#I MEAN IM ALL GUNG HO ABOUT IT WHILE IM AT WORK NOT DOING MY JOB

[denjilvr]

port mafia dating hcs!

synopsis: what it’s like to date members of the port mafia!

includes: chuuya nakahara, ichiyo higuchi, ryunosuke akutagawa, & michizo tachihara

a/n: i’ve accidentally written and deleted this three times over so it better not flop. enjoy my bad brainrot, bitches

chuuya nakahara

grumpy little mafia man that is actually the biggest sweetheart in all of existence andndjsndnsncn

so we’ve all collectedly agreed that he’s a sugar daddy, right? like, he’s a mafia man with a ton of money and he’s in love with you, so of course he’ll spoil you with anything you want

gifts are his love language after all (my hc that is absolutely correct)

i also feel like he’d have really good manners, like, you’re never touching door handles around this man, nor will you pick up the check (unless you seriously insist, but he’d find a way to pay you back) andjdnsjdn he’s just such a gentleman

he loved to show you off!! chuuya would be your number one supporter and hype man, and if anyone doesn’t like you then they’re just not worth it! he would also rough them up a little bit if they really hurt your feelings >:(

you’re his baby & nobody hurts his baby and gets away with it

he canonically tries to dress well because he’s insecure so make sure you reassure him a lot and emphasize that you think he looks great! it’s always great to hear

would send you little messages throughout the day for things ranging from reminders to eat/drink water to reminding you that he loves you

also!! if you compliment him he turns into a complete tomato. chuuya cannot cope with the same behavior he dishes out, so if you wanna see this man turn to absolute pieces, flirt with him, tease him, do literally everything in your power to just be a complete flirt (acting like dazai lol), he will be putty in your hands, unwittingly or not

ichiyo higuchi

SIMP.

sorry but she is so so in love with you and it’s a miracle you even started dating in the first place

brags about whenever she can, it’s kinda childish but she doesn’t care— she’s lovestruck

you two match outfits all the time, like, im picturing the strawberry dress couples? that!

she really really likes making playlists & has definitely made a few for you, and not just simple little playlists with maybe five love songs, no, they’re intensively long playlists with hundreds of songs describing every single thought and emotion she’s ever had related to you it’s sweet

i hc that higuchi really likes farmers markets so you’ll go on little trips there in the morning

major cottagecore couple vibes, despite the fact that she’s literally in the mafia andjdjjd

black lizard members have known about her crush on you from the moment it formed— before she even know! those poor people have been suffering trying to get you together purely so they wouldn’t have to hear higuchi’s pining anymore

teaches you self defense and is so gung-ho on getting you to learn how to properly defend yourself in case she’s not there she knows you’re strong and capable of protecting yourself but she worries and loves you so please be safe

ryunosuke akutagawa

grumpy little mean man, i adore this emo boy and so do you

first of all there is no pda, like, no even a hint of it. he would rather die.

he can’t really cook, and he doesn’t really try to, so if you make the effort to look after him, he’s gonna be a blushy boy

you’re probably really close with gin— because if you managed to work your way into her brothers heart, then she knows there’s something special about you

very very confused on why you would want to borrow his clothes, like, you have your own and he can buy you some why do you want his? like he doesn’t have a lot

every time he goes shopping he ends up subconsciously thinking of you and probably buys you a random little trinket he thought you’d like

out of all the people in the world, you chose him. you chose to fall in love with him and while he may never understand why, he would do anything for you and anything to protect you

the teasing kind of flirting, but… it doesn’t really seem silly or nice on your end

"your clothes are a mess." "you look tired today, go take a nap." "your handwriting is atrocious." he sounds so mean but after saying that he always moves to help you or does something sweet to look after you, like doing your laundry or writing letters for you

you’re his person <3

his love language is almost definitely acts of service and nobody will convince me otherwise

michizo tachihara

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

he may seem like an asshole on first impression, but once you get to know him… he’s kind of a loser

i feel like he’d fidget with his hands a lot so whenever you hold his hand he tends to toy with your hands, poking and twiddling with them (if you wear rings it’s even better!!)

weirdly very good with kids, like, if you’re out on a date they’ll come up and bother you guys to ask him questions or try to get him to hang out with him he’s just got that energy oh my god i love him have my children shawty

his apartment is kinda shitty, so if you make an effort to throw in some decorations or personalize it a little bit, he would melt

he has, like, car boyfriend energy, and i don’t know how else to explain it, but trust me

would probably also slap your ass whenever he’s walking by

"baby!" "babe!" "babes!" might as well be your name now, judging by how frequently he uses those names to refer to you

he would use absolutely any excuse to touch you, in a multitude of ways from silly and arguably a little pervy to the absolute sweetest and most endearingly tender moments

he’d rub his thumb across your cheekbone while you’re sleeping and just wonder what the hell he did right to get someone as incredible as you to fall for him, and he’d hardly be able to comprehend that you’re real

[eomma-jpeg]

Hello again! So, I've got one for you Fic-specific Ask Game! (For In the Meadow, of course. XD) For Want of a Nail: So, I'm curious as to how this would turn out. Instead of the insurance gals having to head out to send in their resignations, instead it's Vash and Knives who have to leave for a few days for Reasons™️. (I'm imagining something related to their past? Like maybe a bounty hunter has been sniffing around and is getting too close to the farm. Or one of the Gung-Ho Guns survived or something. Or maybe it's something mundane like they have to go find a specific part to replace for the Plant and it can only be found in December. Either way, they gotta skedaddle!) I wanna know how you'd think it'd play out! I can only imagine the absolute terror Knives would be on a two day road trip when he knows he's missing the first tomatoes (and also Milly, but shhhh! He's being stupid about that still!) And also what would the gals be doing back on the farm? (Pining away, I'm sure. Omg, I bet Milly will be a mess when the first tomato comes in and Knives isn't there. 😭) Thoughts? 👀

oh veil,,,, you have put many thoughts in my head....

Knives and Vash road trip

I think.... it would be something like the eye of michael is still kicking?? and it would give me an excuse to include Livio (I WANT TO PUT HIM SOMEWHERE BUT I JUST CANT FIND A GOOD EXPLANATION)

Vash would leave, and I think at that point in the story, Knives would feel the need to come. specifically, he still wouldnt be comfortable around humans without Vash (even Milly. I think the thought of truly being surrounded by only humans would freak him out).

Unfortunately, Knives wouldn't realize how DESPERATELY HE WOULD MISS IT UNTIL HE'S GONE.

him and vash all alone in the desert, away from humans (which is what he wanted originally) but he just,,, he cant help wishing to go back. he wants to go back so bad, so he and vash work their BUTTS off to get this business done and over with cuz Knives just wants his routine and his girl back

this,,,,, could also be a good spot for vash v knives conflict vis a vis how the both of them feel about murder (knives feels its necessary especially when taking down the eye of michael, while vash it still on a pacifist route, despite his kind of..... completion of Rem's memory?)

because i'm mushy and i like parallels, if Milly doesn't have her scandalous dream in December... then Knives gets to have a mushy domestic one.

he dreams about Milly in the garden and the sunlight glistens in her shiny hair, they have a thriving crop, and milly just has the brightest smile on her face when she spots him, glowing with happiness. he wakes up after milly hugs him, arms wrapping around his body, pulling him tight and brushes a kiss on his cheek

He wakes up just,,, starstruck and makes Vash drive them home in the middle of the night. zero impulse control from this boy.

Milly and Meryl back at home

this change means that milly gets to pick the tomatoes without knives.

i ... i could absolutely see Milly doing good, like holding it together all morning, putting on a show that she's alright. she gathers them with ease and puts them in a cute lil basket she got from her mom

but then later when Meryl asks her how many tomatoes she gathered, Milly holds up each tomato individually and tears just kind of fall as she realizes that its the first time since the beginning of the garden that she had to do the work alone, and it hits her like a brick wall. she misses him so much.

Meryl: oh gosh i thought i was just asking about the tomatoes I didn't see this coming

I think it could be the trigger that Milly needs to realize that she really does like him.

if im being honest, this might speed up the romance process quite a bit, because if Milly falls first, its over. She would completely smother Knives in like welcome back kisses and he wouldn't know what to do LOLOL

okay, to stick with the slowburn, i could see Knives coming back and complimenting Milly on the harvest, and Milly unwittingly admitting that she had missed him. Then, quietly, mostly because Knives doesn't particularly want to admit it to himself, he tells her he missed her too.

Milly, being herself, just takes his hand and kisses his cheek, probably unable to tell him with words.

and then idk.............. thats a whole new fic.....

ty veil !!!!! i really liked thinking about this lolol

[donnies-pop-tart]

Shit maybe I got off mobile and actually fucking concentrated for more than 30 seconds I could finish Katrin’s rp page tonight and do something with it

[lepoppeta]

2, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 22, 25, 27, 28, 32 and 36 for the writing thiiiing!!

my goodness, what a lot of numbers! im going to be sticking this all under the cut so i dont clog up anyones feed.

2. if you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? if you already write everything by hand: (a) are you a wizard? and (b) pen or pencil?

i think i could, but it would take a lot of practice. writing stuff out by hand is immensely satisfying, and one of my favourite hobbies is buying stationary and office supplies that i only eventually get around to using, but typing also has its merits (specifically speed and lack of carpal tunnel).

i am not a wizard, but i appreciate both pen and pencil equally. it just depends on what mood i happen to be in that day.

7. what is your deepest joy about writing?

im not really sure how to answer this one, simply for lack of adequate description. theres just and immense satisfaction to the written word; to craft poetry and prose.

10. has a piece of writing ever "haunted" you? has your own writing "haunted" you? what does that mean to you?

"haunted" has two different definitions depending on what its applied to.

sometimes ill find a fanfiction that makes me feel so hollow and raw that it hangs over me for a while, almost up to a few days. these fanfictions are often my all-time favourites and i revisit them whenever i want to have my soul metaphorically scrubbed clean.

in the case of my own writing, "haunted" means that i come up with a single passage that i adore but cannot connect to a larger prose, so i let it sit in my documents for years. i open it with the intention of working on it, stare at it for a while, and then close it again, but nothing that i write around this will do it justice.

13. what is a subject that is incredibly difficult for you to write about? what is easy?

i find sex to be hard (badum-tssh). its not an activity i enjoy nor i participate in. i can tolerate it if its written a certain way, and i have written smut, but im not particularly gung-ho about it.

emotions are also very hard due to me not knowing how to describe them. i hesitate to because i always feel like im never doing it justice. i hate filter words like "felt" and "thought" so whenever i slip back into the habit of using them i get discouraged.

i dont think theres a subject matter i find particularly easy to write... nothing that comes to mind, anyway.

16. whats the weirdest thing youve ever used as a bookmark?

uhh... i dunno, a receipt? im a very dull person, you must understand.

18. choose a passage from your writing. tell me about the backstory of this moment. how you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

"... John Ryan, do you take this man to be... to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward... for better or for worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until..." His voice is thick by the end, sticky from the absurdity of the words. "...until death do you part?"

Jack continues to gaze at Atlas in earnest, until he sighs softly through his nose. "... no."

Atlas tries to object, but his tongue weighs heavy in his mouth and his jaw is stiff. A watery smile breaks across Jack's face. His eyebrows wilt endearingly at their ends, and it's only now that Atlas realises that the shine in his eyes from before was from unshed tears.

"Not until death do us part. We're past that." He reaches out and catches Atlas around the back of his head, entwining his fingers in his dark brown hair. "We died, and we came back, and we're here now." He leans forward until their noses brush. "I will love Atlas Mulligan past death... into the life and lives beyond. I did not --" he pushes their foreheads together "-- survive hell on earth just to lose him a second time."

(My Lover Stands on Golden Sands)

this was the first concrete bit of this piece that i had written down in a document; the first passage that i knew i didnt want to change.

rapture is an odd sort of place where racism and homophobia obviously still existed: sander cohen was gay but his career didnt seem to suffer from it (possibly because he was pretty buddy-buddy with mr. ryan), and while there was only a smattering of non-white characters that im aware of off the top of my head (charles porter, grace holloway, yi suchong) there was evidence of at least them experiencing microagressions somewhat regularly.

in the early stages of this piece i had considered removing all of the -isms and -phobias from rapture entirely because i was working off what rapture was originally supposed to stand for (a place where everyone got along and anyone could be anything -- a weird sort of submarine zootopia), but i realised there was no way i could do that in good conscious. so, i had to settle with jack and atlas lightly musing over period-typical homophobia. jack was able to get away with it most likely due to his status, and the fact that while the people of rapture brought all of their biases down with them, it doesnt appear that arrests were made due to homosexuality (so long as it was kept on the relative down-low).

(im getting off track, i think)

in any case -- i knew i was inspired by something else for this passage. possibly a pinterest prompt? about the deconstruction of the phrase "until death do you part". that was the main focus here.

22. how organized are you with your writing? describe to me your organisation method, if it exists. what tools do you use? notebooks? binders? apps? the cloud?

my writing portfolio is, regrettably, incredibly scattered. onenote, google keep, the apple notes app, simplenotes... its all over the place and i despise it. im always on the look out for a free cross-platform notes app (i use apple on mobile and windows on desktop) that has a rich text editor and a way to organize notes via folders/notebooks/tags. the closest ive gotten to what i like is notebook by zagg, but the last time i tried using it more regularly it had pretty major syncing problems and i fell out of love with it.

25. what is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

hmm... i wouldnt say this is wholly irrelevant, and its not a detail so much as a bit of a useless headcanon that ive spent too much time thinking about, but... atlas mother was named rosie (my inspiration for her came from the song "the star of county down"). she was flighty and flirtatious and didnt give a rats arse about settling down and behaving sensibly. she wasnt especially maternal (atlas was raised mostly by his devout catholic maternal grandparents) but she was around enough for atlas to have a vague relationship with her. she died when he was a teenager from an unspecified illness.

atlas father is nameless and deceased, although he was a musician (like atlas is today).

27. who is the most stressful character youve ever written? why?

i havent written him (yet) but mister augustus sinclair gives me a great deal of stress because theres no way i can write about someone as viciously intelligent as he is. my talents pale in comparison to the bar he has set for his personality and inner workings.

munkustrap (from the cats musical) also causes me a great deal of stress because my vision of him is so complicated and self-destructive but like... i dont blame him at all for being that way. i do dread about having to one day tap into all of that angst, though.

28. who is the most delightful character youve ever written? why?

atlas! i love atlas so much (or at least my personal very ooc vision of him) because its a bit like watching a feral dog get housebroken: hes never considered himself to be the domestic sort at all, and seeing him slowly find his place alongside jack as a lover and a father never ceases to delight me.

32. what is a line from a poem/novel/fanfiction (etc.) that you return to from time to time? how did you find it? what does it mean to you?

a lot of the lines/passages i like can be sorted into one of two distinct categories: (a) lines that make me laugh, and (b) lines that rip my heart to shreds.

" "Alright Swin, I'll cut you a deal," you decide, and sit up, criss-cross applesauce in his hand. Swindle perks up, instantly interested-- he's like a clicker trained dog, you swear he has some kind of Pavlovian joy response to the word 'deal'... "

(sugar (daddy), oh, honey honey)

theres several lines in this fic that make me choke on my own air but this is one of my personal favourites.

He stops, props himself up, and gently shakes his shoulder. “Sweetheart?”

Hanzo says nothing. He buries his face at Jesse’s neckline.

More than trembling: he’s weeping.

“It is you,” Hanzo ekes out, grabbing fistfuls of Jesse’s jacket.

“Aw, darlin’,” Jesse bleats. His throat tightens. “Of course it’s me, it’s the real me.”

“It is really, truly you.”

He laughs, a jittery heh-hah. “The genuine article.”

The archer finally lifts his face and speaks in a tone that nearly breaks his heart.

“You left me,” Hanzo says.

Jesse gathers him tight, expects Hanzo to pull away, floods with fondness when he only clings closer. “Honey, I fucked up. I messed up real bad, honey, I did you wrong.”

“You left me.” Hanzo’s cheeks glisten with tears.

“I know, darlin’, I know. I was bein’ a real jackass.”

“You left me. I deserved it.”

Now McCree thinks his heart will outright shatter. “Darlin’, please. No, you didn’t.”

(Hang the Fool)

chapter 19 in hang the fool is something i revisit again and again without remorse. just... ugh. this fic is perfect. this chapter specifically is perfect. i am such a hardcore sucker for tearful reunion scenes, you have no idea.

36. they say write what you know. setting aside that this is terrible advice... what do you know?

i was a horse girl, back in the day. i dont know how surprising this is -- ive been told that i just kind of naturally have that vibe. i know horses, i have books on horses. im not an expert, mind you, but i probably know slightly more than the average person. enough to get mildly annoyed if someone says something largely incorrect.

[thisismyhell]

Bodyguard (Part 1)

I’m giving fanfiction a try! this is my very first one, and i think itll become a series. 

Reader x Loki

Summary: Reader works with the Avengers as a research Biologist, and receives a worrying text from a toxic ex boyfriend. Loki enlists himself in watching out for reader, and fluff ensues. 

Warnings: mentions of stalker/toxic ex boyfriend, fluff

Since living in the compound, you were accustomed to not only high security, but constantly being surrounded by Gods, Monsters, and people who could kill with a look. You happened to fall into the cracks of these people, weaving your way into each basket briefly before moving on.

Since you lived where you worked, spending time late at night in a meeting, your office, or in the gym wasn’t out of the ordinary. You thrived in this environment since you could spend all your time doing your work without having to take travel time or traffic into account.

Tonight was one of those nights. You were working in your office, deep in concentration on your recent research proposal, when a notification from your phone almost gave you whiplash. You caught your breath, and reached for your phone, noticing that it was an unrecognized number. Not thinking much of it, you unlocked your screen, when your stomach dropped.

“Hey (Y/N), it’s been a while eh? Wanted to let you know im in the neighbourhood, and wanted to get drinks some time with you. I can pick you up at the compound. -K”.

Your ex-boyfriend. How did he manage to get your new number? You shouldn’t even be surprised, considering how easy it was for him to insert himself into every aspect of your life when you were together.

Months ago, you started to notice how jealous he became at every little thing. You wanted to go out with friends? He insisted on either coming or giving you a curfew. Weren’t home on time to his liking? He would track your phone and show up unannounced to wherever you were, loudly declaring to everyone around you that you must be cheating on him. He had horrible trust issues, and sometimes you wondered what he would do if you stopped giving in to his words. Would be become forceful? Would you be in physical danger? Thankfully, you mustered up the strength to call it quits before you found out, but who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t?

You blinked back into reality and took in your surroundings. You were surprised that you felt so alone suddenly. Usually you have no problem with staying up late like this, even if you were the last in the research building. You began to quickly pack up your belongings, clutching your phone, swiftly exiting into the hallway. You knew you were just being paranoid, but you looked down both sides of the hall before racing to the elevators. Once it arrived, you jumped in and pushed the button incessantly until you were safely inside. As you listened to the dings of each floor pass, and watched the lights switch to each level, you began to calm down. You felt ridiculous. Why would you be scared of your lazy ex boyfriend over a text message? Maybe it was someone sending a prank text. Maybe he wasn’t even in the city. And lord help anyone who tried to break into the compound without getting tackled by security. You were fine.

The elevator doors slid open and you gained back your confidence; stepping out onto the main floor when all of a sudden you hit what felt like a brick wall, sending your things flying, and dropping your phone to the floor. You gasped, shoving yourself against the wall and throwing your forearms in front of your face. Someone grabbed them and tried to move them down but it wasn’t working. “(Y/N would you relax?! It’s just me.” Loki. That monster. You opened your eyes and pushed back at him, your fear being replaced with anger and frustration. “LOKI I AM GOING TO KILL YOU I SWEAR TO GOD WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING IN THIS BUILDING YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR MIND DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS-“. His laughter brought you back to reality. “(Y/N) what is wrong with you? You really have terrible reaction times to your fear, we should work on that”. Through all the commotion and stress you didn’t realize it but you began to cry. “Love, are you alright? I didn’t scare you that badly did I, what’s wrong?”.

You slid down the wall and haphazardly began to collect your things. You picked up your phone, and handed it to Loki, who looked at the message on the screen. “(Y/N), is this who I think it is?”. You nodded. Once you packed your bag, Loki helped you up. “Is this why you were so scared? You thought I was him?”. You nodded again, catching your breath.

The two of you began to go outside, walking along the garden pathway back to the main building where you all lived. “I haven’t heard from him in months. Not since I ended things. He took it horribly but I never thought that maybe it wasn’t over for him. He seemed like the type to be mad, but then move on to some other girl once he had the chance. I can’t believe he found my number again.” Loki listened to you as you walked in the dark, illuminated only by compound streetlamps and the fireflies of the gardens around you. “(Y/N), I’ll be honest, I find it highly unlikely for someone to forget about you that quickly without remorse. I know the two of you were not together for that long, but he seems to still be struggling with the thought of letting you go.” You felt a bit surprised. “What, so I had this text coming to me? I should have known he would want to make contact again?”. He realized what he had implied. “No, I’m sorry. What I mean is, I am not surprised that he would want to have this influence you. Forgive me, but maybe his skull is too thick to get that through.” You laughed and he smiled down at you.

________________________________________________________

You and Loki had clicked almost immediately. You were a researcher hired into the Stark company, bringing your useful knowledge of biology and mechanics. Since there were now Gods and Aliens on the team, Stark thought it would be quite useful to try and bridge the gap. So he went through universities around the world, not sure what exactly he was looking for. But when he walked into your lab by accident, you had yelled over to him for an extra hand in helping tie some stem cells together. He noticed your focus and lack of ick-factor and interviewed you on the spot. Well, more like allowing you to crack open his gadgets and listen to you go on and on about how you think human properties could be incorporated into his technology. He was instantly hooked.

He brought you back to the compound and introduced you to the team the next week. Loki noticed how you weren’t flinching at any of the information being thrown at you, and even began to ask questions to your team members about their own worlds. He noticed that you were already acting like a team member, without needing the blood bond. You were gung-ho the minute you set foot on the property. And he respected that.

The two of you became closer after you expressed interest in reading some Asgardian texts that you were useless in deciphering. Loki agreed to be your partner in your research adventure, offering a better look into each others lives.

 ________________________________________________________

As you looked back up at your friend, you realized how thankful you were that he had almost scared you to death. If he hadn’t, you’d be all alone out here in the dark, probably looking over your shoulder at every snap of a twig. Although the compound was quiet and secluded, there were still the elements. The two of you came to a stop outside the main entrance doors. “Are you feeling alright now?”, “Yes, thank you. I’m glad I didn’t have to make that walk alone. Usually I’m fine, but that text message really threw me off”. “I can see why. What kind of idiot jus announces their desire to ambush you like that? He doesn’t seem like the strategic type.” He smiled down at you, trying to lighten the mood. You reciprocated, letting him open the door for you.

The wait for the elevator and the ride up to your rooms was passed with asking each other about your work days and if you had evening plans. Neither of you were good at keeping an honest sleep schedule. As the two of you were saying goodnight to each other in your hallway, he stopped you before entering your room. “(Y/N), I know you can hold your own, but if you ever need someone to walk you home again, you know how to contact me”. You reached up and gave him a hug. “Thank you Loki, I appreciate that. And you know the same always goes for you”. You let him go and as he walked away from you, you called out to him once more; “By the way, what were you even doing in the research building today?”. He stopped and turned to face you, “I saw your office light on from outside. I was hoping to run into you before you left for the evening. Unfortunately I ended up frightening you rather than enticing you”. You raised your eyebrows, “Loki, you know you always entice me”.

He walked away, and you entered your room feeling a wave of comfort and relief wash over you.

[strykingback]

Ok... Gotta say my Farewell to Vol 8. So If you dont like  what Im about to say best click off now or ignore it.

Ok so you decided to click on it,  Alrighty brace yourself 

This entire Arc was just fucking horrendous. No joke, this entire arc was just garbage entirely, no joke. The way how they made Ironwood into a cartoon villain making him into some albeist joke of people who are diagnosed with ADHD, PTSD, Actual Amputees’, etc. This was meant to be A FUCKING WAR ARC!!!

Which means I expected these few things from this Arc even though I was not watching it.

- Plenty of Character Deaths ranging from Main, Secondary, and Tertiary Characters.

- Stakes at An All New High. 

- Characters being forced to make tough decisions or risks that fail or pay off.

- Uneasy Alliances being forged.

- Tensions between Team RWBY, Ironwoods Group, and Salems. 

-SALEM TEARING ATLAS AND MANTLE A NEW ONE. 

- THE VILLIANS ACTUALLY FUCKING WIN THIS VOLUME. 

Instead We Got: 

-Ruby’s Group BEING INSIDE THE FUCKING HOUSE LIKE IN VOLUME 5 BARELY DOING FUCK ALL!!!

- Ironwood being “villainized” even further instead of turning him into a morally-grey villain. 

- Team RWBY “winning” through plot armor and bad writing like the Mary Sues they are. 

- Bumbleby Ship-Baiting... AGAIN. (Seriously. . . fuck off) (No hate to anyone who ships BB but at this point it was seriously getting annoying and tiring)

- Salem Just Getting Merked... NOT ONCE FOLKS. BUT TWICE!!!

- The Hound Getting Merked.....

Seriously no joke, this was such a bullshit, deadbeat volume. No joke it makes me so frustrated to see that this entire Volume was fucked up to no end. Yangs and Rubys argument did not feel like an actual fucking argument. 

What I expect from an argument was four things.

- Calling them Out On Their Actions. 

- Person A and B Debating About their Actions/Decisions which said argument intensifies. 

- Person A or B Starts a fight after saying something that pisses one of them off

-  Fight Between A and B, Totally Optional to have a bystander such as C or D end the Fight. 

Instead we get....a simple Argument that barely intensifies and only has Yang calling Ruby out on her abilities being a leader of a team. We should have Ruby also calling out Yang for sharing the information to Robyn and her “Happy Huntresses.” Which should’ve escalated to the point where Ruby says.  “Well that Gung-Ho Attitude is what caused you to lose your Arm!!” 

or Yang saying: 

“Well If you didn’t decide to...Oh I dont know have our faces pasted on EVERY VIRTUAL BOARD IN ATLAS FOR YOUR SHIT DECISIONS!” 

Not to mention to have Blake ,Weiss, and the Rest of ORNJ just look in awe or shock.... at seeing them argue to the point where they start fighting SERIOUSLY THATS WHAT A FUCKING ARGUMENT IS MEANT TO FEEL LIKE IN A WAR ARC!!!!

Moving on from that... anyways Cinders Past was just so so so SO LAZY.....

No joke her past was so boring it was to the point where I found it just uninteresting at all. Yet that brings up a good point hat I said once and I will say again. “How Come the FNDM praises Women that get beaten and show love to them rather than Men who also get abused like Adam whose EYE WAS BRANDED and MERCURY WHOSE LEGS WERE BROKEN BY THE FEMUR NO LESS.”

No joke for her it was just... a shock collar and she was berated verbally.....You know this actually makes Ellie from Last of Us Part 2 Look Better than Cinders. (Yeah I went there!)

Like if you want to do Twisted Cinderella with some RWBY Vibes.... heres how you do it. 

- Have Cinder be in Awe at the Sight of a Huntsman or Huntress fighting which inspires her to be a Huntress when Reeves finally tells her she can be one. 

- Show that Reeves does care about her and when he falls ill and dies Cinder is berated even more by the twins and the proprietor where she was enslaved. 

- What Finally causes her to snap and kill everyone was when she finds out her “sisters” burned her Academy Approval letter on their mothers order causing her to kill and murder which she is later on arrested and then bailed out by Watts who leads her to Salem. 

Seriously DO IT FUCKING RIGHT ESPECIALLY  WHEN IT COMES TO CINDER WHOSE PAST WAS IN SHADOWS FOR 8 WHOLE FUCKING YEARS.

8 YEARS AND YOU DROP IT LIKE A RAW PIECE LAMB CHOP!!!

Finally SALEM. Oh God how did they fuck up with Salem?! I will admit there was some moments that spooked me. However it was not enough to make me feel nervous for the characters as a whole. 

Like for example I expected her to wipe the floor with Atlas’ forces and just seriously showing destruction and chaos arriving. Instead last season it looked like she was JUST APPROACHING THE CITY. 

Which would have been a “Race Against The Clock/War” Volume since Salem would have begun her destruction of Atlas and even forcing her way into Atlas.... and then suddenly Hazel performs a Heel-Face-Turn that suddenly screams BS because seriously he should’ve had some sort of a better redemption that felt built up, then she gets  BURNED THEN NUKED BY OZPINS MAGICAL CANE OF SUPERPOWERED BULLSHIT. Which Held enough magic to unleash it....which could have been used during the BATTLE OF BEACON. However, I wont complain about it why?

Cause, I think the major reason is because If he were to use it in there he would be revealing Beacon’s Relic Vault as well to Cinder which she can use to open it and take the Relic of Choice. Which I believe was a pragmatic choice because you also have to think of the people who are still trying to escape or evacuating at the moment. 

Now the ultimate disrespectful thing the CRWBY did for their “Design a Grimm” contest was the Sulfur Fish. 

THIS DESIGN WAS SICK, AND THE ABILITIES WAS JUST JAW DROPPINGLY COOL!

However what does CRWBY do instead of giving a Full Scene where we see its Forms or attacking other soldiers/people. 

It gets... *Drumroll*

A Cameo sequence...thats it. A Cameo....Wow CRWBY you are shit. Just absolutely shit at writing and even giving the winner of the Design-A-Grimm Contest Winner an actual shot...while you overwork your animators giving Anxiety Disorders or PTSD. Great Show. 

 TL;DR: RWBY Volume 8 was one of the most boring, shittiest, and a snoozefest of a volume with such bad writing that it makes even watching The Last of Us Part II look good! 

If you are planning on dropping RWBY let me offer you an Alternative. 

Say hello to Meta Runner! A series that I find to be a favorite of mine and one that is actually better than RWBY’s garbage ass bullshit writing. 

To give you a brief synopsis, This series follows Tari a girl who wakes up in Silica City without any memory of what has happened except some brief flashbacks. To which TasCorp the antagonistic corporation seeks to use her for entertainment, while there is a mystery element about a famous gamer gone missing... and its up to Tari and the help of a Resistance force to find out this mystery. 

This series is done by Glitch Studios which many do know them as...drumroll please!  *drumroll*

The Youtubers SMG4! Who is well known for doing GMOD Shitposts! 

Its actually quite relieving to see a series that these two brothers actually want to share with us! They dont want to do it for money or for anything just for the sake of a good story! 

AND THATS WHAT I LIKE!

Oh did I forget to mention that Meta Runner is backed by:  Epic Games

Crunchyroll 

AMD Lastly.... and hold onto your butts...

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT!!!

You know you hit it big WHEN THE GOVERNMENT BACKS YOUR SERIES!!! Come On you cant help but smile at that! So far the Third Season is being worked on at the moment but no release date at the moment so it could be sometime this year or next year. 

So if you have any plans on watching that I highly recommend giving it a watch. Anyways 

Fuck RWBY Volume 8. Fuck the Canon. Fuck Everything about RWBY!

[prettyinpunk85]

Amor Prohibido (part 4)

Amor Prohibido (4/?)

Pairing: Angel Reyes X Reader

Word Count: I don’t know. Who gives a shit.

Warnings: Language. Violence. Talk of sex.

Masterlist

Tags: @dearsamcrobae, @celestemaquilladora​

Not my gif.

Sitting on top of a picnic table outside of Teller-Morrow, she takes a long drag of her smoke starring ahead. Thinking about him.

Opie sits next to her and puts an arm around her shoulders, “Hey sister girl, what’s up? You look pensive.” She half laughs shrugging, “Just thinking about how shitty and unfair life can be.” He lights his cigarette taking a drag and nods exhaling, “Very true. Life’s a bitch. Care to elaborate?” She looks down thinking and half smiles shaking her head, “Nah... No thanks. I don’t feel like I can talk to anyone about what’s been going on with me. Everyone is against it. So I have to keep it all to myself. It’s been fucking hard and lonely, Op.” He turns his head and looks at her, “Dude, you’re like my sister. I’ve known you since we were kids. We grew up together. Why couldn’t you talk to me, baby girl?” She takes a drag of her cigarette, “Because your loyalty is with the club.” He nods, “I know, I get it. But it’s also not healthy for you to keep things in. And it’s not very fair for you to go through whatever it is that’s going on alone.” She shrugs, “Life is a bitch, remember? Nothing much we can do about it.” He puts the smoke out, “Talk to me.”

She stares down at the ground, “I’m sure you know about me and the Mayan... Angel..” He nods, “I do..” She brushes her hair back, “Opie, I like him. I really fucking do. I think about him non-stop and I can’t help it. He makes me feel like no one has ever made me feel. I can admit it now.” She wipes her eyes and looks at Opie sad, “And he played me. I’m such an idiot. I fell for it. And now I feel so fucking heartbroken. It hurts. A lot.” He watches her face, “Y/N, what do you mean that he played you?” She sniffs, “So one night we had like this drunken one night stand or whatever. I woke up, freaked out and left the next morning while he was sleeping. Then a couple of nights ago he gave me a ride home. We hung out, we had what I thought was a great time. We had a couple of beers and then had sex again. I wake up the next day and he’s gone. Just like that. Just like what I did. He ghosted me. He won’t even talk to me at all. Won’t text me back or call me back. He got what he wanted. He wanted to be the one in control. The one that left.”

Opie swallows hard looking down feeling guilty, “That’s harsh. That’s some hardcore bullshit, sister.” She gets up wiping her eyes and half smiles feeling stupid, “It’s whatever. I’ll get over it. Can you please do me a favor?” He nods, “Anything, hun.” She wipes her face, “I don’t feel well, I’m going to go home. Can you please tell Gemma and Jax?” He stands up and hugs her, “I will, no worries. You don’t deserve any of this. None of it is your fault. It’ll get better though, I promise. Give it some time, time heals. The heart can’t help what it wants.” She nods and gives him a sad smile with teary eyes, “Bye, Op.” she turns around walking to her car and leaves.

Opie walks into the shop looking at Jax, “Come here, J. We gotta talk.” Jax wipes his greasy hands on a rag and walks away with Opie. They walk towards the side of the building where there is no one else there. Jax looks at Op worried, “What is it, man? Everything okay?” Opie sighs, “I feel fucking horrible. I just talked to Y/N and I couldn’t tell her the truth, Jax. She’ll hate us.” Jax shakes his head, “It’s fine. It’ll pass, give her time and she’ll move on and forget about him.” Opie looks at Jax confused, “And what makes you think that, man? You act like she’s done this a lot. Never has something like this happened to her. Never has she ever given any of us trouble. Quite the opposite actually. She’s always been there for us.” Jax scoffs, “Op, since when are you so gung-ho about this?! You like this dude?!” Opie looks at him serious, “You really actually think that’s how it is with me? Open your eyes, man. Do I like that dude? Not really. Could she do way better? Yeah. You haven’t seen her though. She’s so broken up about this. I’ve never seen her like this before. It’s real, man. It’s true. And I feel like such an asshole failure for not being there for her. She’s pretty much alone in this and it doesn’t seem like you or many others care.”

Jax shrugs starring ahead, “Im doing this to protect her. Look, it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s been done. We had the meeting with Alvarez and Bishop already. They agreed that they would make him stay away. It’s done.” Opie looks at him clenching his jaw, “Then fucking undo it, Jax.” Opie walks away leaving, feeling guilty and pissed off.

------

A week later.

Gemma looks around confused and keeps knocking on the front door of Y/N’s house. Nothing. She searches in her purse and finally finds a spare key. She unlocks the front door and slowly walks in. She goes to the kitchen setting a bag full of groceries down on the table, along with her purse. Gemma looks around wondering if she should maybe grab her gun out of her purse because she’s feeling uneasy. “Y/N?” She hears a mumbling coming from Y/N’s room. She opens the door and she’s laying in bed. Gemma sits on her bed looking at her. “I haven’t heard from you in days. You’ve been avoiding all of our calls. We’ve tried to give you some space. You haven’t been to work. This ain’t like you.” She shrugs looking at Gemma and laughs a bit. Gemma raises and eyebrow, “Oh my God. You’re hammered. Get up and undress. Now.” Gemma gets up and goes and starts the shower. She scoffs, “Gemma. I’m not getting up. I’m a grown person. If I want to be hammered and wallow in my own sadness at home, I can.” Gemma rolls her eyes, “Get in the shower.” Y/N gets up mad mumbling incoherently. She walks over to the bathroom sliding her panties off and takes her tshirt off over her head getting into the shower.

