#i have fun writing them

[lets-try-some-writing]

Young Titan

Primes do not live long. This is a fact that everyone on Cybertron has long come to understand. To take the Matrix is to become a martyr, an offering to the people to preserve Cybertron. No Prime has lived long... at least until Optimus.

Now millions of years old and nourished by war and millennia of memory, the Last of the Primes will show all of Cybertron what happens when a Prime is allowed to progress naturally.

(In short: Another funky jam Au for all yall. Enjoy)

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙

War followed them through time and space. There was no escape, not even on Earth. Part of Megatron wanted to stop, but how could he now? So many millennia at war with his foe ensured that there was simply no other choice but to win, to end this conflict.

Optimus Prime had exceeded his every expectation. In the beginning he had fully expected to have to throw his very spark into the war effort. Primes were strong when they were young. But ultimately, Megatron was living under the assumption that the war would come to a close when Optimus inevitably kicked the bucket. The Prime was too strong and too clever to be killed in battle. The most logical end for the war would have to then be when Optimus lived out his life as every Prime before him.

Primes never made it past a million years. Every single one of Optimus's predecessors all met their end long before the million year mark. There was no reason to think Optimus would be any different.

He really should have known his former brother would exceed expectations.

The war went on, and Optimus kept. On. Living.

Nothing kept him down. The Prime got back up and continued the war. Megatron waited, and as the cycles ticked by and the million year mark grew closer, he became more and more concerned. There was no waning in Optimus's power, nor did his mind seem to be deteriorating. If anything, he grew more cunning with time. It was a slow progression, but Megatron saw it. The way Optimus's passion dulled and his rage and empathy shifted. The war stopped being about them and instead became a concept.

Megatron fought, but as he did so, part of his drive changed. Optimus stopped looking at him with the rage of the archivist who was forced to raise a blade as cities burned. Now he watched simply, calmly even. He observed and did what was required. There was no true wrath there, only sorrow and the anger of something unnatural when Autobots and Decepticons alike fell in the line of duty. Megatron did everything in his power to bring out the rage he knew so well. He wanted to see Optimus seethe. He wanted to know that he was not the only one invested in their war. He had to be sure that he was no the only one feeling the loss, the anger, the desperation to win.

Few times did he manage to succeed in his goal. He could count on his digits the number of times Optimus raged as the war started to reach its grim conclusion. By the time the Allspark was sent away, the Prime no longer showed much of anything. He was stoic, unfeeling in the way one feels nothing for insects beneath their pedes. Against Megatron's fears, Optimus did not grow corrupt. Instead, he took his people to the stars and their war continued.

On and on it went, even on Earth. Then, shortly after the arrival of the Elite Guardsmech, things changed. Megatron sensed something was brewing long before, but when the Autobots fell to panic, he knew that whatever his spark warned him of was beginning to form.

Optimus vanished. Not a spark knew where he went. According to reports and what could be gathered from frantic Autobot patrols, the Prime had simply wandered off into the night and never come back. His signal was still active, but his Autobots were unable to trace his location. Megatron couldn't help but search. He reasoned it was to kill his foe while he was weak and alone, but deep down he knew it was because something big was happening. Weeks went by without any sign of him. Megatron was never one to write Optimus Prime off as dead after so many shattered expectations, but he couldn't help but wonder if his life had finally reached its end.

Three months after Optimus's disappearance, Soundwave reported the Autobots gathering around a point of interest. When the Nemesis reached the location in question, Megatron could hardly believe his optics. The Autobots swarmed the area, fortifying and guarding it with their lives. The basic structure of walls and other buildings was clear as day. Wires crept long exposed beams and energon crystals had been turned into liquid which pooled at the center of it all.

But more than that, what left Megatron in awe was the simple fact that spreading along the ground-

Was living metal.

━━━━━━

Ratchet had been with Optimus since the beginning. He watched his friend take on what was essentially martyrdom for the sake of their people. He watched Optimus come into being. He watched his friend turned Prime lead their people to war. And most notably, he watched the changes that occurred in the Prime as time passed.

He grew distant, and not necessarily in the manner of the corrupt. He still mourned the dead and he still felt rage for the loss of their world. But from what Ratchet saw, Optimus felt no solid connection to their faction or any direct function. He said he was a Prime for all of Cybertron, and despite fighting Megatron, to Ratchet it looked as though it were merely a force of habit rather than true conflict.

He cared, he loved, but he did so in a manner more akin to a watchful guardian vaguely displeased with the antics of sparklings. It was infuriating at times, and Ratchet was only able to confirm his friend was still in there when Optimus had moments of rage.

