#spinach squad

[autumncakes]

...haha

new au idea

[tippenfunkaport]

bow of course eats his spinach he is a good boy, but i caint make up my mind on Glimmer, wot do you think?

Bow definitely eats his spinach and a variety of other veggies.

If left to her own devices, Glimmer would eat nothing but sweets, however Bow is on her case about eating healthy so often that she will sometimes reach for the greenery all on her own begrudgingly because she knows her inner Bow would want her to.

(You did not ask about Catradora but I am adding them in for funsies.)

Catra found a book in Bow's dads library that said cats are carnivores and uses that as her get out of veggies free card (just ones she doesn't feel like eating, mind you, she'll happily eat all sorts of fruit and veg if it's yummy) and lords it over Glimmer at every opportunity.

Adora, at first, wants nothing to do with veggies (like Scorpia, she is just completely unfamiliar with them and why would she bother with those green things when there are so many other yummy new things to try?) but when she finds out they are healthy then she thinks more veggies = better??? somehow and she HAS to be her best, right? So she eats so many she makes herself sick until Bow makes her learn about balanced eating. (Modern AU where Adora knows about Popeye and spinach and she knows it's just a cartoon... but adds spinach to every smoothie just in case.)

[alovesongtheywrote]

WHYYYYYYYYYY

♥ Summary:  I'M SO SORRY. in this chapter of nightmare academia, spencer gets what he deserves and then some. [Prof!Spencer Reid x GN-Prof!Reader]

♥ Warnings: the reader is VERY mean to spencer- i mean, he definitely deserves some of it but oh my god, the reader is almost homicidal. mentions of maeve, a side character's shitty ex is following them, sadness, anger, angst

♥ A/N: i just want to point out, i think the reader was in the right with their argument in the last chapter. anyway, fun fact- some of the Fun Names the reader calls reid are references to the tin can bros production, "the solve it squad." neat :D

♥ Word Count: 3812, a few dozen of which came from @mxcheese

Series Masterlist

♥♥♥

Spencer felt like absolute shit- and he should have.  He’d been a massive fucking dick to you and for what?  He'd taken the objectively wrong side in that argument, and for what? To protect himself from future grief?  To protect himself from the guilt of moving on from Maeve?  He’d succeeded.  He’d driven you away.  Maybe that was for the best, but god did it not feel worth it.

He’d hurt you.  He’d done it on purpose.  He’d gone for your insecurities, for the things he knew would hurt you the most.  He tore at your weak spots like a feral dog, and he regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.

He watched you drive away.  He watched as your car got smaller and smaller until he couldn’t see it anymore.  Then, he buried his face in his hands and tried not to scream.  He stood out there in the cold on the side of the street until Morgan came to get him.

Morgan didn’t ask what had happened.  He already knew Reid had done something stupid.

“My advice, kid?” Morgan said as he dropped Reid off later that evening, “Call them.  Apologize to them.  Solve whatever issues you have, because someone like that doesn’t come around every day.”

Spencer sighed, “Look, I know you want me to sleep with them, or whatever, but that isn't going to happen.  It was never going to happen.”

“This isn’t about sleeping with them.  This is about being a good person.  I’ll see you around, kid.”

Like that, Morgan was gone, and Reid was alone.  He didn’t call you.  He didn’t apologize.  He just curled up in his bed and let himself decompose.  He told himself he was giving you space.  He was letting you process things.  Really, he was letting his own guilt swallow him.  He was drowning in bedsheets and sorrow, and he didn’t care about coming up for air.

When he went into work on Monday, you were nowhere to be found.  This was normal.  You didn’t hold any classes on Mondays.  Still, you had left things behind for him before- missing mugs, cans of creamed spinach, locks on all his cabinet doors.  That Monday, there was nothing.  There were no traces of you left behind.  You were haunting him.

He stopped by your office.  Obviously, you weren’t there.  The door was locked tight.  Reid still found himself trying to open it, trying to get into the small room that held so many parts of you inside of it.  You were haunting it.  You were haunting him.  

When he returned to his own office, he knocked his copy of Pride and Prejudice off the shelf.  He’d annotated it, reading it along with the articles you’d written on the topic.  He loved the way your mind worked.  He loved a lot of things about you.  And what had he done?  He’d hurt you.  On purpose.  And now, you were fucking haunting him.

And by the time his final class rolled around, Reid had resolved to do something about it.

-

You, on the other hand, were doing pretty good.  True, you had sobbed your eyes out as you’d pulled away from the bar.  The second Reid was out of sight, you had actually pulled over, deciding it wasn’t safe enough for you to drive in your emotionally volatile state.

You didn’t want to be upset about it.  You weren’t upset about what you had said.  You were right.  Kate Callahan had made some majorly fucked up jokes.  You had every goddamned right to be mad about that.

You also had every right to be pissed at what Reid said to you.  He had been so incredibly cruel, hitting you where he knew it would hurt most.  He’d called out your deepest insecurities.  He’d called you stupid, told you you were right to be insecure, and insulted your academic work in the span of five minutes.  You had every reason to hit the motherfucker with your car.

So why were you crying?  

Once you’d calmed yourself down enough to drive again, you headed straight to the nearest convenience store.  You had wine at home, and you weren’t going back to your apartment until you had enough ice cream on hand to kill a man.  

Maybe that’s what you would do.  Fuck pranks, you would just murder Reid by way of ice cream.  You weren’t sure how you would do that, but you wanted to.

You spent the rest of your night the way most people in your situation would- getting wine drunk, consuming ice cream, and watching terrible movies until you fell asleep.  Honestly, it wasn’t the worst way to spend an evening.  By the end of it, you felt significantly less shitty- you still felt stupid.  You would probably always feel stupid now that someone had looked at your deepest insecurities and confirmed them.  You felt better, though.  That was all you could ask for.

The next morning, you took some aspirin and threw yourself into your volunteer work- GEDs baby, GEDs all around.  While you wouldn’t teach in person until Monday, the weekend gave you ample time to answer emails from students, look over papers, and provide support to your students.  