Gemma leans back on the wall crossing her arms, “Sweetie, what’s going on?” Y/N stands under the water letting it run down her body and starts crying. Gemma sighs, “C’mon, girl. I’m here.” She keeps crying, “I’m just heartbroken and it’s so ridiculous.” Gemma half laughs, “No. It’s just life. You’re stronger than this though. I raised you to be strong.” Y/N brushes her wet hair back, “Jax doesn’t let me have a love life. He needs to get over it. He can do whatever he wants, but I can’t. I mean, Gemma look. You just made a grown ass woman get in the shower.” Gemma starts to clean around the bathroom and bedroom. “I’m gonna go make you some coffee, sweetie.”

Y/N gets out of the shower putting on some clean jogger pants and a v-neck tshirt. She goes over to the table and sits down with her forehead on her palm starring down at the mug of coffee. She listens to Gemma starting the washer after stripping Y/N’s sheets and comforter off of her bed. Gemma comes back and sits down across from Y/N watching her, “You need to stand up to Jax more. Show him where the line is and that he can’t cross it. You’re letting him. You know he’s stubborn.” She takes a drink of the coffee and sets the mug down looking at Gemma, “No one is ever going to want to be with me because of all this crazy shit. No one is going to want to be a part of it. Angel got beat up because of Jax. He opened his eyes, saw all this crazy and ran away. Ghosted me. And I don’t blame him. If I saw all of this from the other side, I’d run too.” Gemma exhales thinking, “Honey, it’s all crazy. This guy, his life is probably crazy too. It’s the biker life. It’s the MC life. You should know that. He should know that. Crazy comes with all of this. You have to decide if this is really what you want. And if this guy never talks to you again, his loss. You’re amazing.”

She gets up, kisses Y/N’s head and puts the groceries that she brought over away. “Thanks, Gemma. You’re just saying that though because you’re biased. Because you know me and raised me.” Gemma laughs, “Sweetie, no. I’m serious. You deserve the best. If this guy or any other guy can’t see it, fuck them. And like I said, you need to show, not just talk. You need to show Jackson where the lines are and when not to cross. He’s my son, I love him. He’s great, but I know how he can get.”

Y/N finishes her coffee and nods, “You’re right, Gemma. Thank you.” Gemma smiles at her gently holding Y/N’s chin, “Anytime, baby girl. You’re going to be okay.” She nods, “I feel better now, thank you. For everything, always.” She gets up and hugs Gemma tight and they say goodbye. She stands by the living room window watching Gemma leave and she sighs rubbing her aching head.

Coco talks to EZ as they both stare at Angel who’s sitting up at the bar, “He’s barely said a word lately.” EZ nods taking a drink of his beer, “Marcus has an understanding with Jax Teller.” Coco looks over at EZ confused, “About that chick?” EZ looks at Coco and slowly nods, “Yeah, Bish told Angel to stay away from her. Or really... Ordered him. What could he do? Angel is in the club, you can’t fight shit like that.” Coco takes a drink of beer and nods, “It’s a part of the life. It’s for the best anyway... Probably..” EZ shrugs, “Why though? What if they do really like each other and make each other happy? I mean, it’s Angel. What woman is going to willingly tolerate him for long? It’s slim pickings for his ass.” EZ jokes half smiling at the thought and looks over at his brother.

Angel stares down at his drink thinking about that almost perfect morning. They had spent the night at her house laughing and having some drinks. Talking about life, she was so easy to talk to. Even having the best sex he’s ever had, but more than that. Connecting. He woke up that morning smiling, watching her sleep when his phone vibrated. It was a text from Bishop.

“Meeting. Now.”

He gently got up, got dressed quietly and left. He wasn’t trying to ditch her. He wasn’t trying to sneak out like she had that first morning that they were together. All he wanted was to stay with her. The club called though. Little did he know that he was leaving her there for good. The meeting was for him. The meeting was him being told that there was a deal with SAMCRO where he stayed away from Y/N and never talked to her again.

He quickly wipes his eyes and finishes his drink. He just left her there. She probably thought that he had used her and abandoned her. To get back at her. It’s exactly what it looked liked and he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t explain things to her or beg her for forgiveness. He couldn’t talk to her or see her at all, ever again. If she for some reason came around, he was not even to look at her.

A guy walks by drunk and laughing with his friends, accidentally pushing Angel into the bar. The guy laughs and looks at Angel, “I’m so sorry about that, man.” Angel gets up looking at him pissed, “Why don’t you watch where you’re going?!”

Coco points, “Hey boy-scout, you best go get your carnal.” EZ gets up knowing what’s about to happen, “C’mon, Coco. This is about to get fucked up. Angel ain’t right.” The guy looks at Angel confused, “Look, dude. I said that I was sorry. I don’t want any problems.” Angel shakes his head and yells, “You wanna come for me?! C’mon! I’m right here!” Angel punches him hard and the guy falls down to the ground. Angel then gets on top of the guy punching him over and over. EZ and Coco pull him off and EZ looks at Angel serious, “Enough! We gotta go. Now.”

------

A month later.

Opie smiles at Y/N sitting on the couch next to her, “C’mon. Let’s go to my friend’s BBQ. It’ll do you good. You’ll get out of the house, get some fresh air, eat some grub and have a beer or two. Maybe even talk to other humans?” She smiles and chuckles a bit getting up, “Okay, then. I’ll go get dressed. I’m only doing this because you’re asking me to.” He nods smiling satisfied, “Great! Lyla will meet us there.” She smiles nodding, “Perfect” She goes to her room not really wanting to go to this bbq, but she doesn’t want to say no to Opie. She takes a quick shower and gets dressed. She goes back out to the living room grabbing her purse, “I’m ready. Thanks for waiting.” He gets up, “Let’s hit the road, Jack!”

Lyla smiles at Y/N while making the kids plates, “I’m really glad you got out of the house and came.” Y/N smiles nodding, “I’m also glad that I came. I haven’t been out of my house in a while. The sun feels great.” Y/N finishes the little bit of food that she put on her plate, “Hey, Lyla I’m going to go inside and find a bathroom.”

She walks inside the house and uses the bathroom. She washes her hands thinking, wishing that she was at home in bed. Alone from the world. The little that she ate churning a bit in her stomach. She dries her hands and looks at herself in the mirror and sighs. She walks out of the bathroom walking down the hall looking at all the pictures that are hanging on the walls. She stops and stares at a picture, thinking to herself. This family looks happy. The man and the woman in the picture look like they are in love... They have kids... The kids look happy. She half smiles not feeling at all like she could have a life like that.

Opie watches her from the other end of the hallway, “Hey girl... You okay?” She looks over at him a little startled, “Hey, I’m okay Opes.” She goes to walk passed him and he steps in the way, “We can leave if you want. Um, I could take you home. You don’t look too thrilled about being here.” She looks up at him confused, “Uh... I’m fine... I didn’t say anything. At least I got out of the house. That’s a big step for me.” He smiles nervously and nods, “This is a nice house, right?” She furrows her eyebrows, “Opie, what’s going on?” He shakes his head trying to block her path, “Nah. I’m just making sure you’re cool. Like you said, this is a pretty big step.” She pushes her way passed him feeling really confused, “Dude, you’re being kinda weird.” She looks out of the living room window seeing Angel out in the front lawn of the house talking to some guys, including EZ.

She looks at Opie confused, “What the fuck is he doing here?!” Opie sighs rubbing his head, “Look, I’m sorry. I saw him get here while you were in the bathroom. I didn’t want you to see him. This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have made you come.” She exhales thinking and before Opie can grab her she heads out of the front door and to the front yard. “No wait, come back! Don’t go out there!” Opie follows her.

EZ looks up and his smile fades, “Oh shit.” Angel looks at him confused and then looks over to see what EZ is looking at, “Fuck.” EZ and the other guys back away as Y/N rushes over to Angel. “So you thought that shit was funny?! Just using me and then ghosting me?! Like you do all this other girls!” Angel looks down and over to the side. “Ha! Okay. Big tough man can’t even face me. So what then, you can’t even look at me. You fuck em, leave em and then you can’t deal with them! No consequences for Angel Reyes.” She stands there starring up at him breathing heavy. Angel shrugs still looking away. Still not looking at her. “Thank you, Angel. Sorry that I was an idiot that thought that you liked me.” She gets choked up and starts to cry. “I fell for it. Hook, line and sinker. Jokes on me, asshole.” Opie gently grabs her arm, “Come on, hun. I’ll take you home.” He walks to his truck with Y/N trying to console her. Angel turns around to start to head towards her and EZ steps in front of him, blocking his way. EZ looks at Angel with a serious look and shakes his head. Angel quickly wipes his eyes furious and gets on his bike leaving.

[toho-literature]

Curiosities of Lotus Asia - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Illusionary Bird

Marisa visited Kourindou carrying one of the beautiful crested ibises that had been increasing in number in Gensokyo lately. After catching it near Hakurei Shrine, Marisa was planning to cook it and eat it with Reimu. In the now lively Kourindou, the owner Rinnosuke was immersed in thought about the reason for the increase in the ibises...

Chapter 2 of an original story based on the Touhou series!

Illusionary Bird

“Hey, Kourin! What's up? Today's our routine hot pot day!”

She shouted as she threw open the door. As far as I'm concerned, today's Animal Protection Day.

“Oh, it's you, Marisa? What's the meaning of coming here and claiming this to be a 'hot pot day'?”

Marisa showed me what she had in her right hand, and there it was, a limp, red-and-white lump...

Some way from the Human Village in Gensokyo is the Forest of Magic, and close by this forest is my shop, Kourindou. In other words, it's halfway between where the humans live and where the youkai are. I thought that I could do business with both humans and youkai in this location, but the truth is that I almost never have clients of either kind. Well, it gets lively at times, but...

“Isn't that a crested ibis? What happened?”

“Yeah, I caught it by the shrine. Reimu's preparin' stuff for the hot pot, so she'll be late.”

“And why did you decide to meet at my place? You never even asked.”

“What are you talkin' about? This'll make a great meal! Sure, he looks a bit worse for the wear, but...”

The crested ibis. More and more of these birds have been appearing in Gensokyo every year. Wherever they become roused, the sky would become dyed in their colors. Yet their meat tastes good, despite their shabby appearances. The hot pot too, would end up dyed in that ibis color, almost a scarlet red. Not a nice way to put it, but it'd look like a human hot pot made by a vampire.

“Well, I guess it's fine, but why hot pot, all of a sudden?”

“Isn't it obvious? Cold days are all about hot pots.”

Marisa continued to chatter while barging into the kitchen. "Well, I just found 'im by chance, but he was pretty lively until a while ago."

Gensokyo is, quite literally, a place where illusionary creatures dwell. At some point, the people in the outside world wrote off “illusionary creatures” as nothing more than “fantasy creatures”. But, of course, illusionary creatures and fantasy creatures are very different. A fantasy creature is just another name for a delusion, misinterpretation or misunderstanding. On the other hand, an illusionary creature is one that can only be found in Gensokyo. It goes without saying, then, that both Marisa and I are also illusionary creatures.

However, the reason behind the sudden proliferation of crested ibises is something I don't understand. Could it be that they have become “illusionary birds”? That would be unthinkable in the outside world I knew, but then again, too much time has elapsed since then. As much as I try to imagine the outside world from limited literature and old memories, it would amount to nothing more than imaginations. An imagination plagued by imaginations is no more than a fantasy. For imaginations, I rank them in the order of Fantasy, Delusion, Prediction, the Virtual, and Illusion.

“Sorry for the wait! Marisa is here, too, right?”

“...I wasn't waiting. How could I when you girls showed up so suddenly?”

“Well, of course we came suddenly. But you should be waiting at all times. Isn't this a shop and everything?”

Reimu came just as Marisa said. She was carrying several bags with her. Ingredients for the hot pot, I guess.

“Hey, Reimu! Took ya long enough! Let's get this hot pot cookin'.”

Marisa had her arm outstretched, with a feeling of “C'mon, hand it over!” to it.

“I brought everything, yes.”

“Huh? This is red miso. Who told you to bring red miso?”

“I didn't need to be told. Red miso is the obvious choice for ibis broth!”

“Hey, hey! The hot pot is already red enough, so we should make it with white miso. Putting red miso in red broth? Are ya some kind of Communist?"

“It's not like you aren't going to eat because of the color. Since ibis meat is red to begin with, it shouldn't bother you, right? And why white miso? This isn't the Genpei War.”

The two of them went on about food coloring, but I wasn't listening. Regardless, Marisa was holding the ibis, and every time she gave it a squeeze, the ibis would squawk. It was kind of weird, like the ibis was supporting her. I'm sure Marisa was doing that on purpose.

"Don't red pickles go with tonkotsu? Wouldja put it in miso ramen?"

"And doesn't fukujinzuke go with curry? But knowing you, you'd probably throw it in cream stew.”

“Having somethin' red in the middle of somethin' white is the sign of a Japanese soul!”

“I'm already red and white enough. And what part of you has a Japanese soul, Marisa? Do you even know what 'Wabi-sabi' is?”

“I don't think ya know yerself, Reimu.”

“Of course I don't.”

“Anyway, we're not makin' a hot pot like that.”

“Wasn't it you who came up with the hot pot idea? We can't eat this ibis raw.”

“So is that how it is? Alright then, let's just divide it now.”

“Decide it?”

“Yeah, that'll work, too. Wanna go?”

In the end, it seems like they decided to settle the matter in a shooting duel, without so much as asking for my advice (even though they came to my shop uninvited). The rules were: 1-on-1 with Spellcard Rules. If Reimu won, the hot pot would be done her way; if Marisa won, she'd apparently make her go buy white miso. Never mind that I had white miso in my place, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I just let them be. Speaking of which, I actually know the tastiest way to cook a crested ibis...

“Marisa, what do I always tell you?”

“If you're gonna fight, then go outside, right?”

“More importantly, could you divide the bird up for Marisa, Mr. Rinnosuke?”

Their objectives seem to have changed already. Whatever the result is, I guess they'll happily eat it however I cook it. I could go as far as to think they arranged this scenario from the beginning, since it always follows the same pattern. Those two are frequently dueling to decide the most insignificant things. On top of that, they've been using attacks with lots of projectiles. It's extremely bright, and hard on the eyes.

Their duels are always a study in contrast. Against the gung-ho Marisa, Reimu – either on purpose or naturally – fights in a more laid-back style. The duels mostly go Reimu's way, but Marisa doesn't always lose. It's just that Marisa attacks with all her skill and might against Reimu, who looks just like she was made of air; it's like trying to pound a nail into dust. In any way, when looking at Reimu, she gives off a feeling that she is not quite from our own world. Anything more than that is something one cannot quite grasp.

“Hey, that's dangerous! What if it had hit me, Marisa!? Geez...”

“Aw, c'mon! Why didn't it hit?”

“Your bullets swerve to avoid me on their own. How nice of them!”

“They're flyin' straight...”

Since I could hear their voices, I went to see how things were going. Reimu looked like she would practically teleport at times. And her bullets would fly guided in impossible directions. It was kind of unfair.

Well then, this nice, round ibis looks really tasty; I've never seen one like it before. Speaking of which, Marisa said something that bothered me...

“Sorry for the wait, we've just made a decision.”

“Yes, you always make me wait like this. I already made the hot pot. With red miso, as expected.”

“Grrr... You already prepared the hot pot? What would ya do if I had won, Kourin?”

“I would have had you eat an ibis cooked in the tastiest way.”

The Hakurei Shrine is located in the edge of Gensokyo. And by edge, that doesn't mean only in the physical sense. There is the border between the outside world and Gensokyo. Because of that, the Hakurei Shrine is not an entirely “illusionary place”. And Marisa said she caught the ibis by the Shrine. It may be that this ibis is indeed from the outside world. So it would seem that crested ibises are not Illusionary Birds yet. I feel somewhat relieved.

[caubool]

Bls,,,dear blog runner,,,Im a simple (content) starving Rogue of Hope and must request an analysis and weapon ideas,,,bls,,,

Be still and quiet small Rogue. Your answers come in time. Know that knowledge and content arrive as passion does, they soar in tandem. Confidence to allow their wings to grow is all you need. Clip as you will, fly as you want, and surely life will affix you with spoils.

Ahem. ANYWAYS. Rogue of Hope, can’t say I’m all to familiar with either so this will be a fun little challenge while I wait (AN HOUR) for the bus.

The Rogue class is the passive steal class. They act as a Robin Hood sort and steal their aspect FOR others. In the beginning of their narrative they tend to be looking for direction. It’s like they’re the socially awkward Smart Kids at a table forced to work together on a project all sort of side-eyeing each other like: “do YOU know how to do this??? can SOMEONE ELSE take charge??????” And inevitably the Rogue will have to fill that role on their team as a leader or as a protector. Someone who has to take charge of a situation, even if they aren’t necessarily the ones Acting in that situation, they tell the others /how/ to if that makes any sense. This can come from either being in that awkward spot for too long and growing frustrated with never getting anything done, or even from a large showy dramatic event. Really just depends how you want to go about that.

Hope is the aspect of Beliefs, it can be represented with angels, miracles, and obsession. That may seem a bit negative, but I swear it’s not. You could word it as Devotion, but I feel like Obsession fits more; it sounds weird to say you’re devoted to shitty movies, less weird to say obsessed. The Hope aspect is less about religion itself and more about how people see the world. Their beliefs shape their outlook and thus their Hopes. It’s a very straight forward aspect. If anything influences your life or existence it effects your beliefs and thus your Hope. To be a Hope player is to understand what makes you happy or passionate and to believe in it’s inherent Goodness or Badness from your point of view. You may die on the hills you make and be seen as stubborn or hard headed, but you’re just sticking to your guns.

For a Rogue of Hope, they would be someone who Steals Beliefs for Others. Now what in the Fuck does that mean? I think it would be either an insider or an activist.

For the insider they would be the type to dive headfirst into something maybe a bit seedy for their friends to see if it’s okay. Like if there’s some berries and the Rogue is /pretty sure/ they’re edible because they lived on a farm they would be the first one to try them. Just in case. At first they wouldn’t be too keen on sharing their opinion, probably jotting it down somewhere for themselves and letting it go ignored. Once they’re more confident they could go gung ho into a place, scope it out a bit, maybe try and see if anyone’s secretly a Mega Dick before signalling the OK to the friends outside. This could apply to internet groups as well.

On the other hand I can see the Rogue as an activist. Maybe at first they think they won’t even make a difference but then it gets to a point where they Can’t ignore what’s happening. From that point on they would be a vicious debater and a very powerful speaker, stealing the Hope from their opposition and giving it to their own platform. This one I can see a bit more as it fits the epithet of the classpect better, but again they wouldn’t be the face of the campaign. They would love to set up the rally’s and help support, show up as a guest speaker, but they aren’t the main event here.

It’s my personal belief that a Rogue Of Hope would be an Excellet speech and debate person. No matter how they’re portrayed off of that they know their way around a dramatic monologue. I also think they’d be a good friend, always willing to indulge in whatever their friends are interested in while maybe subtly supplying their own fun entertainment options. Overall, a Rogue of Hope would be a monster in debate and a pretty fun person to hang around.

Now about those weapons.

There’s not a whole lot of consistency with Rogue weapons. Roxy has a rifle and Nepeta has claws. I think they mostly just use a weapon adapted to their environment. Roxy is in a city with high vantage points, so a rifle would fit very well. Nepeta lives in the wilds in a cave so claws on a hunter would be very fitting.

So really it just comes down to their environments and how they use them. If they were in a more farm setting they might use farm equipment as a long range slashing weapon (hoekind). If they lived by the ocean and fished a lot they might use a net or a fishing pole, maybe even a harpoon.

[plounce]

JUST READ YR DR WHO WDMK AU CONCEPT AGAIN AND IM SO EMO THANKS

THANK YOU IT IS CLASSIC ROB MOLLYGLOCK FARE………. also im still just so like. hrmmmmgh. about the fact that the third time caleb sees molly is the last time molly sees him. because Molly Dies Saving Him And Nott. and molly having to hide how used to caleb he is, and having to pretend he’s not as comfortably besotted & happy to see him as he actually is because no spoilers!

i am also so like… into caleb seeing molly again after he died for the first time on molly’s end, and on the one hand there’s excitable gung-ho jester SO excited about the carnival and the mystery and the running around the market planet that they’re doing… but also her shabby chaperone/chauffeur who just can’t stop Staring at him? and molly loves attention/being paid attention to, but it’s so much more than the gawking/ogling he’s gotten in the past, because… well. WE know why. but caleb is much better at hiding that he Knows molly than molly ever was vice versa

(more under the cut because god if i am anything but a big stupid rambling dumbass)

and then caleb pulls some heroics (although of course jester saves the day) and molly is like oh this guy is Cool! (because before that caleb was barely talking (because he was coming to terms with like. Molly Is Here And Oh God I’m Gonna Be In Love With Him/Am Falling In Love With Him n all)

and then the carnival falls apart and molly realizes that jester WASN’T stretching the truth about how caleb here has a time and space traveling machine, and caleb hesitantly (because he’s afraid of maybe doing something he’s not actually Supposed to do) volunteering to try to fix the vortex manipulator gustav gave molly before he was arrested, and molly hops at the chance to get outta here! especially because he has found out that the planet has some people who Knew him before he was molly.

caleb slowly but faithfully works on the vortex manipulator when they have downtime, trying to stop himself from working too slow but also working too fast - adds in some features he can remember molly mentioning/using that aren’t present in the original device he has in his hands - and they adventure through the cosmos.

at some point molly finds his coat in one of the closets (see the first post) and caleb was certain that he’d closed off that room to prevent paradoxes, but molly comes swanning into the console room with the tattered burnt thing, eyes alight with delight and asking hey can i have this? it’s outrageous! and caleb can do nothing but stop and stare and have gears turn in his head, until molly goes so… that’s a no? and caleb sputters for a moment and then finds himself saying ja, ja, it is all yours. it is very… you.

after that, it’s a common sight to find molly stitching and repairing the thing, filling in the holes and rips with exotic fabrics and threads he finds around the universe, making it all his (and such, exactly as it looked in caleb’s memory, but cleaner and more whole). caleb doesn’t say anything except prompted-by-jester compliments on what a great job molly is doing with it, and he wonders.

one of the “episodes” in the jester&molly companionship involves molly being Kidnapped! by the tomb takers. or some kind of thing involving lucien coming back to bite him. and caleb almost tries to just escape (because he’s trying to outrun the hurt he’s going to have when molly leaves him for the “first” time and for “later” when he leaves him by dying) and jester is like NO you fucking NUMBNUTS im gonna CRASH THIS SPACESHIP IF U DO THAT! HE’S DEPENDING ON US and caleb is like oh god of course. christ alive what was i thinking i’m the worst. and he does the right thing, because of course, he wouldn’t be caleb if he didn’t eventually do the right thing, no matter how tempted he is by selfish running

molly doesn’t leave right after that but it’s sort of the beginning of the end of the jester&molly era. there’s some more filler and then one more big adventure where molly gets to be the one who saves the day and there’s like… a moment where one of them is knocked out and the other like. strokes their cheek. U Know. or smth like that that indicates the beginning of the blossoming of Real Concrete Feelings.

i think it might be molly who does that to caleb because i think caleb has been having little moments like that throughout the season? because he already had time to see molly being great - to see molly in love with him (i think it’s kind of easier to fall in love with someone when they’re already in love with you (not in a Bad way - you get what i mean)) - while this is molly first seeing caleb and discovering all the things he likes about him. because molly always falls for caleb faster than caleb falls for molly.

oh ok here’s a sample idea - caleb falls in some fashion, molly runs to him, checks he’s still breathing - but The Plot Timer is still ticking so he consciously stops himself from fretting and mutters to himself “time for that later” and kisses caleb on the forehead So sweetly (u know.) and then runs back to the plot

after that, caleb realizes there’s nothing else he can do for the vortex manipulator, and molly is in the console room sewing or embroidering or darning socks or whatever, and caleb clears his throat and says “mr. mollymauk” and molly visibly perks up, and caleb thinks to himself, so fondly, he has never been able to hide it. and then he puts his fondness away and says “i believe i have repaired gustav’s device.”

and molly brightens, and then his face falls for a moment, and then he makes himself smile again and goes over to caleb, who shows him how to make it work, all while molly leans against him and watches.

one of the filler eps yasha appears! caleb and nott met her at some point before molly - caleb didn’t know she and molly were close until molly’s first meeting. i think she has like… uncontrollable space travelling herself. made of stardust or something. weird scifi stuff (handwave). i like the idea of her slowly starting to shimmer like on her hand or something and knowing that soon she’ll sort of dissolve into glitter like she’s being beamed up in star trek.

anyway we get to see a private conversation between them where molly talks about all these Funny Feelings he’s having and how he’s kind of scared of them and how he doesn’t think caleb would be comfortable travelling with him if he knew about them. he’s never felt like this before, and it’s… it’s weird. he doesn’t want his happiness to hinge so much on someone else. despite everything, he has a very strong instinct to flee responsibility and commitment, and that instinct is at war with his affection for his traveling companions.

so yasha offers to travel with him for awhile when caleb finishes fixing gustav’s device, as long as she can - she thinks caleb and jester get into a lot of very serious fun, and does molly even want to get into that many world-shattering ethical dilemmas a month? molly laughs, says yeah, you got me, i’m kind of thinking about splitting off on my own to… sort all this out in myself. and it wasn’t fun to have a target painted on jester and caleb’s backs because of shit lucien did. that’s not their problem.

he thinks that maybe one thing he’ll try to do - as he stumbles across it, of course, he’s not gonna devote his whole life - is stamping out lucien’s bloodstained and corrupted legacy (this is in part because he spent this season being around caleb and learning that like… you should help fix the past, doesn’t have to be atonement, but you should do what you can where you can with what you have to right wrongs). he’s kind of scared of being alone but he’s met so many people on his travels, helped them and made them smile - and he knows

there is always the tardis, somewhere in the universe, with a dear friend inside.

so anyway, yasha sends molly the coordinates of where she is, and caleb gets the tardis to that place, and the four of them hang out for a day or two, one last hurrah. and then … well, time to go! molly likes goodbyes to be easy, doesn’t like drawing them out. “and i’m sure i’ll you see you again someday,” he says, and caleb gives him a crooked smile and replies, in a rare moment of loose lips, “that is very, very likely.”

and molly brightens because he understands by now caleb’s way of talking around his own knowledge, and this goodbye feels easier because it’s not forever. they have a long way ahead of them! how exciting, to know there’s a future, to know the future has friends in it.

as jester says goodbye to yasha, molly tugs caleb away and thanks him for everything, and caleb thanks him for everything - and there’s that look in caleb’s eyes again, like he’s drinking him in like a man headed into a desert, and molly doesn’t quite understand why caleb has always looked at him that but he know it excites him, emboldens him - emboldens him so much that he darts in and kisses caleb, right on the corner of his mouth, closed and chaste but still a kiss.

then he turns to skip away, saying “i look forward to meeting up with you, mr caleb,” trying to make this not a big deal so caleb doesn’t feel pressured or uncomfortable (kind of cursing himself for being an impulsive bastard when he shouldn’t have been), when caleb catches his wrist or arm or whatever, and he says “you too, mr mollymauk,” and he leans in and kisses molly on the cheek. and molly’s giddy and caleb’s a little embarrassed and they’re both just standing there, smiling a little stupidly and just… excited about this Thing between them.

and then jester’s hollering KISS! KISS! KISS! DO A REAL KISS!!!!!! WITH TONGUE!!!!!!!!!!!! and molly’s hollering back YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR A SHOW and caleb’s laughing softly, and oh, he’ll miss this, but there’s so much he knows he hasn’t seen yet, and right now he feels like he can cope with the grief always hanging over him.

[terrayoung]

A Delicate Balance

A @dctvsecretsanta fic for @drnathanielheywood, who asked for: team legends stealing Christmas presents through time and Nate/Mick. It’s in Nate’s 2nd person p.o.v.

Fic is under the cut - I hope you enjoy!

"Pleeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeee?" Ray asks, holding out a bowl full of paper slips. "Wally and Mick already agreed - though Mick might've just done it to get me to leave him alone - and I'm sure the others will, too!" He widens his eyes. "I'd really appreciate it! Secret Santa is just the kind of bonding activity we need right now!"

You sigh. Damn those puppy-dog eyes. "Okay, fine. But you owe me an Indiana Jones marathon. And I mean all the movies - even Crystal Skull."

"That's fair."

Ray thrusts the bowl even closer to you. You close your eyes, pray that you get someone easy to shop for, and rummage around in the bowl for your lucky slip. Fingers on your free hand crossed, you unfold the paper. In scrawled black writing is two words and an emoji, "Mick Rory :)". Ray's looking at you expectantly, so you force a smile on your face.

"Didn't get myself, buddy, so I guess that's good," you say. 

"Yep!" Ray beams. "Oh, and before I forget - Mick suggested being able to steal the gifts. Long as you don't take it/them from the less fortunate, it's fair game." He pulls you into a brief, one-armed hug. "Thanks, Nate!"

You watch as Ray leaves your room, then finally let the smile slip off your face. "What the fuck do I do now? Um, Gideon?"

"Yes, Dr. Heywood?" Gideon asks.

"Any ideas on what I could get Mick for the Secret Santa?"

"I'm afraid Dr. Palmer requested that I not give anyone advice about their giftees." She almost sounds regretful. "He said it would be considered cheating."

"Gee, thanks a lot," you mutter.

"You're welcome!"

"Damn AI."

"I heard that," Gideon warns. 

You throw up your hands in frustration and flop onto your bed. After a few seconds, you roll over so you can scream into a pillow. You roll over again a few seconds after that since the lack of oxygen is getting to your head. 

What on Earth could you possibly get - or steal - for Mick? You put too little effort into this and he'll burn you to a crisp, but putting too much effort in would be like a neon sign telling him about your crush. Anything fire-related is too obvious and you know nothing about what he'd need for crime. It's probably too soon to give Mick a new rat and he could just fabricate himself some beer. What does he even like to do?

...Wait. You vaguely remember Mick being super gung-ho about vampires - he was even reading a special edition copy of Dracula. Maybe that's something you can work with. 

 XxXx

  You knock on Sara's door the next day. It takes a few seconds for her to open it, by which point you're already rocking back and forth on your heels. 

"Can I help you?" Sara asks, rubbing at her eyes. 

You nod. "Mind if I borrow the jump ship for a few hours? I think I know what to get my Secret Santa."

"Promise to never wake me up at..." She grabs your wrist, drags it towards her, and checks the time on your watch. "At 6AM ever again?"

"What if there's a life-threatening emergency?"

"If it's before 9AM, I don't care."

"Then, yes, I promise," you say, giving Sara a mock solute.

Sara releases your wrist and waves you away. "Fine. Go. Have fun shopping or stealing or what-the-fuck-ever. I'm going back to sleep."

"Sleep -" You're cut off by Sara sliding the door shut on you- "well." You run a hand through your hair. "Next stop, late nineteenth century." A few steps towards the jump ship remind you that you're still wearing your slippers. "After a trip to the fabrication room."

 XxXx

 You're barely out of the fabrication room - and still trying to fix your tie - when you run into Mick. Literally. Your forehead slams right into his chin. You stumble back, clutching your head, while he just stands there like a brick wall. A very well-muscled brick wall...

You shake your head - causing it to ache some more - to get your brain back on track. Mick raises an eyebrow. 

"You okay there, Pretty?" Mick asks. His gravelly voice rattles through your bones. "Sounded like you hit me pretty hard."

You rub your forehead one last time, then let your arm drop. "Think I'm gonna have one hell of a headache, but I'll live. How are you not in any pain?"

"I am." Mick shrugs. "But I've lived through worse." He stops, stares at your chest, and then rolls his eyes. You have two seconds to blink before Mick's closer than you'd ever hoped he'd get. 

"Umm, Mick?" You'll swear on every bible in the country that your voice didn't just crack. "What's goin' on?"

"Fixing your stupid tie," Mick mutters. 

There's a spark each time his hands brush against your chest. Mick's face is so close to yours and it takes every bit of your willpower to not lean in for a kiss. You don't even realize that you were holding your breath until Mick steps back and it all rushes out of you. 

Mick smirks, proud of his handiwork. "There ya go." He looks you up and down. "Where're you going? Didn't think we had a mission today."

"We - we don't," you reply. "I'm going to go get my Secret Santa's gift." You run a hand through your hair. "No idea how Ray managed to convince all of us to do that, by the way."

Mick just grunts and shrugs. 

"Anyway, um, I'm going to go do that -" you gesture vaguely in the direction of the jump ship -"and I'll see you later?"

"...Sure." Mick steps around you and heads down the hallway. He calls over his shoulder, "Long as you don't get yourself killed."

You're not sure if Mick thinks you're likely to, or if this is his own way of showing concern. It's been a couple of years since you met him and you're no closer to having him figured out. Luckily, you've always been a fan of mysteries. Not as much as histories, but -

You shake your head. Now is really not the time for your train of thought to run off the tracks. You give yourself a few seconds to remember Mick's closeness, then return to heading off to the jump ship. You've got a gift to track down. 

 XxXx

 "Why couldn't this have been a normal trip to Ye Olde Bookshoppe?" You mutter. "Oh, wait, normal flew out the window once I stepped onboard a freaking timeship!" 

"Be quiet!" Van Helsing - Abigail Van Helsing - hisses. "Unless you want the vampire to get us!" 

You hold up your hands, then mime zipping your mouth shut. Van Helsing just frowns before turning to look out of the alleyway. 

You'd started out going to buy an original copy of Dracula for Mick, planning on getting it signed by Bram Stoker himself. But then a fucking vampire had literally crashed the party! Then Van Helsing followed it through, announced she would take care of the beast, and then chased after it. You'd declared your intention to help, and well, here you are now. Somewhere in the middle you've managed to figure out that Dracula was loosely based on a true story. Very loosely, if Van Helsing being named Abigail instead of Abraham and the vampire not having much in the way of sentience are any indication. 

"It's coming," Van Helsing whispers. "You distract it with your "powers"-" how is she able to sound like she's miming air quotes a century before they were a thing?- "and then I'll stab it in the chest. Is that understood?" 

You nod, then steel up. Van Helsing's eyes widen. As soon as you hear the vampire scuffle past, you step out of the alleyway. The sun gleams off of your silver skin and attracts the vampire's attention. You slowly back away to lure it closer and closer to Van Helsing. Once you've moved far enough, you give her a thumbs-up. 

Van Helsing may not recognize the gesture, but she knows a signal when she sees one and jumps towards the vampire. There's a bit of a struggle - most of which is on the vampire's end - and then it's over as soon as it began. Van Helsing brushes the dust off her knife. 

"Thank you," Van Helsing says after a moment. "That would have been a lot more difficult without your help."

You shrug before de-steeling. "No problem. Mind if I ask you a question?"

"I suppose I owe you that much. What is it?"

"Do you know where I could find Bram Stoker?" You hold up the now slightly battered copy of Dracula. "I've got a book for him to sign."

 XxXx

 Bram Stoker looks from you, to Dracula, and then back to you. "You want me to write a dedication to someone I've never even heard of?"

"Yes, please," you answer. "He's a huge fan - uh, admirer - of your writing, and would greatly appreciate your signing the book. I'm planning on giving it to him for Christmas."

"A rare thing for two unrelated men to do," Stoker replies, "but not an unappreciated one. What is your young man's name?"

"He's not young - or mine - but -" You take a breath- "Mick Rory."

Stoker nods. He thinks for a moment, dips his pen in an inkwell, and jots down a few words. "Here you go, Dr. Heywood." Stoker pushes the book back to you. "I hope Mr. Rory takes to this gift."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Stoker!" You barely glance at the dedication before snapping the book shut. "I have to get going, but it was very nice to meet you!"

"Same to you."

 XxXx

 The next person you literally run into is Zari, as you're exiting the jump ship. It affects her more than you, but neither of you get too hurt. Which is great - you still have a lingering headache from your encounter with Mick. 

