#I like seeing cool things a character can do that end up not coming back and think 'damn we should have this again'

[namjooningera]

If LADS were Yanderes ♡

Characters: Zayne, Caleb, Sylus

AN: I guess I’m gonna start doing LADS content? Here’s some basicslly soft yan lad boys. Request if y’all want more (^^)

Warnings: soft yandere things, mentions of stalking. Mentions of smut in Zaynes; overstim, brat tamer zayne, shower sex. Caleb is lowkey manipulative. Not proofread

Sylus:

♡ He values your independence, however that doesn’t exactly stop him from making sure your always just a step away from him- he’s right there if you need him

♡ he always just happens to be in the area when you are. Oh you’re fighting a wanderer right now? On a mission? He’s right beside you! Plus, the faster you two finish the mission tne faster he can get you on a date with him, spending tne rest of the day together!

♡ He most obviously hates things in the way of y’all’s relationship, little pests in the way. And you never really realize when they disappear, when he comes home with just a little blood on his collar, his hands a little grimier, his eyes sharper and that smirk hanging off his lips.

♡ has a certain obsession with buying you pretty things. Little trinkets here and there because he’s a dragon. And no, of course they don’t have tiny cameras in them! He already has just Mephisto watching you- right? Just Mephisto?

♡ No, he doesn’t get jealous. He gets territorial. You two are together- bound. So who does this guy think he is? Hitting on you in broad daylight? Your little coworker. It doesn’t matter though, because the very next day you find their desk cleaned out!

♡ Sylus who watches as you see other men. Your coworker, doctor, childhood friend… he just watched and laughs. Do you truly think any of them can actually be as good as he is? Sylus is confident that once you have him, you won’t need anyone else. It’s why he lets you keep your little guy friends, because at the end of the day, he’s confident that if they became a real threat, he’d barely have to lift a finger to get rid of them.

♡ Sylus who’s extremly clingy. You find him to be.. everywhere. He’s always “in the neighborhood”, in front of your work, at your favorite cafes, he’s just.. around. And when you finally do call him to you, instead of letting him pop up to you instead, it’s like he’s in a buzzer radius, showing up to you immediately.

♡ He’s so clingy that he’ll even show up to your missions! And of course you’re confused, because what kind of “business” does Sylus have four hours away from home? And all of a sudden the hotel you booked is completely full and your sharing a room with Sylus?

♡ Even with these acts that are becoming too coincidental, his act is so cool and collected you, for the most part, believe him when he says he had “business” in these parts, or he just happened to stop by your home, because you forgot something at his base. And hey thats funny, he has your necklace in his hand. You don’t ever remember taking it off in the first place.

♡ Had photos of you- everywhere. His wallet, his nightstand, on his desk. He’s just so adorned by you!

♡ Finally, after all that quality time together- he’s elated when you finally start going out together!

♡ Of course, this is when bit by bit, his obsession starts to show more and more. Except.. it’s weird. You like it? Maybe it’s because he’s grown on you, spending so much time together you like the pest that’s Sylus- attached to your hip!

♡ So when he does suspicious things, like when the waiter hits on you- and all of a sudden Sylus needs to use the restroom, and comes back with the slightest drop of blood on his collarbone- you don’t blink. When your mean supervisor humiliates you, all of a sudden they’re demoted to the worst branch and bruised- you shrug. When you see your ex- the one whos always pestering you- in Sylus’ base one day, bloodied and tortured- you look the other way. Why? Because what you don’t know won’t hurt you. And after all, your boyfriend just wants to keep you safe.

Zayne-

♡ Zayne, your sweet childhood friend, you’re sure can’t hurt a fly. After all, he’s a doctor! He took an oath.

♡ Zayne is.. interesting to say the least. As you grew up together, you saw him as this sweet but timid boy. He had his nice moments, but most of the time you mistook his actions for mean ones because of his attitude- even when he meant the nicest things.

♡ It was almost.. annoying, knowing Caleb was always there with you. When Zayne you two were young, and he noticed your shoes were untied, letting you know so that he can get on his knees and tie them for you- just for little Prince Charming Caleb to swoop in and kneel on his knees, tying bunny knots on your cute pastel shoes.

♡ He needed.. new ways to get your attention. And Zayne was smart, he was sure he could find ways to do exactly that. He’d make snow figurines for you, trying to entice young you, so that perhaps for playtime- you’d choose him, not run to Caleb. And finally, when you do, when you tell Zayne he needs to be the dad when playing house, and you’ll be the mom- and Caleb will be the dog- everything is just.. perfect. Young him is elated. Plus he notices young, you’d be the perfect partner! So adorable and sweet, with your apple cheeks and gummy smile, he’s fallen head over heels.

♡ But you’ve grown up now, and you’re still with… him. Caleb. Even the words on his tongue die out as he feels gross just thinking about him. He’s never especially had anything against the guy- Caleb isn’t a bad person. It’s just that with you- his blood sizzles. The attention Caleb gives you, is so much more then an adoptive brother or childhood friend, his arm hung around your shoulder constantly, bickering with you and you two being in each others possession for several years.

♡ He’s scared that leaving for university will just cause you two to become even closer- but Zayne needs to. He disappears- with the thought of you still in his mind as he studies viciously.

♡ And finally, he’s back in town. As your health care provider, your primary physician

♡ And then there’s the incident. Caleb’s gone. And you need a shoulder to lean on. That’s okay, Zayne has done lots of study on psychology, he’s sure he can be your personal therapist if needed too. Or he can just be your close friend, who lets you cry in his shoulder or rant away, it doesn’t matter. He just wants you to know he’s here.

♡ And no! Caleb was his friend- he’s not happy that he’s gone! He’s just relieved. And soon it’s like a bridge has been built between you two, there’s no annoying wall separating you guys, and you finally choose him first every time.

♡ He’s also the type to coincidentally show up everywhere you go. He’s always at Akso when you need him- but somehow he’s always at the missions you go to as well? Showing up just perfectly timed at the train station where you are, for your timely three hour trip up north. Though with his aloof manor, you never really do get reasoning for why he’s always around, and most of the time you don’t care to ask. It’s nice to have your best friend with you, right?

♡ Zayne who huffs and puffs with an attitude when you call him your “best friend” to some people while out on a mission- him just tagging alone of course. For the rest of the day he’s silent, stubborn, staring out the window of the train and giving you curt nods and shrugs when you poke at him and try and prod- whys he acting so weird?

♡ You decide that perhaps he’s hungry- or he’s been depraved of sweets for too long. So you drag him to some cafe and sit him down to eat. He contently eats his tiramisu, forgetting that there’s a small percentage of alcohol in it.

♡ Zayne who whines in your arms as you drag him to your hotel room. You think this is your fault, you bought him the tiramisu after all! It’s only fair you take care of him. But all of a sudden he’s confessing to things.. thoughts.

♡ He confesses how he thinks your blouse shows too much of your cleavage, that while you walked him, he was looking down it the whole time. He confesses that at this point you might be the only woman he talks to, the only one he ever needs anyways. He confesses that he holds a grudge against you- for calling him something so ridiculous- a friend. That he wants you, wants to kiss your cute lips and memorize every part of you. To beat up the little prick who stared at you the whole train ride, to replace Caleb, To be able to hold you without precautions, to kiss you and be with you, to be in your skin- in your lungs.

♡ Nonetheless, he passes out anyways. And when he wakes up, he’s mortified. He confessed? What’s wrong with him? Your disgusted surely, by his reckless behavior, how he’s thought of you so crudely since you were small- wait so why are you sleeping next to him?

♡ his eyes travel up to your sleeping face, and he feels so many emotions all at once. You stayed. You slept next to him! You’re even holding his hand! So you aren’t disgusted? Do you perhaps.. feel similarly for him? Why else would you stay? He’s elated waiting for you to awake, watching your sleepy face while a smile adorns his.

♡ You two finally date, and he thinks he might be the happiest person alive. This is also when he starts to let go of his inner worries. After all, Zayne is a smart man, self aware. So he knew his more.. dangerous thoughts, should be contained. So why were you always pushing him? Teasing him? He felt.. on edge. It’s like you knew he had another side to him, something you were curious to see. Is that why you were flirting with that guy? That tipsy man at that dingy bar? You said you were out on a girls night so how come he caught you taking to that man?