He sensed something in Optimus as he aged. Ratchet grew weaker, bitter, weighed down by aches and pains. Optimus on the other hand seemed to grow stronger. His power did not outright increase, but his spark readings came back stronger than ever and he seemed to be accumulating mass. He didn't get much taller after his initial transformation to Prime, but he got denser. He could put away energon like no one's business and the mech just seemed to gain a more oppressive presence with every passing vorn.

He asked Optimus about it. Optimus had no real answers.

"None have lived as long as I have. This is new, but it is right. I feel that soon I will find my true function. My design shall be made clear."

On and on it went. Times changed, war continued, and Optimus grew more and more imposing. Ratchet half expected him to combust or to lose his mind like many a Prime before him. Instead, a few years into their stay on Earth, Optimus vanished like smoke. He left a simple note telling Ratchet that they would be meeting soon, but that was all. Weeks of frantic searching yielded nothing... at least until they found the only place on the planet where living metal creeped across rock and soil.

Ratchet led the team there, Ultra Magus serving alongside them. When they arrived, they did not know what they were looking at. The beginnings of buildings were forming on their own, and they were quite obviously of Cybertronian origin. Energon gathered on the ground in pools and ran through fuel lines imbedded in the very earth beneath their pedes. The ground itself shifted as they stepped upon it, wires crept from cracks to brush against them.

The land itself was greeting them, and the further into the strange collection of half finished structures they wandered, the more and more familiar it all felt. Ratchet really wasn't sure what he should have expected, but it most certainly was not the frame, or at least what remained of Optimus Prime's frame, sprawled out on the ground connected to a million and one wires. The Prime's spark was not in its chamber, instead it was contained by a structure just beyond what looked to be Optimus's corpse. It thrummed and flared, just as bright and active as ever. The wires continued to run along their frames, the ground shifted beneath them, a gentle rumbling greeting them.

Ratchet looked on, and he did not feel grief. His Prime was not dead. He was welcoming them.

"Optimus greets you."

A voice spoke and that was when Ratchet and the rest saw the true purpose of the place before them. A newbuild, one whose paint still gleamed with the freshness of the newly forged stood before them. A brand new life, a phenomenon that had not been witnessed since the Exodus. Others were developing, their sparks connecting to the living metal all around. This place was a hotspot, and life was forming right before their optics.

"He is happy to see you."

The newbuild smiled, and Ratchet was unsure whether to laugh or to cry. Of course Optimus would do something like this.

Of course he would turn himself into a fragging Titan.

[shmowder]

I LOVE I LOVE your Drabbles! 😭

THANKS i love you!!

[daisywords]

One of my biggest nitpicks in fiction concerns the feeding of babies. Mothers dying during/shortly after childbirth or the baby being separated form the mother shortly after birth is pretty common in fiction. It is/was also common enough in real life, which is why I think a lot of writers/readers don't think too hard about this. however. Historically, the only reason the vast majority of babies survived being separated from their mother was because there was at least one other woman around to breastfeed them. Before modern formula, yes, people did use other substitutes, but they were rarely, if ever, nutritionally sufficient.

Newborns can't eat adult food. They can't really survive on animal milk. If your story takes place in a world before/without formula, a baby separated from its mother is going to either be nursed by someone else, or starve.

It doesn't have to be a huge plot point, but idk at least don't explicitly describe the situation as excluding the possibility of a wetnurse. "The father or the great grandmother or the neighbor man or the older sibling took and raised the baby completely alone in a cave for a year." Nope. That baby is dead I'm sorry. "The baby was kidnapped shortly after birth by a wizard and hidden away in a secret tower" um quick question was the wizard lactating? "The mother refused to see or touch her child after birth so the baby was left to the care of the ailing grandfather" the grandfather who made the necessary arrangements with women in the neighborhood, right? right? OR THAT GREAT OFFENDER "A newborn baby was left on the doorstep and they brought it in and took care of it no issues" What Are You Going to Feed That Baby. Hello?

Like. It's not impossible, but arrangements are going to have to be made. There are some logistics.

[crookedtines]

I finally took the time to photograph my vintage dip pen nib collection, and I need to share with you all how wonderful and diverse their designs are.

These two are my favorite. Just look at them! One of them is named Gorille and the other Mephisto, but to me they're little pumpkins.

And of course you gotta love the Pinocchio nib. You get to write with the nose of a tiny guy! Just not something you get to do anymore.

