#Stars also got an outlier ability

[random-kido]

Outlier ability that your body can’t fully support is kinda fucking stupid but also I feel like an earthquake ability that reaches 7 on the Richter scale and that allows you to kick people into orbit (this is canonical) is kinda too good for him so I’m nerfing his ass a little

[tinydefector]

*jumps in again* i love how you write and im starting to feel like a bother to request some more😭 but but if you don't mind, ultra magnus x gn! reader where he's scolding them for being reckless and sneak off to go meteor surfing with Rodimus. He's not mad, just worried sick for em then reader just storms off and he didn't bother to chase after em, wanting to give them space.

Later, he bumped into Megatron and had a lil chat when Megs pointed out how Magnus is treating reader like his kid(sparkling). Mags denies it but then later connects the dot, like "omg, he's kinda right" que to him went off to find reader which in their room, distracting themselves with some work and he apologize for yelling and vice versa with reader for sneaking out.

Also, if you want, you can add like a bonus bit at the end where Mags praise reader for the excellent report they turned in and reader accidentally say "thanks dad" make it worse if some bot was around when they said that *cough* roddy *cough*

RULES OF PARENTING

Took me longer than expected to write this out.

Platonic/ Parent and child with Ultra Magnus and Cybertronian Reader. Slight hints to Megatron x Ultra Magnus as a treat.

Other information I decided to write the reader as an Outlier but their ability, form and everything else is left up for the reader to decided themself. Other than the fact they are the youngsters on ship and smaller than the larger bots nothing else is stated.

Word count: 3k

Warnings: none

Request and ask open, read pinned post

Ultra Magnus Masterlist

______________________

laughter comes from around the corner, Rodimus and his friend bolt through the ship. "Keep up Rods!" The younger bot yells out. Their hoverboard is servo while they both bolt towards the shipping bay. It wasn't often the two got the opportunity to go asteroid surfing.

Rodimus hurries after, pushing his engines to keep pace through the twisting ship corridors. His intake splits in a fierce grin.

"Hey, wait up!" he calls back, At the threshold they transform, Rodimus jumps onto his board, taking off into the asteroid field. "Alright runt, you asked for it!" Blue optics glint with loving malice. "First to finish a loop and back wins! Loser takes the others reports."

He peels out with a throaty roar, engine howling, not waiting for the start. Cheating? Maybe, but racing was war, and all was fair in love and circuits blown! Let the games begin.

"Your on Roddy!" They shout back at Rodimus before taking a leap out onto their hoverboard. "Wooooooohhhhhoooo" the shout out. They both tear out of the shipping bay on their hoverboard, darting nimbly between support struts like a razorwing on the hunt. Their wild grin is audible even without comlink.

Rodimus bellows a rival cry, engine snarling as he rockets through the asteroids in a shower of blue sparks. Every sensor hones to the night-shadowed chase before him, picking out the board's glints between outcroppings as their rider zig-zags across the field like liquid mercury. Shouts of challenge fly between them over the comms, goading fierce competition.

Adrenaline sings in Rodimus' lines as he closes the gap, swerving within reach, laughter falls from the two as they race and chase each other. Two kindred spirits living utterly within the moment, simply living for the speed and freedom the stars grant.

From the command centre, Megatron observes the asteroid field feed with keen optic. Movement on the edges draws his gaze - two familiar signatures darting nimbly amid the tumbling rocks, weaving hazardous loops and stunts with the heedless abandon of youth.

A low growl rumbles in his powerful frame at their recklessness and endangerment. But watching closer, caught by flickering motions on the monitor, even his hardened spark must soften.

Laughter crackles through the open commlines as they toss chunks at each other in joyful battle, dancing dangerously along the rim. It sparks memories of ages past, when he himself was prone to such reckless ventures in the mines.

He returns grimly to his charts. But the ghost of a smile still plays about unyielding faceplates, echoing wild laughter across the stars. The loud steps of Ultra Magnus making his way towards command has megatron debating. "Rodimus, I'd recommend you both make your way back to ship, less you want Magnus to lecture you again" He calls out, trying to make sure Ultra Magnus doesn't catch them.

Through the open comm, Rodimus and the other bot share a look of mingled dread and mischief at Megatron's ominous warning. Their daredevil games come with risks.

"Slag it, it's Mags," hisses Rodimus. "We better scram before he throws the book at us!"

Their laughter follows, swerving nimbly aside as Rodimus roars past in a spray of grit. "Like he ever lets us have any fun! Race you back, slowpoke!" With that taunt, they gun their board, kicking up plumes of dust under newly ignited thrusters.

Rodimus snarls a challenge, punching his engine into overdrive to give chase. Though his massive frame handles with ungraceful power, the Captain drives with a fearless intensity rivalled only by Megatron himself in his glory days. "You're on!" He shouts at them.

From the bridge, Megatron watches their mad dash with a derisive snort. Fools to the last, but at least they snatched excitement where they found it, consequences be damned. A trait he can almost respect, Rodimus is a wild sparked bot and the young bot wasn't much better taking after the Prime as if they were batch mates. But Rodimus was fiery protective of them and that's all Megatron could ask.

As Magnus walks in he glitches out when he sees the two bots bolt across the asteroids on hoverboards. Magnus' commanding boom fills their comm channels, causing them both to flinch. "By Primus What are you two doing!, Do you understand the danger you are putting yourself in, not to mention protocol!" He shouts

"That sounds like Big Mags alright," chuckles Rodimus, danger-circuits alight. He guns his engine recklessly, tempting providence with stunts that wring pained static from Magnus' voice.

Beside him, the other bot is all bravado, doing tricks that ought to terminate mere mortals. "Lighten up Mags, we're just having fun!, Megatron's providing supervision" Their laugh is wildly carefree as they swerve through spiralling space debris, back to the shipping bay.

Magnus' reply is a wordless warp of wrath and protocols violated. On the bridge, Megatron observes with sardonic amusement.

Their elated whoops echo into the sullen ship as the two bots land, laughter is passed between them both, they knew they were in for a lecture but neither of them could really care at that moment. They both make their way through the ship.

Megatron watches as Magnus starts having a meltdown, seeing the smaller bot out in the asteroids.

From the command deck, Megatron observes Magnus' escalating tirade with sardonic amusement.

The security director paces like a caged turbofox, field frothing with protocol violations as he excoriates Rodimus and his cohort.

"Reckless endangerment of themselves! Disregard for safety protocols!, I expect this from Rodimus but not from them!" Magnus huffs, massive hands clenching and unclenching. His plating vibrates with barely contained voltage.

Megatron's red optics follow the scene with cynical mirth. It seems some things never change, no matter the millennia - law-bound enforcers and daredevil upstarts will always clash.

He cuts off Magnus' tirade oft. "Let the youngsters play. A little uncontrolled chaos now and then builds character. They aren't causing any harm, primus knows they could be doing worse things, circuit boosters, waging wars" His chuckles.

When Rodimus and the young bot make their way through the halls Megatron and Ultra Magnus are making their way towards them. And Rodimus decides to tease them over getting in trouble.

"Well well, look who's in trouble now," he rumbles, teasingly as he nudges the other bot. One massive hand snakes out to gently tweak an audial fin, eliciting a stubbornly stifled giggle.

