

Oh hell yeah!Read this fic on AO3| Request a fic

You, Me, And This Giant Fish Tank

“Ooh, would you look at that octopus! It looks so goopy!” Mina crowed as she pressed her face up to a tank where a cranky-looking octopus scuttled to a tiny cave.

“An octopus is technically soft-bodied, not goopy,” Momo said, “Though this one does look sort of goopy,”

“Whatever it is, can we please move on? He’s creeping me out,” Uraraka complained.

“You said that about the lobsters, parrot fish, eels and starfish too Ochako,” Jirou muttered dryly

“Yeah, Ochako, lighten up! It’s my birthday and I wanted to come here!” Mina whined. “You got to pick last time! We’ve only got a couple more things left to look at.”

“Might I suggest the reef event? It’s only five minutes long and should start soon,” Momo said, leaning over Jirou’s shoulder to look at the map of the aquarium.

“Sounds fun!” Mina chirped.

“Uh, I’ll be there in a minute,” Uraraka said, the octopus had emerged from his cave to glare at her. “I think I wanna get a few pictures of this guy,”

The others shrugged and left, “Meet us by the Carribean tank once you’re done!” Momo called as she made her way down the ramp. Uraraka whipped out her camera and got as close to the glass as her nerves would permit. Before she could take the photo, the octopus shot a jet of ink into the water. She yelped and scurried away to the upper viewing level of the giant Carribean exhibit.

She was not a fish person, but she had to admit the tank looked incredibly relaxing. Swirling stalks of seaweed floated calmly in the cylindrical tank as colourful fish darted between the plants and corals that dotted the bottom. A turtle swam in front of her towards the lower level where the host of the reef talk was explaining something to the assembled group. The guide turned to greet the turtle and Uraraka’s heart stuttered in her chest.

The girl’s face was distorted by the glass and water, but she was cute. She had long green hair gathered in a bow and a finger raised to her chin as she pointed to various coral and fish. Uraraka hurried down the ramp to where Mina, Momo and Jirou were watching the host show an anemone to the crowd. They gasped appreciatively at the sight of its long tentacles swaying in the current.

Then the show was over and the host was gone. The people gathered around the exhibit began walking towards the larger galleries or back up to the gift shop and coffee shop. Uraraka stayed rooted in place, staring at the spot where the girl with the long green hair had stood a moment before. Jirou tapped her shoulder.

“Earth to ‘raka,” she said, “We’re going to the shark tunnels now. Or are you too busy fantasising about the invitations for your wedding to Tsuyu?”

Uraraka snapped out of her trance. “Her name is Tsuyu? Oh, that’s such a pretty name!”

“She’s lost it,” Jirou whispered to the other two. Mina grabbed Uraraka’s hand and led them down the hall towards the large gallery containing several smaller touch tanks and the gigantic shark exhibit. Uraraka let out a small shriek of alarm at the sight.

“Nope, no sharks for me thank you! I’ll just stay out here with the touch pools,”

“Ooh!” Mina gushed, “There’s a touch tank, I wanna see it!”

Uraraka still didn’t like fish, yet there she was, back at the aquarium again a month later, watching Tsuyu lead a turtle feeding show to the amusement of several small children.

She’d tried to get a friend to come, but Mina, Momo and Jirou had a date planned, Todoroki and Midoriya were looking for apartments, Tooru was in Shanghai for a family reunion, Iida was visiting his brother, and Mei was competing in a robotics competition. It looked like she was alone in her quest to talk to Tsuyu.

“The average leatherback sea turtle can live to be up to thirty years old,” Tsuyu stated, “the oldest turtle in our exhibit is only twenty, however,”

“What’s she eating?” cried a small girl near the front.

“If you look closely, it’s a jellyfish. When sea turtles eat them, the venom the jellyfish makes won’t sting them,” she explained as the children oohed and ahhed over the fact.

After “Turtle Talk” as the brochure called it, was over, Uraraka sat on a bench next to one of the touch pools with a carton of water in her hand. The gallery was mostly empty, with only a few children and their parents in sight. So she decided to take a look into Starfish Cove, the least slimy-looking touch tank.

Tentatively, she reached in to tap a sea star on the arm. To her surprise, it didn’t feel slimy at all, instead, it felt spiky. She tried another starfish, the same result. That actually wasn’t terrible, she thought as she leaned further in to look at the crab touch tank. Once again, it wasn’t slimy. The crab’s shell was smooth and solid instead. She got to her feet and gathered up her stuff to go home for the night.

“Excuse me, miss,” someone called to her. Uraraka whipped her head around to see who had been speaking to her. It was Tsuyu.

“Oh, hello! Is something the matter?”

“Sorry if I’m being too forward, but your shirt’s been soaked all the way through.”

Uraraka looked down at her chest. Sure enough, there was a water stain on her blouse that had made her undershirt completely visible. She groaned.

“Well that’s just great, now what am I supposed to wear home?” she cried.

“Well I have a spare set of clothes in my locker, they might fit you,” Tsuyu offered. “I can go get them and bring them out here for you to try on,”

“You would do that? Thank you, Tsuyu, you’re a lifesaver!”

“No problem, just head to the bathroom and I’ll be right back,”

Tsuyu’s clothes were a little snug, but they’d do just fine for the train ride home. She stepped out of the bathroom with her wet shirt tucked into her purse.

“Thank you so much! Is there anything I can do to repay you?”

“Oh, that’s not necessary-”

“I insist! You wanna meet up for coffee this weekend or something?”

“Well, I suppose it won’t hurt. Thank you for the offer…” Tsuyu trailed off, oh yeah, Tsuyu didn’t know her name.

“Uraraka!” she chirped brightly. “Is it alright if I give you my number?”

Their coffee date had gone swimmingly, so had the lunch date, and dinner date, and steady relationship after that. Uraraka was on cloud nine, just not at the moment.

She’d won a dinner for two at Le Rossignol during a work raffle and so far it was capital b Boring. The food was way fancier than anything they usually ate, the atmosphere was far too snobbish to be enjoyable, and there were at least three forks she didn’t know the purpose of. If she wanted an enjoyable date and to pull off her grand plans for the evening, then Le Rossignol was not the place to be.

Tsuyu pushed a steamed frog leg away from her chicken. Her face had an uneasy smile that didn’t match the furrow of her brow or the dullness of her eyes. Uraraka discreetly ordered a car, called over a waiter and slipped him her voucher.

“Come on Tsuyu! I have a better place in mind,” she said as she held out a hand to help her girlfriend to her feet. Their picked-at plates were left behind them as they hurried off into the night.

She covered Tsuyu’s eyes once they started to approach their destination. Anticipation fizzed in her stomach as they stepped through the doors, Uraraka uncovered Tsuyu’s eyes to reveal…

“The aquarium?” Tsuyu sounded puzzled as she took in the sight.

“It’s where we had our first date and where we met! Plus I know you’d rather hang out with the fish than sit in a stuffy restaurant for an hour,”

“That’s true,” Tsuyu said as she led the way through the bottom dwellers gallery, stopping briefly to fake scold the crab she called Aizawa for snapping at her that morning. ( “We have to wear gloves when we feed him,” Tsuyu had told Uraraka on their first date, “He tries to pinch everyone who gets near his hiding spot,” )

The two made their way through the halls in silence except for when Tsuyu would stop to gaze at the various creatures hanging out in the tanks around them. The aquarium was completely deserted, with only the soft glow of tank lights for company.

The shark gallery was quiet, the only sound was the whir of the automated walkway that wound its way through the shark tank. This was her moment, Uraraka slowly trailed to a stop right by the tunnel’s entrance.

“Ochako? Is something wrong?”

“Do you remember our first real date?” Ochako began, “How I wanted to see the sharks but I got scared and had to hold your hand?”

“Yeah, and how wide your eyes got when you finally opened them and saw that stingray swimming by. You looked so cute Ochako,”

Ochako started rambling on, about their plans, goals, cat, everything.

“Ochako, breathe,” Tsuyu said.

“Will you marry me?” Uraraka blurted.

“Will I, will I what?”

“Will you marry me?” Uraraka clasped her girlfriend’s hands in her own for a moment before reaching into her pocket to fumble for the ring she’d been carrying. She pulled it out and opened the box to reveal a little silver band decorated with a blue-green stone.

“Ochako I- yes!” Tsuyu cried. Ochako grinned like a lovesick fool as she slid the ring onto Tsuyu’s finger. They stepped onto the walkway and Ochako grabbed Tsuyu’s hand.