♡ Zayne watches from afar. He knew your friends wanted to go to some bar, and yes, he trusts you, but he doesn’t exactly trust your friends. But know that trust unravels- why are you sliding your hand agains that man’s arm? Or letting him talk that closely to you? Are you testing him? Do you know Zaynes here? Or are you actually about to.. cheat..?

♡ And then that man simply touches a strand of your hair, twisting it in his fingers- and Zayne loses it. He practically stomps over- and his fist directly aligns with the man’s face, knocking him over, ice even shedding off of Zaynes knuckles. He turns to you, and with eyes you’ve ever seen from him before- dark and terrifying, primal even. He grabs your hand and your dragged out of there.

♡ Your shaking as he basically throws you into the car, buckling you in like a child, as if you didn’t know how. The whole ride home is silent, and you think “this is him, this is Zayne”.

♡ When you get home your pushed into the bathroom where Zayne strips the two of you to get into the shower, where he demands he cleans you of any filth that has accumulated on you from those pesky men.

♡ As zaynes hands glide soap of your body, rubbing it in and his scowl is deep on his, you try to explain to him you weren’t cheating- that you knew he was there. You wanted to see if Zayne.. would do anything. It was just something stupid the girls you were friends with convinced you to do when you recognized Zayne at the bar. And yes, were. You really think Zayne will let you keep those friends?

♡ “test me? Really? Do you have no faith in me as your partner?” He spits out, his hands deeply massaging the soap into your hips. “You think because I let you get away with a brat so often, I’ll let you go now?”

♡ Washing you is long forgotten when the two of you are fucking like bunnies, and your crying into his shoulder as you cum for the third time, the water still cascading down your bodies. Finishing once when he ate you out, a second on his fingers, and now a third on his cock. You whine that your tired and you understand what you did was wrong, that your sorry, even though your not really sorry, you wanted to see that side of him, he still bullies his cock into your hole, growling into your ear and keeping you pinned to the shower wall.

♡ he watches you sleep peacefully, which makes sense- you came so many times, that by the end you were shaking and crying, overstimulation hitting your body as you enter sub space and the brat in you broken. Alas, he still loves you, tending to you and making sure your perfectly comfortable before you finally rest.

♡ He’s glad that you saw this side of him, like a weight has been lifted. Even though you’ve only seen just a small percent of it, his guilt is completely gone. It’s why it’s so easy for him to now go find that man who touched you and get rid of him for good! It wouldn’t be the first time anyway.

Caleb-

♡ Caleb, your sweet childhood best friend, you can even go as call yourselves childhood sweethearts. He’s been there for you forever, for as long as you’ve both known.

♡ The yandere Caleb whos just a bit too close to you. When you were kids it was fine. Taking baths together, playing with each other, running to find each other during recess, benign possessive over each other and always clinging to one another. But now it gets weird.

♡ After all, you want your space! You’re grown, and you have friends other than him. Plus you want a romantic life! He’s been scaring away boys and girls from you your whole life, you had to sneak away from him at one point just to have your first kiss!

♡ Caleb whos head is screwed on loose when he finds out that you in fact didn’t go on a sleepover with your girl-friends, but we’re at instead a club with them.

♡ You’re dolled up and drinking, even wearing a dress he’s never bought you! He’s furious, but more saddened than anything. If he had puppy ears they’d flatten against his head and he’d let out a little whimper. Was he not enough for you? So you had to go find entertainment somewhere else? He’s been with you forever. So are you bored now?

♡ Suddenly his sadness turns into anger, but no, he’ll wait. Calculated, he watches you. He watches as you drink, as you speak with your friends, and as a boy approaches you. He buys you a drink, a cheap one Caleb thinks, and finally the boy leads you to a hotel room.

♡ It’s devastating to watch you follow him to his room, with your naive eyes looking him up and down, the eyes that should only see Caleb.

♡ Caleb goes home however, when his job is done. When his calculated colonial strategy takes over and he’s back to his preppy self, sitting back on your sofa as if he hasn’t shed blood.

♡ You come home, disheveled. You looked like you cried, your makeup down in streaks as you rub at your eyes pathetically. You crawl into a Caleb’s arms as he lays on the sofa, whining and ranting and confessing about how you lied.

♡ How you went to a club instead of a sleepover, so you could meet someone. However, when he sits you down on his hotel bed, he got a call. Leaving the room and coming back just to yell at you to leave! He looks disheveled himself, nervous even, twitchy eyes and body shaking as he screams at you. However your too distraught to notice as you scramble to leave the room, fighting tears at being rejected.

♡ Caleb shushes you, telling you thats just how men are, that’s just how people out there are. He would never do that to you, he would never say no to you, ever.

♡ He cuddles you on the sofa, kissing your apple cheeks and wiping the tears that still decide to make its way down your face. He rubs your back as he tells you it’s not your fault, it’s really not, Caleb had his fun making death threats to the boy, He lets you however whine and rant until you fall asleep. Then he’s carrying you to your bedroom, wiping your ruined makeup with a makeup wipe and going as far at strip you and put you into some comfortable pajamas. His eyes look away as he changes you, but it doesn’t stop him from taking a peak at your cute bra.

♡ He cuddles you into bed, kissing your forehead and watching you as you sleep. You’d never know that the boy who “rejected” you, is currently in a pool of acid. Why should you know? He is wants to keep you naive of his actions for as long as possible. He wants to be your sweet Caleb, the one whos basically a puppy to you, clingy and teasing, always by your side.

♡ It doesn’t matter that this wasn’t the first time he’s done something like this. One day you’ll realize it’s for your own good, and that it’ll just be the two of you forever, just as you were born to do.

[13tinysocks]

My Dead Girlfriend

With water, your powers return. Only to be used in a betrayal that ends up feeding everybody.     

[Part one]  [Ao3] [8]

TW: Major Character Death, Cannibalism, Nyaaa :3 Did I tell you guys nobody is safe :33

9 * Eat It [7.5k]

"So let your real flag fly, you fuckin' freak."

To Cleveland (And Beyond) - Go Hang

        Day seven.

        You can drink by your lonesome. Move and walk, but not very fast or far without feeling woozy. Use of your powers made your vision black out for seconds at a time. Gray advised against it until they could find food. They still hadn't found anything.         

        The cave extended beyond the chasm you'd landed in. Walls of stalagmites had to be carefully demolished to reveal off-chutes. Most of the Marks had gone into the dark to explore. You stayed in the main room, feeling like shit, hungry enough to think about eating sand but alive.

        The cavern was shaped like a loaf of sourdough, that's all you could think of. Bread. Half of it was flat enough ground, slightly slippery with the humidity. Stalagmites coming up from the ground had been sliced in half, made into low stools. The other dropped down deep into a seemingly endless source of water.

        Sheets of metal were brought down from above, laid on the ground. Topped with sand then the trash fabric. Best joint bedding the desert could buy. Gray and Baldie were still working on more trash fabric bedding for more beds, but the work was slow. For now, the first bed was yours, Gray who'd made the thing, insisted. It was tucked into a corner, the fire pit close enough to warm you, with more stools and makeshift benches wrapping around it. There was room for more on the mattress, but you invited nobody, letting them rest their heads on rocks or bundled-up cloth. Though Mohawk, Lensless and Scars tried to invite themselves to your side often. They were pulled away or told outright by you and your power, to buzz off. They just liked the fight, to see how far they could push until you couldn't shove back anymore. You were thankful to be alone on the bed now, watching the wind blow sand around hundreds of feet above the caves entrance. 

        Maskless was sleeping even though he was supposed to be watching you. You were glad to have someone on the same page. This whole babysitting thing was stupid. Okay, sure, you'd almost died from dehydration, but you weren't going to die now. Probably. 

        The others were above or below, searching. You were alone and safer than you had been in days. You sat up, blinking away the dizziness and doing your best to ignore the gnawing at the inner lining of your stomach.

        The boots Baldie found yesterday come to the ground, the black GDA soldier pants swished around your legs. Baldie was out there somewhere wearing only his prison pants, you had kept the shirt.