They try to swat him off, armour fluffing out in a mock display of aggression. "Back off toaster, you're one to talk!" But their field reflects only playful antagonism toward their mismatched partner in crime.

Rodimus laughs, low and smooth. "Oh, I'm not the one Magnus has his pelts in a twist over. You're the lawbreaker here, delinquent." He buffs their chevron condescendingly with a knuckle plate. 

Magnus' grumbles as moves closer. The younger of the two delinquents makes a startled peep, ducking behind Rodimus for scant protection. Their field sparks with mischief and apprehension in equal measure.

Rodimus' engine rumbles a chuckle. "Face your punishment like a mech, squirt. I'll see you in the brig... cause i know thats where im heading" And with that, he steps aside, leaving the young to the Security Director's.

"Rodimus you sell out!" They hiss, Rodimus takes off running before transforming and disappearing around the corner.

Magnus begins going off over both their stupidity and the danger that they had put themselves in.

"Rodimus! When i catch you!" Magnus bellows, at the retreating autobot. His field boils with tightly restrained indignation.

The younger spreads their servos innocently, though poorly banked fires still smoulder behind their smug optics. "What? I was just having a little fun."

"Fun? You call endangering yourself and flouting safety protocols fun?".

"Do you have any idea the liability you've incurred with your selfish stunts?" Magnus huffes, he's not angry just disappointed.

"We were just blowing off some steam. No harm done" they try to defend themself, it was harder when Rodimus wasn't here to back them up.

Magnus optics bulging. "The rules exist to protect life! One mistaken twist could've terminated you both. Do you not understand that" He looms over them, servos gripping their shoulder plating. "Explain yourself. What do you have to say for putting yourself in harms way like that, this is something i expect from Rodimus but you, im drawing a line, no more hoverboard"

"Magnus I'm not a sparkling!, I can have fun, you can't just take my board!." The huff out in anger, "we didn't do anything bad, we just went asteroid surfing, what's the big deal!, Megatron was watching the whole time!" They shout stopping their pedes on the ground as they squint at the enforcer. Magnus' jaw works soundlessly, circuitry spluttering at such blatant insubordination.

Megatron's low rumble cuts through the charging tension.  "Easy there, scraplet. Magnus they are right they aren't sparkling, let them enjoy their youth" he states trying to calm down the situation.

"That is NOT the point!" Magnus hisses through clenched denta, glowering down at the insolent youngster. But the outliers field remains resolute, tiny hands fisted on hip joints. A sigh like rupturing turbines escapes Megatron where he observes, unseen, from command. Stubborn fools the both of them.

Magnus flashes incandescent, but dares not defy a direct order. With stiff, grinding steps, he departs, field boiling.

Only the younger bot and Megatron remain.  "Rules exist to guide, not imprison. Life's greatest lessons often arise from...bending them, on occasion. Try not to give Magnus a spark attack please" Megatron states while standing waiting for them to walk with him.

"I know Megs but he's been up my Tailpipe over everything I do, reports not being right, having fun, primus I can't even hang out with Rodimus without him getting grumbly at me, 'don't do that, don't do this, no you can't go out on this planet it's too dangerous ' he's not my Sire! "  They hiss out in anger, plating rattling lightly from pent up frustration.

Megatron chuckled. He strides the corridor in heavy, purposeful pauldrons, field enveloping smaller frame protectively. "Take it from one who knows - authority stems more from fear, you're the youngest on board, it's only natural that older mech's will try and protect you. Though I do believe Magnus does need to take a step back"

Red optics regard the young mech keenly. "Stand tall. Pursue your passions . And should he overstep, remind him in no uncertain terms who you are. Your strong sparked"

He crouches fluidly before them , digit gentle as steel beneath a chin. "You were made for greatness, little one. Never forget, don't let him stifle your youth, but try not to make him short circuit" A ferocious grin spreads across their face before they take off down the halls.

Ultra Magnus sits in his office, the enforcer's helm is pressed to his servos as he lets out a groan, he has overstepped.

Megatron's mass fills the security office like encroaching gloom, eclipsing what little light permeates the sparse, regulation-bound space. Magnus senses the ex warlord's intrusive field and looks up wearily through digits.  

"What do you want, Megatron?" The enforcer's usually stalwart voice holds only exhaustion. Heavy pedes carry Megatron before the desk, where he looms over Magnus imperiously. Yet when he speaks, his tone resembles dark mirth more than threat.

"Come now, Director. Is one impudent youngster truly more than you can handle?" Crimson optics gleam with sardonic amusement. "Your methods lack finesse. Rebellious sparks respond better to understanding than oppression."

Magnus' field flares defensively. "With respect, keeping order is rather outside your expertise. Some of us prioritise crew safety over spectacle."

One of Megatron's digits raises Magnus' chin, forcing optic contact. "Order through fear is a leash, not leadership. True power stems from willing allegiance, not force alone. It took me along time to learn that Ambus"

"Energon for thought. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more orders I need to read through to make sure Swerve isn't trying to order EnerGULP or Biofuel to try and fake as Energex " he states while beginning to type away on the data pad.

"Megatron, they are reckless and going to get themself off-lined or worse" Magnus tried to argue back.

"Ambus you'd be rather harsh to them, they are young, I'm aware of that, but you're treating them as if they are your sparkling" Megatron states. As the enforcer's optics go wide Megatron stifles a chuckle.

Magnus meets Megatron's scarlet gaze with quiet defiance. "My role is keeping order on this ship, not coddling delinquents." 

"Yet it seems you have been coddling one rather too much, they are at that stage, if you keep a lock and chain on them they are going to rebel,be glad it's only Rodimus, Tailgate and Drift they tend to be with. Would you rather they be around DJD" Megatron asked with a raised optic.

"Absolutely Not!" Magus shouts.

"My point stands Ambus, perhaps spend some time with them, learn what they enjoy doing, they are rebelling because they don't have the option, they are stuck in a ship with nothing to do, they see Rodimus as friend, batch mate." are his parting words. Magnus watches Megatron's departing form with troubled optics and churning processor. His counsel, however cryptic, raises discomfiting points...

With a heavy ex-vent, Magnus pulls up files on the youngsters in question. The youngest and Rodimus - one a scrappy outlier, the other a wild spark flouting authority at every turn a prime. Opposites yet drawn together like magnets. Why was he so invested in protecting this little outlier

They young outlier sits in their suite, sulking. After the fight with Magnus they had decided it was easier just not being around other bots, they had shot Rodimus a quick message stating that they wanted to be left alone for the rest of the cycle.

They fidget with their data pad huffing in annoyance as they try to fill out their reports.

When the doors open and they see Magnus they grumble. "What do you want?"

Magnus stands silent in the doorway, emanating not wrath but uncertainty. His field broadcasts a cautious olive branch amid pulsing regret. "May I enter?" His tone holds none of the usual stern command, 

When they shrug off tired assent, Magnus steps within cautiously, a massive frame filling the space.

Optics rove the bare walls and solitary form, glimpsing an existence circumscribed not by choice but necessity. His tanks churn anew. How had he failed to see the cages, invisible yet profound, binding errant sparks aboard this vessel?

Gingerly Magnus lowers himself to one knee, meeting their averted gaze evenly. "I came to apologise," he rumbles slowly. "My conduct toward you and Rodimus has been...regrettable, I'm sorry."  

