#like my vector wasn’t great but I’ve talked about that before

[seagull-scribbles]

Did a redraw of my lads from 18 months ago :) had a bit of a phase where I drawn these two interacting together so it was nice to revisit it

[moonindustries]

Telecharger spider man pc gratuit

Let's take a moment to introduce a little science. If not for the parasite, Quiet would not be able to breathe period, unlike The End who has a fully functional pair of lungs. Within the opening cutscenes she's burned severely, with the inside of her lungs being scorched.

She was treated with the parasite to keep her alive. Quiet has different circumstances, though. This is exactly the point where most people, like Jim Sterling, go off the rails and assume that since The End wore a full body ghillie suit, it doesn't make sense for Quiet to be almost completely naked in order to breathe and use her photosynthesis abilities. She's been treated with the upgraded version of the parasite that gave The End his photosynthesis powers. Simply put, Quiet's dressed as scantily clad as she is because she breathes through her skin. Quiet before she had to be "scanty to live." That puts her on a level comparable to The Boss, who was the most impressive female character to ever grace a video game. They went a little overboard with the fan service, big whoop.įan service doesn't erase the fact that Quiet is a strong, well-written character that doesn't need a man to save her. One of society's largest problem is that everyone's too self-centered to care about how someone else feels about a topic. Just because you personally don't like something, does that mean it shouldn't exist? Maybe that nudge and wink wasn't for you. There's a cultural difference at work here, though, as fan service is as common as water in Japanese media.

It's this purpose and effort put in that proves Quiet to be a true antithesis to sexy-just-because female characters.ĭoes the fan service hurt this point? In the eyes of many, yes, Quiet really didn't need to have her little rain dance scenes. It's not a cheap excuse to have her half-naked, as they clearly put a lot of thought into the limitations of breathing through the skin. To that end, she has The Ends's parasites to keep her alive via breathing through her skin. Unfortunately, living without lungs is an impossibility without some magical MGS pseudoscience bullshit. Her being this vector is the driving force behind her character and shows her strength by resisting torture out of loyalty to Venom Snake. Since her lungs are useless, she's a perfect vector through which to spread the vocal cord parasites. She was burned alive, rendering her lungs useless. She has a legitimate reason for looking like that. When you look at the whole picture, Quiet's scantily clad design is a great choice. This is actually preferable to the alternative for Quiet, and it shows just how strong she is. Miller would have had her shot and three-quarters of the way into the incinerator before she could finish saying “English strain.” She did the smart thing by remaining mute on the entire subject. Now that I've told you my horrible secret, please don't do the smart, reasonable thing of killing me and incinerating my body to get rid of the greatest threat posed to your organization or the world in general.” –What people think Quiet should have said. It's totally the real thing, there's no chance of me becoming disenchanted with Venom Snake and wiping all of you out with a few deadly words, and there's totally no chance I'll ever slip over over the years and let loose some English. I willingly came to this base as a host of the English strain in order to infect you all, but because I have a crush on your boss I've vowed to never speak English again. “Hey guys, I'm a Cipher agent who's special circumstances may somewhat circumvent the deadly aspect of the vocal cord parasites. Why doesn't she just communicate the situation to them in means other than talking? Yeah, that would go over real well for Quiet: This is another plot point people are confused about. Quiet is one of Cipher's means of attacking Diamond Dogs, but because of Venom Snake's kindness towards her, she refuses to speak English to her captives, even after repeated bouts of torture. She doesn't have to worry about this personally though, as her previously scorched lungs are useless to her: Quiet can breathe through her skin, remember? The activated vocal cord parasites kill the host by feeding on the lungs, which then scar over and cannot be used to breathe properly. Most of these are cured via the sterilizing Wolbachia vaccine, but Quiet also hosts the English strain, which may be a mutated strain immune to the treatment. Quiet cannot speak because she's infected with multiple strains of the vocal cord parasite. The next point of interest is her second parasite affliction. There's a second, more sinister parasite to worry about when talking about Quiet.

[lea-andres]

Oops have some more Team Chaotix headcanons, guys! This is my idea of their origin story, kind of in chronological order. It's just me rambling, LOL.

I'm commandeering @sonicsmeteor 's headcanon that something happened to make Espio so bloodthirsty toward Eggman/Nega. So Espio is from another country originally, where he was being raised by his ninja clan family. (I like to think it was Chun-Nan, because I love Unleashed, but the Unleashed countries might not be Canon anymore... so 🤷) But, a typical Eggman taking over the world scheme caused his whole family to die when he was 3-4 years old. 😳 And it wasn't even intentional on Eggman's part. They were just... in the way.

I'm not certain on all the angsty, gritty details yet (I'm avoiding that for now with "Espio doesn't like to talk about it"), but that's... A Thing.

Espio was shipped off to Seaside City, and was bounced around a lot between foster families and orphanages. No one was too keen on the idea of adopting a ninja assassin child who watched his whole family die, and Espio was unfairly regarded as a "Troubled Youth"/juvenile delinquent because of it.

Because of everyone assuming Espio was trouble right from the get go, he decided to show them just how much trouble he could be. He'd sneak out at night and wander the city, causing mayhem and picking fights with any Eggman robots he'd encounter. (He's got a criminal record from these days. Nothing really crazy, just some 'destruction of property', 'trespassing', and 'disturbing the peace' violations. It comes back to haunt him work wise sometimes, but Vector vouches for him.)

Vector's past is pretty uneventful. He graduated from school with a degree in criminal justice (helps explain why the Chaotix are so broke, student loans LOL... 😵) and might've minored or even just taken a class or two in early childhood education. He knew he wanted to be a detective from day one, but he's got a big soft spot for kids.

If you had asked Vector before his first case, he would've told you he loves kids, definitely wants two or three someday, but not right now. He needs to get his career going first. (This will be humorous later.)

Vector and Espio met when a jewelry store near his latest foster home was robbed. Vector was just starting out as a private investigator, and this was his first case. Everyone else was eager to just convict Espio of the crime and be done with it (because he was the closest delinquent, who else would it have been?), but Vector was confident Espio didn't do it, and the real culprit was trying to set him up to be the fall guy. So Vector insisted, despite all the pressure otherwise, on doing a full, proper investigation and consider all possibilities. Turned out he was right: the store owner was trying to commit insurance fraud, and figured no one would bother looking into it if he accused Espio. Vector tore the guy a new one for trying to do that to a little kid, earning Espio's respect and gratitude forever.

They'd ran into each other a couple more times after that while Vector was solving other cases and Espio was up to some late night trouble. Vector put a stop to the late night trouble almost immediately, but he was against the idea of sending the kid home (the jewelry store case left a bad taste in his mouth, he didn't know it for sure yet, but he sensed Espio's home life was not great), so he decided to bring the kid with him on cases, and teach him how to be a detective.

It got to a point where Espio would just be over at the office every second he had available. There didn't even have to be a case happening, he just wanted to be with Vector instead of his foster families.

Sometimes people would ask Vector how he tolerates 'that troublemaker bothering him all the time', but Vector always insists Espio is not a troublemaker, and he's not bothering him. He loves having the kid around.

Vector was the one who suggested Espio blend together ninjitsu and being a detective. He thought the two complimented each other well, and Espio shouldn't forget his past.

Espio really cleaned up his act thanks to Vector, and was the happiest he'd been since his family died. He looked up to Vector like a father.

Espio's got some abandonment issues (WONDER WHY), and eventually begged Vector to take him on officially as his apprentice out of fear that he was going to lose his father figure too. Vector refused to be his mentor, and gave Espio a counter offer: He wanted to adopt him, and give him the familial love and care he deserved. 🥺

Adopting Espio was a long, arduous nightmare. "Vector's too young", "Espio's a problem child." "Vector's single, Espio needs a mother to nurture him properly." (That one made Vector the angriest of them all) It eventually worked out though.

This was one of the few times Vector saw Espio cry of happiness. 🥺🥺🥺

Time jump ahead 7 (happy) years, Vector and Espio are hired to solve a homicide case. Well, Vector was hired. Everyone was hesitant about him bringing his 13 year old son, but Vector insisted that they're a team and they solve cases together. Espio just darkly quipped he's "seen worse".

However, this case was particularly hairy, as the key witness was the murder victim's 3 year old son, Charmy. (No, he didn't see the murder, I'm not THAT monstrous, but he did see the murderer make their escape, and he was needed to ID them.)

If you were to ask Espio, he'd tell you that he knew the second Vector laid eyes on the bee that Charmy was going to be his new little brother.

Charmy had been really scared of all of the law officials and lawyers and news reporters all crowding around him demanding to know what happened and what he saw, so he clammed up and was refusing to speak to anyone.

So Vector had to chase them all off, and he and Espio comforted Charmy.

It took a couple days and a lot of patience, but Charmy eventually warmed up to both of them (especially Vector), and as long as at least one of them was with him he had the confidence to give his testimony. His true personality started to shine through again, all his cheeriness and optimism despite the morbid situation he was in. He really won over Vector and Espio at that point.

I don't have all the details of the case figured out yet, but obviously the Chaotix figured it out and justice was served. :)

Vector feared it was going to be harder to adopt Charmy than it was to adopt Espio (because Charmy was younger, and more desirable to the average family), but it wasn't. Vector and Espio milked "You guys said Espio was a problem child, and look at him NOW, after 7 years in MY CARE!" for all it was worth. 😂

So Vector's been teaching Charmy all the detective stuff too, and Charmy's been picking it up, as we've seen.

That's all I've got so far. I have some holes to fill in, but give me a couple days and I will.

I might turn this into a whole fic someday. I could get way more detailed than this, even. 😂

[helpinghanikan]

I know it’s late

Viktor Vector x V 

Sum: It's raining in Night City and V's too tired to make it home. Luckily the Doctor is in.

AN:  Straight up a fluffy one shot about Viktor letting V crash in the same bed for a night. IDK how to write that in fancy summary talk.

Night City smells like shit when it rains. The old sewage system was kept together through around the clock droids with welders and so much industrial tape the rings could be counted to tell the pipe’s age. Even then, an influx of liquid pushed those old pipes to the limit.

The same could be said for Night City’s best ripperdoc: held together through around the clock maintenance and industrial tape taking the form of coffee. Even then he went to bed with a sore back and a funny smell. The apartment’s shower (which had the pressure of a watering can) did little to help. By the time he crawls in bed the entire outside will smell as bad as it is, and he’ll place those extra thick windows in his online cart.

For now, those thinner windows were vulnerable. People around here knew the friendly ‘doc living above the spiritual chick’s shop and didn’t want to risk the community’s wrath by messing with him. But that didn’t stop Misty, living on the other side of the hallway, from chaining up the bottom entrance.

But there are still no guarantees those two things will stop everyone. The intense rain, and just how deeply Viktor sleeps, there wasn’t a chance he’d hear the window slide open from the top. That he didn’t stir at a full-grown adult landing on his floor was his own fault, especially when that person is soaking and stomping across the tile floor to the bed.

“Vik…” the intruder whispers. Smart enough to wake him from the end of his bed, gently grabbing his ankles, rather than near his arms and hands. Where his most skilled weapons are. “Viktor.” They say a bit more firmly.

The bed is not prepared for sudden movement. Creaking louder than any yell Viktor could make as he shot up, sitting straight up with a hand locked into a fist. Legs pulled up and away from the intruder while he tries to figure out what the Hell is going on.

“It’s V,” The intruder says, hands up to show they weren’t dangerous. “it’s me V, don’t hit me.”

Viktor let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Reaching over to the side table for his glasses. That he still used them rather than getting some chrome was his way of reminding the world of its greatest humor: Irony.

“Hi V,” He says with a stretch, shock from the B&E leaving him awake. “You know, there’s this great new invention called a phone. You can use it to call people, send messages, have you heard of it?”

“I broke it.” They said, hands falling to their sides in an slap against their soaked legs.

Viktor has seen V in almost every state imaginable. With blood and puke, limbs barely attached by muscle and wires, and naked without a single stitch. In both the medical and intimate context of form.

He’s seen V like this too; shivering and too tired to even stand without moving into a wider stance, even then wavering on their feet. Viktor stands, taking the few steps to be in V’s space; his bare hand tucked under V’s arm, snug in the armpit to keep them from falling straight off their feet, and to keep them from making a too easy escape. With his other he held V’s head. Tilting it back just enough for the light of the window to catch their face. Aside for groans at being manhandled there were only a few bruises on them.

“I’m not hurt or nothin’,” V says. “Just real fuckin’ tired. Lost all my stuff in the water and I can’t make it back. Viktor, please.”

A mental note was made to drag out what exactly happened to V later. For now, he lets them go. They could talk all they want about Viktor’s being closer, or being too tired or any other excuse but, in reality, a warm body sleeping close by was an underrated privilege. Something V has abused time and time again, not that Viktor has ever complained. Afterall, it was never discussed what exactly “friend’s with benefits” actually covered.

“Lose the wet clothes first.” Viktor says, as if he wasn’t participating in the stripping. Rolling up and removing V’s shirt and pants with the professionalism of any worthwhile ripperdoc.

Viktor’s plan was to get some older clothes for his guest. One of the tees from back in the day, a pair of shorts that, although itchy, would at least give the impression of modesty (so long as they didn’t try moving in it). He didn’t even make it to the dresser before V flopped, face first, onto the bed. Right over the unclaimed side without even thinking about covers or modesty.

“I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not.” Viktor says, waiting a few seconds for a response. When he doesn’t get one he sighs, getting to work in moving dead weight that groans at being bothered in the slightest.

With V tucked in (and his once clean sheets now smelling like old pipes) Viktor joined. Like a heat seeking missile V finds him in the mess of thick quilts and sheets. Although their arms are moist, and hair is wet Viktor doesn’t do anything to avoid being pulled into them. Being rewarded for his submission with a smiley kiss on his cheek and a leg sliding between his. A silent promise for more entertaining activities later in the night if the chance arises.

The chance never arose.

Instead, V slept through the entire night with minimal twitching. Even through Viktor’s snoring which has been described as “the closest thing to a chainsaw I’ve ever heard,” by V after only two nights together. Apparently long enough for V to forget about the romantic manners that involve ignoring your partner’s quirks.

Only knitted eyebrows showed that V heard the alarm. Quickly turned off with an, slightly overly aggressive, grab by Viktor. Try as he might, Viktor could not slip out from the bed without seeing those eyebrows knit again.

“What time…What?” V asks the empty space when Viktor finally escapes.

V has been described in many ways by many different people: As monstrous with blood in their hair and a hot weapon in their hands. Or as sexy with an opened mouth smile and heaving chest, both hands on Viktor’s shoulders to keep in down. V has even been called pitiful while bleeding on the ground, yelling curses even on the verge of tears and defeat. But now with a quilt over their head like a hood, slow blinking eyes, and a tired voice? They were downright adorable.

“Go back to sleep,” Viktor says, leaning forward on the bed. Catching V’s chin and leading them forward in a chaste kiss. “I’m going to the clinic.”

“Sorry, I’m getting up.” V says in that same tired voice.

Viktor’s hand slid around V’s jaw and to the back of their neck. Giving another kiss matched with a groan to get their attention. “V, sleep.” He orders in his own low voice.

V laid back down with a smile on their face. If it were anyone else they would have forced themselves awake, yawning and flipping off whoever dared tell them to do something. But it was Viktor, with Viktor’s voice, so down they went. Gone from the waking world before Viktor had finished dressing.

In a few hours V would walk by. “Catch you later, Viktor,” They’d say in passing. Mostly dressed but for their shirt. Purposefully waiting to be in Viktor’s office (hopefully alone, but witnesses were welcome) before pulling it down. An action asking for attention but still disguised as casual. Also a promise that, like many times before, V will pay him back.

[alwaysfeelingsaintlike]

Depart&Return [G.W]

Description: George tells you that he’s leaving Hogwarts, but that doesn’t mean he won’t sneak back in to visit you.

Pairing: George Weasley x Gryffindor fem!reader

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: slight sexual content

                                                       X

“No…no you can’t do this to me,” you said, holding back tears.

“Y/N, it’ll be okay. I promise. We’ll find a way to see each other.”

“I’m coming with you then.”

“I can’t let you do that. If you want to become a healer, you need to take your N.E.W.T’s.”

“I don’t care about that. I just want to be with you.”

“Y/N,” he pleaded, “you need to stay and finish school. I don’t want you regretting your decision to leave. I want you to be successful.”

“George, please don’t. I…I don’t think I can survive without you,” you were crying now. He had completely blindsided you.

“Come on now. You don’t need me,” he said. You shook your head as a tear fell down your cheek.

“It’ll only be a few months and then you’ll be done school and you can come be with me,” George said.

“A few months? I have over a year left.”

“It won’t be that bad. Maybe you can take your N.E.W.T.s a year early.”

“I don’t think that will be a possibility,” you responded.

“Talk to McGonagall about it. You’ll never know if you don’t ask. I’m sure she will do everything she can to help you out,” he said, gently rubbing away the tear on your cheek with his thumb.

You gave him a small nod and said, “Promise that you’ll write to me everyday?”

“Of course I’ll write to you darling. And I’ll use the floo network and we can meet up for butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks any time you like. Oh, that reminds me. I have something for you,” he paused and rifled through his pack until he pulled out what appeared to be a piece of parchment. It took you a moment to realize what it was.

You gasped, “No…the map?”

