#well he is turbo depressed

[ohitslen]

Chapter three was, something

So here is my tribute for it because God it’s so good. Here’s the link for this chapter, if you haven’t read it yet please I beg you to do so💖 read @flowercitti works they’re awesome ✨

I’m not even sure if I did Vash right but fuck it we ball, truly sorry if it is inaccurate ㅠㅠ

[buttercupart]

why doesn't chara & asriel live with toriel at all?

everyone's gone on without you

[hamsterclaw]

Black Ice

Bangtan Christmas drabble 7 - read the rest here.

Min Yoongi only cares about three things. The thrill of drifting, his friends, and cars, in that order. Somehow, you've got under his skin. Part of the Drift Kings AU.

Pairing: Yoongi x f! reader

Rating: 18+

Genre: Street racer/mechanic! Yoongi, smut

Word count: 3.2k

Warnings: Sex, swearing

Min Yoongi knows loneliness. He knows the unrelenting ache of it, the way it permeates every aspect of one’s psyche.

He knows what it feels like to look for a connection that isn’t there.

When he was ten his father took him into work for the first time, and it was then, amongst the smells of engine oil and new paint and pinewood air freshener, that Yoongi discovered his first true love.

He pored over engine diagrams, admired the easy simplicity of every tool falling into its destined purpose, got used to his clothes being stained from tuning up cars all day long.

He’d loved every minute of it, and the truth is, he still does.

Then his cousin Yijin had given him a lift down Mount Samo one day, and 14 year old Yoongi had learned that there was more than one way to soar.

He learned to drive navigating the hairpin bends of Mount Samo, and although he’s perfected the art of drifting up and down it, could do it blindfolded a hundred times over, the thrill of it has never really faded.

He’s picked up a collection of friends over the years, all of whom love the adrenaline of street racing – not knowing what’s round the corner, trusting your own reflexes and instincts to save you when you can barely see for the blood rushing in your veins. 

Kim Seokjin, his oldest and closest friend, the chaebol prince who can put together a Supra’s turbo-2JZ engine almost as quickly as Yoongi himself. His sister, a corporate princess who makes Yoongi’s heart soften and the opposite happen to his cock. They’re the two people Yoongi would do anything for, not that he’d ever tell them that. 

Jung Hoseok, the gifted mechanic with a heart of gold and the sunniest demeanour Yoongi’s ever been able to tolerate, creature of the night that he is. 

Jeon Jungkook, the baby fuckboi of the group, a man with the looks of a god and the persona of a baby deer. Yoongi finds it hard to be anything but endeared by his earnest good nature and anything but amused by his swaggering. Maybe one day the kid will grow into the bad man he so badly wants to be, but Yoongi hopes not. He’s great the way he is. 

It’s been a while since Yoongi felt lonely, in fact his life’s pretty good right about now. 

And at this exact moment? It’s perfect. 

Yoongi’s senses are on overdrive as he swings into a hairpin bend on Mount Samo, tires gripping tarmac sideways. His foot taps the throttle, his hand on the handbrake just in case but he doesn’t need it, he knows the terrain so well his body’s reacting on instinct. 

Sideways on he can see Seokjin to his right, composed, barely breaking a sweat as his rear wheels scrape the very edge of the path, inches from the steep drop. 

Yoongi catches sight of himself in his own rearview mirror, teeth bared in a feral grin as he shoots out onto the final stretch, so fast there’s nothing to see but black. 

He’d normally stop, celebrate his win with a cigarette, but he’s got somewhere to be tonight. 

Behind him now, Seokjin’s headlamps flicker in lieu of a goodbye. 

Yoongi depresses the horn, a sharp short blast, and then he’s gone. 

***

Kang Yubin’s been supplying Yoongi’s father’s garage for years, and Yoongi’s been going to him for car parts since before he knew a spark plug from a catalytic converter. 

The Kang warehouse has an unassuming front in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Seoul. Yoongi parks outside the familiar glass door, can see the dim lighting filtering through the tinted glass as he approaches. 

He pushes open the door, stops, nonplussed. 

Instead of Kang Yubin’s steel-rimmed glasses and grey hair, he’s greeted by you. 

Half your face is obscured by a black face mask, your hair up under a baseball cap, but you’re definitely not who he expected to see. 

He blinks. 

Your eyebrows rise. 

‘Are you lost?’ you inquire, an edge to your voice that pulls him out of his surprised reaction and reminds him why he’s here. 

‘I was expecting Mr Kang,’ Yoongi replies. 

Coming closer to the counter he picks up on a guardedness to your posture, a weariness that you don’t bother to hide. 

‘I’m his granddaughter,’ you say, brief. ‘I’m guessing you didn’t just come here to stare at me, what do you want?’ 

‘Spark plugs – I have a —’ Yoongi breaks off as you get up. 

‘I know who you are, and I know what car you drive. Stay here and I’ll get you your stuff.’

You disappear behind a door, return in minutes with a cardboard box. 

You pull a box-cutter out of a desk drawer, slit the masking tape, pull the flaps up. 

‘Feel free to take a look,’ you say, looking at him. 

It doesn’t take long for Yoongi to verify that they’re what he needs. 

‘How do you know who I am?’ he asks, as he pays. 

There’s a faint spark in your eyes, a flicker so quick he wonders if he’s mis-read it. 

‘My grandfather said you were due around this time.’ 

You nudge your shoulder vaguely in the direction of the screen to your left, a view from the camera overlooking the front of the warehouse. ‘Not many people drive a car like that.’ 

You take his money, nudge the box in his direction. 

‘Pleasure doing business, Min Yoongi. I’ll give my grandfather your regards.’ 

You’re already looking back down at your phone like you’ve dismissed him. 

Yoongi picks up the box, casts another glance at you, and leaves. 

He’s still thinking about you when he reaches home. 

***

Yoongi’s concentrating so hard on the engine in front of him that he barely hears Seokjin approach. 

‘Dinner?’ asks Seokjin, eyes flicking over the V configuration of the 8 chrome cylinders in the custom Nissan with interest. 

Yoongi leans back, massages the crick in his neck from leaning over. 

‘Yeah. Quick though, the client wants a rush on this.’ 

They exchange a look. 

‘More money than sense,’ Seokjin says, critical. 

‘Pays the bills,’ Yoongi counters. 

They have similar opinions about rich clients who want their supercars tuned up. It’s rare that a client’s got the ability to do justice to the horsepower under the bonnet of the flashy exteriors. 

Yoongi shrugs, goes to wash his hands. 

‘Is your sister coming?’ he asks. 

Seokjin’s still admiring the engine. ‘Not tonight. Jimin’s in town,’ he says. ‘There’s a race later, if you change your mind. I’m meeting Jungkook after dinner.’ 

‘Is he still sulking over Mijin?’ Yoongi asks, falling into step beside Seokjin. 

There’s no need to confirm where they’re going, they always stop at a tiny restaurant run by an elderly woman who seems utterly unimpressed by their good manners but makes the best broth in town. 

Seokjin rolls his eyes, but his tone is sympathetic. ‘You know how it is. People never expect him to be as soft as he really is.’ 

Yoongi nods. ‘Tell him if she can’t appreciate him she’s the one missing out.’ 

Seokjin snorts. ‘Tell him yourself, he’ll love it. Are you coming to Seulgi’s party?’ 

It’s rare that Yoongi goes out at night, he’s busy and he does his best work at night time, both in the workshop and on the streets, but he’d promised Seokjin he’d go. 

‘Next week?’ he asks. 

Seokjin nods, pushes open the door to the restaurant. 

‘Yeah, don’t forget.’ 

***

Seulgi is a friend of Seokjin’s, they’d dated briefly, years back, but it hadn’t worked out. 

She greets Seokjin enthusiastically at the door, the pink flush on her cheeks deepening as Seokjin gives her an affectionate hug. 

She beams at Yoongi, and he smiles back because he’s not proof against her cheerful nature. 

It’s how he became friends with Hoseok, after all. 

‘Drinks, let me get you drinks,’ Seulgi cheers, leading them into her kitchen. 

Seokjin’s swept away by Seulgi and her friends, he’s always been a popular guy. He shoots Yoongi a look as he’s pulled into the lounge, which Yoongi pretends not to see. 

He lifts his cup to his lips, decides to go outside for a bit. 

The deck outside has a few scattered people, mostly couples, some groups. 

Yoongi leans against the wall, looks around idly. The throbbing bass of the music feels like a heartbeat. The night is cold and crisp, the skies clear, but there aren’t any stars visible in Seulgi’s backyard. 

He lets his mind wander to his next project, restoring a classic Toyota for a friend from the circuit. He’ll need parts. 

He wonders if you’ll be behind the counter when he next goes to the Kang warehouse. Then he’s straightening up, unsure if he’s manifested you into reality. 

He’s never seen your full face, but he’d know your eyes anywhere. 

You’re standing across the deck, looking straight at him, coat open over a dress that shows a hell of a lot more than the hoodie and sweats you had on the last time he saw you. 

For the first time tonight, Yoongi feels a prickle of interest. 

He’d known you’d be beautiful, there’d been something about the way you carried yourself.

You’re still looking at him. 

Yoongi walks over. 

‘Who’s manning the warehouse?’ he asks, when he gets close enough. 

You tilt your head. ‘Are you really so concerned about my family business, Min Yoongi?’ 

There’s a mocking note in your voice, Yoongi finds he likes it. 

‘You have the best quality parts,’ he says. 

Your smile blooms over your face, making your eyes bright. ‘I knew there was a reason my grandfather liked you.’ 

Yoongi nods to your dress. ‘You look pretty.’ 

‘Thank you,’ you say. ‘You look pretty too.’

Yoongi can feel his lips curving. Are you flirting with him? Seems like you are.

He’s all for it.

You’re raising your cup now, taking a sip.

In the night time lighting, your lips glisten with moisture and whatever lipstick you’ve got on, making him wonder what they’d look like around his cock.

You eye him like you know exactly what he’s thinking.

Yoongi says, ‘Do you like cars? Want to see mine?’

***

You’ve got your legs either side of his torso, your ass bouncing in his lap, and Yoongi’s front seat’s reclined all the way to make room for you to ride him.

The lines of your beautiful body are reminiscent of a triumph of masters of Italian design. Long smooth thighs, tightening around him with every rhythmic thrust. 

The curves of your breasts, bouncing right in his face.

The long line of your neck, head thrown back, the pulse in your throat fluttering as he holds your hips so he can fuck you back, fuck up into your sweet warmth.

His cock fits inside you like he was made for you, and god fucking damn, you feel so good around him he’s on a hair trigger.

Yoongi cups the back of your head, tugs you down so you’re close. Goosebumps prickle your flesh as he tells you how good you are.

Your eyes close as he kisses your bare neck, flicks his tongue against your skin.

You had been whimpering steadily as your arousal dripped down onto him, soaking his balls, pooling at the base of his cock, and as Yoongi picks up the pace he’s gratified by the hitch in your breathing.

Yoongi’s always been damn good at helping his partners find their pleasure, and he’s sure as hell not going to stop now.

Your breasts are still in his face, half out the low neck of your dress, chest heaving.

Yoongi rubs his thumb over the outline of your hardened nipple, and you cry out, muffled with your mouth against his skin but still loud enough to make his ears ring.

His balls tighten up even more as your walls flutter around him, and Yoongi would know you were coming even if you hadn’t gasped it.

God, you’re so sweet and sexy he’s lost.

He can feel your panting breaths against his neck, the weight of your warm body as it goes lax after your peak, the sweet grip of your cunt taking in everything he has to give you as he releases, a pulse of pleasure so intense it sends shockwaves through his skin.

Yoongi’s floating, and like reaching the summit of Mount Samo, he immediately wants to do it again.

You’re looking at him, lips still so swollen and pretty his spent cock gives a residual throb inside you.

‘Like my car?’ Yoongi asks. It’s stupid, but it makes you laugh and he’ll be as stupid as you like if it makes you sound like that.

Your chin lifts, and you say, ‘It’s all right.’

The flash of merriment in your eyes gives you away.

Yoongi laughs. ‘Maybe next time we can get the car started and I can actually take you somewhere.’

‘I don’t know,’ you tease. ‘Are you a good driver?’

Yoongi reaches out, tucks the lock of hair that’s fallen over your eye behind your ear.

‘Let’s find out,’ he says. ‘Where do you want to go?’

***

Yoongi’s thinking about you the next morning when he wakes up. He’d ended up taking you back to your place, where you’d kissed him sweetly at the door and bid him goodbye like a promise to see him again. 

His phone rings and he’s still got you on his mind, so it takes a second for him to regroup. 

‘The maknae needs help,’ Seokjin says, no preamble. ‘I’m going to swing by yours, be there in ten.’ 

Yoongi hangs up, wonders what the hell Jungkook’s got himself into this time. 

By the time Seokjin arrives, Yoongi’s had time to bolt coffee and change, but Seokjin still raises a brow as he swings into the passenger seat. 

As always, Seokjin’s impeccably dressed, dark hair swept back from his forehead like he’s going to his own fucking wedding instead of about to deal with some shit that’s going down. 

Yoongi suppresses a yawn, tugs his beanie down over his brow. 

‘What’s going down with JK?’ he asks. 

Seokjin cuts off another car so smoothly they’re halfway down the intersection before the irritated horn blares. 

‘Remember that race the other day? Jungkook beat Seungho fair and square, I was there.’ 

Yoongi groans. ‘The fuck. I thought we weren’t going to race that fragile asshole anymore.’ 

Seokjin glances in the rearview. ‘The maknae was still hurting over Mijin, I thought an easy win might make him feel better.’ 

‘So what’s Seungho done?’ 

‘Brought in the big guns,’ Seokjin says grimly. ‘Called in some guys from Hongkong. JK’s with them now.’ 