The young outlier watches guardedly, searching that earnest regard for signs of tyranny or deceit. Magnus also acknowledges his protectiveness and worry over the younger cybertronian.

A sigh escapes Magnus' vents, massive shoulders slumping. "You must understand, my role demands ensuring all under my protection remain safe and functional."

"Then why do you treat me differently?" They shoot back. Magnus goes quiet for a moment. His optics hold a gentle light as they find the younger bots. " When I see you, youthful audacity, venturing into dangers I endured long ago...it stirs memories best left buried. I watch the war wipe out so many sparklings,  outliers taken and used for war"

His field pulses rueful ghosts of harsher times. "I never meant to curb your spirit, only shield you from hard lessons learned too soon." Massive fingers lightly brush an audial fin in a gesture both paternal and penitent.

"Perhaps...I allowed duty to eclipse my function as guardian to all aboard." A bittersweet smile tugs at plating. "Megatron, of all mechs, said i needed to step back"  

Optics meet in earnest appeal. "If you'll permit it, I wish to walk a new path, try and be better, it won't stop my worry but you don't deserve to be caged ." His field pulses only patience, regret and stubborn care worn soft by wisdom's dawning light. Care for the future of this young bot.

"I know I'm a young spark, but I'm not a sparkling Ultra Magnus, I know I'm the youngest on ship but I'm not a sparkling " they states quietly. The two sit beside each other.

Magnus nods solemnly, settling beside the young mech and curling his field around their smaller frame protectively.

"You are right. I treated you as one much younger, when your spark burns as fiercely as any aboard." A massive hand rests gently on a plated shoulder.

His gaze holds Tiny's earnestly. "From this moment, consider me not a jailer but guardian here to ensure your path remains lighted, not bar it. To advise and shelter, if you'll have me, I... I will try not to short circuit over your dangerous activity." A beat of silence as understanding passes unspoken between them. Then Magnus offers a small, indulgent smile.

"I've much to learn as well, little one. I'm sorry, I have been as Rodimus calls it a stick in the mud" he states and it makes the younger burst out laughing.

"Can you help me with these reports, I'm struggling with understanding what you want, the words keep moving around and I just don't understand" they state while holding out the data pad. Magnus leans in closer slowly reading over everything before trying to break it down for the outlier.

Things are peaceful for once between them, he helps with the small things and realises a lot in that time. But when he does eventually leave he catches a small slip up from them. "Thanks Sire" they call out, it makes him stiffen but a smile crosses his face as he leaves, he wouldn't tell anyone how it made him feel. 

[iliketrainmen]

Chat I lied about Roark needing to win so here's the concept art/stuff I was talking about in regards to a sygna suit

So... here's a design for Sygna Suit Roark and Nihilego! Because I thought it would be really funny if I paired him up with his tormentor and he got Nihilego instead of Lusamine. He'd be a 5 star unit with an ex because... well... sygna suits are five stars and it'd be cruel to make him the outlier. Haven't made a ex recolor, but I suppose it'd flip around the colors a little bit. Pale blue is replaced with purple and vice versa. Probably leave everything else alone for the most part. Maybe make his shirt white.

Very heavily based off of Nihilego's design + color palette. Did take some creative liberties with it though so it didn't feel too similar to his original design. Emphasized Nihilego's poison typing when it came to the leggings, so there's some added purple and a wavy pattern for the singular thigh high. Also wanted to add in details that would point to his geological origin without being too obvious, so there exists two geology-related design choices in his outfit. Brownie points to whoever finds em. Couldn't decide between Nihilego's blue and Roark's yellow for the highlights, so I used both.

Below is me rambling how he'd work in game, so if you're only here for the art, I'd recommend stopping here.

So you've chosen to listen to my hour long rambling. Arceus bless you and by the gods you will be here for a while.

When it comes to his sygna suit, I want it to feel different but still kind of reminiscent of his original kit. With him and Rampardos, he's essentially a nuker that nukes himself in the process whilst dealing a ridiculous amount of damage. That's the part that feels the most memorable about his kit, so I'd want it to transfer over to his sygna suit counterpart.

So... the only logical next step is to make him a ridiculously good support pair that nukes themselves with their abilities. A kit that's focused on maximizing buffs for the sweeper before the pair kicks the bucket. Something not very good for multi-stage progression levels, but phenomenal for boss levels.

Its not really finalized (this is a concept post, after all), but here's some ideas I'll shoot out.

One (1) singular attack move that all characters must have

Acid Spray — 1 bar

Ridiculously weak, only use if you're in a pinch. Something must have gone terribly wrong if you're using this.

24 power (Special and Poison type)

100% accuracy

No additional effects

The other move that isn't really an attack move

Pain Split — 3 bars

The reason it's three bars is because I can smell how broken this is going to be. I can smell it. Good heavens, is it Sunday already?

Equals out the Health points between Roark and the target. Works how it works in the mainline games. If the opponent has high health and Roark has low, they level out to the middle ground and vice versa. Probably broken on bosses. Do I have a fix? Nope. Do I care to fix it? Nope.

--- power; this move is based purely on health

100% accuracy

No additional effects

Support moves that aren't actually pokemon moves

Hemlock-Tipped Rock (2/2)

Raises all stats of all allied pairs by one stage. When below 50% health, this raises all stats by two stages.

Removes 25% of Roark's total health, regardless of how much HP he has remaining.

Neurotoxin Overload! (1/1)

PERMANENTLY increases the speed that the move gauge recovers bars (for the rest of the match, at least). Move gauge fully replenished.

PERMANENTLY halves Roark's total health and remaining health. If he had 800 total health with 400 health remaining, he would end up having 400 total health with 200 health remaining. Potions and/or healing moves will not recover the total health loss. (For the rest of the match, at least).

The strongest double-edged blade in the game if this got added in. Nukes the units health for instant refill + permanent speed increase of regeneration for move gauge. Using this in tandem with both Hemlock-Tipped Spears will kill Roark but set the remaining strikers up for a sweep. Just like Arceus intended.

Sync Move!!! Yaaay!

Crystallized Sludge Wave

200 power base move

All opponents

The less health Roark has left, the more powerful this move is

—

Okay awesome, the moves are all finished. If you came here for those, you can move on. The rest of this post is going to be about skills.

—

Skills, hooray?

Skills are great, aren't they? You barely notice them if they're trash and notice if they're the reason a character is busted. Anyways.

Passive

Follow me

Attacks that strike multiple allies instead hit only Roark and Nihilego for all of the damage it would have done.

Say, in a normal scenario, a move would hit ally 1 for 100, Roark for 100, and ally 2 for 100. With this ability, allies 1 and 2 take no damage, but Roark takes 300.

This cannot be good for his health. This sync pair + sygna suit cannot be good for his health. Has anyone checked to see if Nihilego has injected poison into him? It must've if he's willingly having this skill.

Theme skills

Poison

Sinnoh

Gym Leader

Sygna Suit

Supernatural

Lucky Skill Recommendations

You can't really force lucky skills onto sync pairs as... well... they're luck-based and depend entirely on the build you're using. Here's what I'd recommend if he ever got in game.

—Power Reserves 2 : powers up moves when user is in a pinch (aka, has little health). You can imagine why I choose this one.

—Revenge Boost 4 : 50% chance of refilling move gauge by one upon getting hit. Points to passive skill.