“Oh no Tsuyu this is scary,” she said with a grin, “Will you hold my hand?”

Tsuyu leaned her head on Ochako’s shoulder, “Yes,” she sighed.

[mario-sonic-dimensional-shift]

Mario & Sonic: Dimensional Shift - Chapter 1: The Cause Pt. 2

A giant crane lifts the Master Emerald into position into a large slot on an extremely large machine. It clicks into place and lights up with power as the machine powers on with a low hum.

Eggman strokes his mustache with an evil grin, chuckling with malice. “Excellent… My plan is all coming together! It’s only a matter of time! I only need some more power!”

Orbot and Cubot are both holding opposite ends of a girder and moving across the room. Orbot leans the girder on Cubots head as he turns to Eggman to talk. “But boss, do you think that the Master Emerald will be enough to create a large enough rift to transport everything to another dimension?” Orbot asks.

“Not on its own, it won’t. Which is why I have THIS!” Eggman triumphantly holds up a peculiar fist-sized round blue gem.

“Ooo, I love blue raspberry candy!” Cubot claps as the weight of the girder gets heavier on his head and he sinks closer to the ground.

“No, bonehead, it’s not a blue raspberry candy! This is the Hyperspace Sapphire, and it contains the ability to manipulate space and dimension to my will!”

“Oh my, how did you get your hands on that item?” Orbot inquires.

“I know a guy, don’t worry about it. Just do your job and put that beam in place!” Eggman snaps.

“Right, right, I will, don’t worry. But how will that gem help this machine?” Orbot begins to slouch on his side lazily.

“It is going to have two purposes for this plan. For the first part, I am going to connect it and link it to the Master Emerald!” He rambles. “You see, the Master Emerald shares a connection with the Chaos Emeralds. Like a thread connecting each of them, that thread can be pulled closer to you if you know how to do it!” He places the Sapphire into a slot near the Master Emerald and presses a button.

The machine begins to whirr on, getting louder with each second passing. Eggman types some commands into his computer, and the Master Emerald and the Hyperspace Sapphire glow brighter. All of a sudden, three tiny portals open up in front of the machine’s gate point, and from them spill three Chaos Emeralds, the blue, red, and white colors respectively. As the machine powers down, Eggman rubs his hands together and guffaws loudly.

“Yes! I’m a genius! This is just what I need to fully power my machine!” He stands and places the Chaos Emeralds into a few separate glass chambers. “Now that my innovation is complete, I think I’ll call it… The Dimensional Egg-porter! Perfect!”

“You always had a way with words, boss,” Orbot comments.

“And now, thanks to my magnificent intellect, I will finally be victorious! My grand scheme to conquer the multiverse is at hand! And not even Sonic will be able to stop me! Ohohohoho!”

An alarm goes off and a red light flashes through the base. Eggman is caught off guard and looks at his security camera. “What?! You have to be kidding me!” He glimpses at the footage of his front door being broken down by Sonic, Silver, Knuckles and Tails.

“Grr… How did they find me so quickly?!” He jumps into his Egg Mobile and presses some buttons to start the Egg-porter, which begins to slowly warm up to full power. “Looks like things are going to have to go ahead of schedule! All Eggpawns! Slow down Sonic and his friends as much as you can! Orbot! Cubot!” He hesitates for a moment. “...Wake him up.”

“But sir, the upgrades aren’t complete yet-” Orbot protests.

“I don’t care! We can’t lose this moment! I don’t care what it takes! Just wake him UP!”

---

“Tactful as ever, Knuckles. He knows we’re here now.” Sonic jeers.

“Good. I want him to know.” Knuckles says as he walks forward without heed.

The flashing alarm blares loudly as the sound of many robotic footsteps begin making their way to the scene. Eggpawns fill up the halls as they arrive, some sporting blunt melee weapons and some holding blasters.

Tails analyzes the situation around them. “Okay, I’ve got a plan. We’ll each split up and take out different sections of enemies, and-”

“No need,” Knuckles interrupts. “I can take them all out on my own.”

Sonic arches an eyebrow. “You know that’s crazy, right?”

“Listen, I’m really angry right now, and the best way I can work it off is by punching the bolts out of some bots. I’ll create a path through, you guys go on ahead and find Eggman.”

Sonic shakes his head and sighs. “Well, if you’re sure. I’m smart enough to know not to get in the middle of your rampage. Go get ‘em tiger.” He gives a thumbs up.

“I can stay and help, too!” Silver exclaims, stepping forward next to Knuckles.

“No thanks, I can handle this on my own.” Knuckles says with disdain.

“No, seriously, I-”

“I said no, Silver! I said I can do this myself!” Knuckles yells, causing Silver to step back, intimidated.

“...sorry…” Silver mumbles out, but Knuckles is already stepping forward, steeling himself for battle.

Sonic puts a hand on Silver’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about him. He wasn’t trying to be mean, that’s just how he is. Trust me, don’t take it personally, I promise you’re okay. He’s a tough cookie and can look out for himself. Besides, we have a job to do, right?”

Silver clenches his fist and nods his head. “Right, yeah. I’m ready to go.”

Tails scratches his ear a little bit. “I do wish he wasn’t so willing to put himself in harm's way like this. I would have preferred that we all could make it to the fight with Eggman together.”

“Well, this might be better actually, because we’ll be at full strength, rather than all of us being worn out for the fight,” Sonic says.

“I guess you’re right,” Tails responds. “All we have to do is wait for an opening to slip by and reach Eggman.”

Knuckles stretches his arms as he continues to walk forward towards the horde of Eggpawns lying in wait for him. “Well, if you're not gonna make the first move, then allow me!”

He rips a piece of sheet metal off of the metal walls, and chucks it like a frisbee at the army, already taking out a few rows of robots. Running forward, he begins to plow through the Eggpawns one after another with each fist strike. The bots occasionally try to gang up on Knuckles, but he is quick to throw them off, using the parts of other destroyed bots if he has to. At one point, he grabs a spiked Eggpawn by the feet, and spins around wildly as he moves forward, knocking out any other baddies in his path.

Tails observes for an opening as he surveys the damage. “Okay, Silver, let’s you and I fly over while Knuckles deals with these guys on the ground.”

“Got it, I’ll take Sonic,” Silver says as he begins to use his psychokinesis to lift up Sonic through the air.

“Careful, Silver, these goods are fragile, so handle with care,” Sonic quips.

Sticking close to the wall, the trio manage to fly over the Eggpawns undetected as Knuckles continues his onslaught below, who is currently throwing back bombs that were chucked at him first.

They eventually make their way through a number of halls until they arrive at a large door with the familiar Eggman logo. Silver cracks his fingers and forces the door open with a burst of energy. On the other side of this door is an expecting Eggman, floating in his Egg Mobile with a frown.

“Well, well, well, look who decided to show up for an unexpected house visit,” Eggman says, scowling as he talks. “Sonic, Tails, and… uh… Who are you again?”

“Silver. I fought against you and Infinite in the Resistance, remember?”

“Right, right. Anyways, to what do I owe you all the pleasure of bursting into my base and making a mess of my minions?”

“Don’t play dumb, Eggman! You stole the Master Emerald from Knuckles, and you’ve been making something new with the Hyperspace Sapphire!” Tails says with a point of his finger at Eggman.

Eggman recoils in shock for a moment. “Gah! How did you-?! I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about! Hyperspace Sapphire? I’ve never heard of such an item!”

Sonic rolls his eyes for a moment. “Whatever, Baldo. Just tell us what you’re planning, and we’ll do you a favor and give you a free beat-and-destroy combo deal! Courtesy of Sonic the Hedgehog and Co.!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! And even if I had an amazing, genius master plan, I wouldn’t tell you anyways!”

“That’s new,” Sonic comments. “Usually you love to drone on about your evil plans. This one must be big, huh?”

“He’s planning to travel to another dimension that he can conquer without interference,” A new, gloomy voice cuts into the conversation, as Shadow the Hedgehog jumps from the pipes on the ceiling onto the ground next to Sonic, followed by Rouge who lands next to him as well.

“Shadow?! Rouge?!” Eggman yells. “What are you doing here?!”

“Hey Doctor, long time no see,” Rouge says, putting her hands behind her back.

“Eggman created a machine that will allow him and his whole army to travel to another dimension where you don’t exist, so he can conquer that universe and create his Eggman Empire to expand his army even further,” Shadow explains, arms crossed as he faces Eggman. “He’s using three Chaos Emeralds along with the Master Emerald and the Sapphire to power the machine.”