Now Yoongi’s fully awake. ‘Should’ve taken my car instead of this piece of shit,’ he says. 

Seokjin just laughs. ‘Don’t worry about my car, Yoongi. Maybe think of a way to hide that big–ass hickey on your neck.’ 

‘Suck my dick,’ Yoongi says, like they’re 16 again. 

‘Looks like someone already did,’ Seokjin returns. 

***

Yoongi parks up outside the Kang warehouse, pushes open the door. 

You look up from your phone. Your face mask is off, so Yoongi has the privilege of seeing the way your lips curve in a smile. 

‘There’s been a shipment of fuel injectors,’ you say. ‘Want to take a look?’ 

Yoongi stops just in front of the wooden half-panel that separates you from him. 

He tilts his head. 

‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘Also, I took my friend’s Honda for a spin today, I’ve got a list.’ 

He smooths out the piece of paper he’s got folded in his pocket, places it on the counter. 

You pick it up, get up. ‘I’ve got you.’ 

Yoongi runs a hand over the hickey over his neck. ‘I’ve been taking shit all day, about this,’ he adds. 

‘Yeah?’ you ask, but you don’t seem the least bit contrite. ‘You did your share of marking, Min Yoongi.’ 

Yoongi asks, ‘What time do you get off?’ 

You’re about to answer when the door opens. 

Yoongi turns and tenses immediately. 

Fucking Shin Seungho. 

‘You following me?’ he asks mildly. 

Seungho scoffs, doesn’t deign to reply. 

‘I’m collecting an order,’ he says to you. 

Your face mask is back on, your face carefully blank. ‘Sure, what’s the name?’ 

When you go into the back to collect it Seungho turns to Yoongi. 

Yoongi concentrates on the silkscreen of a cat on the wall behind the counter. 

He can feel Seungho’s eyes on his face. 

Just try it, fucker. 

The fact was, he’d pushed Seokjin’s Honda to its limits beating Seungho’s friends today, and although the adrenaline’s ebbed, there’s a thin streak still running through his bloodstream, and he’s a spark away from igniting. 

Seungho takes a step closer, and Yoongi turns to face him like he’s got all the time in the world. 

You return just as Seungho opens his filthy mouth. 

‘Looks like you’ve paid,’ you say, passing the box across the counter to Seungho. 

You pull out the box cutter, slit the package, open it up for him to check, but don’t put it down. 

‘Am I going to have trouble here, boys?’ you ask. 

Seungho barely looks your way, Yoongi’s always known the man lacks vision. 

‘Nah,’ Seungho says finally. He picks up the box, sneers at Yoongi. 

Yoongi blanks his expression. There’s no way he’s going to start shit with Seungho in front of you. 

The asshole’s not worth it. 

As soon as the door closes behind Seungho you put down the box cutter. 

The next words out of your mouth surprise him. 

‘Shit, you’re hot when you’re mad, Yoongi.’ 

Yoongi stares at you, flummoxed, then he laughs. 

‘Just when I’m mad?’ he asks. 

You shrug. ‘Take me out on a date and I’ll tell you more.’ 

‘How about right now?’ Yoongi asks. 

‘Yeah,’ you say. ‘Let’s go.’ 

***

As your grip on his hair loosens, Yoongi lifts his mouth from your cunt, swipes his mouth with the back of his hand. Helps you tug your panties back up, smooths your skirt back down over your thighs. 

He notices you’ve still got his cum in the corner of your lips. As he watches, you flick your tongue out, lick delicately. 

His cock stirs with interest, and you act like you know it. 

‘More later?’ you ask. 

‘Yeah. After I win.’ 

Yoongi reaches over to help you with your seatbelt, arranging it across your chest, between your breasts, securing it. 

You lean forward and kiss him as the belt clicks into place. 

Yoongi starts the engine, turns the heating back on because he’s noticed your hands get cold easily. 

‘I can drop you off at home before the race,’ he offers. ‘Come see you after.’ 

‘I want to see you drive,’ you say.

Yoongi wouldn’t say it, but he’s pleased. He knows he’ll keep you safe, it’s a circuit through the city outskirts he’s done a million times, and he’s looking forward to you meeting Seokjin and Hoseok and Jungkook. 

He flicks on the lights, rolls into oncoming traffic. Heads North. 

By the time he pulls up to the starting line there’s the usual crowd gathered. He parks up next to Seokjin and Hoseok.  

In his rearview he can see JK surrounded by people. He’s lost the sad puppy air he had for a few weeks whilst he was pining after Mijin. The kid’s going to be all right, not that Yoongi’s ever had any doubt about that. 

Engines all around him are starting up, a deafening series of rumbles. 

Beside him, Seokjin waves, and Hoseok smiles so brightly it’s blinding. 

The flag waves, and Yoongi accelerates. 

Checks on you in the rearview, and you’re as pretty as he remembers. 

Min Yoongi’s spent a lot of his life looking for connection, and by his reckoning, he’s doing pretty well right about now. 

Lights flash by in a blur. 

Yoongi drives. 

Author note: And that's a wrap! Thank you for reading, hope you've enjoyed, here's to a brighter 2024. This time last year we were saying goodbye to Kim Seokjin, I can't wait to start welcoming the boys back again. Happy holidays to you all!

©hamsterclaw 2023

[gallusrostromegalus]

What are Loly and Menoly gonna be like? In the anime&manga they didn't seem to do much besides beating Orihime up and then getting beaten in turn.

Well, until last week I did not know they had canonical names, and I cannot reliably spell "melony" so in the fic they've been renamed Cici (the black haired one with pigtails) and Vivi (the blonde with the pixie cut) , which is much cuter and fits with Aizen's weird double letter thing.

In the fic, they're aware that working for Ulquiorra is UGH, like- so lame. I mean he's kinda cute in a wet kitten sorta way but then he opens his mouth and says the dumbest shit you've ever heard in you life and you also live with Grimmjow so that's a low bar but there he goes, whining about emotions again. Like- we have, like? Prozac? Gin specifically brought you prozac from the human world boss. For you. Specifically. Complaining about being sad and then refusing to do anything about it is like, turbo-lame, you know?

(I may have also given them valley girl accents.)

But anyway, Hime-chan is like, SO COOL. She smuggled like, a ton of stuff in from the human world without Aizen noticing! ...And like half her closet but it was like? Subterfuge? Aizen got sooooo distracted by her wearing like twenty layers of clothes it totally never occurred to him that she might have stuff in the pockets so she brought all kinds of like, candy and nail polish- look how sparkly it is!! Okay, she did also bring her homework and she's kind of a dork but like? That's part of like? The charm? She's so earnest it's kinda sweet and you feel bad, you know?

Anyway, she's totes generous too! Like once she worked out that she wasn't gonna freeze to death, she said that if there was anything we liked we could like, totally have it? And she's sooo smart about like, color-matching- I'm a winter, but Vivi is totally an autumn, and there's a trick to picking out the right pinks and OH-EM-GEE! She totally knows how to tailor clothes too because uh- she's a little overburdened in the chesticular department, you know? Yeah, you know- Anyway, that's where this wicked cool outfit came from!

So like anyway, the thing I came down here for is that Hime-chan is also like, SUPER-GREAT at cooking which is really awesome because the only other person here who knows how to cook is Mr. Tousen and as you know the culinary situation is DIRE- Vivi says that yesterday, she saw Gin just like. Unhinge his jaw and swallow a raw chicken whole. He. Didn't. Even. Take. The. Feathers. Off. And worse? Last week I saw Aizen eating slices of white bread with nothing but mayonnaise.

They weren't even toasted.

So like, understandably, Mr. Tousen is like, MEGA-DEPRESSED and stopped eating which is super-sad so Hime-chan is gonna throw like, a kitchen party to see if we can get him to eat and then she was like- "we should totally invite the other girls!" Because I guess that's what humans are like, but she's really sweet and and she's so smart and she's gonna make like- what did she call them? Oh yeah! Guava-and-bleu cheese macarons! I don't know what they actually like, are? But it'll be good! C'mon it's gonna be cool and fun and there's gonna be a guava please say you'll come?

Tier Harribel, who has been doing an excellent impression of a granite cliff face this whole conversation: ...

Cici: *^*

Tier: ...okay.

Cici: OHEMGEEEEEEYYYAAAY! THIS IS GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN THANK YOU OKAY I'LL SEE YOU AT LIKE SIXISH? BYEEE!

Franceska: ...dude, what?

Tier: I have no idea, but I am extremely bored and actually borderline curious about this 'guava' thing.

[ultraericthered]

A tale of two evil Disney kings.

I put this out not to make any statement about how one villain compares to the other, but to compare how similar in the spirit and the details of their evilness these two are; the last straight up Big Bad of a Disney animated movie before the next decade and the first straight up Big Bad of a Disney animated movie we've gotten since.

And I also want to touch upon something that confounds me.

King Magnifico, despite the film teasing at him being a nuanced and even sympathetic character at first, ended up becoming a villain vile and irredeemably heinous enough to be upvoted as a Complete Monster on TV Tropes. Majority vote approved, so that's fair. ...But Turbo, the dude with a similar rap sheet, is still not only ruled a non-example, he's in the "never to be discussed again" category for all the nixing of adding him to the trope ever since 2012. Because why, exactly? I am legitimately finding no good justification for this now.

Turbo locked away his subjects' memories within Sugar Rush's code without giving them any say on the matter (whereas with Magnifico it's at least a contractual arrangement between him and the people who give their wishes to him), and while the Sugar Rush characters don't appear to be acting all that off in any way besides not remembering Vanellope, no one in Rosas really seems to be suffering, depressed, dispirited, and poor off from having given up their wishes and forgotten about them either: it's a frequent criticism that they all seem to happy and prospering, and that the bad side of Magnifico's reign is more told to us than shown. The suffering only really visibly occurs on-screen when Magnifico takes and breaks the wishes (though even then it's written off as "making people feel sad" by a lot of watchers, so it's not easy to argue it's all that heinous). And sure, Turbo's manipulation of Ralph left Ralph with more of a choice to make regarding Vanellope's cart and her ability to race compared to Magnifico with Simon, but that could be argued to make Turbo that much more insidious and reprehensible in his approach.

And then we have Cy-Bug Turbo vocally making clear his intent to overtake all games in the arcade he chooses and forcing Ralph to watch the Cybugs attack Vanellope, comparable to Magnifico vocally making clear his intent to break all wishes in Rosas in order to enslave the despirited masses forever and forcing them all to watch him torture Asha. Yes, the latter might hit harder since it's such a betrayal of all the people he was supposed to be protecting and caring for, but that doesn't make Turbo's climactic villainy any less heinous. Turbo lacks magic powers, he's just a program who overrode that of a Cy-Bug and intends to make full use of the bug's capabilities to infect the lifeblood of other games and to physically harm others, namely Ralph, who he tells straight to his face that he wants to kill. And like Magnifico with the dark magic tome, Turbo's code merging with the Cy-Bug doesn't destroy his moral agency, it only makes him into a more unhinged, unfiltered and destructive version of the same cruel, egomaniacal asshole he already was. The fact that he uses the words "virus", "arcade", and "game" in the same sentence proves he's not merely another instinctive Cy-Bug; he knows exactly what he's doing, and sets out to hurt countless others knowing that he's hurting them not caring, and even relishing it.

Well at least we have other trope wikis to look to if we wish to find Turbo under his rightful classification. He is a Complete Monster, period. With the raw deal TV Tropes has given him for over a whole decade, he's the one who should sing "This Is The Thanks I Get?"

Yes, I am aware that the Complete Monster trope is not a badge of honor or trophy for whatever villain ends up on it,

No, I could not pass up this image.

[scorpionyx9621]

You know. Dead Space but particularly Isaac Clarke becomes a much more tragic character when you realize with the span of like 6 months time Isaac has a loving girlfriend whom he convinces to serve aboard a favorite spaceship of his, has his father who has been absent for basically the entirety of his life finally decide to retire and come back to Earth. Plus his mother, who has gone through multiple psychotic episodes of falling head first into a religious cult and spending all of hers and Isaac's money trying to gain acclaim in said religious cult.

Right when Isaac thinks his life is on an upswing he loses everything. His mother has another mental breakdown and kills Isaac's father and then herself. The dream ship Isaac convinced Nicole to serve aboard ends up getting co-opted by the same religious cult that drove Isaac's mom mad and unleashed an actual apocalypse on board. Isaac blames his girlfriend for the death of his parents (in a heat of the moment thing frankly) Isaac watches the last transmission sent from Nicole and watches as she kills herself to avoid being turned into an infected monster.

He then, as what I can only assume as an extreme trauma response, forcibly forgets watching his girlfriend end her own life and goes through actual turbo ultra extreme radical mega hell aboard a necromorph infected spaceship the size of a city and sees horrors truly biblical in proportion, and becomes an unwitting victim to the effects of an alien artifact created by an actual eldritch abomination as a means of reproduction and it's means of controlling and assimilating a whole planet and becomes imbued with it's essence. Driving him actually insane and making him a rambling incoherent mess drifting off into deep space.

Isaac then gets discovered and forcefully taken hostage by the government and for three years is given memory suppressant drugs and is forced to rebuild the same eldritch death tool over again. And when Isaac finally regains consciousness it's right in the middle of ANOTHER necromorph infection apocalypse event and Isaac must once again trek through actual real life turbo mega hell and has to save not only himself but other people while constantly being taunted and harassed by the eldritch marker taking the form of his ex Girlfriend and using literally every trick in the toxic lover handbook to ensure Isaac's second outing in the extremely bad place has just enough self-hatred and depression spice.

Oh and while this took place well over three years, Isaac was only lucid for about a little over 6 months of that so I'm not surprised this man is literally the most explicit example of damaged goods in all of fiction. And I love Isaac so much because of it

[midnight-scugs]

Okay well now I've gotta post this guy since he was mentioned in this post.

