#I just know about it and think a triceratops would be cooler

[albino-parakeet]

Death Stranding but the Gold Mask Lion is a Triceratops instead

[sarifel-corrisafid-ilxhel]

Goddammit, I had a whole answer I reblogged to the wrong blog by accident, and it didn't copy/paste correctly. Ok, lemme see if I can remember it. I think the Animorphs would be able to acquire some JP dinosaurs. While it's true the raptors are generally aggressive to humans (Some fans speculate this is due to trauma from how the humans treated them - see the discussions surrounding "The Big One" from JP1), we also know humans can approach some dinosaurs with ease (see the sick triceratops, also from JP1). If we assume the dinosaurs are loose and living in California, maybe Cassie's barn takes in sick wild dinosaurs just like it does any other animal.

I mean, I can totally see Cassie putting a velociraptor in a headlock to feed it medications. She'd do it with ease and then Rachel would quietly gush about how Cassie is so much cooler than people give her credit for.

The question for me then becomes Does Tobias Still Get Stuck As A Red-Tailed Hawk or Does He Get Stuck As A Velociraptor, because no starry-eyed dino-nerd can resist acquiring a JP velociraptor, even if they're totally inaccurate frog-lizard-bird-chimera-things.

I think Ax would feel a certain kinship with Stegosaurus. They both eat plants and they both have Thagomizers. Or maybe he prefers Ankylosaurs when he has to morph? The heavy armor would be useful, and some Ankylosaurs are small enough to fit indoors while still wielding a mean tail-club.

Do you think, if the Jurassic Park/World movies existed in the same universe as Animorphs, the animorphs could acquire the JP!Dinosaurs?

On the yes side:

DNA is DNA, even if it's weird DNA

The andalites (+other aliens?) are technologically advanced enough that it's possible they've come across genetically engineered creatures before and the morphing cube takes that into account

The animorphs could acquire both dog and wolf DNA, the dog is a sort of "genetic mutation" of the wolf. (I know it's not literally.)

On the no side:

While the animorphs did travel back in time and acquire dinosaurs in one of the megamorphs books, those were Real Dinosaurs, but the JP ones aren't Real; they're genetic mutations created to fit a capitalistic impression of what dinosaurs "should be".

While they can acquire both wolves and dogs, both animals have canine-DNA, while the JP!Dinosaurs have a mix of different DNA

They might not be able to get close enough to the dinosaurs for it to matter/it may be too dangerous (Can they get close enough to a raptor without the other raptors attacking?)

On the ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It depends side

It's possible that they'd be willing/able to acquire some but not all dinosaurs; think about how Cassie felt weird acquiring a whale due to it's intelligence. Would she be comfortable acquiring a raptor?

I don't even know where the fuck JW!Hybrid dinosaurs would fit tbh

[mattkeepsrambling]

Random Rambling: Thoughts on the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World Series

In preparation for Jurassic World: Dominion, I decided to rewatch all the Jurassic movies. Here are my thoughts

Jurassic Park: -This is a perfect movie; I have no notes. -I have watched this movie over a dozen times, and I just now noticed that Lex grabs Dr. Grant's hand when they are going to see the sick Triceratops. -I watched this on HBOMax (despite having it on Blu-ray), and whatever transfer they are using, while great, makes the special effects look dated. It made me realize that the version of the movie I own is the last version I will buy. The special effects still hold up on the disc I own. -Seriously, this is a perfect movie.

The Lost World -This applies to every single sequel (except the third). No one learns the lesson of "Jurassic Park." This is a bad idea. Don't do it. Yet…everyone seems to think they can do what John Hammond couldn't. -That kid is so annoying. -Do you know how many people die in the original? 4. Every sequel needs to up the ante and makes the deaths more brutal. This is also a flaw in this and the four other sequels. -The high shot of the raptors walking through the tall grass as they hunt is fantastic. -The T-Rex on the mainland could have led to something interesting. It just ended up being a knock-off Godzilla.

Jurassic Park III -This is my least favorite of the Jurassic Park movies. -Another annoying kid. -I have always hated the fact that the Spinasauras kills the T-Rex. To me, that says, "Screw that old movie. This is a more dangerous dinosaur. This movie is cooler and scarier." I will have a similar thought when we get to "Fallen Kingdom." -We have established that raptors are intelligent. This movie makes them super-intelligent creatures who can play tricks on their prey. The first one we see is laying its head behind a jar of formaldehyde (I think) to fool the humans into thinking it is a specimen in a jar. It is an idiotic scene. -I do not buy Dr. Grant's motivation to return to the island. He knows how dangerous it is, and no amount of money should change that. -The reveal that they are on the island to find a kid is dumb. It also turns Mr. and Mrs. Kirby into the most insufferable assholes in the movie.

Jurassic World -I will fully admit that I still love the reveal of the original T-Rex at the end of this movie. It is 100 percent a cheap nostalgia trick, but I love it nonetheless. -I forgot how insufferable Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is as a character. Chris Pratt's Owen is not much better. -I remember liking this movie initially, but I have very much soured on it since I last watched it. -The two kids are less annoying than the one in "The Lost World," but no one will ever be as great as Lex and Tim from the original. -I have always hated the death of the assistant who is looking after the kids. A Pteranodon picks her up, and as it flies away, the Mosasaurus leaps out of the pool and eats them both. This has always been the cruelest death to me. It is very excessive for a character who didn't do anything to deserve it. The lawyer's death in the original is easier to take (he just abandoned the kids at the first sign of the T-rex moments before he is eaten).

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom -For being such a massive part of the marketing, Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Malclom is barely in the movie (and he might be one of the only good things about the movie). -The only reason I am invested in this movie at all is because of Blue (the velociraptor). I care about her more than any of the humans. -One of the reasons I dislike this movie is that it is confirmed that the brachiosaurus who dies as our heroes leave the island is the same one that Dr. Grant and Dr. Sadler see when they first get to Jurassic Park. That is a pointless bit to include and a slap in the face of the fans of the original. -I cannot count how many times I said, "The movie is so stupid." during its over 2-hour runtime. Stupid things happen, characters say dumb things, and the plot gets so stupid. I would rather watch "Jurassic Park III" again.

[echoghost1]

The Paleontologist and The Princess

Word Count: 2218

For: @aggressivelyclueless

Summary: Danny had one true passion; Paleontology. So can anyone really blame him for getting excited when he thinks he comes face to face with a dinosaur? Even if it isn't a dinosaur after all.

You can read it on AO3 or down below the cut

"Actually, Dad? I wanted to be a paleontologist." Danny admitted as he tried not to squirm in his seat. Sitting this close to the portal felt weird.

It felt like all his hairs were standing on end and that he’d jumped into an ice-cold pool at the same time.

“You know, dinosaurs?”

Just because both of their fields involved dead things, didn’t mean he was at all interested in ghosts. The closest he wanted to be to death was the bones of the ancient creatures who used to roam the earth, not the spooky floating scary things that went bump in the night.

His dad prattled on about the inventions that might not even work. Completely ignoring him, as per usual.

Of course, ever since Danny had got the portal to work last month, his parents had decided that meant he was their lucky charm and he needed to be around when they turned on any and all of their inventions from now on.

He hated it.

Mostly because they were right and everything just worked better, or at all, with him around. Probably because the inventions kept picking him up as a ghost.

Somehow his parents just kept thinking it was a fluke. That he only had some minor contamination and it would wear off eventually.

He was pretty sure that wasn’t true.

Especially given how he had fallen through his bed this morning and had gotten his hand stuck inside his doorhandle when it had partially phased through and then resolidified before he could pull it back out.

That had hurt.

He flexed his hand at the memory and really just wanted all of this ghost nonsense to go away.

================================================

It had been almost two months since his accident and his powers had only gotten stronger. They definitely weren’t going away anytime soon.

Although, he was starting to see the silver lining now. With his abilities, he could explore underground areas and discover fossils and specimens that no one could reach before without disturbing a thing. That was definitely a positive with such ancient and delicate things hidden deep within the earth. It was like they were waiting just for him.

So now whenever his parents called him down to the lab to show off their newest invention he’d just think about how cool and easy spelunking would be with the perks of ghost powers.

“Hey, Danny! Want to try out the Fenton Fisher?”

“Fenton Fisher?” he echoed looking from his dad’s fisherman get-up to the open portal.

“Yeah! I figured fishing and hunting aren’t too far off and I already enjoy the sport anyway. Might as well combine it with my work, am I right?”

Danny just chuckled and shook his head. You couldn’t say his dad wasn’t creative.

“Here, hold this. I’ve gotta go!” his dad said as he jumped up from his seat, pressed the fishing pole into Danny’s chest, and raced up the stairs.

Danny readjusted his grip on the pole and stared into the portal. The swirling green was somehow both super off-putting and oddly inviting.

He wasn’t sure which thought was worse.

Before he could truly think that over, Danny gasped as his ghost sense went off, “Oh no,” there was a tug on the line

The line went taut and he felt the vibration and tug of something very large.

Without enough time to react, Danny just stood there, in the open lab completely exposed, as two large clawed feet stomped out of the portal. Then a large reptilian head emerged from the vortex. Its glowing blue scales shining brightly more from the light the creature produced than from the shine of the scales as they reflected the lights of the lab.

Danny blinked at the massive creature before him. He hardly reacted at all when it spit out the hook onto his head and snarled at him.

All he could think was that there was something that looks suspiciously like someone had mixed a Tyrannosaurus Rex with a Triceratops in his basement. Or at least, the ones depicted in movies anyway.

There was a real-life dinosaur in his basement. Or a real ghost dinosaur anyway.

He didn’t know dinosaurs could be ghosts. Or that ghosts could be dinosaurs?

He couldn’t suppress the manic grin spreading across his face as the beautiful creature snorted hot breath through its nose at him.

He was so going to die.

If Jurassic Park taught him anything it was that being eaten by a dinosaur was the S-tier death.

The creature took another step forward revealing that it had large leathery wings sprouting from its back.

“You’re a dragon!?”

Forget being dino-chow, dragons were way cooler!

The dragon tilted its head at him. Like it could understand him.

It could understand him!

“Hi. You’re amazing! Did you know that?” Danny said full of awe and wonder as he dropped the fishing pole and just took in the absolute beauty of the literal dragon before him.

The dragon’s features went from confusion to surprise and suddenly instead of a dragon, there was a girl.

She wore a blue dress that went down to almost the floor, or it would have touched the floor if not for the fact that she was floating a good foot above it.

Her blonde hair was done in a braid and her bright red eyes looked over him with a mix of confusion and apprehension, “You do not fear me?” she asked with an accent that reminded him of that old Shakespeare movie Mr. Lancer had played in class two weeks ago. The movie was so old that it was only on VHS.

He shook his head, “Why would I?”

“But I’m a cursed beast.” she implored almost as if she wanted him to be afraid of her.

“Well, who told you that?”

“My step-mother.”

“That wasn’t very nice of her.”

The ghost girl looked away, “she rarely spares me any kind words.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Still,” Danny took a step forward but stopped when she took one back, “If you want to talk about it, I’m all ears.”

If he didn’t have to fight he would gladly take that option. Fighting was exhausting and he always ended up getting knocked into a wall or something and his back was not at all enjoying the experience.

“You really wish to hear of my troubles? You don’t even know me?”

“That’s an easy fix,” he smiled, “I’m Danny, what’s your name?”

“Princess Dorathea of Mattingly,” she replied as she cautiously took his offered hand and just stared at their clasped hands as he initiated the handshake.

“Wow, I’ve never met a Princess before.” he chuckled as he let her hand go, “Or a dragon, but before today I figured my chances of meeting royalty were a bit higher despite not living in England.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Danny.” she curtsied and he scrambled to give a quick little bow back. “I do apologize for appearing here when I was so distraught. I do try to keep my temper in check, but sometimes it gets the better of me.” she clutched the amulet on her neck as her gaze went nowhere in particular, “But such is the curse.”

“You turn into a dragon when you’re upset?” Danny asked hoping he was interpreting what she was saying correctly. This fancy English was a bit difficult for him to translate.

“Yes.” she dropped the golden amulet back onto her chest, “But you are the only person outside of my family that does not fear the sight of my enraged form. Why is that?”

“Dragons are cool?”

She cocked her head to the side, “Cool?”

That was right, she spoke fancy English, she probably didn’t use modern slang. “Neat? Uh, awesome?”

“Do you find my other form more appealing?” she asked and her pupils flashed momentarily into reptilian slits.

“No, no! Both forms are great! You look pretty either way.” he said in a rush as he realized his earlier eagerness to die had left and he very much did not want to die in his basement.

Again?

“You think I’m pretty?” she asked as she blushed.

He blushed too because he’d never just said that to a girl before. Even if he had thought it. “Yeah.”

“That’s awfully forward of you.”

“Sorry! I don’t normally say stuff like that.” He wasn’t even sure why he had in the first place. “I just, uh, weren’t you upset about something?”

He grimaced at just how terrible of a transition that was.

“Oh right. Honestly, I shouldn’t have gotten so upset.”

“It’s okay to be upset about things.”

“Not if your me. Not if your anger makes you dangerous. And all over a silly ball.”

“Ball?”

“Yes, there was this wonderful ball I wanted to go to but my horrible stepmother forbade me to go.”

“Ah, I see she’s really trying for the Mother of the Year award.”

Dorathea just stared at him.

“Sorry. Sarcasm doesn't always work. My bad.”

“It’s quite alright. I just didn’t realize it was a joke at first. I think I get it.” She thought for a second and then smiled, “Yes. It’s funny because she’s terrible?”

“Yeah! It’s ironic.” he shrugged, “I really like puns and wordplay. Sarcasm is like my default setting.”

“There’s nothing wrong with using one’s wit. ‘Tis better to disarm thy enemy with a quick tongue than a hidden dagger.”

“Well ain’t that the truth!” he said with a smirk and a finger gun. Then he quickly dropped the finger gun, because it was both, kind of lame, and also she probably didn’t know what that gesture meant anyway.

He had a feeling that the Princess wasn’t just wearing that outfit because she was into vintage fashion.

“So a ball is like a dance, right?”

“Yes, there is dancing, and food too.”

“How come your step-mom said no to the ball? Besides just being the worst.”

“I had no escort. But it’s all moot now. The ball was ages ago. I’ve long since missed my chance to go.”

“There’s a dance at my school this Friday. It’s not the same, but-” he was cut off when she gasped.

“Are you asking me to go with you?”

Was he? “Yeah? I mean if you think she’ll let you. I don’t want to get you in trouble or anything.”

“Tell me everything!”

He walked over to the chair his Dad had previously occupied and pulled out a flyer from his backpack, “Everything you need to know is on here!” he said handing over the page.

She beamed in excitement and hugged the paper tightly. “Oh, I can’t wait! Thank you so much for this Danny!”

“Meet you here at 6?”