Really, the job wasn’t too difficult.  You always got strange looks when you told people that you tutored former inmates out of the community center.  Honestly, it wasn’t that big a deal.  You just helped people learn in ways that actually worked for them.  Some people were visual learners, some were auditory learners.  Some preferred to analyze James Baldwin over Jane Austin, and others learned better when you described the plot of Pride and Prejudice as if it were a personal drama.  People really took to it when you called Darcy a pretty boy asshole with a secret heart of gold.  

By the end of your time with them, most of your students were ready to get their GEDs.  Those who weren’t came back to you for more help.  In other words, you were a good fucking teacher, even if you couldn’t see it.  

When Monday finally rolled around, you were ready to go.  You spent the day helping people achieve their full potential, watching people find new understandings of both themselves and their work.  You were happy.  You were content.  And Reid hadn’t called.  

You tried your best not to care.  He was a former Fed who thought he was in the right.  You shouldn’t care about him.  Still, it was a difficult task to pretend you weren’t a tiny bit hurt that he hadn’t reached out to talk to you.

And it was a task that became much easier when two of your former students popped in that evening, massive grins plastered across their faces.

“Hey, Dr. (L/N), guess who got GED-ed!!”

-

The community center was an older building, still suffering from the pink coat of paint the government had smothered it with in the 90s.  Since then, an update to the plumbing had been the only other remodelling the place had seen.

Spencer thought it was incredibly fitting that you spent your time off there.  Of course you spent your time off in a run-down community center helping people learn things.  You were awfully passionate about that.

He stood outside the building, in the parking lot, leaning against his car.  The sun had just slipped beyond the horizon, leaving the sky a dark blue before true darkness set in.  The lights from the building before him danced off the wet pavement.

Honestly, Spencer felt a little bit like a creep, watching people come and go.  He was trying to build up the courage to go and face you.  He would need it.  He knew there was no chance that you would see his face and instantly forgive him.  Honestly, it was more likely that you would throw something at him, and he would take it, because he fucked up and that’s what he deserved.

Spencer steeled himself, finally taking a step towards the community center when he felt something.  Someone was watching him.  He knew that feeling- the distorted tingling sensation of eyes on him.  He looked around.  The voyeur had to be around somewhere. 

He was right.  A few parking spots away, in a new-looking white car with a small dent near the passenger’s side door, a man sat staring at him.  Reid locked eyes with the guy, staring at him until finally, the man in the car turned the key in the ignition.  He didn’t break eye contact until he absolutely had to.

Spencer was thoroughly unsettled.

Oh well.  He had a job to do, and that job was apologizing to you.  (Besides, if this boy was capable of listening to his instincts, he wouldn’t have been kidnapped that one time.  He also wouldn’t have broken your heart.  Reid gets too much credit for being smart, I’m not gonna lie.)

He crossed the parking lot in a few strides and pushed open the doors.  The woman at the front desk had a smile on her face, and when he asked for you, she pointed him in your direction without question.

The lights in the hallway were fluorescent.  He wondered if you hated them.  He wondered if you brought lamps to whatever room you worked in.  It would sound crazy if it was anyone else, but you had sent a typewriter to his classes until he let his students use laptops.  You absolutely could take a lamp to your classes.  With you, Spencer didn’t know what to expect.

The door to your classroom was open.  He could see you smiling, a plastic cup in your hand.  You were talking to someone.  Your smile met your eyes.  

“Seriously, this is fucking amazing and I’m so proud of you both.  You should be proud of yourselves!”

Someone laughed, a woman, “Look at us.  Official accomplishments on official paper.  The last time I had one of those, I was getting out of prison.”

“The last time you had what, an accomplishment?” Another voice- a man’s voice- asked.

“No.  An official paper with my name on it.  Y’know, I’m pretty sure some of those prison dudes thought my name was fake.  Every time they had to read my full name, they would say it out loud- what’s so weird about Missy Marie?”

“Literally nothing.  Your name is excellent.  Don’t take it personally, prison guards are just like that.  I have beef with most of the guards I’ve met, I’ll be honest,” you gestured with your cup.

“I can’t imagine why,” the man replied.  Spencer could hear the guy’s smile in his voice.  He could see the smile on yours as you playfully smacked someone in the room.

“It’s because they suck!  It’s fine, though.  One day, they’ll have to call you Dr. Missy Marie.  Then they’ll be sorry.”

“Doc, do you know how much I’d have to pay to become a doctor?  I’m not interested in worrying about student loans for the rest of my life.”

“Fair enough- you could do it, though.  You’re a hard worker, you’re smart, and you have a brain for analysis.  And hey, most places have scholarships, awards, bursaries- I have a list of them if you ever want to look into it.”

The woman paused.  When she spoke again, her voice was a little quieter, but still confident, “I’ll think about it.”

A smile split across your face, blinding and bright, “Excellent.”

You were clearly at a high point- enjoying your night with your students, your friends.  Realization struck Spencer like lighting.  He never should have come here.  He should leave you alone- you were doing fine.  You didn’t need his apology right now.  You didn’t need the foul memory of what he’d said to you disrupting your evening.

He took a step back- and of course, you heard him, looked up, and scowled.  Your smile dropped from your face so fast, Spencer almost wondered if he had imagined it.

“(L/N), is everything okay?” the man asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, Frank.  It’s just that fucking Fed.”

“Shit, the Feds are here!?”

“No, no, just that professor I told you about.”

“Ah.  That professor.”

You rolled your eyes and stood, placing your cup on the desk behind you and heading towards the door- towards Spencer.

“I’ll be right back.  Sit tight, guys.”

You shut the door behind you.  Then, you turned to face Spencer.

He didn’t know what to say.  You had never looked at him like this before- with such contempt.  Sure, you didn’t like him.  You didn’t like him for most of the time you’d known him.  But you’d never looked at him like he was a waste of space, a waste of your time.

“Just where do you get off?” you asked, voice low and heavy with rage, “You couldn’t wait until I came back to work to insult me?  You just had to come to my other job?  Well, go for it asshole.  I’m here.  Do your worst.”

Spencer remained silent, his lips parted slightly as he stared at you.  There was something broken in his expression, and even though he didn’t intend to do it, the motherfucker was hitting you with puppy-dog eyes.  

You wanted to smack those eyes right out of his fucking skull.  You were a little worried, during your ice cream and alcohol binge, that you would cry again upon seeing Reid’s face.  You were worried that you would see his pretty boy face and fold like something that folds easily.  You were terrified that you would just forgive him even though he didn’t deserve to be forgiven.