This sad looking dude is Many Days of Rain (he/they + masc or neutral terms). Late second gen iterator. My dear miserable little dude.

Some basic little lore (warning for talk about depression):

MDoR is kind of just a turbo depressed dude who gave up on interacting with others within a couple decades post mass ascension. Completely shut themself out; no longer responding to or looking at messages, structure on lockdown to prevent anyone from sending in overseers to check in on them. They've been presumed potentially shut down for a long time, or essentially a lost cause if still functioning. They never wanted to let anyone back in; to him, nobody cares about him. He was content to just wait for his structure to someday collapse so he could rot away, likely (in their mind) long since forgotten about.

Until Enduring Hope showed up to his structure to get him out and take him with them, whether he wanted to leave or not.

[rubykgrant]

"I have a WHOLE opinion on who Doc was definitely plural the whole time, he’s just had a bad habit of ignoring his own negative thoughts, and thus not letting these other parts of himself speak up. Omega may have opened that door, but O'Malley was definitely part of Doc" I would very much like to see a post on this. I see some fans get confused by Doc having O'Malley again in season 13-17.

I had to go track down the original post, and I'm gonna paste a link below, as well as 2 other links to posts where I talk about some Doc and O'Malley thoughts~

Also, just some aditional stuff- the time-travel seasons (that count if you want them to!), Doc mentions losing his brother when he was younger, and considering how much very incorrect medical information he seems to accept as fact, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the past; the adults around him thought he needed to "move on" from his depression by just ignoring his negative thoughts, and his family listened to every weird therapist they found, so he's just been constantly misdiagnosed (poor guy). As a result, he started to think of things as only "good" and "bad", as defined by the adults who were NOT helping.

I also imagine that the reason Omega got especially expressive with him was because that really WAS from Doc (he watched a cartoon show with his brother when they were kids, and the antagonist talked EXACTLY like that). I also cannot stress enough that not only was Omega not "evil" (not in a genuine way, he's just very frustrated and tends to lash out, and with Doc he liked to play the villain), O'Malley is also not just some "evil side" of Doc, and ultimately, he's there to help him (again, anger is a natural reaction, righteous fury is a thing... and Doc has been alone, more than once in his life. He's been ignored, forgotten. he needed somebody to talk to... and he also needed somebody to help him speak-up to others. when they can finally accept each other, Doc can also be there to help the O'Malley that is part of him, they both can help their friends, and the others can show some appreciation~)

[lazymonth]

More art for Wondergøtten crossover and Bible accurate Dr Facilier. Concept of Truila outfit that match with The card holder

Have a reference from Turbo outfit concept specially Doctor Vøodoo’s one made by the creator of Wondergøtten @danisha-tdh ( I’ll give a credit to the creator of this concept every time 👍🏻 )

Dr Facilier kinda have a little bit of customize because I never see him in full version as The Wheel of Fortune. So, I find everything I can about his design mixing him with The Princess and the Frog’s style

————————

Also, have a little fact here about how it choose Tarot card for each of the characters. Mostly I picking it from what Tarot meaning is match with the characters backstory ↷

( sorry for my bad English too </33 )

Truila as Wheel of Fortune : Journey through life’s cycles, turning points, and the beauty of embracing change. All this meaning is match with her backstory about how Truila’s life changed completely after she hacked her own game. It’ll never back to the same but she need to live with it no matter what. It’s turning good or even worse she can’t design it

Cassie Kane as The Emperor : Leadership, power, authority, and success in the material world. It’s a good describe words of what Truila has become after disguised herself as Cassie. When it’s the first time she’s winning, Cassie quickly full with ego and doing anything to win again and again. Stuck in the short joy of wining like a drug… in other words she has become what Turbo has been

Richard as The Tower : Danger, crisis, sudden change, destruction, higher learning, and liberation. Both of the twins were at the peak of their lives before Truila make it all fall apart and make their game need to be unplugging. They not even have a chance to prepare anything it’s like just a blink every thing their have is all gone. Sadly they’re not going to the “ higher learning and liberation” part yet

Rogers as The Chariot : Determination, willpower, and the ability to overcome obstacles on our path to personal growth and success. After The twins lost everything they need to stand by their own self living the new hard life being homeless for over 10 years. But their have a hard determination on one thing… make Truila pay for what she have done ( bonus : The twins are not specific about which one is the older or younger brother but indeed Rogers is giving the older brother energy by take care a lot of stuff. So, this card might be match for him )

Octane as The Hermit : Will, he’s actually not my character but he’s my friend Oc @-itschr1spy but I just gonna describe a bit about how he match with The hermit. Octane is depressed guy his body and code has be ruled by the effects of Turbo-time getting unplugged. So, he’s match with The reversed Meaning. Loneliness, paranoia, isolation, bring reclusive, withdrawal, anti-social, restrictive, paralysed by fear. And why it’s need to be reversed? Well, as I remember what my friend say about concept of Octane he’s the opposite of Turbo ( maybe? )

[madisonthetimewalker]

Hey let me just go on a rant about all the mega man robot master fun facts I know real quick

Wind man can’t ride bikes but loves kung fo movies and can cook like a champ

Wind man has a rivalry with air man

Quick man can (technically) out run the space police

Flash is bald

Bubble man is a money spender (he’s love cash)

Burner man gets jealous easily

Magic man is a attention seeker

Astro man is shy

So is Yamato man he is shy as well but he also hates the English language but he admires knight man who is I believe from the UK

plant man gets easily depressed and is very emotional and can talk to plants he also HATES honey bee’s

Wood man loves hiking

Junk man eats well junk

Dust man has horrible bad breath

Fire man is said to be country

Centaur man loves gambling

Guts man is amazing at karaoke

Pharaoh man is afraid of women (not really afraid more just anxious)

Dive man has sea sickness

Crash man is actually quite clumsy because of his no hands and has extreme emotional mood swings

Freeze man is a huge fan of ice man and he also reads mystery novels in his free time

Flame man HATES cheap oil and changes it 3 times a day

Napalm man is actually shy and is friends with cut man

Splash Woman is the only female robot master in the original mega man games

Hard man hates his name because people make fun of him for it

Knight man is one-track minded

Blizzard man has a short temper and a shady personality but has won 3 Olympic gold medals in skiing and is a great meteorologist

Ground man is a deep thinker and not much of a talker

Fuse man is said to have a pet rabbit (although I don’t know if this is canon or not)

Blast man actually has an amusement park

Turbo man is made of wilys car

Half of the robot masters aren’t even wilys he just took them

Gernade man doesn’t like love (he hates Valentine’s Day)

Star man is very romantic and wish he could take his lover to see the stars (if he ever gets one)

Gemini man hates snakes

Toad man hates snake man

Snake man enjoys toad man’s company and hates slugs

That’s all I can remember you guys use this info for stuff idk what to do with it

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Side B Round 1 Match 18

Propaganda:

Vivia -

"He's a voracious reader, and he speaks in an idiosyncratically flowery way that others find difficult to understand. He's 6'5"/196cm tall and prefers to curl up in small places including: inside a fireplace, under a piano, and (notably) zipped up inside a suitcase. He's a brilliant detective but often prefers to hide the truth. He's so sleepy, all the time, forever. He's severely depressed. He forgets to eat unless dragged to a restaurant by his long-suffering chief or brought takeout by his colleagues. He can see ghosts, and it overwhelms him. He can astral-project while he sleeps. An exchange two characters have about Vivia: "Some people think Vivia is coldhearted, but I think he cared deeply [...] [redacted for spoilers]" "Well, I think he's terrible at showing it. He needs to work on his facial expressions at the very least." He's intimidating, eccentric, and troubled, but he's got a big heart. He's a fan-favorite, and for good reason!"

Sora -

"Very weird and delightful third-person pronoun speaker who may or may not have the literal magic power to see auras. Or he could just be hyperempathetic. A Gamer who used to be bullied for his strangeness, now he has friends and a mentor who understand that being turbo-autistic is a gift, not something to be looked down upon. Is also just very cute and pure and has literally never done anything wrong in his life."

[shitpostingkats]

Yu-Gi-Oh Review Roundup: 5Ds!

Favorite main character: Yusei Fudo

My favorite protagonist of the main three, by a country mile. Even with Jaden’s surprising season 3 growth and complexity, Yusei just. Hits different.

I attempted to put my finger on why for the majority of the series. Perhaps it’s the fact that for once, all of yugioh traditional protag tropes are finally in a character that harmonizes with them. Redeeming minor antagonists feels important, because it’s about the bigger picture dystopia, and the powerful elite at the very top who are the real enemy. And Yusei sees that. It’s less about him just being a swell guy who forgives easily, and more that he refuses to fight his fellow man. He’s kind, not in the vaguely heroic tell-don’t-show kind of way, but in the fact that he knows the trash collector by name. He genuinely believes in the good of humanity, and you sees that in how he just talks to people.

He also has the benefit of a stellar supporting cast that feels the most tight-knit of the first three shows. DM and GX had friend groups. 5Ds is about a family. One that cohabitates together, and works together, and banters with some of the most realistic sibling dialogue of the franchise. And, as the series takes pains to point out, Yusei is the one at the center of it, that he is the gear that makes this complex web all fit together. The found family vibes are excellent, in the same way a scrappy spaceship crew of morally dubious crooks is a family.

His deck archetype reflects this aspect; taking small and disparate monsters and bringing them together to make something truly menacing. Scrap and outcasts, Yusei collects them all. Every aspect of his character eventually boils down to a selfless desire to help people, from the traits that make him a protagonist, to his personality, to even what kind of cards he plays. But it’s a simple, believable kindness, one that grounds him and makes him feel real.

He is my autistic son and I love him so much.

Favorite antagonist: Kalin Kessler

An antagonist I seriously debated including in my reviews, even shied away from discussing as I watched through the series. Not because he is poorly written, in fact, far from it, but because his inclusion and character arc in this kids show I was watching for fun felt... well, a little uncomfortable, for me personally.

Suicide is a very serious topic, after all. What had me taken aback was two things: The very existence of a blatantly depressed and suicidal character in a childrens’ cartoon, and the unsettling realism of it. It is shocking. It is upsetting. Most surprisingly of all, it is so effective as a piece of storytelling, that I had to include it, despite the severity of the subject.

Still, allow me to give warning I would have appreciated in regards to Kalin Kessler: tw for discussions of suicide, depression, and self harm. If you want to skip that, scroll past this section. Kalin discussion ends at ‘Favorite side character’

Kalin, more than any other character in the show, is a living showcase of the severe damage caused by New Domino to the residents of Satellite. Disenfranchised since birth, constantly assaulted and belittled by those in power, before trying to take back some sliver of control and lashing out at the very world that oppressed him. Whereas Yusei builds his revolution through recruitment of the fellow man, Kalin’s degrading mental state does not afford him the luxury of allies. Instead, he seeks to topple the society through high grade explosives.

And that’s just the start of Kalin’s story.

His actual screentime is taken up by what occurs after his death. After dying in prison, he is recruited into a crew of undead cultists, all similarly wronged by society. Each of the dark signers correlates to each of the signers pasts, a sin they must grapple with and accept. And Kalin’s is by far the most personal. After getting not one, but two whole turbo duels against Yusei, Kalin is defeated. Yusei comes to grips with their complicated pasts, the dark signers are destroyed, and the world is saved.

These shows tend to feature a lot of antagonists getting redeemed and giving up their evil ways. Kalin’s arc in Crash Town goes the extra mile and shows what happens in between steps A and B.

Though no longer an explicit enemy by the time he makes his reappearance, Crashtown Kalin is still grappling with the things he did while operating under that label. In a way that’d kinda hard to argue with. I mean, that did happen. People were killed.

This is what gives Kalin’s depression and self-destruction such a painfully realistic despair. In media, it is often hard to portray the real helplessness of depression. Since we, as the audience, have a near omnipotent perspective and are usually a step removed from the actual situation, answers to existential questions seem obvious. You can’t really see what has the character so down in the dumps, because, to you, the answer of ‘just get over it’ seems so obvious.

“Was it really okay for us to take the life of THOMAS PUPPYKILLER, the inventor of KILLING PUPPIES?”

The audience isn’t likely to sympathize when your protagonist spends an episode angsting about that, even if coldhearted murder is a thing that most of us would legitimately have a hard time grappling with.

Real mental illness isn’t like that. It’s complex, stubborn, and makes choices feel nonexistent. Sometimes, it doesn’t even matter if an situation has an objectively correct answer, the mind will spin its tightening circles regardless. Which just feeds into itself, as one feels ever increasing panic at being unable to handle choices. It is a self consuming ouroboros, one that can make you feel isolated, numb, and powerless.

Kalin’s situation doesn’t have an objectively correct answer. He has committed several wrongdoings that hurt innocent people, for genuinely evil purposes. It’s not something that can just be made all better with a slap on the wrist and a positive mental attitude.

As someone with depression, the Crashtown arc was almost painful for me to watch. Like I’ve said, I usually love a good fictional character with fictional depression, but Kalin was just. One too few layers of abstraction for me. He felt almost too real, standing on the edge of his self inflicted punishment, Yusei screaming at him to just want to live, goddamn it, and staring out at a field of reminders for why he thinks he doesn’t deserve to.

But again, just as gut achingly realistic his descent into suicidal ideation was, so too is his stubborn climb out of it. As he spends more time with the kids of a fellow Crashtown miner, they come to rely on him for protection. So he lives to protect them. And then, shockingly (to him), they actually come to care for him. Kalin may not be able to live for himself, but he gradually comes to terms with the idea that that’s okay. That he can live for this person the kids see in him, because despite what his worst impulses tell him, he is still capable of being loved, even after all he’s done.