“It’s a date!” Then she flew off back into the portal.

================================================

The next morning Danny walked up to his friends and attempted to show off his best smile.

“What have you done this time?” Sam deadpanned before he even had a chance to get a word in.

“What makes you think I did anything?”

“No one enters this building with a smile that big. Now spill.”

“I,” he hesitated, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But you did do something, didn’t you,” Tucker added.

Who’s side was this guy on?

“I just have some news.”

His friends just stared at him.

He may be half-ghost but they certainly could give him the spooks, or Sam could anyway.

“You know how there’s a dance this Friday?” he started, hoping if he just came in real gentle they would be super understanding and not laugh in his face.

“Go on,” Sam said as Tucker looked between the two as if expecting a showdown.

“Well I got a date and I think it would be really neat if you guys came too so you could meet her.”

He smiled again and tried not to think about how much it felt like a grimace.

“Wait, when did this happen?” Tucker asked at the same time that Sam glared harder.

“Who is she?”

“Dora? She’s not from around here. I think she’s British?” he put a finger to his lip in thought, “Or at least I think that’s where she’s from. I didn’t ask, but she’s got the accent.”

“When did you meet a potential British girl?”

“Last night.”

“I thought you went home after school?”

“I did. That’s where I met her.”

“You meet a girl and immediately asked her to the dance?”

“Was she wearing a Land Before Time shirt or something?”

“No!”

How dare his friends think he was shallow enough to only ask a girl out if she happened to be into one of the best-animated movie series ever made. Although he probably would, now that he’s thinking about it.

“So what is it about her that’s so mesmerizing?”

“I didn’t say that! She was just upset because she missed this big dance a while back and I just invited her to ours to cheer her up. Plus she’s really nice.”

“And?” Tucker asked knowing him far too well.

“And she has this nasty little habit of turning into a giant dragon when she’s upset.”

His friends just stared at him.

“Also she’s a Princess.” he bit his lip and finally added, “and a ghost.”

[the-faramir]

Midori giggled a bit as Ferenir touched her hair. "I'm glad you enjoy my hugs. Plenty more where that one came from. Some people find my platonic affection to be a bit...intense (to be fair, I don't bite as much now), but I'm happy that you tolerate it. Sorry, didn't mean to smother you with all my floof. I guess if I had shifted into human form without all the fur, it would've been cooler for ya in the heat." She looked up at her friend. "But, yeah, the shape-shifting is a little...weird for me an' I can get self-conscious an' these clothes get itchy on the skin with no fur AND no underwear an' why am I tellin' you all this? Ha ha, sorry, but you make me comfortable an' I just get to talkin' 'bout things." She nudged her shoulder into Ferenir's arm for emphasis.

"AHEM," she cleared her throat dramatically, "anyhow, ice cream. Yes. I think I saw an ice cream parlor that's still open an' has some treats to sell as I was on my way through town. Let's go there!"

Midori walked beside Ferenir, her shorter legs moving in double-time to keep up with his long strides. "I heard tell of this ice cream shop in Absalom called Cone of Cold. Run by a kitsune spellcaster—they call her The Icecreamancer—who uses her cantrips to make some of the best ice cream ever! Hopefully, this thing with the xulgaths will take the circus to Absalom, an' we'll be able to check that place out.

"So, I'll tell ya about the triceratops meat, but first an' more importantly, 'cursed by shadow monsters'? That sounds...kinda bad." Midori glanced around furtively. "Are they followin' ya right now? Are they some sort o' ghosts? I could try tellin' 'em to step off an' leave ya alone." She turned around in a circle as she walked, vocalizing to anybody within earshot a series of whispers and sibilant hisses that those in the know would recognize as Necril, the language of the undead. "There. Did that help? Did they leave?

"Oh, an' a baby slime? Sounds adorable! Yes, show me your Booby!" Midori froze, her eyes widening. "PHRASING!" she interjected, "that sounded dirty! Sorry 'bout that. Yes, please introduce me to your friend.

"Now, the Feywild, you say?" Midori continued, "That's the First World: another plane of existence, right? Zookdar, from my adventurin' party, is a gnome an' he's mentioned havin' ancestors from there. What did you think of the place? Nice place to visit? Bunch o' friendly folk?"

@steel-and-fire

Ferenir turned around, searching for the voice and coming across his little, furry friend.

He smiled widely, he hadn't seen her since her tent burned that night, although the wonderful performance and the bravery of everyone as they fought off the xulgaths had remained with him.

"Hey, Midori! It's you!", he hoped over to her, his steps nearly having him fly through the distance. He smiled widely, his turquoise colored eyes softening.

"You seem well, I'm glad to see."

@the-faramir

[taiblogcomics]

A Day in the Life of the Ravagers

Hey there, arachnophobes. Another Ravagers review for you, then? We'll be about halfway through the series at this point! Not taking very long at all, is it~?

Here's the cover:

Boy, this one's busy. Like, Superboy's front and center, but you can't focus on him. You can't focus on anything. Why is Beast Boy a dragon? Is that a thing he can do? Why is Fairchild up there in the window hanging out with Niles Caulder instead of practising with her team? Why do they keep unzipping Terra's top? Why are they so insistant on Tron lines that they've implanted them on Ridge's skin? I also never understood the practicality of Danger Rooms like this. What's the use of smashing up your own tech? Who rebuilds it all?

The comic starts similarly to the cover, but addresses several of my complaints. First, Fairchild is fighting with her team. Second, Ridge has his own Tron bodysuit like the others. Third, Niles' Danger Room appears to be done with holograms rather than robots. They're fighting dinosaur holograms, which is probably cooler than robots. Niles tells them that unlike NOWHERE, he has an open exit policy. They're free to leave if they wish. He then admits to an off-screen person, he has no idea what he'll do if they actually take that option.

Naturally, Beast Boy decides to act out every kid's fantasy, and turns into a Triceratops to fight the T. rexes. As they fight, Niles narrates all their powers to his unseen companion (and also as a benefit to the audience). Even Thunder is up and around, which is pretty good considering he was on death's door last issue. They defeat the dinosaurs, and Niles tries to have them do it again. Fairchild puts her foot down, though, turning off the simulation and taking the team out for lunch or something. Niles sighs, disappointed with his lack of control, and signs off with his mystery guest. The guest turns out to be Tim Drake, communicating by hologram. Tim tells Niles that if they get out of control, the Titans will back him up.

Out and about, Fairchild gives the gang each some money and a cellphone and just tells them to enjoy themselves. There's also a handwave of Niles using some tech to disguise them, so that's how BB and Ridge can just casually go about town. Ridge is fortunately not wearing a polo shirt today, just a white T-shirt. But he is wearing a cowboy hat, which is really incongruous with the very British idioms he keeps using. "I look like the dog's breakfast! If I ever get my hands on the prats what did this to me--" I think that'll make him stand out more than being Humongosaur's miniature cousin~

Before they can settle and unwind too much, Niles suddenly calls them back for a mission. So the whole "let's let them outside for a bit" scene was entirely pointless. Anyways, they're given another change of costume. I guess those other ones were just workout clothes? They're still better than the Tron outfits and Ridge ditches the cowboy hat, so I don't mind that much. And while everyone gets prepped, Thunder and Ridge have an aside to try and look into Niles' stuff when they have a chance. His tech is just a little too close to NOWHERE's for them to not be suspicious.

Off they go, on what's promised to be a simple retrieval mission. But of course, nothing can be simple for these kids, and it turns out the retrieval is for our old friends Windshear and Bright Eyes. Bright is right, because the comic is now coloured with a heavy amout of whitespace and shadows, and it does actually hurt to look at from how stark it is. But yeah, it turns out these two are not dead, and have been reprogrammed and upgraded by NOWHERE. They're here to try and bring back our heroes, and they don't particularly care how bloody it gets to do so.

Fortunately, just because they've had their powers upgraded, it hasn't exactly sharpened the intellect on ol' Bright Eyes and Windshear. Windshear ends up knocked out when Ridge just jumps out of his way, letting Terra bring up a rock wall in front of him. And Bright Eyes is dealt with by Beast Boy going for her eyes with bird talons, and Thunder then just unleashing on her when she's distracted. But of course, nothing's that simple. New trainees don't go out alone, after all. And their supervisors are now here to clean up their mess: Warblade and Rose Wilson.

You know what? This issue isn’t too bad. It might be the best issue of Ravagers yet, actually. The fighting is kept to a minimum, and it focuses a bit on introspection between the characters. Honestly, I would have preferred it if we’d had even more time with the kids having their free day. It barely focused on the other three, only really checking in with Ridge’s issues. But oh well. Probably won’t get to much of it next issue either~

[superdigo-blog1]

12 baby outfits for every occasion you can get at Carter’s

12 baby outfits for every occasion you can get at Carter’s (Photo: 12 baby outfits for every occasion you can get at Carter’s)

— Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission.

Best Baby Hair Oils

Whenever a new year rolls around, I immediately find myself evaluating my wardrobe. What kind of pieces do I want to keep as we move into a new year, and in this case, a whole new decade? Do I get rid of some of my many black sweaters (never), or buy a new pair of cute but ultimately weather-inappropriate shoes (extremely likely)?

It makes sense to take stock of your wardrobe as a new year dawns, and why shouldn’t that extend to your kids, or even those of your friends and family? We all know someone that’s having a baby in the new year. Whether you’re shopping for your own kids or buying up some baby shower gifts, get moving on keeping the babies in your life cute and seasonally appropriate in these 12 seasonal looks from Carter’s.

1. For the baby that stayed up to watch the ball drop (or at least wanted to)

This onesie is ideal for ringing in the New Year (or sleeping through it). (Photo: Carter's)

Sometimes, in order to hang with the adults, you need to be the best dressed in the room, and what’s better than wearing a onesie? Give your favorite tiny night owl this starred black and white onesie, which will work perfectly for New Year’s and will (hopefully) make you smile when you’ve gotten up in the middle of the night—again.

Reviewers noted that this onesie runs a bit large, but suited their bossy night owls very well.

Get the Night Owl Side-Snap Cotton Sleep & Play for $7.99

2. A cuddly sloth set your loved one will love

These PJs are perfect for Valentine's Day. (Photo: Carter's)

Valentine’s Day is cute in a way not too many other holidays are, so it’s fair to say that giving a gift that’s very cute wouldn’t be out of the question. Anyone you give this adorable sloth Valentine’s Day pajama set to will adore it—who doesn’t love sloths?

This interchangeable four-piece set features Valentine’s colors and some sweet, three-toed friends—what’s more, there are two versions available, so you can select the exact color design you want.

Get the 4-Piece Valentine’s Day Sloth Set for $21.60

3. A seasonal dress with prehistoric pizzazz

This adorable dress comes in two designs: dinosaur and flowers. (Photo: Carter's)

It’s crazy how often dinosaurs crop up in kid’s clothes designs, but it’s not without reason; you’ll keep any baby occupied in this dino-covered dress, which is perfect for spring photos or concerts. The print is dynamic and includes fan favorites (read: personal favorites) like triceratops, brachiosauruses, and more.

Combine this dress with these unicorn boots for a perfect getup to wear during spring showers.

Get the Floral Dinosaur Sateen Dress for $20.40

4. A bunny suit for the most enterprising of egg-seekers

Does your baby love the Easter bunny? Why not dress like him? (Photo: Carter's)

Picture it: Easter morning, a very cute child in this floppy eared jumpsuit, and the aforementioned rain boots. It’s almost too cute to think about. This bunny suit is a perfect pajama option or great for running around the house, and the sherpa material ensures that it’ll keep your giftee very cozy and comfortable.

Reviewers bought this bunny suit in every season, and many noted how soft it was.

Get the Bunny Hooded Sherpa Jumpsuit for $16

5. Koala overalls for the cutest aspiring tree climber you know

Can you help but smile when looking at that precious koala face? (Photo: Carter's)

May is crazy between last-day-of-school events, fluctuating temperatures, and graduations galore. Most people are looking for a quick, cute option that babies can stay in all day. Never fear, this adorable koala onesie is here. With a neutral palette and short length, reviewers noted that this set is perfect for summer weather, and is easy to take on and off, so even the most active babies will love it.

Get the 2-Piece Striped Tee and Bear Shortalls Set for $21

6. A swim set with a perfect theme

Whale on a shirt for babies? Yes please. (Photo: Carter's)

I’m pretty biased on this one. As someone with a deep love of all things cetacean, this swim rashguard set had me in absolute tears. The adorable shirt and trunks duo is perfect for any beach vacation, or even just days by the pool, dreaming about white sand and distant whale spouts.

With a UPF of 50+ and long sleeves, this set will keep your favorite little guppy protected from the sun and free from skin irritation.

Get the Carter’s Whale Rashguard Set for $30

7. A mix-and-match set that’s perfect for tiny patriots

Are you really celebrating the Fourth of July if you're not wearing red, white, and blue? (Photo: Carter's)

There’s nothing more American than red, white, and blue, but it’s also nice to have options. This three piece set lets you choose which of the three classic Fourth of July looks you want to highlight, and will also keep your kiddo cool and comfortable in the summer heat.

Get the 3-Piece Floral Little Short Set for $19.50

8. Overalls for end-of-summer picnics

Do you think my mom would get another pair of matching overalls with me? (Photo: Carter's)

Overalls are back, baby. As someone who had matching overalls with their mom when I was a baby, I couldn’t be more thrilled to see this look making it big again.

There’s nothing more summery than a pair of denim overalls, and this classic OshKosh pair boasts a short length and sweet striped straps. With a white tee underneath and a gingham blanket on the ground, this classic look is sure to make grandma and the Gen Z cousins smile.

Get the Patch Denim Shortalls for $17

9. A cardigan for the kid who loves “The Land Before Time”

What's cooler—the hoodie, or the spikes on the hood? (Photo: Carter's)

As a Libra, I’m partial to September for a lot of reasons, but the main reason comes in cable knit, turtleneck, mock neck—you get it. Sweater weather is the best weather, and this sweet dinosaur cardigan is a perfect whimsical neutral for a month that moves from hot to cold in the space of minutes. Reviewers loved the texture of this sweater, noting that it was soft and lightweight enough to be a great layer.

Get the Dinosaur Hooded Cardigan for $14.40

10. A Halloween costume that should be worn year round

This works as both a Halloween costume and frankly, a great outfit for grocery shopping. (Photo: Carter's)

Why be a unicorn for Halloween when you can be a unicorn of the sea. Narwhals are perfect creatures, and your baby giftee can be too in this narwhal costume, complete with striped lavender shirt and leggings and the cutest little tail. I can’t begin to describe how much joy just this image brought me.

Other versions of this set are available with sloth, dragon, and panda themes. Why not collect them all?