“I don’t really have too much use for it now. Besides if you’re going to sneak out and see me, you’ll need this,” he smiled. As much as you had been positively influencing George ever so slightly, he’d been wearing off on you too. In all honesty, you probably didn’t need the map to sneak out. You’d gotten really good at it. But you took it anyway. It could come in handy. You didn’t know if this small gesture changed your viewpoint, but you realized things would be okay now. This way you could focus on your studies so that you could get the job you’d always wanted. You admired Fred and George for leaving and starting their own business. You had no doubts about their success. They’d been doing this stuff for years.

“Darling, please don’t cry. I promise everything will be okay,” he said.

“I know, I know. I just can’t help but be upset.” He pulled you close to him and held you for a moment. It was hard not to cry. You tried to keep it to a minimum but it hurt thinking there was a chance you could lose him forever. What if he met someone else? Thinking about that only made things worse so you tried to erase the image from your head, which proved to be pretty difficult.

George ran his fingers through your hair and brushed his hands up and down your back, trying to calm you down.

“I love you Y/N.”

You looked up into his eyes and just smiled.

“What did you say?” you grinned.

A sly smile spread across his face, “I love you.”

You put your hand on his cheek and pulled his face down to yours. You kissed him so deeply and passionately that your knees went weak. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he put his hand around your waist. The next thing you knew, he leaned you back into a dip while you were still kissing. You smiled, breaking your kiss and his face hovered just above yours for a moment. “I love you too,” you smiled.

                                                             X

Here it was, the moment you’d been waiting for. The moment that determined if you’d wasted 6 years or if you’d be successful. Essentially, your fate was sealed in this little envelope. You couldn’t open it in the common room. You wanted this moment for yourself. You didn’t need others there to see your reaction. You scurried off to your room and began to feel nervous yet excited at the same time.

It had been a rough couple of months. After begging and pleading with Professor McGonagall she finally agreed to let you take your N.E.W.T.’s a year early. But she told you it would be very difficult since most students had the whole year to prepare and you only had a few  months. You were fine with that though, whatever got you out of school earlier. You still weren’t even sure how you were still functioning as a human. You had buried yourself in schoolwork to distract from the pain of being away from George. But you always found time to answer his letters. You managed to spend a few weekends at Hogsmeade with Hermione, but most of the time it was so that you could sneak away and spend an hour or two with George. Without him, you didn’t feel like yourself. It was like a part of you was missing and you didn’t like that feeling.

You opened the door to your room and dropped all your things on the floor. You leaned against the shut door and opened the envelope. Before you unfolded the parchment, you mentally prepared for the potentially negative information that could be in the envelope, but you were too eager to wait any longer.

You skimmed through the standard paragraph at the top that was a necessity for almost all Hogwarts documents. In order to become a healer, it was necessary to receive at least exceeds expectations in the following categories: Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions.

                ARITHMANCY: Outstanding – Septima Vector

                     CHARMS: Outstanding – Filius Flitwick

DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Exceeds Expectations – Delores   Umbridge

                    HERBOLOGY: Outstanding – Pomona Sprout

               POTIONS: Exceeds Expectations – Severus Snape

            TRANSFIGURATION: Outstanding – Minerva McGonagall

“Merlin’s beard…I did it. I actually did it!” You excitedly whispered to yourself.

“Was there ever any doubt?” someone said. You looked up for the first time upon entering your room and noticed your favorite ginger sitting on your bed with a sly smile on his face. “Hey stranger,” he said.

“George!” You said before tackling him with a hug. “What are you doing here!?!” You asked after a few kisses.

“Well, I had to come and celebrate with you!”

“I’m so happy you’re here. This is seriously the best day ever.”

“And it’s about to get even better,” he commented.

“What?” you said perking up. You looked at him questioningly and he couldn’t fight back that adorable smile.

“I spoke to my Great Aunt Muriel…”

“Why? Isn’t she awful?”

“Let me finish.”

“Sorry…continue.”

“I spoke with her because she’s on the board at St. Mungo’s. I mentioned that you were hoping to get a position there and she read over your records. Your N.E.W.T. scores were on there, as well as your marks for school and it all looks pretty impressive. And she said she could get you an interview.”

“You did that for me?”

“I’d do anything for you,” he said. You wrapped your arms around him and squeezed him tight. “Thank you so much, George. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I just want to make you happy,” he smiled at you.

“Being with you makes me happy.” You leaned in to kiss him again.

“What are the chances we’ll be alone in here for a little while?” he asked in between kisses.

“Well it’s risky. I don’t know when they’ll be back…” you sighed, disappointed.

George smiled, “I’ve got a better idea…”

He took your hand and pulled you off the bed with ease. You darted into the common room before you realized no one else could know George was there.

“Wait, George. We can’t let anyone see you here. I just…I don’t want anything bad to happen to you or the business or anything.”

He nodded, knowing you were right and you told him he needed to be sneakier once you left this safe haven.

You popped your head outside the portrait hole and scanned the hallway. Not a student or teacher in sight. George jumped out in front of you and took your hand. You still weren’t sure where you were going. After turning a corner, a door appeared in front of you. That’s when you understood where your destination was: the Room of Requirement.

Before he opened the door, he looked at you and said, “You’re sure you want to do this?” In response, you nodded excitedly and smiled at him.

He opened the door and the room was breathtaking. It was comparable to a suite at a five star hotel. There were pink rose petals scattered along the floor and floating candles all around the room. A huge king sized bed was featured in the center of the room and there were two cozy armchairs and a bar cart in the corner. The lighting was dim but it gave the room the proper mood for the occasion. The bathroom was lavish with a shower and a Jacuzzi tub. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Wish I could say I arranged all of this,” George said, “but the room has a mind of its own.”

“It’s perfect,” you smiled at him. He scooped you up and carried you over to the bed. You held his face in your hands and kissed him passionately. It was so hard being away from him. George was on your mind every minute of every day. But now he was here and for one night you had him all to yourself.  

“You know, it’s funny because this isn’t how I pictured this moment. But it’s still perfect because I’m with you,” he whispered in your ear. He then moved his mouth onto your neck and began kissing your soft skin. He knew you loved being kissed on the neck and when he moved up to gently tug on your ear with his teeth, it drove you wild. You took his hand and guided him onto the bed, holding eye contact with him the entire time.

“I’m sorry I’m not wearing something sexier. Can’t say I was expecting this to happen.”

“Are you kidding me? Y/N, you know you are the most beautiful girl in the world to me. I don’t need you to dress in expensive lingerie just to impress me. You are sexy when you are the cute and humble human being that you are.” His statement made you swoon. You were even more certain this was the right decision to make. There wasn’t a doubt in your mind that he loved you.

“I love you Georgie,” You whispered to him before kissing him softly on the lips.

“I love you more than anything in the world,” he replied.

You were extremely nervous for your first time, but also excited. More than anything, you were just happy to spend some quality time with George. “Where should we start?” George whispered, “The bed, the chair, the shower, the Jacuzzi…?” You didn’t realize you had so many options. You figured it would be best to keep it simple to start. You could expand your horizons later in the evening.

“I’m happy here…for now,” you smiled at him. George was basically twitching in anticipation. You decided to tease him a little bit. You pulled away for a moment and took time to take off your riding boots and socks.

“It’s just a little toasty in here,” you smirked at him. He gave you a curious look. You slid off your leggings to reveal sky blue, lace boy shorts. George was clearly enjoying the view as he made himself more comfortable on the bed. You slowly pulled at the bottom of your sweater and shyly bit your lip. George didn’t say anything but the look in his eyes said it all. You swiftly pulled the sweater over your head and stood half naked in front of him. George took this moment to remove his shirt; you couldn’t tear your eyes from his torso. It was perfectly chiseled, but not too bulky. You climbed onto the bed and crawled on top of George. You kissed his chest and slowly worked your way up toward his neck. He put his hands around you and started gently rubbing your back. His sighs and moans only made you giggle. Soon he flipped you onto your back, moving on top of you. Your kissing became more intimate and more intense. George pinned your arms up above your head and you found yourself very turned on by his dominance over you. George eased up on his grip and freed your hands and you started unbuttoning his jeans. Seconds later he was wearing only his boxer briefs and you wrapped your hands around his neck. He started kissing your neck again and this time you were the one doing the moaning. You decided it was time to step things up; you pulled at the sheets and you both went under the covers where the festivities continued.

                                                            X

“Well that was fun,” you smiled at George. You were resting your head on his bare chest and he had his arm around you and was stroking your hair.

“Indeed it was. You still love me, right?” he asked.

You propped yourself up and looked at him. “Of course I still love you.”

“Okay good. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t using me for sex,” he joked. You smacked his chest and laughed with him.

“Can we just stay here forever?” you asked him.

“Well I mean we could…or we could go make good use of the Jacuzzi…”

You gave him a mischievous look, accompanied with a grin, before you kissed him on the cheek and slid out of bed. You sauntered over to the bathroom and started up the tub. You poked your head out of the doorway and looked at George. “You coming? Or am I using this myself?” After that it didn’t take long for George to hop out of bed and join you.

                                                           X

“George, did you know this was going to happen tonight?” you asked him. The two of you had finally retired to the bed and were cuddling, about to fall asleep.

“Of course I wanted it to happen, but I wasn’t planning on it happening. I didn’t know how you felt about it and I didn’t want to pressure you.”

“Well you didn’t. I just wish we could spend every night together like this.”

“Who says we can’t?” he replied.

“What are you scheming…?”

“Scheming? I prefer the term planning.”

“Oh please, those words mean the same thing to you. But tell me what you’re thinking.”

“It’s simple, you move in with me.”

“Really? Is that an actual offer?”

“Of course it is. But, as you know, moving in with me entails moving in with Fred and his lady friend. I do hope you’ll say yes though, because I’m tired of being the third wheel.”

“I suppose I could relieve you of your third wheel responsibilities.”

“Oh is that all?”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad seeing your smiling face everyday,” you teased further.

“So it’s settled then. I’ll start moving things around to give you space for your stuff. Which basically means I’ll be cleaning out my closet.”

“Oh come on, I don’t have that much stuff.”

“Yeah but you will because I plan on spoiling you and buying you everything your heart desires.”

“How did I get so lucky?”

“You’ve always been lucky,” he stated.

“Do you ever just think about how we got here?”

“All the time. I think about how thankful I was that you helped me with that essay. And things just fell into place perfectly. You know, Fred always thought we’d end up together.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah, when we were younger he would always tease me about it. I never actually told him I liked you, but he just knew. And he knew how to press my buttons about it. Of course back then I just thought it was a lost cause and I didn’t have a chance in hell.”

“Did you ever think we’d be together?” you asked.

“I hoped we would. As I got older I started seeing us together more. But we also didn’t spend a lot of time together so it was still more of a fantasy.”

“When I was real little, like before Hogwarts, I always thought we were gonna get married. It wasn’t even because I had a crush on you either. Or maybe I did have a crush on you but I just didn’t know it. Regardless, I’m happy being with you. And no matter what happens between us, you’ll always be my first love.”

“You’ll be my first and last,” he responded. “I intend on being with you forever.”

You looked at him lovingly and kissed him softly on the lips. “I’d like that,” you responded.  You cuddled up even closer to George, if that was possible, and you both started to doze off. His warm chest was under your head and his heartbeat slowly lulled you to sleep.

[the-delta-42]

Jack & Miko

Jack and Miko

“A new bot!” Gasped Miko, rushing over to them. The Burns had gathered around Cody, as Arcee and the other Autobots stopped short of the group, “Who’re you?”

“Prowl.” Said the Bot, shortly. He looked like Smokescreen, except his optics were covered by a visor that looked like a pair of sunglasses and his chevrons resembled Ratchets and he looked like the type of police officer that was an asshole for no other reason than to be an asshole.

Wheeljack groaned and slumped, he and Prowl did not get along.

“I am correct in understanding that Optimus is communicating with Autobots in the field?” Asked Prowl, looking around the group.

“Er, yes, sir?” Responded Heatwave, not sure how to respond to Prowl.

“I’ll save my report until he has finished,” Stated Prowl, “I’d rather not repeat myself.”

The atmosphere was tense, while they all waited for Optimus. Optimus exited the Communications Centre to be greeted by the Autobots, Rescue Bots and Prowl.

“Sir!” Saluted Prowl, snapping to attention.

“At ease Prowl.” Said Optimus, looking at the tactician.

“Sir, I regret to inform you that the Decepticon known as Roadkill was able to escape capture.” Reported Prowl, “I have been following his trail for the past four Earth Stellar cycles, before I tracked him to this Island, where he escaped through a space bridge portal.”

Optimus sighed and closed his optics, “Chief Burns, I take it that Agent Fowler alerted you to the course of action that would be taken if the Decepticon would escape.”

“He did.” Confirmed the Chief, his tone flat.

“Wait, course of action? What course of action?” Asked Kade, looking between his father and Optimus.

“As long a Cody remains here, his life is at risk,” Said Optimus, looking down at Kade, “as well as yours.”

“So, what, we all go into hiding or something?” Asked Graham, confused.

“Normally, that would be the case,” Said Optimus, shuttering his optics, “however, as Cody is the only target, and that the Rescue Team has been assigned here, Cody, and only Cody, will be placed under Autobot Protection until Roadkill has been dealt with.”

“H-how long will that be?” Asked Dani, getting Optimus to look at her.

“I do not know, Danielle.” Said Optimus, “Hopefully, sooner rather than later.”

J&M

Jack helped Kade and Graham lift Cody’s bags into Bulkhead. Miko was hanging around Prowl, no doubt trying to cheer Cody up, Raf was ecstatic when he found out that Cody could understand Bumblebee as well. When Optimus gave him the key to Vector Sigma, he’d said he was impressed by how much Jack had matured. Personally, Jack thought the same thing about Miko, the girl had matured greatly, especially after the business with Hardshell. Cody looked close to tears, which Jack could understand, after MECH and Airachnid kidnapped his mom, Fowler had said about relocating both of them and giving them new identities, Jack also knew that Raf was aware of the stress of being move away from your home. But in their cases, they were with family. Cody just had himself.

Optimus had assigned Prowl as Cody’s guardian. Jack sighed through his nose and approached Cody.

“Okay, that’s everything.” Said Jack, looking down at Cody, “You okay, bud?”

“Yeah,” muttered Cody, despondent looking around is home for what could be the last time, “I guess I never thought I’d leave.”

“Don’t worry,” Said Miko, slumping against Bulkhead’s side, “There’s nothing the Bot’s can’t handle.”

“Miko.” Said Bulkhead, turning his engine on, “It’s time to go.”

Cody walked off to say goodbye to his family, while Jack remained with Miko.

“He looks so lost.” Mumbled Miko, Jack nodding.

“His entire world’s just been knocked off kilter.” Said Jack, his heart felt heavy, “The only thing we can do is help him with the transition.”

Miko cracked a smile, “Look at you, Jack-timus Prime.”

Jack gave Miko a flat look, “Never call me that again.”

Miko threw Jack a smirk, before climbing into Bulkhead, with Jack getting on Arcee. Cody finished saying goodbye, with Prowl transforming and opening his door for the boy. Jack got ready to set off, when Cody’s friend, Frankie, turned up and started with her own goodbyes. Jack knew that Cody was doing his best not to cry.

Jack just hoped that what they could do for Cody was enough.

J&M

Miko absently plucked her guitar strings, a small shuffling sound catching her attention. Glancing up, Miko spotted Cody staring at her, or more accurately her guitar.

“You ever play?” Asked Miko, lifting the guitar up. Cody shook his head, ever since Cody had moved, he hadn’t been talking, “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Miko patted the seat next to her, giving Cody welcoming smile. Cody made his way over to next to Miko, the Japanese girl placing the instrument into Cody’s hands, adjusting his hand placement and grip.

Jack looked up from his homework, his eyes freezing on Miko with Cody, teaching him how to use the instrument. Jack’s heart warmed at the sight, Cody was around Raf’s age, twelve-to-thirteen, but he suffered from recurring nightmares of Roadkill and his mother.

“You’re doing great.” Praised Miko, placing a hand on Cody’s shoulder.

Cody gave a shaky smile. Jack had a smile of his own, he was glad that at least one of them was connecting with Cody. Miko notice Jack looking at them, throwing him a discreet thumbs up, a small blush on her cheeks.

Over the next few days, slowly, but surely, Jack, Miko and Raf got Cody to start opening up. A week later, Cody came into base in tears and Jack came in with a broken hand.

“What happened?” Demanded Ratchet, as Miko sat next to Cody on the sofa, doing her best to comfort him.

“Vince,” Snarled Jack, pacing around, “happened, he thought it’d be a good ‘make an example’ of Cody.”

“Vince got physical with Cody,” Said Miko, as Cody’s face was buried in her shoulder, “since Raf and his family are house hunting and he found out that crossing us was a bad idea, he decided to go for the weakest loner he could find. Jack did knock some sense into him though.”

“Part of me wishes I just settled with one punch.” Muttered Jack, wincing as he felt his hand, “I’ve been suspended from school for breaking Vince’s nose and taking a few teeth out. It would’ve been worse, if Fowler didn’t turn up. How did Fowler know to show up, anyway?”

“Speed dial.” Said Miko, as Cody sniffled.

“I don’t know what Fowler said, but it was enough to scare both Vince and the principle.” Remarked Jack, wincing as he found the broken bone, “This is gonna hurt.”

There was a crack as Jack reset the bone, Jack let out a pained whine, “Shouldn’t’ve done that.”