        No helmet or armor, but you were covered up enough to feel a little more comfortable. Warmer in the cool cave. There were complaints when your clothing returned, they just wanted something to look at. Some desert entertainment.

        It was disgusting, and you couldn't tell the teasing from the actual threats, so treated all mentions of your body the same. 

        You crawled to the pool, a sunbeam from above guided you. You drank out your hands despite what Gray had said. All water needed to be boiled before consumption for safety. He'd taken a chunk of limestone, punched out its center (which took multiple attempts) and deemed it a pot. It was more of a shallow basin than anything, but you weren't going to argue. He wasn't around now and you didn't want to wake Maskless by starting a fire. He was part of the reason you were still alive, and you weren't going to say thank you, so being civil was the best you could do. 

       What had started as drinking from your hands, turned into scrubbing blood and soot from your face, turned into half pulling yourself into the water to take a fully clothed bath.

        "Hey." Maskless didn't open his eyes. "Don't contaminate the water."

        "Boiling it gets rid of germs." You don't go further in than you already had. Rational thought caught up with your body, you were definitely too weak to tread water at this point. Let go of the ledge and you'd slip under. Unsure if Maskless would save your ass and not waiting to find out, you slid back. "You not sleeping?"

        "Can't. Listening for something."

        You roll back onto your haunches. "For what?"

        His eyes open with a scowl, "I can't hear if you're talking."

        You decided you dislike him more than you already did. The others had something off about them, un-Mark-ish and bordering on inhuman. But Maskless was a dead ringer, same face, same inflection, same bitch attitude. You couldn't be in the same room as him.

        You got up. 

        "You can't see in the dark." He says like you'd forgotten. 

        You pulled your phone out of your pocket and flicked on the flashlight. If you could leave a review on your phone case it'd be a glowing five stars. Thing was still working even after being thrown a few hundred miles into sand. 

        He sighed and floated off his ass to your side, "Let's go then." 

        "I'm going alone." You pick a direction arbitrarily, and move toward the opening. 

        "I'm not going to tie you down or anything, but if I let you leave and you die, they'll kill me." He says with very little enthusiasm.

        "Poor you." You swallowed, gathering power, "Why don't you go sit back down?"

        You sway, stumbling forward a step, and catching yourself on a wet rock. Maskless is halfway across the cavern to his stool when he stops and turns.

        "They told me you'd do that." He stayed in place, waiting. "Why don't you go sit back down?"

        "Fuck you." Breathe, regather, and, "Sit down."

        You tip forward before you can see if it works. On the ground, you lie in a groaning heap. Hunger ebbing away at your very soul. 

        Maskless sighs, long and loud. He grabs the back of the jail shirt and half-carries, half-slides you back to the makeshift bed. "You can try that again when you didn't almost die two days ago." He drops face-first onto the garbage despite your protests.

        Maskless floated back to his stool, crossed his legs, and tried to listen. The sound had gone. A faint, so very faint, skittering he could only hear if everything was still and he paid no mind to his own beating heart.

        "You ruined it." It's more a fact than a biting insult. He is too tired to be as nasty as Emperor. Honestly, where the hell did the guy get the energy to be so annoying?

        You didn't reply. Fighting unconsciousness before your brain kickstarted and you peeled yourself up. "You could've stayed where you were but you had to follow me."

        You were so tired of the tails. You just needed to be alone or with someone who doesn't scare the shit out of you. But you can't. Groups are good for survival and the longer this goes on the more you realize. You couldn't kill them without food. The murders were postponed even further than they already had been. 

        "I already told you, they'll kill me." The sentence ends with a laugh, though nothing about it is funny. "I don't even know you." The intonation made you remember Mark in the GDA hospital wing. You're angry all over again at someone that is and isn't him.  

        You'd heard it before, but the words are an honest to God relief. He was a blank slate. Hated you right back. Now, this was a normal relationship to have while stranded in the desert.

        Despite his assurance, you're suspicious. "Not even a little?"        

        "I mean I met you but I don't want to fuck you." He says it plainly. "I have a boyfriend."

        Your ears perked up at that. "What?" 

        "William Clockwell." He throws the name at you like a knife.

        A knife you pick up and examine. "Mark's best friend, who's dating that guy D.A. Sinclair maimed?" Thrown right back.

        It hits him square in the chest, bullseye. His turn to say, "What?"

        Invincible had long since turned tail and left Machine Head's business alone, which meant Machine Head would forevermore have his nose in Invincible's business. He had plenty of enemies and plenty of money to hire people to watch the family of his enemies. Nothing better than kidnapping and ransom to get people to do what you wanted. It was funny that the GDA did the same thing, just higher tech with more red tape. Maybe you wouldn't have minded a job there, you liked intel being thrown around like gossip. 

       "Rick something or other." The words are a one-two punch to his gut.

        His brows knit, he leans forward a fraction, unable to hide his interest.

        "That guy from high school?" Jealousy and bitterness soak through his tongue. You knew the tone and feeling all too well. Seeing the misery swimming in his eyes was like a baby's laughter and butterflies.

        "They just graduated college together." You boasted like you were proud of them. Like you and William were still friends. "Going steady a few years now." You had him on the ropes now. Finish him! "Probably getting married soon." Honeyed eyes go black, and you knew you'd gone too far. You couldn't help push further, a thrill at getting a reaction. Hunger had made you worse than a cunt, you'd started acting like a man. "Unless they died when you guys ran through the planet."

        The hand has closed on your throat before you could even think up the next insult. "Shut up. Shut up, you're lying." Yet his hand loosens enough for you to answer. 

        "The Mark Grayson in my timeline was only friends with William Clockwell." Fingers don't press in hard enough to bruise; he's careful. Knows if the others see he's fucked.

        That wasn't the answer he wanted. "Where did they live?"

        "Some college in Chicago."  

        His eyes go bug-fuck wide. "Chicago?" One of the cities they hit. His grip loosens, hands shaking. You'd said the truth, which was apparently the wrong thing. He floated back to his seat, head in hands, muttering, "Chicago, Chicago..."

        You don't say anything and neither does he until the others return, when the sunbeam goes orange and soft and the cold starts to creep in.

        Marks returned for the evening usual, a bonfire debrief where the only thing cooking was water. 

        Baldie built the fire. Orange light reflecting off his thick muscles. Nothing to report from his end. Lensless took the floor first, pacing as he talked about the winding caves he'd walked. It was hard to follow, but there were more caves than what he'd explored. Mohawk said he'd found another pool of water. Scars had no luck in the desert besides some more trash to weave. Tracksuit had nothing. Gray reported the cave system was bigger than thought. Warned it'd be easy to get lost like Lensless, but never find their way back. A map would need to be made. Warned that breaking through the roof of the cave system to the surface could collapse the tunnels. He said this with eyes on you. 

        "You've been awfully quiet." Mohawk flicked his fingers toward Phantom, who sat still on a stalagmite stump directly across from you. "Got anything?"

        ***

        According to the numbers in his lenses, the nest was four hundred miles below the surface. He hadn't seen the narrow entrance at first, and when he did, didn't consider squeezing through it. Until a tiny spec of green lit the screen on his lens. A moving spec. Something living. He crept closer to the wall, the tiny holes coming into focus. More silhouettes outlined in green, limbs too fast and small, they looked like a blur. 

        He tore out a chunk of wall, set it aside and stepped into a new cavern. Bigger than the rest. Roof so high it could've been a cathedral. He'd come in by its apex, looking down at the comings and goings of the creature mass. Paths well worn deep into the earth where they moved, wide as pipes. Winding, twisting, into a wider network of dugout tunnels. But here, in this space, all roads led to one place. 

        Her subjects crawled up her body, holding morsels so small he couldn't see or detect it with his lenses. Fungus perhaps. They made their way under her twitching pedipalps. Drop the mold or sand morsels or whatever into her mouth, and make their way back down the body. Tiny, useless wings on her back flutter in buggish satisfaction. 

        She lay on limestone, a pool of water around her like a moat.

        He leaves after a shallow investigation of the closest caves. Finding eggsacks buried in the walls in one cavern. Spore-filled air in another. He slid the removed rock back in place, careful to push it flush to the wall. The others were unlikely to find the secret hideaway. Unlikely to find you both if you left together in secret. Living off bug meat and cave water, forever. Disgusting, yes, but you'd have each other.