“Wow Shadow, that’s impressive,” Sonic says. “How did you figure all that out?”

“Because I got here a while ago. And unlike somebody, I actually managed to be sneaky,” Shadow jeers.

Sonic laughs a little bit. “Alright, you won this one for sure.”

Eggman slams his fists in anger. “Grr! Why do you blasted hedgehogs have to ruin every single thing?! Don’t I deserve to win for once?!”

Rouge points to a door nearby. “The machine is in a chamber in that room, and it’s powering up for a jump as we speak.”

Silver nods his head and raises his fists. “Got it, then all we need to do is push through Eggman and destroy his machine before it starts up.”

“Not so fast, now!” Eggman chimes. “Don’t think you can get through me so easily! Especially when I have backup!”

“Backup…?” Tails repeats. “Oh no, don’t tell me…”

Eggman laughs maniacally as he pulls a switch, which opens a secret door on the other side of the room. A flash of red can be seen, and all of a sudden a metallic form barges out at incredible speed and stops in front of Eggman’s Egg Mobile, facing towards the heroes with a cold, unmoving stare. It was Metal Sonic, standing firm and locking eyes with the real Sonic, his fists clenched in hatred and fury.

“Metal Sonic?” Sonic stands unintimidated, keeping his gaze unbroken with Metal. “This won’t be a problem. I had no problem taking his polished behind to the dumpster last time we fought, what makes you think he’ll stand a chance against all of us?

“Because with his recent upgrades, Metal Sonic is now faster and more cunning than ever before!” Eggman gloats. “He’ll have no problem disposing of you once and for all!”

“I think he’s right, Sonic,” Tails says. “Metal seems different, and faster too. It might be harder this time.”

Sonic gets into a battle-ready pose. “Alright then, let’s split this up, why don’t we? Shadow, Silver, and I will take on Metal Sonic, while Tails and Rouge stop Eggman and shut down that machine.”

“Don’t order me around, Sonic,” Shadow says in a cold tone.

“That works for me!” Tails exclaims, moving with Rouge over to the side of Eggman. “Good luck, guys!”

“Ohoho! Feeling brave, are we fox boy?” Eggman sneers. “Well, lets see how you like this!” He pilots his Eggmobile into a nearby structure, which springs to life as he inserts the vehicle into the cockpit of the machine. Sharp blades start to spin around the machine like a fan, looking to slice anything that gets too close. “Introducing the Egg Copter! I’ll make sure you’re sliced and diced properly while I make Sonic watch!”

Rouge side eyes Tails a bit. “I don’t know how I let you all convince me to play the hero on this one. You better get me that Sapphire for all the trouble I’m going through.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we get it for you. Besides, I’m already seeing a weakness in this design.” Tails says, putting his fists up to get ready to fight.

“I hope you’re right about this, twintails,” Rouge says as she flaps her wings and goes airborne.

Meanwhile, the three hedgehogs are at a standstill as they stare down the unmoving Metal Sonic silently.

“Hey Shadow, wanna make this fun?” Sonic asks. “Let’s see who can get the last hit on Deadbolt over here.”

“This isn’t going to be a competition, Sonic, because I don’t need your help to take him down. I can do this on my own, you two will just slow me down.” Shadow responds.

“Oh, big shot, huh?” Sonic smiles. “Let’s see if you can put your rings where your mouth is.”

“Guys, this isn’t time for games,” Silver chimes in. “We can’t let our guard down for one second!”

Metal Sonic stands with his arms to his side, but ready to receive any attack that might come his way.

Silver clenches his fists and takes a small step back, a bit intimidated. “Alright, we need to think about this strategically and try to come up with a plan…”

“No thanks,” Shadow says coldly. “Plans are for morons who don’t have the strength to face their opponents head on.” He squints his eyes as he jets forwards towards Metal Sonic.

“Sorry, buddy, have to agree with Shadow on this one. Plans just aren’t my thing!” Sonic exclaims as he curls up in a ball and spin dashes at Metal as well.

“W-Wait!” Silver yells in protest, but the other two hedgehogs had already gone ahead.

Shadow is the first to make contact with Metal, attempting to jab with his fist which is parried by Metal’s arm. Metal retaliates with a punch with his other hand, making contact on Shadow’s chest and pushing Shadow back a few feet.

Sonic gets in close and attempts to spin into Metal, but Metal reacts just in time and kicks Sonic away like a kickball into the air. Sonic unfurls from his ball form in the air and attempts to downward kick into Metal Sonic, but Metal grabs a hold of his leg and hurls him at Shadow. Sonic goes flying into Shadow and the both of them fall to the ground.

“Get off me!” Shadow yells as he pushes Sonic off.

Silver flies ahead now, as Metal Sonic’s jets kick in and he flies at Silver as well. Silver puts his hands forward and releases a wave of psychic energy, stopping Metal in his tracks with a green glow around him.

“Ha! Got ya!” Silver gloats. All of a sudden, Metal’s jets boost on again, and he breaks free of the psychic hold at an incredible speed. Silver gets caught off guard by this as he is suddenly headbutted by Metal Sonic.

Metal then grabs him by the face and pushes Silver into the ground head first, skidding him through the ground and onto the wall. He raises his clawed hand up to strike, but is interrupted by Shadow who spin kicks Metal away and rushes ahead with a follow up strike to the chest. Metal counters with a few slams as well, as the two begin trading blows.

Sonic runs over to Silver and extends a hand to help him up. “You okay, Silver?”

Silver rubs his cheek a little bit as he stands. “Yeah, I’m fine… I can’t believe he broke through my psychokinesis. This is going to be more difficult than I thought.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it!” Sonic reassures. “It’ll work out, so don’t give up just yet!” He rushes off to go rejoin the battle.

Meanwhile, Rouge and Tails are frantically flying around the Egg Copter, avoiding it’s sharp blades the best they can, but Eggman is hot on their trail and very persistent.

They manage to gain some distance and reconvene. “So, any updates on that idea you were having, or were you just trying to impress a pretty lady?” Rouge teases, but is panting a little bit trying to catch her breath.

“I’m still looking for an opening to get in close. He’s weak from the top, but I can’t get close enough to attack. Do you think you can distract him at all?” Tails asks.

“Heh, I think I can,” Rouge says, pulling out a few small pink balls. Eggman starts to close the gap now and is charging at them. “Don’t let me down, kid.” She flies up to gain some height on Eggman.

“Hahaha! Get ready to meet your end, Tails!” Eggman laughs. Rogue throws the pink balls at Eggman, which explode in a large puff of pink and purple smoke. Eggman begins coughing as he enters the cloud. “Gah! What is this?!”

As the smoke clears, Eggman looks up as Tails descends upon the Eggcopter, landing on the engine and stabbing a screwdriver into it. The blades of the vehicle begin to slow down a bit, before coming to a stop.

Tails stands proud over Eggman, hands on his hips. “It’s over, Eggman! Your machine is done for! Give up now before I… uh… Kick your… Butt! Yeah! I’ll kick your butt!”

“Oh, no. Whatever will I do now?” Eggman says, a bit of a sarcastic tone in his voice. “It’s too bad my useless Egg Copter doesn’t have any secret backup tricks. OH WAIT!” He pulls on a lever, and a large extendable metallic claw with three prongs emerges from the vehicle behind Tails and grabs him.

“Kid!” Rouge yells, flying at them now to try to help Tails, but Eggman swings the claw with Tails in it at Rouge and spikes her onto the ground. She lets out a small gasp before losing consciousness.

“You know, sometimes the most effective traps are the simplest ones! Hohoho!” Eggman cackles, bringing the claw holding Tails close to him. “You know, you annoying little vermin, you really couldn’t have believed you would stand a chance against me, right? All you are is a… a sidekick! You’re NOTHING without Sonic!” Eggman presses a button and makes the claw squeeze Tails, causing Tails to yell out in pain. “And now, you’ll die into nothingness, just like you lived!”

The claw squeezes again, and Tails screams once more. “S-Sonic!!” He cries out, tears forming in his eyes.

Sonic stops fighting for a moment and looks over at Tails and Eggman, his eyes widening. “Tails! I’m coming, buddy!” He begins to run over to them, but his path is blocked by Metal Sonic, who uses this opening to knee Sonic in the stomach and kick him farther away. He lands on his knees, coughing up a little bit. “N-no, Tails…”

“Metal Sonic!” Shadow yells out, clashing both of his hands with both of Metal’s hands as they wrestle over their ground. “Your battle is with ME! Got that?” He pushes Metal back as he spin dashes towards the robot.