Clearly, that didn’t happen.

“I- I’m sorry,” he stuttered out.  You were unmoved.  Fucker couldn’t even apologize to you without tripping over his words.

“Fuck your sorry.  Get the fuck out of my classroom.”

“We’re not-” Reid cut himself off, “Look, I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I want you to know that I was wrong.  I made a mistake, and I’m sorry.  You didn’t deserve that- any of it, and you were right.”

You glared at him for a second.  He was correct about a few things- he didn’t deserve your forgiveness.  He was in the wrong, you were right, and you didn’t deserve anything he said to you that night.

You still wanted to smack him.

So you did.

You smacked his arm with the sleeve of your sweater.  Then you smacked him with the other sleeve of your sweater.  He didn’t even raise a hand to defend himself, it was kinda pathetic.

“Fuck you,” you said with a smack, “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, go die.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” he whispered, keeping his voice so quiet that only you could hear him- and he had the AUDACITY to sound somewhat affectionate.  He was staring down with a look, one that would have told you he cared if you didn’t know better.  But you did.  You knew better, and Reid didn’t care about you.  Fucker.

“No.  No, Reid, what’s fair is me saying you’re a sad little fuck who went right for my deepest insecurities without a second thought like a damn child.  What’s fair is me calling you out for using your psychoanalytical bullshit to keep others away.  Like you’re scared of getting close to people.  What do you think is gonna happen, Reid?  Do you think people will stay, even if you treat them like garbage?”

He parted his lips to answer, but you didn’t give him a fraction of a chance.

“What’s fair is me informing you that they won’t.  When you treat people like garbage, they leave, and then you die alone, and what’s fair is me asking you to go die in a ditch so I never have to see your stupid fucking face again.”

That motherfucker looked so hurt and so guilty and you kind of wondered if you took it too far at the end there.  You carried on as if you weren’t wondering that, as if you didn’t feel bad about the kicked-puppy expression on his face.

“What’s fair is me telling you any of that shit.  But I won’t.  Because even though I’m just a stupid academic, I’m still a better person than you.”

You half expected him to fight you on it.  You expected him to protest, or correct your grammar, or do something stupid.  He didn’t.  He just nodded in understanding, like he agreed with you.  He looked at the floor, presumably in shame, and he said nothing.

You stood there, in that hallway illuminated by those terrible fucking fluorescents.  The buzz of those goddamned lights filled the air, mixing with the sound of your breathing.  You wondered if Reid could hear your heartbeat from where he stood.  You decided you didn’t care.

The silence grew to be too much.  Your throat was full of unspoken insults.  Your skin cackled with the electricity of everything you wanted to say- with everything you wanted to do.  

“Do you have anything else to say to me?”

Reid flinched at the sound of your voice.  He wouldn’t look you in the eye, not that you tried to make him.  He started to respond when Sheryl, the community center receptionist, came rushing down the hall.

“Dr. (L/N)- I think that white car is back.”

Immediately your expression shifted from one of anger to one of fear.  You were worried, and if you were worried, then Reid was worried.

“Fuck-” you took a step towards the woman from the front desk, “Is it him?”

“I didn’t see the plate number.”

You sucked in a breath through your teeth.

“Is it a newer model?  Dent in the passenger side door?”  Spencer asked.  When Sheryl nodded, Spencer repeated the entire plate number.

You looked at him with a mixture of confusion and contempt, but you didn’t waste any time on him.  

“Shit,” you growled, turning quickly to open the door, “Missy, do you have anyone to walk you back to your car?”

“We took the bus-”

“Cool.  You aren’t taking the bus home, I’ll give you a ride.  I’ll give you both rides.”

“What’s going on, doc?”

You sighed, hands flexing and curling to fists at your sides, “Jason’s outside.”

“Shit.”

“What’s going on?” Reid asked, his brows furrowed as his voice filled with concern, “Do you need help?”

“It’s none of your business, Reid.”

The door opened behind you, and Reid finally got a look at the people you’d been talking to.  The woman, Missy, was on the skinny side with light brown skin and long black hair.  The man behind her, Frank, was big and bulky- in other words, he had muscles for days.  His dark hair had been cropped short, but he was clearly working on growing it out.  Both Missy and Frank looked at Reid with a mix of curiosity and disappointment.

“That’s him, doc?”

You looked between Missy and Reid quickly- when you spoke, your words came even faster, “Yeah.  That’s him, that’s the shit-licking asshole Fed.”

Sheryl covered her mouth with her hand, muffling her gasp at your apparent audacity.

“Sorry,” you apologized, though the apology was clearly addressed to Sheryl and not to Reid, “That’s the fucking Fed.”

Reid shook off the insult.  Missy and Frank both frowned.  The former leaned towards you, whispering in your ear (though Reid could still hear her.)

“That’s not what you said last week.”

You rolled your eyes and gestured at the hallway, towards the exit, “Come on, guys.  Let’s go.”

“(Y/N), if someone on the property is a threat to you-”

You turned on him, eyes flashing as your lips curled into a sneer, “If you tell me to call the fucking cops, I swear to god.”

Reid paused, trying to pretend he wasn’t about to suggest that exact thing, “I- I was going to ask if I could walk you out.”

Frank looked unimpressed, unsure if Reid could actually do anything against a threat.  Missy seemed more sure of his skills.  You wanted Reid to fuck off.

“I have a taser.”  

Missy leaned forward towards you.  She nudged your arm and whispered, “Hey, safety in numbers.”  Again, her voice was loud enough for Reid to hear.

You sighed, shutting your eyes and groaning out a, “Fine.  He can come.”

Missy smiled at Reid, and he gave her one of those awkward closed-lip grins in return.  You were not charmed by this, but Missy was- at least a little bit.

You headed down the hallway, not stopping to wait for the others until you got to the front door.  When you looked out into the parking lot, you couldn’t see Jason’s car.  That didn’t mean he wasn’t waiting out there.  

You nodded at Sheryl as she returned to the front desk before looking back at the group.  Missy had tucked herself between Reid and Frank- and you couldn’t blame her, honestly.  Her asshole ex was out there, and Frank was buff as hell, and Reid was, at the very least, tall.  You couldn’t stand Reid right now, but you knew, at the very least, that he would try to keep Missy safe.

