#Glyph Shifted

[yubriamakesart]

One of my 2024 goals is to be more self-indulgent with my art, and another is to draw more cats, so here's some new characters to help with that- Kish'da, her cat Fib, and her enemy-with-benefits to friend-with-benefits Godrinth. Kish-da and Godrinth are stuck together after an accident with magical items. They're both stuck with Fib because they gave her food once.

[revelboo]

PLEASEE I NEED MORE IDW MEGATRON

Guessing you mean exhausted leader of a bunch of backstabbing, barely competent, chaos children Megatron not exhausted co-captain of the Lost Light Megatron?

Skin and Bones Pt 5

IDW Megatron x Reader

• Scrolling through reports, he’s aware of you wandering around on his desk. Peering down at the Cybertronian glyphs on his keyboard. Almost absently, he nudges you away when you get too close to the edge of the desk then goes back to his report. Ignoring the bemused look you shoot him. Then you’re laying your little hands on the back of his hand to lean across and look at his datapad. Venting sharply, he freezes at that unexpectedly soft touch. “What are you doing, little one?”

• You glance up at the warlord, trying to decide if that slight frown means he’s annoyed or just exasperated and trying ignore the fact that when he calls you little it doesn’t sound condescending. It’s almost cute and better than some of the nicknames a few of the Decepticons have saddled you with. Like squishy or meat bag. “How hard is your language to learn?” You ask because you’re honestly curious and it sounds better than that you’re just bored out of your mind and want something to do.

• Shifting his hand, he rumbles in surprise as you go sprawling across the back of his hand on your belly. Before you can scramble away, he’s reaching over with the other hand, curling his servos around your little body to move you onto the desk between him and the datapad. Clearing the screen, he sketches a character and taps it. Makes a rasping noise that ends on a click. Another glyph, this one vocalized as a whirring sound and you stare up at him. There’s no learning this. You can’t even make those sounds.

• He’s already on the seventh glyph before he looks down and sees the look on your little face. It’s almost the same expression some of his younger soldiers had worn the first time they went into battle. Overwhelmed and terrified. Venting softly to stir your hair, he goes back to the first one. Enunciating carefully, he makes the sound. You look up at him and then make a noise. Mangling it far beyond recognition, but you’re trying. Again he makes the correct pronunciation and then waits. Face reddening, you try again. Still very wrong, but closer. “I can’t make those sounds.”

• “Not yet,” he replies, reaching out to gently use the tip of his servo to turn your face back to the datapad. “Can you draw the glyph?” Blowing out a breath, you lean over the datapad, laying a hand on the screen to copy his glyph. Well, that you’re good at. He runs a knuckle along your spine, feeling you lean into that stroke like you enjoy it. “Very good, little one,” he growls in Cybertronian, smiling indulgently as you peer up at him in confusion. Cautiously you offer him a smile that does strange things to his spark. Makes him uncertain how to feel, because he’s not sure he deserves anything soft or gentle after the things he’s done. Had to do. Certainly doesn’t deserve your trust. Shaking himself, he taps the second one and watches you sketch it out.

Previous Next

[museum-of-artifacts]

Located in the Air Massif of Niger are two of the largest animal rock petroglyphs in the world. Known as the Dabous Giraffes they have been dated to about 8,000BCE. While the artist will forever remain unknown, this area of Niger has over 900 similar carvings of animals and humans. The period of these glyphs (12,000-7,000BCE) was known as the Neolithic Subpluvial, a time when the Sahara was a much wetter savannah that stretched thousands of miles and could sustain animal and human life. The giraffes are carved into a sandstone outcrop and depict a large male and smaller female. Shifting desert sands possibly covered the glyphs for millennia before they were discovered in 1987.

[wha-archive]

Chapter 78 is now available in Japanese! This chapter comes with the publishing of this very sweet illustration of young Agott. An official colouring of her old robes! She has such a different attitude to the Agott we know today - how curious!

Following a hiatus, Chapter 52 of Kitchen of Witch Hat has also been published! I've not seen any indication that it'll return to monthly publishing, but any updates from Sato are good to see. Hopefully she takes her recovery at her own pace!

[ID: A coloured illustration of a younger Agott, still with long hair and her old robes. The robes have a pink and white colour scheme, with a fucshia outer robe and dusty pink robe over a long white dress. She appears sheepish or bashful with a small smile on her face, wide eyes, her fingers knitting together and her feet shifting. The background is a red board with a gold frame upon which are numerous pages of magic runes. They are not complete glyphs - they instead appear to be the magic used to represent animals in sculpture magic. END ID]

[alexa-fika]

Devourer of ships (Shanks x gn!Reader)

A/N y’all I haven’t written in a non-requested piece in a hot minute!! Not sure about this one but I hope you like it, just a little thought I had. To avoid spoilers some definitions and explanations are at the bottom of the chapter

Here Reader is Replaced by dokucha which stands for reader in japanese

Dividers by @/saradika

"What are we looking for in this location," Beckmann asked as he glanced at the map lying between him and his Captain, his usual cigarette held between his teeth

"There are a couple of road pone glyphs in that location that we need to retreat."

"On the middle of the sea?" Limejuice asked looking at the spot where his Captain had placed a knife, confused at the lack of land underneath it or anywhere around it.

"Boss, I'm not sure about this. There is no land there, and there are multiple reports of the danger of that part of the sea." Snake frowned

"There is no land recorded," Shanks replied, still glancing at the map, a slight smirk on his face

"No one makes it close enough to the island to map it or to even know there is an island there."

"Boss, if the water is dangerous to the point one can't make it close enough to even see the island, how are we going to? How do you even know about the island?" Lucky asked casually as he took another bite from the meat in his hand

"Roger made it to the island back in the day; the island wasn't mapped due to a request of a friend that wanted the island to remain hidden; that being said, don't worry about the passage I know how to get across" Shanks explained waving away their worries

"Is this friend of yours still there even after so many decades have passed?" Beckmann asked with a frown

"They'll be there". Shanks spoke, an unwavering faith behind his words

Beckman let a sigh at this, smoke escaping his mouth as he did, his lip tilting upwards slightly

"Hard to argue with that."

_

"It's awfully calm for an area that was said to be so dangerous," Yassop commented, watching at the serene sea, the sound of soft waves hitting the Red force

"Perhaps the rough sea was a passing storm?" Rockstar suggested, humming as he spotted something in the distance

"Hey, What's that?" He asked, pointing to the object, knowing of his superior's heightened eyesight

"Looks like a rock formation; there's a few of them. Looks like they are forming a circle."

"If they are rock, why does it look like they are starting to move?"

"Huh? H-Hey, what's going on?! " someone in the distance screamed as the ship suddenly shifted direction, seemingly dragged by a current

"It's a whirlpool!" Yassop hollered

" Captain!"

"Hold the sails," Shanks screamed as he ran to the Deck, leaning against the railing of the ship

"Sea King!" someone screamed as an enormous serpent-like monster emerged from the water; what they previously thought to be rock formations turned out to be the teeth of the sea king

"Don't," Shanks called, putting a hand over the riffle of his first mate, having already been aiming at the intruding beast

"Hold your fire men, that's not a sea king," Shanks ordered as he approached the beast as it prepared to consume them

"Hello, Dokucha. Don't tell me you don't recognize me anymore."

"Captain?!" someone screamed, confused about their captain's actions, only to stare in shock as the monster halted

The crew watched as it quickly dove back into the water, taking with it the huge whirlpool that previously endangered the ship, returning the sea to its previous serene state

"Boss What was that?!" Yassop hollered down at his captain from his spot at the crow's nest

"You'll see."

"Something is coming up!" someone called, letting a scream as someone jumped onto the deck, the crew quick to draw their weapons

"Weapons down," Shanks order

"B-But boss i-

The words they were about to utter were quickly halted at the pointed glare their captain sent their way; nodding as he lowered his weapon, the rest of the crew followed after

At this, Shanks turned his sight back to the person in front of him, fins decorating where their ears would usually be and a small set of tusks adorning their mouth. On their head, they sported an extensive array of horns, with two pairs placed on top of their head as they curved upward and two more pairs behind their eared gills, curved in a manner similar to a ram. Their back sported a pair of wings with what appeared to be a row of sharp-like formations decorating the borders of it, a sharp horn structure at the end of them.