Ex Role

Not touching this one because even after extensive googling I have no idea how this works.

End note

So, yeah. There's the concept stuff for a Roark sygna suit with Nihilego. Probably will be refined if I ever take another look at this, but this is what I got.

If you read this far, I hope you enjoyed! This post was a nice callback to those smash moveset concepts I used to make back in the day.

[writeyouin]

Hi, I feel this is kinda weird, but how would the LL crew members of your choice maybe react to a male liaison that likes BTS and kinda dances really well to some songs? 👀 You can ignore this if you don't like it

Transformers MTMTE/LL Reader Insert - Dancing

A/N – Hey, this is really just a drabble, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Warnings – None.

Rating – T

It started as most things on the Lost Light did; with a near-death experience. After a traumatic event wherein everyone’s lives had been put in danger, especially yours as the only human on board the ship, everyone needed to blow off some steam and celebrate the fact that they were alive, and mostly unscathed.

As such, a huge party was thrown in “Visages.”

Initially, although you knew how to dance and were fairly good at it, you were a little too shy to do so. Yet, one at a time bots got up to dance. Rodimus, Swerve, and Tailgate were among the first, showing off their talents with fast moves and loud cheers. Then, some of the slightly more reluctant bots got up to dance. Chromedome and Rewind were slow-dancing with one another; Nautica and Nightbeat soon joined them.

Whirl also joined the soiree, though it wasn’t clear whether he was dancing or trying to start a brawl.

Then, some of the shyer bots joined the festivities. Rung allowed himself to join the fray, and even Ultra Magnus was convinced to give it a go, though Ultra Magnus kept strictly to code on how he acted; until then you hadn’t known there was a rulebook to what kind of dances were appropriate, but at least Ultra Magnus didn’t enforce that on anyone else.

It was very much noticed when you didn’t join the celebration.

Rodimus made his way over to drag you to the dance floor. Your protestations were ignored as he lifted you over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. You were taken to the DJ’s booth where you were allowed to request a song. Under pressure, you asked for Dynamite, a song you knew well from BTS, which you didn’t think would be too embarrassing.

When the song started, you were glad that everyone seemed more invested in themselves or their partners as you started to dance. Every step of the dance was familiar as you had practiced it almost daily as a form of exercise. It wasn’t the only song you knew the choreography for, but it was among your favourites.

Soon enough, you were dancing with confidence and the bots cleared the way for you as you performed some of the more dramatic steps. After a short while, a small crowd started cheering for you, and that number only increased as Mirage used his outlier ability on you, giving you several copies of yourself to dance with, each mirroring your moves exactly.

You never planned on being the star attraction of a party, and yet it felt good to just let loose and have fun.

As you danced, Rewind filmed everything, making sure that anyone who missed the event would be able to see it later on the ship’s log. Tailgate was watching you closely, trying to copy some moves and hoping that you might teach him how to perform them properly if he asked nicely; maybe you could even start a class. Rodimus was already preparing the next party, ready to see what you could do with a customized playlist, and Whirl… was definitely stealing high-grade energon from behind the bar while nobody was watching.

All in all; it was a night to be remembered.

[reality-inflicted]

À la recherche des crises perdues.

How do you feel, really? 

This is not a rhetorical question, I am genuinely interested. If you read this text I’d love it if you left a comment, it would be interesting to hear your thought regarding all the crises that surround us daily and the impact they have on you. 

Earlier this morning (Sunday, February 5, 2023) I noticed a headline in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet about (yet another) emerging diplomatic crisis between USA and China. This time in the aftermath of the US shooting down an alleged ”spy balloon” launched by China. Now, I found this interesting as I thought I’d noticed a similar crisis just yesterday, that time in connection to the fact that the balloon was where it, at the time, were.  

This got me thinking about if crisis is relative or static, I mean – is a crisis only a crisis in relation to itself, or can a specific crisis be a part of a larger crisis? Or are crisis fundamentally exponential? I mean, looking at how the word ”crisis” is commonly used and the meaning with which it is loaded that seems to be the case: a small crisis, a crisis, a local crisis, a regional crisis, a big crisis, an enormous crisis – the ”holyfuckweareallgonnadie!”-crisis seem to imply a situation where the imminent level of Crisis in any given instance of crisis seem to increase in relation to itself. 

I decided to do a quick investigation regarding how ”crisis” have been reported in Swedish newspaper media over the last 60 years. I went to do a search in a Royal Library database that index newspapers as far back as the year 1600 (if you want to check it out, go to Kungliga Biblioteket) and i found the embryo of what could be an interesting trend: the progressive escalation of Crisis. Starting from todays date i did a search covering a period of eight days starting in 1963 and ending with 2022. The only word is used was ”kris” (Swedish for crisis). The results came back as follows:

1963-01-27 – 1963-02-04: 51 hits 1973-01-27 – 1973-02-04: 69 hits 1983-01-27 – 1983-02-04: 122 hits 1993-01-27 – 1993-02-04: 233 hits 2003-01-27 – 2003-02-04: 84 hits 2013-01-27 – 2013-02-04: 314 hits (2020-01-27 – 2020-02-04: 952 hits) 2022-01-27 – 2022-02-04: 463 hits (2022-07-27 – 2022-08-04: 874 hits)

The dates within (parenthesis) were made to 1) the start of the Covid pandemic and 2) to include the Russian war in Ukraine which began after the initial search of 2022, in order to simulate a possible usage of crisis for 2023 that is not yet available to search in the Royal library database. 

 Removing the outlier (2003) there is a clear trend indicating that the number of crisis have increased over the last 60 years. Even if we remove some of the hits, during 1973 some of the hits were in relation to the artist Kris Kristofferson, and during 1993 some were in relation to Swedish comedians (and I use this word in the loosest possible meaning) Stefan and Krister. Also, in astrology the star sign Sagittarius, for an undisclosed reason, seemed to be in a state of crisis.

When we talk about emotions we often mention empathy. As the word is commonly used it has become a sort of mix between two closely related words – empathy and sympathy. Empathy is the ability, or ”emotion” that allow you to understand the way another person thinks and feels and connect with them whilst still keeping your own emotions separate from the interaction. Basically, empathy is ”understanding what someone feels”. Sympathy, on the other hand, constitutes a form of active participation in the emotions of the other person and tying them, in a sense, to oneself. Or to put it a bit clearer: ”I feel what you feel”.  

Personally I’ve noticed that I to quite a large degree have lost the ability to care, especially in relation to crises as reported by media. I connect this in part to the fact that we are living in a state of permanent crisis, a state that keeps intensifying. Why should I care about something that will be over with and replaced by something else tomorrow? The problem with this ”blunting” of emotions is that they are not confined to crisis in the media. I find it increasingly difficult to muster any sense of real emotion in situations that really should trigger an emotional response. Intellectually I can understand and relate to what is happening in, for example Ukraine and Iran, ideologically and morally I can relate to what is right and wrong in a given situation – but I am struggling with the emotional and sympathetic aspects of this. It takes a conscious effort to react accordingly. I don’t feel the suffering of others, which don’t mean that i don’t understand that they are suffering.  

During the 60’s and 70’s there were more space in society to share in the suffering of others – often with underlying political purposes. The anti-war movement and the emerging environmental movement originated in a time where the number of simultaneous crises were relatively few, allowing them to grow to a scale large enough to drive political and personal engagement. Today, in the state of constant crisis, this space no longer exist. The sympathy has been replaced with empathy for good and for bad. 