"Thanks for that," Zari snarks. "Long as you're here, though - any ideas on what to get Hunter? I've only met the man twice, so I'm kinda at a loss."

You snort. "That's a first." You sober up at Zari's withering glare. "Um, I didn't really know 'im too well either. Think I remember someone mentioning he's really into Wild West stuff? That and antiques."

"So shop for you, but lean towards cowboy crap," Zari summarizes. "Got it." She gestures to the jump ship. "Just leaving or just returning?"

"Returning." You step out of Zari's way. "Go right ahead." Before she can get too far, you hold up Dracula and add, "For Mick - what do you think? It's an original copy and it's signed."

Zari shrugs. "He should like it. May even get you that kiss you want."

"Kiss? Why would I want a -" You slump. "How'd you know?"

"You're nowhere near as subtle as you think you are," Zari answers. "Surprised he hasn't noticed - I'm aromantic and I picked up on it ages ago." She hangs in the doorway. "Good luck, though."

"Thank -" Zari shuts the door- "you." You run a hand through your hair. "Why does that keep happening to me?"

 XxXx

 Ray knocks on your door just as you're putting stuffing the last of the tissue paper into the bag containing Mick's gift. You tell him to let himself in, then scribble a note on the to/from sticker. Hopefully your handwriting isn't too distinctive. 

You sit up, expecting Ray to start info-dumping about some new science fact or his latest project, but he's pacing silently instead. It takes about five minutes for concern to override just letting him be. 

"Uh, Ray?" You begin. "You okay there, buddy?"

Ray hesitates before shaking his head. He then leans against the closest wall. 

"What's up? Do you need some paper to write on?"

"Nah," Ray answers. "Just figuring out what to say - I'm not non-verbal atm." He sighs. "Um, I already got my Secret Santa's gift, but... ButIwasthinkingofgettingNoraagifttoo."

You stand up and rest a hand on Ray's shoulder. "I'm totally here for you, but would you mind repeating that for me? My ears can't process your words when you're speaking at a hundred miles an hour."

"Sorry. I said I was thinking of getting Nora a gift, too," Ray confesses. "But I don't know where she is, how to get it to her if I did, or if she even celebrates Christmas. Or how she'd react." Ray smiles sheepishly. "Y'know, with her being a former bad guy and all."

"Yeah, I had the same problem with Mick."

Ray jerks his head up so quickly, you fling your hand out in shock. You can feel a blush spreading across your cheeks.

"Okay, if you agree to ignore the implications there, I'll agree to ignore you implying that you still have a thing for Nora," you say. 

"Fine by me." Ray smiles. "For what it's worth, I think Mick likes you back. I mean, he does call you "Pretty"."

You shrug. "Thinking I'm hot doesn't equal feelings, but thanks. And good luck with Nora. I don't think she's the best person to crush on, but you do you, Ray." You smirk. "Or her." Ray jokingly punches you in the arm. "Hey!" 

"So, assuming I find Nora, you think I should get her something?" Ray asks. 

"Yeah, man. You could always pass it off as a "just because" gift if she's not a Christmas person." 

Ray pulls you into a brief hug. "Thank you for the advice and friendly ear." 

"No problemo."

Ray shakes his head, still smiling, and exits your room. He gives you a wave as the door closes.

 XxXx 

 A few days later, it's finally the moment of truth. Or to put it less dramatically - the day you all exchange your Secret Santa gifts. The result of you shoving in the tissue paper is a bag that's a little messy and half-hazard looking, but you feel it's appropriate. There's more to it than its rough exterior - just like Mick. 

You're the first one on the bridge. You place your gift by the center console and then pour yourself a drink. Maybe it'll help calm your nerves. 

"Great idea, Pretty." Mick's rumbling voice makes you jump - you hadn't heard him approach. Thankfully the glass didn't spill any more than a couple of drops. Mick brushes past you to pour himself... something. You're too busy trying not to shudder from that brief moment of contact. 

"Hey, um, Mick," you finally reply. "Have any trouble finding a gift?"

Mick shrugs. "Wrapping it was the worst part. Ended up just shoving it into a box."

"Yeah, I -"

Whatever you were about to say next is cut off by a deluge of Legends flooding onto the bridge. Several different conversations overlap as people try to put their gifts by the console without tripping over each other. You decide to find a comfortable spot to sit before all the good ones are taken. To your surprise, Mick grabs the one next to you. 

"So, who wants to go first?" Ray asks, once everyone has settled down. 

Sara nods at him. "It was your idea." 

Ray stammers and protests for a bit, but gives in once everyone starts chanting his name. He picks up a small, thin present that has dark blue wrapping paper with silver atoms. Ray tears through the paper less gently than expected to reveal a frame with a photo inside. It's a candid shot of him and a brunette woman - Anna, maybe - sitting on a park bench somewhere and laughing. Ray hastily wipes away a few tears. 

"Thank you," he begins, "whoever, um -"

Rip raises a hand. "I always wished there were more photos of Miranda and myself after she..." he clears his throat. "I hope it's alright that I-"

Before Rip can finish his sentence, Ray all but tackles him with a hug. Rip awkwardly pats his back for a bit, then gently pulls back. 

The rest of the gifts are less emotionally fraught, though no less meaningful. Ava receives two photos - one of her and Sara and one of her with the team - and a hug from Ray. Wally opens an awkwardly wrapped meditation fountain from Ava and gives Sara a set of throwing knives. Sara gives Zari a blanket with various video game symbols and characters, and Zari in turn gives Rip a hat and book from the Old West. Only you and Mick are left, which grants you both significant looks from everyone else. 

"Guess it's pretty obvious who yours is from," you joke to Mick. He grunts and goes to pick up one of the two remaining gifts. 

Your heart is in your throat as Mick carefully pulls out the tissue paper. He frowns at what's inside, but it smooths out once he picks up Dracula. 

"Original edition?" Mick murmurs. "Nice."

You swallow hard. "Look inside the front cover."

Mick does so, his eyebrows lifting as he reads whatever message Stoker left him. "Huh. Thanks, Nate."

Hearing someone call you by your first name usually doesn't send butterflies fluttering in your stomach, but your thing for Mick isn't that usual to begin with. 

"My turn, then." You stand up, grab the sole remaining box, and settle back down in your spot. 

The box is wrapped in simple silver paper and topped with a red bow. You stick the bow to your shirt before unwrapping the gift. First in the box is a photo of Harrison Ford in full Indiana Jones gear, complete with jacket. Underneath that, carefully folded up, is the exact same jacket in surprisingly good condition. 

"Is this -? Did you -?" You're at a loss for words. 

Mick avoids your gaze. "Stole it off the set. I added the picture so you could tell it's the same one."

"Thank you so much." Before you can stop yourself, you pull Mick into the best sideways hug you can manage. Your skin tingles all over when you finally let go, which almost distracts you from noticing that Mick's cheeks are a bit red. Huh. 

Sara pulls you from your thoughts by tapping something - a pen? - against a whisky bottle. "Now that the presents are done with, let's get drunk!"

Most of the team cheers and makes a beeline for the drink cart. Ray switches on some music after clarifying that it's secular Christmas/winter-themed songs only. Mick stands up and nods towards the drinks. 

"You want anything?" Mick asks. 

'A kiss' is what you want to say. What actually comes out of your mouth is, "Not right now. Thanks, though."

Mick grunts in the affirmative before leaving you alone to stew. Which lasts all of five seconds due to Wally zooming over to capture the newly open spot. 

"Y'know, I could get some mistletoe over here without Mick noticing," Wally whispers. "Wouldn't even take two seconds." 

You shake your head. "And make Mick mad at the both of us? Nah. I've known him for this long without him making good on his threats. A little longer would be nice."

Wally face palms, then leaves without saying anything more. He rushes back and - sue enough, there's a mistletoe hanging above where you're sitting. You roll your eyes and go to take it down. Unfortunately, tearing it off causes you to fall back from the amount of force you'd used. You're caught by strong arms before you can hit the ground. 

You look up to find that Mick's your timely rescuer - hero, a part of you whispers - and hastily right yourself on your own two feet. "Uh, thanks, Mick."

"What was that about?" Mick raises an eyebrow. "You shouldn't be drunk already."

"I'm not! It's just -"

"Just...?"

"Wally was trying to play a prank on us," you explain, "and I nearly fell over trying to get it down." You hold up the mistletoe and feel a blush start to spread across your face. "Funny, right?"

"What's funny? You nearly cracking your head open?" Mick asks. 

"No, um, uh-" you look down at the floor- "Wally thinking that making us kiss was a good idea for a prank. I mean, the idea of you and me -"

Mick catches your chin in his hand, tilting it up so your gazes meet. "'S not that bad an idea, actually."

"What - You - I -"

Before you can embarrass yourself even further, Mick pulls you into a kiss. You freeze for a moment, then surge forward to deepen it. Your hands settle on Mick's waist to tug him even closer. 

And then someone wolf-whistles. 

Mick sighs into your mouth, then gently pushes you away. "Should prob'ly continue this where we can have some privacy."

"My room's good," you reply. "Much closer than yours." You can't resist giving Mick another kiss. 

"Works for me, Pretty." Mick steps even farther back, then gestures to the nearest door. The two of you all but run out as you try to ignore all the teasing from the rest of the group. Sara shouts out to not do anything she wouldn't do. Like that's even that long of a list. 

...Which may have been the point. 

 XxXx 

 "Wait," you say, once you and Mick are finally in your room, "hang on a second, okay?"

Mick frowns but complies. "Y'not want to do this anymore?"

"For now?" You nod. "For now. It's just -" You run a hand through your hair. "I don't know if we're on the same page here, or if you even like me or anything."

"Would I kiss you if I didn't like you?" Mick asks.

"I mean, like me, like me. I mean -" moment of truth, here- "I'm in love with you. Have been for a while. Even when I was with Amaya, I think I felt something like that for you." Your eyes widen. "Not that I didn't love Amaya! It was just... both of you, I guess. Amaya and I were just starting to talk about it right before she, um, left." You pause to take a breath. "If you don't feel the same, that's fine, but - I don't want to do a friends with benefits thing if you don't. I don't think my heart could take it." It's a while before you can meet Mick's gaze. "So, that's where I'm at. How 'bout you?"

Mick folds his arms. "I'm not good at this feelings crap, but..." He sighs, then waves a hand around. "I feel the same. I think. 'm willing to give it a chance, anyway. Is that enough?"

"Yeah." You smile broadly. "Yeah, it is."

Mick shakes his head fondly - for him, at least - and then pulls you into another kiss. 

[verdigrisprowl]

Nov 12 Dancitron Movie Night - The Arrival

Soundwave is all gung ho about translating the alien written language. Prowl helped him graph all the little points on it.

Yesterday NoodlesAtNight 7:30 pm *Soundwave is getting as close to rushing as he ever gets without an actual emergency, making sure everything is Just Right for this particular show.* opatoes 7:31 pm /Smokescreen's coming in with a few snacks and the covenant, and is taking his seat on a couch upside down, head towards the ground and his doorwings very uncomfortable/ NoodlesAtNight 7:32 pm *He has Heard Things about it and he wants things to go just this side of perfectly. Everything's clean. Everything's orderly. All things have a place, and the place they're in is where they should be.*

*....Except Smokescreen. Naturally.* [[What /are/ you doing.]] opatoes 7:33 pm Good to see you too, Soundwave. I'm sitting down! On a couch! NoodlesAtNight 7:33 pm [[Are you certain of that?]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:34 pm ((I forgot that this had a rap part)) opatoes 7:34 pm ... Yeah? I'm pretty sure I'm sitting. I'm definitely not standing, after all. NoodlesAtNight 7:34 pm [[Yes, but you're...]] *Makes a sort of motion indicating a flip upside down.* ((same)) opatoes 7:34 pm Oh! Ohhhh, is that the problem? opatoes 7:35 pm /Smokescreen's turning himself 90 degrees, this time practically hogging the couch./ NoodlesAtNight 7:35 pm *Smokescreen now looks like half the usual guests.* [[Oh, that's better. He was concerned about your internal gyros for a moment.]] opatoes 7:36 pm Aww- you were worrying about me? You really can be a nice bot sometimes, Sounds. opatoes 7:37 pm /Also he's singing along to this song!/ SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:37 pm *enter dragon! with snacks! nothing out of the ordinary tonight, so she'll just put them in the Designated Snack Spot* Hello, Soundwave! NoodlesAtNight 7:37 pm [[Don't say such things where others can hear you.]] [[Greetings, dragon.]] *He'll walk with her and assist. He's in a Good Mood.* opatoes 7:38 pm It's true, though! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:38 pm 😮! *Soundwave help! it's her lucky day!* Thank you, Soundwave! Swervester 7:39 pm [stumbles in and slumps tiredly against the closest couch] NoodlesAtNight 7:39 pm [[It's not,]] *he says while helping someone.* [[And you're welcome, dragon. You do such good work; he really must consider making you one of Dancitron's official suppliers.]] [[...Feeling poorly, Swerve?]] Swervester 7:39 pm Didn't sleep well last night. Crazy bar party. NoodlesAtNight 7:40 pm [[How so?]] Swervester 7:41 pm Rodimus decided it was Appreciate Swerve Night and threw me a surprise party in the bar. opatoes 7:41 pm Really? It's not like you've proven me wrong recently. You haven't unleashed your tentacles on anyone in a while, so that's pretty nice! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:41 pm *the dragon puffs up so proudly that she might well be in danger of exploding* It would be an honor. NoodlesAtNight 7:42 pm [[Appreciate Swerve Night? He can see why you are tired.]] *Surely everyone recognizes Swerve's good qualities. They were on full and obvious display during the protoform plague.* [[Then he will look into the paperwork, dear dragon.]] *A tiny head bow in her direction before he heads back to his seat.* [[And that is factually incorrect, Smokescreen.]] Yesterday Swervester 7:42 pm Yeah! It was really nice. Just lasted all night so there was less sleep than expected. opatoes 7:43 pm Really? Have you menaced someone with your tentacles recently, Soundwave? NoodlesAtNight 7:43 pm [[He said nothing about menacing. Merely unleashing.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:43 pm *the dragon is churring and purring all the way to the nearest couch. she's gonna be an official supplier! for Dancitron! that's even better than fighting a god!* opatoes 7:43 pm ... Have you unleashed your tentacles on someone? Poor bot. MedicalMurdersaurus 7:44 pm *SLIIIIIIIIDES in* BIRD! NoodlesAtNight 7:44 pm [[Well, if you must sleep, try to do so after the film. He has heard good things about it. Many, many good things. Fantastic things.]] [[Of course he has.]] *But they don't tend to complain.* opatoes 7:44 pm ((i never realized episode 3 came out the day before my birthday in whatever year it came out aszcxvb)) NoodlesAtNight 7:45 pm {{SWOOOOOOOOP}} MedicalMurdersaurus 7:45 pm HIIII! *bounces* Hi Bird! NoodlesAtNight 7:45 pm *NYOOM can an origami bird knock over a pterodactyl? We're about to find out.* Arcee-Autobot 7:45 pm *Has no idea whats going on but Puts hands up* I'm also Here Hello, Everyone! Swervester 7:45 pm Ooh, what's it a film about? NoodlesAtNight 7:46 pm *Soundwave's mood is, uh. Accidentally catching, a little, among the minicons.*

[[Greetings, Arcee. It is Arcee, correct?]] *Has the right look, but one never knows.* [[/Communication./]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:46 pm *it's like a physics question. how many treats does one need to place in Laserbeak's gaping maw before her maximum velocity carries enough impact to knock over one dinobot?* *make sure to show all of your work* opatoes 7:47 pm ((Fun fact star wars episode iii is thirteen years old as of this year apparently)) NoodlesAtNight 7:47 pm *There are a bunch of empty cubes behind the bar, if that counts?* ((happy birthday episode 3)) Arcee-Autobot 7:47 pm You're Correct, it is Arcee SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:47 pm ((speaking of birthdays)) opatoes 7:47 pm ((episode iii is old enough to go on forums and complain about star wars)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:47 pm ((as of five days ago I can legally beer)) ((woop woop)) NoodlesAtNight 7:47 pm ((a;ghagwhagah))

((and specs: HAPPY FIVE DAYS AGO BIRTHDAY)) Arcee-Autobot 7:48 pm [[ Happy late Birthday!]] opatoes 7:48 pm ((HAPPY BIRTHDAY i thought you were older than me asdbvxcbn SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:48 pm ((sorry smokeymun I'm only 21)) opatoes 7:48 pm ((im like 23 i think so it's not too big but i thought you were like... 24 for some reason)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:49 pm ((is it because I hang out with Whirlmun? she's, what, 26?)) NoodlesAtNight 7:49 pm ((haha you young'ns)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:49 pm ((crow, ofc, is an official Fandom Elder and can throw dentures at us)) Swervester 7:49 pm //slides a 29 under the table NoodlesAtNight 7:49 pm [[Seat yourself anywhere you like, Arcee. Refreshments are at the bar; midgrade and snacks are free but high grade must be purchased.]] SCProwl 7:50 pm ((/shakes cane at room Yesterday opatoes 7:50 pm ... Wait, snakes are free? Snacks I mean snacks Swervester 7:50 pm I hope snakes are free. Arcee-Autobot 7:50 pm Snakes? NoodlesAtNight 7:50 pm <<Chimera is not free.>> opatoes 7:50 pm Let Chimera be free! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:50 pm Chimera is free to do whatever they please, right? NoodlesAtNight 7:50 pm <<Oh. Chimera is that free. Chimera is not money free.>> MedicalMurdersaurus 7:50 pm *sees what she's doing and COLLAPSES when hit, laughing the whole way down* Swervester 7:50 pm Free Chimera 2k18? opatoes 7:51 pm Chimera is priceless though, you can't place a price on them. chronosmith 7:51 pm ()(i already tole u but HAPPY BIRTH AGAIN SPECS)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:51 pm Is Chimera free to be hugged? ((HAPPY BORTH ME)) NoodlesAtNight 7:51 pm *Bird sprouts feelers like big secretary bird legs and marches up Swoop to stare down his face.* {{You Swoop dead. This mean Bird Dinobot now?}} NoodlesAtNight 7:52 pm <<Yes! Chimera likes hugs.>> *They slither out from beneath the couch and look around. Where are hugs? Where is affection? It's so lonely, not counting its main companions.* Arcee-Autobot 7:52 pm [[ Brb I've got to go stop a Child from eating a Crayon again]] NoodlesAtNight 7:52 pm ((omg go o)) MedicalMurdersaurus 7:52 pm *does his best BLEH dead impression* yup NoodlesAtNight 7:52 pm {{Kay. Bird go usurp Grimlock now.}} chronosmith 7:52 pm *also has big secretary bird legs, but they're not made of feelers, and attached to him. They're carrying him into the room RIGHT NOW. And rolling at their heels is his Whirlipede* MedicalMurdersaurus 7:53 pm :V King Bird Swervester 7:53 pm [Oh no Chimera's cute. Hello Swerve has a lap] opatoes 7:53 pm /Oops! More people are here! Smokescreen's turning around on the couch so he's upside down on it again./ SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:53 pm *THE HUGS ARE UPON THEE, CHIMERA. dragonflop. It Is Hug Time.* NoodlesAtNight 7:53 pm {{Get tiny crown, neheheh.}}

[[Greetings, Whirl. And - ah. Has it been named yet?]] opatoes 7:53 pm !! Arcee! Cee! Arc! How're you doing? MedicalMurdersaurus 7:54 pm YAH! Little tiny crown for Bird : > Then you bossy everyone kehehheh MORE bossy NoodlesAtNight 7:54 pm *Chimera briefly coils around the dragon in an overjoyed hug before slithering toward the couch and the patted lap.* <<Small dragon comes with Chimera to sit on the Short Legs bot. Yes?>> chronosmith 7:54 pm Not yet. I'm gonna see if our resident braniac can communicate with it, and ask if it has one. NoodlesAtNight 7:55 pm {{Bossiest Bird. It because Bird knows best.}} SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:55 pm As long as the Short Legs bot is alright with it. I know some people have issues with fur. *but she likes These Hugs and will not give them up so easily* Swervester 7:55 pm Sure, come and sit. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:55 pm *mental note to bring a crown for bird next movie night* Yesterday NoodlesAtNight 7:56 pm //Hey! I ain't missed nothin', right?// *Rumble's jogging downstairs.* //Frenzy didn't wanna get the frag outta the washracks. Hey, Whirl! Whirl's tire.// NoodlesAtNight 7:56 pm [[He hopes the resident brainiac is successful.]] chronosmith 7:57 pm Me too. *perks up a bit, and bobs his head at Rumble* Hey, mech. Long time no see. *and with great aplomb, he is on the couch. His tire goes underneath it again* Sorry I haven't made it, y'know. Out much. MedicalMurdersaurus 7:57 pm *bobbles his head in agreement, still "dead" on the floor* NoodlesAtNight 7:59 pm //Hey, you don't gotta apologize. I been stuck on night shifts cuz SOMEONE--// *And here he throws an empty cube at Laserbeak* //Complained she couldn't get no sleep at night with me 'n the bro down here.// MedicalMurdersaurus 7:59 pm !!! chronosmith 7:59 pm ((every time this video comes up I am mesmerized)) opatoes 7:59 pm /Also Smokescreen's going to get up and dance to this!/ chronosmith 7:59 pm ((no matter what I'm doing)) NoodlesAtNight 8:00 pm *Rumble hops up onto Whirl's couch and blows a raspberry at Bird. She blats back at him.* {{It work, too, if Buzzsaw not blab tell Bird not sleeping then.}} NoodlesAtNight 8:01 pm ((AHEM nobody saw that)) NoodlesAtNight 8:02 pm ((we'll start in 5-10)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:03 pm *pops up* You Bird can hang out with Me Swoop! You can with Swoop instead : > SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:04 pm ((me dissociating)) chronosmith 8:04 pm Pfft. What a narc. Well, I'll try and make these more often. I would say I've been busy, but that's a lie. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:05 pm ((that cat vine is soundwave's life, huh? opening the door and a million cute screaming faces)) NoodlesAtNight 8:05 pm {{Bird do that. Swoop not blabber.}}

((ABSOLUTELY his life)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:05 pm Oh, there was /my/ friday night. chronosmith 8:05 pm *snickers* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:06 pm And this is monday. NoodlesAtNight 8:06 pm {{BIRD}} MedicalMurdersaurus 8:06 pm :V Bird NoodlesAtNight 8:06 pm //Whatcha been doin' then? The ship fixed up all the way yet?// SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:08 pm And /that's/ why docents are a thing. NoodlesAtNight 8:08 pm [[Oh, look. Movie nights.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:08 pm *snickers* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:09 pm OH BIRD NoodlesAtNight 8:09 pm ((all right so, WARNINGS: Actually, not many. Cancer, needles, mention of racism and related -isms, creepy critters from outer space.)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:09 pm biiiird chronosmith 8:09 pm It's getting there. I've got to convince someone to come down to Cybertron to do work on it for a few days, which is going to be fun, since negotiation isn't really what you'd all my STRONG suit, but y'know. Gotta do what you gotta do. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:09 pm ((o7)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:10 pm *spazzing out* biRD NoodlesAtNight 8:10 pm {{What!?}} MedicalMurdersaurus 8:10 pm Me SWOOP want to Halloween candy for you!!! NoodlesAtNight 8:10 pm //You want we should lean on 'em?// NoodlesAtNight 8:11 pm {{Pffff. Swoop whole two week late. Halloween not til next year.}} Today MedicalMurdersaurus 8:11 pm No n ono no! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:11 pm Put dry ice inside their plating until they agree to help you. *the dragon does not know what negotiation is* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:11 pm Me Swoop DO Halloween! Us Dinobots all Halloween. NoodlesAtNight 8:11 pm *Chimera settles in to watch a movie with the Short Legs mech and the Dragon. They're quite content; this is a good night already.* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:11 pm Me Swoop lots and LOTS of candy for You Bird! From trick or treat : > SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:11 pm *loafs up on Chimera. comfy.* NoodlesAtNight 8:11 pm *Her visor has never been so bright, Swoop.* {{You not eat?}} MedicalMurdersaurus 8:12 pm Nah! It for You Bird : > Boomtank 8:12 pm -Is he here in time?- NoodlesAtNight 8:12 pm *Soundwave's attention is RIGHT on the screen. Blaster missed maybe 20 seconds.* *He waves a feeler over his back. Greetings.* Boomtank 8:12 pm -phew. Going to wave back and sit in a free chair- opatoes 8:13 pm Is that kid a centaur? NoodlesAtNight 8:13 pm [[Don't be silly. It's a toy.]] NoodlesAtNight 8:14 pm *...Oh. Oh, she's -- oh. Her spawn.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:14 pm *winces. that poor docent.* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:14 pm *wiggles* Me Swoop hide candy so noooo Dinobots can get! It for You Bird : > Boomtank 8:14 pm ...... chronosmith 8:15 pm Nah, nah. Intimidation won't help me a lot here. Gotta trust these people to build my bulkheads, after all. NoodlesAtNight 8:15 pm {{You Swoop - uhhhhhh.}} *She sort of dances from clawfoot to clawfoot.* {{You want share?}} //Oh, huh. Yeah, that's true. Bribe 'em?// Boomtank 8:15 pm ........ NoodlesAtNight 8:15 pm *Oh, look. It's like the tv in Soundwave's apartment.* chronosmith 8:16 pm Sort of. Just paying em. The money isn't the hard part, I've... acquired some shanix. But not a lot of aliens wanna come to Cybertron. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:16 pm No no! *clearly she is confused* Me Swoop not share it. Me Swoop get for Bird! NoodlesAtNight 8:16 pm *Thin birdy squeal.* Boomtank 8:16 pm !!! NoodlesAtNight 8:16 pm [[...Are you all right, Blaster? You feel concerned.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:16 pm !!! MedicalMurdersaurus 8:17 pm Keeheh Boomtank 8:17 pm Ah, no, I'm fine Just tired opatoes 8:17 pm Oww Boomtank 8:17 pm -he means it. Mostly- SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:17 pm *that docent is /deeply/ dissociated. how long has it been after the death of her charge?* opatoes 8:17 pm ... Also, hey, Soundwave, I might've brought a book with me, if you wanna read it with me. NoodlesAtNight 8:18 pm *Soundwave glances toward Smokescreen. Then back to the movie. Then the bot, and the movie, and--- hhhhh.* [[What book?]] opatoes 8:19 pm /Smokescreen's still upside down, holding the covenant out./ I mean- we can do it later! /He's half expecting the movie to go into ruined cities and he brought a distraction with him just in case/ NoodlesAtNight 8:20 pm *Light flicker.* [[He would like that. But for the moment--]] *He nods toward the screen. Communication, Smokescreen. He can't miss it.* //So maybe you ask 'em to do the buildin' off Cybertron. Take it to Earth, or somethin'.// SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:21 pm ((ma'am, I would absolutely not be going to class if aliens showed up in america)) NoodlesAtNight 8:21 pm [[She seems so surprised by the lack of students.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:21 pm ((I'd be getting my butt to montana and putting on my chapstick)) NoodlesAtNight 8:21 pm ((LOL)) Impactbabyrobo 8:21 pm ((hee)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:21 pm ((I will be the FIRST person to kissu an alien)) chronosmith 8:21 pm ((count me second)) Arcee-Autobot 8:21 pm [[ Wow Finally back after Wrestling a child]] verdigrisprowl 8:21 pm *arrives late* NoodlesAtNight 8:22 pm ((wb! and hi impact!)) *Soundwave is immediately reaching for Prowl to update him. Prowl. Prowl. You have to see.* Impactbabyrobo 8:22 pm *scoots in, not loudly announcing her presence for once because the movie has already started* ((hiii)) NoodlesAtNight 8:22 pm *Chimera beeps at Impact. They remember her.* Boomtank 8:22 pm Oh! -now the movie has his full attention- verdigrisprowl 8:22 pm *takes his usual s—oh, he's being grabbed at* What did I miss? Arcee-Autobot 8:22 pm [[ turns out the kid wasn't eating the crayon, no no, she had it up her nose and stuck]] Impactbabyrobo 8:22 pm Chimera! 3😀 chronosmith 8:22 pm That's the thing, I can't get it off-planet until it's fixed. ...huh. Appropriate, that we're watching a movie about translation, isn't it? Impactbabyrobo 8:23 pm *skedoodles over to Chimera* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:23 pm *digs around in his subspace to see if he has any goodies on him to give to Bird* Arcee-Autobot 8:23 pm *Arcee takes a seat wherever is available next to whomever is alright with it* NoodlesAtNight 8:23 pm *BAM instant update of data. Human lady's spawn died of sickness, she is very numb, something landed on the planet, people are freaking out. She's being asked to translate alien creatures.* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:23 pm *pulls out one of Arcee's knives instead* NoodlesAtNight 8:23 pm [[He's skipping so many steps.]] NoodlesAtNight 8:24 pm [[Idiot. How do you expect someone to understand a brand new language without exposure?]] Impactbabyrobo 8:24 pm Uh-huh! Boomtank 8:24 pm It can't be done Not with that short of a clip, at that quality opatoes 8:24 pm Are they just expecting her to be like "These growls are probably angry growls" chronosmith 8:24 pm Honestly I don't get why they thought they'd be successful with that. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:24 pm They want a miracle, not an answer. Impactbabyrobo 8:24 pm Boooooo Arcee-Autobot 8:24 pm *Confused Arcee has no real idea whats going on around her* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:25 pm *offers Bird the knife instead* NoodlesAtNight 8:25 pm [[Of course they are. Humans are as fearful as we are. They want a reason to shoot.]] chronosmith 8:25 pm Anyway, hey, Prowl. You figured out how to speak to your little guy. Any chance you might be able to decipher tire? Boomtank 8:25 pm Well SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:25 pm Landing outside of her house? How rude. verdigrisprowl 8:25 pm You know how when an engineer says he can build something in two days and his superior demands it in two hours, like his superior thinks that will get faster results? I think it's that. Boomtank 8:25 pm They REALLY want answers verdigrisprowl 8:25 pm ... "Tire"? Boomtank 8:25 pm And yeah, they're...they're being unreasonable NoodlesAtNight 8:26 pm *Just your average group of bots scattered across the multiverse coming together to chatter about themselves and the movie, Arcee. Nothing too much to think about. Just enjoy yourself.* Impactbabyrobo 8:26 pm *also a Child* NoodlesAtNight 8:26 pm *Bird takes the knife and makes stabbing motions at the air. She's thrilled.*

//I mean, you got a bridge, don't ya? Anyhow, appropriate how?// NoodlesAtNight 8:27 pm [[If she wrote it, he likes her.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:27 pm Keehee <3 Impactbabyrobo 8:27 pm ruuuuude opatoes 8:27 pm Wow what an aft Like... Without language, how are you gonna communicate your science? Boomtank 8:27 pm There is more than one cornerstone NoodlesAtNight 8:28 pm [[Thank you, Blaster.]] verdigrisprowl 8:28 pm The cornerstone of civilization is a desire and intent to cooperate. Impactbabyrobo 8:28 pm You need several for a building! verdigrisprowl 8:28 pm They're both thinking too high level. Boomtank 8:28 pm Egos verdigrisprowl 8:28 pm ... But a desire to cooperate leads to language a lot faster than it leads to science. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:28 pm You Bird stab bot! That more fun than talky movie! Boomtank 8:28 pm That's it NoodlesAtNight 8:28 pm [[Yes. Yes it does.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:28 pm It's an egg. Boomtank 8:29 pm And what the hell? NoodlesAtNight 8:29 pm {{Us go stab bot now?}} *Blink blink.* chronosmith 8:29 pm Yeah. Tire creature. *looks down--and then bends over, peeking under the couch. His Whirlipede rolls out, nearly smacking him in the face* That. This. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:29 pm *grins and shrugs, why does she think he has a PLAN?* chronosmith 8:29 pm And, I was referring to this, Rumble. *gestures to himself, Prowl, and the Whirlipede* NoodlesAtNight 8:30 pm //Oh! Oh, yeah, that's - that's appropriate. Don't think your guy comes in no 1200 foot tall egg though. Heh.// verdigrisprowl 8:30 pm Oh. Yes. It was at another movie night recently, wasn't it? SCProwl 8:31 pm *Prowl arrives late as hell* What have I missed so far? NoodlesAtNight 8:31 pm {{...Bird knows bot. Him rude. Call Chimera dumb toy. Us go stab.}} *Soundwave immediately connects the other Prowl to a visual feed and a solid catchup list of data* Boomtank 8:31 pm -squirms- verdigrisprowl 8:31 pm ((WHO SHIT TALKED CHIMERA)) Boomtank 8:31 pm -needles, no thanks- Impactbabyrobo 8:31 pm ((PROTECT CHIMERA)) opatoes 8:31 pm But- that's true, Impact! NoodlesAtNight 8:32 pm ((a dead mech)) SCProwl 8:32 pm Thank you, Soundwave. Impactbabyrobo 8:32 pm 3😀 ((nice)) verdigrisprowl 8:32 pm ((boy, are they ever)) chronosmith 8:32 pm *to Rumble* Not that I know of, but if it does, then damn, I need to ask if I can move in with IT.