“I’ll say,” Said Miko, looking sick, “I hope you plan on fixing that in a hospital.”

Jack looked at his hand and then glanced down to his pocket, “Miko, this is going to sound weird, but can you get my phone out of my pocket for me?”

Miko looked at Jack and smirked. Miko strutted her way over and slipped her hand into Jack’s pocket and grabbed his phone, “Cody appreciates what you did today.”

“It wasn’t enough.” Mumbled Jack, as Miko pulled his phone out. Instead of giving Jack the phone, Miko flipped it open and started going through the contacts and calling Jack’s mother.

“Nurse Darby?” Asked Miko, her voice taking a formal tone, “I’m afraid Jack’s broken his hand and need help with it.”

Miko paused for a moment, “How did he break it? He knocked some sense into the guy that was bullying Cody.”

Miko was silent, “No, Cody’s not very hurt, physically at least.”

The pair glanced at Cody, who was now being comforted by Prowl. Jack saw each person who been laughing and encouraging Vince and decided that he wouldn’t be associated with any of them, Sierra included.

Cody gave another sniff, before slowly drifting off to sleep. Jack and Miko had identical soft looks on their faces as Cody gave into his exhaustion.

J&M

Jack was kicking himself, He watched as Cody, trapped in a jar, in the hands of a Decepticon that looked like Roadkill. Cody was curled into a ball and shivering, Megatron demanding each of them for an Omega key, claiming Jack was worth two. The warlord opted to use Cody to get the relics to be handed over. The only bright side that Jack could find was that Roadkill had been killed before they were brought to Cybertron.

Then, Megatron turned the Omega Lock on Earth and Optimus acted. It was over in a blink of an eye, Optimus destroyed the Omega Lock and removed Megatron’s arm. Then they were back in the base, with Fowler asking the Autobots to step outside. Jack glanced at Miko, who was doing her best to coax a reaction out of Cody. Then the Autobots came rushing back inside, with Optimus telling each Autobot to take their charge and leave via the Ground bridge. Prowl went first, taking Cody, then Bumblebee and Raf. Jack sat on Arcee, as Bulkhead prepared to leave with Miko. Jack looked over and met Miko’s eyes, Jack felt his eyes start to burn and quickly looked away. Bulkhead sped out of the base, prompting Jack to put his helmet on, before Arcee sped through the ground bridge.

Jack looked around, he and Arcee were in the middle of a dirt road, if Jack had to take a guess, they were in Texas somewhere. Jack’s thoughts went to Raf and Cody, before settling on Miko. Jack only prayed they were safe.

J&M

Bulkhead drove through the Rocky Mountains, Miko sat slouched in the passenger seat looking through the pictures on her phone. She was glad that Bulkhead bought the new game excuse, she knew it was silly to hide that she missed everyone, but she didn’t want Bulkhead to know that most of the pictures were of Jack. Bulkhead was the older brother Miko never had, and she had heard what older brothers did to their sister crushes…at least that what happened on tv.

“Wheeljack should be here soon.” Said Bulkhead coming to a stop and jerking Miko out of her thoughts.

“Cool.” Said Miko, climbing out of Bulkhead, allowing him to Transform into his robot mode.

Miko gnawed at her bottom lip, keeping watch for Wheeljack. For the next few hours, the pair waited for Wheeljack to arrive. The sound of a car engine reached them, signalling Wheeljack’s arrival.

Miko felt herself smile, at least one of the others made it.

J&M

Jack stumbled when Miko hugged him, Bulkhead and Wheeljack spoke to Arcee, Prowl and the Rescue Bots.

“Where’s Cody?” Asked Miko, looking around.

“He been left with his Family,” Said Jack, looking up at the Autobots, “The Decepticons attacked Griffin Rock, the islanders were hiding in some cavern, the Bots called it the Sanctuary.

“Is he okay?” Asked Miko, getting a nod from Jack.

“Prowl made sure that Cody would be safe with his family,” Said Jack, taking a step back, “He plans on collecting all of them once this is done.”

“We’re tracking the last two Autobot signals now,” Said Jack, glancing up at Arcee, “It could be Optimus and Ratchet or Bumblebee and Smokescreen.”

“The Decepticons have already taken out two of our number.” Said Prowl, looking down at the humans.

“Or they could be shielded.” Countered Arcee, resting a hand on her hip.

“It is more logical to conclude that they are offline,” Said Prowl, folding his arms, “Then, if they are alive, it’s a pleasant surprise.”

“Did…did Prowl just give a good argument for being a pessimist?” Whispered Miko, getting a snort from Jack.

J&M

Jack, Miko and Raf listened as the Autobots attacked Darkmount, silently hoping for the best. Ratchet made a comment about an Autobot signal being airborne. Then, to their delight, Ultra Magnus spoke, “Optimus Prime is Alive and quite well.”

“Yes!”, “Awesome!”, “Yeah!” were the cries from the Humans. Jack, acting purely on impulse, grabbed Miko and kissed her. Miko froze for a moment, before returning the kiss.

They don’t know how long they were kissing, but Ratchet jerked them back to reality, “Are you two finished?!”

Jack and Miko jumped apart, their faces red. Jack awkwardly cleared his throat and looked to the floor. Raf had a look of disgust that explained itself when he spoke, “Jack, you just got her cooties.”

Jack and Miko both froze, before they broke down laughing. Raf just looked confused, and Ratchet looked irritated.

J&M

Miko sat and spoke with her host parents, as the trucks began to drive into the City that Optimus was having built.

“Whoa,” Gasped her host mother, “it’s massive.”

“Probably so the Autobots can fit inside the buildings.” Dismissed Miko, before spotting a group of Autobots scanning vehicles. A red one with two giant cannons on his arms scanned a GMC Topkick, while one the size of Bulkhead scanned a 4X4, “Ooh, there are Brawn and Ironhide.”

Her host parents looked over and saw the pair of Autobots transform into their alts and join the procession going into the City. The truck they were in came to a halt.

“Alright, kids,” Said Hound, getting their attention, “You have reached your destination, thank you for choosing Autobot Bus service as your method of travel.” Then, without warning, Hound Transformed and looked over the city, “Eh, could use a few drinking places.”

Miko laughed, before spotting a blond-haired boy the same age as Raf.

“Cody!” Yelled Miko, running towards him.

Cody turned and spotted Miko, just as the girl grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, “Miko!”

Miko suddenly pulled back, “We need to find Jack!”

“He’s at the hospital helping his mom.” Said Cody, making Miko stop.

“Of course, he is.” Sighed Miko, before looking around, “Have you seen Raf?”

“No,” Replied Cody, looking over towards the stealth bomber that arrived at Sector E a week before, “but Blaster might be able to find him.”

Miko nodded and grabbed Cody and his friend, Frankie, and pulled them towards Blaster. The Autobot started transforming when he noticed their approach.

“If you’re going to ask me to get Warpath to demonstrate his cannon again,” Said Blaster, frowning at them, “The answer is no.”

“Relax,” Said Miko, waving her hand, “we just need a little help finding Raf.”

Blaster blinked, before pointing towards the new Base for the Autobots, “He’s in there with Ratchet.”

Miko smiled and pulled Cody and Frankie towards the base, “You haven’t met the other Bots, have you, Frankie?”

“I’ve seen them.” Said Frankie, as they walked into the base.

A rose and white Femme glanced at them and raised an eyebrow, “Let me guess, looking for the final part of your group?”

“What’s Raf doing in there?” Asked Miko, as Elita guided them into the main area.

“Finishing the Ground bridge.” Said Elita, folding her arms as Raf opened the Ground bridge.

Miko spotted Jack hanging around Fowler’s office and quickly went to join him. Cody and Frankie went up to Prowl, with Cody telling him how the Firehouse had started construction, as well as the access tunnels that would lead out of it and around the city.

“Hey.” Mumbled Miko, folding her arm and glancing at Jack, “We obviously need to talk.”

“Yeah,” Whispered Jack, taking a deep breath, “Look, Miko, I’m sorry for what happened on the Harbinger, I guess I got caught up in the moment and acted on impulse.”

Miko frowned and grabbed the front of Jack’s shirt. Jack looked up at Miko, then the girl pulled him towards her. Miko kissed Jack and then pulled away, “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Jack gave Miko a small smile, before his eyes widened at something. Before Miko had a chance to turn around, Jack wrapped an arm around her and pulled her away from the object, allowing the lobbing ball slam into Agent Fowler’s office door. Fowler’s door slid up, allowing the agent to get a full view of the ball blocking his doorway. The man sighed, of course this would happen.

J&M

Miko looked over the park and sighed, it’s been a year since Megatron was defeated and the Autobots left to rebuild their home. It’d also been a few months since Ratchet had gone to Cybertron and returned with news of Optimus’s death. Ratchet was puttering about running experiments, while Jack was frowning at a report Raf just gave him.

“So, you want me to proofread your work,” Asked Jack, his tone sceptical, “on a subject that I know nothing about and tell you how to improve?”

Raf nodded, making Jack close his eyes and sigh, “Raf, couldn’t you get Graham to look at this or Doc?”

“They were too busy,” Answered Raf, “and my teacher say I can’t have an Autobot proofread it, since they may have more knowledge on it than we do.”

Jack looked at the fifteen-year-old and blinked, “Raf…why don’t you have one of your classmates proofread it?”

Raf froze, before looking to the floor, “They couldn’t read my handwriting.”

Jack sighed, before opening the paper, “You spelt ‘inconclusive’ wrong.”

Raf grinned, before rushing over to Miko with a copy of the work, “Miko, I need someone else to proofread my work, since it has to have feedback from at least two people.”

Miko sighed and uncurled from her sitting position on the sofa. The bump was barely noticeable, but it was visible if anyone looked. Miko took the paper and balked at the first page, “Where’s the contents page?”

“I didn’t think it needed one, it’s only thirty chapters long.” Said Raf, frowning.

“But each chapter is like a hundred pages long.” Argued Miko, looking over the paper, “There aren’t any diagrams to help illustrate your point.”

Raf frowned, as Jack got up and walked over to Raf, “Have you ever been tested for dyslexia?”

“No, why?” Responded Raf, as Jack presented Raf’s work to him.

“You misspelt ‘which’ as ‘witch’.” Said Jack, pronouncing the t in the latter.

“Oh…” Said Raf, as Miko scowled at the paper.

“Raf, when did you write this?” Questioned Miko, looking up at the boy.

“Around three a.m.” Said Raf, getting a groan from Jack and Miko.

“Raf, go home, get some sleep.” Ordered Jack, running a hand down his face.

Raf looked ready to protest but decided not to say anything when Jack levelled him with a flat look. Rad reached out for the papers, but Jack and Miko drew the papers closer to them and frowned at him.

“Proofreading, remember?” Miko reminded the young genius, making the boy drop his hand.

Raf left, rubbing his eyes as he walked away. Ratchet looked up at Jack and Miko, “Perhaps you two should head off as well.”

Jack checked his watch and winced when he saw the time, “He’s right, it’s almost midnight.”

Miko groaned and held her hand out for Jack, grasping it, he pulled her to her feet. Jack held Miko’s hand as they left. Miko caught sight of Wheeljack fiddling with some widgets that he meant for military use. The Wrecker spotted Miko and gave her a smile, before going back to his work. Jack and Miko reached Jack’s car, when they heard an explosion. Not three seconds later, they heard Ratchet bellow, “WHEELJACK!”

“I’m going to guess,” Said Jack, as he and Miko got into the car, “boomstick.”

“Well, it wasn’t going to a grapple glove.” Snarked Miko, leaning back in her seat. Miko frowned at something, before squinting at it, “Is that Cody?”

Jack followed her gaze and froze, “And Frankie, by the looks of it.”

The pair watched the teenagers, Jack went to turn the headlights on, before Cody and Frankie kissed each other.

“Wow, okay,” Said Miko, after a moment, “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Just think,” Commented Jack, “we were like that.”

“Yeah, then I ‘somehow’ wound up pregnant.” Sniped Miko, leaning back in her seat again, “I’m glad we don’t have to hide it anymore, though.”

Jack smiled, “Yeah, no more hiding.”

“But it’s going to be interesting to see how they approach it.” Smirked Miko, as Cody and Frankie walked off.

J&M

Miko watched the Autobots frantically search for Cody. The boy had been missing for a week, having vanished after the Decepticon attack on Autobot City that ended when Optimus returned from wherever he’d vanished to. Miko watched Optimus battle an ancient Decepticon who called himself Megatronus, who was better known as The Fallen.

There was a sudden the ground shook, with Jack immediately covering Miko and Miko curling up to protect her bump.

“Was that an earthquake?” Asked Raf, looking around once the shaking stopped.

“No, too brief,” Said Russel, looking around him, “it almost felt like an explosion of some kind.”

Optimus frowned, “Ratchet, search for any power spikes near Autobot City.”

Ratchet looked up from the screen, “I was about to tell you, I just detected an energon explosion roughly seven miles from our position.”

“An energon explosion?” Asked Blaster, his left wing missing, “But there aren’t any energon mines near the city.”

“There are not any Autobot mines,” Said Optimus, frowning, “However, we cannot rule out the possibility of Decepticon mines.”

Optimus turned to Ratchet, “Target the coordinates and open the Ground bridge, Bumblebee and Strongarm, you’re with me.”

Ratchet opened the ground bridge, allowing Optimus and the two other Autobots to roll out. The bridge remained open and ten minutes later, Strongarm returned alone, Cody riding in her passenger seat.

Cody looked at the ground as he got out of the Autobot. Strongarm transformed and looked visibly sick.

“Cody?” Asked Ratchet, incredulous, “Where did you find him?”

Strongarm looked at the Medic, “We found the source of the energon explosion, as well as the remains of Thundercracker.”

Ratchet frowned, before spotting the bag Cody had with him. It was too small to hold a change of clothes or any other basic human necessities, from how the fabric was stretched it looked like there were pipes in it. Ratchet froze, before crouching down and took the bag and looked inside.

“Wheeljack, we found your missing weapons.” Said Ratchet, as Optimus and Bumblebee returned.

Miko looked around for Cody, only to see he’d vanished again.

“Wait, what happened?” Asked Miko, looking around the Autobots.

“We found Cody at the sight of the explosion,” Started Optimus, his tone grave, “he was staring at the remains of Thundercracker. Cody…tortured and killed Thundercracker with the tech that he stole from Wheeljack.”

“He basically did what you did to Hardshell.” Said Bumblebee, looking around for Cody, “Where’s he gone?”

Everyone suddenly looked at when Cody had been standing, Miko shook her head as the Bots started looking for Cody again, she had a good idea where he might’ve gone.

J&M

Miko closed the door to her and Jack’s apartment, before leaning against it and sliding down to the floor.

“Miko?” Asked Jack, poking his head out of the kitchen and spotting his fiancé sitting on the floor, “Is everything alright?”

“They found Cody,” Said Miko, her voice hollow, “he managed to find a Decepticon mine, as well as the ‘Con that killed Prowl. He’s…he’s broken, Jack. He gave the Bot’s the slip again and I found him outside the City near that glade Prowl liked and he…”

Miko took a deep breath, “He was crying, asking why killing Thundercracker didn’t make him feel better…he felt guilty for killing him, despite what he did to Prowl.”

Jack joined Miko on the floor, wrapping his arm around her. He knew that Miko viewed Cody as a younger brother, especially after the incident with Vince. Miko knew what Cody was going through, after Bulkhead’s near death at the hands on Hardshell. But Miko had been lucky, Bulkhead had pulled through with no long-term injuries, Cody lost his guardian and his leg on the same day. Jack considered contacting Arcee about it, but she was busy on Cybertron.

“Cody’s a fighter,” Said Jack, carefully choosing his words, “He’ll pick himself up and move forwards.”

“You didn’t see him, Jack,” Murmured Miko, looking up at him, “he was devastated, like he wasn’t able to live with himself.”

Jack frowned, before pulling Miko closer to him, ���I’ll speak with Cody tomorrow, let’s see about getting something to eat.”

Miko swallowed thickly and nodded. Jack helped her to her feet, and she followed him into the kitchen.

J&M

Jack dropped himself onto the sofa and ran his hand down his face. Dealing with Prescott took a lot out of him, but the reporter had been dealt with, now they just had to deal with Luskey, who tried to suspend the Rescue Team, despite him not having any political presence in the City. Jack heard a rustling sound behind him, he turned around and spotted Cody curled up on a plush chair he and Miko bought.

“Cody?” Asked Jack, making Cody jump.

“Oh, hi Jack.” Muttered Cody, going back to looking at the floor.

“What are you doing here?” Asked Jack, looking around.

“Miko said that if I needed to talk, I could go to her.” Said Cody, looking at his knees.

Jack sighed, “If it’s about what happened at that mine, you needn’t beat yourself up over it. Over our time with Team Prime we all killed, from anything from a spider to a Decepticon. Hell, there was one time I electrocuted a MECH agent so much he was practically cooked.”

Cody looked disgusted, “Well, at least I won’t be hungry for a while.”

“Cody,” Said Jack, crouching in front of him, “you didn’t know about the humans, no one did. You’re not a murderer, despite what that Luskey guy says.”

“It’s still weird,” Confessed Cody, “how people I’ve known for years like they’ve never met me before.”

“Are you talking about family, friends or Frankie?” Asked Jack, raising an eyebrow, “Don’t give me that look, Miko and I noticed how you and Frankie act around each other.”