"It's been a long time, Dokucha," He called

--

After the grand commotion, due to appearance of the young creature calmed down. Shanks gathered his crew, explaining his relation to them. It turned out he and Dokucha first met in his younger years when he was still sailing with the other Roger pirates.

Dokucha served as a guradian to a small archipielago of islands, creating deadly storms and powerful whirpools to bring down any ship that got to close, effectively keeping the island not only safe but hidden to the outside world.

Roger, with ways still unknown to him managed to befriend the guardian. To this day Shanks believed it to be because of his Captain's incredible charisma and easygoing nature that he had managed the relationship to flourish.

Since their meeting, the archipelago served as a safe haven from the outside world, a place the crew could come and relax without any threat able to reach them. It was in the archipelago where Roger was able to find the last poneglyphs he needed to make it to the end of the grand line and the creature who could grant them safe passage to it, Dokucha themselves. It was with their aid that they managed to safely make it to the island that would later be named Laughtale.

Once their journey had ended, Roger returned the RoadPone glyphs to their original home. Where Dokucha had asked the Captain to keep the existence of the land a secret from the outside world, which he readily agreed to. Because of this, Dokucha's already established trust with the Captain had expanded, as they offered the archipelago as a safe haven not only to him and any treasure he may want to keep safe but to any of his successors as well, which is how Shanks had been able to calm down what was to be the downfall of the Red force. Needless to say, their re-encounter had been a cause for celebration.

"Say, Dokucha, how did our captain look when he was younger?" Lucky laughed at the now fussing beast

They turned to them with a smile

" Oh my, you should have seen him; he was just the cutest kid. He had all this baby fat you could just melt into," they exclaimed, pulling at his now reddening cheeks at the laughs that echoed across the mess hall

"Laugh all you want; you are simply jealous," Shanks called, drinking the rest of his drink

"What a handsome man you have turned into! You grew your hair out, I see! Oh, you also let a beard grow? Gives you a ruggish look; I bet you are popular with the ladies," they rambled, looking at him

"You also seem to be missing an arm; what happened?" they asked hurriedly, not missing a breath

"A sea king took it," he easily replied

"Why, those archaic beasts! How dare they? When I see them again I ought to exterminate every single one!" they huffed

"Dahaha, don't worry too much about it, Dokucha."

"Gee, I see you're still as easygoing as you were all those years ago. Losing a Limb is a pretty big deal, especially for a species like a human!" they pouted

"Don't worry, Dokucha, it was a fair trade. Besides, something tells me the old fish already got a beating”

"A trade? What kind of gambling are humans into that you would wager your own limbs?"

"A wager on a new era"

"Look at you, being ominous and mysterious." They laughed and teased him

"You never take me seriously, Dokucha," he whined with a pout

They let out small snickers at this

"Say, where is that straw hat of yours?

"I let someone borrow it."

"Borrow it? You were inseparable with the thing; who is this person?”

“It’s Luffy!” Lucky cheered

“Luffy?” they questioned

“The hell is a fluffy?”

“This is Luffy,” Beckmann piped in passing Dokucha, the wanted poster

“We’ll, I'll be; this Brings so many memories,” they sigh happily, staring at the young man with the white cloud-like appearance and the strawhat

Shanks ignored their statement, knowing of the other’s long lifespan as he continued to drink from his sakazuki

“Ah, that reminds me,” they exclaimed, putting the wanted poster down and throwing themselves on top of Shanks, wrapping their arms around his neck in a tight embrace, their wings following suit and wrapping around his torso

Shanks let out a small smile at this, giving them a side glance and promptly returning his gaze back to the sakazuki in his hand

“What’s this? Have you also fallen for my ruggish looks?” he teased with a gentle look on his face

“I missed you.”

“Sorry I took so long to come back. Have the others not visited you?”

“No, they probably didn’t know of mine and Roger’s promise; that old bastard probably forgot to tell them; you were just nosy, so you heard our conversation.”

“Hmm, I’ll be sure to let them all know; I will

Make sure they visit you.”

“Thank you,” they muttered

If you are a mythology greek, then you already know who this was based on; I know I said definitions would be at the bottom but im curious how many of you already know who it is, send an ask or a comment if you know 🤭 man I feeel like a famous youtuber, saying that

Sakazuki is a japanese bowl/plate like utensil used to drink, it is the one we often see characters drinking from : )

Taglist:

@Imaginarydreams

@amethystviolin

@h0n3y-l3m0n05

[anthurak]

Okay but like, how fucking cool would it have been if Luz was able to KEEP her Titan form? Like the glyph-powers she got from King’s Dad fade, but the actual transformation remains and becomes this form Luz learns how to shift into at will in much the same way as Eda’s harpy form.

Like it just fits so PERFECTLY with Luz’s arc, her status as a foil to Belos and the way the show has always flipped the script on its depictions of witchcraft and the occult. Like in so many ‘traditional’ depictions this sort of thing would be this horrific, cursed transformation, but here for Luz it’s this wondrous, beautiful display of how she’s been accepted by this world she loves so much, to the point where she’s now PART of this world.

And whereas Belos’s transformation really was this horrific, cursed thing borne out of his fear and hatred for this world, and the world (specifically the Titan) rejecting him in turn, Luz’s transformation is borne out of her love and understanding for this world, and the world’s (the Titan’s) accepting and embracing her in turn.

And Luz would have a cool transformation just like her mentor/other-mom (completely with snaggletooth!) AND her being part-titan is just the perfect affirmation of Luz being King’s older sister.

Oh, and this would also mean Amity WOULD actually get to see her gf’s badass demi-god transformation XD

(Also, just... if we thought Luz’s regular titan-form looked awesome, IMAGINE how epilogue!Luz’s titan form would look.)

[diamond-vic]

Something I think is neat is how Amity gets so much better at abominations AFTER her grades begin to dip.

She’s spent her whole life doing her absolute best to get the best grades and be the top student, but she is wholly unable to create powerful abominations. She needs a power glyph to make a threatening one in early season 1. She’s doing everything ‘right’, but it’s not helping her, because she’s straining herself on keeping up with academic nonsense and her spirit is crushed by having no real connections to anyone.

And then, in season 2, in Escaping Expulsion, Odalia notes that Amity’s grades have fallen. But Amity is so much happier with the genuine connections she’s made! She’s been finally made to feel like she wants to be more than what her mother wants of her, and she wants to be happy. And that likely means not sacrificing every waking moment of her life to school anymore. It’s not something she can keep up with when she knows she wants more, and deserves more. And despite the dropping grades, she’s thriving! For the rest of the season and show, she’s easily creating abominations at the same level or higher than what she used to be able to create only with a power glyph. She’s able to do so much more when she’s able to be herself, recharge, and relax with people who genuinely like her for her

Tldr: Amity’s focus shifts from solely academics to including elements of self care and self love over the course of the show, and without the intense mental strain of being a perfectionist student, she can actually thrive in her magic studies

[lets-try-some-writing]

Okay, I was reading the Mr. Pax Teacher Au and this idea popped in my head. So basically Optimus is finishing up a work day and a staff member comes up saying someone is here claiming to be his ‘wife’. Optimus questions the staff for a bit and then they reveal they have “pink hair”. Optimus then goes outside to see someone patiently waiting for him with a smile. (I’m a sucker for OptimusxElita, sue me!) Also Elita going “Yeah, you would.” Cause she just knows him. Hope this idea is fun for you!

Well I can't NOT write a snippet for this thank you. I have exactly two ships that I will devour without hesitation and Optimus/Elita happens to be one of them.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

Optimus's digits tapped on the desk along to the beat of a simple tune he hummed to himself as he looked over the day's papers. There were quite a few interesting pieces from his young archivists- students. His dear students. They showed such interest in the history he taught them. It was a joy to watch them grow and thrive under his tutelage.