Get the Little Narwhal Halloween Costume for $15.99

11. A bodysuit to amuse every football fan at Thanksgiving

Pass the pigskin! Oh no wait, that's a baby. (Photo: Carter's)

This, admittedly, made me chuckle. Dress up your favorite tiny sports fan in this amazing football bodysuit. Made of soft cotton rib and sporting long, cozy sleeves, pair this bodysuit with these turkey socks for a look that everyone will be giving thanks for.

Reviewers loved this look for football season and remarked on how soft it was. There are also versions of this look on Carter’s website that are team specific, so check it out if you’re trying to foster early team devotion!

Get the Football Collectible Bodysuit for $6

12. The cutest, coziest set for opening presents

Keep your baby as cozy as this polar bear in a scarf. (Photo: Carter's)

As an adult, my Christmas morning look has really gone downhill from my baby days. What’s the fun in a morning of opening presents if you can’t hang around in your pajamas all day? This wintry two-piece polar bear set will keep your baby warm and cozy, and is neutral enough to be worn every day, not just once a year. Be warned—these pants are so soft, your baby might doze off mid-unwrapping.

Get the 2-Piece Polar Bear Sweater & Fleece Pant Set for $13.99

The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest deals, product reviews, and more.

[jurassicwinchesters]

Summer Nights (Owen Grady x Reader)

Summary: when the reader’s new job turns her into a workaholic, Owen decides to take measures into his own hands. 

Pairing: Owen Grady x reader

Word count: 1600

Warnings: maybe some swearing?? but mostly just lots and lots of fluff

This was just a short, sweet little story that popped into my head today, enjoy!!! xoxo

Everything was a mess right now. Owen was busy with the raptors and Hoskins, my best friend Maya was back in California visiting her sister’s baby, and I just got promoted to overseer of all herbivore exhibits. Basically I was swamped every night, and so was Owen so we had no time to see each other anymore, and my best friend, and roommate, wasn’t even here to talk to about everything. I desperately needed a twelve hour nap and a bottle of tequila.

I slammed my phone back on the receiver, frustrated with the incompetent interns. All I asked for was for them to get the security team to sedate and relocate the sick triceratops, but for some reason the kid couldn’t figure out how to complete the simple task, and a tourist got hurt because of it. Now my ass was on the line for a stupid mistake an intern made. At least I would have the wicked pleasure of firing the kid.

“Here is the paperwork regarding the issue in sector seven today,” my boss said, dropping a thick stack of papers on top of my desk.

“Wait, Ms. Dearing, what happened in sector seven? I thought sector three was the only one with issues today,” I replied quickly, before she could walk out of my office.

“A worker took a bad hit to the leg from an apatosaurus tail, he might have a broken femur,” she responded with a smirk, clearly she was enjoying my drowning in paperwork. Claire and I used to have a better work relationship, until she found out Owen and I were dating. I don’t know if she was jealous or angry or what, but I honestly think the only reason she gave me the promotion was to dump twice the amount of paperwork on my desk as before, preventing me from ever getting home in time to see Owen.

“I’ll get right on it then,” I mumbled, she nodded and exited my office. I stood up and closed the door behind her, before returning to my desk and calling the number for my favorite takeout place. I knew it was going to be another late night.

“Babe it’s nine p.m, when are you planning on coming over for dinner?”

“I’m sorry Owen, it’s just the triceratops scared the tourist, and now the worker broke his leg, and I have a whole stack of paperwork to finish, on top of the weekly reports I still have to file, I just don’t think I’ll make it over tonight,” I explained sadly. I could hear him sigh at my excuses on the other end of the phone.

“Alright, but will I get to see you tomorrow night at least? It’s saturday night, you can’t be working that late again,” Owen whined, clearly as frustrated as I was about my new workload.

“I’ll try my best to get out by seven, at the earliest, but no guarantees.”

“Well, seven is better than nothing, I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you,” Owen told me sweetly.

I smiled as his words before telling him I loved him too and hung up. I stared back down at the mountain of paper below me, already feeling a headache coming on. I just sighed and took two advil before resuming my work.

-

The next morning I woke to the sound of a door slamming. I jumped up, realizing I fell asleep at my desk, again. I rolled my eyes as I looked at the clock, noticing it was only seven a.m. I got up to refill my coffee cup, before settling back into my chair, beginning my busy work once again.  

My day was filled with staff meetings, memo letters, and dealing with people who were unable to do their jobs. I fired two interns by noon, and had to deal with three visitors who claimed to have been attack by a baby brachiosaurus, which quite frankly, I didn’t think was possible. I could feel my body tense up with more and more stress as the day went on, and I really just wanted to see my boyfriend. I was also dealing with a lot of homesickness at the moment.

Summer was always my favorite season at home; days filled with sand and sun and salty hair, evenings occupied with bonfires and s’mores and night swims. Even though the weather was always summertime weather here, I still knew that it was mid-July, and my evenings should be filled with stargazing and drinking around the fire, not paperwork and unnecessary customer complaints. I just wanted to have my freedom back, I craved the feeling of not having a care in the world as I skinny-dipped with friends, or took night rides in the jeep with all the doors off.

“Miss Y/l/n, someone’s here to see you,” my assistant said from my doorway, snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded and dismissed her, looking up to see Owen walk through my glass office doors.

“Owen! What are you doing here?”

“I came to bust you out of this place,” he said with a confident smirk. He walked over to where I sat at my white desk, pulling me out of my leather chair.

“But, I’m not done yet, and if I don’t get these reports in my tonight Claire will have my head on a stick,” I rambled on, before glancing down at the time on my computer. “Holy shit, it’s eight-thirty already?”

“Yes, which is why I decided to take immediate action and go straight to Claire. You’re good to leave for the night, I have a fun evening planned for us. You need it anyway, I’m starting to get concerned for your health,” my boyfriend said with a laugh as he eyed me up. I rolled my eyes at him, even though I’m sure I did look like shit, and then took his hand as he dragged me out of this dreaded building.

-

After we arrived at Owen’s bungalow, I showered, threw on a swimsuit and one of his old t-shirts, per Owen’s instructions, before joining him outside. When I saw what was waiting for me, I was about ready to burst out in tears.

There was an old loveseat sitting next to a crackling bonfire, pillows and blankets were piled on the cozy looking couch, making it look very warm and inviting. An open cooler sat next to it, stocked with beers, and a tray with all the fixings for s’mores sat on the picnic table. Old rock played softly in the background, coming from Owen’s ancient radio he fixed up. But that whole setup wasn’t even the best part.

I looked past the bonfire to the dock that led into the lake. Candles lined the dock, all the way to the end, where my boyfriend stood. The water surrounding the dock was sprinkled with lilies and lily pads holding more candles. Owen stood at the end of the dock with his swimsuit on. I laughed out of pure happiness as I ran to where he waited for me. I practically jumped into his arms, and he swung me around, chuckling at my enthusiasm.

“You really did all of this for me?”

“What kind of question is that. Of course I did this for you,” he replied as I looked up at his face. At his answer, my tears really did start to fall. He brushed the away with a swipe of his thumbs, before pulling me in for a sweet kiss. I melted into him, letting everything other than him slip out of my mind in this moment. I pulled away long enough to strip down into my swimsuit and yell, “Last one in the lake has to cook breakfast tomorrow!”

Owen suddenly grabbed my waist, and pulled me into the water with him. I let out a playful scream as we hit the water, falling in all tangled with each other. The water was warm and silky on my skin, feeling very refreshing. Owen and I roughhoused and swam in the water for a while, it could’ve been minutes or hours but I couldn’t tell, there wasn’t any measure of time in this moment.

After drying off and changing into clean clothes, we snuggled into the loveseat. The fire was still hissing and crackling, and the coals were nice and hot, making them perfect for roasting marshmallows. We both slid a marshmallow on the end of our sticks, and roasted them to perfection. Except perfection according to Owen was burnt to a crisp. We laughed over his inability to even cook a simple s’more, and then we stuffed our faces with the gooey deliciousness.

“How you managed to get marshmallow on your nose is beyond me,” Owen laughed at me, wiping the tip of my nose. I just smiled up at him and planted a sticky kiss on his cheek. I laid back on the couch, curling into him as he wrapped his arms around me. He pulled me in close, and kissed my forehead before leaning back and looking up at the night sky.

We laid in each other arms in silence for what seemed like hours, just watching the night sky. Thousands of twinkling stars glittered above us, and even the occasional shooting star made an appearance, making us both shout out ridiculous wishes everytime. As I lay there I listened to the lull of the music, the crackle and pop of the fire, and the chirping crickets off in the woods, the night truly couldn’t get anymore ideal than this.

“I love you Owen Grady, thank you for this, I really needed this,” I told him, breaking the silence.

“I love you more Y/n Y/l/n,” Owen said back softly. He leaned over to kiss me deeply and swiftly, sending tingles down my spine and butterflies in my stomach. He pulled me in closer, making me feel safe and warm. Quite honestly, I would be content just to lie out here in Owen’s arms forever.

[betterbemeta]

Hey what are your top 5 fav dinosaurs

what an excellent question.

HONORABLE MENTION: Therizinosaurus

So let’s take like, a goose or something. And let’s give it arms with 2-foot long claws, the longest claws of any known animal in history. 

No skull has ever been found so we have no idea how it ate. If we ever discover one, I expect our assumptions are going to change drastically about this animal. I can’t say it’s one of my favorites because we just don’t know enough about it to really ‘know’ it. But damn if those claws haven’t said ‘Hello!’ 

5. Baryonyx

qualities: long, cool claws, adorable snappy face

Baryonyx was one of the first dinosaurs we discovered ate fish, from fish scales found fossilized in its stomach area.

4. Triceratops

A classic boy. There are cooler looking Ceratopsians but I still like Triceratops for how its big head frill is entirely bony, rather than a hollow sail covered by skin. 

I always thought it skull looks wise or kind. I like to think these were a little like Cretaceous bison. Out of all of the dinosaurs I feel like it would be a spiritual experience to pet one of these on the nose.

3. Kentrosaurus

A spiky boy!!! Look at how thorny he is! Hug if you dare!

if good ‘ol kentrosaurus thagomizes you, you get damn well thagomized

2. Allosaurus

You may recognize this dinosaur as the one in my icon. It’s been my favorite theropod for a long time, partially because while the T-Rex was larger, Allosaurus has always seemed more interesting to me. It’s skeleton is also much more beautiful than the skeleton of the T-Rex, at least in my eyes.

An interesting feature about the Allosaurus is its unusual head and the red-hot discourse about it. The gape angle of the Allosaurus’ jaw is wider than that of many Tyrannosaurids, and the skull itself is unusually strong… but the bite strength is relatively poor. Theories abound about feeding habits, like if it was a ‘flesh grazer’ (taking a bite basically and letting the prey run away), if it caught prey like modern big cats with its forearms and took multiple bites to subdue it, if it used its neck muscles to rip or tear at flesh rather than biting it off just with its mouth, etc.

The patron saint of biting off more than you can handle.

1. Gastonia

HELL YEAH. Covered in massive spikes, armored all over its body, with a tail lined in sharp bone spades– my boy Gastonia had his priorities straight. 

Its whole butt was covered in one big fused bone plate, and its very skin was studded with ossified scutes. Gastonia was ready to rumble. You would roll like water off his back. Discovered by James Kirkland in 1998, it was found in the same environment, in the same geological strata as Utahraptor. This early cretaceous son of a bitch survived the largest known Dromaeosaur species in its immediate environment– and we have more known and complete material of Gastonia than any other ankylosaur. We’re either super lucky to have found a fossil bed with so many specimens, or Gastonia didn’t just survive but thrived with gigantic raptors longer than it was running around.

[reversemoon255]

Toy Discussion: Expanding the Gimmick - A look at Super Sentai beyond the one year

I've hit a week where I have no toys to talk about and no model kits built. It happens, and was bound to when I started doing a weekly schedule. I've brought up "Expanding the Gimmick" on multiple occasions when talking about Sentai toys, and thought it might be fun to talk about that in more detail by designing one or two new toys for a certain year that takes the gimmick and expands upon it in ways the line never did.

You have to remember that each Super Sentai, and by extension each accompanying toy line, only runs for a single year before it ends. Even if the designers want to do more with their ideas they have a certain number of toys they can produce and a time frame to design and produce them in. It's a shame, because some years could be toy lines in and of themselves, and I'd like to talk about five years in particular that I think have potential for more toys outside of the handful we got.

1992: Iguanadon Zord/Guardian Beast Iguanadon and Mammoth Zord/Guardian Beast Mastodon

While it doesn’t have a gimmick, I wanted to talk about the toys from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger/Might Morphin Power Rangers S1 for one big reason: if we actually made toys this would be the season to start with. Zyuranger might not be the most well recognized season in Japan, but in the states MMPR is heavily iconic and any new unofficial product would garner more attention if based on this series. It's the idea of "let's make something popular so when we do something less popular we'll have some money to fall back on."

I had two toy ideas for new MMPR toys. My first idea was an Iguanadon Zord, which in the 90s was depicted as a bipedal, herbivorous dinosaur with spikes for thumbs. Nowadays, it's depicted a little differently, but in the spirit of things we're going to be going with the lumbering lizard interpretation. The toy itself would have a similar body-type to the Triceratops or Tiger Zords, with a folding tail, small hands that retract into the torso like the Tiger's rear legs, and large legs that are pushed up and pulled down directly into the body. I also imagine it being bright green because the Dragonzord is not.

It's certainly not the most exciting or original idea when compared to some of the others we'll be discussing, but it does present a new color and silhouette to an existing lineup. It's more a sampler of "here's something new,” and allows for variation and variety.

The second idea I had was for a Mammoth Zord. I came up with this one when trying to think up a way to have a sixth Zord combine with the Megazord in a non-conventional way with its existing engineering. While I don't have as clear a mental image of a transformation, I imagine it forms a punching or shield arm and that there's a triangular or trapezoidal wedge that unfolds from the bottom of the Mammoth that has the C-Clips necessary for it to plug into one side of the Tyrannosaurus, then have the Mastodon fold in and clip into the back of the cube and the Pterodactyl clip into the front to secure it (you could probably spin it 180° to plug it in either side). The Mastodon arms are capable of moving around 135° on their hinges, so it gives plenty of leeway for it to plug into something on that 135° extension from its origin, though it may sit forward in an odd way.

And to list off a few vaguer ideas; you could do more replacement Zords, like a different chest plate instead of the Pterodactyl (more visual variety), you could do something meant to combine with Titanus to make him even more armored or attempt to make him a Megazord, or maybe a large Zord that can split into three parts to form legs and arms for the Dragonzord without needing the Mastodon, Triceratops, or Saber-Tooth Tiger.

2005: MagiCyclops and MagiSagittarius / MagiKnight

On the other side of the ocean, Magiranger was extremely popular, and I've brought up several times that MagiKing is one of my favorite toys. It was so popular that it got an upgraded re-release long before Super Sentai Artisan was even in concept. So if MMPR is how you hit the heart of the western Tokusatsu fan, Magiranger might be the go to for the eastern fan.