“Sonic! You have to get up!” Silver yells from across the room, sending a psychic knife towards Metal Sonic as he speaks, who jumps over it with ease as he fends off Shadow.

Sonic grasps at his chest and coughs up a bit more. “I can’t... Move… I won’t make it in time…”

Eggman laughs maniacally. “Say goodbye to your little pet, Sonic!”

The doors to the lab burst open with a wide swing, as a flying Eggpawn soars through the air with an erratic pattern, with Knuckles on top of it. He steers the robot in Eggman’s direction, jumping off and gliding over to the top of the Egg Copter. He lands right next to the arm of the claw, and with a heavy grunt he rips the arm off and throws it off. As Tails begins to fall to the ground, Knuckles jumps down and catches Tails in his arms, gently placing him on the ground.

Tails breathes heavily as he slowly opens his eyes. “Knuckles… Thank you…” He forms a small smile.

“No problem, bud. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.” Knuckles says. He looks over to Sonic, who gives Knuckles a nod and a thumbs up which Knuckles returns as well. He then turns to Eggman with a furious gaze.

Eggman smiles nervously and sweats a little bit. “Aha… Knuckles! Good to see you! Er…”

“I think you have something of mine, Eggman. I want it back. Now.” Knuckles says, punching his hands together.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! Now if you will excuse me, I have other places to be.” Eggman says as he begins to drive the Egg Mobile backwards.

“Not until I get my chance to crack an egg!” Knuckles yells, giving chase to Eggman.

Sonic stands up now, taking a few more deep breaths to compose himself. As soon as he can, he starts to make his way over to the injured Tails. Metal Sonic, who is currently engaged in a chase with Silver, turns his head and notices Sonic trying to get away. He kicks on his thrusters and goes to block the path again. As he stops in front of Sonic, he attempts to make a punch, but Sonic just barely jumps out of the way.

“Looks like I’m not going anywhere with you still here, huh?” Sonic stretches his neck. “Alright, I’ll make you into scrap metal then!” Sonic jumps into the air and vaults towards Metal Sonic with a homing attack. Metal Sonic seems to copy his movements, and performs a homing attack at Sonic as well. The two blue blurs bounce off of each other multiple times, spinning all around the room together.

Silver flies over to Shadow, who was cast into a wall recently before Sonic began to fight again. He extends a hand out, but Shadow slaps it away, getting up on his own.

“I’m starting to get really sick of this,” Shadow complains.

“Maybe we should think of a plan real quick while Sonic is keeping Metal busy,” Silver suggests.

“Maybe you should shut it before you get a swift kick to the head, Silver,” Shadow says, as he warps to behind Metal Sonic, where he attempts to jab at Metal but instead hits Sonic accidentally. Shadow shouts out in frustration as he launches another all-out attack.

Knuckles is continuing to give chase to Eggman, who is trying to outrun Knuckles in his Egg Mobile. Eggman attempts to throw down spiked mines, but Knuckles breaks through or dodges them with no problem.

“Now, Knuckles! Can’t we talk about this?” Eggman says, frantically pressing buttons. “You know that I didn’t mean any of the things I did! I’ll change for the better, I promise!”

Suddenly, a blinking light flashes on his dashboard, and an automated voice calls out, “DIMENSIONAL EGG-PORTER STATUS 95%. PLEASE PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE.” Eggman smiles and rubs his hands together, as Knuckles swiftly jumps onto the Egg Mobile, facing towards him.

“It’s over, Doctor Eggman,” Knuckles says, a big grin on his face as he prepares to thrash Eggman real good. “I’m gonna make you pay for making me look like an idiot.”

“Oh, Knuckles…” Eggman sighs, pretending to sound sad. “Perhaps it is for the best you caught me. Maybe it really is time for you to.... NET ME IN!” He quickly pulls out a hidden bazooka looking weapon and shoots Knuckles point blank with it, with a large net coming out and wrapping around him and causing him to fall to the floor as he struggles to escape.

“Sorry, sucker! But I got places to be!” Eggman laughs as he begins to speed towards the chamber with the nearly charged Egg-porter. He presses a button, and the walls of the Egg-porter room open up and expand so Eggman can fit his Egg Mobile through.

“Grah! Sonic! He’s getting away!” Knuckles shouts, desperately struggling to escape the net.

“Shoot!” Sonic yells, looking around for a solution of some sort, then looking at the machine on the other side of the room. “Silver, I have an idea! Can you catch and hold Metal Sonic?”

“Yeah, but he’s able to break out of it, so I can only hold him for a second!” Silver replies.

“A second is all I need. Get his attention and get him as close as you can to the dimension machine!” Sonic commands.

“Right. Hey! Stupid metal faker! You’ll never be anything compared to the real Sonic!” Silver yells out. Metal Sonic finishes uppercutting Shadow and knocking him away, before turning his head at Silver with a hateful look. “Uh oh,” Silver says, turning around and flying in the other direction. Metal turns his thrusters on and quickly follows in pursuit, gaining on Silver with great speed.

Sonic now gets into a ball and starts to spin quickly, preparing for a spin dash when the moment is right.

Silver looks behind to see Metal Sonic nearly caught up to him. He raises his hand up and unleashes his psychic energy to hold Metal in place once again. “Now, Sonic!” He directs.

Sonic unleashes his spin dash and begins to barrel towards Metal Sonic at a high speed. Metal glares at Silver angrily and starts his booster up again to escape the hold, but as soon as his booster begins activating, Sonic immediately rolls into Metal at his high velocity, causing Metal to spin out of control.

Eggman cackles as he approaches the gate of the Egg-porter, looking at the gauge which is now complete. The automated voice begins to read out loud “DIMENSIONAL EGG-PORTER NOW AT 100%. HAVE A GREAT TRIP, DOCTOR EGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGG BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-” Metal Sonic has violently crashed himself into the side of the machine, crackling with electricity and malfunctioning. The Egg-porter’s gate had opened for a moment, but then closed once Metal crashed into it and before Eggman could enter in.

Sonic stands triumphantly tall as he begins to gloat. “Too bad, Egghead. Looks like you were unsurprisingly stopped by us again!”

“No… My machine…” Eggman says with a dejected tone. “Do you… Do you realize WHAT YOU’VE JUST DONE?! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!” He turns his Egg Mobile around and attempts to fly off, when all of a sudden the gate opens back up and starts to suck everything inside.

Metal Sonic’s broken body is the first thing to get sucked inside, as well as the three Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, and the Hyperspace Sapphire. As they enter through the gate portal, they are lost into a white void.

Eggman is frantically pulling as many levers as he can to escape the pull of the gate, but he’s not fast enough as the Egg Mobile slowly gets closer to the gate. “NOOOOO-” Is the last thing Eggman yells before falling inside.

Knuckles starts getting closer to the machine’s gate next, as he struggles to escape from the net still. He’s nearly there until he is enveloped by a green glow and begins floating, as he is pulled closer to Silver who is attempting to fly away from the gate with Knuckles in tow.

“Silver! Let me go! You’ll only drag slow yourself down holding me!” Knuckles yells out.

“I won’t! I won’t let you go!” Silver rebuffs.

“That wasn’t an option Silver!” Knuckles barks. “Let go now!”

“But I-” Silver’s sentence is cut short as he is hit by a piece of stray machinery, causing him to lose focus and let himself and Knuckles fall into the portal.

The unconscious body of Rouge and the weakened body of Tails start to drag closer to the portal. Unable to resist the gravitational pull of the gate, Rouge quickly travels like a bullet towards the portal.

“Rouge!” Shadow yells, attempting to jump and grab her hand before she goes. However, he is barely able to grab her fingers and she slips away, falling into the white void. Shadow then attempts to grab onto an object to hold steady, but it breaks off and Shadow loses his balance and careens through the portal.

Tails attempts to fight against the pull of the portal, but his weakened state makes it hard to put up a fight. Sonic grabs onto his hand and links his other hand onto a pipe to hold steady. “I’ve got you, Tails! I won’t let you go!”

“S-Sonic! I’m scared! What do we do?” Tails cries out.

“I don’t know, but I promise I won’t let anything happen to you!”

The pipe begins to loosen in Sonic’s grasp, until it breaks off and Sonic and Tails begin to head for the portal. Sonic takes Tails into his arms and holds him in a protective hug as they go head first into the gate.

“I won’t let go, I promise!”

They pass through the gate, and the only thing around them is white space, and the sensation of falling downward. Sonic holds Tails close to his chest, until he looks down and sees Tails turn into dust made of pure light and disappear.