Sometimes, when you can’t even fathom the idea of loving yourself, in your darkest hours, it takes an equal amount of strength to accept being loved. And that, in itself, is a reason to keep on living.

Favorite side character: Martha

How many times in an action show is the main character grievously injured, down for the count with a sense of finality, when we cut to them, swathed in bandages, lying in a hospital bed. The doctor or nurse sternly tells them to get bedrest, and a parental character nags them with all sorts of “You could have died! You are grounded!” that our main character rolls their eyes through. Then, next scene, they’re sneaking out the window, right back off to saving the world, fractured wrist be damned?

When Yusei Fudo gets into a motorcycle crash and ends up with internal bleeding, but stubbornly tries to jump back into the action, his mom says “No.”

And this works.

This proves that Martha is singlehandedly the most powerful anime mother in all of yugioh, possibly in all of shonen television.

Her other feats of strength include being the backbone of her community, whacking police officers with wooden spoons, and being the mother of Jack Atlas. 

What works about Martha is the same thing that works about the rest of 5Ds Neo Domino citizens: their recurrence. Martha shows up again and again as the series progresses. She’s not some throwaway absent mother, the boys regularly visit her, there’s an entire sidestory in the finale surrounding her and the orphanage kids. She’s one of the characters that gives a face to Domino City, someone to remind the viewer that this city is made up of real people. 

With Yusei and Martha side-by-side, it’s easy to see where he gets his compulsive need to rehabilitate strays from. Like her son, Martha is consistently the one to reach out her hand to those in need, which gives us a strong sense of the legacy that Satellite has given him. There’s a very sweet subplot early in the Dark Signer arc where Trudge has to stay the night at Martha’s orphanage. Rather than being the uncivilized street rats he expected, he finds that Satellite is populated by a very protective community, and Martha leads him around, showing him the damage done to them by New Domino and how, despite all that, the majority of people living there just choose to be kind. It's one of the humanizing touches showing the breaking down of prejudices that makes early 5Ds feel very revolutionary. 

Also, there’s something very funny to me about the 2-4 episode lull where the plot is raging on in the background but Yusei’s just hanging out at home because his mom grounded him.

Favorite duel: Yusei vs Kalin, Jack vs Carly, Akiza vs Misty

Yup!!!! I’m copping out!

Let me explain why.

Each of these favorite duels of mine has been increasing progress on the part of the writing. The Yami vs. Yugi fight first proved that it can make real story out of big main character fights. The Yubel vs. Zane fight proved the same principles could be applied to secondary characters. Their next milestone?

Proving that you can have multiple compelling fights, back-to-back-to-back.

The tournament structure is one yugioh is going to return to for the rest of its life. And, while the Dark Signers arc is not a tournament, per se, it functions like one: sequential fights against an ensemble cast of opponents versus an extended array of protagonists, each quirky and personal, each with advancement into the “finals” on the line, and, most importantly, each taking place one after the other.

And, what surprised me is that I was on the edge of my seat for damn near all of them.

There’s never a release of tension, between duels, but neither is there an escalation. The energy of the show is allowed to ramp up to darn near its maximum, and then just. Stay there. For episodes on end. That is one heck of a feat, and one that will be vital for yugioh continuing to improve in later series.

It’s also wonderful that every one of the three duels is truly excellent, each wrapping up some character arc in both actionable and thematic ways. Yusei finally puts his oldest ghost to rest. Jack has a genuine human connection for the first time in years, and then owns up to the consequences of not being there for them, in much the same way he had to reconcile with Yusei, taking responsibility and turning down ego inflating power. And the Misty fight might be the least personal, but its still a thing to behold, Akiza coming to terms with the harm Arcadia caused and overcoming the trauma of her unwitting participation in it.

(Also, Sayer gets punched in the face.)

I just feel such a pride for this franchise, watching the writing grow with every installment. The shows on their own may be a bit of a mixed bag, but taken as a whole, there is some concrete, real improvements in its execution.

And that deserves to be celebrated.

Favorite arc: The Fortune Cup

Is The Dark Signers the single greatest arc in 5Ds? Probably. It is not my favorite, though. My favorite is the very first of the series. The introduction to this world.

And it is for that very reason that I adore the Fortune Cup arc so much. The world it paints in just a handful of episodes is truly stunning. The backgrounds are hazy and painterly, the satire the thickest it will ever be, and everything just has the right amount of grit to make it feel proper old school cyberpunk, instead of totally sleek and with LEDs every two square inches. The premise is equally well crafted. The conflict between New Domino and Satellite in stark relief, and we truly get a sense for how tough Yusei and his friends have it. While it’s certainly a choice to drop the themes of classism and xenophobia in the later seasons, and one I can easily see why it was made, I still have to admire the sheer depth added to the world by its inclusion.

The Fortune Cup also introduces us the idea of Yusei Fudo. Some of my favorite moments of his character happen in this part: His duel with a decried artifact deck to prove there’s no such thing as a useless card, his fight against the warden using a deck pieced together by all his fellow inmates, the spectacularly moving first match against Akiza. All bangers. All show off so perfectly what Yusei stands for. In fact, it’s so quintessential that, for the final fight of the series, the writing returns to its roots, and has Yusei end the series with the exact same thrown-away monsters he started it with.

It’s fucking perfect.

Greatest strengths of the series:

Themes. Hands down, themes.

I made a whole post about the omnipresent themes of past, present, and future here. I won’t rehash it all here, so instead I’ll just gush about how wonderfully those motifs resonate with the message of the show.

While not as blatant as its predecessor, 5Ds wrestles with, and subverts, its very tropes for the sake of telling an impactful story.

From the audiences’ perspective, everything about 5Ds, from the world, to the characters, to the villains, smacks of a classic doomed story. There are literal prophecies in play telling of mass destruction and death. The very last survivors of humanity time travel back just to tell our heroes “The future is dark.” Every qualified being with magical omnipotence speaks of a cycle, of inevitability. Yusei will die. The world will be cruel. The battle between light and darkness will continue ad infinitum.

5Ds blends two genres: dystopic cyberpunk and prophesied heroics. Two genres where it is very easy to tell the story of a tragedy, because things are predestined; things are unchangeable. Most of the time, when there’s a tragic bend to these, the story instead becomes about what our characters can do with their limited narrative. Short, brilliant, and kind lives that burn out, yet nonetheless, make a bright spot on their history: the heroes forestall the cycle for one more millennia. The revolutionary goes down in a blaze of glory that will inspire others.

And, with the magic elements of 5Ds representing the past, while the more sci-fi parts represent the future, the theme of time is as present as ever.

A more realistic, unwilling to break the tropes kind of story might choose to focus on the present. That yeah, things may have sucked and the future may be uncertain, but at least we have the now. And while 5Ds certainly has its fair share of celebrating the moment, it is not content to merely linger in it.

Yusei and New Domino are not bound by the narrative to be tragedies. Despite everything, despite literal travelers from the future showing up and saying “This will end in tears.” Despite being doomed by the narrative two times over, bound by the past, condemned by the present, and damned by the future:

Choose optimism.

The idea that you're insufficient, that it’s not enough, having clear and direct confirmation that you are going to fail. Keep moving forward anyway because. The hope that the world can change enough through just your own refusal to despair. The idea that tomorrow will suck, 100%, but you keep going because, what if it doesn't?

Betting on a loaded dice because it doesn't matter the odds, because the number you call out defines who you are. The choice to be alive, to be human, to feel joy, is the tiniest, most laughably naive decision you can make in a doomed world.

But, by choosing it, you refuse to die. And the world might change with you.

Weakest points:

When I first made a template for these reviews, I expected each of them to contain unique entries for almost every category; after all, each of these shows is so different, such wonderfully different flavors, that surely I could say something different about every one and still have room to spare.

Right?

If there’s one section I worry I’m repeating myself, it’s this one. While each of the ygo shows so far have given a plethora of characters and plots to praise, different strengths and visuals to unpack, in one place, it’s stayed frustratingly uniform: Its flaws.

Yes, there’s the tragic case of localization, as you inevitably always hear when it comes to the first three shows. I’m one of the staunchest dub defenders of them all. I love these shows to death, if that isn’t already obvious for the fact that I’ve spent literal pages discussing them in my imaginary lecture hall called the internet. If anything, I’m thrilled that so much of this show is available to me in the way that it is. While you might not expect it of me, I actually struggle quite a bit with reading and processing words. Until I started on my current adhd medication, watching anime subtitled wasn’t just a chore to me: it was straight up impossible.

The uncompleted dubs of GX and 5Ds are a bummer. The tone of the narrative sometimes grappling with itself is a bummer. The unaired final season of 5Ds that I was happily watching on Crunchyroll until someone decided to put a decade old show behind a paywall when I had nine freaking episodes left- sorry, still a little salty.

I find the discussion around the localized yugioh a tired caveat, but a frustratingly endemic one. What better way to summarize the arc of the first trilogy, than a compelling story, left unfinished, by the sheer damning fact that, simply put, the industry was still figuring itself out?

The most true criticism one can level against yugioh, at least of the shows I have seen so far, is that everything it does, other shows have done better. Each show in unique, bringing something fresh and exciting to the formula, yet never quite innovating enough to be something great.

Supernatural partnership, deconstruction of shonen tropes, bleak and fantastical worlds taken to illogical extremes; all of these are things that exist in other anime that focuses on them more directly. Usually with tighter writing. I found the shared duality of Yugi and Yami to be the most intriguing part of DM, yet it got frustratingly little time in the spotlight. Why not just watch one of the thousand and one ghostly mystery anime featuring a dynamic duo at its center? GX asks what we do when handed ultimate power and rulership over reality, but does it manage to say anything more profound on the human consciousness than say, Madoka Magica?

What mark does 5Ds have to leave on the worn road of cyberpunk, that staples like Ghost in the Shell and Akira haven’t already long cemented in place?

Why watch Yu-gi-oh?

I would argue, there’s one thing yugioh does better than almost any tv show I’ve seen.

Sincerity.

Watch yugioh for its earnestness. Its sheer commitment to its ideas, even if some of them never land. Because in this day and age, its hard to find any story as genuine, as packed full of obvious love, as this silly card game show.

Watch yugioh for its sincerity.

And because of the super cool dragons.

Most yugioh moment:

Crow letting everyone search for a missing Yusei for half an hour before thinking to mention he was kidnapped for ransom, because, in his words: “He didn’t want anyone to worry!”

[ladyfogg]

May I? - 42/52

May I? - 42/52

Fic Summary: Ensign Faith Diaz struggles to hide her mental illness from her fellow shipmates aboard the Enterprise until an intrigued Data goes out of his way to try to understand her behavior. At his insistence, Faith tries to figure out what she’s truly passionate about and eventually seeks the professional help she needs. Fic Masterpost.

Fic Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Data/Female OC

Warnings: tw: depression, tw: anxiety, fluff, friends to lovers, eventual smut

A/N: I have been waiting to write this chapter for the last three years. Enjoy ;)

---

As she watched Data and the others disappear off the transporter, Faith let out a slow exhale. There was nothing she could do but wait for their return. Beside her, Captain Picard squeezed her shoulder before he led her from the room. 

“They’ll be back before you know it,” he assured her. 

Not that long ago she may have found his tone on the patronizing side. However, now she was comforted by the gesture and appreciated the attempt to reassure her.

“I wanted to join the away team,” Faith admitted to him. “But Data begged me not to. Time is going to crawl by while I wait.”

Picard dropped his hand and they walked side by side towards the turbo-lifts. “I am pleased to hear you were willing to volunteer,” he said, pride evident in his voice. “That shows great initiative, Lieutenant. I’ll keep you in mind for the future.”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. On one hand, approval from an authority figure definitely released some serotonin, on the other, it also released anxiety over actually doing an away mission. Pushing it away, she refused to let it overtake her. She had to keep her mind sharp and focused. 

“If you don’t need anything from me, Captain, I’ll be reporting to Engineering,” she said.

“Understood. Dismissed.”

He kept walking as she took the turbo-lift. Once alone, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then slowly exhaled. She was in the middle of repeating the process when the lift stopped and Ensign Ro stepped on.

“Everything okay, Lieutenant?” she asked, before requesting the deck she required.

“Frustrated,” Faith told her. “The away team is dealing with the jerk who was responsible for my kidnapping and I have to just…”

“Stay behind?” Ro offered. When Faith nodded, she shook her head and made a noise of disgust. “I’d be wound up too if it were me.”

“I know as Starfleet officers we can’t take things personally but this is personal.”

“It doesn’t get more personal than holding you against your will based on who you’re involved with.”

Faith wasn’t surprised Ro had some knowledge of the situation considering her position on the Bridge. It made sense that she would have overheard and witnessed enough to get the gist of things. In all honesty, it felt nice to hear the perspective of someone who wasn’t a senior officer. There was a deeper sense of camaraderie there from someone who was in a similar position as she was: there but not necessarily on the inside. 

“There was evidence that it was more than that, that I was the focal point as well,” Faith said.

Ro’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?” When Faith nodded, she asked, “What kind of evidence?” 

By now the lift had reached Engineering and though Ro was headed to a different floor, she followed Faith to continue the conversation. 

“Photos. Lots of photos of me and me and Data around the ship.”

Ro crossed her arms as if to hug herself. “That’s vile. God, now I wish I went on the away mission too to punch the guy myself.”

“Aww, Ro, you care.”

She rolled her eyes but Faith saw a slight flush in her cheeks. “I hate bullies,” she clarified. “And I hate those who prey on others. Yeah, there’s a risk that comes with being on a starship but we should be able to go about our business without being stalked but some unknown entity.”

“You would think, right?”

“I will say this, you’re handling it a lot better than I would be.”

“Oh, this is all a façade. Inside, I am running around in circles screaming.”

To her surprise, Ro snorted with laughter. “Fantastic mental image.”