"Abigail, you impress me yet again." He smiled as he looked over the girl's artwork. The assignment for the week had been to compose a model of something Cybertronian. Abigail, one of his more artistic students, had created quite the work of art. Despite having never seen any actual images of Optimus's fallen world, she managed to capture an admittedly quite accurate, if a tad abstract, vision of Uraya. It prompted his spark to flare in joy within his true frame.

"Mr. Pax, apologies for intruding." A feminine voice broke him from his work, prompting Optimus to place down his pile of paperwork and look up. Mrs. Glass, the school nurse, stood in the doorway nervously. She patted down her knitted sweater in what Optimus could only assume was anxiety considering the lack of any noticeable contaminant.

"Can I help you Mrs. Glass?" The nurse shifted uncomfortably before she nodded. Optimus stood up slowly, concern growing in his processors as he ran through the possible issues that might have arisen while he was working. Was the headmaster trying to tamper with affairs again?

"There is a woman outside who is claiming to be your wife." Optimus froze, his expression shifting as he tried to parse out what was happening. Arcee had already taken on the role of "aunt" for Jack. Being Optimus's wife would break her cover. It couldn't be June either for similar reasons.

Was he being stalked?

"Does she have any distinguishing features?" His expression settled into something firm as he readied himself to have to politely tell a confused woman that she had the wrong individual.

"She has pink hair and bright blue eyes. I think she might be wearing colored contacts." Whatever worry was settling into his spark halted the moment he got out the door and heard the nurse's explanation. Instead, faint hope grew steadily as he increased his pace and Mrs. Glass continued.

"She stated that her name was Ariel of Iacon. Although I am not sure where that city is-" Optimus stopped listening and broke into a sprint as he forced his holoform to go faster than it should have been able to according to human biology.

She couldn't be here.

He sent her away after the Allspark was taken from its place.

There was no way his Conjunx was on Earth after so many millennia apart.

"Being a teacher suites you." It was not the voice he knew, not entirely. There was none of the underlying glyphs or tones of their homeworld, but he knew her voice anywhere. He could never mistake her.

"Elita." He stepped out, his holoform momentarily flickering as Elita-One waited for him patiently, her arms crossed over her chest and a font smile on her face. He could almost see the mighty warrior that was his Conjunx through the veil of her disguise. He could hardly wait to wrap her in his arms properly as soon as they were away from prying optics.

"I missed you." She was the first to wrap her arms around him, organic as they were. Their forms melded in places as their holoforms struggled to maintain the illusion alongside their raging emotional states. However, Optimus found he didn't care as he looked into oh so human eyes and saw the spark of a Cybertronian hidden behind them.

She was here. He didn't know how or why, but Elita was here with him once more.

"I stopped by your base before I came here. I wanted it to be a surprise." She laughed as she nuzzled against his neck, searching for sensory lines that where not there. Optimus wrapped his limited EM field around her as he processed her presence and relished in it.

"It has been a most pleasant surprise to see you here after so long." Distantly, he noted Mrs. Glass watching from the school entrance. Optimus didn't bother looking back as he pulled away and took Elita's hands in his. The paperwork could be dealt with later. For now, there were bonds to be reforged, memories to share, and many long cycles apart to make up for.

"To base then?" Elita smiled up at him. Optimus could almost imagine her antennae perking up as he grinned in response.

"If that is what you want love."

[robin-evry]

Hi, I love your headcanons, is there any way for a Kaibyo! Yuu?

Glad you enjoyed it, ask and you shall receive

𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐊𝐀𝐈𝐁𝐘𝐎 😺👻

Kaibyō (怪猫, "strange cat") are supernatural cats in Japanese folklore. Examples include bakeneko, a yōkai (or supernatural entity) commonly characterized as having the ability to shapeshift into human form; maneki-neko, usually depicted as a figurine often believed to bring good luck to the owner; and nekomata, referring either to a type of yōkai that lives in mountain areas or domestic cats that have grown old and transformed into yōkai.

( English is not my first language )

Day 2 : kaibyo!yuu

The entrance ceremony goes exactly the same, waking up in a coffin,grim sets the fire to the school and acatera. Originally kaibyo!yuu thought that grim was the same kin, mystical cats able to manipulate blue flame and are capable of human speech, before the blue flame can spread kaibyo!yuu use their magic to stop it, for compensation kaibyo!yuu ask Crowley to allow grim to enter the school as another student.Crowley unfortunately has no choice ( literally )

Since the mirror said that kaibyo!yuu but they display some abilities to control fire and shape shift. So Crowley still allowed them to attend the school. When Crowley presents the ramshackle dorm to kaibyo!yuu, he swears they send him the most disgusted glared in the world. He swears when he was sleeping, he felt someone was watching and is cursing him. After being unable to take it any longer he fixed the dorms and that allowed him to sleep peacefully... For now.

Kaibyo!yuu as a student likes to sleep during class, when Mr trein asks them a question about a subject, they answer correctly, when a test happens they always get good grades and manage to stay on top of class and during a portion project they always get it perfect.

Technically kaibyo!yuu is 12 years old since in mythology if cats live more than 7 years or turn 12 years, they are able to turn into a kaibyo or bakeneko. So technically kaibyo!yuu is 12 years old but in cat years they would be 64 years old.

Kaibyo!yuu has the ability to manipulate blue flames as well to shape shift and are able to create illusion but it's not as realistic as kitsune!yuu. They are able to cast but they do need a piece of paper to cast them. By writing fire and throwing it or something touch it, it will summon a fire it's similar to glyph magic from the owl house.

Not to mention kaibyo!yuu have incredible stamina, flexibility, and speed as well to quick reaction speed. Since Kaibyo!Yuu have the ability to shape shift to a human disguise, but they usually aren't in this form either. Because it takes too much energy, so they fused both their human form and yokai form into one. In this form they have their feline features around their body but with a human body including their cat ears and a tail. Their body is covered in a thin layer of fur. As well a bonus to be immune to poison.

kaibyo!yuu is pretty laid-back but also quite blunt without realizing it. They are incredibly brutally honest but showing this side for those who are not close to them, only acting nice for those who are around their circle.

In this situation, when kaibyo!yuu was standing in the middle of a room too busy paying attention, someone stepped on their tale as a joke, let's just say the person ended up living with a multiple bloodied cat scratches on their body and face. rook is incredibly infatuated about them wanting to learn more about there physiology, so he went straight ahead and ask them let me tell you, kaibyo!yuu send this dude the most deadass glare in the world and that didn't work on him cause he keeps asking and every time when they tried to scratch he managed to dodge. Vil practically sees kaibyo!yuu as a potential to be a model or an actress due to their pretty appearance as well as there talent of memorising something quickly and perfectly, but their personality is a total downgrade.

Their main diets are usually poison. During lunch they will bring a snake, they hunt from the woods and eat it there, this certainly scares the vice warden of scarabia. After hearing their immunity to poison Jamil will ask for kaibyo!yuu to taste the food for kalim and if they like it, it means it's poisonous. This allowed kalim to eat food more freely as well Jamil not risking his lives.

Idia first impression on kaibyo!yuu was cute, behind the tablet he really wanted to pet them but after a few chapters. Idia is now afraid of kaibyo!yuu feeling they would judge him and send him a glare towards his way. He would just die.

Also after kaibyo!yuu have a cellphone given by Crowley. Carter introduced them into gaming and now they're hooked.

Kaibyo!yuu would not bid fairly in the octanaville chapter due to it taking place at water and they hate getting wet, because they feel heavy. And how long their fur can dry up, PS : they also mention having a sibling who is a nekomata.

[stevesbestgirl]

Phases of the Moon - Part 1

Steven Grant x f!Reader, eventual Marc Spector x f!Reader

2796 words

Warnings: poor imitations of British speaking habits, not much else in part one, maybe a few curses but I’m not sure

A/N: This was my attempt to write a slow-burn. It’s long, self-indulgent, and obscenely fluffy. Reader is specified as American, but mostly so I can avoid pretending I know anything about living in the UK. Steven and Marc are aware of each other and trying to find balance in their relationship in this fic, but keep in mind that I am not a system and am not an expert. All of my information about their relationship comes from the Moon Knight show and I use that as my reference point. 

*Bold type is spoken by Marc when Steven is fronting.*

Masterlist

“Go talk to her.”