Sonic looks frantically around and sees nothing but the void. “TAILS! TAILS! WHERE ARE YOU!?” He screams. No response.

Sonic tears up and wipes his eyes. “Wherever you are, I’ll find you! If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll find you!”

Sonic is all alone. The only thing he can feel besides dread is loneliness, which is the last feeling he has as his consciousness fades away into white.

[thesoulofthebeautiful]

I found this video a little while ago, and it struck a chord with me for reasons I couldn't explain. I still can’t really, but I need to talk about it anyway. Rambling below.

People often say that the universe, or the world, or nature, are cruel, but as far as the universe is concerned, life, light, and matter are an almost infinitesmal fluctuation in the setup for its existence. The universe doesn't care about us, not because it's cruel, but because it doesn't even have the time to notice us.

We spend so much time and energy thinking that this is the natural state of things, because it's what we know, but the existence of things is an absolutely alien state of being for the universe (not even getting into baryonic asymmetry). To paraphrase one of my favourite authors, John Scalzi: 

If anyone was still thinking of Earth as the center of the [universe], now would be an excellent time to revise that theory.

The universe will spend the vast, vast majority of its utterly incomprehensible existence cold, and empty. But right now we have the unbelievable chance to see the universe in its youth! 93% of all stars and planets that will ever exist are yet to be born! We, here, on this planet, have in the course of a few thousand years, have managed to do some amazing * (1+”ly stupid”) things. We can detect gravitational waves from the mergers of black holes whose existence we only managed to even postulate 235 years ago, and which we only managed to verify mathematically just over a hundred years ago.

Most people are probably familiar with the saying:

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

- Isaac Newton

I disagree, we stand today not on the shoulders of giants, but on the top of a massive pyramid of those who came before us, each of whom was just a person, trying to shed light upon another small corner of the universe (which is not an original thought, I’m aware).

This is not just about science, and astrophysics, etc. We are all the universe experiencing itself, and art explores the individual, or society, or any combination of our perceptions thereof, and this too builds on the shoulders of those who have come before. Imagine how different our perception of robots would be if Mary Shelley hadn’t explored man-made people in Frankenstein 200 years ago, or Isaac Asimov hadn’t imagined the Three Laws we so commonly reference in these discussions nowadays, and neither of these people did it on their own either! Hell, Frankenstein is titled ‘The Modern Prometheus’!

All this to say, I think we need to enjoy this time. Enjoy the light, and the dark, and the contrast. The world is undeniably messed up, but you have only around 80 years to see everything you will ever see, so you might as well enjoy what you can. 

[Hedging: I am a 22 year old, white, cis male. I’m ace/aro, which has its own set of challenges, but certainly does not outweigh my immense privilege. What preceded were the thoughts that this video sparked in me, and should not be interpreted as A) a correct interpretation, B) a criticism, or C) dismissing the challenges faced by people in worse situations than my own.]

[snarktheater]

Ready Player One — Level Two (Chapters 26-27)

“I figured it out later that night, a few hours after Shoto left my stronghold.”

See, when I said that Wade making a mistake in the search for the Jade Key didn’t prove the book understands character flaw, I didn’t think the book would literally have Wade go back to having a random, convenient epiphany for the next step in the Easter Egg hunt. This book is the gift that keeps on giving, in that I rarely have to go very far to elaborate on my arguments: usually, all I need to do is turn the page.

The epiphany, by the way, happened because Wade was randomly folding the wrapper the Jade Key came in, and suddenly remember there’s a scene with a unicorn origami in Blade Runner.

The moment I said the word “unicorn” aloud, the wrapper began to fold on its own, there in the palm of my hand.

…Okay, sure. That’s nice, I guess.

From this, Wade decides that the “test” mentioned on the Jade Key must be the Voight-Kampff test from Blade Runner. The book also exposits to us what that is, and what Blade Runner is. And while the book does mention the movie’s based on a Phillip K. Dick novel, I’m not getting the impression that Wade has read it. I mean, it doesn’t even mention at any point (in this chapter or anywhere in the book) the phrase “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”

Anyway. There’s a convenient re-creation of the Tyrell Building from Blade Runner as part of the OASIS standard planet-building kit, meaning that building (and the Voight-Kampff test located in it) can be found on any number of planet. Do I really still need to call attention to the fact that the planet-building tool apparently contains hundreds of other assets similarly taken from existing properties, or have I made my point clear enough about the death of originality in this book yet?

So, Wade goes to the closest planet that features one such replica, Axrenox. It doesn’t matter what that planet is. Actually, not much of anything matters. I mean, the book spends a whole paragraph telling us about how Wade hopes nobody will steal his ship while it’s parked on Axrenox, but—spoiler alert—nobody will. I’m calling attention to it because it’s the second time Wade has expressed worry that someone would steal his transportation method, and the second time nothing comes of it. At some point you have to ask if someone’s not projecting a little too much. And I don’t mean the fictional character here.

Speaking of things that don’t matter: writing a good action scene as Wade goes through the replicants that guard the place. Because, yes, the planet-building kit includes guards in the building too.

The next ten minutes played out like the climax of a John Woo movie. One of the ones starring Chow Yun Fat, like Hard Boiled or The Killer.

Shitty writing aside, I want to point out that the book really shows how much it understands Blade Runner’s theme and central message by…treating the replicants as disposable mooks in a John Woo movie. Like, sure, they’re constructs in a video game, but still. Good job.

Speaking of not understanding the point, remember how the clue was like “take the test”? Yeah, if you know what the Voight-Kampff test is, you might have gotten a little enthusiastic there, since that test is meant to ascertain the ability to empathize with others. Which would be hilarious to see Wade Watts take. Sadly, no, the test only acts as a gateway to a 3D recreation of a video game that Wade has already mastered.

I honestly feel like it’d be insulting to you if I were to recap what happens next in detail. It’s a game. Halliday dropped a hint at it in his will video, which is mentioned to justify Wade being a master at the game. There’s another case of the book using romaji to transcribe the title of the game in Japanese, even though, again, that name is just English words written with Japanese characters and phonotactics. There’s still no tension; I mean, we literally go from Wade explaining the rules of the simulation and how he can’t leave to…

I managed to clear all eight levels of the game in just under three hours.

Oh, sure, after that he tells us how he got close to dying at one point. Like…thanks for telling me I should have been worried in the time you skipped.

At the end of the trial, he gets to choose a giant robot from fiction from a list (some of which already crossed out due to being picked by the Sixers).

I stopped cold when I saw Leopardon, the giant transforming robot used by Supaidaman, the incarnation of Spider-Man who appeared on Japanese TV in the late 1970s. I’d discovered Supaidaman during the course of my research and had become somewhat obsessed with the show. So I didn’t care if Leopardon was the most powerful robot available. I had to have him, regardless.

Okay, so, I just rambled about the romaji, so I won’t do it again here, though you should know it still annoys me. But I will say I’m pleasantly surprised that Wade actually made a decision derived from passion for something. I was starting to wonder if that would ever happen.

Anyway. Wade gets a toy replica of the Leopardon, and with that, he’s now cleared the Second Gate, and receives a hint to the Crystal Key’s location, in the form of a logo of a star inside a circle. This sounds like a pretty generic symbol, but Wade recognizes it. Probably because, if you look it up, it is actually distinct enough:

It just so happens the book describes it really poorly:

Then a symbol slowly appeared in the center of the screen: a glowing red circle with a five-pointed star inside it. The points of the star extended just beyond the outer edge of the circle.

The book skips over Wade leaving the Tyrell building, by the way. I guess the guards only prevent you from entering? I don’t know, because the book won’t tell me. Once he’s back on his ship…wait, I’ve gotta point this out:

And thanks be to Crom, the Vonnegut was still parked right where I’d left it, its cloaking device still engaged.

I already mentioned the ship would not in fact get stolen, but…“thanks be to Crom”? This isn’t even something he’s done until now. It’s just a random reference out of the blue.

Back to the plot. The red star and the image I just showed you are from a music album, 2112 by the band Rush. I don’t know anything about them, but the album is apparently about…

a time when creativity and self-expression have been outlawed.

So…like this book’s world, then?

Wade somehow knows exactly which lyrics on the album are relevant to finding the Crystal Key: a passage about the “Priests of the Temple of Syrinx”, because there’s a planet Syrinx somewhere in the OASIS with a temple in it. And by “a temple” I mean 1024 copies of the city described in the album’s supplemental material. Because copy-paste is an excellent substitute for good ideas. You know, between this, the planet with hundreds of copies of Halliday’s hometown, the planet with hundreds of copies of that text adventure game, and oh, the fact that the game’s planet-building tool contains hundreds of licensed assets. I mean, you can make the technology to run a lifelike VR simulation, but procedural generation and original art assets are both out of reach?