“The only other one who knew was Prowl,” Cody choked out his Guardian’s name, “He made sure we were able to keep a low profile. He was out there because of me; I couldn’t find Frankie and I went out looking for her and Prowl died because I was too fucking stupid to think of calling her.”

Cody broke down as he finished, Jack’s heart sank, Miko had her work cut out for her.

“Did Miko ever tell you about Bulkhead’s run in with Tox-En?” asked Jack, making Cody look at him, “She went through what you’re going through, she blamed herself for what happened to Bulk and she even hunted down the ‘Con responsible.”

Cody wiped his eyes, looking back down at the floor, “Did you know that flesh melts of the bone in an energon fire?”

Jack froze, “No, I didn’t. Cody,” He started firmly, “that Decepticon you downed during the attack, do you regret that?” Cody shook his head. “Why?”

“He was going to kill people.” Said Cody, as Jack smiled at him.

“That’s what Thundercracker and those MECH agents were going to do,” Said Jack, gently touching Cody’s shoulder, “what you did, while rash, quite probably saved hundreds of lives.”

“Then why do I feel horrible?” Asked Cody, desperately.

“Because you’re a good person.” Stated Jack, with a tone of finality, “The good mourn and regret. The evil don’t.”

J&M

Jack watched Arcee speak with Cody, he contacted her and asked it she could check on Cody, just in case if he and Miko weren’t able to get through to him. Jack froze when Arcee handed Cody something, it looked like a pair of EMP cannons…Arcee wouldn’t give Cody weapons…would she?

“I heard that Wheeljack is trying to get Cody inducted into the Wreckers.” Said Miko, sidling up against Jack. Miko let out a low whistle as the cannons Arcee gave Cody transformed into a watch and a bracelet, “Nice.”

“I really hope Arcee didn’t sneak those into the city.” Said Jack, as Cody activated the watch cannon and accidentally discharged it. Miko let out a snort as the recoil sent Cody sprawling on his back, the sound of Cody’s laughter made them crack up as well.

J&M

Jack watched as Aurora threw flower petals at the guests, she got to the end of the aisle and immediately went for his knees. Jack watched his mother pick up her granddaughter, while Raf worked a video camera. Almost the entirety of the original Earth-bound Autobots and their partners were here, with the exception of the Rescue Team and the Burns family, who were forced to leave when they received an emergency call a few minutes before hand.

Jack looked around again, freezing as he saw the Burns’ and their bots skulk back in. Cody had the same look on his face that he always sported when dealing with Prescott. Cody dropped himself into the seat next to Frankie and whispered something in her ear.

Everyone went silent as Miko started making her way down the aisle.

[twsted-tales-of-scheherazade]

Hello! Glad to have another twst blog to follow. May I request a scenario where Sebek discovers he has a secret admirer who actually likes his brash personality?? G/n is fine!

It all started one day when Sebek spots a letter on his desk. At first, he thought it was just litter that a careless classmate had left. He was about to crumple the paper and throw it out (before giving the offender a piece of his mind)…until he saw his name written on it. Curious, he takes a closer look and his eyes narrow in confusion as he reads every word.

Dear Sebek,

I would just like to say that I admire you very much. I think your drive and hard work is inspiring. Not many people are as passionate as you are. Even with your faults, I think that Malleus is lucky to have you as a vassal. Please always remain who you are.Your good traits far outweigh your bad ones, and I’m sure you will continue to improve with time.

--[Initial of your first name]

Admittedly, the message had caught him off guard, but he didn’t dwell on it too much once the teacher arrived. He folded the letter and placed it in his pocket. It was time to focus on his studies. If he got distracted by something so trivial, then he’s not worthy of calling himself his lord’s vassal.

However, that wasn’t the end of it.

Every other day, he would get new letters placed on his desk, always filled with encouragement and praise for his efforts. He won’t admit it out loud, but they do stir up something within his heart. It’s not often that his work is acknowledged after all. He would feel lighter whenever he read them. Such a strange feeling it was. He didn’t know something like that could have such a drastic effect on him. Sometimes, he wonders if a spell was put upon those messages, even though he knew otherwise.

His mood changes didn’t escape the eyes of Malleus, Silver, and Lilia either.

“You’ve been quite spirited as of late, Sebek. Care to share what has made you so cheerful?” The ancient fae asks one day as they were having lunch.

“It is nothing of importance Lord Lilia. I’ve just been receiving these anonymous letters.” Now that caught the interest of everyone at the table.

“Anonymous letters?” Silver inquired, momentarily placing down his utensil.

“I have just received another one this morning.” Lilia’s eyes scanned the letter that was handed to him before his expression turned delighted. “How wonderful! You have a secret admirer. Oh, to be young…” He sighed wistfully.

“Pardon? What is a secret admirer…?” The green-haired fae asked, blinking in confusion. This time, it was Silver that answered, “A secret admirer is when a person likes you but doesn’t have the courage to talk to you face to face, so they send anonymous gifts like these instead.”

“You should meet them, Sebek. This person definitely wishes to get closer to you.”

“I-If Lord Lilia says so. However, I have not even caught a glimpse of this person.”

“Fufu…leave that to me.”

A few days later, you nearly had a heart attack after the ancient fae appeared behind you…hanging upside down from the ceiling. You were thankful that there were no people nearby at the time, considering that your scream was rather loud. Lilia caught you before you could stumble and fall, steadying you with a gentle hand.

“Apologies about that little one.” You didn’t know if that apology was even sincere with that amused smile on his face.

His eyes studied you for a moment before chuckling. “Sebek would like to meet this afternoon at Diasomnia. I do hope you can come.”

...And you did. Lilia already knew your face. What is the point of hiding anymore?

Now, you were fidgeting in your seat as the green-haired fae poured you a cup of tea. He eyed you for a moment before taking a seat across the table. “Human. You are my...secret admirer?” Even now, the term was still quite foreign on his tongue. His eyes narrowed once you answered his question with a quiet “Yes.”

“Then, I ask you, what is your goal for sending those letters? Are you perhaps trying to get me to let down my guard with your words? If you are trying to soften me so that you can get close to the young master-”

“N-No!” You shut him down immediately. 

You should have expected as much. Leave it to Sebek to become suspicious of everything…

“I...I really do like you! This has nothing to do with Senior Malleus!”

“You must call him the Great Malleus Draconia! Anything else would be disrespect!”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry.” You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point.

“But, Sebek. Please, listen. I like you. I really do. I don’t have any ulterior motives. In my eyes...you’re really amazing. You always, always work so hard. You’re sincere, you speak your mind...you look towards your goals. I admire that about you. Believe that, at least.” Your eyes never broke contact with him as you said these words. And although he loathed to admit it, he felt his heart skip a beat.

A few moments later, he snapped out of his stupor and cleared his throat. “I-I see. My apologies. Do forgive me for disrespecting your feelings. Your letters are...not bad, human. They are a great source of motivation.”

Before you can say anything else, he puffed out his chest and sent you a smug smile. “N-Naturally, I must give my best at everything! Listen, serving Lord Malleus is-”

And he’s back to talking about Malleus. You sighed, half-fond, half-exasperated. Well, this side of him is rather charming too.

After that day, you had no qualms about approaching Sebek anymore. It was safe to say that you’ve become friends. Although...maybe someday, you can take the next step and turn your friendship into something more?

...Unbeknownst to you, the Sebek is starting to feel more and more strange as the days pass. He wonders why his heart beats faster whenever he recalls your shining eyes and your sincere expression that day. The blush on his cheeks darken, and yet, he refuses to acknowledge it.

And so, the first tale has been told. I do hope you enjoyed it, dear traveler.

Credits for the images used on thispost:

Border: https://pngtree.com/freepng/vector-title-frame_3573975.html

Lantern decorations: https://pngtree.com/freepng/ramadan-decorations-luminous-ramadan-lantern-moon-and-star_5356170.html

Divider: https://pngtree.com/freepng/european-border-curtain-pattern_4068944.html

[phoenotopia]

2020 October Update

So... we've launched. And our launch was... actually kind of... bad...

This is a dev blog, so I'll speak on it. But before that, we do have the game's steam page up. If you're anticipating the PC release, please do visit the steam page and add it to your wish list. It would help us a lot.

VISIT STEAM LINK

...

So what didn't go so well?

1. We launched in Nintendo's Americas and Europe territory. If you've been following the release, you'd know that America got the game first. We didn't move to launch in Europe at all since I thought the EFIGS languages (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish) were pre-requisites for Europe. By the time I learned that this wasn't necessarily the case, and attempted to course correct, the damage was done. We had half the allotment of keys to do outreach, and maybe some European outlets that would've covered us, did not.

2. When the game launched, rather than a victory lap, what we experienced was more of a public lashing. We did get some reviews that praised the game highly, but just as many reviews lampooned the game for its high difficulty or other failings. I've since released two patches (or 3, depending on how you count it) to address the difficulty. A lot of overnighters. If you recall in the last blog post, I thought it'd be a good start if we got 20 or so reviews on Open Critic. But we've only 8 as of this writing, and the aggregate score isn't so hot. So that's a fail by my metric.

3. A publisher reached out to us because they were interested in physically printing the game! Yay! But... to advance our talks, they wanted to see the game's sales numbers to ensure that there's a good chance their investment could be recouped. And unfortunately, the game's sales numbers are pretty low. They backed out :(

Some hard lessons were learned. The biggest lesson for me concerns how well we playtested the game. Looking at the original playtester list, it's a short list. You may recall from a previous blog post that our ability to test was severely hampered by technical limitations. Add to that, a lot of people on this list are objectively really achieved players. We're talking power ranked in Smash Bros, regular tournament goers, and people who've played and bested every Souls game. And as the maker of the game, I am most blind to the game's challenges.

Now, I'm definitely more of the opinion that you prioritize PC development first. I still have some reservations about some stages of PC development. But if you do PC/Steam first, you have the great benefit of being able to do Early Access, which gives you access to a greater testing pool. I now view it as an invaluable part of the equation. If we had been able to do Early Access for 1 or 2 months before release, we probably could have ironed out most of the game's difficulty and balance problems. Hard lessons, indeed.

There were a lot of other notable events that occurred over the past 2 months - the travails of press outreach, realizing my own limits as a developer, feeling defeated and getting back up again, etc. There's too much stuff to chronicle or go into detail. But it wasn't all bad.

Some good things did happen...

We got a publisher to publish for Japan! It came as a huge relief, because clearly, we don't know what the heck we're doing.

The publisher has been an invaluable source of information and feedback. They've recommended some changes to the game to improve user experience. Some of these changes I was hesitant to do at first because they concerned systems I thought integral to the identity of the game. But after trying it, I have to admit, they're good changes.

So a Japanese version of the game was moving ahead. And it looked like that'd be it. I wasn't planning to move forward with any other language translations due to the game's low sales and our funds being depleted. 

But, I was approached by a translator who urged me to move ahead with translations. He told me he was willing to work for only a small price initially and then be paid the rest after from a percentage of the game's sales until the cost of the translation was paid in full.

I was surprised translators were willing to work under such a model since it's entirely likely the game's current low sales trajectory would continue and they wouldn't earn back the full cost of translation. But I was also flattered they were willing to take a risk with me. After that, I approached some others with the same hypothetical deal, and long story short, we're now moving forward with French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian translations. As for why these languages in particular, they were languages for whom I had contacts (because they reached out to me at some point in the past). And also because they were deemed more likely to be profitable based on their home country's gaming market/buying habits. I'd be personally happy to have my native language be represented, but it's not expected to be a profitable territory. But if the game does better in the future, it may justify the costs of translation. There could be a chance!

The plan right now is to get the game supporting these first round of languages and then to patch that into the Switch version as well as launch the PC version with these languages - all in December. A lot of things need to align for this to occur, so a delay isn't out of the question. It'll be busy... I'll update the blog again in latter half of December, probably near the game's PC launch date... OR to announce a delay. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Fan Support

While the past two months have been grueling, one good thing remains constant - fan art! Thank you everyone who submitted. It means a lot to me and the team!

Big thanks to Pimez who's taken on watching over the reddit community as moderator. He also combs the other communities and makes sure I see every new art piece. Despite juggling his own life and all these tasks, he still found some time to draw.

Pimez's piece reminds us that just because the new game's out doesn't mean we can't still celebrate the original flash game. The jail dog is a dog found only in jail and only in the flash game. I imagine Gail is just tossing a stick, and they're playing fetch.

A new artist to this scene æv draws both the Phoenix logo AND a super cute picture of Gail playing the flute. So precious, you want to pinch her cheek. Even the Sand Drake is enthralled!

Another new artist, beet4ppy arrives on the scene with two pictures! One features a no-nonsense battle-hardened Gail looking stoic and tough! Kinda reminds me of Vinland Saga actually. The other, a more cheerful group composition - I must say I'm a big fan of Fran's classic anime-style eye!

A returning artist, Cody G, returns with a picture depicting the tribulations of cooking. Gotta love Gail's frantic expression! I've heard the complaints, which is why we've added an option to slow the cooking mini-game down. An improved button font is also on the way.

Gamesing with two undertale x phoenotopia crossovers. Thomas being a robot builder makes sense taking a role similar to Alphys. But why is Alex dressed like a clown? Perhaps there is a hidden meaning here... 

A new artist, Warotar, draws both a pooki wearing Gail's clothes and Gail wearing pooki clothes. Awww. The pooki is a bit scary - it kinda reminds me of a tragic event in a certain anime. But the Gail is adorable!

POL#5655 submitted this one to KM's discord which made its way to me. Here, a stylized Gail appears unnerved by the dark red eyes stalking her in the background. Are they bats or something more sinister?

A new artist, MilesCPW, arrives on the scene with three rare well-vectorized arts! Love it! One scene depicts Gail balancing a bomb on her head - that's a speedrunning trick I only learned about recently after someone emailed me a video O_O

The other drawing gives us new insight into Katash - he could actually look cute if he wasn't trying to kill you.

And the bees... Okay, this one got a chuckle from me :D

A returning artist roccy_chair draws this heart-warming scene from the beginning of the new game. Aww. Mika doesn't get much screen time for story reasons, so it's nice to see her represented.

UnrealWorld_32 returns with another drawing of Gail in Panselo, this time capturing a more idyllic time. I like the tranquil nature of this piece. And Gail does in fact play the guitar, denoted by the guitar in her room.

Returning artist shafiyahh draws a nice portrait of Prince Leo - looking regal and princely. I like the storybook art style of this piece. It made me immediately think of "the Little Prince" - one of my favorite books actually!

Negativus Core returns with a beautiful group composition of Gail and the gang - flying from a Switch shaped window - totally sensible considering the game is only Switch right now. As usual, I'm impressed by Negativus Core's use of challenging angles to frame a more dynamic shot of the characters. Great job!

And it wasn't only artists bearing the banner. I'd like to give a big shoutout to everyone in all the game's little communities (from the reddit to the discords to this tumblr). I've seen this community help newcomers with gameplay and walkthrough advice, discussions, updating the wiki, and so on. It does bring a smile to my face. Thank you everyone!

[sennyshockwave]

I’ve had a couple strong headcanons and theories in my head for a while now, and now it’s gotten too much and I need to speak about this one. So let’s talk about Drift’s Great Sword, shall we? Drift’s object of greatest importance, his ID card, his reminder of his change in he- spark from Deadlock the Decepticon to Drift the Autobot. It wasn’t always that way though, now has it? Now starts my headcanon.

Let’s look back to Drift’s past, namely.. when he got himself caught in the New Crystal City. Wing is a knight in the Circle of Light and their Great Swords are objects of ancient value. This very sword is eventually passed on to Drift when Wing dies. Right? That’s right. But let’s take a look at Wing’s sword.

It’s not shown too incredibly often but when it does, do you notice? The gem on it is blue. Each and every single time it is shown.

So one would think that the gem is blue, yes? Even when Drift is handed it at the end, it is blue. So it should stay blue! Well, you would be wrong. Let me show you why, as well as move on to the next part of my observance.

Let’s start with the next part of Drift’s timeline. This is when a series of events lands him in the famous Autobot group, the Wreckers. Immediately out of the gate, what do you think is wrong? What’s different?

The gem is golden. ..Strange, right? Even in All Hail Megatron, it’s the same deal, gold gold and more gold.

Perhaps you would think, hold on Ali.. it’s the same design, surely that’s why the style of it stays the same. Well, let’s look at the next part of his life, More Than Meets The Eye.

So it’s no one-off color, it’s the set gem color for Drift as a character. So yada yada what’s my point? My point is, the moment Drift receives Wing’s great sword and leaves his friend’s home planet, the gem turns from blue to gold. Why is this important? Well, what’s Wing’s optic color?

Golden. They’re golden. Has Wing’s spark been watching over Drift all this time through his old Great Sword? Why else would it change such significant color? Or one so extraordinarily precise as to be gold, like his optics? Drift’s Great Sword is more than just a reminder of who he is, it’s his entire bond through the one most important to him in his waking days. It’s the very object that keeps Wing’s soul alive. Watching him grow and thrive, proud of the obstacles he overcomes.