        If only he could get you to come with him, unnoticed and without a fight.

        ***

        Phantom shook his head. 

        "Of course, you have nothing." Emperor spat like he didn't also have anything to report. "We won't have anything unless everybody is pitching in." The white of his lenses flash firelight, set on you.

        "Am I supposed to magically recover from almost dying?" You shoot back. "You think I like hanging around while you do shit?"

        "What shit has he done since we've got here?" You almost don't hear his voice.

        You have to look around to see who spoke and find Emperor glaring at Maskless. "Got something to say?"

        "I found water." He says, hand coming up to gesture to Phantom, "we found water. All you've done is sit and complain."

        Emperor scoffs. "Like you've been around to monitor my progress."

        "I didn't have to be. People talk." He says as if you didn't catch him leave with Phantom a half hour ago into one of the caves. Since digging out your new home, they were definitely closer than the rest of you.

         Tension starts to tighten in the air. Baldie and Mohawk shift on their asses, bring themselves closer to you to block any incoming strays from hitting you. 

        Emperor is off his seat, standing while everyone remained seated. "If any of you have anything to say to me now- say it!"

        "Your voice makes my ears ring." Said Scars, who loved hearing himself talk.

        "You do jackshit, dude." Lensless adds.

        Emperor turns on them, waving a fist. "I've got a lot more on my mind than you idiots! My empire has to be falling apart without me, and I'm stuck with you useless, brain-dead, backwater versions of me! You can't even survive on a desert planet, how could so many of you not rule Viltrum- you are the bloodline of Argall! Are you too stupid to know that or just too weak to ascend!?" His words echoed around the cave. Lingering.

        The detail hung over the Marks who did not rule Viltrum. Thragg did just fine ruling, so why should they? They saw no need, some never knew they were descendants of Argall, or anything about the lost royal bloodline. There were questions to ask but none of them spoke up, a show that what he said didn't matter. That his insults were unsubstantiated and weak, like him. 

        "On the second day of the attack, were you in Chicago?" Maskless says.

        "Why does that matter?" Spit flew off Emperor's lip. Cheeks red under his mask when no one seemed to be bothered by his fury- widely feared in his universe.

         Maskless was all even calm. Muscles relaxed, whereas Emperor was tensed up. "Yes or no." 

        "I don't answer to the likes of you." It was said in a snarl, "To any of you!"

        Maskless blinked slow, cat like. Head turned slowly to you, "Make him answer."

        The unexpected attention made you stiffen. You sat up a little straighter. Weighing the options. Don't, and be resistant. Do and cooperate. Either way you were picking a side you didn't fully understand. You didn't know which would provide the bigger bane or boon. So you went with what your heart wanted, to see Emperor get his teeth knocked in.

        Emperor spun on you, finger up and wagging at you in warning, "Don't you da-"

        "Answer the question." Your head falls, chin smacking against your chest before coming back up. Vision bobbing in and out. Baldie had scooted closer, hands poised to support you, but backs off against your wakeful sneer. 

        The power was watered down, though it should've been back full force by now. Starvation made you weak and the weakness made you edgy.  

        Emperor answered all the same. "Chicago was mine to destroy, so I did."

        A muscle in Maskless's jaw ticked. You cough out the hammer so he could nail down his own coffin, "What about Upstate University?"  You slump onto your thighs, a streak of blood dripped down your nose. Vision swimming and body uncooperative for a few seconds. Coming back to Baldie holding you upright by the shoulders, clear worry across his hairless brow. 

        "Burnt it to the ground," Emperor said even, uncaring. 

        You cared little about the answer. You tried to pat Baldie's chest, get him away but no words come out. Your head lolls forward, unable to hold it up and sneer at him. 

        He turned to Mohawk who'd apparently seen you use the powers before, "What do we do?"

        "I dunno," He crawled forward, considers reaching for the codeine in your pockets before remembering how you'd almost vomited on him. "Just wait it out?" His palm goes to your cheek, lifting your head to look at your face, skin clammy, eyes glassy and unfocused. After a few days you seemed okay enough, but he wasn't familiar enough to know if this was normal. God damn it, why couldn't you just trust them with the details of your powers- of your past?

        His machinations are cut short by a blur of movement. You catch it too, thanks to your head being held up. 

        Emperor is still stunned. Fingers twitched as your control slipped away, but Maskless was too fast. The side of his palm and wrist cut through the air. Slapped your face with wind and a splatter of blood. You could barely register what you're seeing.

        One second Emperor was standing and Maskless was sitting. The next, Maskless was behind him, arm bloodied, body all tense rage. Emperor still stood proudly, sans an important addition. Too stubborn to acknowledge the blood rhythmically spurting out of his stump of a neck. His head toppled to the ground, rolling over once before Maskless's foot came down. Sinking into the skull and meat with a sickening crunch.

        Then and only then does Emperor's twitching body fall to its knees. Arms jittering as his nerves try too late to fight for his life, before his torso finally drops, fwump, against the cave floor. Blood pooled quick, the smell already permeating in the air. 

        Gray is up with his fists but does not lunge. Mohawk and Baldie are a wall of muscle blocking Maskless's eyes from sliding on you. You watch from between their legs. Phantom is still, calculating what's to come. Tracksuit's hands go to the back of his head. Lensless is laughing. Scars looked down at the body, fallen directly at his feet, blood staining the yellow of his boots. 

        Maskless looks at none of them, turning back to his seat before settling back down. Seemingly oblivious to the fresh blood that soaked into his uniform. 

        Gray's muscles relax, deeming the threat neutralized.

        "He was weak and uncooperative." He says, "But you couldn't have killed him any cleaner?"

        "He killed my boyfriend." Is all Maskless can say.

        Gray's nod is terse. Annoyance hid well. "The blood can not stay on the campsite." He'd already moved past the murder, like it was nothing. Onto nagging Maskless. "It is unsanitary."

        "Unsanitary?" Tracksuit flipped out his hand, splaying his fingers, that quintessential New Englander gesture for 'what the fuck'. "He jus' killed that guy!"

        "Yes, we all saw," Gray replied.

        "He was a douche bag anyway." Mohawk said.

        The wall of Baldie and Mohawk undid itself. Mohawk first beside you, hand on your back to support you. Baldie too slow, settled on his knees on the edge of your mattress, he didn't want to crowd you if it wasn't necessary. Despite how deeply in his bones he wanted to melt into your skin, to wipe the blood off of your face. 

        Phantom ignored the body. Watched Baldie's lingering look. Saw how you shifted away from Mohawk, toward Baldie. Your hand briefly landing on Baldie's as you tried to sit up. You didn't know it, but you'd chosen a favorite that was not him, Phantom. Something had to be done about that.

        "Couldn't have left some action for the rest of us?" Lensless prodded the corpse with the toe of his boot. Smiling when it twitched, frowning when the movement stopped. 

        You supported your own weight, but just barely, pushing off of your arms to sit back upright. Used to death and not too deeply surprised Emperor was first voted off the island. You swat away Mohawk's supportive hand from your back. Hissing out a, "I'm fine."

         He opens his mouth to fight, but Scars voice takes up all the air in the cavern. "We should eat him."

        Tracksuit is the only one to voice, "Dude, what the fuck?" 

        "Think about it." Scars grabbed Emperor's limp arm. Warm, fresh, red meat. "We've searched this entire fucking planet for days and found nothing. This," he jostles the arm, making Emperor's wrist flap and violently snap, "is how we survive. How she," he pointed the limp hand toward you, "survives."

        "No." The thought made you sick. Empty stomach churning around nothing, your hands going to cradle yourself. Insides growl in protest, wanting the meat but you wouldn't indulge. "I'm not a fucking cannibal."

        Scars grabbed Emperor's hand, twisted it off at his forearm with a wet snap. "Do you want to die here?" The hand is discarded, Scars pulling to break the joint at his elbow like a crab leg.