On the empathic level I can understand that the anger and fear of  the threat of a looming climate disaster would drive people to super glue themselves to roads or throw baked beans on a work of art, but I lack the sympathetic ability to share this anger and fear. I don’t think that it require any wider experience within the fields of psychology or sociology to reach the conclusion this deficiency in me might in part be related to the current media state of perpetual crisis. And at the same time the opposite is true – that the perpetual crisis lead to a state of increased stress and a loss of wellbeing for a lot of people around the world. 

Most people can handle the stress that arise in relation to news events. They see the causes, analyse what is going on and move on with their lives. For others it cause increased levels of stress, stress that if left to itself can slide into worry about the self and the future. This worry might in turn lead to fear which can lead to anger. And anger, as any fan of Star Wars well know, can lead to the Dark Side.

I am not saying that the news alone are to blame for this development, and especially in relation to me. That I am ”the way I am” depends on a whole bunch of things, most of which are related to me (it would be strange otherwise). Another is the rise of new and more efficient ways to share events as they take place around the world. But regardless of this, I would think it very interesting to see if there is a connection between the constant state of crisis in media and a loss of the ability to really care.

I mean, one just get so tired of it all.

p.s I’ve decided to open an account on buymecoffee, in case anyone would like to follow me there. Naturally, this will be my main page, but I will try to post some longer pieces of writing there eventually both to reduce ramblings here and to perhaps get increased interaction with those of you that don’t consider my ramblings to be irritating at best. :) just click here to get to my page. I just created the page, so please bear with me, I’ll get some perks set up as well. I just have to... do... some stuff... first. //Jimmy 

[transingthoseformers]

PART 6 of Rodimus's Exile AU

Rodimus definitely got and continues to get monologues with Tyrest whom he snipes at but doesn't get much of a response. Tyrest just hmms at him and treats him like a lab rat, poking at his Outlier ability and fascinated by the after effects the Matrix left in him. Apparently there is lingering energy.

It is unpleasant because Rodimus gives him ideas.

This begins a cycle of experiments, Pharma, and Star Saber giving him the weirdest most intense twenty questions after every visit he has ever experienced which ranges from strangely mundane ones (Where was he born? Which leads to the discussion of Alyon which is obviously famous for being hand shaped and linked to the Guiding Hand which causes another session of intense staring.) to invasive (How did it feel to make the choice to burn his people rather than let them be taken? "Fuck off." And then no answering questions for awhile.) to some strange religious pop quiz (Rodimus feels fairly strange to know all the answers. He'd learned a lot when he was young and in conversations with Drift and others about it so he knows quotes. This is interesting because it is the only part where Star Saber gets lively with him because Rodimus offers interpretations of different passages and stories and it upsets him and sometimes he tries to argue back and leaves. Sometimes he returns with counter arguments and other times, the rarest, he "concedes" Rodimus has a point on some sections. Those are honestly the weirdest for Rodimus because Star Saber gets this weird glow in his eyes.)

Star Saber has taken to scooping Rodimus up and giving him a moment to collect himself when he is left shaky before taking him out to Pharma.

Pharma is much more normal, surprisingly so given what First Aid told him and Drift. He definitely has some moments where he freezes and stares or closes off completely. Rodimus learns Ratchet is a Big No. Tyrest was also one that made him tense up go Fake and talk about how grateful he is the Chief Justice and how much he respects him. That meeting got cut short. First Aid and Ambulon are strangely not forbidden and at times Pharma talks about them unprompted and tells stories and sounds almost fond. Of him.

Then there is one very odd, very weird moment that stands out when Rodimus admits that Ambulon died and it was his fault and how.

Pharma gets a weird distant not quite there expression and his voice sounds drifty when he says that's impossible because Overlord is dead. He told him about it. And he was never not thorough. He'd been in a strangely good mood following it, preening and telling Pharma about all the details. He'd wanted to celebrate. And then Pharma cuts off and Rodimus carefully starts speaking to him softly asking about what different things in the room were, what they were used for and how. Slowly Pharma focuses on it and comes back falling into a very student being quizzed attitude and it calms him. His only further comment is of course Prowl was involved in Rodimus's fall too.

They mostly chat, pretending they aren't captives to a mad judge. While doing so they both realize they are both from Alyon and while Rodimus settled in Nyon, Pharma got sent to Rodion and eventually Iacon and to Ratchet's mentorship. They are Hot Spot and Generation buddies. They talk about lighter things. Music, movies, hobbies, flying vs. racing, Pre-War lives, and, unexpectedly, they both enjoy the same trashy medical drama. Pharma's hobbies always surrounded medicine and he enjoyed and excelled at it. Rodimus enjoyed racing, burn art, and actually enjoyed medicine as well as learning first aid.

Pharma perks up and seems to bloom teaching Rodimus thongs and even injures himself to let Rodimus repair it way too casually for comfort and acts totally calm while Rodimus squawks to his amusement. Star Saber works in on a nervous Rodimus repairing Pharma's arm while Pharma looks down at him amused wings shaking with laughter. Star Saber waits, watching with interest as Pharma walks Rodimus through it.

Yep yep and fuck, it's never a good sign when Tyrest gets ideas

Hmmm no yeah super duper interesting game that Pharma and Star Saber are playing with Rodimus

Star Saber's intriguing me rn because I can't decipher what his angle is.

Now, I understand Pharma moreso and mood so far on the freeze ups

hmm on the detail of Ambulon, considering how in this timeline Overlord kills him, but to me it seems like Pharma vaguely knows ~something~ (or at least thinks he does). hmm.

Awww on the more lighthearted stuff, interesting that they're both from Alyon

okay I know that's a typo and it's supposed to say things but I got the hilarious (among other things) image of Rodimus in a bright pink thong and I am obligated to share that with the class

Pharma that is not a thing completely sane people do

So shit's going down while they're captured, not in a "everything is exploding and everyone is fighting" way but in a sort of unnerving way.

[ut-girl666]

Okay, I’ve known for a while now, - which, it really took me this long to figure it out - that most likely Hasbro was being very intelligent/clever when they chose the name ‘Orion’ for Optimus.

‘Orion’ from both astronomy and greek mythology, is considered ‘the hunter’. The constellation, includes stars that are red, white, and blue, in coloration. The demi-god (I think), is basically considered the best at it, and was sent to fend off evils. In some iterations, he had a bow; some, a sword.

‘Optimus Prime’/‘Orion Pax’, is red, white, and blue. He was basically tasked with fighting off the ‘evil’/‘bad’ Megatron brought. He carries a rifle of sorts, I believe, and also has an axe. When it comes to his shooting abilities, he’s to some degree, - at least when he does the famous jump move - a very good marksman.

So I think it’s fair to say, he’s named after ‘Orion the Hunter’.

And with this in mind, I would also like to introduce the idea, and you cannot convince me otherwise, that Optimus is a total smart ass with names. If he were to name children, in some form one way or another, they would have come from either astronomy, or mythology.

And as bonus points, because we all know he’s a simp for his partner no matter what, he’d probably try to get the names to start with the same first letter as the partner. (In Oplita, I’d like to say he’d choose ‘A’, as for ‘Ariel’, rather than ‘E’ for ‘Elita’. But totally up for interpretation.)