Now you might be saying, but Ali!!!!! It goes back to blue in Lost Light! Which it does,

White the vibrant blue too if I say so. In fact, it’s brighter than Wing’s was before. For this, I need to take you back a couple steps throughout the MTMTE/Lost Light storyline, and take you to Drift: Empire of Stones. After Drift’s original exile from the Lost Light ship, he runs through the galaxy, hunting down Decepticons and keeping innocents safe. Exactly what Wing had set out to do before he met him, right? Well, EOS is the very turning point of Drift’s Great Sword tipping back into Wing’s blue. How could this be? I have an answer. Drift being exiled from the Lost Light has caused him to focus on himself, not him straining to tiptoe around the Ex-Decepticon label everyone back on the ship gave him, not trying extensively to get the captain’s approval, but to focus on him as a person. The person he wants to be. And that person is a hero unplagued by his past. By doing this he saves the organics, fulfilling the promise he made to Wing eons ago. Despite the hardships, deadnaming, murderous reminders, and deep rationalizing he goes through in Empire of Stones, he walks out of it possibly happier and clearer than he had ever been in his life.

So why is the gem blue again? For the first time, Drift is at pure peace with himself. Throughout Lost Light he seems unphased by his past or his emotions. Rarely, if ever I think?? Do we see anyone pestering him, and although he goes through Megatron, it’s through the act of the two instantly making peace with each other and what happened with Deadlock. Wing is no longer needed to watch Drift grow, because he’s finally at the peak of his purpose. Wing, as stated in the Wiki, saw someone “in need of help”, of guidance, to take him to “the side of the angels”. Wing died in that battle on Theophany, but his self-proclaimed job wasn’t over. Drift was horribly lost, conflicted, and lonesome. But when Ratchet comes to bring him back to the Lost Light, to his new home, he’s in such a better headspace and from there on out, he is content. And Wing moves on, as Drift does not need him anymore.

Which begs the question, if Great Swords are apparently sacred, holy, religious artifacts passed down throughout the Circle of Light, surely their main importance can’t come from the singular fact that it uses Spark energy? There must be something more. Perhaps, and just maybe, Great Swords are an object of finding one’s way in life. It led Wing to Drift, and it led Drift through his entire redemption arc and then some. Dai Atlas, who had hated Drift throughout the entire series, the leader of the Circle of Light, gave Drift the Great Sword in hoping that he would “find peace” with himself. Perhaps it wasn’t just a Wing reminder, but an aid. To give him someone constantly by his side, someone dearly important, for as long as he needed the presence. And just maybe.. Drift could hear him through his mediations. Or saw him when he was in Vector Sigma. Maybe we’ll never know.

But hey!!! That’s all for now folks, if you read this all then holy shit! Gold star!!!!!

[jadedragoness]

Battle Ground 1st Read Through Reaction

Can I just start off by saying, Holy crap. Chicago got curb-stomped hard. So freaking hard.

I really, really, enjoyed the story. I pretty much didn’t want to stop reading as soon as I cracked open the covers of the book but I did have to have periods of giving myself a break and just put the book down and go do something sensible like do the dishes instead of screaming or shaking my fists at the sky like a lunatic.

I do admit that as a story the continuous battle was draining and exhausting to read. But I think that was the point so I don’t really count it against the story. It is something important to know going in, and why I’d recommend breaks.

Let’s talk spoilers… just assume spoilers for everything Dresden Files related too. Ummm, also this runs long.

First Let’s Me Tell You About the Thing Which Exploded My Brain:

1. MARCONE IS FREAKING KNIGHT OF THE BLACKENED DENARIUS! WHHHAAAAT!!

...okay, I’m done screaming about it.

OF FREAKING THORNED NAMSHIEL!!! ...I lied, I wasn’t done. How long? What? When? I didn’t see this coming at all! And I’m so freaking torn about how to feel about it.

I am so damned (heh) relieved that Marcone’s didn’t die at Ethniu’s hands. I seriously freaked at the moment she snapped his neck that I went into instant denial and my eyes skipped several paragraph down out of the desperate wish to see if it was trick. I’m also very, very delighted that Marcone is now so much harder to kill. I mean, he was already pretty hard to kill being Marcone but this just takes it up to eleven.

On the other hand, a Fallen Angel is so freaking dangerous. *makes gargling worried noises* And while it looks like Marcone appears to have worked out a partnership with the coin I can’t help but remember that when we were first introduced to this Fallen he was called ‘Thorned Namshiel’ and not by the name of his bearer. So he appears to be the type to subsume the human who holds him. Which makes me worried that Marcone could be on that path and not even realize it. *goes back to making gargling worried noises*

I do find reassuring that the coin is on a chain around his neck and therefore easily removed and not buried in his body like some of the other Denarians will do.

However, I am feeling a little disappointed Marcone is no longer purely a ‘vanilla’ mortal who stood toe-to-toe eldritch beings and survived by simply being smarter, deadlier and amazeballs. I’ll miss that. I always thought that it was especially hilarious how much Harry would freak out about Marcone and how deadly Marcone is when even in the same room as scary monsters (like in ;Skin Game;, I mean seriously he was in the same room as Nicodemus and Harry was hardcore worried about upsetting Marcone… hilarious!) when Marcone was a vanilla mortal… but now he’s not.

And yet, now Marcone knows how to sling around magic and is incredibly hard to kill. *thumbs up at Jim Butcher* Yeeeessssss! *is so happy*

Although… if Harry doesn’t end up making all manner of ‘thorny’ jokes at Marcone I’m going to be very disappointed. =D

Things I Sorta Expected:

1. Murphy dying.

Now, I totally bawled at the scene after Rudolph shot Murphy. I especially lost it when Harry kept referring to her body as an ‘empty house.’ ARGH. But I wasn’t actually surprised that she died. I did feel like I got a very strong sense it was going to happen. Actually, from how often Harry’s thoughts seemed to be pinging in that direction I was partially convinced his wizardly ‘insight’ was kicking in and trying to warn him.

And he tried. He really did.

But ultimately it was Karrin’s own choice to be away from safety and be her badass self.

2. Hendricks’ dying.

I’ve actually have read the short story ‘Monsters’ from Goodman Grey’s POV and I’ve read it a little over a week ago and in it he notes Marcone’s bodyguard as a dumb Einherjaren. Which made my brain go: Whoa, wait… where’s Hendricks? Is Hendricks dead? Did Hendricks die and become in Einherjaren? Or is he off doing something and one of those guys is taking over for a bit? Fuck, Hendricks is dying in ‘Battle Ground’ isn’t he?

So I wasn’t exactly surprised, but I was still very, very upset. And when Ethniu picked up Hendrick’s corpse and smashed him into Marcone that’s where I lost it. Like totally lost it while also being worried about Marcone at the same time. Gah.

Curveballs I Did Not Expect:

1. Marva and Drakul. The deaths of Wild Bill and Yoshimo at the hands of Black Court vampires and the threat that we may see them again as Black Court? Did not see that coming. I expected to lose Wardens but not like that.

...and I may be in denial about Chandler (I like the guy, okay) being dead. Please. He’s a wizard. He’ll be back. Of course as soon as I wrote that I was instantly struck of by the thought of: “Yeah, but will you like what you get back?”

2. Also Drakul is a starborn? I get more and more curious about what it means! I’m with Harry in frothing in frustration over how people won’t tell him already! *screams into the void*

Also Kincaid worked for this guy? *shudders*

3. Marcone and Thorned Namshiel. *gurgles*

4. Justine had Nemesis in her! And for years?!

How in the hell are they going to save her? Mab barely saved Lea and she’s Mab!

Also I thought Nemesis was very infectious. Is there anyone else around who has been infected? Maybe among Harry’s friends with Justine as the vector? *is worried*  

5. Not getting a resolution on the situation with the Svartalves. Or did I miss something? Seriously, the ending of the book felt like it was missing about 30 more pages to wrap up and work a bit more on characters.

Things I Did Not Like or Was Disappointed By:

1. Rudolph getting to live. Fuck that guy.

Okay, I understand that his not getting murdered at Harry’s hands wasn’t really for Rudolph’s sake but for Harry’s own soul. I just want him dead. Dammit, is it too much to ask for him to have been shot by a turtleneck or stomped by a Jotun or splattered by Formor acid that slowly ate away at his guts as screamed until his internal organs slowly dissolved?

I have may have a bloodthirsty vengeful streak. And yet: want.

2. I also may have narrowed my eyes at the end of the book there after Harry said that Marcone was dropping off the keys and then it turned out Lara had picked them up instead. I may have also said aloud, “Butcher, are you Marcone-blocking me?” And he was, dammit, because I didn’t get to read more Marcone.

… I do not have a Marcone-addiction.

3. This is more disappointment than dislike but I didn’t get nearly as much Goodman Grey as I thought I’d get. Aw.

4. Harry not getting to talk to Ivy. *grumbles*

Things I Really Liked/Loved

1. Harry got his home back! And it’s the castle! The castle he all but swindled out of Marcone. Yes, I love it! I love Marcone but doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it when Harry get the best of him too. Anyway, I just love the fact that Harry is claiming parts of his life back from the traumatic heart-stomp events which occurred in ‘Changes’. *bounces in excitement* Now he just needs an office!

2. Marcone. Always. Actually I was a little afraid when he vanished after the battle started that there would be very little Marcone in this book too because Butcher is so Marcone-stingy.

3. That Harry is no longer a member of the White Council. I mean, they’ve been pretty useless to helping Harry out. And honestly, Harry has gotten so many headaches from them that I can’t help but think this is a weight he needed to shed.

Although, it really feeds my ‘Harry needs to become a member of the accords in his own right’ thing again. Seriously, he’s the Warden of Demonreach. He bound a Titan. It needs to happen. Ooh, or the Paranet can see about becoming an Accorded organization in their own right and then Harry can be with them. Yeeeessss.

4. Bob is back in Harry’s hands! Freaking yes! Whoohooo! About time! Oooh, wait, has Bob meet Bonnie? Can we read this happening? OMG, I want it so much… or would Harry be too horrified to let Bob influence his spirit-kid? LoL.

5. Seeing Toot-toot and Lacuna again! And when Harry pulled his ‘Za Lord’ maneuver and got the Guard and a ton of other fairies to help in the defense of… well, pizza in Chicago, that was great I punched the air.

 The I gloated even more over how Mab then explained Harry had scared some of the others with that move. Heh.

6. River Shoulders was so damn badass and amazeballs and like Wild Bill said, I’ll take two.

7. Michael and Charity already knowing that Molly is the Winter Lady and being the best parents and loving and accepting and… so much love for those two.

EVERYTHING MARCONE… yes, he’s getting his own heading

1. Gah, I love him. I have mentioned this before. That one of the first things he says to Harry when Harry is staring at him as he changes clothes is to paraphrase ‘did you forget how to get dressed or is this an awkward sexual reconnaissance’ nearly killed me. I was caught between giggling and choking on my own spit and then I nearly fell off the couch. Just remembering about it now, has me giggling at the computer screen.

2. Also, I find that ‘Excellent’ response from Marcone after they exchange threats to be fascinating. This was one of those points were I put the book down and wondered what Marcone meant by that. Then I had the thought that maybe in his own fashion, Marcone was doing the same thing that practically everyone had been doing with Harry since he got back from being shot. He was checking to see if Harry was still the same man he’d been before. And from Harry’s response, Yup. He was. So: “Excellent.”

Having also read ‘Skin Game‘ and how cold Marcone is in the end there? The difference with this Marcone versus the one where Mab was listening? I find that interesting too!

3. When Marcone showed up to the fight! So freaking badass! Love how he led the fighters.

Also I find it significant that both of the guys who are obsessed with protecting Chicago were the ones who manifested ‘banners’ which drew humans to the fight.

Really cool. And it reminds me all over again that for all their different life philosophies Marcone and Dresden do agree on the mantra of: Protect Chicago.

4. This book, especially the lake beach scene reminded me so hard why I love the banter between Harry and Marcone so much. When it just seems to be the two of them and they aren’t actively threatening each they have such a great rapport! Loved reading it! Wished we got more of it in the books.

5. Okay, with Hendricks’ death I’m rather worried for Marcone. ‘Even Hand’ gave the impression Hendricks often acted as a very gentle conscience to Marcone. Losing him has got to be hitting Marcone hard. And that I now know he only has a Fallen angel on his shoulder?

Yup, growing more worried for Marcone at the time.

6. I’m also wondering about what was said in that exchange between Mab and Marcone on the roof when Harry called out Marcone for about being the Lord of Chicago needing to be more than talk. Okay, I can guess. I just really, really want to hear the words because I bet Marcone was badass.

7. The Lord of Chicago giving Harry the title of the Wizard of Chicago? Freaking loved it.

8. Also Marcone freaking purred. Purred. “Prove it,” he purred. “Hero.”

I think Jim Butcher is trying to give me a heart attack or cause me to crack my skull on floor because I nearly fell off the couch again.

9. With Marcone now outed as a magic-wielding Denarian does that mean we get more of him in the future books? Because I freaking hope so... I say this even knowing I’d have the exact same wish even without him being a magic-wielding Denarian.

Things I Found Completely Hilarious

1. Marcone’s opening lines to Harry. Heh. Forever Lol!

2. Is Lacuna a tooth fairy? Her obsession with teeth cracked me up so much.

3. That Mab smacking both Lara and Harry with those wedding plans. *snickers* I mean, I find it totally hilarious because of how gobsmacked both of them were about it. I don’t expect Harry to go through with it at all, not with how we know how seriously he takes relationships. So either he’s going to get out of being the Winter Knight or find some other way to defy Mab. Or hell, maybe Lara gets them both out of it by marrying someone else first. Honestly, I can’t see her agreeing to marry someone who’d burn her with a touch.

Pure Speculation or Things that Just Excite Me for the Future:

1.  Now I bet you’re all wondering why I’m not more upset about Murphy or Hendricks dying. Simply put, I’m 100% convinced that when both Murphy and Hendricks wake up in Valhalla, in drinking (with quaffing I bet) halls full of grunting, fighting obsessed Vikings and they will go ‘Nope, I’m out!’ three seconds later. Those two? Especially knowing how much trouble Harry and Marcone have got to be getting up to without them? They’d probably join forces and stage a breakout to get back.

This is what occurred to me the moment Gard explained what happened to their bodies. The whole not come back until everyone who knew them was gone, yeah, right. Not happening.

Or, jeeze, I can’t image Marcone not thinking this was a possibility and then not having made plans to bust Hendricks out and you know Murphy would demand to come along too. And with Thorned Namshiel providing help? I can see this happening.

...okay, this idea sneaked into my head but now I’m seeing Murphy (having busted out of Valhalla with a bunch of Einherjaren) and learning about the upcoming nuptials between Lara and Harry leads a raiding party (what else, with Vikings!) to bride nap (groom nap?) Harry away before he says “I do.“ Heh. This would be hilarious.

2. I’m sorta vibrating with the possibilities of what the future will bring with a Chicago that is waking up to the dangers of the supernatural while at the same time having learned that it is possible to stand up to monsters and kill them. Especially, what this means when bad things go down in Chicago again, because of course they will. And there may be more people joining in the fight.

Hmm, can the Paranet be deployed as a means of bringing vanilla mortals in or educating them so they don’t go after the good guys? They do sort of stand in the middle, more so than Harry. *lost in thoughts*

3. While I’m actually a little surprised that Ebenezar made it out alive as I actually had him down on my ‘Will Probably Die List’. I was relieved as I hope to see him and Harry actually have that conversation which Harry wants. Seriously, if only for Maggie’s sake, who shouldn’t have her first and last memory of her Great-Grandpa be him being a total jerk.

4. Harry can bind the prisoners of Demonreach to do his bidding? *blinks* Ooh, the possibilities.

5. These Librarians, the Men in Black of the DF ‘verse, sound amazing and I can’t wait to see them show up.

[libermachinae]

Fault Lines Under the Living Room

Part I: Listen - Chapter 1: A Commotion, Eager and Anxious (Previous)

Also available on AO3! Summary:  Arcee arrives on the Lost Light just as someone else is getting ready to leave. Chapter Word Count: 3010

---

“Hey, you’ve reached Captain Rodimus’ personal hailing frequency. If you’re calling to complain again about mandatory hab sweeps, please refer to recent events involving briefcases and the hereafter outlawed opening of. If you have news involving foolish, ridiculous, or nonsensical obstacles in our quest, input 1 to be transferred directly to Megatron’s personal comm line. If you have a complaint regarding sign placement, grammatically incorrect maintenance manuals, or that weird temperature difference between floors 7 and 8, input 2 for Ultra Magnus. If you’re lonely and want someone to talk to, input 3 for automatic directions to Swerve’s. Input 4 to be connected with me, provided I’m—”

Beep.

“Rodimus?”

“Blaster! Great timing, we just got back from Fortuna. Don’t talk too long, though, Magnus just handed me my prep for the hearing and these datapads are engraved with his personal insignia.”

“Sure, Rodimus. I’ve got incoming transmission from an unknown caller, not laying down any codes I’m familiar with. Tried pressing for details, but all they’re letting slip is they want to talk to you. Want me to patch them through?”

“Hm. On the one hand, unknown caller with mysterious intentions almost always means trouble, right?”

“We’ve ended up in some axel grease for it in the past, yeah.”

“And the reason we set down on Scarvix was to avoid creating more problems while we deal with the fallout from the last batch.”

“I thought it was to give the crew a day off?”

“And that’s why you’re our morale guy. Ratchet would probably tell me to ignore it, right?”

“I guess.”

“You don’t think he would?”

“Not really sure how the CMO’s opinion is relevant.”

Because Ratchet’s vote was the only one he knew.