*to Prowl* Yep! Hung out a couple of weeks back. *it's rolling around now, having been released from its self-imposed imprisonment under the couch* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:32 pm Yaahhhh! Stabbing! *double fist pump* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:32 pm ((the dragon will kill)) Boomtank 8:32 pm ((murder NoodlesAtNight 8:32 pm [[That is not what he's saying, you--]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:33 pm That's why you bring a rebreather. verdigrisprowl 8:33 pm He's saying that they're taking great pains NOT to suffocate the humans. SCProwl 8:33 pm They've been trained to see threats where there might not even be one. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:33 pm ((scuba is fun)) verdigrisprowl 8:34 pm When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. opatoes 8:34 pm Soundwave, is this like Shape of the Water? Impactbabyrobo 8:34 pm *digs around in her subspace for a bit, before going "aha!" and pulling out a bit of tinsel* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:34 pm ((it would be if I was there)) ((wink wonk)) Impactbabyrobo 8:34 pm Oh, the movie with the lady and fish guy and the romance? NoodlesAtNight 8:34 pm *Bird floats up and sneaks toward the door. She's gonna sneak out and have herself a good night with Swoop in tow.* chronosmith 8:34 pm ((i gotta see the aliens before I make my verdict)) opatoes 8:34 pm Yeah! The romance movie. Impactbabyrobo 8:34 pm *offers tinsel bit to chimera* opatoes 8:34 pm Are they gonna romance the aliens in this one? ... It's not like Alien, is it? NoodlesAtNight 8:34 pm *Get some lessons taught to dumb bots with more mouth than desire to keep their limbs.* opatoes 8:35 pm isn't that the bean in chicago SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:35 pm ((look, if aliens land on earth, idc what they look like. I'm giving 'em a smooching if the smooching is non-harmful to the aliens and they agree to be smooched.)) Impactbabyrobo 8:35 pm anish kapoooooooor! NoodlesAtNight 8:35 pm *Both Ravage and Chimera lift their heads. Tinsel?* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:35 pm ((I /will/ be the first human to smooch an alien)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:35 pm *is down for both watching AND unnecessarily cauterizing wounds, because that's what friends are for* verdigrisprowl 8:35 pm ((look. i'm ace.)) ((but if aliens landed, i WOULD be dtf.)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:35 pm ((literally same)) opatoes 8:35 pm ((ill be in line to smooch an alien asap NoodlesAtNight 8:35 pm ((agree)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:35 pm ((James Tiptree has a story about that LOL)) Arcee-Autobot 8:35 pm [[ But what if Aliens want to smooch you??]] Impactbabyrobo 8:36 pm *😮 thinks, then divides tinsel into two pieces* ((saaaame)) NoodlesAtNight 8:36 pm ((then they may form their own line)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:36 pm ((if aliens want to smooch me back hell yeah)) verdigrisprowl 8:36 pm ... I've seen a species that uses craft like that. Impactbabyrobo 8:37 pm *beams and holds out one tinsel bit toward Chimera and one toward Ravage* 3😀 Boomtank 8:37 pm -watching intently- chronosmith 8:37 pm ((same tbh but in movie aliens i got some standards)) opatoes 8:37 pm ((I feel like the best case scenario for aliens is that they come here and are dtf and nice NoodlesAtNight 8:37 pm <<Sit with Chimera and friends,>> *they chirp to Impact, nosing around the tinsel. It's a good couch. Swerve, them, the dragon.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:37 pm ((that's valid)) NoodlesAtNight 8:37 pm *Ravage just gobbles it with bright optics and streeeeeeetches on the floor.* verdigrisprowl 8:37 pm ((yeah fair. if we're looking at the whole range of fictional aliens we can afford to be choosy. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:37 pm *the dragon is having a cozy loaf on Chimera. all is well with the world.* NoodlesAtNight 8:37 pm [[Which species, Prowl?]] verdigrisprowl 8:37 pm ... ............ I forgot their name. Impactbabyrobo 8:37 pm Okay! *sits!* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:38 pm ((me, grabbing a yaujita in one arm and a protoss in the other: mine)) NoodlesAtNight 8:38 pm [[Oh. If you remember, let him know. He is curious. And... that is an odd way for something to behave on Earth.]] chronosmith 8:38 pm ((me, holding a shoggoth in the air: mine!)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:38 pm Huh. That's not how gravity works. Boomtank 8:38 pm What. verdigrisprowl 8:38 pm ... I don't know whether they do that on the inside. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:38 pm ((you are a big dumb gay and you are BEYOND valid, cy)) Boomtank 8:38 pm Oh wow chronosmith 8:38 pm ((thank you my friend 😎 )) NoodlesAtNight 8:38 pm [[....Fascinating.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:39 pm I want to do that. That would be so much fun to fly in. Impactbabyrobo 8:39 pm Wooaahhh! chronosmith 8:39 pm Yeah, that is pretty damn neat. Wonder if I can get THAT installed. Boomtank 8:39 pm Looks like fun NoodlesAtNight 8:39 pm *Chimera nudges Impact's arm. Welcome to the couch. ... It will bite off a tiny piece of tinsel for her. Sharing!* [[If you get that installed, show him how.]] chronosmith 8:40 pm Will do. NoodlesAtNight 8:40 pm [[He has an idea of how to use it.]] chronosmith 8:40 pm Oh? verdigrisprowl 8:40 pm ... I think that should be possible in our ships. Boomtank 8:40 pm Don't fall Impactbabyrobo 8:40 pm *oh gosh! Impact toys fiddles with the tinsel bit happily* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:40 pm *if people are being hospitalized due to alien stress, you might not want to force someone into the alien ship.* I suppose the space elevators would be like that if the gravity wasn't standardized. chronosmith 8:40 pm All else fails, I can get a really BIG magnet. NoodlesAtNight 8:40 pm *Still thinking, Chimera continues separating their tinsel bit. A portion for Swerve and a portion for the dragon.* Swervester 8:41 pm Thanks. verdigrisprowl 8:41 pm *slowly turns to look at whirl* Impactbabyrobo 8:41 pm ((chimera is too precious)) Swervester 8:41 pm [he's gonna chew on that slowly] chronosmith 8:41 pm Like, the biggest. verdigrisprowl 8:41 pm ... Do you have a potential source for this really big magnet. chronosmith 8:41 pm Not yet I don't. Swervester 8:41 pm Knowing our ship, we probably have one somewhere in Brainstorm's lab verdigrisprowl 8:41 pm Ah. *the slightest hint of disappointment* NoodlesAtNight 8:41 pm [[She is having trouble not panicking, he thinks.]] *Eyeing the linguist.* chronosmith 8:42 pm But that would be a hell of a security system. 'Oh, you wanna cause trouble? Say hello to my electro-magnet, idiot.' NoodlesAtNight 8:42 pm //...Frag's the bird for?// chronosmith 8:42 pm Company? Impactbabyrobo 8:42 pm Oh oh! I think I know! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:42 pm *the dragon churrs, but pushes her tinsel bit back to Chimera* Organics don't need tinsel. You should eat this. NoodlesAtNight 8:42 pm //Oh. Huh, I guess they might like pets.// Impactbabyrobo 8:42 pm It's like, mining! Boomtank 8:42 pm A bribe? Impactbabyrobo 8:42 pm If the air gets bad, the bird has a hard time first! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:42 pm If the bird can breathe, so can they, I presume. Boomtank 8:42 pm Is that what he said? Impactbabyrobo 8:42 pm Which is sad for the bird 😞 NoodlesAtNight 8:42 pm //Mining?//

*Chimera blinks, then gobbles the tinsel.* <<Okay.>> Arcee-Autobot 8:42 pm *Arcee just holds a Large bowl of human popcorn, its weird but she likes it?* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:43 pm ((show us the sexy)) NoodlesAtNight 8:43 pm //Oh. ... Good thing that didn't happen to our Bird.// NoodlesAtNight 8:43 pm *Soundwave IMMEDIATELY on the edge of his seat* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:43 pm ((OH MY GOD THEY ARE OCTOPOGGLES)) chronosmith 8:43 pm (( 👀 )) (( 👀 👀 👀 )) Boomtank 8:43 pm Oh wow NoodlesAtNight 8:43 pm *A feeler already trying to paw at Prowl. Did he. Did he see. Did he see? He saw?* verdigrisprowl 8:43 pm ... The species I know of didn't look like that. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:43 pm ((they did a great job getting inhuman across but man did they make them huggable)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:44 pm ((I know, right)) ((I just wanna smorch)) verdigrisprowl 8:44 pm *yes, yes, he saw, he— takes feeler. are you okay?* Boomtank 8:44 pm What....what were those? How were they moving? The speaking sounds like a...a...a whale NoodlesAtNight 8:44 pm *SOUNDS HOW HE SEES THEM* opatoes 8:44 pm why. why do they have to have tentacles SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:44 pm Because they're a sensible species. NoodlesAtNight 8:45 pm *Yes, he's all right. He's excited. Prowl is getting multiple forms of happy pings.* opatoes 8:45 pm Tentacles aren't sensible! verdigrisprowl 8:45 pm *oh. well then. sends two happy pings back.* Impactbabyrobo 8:45 pm Tentacles are useful! verdigrisprowl 8:45 pm *he's keeping this feeler.* opatoes 8:45 pm They're all wiggly and slimy Boomtank 8:46 pm -the movie has all his attention- They're trying to communicate? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:46 pm Soundwave isn't slimy. Impactbabyrobo 8:46 pm Yeah! Boomtank 8:46 pm No, they are Impactbabyrobo 8:46 pm I had feelers once! NoodlesAtNight 8:46 pm [[They are not whales. He has seen whales. They look - they resemble octopus. But not right. No, not Earth ones.]] Boomtank 8:46 pm No, they SOUND like whales NoodlesAtNight 8:46 pm [[And his feelers are not slimy.]] *He wiggles the one in Prowl's hands. See.* Boomtank 8:47 pm But yes, the look like octopus verdigrisprowl 8:47 pm They appear to have more... firm joints, than octopus. chronosmith 8:47 pm *peers closely* NoodlesAtNight 8:47 pm [[Oh. They do have similar sounds. To some degree.]] *Nodding.* [[Yes. Like fingers.]] [[Don't introduce your species covered up. You will confuse them.]] Boomtank 8:48 pm Yeah! verdigrisprowl 8:48 pm They might just think humans look orange and wrinkly. chronosmith 8:48 pm Wait around a second. Maybe they're going to get something. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:48 pm To be fair, introducing your species dead might also be a bad thing. Impactbabyrobo 8:48 pm THey might think humans are orange! NoodlesAtNight 8:48 pm [[At least they would be able to see one. ... What is - is that ink?]] chronosmith 8:48 pm Oh damn. It farted. Boomtank 8:48 pm It's not going to help.....oh... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:48 pm ...Nice. opatoes 8:48 pm .... Ooooh, that's cool NoodlesAtNight 8:48 pm *PERK* [[A symbol.]] Boomtank 8:48 pm It's WRITING Impactbabyrobo 8:49 pm Oooooh! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:49 pm Writing is easier to analyze, too, compared to trying to get verbal speaking analyzed. NoodlesAtNight 8:49 pm *Already logging the writing and identifying anything that might be important - spires, thicknesses, branch locations, circle breaks--* verdigrisprowl 8:49 pm *squints* ... I wonder if those are sentences or words. Boomtank 8:50 pm -definitely doing the same- chronosmith 8:50 pm *turns his attention to the tire, which is going through a tour of Underneath Everyone's Seat* Can YOU do that?

*it looks at him, briefly, but doesn't respond* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:51 pm ((same with the yucatan peninsula!)) chronosmith 8:51 pm ((the kangaroo one is a myth)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:51 pm ((bah, there's the racism)) ((wait, really?)) ((I know the yuctan- LMAO)) Boomtank 8:51 pm Ah? Impactbabyrobo 8:51 pm ((yucatan?)) chronosmith 8:51 pm Oh, I can translate that. *lowers voice eerily* Before you do... you see the ring. NoodlesAtNight 8:52 pm *Glancing at Prowl, all his ongoing marks on his visor.* [[What makes you ask that?]] *He's curious about what's on Prowl's mind.* chronosmith 8:52 pm And, yeah, isn't it supposed to be, like math? That's how you form a basis of communication? Gotta exchange math. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:52 pm ((apparently "yucatan" means "I don't understand")) verdigrisprowl 8:52 pm If you exchange math, then you know math. NoodlesAtNight 8:52 pm *....Ping to Blaster. Want to compare notes?* chronosmith 8:53 pm Yeah. You do that, bam, you've translated what your numbers look like. Boomtank 8:53 pm -Yes! Pings back excitement- opatoes 8:53 pm ... Oooh, this is cool. chronosmith 8:53 pm ((Joe Alien: my alias for committing crimes in roswell new mexico)) NoodlesAtNight 8:53 pm *Good. He will absolutely be sharing things throughout the movie.*

[[She knows her job well.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:53 pm ((lmao cy I love you)) verdigrisprowl 8:54 pm *glances back at Soundwave* Just trying to figure it out. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:54 pm It's a shame the other humans won't let her /do/ her job. Impactbabyrobo 8:54 pm ((omg)) Mmmhmm! Boomtank 8:54 pm She does. She's knows what she's doing and that's why the military took her there chronosmith 8:55 pm So like, following that line hypothetically... you get your numbers. You exchange math. You can write out "two," and put two of an object down, right? Then they already know the number, and they can figure out what the second part is by looking at the objects. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:55 pm ((mhm, I'm not liking the fact that the symbol for human looks like a planet getting hit by something)) Boomtank 8:55 pm Oh! Write 'human' again and pass it around ....not that opatoes 8:55 pm w. whoa NoodlesAtNight 8:55 pm [[...No. No, he sees what she is doing.]] SCProwl 8:55 pm *trying to analyze the writing herself* Boomtank 8:55 pm Okay, she's...got a point, but yikes verdigrisprowl 8:56 pm Now they might think the word on her board means "naked." SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:56 pm Rebreathers, human. Impactbabyrobo 8:56 pm Hee! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:56 pm You cannot learn or teach if you are /dead/. NoodlesAtNight 8:56 pm [[If they understand clothes. They do not seem to have any.]] Boomtank 8:56 pm Okay, she's trying, but...no NoodlesAtNight 8:56 pm *Ohhh. What a beautiful appendage.* verdigrisprowl 8:57 pm ((don't tap the aquarium)) chronosmith 8:57 pm Neat. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:57 pm This is not exactly how I would go about things, myself. But I dislike dying. Without her charge... She may not dislike it so much... Boomtank 8:57 pm Oh! NoodlesAtNight 8:58 pm [[Good. This will help.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:58 pm It's a different symbol. ((I love how you can hear the resignation in his voice with this one. just. "sir, the scientists are being fools.")) verdigrisprowl 8:58 pm (("the nerds are fucking around again")) Boomtank 8:58 pm ((yup Boomtank 8:59 pm ((like 'here we go, they're being stupid' chronosmith 8:59 pm So, their n--yeah! verdigrisprowl 8:59 pm Pfff! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:59 pm Names indicate personhood, which means they can presumably understand a collective and personal "you," which means she's done her job. NoodlesAtNight 8:59 pm [[Look how they move...]] verdigrisprowl 8:59 pm what's alien circle speak for "who's on first?" chronosmith 8:59 pm *snickers* NoodlesAtNight 8:59 pm [[He will tell you as soon as he has the necessary data.]] Impactbabyrobo 9:00 pm *obnoxiously loud HA!* Boomtank 9:00 pm -miiight be bouncing a bit- verdigrisprowl 9:00 pm They could still be wrong about the names. SCProwl 9:00 pm If this provides us with enough data for that. chronosmith 9:00 pm See, prowl, another reason to teach them numbers first--they can get that 7 x 13 = 28 bit. verdigrisprowl 9:00 pm Maybe they thought the humans were labeling their genders and presented their own. Hff. Fair point. SCProwl 9:00 pm If they have a concept of gender. verdigrisprowl 9:00 pm A big if. verdigrisprowl 9:01 pm An alarming number of organic species do, though. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:01 pm Gender starts as needing to know what bits go together to produce babies. NoodlesAtNight 9:02 pm [[The more humans they present with names the better. They could form groups according to what they consider their genders later.]] verdigrisprowl 9:02 pm ... That can't be right. There are Cybertrons and colonies with genders. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:02 pm Oh. I don't know, then. Boomtank 9:02 pm The more humans they present should look similar, so they don't get too confused NoodlesAtNight 9:02 pm [[...Oh! Humans can create identical twin spawn. Bring a pair of them. Have them introduce their names.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 9:02 pm *elsewhere, swoop is off being such a boy, all the boy, a terrible boy* Boomtank 9:03 pm Because Prowl has a point, it is entirely possible they thought they were introducing gender verdigrisprowl 9:03 pm Or anything else. verdigrisprowl 9:04 pm I use that as an example because organics seem fixated on that. Boomtank 9:04 pm And that is a good idea, identical twins SCProwl 9:04 pm Job. Caste. Skin pigment. NoodlesAtNight 9:04 pm *Pleased hum.* Boomtank 9:04 pm Still, it's correct, they don't know if it's names or what verdigrisprowl 9:05 pm *oh! translations!* chronosmith 9:05 pm *tilts his head. He's honestly interested* Boomtank 9:05 pm OH! -yup, excitement here- NoodlesAtNight 9:05 pm *Oh, his spark. His fans are on and spinning wlidly now. Gotta find out how they got all those.* Impactbabyrobo 9:05 pm Oooooooh SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:05 pm *the dragon is also extremely interested* SCProwl 9:05 pm *memorizes all of those logograms that just appeared* Boomtank 9:06 pm -the curiosity is going to /kill/ him at this rate- NoodlesAtNight 9:06 pm *They shall die together.* Boomtank 9:07 pm -hopefully that isn't the case- verdigrisprowl 9:08 pm I THINK he's trying to apologize for being a jerk. He's not doing very well at it. NoodlesAtNight 9:08 pm [[At least he is trying.]] Boomtank 9:08 pm ............ verdigrisprowl 9:08 pm That's true. ... What's there to protest? The aliens haven't DONE anything. NoodlesAtNight 9:08 pm [[Nothing. They're afraid.]] Boomtank 9:08 pm What....are...are they...ugh Impactbabyrobo 9:08 pm UGH SCProwl 9:09 pm *frowns* opatoes 9:09 pm Uuuugh humans NoodlesAtNight 9:09 pm [[That is /not/ the smartest thing.]] Boomtank 9:09 pm Nooooo, that's a BAD idea Impactbabyrobo 9:09 pm bluuuh SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:09 pm ((whirlmun, the local hyena is not sleeping when she's supposed to be, go swat her on the nose for me)) Boomtank 9:09 pm So far they have done nothing but sit there, don't aggravate them NoodlesAtNight 9:09 pm [[Their species is so advanced you know nothing about how they communicate between ships, or even what the ships are made of, and you think your puny human military can impress them?]] opatoes 9:09 pm Look, they were able to travel from who knows where here. They probably are better equipped and- yeah. chronosmith 9:09 pm Honestly, yeah. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:10 pm Showing your claws is not helpful when the other dragon has bigger ones. chronosmith 9:10 pm I'm a big fan of bigging yourself up, but if you OBVIOUSLY can't back it up, then it's just sad. Boomtank 9:10 pm Don't even know WHY they're there, it could only be to sightsee NoodlesAtNight 9:10 pm //Seriously. Even I know that.// chronosmith 9:10 pm ((and specs I surely will)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:11 pm ((thank u)) NoodlesAtNight 9:11 pm *Snagging everything he can off background shots? Yes.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:11 pm She's very unconvincing. Boomtank 9:11 pm -good, he may have missed some- chronosmith 9:11 pm ((ALSO, I can still barely see them, but all evidence suggests that these are the kind of aliens I'd 1000% want to smooch on)) Impactbabyrobo 9:11 pm *pokes where her own nose would be if she had one* SCProwl 9:12 pm *not alone in that, Prowl's already trying to analyze the symbols against what's already been shown on screen* Impactbabyrobo 9:12 pm ((get it)) verdigrisprowl 9:12 pm *... pings soundwave* NoodlesAtNight 9:12 pm *Glance?* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:12 pm ((absolutely the smoochable aliens)) verdigrisprowl 9:12 pm *he's started doing what she's doing on the screen: counting and marking all the points and lines and such.* NoodlesAtNight 9:13 pm *!!!!* [[....Er.]] Impactbabyrobo 9:13 pm 😮??? chronosmith 9:13 pm ((time 2 kiss)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:13 pm *what the* chronosmith 9:13 pm Huh. Boomtank 9:13 pm ....um. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:13 pm ((TIME TO KISS)) opatoes 9:13 pm ... I will say those aliens do sound nice NoodlesAtNight 9:13 pm [[....She might need a small break.]] verdigrisprowl 9:13 pm *smooch the heptaknuckle* chronosmith 9:13 pm ((HAHA SPECS)) Boomtank 9:13 pm That....was..... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:13 pm ((kissu! kissu! kissu!)) verdigrisprowl 9:13 pm ((THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PARENTHESES)) ((i'm leaving it idc)) opatoes 9:13 pm ((PROWL SMOOCHES THEM NoodlesAtNight 9:13 pm *Honestly, he's almost tempted, Prowl.* verdigrisprowl 9:14 pm ((thanks for covering for me cro ur a hero)) chronosmith 9:14 pm I... hmm. *peers, rubbing the underside of his helm with a claw-tip* Wonder if that's evidence of... telepathy? Like they're trying to talk to her telepathically? NoodlesAtNight 9:14 pm (( *thumbs up* )) chronosmith 9:14 pm ((who can blame prowl? No-one)) NoodlesAtNight 9:14 pm *He pings so many requests for the data Prowl has. ... And, on a whim, his timeline's Prowl as well. Just in case.* *He's offering trades.* verdigrisprowl 9:14 pm Humans typically have nonsense dreams that are made up of a mix of their current experiences. It's likely no more than that. NoodlesAtNight 9:15 pm *Softly.* [[He hopes they are telepathic.]] chronosmith 9:15 pm Yeah, but she could be having experiences she doesn't even realize she's having. Because she's not telepathic. Impactbabyrobo 9:15 pm But dreams almost always mean something in movies! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:15 pm It may be telepathy. I don't know how it works, but I've heard that it can damage the organic brain. chronosmith 9:15 pm Like a one-way radio. She's receiving messages, but can't send them back. Hey, prowl, look. She's on your level. verdigrisprowl 9:15 pm Hah. NoodlesAtNight 9:15 pm *Horrified moment. They wouldn't be so foolish. Would they?* Boomtank 9:16 pm .......... verdigrisprowl 9:16 pm *hopes for Soundwave that they're telepathic.* Impactbabyrobo 9:16 pm She's writing! NoodlesAtNight 9:16 pm *Didn't they see their own movie about the wargame computer?* Boomtank 9:16 pm Oh no... Impactbabyrobo 9:16 pm So cooooool! SCProwl 9:16 pm *hesitates momentarily before accepting, has been analyzing the logograms compared to other written languages she knows for any possible correlation. nothing found yet, there's only so much information to be gleaned* Boomtank 9:17 pm ..... NoodlesAtNight 9:17 pm *Don't mind Soundwave. He's just gonna slam his timeline's Prowl with everything he and Blaster have already got and seize what she's analyzed.* chronosmith 9:17 pm They're salesmen. NoodlesAtNight 9:17 pm *Spread that back to Blaster.* [[The worst kind of visitor.]] chronosmith 9:17 pm They're intergalactic door-to-door salesmen. SCProwl 9:17 pm *grateful ping* NoodlesAtNight 9:18 pm [[Do /not/ make assumptions with information that delicate!]] verdigrisprowl 9:18 pm A pack of Swindles. Impactbabyrobo 9:18 pm *giggles* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:18 pm It's more complicated than that because politics are problematic. Boomtank 9:19 pm -Awesome, he's going to throw it back into what he's working with to see what he can come up with- SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:19 pm The soldier just broke in, didn't he. opatoes 9:19 pm It'd be really funny if they were just offering them like... a hard egg boiler or something NoodlesAtNight 9:19 pm *Ping ping ping ping date Prowl too. Updated information. What have you got now?* chronosmith 9:19 pm *the Whirlipede has at last satisfied itself that the underside of everyone's chair is up to inspection standards. It halts by the sofa, bouncing and spinning until it gets enough propulsion to launch itself up, roll over to Whirl's side, and settle down* NoodlesAtNight 9:20 pm [[Damned fools. Do not separate. Find out who taught which ones the word 'weapon' and how. See where the similarities pop up.]] Boomtank 9:20 pm Oh that's not good.... verdigrisprowl 9:20 pm *just that one new symbol.* Impactbabyrobo 9:20 pm 😧 NoodlesAtNight 9:21 pm [[....]] *Suspicious.* verdigrisprowl 9:21 pm *all helpfully marked up, but there's no interpretation of it.* opatoes 9:21 pm Oh. Oh no NoodlesAtNight 9:21 pm [[Oh no.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:21 pm IS HE. Impactbabyrobo 9:21 pm Is that a BOMB?! Boomtank 9:21 pm Unless...WHAT NoodlesAtNight 9:21 pm *Marked up is what he wants. It saves him time.* Boomtank 9:21 pm WHAT NO SCProwl 9:21 pm Idiots. opatoes 9:21 pm ... Man, they'll let them die in there won't they chronosmith 9:21 pm Yeah, that;s incredibly dumb. Boomtank 9:21 pm What are they doing, that's so stupid! NoodlesAtNight 9:22 pm [[They don't know.]] [[They don't know...]] chronosmith 9:22 pm I mean, I'm not a linguist, or a diplomat, or a politician, or a commander, or anything even remotely similar, but even I get that. Boomtank 9:22 pm No, the ones who put the bomb there! Impactbabyrobo 9:22 pm *Very anxious tinsel fiddling* Boomtank 9:22 pm -so worried now- SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:23 pm Question mark? NoodlesAtNight 9:23 pm [[Mimic him.]] Boomtank 9:23 pm -internal screaming- NoodlesAtNight 9:23 pm [[He indicates the barrier. Mark it back.]] Impactbabyrobo 9:23 pm Are they trying to warn about the bomb? opatoes 9:23 pm ........... oh primus chronosmith 9:23 pm Yeah, could be. opatoes 9:23 pm I think they are Boomtank 9:24 pm -sorry Soundwave- chronosmith 9:24 pm It's probable that the bomb won't hurt them. verdigrisprowl 9:24 pm Do they know about the bomb? chronosmith 9:24 pm Dunno. (( 👀 )) Impactbabyrobo 9:25 pm THAT'S SO COOL NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm *Leeeeeeeeeeean* opatoes 9:25 pm OOH SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:25 pm That seemed like telepathy. NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm [[It does know.]] chronosmith 9:25 pm Neat! NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm [[What she's thinking.]] opatoes 9:25 pm Costello just RUNS verdigrisprowl 9:25 pm ... There's no way she could control that ink to produce the adequate symbols UNLESS she's utilizing... maybe not telepathy. Telekinesis? NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm *COPY COPY COPY* NoodlesAtNight 9:26 pm [[Run, humans. Throw the bomb out.]] Swervester 9:26 pm Maybe the alien controlled the ink and just wanted her to make the shapes so she'd understand them? chronosmith 9:26 pm Saved her, then. opatoes 9:26 pm ... they protected them NoodlesAtNight 9:26 pm *Bows his head.* Boomtank 9:26 pm Oh... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:26 pm Oh. Oh no. Impactbabyrobo 9:26 pm *wounded noise* Boomtank 9:27 pm -low whine- No.... verdigrisprowl 9:27 pm Is Abbott okay? NoodlesAtNight 9:27 pm *Trying to distract himself* [[The - the ink itself could be reactive.]] verdigrisprowl 9:27 pm Yes, but it has to react to something. ... Given. verdigrisprowl 9:28 pm What they were "given." NoodlesAtNight 9:28 pm *Slow turn* [[Hm?]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:28 pm Ah, they are leaving. opatoes 9:28 pm .... Noooo don't leave Boomtank 9:28 pm Can't blame them Impactbabyrobo 9:28 pm 😧 opatoes 9:28 pm 😔 Boomtank 9:28 pm If they are Impactbabyrobo 9:28 pm Noooooo SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:28 pm Gave technology, now they leave. verdigrisprowl 9:28 pm "Give weapon." Weapon-technology-humanity-whatever-else-they-said. Boomtank 9:29 pm BECAUSE YOU ATTACKED THEM verdigrisprowl 9:29 pm They gave. That. NoodlesAtNight 9:29 pm *Diving hard into the symbols. There's so many. So very many. Prowl - Prowls? - help him and Blaster mark. Please.* verdigrisprowl 9:30 pm Maybe that's it, maybe it's—it's a diplomacy mission? They're giving communication? Impactbabyrobo 9:30 pm What're you gonna DO if they don't leave?! They can just float away! SCProwl 9:30 pm ((gd rabbit stop skipping i literally can't follow anything verdigrisprowl 9:30 pm *oh! Yeah, sure, marks up the gibberish.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:30 pm I'm surprised that they believe they /can/ destroy the aliens. Human hubris at its finest. Impactbabyrobo 9:30 pm Maybe they were giving words? verdigrisprowl 9:30 pm That's what I'm saying. NoodlesAtNight 9:30 pm [[A dictionary?]] Boomtank 9:30 pm -and yes, he's trying to mark this out- Boomtank 9:31 pm -so many of them- NoodlesAtNight 9:31 pm *Primus, they're not going to work out all of those before the movie is over. They won't even work out a fraction. How do you understand something without references? What about things only seen on an alien planet?* chronosmith 9:31 pm Mmm... mutual... ism? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:31 pm That was not the right move, docent. chronosmith 9:31 pm Is that what she's looking for? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:31 pm Mutualism sounds right to me, too. verdigrisprowl 9:31 pm Symbiosis? NoodlesAtNight 9:32 pm *Does he have something? What does he have? How do they know where to start?* SCProwl 9:32 pm Gaps in the writing. Ah! Boomtank 9:33 pm AH NoodlesAtNight 9:33 pm [[That's - it's -]] *Leaning back.* [[How - how clever...]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:33 pm What a turnskin. Eaten scourge human politics. Boomtank 9:34 pm ...... Impactbabyrobo 9:34 pm o_o NoodlesAtNight 9:34 pm [[Til all are one.]] *Harsh huff* verdigrisprowl 9:34 pm "Many become one," that's— *looks at Soundwave* Yes. That. chronosmith 9:34 pm Pfft. NoodlesAtNight 9:34 pm *Adoring ping.* [[Do not tell any Rodimuses.]] Boomtank 9:35 pm -soft snort- That phrase is used a lot. Even if in different words. NoodlesAtNight 9:35 pm [[Perhaps there is something to it.]] Impactbabyrobo 9:35 pm She's gonna do something! Swervester 9:36 pm //cAT PLESE CEASE SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:36 pm The question is, why is the Halpern Turnskin such an Eaten-Scourged nuisance. chronosmith 9:36 pm *idly shifts his arm so that he can extrude his fine manipulators, and absent-mindedly scritch at the Whirlipede's shell* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:36 pm ((lol, my cat is sitting on my arm farting)) NoodlesAtNight 9:36 pm [[Because he is government-driven military.]] ((bad cat!)) Swervester 9:36 pm //she decided it was time to walk on the keys and smash against my face] chronosmith 9:36 pm ((INTO THE SPACE ELEVATOR)) Boomtank 9:36 pm ....... Impactbabyrobo 9:36 pm Elevator elevator go back up! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:37 pm ((honestly. I'm glad. because the dumb idiot ate cooked chicken bones out of the trash. so I'm happy she wants to hang out with me and not hide somewhere.)) NoodlesAtNight 9:37 pm ((😧 i hope she's ok)) Impactbabyrobo 9:37 pm Is she breathing? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:37 pm ((she seems fine! but she is a dumb idiot. and I love her.)) NoodlesAtNight 9:37 pm *...What is she floating in? What is that?* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:37 pm I can't believe she is breathing. Boomtank 9:37 pm She's past the barrier... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:38 pm ...That looks like it would feel awful on the paws or absolutely delightful, with no inbetween. verdigrisprowl 9:38 pm ... I like their flooring. Boomtank 9:38 pm That...may not be a good thing... I mean she's breathing, but... verdigrisprowl 9:38 pm It would be impossible to keep clean, though. Dirt would get down into the pits and crevasses so easily. NoodlesAtNight 9:38 pm [[..........They're... they're much larger than he....]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:38 pm But that doesn't necessarily mean she's getting air from her breathing. verdigrisprowl 9:39 pm ((now kiss)) chronosmith 9:39 pm ((smooch for peace)) Boomtank 9:39 pm Oh opatoes 9:39 pm ... he sounds like a trumpet Boomtank 9:39 pm Big opatoes 9:39 pm or a trombone Impactbabyrobo 9:39 pm So tall! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:39 pm *goddess, they are tremendous.* ((KISSU FOR PEACE)) chronosmith 9:39 pm She was looking at his toes the whole time. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:39 pm OH NO verdigrisprowl 9:39 pm Oh no. opatoes 9:39 pm oh. oh no chronosmith 9:39 pm (( ; ______ ; )) NoodlesAtNight 9:39 pm [[Oh... the poor Abbott creature.]] Boomtank 9:39 pm .... Impactbabyrobo 9:40 pm 3😢 verdigrisprowl 9:40 pm He died saving them. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:40 pm Poor, poor abbot. ...He wants her to broadcast the symbols. Impactbabyrobo 9:40 pm They almost look soft NoodlesAtNight 9:41 pm [[How do they know that?]] verdigrisprowl 9:41 pm ... They're clairvoyant? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:41 pm Force their hands. Bureaucracy is bogging down the process. If she broadcasts, she forces the other humans to acknowledge. verdigrisprowl 9:41 pm *sits back* NoodlesAtNight 9:42 pm [[Wh - "who is this child"? Why would she ask about her own sp--]] verdigrisprowl 9:42 pm That isn't her��? Impactbabyrobo 9:42 pm *LOUD GASP* NoodlesAtNight 9:42 pm *....Oh, Primus.* verdigrisprowl 9:42 pm She hasn't had the child?! opatoes 9:42 pm W. Whoa. Impactbabyrobo 9:42 pm FUTURE BABY! Boomtank 9:42 pm What chronosmith 9:42 pm Oh. That's the weapon? ...there we go. Boomtank 9:42 pm WHAT SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:42 pm Oh, goddess. Costello, I know you must be furious about Abbott, but how could you hurt her in this way? chronosmith 9:42 pm Or maybe she can travel through time? Swervester 9:42 pm [tilts head] Are they translating weapon right? verdigrisprowl 9:42 pm What's he done to hurt her? Impactbabyrobo 9:43 pm Why is the bean going sideways? Swervester 9:43 pm Does 'weapon' mean the same thing to them that it does to a human? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:43 pm She lost her spawn, and he's showing her the potential for another one. verdigrisprowl 9:43 pm No. There's only one spawn. There's only ever been one spawn. It's in the future. She does not have a spawn. Yet. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:43 pm ...Now my head hurts. NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm [[If she's seeing the future, then it means the same thing. Knowledge of what is to come is a weapon. Perhaps the greatest.]] Swervester 9:43 pm Those weren't flash backs. They were flash forwards? NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm *It's why he is so protective of his multiverse map.* chronosmith 9:44 pm ((Costello knows this cos they're gonna come back to take her to dinner)) ((and then shack up)) ((and then they're gonna make that baby together)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:44 pm ((costello is bae)) chronosmith 9:44 pm ((costello... you ARE the father.)) verdigrisprowl 9:44 pm ((she didn't die, she molted into a baby heptapod.)) ((a little costellita)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:44 pm ((exactly!)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:45 pm ((blorp)) NoodlesAtNight 9:45 pm *....he sees.* Boomtank 9:45 pm The multiverse is crazy and timeline wandering only makes it worse verdigrisprowl 9:45 pm ... She knows before the child's born that she's going to die. NoodlesAtNight 9:45 pm [[Yes.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:45 pm That's horrible. Impactbabyrobo 9:45 pm That's sad opatoes 9:45 pm ... Primus. That's really terrible Swervester 9:45 pm Buit what choice did she make that was wrong? Impactbabyrobo 9:46 pm 3:c NoodlesAtNight 9:46 pm [[You'll see.]] verdigrisprowl 9:46 pm But decided she's worth having anyway. Or else decided it was inevitability. Impactbabyrobo 9:46 pm ALL THE BEANS ARE SIDEWAYS SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:46 pm She seems to be a good child. Boomtank 9:46 pm Landing? opatoes 9:46 pm anish kapoor mode verdigrisprowl 9:46 pm They've given the gift. Leaving, probably. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:46 pm And time is complicated. It might be worthwhile to try, anyways. Impactbabyrobo 9:46 pm HIGH FIVE ME SMOKESCREEN! opatoes 9:46 pm /High fives Impact!/ Impactbabyrobo 9:47 pm Nice! NoodlesAtNight 9:47 pm [[Do what must be done.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:48 pm Ouch. My brain is hurting in sympathy for her. Impactbabyrobo 9:48 pm That must feel so weird! SCProwl 9:48 pm *frustrated noise* There's not enough to build a full language from the logograms we've been shown. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:48 pm *the dragon shakes her head* Like trying to move both eyes separately. chronosmith 9:48 pm *deja vu* *it's not necessarily the same thing but he had about a year's worth of experience with having foreign memories shoved into his head* NoodlesAtNight 9:48 pm [[They are like the wormhole aliens, then.]] verdigrisprowl 9:49 pm There's eleven more sets. She sees them later in her life. She can remember her future when she's fluent in it. Impactbabyrobo 9:49 pm Wormhole aliens ? opatoes 9:49 pm Whoa. They get a universal flag with the human symbol too? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:49 pm Honestly, I'm surprised that she doesn't just start vomiting on the spot. Humans purge when their brains hurt, right? NoodlesAtNight 9:49 pm [[Yes. A set near Bajor who will name the Sisko as their assistant. Never mind that for now.]] chronosmith 9:49 pm ((camera pans around. It's Costello in a suit)) SCProwl 9:50 pm I mean there's not enough for us. NoodlesAtNight 9:50 pm *Wants the other 11 sets. Give them to him.* verdigrisprowl 9:50 pm ((very stylish)) opatoes 9:50 pm : O Boomtank 9:50 pm -Same, Soundwave. Same- SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:50 pm ...He knows, too. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:51 pm At least a little. chronosmith 9:51 pm Clever. Impactbabyrobo 9:51 pm Ooooooooh That's so weird and confusing but so cool! Boomtank 9:51 pm !!!! verdigrisprowl 9:51 pm Her future self doesn't remember that her past self made the phone call. chronosmith 9:51 pm *this is... all feeling incredibly familiar in a way he honestly did not expect* Impactbabyrobo 9:51 pm Because her past self hasn't made the phone call yet verdigrisprowl 9:51 pm That moment, in the future, is the "first" time she learns about it. Impactbabyrobo 9:51 pm ? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:51 pm That was her "self," now she's at a different time. Swervester 9:51 pm Is it a paraox or split universe? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:51 pm Er. chronosmith 9:51 pm *it's not upsetting, though. Just odd* Boomtank 9:52 pm Because until it happened in the future she didn't know his number SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:52 pm That made very little sense. Impactbabyrobo 9:52 pm HAHA verdigrisprowl 9:52 pm She can't access all of time at once. opatoes 9:52 pm pfppfpff SCProwl 9:52 pm She's living both events simultaneously. NoodlesAtNight 9:52 pm [[Neither. It is non-linear time.]] verdigrisprowl 9:52 pm She's still experiencing her life only one event at a time, the chronology is just out of normal order. NoodlesAtNight 9:52 pm *At Swerve, that is.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:52 pm Yes. That. chronosmith 9:52 pm She's experience other points on the timeline. Technically an alternate timeline telling her what she COULD know, since she has to create that timeline herself, with her actions in the present. Swervester 9:52 pm Oh, I see. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:52 pm Goddess, this is making me feel ill just trying to wrap my mind around it. opatoes 9:52 pm w. what NoodlesAtNight 9:53 pm [[It is a complicated subject. He does not blame you.]] Swervester 9:53 pm Translation? verdigrisprowl 9:53 pm She's not living both events simultaneously, she's—bouncing back and forth between two events. SCProwl 9:53 pm That would certainly get someone's attention. opatoes 9:53 pm w. what are the words Impactbabyrobo 9:53 pm Translate! Translate! chronosmith 9:53 pm Yeah. Instead of like, traveling down a road, she's kind of flying over the road. Touching down here and there. NoodlesAtNight 9:53 pm *Thinking.* verdigrisprowl 9:54 pm She's teleporting back and forth between two points on the road. NoodlesAtNight 9:54 pm [[In war there are no - mmm, what is. There are no winners, only - widows.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:54 pm *the dragon shakes her head, nauseously* I am not designed for this. verdigrisprowl 9:54 pm And never traveling over the same span of road twice. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:54 pm But I was right. Costello /did/ intend for her to force their hands. chronosmith 9:55 pm They knew everything that was going to happen. Impactbabyrobo 9:55 pm *quietly* whooshh Boomtank 9:55 pm To get them to work together chronosmith 9:55 pm But they still had to make those events come to pass. Swervester 9:55 pm So they knew Abbot would die in this mission opatoes 9:55 pm ... So they might've known that the bomb was going to be there before they even met SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:55 pm ...Abbot knew, surely. And chose to do this anyways. Boomtank 9:55 pm So they could help THEM in the future SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:55 pm That's very brave. Impactbabyrobo 9:55 pm So brave! chronosmith 9:55 pm It's like... time as. *thinks* Like a pair of pants. verdigrisprowl 9:55 pm It's highly probable. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:55 pm A pair of pants? SCProwl 9:55 pm A what? chronosmith 9:56 pm You're traveling up from the hems. You see what's going on in the other leg. And every time you do that, you get closer to the belt. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:56 pm ...Okay, that makes more sense. chronosmith 9:56 pm But you still gotta do those things to get to the point where the pants come together. verdigrisprowl 9:56 pm ... What's a hem? chronosmith 9:56 pm The top of the pants. Impactbabyrobo 9:56 pm It's at the bottom of pants too! SCProwl 9:56 pm What's a belt? chronosmith 9:56 pm Wait, no, the bottom. ....both. Boomtank 9:56 pm ....huh? chronosmith 9:56 pm One second. SCProwl 9:56 pm In this context. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:56 pm Hems are the borders where the fabric is sewn together. Like on the edges of blankets. Swervester 9:56 pm Hmm verdigrisprowl 9:57 pm ... What are the edges of blankets sewn to? NoodlesAtNight 9:57 pm [[Themselves.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:57 pm Each other. verdigrisprowl 9:57 pm *now owns three blankets. didn't think they were sewn to anything.* chronosmith 9:57 pm *he's going to widespread ping the room*