        You don't answer. Watch as Scars tears the fabric off the bloodied limb. Yellow-coated digits digging harshly under the skin. Pushing. The flesh bulges with the intrusion. Scars slowly peeled up the skin with a grunt, removing the humanity from the lean meat that would melt in your mouth if cooked. You felt sicker. He can see the urge to puke in your bobbing throat. "You'll come around."

        "We could find food any day now and you're just gonna-" Tracksuit stopped himself when Scars bit into the broken end of the arm. Pulling out a slip of pinkish tendon with his teeth. "Alright, dude."

        The meat slipped between his lips. Swallowed without a single chew. He moaned. Met the stump halfway with his lips and began to shred with teeth. Piece after piece torn off the bone. Blood stained his chin so completely it seemed like he'd never be clean again. You would've been able to hear a pindrop if he wasn't chewing so loud, so wetly.

        You all watched. Rapt attention gone from Maskless to Scars in a matter of moments. Murder was one thing but this? No one knew what to say as he continued to eat, but you felt each swallow in the pit of your stomach, a creeping suspicion that he had done this before. You don't realize how hard you're gripping Baldie's hand.

        Across the room, Phantom wants to throw up, though he cares little about the gore.

        "We should preserve the rest." Scars set the remaining meat atop Emperor's unmoving back. "He won't last long." Before rot sets in. Or before he is eaten entirely. Which would come first?

        No one spoke. Scars continued. "You," he flicked fresh bloodied fingers at Gray. "You took over a bunch'a planets, right?" Gray's nod is stiff. "So you know how all this survivalist bullshit works?" Another nod. He's comply but he would not trust, not after that show of loyalty to Emperor's body.

        Scars lifted Emperor's still leaking corpse by the back of his suit, "You know how to make jerky?"

        "Holy shit, dude." Tracksuit answered for Gray. "You can't be serious."

        "I am." Scars says, "This is the only food on this entire fucking planet. Be a pussy if you want but I'm not dying like this. Now, do you know how to do this or not?" Scars jostled the body for Gray's attention. A thick splatter of blood hit the fire, sizzled, and released a scent that made your nose curdle, your nails digging into your stomach. 

        Gray floated from the ground, up and out the hole in the ceiling. Scars followed, Emperor's limbs swaying as they both rose. Blood rained in thick, lazy drops until they both were gone. A single rivulet landed under your nose, rolled down your cupid's bow and slipped between your lips. Your tongue darted out automatically. The taste lingered in your mouth as your stomach ate itself.

        Lensless was first to move after a long, thick silence. He crouched by the smashed head, poking idly at the eye that blasted out it's socket, the other smashed in with Emperor's brains. "We should clean this thing up. Put it on the wall. Decoration." 

        Nobody in the room hadn't not killed somebody, but the suggestion felt wrong. Like a bad omen. 

        "Dude, no." Tracksuit said.

        Lensless rolled the head, a gooey slab of brain matter stuck to the floor. Your throat twitched, a gag rocked your body. He grinned at you, fingers pulling out Emperor's front teeth. "Don't worry, if you clean it right it won't smell."

        "I don't think..." You can't finish the thought before another gag rips up your throat. Nothing comes out. 

        Maskless rose from his seat and grabbed the basin. "I'll clean up, it's my mess."

        He got to work, dousing the floor with water, guiding the dirty sludge to a slope leading to another cave as to not contaminate the drinking water. By the time he was done, Lensless had removed all the teeth from Emperor's mouth. He shoved the bloody things into his pockets, adding to his collection. 

        Maskless scooped up the remnants of Emperor's head best he could. Lensless pouted but didn't fight as Maskless floated to the surface to deliver the meat to the butchers. You stared at the red spot on the floor where it'd been, a single chunk of brain sitting in a dim sunbeam.

        ***

        He touched down to the empty sand field. Directionally challenged, he was not, this was where he'd taken off a month ago. Yet the dunes were drastically different, shifted. There was no beginning of a tent or improvement or ruins. There was no evidence of anybody else. The chasm that had begun to yawn open in the depths of space, deepens.

        He removed the oxygen mask. Newfound beard heating his face. He rose to the sky. Floated miles above the planet, pace meandering when he should've been frantic. He'd lost all hope for you to still be alive. You. Not the person he'd thought you'd be. The person he threw everything away for just to see one last time. He'd never know if it could have been worth it, if under the hurt and the fear you were still his. What a waste, for both of you. 

        He wondered if the others were still alive. If he left and they all killed each other. He wondered if he was alone, destined to go mad between the desert dunes.

        A hairdryer breeze assaulted his face, a welcome change from the frigidness of space. On the wind he smells it, cooking meat. He is gone before he can think. 

        ***

       He was undressed like a pig skinned. Slices of thigh removed with a quick chop of the side of a hand. Holes poked through the cuts at their tops for a metal rod to be fished through before the slices were hung above the fire from a rickety rack. The setup wasn't ideal or very good at all, but it was the best they could do.  It'd be days before the whole body was processed. 

        It'd be hours before the blood-sopped meat would dehydrate into jerky. Viltrumite bodies were resistant to lava in life, but upon death and the release of stress hormones and loosening of muscle- could be cooked. According to Gray at least.

        "You done this before?" Scars had asked only because of how little time it had taken the man to set it up, almost suspiciously so. Like Gray planned on being the first to turn to cannibalism, already planning a jerky recipe.

        "No." Gray said, "But my mentor has."

        Scars does not ask who. He doesn't care about Gray's life. He only cares about you. "This'll make it safe for her to eat, right?"

        Gray's jaw ticks. "It should, but you should know how weak human stomachs can be. Consuming the body in front of her was a poor choice. She will not wish to eat it, no matter the preparation method."

        Scars snapped the other arm off Emperor's body. Unrolled the muscle from the bone, which he set aside on a rock. The marrow could be eaten. The bones could be boiled in water for soup. He began to sheer off arm meat, saying, "Don't be a pussy."

        "Cannibalism is not common on Viltrum but we do what we must to complete our missions. You know this."

        Scars knew some things about Viltrum. He had never gone, never absorbed the culture. What he knew had come from his Dad at an early age. He thought he knew it all, but upon meeting Gray, he realized he knew little. He should've let Dad live longer, if only to teach him more- but the idea was so absurd it almost makes him laugh. 

        "Sure." He says instead. 

        "But I will not eat until she does." Gray finished. He would not try to assuage you. He would wait patiently. You would crack and cave, you were not made for a hunger strike. Your human morals would fold like wet towels under the slightest pressure. To a Viltrumite enforcer like himself, a week of starvation was nothing. 

        Scars secured the meat slices onto a pole and set them aside. "Okay, pussy."

        Unsatisfyingly, Gray does not react to his jabs. At least not visually, he just speaks evenly, "Father taught me humans are brought comfort by eating side by side with their mates. It makes the most sense to wait for her."

        He remembers his Father and Mother together on Viltrum, so strangely in love. Him foolishly thinking he could have the same, taking you, becoming so unexpectedly infatuated. It softened him. Such a waste what had happened but then again, that chain of events brought him to you. The stronger, better version of you that would fit so well into Viltrum society. He feels soft all over again at the idea of your strange human courting rituals. So silly and unnecessary, but so tempting, so easy to indulge in. He nearly forgets to whom he is speaking. 

        Scars didn't know what to laugh at first. The reverence in his tone at Father or the word, "Mates?"

        "Yes," Gray retrieved the latest wrack Scars finished and hung the swaying meats over the fire. His stomach clenched at the smell. 

        Conquering was the most Dad taught Scars of Viltrum culture, and conquer he did. "Why not just call it what it really is? She's a pet to people like us."

        Gray considers kicking him in the stomach. Making him vomit up the meat and an apology on your behalf. He withholds, thinking it'd be a better idea to have Scars on his side. Scars was as strong as he was unpredictable. Scars under his thumb meant you being much, much safer.

        "It is simply the word we use." He says, "Though Father said he called Mother his girlfriend, then wife back on Earth." The word girlfriend felt clunky in his mouth. Too many syllables, too simple, yet complicated, whereas mate just felt right. 

        Scars laugh is a whip. "You really care about those assholes, huh?"