“Yeah, never mind,” Rodimus said with a shrug, almost losing his balance in the process. “Ultra Magnus would say the same thing, anyway, and he’s counting on me to get to the hearing on time. He cares so much , he ‘summarized’ Brainstorm’s alleged code infringements himself.” He shifted the armload of datapads. The topmost pad was hanging off the edge, preparing for freefall, but trying to tilt it back to safety risked upsetting the rest of the pile.

“Nice of him,” Blaster said.

“Yep, super nice. He went to so much trouble. Really dug into the details, researched historical precedents, looked at the case from every angle. He probably buried his essay on the origins of Decepticon as an adjective somewhere in here.” The datapad tilted and dropped. Rodimus shifted his weight to one leg and kicked with the other, bouncing the pad off his knee and catching it with his teeth. “You know ‘at? Hure, ‘ut the comm hrough. ‘robably just a co’arketer, anyay.”

“Yes, sir.”

The familiar click and beat of a line being transferred. Rodimus deposited the datapad on top of his stack and started walking again, forgoing his office in favor of a detour to the middle decks. The view there was more impressive, the angle revealing the organic landscape that stretched between the Lost Light and Fortuna, a popular interstellar rest stop with enough mechanical business to make it worth the daytrip. Chomskians were their patrons of choice, but a hand over the faction insignia and most folks would let it slide. Walking the length of the Lost Light revealed a subtly changing view as the gleam of the mechanoid hub altered the silhouette of the city, and Rodimus busied himself tracking the shuttles, jets, and personal aircraft traveling in and out, letting it distract him until his comm came back.

“Am I speaking to Captain Rodimus?” an unfamiliar voice asked. Cybertronian, definitely, but otherwise unknown.

Cool .

“Yep, captain of the Lost Light and quester for the Knights of Cybertron,” he said. “What’s up?”

“This is Autobot Arcee, requesting permission to dock in the Lost Light’s shuttle bay.”

“Arcee?” Rodimus went through the list of all the Autobots he knew, ignoring the space where Arcee’s origin should have been. Some folks, MTOs especially, didn’t like to broadcast that information, and it wasn’t strictly necessary for a personal database search. Regardless, “Sorry, Arcee, I’m not remembering you. Who did you serve under?”

“New recruit. Was working with Prowl for a bit, now Optimus Prime. We’ve met.”

He had to hold himself back from shutting down the call. The datapads wobbled and he quickly righted himself.

“We have?” People who worked for Prowl were strategic about when they released that information. If she really was a new recruit, it was possible no one had explained to her yet that, ultimately, everything led back to him. It was the only justification he could find for staying on the line and not telling Ultra Magnus to initiate an immediate sweep for unauthorized listening devices.

“Well, no. But I crashed a shuttle for you. Into Galvatron.”

“You did?” And just like that he had forgotten Prowl entirely.

“I did. Me and a few others. It didn’t do much, but you and Optimus managed to take care of Vector Sigma anyway, so, bygones.”

Why couldn’t he remember this? It sounded awesome .

“Totally,” Rodimus said, feeling a swell of pride as he remembered the moment Optimus had set aside his doubts and trusted Rodimus’ word on the Matrix. Up until that point, his chosen name had felt ill-fitting, like the myriad of function tests that preceded a new harvest’s official classification. Or, in his darker moments, like the Primes of old, who claimed the Matrix’s blessing despite no legitimate connection to it. Optimus had put his faith in Rodimus, though, in his connection to the Matrix, and that faith had been rewarded , not punished . For once, his destiny hadn’t been priced in spilled energon.

Not that they hadn’t seen any.

“So you decided to get the brand and make it permanent?” he asked, pulling himself back to the present.

“Yes.”

“Then yeah, come aboard. ‘The more the merrier,’ as Megatron would never say. When do you estimate your arrival?”

“I’ve just breached atmosphere, should be there in an hour.”

“Perfect. I’ll send instructions along to open the shuttle bay doors and will be there to meet you.” He passed the news to Megatron and Ultra Magnus and was unsurprised when only the latter acknowledged the alert, as well as a bunch of forms that seemed incredibly tedious and not worth the bandwidth. Maybe once the hearing was over, he could sit down with his co-captain and remind him of the responsibilities he had agreed to as part of his deal. That would be a proper, leader-like thing to do.

Or he could let Megatron continue to wallow in whatever new misery he had concocted for himself. It certainly made his shifts easier.

He and Arcee exchanged farewells and his comm powered down, leaving Rodimus to strategize. Arcee’s arrival meant he did not have enough time to get back to his office, read through all of Magnus’ files, and make it to the shuttle bay, especially with all the effort it would take to even work himself up to unlocking the datapads. Better to make a good impression on their new guest and bump out the least pressing task. He could do his reading once Arcee was settled.

Walking around weighed down by the burden of knowledge was a drag, though, so he stuck to the part of the plan that involved getting rid of the datapads. He spent the remaining walk to his office (longer now after he had inadvertently walked in the opposite direction while on the comm) thinking about what he could do with the surprise free time. Maybe take a quick lap around the lower decks or make his first official visit to “Visages”. Something fun, carefree, and just barely skirting regulations; something normal , to start the work of convincing everyone, again, that things were going to be fine.

~*~

Ratchet was not stalling.

There was a chance he was overpreparing, but better that than the opposite. The galaxy was a big place, and if he was even slightly accurate in his guess of how far Drift would wander in his search for redemption, he would be touching corners of it even the war had never brought him to. So, an abundance of fuel was necessary, at least enough to last two bots a month plus about half that for the journey outward. Then medical supplies: wiremesh bandages, nanite gel, intravenous lines, sparkstarters, sorted boxes of nuts and screws, antiviral uploads, rust repellant, strut stabilizers, soldering wires… The shuttle was turning out better equipped than some of the mobile surgeries he had worked from during the war; even some hospitals had been dangerously low on materials he now found in abundance. For the first time, he had the resources to make sure nothing and no one would be lost to shortage, and he intended to take advantage of that new luxury.

Following that, the next logical step had been to make the rest of the shuttle comfortable as well. Two Morphy berths with recharge docks. A media library of music and movies to pass the time (the former Cyclonus’ recommendations, the latter, Swerve’s). A few selections from his private engex stash. A box of data blockers he had buried deep among the medical supplies and would claim were standard for any med kit if interrogated.

He nudged the box of Hex pieces against the wall with his foot. Was it alright there was nowhere to sit beside the naviconsole and the berths? He had though Drift would appreciate the economy of a smaller shuttle, but with the cargo loaded the atmosphere was shifting from cozy to cramped. Would Drift feel claustrophobic, reminded of squatters’ dens and Decepticon outposts? Drift was also a high-energy bot, who would probably itch for a chance to spin his wheels from time to time. Were the fuel reserves large enough to accommodate multiple planet stops?

Ratchet’s knuckle had worked its way between his teeth before he realized what he was doing. Dropping his hand, he forced himself to turn around and exit the small spacecraft. He was committed. Out of anyone on board, Drift had done the most to earn this home. If no one else was going to step up and do the right thing by returning it to him, Ratchet would resign to do it himself.

He heard a commotion, eager and anxious, as he stepped out into the shuttle bay. The hangar doors were opening, sunlight slipping through the growing crack, and several parked crafts were being taxied out of the way. Not wanting to get cut off by wandering shuttles, he hurried to the pedestrian entrance, where most of the voices were coming from: a small crowd, loiterers looking for the new source of intrigue. Whirl and Tailgate were among them, providing running commentary as the unwieldly ships skirted just shy of scraping each other’s paint off, so it was no surprise to find Cyclonus standing further off.

Perfect. Though Ratchet and Cyclonus were not on bad terms, neither had ever tried to expand their relationship past the occasional long-suffering glance. If it had been one of the bots who had his spark twisting every time he bumped into them in the hallways, Ratchet would have worried about giving his plan away, but he doubted Cyclonus cared whether the something-like-guilt was visible.

“Cyclonus,” he greeted.

“Ratchet.” The older of the two offered a polite nod, though his gaze returned to the door.

“What’s going on? Somebody forget something in Fortuna?” Ratchet kept his voice light, curiosity without investment. A change in routine could mean nothing, but by now everyone knew it could also be the start of something weird, dangerous, or a combination of the two. Either way, it would end up among Swerve’s stand-up material.

“New arrival,” Cyclonus said. “Arcee of the Darklands: a tested warrior with a spark that rivaled Galvatron’s.”

Might as well have called herself Foreboding of Doom and saved his declarative archives the search. Ratchet wondered if he should move his departure up.

“Is she here? Did I miss it?”

Rodimus’ panicked shouts preceded his stumble into the hangar. Ratchet greeted him with a pointed look, which he shouldered by simply not noticing it while his gaze darted around the room.

“Not yet, Rodimus,” Hoist announced over the loudspeaker. “We’re just getting the last shuttles cleared for landing.”

“Oh, thank Primus,” Rodimus said, tilting his head back as his fans released a cloud of warm air. “Fantastic.”

“You look like you gunned it to get here,” Ratchet said, waving away the smell of an overheated engine.

“No, that would be speeding, which is definitely against spacetime law,” Rodimus said, straightening to flash Ratchet a deeply unappreciated grin. “I ran. I told Arcee I would be here to meet her, and it would make for a pretty bad impression of the ship if the captain failed to live up to his promise.”

“Don’t you have a hearing to be getting ready for?” Ratchet asked, the question slipping past his censors. Slag. That was not the note he wanted to leave on. The stress of his impending departure was getting to him more than he had realized.

Rodimus shrugged, unaffected.

“Magnus gave me all the materials, just need to read them. Won’t take long.”

That stirred something in Ratchet’s spark.

“Good to know our justice system is under such attentive care.”

“Perhaps this is a conversation that would be better saved for when we are not moments from new introductions,” Cyclonus interjected, his deep bass distracting enough to halt those emotional processes of Ratchet’s that started to loop out of control whenever Rodimus opened his mouth. He set his vocalizer to standby, not trusting it to wait for his command, and wondered whether it would be better to get out sooner. Before his own smart mouth made his worries a reality.

The appearance of the approaching shuttle did not ease his concerns. Starting as a speck above the horizon, all optics were on it as it approached, a little blob of a spacecraft dangling over the city of Fortuna. Big, for a single occupant. Ratchet hoped he was wrong, but he noticed something further odd as it came nearer.

Whirl took care of that loose thread of optimism.

“It’s purple,” he said, with a coy look at Cyclonus, who ignored it with enviable steadiness.

“It’s a Decepticon vessel.” Ratchet had seen enough in his time. After the fall of Tyger Pax, Autobot regulations had outlawed all colors between navy and magenta for ships, and he could think of no other species brazen enough to steer a spacecraft directly into civilian airspace. “Rodimus?”

“Blaster confirmed Arcee’s ident after our call,” Rodimus said. “Bit of a garish choice for a ride, but it’s her.” He had maneuvered himself to the front of the group, standing at the front like he was putting himself on display for an honored guest.

“That is rich, coming from you.”

“Thanks, Ratch,” Rodimus said, casting over his shoulder a wink and a grin before he turned back to face the oncoming ship. Ratchet’s frown deepened and he ignored the way the gesture reminded him of Drift.

He never knew what the bot had seen in Rodimus. Short-sighted, selfish, and with an ego that could have powered the ship if he could have been bothered to contribute that much, Rodimus’ ability to perform feats no one else would attempt meant he was also prone to making mistakes they neither could have imagined. For all the time Ratchet had spent on the Lost Light , he still had no idea the limits of chaos Rodimus was capable of summoning to it, so he let triage and combat protocols idle in the background while they waited.

It was not a nice landing. The thrusters were still burning several hundred feet out, so they all heard the roar of wind buffeting ailerons as the shuttle struggled to slow itself down. It was only by the combined effects of the Lost Light ’s buffeting shield and the shuttle’s reverse engines that they did not suffer a catastrophic collision, and even then, the shuttle bounced as it finally touched down, coming within feet of kissing Huffer’s personal speeder. Ratchet still did not remember to vent as it struggled through taxiing, twice having to reattempt a maneuver as the combined efforts of Hoist, Rodimus, and a group of volunteers guided it to its designated space. Only when the engines finally shut down did Ratchet hear the collective sigh of multiple hydraulics systems releasing their tension.

“Guess Darkland warriors don’t need to know how to drive,” Ratchet muttered. He thought he heard Cyclonus huff, which was enough to get a chuckle out of him.

That was it, though, because in the next moment Rodimus was rushing to the lowering hatch, his spoiler flicking behind him like an insect wing. Ratchet caught a glimpse of a labyrinthine cargo hold before Arcee stepped forward, filling the space, and descended rapidly. He tensed, ready for something else to come charging out from behind her, but besides a look passed between her and Cyclonus nothing immediately hostile revealed itself.

“Welcome to the Lost Light,” Rodimus said, standing aside to let Arcee descend. The hatch raised as soon as she was standing on the Lost Light’s floor, blocking Ratchet’s view again.

“Yes, thank you.” Her tone was clipped, not the melodic veil of sophistication Ratchet had come to associate with Cyclonus, and she scanned the assembled bots with a look of blatant suspicion. Ratchet could relate to that, if nothing else.

He glanced at the purple ship once more while Rodimus led Arcee in the direction of the rec rooms while the rest of the crowd dispersed. Ratchet himself would never believe in anything as a sign or omen, but the sight of the purple plating made old welds ache, and he found his resolve. He would go get a drink. He would attend the hearing. And then, goodbyes or no, he was leaving that night.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Rematch

“Vector,” Alit said, heading right over to him, strides determined. “I’ve got something to talk to you about.”

“What is it?” Vector eyed him cautiously. He’d never liked spending time around Alit – or any of the others, really, these days. Sure, prodding Mizael or Nasch could be fun, but Alit – Alit was different.

Alit cracked his knuckles and his smile said nothing of pleasure. Vector took a step back.

“Don’t you know how to answer questions?” Vector dropped one hand to where his favorite knife rested.

“Oh, I do. What I want is this. You remember when you whacked me upside the head?”

Oh. Vector hadn’t thought about that in forever. He thought Alit didn’t even remember it. Who’d told him about it? No one had known – had they? He hadn’t told anyone and there hadn’t been anyone else there.

“I have no idea of what you’re talking about,” Vector bluffed. “When did you get hit upside the head?”

“I think you remember.” Alit approached. Vector whipped out his knife, starting to say something else, and forgetting it when Alit knocked the knife out of his hand, smiling even more. “Funny benefit of remembering we started off human. I’ve fought against people with weapons bare-handed all my life.”

Vector didn’t think today was going to be one of his better days. He crossed his arms and glowered. “Just tell me what it is you want. I’ve got plans with Mizael tonight.” If one counted those plans as “lurking behind Mizael while the other went to a movie with Kaito”, then he told the truth.

“You hit me from behind. You didn’t fight fair,” Alit told him, eyes glinting. “So we’re going to have another fight and this time it’s going to be a fair one. Doesn’t matter who wins. Think you can do it?”

Vector blinked a time or two. “What?”

“You heard me!” Alit snapped, voice rising. “I want a rematch! You suck as a fighter, but you took me down once and I want a second round!”

Vector sighed, closing his eyes. He thought that was what Alit said. “Let me guess, you already told everyone else and they’re waiting outside?”

Alit smirked. “How did you guess?”

Vector wondered if he could make it to the nearest exit before Alit could grab him. He had a pretty good idea of how this “fight” would end up. Alit was a great fighter, with or without a weapon. Vector wasn’t bad, but Alit clearly wanted the single goal of punching Vector’s lights out.

Though in truth, he wasn’t the first person who wanted that, and so far none of them had managed it. He wondered if Alit would actually be the exception.

Alit grabbed Vector by the arm and pushed him towards the nearest door. “Come on. We’re going to get this over with.”

Vector tried to grab for his knife, at least. Alit darted away quickly, snatching up the blade and handed it to him hilt-first. “Thanks.” Vector told him dryly, taking it. He would not forget how easily Alit had taken it away from him before. But he wouldn’t do this unarmed.

“You don’t get any excuses on why I’m going to win this,” Alit said far too cheerfully. Vector rolled his eyes.

Might as well get this over with. Just for a second he was tempted to slam the blade into Alit’s side. Unfortunately even if he could penetrate Alit’s skin – they kept the rock hardness of their Barian forms, and even if they hadn’t, Alit was covered in muscle – he’d probably have to do this all over again once Alit recovered.

Alit picked up the pace, forcing him to jog the rest of the way outside, until they got to the wide back yard. It wasn’t only the other Barians there. He’d invited Yuuma, Kotori, all of their little friends, Yuuma’s sister, grandmother, parents, the Arclights, and a significant portion of everyone at school. Even Kaito, Haruto, and Dr. Faker were there.

“Did you forget anyone?” Vector quipped, counting all the people. Wow, they’d even brought up Nasch’s soldiers! They’d been adapting to modern life pretty well. None of them liked him any more than Nasch did.

“I don’t think so. Not that it matters.” Alit nodded towards Akari. “This is getting videotaped so if we did they can still see it. Now, you ready?”

Vector tossed off his jacket, making sure it landed in Mizael’s lap. “Take care of that for me, Miza-chan,” he teased. Mizael rolled his eyes and threw it down in the dirt.

Vector smirked and started to turn back to Alit. He expected a hit before he could get himself situated, but it didn’t come. He raised his knife, but before he could do more than take a fighting stance, Alit’s two fists came flying in. One yanked the knife out of his hand, the other slammed against his chin.

His head flew back and he stumbled, going down. Vector wanted to say something, but words failed him as another hit slammed his head the other way. Then Alit’s knee hit him in the stomach and he forgot what it was like to breathe. One more hit laid him flat on his back.