However, unlike the Guardian Beasts, there is actually some expansion to be done here. Magiranger had two things going for it: interplay between toys and chest plates. When I was coming up with ideas for what toys could be done here, I decided it would be best to find a middle ground between MagiKing and FireKaiser. MagiKing is MagiPhoenix plus four other Zords that combine into a Dragon, and FireKaiser is MagiPhoenix plus a single Zord as a ridable horse. A middle ground would be two or three Zords that can combine together to form a head and body for MagiPhoenix to pilot.

I eventually came up with MagiCyclops and MagiSagittarius: two Zords that combine into a MagiKnight of sorts; a new torso unit for MagiPhoenix. In my head, MagiCyclops would have larger legs and would split apart like the Dragonzord/Dragon Ceaser to have them become arms, and have MagiSagittarius' horse half swing down and split to become the legs, with the torso either splitting as well or forming part of the spine. The twist I put on the interplay idea was to have MagiCyclops and MagiSagittarius not combine with each other to form a larger auxiliary Zord, but to have each of them combine with two of the MagiDragon Zords to form new combinations. MagiGaruda and MagiTaurus could combine with MagiCyclops to maybe make a Griffin, and the other three...I didn't get that far yet.

Part of the reason I want a new torso unit is because I'd like a new center chest piece for MagiPhoenix. While MagiPhoenix can combine with Travelion, it requires MagiFairy, the same chest center as MagiKing. That's fine, but I like how FireKaiser has a slightly different feel to its chest with the addition of a new center. It's, again, an issue of variety, or in this case lack of it. It's cool that you can change out the center of the chest to give it two different feels, but it'd be cooler if you had more options.

There are other things you could do with this line, too. You could have a new warrior-like Majinn with Cyclops and Sagittarius that could form another new chest plate any Magiranger Megazord could use. You could do new train cars for Travelion that form more weaponized limbs. You could do one or more Majinn that can combine with MagiKing in a more traditionally Sentai way. There's plenty of untapped potential.

2015: Dinomaru V2, Tankmaru, Soccermaur, and Racermaru

I really like Dinomaru. It's one of the most interesting remolds Super Sentai has ever done, talking an elephant butt and making it a dinosaur. It's really ingenious. But hear me out...what if instead of using Paonmaru, they used Dragomaru? And I know your initial thoughts might be that turning an elephant butt into a dinosaur is way more interesting than turning a dragon into one, but Dragomaru has two things going for it that would make it more interesting as a combining toy than as an individual one: it's also an arm, and it's not a standard robot combination.

When you look at all the auxiliary Otomonin (Paonmaru, UFOmaru, Surfermaru, and Dinomaru) they're all very similar in that they're interesting individual toys, but boring in terms of how they combine. Each just sits inside of Shurikenjin the same as Shinobimaru, and that would probably be fine if Shurikenjin Drago didn't exist. Drago is just so much cooler than the other four, changing the basic shape of the Megazord, adding new parts onto it, extending outside the confines of the seat; it does a lot the others don't, and it's a pack-in to boot. And the worst part is, they probably planned on doing more than they released, as Shurikenjin has a set of C-Clips on the sides of its legs that go unused in every combination.

So while I don’t actually want to make a Dinomaru V2, it’s a good example of missed potential in this line. The option to have a big, orange dinosaur arm would give Shurikenjin a bit more variety in its base appearance since all that ever changes between its combinations is its chest and head, and replacing the shield and sword with extra parts that would allow Shurikenjin Dino V2 to actually look like a dinosaur rather than a robot would make it a lot more interesting than it being just a standard robot like all the other Otomonin. It could even have two combined modes: one where it’s an arm and uses its shurkien head with Shinobimaru as a center, and one where its the center and changes the form of the robot (basically repeating Dragomaru’s play pattern). Ultimately what I feel the toys from Ninninger lacked the most is that variety in transformation.

For a few other ideas, what if you had a Tankmaru that had you fold up Shurikenjin’s legs, slap big treads on them, and hook a big cannon to the top of the shuriken? What if you had a Soccermaru that had a replacement piece to swap out for Wanmaru to give it a weaponized leg and new goalie hands similar to King Shurikenjin? What if you had a Racermaru where you just replace Resshamaru with a race car or have it hook into its sides with those aforementioned C-clips, and have Shurikenjin lean forward and grab handles or a steering wheel? Maybe even have a specific neck piece so it could look forward in that position. There are a ton of crazy and outlandish things you could do with this line, especially since the Zords from Ninninger have no defined theme other than some slight ninja-aesthetic-ing. And that’s not even covering new Zords to swap in for limbs, rather than the center.

2016: Cube Polar Bear, Cube Horse, Cube Whale V2, Cube T-Rex, Cube Brachiosaur, Cube Dolphin, Cube Doves, and Cube Ants

When I saw the first sketches for Cube Rhinos, I misinterpreted it for something completely different than the final product. I thought I saw a normal-sized Cube Animal that unfolded into a short rhino-themed car and that the trailer transformed into a cage that folded around Cube Rhinos, which would even match the themes of having a Ranger fighting against their own will and the constant use of “unleashing.” Ultimately that isn’t what we got, getting something a lot larger but more simple, but we can still take this idea and run with it.

Since we don’t want to re-use an animal, it’d be better to do an animal that fits the cage or carriage theme better, like a Cube Polar Bear or a Cube Horse. Have that Cube Animal be just like the others, but have it able to pull the trailer and utilize said trailer as its arms when it becomes an upper torso piece for a Megazord. I can even imagine how a Cube Horse might transform, with the outer edges of the cube being its legs, and having the four sides fold up onto the top of the cube to become an animal, which would also give it more height than all the other Cubes.

Then there’s Cube Whale, and while I like the idea of having a giant cube that turns into a giant animal or robot, it doesn’t actually look like any recognizable geometric shape. My idea for a Cube Whale V2 is a lot simpler, with instead of it being one big cube it’s three normal ones. If you stack the cubes together A-B-C you can fold out and transform all the necessary parts and have it become a whale, and if you stack them C-B-A it becomes the basis for a standalone robot, also allowing for interplay with the other Cubes. I would say we’d want to do a different animal, but I honestly can’t think of any other animal that’s that big, so our choices may just be a different special of whale, a giant squid, or something like a Brachiosaur.

Speaking of dinosaurs, that could be a cool idea for another Cube, making one that ends up being bipedal, like a Cube T-Rex, to give some more variety to the line-up, perhaps having the cube be oriented as a diamond like Cube Wolf so it doesn’t look like a square on stilts.

I’ve always wanted to do a Cube that transforms to be very tall as well, so if we don’t do a Cube Brachiosaur for the Whale V2 idea what if we made one a normal cube, but have an entire half or quarter of the cube be the neck, folding upward like Cube Lion, then have what would be the sides of that transformation chunk fold upward onto each other to form two halves of a head, giving it roughly 2.5x the height of the other Cubes.

It would also be neat to see a Cube that folds out to be long and skinny, like a Cube Dolphin, that has both the front and back of the cube unfold like Cube Shark, then have them fold down from the top to give it a more triangular shape.

We could also take a page from BeastBox’s book and do a Cube that separates into multiple animals, like a Cube Doves or a Cube Ants depending on how many you’d want.

As individual toys, I feel like Jyuohger has the most untapped potential of all the Sentai toys I’ve handled, just because the idea was so simple yet so clever. It was this line that got me excited about the aforementioned BeastBox, which is how I still manage to get that Cube Animal fix all these years later.

2017: Phoenix Voyager V2 Inspiration

I brought this up briefly at the end of the Zyuranger section, but I like the idea of a Zord that forms a large torso unit (the Dragonzord, PatStriker, GokaiGalleon, Go-Buster Ace) and there being a single Zord that replaces all of its limbs. This has happened once with KyutamaJin, the combination of Leo Voyager and Phoenix Voyager. I’ve reviewed it. It sucks. While the base idea is something I like, it required you to take the Kyutama from every other Voyager in order to make it, leaving them all useless and unable to form, say, Cerberios or Ryutei-Oh. The only thing I’d change is making it so that that doesn’t happen.

Now, do I want this to happen in Kyuranger? Probably not. I’ve brought up that I don’t like Kyuranger very much, though if someone actually made an unofficial toy like that I’d probably still buy it. I’d rather it happen with the other toys I mentioned.

Doing, say, a Zord to go with the Dragonzord in this style not only gives additional play value, but since it would most likely combine with it the same way the other Zords do, you could potentially swap them onto the T-Rex. Not to mention you could display the Megazord and Dragonzord Battle Mode together without doubling up on limbs.

For PatStriker, it would be easy to do another large, stylized vehicle, probably something different than what we’ve seen previously. I think a PatCopter might be the most fun, as you could turn the helicopter blades into one or two giant swords.

It’d be pretty easy to come up with one for GokaiGalleon, as you’d just need to pick a Sentai that doesn’t already have a toy in the line, most likely one from Go-Busters onward since they don’t have an associated Power. Honestly, given the existing play pattern, it might be better to make something to replace GokaiGalleon in a combination, as Kanzen Gokai-Oh is formed with GokaiGalleon, Goryujin, and Machalcon, but not the four original limbs. I would suggest either a Gokai Dumpmaru or a Gokai Good Striker since their forms would work well if modified.

Lastly, Go-Buster Ace could also use a single armor-up Zord. Since Tategami LiOh uses all the other Zords (including Ace’s sword), having something to boost its performance and give it a weapon would be fun. It’d be neat to do an actual Hippo or Puma Zord (referencing Doubutsu Sentai Go-Busters) that splits into 5 parts and a mask. The Hippo would probably have the correct mass for it, though I don’t know what an appropriate vehicle mode would be. Maybe a Tank or Drill Tank?

Again, these are just rough ideas, as to why there isn’t as much transformation in this section compared to the others, but it’s still an idea I’d like to see. There are several lines where not every one of the starting Zords is used in the final combination, and having Zords that utilize those Zords for the purposes of a completed display (kind of like what I did with my Jyuohger collection with the customs I did) is appreciated from a collector standpoint.

????: TyrannoCherry, AnkiIce, and MothLemon

Now, I know I said we’d only be talking about five years, but there’s one more thing I want to cover. A lot of this discussion is based on the unofficial Transformers market. If you don’t follow that market or don’t know about it, there are a lot of small companies out there that produce a variety of different products, be they upgrades, accessories, or full toys that work with or heavily resemble existing Transformers characters. However, one of the issues I have with this market is it’s heavily reliant on nostalgia. To my knowledge, there has only ever been one original character ever released, FansProject’s Steel Core.

I think this is a distinct advantage Super Sentai fans, as a market, have over Transformers fans (no offense), but because Super Sentai is a series that is designed to change yearly, we are more open to changes in aesthetics and design. Hence, original toys in the style of Super Sentai.

I’ve mentioned a couple times that my production company put forth the idea of doing a Sentai parody, then while my producer was doing research on his own also discovered Pepsi Man, which ultimately impacted the show’s direction. This project is now defunct, but I still have the concept sketches I did for the show, Kouryou Sentai Seisoger, a dinosaur and soda can themed Sentai. (I swear it’s not that weird; Kamen RIder has used soda cans at least three times.) I’d love to be able to one day make a (toy) scale version of the Megazord I designed for it, Soda King, as while it is still another dinosaur-themed robot I took quite a number of unique takes on the idea.

Soda King, as I designed it, is constructed of three Zords. Part of the overall design aesthetic is that all the Zords are cartoony and super-deformed. TyrannoCherry is a super-deformed T-Rex with cherries for eyes that are connected by a stem to form a head crest. It has large feet to counterbalance the weight of its enormous head, and the entire torso and legs form the legs of the Megazord combination, with the super-deformed T-Rex head becoming the entire torso (which was the inspiration for the super-deformed nature of the Zords in the first place). One additional feature I was pretty proud of was that TyrannoCherry’s jaw connection was a double-ended soda can, and you pop the pull tabs to expose the female connection points for the arms to attach.

AnkiIce and MothLemon are both pretty similar. They’re a blue Ankylosaur and a yellow Mammoth, again with super-deformed heads, whose heads swivel on a 90° axis to form shoulder pads as their bodies form arms. Each was also supposed to incorporate translucent plastic into their designs, with the spikes on AnkiIce’s head and back made of translucent blue plastic in the style of ice, and MothLemon’s ears being translucent yellow plastic made to look like lemon wedges.

I bring these three up in particular, not just to get a fun story out there and talk about a design I’m personally proud of, but also to bring up the point that, even if no one decides to ever produce any unlicensed Super Sentai toys, I’d just like more toys in the style of Super Sentai in general. It’s the reason I bought Solar Saver. It’s the reason I’ve still got my ear to the ground on those Giant Saver/Space Deleter/Rescue Engine toys. I just like this aesthetic and would like to see another take on it.

Think about it; what if there was a line in the style of Super Sentai that ran for more than a year? That ran for three or five or just always produced compatible or combining robots? I would be excited to see that.

Closing Statements

I’m a big fan of Sentai toys, and it’s sometimes sad to see certain lines end before they hit their full potential. I’d like to see more toys, whether they be official, unofficial, or just in a similar style. Did I have to write an enormous essay to get that point across? Probably not. But it’s just an idea I’m that excited about.

And I’m curious, you two or three people who read this entire thing, what do you think? Do you like or dislike any of my ideas? Do you have any of your own? I’d love to hear other people’s takes on this kind of thing. I’d also like to know if you’d like me to never do this again or not. Are there any topics you’d like me take a swing at on other weeks where I have no review material? I’d really appreciate some feedback.

[verdigrisprowl]

May 29 Dancitron Movie Stream - Quiz Show

The movie was very interesting, and completely bored Swoop, who spent the whole movie repairing a damaged plushie. Prowl realized Whirl might have had some of the same issues he’s having about deciding to go back to a job he had before the war, and talked to him about it. Rumble gave Windchill a gift for his weird grubby Insecticon baby.