No, I will never stop being angry about this. It’s lazy writing and lazy in-universe, and it heavily undermines the idea that the OASIS somehow dominated the market. I mean, think about it: right now, the videogame market’s latest trend is Battle Royale games. The first game that managed to put the genre where it is is Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, but because it lacked any original assets—and was frankly shoddily made because it was rushed into early release in order to be the first out—it was easily outdone by Fortnite, a game with a more competent team and actually creative people working on it, specifically because the concept alone isn’t going to make a game win on the market (and it also makes for very weak ground to sue people for copyright infringement once they beat you, Bluehole).

A concept can be replicated—don’t ever believe the myth of the indispensable lone genius, i.e. Halliday in this case, there’s always someone else, or a group of people, who can replicate your idea and probably improve on it while they’re at it. So I cannot for even a minute believe that there isn’t someone who couldn’t make the OASIS, except, you know, better. Hell, that’s what IOI should do, instead of investing loads of money into a contest to take over the OASIS with a very low chance of success.

Ahem. I’m getting off-topic, aren’t I? Well, that’s okay, because the actual action is as stilted as usual. Wade lands on the planet, and I guess IOI didn’t attempt to leave people to guard it or anything so he’s all alone. He finds the temple mentioned in the song, and figures he has to make an offering at the altar. Luckily, he instantly knows what other lyrics of the album are relevant, and they lead him to a secret cave behind a waterfall. If you think I’m rushing through the scene…barely. It takes him a paragraph to search the cave, for instance. The book’s as uninterested in this as I am. Which…you know, it shouldn’t be.

What does he find in the secret room in the secret cave, you ask? An electric guitar. It’s another reference to the album, but also, it’s stuck in a stone.

I grinned at the absurd Arthurian image of the guitar in the stone. Like every gunter, I’d seen John Boorman’s film Excalibur many times, so it seemed obvious what I should do next.

Yes, really. Apparently Arthurian legends are no longer widely known and the only reference Wade has is a specific movie adaptation of the mythos. Because that makes sense.

So Wade gets the special guitar, and it turns out he knows how to play it (in the OASIS, that is), and he’s randomly inspired to play the song 2112, even though there isn’t really anything prompting him to do. But it’s lucky, because it makes another clue show up:

The first was ringed in red metal The second, in green stone The third is clearest crystal and cannot be unlocked alone

Had the Sixers played the song and discovered this message? I seriously doubted it. They would have pulled the guitar from the stone and immediately returned it to the temple.

Yeah, so, because Wade played the guitar for no clear reason, Wade now has an advantage over the Sixers. Thanks, author puppetmaster! It’s not like giving characters a clear motivation to do what they do is difficult or useful to reinforce the book’s verisimilitude!

I mean, for real. Would it really be so hard to say Wade just…felt like playing the special guitar before he offered it at the altar in the table? It’s really not that hard.

Also, what the fuck is up with that hint? No, really. Now Halliday wants to encourage cooperation in his contest? Don’t you think it’s a little too late? Also, why do that at the last stage? Does that mean multiple people will get the egg at the same time…by design? That’s not gonna backfire at all.

Anyway, Wade returns the guitar to the temple, and when he puts it on the altar, it turns into the Crystal Key as planned.

my score on the Scoreboard increased by 25,000 points. When added to the 200,000 I’d received for clearing the Second Gate, that brought my total score up to 353,000 points, one thousand points more than Sorrento. I was back in first place.

As a hint for the location of the Third Gate, Wade only gets a stylized A. It’s actually the symbol of Halliday’s avatar Anorak—and of his castle. Because of course he has a castle in the OASIS.

the castle was impregnable and always had been. No avatar but Anorak himself had ever been able to pass through its entrance. But now I knew there must be a way to enter Castle Anorak. Because the Third Gate was hidden somewhere inside.

You know, Halliday making his own impregnable location inside of his own game explains a lot about why the OASIS is so permissive towards griefers. It was made by one.

Speaking of griefers, now that someone else has found the Crystal Key, guess who made an impenetrable dome around Castle Anorak? Yep, it’s the Sixers! And yes, there’s an artefact that lets you create a literally impenetrable barrier around a location in the OASIS. Again, who designs this?

The news of this soon reaches the gunter and clans, who all converge on the planet Chthonia, even though, you know, they don’t have the Crystal Key yet. But in spite of being in a really bad spot, Wade decides not to give up this time. I mean, it’s not like the Sixers having the exact same advantage (exclusive access to the Third Gate) didn’t make him fantasize about committing suicide three chapters ago or anything. That’s character consistency right there.

Yes, I’m still bitter that the book went there.

I began to formulate a plan. A bold, outrageous plan that would require epic amounts of luck to pull off.

Well considering how the rest of the book has gone, I’m not exactly on the edge of my seat here.

So Wade emails Artemis, Aech and Shoto the location of the Second Gate and the Crystal Key, and prepares to put the rest of his plan in motion, while the book attempts to end “Level Two” on a cliffhanger.

Once I was sure all three of them had received my message, I initiated the next phase of my plan. This was the part that terrified me, because I knew there was a good chance it was going to end up getting me killed. But at this point, I no longer cared. I was going to reach the Third Gate, or die trying.

I did say “attempts to”. I mean, this is the first time Wade actually has a plan, and the “reach it or die trying” has sort of been his MO so far. But hey. Nice attempt.

[octaviainthewasteland]

CONSPIRACY TIME

So Dreamworks, I have noticed that you took inspirations not only from Golion and original Voltron. Trust me I’m a scientist and a detective, and I do hope someone else except for me has watched this show, because it’s bad as it is already. Keep reading to be amazed.

I’ve promised my friend @mavrille​ I will write it out and embarass myself, so here we go.

As we already know, Shiro is a human Antauri.

Then we have two teams in robots, which form a giant sentient robot? Although other than Shiro|Antauri, other characters do not quite match. Or more like do not match at all. At a casual glance.

My desire for everything to be of respective colours has been obstructing my vision, but when I looked at it more closely... Sparx kinda resembles Lance? He likes flying and he’s a skilled pilot, and he’s a hopeless flirt, which sometimes annoys the hell out of his team. He has some confidence issues and his biggest fear is not being able to fly and be ‘practically useless’. He’s also the only one out of the team to give himself a nickname and actively trying to fit it.

Then we have Gibson and Pidge, scientific geniuses, who prefer to spend time indoors and often go into rambling ordinary people hardly understand.

Hunk is pretty much Otto, because they’re both technical geniuses and the softest, purest, sweetest beings in the universe.

Nova had the biggest connection with the Alchemist (who then turned evil and became the Skeleton King) and objectively she’s physically the strongest on the team, also baddas pink, thus i see parallels between Nova and Allura. In adiition, they’ve both been BIG.

Then we have another character, a hero (?) who is forced to lead the team and who stuggles to control his emotions, who has a super close bond with the ‘head’ of their robot, with ‘head’ being their “beloved mentor” and who just will not and CANNOT accept that the ‘head’ is ‘dead’ and runs off to look for them, while the team tries to move on. Who am I talking about? KEITH? CHIRO? We’ll never know.

We find out that Skeleton King actually has been the founder of Hyperforce, the Alchemist, but in his research the breach has been opened and some Dark Ones released, which corrupted his mind and soul. Ugh I dunno, do we have some alchemist who has been corrupted by something otherworldly in Voltron?

oh whoop-de-doo.

Are you going to tell me there has been another leader of Hyperforce that became an evil zombie? GUESS WHAT

Yep.

We even have a sleeping agent (also android), who has been used to spy on Hyperforce and sabotage them. (Yet they let her join their team, so I hold hopes for certain kurons....)

As DW confirmed Voltron exists in a multiverse, I think we can all agree on a fact that in one of these universes they are space robot monkeys. I’ll see myself out, thank you very much.

[laindir]

11 questions meme

another meme, this time tagged by @kixboxer. under cut for tl;dr rambling.