[artist-rat]

fine dining at the blushing mermaid. with the boogieboys

[chipper-smol]

[inkskinned]

i love when words fit right. seize was always supposed to be that word, and so was jester. tuesday isn't quite right but thursday should be thursday, that's a good word for it. daisy has the perfect shape to it, almost like you're laughing when you say it; and tulip is correct most of the time. while keynote is fun to say, it's super wrong - i think they have to change the label for that one. but fox is spot-on.

most words are just, like, good enough, even if what they are describing is lovely. the night sky is a fine term for it but it isn't perfect the way november is the correct term for that month.

it's not just in english because in spanish the phrase eso si que es is correct, it should be that. sometimes other languages are also better than the english words, like how blue is sloped too far downwards but azul is perfect and hangs in the air like glitter. while butterfly is sweet, i think probably papillion is more correct, although for some butterflies féileacán is much better. year is fine but bliain is better. sometimes multiple languages got it right though, like how jueves and Πέμπτη are also the right names for thursday. maybe we as a species are just really good at naming thursdays.

and if we were really bored and had a moment and a picnic to split we could all sit down for a moment and sort out all the words that exist and find all the perfect words in every language. i would show you that while i like the word tree (it makes you smile to say it), i think arbor is correct. you could teach me from your language what words fit the right way, and that would be very exciting (exciting is not correct, it's just fine).

i think probably this is what was happening at the tower of babel, before the languages all got shifted across the world and smudged by the hand of god. by the way, hand isn't quite right, but i do like that the word god is only 3 letters, and that it is shaped like it is reflecting into itself, and that it kind of makes your mouth move into an echoing chapel when you cluck it. but the word god could also fit really well with a coathanger, and i can't explain that. i think donut has (weirdly) the same shape as a toothbrush, but we really got bagel right and i am really grateful for that.

grateful is close, but not like thunder. hopefully one day i am going to figure out how to shape the way i love my friends into a little ceramic (ceramic is very good, almost perfect) pot and when they hold it they can feel the weight of my care for them. they can put a plant in there. maybe a daisy.

[somnimagus]

My page for @sheikahzine; about Impaz's duty to her village, empty of people and full of memories.

[id in alt text]

[adhd-coyote]

“General Kenobi, you claim an assassin killed the Chancellor?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, neither I nor Commander Fox saw them, as they used a flash bomb to disorient us and fled too quickly for us to follow.”

“And where, exactly, did they flee? No one reported seeing anyone leave this office.”

“Why, they fled through the broken window, of course.”

“What broken window?”

“That one.” Kenobi points. The previously intact window shatters, as if hit by a very strong invisible force. Neither Kenobi nor the Marshal Commander so much as twitch.

“Are you alright, sir?” Commander Fox asks, all concern. “You must be very tired, if you didn’t notice the clearly broken window. You should go rest. It’s okay, General Kenobi and I can take it from here.”

“Yes,” Kenobi agrees, prim and proper. He raises a hand, fingers slightly curled, and his voice takes on a different note. “Go home and take a nice, long nap. This will all be handled by the time you wake.”

“I will go home and take a nice, long nap. This will all be handled by the time I wake.”

“Very good. Have a nice evening.”

[bacchuschucklefuck]

they tried to rebrand as The Criminals but riz is literally the city council's treasurer and also turns out people in their late 20s don't really name their friend groups. so now they're The Intrepid Heroes

[rendevok]

“Take my hand” a comic for NaruMitsu Week 2023

day 1 - lies & secrets - 2 - 3 - 4

[wandixx]

Danny, the Young Justice member snippet nr 3 GIW made a lot of mistakes and the biggest one was going against Young Justice part 1

As you can see by the title (I need better ideas, you're all welcome to share yours), this is kinda part of "Danny, the Youg Justice member" but as something I have more of actual idea about. So while I encourage people adding their stuff to other snippets, please let this one be. I will be adding to it. It's even partially written :D

unrelated snippet nr 1, unrelated snippet nr 2

"Hey guys" Danny greeted clearly winded, phasing through the wall. Whole Team turned towards him, some giving him a side eye “Sorry I’m late” 

“You’re good, my dude” Wally answered, patting him on the back as soon as halfa landed, turning into his human form. They gave him a moment to catch his breath(just how fast he tried to fly there?) before grabbing their bags. Dick jumped and threw himself over the speedster's and halfa’s shoulders.

“Happy Harbour, we’re coming!” he yelled.

He fixed his grip when he caught Danny’s quick wince under the pressure as they left the headquarters. Judging by look on his face, Kaldur caught it too.

“So what’s on the agenda?”