Just outside of Engineering, they came to a stop. “This is my stop,” Faith said. 

Ro nodded but as Faith made a move towards the door, she said, “Hey, if they’re not back by the end of your shift. Let’s get a drink. You shouldn’t have to be alone while you wait.”

Faith smiled graciously. “Yeah, okay, I’d like that.”

They parted ways and Faith took her place in Engineering. With all the staff back on hand, there was a fair amount of coordinating that needed to be done, including assignments for new crew members. She did the best she could to throw herself into the work. Yet, her mind kept drifting, wondering if they had encountered Konro yet and if the disguises had worked. Had the transmitters gotten the work done? Were they able to fool the escort enough to even get to the planet?

It wasn’t long before the questions became too overwhelming. Faith was at her desk when an idea struck that sent her to her feet. She marched through Engineering nearly running into Barclay.

“Lieutenant, everything okay?” he asked.

“Everything’s fine. Standby to reroute controls to the Bridge.”

“Yes, sir.”

Faith took the turbo-lift with determination. Just because she couldn’t go on the mission didn’t mean she couldn’t still help. When she stepped off the lift, Captain Picard turned to look at her, eyebrows drawn together in concern.

“Can I help you, Lieutenant Diaz?” he asked. 

“Permission to assist in monitoring the away mission with you, sir,” she said, standing at attention. “My knowledge in this matter could be of assistance and having built the transmitters, I can step in to troubleshoot should there be any issues.”

It was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Worf stood at his tactical station and when she caught his eye, she couldn’t help but think she saw a glimmer of pride. The captain studied her for a moment and then, to her relief, he nodded. 

“Permission granted. You may take this seat,” he ordered, motioning to the chair Deanna usually occupied. 

Exhaling slowly, Faith’s legs felt like jelly as she crossed to the chair. As she sat, she saw Ro at the helm. The young woman nodded with approval and smirked as she turned back to her work. 

Faith hit the com panel on her chair, “Diaz to Engineering, reroute controls to this console.”

“Understood, Lieutenant. Controls rerouted,” Barclay’s voice came through.

Faith turned to Picard. “Has the team made contact?”

“Yes, a few minutes ago. They are on their way to Obara now. We won’t follow until we’re out of sensor range of their escort.”

It was Faith’s turn to nod. She brought up the transmitter readouts so that she could monitor in real time. As terrifying as it was to be on the Bridge, she found it was a lot quieter than Engineering. Then again, it was also way more tense. 

Worf’s terminal beeped. “Sir, the shuttle has landed outside of Konro’s compound.”

“Acknowledged,” Picard responded. 

Faith reached into her pocket to touch Data’s com badge. She hated that she had to take it from him while the others could keep theirs, as they could hide them better and wouldn’t be searched as thoroughly. Touching the cool metal though gave her an idea.

“Captain, I can reconfigure the away team’s com badges from here to listen in on their conversation once we’re in range,” she suggested. “That way we can hear what is happening. It’ll take a couple of minutes but it’ll give us some idea of what’s going on.”

“Do it.”

Faith used her access to set up a subroutine that would remotely turn on the com badge's microphone. It wasn’t a difficult feat comparatively, however, the fact that she sat right next to the captain did lay on the pressure. She could feel the sweat dripping down the back of her neck and under her collar. 

Come on, you can do this in your sleep, she told herself. Just focus.

“They are out of sensor range,” Worf announced.

“Ensign, take us in, warp three. Once we’re out, use impulse only to get us as close to the planet as possible without going into standard orbit.”

“Aye, sir,” Ro responded. “Warp three, engaged.”

Faith kept working and by the time they were in position, she managed her goal. A moment later, Riker’s voice came through to the Bridge.

“Come now, Dulcer, Enil. Let’s not leave our benefactor waiting.”

Faith couldn’t help the small triumphant grin on her face.

“And you’re sure the android will be safe there until Mr. Konro can examine him?” Deanna asked, doing an excellent imitation of Dulcer.

“Of course. Mr. Konro is diligent when it comes to security. Nothing comes in or out without his knowledge and he only hires the best.”

“He’ll be fine,” Riker assured them. “I have complete trust in our benefactor.”

The silence on the Bridge was tense as they listened to the group move throughout the compound to where Konro waited for them. Faith’s body was tight and her shoulders were nearly by her ears as the moments ticked by. There was the swish of a door and they heard Konro’s voice for the first time.

“Well, well, well. To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

“Vorbos Konro, I presume? We are the delegates from Vangar and have delivered what Fajo failed to,” Riker said.

“So I’ve been told. And am I to presume you did this purely out of the goodness of your hearts?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. There is much to discuss.”

“I agree. Please, have a seat. Doran, go gather refreshments.”

His aid didn’t speak as he left but the swish of the doors signaled his exit. There was a beat of silence where Faith imagined Konro taking the other three in.

“I have to say, I was surprised to get your message,” he said.

“I’m sure,” Riker responded. “To be honest, we’ve always found Fajo to be rather short-sighted. More concerned for his collection rather than the bigger picture.”

“Oh? And what do you think the bigger picture is?”

“Let’s not beat around the bush,” Geordi spoke up. “We have something that you want and something you need, just as you have something we want and need.”

“Direct. I heard that about you, Enil.”

“And we heard you have a lot of pull in this region.”

“You could say that.”

“I’m sure you’re aware of the Vangar’s seclusion,” Deanna said. “We choose our friends very carefully.”

“Are you saying we’re friends?”

“We could be,” Riker said. “For the right price.”

“I’m intrigued. Although, one android is hardly a reason for us to become friends.”

“It’s not just the android we bring. As your aid can confirm, we also have a cloaking device. Not Romulan or Klingon. Something entirely different, another gift from Fajo.”

“Who knew it would be so generous after his death?”

“Imagine that.”

Faith fidgeted in her seat, incredibly uncomfortable with the entire exchange. it didn’t sit right with her, not that anything that was happening did. She realized she had drawn the captain’s attention with her movements and leaned closer to him so she could quietly ask, “Do you find it strange he hasn’t said a thing about Data? Hasn’t asked about him at all?”

Picard’s face echoed her concern. “I was thinking the same thing,” he responded.

The unease she felt earlier only increased. It took everything to stop fidgeting. Instead, she busied herself with the terminal, quietly checking on Konro’s defenses. They were strong, yet not as strong as she would have expected. She was able to pick up the signal from their coms and their sensors could pick up the life forms surrounding them, but that was it for now.

“Can you get a lock on them, Mr. Worf?” Picard asked. 

“Not yet,” Worf answered. “But we can track them for now.”

“Captain, I can try to see if I can break into Konro’s systems from here,” Faith said. “But I’m unsure of his fail-safes. Considering what happened to the Enterprise when Data tried to decrypt the files…”

“Hold off,” Picard ordered. “We’ll wait for Mr. Data to try on his end.”

“I will admit, I’m intrigued,” Konro told them. “But, first things first, how did you know Fajo was working for me? It wasn’t exactly public knowledge.”

“You know how Fajo is. Once he’s proud of something you’ll never stop hearing about it,” Riker said. “We were introduced to the android during a dinner. Fajo hinted he had help and after that, it didn’t take much to get him to reveal more.”

“And his death? What do you know of that?”

“A testament to the android’s strength. I wouldn’t advise making him angry.”

“He has feelings? It was my understanding that wasn’t the case.”

“We were told that as well, and yet, he beat Fajo within an inch of his life. One doesn’t do that unless it’s personal.”

“Curious. Very curious.”

There was nothing in Konro’s tone or words that he had the obsession with Data as the information had led them to believe. His words seemed cold and unattached, almost like he was speaking from a script. 

“Something’s not right,” Faith said out loud. “This doesn’t feel right.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Picard said. “I get the distinct impression that he’s putting on a show.”

“Are we sure this is actually Konro?”

“We can’t be sure of anything at this point, Lieutenant.”

Through the coms came the sudden sounding of an alarm which sent Faith’s blood pressure through the roof. 

Konro’s aid came into the room a second later. “Sir, there’s a security breach! The android is loose!” he exclaimed.

“So, this is your idea of friendship?” Konro snapped at the others.

“Hey, we deactivated him long ago and stored him where your aid told us to,” Riker snapped back. “Your place is supposed to be secure. If he escaped, that’s on you.”

“Seal off the exits and start sweeping each floor and turbo-lift! I want the android caught! As for you three—”

Interference cut the connection without warning and Faith tried desperately to get it back. There was static and then nothing, only the erratic beeping of the com pad she quickly tapped on. 

“What’s happening?” Picard demanded. 

“I don’t know, some kind of interference. I’m trying to compensate.”

“Have we got a lock on them yet?”

“Aye, sir,” Worf assured him. “However, I am picking up many other signatures throughout the compound.”

“What about Commander Data’s?” 

“It’s going to take some time to narrow it down.”

Faith was able to reestablish the connection  just as Riker’s voice said, “Riker to Enterprise.”

“We’re here, Number One,” Picard responded. “What’s happening down there?”

“Konro has locked us in a room and then he went off to find out what’s happening.”

Just then, Faith saw the Vangar ship downloading information and she realized that Data had gotten to a console. “Sir, Data’s made the connection!” she announced. “We’re downloading Konro’s computer contents now.”

“Monitor it and make sure the transfer goes through!” Picard ordered. “Number One, you need to find Data so we can beam you all out of there. We haven’t got a lock on his signature.”

“Geordi is trying to get us out now, but—”

“I got you,” Faith interrupted, using the connection to access Konro’s entire system. “Just give me a second to find the right room and…”

“The door’s open, we’re out!”

Picard glanced over at Faith with a smile. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Start going through those files.”

“Yes, sir.”

Faith needed a bigger console so she transferred the access to Engineering Station One and immediately sat down at it. She got to work strengthening the connection with the hope of downloading things faster. Once that was established, she went through some of the information.

It was a plethora of criminal activity. Trade agreements with the Ferengi to dark dealings with some Romulans. She saw a couple of files regarding the Federation but it was going to take time to thoroughly go through them all. Either way, it was a start to what they had been looking for. 

"It looks like we got more than enough," she reported. "It's going to take time to sort through it all but from what I see, Konro has a lot to answer for. I've found several of the correspondences that match Fajo's. He's definitely the one that sent Fajo after Data."

"Good! Mr. Worf, I want them out of there the second they find Data."

There was a moment when it looked like someone was trying to shut down the connection but Faith had ample warning thanks to the way she boosted the link. In the back of her mind, she was concerned that the shutdown could mean Data was found out. However, she couldn’t let that stand in her way. She bypassed their orders yet made it appear the shutdown had worked, which could only fool them for so long. Hopefully, it would be long enough.

“Number One, what’s going on down there?” Picard asked, the tenseness in his voice echoing the tension blanketed throughout the Bridge.

“Heavy resistance,” Riker responded, sounding out of breath over the sound of phaser fire. 

“Sir, someone tried to shut down the connection so we should assume Data is incapacitated,” Faith told the captain. 

“Did you hear that, Commander?”

“Yeah, I heard. We’re on it."

Faith stood at the console, every muscle tight as they waited, and waited, and waited. She busied herself with the progress bar, watching the percentage climb higher until it flashed one word: complete.

A second later, Geordi’s voice sounded through the com. “We got him,” he said. “Looks like they deactivated him and took him to some sort of lab. Transporter, lock on to our signals. Four to beam up.”

Faith slowly exhaled and shared a look of relief with Worf. A second later, he nodded to the captain, “They’re on board.”

“Ensign Ro, take us to the nearest Federation starbase, maximum warp!” barked Picard. 

Faith watched the view screen warp and the planet faded into blackness. Only then did she let out a slow exhale. Turning to the captain she asked, “Permission to leave, Captain?”

Picard nodded. “Granted. I’ll come with you. Mr. Worf, you have the Bridge.”

Together he and Faith rode the turbo-lift to transporter room two. It felt like it took forever, like the lift was taking its sweet time getting them to where they wanted to go. Finally, the doors opened, and they were met with Riker, Deanna, Geordi, and Data coming down the hall. They must have reactivated Data as soon as they found him.

As much as she wanted to throw herself into his arms, she restrained herself. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she told him when they finally met in the hall. 

He smiled. “As am I.” Turning to Picard, he said, “I was able to establish a link with Konro’s computer to our systems before I was deactivated. I am unsure if the link was severed afterward.”

“No, it wasn’t, thanks to Lieutenant Diaz,” Picard told him. “We received all the information and preliminary searches found plenty of incriminating evidence. What went wrong?”

“Once it was discovered I was missing, security sounded an alarm,” Data explained. “I avoided them as much as possible but it was difficult once I accessed the main computer. Someone came up behind me and deactivated me. I did not see who it was.”

“That place was crawling with security,” Riker explained. “We barely got out of there in time.”

“Another minute and we would have been overrun,” Deanna said.

Picard nodded in understanding. “Well done, all of you. We’ll reconvene in the morning and you can give me your full report. By then, we should have more information on Konro’s files. Get some rest, you’ve earned it.”

“I need to get these damn prosthetics off, I’m going crazy,” Geordi said, pulling at the fake facial unit.

“Agreed,” Riker and Deanna said at the same time.

They headed in the direction of Sickbay as Picard returned to the Bridge, leaving Data and Faith alone. The moment they were, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. His arms came around her waist, gently returning the hug.

“I was so worried about you,” she whispered.

“There is no need to worry. I am fine.”

She had gotten so used to his new emotional state that it surprised her to find him so subdued. She gathered he was as exhausted as the others and probably hungry too. Not to mention, they were standing in the middle of the hallway where anyone could happen upon them. 

“Let’s go to our quarters,” she suggested, pulling away and taking his hand. “You can tell me all about what happened.”

“I would like that very much.”