The trip to your car was uneventful.  Missy and Frank slid into the back seat.  You and Reid were left standing outside the vehicle, exposed and in the open.

You didn’t look at each other.  As you reached for the door handle, Reid stopped you, opening his stupid mouth again.

“I’m sorry.”

You kept your eyes on the car, “I know.”

“I was wrong.”

“I know.”

He paused.  Silence fell.  You coughed.

“Can I have my mugs back?”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Okay.”

Missy pushed open her car door.  She said nothing, but she did give you a pointed look.  You visibly sighed, slumping over the driver’s side door until your chin could rest on the roof.

“Fine,” you hissed, “Come to my office if you want them back.  End of the day.  Don’t come a minute sooner or I’ll stab you to death with mug shards.”

“Understood.”

“Good.”

You pulled over your car door.  He told you to drive safely.  You wanted to drive over him.  You didn’t.  You drove out of the parking lot and down the street in silence.

Behind you, Frank let out a long, slow whistle.

“So,” Missy tapped her fingers against the window, “Your attitude towards him changed.”

“Did it?  I didn’t notice.”

“It did, doc,” Frank picked up where Missy left off, “Last week you liked him.”

“I did not like him.  I despised him.”

“No, you despise him now.  Last week you were trying to get his attention.”

“I was not!” your cheeks caught fire, “If I wanted his attention I would have it.”

“Doc,” Missy laughed, “You do have his attention.”

And she wasn’t wrong.  You certainly had the attention of one Spencer Reid.

♥ Tags: @icarusignite, @usuallyunlikelyfox, @maraudersforlife2005, @fictionalcomforts, @morgthemagpie

[cerastes]

It’s great that IS4 will have better distributed and more “fun” oriented intensifiers (called ‘Natures’ in this case, until they release an official term, if they change it). Waves in IS3 were, to be frank, rather shoddily implemented, starting with the way Arts damage gets kneecapped horribly bad. In IS4, it’s instead a general, smaller Damage Reduction for both Phys and Arts.

The Hope handicap in IS3 was the reason a good amount of people didn’t really even try or stuck to People Skills squad: it was too early, too much

3* non-reserves cost 1 Hope. That immediately changes how IS is played at a fundamental level: Kroos 3* is a great addition to any team because of her innate good damage, spinach compatibility, and 0 cost… But is she worth that precious 1 Hope when your 6* mainliners will cost a whooping 7 Hope? Suddenly that Reserve Sniper seems a whole lot better at 0 cost. It’s a pretty big ask at Waves 4: Even if you only consider Waves 7 as the max difficulty for the purposes of scoring, that’s still way early to throw such a huge change into the mix. Nature 6 seems more apt, and note it only affects 4* and up. I think it’s a step in the right direction; at Waves 4, using Reserves is fine, but at Waves 13 and up, by the time enemies receive their Floor 2 buffs, that’s already a stat heft the Reserves will struggle to compete with, and they have no Skill to even the field. Yes, Waves 8 and above is flexing and testing your own limits, but this can and should also be fun, and getting Hope-starved so badly is a huge turn off to a lot of people, so they use People Skills squad. Then they get bored because using anything but People Skills squad on Waves 4 and above means dealing with the Hope drought.

I also would like if they made Natures more apparent in the UI tbh. This is definitely not an HG blunder, but a concerning amount of people didn’t know (maybe don’t know) that there’s a ladder of difficulties in IS3, because AK players hate reading or are allergic to tutorial text or some other phenomenon, so I had plenty of anons saying IS3 was easier than IS2 and in the same ask asking what these Waves I spoke of were.

All in all, I hope IS4 ends up feeling better than IS3. I do like IS3, but it was a bit of a letdown, to be dorothy frank. I think the Seaborn aesthetic was not really used to its fullest (maps are boring slates of light blue with a pretty boring bgm). It was fun grinding out the Week 1 Waves 15 clear, but after that, it didn’t grab me nearly as hard as IS2 did with it’s excellent aesthetic and replayability.

When it comes to bosses and minibosses: IS3 minibosses are kiiiinda mid. IS2’s Golem and Jetman are fun, the Clown was scary depending on your build, the… Shooty dude was mid, and IS3 midbosses feel like him for the most part.

I like Highmore Boss more than Phantom Boss, I think Highmore is a really good boss and map. Last Knight is the single most miserable boss to fight in the game and very boring even when you know what to do, and somehow worse than Big Sad Lock. Ishar-mla is fine, not bad, not very good, just fine, which is a bit of a letdown for me, considering Mouthpiece is one of my favorite bosses in the game. Jury’s still out on Boss #4, hope it’s good, Playwright isn’t phenomenal but he’s good.

My thoughts on the state of IS3. Though these are various criticisms I have for it, I do wish to note: it’s still a fun mode, and I think a great learning experience: balancing a roguelike or roguelite is not easy and it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, but it’s still a fun game mode.

[siphersaysstuff]

MONTH OF THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON!

January's Patreon-backed @tfwiki toy pictures update is all dragonoids, because... well, it's kinda obvious, isn't it.

Let's start with Cybertron's SCOURGE, brutal dictator of the Jungle Planet!

One of the weirder releases in a "normal" Transformers line, the Beast Machines "Beast Rider" MECHATRON is a minimally-transforming battle chariot with pullback motor and gear-driven action. It was released first in Megatron's red and blue, then later in this fetching purple and yellow.

One can argue Deathsaurus is more a kaiju than anything, but the Combiner Wars iteration (dubbed DEZARAS) is certainly dragonoid enough for me for this. A retool of Sky Lynx, he now forms the torso of Liokaiser, replacing Leozack & Jallguar, thus his colors being more theirs.

The Prime: Beast Hunters toyline was heavy with dragonoid Predacons. And the Kre-O version of the line had its share. This brick-built version of SKYSTALKER came with the "Battle Net Bumblebee" set. Unnamed on the packaging, promo material called him "Stormrazor", Skystalker's pre-release name.

Some Hasbro employee circa 2014 *really* liked Doublecross. The Tiny Titans figurine, now called TWINFERNO (awesome), was the first of several toys of, or based on, the twin-headed dragon Monsterbot over the next few short years. Dig that RID'15 style art on the card!