SCProwl 9:57 pm ...what? chronosmith 9:57 pm These are pants. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:57 pm Ah, Soundwave beat me to it. *soundy is so smart* SCProwl 9:57 pm *doesn't own blankets or pants* chronosmith 9:57 pm You start at one leg opening, and work your way towards the crotch. Boomtank 9:57 pm -oh. Pants. Makes...kinda more sense- SCProwl 9:58 pm Pants are legs? chronosmith 9:58 pm Nah, you put them on legs. verdigrisprowl 9:58 pm *?? ? ???* chronosmith 9:58 pm But these are metaphorical pants. These are the pants of time. Impactbabyrobo 9:58 pm They're clothes! SCProwl 9:58 pm This is a bad analogy for a species that doesn't put things on their legs besides paint. chronosmith 9:59 pm Too bad. I'm a soldier, not a Time Professor. verdigrisprowl 10:00 pm *he's progressively becoming more baffled by pants anatomy* SCProwl 10:00 pm Yes and I'm a Cybertronian, not a human. NoodlesAtNight 10:00 pm [[There. That's the choice she makes. The one he can't handle... because she told him what will happen to their offspring long after she agreed.]] opatoes 10:00 pm So, how many holes do pants have, anyway? NoodlesAtNight 10:00 pm [[That is why he no longer looks at their creation the same way.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:00 pm It would be a hard thing to know. opatoes 10:00 pm Like- what would you call the opening and ending for a hole? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:00 pm I don't know how she can handle it, truly. Impactbabyrobo 10:01 pm Maybe seeing stuff non-linearly makes you have a sense of weird peace? Iunno. chronosmith 10:01 pm ((that was EXCELLENT)) Impactbabyrobo 10:01 pm ((I'M CRYING)) NoodlesAtNight 10:01 pm ((RIGHT? also, mark time: 10:21)) opatoes 10:01 pm ((that was good 😮!!! Swervester 10:01 pm Maybe she decided that even a short time with her is better than no time? Boomtank 10:01 pm ((IT WAS AWESOME Impactbabyrobo 10:01 pm Uh-huh! That sounds like it opatoes 10:01 pm ... The second arrival? Boomtank 10:01 pm That was fun Impactbabyrobo 10:02 pm There was sad but it was also really fun! chronosmith 10:02 pm Well, I know what I'm trying to say. And that's what counts. *looks to his Whirlipede for confirmation* Right?

Whirlipede: Whirl.

See? It agrees with me. Impactbabyrobo 10:02 pm HOW IT'S MAAAAAAADE! MedicalMurdersaurus 10:02 pm ((Do you think that, by the time the aliens come back in 3,000 years for human help, the whole "how time-language was created" story will have become some sort of "aliens built the pyramids" myth?)) SCProwl 10:02 pm ... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:02 pm Whirlbug always agrees with you, though. chronosmith 10:02 pm .... *snickers* Yeah, because it knows what's up. Arcee-Autobot 10:02 pm *covering face while laughing* opatoes 10:02 pm OH OH SOUNDWAVE i have a video i feel like you might like Impactbabyrobo 10:03 pm THAT IS TOO MANY PIECES NoodlesAtNight 10:03 pm ((omg swoop mun)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:04 pm ((I mean it's not like people can time jump back to lives prior to their own. They would have to rely on written records of other people's lives. MAYBE there'd still be video but the way video format evolves, it's probably going to look like absolute crap if it still exists at all. I can hear people arguing about how it's dumb to think we needed ALIENS to come up with our PRIMARY LANGUAGE that is a total reflection of how we interact with the world.)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:05 pm *the dragon carefully un-loafs, absolutely unwilling to inconvenience or bother Chimera in any way* I should return home. Thank you for having me, Soundwave, and thank you for hugging me, Chimera. verdigrisprowl 10:05 pm ((the aliens knew what was going to happen 3000 years in the future, it stands to reason they'd be equally knowledgable about 3000 years in the past?)) Impactbabyrobo 10:05 pm ((XD)) NoodlesAtNight 10:05 pm [[Thank you for attending, and keeping Chimera company.]] Swervester 10:05 pm //ilygioyvuyv when you accidentally reeply to a post on swerve instead of sparky so now it looks Really Awkward verdigrisprowl 10:05 pm *Whirl asked him earlier to help with translating the tire. Now that the movie's over, he relinquishes Soundwave's heads over that direction.* Hi. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:05 pm ((I assumed that was because the aliens lived that long. Cause no one is seeing someone else's life. Just their own chunk of the timeline.)) opatoes 10:05 pm ((sparkle,,, Swervester 10:06 pm //retgt i forgot what tab i was in lmao opatoes 10:06 pm ... So that's how you wear jeans? Impactbabyrobo 10:06 pm Why would you scrape up your pants already ? opatoes 10:06 pm de-puff the pants NoodlesAtNight 10:06 pm *Soundwave lets Prowl go. He's busy working on what portion of the language they were presented.* opatoes 10:06 pm de-leg the pants Impactbabyrobo 10:06 pm *imitates the pant de-puffing noise* SCProwl 10:07 pm Oh, they're not just flat. opatoes 10:07 pm I wanna be sanded Arcee-Autobot 10:07 pm Sand? Impactbabyrobo 10:07 pm Why? opatoes 10:07 pm I'll be extra smooth! Arcee-Autobot 10:07 pm Stone?! Why?! opatoes 10:07 pm oh those pants are getting stoned Impactbabyrobo 10:07 pm But it'll take your paint off! opatoes 10:07 pm ... Wait, frag, that's a problem Impactbabyrobo 10:08 pm They just wash it with rocks! *laughs* verdigrisprowl 10:08 pm ((well. i guess that's why it's called stone wash.)) Arcee-Autobot 10:08 pm *Arcee can't handle the joke made about stoned pants* chronosmith 10:08 pm *tilts his head as Prowl approaches* Sup. opatoes 10:09 pm ... With steve? Impactbabyrobo 10:09 pm PUFF THE PANTS opatoes 10:09 pm I think I misheard Impactbabyrobo 10:09 pm steam! opatoes 10:09 pm OH I thought steve was just wearing them for them or something verdigrisprowl 10:09 pm Did you want me to...? *gestures at the tire.* Swervester 10:10 pm These puns are bad. Impactbabyrobo 10:10 pm PUNS NOT GOOD ENOUGH chronosmith 10:10 pm Yeah. If you've got time. I'm guessing this isn't the best... setting or whatever. I can fly into the city, if you've got time. God knows I do. Arcee-Autobot 10:10 pm These drawings are just beautiful opatoes 10:10 pm Aren't a lot of modern mirrors aluminum, though? SCProwl 10:11 pm I'm going to go now. Thank you, Soundwave. Swervester 10:11 pm Yes Impactbabyrobo 10:11 pm Maybe they mean silver like the color? NoodlesAtNight 10:11 pm [[You are welcome, Prowl.]] SCProwl 10:11 pm *ends the visual feed and stands up* NoodlesAtNight 10:11 pm [[And aren't they, Arcee? All one line.]] opatoes 10:11 pm Aluminum isn't as tasty as silver, so it's probably good they use that instead. Impactbabyrobo 10:12 pm Munch crunch! opatoes 10:12 pm Gotta munch! NoodlesAtNight 10:12 pm *mmmm, silver* Impactbabyrobo 10:12 pm 3:9 opatoes 10:12 pm /Smokescreen's slowly turning himself around, and almost falls over as he gets up. Maybe sitting upside down for the entire movie WASN'T a good idea!/ Boomtank 10:12 pm -sounds like they're making a snack, not mirror- Swervester 10:13 pm .... What if I made... verdigrisprowl 10:13 pm ... Pocky Men can understand each other, right? I can understand my own Magnemite. It could help speed up the translation process? NoodlesAtNight 10:13 pm ((POCKY MEN)) Impactbabyrobo 10:13 pm ((OMG)) chronosmith 10:13 pm ((thank god)) verdigrisprowl 10:13 pm ((he says this with all of the confidence of a suburban mom in 1996 talking about the newest fad her third grader is into.)) chronosmith 10:13 pm I think? Impactbabyrobo 10:14 pm ((beautiful)) opatoes 10:14 pm ... Oh, that was the mirror. I thought that was just two similar looking humans chronosmith 10:14 pm You';d know better than I would. It's just been me, this fella, and Killer out there so far. If there are any other Pocky Men, I haven't seen 'em. Impactbabyrobo 10:14 pm BEVEL verdigrisprowl 10:14 pm I've seen a swarm of Magnemite, but I've been reading up a bit on others. NoodlesAtNight 10:15 pm [[He'll have to show her this.]] opatoes 10:15 pm /Smokescreen's slowly, slowly getting up again, using the couch as a support./ Hey, Soundwave, I'm probably gonna head home for the night. Thanks for having us! NoodlesAtNight 10:15 pm [[Ah, you're welcome. Do not forget the book soon.]] verdigrisprowl 10:15 pm *oh, he should probably greet the tire itself, should he?* Hello. I'm Prowl. opatoes 10:15 pm Hey, I almost always keep it on me. It's hard to forget! NoodlesAtNight 10:16 pm [[He meant reading it again.]] verdigrisprowl 10:16 pm ((this segment is)) ((marbleous)) Impactbabyrobo 10:16 pm ((XD)) NoodlesAtNight 10:16 pm *bricks*)) chronosmith 10:16 pm ((is he speaking neo cybex or is he using whatever manner he does to communicate with his own pokemon?)) verdigrisprowl 10:16 pm ((no, marbles)) ((neocybex, currently.)) chronosmith 10:17 pm Whirlipede: Whirl! *it wiggles away from Whirl's still-absentlly-petting manipulators, and then bounces once, spinning in the air. A proper, enthusiastic greeting* MedicalMurdersaurus 10:18 pm ((I CAN'T)) verdigrisprowl 10:18 pm Oh! Hi. ... I don't understand you. I apologize if you can understand me. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:18 pm ((he's FIDDLING with stuff on his ROD in a GLORY HOLE)) verdigrisprowl 10:18 pm But we'll work on that. Impactbabyrobo 10:18 pm ((i'm die)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:18 pm ((there is no way this narrator doesn't know what he's doing)) chronosmith 10:18 pm ((right into the punty)) verdigrisprowl 10:19 pm ((i couldn't believe, "how did they get away with calling that a glory hole on TV")) chronosmith 10:19 pm Whirlipede" *solemnly* Whirl.

*for his part, Whirl is just watching this, equal parts interested and amused* verdigrisprowl 10:19 pm *nods, completely lost.* NoodlesAtNight 10:20 pm *Stops working on the heptapod language to watch Prowl at work.* verdigrisprowl 10:20 pm Is that your full species name? "Whirlipede"? Impactbabyrobo 10:20 pm *Leans on Chimera, if Chimera is okay with it* NoodlesAtNight 10:20 pm *Chimera absolutely is. They'll even coil up on Impact.* verdigrisprowl 10:20 pm *at this point, he's mainly trying to keep the tire talking, whatever it's saying—give him some vocabulary to build up and try to analyze.* chronosmith 10:20 pm Whirlipede: *performs another spinning bounce* WhirliPEDE. Impactbabyrobo 10:21 pm *delighted by this development* Swervester 10:21 pm //why does he say marble so weird it sound s like narrrwhal verdigrisprowl 10:21 pm ((marrrboll)) Swervester 10:21 pm //oh my god Impactbabyrobo 10:21 pm ((NIPPLE)) verdigrisprowl 10:21 pm ((nipple)) Arcee-Autobot 10:21 pm *Loud Snort from Arcee* verdigrisprowl 10:21 pm ((marble making is very horny)) Swervester 10:21 pm I'm naming a drink nipples on fire, it's official. NoodlesAtNight 10:22 pm //Fraggin' fantastic.// Impactbabyrobo 10:22 pm *giggles* Swervester 10:22 pm Who wants to drink it first NoodlesAtNight 10:22 pm //Dibs.// verdigrisprowl 10:22 pm *nods at the Whirlipede again.* ... Is the bouncing part of your language or is it just for fun? *glances at Swerve* What are you going to make it out of? Swervester 10:23 pm Not a clue! That's the fun part. Impactbabyrobo 10:23 pm *hugs Chimera before getting up* Bedtime for me! Swervester 10:23 pm Probably gonna be a fire color theme though Impactbabyrobo 10:23 pm Thanks for the movie, Soundwave! chronosmith 10:23 pm Make it so damn spicy that anyone drinking it immediately has to get their fuel tank pumped for their own safety, and I'm in. Swervester 10:23 pm I can make a Whirl Special version NoodlesAtNight 10:23 pm [[You're welcome, Impact.]] <<Goodbye, Orange Child. Chimera will miss you.>> chronosmith 10:24 pm *the Whirlipede bounces again. It's anyone's guess what that means, honestly* Arcee-Autobot 10:24 pm Movie was Great Soundwave 😃 NoodlesAtNight 10:24 pm [[He is glad you thought so, Arcee. Do come again.]] Impactbabyrobo 10:24 pm I'll miss you too! But I'll come visit again, so it won't be too bad! NoodlesAtNight 10:24 pm *Happy chirp!* verdigrisprowl 10:24 pm *nods at the Whirlipede along with its bounces. He's getting nothing out of this.* Impactbabyrobo 10:24 pm *blows kisses to the room at large* G'night everybody! chronosmith 10:25 pm Seeya, twerp. Arcee-Autobot 10:25 pm C'ya everyone NoodlesAtNight 10:25 pm [[...Have you considered telling it to blink once for yeses and twice for no?]] [[That ought to move you somewhere a little faster.]] chronosmith 10:25 pm I actually... need to roll on out, myself. Uh. Thanks for, y'know. Trying, Prowl. I'll catch you again sometime. But if you got any notes you can send me, I'll give them a look-over. verdigrisprowl 10:26 pm Sure. Comm me some time, if you want. We can make a serious effort with Magnemite there. chronosmith 10:26 pm *flips him a casual salute* Gotta learn to cht with my little pal SOMETIME. *turns and bobs his head to Rumble, speaking a touch more softly, for privacy's sake* And I'll come back around again soon, to see you. Boomtank 10:26 pm -time to get going, he supposes. Crowd's going out- verdigrisprowl 10:27 pm *looks at Soundwave* There's probably an issue of mutual intelligibility. My Magnemite, at least, couldn't understand Neocybex or any of the Earth languages I tried on it. NoodlesAtNight 10:27 pm //I'mma look forward to it.// *The stupidest grin.* verdigrisprowl 10:28 pm So "blink for yes, twice for no" wouldn't be very useful if they don't understand that much. NoodlesAtNight 10:28 pm [[Ah. He did not know that about your Magnemite. They do seem to understand the human trainers with them in the documentaries, he'd hoped... ah, well. We aren't human.]] verdigrisprowl 10:28 pm *glances at Whirl* Of course, you could still try that with your own and report back to us? Many Pocky Men CAN understand human languages; I suspect mine simply never had the opportunity to learn. NoodlesAtNight 10:29 pm *Soundwave nods to Blaster. He'll keep working and sharing things over time, for what little they got of the language.* Swervester 10:29 pm Mmm, I think I better go, My berth's calling me for that ap. NoodlesAtNight 10:29 pm [[Yes, sleep off the rest of that party.]] Swervester 10:29 pm Have fun! Night. chronosmith 10:30 pm Yeah, if I make any breakthroughs, I'll hit you guys up. Boomtank 10:30 pm -nods back, as he stands to leave. He'll share what he can come up with- Goodnight chronosmith 10:30 pm *he enjoyed that stupidest grin, and pays it back with a last affectionate nudge before he stands. The Whirlipede rolls right off the couch after him* Night, losers.

opatoes 7:38 pm It's true, though! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:38 pm 😮! *Soundwave help! it's her lucky day!* Thank you, Soundwave! Swervester 7:39 pm [stumbles in and slumps tiredly against the closest couch] NoodlesAtNight 7:39 pm [[It's not,]] *he says while helping someone.* [[And you're welcome, dragon. You do such good work; he really must consider making you one of Dancitron's official suppliers.]] [[...Feeling poorly, Swerve?]] Swervester 7:39 pm Didn't sleep well last night. Crazy bar party. NoodlesAtNight 7:40 pm [[How so?]] Swervester 7:41 pm Rodimus decided it was Appreciate Swerve Night and threw me a surprise party in the bar. opatoes 7:41 pm Really? It's not like you've proven me wrong recently. You haven't unleashed your tentacles on anyone in a while, so that's pretty nice! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:41 pm *the dragon puffs up so proudly that she might well be in danger of exploding* It would be an honor. NoodlesAtNight 7:42 pm [[Appreciate Swerve Night? He can see why you are tired.]] *Surely everyone recognizes Swerve's good qualities. They were on full and obvious display during the protoform plague.* [[Then he will look into the paperwork, dear dragon.]] *A tiny head bow in her direction before he heads back to his seat.* [[And that is factually incorrect, Smokescreen.]] Yesterday Swervester 7:42 pm Yeah! It was really nice. Just lasted all night so there was less sleep than expected. opatoes 7:43 pm Really? Have you menaced someone with your tentacles recently, Soundwave? NoodlesAtNight 7:43 pm [[He said nothing about menacing. Merely unleashing.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:43 pm *the dragon is churring and purring all the way to the nearest couch. she's gonna be an official supplier! for Dancitron! that's even better than fighting a god!* opatoes 7:43 pm ... Have you unleashed your tentacles on someone? Poor bot. MedicalMurdersaurus 7:44 pm *SLIIIIIIIIDES in* BIRD! NoodlesAtNight 7:44 pm [[Well, if you must sleep, try to do so after the film. He has heard good things about it. Many, many good things. Fantastic things.]] [[Of course he has.]] *But they don't tend to complain.* opatoes 7:44 pm ((i never realized episode 3 came out the day before my birthday in whatever year it came out aszcxvb)) NoodlesAtNight 7:45 pm {{SWOOOOOOOOP}} MedicalMurdersaurus 7:45 pm HIIII! *bounces* Hi Bird! NoodlesAtNight 7:45 pm *NYOOM can an origami bird knock over a pterodactyl? We're about to find out.* Arcee-Autobot 7:45 pm *Has no idea whats going on but Puts hands up* I'm also Here Hello, Everyone! Swervester 7:45 pm Ooh, what's it a film about? NoodlesAtNight 7:46 pm *Soundwave's mood is, uh. Accidentally catching, a little, among the minicons.*

[[Greetings, Arcee. It is Arcee, correct?]] *Has the right look, but one never knows.* [[/Communication./]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:46 pm *it's like a physics question. how many treats does one need to place in Laserbeak's gaping maw before her maximum velocity carries enough impact to knock over one dinobot?* *make sure to show all of your work* opatoes 7:47 pm ((Fun fact star wars episode iii is thirteen years old as of this year apparently)) NoodlesAtNight 7:47 pm *There are a bunch of empty cubes behind the bar, if that counts?* ((happy birthday episode 3)) Arcee-Autobot 7:47 pm You're Correct, it is Arcee SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:47 pm ((speaking of birthdays)) opatoes 7:47 pm ((episode iii is old enough to go on forums and complain about star wars)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:47 pm ((as of five days ago I can legally beer)) ((woop woop)) NoodlesAtNight 7:47 pm ((a;ghagwhagah))

((and specs: HAPPY FIVE DAYS AGO BIRTHDAY)) Arcee-Autobot 7:48 pm [[ Happy late Birthday!]] opatoes 7:48 pm ((HAPPY BIRTHDAY i thought you were older than me asdbvxcbn SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:48 pm ((sorry smokeymun I'm only 21)) opatoes 7:48 pm ((im like 23 i think so it's not too big but i thought you were like... 24 for some reason)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:49 pm ((is it because I hang out with Whirlmun? she's, what, 26?)) NoodlesAtNight 7:49 pm ((haha you young'ns)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:49 pm ((crow, ofc, is an official Fandom Elder and can throw dentures at us)) Swervester 7:49 pm //slides a 29 under the table NoodlesAtNight 7:49 pm [[Seat yourself anywhere you like, Arcee. Refreshments are at the bar; midgrade and snacks are free but high grade must be purchased.]] SCProwl 7:50 pm ((/shakes cane at room Yesterday opatoes 7:50 pm ... Wait, snakes are free? Snacks I mean snacks Swervester 7:50 pm I hope snakes are free. Arcee-Autobot 7:50 pm Snakes? NoodlesAtNight 7:50 pm <<Chimera is not free.>> opatoes 7:50 pm Let Chimera be free! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:50 pm Chimera is free to do whatever they please, right? NoodlesAtNight 7:50 pm <<Oh. Chimera is that free. Chimera is not money free.>> MedicalMurdersaurus 7:50 pm *sees what she's doing and COLLAPSES when hit, laughing the whole way down* Swervester 7:50 pm Free Chimera 2k18? opatoes 7:51 pm Chimera is priceless though, you can't place a price on them. chronosmith 7:51 pm ()(i already tole u but HAPPY BIRTH AGAIN SPECS)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:51 pm Is Chimera free to be hugged? ((HAPPY BORTH ME)) NoodlesAtNight 7:51 pm *Bird sprouts feelers like big secretary bird legs and marches up Swoop to stare down his face.* {{You Swoop dead. This mean Bird Dinobot now?}} NoodlesAtNight 7:52 pm <<Yes! Chimera likes hugs.>> *They slither out from beneath the couch and look around. Where are hugs? Where is affection? It's so lonely, not counting its main companions.* Arcee-Autobot 7:52 pm [[ Brb I've got to go stop a Child from eating a Crayon again]] NoodlesAtNight 7:52 pm ((omg go o)) MedicalMurdersaurus 7:52 pm *does his best BLEH dead impression* yup NoodlesAtNight 7:52 pm {{Kay. Bird go usurp Grimlock now.}} chronosmith 7:52 pm *also has big secretary bird legs, but they're not made of feelers, and attached to him. They're carrying him into the room RIGHT NOW. And rolling at their heels is his Whirlipede* MedicalMurdersaurus 7:53 pm :V King Bird Swervester 7:53 pm [Oh no Chimera's cute. Hello Swerve has a lap] opatoes 7:53 pm /Oops! More people are here! Smokescreen's turning around on the couch so he's upside down on it again./ SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:53 pm *THE HUGS ARE UPON THEE, CHIMERA. dragonflop. It Is Hug Time.* NoodlesAtNight 7:53 pm {{Get tiny crown, neheheh.}}

[[Greetings, Whirl. And - ah. Has it been named yet?]] opatoes 7:53 pm !! Arcee! Cee! Arc! How're you doing? MedicalMurdersaurus 7:54 pm YAH! Little tiny crown for Bird : > Then you bossy everyone kehehheh MORE bossy NoodlesAtNight 7:54 pm *Chimera briefly coils around the dragon in an overjoyed hug before slithering toward the couch and the patted lap.* <<Small dragon comes with Chimera to sit on the Short Legs bot. Yes?>> chronosmith 7:54 pm Not yet. I'm gonna see if our resident braniac can communicate with it, and ask if it has one. NoodlesAtNight 7:55 pm {{Bossiest Bird. It because Bird knows best.}} SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:55 pm As long as the Short Legs bot is alright with it. I know some people have issues with fur. *but she likes These Hugs and will not give them up so easily* Swervester 7:55 pm Sure, come and sit. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 7:55 pm *mental note to bring a crown for bird next movie night* Yesterday NoodlesAtNight 7:56 pm //Hey! I ain't missed nothin', right?// *Rumble's jogging downstairs.* //Frenzy didn't wanna get the frag outta the washracks. Hey, Whirl! Whirl's tire.// NoodlesAtNight 7:56 pm [[He hopes the resident brainiac is successful.]] chronosmith 7:57 pm Me too. *perks up a bit, and bobs his head at Rumble* Hey, mech. Long time no see. *and with great aplomb, he is on the couch. His tire goes underneath it again* Sorry I haven't made it, y'know. Out much. MedicalMurdersaurus 7:57 pm *bobbles his head in agreement, still "dead" on the floor* NoodlesAtNight 7:59 pm //Hey, you don't gotta apologize. I been stuck on night shifts cuz SOMEONE--// *And here he throws an empty cube at Laserbeak* //Complained she couldn't get no sleep at night with me 'n the bro down here.// MedicalMurdersaurus 7:59 pm !!! chronosmith 7:59 pm ((every time this video comes up I am mesmerized)) opatoes 7:59 pm /Also Smokescreen's going to get up and dance to this!/ chronosmith 7:59 pm ((no matter what I'm doing)) NoodlesAtNight 8:00 pm *Rumble hops up onto Whirl's couch and blows a raspberry at Bird. She blats back at him.* {{It work, too, if Buzzsaw not blab tell Bird not sleeping then.}} NoodlesAtNight 8:01 pm ((AHEM nobody saw that)) NoodlesAtNight 8:02 pm ((we'll start in 5-10)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:03 pm *pops up* You Bird can hang out with Me Swoop! You can with Swoop instead : > SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:04 pm ((me dissociating)) chronosmith 8:04 pm Pfft. What a narc. Well, I'll try and make these more often. I would say I've been busy, but that's a lie. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:05 pm ((that cat vine is soundwave's life, huh? opening the door and a million cute screaming faces)) NoodlesAtNight 8:05 pm {{Bird do that. Swoop not blabber.}}

((ABSOLUTELY his life)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:05 pm Oh, there was /my/ friday night. chronosmith 8:05 pm *snickers* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:06 pm And this is monday. NoodlesAtNight 8:06 pm {{BIRD}} MedicalMurdersaurus 8:06 pm :V Bird NoodlesAtNight 8:06 pm //Whatcha been doin' then? The ship fixed up all the way yet?// SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:08 pm And /that's/ why docents are a thing. NoodlesAtNight 8:08 pm [[Oh, look. Movie nights.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:08 pm *snickers* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:09 pm OH BIRD NoodlesAtNight 8:09 pm ((all right so, WARNINGS: Actually, not many. Cancer, needles, mention of racism and related -isms, creepy critters from outer space.)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:09 pm biiiird chronosmith 8:09 pm It's getting there. I've got to convince someone to come down to Cybertron to do work on it for a few days, which is going to be fun, since negotiation isn't really what you'd all my STRONG suit, but y'know. Gotta do what you gotta do. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:09 pm ((o7)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:10 pm *spazzing out* biRD NoodlesAtNight 8:10 pm {{What!?}} MedicalMurdersaurus 8:10 pm Me SWOOP want to Halloween candy for you!!! NoodlesAtNight 8:10 pm //You want we should lean on 'em?// NoodlesAtNight 8:11 pm {{Pffff. Swoop whole two week late. Halloween not til next year.}} Today MedicalMurdersaurus 8:11 pm No n ono no! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:11 pm Put dry ice inside their plating until they agree to help you. *the dragon does not know what negotiation is* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:11 pm Me Swoop DO Halloween! Us Dinobots all Halloween. NoodlesAtNight 8:11 pm *Chimera settles in to watch a movie with the Short Legs mech and the Dragon. They're quite content; this is a good night already.* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:11 pm Me Swoop lots and LOTS of candy for You Bird! From trick or treat : > SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:11 pm *loafs up on Chimera. comfy.* NoodlesAtNight 8:11 pm *Her visor has never been so bright, Swoop.* {{You not eat?}} MedicalMurdersaurus 8:12 pm Nah! It for You Bird : > Boomtank 8:12 pm -Is he here in time?- NoodlesAtNight 8:12 pm *Soundwave's attention is RIGHT on the screen. Blaster missed maybe 20 seconds.* *He waves a feeler over his back. Greetings.* Boomtank 8:12 pm -phew. Going to wave back and sit in a free chair- opatoes 8:13 pm Is that kid a centaur? NoodlesAtNight 8:13 pm [[Don't be silly. It's a toy.]] NoodlesAtNight 8:14 pm *...Oh. Oh, she's -- oh. Her spawn.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:14 pm *winces. that poor docent.* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:14 pm *wiggles* Me Swoop hide candy so noooo Dinobots can get! It for You Bird : > Boomtank 8:14 pm ...... chronosmith 8:15 pm Nah, nah. Intimidation won't help me a lot here. Gotta trust these people to build my bulkheads, after all. NoodlesAtNight 8:15 pm {{You Swoop - uhhhhhh.}} *She sort of dances from clawfoot to clawfoot.* {{You want share?}} //Oh, huh. Yeah, that's true. Bribe 'em?// Boomtank 8:15 pm ........ NoodlesAtNight 8:15 pm *Oh, look. It's like the tv in Soundwave's apartment.* chronosmith 8:16 pm Sort of. Just paying em. The money isn't the hard part, I've... acquired some shanix. But not a lot of aliens wanna come to Cybertron. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:16 pm No no! *clearly she is confused* Me Swoop not share it. Me Swoop get for Bird! NoodlesAtNight 8:16 pm *Thin birdy squeal.* Boomtank 8:16 pm !!! NoodlesAtNight 8:16 pm [[...Are you all right, Blaster? You feel concerned.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:16 pm !!! MedicalMurdersaurus 8:17 pm Keeheh Boomtank 8:17 pm Ah, no, I'm fine Just tired opatoes 8:17 pm Oww Boomtank 8:17 pm -he means it. Mostly- SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:17 pm *that docent is /deeply/ dissociated. how long has it been after the death of her charge?* opatoes 8:17 pm ... Also, hey, Soundwave, I might've brought a book with me, if you wanna read it with me. NoodlesAtNight 8:18 pm *Soundwave glances toward Smokescreen. Then back to the movie. Then the bot, and the movie, and--- hhhhh.* [[What book?]] opatoes 8:19 pm /Smokescreen's still upside down, holding the covenant out./ I mean- we can do it later! /He's half expecting the movie to go into ruined cities and he brought a distraction with him just in case/ NoodlesAtNight 8:20 pm *Light flicker.* [[He would like that. But for the moment--]] *He nods toward the screen. Communication, Smokescreen. He can't miss it.* //So maybe you ask 'em to do the buildin' off Cybertron. Take it to Earth, or somethin'.// SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:21 pm ((ma'am, I would absolutely not be going to class if aliens showed up in america)) NoodlesAtNight 8:21 pm [[She seems so surprised by the lack of students.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:21 pm ((I'd be getting my butt to montana and putting on my chapstick)) NoodlesAtNight 8:21 pm ((LOL)) Impactbabyrobo 8:21 pm ((hee)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:21 pm ((I will be the FIRST person to kissu an alien)) chronosmith 8:21 pm ((count me second)) Arcee-Autobot 8:21 pm [[ Wow Finally back after Wrestling a child]] verdigrisprowl 8:21 pm *arrives late* NoodlesAtNight 8:22 pm ((wb! and hi impact!)) *Soundwave is immediately reaching for Prowl to update him. Prowl. Prowl. You have to see.* Impactbabyrobo 8:22 pm *scoots in, not loudly announcing her presence for once because the movie has already started* ((hiii)) NoodlesAtNight 8:22 pm *Chimera beeps at Impact. They remember her.* Boomtank 8:22 pm Oh! -now the movie has his full attention- verdigrisprowl 8:22 pm *takes his usual s—oh, he's being grabbed at* What did I miss? Arcee-Autobot 8:22 pm [[ turns out the kid wasn't eating the crayon, no no, she had it up her nose and stuck]] Impactbabyrobo 8:22 pm Chimera! 3😀 chronosmith 8:22 pm That's the thing, I can't get it off-planet until it's fixed. ...huh. Appropriate, that we're watching a movie about translation, isn't it? Impactbabyrobo 8:23 pm *skedoodles over to Chimera* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:23 pm *digs around in his subspace to see if he has any goodies on him to give to Bird* Arcee-Autobot 8:23 pm *Arcee takes a seat wherever is available next to whomever is alright with it* NoodlesAtNight 8:23 pm *BAM instant update of data. Human lady's spawn died of sickness, she is very numb, something landed on the planet, people are freaking out. She's being asked to translate alien creatures.* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:23 pm *pulls out one of Arcee's knives instead* NoodlesAtNight 8:23 pm [[He's skipping so many steps.]] NoodlesAtNight 8:24 pm [[Idiot. How do you expect someone to understand a brand new language without exposure?]] Impactbabyrobo 8:24 pm Uh-huh! Boomtank 8:24 pm It can't be done Not with that short of a clip, at that quality opatoes 8:24 pm Are they just expecting her to be like "These growls are probably angry growls" chronosmith 8:24 pm Honestly I don't get why they thought they'd be successful with that. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:24 pm They want a miracle, not an answer. Impactbabyrobo 8:24 pm Boooooo Arcee-Autobot 8:24 pm *Confused Arcee has no real idea whats going on around her* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:25 pm *offers Bird the knife instead* NoodlesAtNight 8:25 pm [[Of course they are. Humans are as fearful as we are. They want a reason to shoot.]] chronosmith 8:25 pm Anyway, hey, Prowl. You figured out how to speak to your little guy. Any chance you might be able to decipher tire? Boomtank 8:25 pm Well SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:25 pm Landing outside of her house? How rude. verdigrisprowl 8:25 pm You know how when an engineer says he can build something in two days and his superior demands it in two hours, like his superior thinks that will get faster results? I think it's that. Boomtank 8:25 pm They REALLY want answers verdigrisprowl 8:25 pm ... "Tire"? Boomtank 8:25 pm And yeah, they're...they're being unreasonable NoodlesAtNight 8:26 pm *Just your average group of bots scattered across the multiverse coming together to chatter about themselves and the movie, Arcee. Nothing too much to think about. Just enjoy yourself.* Impactbabyrobo 8:26 pm *also a Child* NoodlesAtNight 8:26 pm *Bird takes the knife and makes stabbing motions at the air. She's thrilled.*

//I mean, you got a bridge, don't ya? Anyhow, appropriate how?// NoodlesAtNight 8:27 pm [[If she wrote it, he likes her.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:27 pm Keehee <3 Impactbabyrobo 8:27 pm ruuuuude opatoes 8:27 pm Wow what an aft Like... Without language, how are you gonna communicate your science? Boomtank 8:27 pm There is more than one cornerstone NoodlesAtNight 8:28 pm [[Thank you, Blaster.]] verdigrisprowl 8:28 pm The cornerstone of civilization is a desire and intent to cooperate. Impactbabyrobo 8:28 pm You need several for a building! verdigrisprowl 8:28 pm They're both thinking too high level. Boomtank 8:28 pm Egos verdigrisprowl 8:28 pm ... But a desire to cooperate leads to language a lot faster than it leads to science. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:28 pm You Bird stab bot! That more fun than talky movie! Boomtank 8:28 pm That's it NoodlesAtNight 8:28 pm [[Yes. Yes it does.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:28 pm It's an egg. Boomtank 8:29 pm And what the hell? NoodlesAtNight 8:29 pm {{Us go stab bot now?}} *Blink blink.* chronosmith 8:29 pm Yeah. Tire creature. *looks down--and then bends over, peeking under the couch. His Whirlipede rolls out, nearly smacking him in the face* That. This. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:29 pm *grins and shrugs, why does she think he has a PLAN?* chronosmith 8:29 pm And, I was referring to this, Rumble. *gestures to himself, Prowl, and the Whirlipede* NoodlesAtNight 8:30 pm //Oh! Oh, yeah, that's - that's appropriate. Don't think your guy comes in no 1200 foot tall egg though. Heh.// verdigrisprowl 8:30 pm Oh. Yes. It was at another movie night recently, wasn't it? SCProwl 8:31 pm *Prowl arrives late as hell* What have I missed so far? NoodlesAtNight 8:31 pm {{...Bird knows bot. Him rude. Call Chimera dumb toy. Us go stab.}} *Soundwave immediately connects the other Prowl to a visual feed and a solid catchup list of data* Boomtank 8:31 pm -squirms- verdigrisprowl 8:31 pm ((WHO SHIT TALKED CHIMERA)) Boomtank 8:31 pm -needles, no thanks- Impactbabyrobo 8:31 pm ((PROTECT CHIMERA)) opatoes 8:31 pm But- that's true, Impact! NoodlesAtNight 8:32 pm ((a dead mech)) SCProwl 8:32 pm Thank you, Soundwave. Impactbabyrobo 8:32 pm 3😀 ((nice)) verdigrisprowl 8:32 pm ((boy, are they ever)) chronosmith 8:32 pm *to Rumble* Not that I know of, but if it does, then damn, I need to ask if I can move in with IT.