“There is an amusement park in city, so we’re going to enjoy our free time there” M’gann explained with excited smile “I can’t wait to see it, I heard it’s fun”

Artemis nodded with a grin.

“I bet I can win more plushies than all of you. No powers,” she demanded after a moment, slamming her hand n a random tree for better dramatic effect.

“Stakes?” he asked, competitive like always. While blonde shared her idea of ‘no locker room duties for a month’, Danny explained all the questions M’gann asked about what even bet was and what stakes meant. Dick was sure she knew the answers to all of them but he didn’t say anything. He was trained well enough to catch Conner listening intently, despite his clear effort to hide it.

It turned into a whole Team competition.

It was going to be an aster.

***

M’gann was having a blast. Everyone already had two to four plushies, stomach full of unhealthy food and manageable nausea from the roller coaster. Wally and Danny were throwing popcorn to each other's mouths, Robin challenged Conner and Artemis to the next game. It really was fun just like she was told!

It was much less fun when literal blast shot a few feets away from them. Ground where it hit was burned. Halfa squealed, projecting a strong wave of distress. Without second thought he threw his hood on and changed his posture, frantically looking for a hiding spot.

Few children started crying, their families scrambling to get away before attackers started shooting again and hurt them. Workers, already used to working in less than ideal circumstances, quickly, but without panic warranted by recognised villains or outright invasion, shut down reinforced blinds and probably walked out to inform someone. At least they didn’t have to worry about potential civilian casualties. 

“Do you know who they are?” M’gann asked, quickly establishing the Mindlink.

“Don’t worry about it” he answered, putting on crazy big sunglasses that Wally won some time before.

“My dude, we just got shot at. We have every right to worry”

“Calm down, Wally. I got shot at, you’re just close by. I’ll handle it” With a ruffle of his hair and a piece of popcorn thrown in his mouth,he turned around, just moment after the next blast almost caught his arm. He plastered a smile on his face.

“Hey, I’ve seen guns like these in laser tag! But I’ve never found them cheap enough to get without selling my kidney!” he yelled enthusiastically.

When the rest of them turned around, M’gann saw ten people in sunglasses and pristine white, holding guns straight from the mad scientist’s lab. THey stood still, projecting surprise bordering on shock. She could also feel hunter's happiness underneath it, intense enough that she considered breaking the ‘don’t mess with people’s brains’ rule. As a treat.

“Don’t worry guys, they won’t harm you. Act like you  don’t believe you’re in danger. Like they're a bunch of LARPers or something” It was easier said than done, especially when Danny, who nearly always underestimated the danger, was so terrified. 

“Who are they?!”

“Wally throw me a bit of popcorn, please” Halfa asked, ignoring Artemis almost yelling in their minds. In turn, he was ignored by the speedster. Three of the men turned to check something on weird sort of scanner. Danny's false smile went from cheerful to embarrassed. 

“Dang me and my poor communication skills” he said, loud enough for men to hear but not enough to sound like he was talking to them, before asking louder “I meant to ask, where have you brought it and how much does it cost?”

This seemed to actually shake men out of their shock. They got furious.

“You won't trick us this time, ghost scum” one of the guys with a scanner snarled. Danny pursed his lips in childish gesture of displeasure.

“Rude much” he muttered as if he wasn’t shining with terror like a lighthouse. Robin perked up as if something got him curious.

“Wait, ghost? What do–”

“What are you cosplaying?” Artemis blurted out. Men got visibly angry but Danny smirked.

“Don't antagonize them,” Kaldur commended. 

“If shit goes south I'll get you out of there, half a second flat” Wally offered.

“Thanks dude. Good job Artemis, they hate to be treated like a joke they are” halfa praised but out loud asking:

“Ghostbusters? No, they had different uniforms. But who else got a thing for ghosts?”

“Quit joking around, we caught you Phantom! You ran far from Amity Park but-”

“Who is Phantom?” Robin interrupted rudely (they deserved to be rude to them).

“Where is Amity Park, Utah? Cali?”  Conner asked, adding fuel to the fire of chaos with barely contained glee. He liked messing with anyone even slightly resembling Kadmus staff and these guys marked almost all of the boxes.

“Illinois” provided chubby man who looked and felt like he didn't want to be there almost as much as they teens did. Danny relaxed slightly.

“Agent W you have no clearance to share this information“

“You were in Illinois and didn't tell me, Tommy?” M’gann finally spoke, jokingly punching his arm.

“I wasn't, I swear! I've never set a foot outside of this state in my life!”

“Quit messing around, you freak!!!” the guy, with the biggest ego and probably the leader, screamed.