Like he’d have a whole list of them. Oh? Sparked? Need name for baby? Boom, already got a zillion of them, and at least one of them has to work.

And this on why I like to imagine him with an outlier ability of ‘astrological displacement’, and Magnus, Arcee, and Hot Rod all with middle names that have to do with either astronomy or mythology, and start with ‘A’.

(Further; before proper names were picked out, as ‘beta/testing/placeholder names’ they were each originally called ‘Ares’, ‘Athena’, and ‘Apollo’, respectively.

Magnus and Arcee ended up with them becoming their middle names, because Elita liked them that much. (I.e.: Magnus Ares and Arcee Athena; They hate it.) Elita didn’t think Apollo or Achilles fit Hot Rod (and she’d finally caught on to what he was doing with ‘Apollo’; she wasn’t sure whether or not to be upset, but definitely was flattered.) so that was a hard no, and he went without a middle name for the fist good bit of his life. Until Optimus finally came up with a new one, and she simply couldn’t deny how it fit, so at two he finally got a middle name, instead named after a star. (I.e.: Hot Rod/Rodimus Atlas; Doesn’t really care.)

So anyway, I’ll stop rambling, but remember! Optimus is (probably) named after ‘Orion the Hunter’! And it’d be adorable if he named his sparklings like that!

[shrimpscream]

How about Cosmic Cry? :eyes emoji:

(First of, hi👋 cause you’re pretty much the only one that interacts with my posts who doesn’t just give likes)

But now it’s time for a lore dump on Cosmic Cry!

It kind of got a bit long😅

They are my Starseeker oc (larger 30f frametype)

Cosmic Cry was found alongside two other starseekers in an abandoned research facility on an uninhabited planet not too far from cybertron.

A group of autobots found them about halfway through the war and brought them online.

Cosmic Cry was formerly addressed as 605. Since the bots that found them didn’t really care to name them, they called them and the two other ones by the numbers painted on their backs between their wings. ( I’ll explain how they got their name in a bit)

CC (shortened cause I’m lazy) didn’t like it that they were treated like an object (partly because of their malfunctioning voicebox) and switched sides to be a decepticon where they worked in navigation for a while, making star maps and exploring.

During their time with the cons, CC met Oblivion (another oc), whom wanted to go neutral in order to search for an almost forgotten citytitan they researched before the war.

Together they left the cons for good because CC refused to kill during an attack on the spaceship they were stationed on and met up with a friend of Oblivion and join their crew.

Together they set out to search for Necropolis and sort of coincidentally become a band.

That’s all I have lore wise for Cosmic Cry so far! But I also want to talk about their frame for a bit 😁

Due to not being able to talk, and a lack of people understanding sign language (in their crew) they relay heavily on body language and often use their antennas and wings to emote.

After deflecting, they changed their weapons from a standard blaster they got from the cons to weaponising their body:

Basically, all parts of them that are this red-ish pink (like the wings) and the neon green are these sort of plasma blades doubling as biologhts.

Meaning when activated and with enough force, they can cut through virtually anything.

Additionally they have a sound based outlier ability they very rarely use. (Side effects being that they tend to be very drained afterwards or in some cases black out.)

This is also the reason their voicebox doesn’t work properly.

Their ability is that they can release a sound which interferes with electronic devices. Often rendering other bots disoriented for short amounts of time.

A bot once described it to sound like someone crying out in an empty hallway. ( that combine with their job as a cartographer gave them the idea for the name Cosmic Cry)

CC knows how to play the harp and violin and often does duets with Tank Treads (another oc that’s part of their crew) who plays the piano.

[sztefa001]

I posted 41,917 times in 2022

That's 20,616 more posts than 2021!

57 posts created (0%)

41,860 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@perytonpred

@gregurrito

@loki-n-thedoctor

@cicadas-epiphany

@cirilee

I tagged 8,103 of my posts in 2022

#important - 539 posts

#yes - 500 posts

#:0!! - 192 posts

#xd - 189 posts

#amazing - 122 posts

#sztefu talks - 106 posts

#cool - 90 posts

#for later - 86 posts

#aww! - 74 posts

#!!! - 73 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#for context: my parents were working their asses off all the time and didn't have time or strength to whip out a fancy dinner for 10 people

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

My boi StarShade, star seeker frametype by @dimorphodon-x. He's the smaller assassin type.

Gave up on trying to draw him properly so just went straight for the colors. Had no idea how to choose them so just used this palette generator. Might dull/darken the blue later but for now that's it.

More info below (not all that much, it's the first time I have name+design before story and background), cursed meme for those who manage to get till the end:

For now his story is kinda backwards - I know that eventually he ends up in a dance group Neon Shadows (based on groups like MPLUSPLUS or Light Balance, more on NS hopefully later) but before that happens I need to marinate him in some good 'ol character developing angst.

Ghost, shadow, phantom, cryptid, camo... many terms for just one guy with one neat outlier ability - super stealth. Combine it with being a massive fraggin liar and you get Starshade.

Idk yet who found and onlined him, what they needed him for and how he was trained. But I do know he lies amazingly and casually so much that not even a lie detector can get him. Because of that he gets tied up in the war as a spy. Doesn't matter for which side 'cuz then he becomes a double spy. Then triple and quadruple and and and in the end you don't know who's side he's really on.

He doesn't know either, nor does he care. All he cares about is himself and to steer all trouble away, to confuse others and manipulate the situation in such way that he's never the suspect.

At first he doesn't care how much chaos he causes as long as the consequences don't reach him. But after some decisions that fucked over some peeps he didn't want to get fucked over he does some thinking and decides to de-escalate conflicts instead of escalating them. Basically he figures he just wants the war to end now more than ever.

Because of his job he's a loner, which is a shame 'cuz he's very sociable and loves hanging out with others. And dancing. He loves music and dance. Sadly he can never be completely honest with others and never feels like he truly belongs to any group.

Eventually I want him to have a stealth car bf and also get him adopted by a flock of stealth seekers. And then join the Neon Shadows. Surely they won't regret taking in an ex-spy-but-acc-just-a-liar-coward-traitor. What can possibly go wrong? You can't tell me those golden eyes can lie. Surely his past won't come to bite him in the aft.

Ahem anyway...

His super stealth includes:

engine and ventilation are very quiet

colors can go from mostly gold/magenta to dark mode (pic above) and he prefers it that way

hard to detect by both cameras and radars

can be taken for freshly deceased even by a medic as his spark is harder to detect as well

naturally moves very quietly without even trying, may spook others by accident by just walking into a room without announcement

For now that's all, have a meme now:

See the full post

20 notes - Posted November 2, 2022

#4

Abyss barely had his first flight lesson when his family had to run away and he got separated from them in the process. Luckilly Knight Strike found him and immediately adopted him.

Abby so tiny he still has some baby fuzz 🥺 Striker will protecc.

Ocs belong to @president-alpine, au idea to @dimorphodon-x (thank you!!). Progress pics and more info under the cut <3

See the full post

41 notes - Posted March 6, 2022

#3

Giving this guy his own post because drawing him was the most yolo decision and it even turned out quite decent despite me not even trying much lol

The brush pens were super cheap and the blue one was dying from the start so yeah, idk why I decided to draw him xD First thought was to draw him in his alt, just a flat triangle with some extras. And before I knew it I was drawing this instead.