“Well I can’t, can I?” Steven sent a furtive glance at you, toying absently with your phone while you examined the glyphs inside a display.

“Why can’t you?”

“She’s got earphones in.”

Marc scoffed in the glass of one of the display cases, “Always an excuse.”

“I can’t just interrupt her, that’d be rude!”

“Not if she’s interested.”

Steven’s reply was cut short as a pair of boys came rushing around the corner, laughing and shoving each other- Steven wouldn’t have placed them at older than twelve. He watched helplessly as one firm push sent the smaller of the two reeling into your backside. Completely oblivious to their noise, you went sprawling, headphones disconnecting as your phone hit the ground and was sent skittering across the polished floor, coming to rest at Steven’s feet.

Inhibitions gone, Steven scooped your phone up and rushed over, offering a hand to help you up, “Are you okay?” You nodded, feeling a little embarrassed. “You lot,” he called out, locating the pair sidling off behind a diorama, “C’mere.” 

They looked like they were considering bolting, but the smaller of them located Steven’s badge and took a reluctant step forward. By the time they stood in front of you, they were looking rather cowed, like puppies who’d been caught gnawing a slipper. 

“Shape up, you hear? You could’ve really hurt someone.”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Now listen, down that corridor there, there’s a bunch of old weapons; spears, cudgels, daggers, the like. How about you go give it a look?” You watched him speak to the two boys; his enthusiasm seemed very genuine, not the fake kind adults often used with children.

The taller boy hesitated before leaving, “What’s a cudgel?”

Steven smiled a little, “Why don’t you go on and find out?” Then the two rushed in the direction he’d indicated and he called after them, “Slowly, hm?”

Once they were out of sight, you finally spoke, “Are you sure that was a good idea? Sending them in there with a bunch of weapons?” You couldn’t help but smile as he unconsciously smoothed his dark, nearly sleep-tousled curls back from his face.

His intent had been to chuckle, but it came out as more of an empty puff of air, “They’re all under glass- should be alright.” He added, “Maybe I’ll pop in to check on them, just in case.” Nervous now, he looked down at his hands, still holding your phone, “Oh, there you are.” Your expression fell and only then did he notice the spiderweb of cracks in the bottom corner where it had hit the floor, “Oh no.”

You shook your head, accepting the phone and dropping it to your side, like putting it out of sight would make him forget, “It’s alright. Just a screen protector. I’ll get a new one eventually.”

“Sorry about that, love,” he insisted, his earnest gaze finally meeting yours just in time for your face to go warm. You’d thought you’d been ready to hear the term of endearment used so casually when you came to England, but apparently not.

“It’s alright,” you rushed to speak. “Definitely not your fault. Thanks for helping me-” you glanced at his name tag, “-Steven.”

“No problem- it is my job after all,” he cracked a halfhearted smile.

“You were great with those kids too.”

Rosy warmth tinged his cheeks and his gaze shifted away, “Thanks.” A small pause, “Your accent- you’re American?”

You nodded, “Needed a change of scenery, so I’m staying with some family for a while. Just got in yesterday, actually.”

His gaze eagerly lifted to yours again, but flicked away over your shoulder and he went slightly pale. Glancing back, you saw a stocky woman with dirty blonde hair gesturing impatiently at him.

Returning his gaze to you, he looked a bit panicked, “I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go. I- ah-” He tripped over his words and almost tripped almost his feet as well, veering around you and backing away toward the woman beckoning him over. 

You raised your hand in an uncertain farewell as he stammered his way backwards, gesturing faintly over his shoulder with his thumb in a faint attempt at an explanation. Once he was within range, the woman seemed to be lighting into him a bit, though his gaze hadn’t yet left you. It wasn’t until she snapped her fingers that he looked at her. 

Not wanting to spy, you turned away, checking your phone for the time. When Steven glanced your way again, he only caught your retreating form disappearing out the entrance. For once, Donna’s criticisms didn’t affect him since he was already kicking himself for not asking you out. Or getting your phone number. Or even your name. He’d blown it. 

*

The following day, you had a bit more time to explore the museum, so you returned. And you noted with dismay, when the cabbie called you “love”, you didn’t so much as blink, let alone blush. Maybe it had been a one-off thing. Now you would be immune. 

Walking in and spotting the woman from before at the front desk, you plucked up a bit of courage and approached. Her name tag read “Donna” and she prompted with visible disinterest, as though she were reading off a script, “Welcome. Is there something I can direct you to?”

Deciding to push forward, you said, “Actually, I was just in here yesterday. I ran into a bit of trouble with a couple of young boys and one of your tour guides helped me. I wanted to let you know that Steven was very polite and just lovely with those kids-”

“Stevie? He isn’t a tour guide,” Donna interrupted, wrinkling her nose. “In his dreams, maybe.”

“But he does work here?”

“Yeah, he’s the gift shoppist.” She was still being very flippant; it was clear that she’d barely had interest in this conversation to begin with and now that it was about Steven, it had dwindled to none. 

“Right. Thank you.” You forced a smile and nodded before heading off in the direction of the gift shop.

The counter was empty when you first walked into the room, sending a tiny shoot of disappointment into your chest. You wanted to thank him, since it didn’t appear that you could score him any points with his boss.

You wondered for a moment if you should come back later, but then a shaggy, brown mop of hair sprung up from behind the counter, triumphantly brandishing what appeared to be a large, amber-colored marble with a bone inside it, “Got ya, you little bugger.”

His gaze fell on you and he tucked the marble behind his back, like it was something to hide, “You- you came back.”

You reached into your bag, pulling out the brochure you’d picked up yesterday, “I was only passing through yesterday.” You unfolded the brochure and showed him the notes you’d taken on the map, detailing where you wanted to go first and which exhibits had caught your eye, “I like to plan a little bit.”

He followed the line you traced with your finger intently, raising his gaze to your face when you pulled away, “That’s a good way to go about it. The tour is pretty good too.” Steven’s heart skipped as your lips pulled into a slight frown; had he said something wrong? 

“Speaking of the tour, I tried to put in a good word for you with your boss- as thanks, for yesterday- she doesn’t seem to like you very much.”

“Oh, yes. Donna and I have got a bit of a rocky history.” He added quickly, “Not a history, mind you. More like a boss/employee history. I’ve got a bit of a bad track record with my punctuality, actually,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well, I think you’d make a lovely tour guide, for what it’s worth.”  

There was another one of those long pauses; you were about to offer a meek “Thanks again,” and cut your losses when he spoke up, “If you like, I’m on a break in ten minutes. I could show you around.”

You’d insisted to yourself that this wasn’t why you came back here, but you found yourself nodding, a faint smile on your lips, “I’d like that.”

Steven seemed even more surprised than you were, nodding quickly, “Great- that’s- great.” He nodded again, “I can meet you in the ‘King’s Tomb’ exhibit.” He pointed, “Right over there-” He checked his watch, “-in nine minutes.”

Your smile widened, “See you in nine minutes then.” You moved off in the direction he’d indicated, the temptation to look back gnawing at you. 

“Wait!” he called after you. You turned back, “I haven’t got your name.”

“You haven’t needed it, have you?” 

Now you were teasing and you knew it. But you could feel his eyes on you as you disappeared around the corner and you smiled to yourself. So much for doing your own thing. The whole reason for coming to London was to get away from men- although you supposed it was more one man than men in general. But something about Steven just caught your eye.

So you waited out the impossibly long eight minutes remaining until Steven walked in, looking in a bit of a rush. You watched him scan the exhibit, almost like he’d expected you to have left by now.

You raised a hand, “Steven.” He positively lit up at the sight of you, relief visible in the heavy exhale he released- like he'd been holding his breath. 

You met him in the center of the room, clasping your hands behind your back in anticipation. Steven still had the remnants of a grin on his face, though he mirrored your posture, a bit of enthusiasm escaping as he bounced on the balls of his feet, just once, “What do you want to see?”

“You’re my tour guide, you tell me,” you teased. 

Almost instantly, his face flushed, “Well, I wasn’t sure if there were specific displays you wanted to look at or certain subjects you were interested in, you know? Since I've only got fifteen minutes on my break.” 