Smiling, she pulled him in the right direction, eternally grateful that the nightmare was finally over. They didn’t have to worry about Konro anymore. He was finally going to be in custody and she and Data would be able to breathe.

As soon as they were inside, Faith turned to Data, cupped his chin, and pulled him into a kiss. It took a second for him to respond, but once he did he all but knocked her back from the force. It hurt more than anything else and Faith jerked away in response. His arm came around her waist to hold her in place when she pushed on his chest. 

“Ow, watch it,” she said. “There’s a difference between pleasure and pain, babe.”

“My apologies. I did not intend to hurt you, only show my appreciation.”

“It’s okay."

She ran her hands up his arms to rest on his shoulder, pushing herself up on tiptoes to kiss him again. His response was much gentler yet, still felt off. Almost like he didn’t quite know what to do with his mouth at first. His teeth roughly nipped her bottom lip and she drew back with a frown. 

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am fine. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, you seem…" She shook the thought away, not wanting to spoil the mood. "Sorry, ignore me. We’ve both been on edge about this whole thing. I’m just relieved you’re back.”

There was something about how he studied her that made her uneasy. His gaze was intense in a way she couldn’t describe, not quite what it used to be before Q’s intervention and definitely not what it’s been like in the last few days.

“Are you sure you're alright?” she asked. “You seem…off.”

“Do I?” 

Faith nodded, detaching herself from his embrace. “Did something happen while you were down there?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. It was a successful mission and I am glad we were able to receive the information we required. I believe I am still processing that this ordeal is finally over.”

Brushing the feelings off again as her annoying anxiety, she suggested, “Let’s get some dinner and unwind.”

When she took a step towards the replicator, Data took her hand. “Faith, before we continue, I feel as though we should have a discussion.”

A stab of fear sparked through her nervous system like an electrical current and she suddenly found her mouth dry. “Okay,” she said in a soft voice. It wasn’t just the words that made her worried but the way he said them, the carefulness of his tone.

He led her to the couch where they sat, side by side. His expression was one of sympathy which didn’t help her rattled nerves. “I have come to a decision that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later,” he said, taking both her hands in his. "I believe we should end our relationship."

Faith blinked. For a second she thought she imagined what he said but when he continued to stare at her with that blank expression, she realized she hadn't.

"Are…are you serious?"

Data nodded solemnly. "Yes. I believe it is the right course of action."

"What are you talking about? Where is this coming from?"

"I have given it a fair amount of thought and after everything I have put you through, I cannot continue to put your life in danger."

"Data, you haven't put me through anything. None of this is your fault." She reached out to cradle his face. "You know I love you. I don't blame you for this."

He gently took her hands away. "It is not only this situation. We both know I will never be human and cannot give you everything you want, especially the love you feel for me. It would be unwise for me to continue this relationship knowing, in the end, you will be hurt."

Faith was dumbfounded. She was beyond shocked. The words were coming out of Data's mouth and yet they didn't sound like him at all. What the hell was he talking about? Hadn’t they just discovered that he did indeed love her and that what he was feeling had been genuine? This wasn't how this was supposed to go. Why would he break up with her now, when they finally figure out who had been stalking them for months?

Did he see something when he was down there that changed his mind? Was Konro not the culprit and Data was still trying to protect her?

"Data, I don't understand why you're saying this," she told him, getting to her feet. She needed to move, needed to pace as she sorted out her feelings. "I thought we had talked things out before you left. What you're saying to me now doesn't make any sense!"

“I’m sorry to have caused you pain, please know this decision was quite difficult.”

She froze in her tracks, her ears instantly registering what her nerves had been trying to convey since the second the turbo-lift doors opened. Ever so slowly, she turned to look back at him.

“What did you say?”

“I said, I am sorry to have caused you pain—”

She cut him off. “No, you didn’t. You said ‘I’m’ not ‘I am’.”

There was a beat of silence and though his expression never changed, the air around him did. It was suddenly thick, almost enough to choke on. 

“I believe in your agitated state you must have misheard,” Data insisted as he stood up. “Perhaps I should escort you to Counselor Troi.”

When he reached for her, she slapped his hands away and backed up. “Don’t fucking touch me!” she barked. “Who are you?”

Data cocked his head, only this time she didn’t find it the least bit endearing. “I am Data.”

Faith shook her head so hard, her hair started to loosen from its braid. “No, no you’re not. Data wouldn’t break up with me, not that way.”

“I understand that it might be difficult for you to accept my decision but my calculations have determined it is the right one for both of us.”

“Oh, really, your calculations told you that?”

Though he continued to take steps in her direction, she kept her distance, putting as much space between them as possible. She was one-hundred percent certain whoever she was looking at was not the man she loved. Setting aside the fact that he couldn’t do his calculations at the moment, he hadn’t shown an ounce of emotion the entire time he’d been back.

There was one final test. 

“What do you call me?” she demanded.

“Faith, you are starting to sound hysterical. I am sure Dr. Crusher or Counselor Troi can help.”

“Answer the fucking question! What do you call me?”

“I call you Faith.”

“And what else? What term of endearment?”

There was a pause, which was all she needed. 

“I do not feel it is appropriate to use such a name given the termination of our relationship,” “Data” said. “I really think you should go see the doctor.”

“And I think you should stop fucking lying to me! Data would fucking know the nickname he gave me and he wouldn’t gaslight me!”

She was almost to the door. If she backed up a little bit more she would be there. Unfortunately, whoever it was that stood before her noticed that fact as well. In the blink of an eye, he charged and she immediately reached for her com badge as she bolted from him. 

“Securi—!”

Seized from behind, a hand slammed over her mouth leaving her in the grips of android strength that was familiar, yet clearly didn’t belong to Data. The badge was ripped from her chest and tossed across the room, disappearing into the closet. 

“Well, well, well,” said a voice filled with amused malice. “You’re a lot smarter than I gave you credit for. My brother sure knows how to pick ‘em.” 

Cold realization crashed over Faith like a tidal wave and she felt the bile rise in her throat. Every instinct told her to fight but she heard Worf’s voice in her head. 

He knows you’re going to struggle so don’t give him what he wants.

So she didn’t fight back, because she knew it was pointless. Even with the basics of training, she was no match for his strength. Instead, she jerked her head and tugged his hand away from her mouth.

“Lore I presume?” she asked.

Lore gave her a dark chuckle and pressed his cheek to hers. “Aww, so he has mentioned me. How sweet. I bet you two have shared many intimate moments and conversations over the last few months,” he said gleefully. “I gotta say, when I first started keeping tabs on my brother, I never imagined I’d find him shacking up with someone. That was a pretty big surprise.”

Faith found herself spun around, giving her a chance to look her attacker in the eye. Seeing such a dark expression on Data’s face was disturbing enough, yet there was something more. The way he gazed at her chilled her right down to her bones. 

“It made me very curious about you,” he continued. He reached up to push her bangs back from her face, caressing her cheek as his hand drifted away. Once more, she jerked her head, gritting her teeth at the unwanted touch. “Who is this person who decided an emotionless android was the ideal life partner? She must really love to torture herself or really hates herself. Probably both.”

“Where’s Data?” she demanded. 

Lore pouted. “‘Where’s Data?’” he mocked. In a blink, he bared his teeth and tightened his hold on her. “What is it about him that makes everyone flock to him? He can’t feel anything! He can’t return the love that everyone throws at his feet! I get disassembled and shot into space while he gets accolades and…”

He suddenly paused and spasmed as if jolted by an invisible force. With a gasp he shut his eyes, seemingly relishing in whatever he was feeling. When he looked at her again, he was smiling.

“But we’ll talk more about that later,” he said, securing her to his side with only one arm as he freed the other. “You and I, we have a ship to catch. We’re going on a little trip, someplace where we can get to know each other better.”

“I’m not fucking going anywhere with you!”

“Mmm, feisty. I think I kind of like that.” He reached out to bend his nail back, exposing flashing lights and a small button. “Sorry, sweetheart, you don’t have a choice.”

Faith knew she had only seconds to act while Lore’s hands were busy. Using his weight against him, she suddenly threw herself backward, sending them both crashing through the coffee table. Lore was taken off guard just enough for her to slip out of his grasp. 

Scrambling for the door, she yelled, “Computer, intruder alert!”

An alarm sounded and a second later, Lore dive-tackled her to the ground. Faith did her best to fight him off, desperately reaching for something, anything to hit him with. 

A loud hiss and a ball of fur darted out from under the bed, latching onto Lore’s face. It was the chance Faith needed to free herself. Stumbling, she made it to the doors which automatically opened. For the briefest moment, she thought she was going to make it. 

A yelp from Spot was followed by a growl from Lore which tore that hope away. They slammed into the wall as he grabbed her again. Faith’s temple struck a console and stars exploded before her eyes. Through them, she barely had a second to notice Lieutenant Worf before she felt the pull of a transporter. She reached for him as he dove for her, but it was too late.

The halls of the Enterprise faded into swirling lights as she was pulled into the unknown.

[clean-casual-analysis]

How I’d ruin it: Transformers part two

The second part of this hypothetical TF series will be going over the various plots and characters. There’s nothing harder than picking a handful of transformers characters for your own personal continuity, but I hope I managed to get a good cast. First up is phase one. Also, here’s a link to the first part of this:

Phase One: Roll Out and Rise Up

The first phase of this TF series focuses on the battle for earth. After a devastating offensive by the decepticons (inspired by All Hail Megatron), cybertronians are a known presence to humanity and have sided with the autobots in protecting their world. But there’s more going on than simple good vs evil. The commanding lieutenants of both factions have created unique squadrons for their occupation on earth. The autobot squad’s primary goal is to defend and save as many lives on the battlefield as possible. The decepticon squad isn’t actually allied with Megatron but is secretly a breakaway faction that wants to end the war quickly and not sadistically draw it out. As the fight for earth goes on, (and character development happens) a third unknown group seems to be working behind the scenes. At the end of phase one, Optimus and Megatron appear for the first time and the intentions of the third group are revealed.

The Autobot Lifeguard Squadron: Created at the request of Optimus Prime himself, this squad is focused on saving autobot rather than killing decepticons. While the group does have its fair share of skilled warriors, their duty is one of strong defense and frontline aid.

Field Commander: Kup. One of the first cybertronians to emerge from the well of all sparks, Kup has seen nearly every conflict that Cybertron has gone through. Old age has definitely slowed him down and dulled his edges, but he’s still a seasoned veteran and expert strategist. After a recent traumatic event on a desolate planet, the usually cantankerous robot has taken a different approach to commanding. He’s much more forgiving to those turbo revving youngsters that always seem to get into trouble, even joking that he used to be the same way. Still an old coot in many ways, it isn’t long until the friendly bot starts rambling about an old war story or complains about an aching joint.

Alt mode: Old fashioned pickup truck

Inspiration: All preexisting Kups

Notes: This version of Kup would be more akin to a kindly grampa than a typical cranky old man.

Warrior and close combat specialist: Sunstreaker. Once a severe egotist with mild sociopathic tendencies, Sunstreaker had the audacity to challenge Megatron to a one-on-one duel. His resulting capture and subsequent torture had him reveal autobot intelligence that led to the invasion of earth. Humbled and deeply regretful, the soldier is now solely focused on fighting decepticons. While his close quarters combat skills are unmatched and driving skills are top tier, his depressive disposition takes a different kind of getting used to. Perhaps being assigned to a new squad will brighten his darkened spark.

Alt Mode: Sports car

Inspiration: G1 and IDW Sunsreaker

Notes: All Hail Megatron made Sunstreaker one of my favorite tragic characters, so I’d love to use him here.

Field Medic: Lifeline. A cool headed and mild-mannered medic. Autobots have no shortage of pacifists, but Lifeline just might be the staunchest in her beliefs. Her desire to preserve life is so great, she has given aid to decepticons on the battlefield. Such actions caused her dishonorable discharge, but she was reenlisted several years later due to deception high command putting a premium on killing autobot medics. While she doesn’t force her beliefs onto others, Lifeline will defend her right to save any and all those injured on the battlefield to the point of stubbornness.

Alt mode: Cybertronian rescue car

Inspiration: G1 Lifeline

Notes: With plenty of main character autobots eager to fight, here’s one who’s eager to heal and willing to look pass allegiances.

Weapons supervisor: Crosshairs. It’s Crosshairs job to maintain and provide basic weaponry to autobot soldiers, and it’s a job he does well. During the war for Cybertron, his old battalion ran out of ammo in the prolonged mission. Although the resulting failure and the deaths of his comrades affected him greatly, he still strives to be amiable and hard working. Meticulous and careful to a fault, he refuses to fire his weapon unless he’s absolutely sure that he’ll hit his target and not waste ammo. While this can make him somewhat of a liability on the battlefield, it also resulted in becoming a remarkable sharpshooter.

Alt mode: Delivery truck

Inspiration: G1 Crosshairs

Notes: Crosshairs isn’t an inventor like Wheeljack or Brainstorm, he just knows a lot about weapons and how they work.

Battle Master and engineer: Pinpointer. Because of the energon shortage and many of his friends needing to be put into stasis pods, Pinpointer has become irrationally afraid of wasting energy. From how often he transforms to how many words he says in a sentence, each action is calculated to use as little energy as possible. His stoic and business-like attitude can come off as rude, but Crosshairs does understand where the minicon’s coming from.

Alt mode: Blaster with grenade launcher attachment.

Inspiration: G1 Pinpointer

Notes: Something about tiny transformers becoming weapons for other transformers to wield is a fun gimmick to me.

Warrior and explosives expert: Warpath. Despite his relatively young age, Warpath has made a name for himself as a gifted and deadly soldier. Boastful and confident, this noisy tank loves to drive headfirst into the action and has taken to warfare with seemingly unnatural gusto. While his bragging can get on his teammate’s nerves, his raw skill and good-natured attitude are admired for good reason. Before the war, Warpath tried out for the gladiatorial pits of Kaon. The pits needed a new heel and forced the persona of an abusive jail warden onto him. Left unsatisfied with the mean-spirited role he was given, Warpath vowed to live life truthfully and live it loudly.