Vector stayed there. His head spun and words didn’t exist. He wondered vaguely if this was what Alit had felt like before. When he could focus again, he rolled his head around to see Alit being patted on the back by someone that he didn’t recognize.

He wasn’t surprised when Yuuma came down and offered a hand to him. “Come on,” Yuuma declared. “Let’s get you checked out.”

Vector wanted to knock the hand away, but he knew far too well that Yuuma would just keep on coming. After all this time, he just didn’t have the energy to keep resisting. He slowly let Yuuma get him back on his feet, rubbing his chin with his free hand.

Maybe now Alit would leave him alone. No more rematches.

The End

Notes: I've had this idea in my head for ages, and decided to finally put it to use. And there were only two hits: Alit hit Vector and Vector hit the ground.

[tumblingtumbletimes]

These comments are stupid..A rant

Firstly, I am and have always been a massive Jonathan Toews fan. I tend to think he is well spoken. This however is a stupid take and irresponsible. It’s not the worst opinion I’ve seen but it is ignorant. As someone who has studied immunology and virology, this whole pandemic has really lowered my tolerance for people who don’t want to understand / don’t care. He has traveled quite a bit during this pandemic. He has gone from Chicago to his cabin in Lake of the Woods (don’t know if there was a Winnipeg pit stop or if that is where he flew into) then he went back to Chicago, then was in Arizona ( while their cases were spiking up). Clearly I don’t know if he flew private (which isn’t great for the environment he cares so much about) or what precautions he took but it seems like an unnecessary risk to take during this pandemic. It really shows his privilege and his disregard for the current state of the world because god forbid he is bored in his apartment in Chicago (he did that zoom call at the end of March and made a comment about being stuck in his apartment to Josi and Pietroangelo.)

Maybe this comment wouldn’t bother me so much if all that traveling didn’t take place but it did. Here are a few points of contention I have with this. 

“does anyone really know and when people catch this thing”  This is a NOVEL Corona virus. This means it wasn't known to scientist beforehand. EVERYTHING they are learning about this virus is in real time. This particular strand was not studied before hand. So first we have to worry about identifying infected individuals and finding treatments. Then try and track the spread and stop it / slow it down, then sequence, then create vectors to introduce the virus into specimens of study, then create colonies of virus clones, then have the virus infect the model you are studying and see the results. That doesn't including any mutations that may occur during spread and infection. This virus will be studied well after the pandemic is said to be over so we can gather as much information as possible. Science isn't fast moving. You can’t have answers to all the questions right away. Things have to be proven over and over again before being accepted. 

 “I think the best you can do is get good rest, eat healthy, take care of your body, kind of do the little things that lower your chances” Sure eating healthy and getting good rest and taking care of your body increase your immune system. But if you are in a crowded room and someone is carrying the virus, its not going to not infect you because you ate a healthy dinner and slept good the previous night.... I might be reaching in my anger but it almost seems to imply that the people who have contracted the virus were not taking proper care of themselves...some might not have been but because you start your day with a green drink doesn’t mean this virus won’t infect you.  People need to do what the WHO says, stay distant, wear a mask, try to limit the number of people you are interacting with as much as possible, wash your hands, don’t touch your face...

”sitting around worrying about it is just going to drive you crazy” Yes a lot of people are struggling with their mental health and you shouldn’t just sit at home and drive yourself crazy.....but taking unnecessary trips is also not the smartest thing to do. He crossed 2 countries, potentially 2 provinces and 2 states. He could have limited that.....go walk around the block and get some air...

“Everyone has their own beliefs...”  Everyone does have their own beliefs, but people who think this is fake and just like the flu are wrong. People are dying and suffering. It is not something to be taken lightly just because you don’t think it can happen to you. I notice once the weather got nicer people started caring less......DO BETTER 

I have a lot of thoughts on this Pandemic. I don’t think it would have been so bad if it was taken more seriously in December when it was first beginning. I could go on for days about it. His comments really got to me. Hopefully everyone stays as safe as they can and we get through this pandemic with lots of lesson learned. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 

[segafan37]

Shadamy Snippets: A Chance Meeting

[Shadow's p.o.v.]

I stared at the cars and people entering and exiting the parking lot. A worker was helping an elderly couple load their groceries. A group of teenagers stood around a car trying to act cool while bobbing their heads to some music. I saw a large mouse family pushing three carts toward the store. Each cart had about 3 to 5 small children inside. The children were all talking at once and playing with each other as their parents and a teen mouse pushed the carts. I then turned my gaze to a red female fox walking back to her vehicle, pushing a cart that held her two little ones: a boy and a girl. The girl was a sky blue, and the boy was a bright orange. They looked about the same age.

Maybe they were twins?

I tried to hold back a smile. I liked being here; listening to the mingled noise of the store, and watching the cars and people go by... The people I was sworn to protect. It was... relaxing. I took a sip of my cappuccino, as I relished these thoughts.

Mmm, that barista girl really knows how to make a GOOD cappuccino!

I took another sip as I viewed the dark clouds in the sky.

Looks like it's going to rain. I guess the weather report was wrong, again!

My multipurpose communicator beeped a reminder.

"Examine Star Case Files"

"Well, back to work." I groaned.

On my motorcycle, it takes me 30 minutes to get back to the hidden entrance of the Mobian's G.U.N. base and the way the weather was looking, I knew that I should probably be heading out now. 

I started rising from my chair, but something inside stopped me. It was like I was glued to my seat. Although, if I was being honest, I'd say I didn't want to go. I looked at my communicator again. The digital clock read 1pm.

"You got more than a half an hour left, Shadow!" I reassured myself. "You can stay for another 15 minutes."

I smiled, snoozed the reminder, and gazed back at the window. I was relieved that I didn't have to head back to work, just yet. I closed my eyes to engulf myself in the sounds of all that surrounded me. 

Car doors slam, horns beep, shopping carts rattle and squeak. Feet shuffle across the floor, children laugh, friends talk about work, love, school, and life. Workers greet, bar scanners beep and chairs glide across the floor. People serve, people eat, people drink, and people speak. 

These people... are why I am here.

I guess I was so entranced in my peace of mind that I didn't hear someone come up beside me. My ears twitched when I heard a female voice say my name. 

"Shadow?"

I opened my eyes and turned my head to see the one and only Amy Rose. 

"Amy?"

Her eyes widened with delight, and mine with shock. It has been over 7 years since I last saw Miss Rose, when we both attended Vector's wedding.

"Amy." I said again.

"Shadow!"

"How have you been!?" We were both surprised that we said it in unison. She kind of yelled it, but I just spoke it.

We laughed a little at ourselves. I stepped off my bar stool, suddenly feeling okay to leave it, and stepped back to get a good look at Amy. She was older, obviously, and had grown to almost reach my eye level. Her iconic red head band was gone and her quills were longer, the ends just reaching past her shoulders. Her dress was different too. It was still red, but was flowy, lacked the white trim, had short sleeves, and rested below her knees. The only thing about her appearance that was the same were her gold bracelets, boots, and white gloves and socks. (However, her socks were no longer rolled up.)

I was kind of bewildered by her new look. I liked it!

"You look.." I paused and gazed her over again "Good! You look good!" My voice had a hint of excitement to it. She smiled and shrugged.

"Thanks! I feel great, actually! And you look...", she paused, looking me over, "Um?.. Good, too!? The same, but good!"

I chuckled sarcastically. "Wow! Thanks! What a compliment! I feel very special. I'm blushing in fact. You can't see it cuz of my dark fur, but it's there!"

Amy blushed. Her back stiffened and her shoulders went up.

"Oh! Shadow, you know I didn't mean it like that!"

Inwardly, I smiled. That's the Amy I know.

"It's just that,.." she continued, "you're the Ultimate Lifeform! No matter the time span, you'll always look the same."

I sighed and gave an eye roll. I knew she was right and wasn't trying to be rude. I was just slightly annoyed, that she couldn't think of something better to say. Was it that hard for people to see that I've changed?

"Yeah, well, I'm not entirely the same." I retorted.

"Oh!?"

"Yeah! For one, I've grown, height and mass wise." I saw Amy give off a weird face.

Why did I say that!?

But I just continued.

"My voice has more base, if you hadn't noticed. And I work now as the Commander of G.U.N."

After Amy heard the last bit, her weird face disappeared and was replaced with a look of disbelief. 

"You're the Commander of G.U.N.?" she slowly asked, pointing a finger at me.

I folded my arms. "Don't look so surprised! I used to be G.U.N.'s top agent, once upon a time!" I said, not hiding my annoyance. I had taken Amy's question as an insult, but her next action proved I was mistaken.

"Shadow, that's incredible! What an honor! You're G.U.N.'s first Mobian Commander!"

I blushed and gave off a small chuckle.

"Yeah, well, with great power comes great responsibility."

Man! That was dumb!

If Amy thought it was dumb, she didn't show it. She just giggled and leaned towards me.

"I see you're blushing!" she teased. "I guess you can see a blush through that dark fur!"

I rolled my eyes and smirked. 

"You got me there!"

She laughed. I looked behind me to see if anyone was listening. Of course, no one was. Everyone was too busy in their own world to care about us. I turned to look at Amy again, who was still in her mocking position. I noticed the 'Sweet Bun' sub and drink in her hands.

She must have came up here to sit down and have lunch.

"Hey, would you like a seat?" I pointed to an empty bar stool next to mine.

She rose to her full height as she spoke, "Oh! Thanks! Probably be best."

Amy placed her things on the bar table and took the seat next to mine, as I returned back to my own.

* * * * * * * * *

[Amy's p.o.v.]

As our conversation went on, I couldn't help but notice that there was a change in Shadow. I already saw the difference. He was balanced. However, speaking with him more made the balance more noticeable, and made me to question.

What has happened to him?

I couldn't put my finger on it! Physically, he looked the same, an attribute I knew came with being the Ultimate Lifeform, and his demeanor was still stern and austere, yet his vibe was more relaxed and... friendly!

As I sat listening to the black hedgehog, with my face resting in my palms, I couldn't help but stare, a bit dreamily. His words became muffled, as I thought more of our past, his transformation, and our friendship. I admired him. 

That's when I decided,

I like him this way!

I didn't notice that Shadow had stopped talking and was looking at me a bit confused and alarmed. I guess he caught me staring at him.

"What!? Is there something on my face?"

"Oh! Uh.. no!.. I", I stammered. I could feel my face grow red. I swallowed and took a breath.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. It's just..." I trailed off, as I looked into his eyes, "I-I can't help but notice the change in you."

"You mean I'm not as grim or stiff as before." he stated, bluntly.

"Pretty much!" I smiled nervously, " What caused you to be different?"

Shadow furrowed his brows and looked toward the window.

Oh, no! Did I say something wrong!?

"Do you know why I was so grim before?", he asked, still gazing at the window.

Was that a rhetorical question? 

"Well.." I started.

"Because the world was in danger!" he firmly interjected. "Eggman was threatening to conquer the world, and I couldn't rest until he was subdued! These people," he gestured his hand toward the window, "deserve to live in safety and have the chance for happiness. I gave a promise long ago to protect the world, and I will do everything in my power to keep it! So, when Eggman and all his evil was destroyed, I was able to breathe." 

His voice held such determination and passion, that it was inspiring. He turned back to me. His eyes were sparkling once more and he wore a small smile. I refrained myself from giving any dreamy stares. 

I knew he wasn't a cruel being as some perceived him to be.

"And then this is where my study of psychology came in."

"I see, but you still work for G.U.N. Why?" I asked.

"Because the bad guys are still out there. With people like Starline and the Deadly Six wandering about, you can't stop."

"Shadow." I said, thoughtfully.

"Yeah?"

"I like you this way!" I concluded."You've really grown!" He laughed.

"Well, I didn't know my behavior was being quizzed under your 'Self-Improvement Test,.." I started to laugh. He did not just say that! "But I'm glad I passed!", he said with a triumphant smile. 

"I didn't mean it like that!", I protested, giving him a shove. He laughed. "I'm just glad that you've loosened up a bit, so that the world can see the good person that I already saw in you."

Shadow opened his mouth to speak, but then smiled. I smiled back. His red, powerful eyes gazed into mine intently, but I wasn't afraid. They were lovely; the eyes of a dear friend that I had almost forgotten. Another loud beeping interrupted the moment. Shadow looked at his wristwatch and turned it off.

"Work?" I asked.

"Yeah. Duty calls!" Shadow said, as he mounted off his stool and grabbed his leather jacket. I followed suit.

"I should probably head out, too. I don't want to get caught in the rain."

"You think it's going to rain, too!?"

"Of course! Have you seen those clouds!? The weather report is never right!"

He laughed. "True that!"

We walked down the stairs and out of the building, stopping just in front of Kangaroo Kroger's front entrance. A silence fell between us as we turned to face each other.

* * * * * * * * *

[Shadow's p.o.v.]

"Yeah! See ya around."

As Amy turned to walk away, I felt that I had forgot something. But what was it? Before I fully understood what I was doing, I called out to her.

"Welp!" Amy started, breaking the silence. "I'll see you around, Shadow!"

"Amy, wait!"

She stopped and looked at me with concern.

"What is it Shadow?"

I began rubbing the back of my neck as I slowly said my reply.

"Can I... give you a hug?" My arms were outstretched and I wore a sheepish grin, with my head slightly down. I felt kind of stupid asking this when we both were about to leave, but I didn't want to let her go, until we had done this. I saw her face questioning my motives. 

"I don't want to leave without giving you a proper goodbye."

She smiled and answered warmly "Of course!"

We hugged, a short, friendly side hug. I got a whiff of her hair. It smelled nice.

I wonder what shampoo she uses?

"It was good catching up with you, Amy." I said, as we broke from the hug. "I really enjoyed it."

"Me too!" she agreed with a smile. And with that she turned on her heels and waved goodbye. 

"Bye Shadow!"

"Bye Amy! I'll catch you later!"

I didn't know then how true those words would be.

.

.

.

Exsert from Shadamy fanfic "12 Years Later: A New Dawn". You can read the rest of this chapter and more on Wattpad, DeviantArt, Quotev, or Webnovel.

[goron-king-darunia]

Annon-Guy: Marta has her flaws, don't get me wrong. She was definitely pushy at the beginning. I just don't agree about her being manipulative. She does grow as a character in my opinion, she's just hampered by poor writing, miscommunication with her unchanged Post-Battle Quotes and putting her character development in the Journal. (Crossover Titles do Marta good though.) People who defend Marta make good points personally. But, I'm sorry for disagreeing on the subject of Marta here.

I mean, that’s very fair and she’s definitely not done any favors by having all her (alleged) development happen in the journal and she DEFINITELY got the shaft for poor writing. Her main arc could have been finally having the courage to face Brute, and then they did that and then just completely forgot to develop her at all and then were like “Whoops, game’s not over, let’s do the romance thing now real quick” and then they 100% fell flat with it. I think it depends on the crossover title. Rays I think did a good job, but from what I’ve seen in Crestoria (I haven’t played yet.) she’s, like, SUPER selfish. Emil goes through some shit and he’s just like “Okay so... this is Ratatosk.” And Marta’s just “Haha, great WHEN CAN HE LEAVE?” Like... In that one moment, Crestoria basically undid all the good faith I’d built up for her. Marta in Rays? 8/10. Actually has decent interactions with everyone else and isn’t so pushy with Emil since they’re post-game and just yadda yadda’s over the important shit and just starts with her and Emil basically being a couple and Emil seems fine with it so it’s WAY less uncomfy. Marta in Crestoria (just what I’ve seen, maybe she gets better) is like -1/10 for me because they somehow made me like her less. She literally treats Ratatosk (who in Crestoria LITERALLY EXISTS WITHOUT HIS CONSENT, HE JUST FUCKING APPEARED) as a COCKBLOCK. Her main concern seemed to be NOT what Emil went through, NOT what Ratatosk must be going through, but the fact that Ratatosk lives in Emil’s body so it throws a wrench in her being able to do kissy kissy things with Emil. DotNW canon Marta is, like, 3/10 for me. Cute design, has some good moments, had great potential, and was COMPLETELY MISHANDLED. Like, obviously this is to taste so I’m not trying to shit on anyone that likes Marta as is, but I think she could have been done SO much better if they dialed that clinginess down from an 11 to an 8 and actually gave her a consistent arc instead of waffling over it. What they did early on with her and Colette? That was good. Appropriately casting Colette as Marta’s “villain” and then having Marta learn that, no, Colette’s a genuinely good person. It works well with the overall themes that sometimes good people (Richter, Ratatosk, Lloyd, Marta, Colette, Emil) make terrible mistakes and that doesn’t make them bad people. Like, I don’t think Marta is a terrible person. I just absolutely HATE how she’s written and she’s NOT someone I can see myself being friends with if I met her in real life. But then Marta’s later arcs did her so dirty. Her arc that should have been about standing up to her dad got absolutely kneecapped by Emil’s man-pain and the arc that should have been about Marta learning to accept Emil and Ratatosk as they are was completely reversed as soon as it was over because she went right back to showing Emil preferential treatment and nothing about her DEMONSTRABLY changed. We’re told she changed but the fact that this change doesn’t carry through in the battle quotes or any subsequent interactions is just... terrible.  And the manipulation bit? I’m getting that 100% from the hot springs scene. In ToS, Zelos is framed as being a sleeze who’s taking advantage of a situation and Lloyd gets punished for his crimes. DotNW tries to do a call back to that but WAY WORSE because Marta LITERALLY ORCHESTRATES THE CIRCUMSTANCES by making Emil think he’s going in for a soak with the other guys, WAITING UNTIL HE’S ALONE, putting up a sign so no one comes looking, and then sneaking in to be alone with him. She’s not a manipulator of people necessarily, but she’s DEFINITELY a manipulator of circumstance and that does NOT vibe well with me. I get that the game was trying to make it cheeky and cute and they do try to make Marta look good by having her trying to take the blame for it, but the fact that she didn’t think about the consequences before doing it, or the fact that she DID and decided they were worth it anyway just... makes me hate her for doing it. And I think the scene could EASILY be fixed if, like. Marta had ASKED Emil to go to the hot springs alone with her and he agreed and they got discovered a different way (Too loud cheeky giggling might have been enough) If Emil had been part of it consensually and then everyone accused him of being a letch and then Marta tried to take the blame like “No, it was my idea, I talked him into it.” That would have been SO MUCH BETTER TO ME. Same fundamental interaction but makes Marta look a LOT better because she’s not being a puppeteer trying to get Emil alone. She’d instead just be a hormonal, slightly pushy teen girl trying to do grown up things with the boyfriend she’s trying to woo and Emil would be doing it willingly because he likes her back. Instead Marta’s just... ambushing him and he clearly wasn’t 100% into it. This wasn’t like a welcome surprise because when he finds out she’s in there with him he SCREAMS.  Like if we saw the same scene play out but with the gender reversed: A man orchestrating a situation where a woman is in a hot spring bath alone, then putting up a sign so he can sneak in and be alone with her and she was not expecting it and her first instinct is to SCREAM? Yeah, we’d view that situation as pretty gross. Putting it in context does help because the game is trying to establish that Marta is trying to court Emil and Emil’s at least shown to not be 100% opposed. But if Emil had been a girl and Marta a boy, Marta would rightfully have gotten the blame. So I just hate it on two vectors, because the characters are low key sexist for acting like Marta couldn’t possibly have been the one trying to be a letch (even though it was DEFINITELY EMIL THAT SCREAMED so maybe high key sexist...) and Marta’s just pulling strings instead of thinking about what Emil would want. Like, even if Emil was 100% down for a sneaky hotspring couple’s bath, I think he would have liked to know about it first hand instead of being surprised by it, because even if you think Emil was 100% down for it and only screamed because he was surprised, HE STILL SCREAMED. If Marta wanted to surprise him, she could have put up the sign FIRST, and then told Emil “Hey, so, I put up the cleaning sign so the hot springs are available for just the twooooo of ussssss~” instead of what she actually did.  Maybe I’m just putting too much importance on scenes that are meant to be funny, but even if that’s true, the writers are seriously hiding some very uncomfy messages behind a veil of humor and I DO NOT LIKE THAT.