1. What is your favorite kind of soup and why? seafood clam chowder, simply by the virtue that it’s not easily found where I am (the delicious ones, at least - a lot of them just taste like those cheap soup mixes you pour hot water into). also because of that one bowl of chowder I had in a random pub in Doolin (Ireland) which tasted like absolute heaven. 2. What’s your starter Pokémon type or do you change it up? I’m not really a gamer and the last Pokemon game I played seriously was Yellow, where your starter was only Pikachu. but well, if I had to choose, probably Fire or Water. 3. Can you make an omelette? yes, though I haven’t really made one in awhile… 4. Would you rather be a vampiric tree or a vampire that feeds on trees? what’s with the vampire-themed questions, owlbro. UH… a vampire that feeds on trees. because I don’t like being stuck in one place, and being a vampiric tree feels like I need to be rooted to one spot and that sounds a little boring. also, feeding on trees doesn’t sound too bad - trees wouldn’t have blood for me to drain, so I’d assume I’d “feed” on leaves/fruits/nuts? even if I ate the tree bark, it could technically grow back. least harmful option for the tree, y/y? 5. What are your thoughts on eels? Make some up if you don’t have any eels are kinda cute and cool! also, delicious when grilled. uh, yeah. 6. What is the longest consecutive amount of time you’ve gone without sleeping? probably a little more than 24 hours. 7. Do you like your tea or coffee sweetened? for some types of coffee drinks, yes (like flavoured latte/macchiato). but I never put sugar in brewed coffee or cappucino.

8. What is your favorite way to eat potatoes? I love potatoes so I’ll eat any kind, but roasted potaoes and pan-fried rosti are THE BEST. 9. Have you ever planned the perfect murder? Feel free to share. I am a slubby 20something and definitely not the cops. I am definitely not a 4-person task force with something to prove. I’d wanted to say I could poison someone with a number of different chemical concoctions, but that would show up in toxicology reports in the post-mortem - I wouldn’t consider it a perfect murder in that sense. so I’m just going to be lazy and say the perfect murder would probably just to put someone into a Force choke-hold or killing them with a single thought Vader-style. 10. How many times have you listened to yolo? Give a rough estimate if you don’t have a playcount somewhere. YOU KNOW, before I read this question, I didn’t even know there was a song called ‘YOLO’. no, really, I’m not lying and I actually had to search for it on YT. of course it’s from Adam Samberg’s band, ofc. and thank you, now I’m going to be playing this on repeat while procrastinating on things until the 11th hour before I finally #yolo like the responsible adult I’m not :’D so, to answer your question: this is the first time I’m listening to it, but it sure won’t be the last time ! 11. Are you working on any fic/art/meta right now? Share a sample? ADKJKFHHSJF I’M REALLY SLOW WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING apologies to whoever’s following me for fic only but yes, I’m currently bouncing ideas in my head for one long-ish(?) AU oneshot and some short canon fic/ficlets. no idea when exactly I’ll finish them though lol.

some samples scenes for each fic (no major spoilers for the game):

*** “Why do you still keep smiling, even when I tear open your wounds?” she spat, vehemence laced in every word.  (Many moons later, she would find herself asking the same question, to yet another who smiled just like he did even through the anguish and pain. How could they…. How dare they? It didn’t make any sense, it couldn’t–) Her brows creased in anger, Symonne forced herself back up to her feet even as her limbs ached and trembled from the growing exhaustion of battle. Being delicate in stature had its drawbacks; she would tire easily from direct combat in a battle. As such, she had perfected the use of her seraphic artes, weaving illusions and doppelgangers born from one’s own deepest fear. She had not asked for this accursed blessing, never wished for any of it. But it was all she’d ever known, all she’d carried within her throughout centuries of misery and growing apathy. It was she was but it was enough for this, for her Lord – she reminded herself, again, as she struggled to stand upright, pointing her baton at the two humans before her. It was enough, as long as she could serve him, her Master. So, she won’t stop here; no, she can’t stop, she must not fall– “That’s enough, Symonne.” The Shepherd’s voice was soft and gentle, and Symonne felt frustration flaring from deep within. She lifted her head, staring up at the disgustingly radiant smile, at the pity in those evergreen eyes. *** He shouldn’t have been surprised, honestly. Incidents like these – they were a norm and he should really be used to them by now. Being part the Shepherd’s posse seems bring about both irritability and absurdity in equal parts – he had known of this even before Rose had decided on sharing the burden of a Shepherd and took up the role of Squire; before she’d risked her own life to save the brat from certain death when he’d been foolish enough to face off with the Lord of Calamity. Still, nothing quite prepared him for this; he was more of a dog person, after all. “But why cats, though?” Rose finally blurted out, incredulous. Hell, Dezel wanted to know too – who would come up with such a sick joke anyway? I’m not  a cat! The small silver and cat-like creature was scowling up at them with narrowed, violet eyes. Its mouth was open, as if it were attempting to speak. But the only sound it managed was a very indignant and cat-like meow. W-What? The silver cat crinkled its nose, its tail waving back and forth in confusion. It glanced to its side, gazing at another cat – a longhaired white cat with a bushy, red tail. Why can’t I… Lailah, what’s going on?! *** “Do not let yourself be so readily deceived by all that glitters, by their honeyed words. After all, they murdered your father when he would not be silenced, and then banished us into the Wastelands. They sent your mother to die all alone – you still remember, don’t you? Her terrified screams when she was cut down, the way her blood stained the wheat fields crimson? Remember that always, child.” Sorey flinched from the twist of emotion within his gut. Lady Maltran may not be close by, but the ghostly whispers of her words still sent a trail of ice shivering down his spine. He shook his head, pushing away the taunting memories back. No, Lady Maltran was right – this wasn’t the time to let his guard down. He exhaled slowly, finding his centre again, and drew his thoughts back once more to the present. To focus on what had been drilled into him, what he had been sent to do.

okay, here are my 11 questions:

1. If your life was set in an AU, what would it be? 2. Worst things about your current fandom(s) 3. Three tropes that you fall for in media 4. Something you wished your parents had taught you when you were a child 5. Favourite snack(s) from the convenience store 6. What comes to mind when you see the colour orange? 7. Any inspiratational words from a fictional character that you’ve taken to heart? 8. Prefered method of saving the world: piloting a giant mecha robot engaged in space dogfights or riding into battle on the backs of your megaraptor steed? 9. Childhood nicknames? 10. Skydiving and bungee-jumping - yes or no? 11. Favourite kind(s) of autumn beverages/drinks tagging @armatise @shamingcows @snow-partridge @hakuryuu-tofu @skyress

and anyone else who feels like doing it (or feel free to not do either).

[dimension-heroes]

Sovereign Chapter 12

This might be confusing, but to explain things, I wanted to celebrate a friend’s birthday the best way I could.

The group continued their escape from the Insecticons. They drove within the thick steel walls of the canyon. Nightfall flew up, no sign of the bug robots yet. “We're almost out of this place!” Nightfall called. “Good, I'm getting sick of these bland walls.” Flow growled. “Has Soundwave recovered yet?” Megatron asked. “No, still unconscious after what happened. At least the music stopped.” Flow said. “It was our defense against them.” Nightfall replied. “Where could the buzzing have originated from?” Flow asked. “Something worse than the Insecticons.” Megatron mused. “I hope we never encounter that thing, whatever it may be.” Nightfall said.

   (All drove closer to the end of the canyon, now able to find eternal desert once again. They kept going, Nightfall flying ahead in search of anything that may give them a clue on where to go next. So far, nothing appeared, yet, bright flashes of lights occurred behind them. Insecticons, they feared.

   Inside of Flow, a faint groan emitted from the cassette player. The femme sped forward) “Soundwave?” Flow asked. “What can be going on?” Soundwave asked. “We escaped from the Insecticons.” Flow answered. “My systems.” Soundwave paused. “Try to conserve your Energy.” Flow whispered. (The mech became silent, still stuck as a cassette player.

   Megatron continued to move, he turned his cannon backwards. Nothing that could attack them. His armor remained tense from the previous fight. Insecticons able to survive out in a place like this. He drove on, sand moved off his armor, effecting his far more duller coat. The former glory of his silver back when he was a leader of a war. His Fusion Cannon, still filled with life after all that Shockwave did.

   Nightfall swooped down to the two) “Hey guys!” Nightfall called. “What is it?” Flow asked. “I see something up ahead!” Nightfall said. (The group started to drive further as the Seeker flew to the left. Both ground vehicles noticed something sticking out from the dunes. A city; a place where more life may live. Flow speed further while Megatron followed. Nightfall flew faster across the desert. The city in a much better perspective.