        Gray does not answer, for it is not Scars' business and also- it was rather obvious how he felt. Though Viltrumites shouldn't feel. He was considered a strange boy on his home planet, but he wouldn't trade his childhood and lineage for a thing. He felt justified in this just speaking to Scars. Looking at how a different, loveless life on Earth made him into a rude and impulsive man. Ugh, those garish colors and that cape. So ugly.

        Gray senses the atmospheric shift and moves out of the way long before Scars thinks to. 

        Sand is kicked from the ground in a wave, dousing the afternoon fire, coating the still-wet meat. The man who fell from the sky did not care. He grabbed two slices at a time and shoved them into his chapped mouth. An uncharacteristic groan rumbling out of his chest. 

        Gray and Scars watch, poised from their vantage spot hovering over the ground, as Omni feasts. 

        "I thought you were dead." Scars is first to touch down, moving closer to the smoking sand and meats. 

        Omni chewed and swallowed, throat bulging like a snake. He grabbed two more slices of meat. "Hungry." Is all he says before biting down.

        "Not even gonna ask what you're eating?" His gaze slid significantly to the mound of sand. Emperor hidden under the kicked-up sand. 

        Omni's mouth does not slow as Scars kicks the sand off Emperor's bare back. "Things went batshit after you left." 

        Omni does not process as he swallows. Realization hits when the meat reaches his stomach and his eyes focus unsteadily on the corpse. Oh God. He lunges, grabs Scars bruisingly hard by the shoulders. He was weak, exhausted, but now, pumping with adrenaline and desperation he didn't know he still had. "Where is (Y/n)?"

        Gray does not want this haggard madman near you, but Scars does not give a shit about what Gray wants. Gray opens his mouth, "Don't-"

        Scars pointed to the massive cone in the ground leading down to the caves, they were only a few feet away. "Down there, dumbass."

        Omni is a red-white bolt streaking down the hole. Gray is at his heels but faster, reaching the cavern first and stopping in front of you before Omni can reach you. 

        The air splits at their sudden pause. You are sent backward, careening for the wall but Mohawk is there to catch you. The rest of the Marks are on their feet, bristling at this new threat, tense until they realize who they're looking at.

        "You're back early," Gray says, standing tall, trying to block his view of you. He does not like how glazed Omni's eyes are behind the lenses. Does not like how they won't focus on him, the immediate threat, but over his shoulder, at you. 

        "It's been a month." His voice is brittle. 

        "It's been a week." Gray bites back. 

        "Time isn't right out there." Omni's voice doesn't feel a part of him. Nothing feels right in his body, because nothing is right about any of this.

        "What'd you find?" Baldie asked.

        Phantom crept up behind him, ready to strike Omni if Gray needed the backup.        

        "Nothing." Omni moved a degree and Gray moved with him. "Let me see her."

        "Yeah, dude, just let the crazy guy touch your girlfriend," Tracksuit spoke when Gray wouldn't.

        Mohawk sets you down but does not let go of your shoulders. Omni is looking at you like his dead puppy. You ache with hunger. Know you are weak.

        Yet you say, "Don't touch me." Before passing out.

        ***

        The explanation is winding. Nonsensical at best, but the other Marks turn it over in their heads, reexplaining it to each other while Omni fitfully rests in your bed. He did not get to hold you like he wanted, but seeing you alive, sharing a bed with you, no matter how unconventional, was enough for now. In moments when he awoke, sparse because of exhaustion in his body, he only looks for you. Mulling over in his mind how he could prove to himself, to you, that you were the woman he married.

        You sit on the edge of the sandy garbage mattress as they tell you the bad news. Woozy. Aching with hunger that even excess boiled water could not quench. Twelve days you'd been stuck in the desert now. Twelve days of heat and near death and starvation. A week sat doing nothing in this suffocating cave. They refuse to let you move beyond the littlest things. Gray says you must conserve energy so long as your hunger strike lasts. But you had an eternity of suffering left. There was no other planets to go to, no one who could come save you. Just the slow creeping annihilation of the universe, and you, starving to death.  

        Mohawk was the first to cave when the first batch of jerky was done cooking two days ago. He ate across the fire, relishing the dehydrated thigh meat with a moan. Lensless rose to the surface for his own slice not long after. Tracksuit and Prisoner held out, but their morals were starting to get shaky by day ten. They could survive long periods without eating, but they were unused to the hunger pains, it was starting to get to them. Scars had not eaten since the first day. Claiming it'd be good to ration. Gray and Phantom held out, seemingly unaffected by the hunger.

        Gray was steadfast. Phantom was not. He snunk away to the bug cave under the guise of exploration. Ate the fingerpad sized insects by the handful to satiate himself. Plans tumbling around in his head. He couldn't make the moves he wanted until you were strong enough to eat, until there weren't eight pairs of eyes watching you at all times. So he waited for you to give into the long pig jerky.

        Baldie, Tracksuit, and you kept each other in check like a hunger pact. 

        "Just hold on, we'll find something else." Baldie would say, hand supporting your back as you swayed while simply sitting. You never swatted him away. Trust a slow, creeping thing growing between you like mold.

        "No way I'm leaving a cannibal," Tracksuit says, fingers flexing on his knees. "I can't be the only one not leaving a cannibal."

        Day Fourteen. 

        You wouldn't do it. 

        You pass out on the bed, wrapping yourself in Omni's cape to try and escape the cold of your body eating itself. Feeling the pain even in sleep. 

        Day Fifteen.

        They search hard, find nothing. You are looking worse and worse. Snappish and downtrodden when awake, a rock when asleep. Phantom thinks of telling the others but sees how Baldie frets over you, how you don't swat him away, and doesn't. A plan, a real plan, started to form in Phantoms head. 

        Day Sixteen. 

        Scars hovers over you. Thin sticks of dried meat in his fist. You refused to eat, choose to die with the universe. He would not allow it. 

        You do not stir as he sits on your hips. Nobody stops him. Though Baldie says, "She doesn't want it."

        He breaks a piece off one of the already slight pieces. "She's dying."

        He goes to stuff the piece between your lips when his wrist is grabbed by Baldie. "I said-"

        "Do you think letting her starve to death will get you pussy?" Scars spat. "She hates us regardless. Making her eat won't change anything, but she won't die." Baldie's hold falls reluctantly away. 

        "People have survived much longer than this without food." Omni says, watching your sleeping face and despite his proximity, doesn't stop it. None of them want to see you continue to suffer. With you out of commission, they were starting to creep more toward edginess. Snapping at each other, fighting over nothing. Only Maskless and Tracksuit immune to the status of your state but not of the men around them.

        Piece after piece was slipped between your lips. You dreamt of the grocery store. Of being in the snack aisle and grabbing the closest thing to you, a Slim Jim. You tear open the wrapper, greedily swallow it down, taste it.

        You wake, chunks of meat, slimy with spit, crammed into your mouth. You cough, gagging, and nearly choking. Brownish meat splatters onto Scars face but he doesn't seem to care.

        "Eat it." He held the meat to your lips but you sealed them closed, sucking them in. He pinches your nose shut. You can't breathe. Head already starting to feel like a balloon, you thrash, trying to sit up despite his weight on your body, reaching to push his hand away. Omni moves, you think to save you, but he just holds your right shoulder down, his other hand holding yours as it spasms in panic. Baldie watches horrified. Mohawk moves around him and holds down your left, unable to look at you. Not for Scars safety, you couldn't hope to hurt him with human fists but to prevent you from hurting yourself. The ease with which he holds you down makes him sick, easier than it should be. 

        Screams are trapped inside of your throat, shrill, but they do not listen. Your vision darkens, darkens, darkens until your brain forces your lips apart to take a heaving breath. The meat is forced inside your mouth. Scars slams your jaw shut, sealing your lips with the warmth of his palm, his one eye watches you coldly. 

        The meat is freshly cured, almost melting on your tongue. Telling you to just give in. To enjoy the smoked pork taste but you can't, you won't. 

        You shake your head in their grip. Tears forcing themselves past your eyelids. You look from Omni to Mohawk, pleading with your eyes for them to help. They don't. You look to Scars, willing him to move his hand so you could give the order for him to die.

        He sees it in your eyes and grins, leaning closer. "You wanna kill me, don't you? If you wanna kill me, you have to eat."