“Well, I’m interested in everything, but since we only have fifteen minutes; how about you show me the way you’d start your tour if you were a guide?” His cheeks darkened further and you had to bite the inside of your cheek not to smile again. But he surprised you, recovering quickly and placing his hand on your arm. He steered you over to one of the displays and you glanced at him, “The Ennead?”

The Ennead,” he corrected your pronunciation. “The Egyptian Gods.” He wheeled around so his back was to the exhibit, his gaze meeting yours with ease. “Everything about Egypt comes back to the gods one way or another, so to understand Egypt, you have to understand them.”

He walked you through the exhibit, one god or goddess at a time, his hands moving animatedly as he talked. And he was good at it, in a different way than you’d expect. He had such a wealth of knowledge- you felt comfortable asking questions because you expected him to have the answers. And he answered many of your questions before you could even ask them; his explanations were pretty comprehensive. 

It was all strangely charming, actually. His enthusiasm was so genuine, it was as though he invited you inside it with him. It was a nice place to be- like sharing a secret. It was also putting you in dangerous territory; a magnetic field that would be hard to pull yourself from.

Once you were about halfway through the eleven, you tentatively raised your hand. Steven faltered slightly, giving you the chance to speak up, “Two things- I just want to check the time, I’d hate for you to be-”

“Late-” he checked his watch faster than you could pull out your phone.

You grabbed his hand, pulling him back toward the gift shop, “Well, come on then, I don’t want you getting into trouble!”

Steven’s long strides quickly outpaced you; you had to hurry to keep up, a laugh at the ridiculousness of it slipping out. Steven glanced back- nearly shouldering a display case. Right before impact, his back straightened a bit, like he sensed it coming, and he just twisted out of the way. It was so smooth you wouldn’t have noticed the deft movement if you hadn’t been anticipating the collision.

By the time you skidded to a halt in front of the gift shop counter, you were full-on giggling; you couldn’t remember the last time you’d laughed so hard over almost nothing. “Sorry about that,” Steven offered meekly.

You took a breath and collected yourself a bit, though you still felt the warmth of the laughter in your cheeks, “Don’t be- it was fun.”

“What was the other thing?” he asked, shuffling back behind the counter.

“Hm?”

“You said there were two things, the time and what else?”

“Oh! Well that exhibit was called the ‘King’s Tomb,’ right? Why are the gods in that one?”

He leaned on the counter, some of his timid demeanor vanishing, “Well, the pharaohs were considered to be gods by their people. So they put them in a room together. And since the mummies are what brings in the crowds, they get the-” he clicked his tongue, framing a little marquee with his fingers, “-title spot.”

“I suppose you know quite a lot about those too?”

He gave a chagrined smile, “Did I go on a bit much then?”

You shook your head, “Not at all- I wasn’t teasing. I wish we’d had time to do the whole exhibit.”

“I’d wager with me giving it, that tour would take all week,” he joked, feeling like he’d done too much talking during your time together.

You shrugged, “I’m on vacation.” Smiling, you added, “Or holiday, you’d probably call it.”

He smiled weakly at the joke, seeming to be working out what you’d meant. He scanned your face, as though nervous he was misreading you, but you just smiled at him. “I’m scheduled again on Thursday, I could- if you like, I mean- I could show you some more. Of the exhibit. Obviously. If you want.” 

You were here for freedom. You’d come all the way to another country so you could do what you wanted, when you wanted, no strings attached. But, you reasoned, this wasn’t dating. This was an exclusive tour, on Steven’s break. It wasn’t like he was taking you out to dinner.

You were bargaining; whittling away your rules to nothing because they no longer suited your purposes. You knew that. And you also knew that you only did so because Steven was, very clearly, a large string. A large string with lovely, brown, puppy eyes and enough passion for Egypt to make a pharaoh blush. But you nodded anyway, “I’d love to come back. Same time?”

He seemed stunned by your acceptance, but he nodded rapidly to overcompensate for the moment of hesitation, “Yeah. My break is at three.”

You smirked, “How many minutes from now?”

He stared at you for a moment- you almost wondered if he was trying to do the math, but then he flushed and gave a weak chuckle, “Right, I’ll work on that one.”

You pulled out the brochure you’d picked up yesterday and a pen from your bag, “Since I won’t be needing this anymore-” You scribbled down your name and number and slid the brochure across the table, “Text me when you figure it out.” No strings, you reminded yourself.

He gave another hurried nod, “Okay, I will, I-” 

You got a sense of deja vu as Steven glanced over your shoulder and paled in nearly the exact same way he had yesterday. “Is it Donna?” You quickly scanned the counter, grabbing a stuffed hippopotamus, “Because I’d like to purchase this.” You deliberately moved it across the counter where Donna would be able to see and pulled out your wallet.

Now Steven looked back to you, “You don’t have to do that. Most of this stuff if junk-”

“I want to. This one is kind of cute.” You held out the money, “And you’ll tell me all about it next time?”

He nodded, a small smile returning to his face, “Yeah, I will.” He handed back your change and the plush, speaking up so Donna could hear, “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

You smiled, “Same to you.”

You left the other way so Donna wouldn’t see your face, hoping she wasn’t descending on Steven for being late from his break. You held the little hippo plushie to your chest and thought ahead to Thursday.

[revelboo]

was reading some junji ito for the season and something something reader with metroplex about the house he made for them

I can’t tell if you guys keep asking about Metroplex to mess with me or just because you’re as awful about hopelessly, doomed romance as I am. @lockheed-martin-unofficial you see what you unleashed on me? Just… you guys have me wanting to figure out how this can work long term and even if he were to mass shift, he’s so big his smallest would probably be Skyfire sized and the amount of energy needed to even just move and transform alone… 😭

I Can Feel You Pt 3

Metroplex x Reader

• It doesn’t take long for the other Autobots to notice what he’s done for you. Speculating on why he’s more active around you, more alert. Watchful as Hound uses a servo to gently tap you on the head, calling you a ‘mini city speaker.’ That little touch sending an aching sense of longing through him, a spark of resentment. But Hound and Ironhide help you move your things into the space he’s made for you, making it your own. You’ll stay with him. There’s a mattress laid on the berth now and he almost resents that, too, because it means he can’t feel the heat of you, your little heart beat. You’re with him, though, and that’s what matters.

• It’s quiet around you, just a faint hum spilling up through you that you can almost feel in your bones. The thrum of Metroplex’s spark? It’s a peaceful noise, soothing away the anxiety of sleeping in an unfamiliar place. But it’s really not unfamiliar, is it? It’s Metroplex, watching over you. Laying your cheek on an arm, you look around the house he’d made for you and wonder what’s going on in the huge mech’s processor. How aware he is of the Autobots calling him home and of you. Enough to move you out of harm’s way and to do this for you so you have a place of your own. And if he is watching, that must be so lonely. Everyone living their lives so close, right there, but to always be separate. Dangling an arm, you touch the metal floor, feeling the warmth of the massive autobot. “Are you awake?” You whisper, wondering how much recharge he needs or if he’s always half asleep.

• Little, warm fingers against him, tracing spirals and designs. That touch grounding him, making it a little easier to focus on you. Cautiously, he shifts the surface under your fingers. It’s painstaking to create new things, exhausting his energy reserves, but glyph by glyph he writes you a message. Watches you lean out from your berth to watch, lips parting. He doesn’t know your language and doubts you understand his, but it’s all he has. A plea to stay with him, his gratitude at you for speaking to him, giving him a lifeline to keep him from drifting after so long alone. You broke that silent sea of indifference he’d drowned in for so long. So, please, stay. Keep talking to him. He needs you.

Previous

Next

[sepublic]

            I’ve already brought up how the loss of glyphs is deeply tragic for Luz on an interpersonal level, given her relationship with the Titan as being kinda found family in a spiritual successor to Manny sorta way…

            But on a larger, cultural level? It’s straight-up genocide. Because glyphs were an ancient practice; They were a tradition at one point, as Eda explains. The earliest witches used to learn glyphs from the Titan on her knee, and eventually stopped when that became redundant with the more convenient source of their bile sacs.