Speaking of RID'15, WINDRA comes from Takara's version of the line, Adventure. A redeco of Dragonus, this Torpedo Mini-Con was part of the only wave of single-pack Mini-Cons in the line. He also gained a 5mm post on the tail so he can attach to non-Torpedo-launching toys.

The Last Knight put a lot of knight/dragon theming into all Transformers, including the preschool-aimed Rescue Bots line. The "Knight Watch" Bumblebee toy came with the twin dragon Mini-Cons FREEZER BURN and WINGBLADE, who turn into battle axes with a single step.

You didn't think you were NOT going to get some BotBots images, did you? The Fresh Squeezes squad has two dragons most bots avoid: ADAY because she's a snappy super-tart apple, and SMERG THE SAD just because he's spinach. Poor guy.

If you like these themed updates and want to make me do more every month, you can support me at Patreon, at

patreon (dot) com / gregswikipics

Every little bit helps, and at the higher pledge level you can pick a theme!

[tokillamockingbird427]

Random thought:

What if Logan's comfort food after joining became of the the most hated MRE's? He'd basically have unlimited supply of it, because of course that news will spread and every soldier in his squad (maybe even neighbouring ones) will gladly trade him that one for whichever he has or some will just give it to him for free (cause they'd rather eat dirt that this MRE and before they trow it out they can better give it to someone who miraculously can eat it)

(Logan might be the only reason this specific MRE still gets delivered to them in the quantity that it does)

-🐑

Looking it up, seems like spinach fettuccine is among the most hated MRE. Pork sausage any any egg omelet is second. Logan is gonna have some rancid farts. And gains. Good gains.

Logan thrives. He's especially happy when he doesn't have to trade off whatever MRE he got because he can give it to Hesh.

[shuttershocky]

Do you have any advice on good 4* units to raise? I wanna be able to do better in IS, but I've no idea who is very effective for it (and I trust your opinion over Gamepress).

I already have Gravel and Myrtle (and also Frostleaf bc of Frostnova's chapter) raised, and all the 3* units maxed out. I've heard that Jaye is often useful? Unsure beyond that though! Any advice you can offer is appreciated, thank you!

Jaye - He's not just one of the strongest 4 stars, he's the strongest member of his subclass (Merchants) period. His damage output and self-sustain his stupid broken. Specialize in his S2 skill and feed him DP (he eats up 3 DP every 3 seconds, so in maps with slowed down or zero DP gain he needs to be fed by vanguards), and he'll wreck most enemies even without IS buffs. Remember to buy his module, it makes his DP drain go down to 2 DP every 3 seconds, it makes all the difference!

Ethan - The other broken little shit and another 4 star specialist who's the best in his subclass of Ambushers. Ethan offers crowd control, damage, and survivability via his class' evasion trait, and he has one of the best level 3 modules in the game from how hard it buffs his talent, so even when you're an endgame player packed with resources, Ethan still gets stronger.

Cutter - Normally overshadowed by the other Swordmasters, Cutter's skills have abnormally strong synergy with many powerful IS collectibles, making her a strong pick for the mode. She's also get plenty of versatility, as her skills let her hit drones despite being a ground unit.

May - A Marksman that specialized in Control vs DPS, May's like Cutter in that her synergy with IS collectibles can make her far stronger than the devs intended her to be. Invest in her S1, and combine it with any ASPD buffs or Spinach type collectibles from IS and watch as she puts on a permaslow on enemies while doing a ton of damage.

Beanstalk - If you haven't noticed yet, versatility is king in a game mode asking you to adapt to as many different kinds of stages as possible, and Tacticians being a Sniper-Summoner hybrid sitting inside the Vanguard class makes them versatile indeed. While Beanstalk doesn't boast the same collectible synergy as May and Cutter do, the amount of different niches she can fill in your squad makes her a strong pick.

Myrtle - To this day the most popular Operator in hard content and one of the strongest non 6-star units theyve ever made. You will raise her regardless of using her in IS or on standard content, because Myrtle is the 4 Star Goddess. Her Skill 1 makes a shitload of DP, and her Skill 2 makes a shitload of DP while healing adjacent allies, but with a longer cooldown. Her DP gen is so powerful that she obliterates the resource game entirely and threw the entire class of vanguards into an existential crisis.

IS's highly aggressive stages that throw enemies at you almost immediately was HG's attempt at nerfing Myrtle's effectiveness in the game mode. Cantabile being a disgustingly strong unit was HG's second attempt at competing with Myrtle.

Myrtle does not fight. She doesn't obliterate half the screen with powerful attacks nor does she turn allies unkillable via powerful buffs. She can't block more than one enemy, and she has no ways to defend herself. And yet, if you raise Myrtle, there's no going back to the pre-flagbearer days. You will understand what true resource power feels like, and then you start hunting for Elysium to get a taste of two flagbearers at once and render the idea of DP cost meaningless.

Bow before your new queen

[squidswithsocks]

community x cookie run stem squad (ft. string gummy and spinach)

[lilyblackdrawside]

What are your favorite IS collectibles?

Okay, this'll be a bit long, so I'll put it under a cut.

Let's get the obvious ones out of the way: Anything that increases ASPD is great. The money-to-ASPD ones are all fun - shame that IS3 doesn't have the biggest one, but it came back for IS4 after all. Hand of Superspeed, some of the shop relics that give specific classes extra aspd, all of that. Good stuff.

Then all the +atk on skill use collectibles: Spinach Pack, No.073 Safety Reagent (IS2) and Wrath of Siracusans.

I have a lot of operators that can make great use of these and have even raised ones specifically to use with these or given mastery to skills that work with them.

Stun-increases: Victory Horn, Flash Camera, Therapy Tape

Bibeak and Gnosis come to mind for me as the biggest users of these. Gnosis can just passively lock enemies if you have either two of these or one and some +ASPD. Pretty funny! On this note I'll also mention Glory Pack. 6s aoe stun on operator death is pretty handy by itself, but this collectible can turn into something that just carries a whole run. Enhance the stun with these relics, add the "enemies take arts damage while stunned" ones and get your hands on a 0s redeploy Yato. I've had it happen, it's so evil.