ItsyBitsySpyers 8:22 pm *Soundwave heads for his usual couch, unlocking the front doors remotely and settling in.* FakeProwl 8:23 pm *appears, sits down, zones out* Swoop 8:23 pm *skitters in with an armful of a recently murdered triceratops plushy* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:25 pm *Still...? He wants to give Prowl a gentle shake back to reality and find out what's going on already, but... nothing. Right. So he'll just give Prowl a little extra room and watch quietly from the side while nodding to the others coming in.* Ratchet 8:25 pm *pops in* FakeProwl 8:25 pm *... scoots a little closer* Ratchet 8:25 pm *a Prowl! without a Soundwave right beside him! ....... or not well that didn't last long* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:26 pm *...Well, he won't scoot away then. A small nod to let Prowl know he's fine with that.* Swoop 8:26 pm *plops down in front of the screen and lays out the bits of the former-plushy* Keheheh ItsyBitsySpyers 8:26 pm #Ratchet!! #hiiiiii Ratchet 8:26 pm *okay well there's a Swoop here too so that's fine Ratchet can sit with Swoop* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:26 pm *Run, Ratchet. You're about to get tackled by a huge bug.* Ratchet 8:26 pm *ANd BUG!* Heya, Buggo! ItsyBitsySpyers 8:26 pm *Laserbeak, er, swoops. Down to perch near Swoop.* Swoop 8:27 pm Hi bird! Hi. Look, Bird! *holds up the torn up torso of the triceratops toy* Dead! ItsyBitsySpyers 8:28 pm {{It big dead. You show Ratchet? Ratchet, see?}} Swoop 8:29 pm Uhhhh... no. Slag give! Him, keheh, kill it. Then him mad because it dead. So then it MORE dead, keheh! Me Swoop fix. *holds up a needle and thread to prove it* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:29 pm #D: #fix it! Ratchet 8:30 pm [[ this is such a good playlist omgggg ]] Heh, good. I was just gonna check and make sure you weren't fighting with Slag. FakeProwl 8:30 pm *... pings soundwave* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:30 pm *Pings back curiously?* Swoop 8:31 pm *waves the plushy corpse at zori* Bleh! Ratchet 8:31 pm *though, obviously, if the Dinobots were fighting amongst themselves they PROBABLY WOULDN'T take out their aggression on a toy representative* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:31 pm *Zori promptly bursts into a loud wail.* Swoop 8:32 pm Eeeeekehehehehhehheee! ItsyBitsySpyers 8:32 pm *Laserbeak pinches Swoop. Don't be mean!* Swoop 8:32 pm :V : < Ratchet 8:32 pm Swoop! Swoop 8:32 pm <:c Ratchet 8:33 pm 😞 FakeProwl 8:33 pm @Soundwave «You expressed an interest in helping me design a visor?» Ratchet 8:33 pm [[ that is NOT WHAT I WANTED AT ALL, rabbit ]] > : [ ItsyBitsySpyers 8:34 pm *You have never SEEN him straighten up so fast. Or... actually, Prowl probably has, but not in a while.* Ratchet 8:34 pm C'mere, Bug, I've got something for you. Swoop 8:35 pm *starts his plushy repairs about as backwards as you can get, fixing an eye then the tail then a foot* *leaves the head hanging by a literal thread* *sorry not sorry* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:36 pm @Prowl: (txt): Affirmative. Interest retained. Offer still open. Did he need an 'excited' tag? No, that was probably clear. And Zori crawls up near Ratchet, emitting little electronic burbles.* Ratchet 8:36 pm *surely he'll get to it eventually* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:36 pm ((DO I SEE AN IMPACT???)) Ratchet 8:36 pm [[ IMPACT!! ]] Impact 8:36 pm IT'S MEEEE 3:D Swoop 8:36 pm *gets distracted making the plushy's torn off legs dance* Impact 8:36 pm What're we doing? ItsyBitsySpyers 8:37 pm //Orangey! Holy frag, I ain't seen ya in forever! Ya holdin' up?// \\WATCHIN' MOVIES! UH, IN LIKE... TEN. RAVAGE GOTTA GET OFF WORK FIRST.\\ Impact 8:37 pm HI GUYS! Oooh, what movie? Ratchet 8:37 pm [[ I swear at least once a day for the past week and a half i've had a moment where i'm like 'i should get back on miko....' and here it is, my 'i should get back on miko....' moment for today ]] Impact 8:38 pm ((NEMESIS 38D)) FakeProwl 8:38 pm ((dang, all these tfp folks rolling back into town)) Impact 8:38 pm ((vroom vroom driving into robot hell)) ((i missed it)) Ratchet 8:39 pm *for Zori: a slightly raggedy (but not nearly as beat up as the toy Swoop is....... repairing) felt doll of.... himself. ratchet.* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:39 pm //Uh, somethin' called Quiz Show. Only I don't think we get asked nothin'.// Impact 8:39 pm Aww, it'd be fun to do a quiz thing sometime, though! Swoop 8:40 pm *starts pulling all the stuffing out of the plushy, not to help with fixing it, he just feels like making bigger piles* FakeProwl 8:40 pm @Soundwave «Hook will probably be the one to actually construct it, but I'd appreciate your assistance designing it.» Tarantulas 8:41 pm *tarantulas isn't here yet, prowl gets a ping* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:41 pm *Zori's eye goes bright, his sadness over the dead plushie forgotten. He reaches for the Ratchet plushie with the gentlest of claws and holds it close.* *Laserbeak just cackles and toys with the spare stuffing.* Guest 8:41 pm *trots in; he is bearing a gift tonight. It is a rather large box. With holes in it* Swoop 8:41 pm ..... *sets a puff of stuffing on top of Laserbeak* :> ItsyBitsySpyers 8:42 pm //Huh. Yeah, guess that'd be pretty fun. 'Cept the Boss would hafta run it cuz it ain't fair havin telepaths listenin' to answers.// Ratchet 8:42 pm *good, good. intended results achieved* Impact 8:42 pm Uh-huh! Noooo cheatin'! Ratchet 8:42 pm Cute, isn't it? Carly made it for me. She's done most of the Autobots by now, I think. Whirl 8:43 pm ((wtf why u log me out rabbit)) FakeProwl 8:43 pm *pings Tarantulas back. includes a reminder to not be visible. no way to know if Starscream's going to show up.* Impact 8:43 pm ((hello!)) Whirl 8:43 pm ((YO)) Windchill 8:44 pm (( It always logs me out.)) Tarantulas 8:44 pm *good cos that's exactly what tarantulas was gonna ask about - prowl gets an affirmative ping back* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:44 pm *He'd hoped to get to build it himself - it'd been so long, and he wanted to show Prowl all he could do with them - but he understood why that might be too much at this point in time.* @Prowl: (txt): All assistance wanted given. Start: when? Windchill 8:45 pm *Appears, and stretches right in the doorway. To anyone trying to exit or enter: tough.* FakeProwl 8:45 pm @Soundwave «... It's not a high-priority matter, but... soon.» Whirl 8:45 pm *approaches the bar and sets the box on it, peering around; is the barkeep about* Tarantulas 8:45 pm *"anyone" does not include tarantulas, who will skitter through in tiny spide form in one of the corners* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:45 pm *His hands twitch. Oh, he's positively -thrilled-.* *The twins wave to all the newcomers their Boss is too excited to greet right away.* ((TWO MINUTE WARNING)) ((And standard movie warning time:)) Swoop 8:46 pm *is attempting to sculpt the stuffing with next to no real effect, beyond humor value* Look it bird FakeProwl 8:47 pm @Soundwave «I'd like the visor half to—to do the thing yours does. With the screen.» @Soundwave «Would you be willing to send Hook the specs on how it works? Or is that proprietary information?» Bevel 8:48 pm *fashionably late like a boss* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:49 pm ((Okay, so it's been a few weeks since I screened this, but from what I remember I doooon't think there was really any cursing or violence or whatever? But this is based heavily on real people and events from the 50s, and in this particular case it means some of them were antisemitic assholes. They will get called on it in-movie however.)) Impact 8:49 pm What's the movie about? People on quiz shows? Swoop 8:50 pm Quiz show boring. Fight Club cooler! ... Sometimes quiz show go fight club keheheh Impact 8:50 pm They're not boring if the people are funny! ItsyBitsySpyers 8:50 pm *Laserbeak cackles at the poor representation of herself and holds out a feeler, willing to make it fly.* Swoop 8:50 pm :V :> Windchill 8:51 pm *Finds a seat.* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:51 pm *Yes, the barkeep is around. He pads downstairs and heads to the bar. Sorry he's late.* Bevel 8:51 pm *tosses a treat at Frenzy on her way to a seat* Impact 8:51 pm ((is the child allowed in the bar XD:: )) ((this child, i mean)) Swoop 8:52 pm That big door *covers the triceratop's button eyes and alugsh* *laughs ItsyBitsySpyers 8:53 pm @Prowl: (txt): Will give Hook necessary information when design: finished; Hook cannot construct without. However, trade needed. *He wasn't expecting to share how his visor works. That's a safety thing. He needs reassurance.* Tarantulas 8:53 pm *prowl gets a spide poking his ped wheel! and a ping to both soundwave and prowl, and a threeway commline opens* @PST «Greetings~» FakeProwl 8:53 pm *acknowleding ping @Tarantulas* @Soundwave «What do you want?» ItsyBitsySpyers 8:54 pm ((Dancitron is not active as a business rn so Impact is allowed to be here, she can have snacks and regular grade but no booze obvs. And now I think I'm just about caught up, sorry)) Impact 8:55 pm ((aw yisss)) Whirl 8:55 pm *just gonna leave the box on the countertop and trot over to a table near Windchill and promptly prop his feet on it. ...the table, that is* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:56 pm @PST: (txt): Tol-ran-tor lasha. *Nods.* Windchill 8:56 pm *Stares at Whirl by way of greeting.* Whirl 8:56 pm *bobs his head* Sup? Swoop 8:56 pm Herbert Stimple Stimple ItsyBitsySpyers 8:56 pm *Frenzy stuffs the thrown treat in his mouth with a snicker* Bevel 8:56 pm *grins* FakeProwl 8:56 pm *... tol-ran-tor lasha?* Windchill 8:57 pm *Shrugs.* Not much. I've been behaving myself, mostly. Swoop 8:57 pm What Stimple? ItsyBitsySpyers 8:57 pm [[A name.]] Swoop 8:57 pm What mean Sound weird keheh ItsyBitsySpyers 8:57 pm *Ravage heads over to Whirl with the standard booze.* Swoop 8:58 pm Keheh him interrupty Whirl 8:58 pm *nods--and looks to Ravage, scooping them up* @R: THERE you are. Okay, don't open that box just yet. They're live. @R: Petrorabbits, raised specifically for eating. Asked around in new Iacon, most of the folks who had alt-modes based on cyberwildlife liked em. Tarantulas 8:58 pm @PST «...W-what? Also, mind if I sneak behind you two?» Swoop 8:58 pm Peacock 😮 Colors Impact 8:58 pm *doing more people-watching than movie-watching, honestly* Swoop 8:59 pm *starts stitching up another plushy leg* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:59 pm @Prowl: (txt): Uncertain. Decided after additional construction requirements learned. Many options available. Bevel 8:59 pm *goes to get a drink* Whirl 8:59 pm ((one sec gotta refresh)) ItsyBitsySpyers 8:59 pm @PST: (txt): Not minded. Windchill 8:59 pm (( GOOD LUCK )) Swoop 9:00 pm Human need air Whirl 9:00 pm ((it had frozed, we good now)) Swoop 9:00 pm Him die ItsyBitsySpyers 9:00 pm *Ravage licks his chops. Fresh prey... Whirl gets a bunt to the leg while Ravage goes to sit by his box so nobody else can have it.* {{Neheheh, him not die. Just get hot.}} Whirl 9:00 pm *well! He'll take that as a compliment* Swoop 9:01 pm Oh. That not funny like dead, keh! Talky talky talk BLEH! Keheheh! ItsyBitsySpyers 9:01 pm *Oh, Bevel's in search of a drink? Ravage will bap her with a paw. Gotta pay first, kid. He'll mix up whatever you want.* Whirl 9:01 pm *looks back to Chill* As for me, regrettably, the only diversions available to me are down in the city, for the most part. I haven't left any graffiti. ...yet. Swoop 9:02 pm See, Bird? Him say. Dead. Bevel 9:02 pm *can totally pay* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:02 pm {{Him looking alive to Bird.}} Windchill 9:02 pm No graffiti? Don't you have paint? FakeProwl 9:02 pm @Soundwave «Just... basic visor and mask combo. No other specific requirements.» Tarantulas 9:02 pm @PST «I - that doesn't answer my other question, Soundwave.» Whirl 9:02 pm I can get some, but it's gotta be the right time and place, y'know? Windchill 9:03 pm Hmm, I suppose. Depends on how much trouble you want to get into. Swoop 9:03 pm You Bird sneaky bot. Me Swoop say You know how to do still-look-alive dead bot. Whirl 9:03 pm They'll never catch me. ...but writing "Whirl Wuz Here" might tip them off. Windchill 9:03 pm ...It might. Swoop 9:04 pm Schmuck Tarantulas 9:04 pm (( wahh i have to refresh too, brb ItsyBitsySpyers 9:05 pm @Prowl: (txt): Negative, Prowl wanted external-internal display function. That, not basic. Other functions wanted? Translations, scanners, other? Whirl 9:05 pm *hums a few bars of Strangers in the Night* FakeProwl 9:05 pm @Soundwave «Well. I meant. Besides that one.» @Soundwave «"Scanners"?» ItsyBitsySpyers 9:06 pm @Tarantulas: (txt): Organic language. Similar designation sounds. Near translation... *Please hold* (txt): Gene... negative, genetic. Genetic revenge arrives. FakeProwl 9:07 pm @Soundwave «... I don't need an internal display, by the way. My HUD does that. Just external.» Tarantulas 9:08 pm @SW «...Genetic revenge arrives? What in the world do you mean to imply by THAT?» Whirl 9:09 pm Lord. What a stooge. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:09 pm @Prowl: (txt): Understood. External limit. Scanners, trackers - standard options. Audio, alternative vision, other. Bevel 9:09 pm This is going to end badly. Windchill 9:10 pm *Scratches his chin.* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:10 pm //Buncha sleazy fleshies.// //Wish I'd been asked.// Whirl 9:10 pm Yeah, you said it, Shovel. *takes a sip of his Gaugebuster* Swoop 9:10 pm *starts sewing legs back onto the triceratops plushy* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:10 pm \\HEH.\\ Bevel 9:10 pm ...Shovel. Whirl 9:10 pm Pfft. Well, I dunno bout the rest of you, but I'M nobody's stooge. *tilts his head at her* ...yeah? Windchill 9:10 pm Fine. I'll be my OWN stooge. Bevel 9:10 pm Is that a nickname? Swoop 9:11 pm *shoves stuffing in the plushy's tummy* *shoves ALL the stuffing* Whirl 9:11 pm Isn't that YOUR name? ItsyBitsySpyers 9:11 pm @Tarantulas: Humorous intent. Genetic reformation conducted. Previous Cybertron, old enemies defied. Tarantulas arrives. Bevel 9:11 pm No. Whirl 9:11 pm You're enough of a stooge for everyone in this room, 'Chill. Swoop 9:11 pm *plushy is now fat with deflated limbs* Kehehehehheheeeheh Windchill 9:11 pm ...That's right, and don't forget it. Tarantulas 9:11 pm *pft, didn't get a response from prowl but he's going to skitter up behind he and sw anyhow. don't mind him* Impact 9:12 pm *gonna go sit with Zori* Whirl 9:12 pm *pauses, thinking* ...Dremel? FakeProwl 9:12 pm *... vague shrug ping* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:12 pm *Zori waves his claws hello and pats at her.