        You do. You want to kill him so bad. For everything he'd done. For everything he's doing. For the fact that if it weren't for him forcing you to eat, you'd starve to death. You hate him so much. You cry looking into his one exposed eye. You willfully swallow.

        "Good girl."

[energon-depo]

Why I think Arcee and Smokescreen are peak duo material

(Note: This is all in a platonic sense!!! I see them as cool aunt and nephew!! like elita and bee in tfo!!)

this will be a half analysis on one episode in particular, with some other things that happen after. and why I think these two are swell together.

Okay now yes, Arcee Was a “hater”(emphasis on the quotes)of smokescreen at first and I’d like to analysis that, in the episode hard knocks(s2 E22) we got to remember smokescreen was brash ESPECIALLY in that episode.

“I’m going to be a great warrior someday, like Optimus” -smokescreen

“well, train hard, and gain some wisdom along the way and I’m sure It’ll happen” -bulkhead

“Oh, It will. It’s my destiny” -Smokescreen

Very, VERY confident, boarding on egotistical, actually. whiles yes Smokescreen is just a kiddo, very young and doesn’t grasp at the current WAR going. We gotta admit, he’s got it over his head(this is coming from the girl who’s favorite character IS smokescreen So there’s no way I hate him LOL)

as a refresher, bee and arcee go to find an Omega-key. To Smokescreen’s disgruntlement, as he REALLY wanted to do the mission(saying “last one to the ground-bridge must scrub the energon tanks for a week!”)

Arcee throws a jab at Smokescreen, saying “keep your engines idle, kid. Come bee, destiny awaits” which I personally think, It’s lighthearted :) Like ain’t no way arcee HATES his guts, she’s just messing!…But a lil too aggressive, Of course.

but after that interaction, action show does it’s thing with knockout BRUTALITY defending The key from the two autobots(with the help of Soundwave’s weapons he borrowed)the end result is victory on the Deception’s side.

after recouping, The team discuss what happened. and Smokescreen is a lil too zealous with his commentary on things.

“Man, it must’ve been crazy with knockout going all sonic. Oh I wish I’d been there! I would’ve-“

“Would’ve what? Recovered the key like you did the first one?”- Arcee

“maybe? who knows! I just want us to be firing on all cylinders! you know, now that the star saber’s gone! and I have a pretty good track record”- smokescreen, you can see he’s been VERY ignorant. Not to his blame, but you got to keep in mind, this kid Just showed up. being this “confident” about his abilities, especially after a CRUCIAL lost is something that will peeve anyone.

Arcee gives him this look, before promptly taking her battered frame and storming off.

again, no one here at fault. after that smokescreen feels remorse about if his words offended arcee, he clearly doesn’t mean to insult her. And arcee isn’t wrong or cruel for being upset!

(note: I freaking love these characters, wowie zowie such good emotions from looks and words!)

later on, Optimus finds another location for different omega-key. this time Bulkhead and smokescreen are in-charge in finding it.

smokescreen says “I’m gonna bring back that key” and warms himself up before entering the ground-bridge, upon noticing Arcee’s graze he slouches remembering the last interaction they had and leaves.

Arcee gets the attention of bulkhead to have a few words. she tells him “make sure you keep an eye on destiny’s child, okay?” a quant reminder, clearly from a place of concern. if she hated him, she would’ve been praying he’d get hurt.

But no, she’s concerned. she sees a kid in war far too eager for his own good.

“compared to watching miko? piece of cake” -bulkhead, funny quip and also a cute jab.

again, action show gotta action. this time dreadwing(remember him?) ambushes the two, smokescreen runs to get the key, while bulkhead distracts.

In the end, starscream actually shows up and steals the key from under smokescreen’s non-existent nose.

after rejoining the team, Smokescreen beats himself up on losing the key(to which is not at fault)

“some great warrior I’m turning out to be” -smokescreen

and now entering, arcee's very important statement.

“you still don’t get it do you?" she starts "a couple of victories aren’t going to make you a legend" talking about his first victory he's been bragging about "and not every mission results in success." he's current “fail” "Not for me, not for bee, not even for Optimus” targeting his idols, bee he's older brother(check project predacon s3 e5) and he's hero(check literally every-time smokey talks about him)

“we’ve gained relics, and we’ve lost some. we’ve also lost friends, we’ve even lost a world. but this one time we get a do-over." hammering in the stakes "we have a chance to bring back cybertron, and everyone in this room needs to be in-sync. this isn’t about you or your destiny” like it or not he NEEDED to hear this, he needs to focus. and if no one is going to step up and say it then arcee will.

Optimus interjects by saying “Arcee, you made your point” concerned at the rising tension.

to which Arcee Objects “Optimus, he needs to hear this” to assert her (aggressive)guidance to the young bot.

“you might actually become a great warrior one day, and I sincerely hope you do." A genuine wish"But greatness beings and ends wit putting the team first, not your personal scorecard” doubling down.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you guys” smokescreen attempts to explain, to which arcee stops him “then stop trying to be a hero, and start being an autobot” THAT LINE was the finisher, and I really can’t find fault in that whole statement she said. yes she did sound aggressive, but how would he know?

would you rather someone like optimus? to tell him to his face he isn’t focused?

someone needed to tell him, and that someone Cared for him. if arcee hated him she would’ve have said any of that!

she would chewed him out with saying something like “you only care about yourself! about your stupid destiny! about nothing but your personal scorecard!” but no she doesn’t word it like that.

she sees him and the whole team as family(check THE FIRST episode)

she wants to guide him.

but is frustrated that he doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation.

she sees him like bumblebee, expect more people can understand him.(or jack, they have similar quirks)

she sees herself in him, and she doesn’t want him to fall into the traps she fell into(outcasting himself from the team, doing reckless missions alone, and thinking he can handle it)

she could’ve done it better, but stuff reached a boiling point that can’t be ignored.

after that, seeing everyone’s optics on him. smokescreen withdraws saying “You know what, maybe I’m just not good enough” and dashes out of the base.

(ratchet says “when Optimus says to stop, you should listen” which like gee ratchet thanks for the heads up gramps go back to playing candy crush)

Optimus stops bulkhead on getting him, allowing the young bot to get sometime to reflect.

sometime passed, and optimus finished finding the location on the key. turns out it was smokescreen was the location, and soundwave with lazerbeak get to him first.

entertaining episode inside job(s2 e23, my favorite episode actually!)

action show does it’s thing AGAIN. smokescreen managed to escape but is now in free-fall from leaving the ship.

He gets in-contact with ratchet to open a ground-bridge to save himself, to which Megatron thwarts his trajectory, failing the rescue.

“you missed!?” -Arcee

“open another one! fast!” -bulkhead

both of these two are barking orders at a stressed ratchet, because they Care that much(to the point of ignoring logic and letting their emotions control LOL)

after Smokescreen clever use of the phase-shifter, saving himself and returning the keys. he indulges in his victory.

“destiny! Alpha-trion Knew I’d keep it safe!” -smokescreen

(the GOOFIEST face to ever be seen)

“nice work, kid” -arcee

look me in the eyes/optics and tell me, TELL ME she hates him!!!! that’s a look of pride here!

later later on they have very brief interactions, but I can’t help but imagine them being pals!(especially since they’re both jack’s designated vehicles)

I can’t help but imagining these two having fun interactions with their love of quips, messing with jack, bee and bulkhead with lighthearted jabs. or making jokes on the expense of ratchet (“I bet He saw primus transform with his own two optics!”) but then they’ll look behind themselves and see ratchet staring at them and go “😰”

I’d like to think after the events of prime, these two (and wheeljack) they go on lil adventures together with their absence in RID15!

My headcanon is they took care of Airachnid on the moon of Cybertron(remember that? I Do!) and build something there.

or if he became a prime in season 3 she would’ve supported him in his grief, like what she did with miko(pushing down her own(since optimus went Bye bye) to help him express his emotions and focus on what’s important).

If they weren’t in a war, Smokescreen(and bee in extension)would’ve been Optimus’s kid and would be worrying about math exams with ratchet, instead of primus’s test he cursed him with💔

in conclusion, Arcee deeply cares for smokey and wants the best for him like a lil nephew. and Smokescreen sees her as a cool aunt!