Alt mode: Tank

Inspiration: G1 and WFC Warpath (While taking a jab at Animated Warpath)

Notes: I just really like Warpath.

Autobot Lieutenants of earth: The ones in charge of defending earth.

Spec ops commander: Jazz. Talented spy, closest friend to Optimus Prime, and just about the coolest bot you’ve ever met. Upbeat and outgoing, it’s borderline impossible not to like Jazz after meeting him. While spec ops require tough decisions to be made and dirty deeds to be done, he takes to it with style and grace. He’s always eager to learn about organics and has taken a particular liking to human cultures.

Alt mode: Race car

Inspiration: Most incarnations of Jazz

Notes: While I won’t list human characters, they’d definitely be part of my continuity. Jazz would be the main cybertronian that they would interact with.

Communications officer and war broadcaster: Blaster. On the galactic airwaves, Blaster is a loud and proud autobot with a love of all things musical. His radio show is all about trumpeting patriotic victories against the decepticons and providing unique beats from across the stars. This hip and happening bot, however, is an exaggerated persona to boost soldier morale. Blaster’s still a friendly guy with a deep passion for music, but he also takes the war very seriously. When forced into fighting alongside his minicon partners, he’s as stoic and grim as any hardened soldier dedicated to stopping insurmountable evil.

Alt mode: Boombox

Inspiration: G1 and IDW/Marvel comics

Notes: Really liked the idea in IDW where Blaster’s over the top personality in G1 is a persona put on to conceal a more serious person like in the Marvel comic.

Military commander: Elita One. Once a manual laborer by the name of Ariel, temporarily holding the matrix of leadership for a damaged Optimus Prime made herself into a prime. Whether it’s through combat exercises or a friendly game of cube, the adrenaline hungry Elita strives to be the best in everything she takes part in. While this drive to push herself and others can make her seem needlessly competitive at best and snobbishly perfectionistic at worst, her dedication and belief in the autobot cause makes her an inspirational leader. Of course, being Optimus’ girlfriend helps your social standing as well.

Alt Mode: Muscle Car

Inspiration: Earthspark and G1

Notes: I’m a vanilla oplita shipper and there was no way I wasn’t going to include her.

Starscream’s Ascenticons: After realizing that the decepticon cause was more about killing autobots rather than creating a new cybertronian empire, Starscream got to work on creating a secret sub faction. The underground ascenticons are dedicated to the original vision of their movement, cybertronian pride and militaristic cooperation with other species. Focused and determined, the future uprising against Megatron and other cruel decepticons is steadily growing in number.

Field commander: Hailstorm. Unlike most heavy hitting decepticons, Hailstorm has a a good deal of brains to go with his brawn. The surprisingly humble and no-nonsense sergeant has an optic for detail and adaptability to changing circumstances that rivals the best tacticians Cybertron has to offer. The thing stopping him from rising through the decepticon ranks? He’s a lousy fighter. His aim with a blaster is nonexistent and his hand-to-hand fighting skills substandard at best. His only effective attack is long range strikes using homing missles. Thankfully, Starscream doesn’t care if Hailstorm can’t win a fight personally just as long as his squad does it for him.

Alt mode: Anti-aircraft rocket vehicle

Inspiration: Hunt the Deceptions toyline Hailstorm

Notes: Hailstorm was one of the first toys I bought with my own money, so this obscure toy-only character has a soft spot for me.

Medical officer and biologist: Scalpel. Expert medics for the decepticons are few in number, and decepticon scientists that aren’t cruel experimenters are even fewer. Because of this, you’ll find the egotistical Scalpel often ranting about how under-appreciated he is. Since there’s not many decepticons with genuine medical training, he’s invented small drones of himself to simultaneously repair allies and sabotage autobots on the battlefield. The most unsettling part of his behavior is that he collects small scraps and paint chips of those that he and his drones have healed, but that’s mostly just to show off how he saved the lives of legendary decepticon warriors. While Scalpel’s high-strung and prone to anger, the minicon’s medical knowledge of both mechanical and organic beings is unparalleled.

Alt Mode: Microscope

Inspiration: Bayverse and TFA

Notes: Scalpel would show off how little the decepticons care for medically treating their soldiers and how most decepticon scientists are mad doctors. He finds scientists that just create bioweapons and war machines to be an insult to his true medical genius.

Political negotiator and assassin: Shatter. Before the war, Shatter was an upper class cybertronian who owned a chain of high society clubs called ‘Crimson Delight’. Most of these clubs were situated in Crystal City before it was decimated by years of conflict. Shatter was already a member of the decepticons during this time, acting as both negotiator and soldier. Once Cybertron went dark and the war started to spread across the galaxy, Shatter really began to flex her smooth-talking and charismatic personality. She takes great delight in manipulating politicians and mercenaries, both cybertronian and organic alike, into distrusting the autobots. But that job’s getting harder to do with organic life forms, all thanks to Megatron’s contempt for any being not made of metal becoming more visible as time goes on. While she enjoys twisting the knife in her enemies and verbally teasing her flawed allies, she knows when to separate business from pleasure.

Alt mode: Combat jet

Inspiration: Bumblebee movie

Notes: Shatter and Dropkick would not be triple changers in this continuity, mostly out of simplifying the visual designs.

Warrior and air combat specialist: Dropkick. At first glance, Dropkick seems like the typical deception goon eager for a fight. This thirst for battle doesn’t stem from sadism or a desire for glory, but from a melancholy mood and quickness to boredom. Physical activity, from combat to sports, seems to be the only stimulant that can bring joy and excitement out of him. Outside of these activities, he’s sullen and broody. A dirty brawler and a vicious aerialist, Dropkick is a pure and uncomplicated soldier in an army of reckless and unstable warriors.

Alt mode: Attack helicopter

Inspiration: Bumblebee movie

Notes: Dropkick would form a friendship with Shatter as she shows him different hobbies outside of hitting things.

Warrior and sword specialist: Bludgeon. Former Mayhem Attack Squadron member and practitioner cybertronian mystic arts, Bludgeon’s reputation as a merciless and bloodthirsty swordsman made him the furthest thing from a potential ascenticon member. Thousands of years ago, however, he deserted from the decepticons and went into deep space. His self-exile was to look for a way to destroy entire worlds, believing that planetary sacrifices would mystically revive Cybertron after the allspark was lost. When Bludgeon returned from this quest, he was almost a completely different bot. Why not a socialite before, he was more aloof and meditative than ever before. When asked about his former quest, he solemnly replied that the destruction of worlds would bring more harm than good. The swordsman also took up the ancient art of Metallikato, focusing the raw power of one’s spark into increasing the natural speed of the user to deliver devastatingly fast blows. Metallikato also comes with a strict code of honor; never strike down those who cannot or refuse to defend themselves. Given that most decepticons flatten defenseless species under their boot heels, Bludgeon’s recruitment to the ascenticons was inevitable. Though he has mellowed, he’s still a vicious warrior whose skill seems to defy what’s natural.

Alt mode: Tank

Inspiration: IDW and Cyberverse

Notes: We’d find out that during his mad quest for planetary destruction, Bludgeon would get infected with dark energon. A slumbering Unicron whispers in his ear promises of becoming one of his great heralds and plagues his thoughts with visions of the destruction that the chaos killer will bring once he returns to full power. Knowing Unicron is a corruptive being that feeds off of the hatred and conflict of cybertronians, Bludgeon vowed to resist his dark desires and replace his bloodlust with the honor bound fighting style of metallikato.

Scout and tracker: Scourge. An ancient cybertronian of great renown, Scourge has seen a good number of great leaders fall to corruption and pride. He knows not to speak ill of the decepticon leader, but he knows that Megatron is going down a similar path. He tried to explain his doubts to his partner, Cyclonus,but the warrior’s cybertronian pride blinded him to the decepticon cause’s faults. His wavering loyalty thankfully hasn’t dulled his skills as a scout and sniper. Scourge is an expert tracker and gifted huntsman, relentless in taking down fleeing autobots. Outside of combat, he’s surprisingly well-mannered and studious. He’s got a great interest in studying history, cybertronian or otherwise, especially about the rise and fall of civilizations or empires. If necessity hadn’t made him a Hunter throughout Cybertron’s many conflicts, he’d be a historian.

Alt mode: Cybertronian hovercraft

Inspiration: G1 and IDW comic

Notes: Outside of him sharing the name of Rise of the Beasts main antagonist (who we’ll also be getting to in phase two), the original Scourge hasn’t had a time in the spotlight like Cyclonus had with IDW. He’d have the personality of an old timey british hunter.

Leaders of the Acenticons: The main decepticons in charge of the breakaway faction who plot to overthrow Megatron.

Air commander and Ascenticon leader: Starscream. Once the assistant to scientist Jetfire turned lead senator of Vos, Starscream fully agreed with the ascenticon cause. But once Megatron took command and rebranded them as decepticons, his distaste for his new master and his love of violence grew. Now, the air commander plots to backstab the tyrant and reestablish the ascenticons into a better empire. Despite his “noble” pursuit of changing the decepticon cause from a genocidal dictatorship to militaristic one, Starscream is far from perfect. Egomaniacal and insecure, he’s often prone to outbursts of rage when he isn’t given respect. While the millions of years as second in command have honed his tactical skills, he’s still a coward at heart and will often call for retreat when he and his forces are out matched.

Alt Mode: Fighter Jet

Inspiration: Aligned/IDW/Earthspark

Notes: Starscream’s character development has him realize that his ego and angry outbursts towards failing subordinates makes him more like Megatron than he cares to admit.

Seeker drone commander: Skywarp. Because of his amazing ability of natural teleportation, Skywarp doesn’t seem to take anything seriously. Whether it’s a deadly combat situation or a serious debate over the ethics of warfare, the mean-spirited prankster will always give a smirk and a quip before teleporting away. The only reason he agreed to join Starscream’s sub faction is because he thinks pranking organics is more fun than obliterating them. While he’s not the brightest commander around, he directs his seeker armada with adequate efficiency with surprise ambushes and relentless attacks.

Alt mode: Fighter jet (recolor of Starscream)

Inspiration: IDW2

Notes: I was never attached to Skywarp as a character, but IDW2 made me really like the chaotic teleporter.

Ground drone commander: Thunderblast. The former naval commander craves power and fortune more than anything. Since Thunderblast lacks the raw strength and skills required to usurp others, she instead fawns and flirts over whoever’s the highest ranked bot in her vicinity. When this strategy sent her straight to the CR chamber when attempted on Megatron, Starscream was the obvious next choice. While the air commander finds her gold digging and flirtatious demeanor obnoxious, he sees that she isn’t an airheaded fool like others claim she is. She knows how to use autobot morality to her advantage, pretending to be unskilled as a tactition and helpless until the moment is right to strike. She’s an effective warior on land, but unrivaled when it comes to naval combat.

Alt mode: Cybertronian boat (retool of Scourge)

Inspiration: Unicron trilogy Thunderblast and G1 Starscream

Notes: While I never watched the unicron trilogy, I was introduced to this fun character through fan works. I just think she’s neat.

The third group: As phase one goes on, a third squadron is operating in the shadows with ominous intentions of creating a “secret weapon”. This third group is revealed to be a breakaway faction of autobots lead by the morally dubious Prowl, who’s willing to end the war no matter the cost.

Former Spec ops specialist: Prowl. Once a stern military advisor for Sentinel Prime and morally dubious Spec Ops commander of the autobots, Prowl was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to prison when it was found out that he was going to alter the mind of a well-respected commander (later revealed to be Kup) to tell dare devil mavericks to keep in line. After a surprise escape from his prison, Prowl has a new plan to end the war once and for all. A calculating and cold pragmatist that was once captured and tortured for hundreds of years during the war on cybertron, Prowl’s seen firsthand the cruelty that the decepticons have caused and believes Optimus’s restraint is a weakness. There’s no deed too rotten and no sacrifice he isn’t willing to commit if it means stopping the decepticons from winning.

Alt Mode: Police Car

Inspiration: IDW Prowl

Notes: The prime example of “not all autobots are good”, Prowl is a perfect character for morally grey depictions of the autobot/decepticon war.

Escape artist: Getaway. One of Prowl’s few loyal soldiers, Getaway fully agrees that the ends justify the means when it comes to defeating the decepticons. Unlike his cold and anti-social commander, however, he’s a smooth talker and uses his natural charisma to manipulate others into getting what he wants. A coolheaded escapologist without an equal, Getaway’s growing ego and delusions of grandeur are only matched by his satisfaction at a dirty job well done.

Alt Mode: Sports car

Inspiration: IDW and G1 Getaway

Notes: Unlike Prowl, who shows shreads of guilt over what he’s done, Getaway doesn’t care and even takes delight over manipulating people.

Former leader of the Wreckers: Impactor. Decepticon soldier, autobot wrecker, merciless killer. All titles have been applied to Impactor. One thing many don’t know about him is that he actually does feel guilty over the hard calls he’s made and amoral actions he had to do. After his most brutal crime, executing unarmed prisoners, he was content to rust in jailcell for the remainder of the war. Prowl, needing a capable bodyguard for his exploits, broke him out with Getaway’s aid. The two negotiated and manipulated Impactor into joining their team. While imbittered and reluctant about the situation, the harpoon handed autobot still hates decepticons more than anything.

Alt Mode: Cybertronian tank

Inspiration: IDW Impactor

Notes: Wreckers would be included in this story, but I already got my hands full writing a bunch of other stuff so that team will need to wait their turn.