+Starting DP collectibles are also among my favourites. Even just +10 from the Doll House can make stages much easier because you can snowball from the slightest bit of initiative.

Now let's get to some hands and the expected one is not at the top:

This is my favourite hand by far. It enables some very silly damage numbers and my main user of this was always Fiammetta. I frequently pick her in IS3 as is and this powers her up so much.

It's a bit difficult to read, but this is 14.5k damage from her S3 attack vs Paranoia Illusion. She was just banging these out once a second.

Other than that, obviously Hand of Diffusion, but before that I will bring up Flames of the Inquisition, which is that but for all operators as long as you're hitting Sea Monsters. Since this collectible is in the boss drop pool, that's usually where you'll get it an in IS3 once you pass the Floor 3 boss you're mostly fighting Sea Monsters anyway. Handed Passenger is funny, but so is everyone else getting the same effect. But yeah, Passenger with Hand of Diffusion and maybe a Spinach or two has carried me to victory more than twice. Astgenne and Firewhistle are also pretty good users of it. Firewhistle can replicate the way Passenger abuses it with her lingering flame dot both on S1 and S2, but of course she doesn't have the near map-wide range and absurd Spinach synergy.

IS2's Hand of Shredder has also always been very nice. I didn't get much out of it with any Instructors or Dreadnoughts, but Bibeak and Cutter have certainly shredded it up with it. Especially Cutter.

A good number of the shop class relics are really nice too. Bend Spears - Bloodbath/Deathmatch are both really strong increases to offense by providing silly amounts of SP and just better stats. The Sniper and Supporter ones also stand out to me, as well as the Caster ones added in IS3's final patch - Broken Wand Learning/Light of Wisdom/Solving, which give more aspd and atk for each held collectible (first two) and reduce enemy Res by 12 for each deployed Caster. Pretty much "fixed" the class for IS3, if you will.

I also really like this thing. Whiteflower in IS2 was alright, but this one also reduces costs by 3 first and with some squad tweaking you can get a ton of initiative off of this. I actually prefer this so much over Bladedance/Chitinous Ripper that I'll always take it over that one. They both ask you to adjust your squad, but while Chitinous Ripper just wants you to trim it down, Viviparious Lily has you putting in unpromoted Executors and Robots to shuffle their super low cost onto your heavyweights. It's very fun.

I also like Brokenblade and Wavebreaker a lot. Sacrificing 30% (IS2)/25% (IS3) max hp might sound a bit scary, but remember that all stat modifiers are additive. IS2 gives you a passive +10% HP, so you're really only losing 27% (okay this one's whatever) and IS3 gives you a massive +30% so it's actually just -19% compared to your default. and compared to out-of-IS3 default, you're still in the green anyway. Halved Redeploy time by itself is already great, but operators like Skadi, April, Yato or ModX Heavyshooters benefit doubly, because their flat reduction is applied after getting their base redeploy halved. ModX Skadi goes down to 3s (23 without) and Yato to 2s. Surely there's a use for spammable Skadi.

I'm also always happy to get Duck Lord's Golden Brick because having an 8-die rigs so many odds in your favour. You go from 16.7% chance to get a bonus collectible as a treasure node to 37.5%, same for getting an Elightenment if you're at 100 Light and if you're not, you're increasing your odds from 50% to 62.5% to not suffer a Rejection. And if you're on Dice Squad you get a 12-die, which is just dumb. With the regular 6-die you can get up to -30 ASPD and -70% movespeed for enemies when using it in battle. 7 to 9 rolls are -40/-80% and halve current redeploy times. You get this with just Dice Squad or Brick. 10 to 12 are the same debuff but completely remove redeploy times.

Since you will be on Dice Squad to be able to get this, you also have a bunch of dice on hand (so long as you don't go overboard all the time) and with the new upgrade to it, you can just keep rolling to inflict massive debuffs on enemies and get all your operators back if something bad happens. While I consider the class upgrade squads to be the very best, Dice Squad is right behind them. (got a bit more Dice Squad propaganda in, hah)

I'll give some mentions to

Royal Alliance Treaty - I don't like picking it, since it's a boss drop and when I do I always forget I have it and get confused when like... Yato tanks a Lancer charge. Then I laugh about it.

Medicine Sticks - You get two shields on anyone you deploy. What's not to like? When you pick Yato in IS3 she can basically go down two paths: Glory Pack suicider or Medicine Sticks baiter.

Fincatcher's Shawl - This thing should be so good, but it never performed well for me. I still like it.

Now, for IS4 I only have some picks that mostly revolve around the same thing:

These are the "We made Ho'olheyak good now." collectibles (and two others) Ancient Fresco, GSS and what I predict to be a third tier of these just work so well for her. With her talent inflicting Weightless on enemies above 80% hp, they just have to walk into her range to suffer damage and debuffs and if they're not too sturdy, they might just suffer two instances of this immediately from falling below 80% from the first hit. Hilarious! Naturally, this also works great with her S2 but also S3. S2 makes them really shine on heavier enemies that halve levitation. Irene's also pretty good with this with S1 and 2.

Celestial Dust seems quite clunky at first, at least that's what I thought, but then I remembered that Archetto S2, Pinecone S1, Leonhardt S2, Melanite S2, Indigo S1 and probably more exist that you can just spam to heavily control enemies. But even beyond spam, just using this with operators that have large ranges is good. W's S3 becomes an even harder control tool and Gnosis turns into an aoe levitation or freeze machine. Lots of incidental applications for this one. Also synergizes with the former two relics.

Dead Tree's Echo might not hold up on higher difficulty levels where you may not want to sit at reduced hp, but 50hp/s is pretty good and easily makes up for the lost max hp. Skalter with active S2 is like 80 to 90hp/s in her range for comparison.

And that's it! (for now. IS4 still holds many secrets) I know you asked for some, so this might've gotten a bit excessive, but I like to talk.

[ghostypetrainer]

akari is like a baby in comparison to ingo right. is she part of the baby squad.

Akari is not part of the baby squad!

What is the baby squad? The baby squad is Ingo's collection of therapy Pokemon that he ends up acquiring in Hisui post-possession. It started with an egg that Akari gifted to him that hatched into a Hisuian Sneasel that she named Radish, and kind of grew from there. By the time he comes back to the future, he's got a whole team of little baby friends! All nicknamed by Akari, of course.