[warblogs17282]

I have a predication about Vassago, since it seems like we're gonna see a lot of him in season 3 - he's going to do a lot of the unintentionally classist stuff Stolas used to do (minus the over the top flirting) and Stolas is going to watch him do it and cringe.

Yea, it was stated in a panel (of which I have the clip for) that Vassago will be appearing much more in season 3, so yea, we're definitely going to be seeing quite a bit of Vassago come season 3.

But getting off from that, it does have me wondering about exactly where Vassago's character is going to go from this point on, because so far, the only hints we have is that Brandon, in the youtube video linked below, described Vassago as being 'another kind of Stolas character', something like a 'cool boomer' type of person. (I can't verify the cool boomer comment in specific though as I don't have the clip of Brandon saying that.)

And this shot from the helluva boss prime video announcement as well, of which the general consensus is that this is hinting at something within a future episode, and among other details, we very clearly see Blitz being mad at Vassago and the question of the day with that is why?

So I suppose that's also something in keep in mind as well as we wait for season 3 to start.

Getting back to that 'another kind of Stolas character' comment however, I definitely see where you're coming from with that as that comment from Brandon and his time on the show so far really does give me the vibes that Vassago isn't intentionally/consciously classist at all, but instead will end up being unintentionally classist in places instead, baring a resemblance to some of what we've seen of Stolas in that way, as you said in the ask. Not to mention that 'being born into the Goetia family' and 'Developing a shit-ton of classist biases during your upbringing and all that' are just two things that go hand-in-hand in this show.

Plus, as for your last line of the ask, something that will end up happening as a side effect of Stolas' banishment will be that Stolas' classist biases and all that will start to become better slowly over time, as in, they'll become lesser and lesser over time, as an alternative way of putting it, especially if we consider just how much Blitz is in Stolas' life now. Obviously, that's not me saying that Stolas will entirely and completely get rid of his own biases and all that, because just like us humans, it's impossible to entirely get rid of your biases and all that, but, as previously mentioned, we can indeed work on lessening those biases to an extent, and I believe that is what Stolas will end up doing throughout the course of the show as well, because it makes for some really good character development at the end of the day. So yea, I can definitely see where you're coming from with that last line of your ask as well.

But yea, to wrap things up, there's currently a lot we currently don't know about Vassago's character at this point in time, and with the new writer that Helluva Boss has, I'm super excited to see where Vassago's character ends up going in season 3!

[grayintogreen]

HELLO FELLOW NEIN AGAIN ENJOYERS. And happy Tombtakers Loredrop Day. Today I bring you a preview of a long term event coming this summer.

Are you sad that all the enticing lore dropped in CR2 episode "Fleeting Memories" might as well be an eternity away from bearing fruit? Did you think Cree was a fun NPC and wanted more of her? Are you a fan of fix-it fanfic that barely fixes anything and in fact just makes everything a little bit worse?

Well, I have something you might enjoy!

In honor of Nein Again reaching episode 26 on the day of LitMoR's fourth anniversary, I'm going to be running a weekly "bookclub" for the series to run parallel with Nein Again starting July 29th. You can find the full schedule for the entire duology, plus side stories and intermissions here (more dates to be added depending on where I get with the third mega novel and yet it's still going to take less time to get through than Nein Again). It runs exactly like Nein Again, only its a really long fanfic.

And you may be asking yourself? Uh, what's LitMoR? And I'm GLAD YOU ASKED.

life in the margins of redemption is a post-episode 26 canon divergent series I started writing four years ago after the end of Campaign Two to satiate my incredible need to retell the story but slightly to the left, keeping dead characters alive, making certain plot threads and themes more prevalent, and exploring some elements from the campaign that I thought were underdeveloped simply because those just weren't the things the cast wanted to focus on (and that is valid- this is in no way me going HERE'S MY BETTER VERSION OF CANON, it's a love letter to wanting more of these characters). At 1.6 million words and the main two stories of the duology remaining in the top three longest fics in the CR tag even after all these years, it is an absolute chonker and I'm still adding to it. It's a story that is very close to my heart and I thought it would be fun for people to either re-read or discover it while taking it in in bite-size chunks as you watch how it diverges from canon and goes off in wild new directions.

Below the cut is an FAQ ranging from what you can expect to the story to how the book club will be run if you'd like to participate. If there are any other questions, please don't hesitate to send me an ask! I look forward to seeing how this goes. Hopefully it'll be fun for the people who would love an excuse to reread and for new readers alike.

WHY ARE YOU DOING IT?

I've been told numerous times by people that LitMoR looks interesting, but is ultimately very daunting and intimidating. By promoting a book club, I hope that maybe those people who have wanted to read it will find it easier to do so. Also a lot of people who have read it thought it would be cool to do.

WHAT WILL WE BE DOING?

Whatever you like! You can read the assigned chapter and go "that's nice" and never do anything else. You can leave a comment on AO3! You can join my Discord and talk about it with other people. You can talk about it on tumblr. You can not do any that at all and instead do some secret additional thing. It's really up to you how you engage with it. I just ask that you be polite about it. It's all in fun.

WHAT IF I DON’T LIKE IT?

Back button. I really don't expect this to be a huge thing- it's just something that I'm proud of and want to share it with others and if there's a way to share it that makes it easier on people to read, that's great! But I will not be coming to your house and demanding you give me my flowers. I just ask, again, that you be nice. If it's not for you, it's not for you.

WHAT CHARACTERS DOES THIS FOCUS ON?

This is an ensemble story, so while there are significant narrative beats dedicated to Molly, Cree, and eventually Lucien, every character is given a chance to shine and have their own subplots and arcs. A lot of arcs still play out as they did in canon, but under radically different circumstances and in new ways and some characters whose personal growth wasn't focused on as much even get some additional layers.

WHAT IS THE SHIPPING/ROMANCE VIBE LIKE?

My rule of thumb is that if you absolutely despise any of the ships listed, this series isn't for you, but if you're indifferent at worst, you'll probably be okay, because the shipping is on par with how canon treats it- i.e. it's part of some characters' arcs, but it does not derail the plot nor does the romance override other relationships. Everyone is still intensely weird about one another, regardless of whether or not they are kissing.

EXPLAIN THE RATING

The rating is for violence, gore, intense situations, and a lot of mindfuckery, but I wouldn't say any of it is atypical of what you would see in canon. The tags represent anything that comes up more than once, but if something is specific to a chapter, I will usually put it in the author's notes.

WHAT TAGS SHOULD I USE IF I WANT TO POST ABOUT IT?

LitMoR, LitMoR bookclub or life in the margins of redemption are good tags to use! I would avoid using canon CR tags unless you're just really into them for organizational purposes so to not to annoy people who aren't here for this. I'm trying to make this as fun and hassle-free for all sides of the line. I will only be using the CR tags for this post and the starting post and every subsequent bookclub post after will be tagged with the series name or "LitMoR bookclub" to keep things tidy and not annoying so you can either follow me or the LitMoR bookclub tag for updates.

WILL THIS SPOIL FUTURE EPISODES?

If you are aware of things that are coming up narratively even if you don't know the details, then you should be okay, because for the first few weeks OUADYA will follow pretty close to canon before it wildly diverges and doesn't pick up canon events until much, much later. If you want ZERO spoilers ever, then you might wanna sit it out, because while it does take lore in a different direction and does operate under its own thing, it will likely spoil a lot of things for you.

I have heard that it's possible to enjoy the fic if you haven't seen the full campaign if you don't care about utterly spoiling yourself! If you decide to stop watching after episode 26 for... reasons, it is actually fully able to be enjoyed with just that context.

HOW CANON COMPLIANT IS THIS?

It does not consider TNEOL or Molly and Caduceus's Origins comics canon (the first story was written before any of them came out), and does, again, take things in wildly different directions and has intense, deep, and maybe not exactly what was intended by Matt and the cast, lore, on top of occasionally throwing out certain spell rules that get in the way of good storytelling (like Doric's infinite wildshapes in the Dungeons & Dragon movie). I do have it on good authority that my characterization is pretty damn accurate, but you'd have to ask the frequent readers to weigh in on that.

Also shockingly, I have accidentally predicted a lot of canon events, which is very funny.