*to Prowl* Yep! Hung out a couple of weeks back. *it's rolling around now, having been released from its self-imposed imprisonment under the couch* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:32 pm Yaahhhh! Stabbing! *double fist pump* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:32 pm ((the dragon will kill)) Boomtank 8:32 pm ((murder NoodlesAtNight 8:32 pm [[That is not what he's saying, you--]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:33 pm That's why you bring a rebreather. verdigrisprowl 8:33 pm He's saying that they're taking great pains NOT to suffocate the humans. SCProwl 8:33 pm They've been trained to see threats where there might not even be one. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:33 pm ((scuba is fun)) verdigrisprowl 8:34 pm When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. opatoes 8:34 pm Soundwave, is this like Shape of the Water? Impactbabyrobo 8:34 pm *digs around in her subspace for a bit, before going "aha!" and pulling out a bit of tinsel* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:34 pm ((it would be if I was there)) ((wink wonk)) Impactbabyrobo 8:34 pm Oh, the movie with the lady and fish guy and the romance? NoodlesAtNight 8:34 pm *Bird floats up and sneaks toward the door. She's gonna sneak out and have herself a good night with Swoop in tow.* chronosmith 8:34 pm ((i gotta see the aliens before I make my verdict)) opatoes 8:34 pm Yeah! The romance movie. Impactbabyrobo 8:34 pm *offers tinsel bit to chimera* opatoes 8:34 pm Are they gonna romance the aliens in this one? ... It's not like Alien, is it? NoodlesAtNight 8:34 pm *Get some lessons taught to dumb bots with more mouth than desire to keep their limbs.* opatoes 8:35 pm isn't that the bean in chicago SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:35 pm ((look, if aliens land on earth, idc what they look like. I'm giving 'em a smooching if the smooching is non-harmful to the aliens and they agree to be smooched.)) Impactbabyrobo 8:35 pm anish kapoooooooor! NoodlesAtNight 8:35 pm *Both Ravage and Chimera lift their heads. Tinsel?* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:35 pm ((I /will/ be the first human to smooch an alien)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:35 pm *is down for both watching AND unnecessarily cauterizing wounds, because that's what friends are for* verdigrisprowl 8:35 pm ((look. i'm ace.)) ((but if aliens landed, i WOULD be dtf.)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:35 pm ((literally same)) opatoes 8:35 pm ((ill be in line to smooch an alien asap NoodlesAtNight 8:35 pm ((agree)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:35 pm ((James Tiptree has a story about that LOL)) Arcee-Autobot 8:35 pm [[ But what if Aliens want to smooch you??]] Impactbabyrobo 8:36 pm *😮 thinks, then divides tinsel into two pieces* ((saaaame)) NoodlesAtNight 8:36 pm ((then they may form their own line)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:36 pm ((if aliens want to smooch me back hell yeah)) verdigrisprowl 8:36 pm ... I've seen a species that uses craft like that. Impactbabyrobo 8:37 pm *beams and holds out one tinsel bit toward Chimera and one toward Ravage* 3😀 Boomtank 8:37 pm -watching intently- chronosmith 8:37 pm ((same tbh but in movie aliens i got some standards)) opatoes 8:37 pm ((I feel like the best case scenario for aliens is that they come here and are dtf and nice NoodlesAtNight 8:37 pm <<Sit with Chimera and friends,>> *they chirp to Impact, nosing around the tinsel. It's a good couch. Swerve, them, the dragon.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:37 pm ((that's valid)) NoodlesAtNight 8:37 pm *Ravage just gobbles it with bright optics and streeeeeeetches on the floor.* verdigrisprowl 8:37 pm ((yeah fair. if we're looking at the whole range of fictional aliens we can afford to be choosy. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:37 pm *the dragon is having a cozy loaf on Chimera. all is well with the world.* NoodlesAtNight 8:37 pm [[Which species, Prowl?]] verdigrisprowl 8:37 pm ... ............ I forgot their name. Impactbabyrobo 8:37 pm Okay! *sits!* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:38 pm ((me, grabbing a yaujita in one arm and a protoss in the other: mine)) NoodlesAtNight 8:38 pm [[Oh. If you remember, let him know. He is curious. And... that is an odd way for something to behave on Earth.]] chronosmith 8:38 pm ((me, holding a shoggoth in the air: mine!)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:38 pm Huh. That's not how gravity works. Boomtank 8:38 pm What. verdigrisprowl 8:38 pm ... I don't know whether they do that on the inside. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:38 pm ((you are a big dumb gay and you are BEYOND valid, cy)) Boomtank 8:38 pm Oh wow chronosmith 8:38 pm ((thank you my friend 😎 )) NoodlesAtNight 8:38 pm [[....Fascinating.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:39 pm I want to do that. That would be so much fun to fly in. Impactbabyrobo 8:39 pm Wooaahhh! chronosmith 8:39 pm Yeah, that is pretty damn neat. Wonder if I can get THAT installed. Boomtank 8:39 pm Looks like fun NoodlesAtNight 8:39 pm *Chimera nudges Impact's arm. Welcome to the couch. ... It will bite off a tiny piece of tinsel for her. Sharing!* [[If you get that installed, show him how.]] chronosmith 8:40 pm Will do. NoodlesAtNight 8:40 pm [[He has an idea of how to use it.]] chronosmith 8:40 pm Oh? verdigrisprowl 8:40 pm ... I think that should be possible in our ships. Boomtank 8:40 pm Don't fall Impactbabyrobo 8:40 pm *oh gosh! Impact toys fiddles with the tinsel bit happily* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:40 pm *if people are being hospitalized due to alien stress, you might not want to force someone into the alien ship.* I suppose the space elevators would be like that if the gravity wasn't standardized. chronosmith 8:40 pm All else fails, I can get a really BIG magnet. NoodlesAtNight 8:40 pm *Still thinking, Chimera continues separating their tinsel bit. A portion for Swerve and a portion for the dragon.* Swervester 8:41 pm Thanks. verdigrisprowl 8:41 pm *slowly turns to look at whirl* Impactbabyrobo 8:41 pm ((chimera is too precious)) Swervester 8:41 pm [he's gonna chew on that slowly] chronosmith 8:41 pm Like, the biggest. verdigrisprowl 8:41 pm ... Do you have a potential source for this really big magnet. chronosmith 8:41 pm Not yet I don't. Swervester 8:41 pm Knowing our ship, we probably have one somewhere in Brainstorm's lab verdigrisprowl 8:41 pm Ah. *the slightest hint of disappointment* NoodlesAtNight 8:41 pm [[She is having trouble not panicking, he thinks.]] *Eyeing the linguist.* chronosmith 8:42 pm But that would be a hell of a security system. 'Oh, you wanna cause trouble? Say hello to my electro-magnet, idiot.' NoodlesAtNight 8:42 pm //...Frag's the bird for?// chronosmith 8:42 pm Company? Impactbabyrobo 8:42 pm Oh oh! I think I know! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:42 pm *the dragon churrs, but pushes her tinsel bit back to Chimera* Organics don't need tinsel. You should eat this. NoodlesAtNight 8:42 pm //Oh. Huh, I guess they might like pets.// Impactbabyrobo 8:42 pm It's like, mining! Boomtank 8:42 pm A bribe? Impactbabyrobo 8:42 pm If the air gets bad, the bird has a hard time first! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:42 pm If the bird can breathe, so can they, I presume. Boomtank 8:42 pm Is that what he said? Impactbabyrobo 8:42 pm Which is sad for the bird 😞 NoodlesAtNight 8:42 pm //Mining?//

*Chimera blinks, then gobbles the tinsel.* <<Okay.>> Arcee-Autobot 8:42 pm *Arcee just holds a Large bowl of human popcorn, its weird but she likes it?* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:43 pm ((show us the sexy)) NoodlesAtNight 8:43 pm //Oh. ... Good thing that didn't happen to our Bird.// NoodlesAtNight 8:43 pm *Soundwave IMMEDIATELY on the edge of his seat* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:43 pm ((OH MY GOD THEY ARE OCTOPOGGLES)) chronosmith 8:43 pm (( 👀 )) (( 👀 👀 👀 )) Boomtank 8:43 pm Oh wow NoodlesAtNight 8:43 pm *A feeler already trying to paw at Prowl. Did he. Did he see. Did he see? He saw?* verdigrisprowl 8:43 pm ... The species I know of didn't look like that. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:43 pm ((they did a great job getting inhuman across but man did they make them huggable)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:44 pm ((I know, right)) ((I just wanna smorch)) verdigrisprowl 8:44 pm *yes, yes, he saw, he— takes feeler. are you okay?* Boomtank 8:44 pm What....what were those? How were they moving? The speaking sounds like a...a...a whale NoodlesAtNight 8:44 pm *SOUNDS HOW HE SEES THEM* opatoes 8:44 pm why. why do they have to have tentacles SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:44 pm Because they're a sensible species. NoodlesAtNight 8:45 pm *Yes, he's all right. He's excited. Prowl is getting multiple forms of happy pings.* opatoes 8:45 pm Tentacles aren't sensible! verdigrisprowl 8:45 pm *oh. well then. sends two happy pings back.* Impactbabyrobo 8:45 pm Tentacles are useful! verdigrisprowl 8:45 pm *he's keeping this feeler.* opatoes 8:45 pm They're all wiggly and slimy Boomtank 8:46 pm -the movie has all his attention- They're trying to communicate? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:46 pm Soundwave isn't slimy. Impactbabyrobo 8:46 pm Yeah! Boomtank 8:46 pm No, they are Impactbabyrobo 8:46 pm I had feelers once! NoodlesAtNight 8:46 pm [[They are not whales. He has seen whales. They look - they resemble octopus. But not right. No, not Earth ones.]] Boomtank 8:46 pm No, they SOUND like whales NoodlesAtNight 8:46 pm [[And his feelers are not slimy.]] *He wiggles the one in Prowl's hands. See.* Boomtank 8:47 pm But yes, the look like octopus verdigrisprowl 8:47 pm They appear to have more... firm joints, than octopus. chronosmith 8:47 pm *peers closely* NoodlesAtNight 8:47 pm [[Oh. They do have similar sounds. To some degree.]] *Nodding.* [[Yes. Like fingers.]] [[Don't introduce your species covered up. You will confuse them.]] Boomtank 8:48 pm Yeah! verdigrisprowl 8:48 pm They might just think humans look orange and wrinkly. chronosmith 8:48 pm Wait around a second. Maybe they're going to get something. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:48 pm To be fair, introducing your species dead might also be a bad thing. Impactbabyrobo 8:48 pm THey might think humans are orange! NoodlesAtNight 8:48 pm [[At least they would be able to see one. ... What is - is that ink?]] chronosmith 8:48 pm Oh damn. It farted. Boomtank 8:48 pm It's not going to help.....oh... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:48 pm ...Nice. opatoes 8:48 pm .... Ooooh, that's cool NoodlesAtNight 8:48 pm *PERK* [[A symbol.]] Boomtank 8:48 pm It's WRITING Impactbabyrobo 8:49 pm Oooooh! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:49 pm Writing is easier to analyze, too, compared to trying to get verbal speaking analyzed. NoodlesAtNight 8:49 pm *Already logging the writing and identifying anything that might be important - spires, thicknesses, branch locations, circle breaks--* verdigrisprowl 8:49 pm *squints* ... I wonder if those are sentences or words. Boomtank 8:50 pm -definitely doing the same- chronosmith 8:50 pm *turns his attention to the tire, which is going through a tour of Underneath Everyone's Seat* Can YOU do that?

*it looks at him, briefly, but doesn't respond* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:51 pm ((same with the yucatan peninsula!)) chronosmith 8:51 pm ((the kangaroo one is a myth)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:51 pm ((bah, there's the racism)) ((wait, really?)) ((I know the yuctan- LMAO)) Boomtank 8:51 pm Ah? Impactbabyrobo 8:51 pm ((yucatan?)) chronosmith 8:51 pm Oh, I can translate that. *lowers voice eerily* Before you do... you see the ring. NoodlesAtNight 8:52 pm *Glancing at Prowl, all his ongoing marks on his visor.* [[What makes you ask that?]] *He's curious about what's on Prowl's mind.* chronosmith 8:52 pm And, yeah, isn't it supposed to be, like math? That's how you form a basis of communication? Gotta exchange math. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:52 pm ((apparently "yucatan" means "I don't understand")) verdigrisprowl 8:52 pm If you exchange math, then you know math. NoodlesAtNight 8:52 pm *....Ping to Blaster. Want to compare notes?* chronosmith 8:53 pm Yeah. You do that, bam, you've translated what your numbers look like. Boomtank 8:53 pm -Yes! Pings back excitement- opatoes 8:53 pm ... Oooh, this is cool. chronosmith 8:53 pm ((Joe Alien: my alias for committing crimes in roswell new mexico)) NoodlesAtNight 8:53 pm *Good. He will absolutely be sharing things throughout the movie.*

[[She knows her job well.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:53 pm ((lmao cy I love you)) verdigrisprowl 8:54 pm *glances back at Soundwave* Just trying to figure it out. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:54 pm It's a shame the other humans won't let her /do/ her job. Impactbabyrobo 8:54 pm ((omg)) Mmmhmm! Boomtank 8:54 pm She does. She's knows what she's doing and that's why the military took her there chronosmith 8:55 pm So like, following that line hypothetically... you get your numbers. You exchange math. You can write out "two," and put two of an object down, right? Then they already know the number, and they can figure out what the second part is by looking at the objects. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:55 pm ((mhm, I'm not liking the fact that the symbol for human looks like a planet getting hit by something)) Boomtank 8:55 pm Oh! Write 'human' again and pass it around ....not that opatoes 8:55 pm w. whoa NoodlesAtNight 8:55 pm [[...No. No, he sees what she is doing.]] SCProwl 8:55 pm *trying to analyze the writing herself* Boomtank 8:55 pm Okay, she's...got a point, but yikes verdigrisprowl 8:56 pm Now they might think the word on her board means "naked." SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:56 pm Rebreathers, human. Impactbabyrobo 8:56 pm Hee! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:56 pm You cannot learn or teach if you are /dead/. NoodlesAtNight 8:56 pm [[If they understand clothes. They do not seem to have any.]] Boomtank 8:56 pm Okay, she's trying, but...no NoodlesAtNight 8:56 pm *Ohhh. What a beautiful appendage.* verdigrisprowl 8:57 pm ((don't tap the aquarium)) chronosmith 8:57 pm Neat. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:57 pm This is not exactly how I would go about things, myself. But I dislike dying. Without her charge... She may not dislike it so much... Boomtank 8:57 pm Oh! NoodlesAtNight 8:58 pm [[Good. This will help.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:58 pm It's a different symbol. ((I love how you can hear the resignation in his voice with this one. just. "sir, the scientists are being fools.")) verdigrisprowl 8:58 pm (("the nerds are fucking around again")) Boomtank 8:58 pm ((yup Boomtank 8:59 pm ((like 'here we go, they're being stupid' chronosmith 8:59 pm So, their n--yeah! verdigrisprowl 8:59 pm Pfff! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:59 pm Names indicate personhood, which means they can presumably understand a collective and personal "you," which means she's done her job. NoodlesAtNight 8:59 pm [[Look how they move...]] verdigrisprowl 8:59 pm what's alien circle speak for "who's on first?" chronosmith 8:59 pm *snickers* NoodlesAtNight 8:59 pm [[He will tell you as soon as he has the necessary data.]] Impactbabyrobo 9:00 pm *obnoxiously loud HA!* Boomtank 9:00 pm -miiight be bouncing a bit- verdigrisprowl 9:00 pm They could still be wrong about the names. SCProwl 9:00 pm If this provides us with enough data for that. chronosmith 9:00 pm See, prowl, another reason to teach them numbers first--they can get that 7 x 13 = 28 bit. verdigrisprowl 9:00 pm Maybe they thought the humans were labeling their genders and presented their own. Hff. Fair point. SCProwl 9:00 pm If they have a concept of gender. verdigrisprowl 9:00 pm A big if. verdigrisprowl 9:01 pm An alarming number of organic species do, though. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:01 pm Gender starts as needing to know what bits go together to produce babies. NoodlesAtNight 9:02 pm [[The more humans they present with names the better. They could form groups according to what they consider their genders later.]] verdigrisprowl 9:02 pm ... That can't be right. There are Cybertrons and colonies with genders. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:02 pm Oh. I don't know, then. Boomtank 9:02 pm The more humans they present should look similar, so they don't get too confused NoodlesAtNight 9:02 pm [[...Oh! Humans can create identical twin spawn. Bring a pair of them. Have them introduce their names.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 9:02 pm *elsewhere, swoop is off being such a boy, all the boy, a terrible boy* Boomtank 9:03 pm Because Prowl has a point, it is entirely possible they thought they were introducing gender verdigrisprowl 9:03 pm Or anything else. verdigrisprowl 9:04 pm I use that as an example because organics seem fixated on that. Boomtank 9:04 pm And that is a good idea, identical twins SCProwl 9:04 pm Job. Caste. Skin pigment. NoodlesAtNight 9:04 pm *Pleased hum.* Boomtank 9:04 pm Still, it's correct, they don't know if it's names or what verdigrisprowl 9:05 pm *oh! translations!* chronosmith 9:05 pm *tilts his head. He's honestly interested* Boomtank 9:05 pm OH! -yup, excitement here- NoodlesAtNight 9:05 pm *Oh, his spark. His fans are on and spinning wlidly now. Gotta find out how they got all those.* Impactbabyrobo 9:05 pm Oooooooh SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:05 pm *the dragon is also extremely interested* SCProwl 9:05 pm *memorizes all of those logograms that just appeared* Boomtank 9:06 pm -the curiosity is going to /kill/ him at this rate- NoodlesAtNight 9:06 pm *They shall die together.* Boomtank 9:07 pm -hopefully that isn't the case- verdigrisprowl 9:08 pm I THINK he's trying to apologize for being a jerk. He's not doing very well at it. NoodlesAtNight 9:08 pm [[At least he is trying.]] Boomtank 9:08 pm ............ verdigrisprowl 9:08 pm That's true. ... What's there to protest? The aliens haven't DONE anything. NoodlesAtNight 9:08 pm [[Nothing. They're afraid.]] Boomtank 9:08 pm What....are...are they...ugh Impactbabyrobo 9:08 pm UGH SCProwl 9:09 pm *frowns* opatoes 9:09 pm Uuuugh humans NoodlesAtNight 9:09 pm [[That is /not/ the smartest thing.]] Boomtank 9:09 pm Nooooo, that's a BAD idea Impactbabyrobo 9:09 pm bluuuh SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:09 pm ((whirlmun, the local hyena is not sleeping when she's supposed to be, go swat her on the nose for me)) Boomtank 9:09 pm So far they have done nothing but sit there, don't aggravate them NoodlesAtNight 9:09 pm [[Their species is so advanced you know nothing about how they communicate between ships, or even what the ships are made of, and you think your puny human military can impress them?]] opatoes 9:09 pm Look, they were able to travel from who knows where here. They probably are better equipped and- yeah. chronosmith 9:09 pm Honestly, yeah. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:10 pm Showing your claws is not helpful when the other dragon has bigger ones. chronosmith 9:10 pm I'm a big fan of bigging yourself up, but if you OBVIOUSLY can't back it up, then it's just sad. Boomtank 9:10 pm Don't even know WHY they're there, it could only be to sightsee NoodlesAtNight 9:10 pm //Seriously. Even I know that.// chronosmith 9:10 pm ((and specs I surely will)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:11 pm ((thank u)) NoodlesAtNight 9:11 pm *Snagging everything he can off background shots? Yes.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:11 pm She's very unconvincing. Boomtank 9:11 pm -good, he may have missed some- chronosmith 9:11 pm ((ALSO, I can still barely see them, but all evidence suggests that these are the kind of aliens I'd 1000% want to smooch on)) Impactbabyrobo 9:11 pm *pokes where her own nose would be if she had one* SCProwl 9:12 pm *not alone in that, Prowl's already trying to analyze the symbols against what's already been shown on screen* Impactbabyrobo 9:12 pm ((get it)) verdigrisprowl 9:12 pm *... pings soundwave* NoodlesAtNight 9:12 pm *Glance?* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:12 pm ((absolutely the smoochable aliens)) verdigrisprowl 9:12 pm *he's started doing what she's doing on the screen: counting and marking all the points and lines and such.* NoodlesAtNight 9:13 pm *!!!!* [[....Er.]] Impactbabyrobo 9:13 pm 😮??? chronosmith 9:13 pm ((time 2 kiss)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:13 pm *what the* chronosmith 9:13 pm Huh. Boomtank 9:13 pm ....um. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:13 pm ((TIME TO KISS)) opatoes 9:13 pm ... I will say those aliens do sound nice NoodlesAtNight 9:13 pm [[....She might need a small break.]] verdigrisprowl 9:13 pm *smooch the heptaknuckle* chronosmith 9:13 pm ((HAHA SPECS)) Boomtank 9:13 pm That....was..... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:13 pm ((kissu! kissu! kissu!)) verdigrisprowl 9:13 pm ((THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PARENTHESES)) ((i'm leaving it idc)) opatoes 9:13 pm ((PROWL SMOOCHES THEM NoodlesAtNight 9:13 pm *Honestly, he's almost tempted, Prowl.* verdigrisprowl 9:14 pm ((thanks for covering for me cro ur a hero)) chronosmith 9:14 pm I... hmm. *peers, rubbing the underside of his helm with a claw-tip* Wonder if that's evidence of... telepathy? Like they're trying to talk to her telepathically? NoodlesAtNight 9:14 pm (( *thumbs up* )) chronosmith 9:14 pm ((who can blame prowl? No-one)) NoodlesAtNight 9:14 pm *He pings so many requests for the data Prowl has. ... And, on a whim, his timeline's Prowl as well. Just in case.* *He's offering trades.* verdigrisprowl 9:14 pm Humans typically have nonsense dreams that are made up of a mix of their current experiences. It's likely no more than that. NoodlesAtNight 9:15 pm *Softly.* [[He hopes they are telepathic.]] chronosmith 9:15 pm Yeah, but she could be having experiences she doesn't even realize she's having. Because she's not telepathic. Impactbabyrobo 9:15 pm But dreams almost always mean something in movies! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:15 pm It may be telepathy. I don't know how it works, but I've heard that it can damage the organic brain. chronosmith 9:15 pm Like a one-way radio. She's receiving messages, but can't send them back. Hey, prowl, look. She's on your level. verdigrisprowl 9:15 pm Hah. NoodlesAtNight 9:15 pm *Horrified moment. They wouldn't be so foolish. Would they?* Boomtank 9:16 pm .......... verdigrisprowl 9:16 pm *hopes for Soundwave that they're telepathic.* Impactbabyrobo 9:16 pm She's writing! NoodlesAtNight 9:16 pm *Didn't they see their own movie about the wargame computer?* Boomtank 9:16 pm Oh no... Impactbabyrobo 9:16 pm So cooooool! SCProwl 9:16 pm *hesitates momentarily before accepting, has been analyzing the logograms compared to other written languages she knows for any possible correlation. nothing found yet, there's only so much information to be gleaned* Boomtank 9:17 pm ..... NoodlesAtNight 9:17 pm *Don't mind Soundwave. He's just gonna slam his timeline's Prowl with everything he and Blaster have already got and seize what she's analyzed.* chronosmith 9:17 pm They're salesmen. NoodlesAtNight 9:17 pm *Spread that back to Blaster.* [[The worst kind of visitor.]] chronosmith 9:17 pm They're intergalactic door-to-door salesmen. SCProwl 9:17 pm *grateful ping* NoodlesAtNight 9:18 pm [[Do /not/ make assumptions with information that delicate!]] verdigrisprowl 9:18 pm A pack of Swindles. Impactbabyrobo 9:18 pm *giggles* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:18 pm It's more complicated than that because politics are problematic. Boomtank 9:19 pm -Awesome, he's going to throw it back into what he's working with to see what he can come up with- SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:19 pm The soldier just broke in, didn't he. opatoes 9:19 pm It'd be really funny if they were just offering them like... a hard egg boiler or something NoodlesAtNight 9:19 pm *Ping ping ping ping date Prowl too. Updated information. What have you got now?* chronosmith 9:19 pm *the Whirlipede has at last satisfied itself that the underside of everyone's chair is up to inspection standards. It halts by the sofa, bouncing and spinning until it gets enough propulsion to launch itself up, roll over to Whirl's side, and settle down* NoodlesAtNight 9:20 pm [[Damned fools. Do not separate. Find out who taught which ones the word 'weapon' and how. See where the similarities pop up.]] Boomtank 9:20 pm Oh that's not good.... verdigrisprowl 9:20 pm *just that one new symbol.* Impactbabyrobo 9:20 pm 😧 NoodlesAtNight 9:21 pm [[....]] *Suspicious.* verdigrisprowl 9:21 pm *all helpfully marked up, but there's no interpretation of it.* opatoes 9:21 pm Oh. Oh no NoodlesAtNight 9:21 pm [[Oh no.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:21 pm IS HE. Impactbabyrobo 9:21 pm Is that a BOMB?! Boomtank 9:21 pm Unless...WHAT NoodlesAtNight 9:21 pm *Marked up is what he wants. It saves him time.* Boomtank 9:21 pm WHAT NO SCProwl 9:21 pm Idiots. opatoes 9:21 pm ... Man, they'll let them die in there won't they chronosmith 9:21 pm Yeah, that;s incredibly dumb. Boomtank 9:21 pm What are they doing, that's so stupid! NoodlesAtNight 9:22 pm [[They don't know.]] [[They don't know...]] chronosmith 9:22 pm I mean, I'm not a linguist, or a diplomat, or a politician, or a commander, or anything even remotely similar, but even I get that. Boomtank 9:22 pm No, the ones who put the bomb there! Impactbabyrobo 9:22 pm *Very anxious tinsel fiddling* Boomtank 9:22 pm -so worried now- SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:23 pm Question mark? NoodlesAtNight 9:23 pm [[Mimic him.]] Boomtank 9:23 pm -internal screaming- NoodlesAtNight 9:23 pm [[He indicates the barrier. Mark it back.]] Impactbabyrobo 9:23 pm Are they trying to warn about the bomb? opatoes 9:23 pm ........... oh primus chronosmith 9:23 pm Yeah, could be. opatoes 9:23 pm I think they are Boomtank 9:24 pm -sorry Soundwave- chronosmith 9:24 pm It's probable that the bomb won't hurt them. verdigrisprowl 9:24 pm Do they know about the bomb? chronosmith 9:24 pm Dunno. (( 👀 )) Impactbabyrobo 9:25 pm THAT'S SO COOL NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm *Leeeeeeeeeeean* opatoes 9:25 pm OOH SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:25 pm That seemed like telepathy. NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm [[It does know.]] chronosmith 9:25 pm Neat! NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm [[What she's thinking.]] opatoes 9:25 pm Costello just RUNS verdigrisprowl 9:25 pm ... There's no way she could control that ink to produce the adequate symbols UNLESS she's utilizing... maybe not telepathy. Telekinesis? NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm *COPY COPY COPY* NoodlesAtNight 9:26 pm [[Run, humans. Throw the bomb out.]] Swervester 9:26 pm Maybe the alien controlled the ink and just wanted her to make the shapes so she'd understand them? chronosmith 9:26 pm Saved her, then. opatoes 9:26 pm ... they protected them NoodlesAtNight 9:26 pm *Bows his head.* Boomtank 9:26 pm Oh... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:26 pm Oh. Oh no. Impactbabyrobo 9:26 pm *wounded noise* Boomtank 9:27 pm -low whine- No.... verdigrisprowl 9:27 pm Is Abbott okay? NoodlesAtNight 9:27 pm *Trying to distract himself* [[The - the ink itself could be reactive.]] verdigrisprowl 9:27 pm Yes, but it has to react to something. ... Given. verdigrisprowl 9:28 pm What they were "given." NoodlesAtNight 9:28 pm *Slow turn* [[Hm?]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:28 pm Ah, they are leaving. opatoes 9:28 pm .... Noooo don't leave Boomtank 9:28 pm Can't blame them Impactbabyrobo 9:28 pm 😧 opatoes 9:28 pm 😔 Boomtank 9:28 pm If they are Impactbabyrobo 9:28 pm Noooooo SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:28 pm Gave technology, now they leave. verdigrisprowl 9:28 pm "Give weapon." Weapon-technology-humanity-whatever-else-they-said. Boomtank 9:29 pm BECAUSE YOU ATTACKED THEM verdigrisprowl 9:29 pm They gave. That. NoodlesAtNight 9:29 pm *Diving hard into the symbols. There's so many. So very many. Prowl - Prowls? - help him and Blaster mark. Please.* verdigrisprowl 9:30 pm Maybe that's it, maybe it's—it's a diplomacy mission? They're giving communication? Impactbabyrobo 9:30 pm What're you gonna DO if they don't leave?! They can just float away! SCProwl 9:30 pm ((gd rabbit stop skipping i literally can't follow anything verdigrisprowl 9:30 pm *oh! Yeah, sure, marks up the gibberish.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:30 pm I'm surprised that they believe they /can/ destroy the aliens. Human hubris at its finest. Impactbabyrobo 9:30 pm Maybe they were giving words? verdigrisprowl 9:30 pm That's what I'm saying. NoodlesAtNight 9:30 pm [[A dictionary?]] Boomtank 9:30 pm -and yes, he's trying to mark this out- Boomtank 9:31 pm -so many of them- NoodlesAtNight 9:31 pm *Primus, they're not going to work out all of those before the movie is over. They won't even work out a fraction. How do you understand something without references? What about things only seen on an alien planet?* chronosmith 9:31 pm Mmm... mutual... ism? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:31 pm That was not the right move, docent. chronosmith 9:31 pm Is that what she's looking for? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:31 pm Mutualism sounds right to me, too. verdigrisprowl 9:31 pm Symbiosis? NoodlesAtNight 9:32 pm *Does he have something? What does he have? How do they know where to start?* SCProwl 9:32 pm Gaps in the writing. Ah! Boomtank 9:33 pm AH NoodlesAtNight 9:33 pm [[That's - it's -]] *Leaning back.* [[How - how clever...]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:33 pm What a turnskin. Eaten scourge human politics. Boomtank 9:34 pm ...... Impactbabyrobo 9:34 pm o_o NoodlesAtNight 9:34 pm [[Til all are one.]] *Harsh huff* verdigrisprowl 9:34 pm "Many become one," that's— *looks at Soundwave* Yes. That. chronosmith 9:34 pm Pfft. NoodlesAtNight 9:34 pm *Adoring ping.* [[Do not tell any Rodimuses.]] Boomtank 9:35 pm -soft snort- That phrase is used a lot. Even if in different words. NoodlesAtNight 9:35 pm [[Perhaps there is something to it.]] Impactbabyrobo 9:35 pm She's gonna do something! Swervester 9:36 pm //cAT PLESE CEASE SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:36 pm The question is, why is the Halpern Turnskin such an Eaten-Scourged nuisance. chronosmith 9:36 pm *idly shifts his arm so that he can extrude his fine manipulators, and absent-mindedly scritch at the Whirlipede's shell* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:36 pm ((lol, my cat is sitting on my arm farting)) NoodlesAtNight 9:36 pm [[Because he is government-driven military.]] ((bad cat!)) Swervester 9:36 pm //she decided it was time to walk on the keys and smash against my face] chronosmith 9:36 pm ((INTO THE SPACE ELEVATOR)) Boomtank 9:36 pm ....... Impactbabyrobo 9:36 pm Elevator elevator go back up! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:37 pm ((honestly. I'm glad. because the dumb idiot ate cooked chicken bones out of the trash. so I'm happy she wants to hang out with me and not hide somewhere.)) NoodlesAtNight 9:37 pm ((😧 i hope she's ok)) Impactbabyrobo 9:37 pm Is she breathing? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:37 pm ((she seems fine! but she is a dumb idiot. and I love her.)) NoodlesAtNight 9:37 pm *...What is she floating in? What is that?* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:37 pm I can't believe she is breathing. Boomtank 9:37 pm She's past the barrier... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:38 pm ...That looks like it would feel awful on the paws or absolutely delightful, with no inbetween. verdigrisprowl 9:38 pm ... I like their flooring. Boomtank 9:38 pm That...may not be a good thing... I mean she's breathing, but... verdigrisprowl 9:38 pm It would be impossible to keep clean, though. Dirt would get down into the pits and crevasses so easily. NoodlesAtNight 9:38 pm [[..........They're... they're much larger than he....]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:38 pm But that doesn't necessarily mean she's getting air from her breathing. verdigrisprowl 9:39 pm ((now kiss)) chronosmith 9:39 pm ((smooch for peace)) Boomtank 9:39 pm Oh opatoes 9:39 pm ... he sounds like a trumpet Boomtank 9:39 pm Big opatoes 9:39 pm or a trombone Impactbabyrobo 9:39 pm So tall! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:39 pm *goddess, they are tremendous.* ((KISSU FOR PEACE)) chronosmith 9:39 pm She was looking at his toes the whole time. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:39 pm OH NO verdigrisprowl 9:39 pm Oh no. opatoes 9:39 pm oh. oh no chronosmith 9:39 pm (( ; ______ ; )) NoodlesAtNight 9:39 pm [[Oh... the poor Abbott creature.]] Boomtank 9:39 pm .... Impactbabyrobo 9:40 pm 3😢 verdigrisprowl 9:40 pm He died saving them. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:40 pm Poor, poor abbot. ...He wants her to broadcast the symbols. Impactbabyrobo 9:40 pm They almost look soft NoodlesAtNight 9:41 pm [[How do they know that?]] verdigrisprowl 9:41 pm ... They're clairvoyant? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:41 pm Force their hands. Bureaucracy is bogging down the process. If she broadcasts, she forces the other humans to acknowledge. verdigrisprowl 9:41 pm *sits back* NoodlesAtNight 9:42 pm [[Wh - "who is this child"? Why would she ask about her own sp--]] verdigrisprowl 9:42 pm That isn't her—? Impactbabyrobo 9:42 pm *LOUD GASP* NoodlesAtNight 9:42 pm *....Oh, Primus.* verdigrisprowl 9:42 pm She hasn't had the child?! opatoes 9:42 pm W. Whoa. Impactbabyrobo 9:42 pm FUTURE BABY! Boomtank 9:42 pm What chronosmith 9:42 pm Oh. That's the weapon? ...there we go. Boomtank 9:42 pm WHAT SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:42 pm Oh, goddess. Costello, I know you must be furious about Abbott, but how could you hurt her in this way? chronosmith 9:42 pm Or maybe she can travel through time? Swervester 9:42 pm [tilts head] Are they translating weapon right? verdigrisprowl 9:42 pm What's he done to hurt her? Impactbabyrobo 9:43 pm Why is the bean going sideways? Swervester 9:43 pm Does 'weapon' mean the same thing to them that it does to a human? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:43 pm She lost her spawn, and he's showing her the potential for another one. verdigrisprowl 9:43 pm No. There's only one spawn. There's only ever been one spawn. It's in the future. She does not have a spawn. Yet. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:43 pm ...Now my head hurts. NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm [[If she's seeing the future, then it means the same thing. Knowledge of what is to come is a weapon. Perhaps the greatest.]] Swervester 9:43 pm Those weren't flash backs. They were flash forwards? NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm *It's why he is so protective of his multiverse map.* chronosmith 9:44 pm ((Costello knows this cos they're gonna come back to take her to dinner)) ((and then shack up)) ((and then they're gonna make that baby together)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:44 pm ((costello is bae)) chronosmith 9:44 pm ((costello... you ARE the father.)) verdigrisprowl 9:44 pm ((she didn't die, she molted into a baby heptapod.)) ((a little costellita)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:44 pm ((exactly!)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:45 pm ((blorp)) NoodlesAtNight 9:45 pm *....he sees.* Boomtank 9:45 pm The multiverse is crazy and timeline wandering only makes it worse verdigrisprowl 9:45 pm ... She knows before the child's born that she's going to die. NoodlesAtNight 9:45 pm [[Yes.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:45 pm That's horrible. Impactbabyrobo 9:45 pm That's sad opatoes 9:45 pm ... Primus. That's really terrible Swervester 9:45 pm Buit what choice did she make that was wrong? Impactbabyrobo 9:46 pm 3:c NoodlesAtNight 9:46 pm [[You'll see.]] verdigrisprowl 9:46 pm But decided she's worth having anyway. Or else decided it was inevitability. Impactbabyrobo 9:46 pm ALL THE BEANS ARE SIDEWAYS SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:46 pm She seems to be a good child. Boomtank 9:46 pm Landing? opatoes 9:46 pm anish kapoor mode verdigrisprowl 9:46 pm They've given the gift. Leaving, probably. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:46 pm And time is complicated. It might be worthwhile to try, anyways. Impactbabyrobo 9:46 pm HIGH FIVE ME SMOKESCREEN! opatoes 9:46 pm /High fives Impact!/ Impactbabyrobo 9:47 pm Nice! NoodlesAtNight 9:47 pm [[Do what must be done.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:48 pm Ouch. My brain is hurting in sympathy for her. Impactbabyrobo 9:48 pm That must feel so weird! SCProwl 9:48 pm *frustrated noise* There's not enough to build a full language from the logograms we've been shown. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:48 pm *the dragon shakes her head* Like trying to move both eyes separately. chronosmith 9:48 pm *deja vu* *it's not necessarily the same thing but he had about a year's worth of experience with having foreign memories shoved into his head* NoodlesAtNight 9:48 pm [[They are like the wormhole aliens, then.]] verdigrisprowl 9:49 pm There's eleven more sets. She sees them later in her life. She can remember her future when she's fluent in it. Impactbabyrobo 9:49 pm Wormhole aliens ? opatoes 9:49 pm Whoa. They get a universal flag with the human symbol too? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:49 pm Honestly, I'm surprised that she doesn't just start vomiting on the spot. Humans purge when their brains hurt, right? NoodlesAtNight 9:49 pm [[Yes. A set near Bajor who will name the Sisko as their assistant. Never mind that for now.]] chronosmith 9:49 pm ((camera pans around. It's Costello in a suit)) SCProwl 9:50 pm I mean there's not enough for us. NoodlesAtNight 9:50 pm *Wants the other 11 sets. Give them to him.* verdigrisprowl 9:50 pm ((very stylish)) opatoes 9:50 pm : O Boomtank 9:50 pm -Same, Soundwave. Same- SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:50 pm ...He knows, too. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:51 pm At least a little. chronosmith 9:51 pm Clever. Impactbabyrobo 9:51 pm Ooooooooh That's so weird and confusing but so cool! Boomtank 9:51 pm !!!! verdigrisprowl 9:51 pm Her future self doesn't remember that her past self made the phone call. chronosmith 9:51 pm *this is... all feeling incredibly familiar in a way he honestly did not expect* Impactbabyrobo 9:51 pm Because her past self hasn't made the phone call yet verdigrisprowl 9:51 pm That moment, in the future, is the "first" time she learns about it. Impactbabyrobo 9:51 pm ? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:51 pm That was her "self," now she's at a different time. Swervester 9:51 pm Is it a paraox or split universe? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:51 pm Er. chronosmith 9:51 pm *it's not upsetting, though. Just odd* Boomtank 9:52 pm Because until it happened in the future she didn't know his number SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:52 pm That made very little sense. Impactbabyrobo 9:52 pm HAHA verdigrisprowl 9:52 pm She can't access all of time at once. opatoes 9:52 pm pfppfpff SCProwl 9:52 pm She's living both events simultaneously. NoodlesAtNight 9:52 pm [[Neither. It is non-linear time.]] verdigrisprowl 9:52 pm She's still experiencing her life only one event at a time, the chronology is just out of normal order. NoodlesAtNight 9:52 pm *At Swerve, that is.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:52 pm Yes. That. chronosmith 9:52 pm She's experience other points on the timeline. Technically an alternate timeline telling her what she COULD know, since she has to create that timeline herself, with her actions in the present. Swervester 9:52 pm Oh, I see. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:52 pm Goddess, this is making me feel ill just trying to wrap my mind around it. opatoes 9:52 pm w. what NoodlesAtNight 9:53 pm [[It is a complicated subject. He does not blame you.]] Swervester 9:53 pm Translation? verdigrisprowl 9:53 pm She's not living both events simultaneously, she's—bouncing back and forth between two events. SCProwl 9:53 pm That would certainly get someone's attention. opatoes 9:53 pm w. what are the words Impactbabyrobo 9:53 pm Translate! Translate! chronosmith 9:53 pm Yeah. Instead of like, traveling down a road, she's kind of flying over the road. Touching down here and there. NoodlesAtNight 9:53 pm *Thinking.* verdigrisprowl 9:54 pm She's teleporting back and forth between two points on the road. NoodlesAtNight 9:54 pm [[In war there are no - mmm, what is. There are no winners, only - widows.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:54 pm *the dragon shakes her head, nauseously* I am not designed for this. verdigrisprowl 9:54 pm And never traveling over the same span of road twice. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:54 pm But I was right. Costello /did/ intend for her to force their hands. chronosmith 9:55 pm They knew everything that was going to happen. Impactbabyrobo 9:55 pm *quietly* whooshh Boomtank 9:55 pm To get them to work together chronosmith 9:55 pm But they still had to make those events come to pass. Swervester 9:55 pm So they knew Abbot would die in this mission opatoes 9:55 pm ... So they might've known that the bomb was going to be there before they even met SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:55 pm ...Abbot knew, surely. And chose to do this anyways. Boomtank 9:55 pm So they could help THEM in the future SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:55 pm That's very brave. Impactbabyrobo 9:55 pm So brave! chronosmith 9:55 pm It's like... time as. *thinks* Like a pair of pants. verdigrisprowl 9:55 pm It's highly probable. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:55 pm A pair of pants? SCProwl 9:55 pm A what? chronosmith 9:56 pm You're traveling up from the hems. You see what's going on in the other leg. And every time you do that, you get closer to the belt. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:56 pm ...Okay, that makes more sense. chronosmith 9:56 pm But you still gotta do those things to get to the point where the pants come together. verdigrisprowl 9:56 pm ... What's a hem? chronosmith 9:56 pm The top of the pants. Impactbabyrobo 9:56 pm It's at the bottom of pants too! SCProwl 9:56 pm What's a belt? chronosmith 9:56 pm Wait, no, the bottom. ....both. Boomtank 9:56 pm ....huh? chronosmith 9:56 pm One second. SCProwl 9:56 pm In this context. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:56 pm Hems are the borders where the fabric is sewn together. Like on the edges of blankets. Swervester 9:56 pm Hmm verdigrisprowl 9:57 pm ... What are the edges of blankets sewn to? NoodlesAtNight 9:57 pm [[Themselves.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:57 pm Each other. verdigrisprowl 9:57 pm *now owns three blankets. didn't think they were sewn to anything.* chronosmith 9:57 pm *he's going to widespread ping the room*