   Flow and Megatron touched steel. Both stopped as Nightfall flew by. She transformed, landing onto the cold metal. Her wings moved, brushing away dust from her frame. Megatron and Flow managed to transform, Soundwave lied on the ground. The ninja femme picked up the cassette player and walked ahead. Megatron looked around the empty city. It was the four of them in this place. The Decepticon leader glanced at Flow Spade)

   “We need to find medical equipment for Soundwave.” Megatron declared. (Flow and Nightfall nodded. The three began to walk around the location. No sign of life anywhere. Nightfall floated, the jets on her legs active while she moved across a long route) “I found a place.” Nightfall said. (She flew further, leaving Megatron and Flow to follow.

   They arrived to a large building, the femme landed and noticed a sign on it. Hospital, engraved in Cybertronian characters. The two Decepticons entered with Soundwave and Nightfall. No one was around, it remained intact from all that happened during the great war. The lights were still on.

   Megatron entered one room, finding medical equipment. He placed the communications officer onto a berth) “Do you know how to work on that?” Flow asked. “I'll try. You two explore more and see if you can find supplies.” Megatron ordered. (The two femmes nodded and Flow walked away. Nightfall's optics focused on the Decepticon leader. He started repairing Soundwave the best he could.

   Both femmes walked across the empty city. Nightfall turned her helm around) “Nothing here.” Nightfall sighed. “Empty after the war. Look at how good the condition of this place is.” Flow said. “Yeah, I'm kinda worried that something will happen.” Nightfall said. (Flow looked at a building, noticing a figure in one of the windows) “Stop.” Flow whispered. (The figure moved back. Nightfall stood close to the ninja femme) “I saw something.” Nightfall paused. “Yes, follow me.” Flow said. (The two walked into the building.

   Both stepped into the empty building. Their frames tensed as the ninja femme gripped her Tornado Cutter. Nightfall stared at the weapon) “Where did you get that?” Nightfall asked. “I found it in Sixshot's dojo during the war.” Flow sighed. “It's amazing how you are able to use something that is unnatural to us.” Nightfall said. “My former team's weapons controlled an element.” Flow said. “Oh?” Nightfall asked. “Fire, water, earth, and wind” Flow paused. (All heard a faint shattering of glass. Nightfall stood behind Flow, her wings stuck close to her back)

   “What is that?” Nightfall asked. “I hope it isn't an Insecticon.” Flow paused. “I'm tired of bugs.” Nightfall sighed. “So am I.” Someone whispered. (The two femmes looked around, finding no one except themselves. Red optics glared upon the shadows, noticing something moving by her. Nightfall stepped back and shivered. Then, something pounced onto her. The femme screamed as Flow was about to throw her Tornado Cutter) “Get off me!” Nightfall cried. “Calm down!” Someone called. (The lights came on in an instant.

   Flow stared upon the two entities. Nightfall, and a boxy lioness. It started to transform, revealing a femme bearing mechanical ears and a tail. She grinned, optics hidden behind a visor) “Huh, who are you?” Nightfall asked. “I never seen anyone except for Insecticons, you seem trustworthy.” The femme said. “So, Insecticons do come here?” Flow asked. (She still raised her gold and black weapon) “Put that down please, I'm not going to eat your Seeker friend.” The femme ordered. “Can you explain who you are and why you're here?” Flow asked. “Oh, I'm Kittenclaw; I ran around a lot and ended up here. Plenty of Energon, at least till the Insecticons came.” Kittenclaw rambled. “It is surprising to see another Cybertronian around here.” Flow stated. “That's nice.” Kittenclaw grinned. “Um, can you get off me, please?” Nightfall asked. (The blue blue femme stepped off the Seeker. Visor focused on Flow)

   “So, what are you doing out here?” Kittenclaw asked. “Before I answer, do you stand on Shockwave's side?” Flow asked. “No, I never liked him. I used to be a Decepticon, but I don't know why the war stopped.” Kittenclaw sighed. "I'm glad to know.” Flow sighed. “For what reason?” Kittenclaw asked. “We're trying to look for somewhere outside of Shockwave's control.” Flow said. “Can I come? It sounds more fun than being here with those giant bug robots.” Kittenclaw said. “I'd have to get my leader's approval.” Flow sighed. “Leader?” Kittenclaw perked. “Yes, Megatron.” Flow answered. “I'll follow you!” Kittenclaw cheered. (The Seeker and the ninja glanced at each other) “This is interesting.” Nightfall mused. “As long as she's willing to put in the effort, and doesn't doublecross, then we'll be fine.” Flow sighed. “So, where to?” Kittenclaw asked. “Follow me out of this weird place.” Flow said. “Okay!” Kittenclaw said.

   Megatron sighed as Soundwave started to wake up again. His red visor glowed, looking up at his leader) “Megatron.” Soundwave called. “I'm here.” Megatron replied. “Faint pain from what the Insecticons did.” Soundwave sighed. “Good, I'm trying my best at repairing those holes. The Insecticons have grown in power. Far more than before.” Megatron growled. “They will fall apart under us.” Soundwave stated. (The silver Decepticon leader nodded. He lifted his helm from Soundwave upon faint noises.

   Flow and Nightfall's voices alongside another femme's echoed in the empty city. They weren't alone. Three figures entered into the building, all finding Megatron busy in his work. Soundwave stared upon the newcomer. Kittenclaw grinned and waved at the mech) “Hello!” Kittenclaw cheered. (The dark blue mech's visor glowed as Megatron turned to face the new femme)

   “Flow Spade, who is this?” Megatron asked. “Kittenclaw, we found her in a building. She wanted to come along with us.” Flow sighed. “Yep, I never met you before Megs, it was hard for my group to contact you.” Kittenclaw explained. (Megatron stared at her) “So, you declare yourself a Decepticon.” Megatron said. (The lioness femme nodded) “I've recognized her face, she was in the Predacon team.” Soundwave said. “A Combiner!” Flow gasped. “Not for too long. They were a bit too much for me.” Kittenclaw sighed. (Soundwave stood up, letting the femme stare at his broken glass) “You've described yourself as a medic.” Soundwave declared. “Yep, stand still.” Kittenclaw said. (She rested a servo to the mech's chest, letting cables slip out of her fingers. Those wires attached to his chest. She grinned, shocking the mech. Megatron aimed his cannon at her until she stopped.

   The wires slipped back to her servos, revealing restored glass) “A healing touch.” Flow stated. “Now can I be on the team?” Kittenclaw asked. (Megatron kept a stern look on the femme) “Fine, yet, if you try to betray us.” Megatron growled. (His optics glowed, glaring at the femme. Kittenclaw crossed her arms) “Don't worry, I'll always support you guys.” Kittenclaw soothed. “Soundwave, Flow, I need you both alone with me.” Megatron said. (The two higher ranked Decepticons nodded and left. Megatron followed. Kittenclaw stared as Nightfall sighed.

   Three mechs stood further away from the room) “Sorry Megatron, she wanted to join us and couldn't take no for an answer.” Flow sighed. “At least we have a medic.” Megatron sighed. “Why did you summon us?” Soundwave asked. “I don't trust this new femme yet, Flow, show me the map.” Megatron said. (Flow took it out) “Soundwave and I finished creating a modern map. The closest city will be in a long time. There are five cities we must pass through.” Flow said. (Soundwave held up a piece of metal bearing five names. The ninja femme held up the map, showing nothing) “This city didn't exist during the time of this map's creation.” Flow mused. “What other changes occured?” Megatron asked. “Various paths are different. In the map, there are less trenches, yet with what I saw, more trenches caused by war.” Soundwave answered. (Megatron sighed before looking at Flow) “Tell us where to go.” Megatron ordered. (Flow nodded, pointing east) “I'll wait for you while you get the other two.” Flow said. “Good.” Megatron replied. (The leader and communications officer returned into the building.

   Nightfall sat on a berth, watching Kittenclaw pick out various tools) “What are they talking about?” Kittenclaw asked. (Nightfall turned her helm, finding Megatron and Soundwave. Kitten's ears perked) “I will let you stay with our team.” Megatron said. “Yay, thank you so much!” Kittenclaw grinned. (She hugged the Decepticon leader. All froze as Megatron stared. He sighed) “Yes, now you can get off.” Megatron replied. (The feline femme stepped back) “Are we ready to get going?” Kittenclaw asked. “Yes.” Soundwave stated. (The four left the room.

   All found Flow outside. She tilted her helm) “Its time to go.” Megatron said. “Yes sir.” Flow nodded. (She transformed, the other mechs transformed and started to move onward. Yet, a figure resided near the edge of the city. A spyglass embedded within it's optic) “What I was looking for. A map to treasure. This could be interesting.” A mech grinned. He transformed and swam into the sand.