* #hiiii! #this is Ratchet #:D Whirl 9:12 pm It's something-el. Swoop 9:12 pm Cigar Smoke :> Bevel 9:12 pm Bevel. Beh-vel. Like the edge on a sword. Impact 9:13 pm Hi, Zori! *grins at both* Hi Ratchet! ItsyBitsySpyers 9:13 pm {{Him like Kup.}} Swoop 9:13 pm Cup? Tarantulas 9:13 pm @SW «Hyeheh... A play on words, then? Hmn. Someone's given me a /nickname/?» Impact 9:13 pm Who's Kup? Whirl 9:13 pm OH YEAH. I know what a bevel is, mech. I've used one before. FakeProwl 9:13 pm *Soundwave just offered him a lot of options without explaining what any of them mean. the first time he asked for an explanation of one of them he didn't get an answer and now he's tired.* Whirl 9:13 pm Or, I should say, made one...? Before? *he's surely comicn across as a master of the technology* Bevel 9:14 pm Did you? *yep totally* Whirl 9:14 pm I mean, technically if you count a sword, then very recently. Stabbed a whole lot of folks. Windchill 9:15 pm *Whispers* Swords are lame. Whirl 9:15 pm I prefer guns, yeah. Bevel 9:15 pm Swords are awesome :| Swoop 9:15 pm Him like Rewind Impact 9:16 pm *pipes in from over by Zori* SWORDS ARE COOL! Whirl 9:16 pm But if we're talking the DISTANT past, then yeah, you usually have to bevel a lot of different parts of your average chronometer. *takes another sip* Swords... are adequate. Windchill 9:16 pm *Head whips around so fast it just about disembodies itself.* Bevel 9:16 pm Oh! You make watches. Windchill 9:16 pm *Whispers loudly.* Swords are inferior. Whirl 9:17 pm Made. Impact 9:17 pm *LOUD POUTING* Bevel 9:17 pm Swords are personal. Swoop 9:17 pm Slag and Grimlock use swords Slag let Me play with keheh Too too big Whirl 9:17 pm One thing I DO like about swords--you can impale your enemies' heads on them. it's a laugh and a half. Windchill 9:17 pm Swoop... Bevel 9:18 pm Oh. Sorry. Windchill 9:18 pm Please never say that again. Swoop 9:18 pm Why Whirl 9:18 pm *shrugs and looks to her; his expression is hard to read but he doesn't seem upset* Bevel 9:18 pm I make clocks sometimes. Windchill 9:18 pm I can't tell you. Swoop 9:18 pm Why Whirl 9:18 pm *begins to snicker at Windchill and Swoop but immediately stops, his attention ZOOPing back to Bevel* Yeah? ItsyBitsySpyers 9:19 pm @Tarantulas: Not nickname. Greeting. Whirl 9:19 pm Also--she has the right idea. Screw 'em. Bevel 9:19 pm Uh-huh. I like making things sometimes. It does not pay very well but it is really fun. Windchill 9:20 pm *Appears to be thinking.* Swoop 9:20 pm *waggles the now only half dead plush at windchill* Whirl 9:20 pm Must have a tough crowd. Business was good for me, back in the day. *takes a sip* Heh, well, maybe you should start selling to the multiverse. Now's the best time to make money, right? Windchill 9:21 pm *Waggles his eyebrows back at Swoop.* Swoop 9:21 pm *cocks head* Whirl 9:22 pm C'mooon. Screw em. Windchill 9:22 pm What you said made me laugh, that's why. *He puts a hand over his chest.* On the inside. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:22 pm //Tell 'em to frag off!// Tarantulas 9:22 pm @SW «Greeting? I suppose that works.» *he's secretly flattered* Bevel 9:22 pm I guess. Mercenary works pays really nice. Swoop 9:22 pm Me Swoop am comedian Whirl 9:22 pm Heh, I'll bet! Windchill 9:22 pm You sure are. Whirl 9:23 pm Idiot. Windchill 9:23 pm Damn. Windchill 9:24 pm His eyelashes are almost as fabulous as mine. Swoop 9:24 pm This movie boring. It lots of standing in box. Impact 9:25 pm I dunno what's happening, I stopped listening. *unconcerned about admitting this* Whirl 9:26 pm He brought this on himself, the moron. Bevel 9:26 pm Whole game stinks. Cheaters. Swoop 9:27 pm titty caca Windchill 9:27 pm *Of COURSE Swoop would repeat THAT.* Bevel 9:27 pm *stifles laugh into arm at Swoop* Swoop 9:27 pm :> Impact 9:27 pm Hee! Windchill 9:28 pm I think that was a dirty word, Swoop. More than one, even. Swoop 9:28 pm Dirty word? Windchill 9:29 pm ...Yes. Lightly soiled. Swoop 9:29 pm Soil? Windchill 9:30 pm Dirt. Swoop 9:30 pm What dirt? Kehheh! Windchill 9:30 pm Have you been to Earth? It's covered in dirt. Swoop 9:31 pm Me Swoop from Earth! Me live in cave :> Impact 9:31 pm *hollers* I live on Earth, too! Windchill 9:31 pm Then I'm sure you've seen LOTS of dirt. Oh my god, you guys. We should start a club. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:32 pm *He was waiting for something a little more specific - he can't design a vague shrug - but it doesn't seem to be coming. Maybe he wasn't clear.* @Prowl: (txt): Elaboration: "Scanner", broad category term. Not external display - narrower focus. Specific investigation needs. Sound tracking, lighting change, energy signatures, frequency locator, energon contaminants, other. Not known what most useful. Bevel 9:32 pm I go to Earth for jobs sometimes. Lots of Bots and Cons fighting over it. Windchill 9:32 pm ..Huh. Mine has been pretty quiet. Save for humanity, that is. Bevel 9:32 pm Some universes are different. *shrugs* FakeProwl 9:32 pm @Soundwave «... That's a lot of options.» *and that was a verbal vague shrug* Whirl 9:33 pm I've been to Earth once or twice. But never my own. Swoop 9:33 pm Titty caca dirt word? Windchill 9:33 pm Sure is, Swoop. Sure is. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:33 pm *Vent sigh. He supposes that's a no.* (txt): Noted. External only. Whirl 9:33 pm Anyway, the Stemply guy, or whatever his name is--he'll get no sympathy for me. He rolled over for them and now he gets what he earned. Swoop 9:33 pm keheh me swoop say you lying joke bot FakeProwl 9:34 pm *it wasn't a no, it was bafflement* Whirl 9:34 pm So, the moral of the story is--screw everyone. *toasts the screen* Windchill 9:34 pm You're...calling me a liar? Swoop 9:34 pm Yup Windchill 9:34 pm Wow. Usually, you'd be right. Whirl 9:34 pm Damn. Sounds like he's got your number, 'Chill. FakeProwl 9:34 pm *but the options have been revoked. he guesses that's that.* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:34 pm *They can be unrevoked. He just needs to be corrected.* Windchill 9:35 pm *Shrugs.* Swoop 9:35 pm *starts moving the triceratops plushy's stuffing around to a closer approximation of what it should be* *still opts to leave the tummy rounder than really necessary, at the cost of some limp limbs* Whirl 9:36 pm Heh. FakeProwl 9:37 pm *he can't even adequately react to the list he was offered, he's not in much of a position to issue corrections* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:37 pm *Then let us hope that Prowl is in a position to issue them later, when the actual work on it begins.* Swoop 9:38 pm *test hugs the triceratops* *the seams are questionable* Windchill 9:39 pm *Is more interested in watching the triceratops stuffing than the movie right now.* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:39 pm //You'd think all them people woulda blabbed 'bout gettin' screwed over.// Whirl 9:39 pm Yeah. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:39 pm //Bet they ain't got their shows neither.// Bevel 9:39 pm @Soundwave - Working on weapons allowed? No murder or destroying anything promise. Whirl 9:39 pm They might have signed the NDA, though. Pfft! Windchill 9:40 pm Most people are pushovers and don't want to go through the trouble. They're conflict-avoidant. Swoop 9:40 pm ....... *realizes he might have to remove some of the tummy stuffing* :< Whirl 9:40 pm Chumps. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:40 pm @Bevel : [[Yes. No live parts.]] If there's a chance it'll fire, or do whatever it does, don't touch that part. FakeProwl 9:41 pm *something he overheard earlier has finally, slowly, registered. "Made."* Impact 9:41 pm *people-watching. better than movies!* Bevel 9:42 pm @Soundwave - 'Kay! *it barely looks like a weapon at the moment but better safe than sorry* Swoop 9:42 pm *pulls the thread a bit looser so he can fish out some stuffing with an entirely too resigned expression* FakeProwl 9:43 pm *... tentative ping @Whirl* Bevel 9:43 pm [[Gosh I love that burn so much. Whirl 9:43 pm *tossing his head back to swallow as he answers* @P: What? Windchill 9:45 pm Did you see that baby carriage. FakeProwl 9:45 pm @Whirl «Could I ask some questions. Not—not business.» Windchill 9:45 pm It was the colour of baby poop. Whirl 9:45 pm Lord. You'd know what that looked like, wouldn't you ? Windchill 9:46 pm Only from spending time around humans for so long. I have regrets. Whirl 9:46 pm *pauses just a bit; this is... unusual* P: Sure, why the hell not? Shoot, mech. Windchill 9:47 pm MY baby, *hand, meet chest again,* is nowhere near that messy. Whirl 9:47 pm Considering her parents, I find this hard to believe. Surely she at least DROOLS. Swoop 9:48 pm What a gentle Windchill 9:48 pm Yeah...but she doesn't poop. Totally different things. boomtank 9:48 pm how much did I miss?)) Whirl 9:48 pm Well, to be fair, I didn't poop when I was a protoform, either. Or, ever. boomtank 9:48 pm whoops)) Whirl 9:48 pm ((this guy's investigating a crooked game show!)) Impact 9:49 pm You'd poop if you turned into a human! Windchill 9:49 pm I don't know...what was that thing you dropped in my mouth that one time, then? boomtank 9:49 pm ah, cool)) FakeProwl 9:49 pm @Whirl «You used to make clocks. Right? Before—everything.» Whirl 9:49 pm An energon treat. And... I mean, I guess, but that's not likely to happen, Impact. I DID get turned into a bird, once. Windchill 9:49 pm *He turns again, and points his talon directly at Impact.* That's correct. Impact 9:49 pm You never know! It's happened to me! I'm ALWAYS correct! Windchill 9:49 pm Yeah. He got turned into a bird and he pooped in my mouth. Impact 9:49 pm Ew! Whirl 9:50 pm @Prowl: Yep. *pause* I can still knock em together, from time to time. *this is a huge understatement because his shelves are full of clocks* Windchill 9:50 pm *Windchill stop telling lies to little kids.* Whirl 9:50 pm Nope. I dropped a treat in your mouth. Swoop 9:50 pm Sludge have pet rock. Put here and there and all over rock. One time, Sludge sleeping. Me Swoop put pebbles all around. Him wake up and Me Swoop tell him little ones try to eat Sludge rock. Him stomp them to dust and hide rock keheheh for safe. Whirl 9:50 pm And, ugh, let's HOPE it doesn;t. FakeProwl 9:50 pm @Whirl «You didn't make them during the war. Right?» Windchill 9:50 pm *Sighs.* I like my version of the story better. Impact 9:50 pm I can help if it does! I'm a human expert! With lots of eggs! Windchill 9:51 pm *Blinks.* Tarantulas 9:51 pm *e-eggs. primus* Impact 9:51 pm Chicken eggs! Whirl 9:51 pm *he does spare a wry glance Prowl's way, briefly* @P: No. The Senate did their work well. Windchill 9:51 pm Do you eat the eggs? Impact 9:51 pm If I get turned human, yeah! Windchill 9:52 pm Wait. Whirl 9:52 pm If, in the unlikely event that I become human or any sort of actual organic creature, I'll ring you up... whoever-you-are. Impact 9:52 pm And some of them make more chickens! My name's Impact! Windchill 9:52 pm Do you have chickens? Impact 9:52 pm Yup! LOTS of chickens! LOTS OF THEM Windchill 9:52 pm Wow. Chickens are cool. Impact 9:52 pm *you just became cool despite dissing swords earlier* Yeah! Windchill 9:53 pm I like them better than geese. Geese hiss and try to kill me. Swoop 9:53 pm This movie so much words and sitting. Ugh! *goes back to massaging the stuffing around the plushy's head* Impact 9:53 pm Geese are rude! boomtank 9:53 pm -and in comes Sunstreaker, a bit...okay a lot late- Windchill 9:53 pm They also make really big poops. Impact 9:53 pm *waves at new dude* eeeeew! Windchill 9:54 pm *Nods sagely.* FakeProwl 9:54 pm @Whirl «The Senate's work didn't prevent you from being able to make them now.» boomtank 9:54 pm -half distracted wave, before sitting where he can- Swoop 9:55 pm Boat have big wing Windchill 9:56 pm Not as big as MY wing. FakeProwl 9:56 pm @Whirl «How did— When did you... What made you decide it was... was okay? To go back to—doing that again?» Whirl 9:56 pm @Prowl: Ugh, the sad, shabby things I can do NOW don't really compare, mech--and I can only do THAT because I made some modifications. ...and are you seriously comming me up to try and--and EXCUSE the Senate? @Prowl: Because if you are, then we're about to have a problem. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:57 pm *Soundwave suddenly huff-laughs. They're editing audio, like he does.* Windchill 9:58 pm Sleazy. FakeProwl 9:58 pm @Whirl «What? No. I'm not—I wasn't even talking about the Senate. The opposite. I just meant—they failed to stop you. ... Don't listen to what I'm saying, that isn't what I wanted to ask.» Whirl 9:59 pm *another sidelong, wry glance; after a moment's consideration, it seems obvious that this was an unintentional blunder on Prowl's part, rather than a calculated insult* *which is, honestly, what he expected* @Prowl: Well. Hm. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:00 pm //Oh scrap.// boomtank 10:00 pm -huffs and shakes his helm- This is not going to end well. Windchill 10:00 pm I like the pink. Bevel 10:01 pm See. It all went bad. Whirl 10:01 pm @Prowl: It wasn't until... I mean it wasn't something I thought about, on my own. I just got a--a weird message one night. Multiversal thing. But... Ha! That's why they didn't turn on the network. Windchill 10:01 pm *nods.* FakeProwl 10:01 pm @Whirl «... What kind of message?» Whirl 10:02 pm @Prowl: Someone said something about how I still made clocks, but I didn't at the time. They probably had me crossed with a different Whirl. But, you know. The idea was there. boomtank 10:04 pm ...so, this is a movie about some type of scandal, hm? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:04 pm //Some kinda rigged quiz game, winnin' money 'n scrap.// Windchill 10:05 pm I love scandals. FakeProwl 10:06 pm @Whirl «... So, you started it again because you heard that an alternate of you had started it again? Why?» Whirl 10:06 pm *tilts his head, staring down into his glass thoughtfully* @Prowl: I know your question is--it's not about the logistics. But I'm not... sure I'm in-touch enough with, you know. You KNOW I'm a wreck, that's not a secret. I don't know what to tell you, about when it felt... right. Or okay. It's not like I've stopped being bitter, so it's nothing to do with--with HEALING or any of that sentimental nonsense. boomtank 10:06 pm A rigged...quiz game? Whirl 10:06 pm Yep. For ratings. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:06 pm //Yeah. Like givin' 'em the answers 'n scrap.