SCProwl 9:57 pm ...what? chronosmith 9:57 pm These are pants. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:57 pm Ah, Soundwave beat me to it. *soundy is so smart* SCProwl 9:57 pm *doesn't own blankets or pants* chronosmith 9:57 pm You start at one leg opening, and work your way towards the crotch. Boomtank 9:57 pm -oh. Pants. Makes...kinda more sense- SCProwl 9:58 pm Pants are legs? chronosmith 9:58 pm Nah, you put them on legs. verdigrisprowl 9:58 pm *?? ? ???* chronosmith 9:58 pm But these are metaphorical pants. These are the pants of time. Impactbabyrobo 9:58 pm They're clothes! SCProwl 9:58 pm This is a bad analogy for a species that doesn't put things on their legs besides paint. chronosmith 9:59 pm Too bad. I'm a soldier, not a Time Professor. verdigrisprowl 10:00 pm *he's progressively becoming more baffled by pants anatomy* SCProwl 10:00 pm Yes and I'm a Cybertronian, not a human. NoodlesAtNight 10:00 pm [[There. That's the choice she makes. The one he can't handle... because she told him what will happen to their offspring long after she agreed.]] opatoes 10:00 pm So, how many holes do pants have, anyway? NoodlesAtNight 10:00 pm [[That is why he no longer looks at their creation the same way.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:00 pm It would be a hard thing to know. opatoes 10:00 pm Like- what would you call the opening and ending for a hole? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:00 pm I don't know how she can handle it, truly. Impactbabyrobo 10:01 pm Maybe seeing stuff non-linearly makes you have a sense of weird peace? Iunno. chronosmith 10:01 pm ((that was EXCELLENT)) Impactbabyrobo 10:01 pm ((I'M CRYING)) NoodlesAtNight 10:01 pm ((RIGHT? also, mark time: 10:21)) opatoes 10:01 pm ((that was good 😮!!! Swervester 10:01 pm Maybe she decided that even a short time with her is better than no time? Boomtank 10:01 pm ((IT WAS AWESOME Impactbabyrobo 10:01 pm Uh-huh! That sounds like it opatoes 10:01 pm ... The second arrival? Boomtank 10:01 pm That was fun Impactbabyrobo 10:02 pm There was sad but it was also really fun! chronosmith 10:02 pm Well, I know what I'm trying to say. And that's what counts. *looks to his Whirlipede for confirmation* Right?

Whirlipede: Whirl.

See? It agrees with me. Impactbabyrobo 10:02 pm HOW IT'S MAAAAAAADE! MedicalMurdersaurus 10:02 pm ((Do you think that, by the time the aliens come back in 3,000 years for human help, the whole "how time-language was created" story will have become some sort of "aliens built the pyramids" myth?)) SCProwl 10:02 pm ... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:02 pm Whirlbug always agrees with you, though. chronosmith 10:02 pm .... *snickers* Yeah, because it knows what's up. Arcee-Autobot 10:02 pm *covering face while laughing* opatoes 10:02 pm OH OH SOUNDWAVE i have a video i feel like you might like Impactbabyrobo 10:03 pm THAT IS TOO MANY PIECES NoodlesAtNight 10:03 pm ((omg swoop mun)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:04 pm ((I mean it's not like people can time jump back to lives prior to their own. They would have to rely on written records of other people's lives. MAYBE there'd still be video but the way video format evolves, it's probably going to look like absolute crap if it still exists at all. I can hear people arguing about how it's dumb to think we needed ALIENS to come up with our PRIMARY LANGUAGE that is a total reflection of how we interact with the world.)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:05 pm *the dragon carefully un-loafs, absolutely unwilling to inconvenience or bother Chimera in any way* I should return home. Thank you for having me, Soundwave, and thank you for hugging me, Chimera. verdigrisprowl 10:05 pm ((the aliens knew what was going to happen 3000 years in the future, it stands to reason they'd be equally knowledgable about 3000 years in the past?)) Impactbabyrobo 10:05 pm ((XD)) NoodlesAtNight 10:05 pm [[Thank you for attending, and keeping Chimera company.]] Swervester 10:05 pm //ilygioyvuyv when you accidentally reeply to a post on swerve instead of sparky so now it looks Really Awkward verdigrisprowl 10:05 pm *Whirl asked him earlier to help with translating the tire. Now that the movie's over, he relinquishes Soundwave's heads over that direction.* Hi. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:05 pm ((I assumed that was because the aliens lived that long. Cause no one is seeing someone else's life. Just their own chunk of the timeline.)) opatoes 10:05 pm ((sparkle,,, Swervester 10:06 pm //retgt i forgot what tab i was in lmao opatoes 10:06 pm ... So that's how you wear jeans? Impactbabyrobo 10:06 pm Why would you scrape up your pants already ? opatoes 10:06 pm de-puff the pants NoodlesAtNight 10:06 pm *Soundwave lets Prowl go. He's busy working on what portion of the language they were presented.* opatoes 10:06 pm de-leg the pants Impactbabyrobo 10:06 pm *imitates the pant de-puffing noise* SCProwl 10:07 pm Oh, they're not just flat. opatoes 10:07 pm I wanna be sanded Arcee-Autobot 10:07 pm Sand? Impactbabyrobo 10:07 pm Why? opatoes 10:07 pm I'll be extra smooth! Arcee-Autobot 10:07 pm Stone?! Why?! opatoes 10:07 pm oh those pants are getting stoned Impactbabyrobo 10:07 pm But it'll take your paint off! opatoes 10:07 pm ... Wait, frag, that's a problem Impactbabyrobo 10:08 pm They just wash it with rocks! *laughs* verdigrisprowl 10:08 pm ((well. i guess that's why it's called stone wash.)) Arcee-Autobot 10:08 pm *Arcee can't handle the joke made about stoned pants* chronosmith 10:08 pm *tilts his head as Prowl approaches* Sup. opatoes 10:09 pm ... With steve? Impactbabyrobo 10:09 pm PUFF THE PANTS opatoes 10:09 pm I think I misheard Impactbabyrobo 10:09 pm steam! opatoes 10:09 pm OH I thought steve was just wearing them for them or something verdigrisprowl 10:09 pm Did you want me to...? *gestures at the tire.* Swervester 10:10 pm These puns are bad. Impactbabyrobo 10:10 pm PUNS NOT GOOD ENOUGH chronosmith 10:10 pm Yeah. If you've got time. I'm guessing this isn't the best... setting or whatever. I can fly into the city, if you've got time. God knows I do. Arcee-Autobot 10:10 pm These drawings are just beautiful opatoes 10:10 pm Aren't a lot of modern mirrors aluminum, though? SCProwl 10:11 pm I'm going to go now. Thank you, Soundwave. Swervester 10:11 pm Yes Impactbabyrobo 10:11 pm Maybe they mean silver like the color? NoodlesAtNight 10:11 pm [[You are welcome, Prowl.]] SCProwl 10:11 pm *ends the visual feed and stands up* NoodlesAtNight 10:11 pm [[And aren't they, Arcee? All one line.]] opatoes 10:11 pm Aluminum isn't as tasty as silver, so it's probably good they use that instead. Impactbabyrobo 10:12 pm Munch crunch! opatoes 10:12 pm Gotta munch! NoodlesAtNight 10:12 pm *mmmm, silver* Impactbabyrobo 10:12 pm 3:9 opatoes 10:12 pm /Smokescreen's slowly turning himself around, and almost falls over as he gets up. Maybe sitting upside down for the entire movie WASN'T a good idea!/ Boomtank 10:12 pm -sounds like they're making a snack, not mirror- Swervester 10:13 pm .... What if I made... verdigrisprowl 10:13 pm ... Pocky Men can understand each other, right? I can understand my own Magnemite. It could help speed up the translation process? NoodlesAtNight 10:13 pm ((POCKY MEN)) Impactbabyrobo 10:13 pm ((OMG)) chronosmith 10:13 pm ((thank god)) verdigrisprowl 10:13 pm ((he says this with all of the confidence of a suburban mom in 1996 talking about the newest fad her third grader is into.)) chronosmith 10:13 pm I think? Impactbabyrobo 10:14 pm ((beautiful)) opatoes 10:14 pm ... Oh, that was the mirror. I thought that was just two similar looking humans chronosmith 10:14 pm You';d know better than I would. It's just been me, this fella, and Killer out there so far. If there are any other Pocky Men, I haven't seen 'em. Impactbabyrobo 10:14 pm BEVEL verdigrisprowl 10:14 pm I've seen a swarm of Magnemite, but I've been reading up a bit on others. NoodlesAtNight 10:15 pm [[He'll have to show her this.]] opatoes 10:15 pm /Smokescreen's slowly, slowly getting up again, using the couch as a support./ Hey, Soundwave, I'm probably gonna head home for the night. Thanks for having us! NoodlesAtNight 10:15 pm [[Ah, you're welcome. Do not forget the book soon.]] verdigrisprowl 10:15 pm *oh, he should probably greet the tire itself, should he?* Hello. I'm Prowl. opatoes 10:15 pm Hey, I almost always keep it on me. It's hard to forget! NoodlesAtNight 10:16 pm [[He meant reading it again.]] verdigrisprowl 10:16 pm ((this segment is)) ((marbleous)) Impactbabyrobo 10:16 pm ((XD)) NoodlesAtNight 10:16 pm *bricks*)) chronosmith 10:16 pm ((is he speaking neo cybex or is he using whatever manner he does to communicate with his own pokemon?)) verdigrisprowl 10:16 pm ((no, marbles)) ((neocybex, currently.)) chronosmith 10:17 pm Whirlipede: Whirl! *it wiggles away from Whirl's still-absentlly-petting manipulators, and then bounces once, spinning in the air. A proper, enthusiastic greeting* MedicalMurdersaurus 10:18 pm ((I CAN'T)) verdigrisprowl 10:18 pm Oh! Hi. ... I don't understand you. I apologize if you can understand me. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:18 pm ((he's FIDDLING with stuff on his ROD in a GLORY HOLE)) verdigrisprowl 10:18 pm But we'll work on that. Impactbabyrobo 10:18 pm ((i'm die)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:18 pm ((there is no way this narrator doesn't know what he's doing)) chronosmith 10:18 pm ((right into the punty)) verdigrisprowl 10:19 pm ((i couldn't believe, "how did they get away with calling that a glory hole on TV")) chronosmith 10:19 pm Whirlipede" *solemnly* Whirl.

*for his part, Whirl is just watching this, equal parts interested and amused* verdigrisprowl 10:19 pm *nods, completely lost.* NoodlesAtNight 10:20 pm *Stops working on the heptapod language to watch Prowl at work.* verdigrisprowl 10:20 pm Is that your full species name? "Whirlipede"? Impactbabyrobo 10:20 pm *Leans on Chimera, if Chimera is okay with it* NoodlesAtNight 10:20 pm *Chimera absolutely is. They'll even coil up on Impact.* verdigrisprowl 10:20 pm *at this point, he's mainly trying to keep the tire talking, whatever it's saying—give him some vocabulary to build up and try to analyze.* chronosmith 10:20 pm Whirlipede: *performs another spinning bounce* WhirliPEDE. Impactbabyrobo 10:21 pm *delighted by this development* Swervester 10:21 pm //why does he say marble so weird it sound s like narrrwhal verdigrisprowl 10:21 pm ((marrrboll)) Swervester 10:21 pm //oh my god Impactbabyrobo 10:21 pm ((NIPPLE)) verdigrisprowl 10:21 pm ((nipple)) Arcee-Autobot 10:21 pm *Loud Snort from Arcee* verdigrisprowl 10:21 pm ((marble making is very horny)) Swervester 10:21 pm I'm naming a drink nipples on fire, it's official. NoodlesAtNight 10:22 pm //Fraggin' fantastic.// Impactbabyrobo 10:22 pm *giggles* Swervester 10:22 pm Who wants to drink it first NoodlesAtNight 10:22 pm //Dibs.// verdigrisprowl 10:22 pm *nods at the Whirlipede again.* ... Is the bouncing part of your language or is it just for fun? *glances at Swerve* What are you going to make it out of? Swervester 10:23 pm Not a clue! That's the fun part. Impactbabyrobo 10:23 pm *hugs Chimera before getting up* Bedtime for me! Swervester 10:23 pm Probably gonna be a fire color theme though Impactbabyrobo 10:23 pm Thanks for the movie, Soundwave! chronosmith 10:23 pm Make it so damn spicy that anyone drinking it immediately has to get their fuel tank pumped for their own safety, and I'm in. Swervester 10:23 pm I can make a Whirl Special version NoodlesAtNight 10:23 pm [[You're welcome, Impact.]] <<Goodbye, Orange Child. Chimera will miss you.>> chronosmith 10:24 pm *the Whirlipede bounces again. It's anyone's guess what that means, honestly* Arcee-Autobot 10:24 pm Movie was Great Soundwave 😃 NoodlesAtNight 10:24 pm [[He is glad you thought so, Arcee. Do come again.]] Impactbabyrobo 10:24 pm I'll miss you too! But I'll come visit again, so it won't be too bad! NoodlesAtNight 10:24 pm *Happy chirp!* verdigrisprowl 10:24 pm *nods at the Whirlipede along with its bounces. He's getting nothing out of this.* Impactbabyrobo 10:24 pm *blows kisses to the room at large* G'night everybody! chronosmith 10:25 pm Seeya, twerp. Arcee-Autobot 10:25 pm C'ya everyone NoodlesAtNight 10:25 pm [[...Have you considered telling it to blink once for yeses and twice for no?]] [[That ought to move you somewhere a little faster.]] chronosmith 10:25 pm I actually... need to roll on out, myself. Uh. Thanks for, y'know. Trying, Prowl. I'll catch you again sometime. But if you got any notes you can send me, I'll give them a look-over. verdigrisprowl 10:26 pm Sure. Comm me some time, if you want. We can make a serious effort with Magnemite there. chronosmith 10:26 pm *flips him a casual salute* Gotta learn to cht with my little pal SOMETIME. *turns and bobs his head to Rumble, speaking a touch more softly, for privacy's sake* And I'll come back around again soon, to see you. Boomtank 10:26 pm -time to get going, he supposes. Crowd's going out- verdigrisprowl 10:27 pm *looks at Soundwave* There's probably an issue of mutual intelligibility. My Magnemite, at least, couldn't understand Neocybex or any of the Earth languages I tried on it. NoodlesAtNight 10:27 pm //I'mma look forward to it.// *The stupidest grin.* verdigrisprowl 10:28 pm So "blink for yes, twice for no" wouldn't be very useful if they don't understand that much. NoodlesAtNight 10:28 pm [[Ah. He did not know that about your Magnemite. They do seem to understand the human trainers with them in the documentaries, he'd hoped... ah, well. We aren't human.]] verdigrisprowl 10:28 pm *glances at Whirl* Of course, you could still try that with your own and report back to us? Many Pocky Men CAN understand human languages; I suspect mine simply never had the opportunity to learn. NoodlesAtNight 10:29 pm *Soundwave nods to Blaster. He'll keep working and sharing things over time, for what little they got of the language.* Swervester 10:29 pm Mmm, I think I better go, My berth's calling me for that ap. NoodlesAtNight 10:29 pm [[Yes, sleep off the rest of that party.]] Swervester 10:29 pm Have fun! Night. chronosmith 10:30 pm Yeah, if I make any breakthroughs, I'll hit you guys up. Boomtank 10:30 pm -nods back, as he stands to leave. He'll share what he can come up with- Goodnight chronosmith 10:30 pm *he enjoyed that stupidest grin, and pays it back with a last affectionate nudge before he stands. The Whirlipede rolls right off the couch after him* Night, losers. verdigrisprowl 10:30 pm *looks at the suspected "Whirlipede".* It was nice to meet you. NoodlesAtNight 10:30 pm //Night t'you 'n the tire!// Boomtank 10:31 pm ((and thanks for the stream, g'night! NoodlesAtNight 10:31 pm ((night!)) chronosmith 10:31 pm Whirlipede: 'Pede! *and then they, too, are gone* NoodlesAtNight 10:32 pm //...Wonder how they say *anythin'* with jus' two or three words.// *He shakes his head. That's why the Boss is the Boss and he's not.* //Better get upstairs. Seeya.// verdigrisprowl 10:33 pm It's in the pitch and order. verdigrisprowl 10:35 pm *goes to sit with Soundwave again. Hello.* NoodlesAtNight 10:36 pm *Taking another note.* [[That should be easy for him to pick up.]] NoodlesAtNight 10:37 pm *Nodding hello again.* [[He really should find a way to converse with your Magnemite without meeting it. He'd like to hear it speak.]] verdigrisprowl 10:38 pm I could give you my language file and you could communicate by video? NoodlesAtNight 10:38 pm [[Does it register those on videos as real mechs?]] verdigrisprowl 10:38 pm ... I have no idea. NoodlesAtNight 10:40 pm [[It's worth a try. It could teach us something useful if they don't.]] verdigrisprowl 10:42 pm True. NoodlesAtNight 10:44 pm [[...He likes watching you work to puzzle it out. He would enjoy taking on a task like the one presented to the humans in the movie, with you.]] *Pause.* [[Preferably without you leaving in a few years because he knows too much.]] verdigrisprowl 10:45 pm You already know too much. *humor ping. leans against Soundwave.* NoodlesAtNight 10:46 pm [[He begs to differ. He will never know enough.]] *Leans into.* verdigrisprowl 10:47 pm I'd enjoy watching you work to figure out a language like that, too. NoodlesAtNight 10:47 pm [[He confesses that he would absolutely remove his suit to touch the glass.]] verdigrisprowl 10:49 pm Somehow I'm not surprised. NoodlesAtNight 10:49 pm [[How much despair should he read into that sentence? As a percentage.]] *Humor ping.* verdigrisprowl 10:50 pm Hm. 36%. NoodlesAtNight 10:50 pm [[That is better than he expected.]] *Faint huff.* [[You are growing fond of him and his ways, he thinks.]] *And another humor ping.* verdigrisprowl 10:52 pm Pff. *mumble mumble yeah* NoodlesAtNight 10:54 pm *Patting Prowl's knee.* [[To be more serious for a moment - he does not know if he should continue with inspecting the heptapod language. He knows not to believe everything he sees, but...]] NoodlesAtNight 10:55 pm [[There are often tiny truths buried in bigger tales, is all he means. And he wonders.]] verdigrisprowl 10:55 pm There are a great many languages that are nonchronological or have no element of time or tense. NoodlesAtNight 10:55 pm *How much more sympathetic to organics has he become since burying himself in Earth media?* verdigrisprowl 10:56 pm To my knowledge, no one has ever started telling the future by learning one. *I* know a few. They didn't even help improve my battle simulations. *that's not why he learned them, but.* NoodlesAtNight 10:56 pm [[...You know a few?]] verdigrisprowl 10:58 pm Languages that are divorced from chronology? Yes. They're not /that/ uncommon. Earth even has a few. NoodlesAtNight 10:59 pm [[No, they're not; he's -- simply surprised, he supposes. That you were given the opportunity to do any learning of them instead of being made to sit behind a desk at all times.]] verdigrisprowl 10:59 pm I've been stationed on a lot of alien planets. First priority is tapping into the local media and learning the dominant languages. NoodlesAtNight 11:01 pm [[That, too, surprises him. He would have thought the Prime would keep you close at hand at all times, far away from anywhere you might be lost. Particularly as the war wore on and you became more valuable.]] *Tapping his fingers, thinking.* [[Differences. Never mind.]] verdigrisprowl 11:02 pm Hm. He didn't see me like that. verdigrisprowl 11:03 pm I was stationed on Earth before he was. NoodlesAtNight 11:03 pm [[An unexpected first.]] verdigrisprowl 11:04 pm ... Compared to other universes? NoodlesAtNight 11:04 pm [[An Optimus who does not insist on being the first to put his hands and stories all over the local fleshling wildlife. Fascinating.]] verdigrisprowl 11:04 pm Oh. NoodlesAtNight 11:04 pm [[Yes, compared to other universes.]] verdigrisprowl 11:04 pm Yyyeah, that would be counterintuitive to the "try not to be discovered by the local populace" mission. NoodlesAtNight 11:05 pm [[/And yet./]] *He's seen some Things, Prowl.* verdigrisprowl 11:05 pm ... "And yet"...? NoodlesAtNight 11:08 pm [[To put it bluntly, when it comes to Earths everywhere, we do have extreme trouble hiding ourselves. Both sides.]] *Twisting to get a better look.* [[The timelines that are similar to but not quite yours are the worst at it. Breaking into steel factories, entering races, having parades, filming /movies.../]] verdigrisprowl 11:08 pm ... Parades. NoodlesAtNight 11:08 pm [[It is as though all sense drips out of our heads as soon as we see a blue and green planet with little hairless organics running around.]]

[[Oh yes. Even the Decepticons.]] verdigrisprowl 11:09 pm *opens mouth. shuts mouth. okay. all right. okay.* ... Yeah, that's... that sounds about like the effect Earth has on people. NoodlesAtNight 11:09 pm [[It's enough to make your inner strategist die of shock, he expects.]] NoodlesAtNight 11:10 pm [[It certainly leaves /him/ laying awake at night. The things his alternate allows. Or participates in.]] *Shakes his head.* verdigrisprowl 11:11 pm My inner strategist is... definitely struggling, right now. NoodlesAtNight 11:12 pm [[...Perhaps it's some kind of natural planetary defense. Something in the atmosphere that makes Cybertronians giddy and prone to impulsive action.]]