            But it was still an important part of their history; It was how witches and demons first communicated and interacted with the land and nature, and their ‘god’ in a mutualistic way. It was how they respected their world.

            So even if glyphs were evidently forgotten by the Deadwardian Era, they were still available for those who needed them… And in comes fucking Philip, the racist colonizer, and because of his possession of the Titan’s heart, she finally dies and glyphs can no longer work. They’re obsolete now.

            They still happened, but now that part of magic, of history and this world, is gone forever. It’s cultural erasure, it’s what Luz alludes to when she mentions how scars from Belos’ reign still remain, like the left arm being permanently shifted upwards; Who knows how many were displaced, how much the local flora and fauna and ecosystems were devastated, with the desert of Palm Stings now colder than even the knee itself?!?

            It’s just so deeply painful because Luz really helped to bring back an ancient, lost tradition and unlike Philip, breathed new life into it; Glyphs could be used to help people without bile sacs, who didn’t utilize spell circles as well. We actually saw Luz experiment with using individual glyphs, and figure out the combos; Things she did on her own. She shared knowledge of glyphs with her loved ones, like Eda, King, Lilith, Gus, Amity, etc.

            There really was going to be a return of something lost, but now it’s gone forever because of a bigoted old white man who was too bitter about things that are different and needed to feel big and important by standing on the shoulders of others. It’s cultural genocide. That memory where Belos' destructive lies about wild magic drive witches away from the knee that they still had the potential to learn from, leaving behind only ruins in the present-day? With some murdered via the coven sigils that cut them even further off from their own magic they forgot glyphs for? It's truly symbolic of the final nails in the coffin.

            And it’s also desecration of the dead, too; Caleb is not the only one to have had his corpse bastardized by Belos, misused against everything he stood for. Belos also misused that corpse, first by stealing the Titan’s name, then misusing her magic, her resources such as Palistrom wood… And finally possessing that body literally, which is what murders the Titan. It’s like colonizers bastardizing and salting the land that locals carefully maintained a proper relationship with, and keep in mind this fucker is a literal Puritan colonist. There’s no respect, not for the dead and/or past. Compare that to Luz, who lives on in Manny’s memory and makes him proud.

            I’m just imagining Caleb and the Titan watching, in agony, as their bodies are used to create a vicious mockery towards their actual kin, who remain totally unaware, and in the case of the Grimwalkers, it’s another lineage that is also abused. Meanwhile the Clawthornes remain unknowing of their past because colonialism erases history, hence Belos hiring Flora, and hell even getting Lilith to participate in her own historical erasure, as both Clawthorne and witch!

            Meanwhile, King remains oblivious and unconnected to his own heritage. And most of that can also be attributed to the Titan Trappers and Archivists, themselves perpretrators of genocide. So King and Eda go without knowing their heritage for so long, in Eda’s case she may never find out entirely, because it’s part of the many voices who are lost and silenced due to genocide, buried in the past to be forgotten.

            And you know one thing more that fucks me up? It’s that I genuinely suspect that Philip initially had it easier with glyphs than Luz, and that he made them more difficult for her. Because based on his dialogue by finding the Ice glyph in a snowflake, and his diary and memory portraits showing him arriving in the isles via Eclipse Lake, at the Knee…

            Philip was probably shown his first spell on his first day in the Demon Realm. And it makes sense; The first human, the precedent that the Titan would’ve known by this point, was Caleb; Himself Philip’s brother, who was also raised to be a witch hunter, yet learned better. We know people can view both worlds from that in-between realm, but the Titan still isn’t omnipotent and can only watch through a limited number of cubes at a time, while having to know what and who to look for.

            But even so; With Caleb’s precedent, there could’ve been hope that Philip would follow in his footsteps, that he would learn and be more, and actually choose to be better instead of defaulting to Puritan predestination and the like as an excuse to stay the same and absolve him of responsiability. But we know what happened; Philip started off easy, but then made things difficult by rejecting the Titan’s compassion, by misusing her magic for evil and murder and genocide. The Titan showed Philip compassion first and this was how he responded.

            I really feel as if there’s an implicit reluctance with how Luz is taught glyphs, one at a time, in separate scenarios, usually as a result of character development and/or engaging with the world around her, which are things the Titan would really need to see to start trusting another human again (and if he knew Luz gave Philip the last glyph, that would also add to the wariness that Belos caused by manipulating her). Luz didn’t learn her first spell until a few days into her journey, and Luz had already had a few perilous encounters by that point! But she continued to brave her way through everything, continued to accept the isles and its messier side.

            And so the Titan showed Luz her first spell, and only that, in response to Luz needing it, wanting to learn magic, and most of all humbling herself to be kind to the Titan’s own son, and listen to him; Because neglecting King was what low-key led to Eda’s transformation placing everyone in danger, since he only told Luz about the elixir and agreed to steal it for the sake of getting her attention.

            So that makes Luz listening to the Titan for the first time, intentionally, with her second spell –Ice, Philip’s first- so much more hard-hitting. The way she wanted to live out her dream so she went for the wand behind people’s backs, but then recognized and owned up to her mistakes. And she really was just a lonely kid in need of guidance, and not a stubborn adult committed to his cruelty; Luz always had an open mind! She always wanted to learn!

            And she got to! She learned each glyph at a time… And that’s all the Titan could do for her, something the Titan had already done for so many others, long ago, before they realized they had bile sacs and didn’t need to rely on the land around them as much. Luz still experimented even when she just had one glyph; She understood how intent mattered. She and Lilith built off of each other’s knowledge to collaborate and create combos. Meanwhile Belos, he agonized because he made things pointlessly difficult by refusing to adapt to the ways of another land, and only got his first and last glyphs by taking the compassion of someone who knew them and betraying it.

            Plus there’s what I said about Lilith, her whole thing as Caleb’s descendant, directly abused by Belos and belittled by him, made to participate in her own erasure loss of past, separated from that… Really, one could argue the Clawthornes are like the Boiling Isles equivalent to the Irish; Yeah they're white but that doesn't mean they aren't victims of British colonialism that sought to 'conquer the land' and all that.

The Clawthornes are generally known for big orange hair, with Lilith's curly hair being straightened and dyed dark-blue in an attempt to assimilate within the Emperor's Coven's (AKA Philip's) standards of conformity. They worked with the land via the Palistrom carving and began to lose that because of the trees being endangered by Belos' gluttony, as well as the curse disabling Dell; The very curse created by the Archivists, who also invaded this world, the very curse cast by Lilith because the coven system influenced her to feel shame over wild magic and embrace hierarchy instead.

The curse leads to Eda's loss of bile magic, something very important to her and witches in general, and Lilith loses her own trying to mitigate her own mistakes. So not just glyphs are taken from witches, but even their own bile magic they initially replaced them with, and the other resources of the land. And Lilith is cut off from her family, her real family, as she's taken in by an ancestor who has deliberately distanced himself and loathes her on multiple levels as something to be 'fixed'.

But Lilith gets her hair back and re-embraces it, she gets her family back. She still manages to somewhat retain her past; After all, Lilith gets to go to the Deadwardian Era herself! And she meets, as much as it loathes anyone to acknowledge it, an ancestor, and influences history in a subtle yet personally meaningful way. And Lilith helps re-establish contact with the lost practice of glyphs by figuring out how to combine them, which goes hand in hand with her passion of being a historian, and her additional function as both parallel and especially foil to Philip.

             Just… Luz and the Titan. And Caleb. And Lilith. There’s dead people and there’s history and there’s land, there’s bodies and respect. There’s compassion and actually working with people and finding no shame in that, instead of stealing and taking credit. And in the end, even though they manage to regain some things, a lot was still inevitably lost to genocide, and possibly gone forever.

            But the effects and legacy still linger, Luz still remembers and holds dear what the glyphs did; And she honors not just Manny’s legacy, but Caleb’s, by bridging the gap between humanity and witches, and showing both can co-exist in harmony. She helped his descendants, and even the last Grimwalker, find happiness and reconnect with their heritage, even if they don’t know just how close it is to them in particular. Luz honored the Titan by clearing his name, finding his son, and ensuring the last of the Titans is no longer alone and in understanding of his heritage. Luz even made amends with the Titan’s other greatest regret, harming the Collector, by making peace; And she proved glyphs were still useful, they were still kind, and that compassion wasn’t wasted.