// Whirl 10:06 pm It's all because of the, whatsit, the medicine. Swoop 10:06 pm Milk Whirl 10:06 pm You get a sensational show, you get a lot of people watching it--which means a lot of people see your commercial. Windchill 10:06 pm The meds with the funny name. Whirl 10:07 pm That's what you should do, Bevel. *snickers* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:07 pm [][][]Geritol.[][][] boomtank 10:07 pm Ah. That would take the ratings down if the audience knew they were doing that. Whirl 10:07 pm Yeah, what he said. *gestures to Soundwave* FakeProwl 10:07 pm @Whirl «... Hmm.» Whirl 10:07 pm @Prowl: And, like I said, the idea was there. It wouldn't go away. Swoop 10:07 pm Me Swoop want energon in bottle like that one :> boomtank 10:07 pm Geritol? Windchill 10:07 pm Why like that one? Swoop 10:08 pm Different Impact 10:08 pm Uh-oh, it's my bedtime! Bevel 10:08 pm *laughs* I can be the host and the contestant. Impact 10:08 pm G'NIGHT EVERYBODY! ItsyBitsySpyers 10:08 pm //Aww. Seeya round, Orangey.// Whirl 10:08 pm Seeya... uh, person. Windchill 10:08 pm Good night, short stack. Impact 10:08 pm *FRANTIC WAVING AS SHE HEADS OUT* boomtank 10:08 pm Good night Whirl 10:08 pm And you'll run the commercial. Bevel 10:08 pm Yep! Whirl 10:09 pm @Prowl: My turn for a question: why do you wanna know, anyway? Bevel 10:09 pm *hadn't paid as much attention as she should have to the newbuild or she might have actually recognized her* Swoop 10:09 pm Me Swoop have sippy cup :> ItsyBitsySpyers 10:10 pm *Soundwave scoots forward. Oho.* FakeProwl 10:10 pm *a moment of silence. ... whirl answered prowl's questions for free. prowl owed that much in return.* Whirl 10:11 pm Heh. The scheme is up. Bevel 10:11 pm Ha, they messed up Windchill 10:11 pm A sippy cup? Swoop 10:11 pm Sippy! ItsyBitsySpyers 10:11 pm *And this is why he believes in recording e v e r y t h i n g* Windchill 10:11 pm ...May I see it? Swoop 10:12 pm *pulls his sippy cup with the last bit of his energon ration in it out of subspace* Whirl 10:12 pm Anyway... I lost my thread. If I ever get turned into a creature that poops, Windchill, you'll be the first to know. boomtank 10:12 pm -besides creeping everyone out?- Windchill 10:12 pm *Leans, squints.* Cool. Where did you get it? Swoop 10:12 pm Carly ItsyBitsySpyers 10:12 pm *The creeping out is just a side effect.* Windchill 10:13 pm *Squints at Whirl with his spare eye.* I'll hold you to that. Whirl 10:13 pm *solemn salute* Windchill 10:13 pm I don't know what Carly is. Swoop 10:13 pm Engineer :> boomtank 10:13 pm -wonderful- Windchill 10:14 pm Ohhhh. Whirl 10:14 pm Hey, are their stagehands twins? Windchill 10:14 pm I didn't catch it. Whirl 10:14 pm Rumble, Frenzy, you want in on this game show scam? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:15 pm //Not unless we're gettin' the fame 'n credits.// He snickers. Bevel 10:15 pm Twin vs. twin episode. Whirl 10:15 pm Ohh, yes. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:16 pm *...He sees what's going on here.* FakeProwl 10:16 pm @Whirl «... I was offered... No, asked to become a police officer again. I've been—waiting, for circumstances to be right. To go back.» boomtank 10:16 pm -hums a bit, his version of quiet laughter- Bevel 10:17 pm Is he gonna dive? FakeProwl 10:17 pm @Whirl «The circumstances aren't right. I don't think they'll ever be back.» Swoop 10:18 pm *finishes his sippy cup, pretends to feed the plushy, laughs and drops it* Whirl 10:18 pm @Prowl: Honestly? Probably not. I mean, yeah, you can chalk this up to me being cynical and bitter but--it's the truth. None of us can go BACK. FakeProwl 10:18 pm *braces self for some snide comment about cops* Whirl 10:18 pm @Prowl: Even if everything else in the world went back, we're all too different, yeah? Whirl 10:20 pm @Prowl: That said, if you can make it work, you might as well give it a shot. I dunno how deep you've got yourself in with King Idiot--*another sidelong, wry glance; Whirl is not as subtle as he could be* But if you want something, REALLY want it--you'll have to get it yourself, somehow. Nice. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:21 pm *Soundwave hums. Such good work.* FakeProwl 10:22 pm @Whirl «... I don't—know if I want it. In this world. The way it is.» Whirl 10:22 pm @Prowl: Hell, I wouldn't blame you. I remember the things Starscream said to Blurr. You'd probably just be his stooge, his heavy. boomtank 10:22 pm Well. This could get messy. Windchill 10:23 pm That's hilariously pathetic. Whirl 10:23 pm Yep. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:23 pm \\...AIN'T THAT BRIBIN' GOVERNMENT? HOW COME HE AIN'T GETTIN' ARRESTED?\\ Swoop 10:23 pm When fighting start? Windchill 10:23 pm Even I can say that's pathetic, and I'm as sad and sorry as they come. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:23 pm [[There is no fighting in this, Swoop.]] Swoop 10:23 pm Boring Why You Soundwave always pick boring talky movie? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:24 pm [[Call it habit. He likes to listen.]] Tarantulas 10:25 pm *zzzzzz. sleepy spide* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:26 pm *Pings the spide. Need a lift home, so to speak?* Swoop 10:26 pm You Soundwave music bot. This movie not music movie. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:27 pm [[They don't make many music movies. He tries to conserve them.]] Whirl 10:27 pm ...a movie with music AND fighting. Tarantulas 10:27 pm *that is, the spide is actually asleep, and has been for some time - the ping startles him* Swoop 10:27 pm Conserve is energy word :> FakeProwl 10:27 pm @Whirl «I was always—I know you're not going to believe this. I know what you think of cops. But I was always a—a good cop. Even under Sentinel, even under Zeta. I was demoted for pointing a finger at them and telling them they were corrupt.» Windchill 10:27 pm I can think of at least one of those. boomtank 10:28 pm -oh great. politics. Sunstreaker is going to lean back and sigh- ItsyBitsySpyers 10:28 pm //Music AND fightin'. We seen that one. It was great.// Bevel 10:28 pm Which one is that? FakeProwl 10:28 pm @Whirl «You know as much as any random given Autobot about who I was during the war.» ItsyBitsySpyers 10:28 pm //That one with them fighters gettin' sucked off Earth for that tournament thing.// FakeProwl 10:28 pm @Whirl «I swore that I wouldn't go back to the police unless I could be the person I was before the war.» Windchill 10:28 pm ...Mortal Kombat? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:29 pm \\THAT'S IT.\\ Windchill 10:29 pm Ohohohoho. That's a good one. FakeProwl 10:29 pm @Whirl «Is that... even possible, in this world?» Whirl 10:29 pm @Prowl: Honestly? Doesn't surprise me much. Not about them being corrupt, not about you pointing the finger, back then. Whirl 10:31 pm *he looks down at the dregs of his drink as he thinks this over; he has to consider why he's being so honest. Probably, it's because it's been too long since he spoke to someone about this. Maybe it's the booze--he'll blame the booze* @Prowl: Honestly? No. I don't think so. None of us are. Not you, not me, not Optimus. And as long as I'm being honest--I think you'd let yourself be a bad cop, if you think you needed to. Bevel 10:33 pm *grumbles at movie* FakeProwl 10:34 pm @Whirl «... I see.» Tarantulas 10:34 pm *tara will take sw up on that, a goodbye ping to soundwave and prowl* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:34 pm *Pings him farewell - and a note suggesting Tarantulas rest well, too. Since he's falling asleep in public.* Swoop 10:35 pm Knife Windchill 10:35 pm *Busies himself by, quietly, cracking his knuckles.* Whirl 10:35 pm @Prowl: So, you either accept that things're going to be different, and you try and do what you want anyway, or you give it up. That's all you. Whirl 10:37 pm Ohh, damn. FakeProwl 10:39 pm @Whirl «I know. I know.» @Whirl «... Thank you.» Swoop 10:40 pm Them take outside. Bare knuckle. No weapon. End for good. All done, bam! Whirl 10:41 pm *leans back, stares until he has Prowl's eye, and lazily salutes him. Master of Subtlety here* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:41 pm *...Now what is that about?* FakeProwl 10:41 pm *prowl's eye is aimed straight down. but he caught the claw movement from the corner of his optic.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:42 pm *You know how Whirl glanced at him after the Starscream thing? Whirl's getting that now.* Whirl 10:42 pm *he doesn't react; in fact, Whirl... doesn't actually notice. Soundwave should be able to tell. He's finishing off his booze* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:43 pm *Hmm. He'll file this away for later.* Windchill 10:45 pm *Manages to look faintly amused.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:45 pm *Ah, the poor creator.* Bevel 10:46 pm Too much creator drama in all these movies :| Swoop 10:46 pm Everyone all upset at for game 😕 Boring Windchill 10:46 pm I wouldn't know. boomtank 10:46 pm -snorts and shakes his helm- Great Swoop 10:46 pm Everyone all go outside fight. Feel better after. Or dead. Keheh. Bevel 10:47 pm Heh. Windchill 10:47 pm Well, considering you're not supposed to feel anything when you're dead, I suppose that might be better to feel. Whirl 10:47 pm A good way to settle an argument. Or, to blow off steam. FakeProwl 10:47 pm *... slightly curls in* Whirl 10:47 pm ...or to have a good time. Swoop 10:47 pm Yah! ItsyBitsySpyers 10:48 pm *Now he's REALLY suspicious.* @Prowl: (txt): What said, Whirl? Prowl harmed? Bevel 10:48 pm *puts the stuff she was working on away* FakeProwl 10:49 pm @Soundwave «No. Nothing. I was curious about his clocks.» Windchill 10:49 pm *Chin, meet hand.* Swoop 10:49 pm *flops backwards, wings sprawling* *clutches the plushy* FakeProwl 10:49 pm *... leans on Soundwave.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:50 pm *Tilts his helm to one side. That's an odd thing to curl up about. He'll chew on that a while. In the meantime, he'll lean back. If allowed, he'll wrap his arm around too. Comfort.* FakeProwl 10:50 pm *thank you* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:51 pm //All this yakkin'. Can't he jus' fraggin' say "Yeah, I did the cheatin' thing cause I'm a lazy high caste meatbag?"// //An' how come they was all nasty at th' other human but not this one?// boomtank 10:52 pm -coughs- ItsyBitsySpyers 10:52 pm //Buncha kiss-afts.// Windchill 10:52 pm Nope, high caste folks gotta clap themselves on the back for meeting the basic minimum of decency. Whirl 10:52 pm Yeah--except--heh. This guy. This guy's you, Rumble. Windchill 10:53 pm Good. Bevel 10:53 pm That guy was good. boomtank 10:53 pm -Sunstreaker is going to say nothing to all this- FakeProwl 10:53 pm ((bless that one dude for shutting down the intellectual circlejerk)) Bevel 10:53 pm [[Best dude boomtank 10:53 pm yuuuup)) Whirl 10:53 pm ((agreed)) Windchill 10:54 pm (( Tbh. )) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:54 pm ((don't get too excited.)) boomtank 10:54 pm well shit)) Whirl 10:54 pm ((uh oh)) Windchill 10:55 pm (( Of course the corporations are gonna get off pfft. )) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:56 pm ((Of course they did. You still watch NBC, don't you? 😄 )) Bevel 10:56 pm [[Yeeeeep Windchill 10:56 pm (( No, I don't watch TV, BUT it's a no-brainer. )) boomtank 10:56 pm yep)) Swoop 10:56 pm *flaps wings tiredly, looks so very very bored* boomtank 10:57 pm Politics. That is all it is. Windchill 10:58 pm *Fakes a yawn.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:59 pm *Soundwave huffs. What a fitting song. That wasn't planned.* Swoop 10:59 pm *holds triceratops plushy over himself* Bevel 10:59 pm *so fitting Bevel might have laughed a little* Whirl 10:59 pm Is this--Devil Inside? Oh, nope. I am wrong. Swoop 11:00 pm All fixed, better ItsyBitsySpyers 11:00 pm *Laserbeak chitters approval of Swoop's work. Well done!* FakeProwl 11:00 pm *... leans harder on soundwave* Swoop 11:01 pm Slag want it back 😶 Fly after, Bird? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:01 pm {{Yes! You give fixed toy, us flying. Race through Sonic Canyon, neheh.}} Swoop 11:02 pm YAh! Good. Me Swoop give FAST. Then flying!!! Whirl 11:02 pm *streeetches* Back to domestic bliss? *to Windchill* Swoop 11:02 pm See you at Canyon! Bye, Bird! ItsyBitsySpyers 11:02 pm {{Byeeee!}} *Not the kind of ending Prowl would like, he supposes. Soundwave gives his shoulder a quiet nudge.* @Prowl: (txt): These, humans. Their flaws, learned. Not repeated. Windchill 11:02 pm (( I get dinner and am surrounded by carnivores, one of whom almost sent y'all a message.)) Whirl 11:03 pm (9HEY CATS)) Windchill 11:03 pm Domestic bliss? ((Babs and Batdog!)) Bevel 11:03 pm *gets up to leave. waves to room in general* Windchill 11:03 pm Bye, Shovel. FakeProwl 11:03 pm @Soundwave «... Hm?» *he barely knows what the movie was about* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:03 pm //Seeya!// Whirl 11:04 pm *SNICKERS* Bye, mech. *salutes her* Windchill 11:04 pm There's nothing domestic about my //darlings,// I promise you. Whirl 11:04 pm Mm-hmm. boomtank 11:04 pm -oh, right, movie's over. Time to get going. Up he gets- Windchill 11:05 pm Making messes, making awful noises, eating the house. A pair of wild animals, that's what I've got to deal with. Luckily, I fit right in. Whirl 11:06 pm I was about to say. *snickers* Windchill 11:06 pm *Grins. He takes PRIDE in that fact.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:06 pm @Prowl: (txt): ...Disappointing movie ending. This, not--? *Concerning. If he could just reach in there and pluck out what was wrong... but no. Not thinking like that.* (txt): Stay. When others gone. Longer, if wanted, needed. Will listen. If not listen, other. \\LEAVIN', BLASTER?\\ //Oh yeah! The present for the li'l egg newbuild. Hold on.// And Rumble's racing upstairs to get it. Whirl 11:07 pm *perks up; he's eager to see this* Windchill 11:07 pm *Raises hand.* Hey, Soundwave. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:08 pm [[Hmm?]] Windchill 11:08 pm Is there a rule about bringing your spawn to movie night? *He's asking BEFORE he does something they all regret. Even he will play by the rules SOMETIMES..* (( I'm surrounded by furry land sharks, send help. )) Whirl 11:09 pm ((RIP IN PIECES)) Windchill 11:09 pm (( THANKS I COULD HELP BRO. )) boomtank 11:10 pm good luck, and watch your fingers)) ItsyBitsySpyers 11:10 pm [[As long as they are not disruptive and do not destroy his property.]] He pauses, thinking about when he first got to the multiverse and how others seemed to treat him as a babysitting service. [[You are also responsible for their entertainment. And you will not forget them here.]] FakeProwl 11:10 pm @Soundwave «... Was it?» *tries to remember anything about the end of the movie. ... there was a trial. someone must have been wrongfully convicted and/or found not guilty* boomtank 11:10 pm -Sunstreaker is just going to head off now, since the crowd has thinned enough for that- FakeProwl 11:11 pm @Soundwave «There's not much to listen to.» Windchill 11:11 pm *Raises his brows. He'd almost be insulted that Soundwave had to include that, if he hadn't seen enough *stellar parenting* in his lifetime to know what the mech was talking about.