[[Oh. You didn't know about any of that, then?]] verdigrisprowl 11:14 pm About the PARADES? No. No, I— No. That's news. Please. Tell me that's not a universe where they're TRYING to remain covert. NoodlesAtNight 11:16 pm [[Oh, no. No, not at all.]] Huffing. [[That's been impossible since the mess they made in the first few days. Still - hardly the way to conduct themselves.]] verdigrisprowl 11:18 pm Oh, /good./ NoodlesAtNight 11:18 pm *Debates it. Rolls it around on his tongue. Decides to drop the information.*

*Glancing away at a wall.* [[Your alternate was in the Autobot Day parade, you know.]] NoodlesAtNight 11:19 pm ((...i think. hold on)) verdigrisprowl 11:20 pm He has my sympathies. NoodlesAtNight 11:22 pm [[He hopes so. It'll be hard for this world to take in any refugees from that one if he doesn't.]] verdigrisprowl 11:22 pm Pff. NoodlesAtNight 11:22 pm *Patting again.* [[But he has horrified you enough for one night.]] verdigrisprowl 11:23 pm Yes, I agree entirely. NoodlesAtNight 11:24 pm [[You're right. He does know too much.]] *Curious look back.* [[You'll stay anyway, he hopes?]] verdigrisprowl 11:24 pm Of course. verdigrisprowl 11:25 pm I already knew you know too much, and it hasn't run me off yet. NoodlesAtNight 11:26 pm [[A fair point. And a pleasing one.]] *Hmm.* [[He thinks he'll skip the option to create offspring for the moment. There are already plenty of recently grown protoforms roaming around.]] *Still teasing Prowl? Gently, but definitely.* verdigrisprowl 11:31 pm Yeah, for the record, that's—that's off the table. Even if the offspring WOULD die before fully developing. verdigrisprowl 11:32 pm *... actually, it dying early would make it more appealing.* *would that be a horrifying thing to say out loud? it probably would. he's not going to say it.* NoodlesAtNight 11:34 pm *Sitting up.* [[...He didn't mean it was ever actually on the table. It wasn't-- if he knew that was what would happen, he wouldn't-- he wouldn't /anyway,/ he can't-- his timeline doesn't--]] *And back against the couch.* [[Never mind. A tease in poor taste. He apologizes.]] NoodlesAtNight 11:35 pm [[Perhaps we should go talk of other things. He has plans for another paint adjustment he'd like to get your opinion on.]] verdigrisprowl 11:37 pm ... I know you can't. I was—responding in kind to the premise set up by your, er, banter. verdigrisprowl 11:38 pm Er. What adjustment? NoodlesAtNight 11:40 pm *Nodding. Talk less, Soundwave. Remember why you keep quiet around everyone else.*

[[The next one. The biggest one.]] *He touches his new white accents, followed by a few of the new dark gray sections that have cropped up around his frame.* [[To cover what's left.]] verdigrisprowl 11:41 pm "What's left"? A full repaint? NoodlesAtNight 11:42 pm [[He supposes that's where he's going with it all. He thought he'd see what it was like. He's been blue for... mm. For a long time.]] verdigrisprowl 11:43 pm ... The—accents you've done so far are, uh... *he looks at the ceiling. he's trying to say he likes them.* ... You can keep that up. NoodlesAtNight 11:45 pm *He speaks enough Prowl to know what that means.* [[Good. He'd worried they made him look, er... dead.]] *Or like a bad attempt to resurrect someone who was.* [[Thank you.]] *Lean kiss of quiet gratitude?* Today verdigrisprowl 12:00 am No, no. Wrong colors. And you've got biolights. *He'll accept that kiss—and return it.* NoodlesAtNight 12:04 am [[True. More than most living mechs.]] *On display, at least. But back to that kiss - don't mind him staying there a /little/ longer than necessary.*

[[...Thank you for the co-creation of this tradition, and all that often goes with it.]] NoodlesAtNight 12:05 am *Speaking of, is that where Prowl's mind is headed tonight? Or would he prefer just relaxing on the couch together?* verdigrisprowl 12:06 am What—kissing? I'm afraid I didn't have a hand in inventing that one. *humor* NoodlesAtNight 12:06 am *Pushes his mask up higher to get a proper nip in for that one.* verdigrisprowl 12:07 am *you're just gonna encourage him to keep doing that* NoodlesAtNight 12:07 am *Oh no. How terrible. What a cruel fate he's dealt himself.* NoodlesAtNight 12:09 am *Encourage encourage. Enable enable.* *Fade fade?* verdigrisprowl 12:09 am *fade fade.*

[fearlyssa]

Hi! I noticed you are one of the stauch supporters of kaylor even after the debacle. Can you please share why you still think they are together? Cause im being a weak kaylor right now. Thanks! 😘

Ok so this is going to be long but basically I just don’t see why it would mean they broke up. Like I know they haven’t been seen together in a long time and she might want to stay closeted even if Taylor doesn’t whether they broke up or not but I don’t see why even if that were the case why she’d have to go so hardcore with it and I don’t think it’s for money either because she already has money and they’re in a TON of debt for being as rich as they are. Plus no amount of money should be enough to connect yourself with a family of criminals and possibly implicate yourself. I think it was done more for him and his family’s benefit to cover up what they’re doing than to benefit her and that’s probably why it came out of nowhere when it seemed like they were maybe finally going to break up. As to why she’d cover for them, I think she might have agreed to something like that in the contract with him and/or Scooter Braun that she signed 6 years ago before he was associated with the Trumps and their criminal activity and she can’t get out of it just yet. And as much as we all hate him I do actually think they’re kind of friends just from bearding for so long but don’t worry there likely won’t be a wedding. (And even if there was, because Lavender weddings DO still happen, it would be a short lived “marriage” and still wouldn’t convince me in the slightest that their relationship was real. Nothing in this world could tbh, they’re both way too gay for that! lmao) They just needed to temporarily be closeted and cause a distraction. Plus it brings more attention to their relationship that no one cared about before so more people will be paying attention to their breakup and will be more shocked and sad about it so it’ll make even more sense as to why she would need to seek solace from Taylor (and Taylor from her after she breaks up with Joe), a friend she supposedly hasn’t talked to in like two years, and how that might cause them to get together themselves and realize/revist their feelings for each other and maybe why it wasn’t working out for them with men. I don’t think they’ll really address it in a big way though, more just be seen together holding hands, kissing etc. until people just put two and two together and figure it out. If they’re forced to address it directly they’ll probably just say they’re bi or don’t like labels and I could see it being years before that happens if they can help it. That way they don’t out their past beards or seem like liars who faked all their relationships. But I think they’ll stop bearding for good after this so it’ll be even more obvious than before even if they’re not confirming it. And I think this will start soon with her breaking up with Joe this fall (either in September before his movies come out or in November after they come out) because they’ll both have gotten all they needed from each other (some PR and closeting and the longest term fauxmance they could probably hope for at “two years”) and they’ll both be conveniently busy anyway. He’ll be doing promo and her tour will be over or almost over but she’ll still need to film Cats so it’ll be perfect timing. Then Karlie and Josh will follow suit not too soon but not too long either and she and Karlie can “reconnect” at some point in this timeline and start coming out more in earnest all within the next year or so before her next album is announced (and the sooner the better so people won’t wonder how she had time to write so many love songs about her) so that she can be even more open about it in her music in the next era and maybe MAYBE even use female pronouns or at least stop using male ones for good. That’ll go a long way in people starting to pick up on it (there was already an increase in Kaylors this era and how often she meets Kaylor fans and they haven’t seen each other - in public anyway - once since then). I think (judging by what all the big Kaylor blogs with sources have been saying anyway) that this has been their plan basically since they first got together in 2014 but then Kissgate almost outed them too soon so they couldn’t come out in the 1989 era and had to go WAY underground (but not at first or in a super obvious way) and still beard for a while while until they could find the perfect time to come back together and finally come out. (after she’s brave enough to renter the spotlight for the first time in a while and they both broke up with their boyfriends) I don’t think the engagement was part of the plan to begin with but after they realized they had no choice I think they just had to roll with it and it’s probably been hard and might set them back a few months or something but they’ve already been through a lot so I think they’ll survive this too and come out of it even better and stronger than ever. As to why I still feel this is their plan and nothing changed recently to cause or because of the faux engagement, like I said I just haven’t seen as much proof as there is to suggest they’re still together. For instance, they haven’t been seen together for a long time because they’ve been hiding but there’s really nothing to suggest they have any hard feelings towards each other and they’ve just seemed happier than ever the entire time even to this day. They were spotted a couple times together but photos were purposely not taken and/or posted or were quickly deleted. The album is filled with all love songs about her and no breakup songs despite supposedly having gone through two breakups, around when the album came out Karlie presented an award she won when she’d never been involved in country music before, she was left off the Junior jewels T-shirt because she doesn’t want her like a best friend ;) and I think her hanging out with Katy Perry was just click bait so the general public would still think about them in the sentence but would think (or at least wonder about it) they weren’t friends anymore so that the rumors would temporarily go away and everyone would believe whole-heartedly in their beards and not think they were faking relationships or cheating on them. Karlie’s Dad also told a fan (with the username reputationisaboutkarliekloss on IG) in February or March that they were still friends, when asked they kind of avoid the question but suggest that they are and Karlie still likes Taylor’s posts. Even Abigail liked the engagement post and would have no reason to care or even know let alone support her if she and Taylor broke up or were never together. Everyone knows and is in on it and all the big Kaylor blog’s sources have been saying they’re fine even after it happened. (And if they weren’t why would Taylor have still been so happy and seemingly gung-ho about coming out, or at least dropping gay hints, last night if she had no real reason to anymore?) So although I have no way to 100% prove that not having any sources myself I do believe they are in fact still together (and I personally believe have even been engaged for a while now but not everyone thinks so) and planning to come out to some extent within the next year. They’re smart girls who always have a plan when it comes to their careers so I think we just have to trust them, have faith in their process right now and just wait and see what happens before we make any snap judgements (I think the song with Hayley was just her trolling us/fueling the rumors so we won’t know what to think but will know we weren’t crazy about her being gay at least). After all they didn’t spend 4+ years being the perfect soulmates for us to be weak Kaylors! #Kaylorrisein20gayteen (or at least 2019) ❤️🏳️‍🌈☕️Ps. If you made it to the end of my long, unorganized response, thank you! Sorry if it was hard to get through but I hope it helped. Don’t give up hope! 😘

[nyabi132-blog]

Unique Artist

Okay this is my first ROTG fanfiction, and well it’s not a prompt just something I thought of, and I love winter (even if I can’t go outside and play in the snow). It’s so pretty and I just love it so much.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Rise of the Guardians (not sure if I need this here, but just in case)

Jack has travelled a lot in his 300 years of impromptu isolation. He had the Wind to fly him any place it wanted to take him. He never cared where he went. He just let the Wind take him wherever he needed to go and spread a little snow. It wasn’t like he had any obligations anyway, his schedule was always free. So wherever Jack needed to spread his snowdays, the wind would take him there. He often circled the globe to do his rounds of said snow spreading, routes of which were agreed upon by the other three seasonal spirits.

Despite popular belief, they actually didn’t bother each other much. That isn’t to say they liked each other, but they had a respect for each other's work, because they had similar jobs, and did their seasonal bidding where it made sense. For example, the spirit of summer wouldn’t make it hot in the Himalayas and the spirit of winter wouldn’t make it snow in July, unless it was supposed to snow in certain areas. They wouldn’t get in each other’s way and if they happened to cross paths, they wouldn’t even blink at the other’s direction. Just keep going. It was pointless to fight, they were immortal anyway and they sort of needed one another to flow into the seasons correctly. Plus they all had their own ways of knowing where their magic needed to be spread, weather it be the clouds or the wind. They understood that sometimes their fellow seasonals had reasons for what they did where they did it. They weren’t so gung ho about their seasons that they’d hurt one another for it. So they would accept the rare occasion of snow in mid fall or a bit of heat in December.

Anyway, Jack spread winter and snow all over the world for a very long time. He’s seen almost every place there is to see. From snowy tundras, to deserts. Although he only passes through those at night, he can’t really take too much heat. All the natural landscapes were beautiful. Flowers and sunsets, and the night sky with all the twinkling stars. From silver linings to the sun hitting a glacier or the water or even his ice just right.

Not only that, but he also has seen modern culture develop. People were forever changing, and technology was evolving. As the years progressed, bigger and more modernized buildings and inventions were made. Watching cities be built and people go about their different lives. It’s amazing how none of them ever did the same exact thing everyday and a routine would never once be repeated exactly. There was always something different.

Just like two snowflakes were ever the same.

With so many references there never would be two of the same kind of snowflake. It was impossible for Jack to think of the same thing twice when he thought about one topic it would flurry into a billion things that associated with it.

Jack loved drawing them too, albeit he never had the time to make every little snowflake, just the ones he likes most. He’d draw them in the frost on a window or in a little never ending notebook he kept in his hoodie pocket. He’d never put words to the snowflake, because the drawing was enough. It was unique and it told exactly what or whom it was based off of.

It was also a way to spend the summer months when snow wasn’t often needed or when he just had nothing to do and was bored. He’d draw whatever was on his mind into a snowflake. It was a good way of remaining positive, or at least not brooding about his seemingly sempiternal loneliness.  

It became like a habit more than a hobby. As a winter spirit he was supposed to be cold and emotionless. Jack was a bit wayward though. He wasn’t so much cold and emotionless as he was fun and mischievous. But it wasn’t often that he expressed deep emotions with anyone, it was just his nature. But there were tell-tale signs of what he was actually feeling and people who knew him knew what they were. Like when he was bored he’d draw snowflakes.

But no one really knew him.

So when he was at the North Pole with nothing to do, because he’d already pranked the yetis one too many times today, and froze a bit too many elves for Phil’s liking - even though sometimes he was grateful for not having to deal with those delusional imbeciles. He was sent to an area in the globe room as to not disturb anyone and to wait for North.

It was late spring and he didn’t have much to do, and he didn’t want to be in a hot place, so North decided that he should come to the work shop and just relax there for a while. Keyword: decided. Jack really didn’t have a choice.

But the big man was now working on toys leaving Jack to his devices. Which didn’t turn out to be such a good idea, because it left many toys to be broken. Not enough to set the ever busy yetis behind schedule, but enough to have North reinforce punishment. North was not going to act like a parent, though he should, he never did. Jack was 300 years old and capable of taking care of himself, but when it came to his own work, he felt it acceptable to lay down some rules. Even if he secretly did find some pranks funny, if he messed up the work by accident consequences would be reinforced to make sure it didn’t happen again.

 He sat at the window sill and absently frosting the window beside him deciding to make another base snowflake. He sketched on the window sill and his frost made it fairly easy to erase and he made multiple angles in different patches of frost. He didn’t know what he was drawing but he’d know once he finished. When he finished a rough sketch on the windowsill, he transferred it to his never ending notebook so he could add details. Every so often trying the designs on the windows first, as to avoid most eraser marks on the paper.

He didn’t get to finish because he felt someone walk into the area he was currently occupying and he turned around. But instead of a large Russian, or fury beast, there was an anthropomorphic rabbit. That threw Jack a bit for a loop, but he guessed it wasn’t unnatural to see the rabbit here. It was a few weeks after Easter, and he could sometimes find the bunny hanging around North’s workshop for insight with his fellow guardian.

“Hey Bunny. What’s up?” Jack greeted casually and letting his notebook slip between him and the windowsill absently.

“I‘m ‘ere on b’half o’ North, ya gumby.” the rabbit said crossing his arms and standing a bit taller.

“ But it’s May. North can’t be busy.” Jack said and cocked his head in a curious jester.

“Do ya know how many toys ya broke, Frostbite?” Bunny continued ignoring Jack. So that’s what this was about. It was really not a big deal. He hadn’t seen the Russian after the incident, but he figured on of his furry helpers told him. Bunny must have been there when he did and when North decided to blow it off like he’d normally do, Bunny didn’t like it. The rabbit always had a way of staying on track, no matter what. North wouldn’t do anything in this situation, but Bunny would.

“As I said it’s May. It doesn’t matter now.” Jack said and nodded his head as if agreeing with himself and started to focus his attention back on his highly detailed snowflake. Though he missed Bunny’s indigent stare.

“That ain’t the problem.” Bunny hopped a few steps forward. He wasn’t even sure that Jack was listening to him. “Ya could’ve set ‘im behind schedule.”

“And if I did, why isn’t he the one telling me off?” Jack asked not looking up from his notebook.  Bunny let his ears flatten against his head. Bunny swore he acted more like a 15 year old then a 317 year old.

“But what if it did? ‘e’d ‘ave ta fix the error and couldn’t come ‘ere ta tell ya off.” Bunny reasoned.

“It’s May.” Jack said again but distantly and half heartedly, he’d make this line just right- And just like that his notebook was yanked away by a furry paw.

“Hey!” he said and looked at the irritated bunny, “ I was doing something!” he said and stood up and grabbed his staff that was leaning against the wall and glared at the rabbit.

“Fer ye’re season?” The rabbits asked in a neutral voice.

“Well yeah, sort of.” Jack said like it was obvious. It really wasn’t, but he’s been working on that snowflake for well over an hour dammit. It’s not like it mattered though. No one actually cared what they looked like, it was just him who’d ever know what they truly looked like and represented. Bunny wasn’t ruining anything but his pride. And one and a half hours of drawing.

“Did I mess you up?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Why are ya so mad. It’s only May.” That made Jack stop. Bunny was trying to prove a point. And he did. Jack suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

“Okay, you proved your point. But I doubt North would want any of my help, I would offer it, but I’d probably make it worse. Then he’d really be behind. And for the record the season could’ve went on without that.” Jack said and Bunny raise a brow and looked at the book. “I mean I don’t need it, but I’m not finished yet so can I have it back.” Jack said rather then asked. He knew bunny would give it back. He wasn’t really paying attention to what the rabbit was doing as he turned back to the window sill.

“Are these snowflakes, Frostbite?” the rabbit asked and Jack swung around seeing Bunny flip through the pages of the incredibly detailed designs. Bunny would be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed, though he wouldn’t admit to any kind of talent, beside freezing stuff, the kid had. The detail in each one was insane. He looked up and the frost teen shrugged.

“I got bored.” the rabbit looked at him more which made him slightly uncomfortable. “It’s really nothing.” Then the rabbit spotted the planning in frost behind the winter spirit. In the temperatures at the North pole it wasn’t unbelievable that the frost stayed longer than usual.

“Fer nothing, it sure took a ton o’ planning, mate.” Bunny said matter of factly gesturing his head to the frost pictures behind him.

“I just didn’t want to get smudges on the paper.” Jack said because it was the truth. His lack of urgency made it easy to believe. Still deep down he was embarrassed someone had seen his private collection of ‘special snowflakes’.

“These are pretty detailed too. Must’ve taken some effort.” the rabbit raised a brow. It was pretty interesting, Jack’s comebacks weren’t as snarky as before. He wanted to see where this went.

Jack only shrugged “Not really. They aren’t really anything like yours or Norths.” Then Jack laughed a little, but there was no bitterness to it, or maybe a little. “Heck, no one even seems to care how they look.” There was some silence between the two for a bit then.

“North would take ya.” Bunny said, and it through Jack for a loop.

“Huh?” was all he could answer with a surprised and curious blick.

“North would like ye’re designs, mate.” Bunny rephrased “So do I.” he smirked at the shocked and disbelieving stare the frost teen was giving him. It was priceless seeing the usually carefree but guarded face so not.

“Wha- You don’t- it’s not-” If Bunny wasn’t getting a kick out of this before he sure was now. See the gracefully smug winter spirit trip over his words was a sight, and a funny one to someone who had a relationship with him like Bunny. He started to laugh and clutching his stomach.

“Wha? Bunny stop laughing! That was a joke right?” Bunny’s laughing died a bit after a while. He looked at the frost teen who had his eyes cast to the side. “You and North… wouldn’t really..?” He mumbled off the rest, but Bunny knew where it was going. In the three years he’s known the winter spirit - and like really known him - he could tell when a few things were off. But Bunny wasn’t much of a comforter, that wasn’t his type. So he tapped his foot twice and a rabbit hole opened beneath Jack and the unsuspecting teen fell through, he heard the indigent gasp and rolled his eyes with a smirk Bunny let himself fall through too.

When they emerged through the hole into the warren Jack seemed to have caught his balance again and gracefully landed on his staff balancing on the hook part.

“What was that for kangaroo?” Jack asked looking at the rabbit who just grabbed him by the hood and ignored the protests and threats of being frozen. He was finally placed down near the paintriver under a shady tree and there were paint brushes in a jar with some paints around it.

“What the heck! Why are we here?” Jack said head and eyes following the rabbit from his place on the grass as he sat next to him and Jack continued to glare at him.

“Would’ja quit complain’en, Frostbite.” the anthropomorphic rabbit said irritably and Jack promptly shut up. Bunny looked around for a second and picked up an egg. As he turned around Jack looked at him with an unamused look, which grew curious when the egg was placed in his hand. He looked back up at Bunny. “The paint brushes ‘re there an’ ys can use the paint river fer the colours you need and ya can mix it ‘ere.” The rabbit put a pallet in his hand that wasn’t holding the egg and pointed to the other materials and then sat down and picked up his own egg to start painting.

Jack’s face turned back to the unamused look and waited for Bunny to look up again.

“Somethin’ wrong, mate?” Bunny looked confused and raised a brow at the frost teen.

“Why are we here? What is this?” Jack said trying to keep his voice down which he had success in but the place where he was sitting was starting to frost over and it expanded.

“Snowflake, ye’re frosting the grass.” Bunny felt the need to point out and smirk.

“Okay, I’m upset. But you threw me down a hole and gave me a pallet and an egg with no context!” He didn’t like telling Bunny his emotions but there was no other way for the rabbit to know. It might’ve not been a big deal, but Jack didn’t like people knowing when he was upset when it actually mattered, because when it mattered the most it would just make others pity him and be upset that they wouldn’t know how to fix it. When it was trivial matters like this, he didn’t mind. He liked to think this was the worst of his problems, but it wasn’t and they both knew that. But they’d pretend for as long as they could.

“There ain’t no context needed, Snowflake.” Bunny smirked and went back to his egg. “Jus’ paint an egg.” Bunny paused to think for a second “Fer North.” he added

“North’s not upset.” Jack groaned.

“Okay, fer me.” Bunny said not looking up from his egg.

“Why would you be upset?” Jack asked irritably.

“Why does someone ‘ave to be upset fer ya ta do yer told?” if you listened closely you could hear the hint of exasperation.

“They don’t I just don’t see the point in this.” Jack mumbled. But they both knew the real reason, or at least Bunny did. Jack didn’t want anyone to be upset. He was the guardian of fun so obviously if no one was upset or sad he didn’t have anything to work with. Bunny understood that.

“‘kay, I’m upset yer talent’s ‘re wastin’ away in tha’ notebook no one’s gonna see.” Bunny said and Jack looked away a little and  Bunny sighed. “Jus’ paint an egg.”

“Just one egg?”

“Yeah, jus’ one.” Bunny agreed. And Jack picked up the paintbrush and started to paint. He decided to draw all the snowflakes that came to mind. Not anything special just to get it over with. He ambraid the background in blues, getting lighter as it went up and then in a darker blue and medium blue and white he painted snowflakes and as the background got lighter the snowflakes got small until about halfway up the egg they completely disappeared. They were fairly simple snowflakes, ones he could draw in seconds but none of them looked the same.

“There.” he showed the egg to the Easter Bunny himself and he smiled a little.

“Not bad, Frostbite.” Bunny smirked.

“Well, I told you I wasn’t good. It’s on you that you wasted one of your eggs.” Jack justified before he could be accused.

“I said they were good.” Bunny said with a bit of amusment.

“You said they weren’t bad.” Jack shot back.

“Which means they were good.”

“No.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“No it’s not.”

Bunny rolled his eyes. “Listen, ye’re good at this.” Bunny got up and walked over to Jack and knelt beside him. “And people may not see ye’re snowflakes, but they aren’t any less pretty, Frostbite.” He handed back the notebook he’d taken earlier and went back to his spot. “Ye’re allowed ta stay and paint more.” Bunny said not looking at Jack and grabbing the egg he was working on instead.

And Jack did stay.

So yeah that’s that! Snowflakes are really really detailed and they are so small. People don’t appreciate how different they are, and in that sense snowflakes are just like people, and that’s cheesy because we’re all different. But also snowflakes are like everyday, that’s confusing but like think about it. Everyday you do something different, even if it’s a routine, something is always different. So each day is like a snowflake. Unique.

[pro-sakura-pro-hinata]

Blossom Queen: Sakura Haruno

Addressed to @bitter-rabbit123​ who wants convincing on The Cherry Blossom Queen. 

https://bitter-rabbit123.tumblr.com/post/164731156034/make-me-like-sakura-im-not-a-fan-of-sakura-but-i

Honestly, I think before you can even begin to grow to like Sakura, you must first shed the vast misconceptions about who she is as a character. So I’ll have to start off with your arguments in your post first off:

For the most part, what you’ll see here is me addressing Part I Sakura. I have so much more to say, so just consider this my Part I post, but I’ll leave you with it and see what you think. It’s a long read, but as a big fan of Sakura, I have a lot to say on behalf of her. 

So, I’m going to address your Part II concern first, before delving back to Part I.

She lied to Naruto about loving him. I understand she was trying to save him, but claiming love that isn’t there to someone like Naruto? That’s just low. It was terrible of her.

Manga Panels:

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I’m going to come back to this argument later and address the rest of it, but for now, I’m just going to talk about the first part. 

This argument comes up a lot. But what I’ve noticed is that this whole scene is taken out to be Sakura doing some kind of injustice to Naruto. But here’s the thing: Throughout the entire scene, Naruto never believed her. As Sakura was talking about how much she is over Sasuke and into Naruto now, he immediately begins questioning her. He even thinks she’s making some kind of bad joke, and wonders if something happened.

What’s more, Naruto didn’t get angry at Sakura because she was lying about her feelings on his own behalf. Naruto was angry that Sakura stood there and lied to herself. That’s why he specifically says: “I hate people who lie to themselves.” Naruto was angry because Sakura was trying to tell him that she was over Sasuke, when he knows damn well she still feels strongly for him, Naruto was very adamant that Sakura loved Sasuke “so much” and even as she spoke about loving Naruto now, he had flashbacks of her feelings for Sasuke.

He never cared anything about her trying to say she loved him now. It was all bullshit to him. His issue came with the fact that Sakura was trying to distance herself from her own feelings, by making it out like he’s just a criminal now and therefore not worthy of her. Even though that’s not how love works. You don’t just get to decide that you’re over somebody and now everything is fine. Even if you walk away, your feelings still remain. Sasuke was going deeper in the darkness, they both knew that, but Naruto was angry and probably hurt that Sakura was giving up on Sasuke right in front of him. It was never about how Naruto felt about Sakura saying she loved him. It was all about how Naruto was angry that Sakura was trying to force herself to give up on Sasuke, and brush him aside, because he’s no longer worthy of her attention.

So while it wasn’t the best way for her to deal with the situation, remember that Naruto is smarter than that, and Sakura’s biggest downfall on that situation is that she underestimated Naruto.

Sakura as a child was awful. You will not convince me that Sakura then was a kind person.

Challenge accepted. 😉

Yes, Sakura in the very beginning was not very kind to Naruto. But besides the fact that the same held true for about 95% of the Konoha population, Sakura had her own reasons for why she was mean to Naruto. In chapter 3, when Naruto comes and asks her (while posing as Sasuke), what she thought of Naruto, this is what she had to say;

https://ww2.mangafever.me/mangas/naruto/naruto_3/naruto_3_16.jpg?v3

“He’s always getting in the way when I’m doing something important. And he enjoys to see me struggle. Naruto doesn’t understand anything about me. He’s just annoying.”

So in Sakura’s eyes, she doesn’t just dislike Naruto because everyone else does, or something. Her reasons are her own. Her reasons are because she interpreted how Naruto acted towards her, as him intentionally getting in her way and he does so because he enjoys to see her struggle with what she tries to do. In other words, he likes making trouble for her for his own enjoyment. Now, we knew that Naruto had a crush on her and that his way of getting attention (back then) was by acting out. Sakura had yet to really look outside of her own perspective to see that about Naruto, so she made this assumption about him and how he acted towards her. Was it a correct one? No, but you must look at it from her perspective in order to understand her motivations. Naruto was an annoyance to her for getting in her way on purpose and making things harder for her for his own enjoyment.

Hence why she acted so rude towards him.

Now, as far back as chapter 3, people have given arguments about how Sakura mocked the fact that Naruto was an orphan. I’m just going to address this (even though you didn’t), because it might come up: Sakura mocking Naruto about being an orphan never happened.

That scene where she talks to the real Sasuke about Naruto wasn’t about her mocking him for being an orphan. It was about Sakura not understanding the pain of loneliness. Something she grows to learn about later on in the series. She didn’t understand what Naruto and Sasuke were going through, and so she made assumptions based on her own ignorance. Sakura’s words were this:

“Well, he doesn’t have a normal childhood so…he doesn’t have parents! He can do whatever he wants. If I acted like that, my parents would ground me for months. He’s so lucky, all alone, with no parents to say what to do and what not to do. That’s why he always makes trouble.”

Now, as a child I can’t say I never thought at least once how nice it would be to live parent free so I can do what I want. Stay up as late as I want, watch tv, eating desserts, etc. Sakura is twelve years old here, and in a lot of ways, she has a childlike mentality, same as her teammates in some cases. Sakura never said; “haha, Naruto doesn’t have parents, sucks to be him!” 

She instead went on about how he is lucky that he doesn’t have to live with parental restrictions, people telling him what to do and when to do it. It’s why he can do whatever he wants, because that’s what a kid can do if they are restriction free. Sakura was ignorant here because she never considered the idea that Naruto not having a family means he would be lonely. That he wouldn’t have anybody around for him. That’s why Sasuke called her annoying and got mad at her.

Sasuke: “All alone. The feeling of a parent yelling at you, is nowhere near what he feels.”

Sakura: What’s wrong Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke: “You’re annoying.”

http://www5.mangafever.me/mangas/naruto/naruto_3/naruto_3_20.jpg?v3 http://www5.mangafever.me/mangas/naruto/naruto_3/naruto_3_21.jpg?v3

After Sasuke served up some truth, Sakura sat there and contemplated on things. She came to the conclusion that she should try to be nicer to Naruto.

She was selfish, she was verbally and physically abusive to Naruto, she was self-centered and honestly just plain mean.

Sakura was selfish in the beginning, this is true. She also wasn’t very nice to Naruto at all. But this was in the beginning. Sakura showed clear signs of development from how she was in the beginning, as far back as early Part I. There are moment even before the Chuunin Exams where she begins to acknowledge Naruto’s strengths and is even admiring them to an extent. But I think the biggest show of her clear improvement and change in perspective when it came to Naruto was the Exams.

As early as the first exam, Sakura showed her growing care for Naruto. The 10th question is an excellent example. Sakura was willing to blow the exam for herself and Sasuke, all to make sure Naruto doesn’t feel like a failure. She didn’t have to do it, she also had no idea that Sasuke didn’t care about passing the exams, so as far as she knew, she was willingly dropping out, at risk of Sasuke being upset with her for it. She didn’t care about keeping his favor and just letting Naruto be that idiot who failed them all. 

She only thought about how she didn’t want Naruto’s foolish dream to be destroyed. She didn’t even really believe at that point that he could really make it happen, but still, she couldn’t sit there and let him look like a fool in front of everybody. Not after all the talk he did earlier, not after all of his gung-ho about becoming Hokage. She didn’t want him to feel like he let her and Sasuke down or like he let himself down, so she was ready to take the fall for him. These are not the actions of someone who is simply self-centered and just plain mean.

Manga Panels:

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Sakura in the Forest really showed her growth in how she thought about others. Especially Naruto and Lee.

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She admitted to herself that she always lectured Naruto and acted as if she was this great ninja already, but in reality she was the one who could do nothing while he and Sasuke fought. And how Lee showed how much he cared by putting his life on the line to shield her. Sakura felt like she learned from all of them and wanted to be like them.

The third Exam, Sakura really shows us that she used to believe that Naruto was all talk, but that he proved her wrong and she frequently cheered him on and believed in his ability for victory.

Manga Panels:

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She figured out what he was doing in his fight with Kiba and was internally cheering for him as well.

Manga Panels:

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Sakura breaks off her friendship with Ino over Sasuke:

This is another argument I often see against her, and this is something I’ve addressed as well below.

http://pro-sakura-pro-hinata.tumblr.com/post/164041259510/when-its-2017-and-people-still-think-sakura-only

Again, this is just my Part I post, I have plenty more to say, even about her Part I self, but I’ll soon get into Part II, either tonight or later on. Just let me know your thoughts here.

[allmydokkuns]

B r UH IM VIBRATING IUT OF MY MIND RN YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW I JUST-- where do I start??? I was half asleep when I posted this tbh but some of the stuff you got here is just lovely to riff off of if you don't mind!!

I feel like Huaisang as the older brother would be really cool to see? Like we know he's perfectly capable of leading a sect even if it wasn't how canon Mingjue might have foreseen, but my theory in MingCheng sect swap is that since Huaisang is older, then that explains him going to the Cloud Recesses several times and that would explain Qinghe's friendship with Gusu right? Xichen would still be the same age range so I think they would become friends! I have a hard time imagining Huaisang as being as gung-ho about saber proficiency as canon Mingjue but like I said earlier, he's already proven he doesn't need to be on a battlefield to win the war if you know what I mean. But I feel that unlike Mingjue Huaisang would say "fuck it" and go digging for any kind of options that might help Jiang Cheng overcome the family curse, so to speak, ASAP, bc while Huaisang knows how to defend himself he also has a younger brother with anger issues that will predecease him if he doesn't do anything about it, and he's not inclined to marry young and pop out babies ffs.

For me here the basis of Huaisang's and Xichen's friendship is Huaisang's refusal to cultivate in the same way that got his father killed, so his fighting style when he does utilize it is not recognizably purely Nie, it's more like Nie this, Gusu Lan that (bc you can't tell me he wouldn't absorb stuff he's seen from Xichen), "low blow" there... Whatever works to keep him alive, + casting away his pride to beg Xichen and the Grandmaster for anything that might help his younger brother.

In terms of sect matters... I think Huaisang and Jiang Cheng would hot potato between diplomatic/trade relations and the martial discipline side, with Jiang Cheng usually taking point for fighting and Huaisang for most other things since he's older, kind of what people usually fanon for the Twin Jades in Gusu dynamic, except I headcanon their duo name to be the Twin Blades of Qinghe Nie!! As the heir Huaisang would have had more prep in the way of tactics and stuff, so that + his natural tendency to plot for the long run when he's sufficiently motivated would take him far enough to become quite the force in the Sunshot Campaign!!

In this dynamic I still see Qinghe Nie picking up Meng Yao though it'd be Jiang Cheng being pissed at how discriminatory ppl are probably? When Huaisang first ascended to leadership he probably had (and still has) been ridiculed for an apparent lack of swordsmanship (kind of like how people were perturbed when WWX didn't carry Suibian anymore?) so talk shit about Nie Huaisang, get hit by Nie Wanyin? They're part of a sect whose founder was a butcher ffs don't go pretending you're better than him kinda vibe. You could make the argument that since Mingjue picked him up originally he should still do it even though he's a Jiang now but Madam Yu is Madam Jin's sworn sister, and she probably won't tolerate a bastard son whose existence is a glaring neon sign that Jin Guangshan is a piece of shit husband very well...

Anyway imagine Meng Yao, Jiang Cheng and Huaisang all colluding together to stage Meng Yao's desertion so he still becomes their spy, except Meng Yao now has 2-3 people he knows will have his back in the Campaign (assuming he still ends up in the right time and place to shelter Xichen, because Xichen is integral to the effort). Also Jiang Cheng has nobody to be measured against but his da-ge, who never picks up a saber if he doesn't need to, bc why does he need to when his little brother and entire sect is perfectly capable of being his strong arm in public? Jiang Cheng being confident in his place in his Sect and his da-ge's regard?? VERY good fucking food!!

That argument for Xue Yang being taken to Yunmeng is interesting and if you could find a way to make it happen I'd love to see it tbh!

If we give Huaisang and Jiang Cheng the same age gap as there seems to be in the canon Nie bros then Jiang Cheng is much more likely to befriend WWX and co and also maybe stop WWX from punching out Zixuan, what if Gusu Trio was JC, WWX and JZX instead??. Also, the age gap and difference in status between Huaisang as Sect leader Nie and Jiang Cheng's cohort means that due to etiquette the other sect heirs aren't likely to try and befriend Huaisang, but that's fine because Huaisang has a friend in Xichen and also Meng Yao as he comes along, and quite possibly has a whole network of scholarly friends, etc. However. HOWEVER.

May I present to you the idea of "known each other since childhood and actually get along" Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji?? That is some good fucking food that I almost never get to eat in this fandom and I'm marinading in my salt! Also!! Instead of Lan Wangji having absolutely no friends outside of his brother imagine him not understanding why he Feels Things around Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng being like "bro... BRO..." Like. I bet Huaisang would bring Jiang Cheng with him to Gusu and I feel like Jiang Cheng's natural seriousness and devotion to his sect would click more nicely with LWJ than Huaisang's canon young self.

In Yunmeng Jiang, I think Mingjue's sense of morality would let him let go of the need of Jiang Fengmian's approval easier than Jiang Cheng; basically, "I love those who love me back," so he would put his energy into sheltering Yanli and WWX from the sad state of affairs that is Madam Yu and Jiang Fengmian's marriage, and avoid that landmine by focusing on his duties as sect heir.

I kind of favor Mingjue as being older than Yanli, with a smaller age gap than JC and JYL, but it might also work the other way around as long as WWX is younger than them both. If Mingjue is second oldest or even the oldest like... Imagine... I give you, Madame Yu teaching Mingjue how to wield Zidian (or a spiritual whip similar to it, which then translates into Mingjue being able to kick the everliving fuck out of Wen Chao and co. after Zidian passes into his hands after the Massacre of Lotus Pier, which also means Core-Melting hand or no, Wen Zhuliu doesn't get the chance to get the best of Mingjue + WWX fighting together as a true duo, though they still need the Wen sibs to hide them and they still get separated and bc Wen Chao is shit WWX still gets dropped in the Burial Mounds (bc demonic cultivation still needs to happen, but again, Mingjue backs his brother and the Wen Remnants so no one dies. And Meng Yao has no need to plot against Huaisang because he has no reason to doubt Huaisang's support, and they can work together to kick Jin Guangshan in the crotch.)

Tl;dr even if you take nothing else away from this I'll sum it up for y'all:

Nie Huaisang as the General behind the Sunshot Campaign

Jiang Cheng Nie Wanyin being able to support, love and be proud of his da-ge without the parental nastiness

Jiang Nie Mingjue and Wei Wuxian fulfilling the Yunmeng Shuangjie-sized hole in our hearts

Jiang Mingjue wielding Zidian like he deserves, + Nie Wanyin with a saber as mighty as his intolerance for petty bullshit!

Meng Yao, having true support from Qinghe Nie and Gusu Lan (+Yunmeng Jiang if he got to study with WWX and co), flipping the bird at his piece of shit sperm donor

Y'all where are the NMJ and JC polyshippers at like can you imagine the kind of lovely fanart that we could have if more of us jumped on the bandwagon like

Mingjue in cord wrapped or ribbon wrapped braids instead of just the coils, or if it's one of the Jiang sibs doing his hair like small wrapped braids in his ponytail if you're leaning more towards donghua Mingjue

The wrapped braid style is something I remember seeing on both CQL Yanli and WWX but not on Jiang Cheng and I'm a bit sad about that tbh

Actually just like let Mingjue have hair ribbons too like I know that's WWX's kind of thing design wise but I feel like da-ge could rock it too? Like it can even be black or gray ffs but with subtle gold or bronze colored threads to catch the light depending on which design you prefer

But also like JC in the Qinghe Nie coiled style with specially commissioned floral hairpins sounds cool too... It's hard to imagine him in a color that isn't purple but I feel like properly reimagined it could work! Like the small hair ornaments that pin da-ge's braids to the sides in CQL do look floral to me, though it's hard for me to tell squinting at my phone but!! In an AU where Nie bros gift him smth, my bet is it's gonna be some kind of hair ornament I mean Huaisang gave MY one of his own... This is all in some kind of vague polyverse where no one gets betrayed and dies btw but I feel like JC could use a bit of love and affection in the form of somebody other than himself doing his hair for him

Also I know some people have done sect swaps for fanfic with Xicheng but I feel like doing it for MingCheng, NieLan, etc would be a really cool challenge tbh. Not just the writing of it but seeing what other ppl come up with would be so cool??