62 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

#2

Ok so regarding this post:

[click here for context]

(tagging @cirilee @im-a-mint and @curious-sootball, thank for insppiration <3)

I didn't draw people interrupting him 'cuz the doorframe was already too small and doing everything anew would be too much effort so yeah. But anyway:

This is the best pic tbh, the further we go the less effort I put askdjfh

See the full post

87 notes - Posted February 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

@cirilee

See the full post

149 notes - Posted January 31, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

Whoa, what a ride xD

[askthesouleatercrew]

Happy gay month! Drop all of your lgbtq soul eater headcanons

[answering this ooc so we can get into details >:) sorry (or not?) for how dang long this got. please enjoy...

maka!!

-girl! trans! demigirl in a "all girl but Girl is so much bigger than cis people think it is" kind of a way.

-bi! uses it interchangeably w/ pan but tends towards bi as a descriptor. being a girl is a big part of her attraction. iykyk

-recognizes when she likes someone very quickly which makes her an absolute outlier in this group. love that for her. everyone clap

-now being vulnerable by admitting to those feelings to others...a little more complex! i am rooting for her

soul

-boy! also trans! my guy my dude my man. this guy can fit so much t swag in him.

-bi! loves women as a man but queerly and bonds with kilik about this. important note.

-even worse than maka at feelings which is saying something

-doesn’t bind generally. too uncomfortable and his back is already messed up due to the *gestures at so many things about this guy* so yeah. his presentation is v influenced by his sensory needs.

-his name stuff is very important to him as evidenced by him canonically owning multiple clothing items with his name on it. every time i have to type out soul eater evans i am physically pained by this but there’s no good solution. soul eater my friend soul eater

kid

-nonbinary. trans. gender is symmetry. you know!!

-made a comic about this a bit ago

-”’boy”’’ terms are fine w/ him. gets a little >_> (positive) when people mix in they/thems for him with his he/hims. beloved he/they boything

-very new to thinking about all this but he has already figured a lot out gender with support from his friends!!! proud of him

-attraction/sexuality...less so! knows he’s not straight but is not really able to think about himself in the context of attraction at the moment. he will get there when he gets there...

liz!

-girl! she is the only cis person in the crew, lol.

-she is lovingly referred to as "our liz cizbian, our ciz lizbian" etc by many of them

-lesbian as aforementioned. an absolute wreck. tries her best to play it off but so very nervous about acting on stuff.

-advice giver despite this lmao. good at picking up on other people's stuff if it doesn't involve her

pattyyy

-girl :3 transgender :3 she is having a great time. gender stuff was unfortunately part of her and liz’ reasons for leaving home

-thinks its hilarious to vary the sizes of her breast forms and she’s right. she’s very powerful and does whatever she wants. trans joy is real and patty is proof

-assigning words to her attraction/sexuality simply not on her radar at this point in her life.

-she’s also like . why is everyone so pent up about this just kiss the people you want... i will do it since you are so fucking complicated

black*star

-trans boyyy... gender is being THE BIGGEST and being THE GREAT BLACK*STAR

-he knew EXTREMELY early. like basically never got why people were calling him a girl early

-sid and everyone else around him were super supportive! he basically never had to transition socially, it was p immediate

-gay!! attraction and “fun” dating easy and great, Big Feelings/Romance are...much more difficult! he is simply bouncing around like an electron can’t catch me vulnerable thoughts and feelings!

tsubaki!

-trans girl! was also very supported by her family and has had a relativeley smooth time of gender. want an easy one for her lol

-pan! also uses bi but prefers pan. truly like “the future is open who knows :)”

-sees herself like...idk how to phrase this but her self view is very utilitarian mostly? like her function and her abilities rather than Her as a person if that makes sense.

-so it’s a nice like...genuine expression of self care for her to have been able to express these aspects of herself. tsubaki..

crona my beloved

-nonbinary of all time. they/them so much. just so not in the binary. we love to see it. did not have the language for it (or most things) growing up but always knew on some level they weren’t a boy or a girl.

-re crona gender medusa was along the lines of ‘as long as you serve your function, whatever’ which is shitty in its own special way but at least. you know.

-as far as attraction/sexuality...oh crona. does not know what a crush is. woefully out of their depth in terms of being able to conceptualize themself as someone capable of being loved or loving others at this point in their life. and yet! both of these are possible. and in fact. happening right now... bless them. it’s hard. they will get there..

THANK YOU AND CONGRATS IF YOU READ THIS FAR LMAO

happy pride everyone!!!!!]

[artsy-hobbitses]

Hi! Apologies if you’ve already answered this, but how does each member get their names? Like, I know u mentioned how bee and op got their code names, but is everyone else’s picked for them or do they choose? Love ur stuff, ur awesome!!

Ayo and thank you for your kind words!

On the names:

Hound: Obvious reason

Prowl: Nickname given to him while he was a policeman because he never really slept and ‘prowled’ the streets late at night. Nickname was in Mandarin, adopted to English when he joined the team.

Jazz: Nickname given to him by his dockworker colleagues by virtue of his taste in music and side hustle.

Mirage: Based off his Outlier powers

Kup: Based off her nickname of ‘Kop’ (from her given name Kopisha) given by her Wrecker-mates.

Ratchet: Doctor man fix things. Also partially because he was a habit of calling dumbasses getting preventable injuries ‘fucking wretched’ esp if they tag him in his day off.

Springer: Jumping/leaping prowess

Hotrod: Worked in a forge, has an affinity for fire and hotheaded. Rod a slight corruption of ‘Riord’ from his surname, Riordan.

Strongarm: Buff lady bench press team mates for breakfast.

Sunstreaker: Color of choice and speed at which he moves in fights means what most people saw was a ‘streak of sun’ before they had their shit rocked.

Sideswipe: Ooops knocked you off your feet in battle oops did it again.

Drift and Blurr: Boys go nyoooooom on the track field.

Megatron: Given to him at random by owner of the Pit he fought in.

Starscream: Loud shriek of his suit’s engines bearing down on those below sounded like the heavens/‘stars’ were screaming.

Shockwave: Nickname from his time in the Senate.

Soundwave: Hearing ability.

Skids: Given to him by Tarn when they were littles and Tarn challenged him to learn how to drive Shockwave’s car with his Jack-Of-All-Trades power, which he did and two eight/nine-year olds ended up GTA-ing for ten miles-ish from the Institute before being caught and hauled back by Bajyai Kup.

Skywarp and Thundercracker: Outlier ability.

Windblade: Dances With Swords

Chromia: Lady strong as steel

Lightbright: Lady is the light of her people/a beloved pop star.

Ironfist/Broadfist/Impactor: Getting your shit rocked in different Wrecker flavours.

Ironhide: Shrugs off blows like NBD.

Blaster: Calling out shitty governments/authorities as his hobby ie. Putting them on blast.

Barricade: What it feels like when you try to shouldercheck him.

Ravage: Small cat man very vicious if pushed.

Laserbeak: Asked to give herself a codename, any codename she likes, and thought lasers were super cool

Glit: Her stage name she was fond of ie. Glitter.

That’s all I can think of for the moment, the rest will hopefully come to me soon!