* Understood. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:12 pm *Rumble tears back downstairs waving a small data slug.* //I got it!// *Here you go. One set of five Insecticon hive songs from their timeline.* *War and feasting tunes, mostly, but you take what you can get when you're on rough terms with them.* Whirl 11:12 pm What is it? *ZOOPS at the slug* Windchill 11:14 pm *His brows lower until he looks properly confused.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:14 pm @Prowl: (txt): Will listen regardless - if asked. Still here if not. *Light squeeze.* FakeProwl 11:15 pm *... acknowledging ping* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:18 pm //Always hear reproductin' origin newbuilds got lullabies 'n stuff, right? So we figured, grub, egg, maybe we trade some buildin' scrap 'n get some of 'em. Kinda.// boomtank 11:18 pm thanks for the stream, later!)) ItsyBitsySpyers 11:18 pm ((bye!)) Windchill 11:19 pm *Squints.* You did what? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:21 pm *He sighs.* //We traded Chop Shop some slag so his whole everybody'd sing stuff for the kid.// Whirl 11:21 pm *tilts his head and his optic squints into a smile* That's... a damn sight more thoughtful than MY present. *pauses* Of course, I could always get some recordings of The Horned Wonder singing. But that'll give her nightmares. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:22 pm [[-He- wouldn't mind a recording of that.]] FakeProwl 11:22 pm *... are they talking about insecticons singing.* Windchill 11:22 pm Oh... FakeProwl 11:22 pm *just kinda. subtly. cringes into soundwave's side.* Windchill 11:23 pm *It's time to squint at Whirl for a moment: a worthy distraction from his own awkwardness.* Don't be ridiculous. My spawn is brave and BOLD. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:24 pm *Slowly pets side. You know what he hasn't sent in a long while? A game move. You know what type he's never sent? Hax. That should help until they're done.* Windchill 11:24 pm Besides, I doubt there's anything out there that manages to sound worse than her carrier. Whirl 11:25 pm YOU'VE never heard Cyclonus SINGING. And, be careful what you wish for, Soundwave. *okay in all honesty it has a certain... charm. But that probably has more to do with Cyclonus than the music* Does she talk at all, yet? FakeProwl 11:25 pm *... long delay* Windchill 11:26 pm *Shakes his head.* No, it's all gibberish. If I bring her in sometime, you can all see. Whirl 11:26 pm Hmm. Can she beep? Windchill 11:27 pm ...I haven't heard any beeps. Whirl 11:27 pm Hmmmm. *taps the underside of his helm thoughtfully* Windchill 11:27 pm *He's getting distracted from poor Rumble, whoops.* FakeProwl 11:27 pm *... sends move* *this isn't going to be the best game prowl's ever played* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:29 pm *It doesn't need to be. For one thing, he's obviously out of sorts for reasons Soundwave is still trying to piece together (but knows it has something to do with cops and clocks and is too uncomfortable to talk about). For another, personal mastery or not, it's probably the only game he'll ever have a great shot at winning.* Whirl 11:29 pm *has lapsed into Thoughts, so Windchill is free to give the twins the attention they deserve* Windchill 11:30 pm *A short lived freedom, before the Beepening happens.* FakeProwl 11:30 pm *take this chance while you can, soundwave* Whirl 11:31 pm ((SCREAMS)) ((THIS WAS MY BAND BACK IN THE DAAAAY)) Windchill 11:32 pm *He shakes his head. ANYWAY.* Wow, um. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:32 pm *He will, with another move. Shorter than he'd usually play, by far, but if the point is to keep Prowl distracted until the room is clear, taking lots of time won't help.* Windchill 11:33 pm *He doesn't know what to say, give him a minute.* Whirl 11:33 pm Kind of a backhanded compliment. Pfft. ...the song, not anything anyone said. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:34 pm //Okay, cause I was sorta confused.// Whirl 11:34 pm Right? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:35 pm \\AH, PRIMUSSAKE. I'M GOIN' UPSTAIRS. AIN'T HERE FOR ALL THIS SAPPY SCRAP.\\ Whirl 11:36 pm *salutes* Seeya in a couple days, mech. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:36 pm \\LEAST BLURR GOT GOOD MUSIC. SEEYA.\\ *Rumble just snorts after his brother.* Windchill 11:36 pm *Waves absentmindedly.* Whirl 11:37 pm *watches Windchill, then swivels his helm around to Rumble* Well. You broke him. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:38 pm //Ha. Jus' goes to show how powerful I am.// Windchill 11:39 pm Pfft. You caught me off guard. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:39 pm //Maybe we oughta stick him in a box 'n send him home with REPAIR ME wrote on him.// Whirl 11:39 pm I'll make sure to beware any gifts YOU try and give me, then. Pfft. Whaddya say, Windchill? Windchill 11:40 pm You got a box big enough? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:40 pm //Naw, but we could call Astrotrain maybe.// //He's kinda boxy.// Windchill 11:40 pm You could also divide me up into multiple boxes. *Oops, that was morbid.* Whirl 11:41 pm Or... we construct. A giant dumpster. OR... we steal one. FakeProwl 11:41 pm *ping. move.* Windchill 11:41 pm ...That too. Whirl 11:41 pm I'm sure there are some around new Iacon. Big, industrial ones. Windchill 11:41 pm Perfect for hiding bodies in? Whirl 11:42 pm Hiding your body, maybe. Windchill 11:42 pm *Hand over spark.* Good enough. I'll take it. Whirl 11:43 pm *he's legit going to fly around looking for a huge dumpster now* Windchill 11:43 pm Anyway...thanks, Rumble. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:43 pm *Take Rumble. He'll show you where New Iacon is.* Whirl 11:43 pm *he's referring to the Cybertron he lives on. ...unless that's what you mean. Whirl has no idea they live there yet* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:43 pm //Yeah, mech. No problem. New life's new life, y'know?// Whirl 11:44 pm ((well, "lives on")) ((the cybertron in the dimension he's squatting in)) Windchill 11:44 pm ...Yeah. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:44 pm *Oh, no. He'd only be able to show Whirl THEIR Iacon. Which is mostly just a handful of bots out slowly repairing the Archives.* Whirl 11:44 pm *gotcha* *he's genuinely enjoying watching Rumble render Windchill speechless, this is priceless* All right, fellas. *leans back and streeetches, first one leg then the other* I'm out. See you guys. Windchill 11:45 pm *How dare you* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:45 pm //Catch ya later, mech.// Windchill 11:45 pm Bye, sucker. Whirl 11:46 pm *bobs his helm cordially at Rumble and Windchill both* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:46 pm *Ping to Prowl. He'll keep turning other pieces to other things over in his mind while he waits.* Windchill 11:47 pm *He's thinking.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:49 pm *And now Rumble's getting nervous.* //...Listen, ya don't gotta make nothin' big outta it or whatever. Jus' supposed to be a li'l congrats.// FakeProwl 11:50 pm *pings back* Windchill 11:50 pm Well, yeah, I mean. It's not a big slug. *He might have to be extra careful in handling with his giant meat hooks, in fact.* Windchill 11:52 pm I'll have to let my better half preview it. I doubt I'll understand anything that's on it. *He shrugs. It's not meant to be dismissive, he simply gives the carrier the final say in anything concerning the grubber.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:53 pm *Rumble nods. Sure thing.* Windchill 11:55 pm I'm sure they'll both appreciate it, though. There's nobody else like them on our Earth. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:57 pm *Huge whoosh of relief.* //Good. Uh, the 'ppreciatin'. Not the - I mean - ah, Pit. Glad to hear it ain't all wrong probably.// He scratches his helm. //I'm gonna head upstairs. Catch ya next time, huh?// Windchill 11:58 pm *He nods.* Yeah, you can't get rid of me THAT easily. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:58 pm *Ping ping. Move sent.* Windchill 11:58 pm *It's about time he headed home, actually.* Yesterday Windchill 11:59 pm *That means it's time for him to get off of his giant butt, data slug safely tucked away in subspace.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:00 am *Soundwave lifts his helm to look at Windchill. He nods his farewell.* Windchill 12:01 am Good night, suckerrrrrrs. *He'll wave at Rumble one last time.* My grub awaits. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:01 am //Night!// ItsyBitsySpyers 12:03 am *With that, Rumble whistles at his fellow deployers. C'mon, you lot. Leave the Boss and his last guest be.* *Soundwave beeps at Prowl and nudges his shoulder again. No more Insecticon talk, no more of whatever Whirl said, no other people.* FakeProwl 12:03 am *pings back* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:04 am (txt): Talk wanted? Other? FakeProwl 12:06 am ... There's not much to talk about. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:11 am (txt): Prowl certain? Many days spent within self. ... If 'nothing' request still active, apology given. Agreement break unintended. *Temporarily disengages to rearrange himself up against one corner of the seat with legs stretched the long way. Beckons with a finger. Come here. Uncurl and rest.* FakeProwl 12:13 am *doesn't really uncurl. but relocates to lean against Soundwave in his new position* ... Starscream offered me an additional job duty. I've been weighing the pros and cons of accepting it. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:16 am *That's fine too. He'll get both arms around as best he can and rest his chin on the nearest available frame spot.* *Oh. OH. Cops and clocks. Now he sees. Things that people want to do but haven't been connected to in ages.* (txt): Enforcer work? FakeProwl 12:17 am *long silence* ... Doesn't matter. I'm turning down the offer. Or—refusing the appointment. I don't know whether Starscream was offering it or assigning it. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:18 am *So much for resting his chin. He lifts it up again, surprised.* (txt): Why? FakeProwl 12:19 am Doesn't matter. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:21 am (txt): Negative. Reason matters. Position wanted all time Prowl known. *A pause. Granted, he'd only known this Prowl for one or two years, but still.* (txt): What changed? FakeProwl 12:22 am Doesn't matter. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:24 am (txt): Disagreed. *Quiet vent. Equally quiet nuzzle while he thinks.* (txt): What position: alternative, if enforcer status refused? FakeProwl 12:24 am No "alternative." It was an additional duty, not a replacement duty. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:28 am *Yes, right. Of course. He'd said that. He'd just be an enforcer on top of the other work. The work he'd gone to prison and spent all this time to plan. The political and social scheming and string-pulling. Like they both were used to doing during the war.* *...Oh.* *Damn his curiosity, but he has to ask.* (txt): ...What expected, if -original- duty refused? FakeProwl 12:29 am ... Original duty? ItsyBitsySpyers 12:30 am (txt): Imprisonment reason. Original intent. FakeProwl 12:30 am ... Nothing's expected. I'm not refusing my original duty. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:32 am (txt): Hypothetical question. Situation interpretation requirement. FakeProwl 12:33 am I tend to try to avoid spending my time and RAM calculating the outcomes of scenarios that I'm not entertaining as possibilities. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:42 am *Stubborn, stubborn. A good thing most times. This time, vaguely frustrating.* (txt): ...Not certain refusal: necessary. Not Soundwave's choice. If discussion: unwanted, this: respected. However, audial offered if mind changed, vent wanted, understanding needed, combination. Not minded. FakeProwl 12:44 am Refusal isn't "necessary." But it's correct. There's nothing about it worth discussing. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:53 am *He doesn't know how to word what he wants to say. It's going to be a little awkward. Please bear with him, Prowl.* (txt): Soundwave... sorry. Prowl wanted ideal self-future. This, own want. Loss not - loss-- *He can't figure it out. He mimes snapping something with his hands instead.* (txt): Request: Retain. If Prowl -certain- not possible now, perhaps future still available. This, not - not lost city. Can hold within self. Should hold. Keep during original work. Best. FakeProwl 12:55 am *prowl's hands curl shut* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:56 am *Oh no. What did he do. He wasn't trying to advise like the time with the Constructicons; it was just-- he just. Doesn't want Prowl to let go of it altogether. The world is cold enough.* FakeProwl 12:57 am ... I should—probably go home. ItsyBitsySpyers 1:02 am (txt): ...Not intending - not trying... *Never mind. He's going to make it worse. Like he did then. He doesn't know what he's done wrong but he's broken -something- and if he doesn't just stop he might well ruin it.* *He reluctantly lets go, not that the avatar needs him to do that. It can just flicker out whenever it wants. He knows that. Call it a sign of acceptance.* FakeProwl 1:03 am ... You didn't do anything wrong. ItsyBitsySpyers 1:04 am *Gonna have trouble believing that, but he will try. Prowl's not supposed to lie, after all.* *Small nod.* (txt): Rest. FakeProwl 1:05 am *in a very convoluted way, he's not lying.* *small nod. he'll try.* ItsyBitsySpyers 1:11 am *Soundwave watches it flicker out, then rolls onto his front to try to get some recharge of his own. He won't succeed. Too busy replaying the conversation over and over in his head, and then too busy being angry at Starscream for locking Prowl away so that even if the conversation -had- gone better the moment Prowl felt safe and calm and tired enough to recharge his avatar would just wink out and leave them with the same outcome either way.*