“Can I please mess their heads up?”  M’gann asked, pushing hope through Mindlink as hard as she could.

“Again, rude. What did I even do to deserve that?”

“Like you–”

“Operative K, I think they really don't know anything “ Agent W, the nicest out of the batch, interrupted “Maybe it left some ectoplasm on this boy to throw us off?”

“They called you it, Danny” Conner seethed, looking like only Kaldur’s hand on his shoulder was stopping him from punching all of them straight to the sun. M’gann was already reaching for their minds.

“We need to run a scan to be sure. Come here boy”

“Now, who are you?!” Robin got defensive, sliding to shield Danny from asiliants. Conner and Artemis joined him, so clearly furious that M’gann almost retreated from Mindlink. She wasn’t any calmer, it just felt overwhelming to be backed up by five other people.

“It’s classified”

Kaldur took a photo with an obnoxiously loud sound effect. Wally appeared right behind Danny, ready to evacuate him. Artemis barely kept herself from tackling the nearest ‘agent’ to the ground.

“What are you doing, boy?” Operative K splurted, absolutely flabbergasted.

“Calling the police”

“Why?”

“Robin, throw some laws, please”

“Oh, that’s easy,” the boy jumped in gleefully “You assaulted our friend and refused to state why you would have credentials to do so or even who are you. You carry modified weaponry openly in public and I doubt you have a permit, carelessly use it  against minors, endangering innocent bystanders while we’re at it. You disturb public peace. I think that’s enough to get you arrested. Wait you know what, call ‘Supervillain emergency hotline’ instead, this is serious attack”

“Right ahead of you, already calling them”

It wasn’t that big of a problem even if someone tried to qualify this as spam. Young Justice Team was first to respond to all threats in Happy Harbour anyway.

Danny let out a low ‘uuuu’ with a smirk. Someone powered up a gun. Wally slightly raised halfa of the ground, ready to bolt.

“It’s okay young man,” the nice agent started, raising his hands in a placating gesture “We’re searching for a dangerous supernatural entity and may have overreacted. In our defense, Phantom is known to be tricky and we wouldn’t be surprised if it used human disguise to hide from us. Your friend gives off the same type of energy like what we use to track it so we assumed they’re the same. We’re sorry”

“Agent W you don’t have clearance to disclose that to-”

“Operative K, after the last few incidents we have to be more throughout before jumping to assumptions. Agent Gamma wouldn’t be pleased if your temper caused the next scandal,” Agent W look at them again, with a forced ‘warm’ smile “We’re really sorry for bothering you. We have reasons to believe Phantom is somewhere around but don’t worry about it, we will be on the lookout. If you see it, please contact us and we will take care of it” M’gann grabbed the ‘WANTED’ poster from man’s outstretched hand. She barely restrained herself from doing something irresponsible, like turning every man in white into a brainless vegetable.

“Later M'gann”

“But Robin…” she whined before sending a small laugh so they knew she wasn’t serious. She knew that Conner and Danny were anxious about this use of her powers.

Agent’s left and everyone relaxed. Wally put Danny back down and leaned back, jokingly rolling back his arms as if he got tired. Halfa stopped with a loud thump to sit on the ground. He was paler than usual.

Artemis shouted, alarmed.

“That was way too close” he started, aiming for a cheerful tone but missing by a mile “I’m fine, just need a moment to cool down. Sorry for that, guys. I thought I lost them over Ohio”

“That’s fine, personally I don’t care, we knew better than to expect a whole day without something going wrong, but who were they?” Wally asked, already back to eating popcorn.

Danny sighed, so deeply M’gann felt it in her bones even though she didn’t try to read him.

“I think this is the talk we should have in the Mountain”

[a-dope-fiend]

It irritates me alot when people say that making medic more compassionate is ''missing the point of his character'' when he is literally shown to be in the comics.... did you miss the part where he showed concern for both sniper and miss pauling's well being in comic 5 and 6.

His actions are a combination of genuine attachment + clinical interest and these things do not cancel out one another. He is always pushing boundaries and going against the grain and i think this is what led to him losing his license in the first place. He felt stifled by the rules imposed on him.

He is shown to be extremely passionate so it makes sense that he would use his endless fascination with medicine as a way to show his affection. He loves his friends so he will find a way to make them borderline indestructible. Malpractice is his love language.

[bamsara]

for as much as I write Heket and love drafting and exploring her character, I do not draw her enough and I must solve this

[teethlordd]

There are worms in my head

[raphaerolo]

he's got gold in his eyes so i painted it