There's Radish the Hisuian Sneasel, Spinach the Petilil, Carrot the Starly, Beans the Rowlet, Onion the Cleffa and Shallot the Piplup!

[secondgenerationnerd]

Mar’i, Irey, Lian, etc. Starbucks orders ?

Ooooo! I’ll do all Omega squad lol

Lian: a trenta Cold Brew Coffee with Milk or a venti Blonde Roast with Milk, plus a sausage, bacon, egg wrap. She needs fuel and to quell the demons inside her

Milagro: a venti iced White Chocolate Mocha, with a spinach, feta, egg white wrap. She feels classy with them and no one can take it from her.

Irey: a venti Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino, with a baked apple croissant. It’s one of the few things she likes from Starbucks, plus high calories for that over active metabolism.

Mar’i: a trenta Frozen Mango Dragon Fruit Lemonade Refresher, plus a dozen cake pops. She will give her friends each a cake pop but the rest are hers. And she doesn’t drink a lot of coffee

Damian: a tall Honey Citrus Mint Tea. He’s allergic to almonds and this feels like the safest bet for him.

Jai: a trenta Iced Caramel Macchiato, extra caramel. Same as his sister, but he doesn’t like the crunch and it’s a little less sweet.

Jon: a grande iced Caffè Latte with almond milk, but will also order Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Peppermint Mochas when they’re in season. His regular drinks have to be labeled so he doesn’t kill Damian.

Colin: a tall Pink Drink Refresher. Coffee can occasionally trigger a flare up, so he tries to limit it. Plus he likes how the Pink Drink tastes

[petterwass]

Another Highmore clear, as is traditional, by the skin of my teeth. The team was decently solid, but severely lacking in good Relics so I had no real way to burst her down.

Also my Texas got the - 50% to all the stats disease, so I couldn't hold the right with her as I usually do.

So Ethan held the left Gladiia and Bloopy the right, which of course meant Bloopy wasn't shooting at Highmore.

I have Gavial the Invincible, but felt my squad were so fragile that I had to deploy her to the middle to soak shots with S3. Probably a bad use of her.

So the people punching Highmore were Cutter (who doesn't do much without Spinach) and surprisingly my MVP, Archetto, who could comfortably bombard her from outside her slowing aura

It was close and desperate as Ethan fails to keep up and Highmore is just sniping girls left and right, but Archetto somehow survives long enough to stab her with arrows withing spitting distance of the Blue Box, S3's increased ASPD somewhat counteracting the slowing aura

In the end I think I leaked two, which is fine. I usually leak a bit. Rockrock and Cutter returned just in time.

[3ggyb0y]

You ever play Uno?

And you put down the reverse card?

And you wish you could do that in real life?

Bam! Uno reverse card

Alright, alright, let me explain the rules here

If I lay this card down, I can flip any situation around

Okay, so, one night I was getting pulled over by the po-po

Looked into my rear-view and saw the deputy

He asked if I knew why I was in trouble, sir

I ain't Obi-Wan Kenobi, I ain't got telepathy

He asked if I was drinkin', he started givin' orders

"Say the alphabet backwards" I can't say it forwards!

"Son, you fit the description of a neighborhood prowler

So I'm taking you to jail, have fun in the showers" (nope)

Bam! Uno reverse card

I'm placing you under arrest for the worst charge

Now, I'm taking you to county in your squad car

On the way, I'll do a couple donuts in your front yard

I'ma take your paycheck and buy some fireworks

The illegal kind that they smuggled in from Mexico

Turn the siren on, run some red lights, maybe hit a fruit stand

Sorry, I was textin' bro!

Bam! Uno reverse card

I lost the keys to these cuffs, that's the worst part

If I lay this card down, I can flip any situation around

It goes bam! Uno reverse card

I just hit a flower pot in the church yard

If I lay this card down, I can flip any situation around

Alright, here's what happened

I was at a job interview at Applebee's

I was so broke, it was probably my worst year

With the manager, she smelled like gasoline

And had an attitude, she said "Why do you wanna work here?"

"I eat cheerios with tap water, I'm so broke

I need money desperately" is what came to my head

"I wanna be on the team, I've always dreamed of

Working at Applebee's so much!" is what I really said

She said "Will you do whatever's required?"

I said "Absolutely, " she said "You're hired"

Bam! I hit her with that Uno reverse card

You work for me now, lady, and you're fired

I spent the next couple hours eating spinach artichoke dip

In the back office with my door closed

Then I kicked it with the dishwasher

We slacked off, smashed plates, and we broke a bunch of soup bowls

Bam! Uno reverse card

I'm just livin' man, I don't wanna work hard

If I lay this card down (ay), I can flip any situation around

It goes bam! Uno reverse card

I just coast through life on my surfboard

If I lay this card down (uh-huh), I can flip any situation around

Hi, Mom, I'm finally on TV!

I'm a guest on the Maury Povich Show

Meh, nobody in the audience likes me

Kinda sucks, but they don't know me though

See, my ex is here and she told everybody

I'm the baby daddy and she wants every dollar

So imagine my surprise when

Maury opened up the envelope and said "You are... the father!"

Bam!

I ain't gotta say it, you know what the words are

Sorry, Maury, that kid is yours

Good luck paying that child support (bam!)

selling you online

thats it

GET IN THE BOX LINK

🦐🦐🦐

THE KRILL ARE MAD

[cerastes]

hi dreamer, i have need of your expert integrated strategies skills. i have most of my 4* units juiced up and i'm running low on 6* units i still need to promote, so i'm curious as to what 5* units you recommend for IS2 specifically so i can focus on leveling those. i already have at e2: elysium, texas, red, silence, mulberry, lappland, andreana, bloopy and specter

Off rip I can tell you that, from those you have at E2, Elysium, Texas, Mulberry, BP, and Specter are solid, in particular Texas, Mulberry, and BP. Elysium is usually a second pick after Myrtle, if you need that much DP (Mouthpiece, for example), Texas is an all around great unit with 2 block, DP gen and crowd control to open up maps, Blue Poison is a Marksman Sniper, an archetype that thrives in IS2 (and she has S1 Spinach), Mulberry is a hard counter against Lucian and IS2 in general, and Specter is very strong but you don't really do stall much in IS2, so sometimes it's better to just pocket that Hope and save until you have 6 instead. All units your listed are definitely useable, and I say this to spare myself the additions of "Red/Andreana/Lapp are also useful because xxxyyyzzz" yes we know. I'll make a special mention to Lapp, however, in that she's godlike for Gopnik 2, since her Silence prevents the Infected Hounds from becoming extra smaller enemies.