Warrior and instructor: Arcee. Beloved by the autobots for her sharp wit and feared by decepticons for her ferocity in combat, former teacher Arcee is a hard bot to miss. The reasons for her dedication to her comrades and intensity towards her enemies is simple, the parental bot cares deeply towards those she’s attached to and hates seeing them in pain. Prowl knows how to take advantage of her need to protect her friends and has recruited her to be her primary eyes on the inside. The most morally upright of Prowl’s renegade autobots, Arcee naturally has her outraged objections towards him. But threats to her partner Greenlight and mentee Gauge quickly put her back in line.

Alt mode: Cybertronian rescue car (recolor of Lifeline)

Inspiration: Most incarnations of Arcee

Notes: Arcee’s complicated partnership with Prowl was interesting to me, so I wanted to include it here. We’d learn that Arcee knew Prowl before the decepticon war to an extent and understands that he’s doing the wrong things for the right reasons.

Scavenger and Battlemaster: Pteraxodon. Prowl’s oldest partner and only genuine friend, the astute Pteraxodon is a bot of few words. While his physical body prevents him from being an engineer, he has an eye for powerful tech and scavenges cybertronian bodies for useful tech. An equally cold autobot who believes in absolute punishment towards decepticons, the battlemaster fully agrees with Prowl and is willing to be the execution axe of all decepticons he encounters.

Alt mode: triple changing Blaster/Axe

Inspiration: Siege Pteraxodon and Prowl’s pet pterodactyl in IDW2

Notes: Prowl’s teammates thematically serves as extensions of himself. Getaway is his manipulation of others, Impactor is his willingness to do terrible things despite his guilt, Arcee is his inherent goodness ang genuine belief in the autobot cause for freedom, and Pteraxodon is his cold and unflexing desire to stop the decepticons.

Leaders of the autobots and decepticons. Also included here is Prowl’s secret weapon: Self-explanatory.

Autobot leader: Optimus Prime. If he wasn’t forced into the position of a military commander, Optimus Prime would happily go back to being an archivist/librarian for the Iacon hall of records. The latest and greatest matrix bearer (often described as the one prime to match the heroics of the original thirteen), Optimus prefers negotiating for peace rather than fighting for it. But when fighting must be done, few can match him. Above all other things, he prioritizes saving lives and defending the innocent. He is patient, a remarkable listener despite his social inelegance, and always kind. There are some who believe that he’s not using the matrix’s ability to call upon the experiences and knowledge of the previous primes to its full potential. If he were to cut loose and unleash his full might, the decepticons would be defeated in no time. But if that were to happen, he wouldn’t be Optimus Prime any more.

Alt Mode: Truck

Inspiration: Aligned, original bio and bits of Cyberverse Optimus

Notes: I never got around to finishing Cyberverse, but the episode where Optimus is nervous and unsure during a normal party and steps out to enjoy peace and quiet made me relate/love that version of the character. Sorry, Basketball-playing-G1-Optimus lovers, It’s full introverted and quiet Optimus for me.

Decepticon leader: Megatron. Gladiatorial champion turned warmongering “slag-maker”, the mighty Megatron is one of the cruelest warlords that Cybertron has ever known. A prideful tyrant with little regard for those beneath him, he believes that all things not cybertronian are fodder for his empire. As with many deceitful dictators, his lies are sprinkled with truths. Protoformed into the age of rust as another mining slave for the quintessons, Megatron’s belief that his kind must conquer the galaxy and assert dominance over all is a belief born out of fear. The fear that he will lose his freedom and the power he gained from fighting in the gladiator pits of Kaon. This insatiable hunger for power is reflected in his poor battle strategies, which include full frontal assaults and ramming battleships into space stations. It doesn’t matter how many of his soldiers die, so long as he is standing triumphant on top a mountain of corpses.

Alt mode: Cybertronian tank (ala the Siege toy)

Inspiration: Aligned (especially the wfc/foc games) and original bio Megatron

Notes: Starscream would be the main decepticon going through redemption here. Megatron, while having moments of sympathy, is the villain through and through.

Prowl’s secret weapon: Nemesis Prime. A clone of the autobot leader, commissioned by Prowl and created by a quintesson scientist named Deseeus. Using a copy of Optimus’s brain module, Prowl removed everything that he believed was holding the prime back from ending the war. The result is more devastating and horrific than he could’ve imagined. Nemesis is all the dark urges, angry thoughts, and built-up frustrations Optimus has gained from fighting a four-million-year war rolled into an unstable killing machine. Sadistic decepticons, amoral autobots, organic dictators, everyone and anyone Optimus privately hated will be given no mercy or empathy.

Alt mode: Truck (recolor of Optimus)

Inspiration: Most Nemesis Primes and Bayverse Optimus

Notes: The final arc of phase one will by a slasher story of Nemesis killing villainous people one by one across the galaxy. The rampage ends with Optimus slaying his dark counterpart and Prowl being taken prisoner, but there’s unease in the air. This monster was not an Optimus turned evil, but An Optimus who wasn’t strong enough to be gentle. The autobots who viewed their leader’s kindness and willingness to forgive as weaknesses are silent, and decepticons/ascenticons now see just how deadly the prime can be when it’s absolutely needed. Despite their disadvantages, the autobots are going to win this war because of Optimus.

One more thing to note. The drone soldiers: Reversed engineered from quintesson technology, clone drones are mass produced soldiers made of cheap metals and basic combat programing. Because of their lack of resources, autobot drones are few and far between while decepticon drones are boundless. While not nearly as skilled in fighting as regular cybertronians, the sparkless bots can still overwhelm their enemies and get the job done. Primarily inspired by the vehicons of Beast Machines and generic troops you fight in transformers video games.

Next part will be phase two.

[make-it-mavis]

Welcome Home

A Follow-up to Homesick 9910 words, 2 chapters Characters: Turbo, Make-it Mavis Themes: Hurt/Comfort, hopeful ending CW: Depression, suicidal intentions Summary: After getting Roadblasters and his own game unplugged, Turbo's world is rocked off its axis. He spends months completely lost, unsure of his place in the world, unsure of who he is without his game and glory. But, really, the answers are undeniable: He has no place anymore, and he is nobody. There is no point in hiding nothing. But if he is going to reveal himself to the arcade that believes his own crime killed him, he figures his best friend might as well be the first one to know. Even if she could very well kill him herself when she finds out.

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

Turbo could not have said how much time had passed since he ruined his own life. Up above, the passing of time was marked by the usual rituals. The arcade opened, the arcade closed. Sprites slept, sprites woke. Weekends were marked by a distinctive boom in business. One could guess the season by observing what time of day the arcade was most crowded. Decor around Devout sprites’ homes and Game Central Station would be a close imitation of whatever Litwak had hung up in the arcade proper for annual holidays. But Turbo could not rely on these signs from his prison under the world. Any glimpses he was granted of the surface were fleeting, separated by long periods of blindness, deafness, and death-like sleep. But time made itself known, all the same. Even an existence as meager as his would not be forgotten by time, nor would it be shown any mercy. Turbo could not see it, but always, he could feel its eyes upon him.

No, he did not know how many days, weeks, or months he had been in the dark. He did know that he had been suspended in zero-gravity long enough for his body strength to waste away, leaving him winded just from pulling himself along the underside of the ground. He knew that he had been lost in silence long enough to hear voices echoing from the deep, blaming him, mocking him for what he had become. He knew that the man he was before had sunk far enough into the distance that he could no longer see him. He could remember his own name. Time had just worn away all memory of what it meant.

There came a point when, for the first time since the incident, Turbo’s situation was about to change. All of his maddening, painful work had finally paid off just enough to free him from the void, so that he could drag himself right into another. In this void, however, he felt different. In the code space of Fix-it Felix Jr., the passage of time no longer seemed like an unending, unknowable road. The end was finally in sight, and he could feel a sweeping pressure inside him, as if he had begun to step on the brake pedal. He knew, with a nauseating mix of fear and relief, that his suffering would soon be over, or at the very least, different. There was just one thing he absolutely had to do first.

He had to see Mavis.

(Read the rest here!)

[tigerspite]

For OC Asks (choose-your-own-OC adventure):

betrayal, break, failure, ghost, hide, mask, and monster!

Okay I'm going to cook here and do Wethraks AND Lodask so under a read more. Thank you!

betrayal: Has your OC ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust? Has your OC ever betrayed someone who trusted them?

Wethraks, yeah Ursaviks totally betrayed him by lying to him. He then made a lifestyle of sort of betraying others given his position in the House. There's plenty of people who trusted him that he likely screwed over.

Lodask was just screwed from the start in his first life. He doesn't make a habit of betraying people because trust is everything to him, and he's not the type to screw someone over to get ahead. So no, he's a pure boy.

break: What would cause your OC to break down completely? What do they look like when that happens? Has anyone ever seen them at their lowest?

Wethraks ended up going on a murderous rampage in the wake of losing his entire family and seeing his House wiped out at Twilight Gap. That took him down some very dark roads (which I hesitate to expand on because I might actually get to writing it out one day!), but it was mainly an expression of grief, rage, and wanting to get rid of anyone who could hurt himself or those he cares about.

Lodask this did happen but in his 'home universe'. He thought he was safe living out in the woods well away from everyone and trying to rebuild his life after getting out of a cult that had him and his brothers under complete control, and then people associated with said cult found him. The loss of safety and feeling so betrayed by his brother (who was staying with him at the time) made him go on a downwards spiral into depression and suicidal behaviour.

In fact generally that time in his life was not good for him on so many fronts lol. He basically went on a collision course that didn't stop until he had all the answers he wanted, at the cost of burning a lot of bridges. After that, he found some sort of peace. Luckily this fundamentally can't happen in the ELU so he's home free and doesn't have to go through that!

failure: What's your OC's greatest failure? Have they been able to move past it? Does anyone else know about it?

I think Wethraks does feel responsible for not being able to save some people. I don't think there's any one big failure, just a lot of small ones that added up over time. Objectively, a lot of people have died because of him or because of his actions (or lack of them). Like Lodask died to protect him. Solkis was killed because he didn't quite manage to stop Saint (but thought he did). Technically, Siriks died because of him (although that's a real can of worms). I don't think he's spoken about some of these with anyone.

Lodask, for the purposes of the ELU, is free of feeling he made a great failure. Outside the ELU, he whole-heartedly blamed himself for not being able to find or locate his brother in time before he almost got killed when he went missing. Honestly I feel that contributed to why he distanced himself from his family full stop. He did not cope well with that.

ghost: Who or what haunts your OC? What happened? How do they live with their ghosts?

See above answer for Wethraks. The people he loved and lost bothers him immensely. He has all sorts of stuff from them that he's hoarded for fear of losing that too.

Lodask...he had like the most traumatic fucked up upbringing ever. That haunts him on every front. He has like TURBO CPTSD. It eats him alive. He deals with it by just not bothering with other people and keeping to himself, as well as a healthy dose of trust issues and fear of others. House Devils was the best place he could've ended up since they actually gave a shit about him for being himself. But if you knew his full story, I don't think you'd blame him lmao

hide: What does your OC hide? Why do they hide it?

Wethraks hides whatever he's doing at every opportunity. Partially because of confidentiality, partially because he doesn't believe anyone needs to know what he's doing full stop. Which stems from the trust issues laid out above. He has a head full of secrets.

Lodask hides himself. Anyone who wants to know him - actually know him - has to dig through a Tootsie roll of hardened layers to get to the real him. He had to do that to protect himself and it's his default state of being. There is a very kind, intelligent, sympathetic soul inside that who really doesn't want to hurt anyone or anything. Just it got buried and beaten out of him. Literally.

mask: Does your OC wear a mask, literally or figuratively? What goes on beneath it? Is there anyone in their life who gets to see who they are under the mask?

See above answers. Wethraks, I think Eramis is the only one who gets to see beneath the mask at this point. He's done a very good of keeping calm and professional or friendly and approachable as needed - he's a chameleon, and a very selfish one at that. But Eramis knows who he is at the core, and what he's been through, so she can punch straight through it and get to what's really bugging him. Or just use it to wind him up further lmao. Beneath Wethraks's mask is mainly thinking how he's going to still come out on top or not get involved in something.

Again, as above for Lodask, his existence is a mask. Under it is a puppy having a perpetual panic attack, who screams when you look at it. Only Wethraks and Solkis truly got to see through it, although he did ease off and learn to unmask / calm down with time and rehabilitation with the Devils. The unshakeable soldier thing did not last very long there.

monster: Is your OC monstrous in any way? Is there something that makes them monstrous? Are they aware of their own monstrosity? Do they accept it or reject it?

Wethraks isn't. He's a product of his environment. House Devils internal and external politics were a fucking minefield, and he got straight into the middle of it just by virtue of who decided they liked him. He doesn't believe he's a monster either, but has made choices he regrets. Unfortunately, Eliksni being Eliksni and humanity being humanity demands that horrible choices be made sometimes. He regrets it, but it's not keeping him up at night level regret.

Lodask. Wow. Okay. Yeah there's a lot to unpack here so let's throw out the suitcase. He has done horrific things to other people. We see him struggling with what he knows he's capable of doing in the The Devil's Claw. He was rewarded greatly for aggression and violence as he grew up, it was pretty much what he was raised to do to others and he happened to be the best at it. So he got turned into a monster and hates himself for it, and quite honestly I do think this sense of guilt did dimly carry over to his post resurrection life and moral code. To survive and get to the Last City, he sometimes had to do things he regretted. He still feels guilty for that but is learning to forgive himself for what he did and the people / Eliksni he hurt or killed.

Pre resurrection, I don't think he ever got over what he did as a teen / young adult. Even though he would've learned and come to terms with how it wasn't his fault at the roots, there's still a massive part of himself that will never get over it. Probably thinks it's best he doesn't so he never forgets and never does it to anyone else.