[lalahbug]

Hidden Emotions - Levi x Reader

Fandom: Attack on Titan Word Count: 2,888

My Masterlist

Warnings/disclaim: general I wrote this before I knew about the lifespan of a Titan shifter, so that doesn’t exist in this certain fanfic, okay? Okay.

Author’s Note: continued under story Originally posted on DeviantArt, same username, on 03/05/2017. Revamped/edited in 2020.

___ is a blank for your name/oc/whatever you prefer Written in 3rd person

Line/header is to separate paragraphs to indicate time skips, as Tumblr hates my formatting. I do not own it, found it as a free vector to use though.

Story under cut

          “State your name and business.” Levi droned as someone knocked at his door.

          “___, Erwin told me you wanted to see me.”

          “Enter.”

          ___ pushed the door open and closed it lightly, she walked up to his desk and stood, until Levi glanced up at her and gestured to her to sit.

          “Erwin said you had something you needed to tell me.”

          “Yes.” Levi kept writing for a moment until he was done with his sentence. Oh, how he loved her patience. He put down his pen then leaned back crossing his arms across his chest. “You’ve been in the Scout Regiment, for about 4 years, correct?” She nodded. “You haven’t died but you haven’t really done anything notable,” she nodded in agreement.

          ’She talks less than I do. She always does her job, keeps to herself.’ Levi thought to himself.

          “Erwin and I believe you have more potential. We need you to be better. Starting Monday, you’ll be a Squad Leader. Our new recruits will be under you until they die or are put into another squad.”

          “Thank you very much for this opportunity,” Levi was about to say, you’re welcome. “But, I would like to decline if I can. I do not believe I would be a good leader. I’m a pawn, maybe a rook. I’m no knight such as yourself and Hange. I do not believe I could be better. I apologize.”

          Levi just stared at her. He was not expecting this at all. Her eyes were as deadpanned as his. He never knew she had self-doubt like this, is this why she never did anything notable? Because she figured she can’t do more?

          “You are a Squad Leader as of Monday. It has already been decided. If you have issues, you may ask any Squad Leader or Erwin. You will meet your squad Monday morning in the mess hall.”

          “Yes, sir.” He saw a glint in her eyes, it was either worry or fear, it was too fast for him to tell.

          “Then you’re dismissed,“ she nodded and stood up, pushed in her chair.

          “Levi!” Hange busted into his room. “Oh, ___!” Hange hugged her, causing her to stiffen.

          “Afternoon, Hange. Please let go.”

          “I’m your best friend, who you tell everything to and I can’t even hug you!” Hange whined.

          “We can talk later, I would like to go to my room.”

          “Did Shorty say something weird? Like he loves you?”

          “Oi!”

          “Hange, even if Captain did. Nothing would happen, you know that.” ___ pulled herself out of Hange’s arm. “I’m a Squad Leader as of Monday. So I would like to get some materials. I will see you later.”

          “Oh! That’s awesome! Let me know if you need anything!”

          Levi’s eyes widened a bit. ___ actually smiled full-heartedly at Hange.

          “Of course, Hange. I always go to you,” with that, she left. As much as Levi hates Hange, he liked having her around when he was with ___. Hange brought a side to her that Levi never saw.

          “What the fuck was that about me loving her?” Levi spat at Hange.

          “Well, you do. You need to start dropping hints. She’s so clueless. You’ve loved her for like three years, you always stare at her! Come on, Shorty!”

          “Shut up, Shitty Glasses! God, I regret you ever figuring that out,” Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. “What did she mean, nothing would happen, even if I told her?”

          “Oh that. Well, she doesn’t want a relationship. She doesn’t see a point since she’s in the Regiment. Knowing that she’ll die and leave her lover behind.” Hange paused and looked down. “The thought of it, makes her almost cry. It’s the first time I ever saw her eyes water.”

          “I doubt she’ll die anytime soon. She’s the only one who ever survives when her squad dies. She’s outlived many of her Squad Leaders.”

          “It’s a bit strange if you think about it. How does she always survive? It’s like she’s a titan like Eren.” Hange chuckled a bit, before realizing that wasn’t actually too bad of an explanation.

          “If she is, why would she be here for so long? You’ve known her since you were both young adults.”

          “Huh.” Hange tapped her chin. “I want to ask her now. I wonder if she’ll lie or not. Her eyes do a weird shake like thing when she lies or is nervous.”

          “Let me know how that goes, now get out,” Levi grumbled while getting back to his paperwork. Hange left his office, closing the door. “How would I drop hints when she’s so impervious with her emotions?” he mumbled to himself.

          Levi was walking towards ___’s room. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone, but he had been going to her room every night. To check on her, make sure she was okay. Sometimes he would sit in her room if she was tossing and turning.

          Cracking her door open to see if she was in bed, for once in the past 5 weeks, she wasn’t. Also, a first, her room was a mess, papers and books were everywhere. Confused, Levi walked into her room, picking up one of the books, it was about leadership.

          “She is actually freaking out. That’s cute,” Levi placed the book back where it was, ignoring the mess, he went to go find her. It’s not his mess to clean, he’d make her clean it instead.

          She was pacing outside with a book in her hand, she flipping through the pages. She made a small groan before leaning back on a tree and sliding down it to sit. Staring up at the canopy, stars peeping through the leaves.

          “Why aren’t you in bed?” ___ snapped her gaze over to Levi.

          “Evening, Heichou.” Levi paused as he noticed a slight blush on her cheeks before she looked back up. “The sky is beautiful tonight, it’s been awhile since I’ve been outside this late,“ she mainly whispered to herself.

          “You haven’t answered my question.” Levi stood in front of her, she looked from the sky to him.

          “I know, as I am now. I can’t be a Squad Leader. I don’t have the confidence, the only time I can be aggressive is when I notice someone about to die. I do everything I can. I even lost my foot that one time. I can’t do this on my own. Hange is going to help me more tomorrow, but I figured I could do my own studying and research in the meantime. I got upset at myself, so I came outside to read.”

          Levi stared at her, as she rambled, this is the most he had ever heard her talk in one go. Maybe this is the side that Hange always got to see. The one Hange said he’d love. Her sweet and worrying, a bit scared but wanting to fight side.

          “Why?” she looked at Levi.

          “What?”

          “What do you guys see in me? Just because I can stay alive, doesn’t mean I am worth anything.”

          “___.” Levi squatted down in front of her. “Being able to stay alive out there, is a rare thing. You’ve got something that makes it so you fight harder. Erwin wants you to pass that one to others. So we can keep more people.”

          “What if I can’t?”

          “Then we’ll keep losing people. You can make great split decisions, many which have saved us before. You’ll be a fine leader.”

          “Do you really think so, Levi?” ___ sat up more, looking into his eyes, trying to read him. 

          Levi was so happy to hear his name roll off her tongue, for the first time. His heart twinged at her cute, sad, worried (e/c) eyes.

          “Yes,” he gave her a small smirk, which caused her to blush, lean back and look back up. Levi noticed this. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her.

          “Thank you,” she whispered.

          As Levi leaned towards her, before something clicked in his mind. “Early, you said you lost a foot. Which one?”

          She looked back at him, her eyes shook slightly. “My right, I meant almost lost. Sorry about the confusion.” Her normal tone was back, she was closing back up. Levi studied her for a moment, she was lying.

          “You suck at lying.”

          “If I lost a foot, it wouldn’t be in my boot, right now.”

          Levi put a hand on her arm, in case she tried to escape. “Unless you’re a titan, like Eren.”

          She glared at him for a moment. “You’re being stupid,“ she smacked his hand and stood up. “I’m going to bed.” Levi pushed her up against the tree, pinning her by her wrist. “Get off me.”

          “Stop lying to me.”

          “What difference does it make to you? Whether I am a titan or not? I’m still ___.”

          “If you’re a titan, you’ve been deceiving us all, you could have helped. You have let all of us down, by letting hundreds die.” Levi spat at her. Her eyes widened. “Plus, you’ve outlived everyone in your squads. How have you been doing that? What are you hiding?” Levi growled at her when she didn’t answer him. “You’re a fucking disgrace,” Levi gripped her by the front of her shirt, starting to walk and dragging her.

          “What are you doing?”

          “We’re going to Erwin. Now.”

          “I’m sorry.” Levi turned his head to look at her, meeting her fist.

          By the time he opened his eyes. She was gone.

          Levi burst into Hange’s room. “___’s gone!” Hange jumped out of bed.

          “What do you mean gone?!”

          “I confronted her. She’s a titan. When dragging her to Erwin. She punched me and disappeared.”

          “Why didn’t you just talk to her about it? You’ve scared her off, Shorty! We could have talked it out then talked to Erwin!” Hange was shaking Levi by the shoulders. Before letting go and quickly pulling on some shoes.

          “Where are you going?!” Levi chased after her.

          “To find, ___! She’s my best friend; titan, and lair, but she’s still my dearest friend! And if you truly loved her, you wouldn’t have been such an ass!” Hange ran out of the building. Levi groaned as his heart ached and chased after Hange. 

          ___ was sitting on top of the Rose Wall. Staring down at the titans below, out in the distance. The wind was blowing her hair around. She wanted to jump down and transform, run far away. But at the same time, she wanted to run into Hange’s arms, cling to her. She put her hands over her ears and curled up, trying to not cry. She had no right to cry, she had lied to everyone for almost 15 years. She brought this upon herself, she just wanted to be a human and live and die among them. She had never thought of helping them, there wasn’t an urge until 5 years ago. But even if she would have tried to help, she probably would have been killed. That is what she had always thought until Eren came along. She always tried to help, only transforming when she knew there was no other choice. 

          Screams of her fallen comrades flooded her mind, she broke down crying. Curling up even tighter, rocking back and forth. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Hange was kneeling next to her, with a small smile.

          ___ nearly jumped on Hange, crying and clinging to her. Of course, Hange just held ___. Hange knew all of her hiding spots. Now that Hange knew her best friend was a titan, this certain hiding spot, made a lot more sense. 

          Levi stared at ___, he had never seen her cry, saw her broken looks but never a tear. He could hear her gasping for air as she clung to Hange, mumbling sorry over and over. She’s beautiful, even while crying.

          ___ pushed away from Hange, sitting on her knees and rubbing her eyes, trying to stop crying. “I’m sorry I never told you. I could have helped you. I could have helped humanity. I’m so sorry. I lied to you for nearly 15 years. I don’t deserve a friend like you,” she was starting to hiccup from crying so much. Hange threw a glare over her shoulder to Levi, who looked away from her glare.

          “You’re my best friend. I understand why you never told me or anyone. If you would have when our world wasn’t getting worse. They likely would have killed you.” Hange looked at ___, who was still trying to stop herself from crying. “Until everything with Eren, even if you would have told me. I would have kept it secret with you, in fear of you being killed. You’ve never hurt anyone that didn’t attack you first. Even titans. You’re the sweetest girl I’ve ever known. In fear of letting anyone down, you’ve held back and been under the radar in fear of having to explain yourself.” Hange hugged ___ as the tears finally stopped.

          “I can’t get their screams out of my head. My last squad. An abnormal attacked, I didn’t want to lose them. After two got ate, I transformed. But they ran from me in fear, which made them die. Even at my strongest, I fail. I’m such a disgrace, I can’t do this Hange. I should have never entered the city.”

          “I know the screams won’t stop. You’ve always had them, since your first expedition. You’ve been telling me that for years.” Hange rubbed her back. Levi just stared at her. Feeling guilty for the words he had spat at his love beforehand.

          “Hange, I want to die now.”

          Hange smack ___ across the face. “Don’t you say that shit!” ___ laughed a bit, Hange smiled. ___ then noticed Levi and crawled behind Hange so he could no longer see her. Levi clicked his tongue before walking over and gripping ___ by the arm. Pulling her to her feet, his tight grip making her squeak a bit.

          “You punched me really hard you know.”

          “You were dragging me off. I claim self-defense.”

          “You still have to pay for the pain you did to my head.”

          “Fine, I’ll clean the stables.”

          “No.” With one tug, he crashed his lips onto hers. She squeaked and pushed him away. Hange clapped.

          “Finally!” Hange cheered.

          “Shut up!”

          “What?” ___ looked at both of them.

          Hange popped up and kissed ___ on the cheek. “When you’re done. I want to talk before you see Erwin. I’ll leave you to lover boy, for now,“  Hange walked off.

          “I am very confused.” ___ glanced at Hange walking away then at Levi’s hand on her arm. “Can you let go?”

          “Will you stay?” she gave him a small nod and he let go of her arm. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. They were basically the same height, so Levi just leaned forward and pressed his lips softly to hers for a small second. 

          “I thought you hated me.”

          “Because of what I said earlier?” she looked away. “I’m not good with my emotions. I’ve loved you for 3 years. I was about to kiss you before my fucking brain clicked what you said.” Levi put a hand on her face, pressing his cooling hand against her warm cheek that Hange had smacked. “I’m sorry. Let’s head back,” she nodded, staring at him for a moment before heading down the wall.

          While walking back, Levi wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

          ___ looked at Levi, with a confused look.

          “Would you fucking say something instead of just staring at me? You’re starting to piss me off.”

          “You love me?”

          He clicked his tongue. “That’s why I kissed you.”

          “I thought you knew about me being a titan and no longer trusted me. That’s why you were checking on me every night.” Levi started blushing a bit. “But you did that because you love me?”

          Levi coughed. “So you knew? And yes that’s why.” He stopped and stood in front of her. Putting a hand on her cheek again, running a thumb over her cheekbone and smirked as she started blushing. She glanced at his lips then back at his eyes. “Oi, brat.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

          “Brat? You’re like 5 years older than me,“ she scoffed at him.

          Levi rolled his eyes before kissing her, moving his hand to the back of her neck, to deepen the kiss. ___ bowed her body into his, wrapping her arms around his neck. Levi pulled away a bit. 

          “You still haven’t really replied to my confession.”

          “I like you.”

          Levi clicked his tongue in frustration. “Fucking brat.”

          She gave him a small smirk before giving him a light kiss. “Old perv.”

          “Tch.” picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. “I’ll teach you how to respect your elders.”

          “Put me down!” She ordered him.

          “I don’t take orders from you, bitch.” Levi smacked her ass, earning a small yelp.

          “I have a feeling my lesson, isn’t going to be something I would ever learn in school.”

          “Your lesson is only to be taught by me. The lesson you need to learn right now, can’t be taught with words… only with action.” A small smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he heard the female make a loud gulp.

Author’s Note: continued Also Levi is a bit OOC. I really disliked this fanfic when I wrote it. But it got positive feedback years ago, so I guess it’s decent but still. I am sorry for this shit.