            So even if the Titan’s glyphs are gone now, Luz still honored their memory by sharing them freely and helping, teaching, cultivating. The Clawthornes are rebuilding the Palistrom forests, among them is Hunter who as a Grimwalker was one of the purposes for which Belos devastated those natural resources for. And King… King is beginning to develop his own glyphs! And Luz is learning her first one, Light, from a Titan all over again, because she showed King kindness.

            That honors the Titan’s memory by keeping it alive through her son; Who keeps the memory of glyphs alive through the ones he’ll sustain and share with everyone else, and those glyphs will spread to those without and even with bile sacs. And a lost art is brought back, irreversibly different but still intact in the important ways. People are relearning old practices to apply to a new world, because the past is gone but it still lingers and is simply… reborn. Despite the scars and changes it survives and is still itself.

            And with how all of this loops back to Luz’s relationship with her father Manny, who passed away, and how all that was based on Dana’s own relationship with her deceased father, who left her a final gift in Pokemon Red that she chose to cherish to this day, and embrace her own creativity and keep it alive. It’s a story about things dying but still managing to live anyway.

[anon-e-miss]

A Work of Light

“Do ya wanna feel real helpless?”

Prowl was intrigued by the question. Condensation beaded his nude protoform and his fans hummed noticeably as the worked to cool his heated frame. Jazz had the long and nimble digits of a musician and he had not settled at mastering mere musical instruments. He played Prowl as well as he did a lyre or a bass and the witch did not doubt his lover played his other amorous partners just as well. They were not friends so you could not call them friends with benefits. It would not be fair to call their status complicated. They were two mechs from very different worlds who were working together to identify a mutual threat. That they were interfacing was insignificant. Given the power of a witch’s feelings when they worked, Prowl regularly sought out anonymous lovers when he wished to perform interface magic. Since Jazz had discovered this habit, he had become Prowl regular partner. That did not mean this interface was anymore meaningful that any of the other anonymous interface Prowl had enjoyed.

“What did you have in processor?”

Jazz buckled the strap behind Prowl’s helm. A large red ball stretched the witches mouth wide. His arms were secured with more straps behind his back, under his doorwings. Prowl’s optics rolled back in his helm as the Amalgus grabbed his chevron in his servo and wrenched his helm back at the same time as he buried his heavily ridge spike into Prowl’s soaking wet valve. Prowl’s moan was silent as the Amalgus’ fragged him from behind, his spike plunging straight through to his forge each time. Muted, Prowl could not speak a spell and with his servos each tied his elbows, Prowl could not perform physical magic either. His belly was coiled tight and his valve rippled over Jazz’s spike over and over as the Amaglus fragged him hard and fast.

He could not ask Jazz to stop. He could not break free. He could not work a spell. As Jazz shifted into his feral form, Prowl should have been afraid; there was nothing he could do to save himself. The Amalgus’ engine rumbled in a low purr and Prowl felt his hot ventilations against the back of his neck. Jazz’s claws dragged lightly over Prowl’s aft before he seized his hips and hike them up. Prowl could not hold himself up and his face fell against the pillow. He arched it back as Jazz slowly eased the tip of his spike into his soft afthole, below it, the Amalgus’ second spike ground between Prowl’s swollen valve folds. Unconsciously, Prowl held his intakes in anticipation. His squeal went unvoiced as the Amalgus’ dual spike cleaved him open.

Spines raked Prowl’s nodes and he overloaded, tears pouring from his optics. The agony was exquisite. Jazz growled in a language Prowl did not understand but he nodded his helm against the pillow all the same. He was overloading and he knew he would not stop until Jazz had taken his fill. Amalgii usually only interface in this form when they were in rut and driven to breed their berthmate. Receptive Amalgii and Polyhexians had dual valves and dual wombs, capable of carrying in both forges at once. Prowl was a receptive Praxian. He only had one valve and a small protospike only the length of half a digit hard. It was hard not and it sent bolts of pleasure up Prowl’s spike as Jazz squeezed it between his claws. As Prowl overloaded, sobbing silently, it went limp and slipped back into its sheath.

Jazz pulled Prowl up and forced Prowl to face a mirror. Behind him, the Amaglus looked like the demons in the old books Prowl had studied, all sharp angles and spines. Rarely, did Prowl feel small. He had never been slender but three carryings had added to his curves. Though Bluestreak was a first-tier sparkling now, just learning his first glyphs, stretch marks still lined Prowl’s belly. The tattoos that covered the witch’s abdomen should have been warped but the stretch marks seemed to embellish the psalms he wore on his sentio-metallico. His wells hung low, too large and heavy to be perky. Jazz twisted Prowl’s stiff nozzle before sliding over his round belly. There was no extra mass on Jazz. He was lean and powerful, whatever his form. With one servo, Jazz held Prowl’s jaw, making him watch as his claw circled his sheath. Prowl jerked his helm but he could not pull free from Jazz’s grasp, his optics went wide as Jazz pushed a single, clawed digits into Prowl’s narrow sheath. He shook in the Amalgus’ arms. Prowl could see Jazz’s spike where it disappeared into his well fragged valve. Now he watched Jazz’s digit disappear into his small sheath.

“Did ya know yer gamma cluster ‘n yer transfluid duct are connected?” Jazz asked him as his claw lightly scrapped against that very duct from within Prowl’s sheath.

Prowl valve clenched hard around the spike lodged within him. His legs were weak. He knew he could “cum” through the stimulation of this duct. Receptive Praxians did not make transfluids but they still retained the duct from the times before when all Praxians were dual-sexed. As Jazz teased that duct Prowl’s belly became tighter and tigher until lubricant squirted out from around the spike that was plugging his valve. Jazz let go of his chin and Prowl’s helm sagged. The Amalgus pushed a second digit alongside the first, straining Prowl’s tiny sheath. Lubricant gushed out around Jazz’s spike again as he withdrew the two digits, leaving Prowl’s little sheath gaped and swollen. Jazz’s claws dug into Prowl’s hips and he dragged him up and down on his spine-covered spikes until finally he overloaded, spines locking into Prowl’s biolights and nodes, spraying hot transfluids deep in Prowl’s belly, flooding his forge and his aft pipe and overcome with ecstasy, Prowl passed out.

Garbed in his conservative armour, there was no sign of the amorous meeting Prowl and Jazz had enjoyed joors early, at first glance. The witch worked the crystal on his bench as lubricants and transfluids slowly trickled down his leg. Prowl’s faceplates were flush as his swollen folds rubbed against the lining of his armour. He wiped condesation from his browridge as the tattoos covering his sentio-metallico glowed. Voice both breathy and rough imbued the lust in his energon into the stone he carved. It would be a powerful talisman to whoever carried it. Releasing a puff of air from his intakes, Prowl set down the stone and the tattoos the marked him as a Worker of the Light faded. He braced himself against his workbench as his legs trembled. Prowl’s face was scarlet as he looked at the time. He would be going to interview witnesses with Jazz in just a few joors. It was going to be a chore to act civilized.

“What’s that ya got there?” Jazz asked. The ease with which he had to slip up on Prowl was honestly offensive. Somehow, the Praxian’s doorwings were blind to him. Prowl looked down at the crystal he was polishing, it was not only the shape but the size of a spike.

“A talisman,” Prowl replied.

“A talisman?” Jazz said, helm cocked. He knew better than to touch any object Prowl had worked.

“One that will ensure the keeper is well pleased,” Prowl replied, a flush forming on his face.

“Ya don’t need a talisman for that,” Jazz declared in a perfectly licentious tone. He flicked the hood of Prowl’s chassis and it popped open. Prowl’s heavy well spilled out and Jazz squeezed both as he lightly nipped Prowl’s neck.

“Oohh!” Prowl moaned, servos clinging in the Amalgus’ shoulders. His legs were splayed wide as Jazz’s drilled his spike deep as he fragged Prowl on the witch’s work bench.