Alright, so going to my recommendations outside of what you have there:

Platinum: Platinum doesn't have Spinach synergy, she instead has the superior range and attack granted by her S2, which is very useful, as it allows her to do significant damage to Audience Members and Scarlet Singers without needing to rely on items and synergies. This is specially important in Calamity, where she fares very well against the stat heft of Calamity enemies. Depending on where you place her, Platinum S2 can cover 3 statues in the Mouthpiece fight, giving her special utility in that one as well. Maps in IS2 tend to be compact and simple in composition, making Plat's extended range very powerful.

Kazemaru: Cheap, sturdy "Guard" that can let you weather unfortunate situations, such as early game Survivalist with little healing, with FAR more lenience. With a more complete roster, you can use her as a dedicated forward holder or assassin to get rid of or weaken key enemies, such as Scarlet Singers or the horde of Audience Members in Def Down tiles in that one Sarkaz Lancer map. S1 has Spinach synergy.

La Pluma: Very powerful, true AoE on her skills, self-sustain, and her range of three tiles in front of her (horizontal) allows her to cover weird angles and corners by herself. S1 has Spinach synergy.

Shamare: Being able to weaken enemy ATK and DEF (most importantly, ATK, a rare debuff) is pretty damn good, and Supporter items are great in IS2, especially the -35% cooldown one, which allows Shamare access to very, very good S2 upkeep. Reducing the attack of Lucian, Big Sad Lock, Sarkaz Lancers, Audience Members, Singers, Artillery Drones, etc, allows for some really funky deployments and strategies. She also Fragiles enemies in range under a certain HP threshold, always useful, but she's here mainly for the S2.

Robin & Frost: Due to the simplicity of the maps in IS2, their traps absolutely rock enemies. Plenty of powerful synergies as well.

Kroos the Keen Glint: Marksman Sniper, which is an innate advantage in IS2. You build bnuuy with ASPD, because enough ASPD makes her crowd control the shit out of whatever she's attacking (and if you have extreme ASPD, you can even stunlock).

Warfarin: Just a very very solid unit in general, has her instant S1 heals (Spinach skill) as well as her signature ATK buff. Can never go wrong with Warf.

Amiya: Amiya is available from both Caster and Guard tickets, and you can change her class freely, giving her very good versatility. Also benefits from pre-promoted squad bonuses for Caster and Guard regardless of her class. Besides the unique versatility she brings, Amiya is a generally solid unit and has access to True Damage, making her a good Rat King killer (among everything else you may want to use True Damage for, cough cough Civilight Eterna cough hack wink).

Ptilopsis: Another all-around useful Medic. AoE Medics tend to enjoy very useful tiles in IS2. As per usual, she brings her SP acceleration passive and her superheal S2.

Blacknight: Without getting into synergies with other units, Blacknight afford you blocking, ranged hits, Arts damage and DP Gen all in one unit, she's very versatile and a great opener for maps.

Shalem & Asbestos: Shalami Pastrami enjoys increased stats in IS2 and also can be used as either an Arts damage dealer or a straight up tank. His machine gun S1 is very good. Asbestos is good for similar reasons, and her S2 is particularly good in that it hits air enemies (Shalem's does as well, but his S2 is, well, not too good).

To those recs, I'd also add some Casters, especially Kjera (generally useful unit) and Beeswax (maps are simple, there's tons of Beeswax tiles in IS2, plus her increased def is great for more flexible deploying orders, depending on your comp), and I'd say that's a comprehensive list of my recs. Some others like Nearl also apply, but I do use Radiant Knight a lot which means I don't really want to have Defender Nearl on me, but if you don't have Radiant Knight, Nearl is definitely also a recommendation.

[angelcloves]

Camilla + Hexside Squad's + Vee's favorite 🥪?

im sourcing my choices from the subway menu and vibes

luz: meatball marinara. getting sauce all over her face is part of the appeal

amity: grilled chicken. classy. refined. very amity

gus: this is not on the menu but i think hes the kind of person to go to subway and order a footlong with six chocolate chip cookies on it and then eat the cookies with the white bread on either side. of course he wants it toasted btw

willow: veggie delite. extra spinach. i feel like she would like spinach. gotta eat that iron to pump that iron

hunter: im going to project here and give this boy my personal subway order because i make jokes about it all the time but this boy was raised on grimwalker gruel and emperors coven cafeteria food he finds flavorless mush comforting. white bread. tuna. cucumbers. lil bit of oil and vinegar. but he only started asking for oil and vinegar because luz made fun of him for ordering a sandwich with only tuna on it once and now he discovered he likes vinegar sometimes

vee: generally prefers panera when it comes to chain restaurant sandos but oven roasted turkey. mostly vibes here dont ask me to cite sources

camilla: roast beef. but she would rather go to arbys

[trinityho0516]

May 1, 2023

11:34pm

This morning I woke up at 9:20am, and I scrambled to get ready for class. I got around 7 hours of sleep but for some reason I was still really tired. I got to my 7C lecture on time and I got to walk there with my friend. After my lecture, I got lunch with my friend at B-plate. I had their rosemary chicken, brown rice, spinach, their lowkey dry chicken taco, and I got strawberry yogurt. Afterwards, I went to meet up with my friends at Kerckhoff and then I went to my Chem lecture. My Chem lecture was a little boring, but what we were learning started to seem a lot more relevant and made a lot of sense to me. After my chem lecture, I then got dinner with my friend, also at B-Plate! This time, I had matcha salmon, rice, steak, bok choy, and squash! I love salmon, that is my favorite fish ever. I think I could seriously live on salmon alone. Lastly, I got ready with my friend and we met up with our group at Kerckhoff. Now, I am doing homework and chilling with my squad. Overall, productive and lowkey stressful day.