Thank the Light the room was soundproofed. That protection had been put in place to ensure completed works were not contaminated by new spells. It was convenient all the same as his wanton cries echoed about the room but no further. Upstairs, Smokescreen and Bluestreak were already sleeping and Strongarm would soon be as well. His youngling was in charge of her brothers while he was out, though Prowl was not technically out yet. All the lusty cries the gag had held in earlier spilled out of Prowl as Jazz sucked his nozzle and spiked his sopping valve. Jazz lightly nipped Prowl’s nozzle and the witch squeaked. His jaw hung open as the Amalgus’ face contorted in an erotic grimace as he watch his thick spike sink between Prowl thick, shiny folds. Prowl cupped Jazz’s helm as he murmured wanton glyphs. Slowly, Prowl’s tattoos started to glow. He cried in exultation as he overloaded again.

“Didn’t know I could frag the magic outta ya,” Jazz declared as he helped Prowl right his armour.

“Nor did I,” Prowl said. “I trust you will not try to take advantage?”

“We’ll see.”

[cynautica]

I've come to the very reasonable and sane conclusion that the architect language can *potentially* be translated.

I'm not that smart though, I may just run with the bullshitting it method for my fan content if I don't hit a breakthrough.

SBZ doesn't really give us much material on the tablet alphabet beside Al-an's caller ID, his scan presents a small tidbit that suggests at least one additional alphabet/glyph set. The glyphs shown in the scan are notably more dainty and would not necessarily translate well to a carved surface. It would make sense for a species as advanced as the precursors to have more than one alphabet.

(More below cut)

What I found most interesting is that the tablets suggest the letters are mathematical logographs that correspond to (potentially) auditory frequencies. Which tells us yeah, these are graphemes. I was also surprised to realize that there appear to be around 24-25 unique letters present in the tablets which is good and bad news to us English speakers.

Its good because it suggests these letters are just mappings on to the english language and if scrambled correctly would just give us english words.

On the other hand it's bad, because it implies that the tablets function as a rosetta stone. unu Why is that bad? Because I am not smart enough to translate it.

There are notable letters that occur more frequently than others which may be analogous to vowels. In particular, letter 5, the one that resembles に or ni, appears 4-5 separate times. Letter 2, the one that resembles 川/kawa (I've been calling it h or highway), appears 3-4 times towards the "end" of these strings (not included, but are present on Al-an's call/decline).

Because the calls with Al-an show shifting letters with seemingly no rhyme or reason, I'm leaning towards this language being untranslatable by design. Even the PDA can't seem to distinguish the logographs.

The biggest problem I had was that the resolution on the tablet language was so low that many letters looked identical, while identical letters looked wildly different in a different lighting. What was a unique letter and what wasn't was difficult to discern.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions for a fake architect language hmu ig

I'm a big fan of conlangs but most of my experience comes from creating, not translating

[mdhwrites]

"In the first episode, Luz brings wild animals and fireworks to school without permission or without any regard to safety."

Isn't that just a case of Early-Installment Weirdness?

Boy there are so many problems with accusing this of that. See, Early-Installment Weirdness IS a thing. In TOH, one of the best examples of that is how in the same episode that Amity goes "I've never seen a spell like that cast before" you also have the power glyph. A famous one from another cartoon is how Andrea of Molly McGee starts as an EXTREME bitch but quickly shifts to more so being unaware and selfish, rather than actively malicious. Hell, I know one of my own series has it where I have a transmuter in the first chapter change pancakes into a pot of flowers which I made WAY too casual for the amount of energy shifting to something living should take.

A common thread between all of these though are that they don't show back up. Andrea's characterization becomes consistent AFTER the shift to it and she never goes back to being as bad as she was in her first appearance. The power glyph is never mentioned again, MAYBE visually it's seen like once on the coven head but glyph magic is just Luz's. And yeah, my own story sticks to its power costs better afterwards. That is the biggest sign of Early-Installment Weirdness because in the long run you can see that these elements were dropped because they were incongruent with the actual goals of the show.

But do you know what does keep appearing? This characterization of Luz. S1 is filled with times when Luz will disregard other people's feelings, fuck something up because of it and then have to make amends. Episode fucking two reinforces the idea that she treats the world as fantasy. Yesterday's Lie actually HINGES on the idea that Luz is actually selfish and uncaring of those around her because she could not appreciate what she had and that she had to be special. This is what Vee calls her out on. It's also why, in the blog you're referencing with this, I bring up how in S3 she has a dilemma where a decision that she made on her own blew up in her face. In response to that, instead of thinking ANYONE else should comment on it, she makes a drastic, big deal decision... That also gets her out scott free from all consequences which is exactly what she did when she ran to the Isles. I'm not even exaggerating. In episode 1, Luz decides to stick to the Isles because otherwise she has to go to a camp she doesn't want to where she'll actually have to put in the effort to improve as a person and respect reality so she sticks to her fantasy world. In S3 Episode 1, she decides to abandon AN ENTIRE WORLD to their fate, that she believes is her fault, so that she can stay at home and live with her caring mother and new sister while she will also send her friends to ostensibly their deaths because of how big of a deal this is. And like in that blog, S3 E2 only reinforces the idea that Luz only cares about what is important to Luz when her goal on the Isles is not beating the Collector, she says that to everyone who doesn't know the truth, but instead to find Eda and King, make sure they're safe, and leave. She tells that to her mom, the only person who knows already she doesn't give a fuck about this place.

That's also without bringing up btw the signs that reference her early montage that appear in S3 E1, meaning the show wants you to remember it, especially when Luz sighs at the sign. It is NOT an element that is just one and done and a whoops on the writer's part. It is the first action in a long, LONG line of selfish, unthinking, uncaring actions for our 'protagonist'.

Our protagonist who is told that she has never, ever, done anything wrong. That's abhorrent. See you next tale.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[nevertheless-moving]

“The other day,” Skar added, “he was talking about what he’s doing there. It sounded an awful lot like he was learning how to read.” The men shifted uncomfortably. “So?” Kaladin asked. “What’s the problem? Sigzil can read his own language. Storms, I can read glyphs.” “It’s not the same,” Skar said. “It’s feminine,” Drehy added. “Drehy,” Kaladin said, “you are literally courting a man.” “So?” Drehy said. “Yeah, what are you saying, Kal?” Skar snapped. “Nothing! I just thought Drehy might empathize.…” “That’s hardly fair,” Drehy said. “Yeah,” Lopen added. “Drehy likes other guys. That’s like … he wants to be even less around women than the rest of us. It’s the opposite of feminine. He is, you could say, extra manly.”

Different possible explanations for this scene, to be taken up depending on which headcanon would be the funniest for a given fic:

While being gay is more broadly acceptable than being unmanly, conflating gender roles with sexuality is not uncommon; the other guys have just gotten more than one drunken lecture from Drehy about how he hates being treated womanly just because he likes dick. Kaladin was obviously working those nights.

Under Vorinism, Gender roles are rigid, but a range of sexualities are perfectly fine. The ardent who visited Kaladin's hometown was just a freak who hated gay people so much it was unreal, and took great pains to explain to the boys of this isolated rural town the unhinged idea that marrying a man was OBVIOUSLY womanly and therefore Bad. He mostly unlearned that shit after joining the army but is a bit confused. It doesn't come up often.

There was one (1) elderly queer couple in heartstone growing up, and one of the men was super gnc, which made people uncomfortable but his parents always told him that you shouldn't shame people for harmless joy. so, yeah, Kaladin just sort of figured that in a relationship between guys, one of them is the woman. He assumes Renarin is gay and I mean. He's not wrong. Part of the reason he never accepted friendly offers of soldier companionship. Not that there's anything wrong with it. He never asked Drehy who was who, because its none of his business and he didn't want to know.

the only times Kaladin has personally ever noticed being attracted to another man is when the guy was doing something womanly. Is it a kink? Is it an extremely dense man needing someone to stand on top of clearly marked social signposts and wave their arms for him to even register them as a sexual being? who knows! not Kaladin! he doesn't have time to unpack any of that. anyway he assumed that all same sex attraction worked the same way and obviously never actually talked about it with a living person. actually I'm expanding this to cover all of Kaladin's sexuality just to make him extra stupid. first time he noticed Tarah was when she punched a dude.