[transfemstarscream]

Honestly I would like to see Nightbird as a character Megatron has a crush on because it would be amusing to see how he would act and everything, but she does need to be her own character and it would be odd to include Star being jealous of her still when Soundwave and Shockwave both exist and he’s never shown as much jealousy over them and their abilities and/or positions.

But back to Nightbird herself, I think she has a lot of potential as a Decepticon, man made robot, or even an Autobot. There are a lot of possibilities with her with what she already has and there’s so much that could be added to flesh her out I think writers should work with her more instead of creating new female transformers

as a comedic gag, i wouldn't mind it! in my eyes, any scene to make fun of megatron for his patheticness is O.K. by me, and the idea that he's infatuated with a woman he just met is out-of-character but also very hilarious. it would be funny to see him fawn over her still being the "ideal" despite the fact she doesn't hesitate to beat the shit out of him whenever she gets the chance. (this would be after she has a more well established personality, of course)

star being jealous of her really is odd because at the start, because it's not like she didn't want to bring nightbird? and megatron never said that nightbird would stay with them (at the start at least) so her jealousy just comes off as weird. i don't really think it's about being second-in-command either because megatron has proven favoritism over soundwave and shockwave both, and she's never jealous of either of them (in the comics that's arguable, but in the show she very visibly isn't) or under the belief her job is at risk. hell, she's not jealous of any of the seekers who have outlier abilities while she doesn't. maybe megatron just wanted to pit two queens together. typical behavior!

the interesting thing about nightbird is that since she never really got to have an established personality minus legends, the writers really could do whatever they wanted with her. is she still a stealthy, quiet badass but now she's in control herself? is she actually a very emotional, hyperactive person who lets her action speak for her? is she a calculating, cold ninja with her own agenda? who knows! and the thing is i would take any of these characterizations! nightbird is only as limited as the writers make her be. in MY ideal world, she's on her own serving her own agenda, but still has ties to the autobots as thanks for freeing her; she doesn't let either faction dictate what she does, but as a thanks for freeing her and treating her as an equal in combat, she promises never to interfere nor injure between the autobots as long as they don't get in her way. endless possibilites!

[andrea-lyn]

The Recs (Less Travelled)

I’m excited to bring you the first installment of my ‘roads less travelled’ recs! I will be doing another round of this, probably once the Ted Lasso fic tag hits about 25 pages, and then I’ll also grab a couple more fandoms to collect in there! 

The Rules:

Each fandom/pairing was sorted on Archive of Our Own by completed works. Anything recced here was not in the first ten pages when sorted by kudos at the time of reccing. There may be some more well-known authors on this list, but the specific fics I’ve picked are ones that didn’t crack that top ten or just didn’t get much traction and I think deserve it, so hopefully I have also balanced it out with other under the radar (and still great!) works. As ever, I have a pinned post of my other recs (none have been duplicated from there), so you can also check those out! Under the cut you’ll find 10 recs in each fandom for:

Raven Cycle

Roswell New Mexico

The Old Guard

Inception

Star Trek (mainly Kirk/McCoy)

The Raven Cycle

savor all the little pieces by littlelionvanz

“Since when do you garden?”

Ronan snorted, “Since I grew up on a fucking farm, genius. Jesus who gave you permission to pursue higher education.”

the old grip of the familiar by littleseal

"There is a single black feather and a printed out picture of Gansey, Blue and Cheng standing in front of some fucking monument Ronan didn’t care enough to remember the name of. Gansey sent it to Ronan’s phone some time ago, but it sat in his messages until Adam picked it up and grinned at it so hard that, one afternoon later, Ronan cursed and kicked and glared his old printer back to life in order to print it out.

Fuck, he thinks, I’m in love with a hoarder."

Adam collects things. Ronan is in love with him.

No Sweeter Innocence Than Our Gentle Sin by gansey_is_our_king

Ronan Lynch has wanted to kiss Adam Parrish for a long time.

(alternately titled: four times that Ronan could have kissed Adam)

Cheers to Another Seven Years! by skyermirth

Adam left Henrietta for Harvard and never returned. Now, seven years has passed, and an unexpected work assignment has brought him back to a place and people he hardly recognizes.

Row, row, row your boat by emmerrr

“What. Why are you smiling at me,” he says suspiciously.

Adam shrugs. “You’re cute.”

“I’m not cute, I’m terrifying.”

“Terrifyingly cute,” Adam says.

and now the world is ours to take / and every single move is ours to make by thatlittleblackcat

"Adam was the scientist, Ronan was the data, and Orphan Girl was the key that explained the strange outliers that Ronan presented, his previously unexplainable actions."

//

Adam sorts out his feelings, Ronan helps him, Gansey is the number one dad friend, Blue is the number one mom friend and Henry tries to make Ronan smile. Otherwise known as the story of how Orphan Girl became Opal.

All These Things You Make Me Feel by SilverOpals394

It was late. Adam could feel the long day catching up to him as he left Boyd’s, all his energy exhausted. When he started his car, the tape deck whirred to life once more. He sighed and raised his hand to turn it off, but before he did a soft melody began to play.

AU in which the mixtape Ronan made for Adam only plays the murder squash song until Adam realizes he's in love with Ronan, too.

Ways to Communicate by Jalules

Blue Sargent reflects on an early memory (and gets busy with her boyfriends.)

(The two things are related, trust me.)

Hold Me Closer, I'm Safe in Your Arms by actuallyronanlynch

“You wanna tell me why I had to hear from Henry Cheng that my boyfriend was at the hospital?” Adam hissed, though his voice wasn’t as acidic as it could’ve been. Ronan took small victories where he could.

“You don’t have a cellphone,” Ronan pointed out flatly. “It’s not like I could’ve gotten a hold of you.”

arts and crafts and the inevitability of death by sunshineinthestorm

Adam comes to the public library in search of a study spot, not a boyfriend. 

But it must be his lucky day—because he ends up with a bit of both.

 Roswell New Mexico

a conversation between insignificant others by Bellakitse

“Hey…have you noticed that our boyfriends are madly in love with each other?"

“You noticed that too, huh,” she answers dryly, letting out a huff of reluctant amusement.

***

Forrest and Maria share a drink and a conversation and start a friendship.

Own Personal Hell by BeStillMySlashyHeart

Now that Isobel's getting the hang of her telekinesis, Michael decides to test out his telepathic abilities. It backfires. Badly. Now Michael's trapped inside his own mind and only one person can break him out.

Drop the Hammer by brightloveee

Max makes a new friend at the shooting range, who turns out to be even more bad-ass than he expected.

(Takes place mid-S1)

Boys Like You by forgadgetsandgizmos

Curly, dirty blond hair (the mere description ‘curly’ felt like an injustice) twisted in every direction off his head, a sharp contrast with the scruff darkening his strong jawline and scowl-ridden face.

Alex made a mental note to compliment Maria on her excellent taste in men.

—

Or, Alex has coffee with Maria's one-night stand, a man who he definitely does not have a crush on.

let's exchange the experience by lostin_space

Michael decides they need to quarantine.

OR

Michael floods Alex with love and care over and over and over.

This Is Hardcore by Anonymous

Michael makes a proposal. Alex accepts. Michael wonders what the hell he’s gotten himself into.

i don't know what to think (but i think of supernovas) by Milzilla

michael discovers that the console can talk. then, he discovers it can do far more than that.

iridescence on skin by Lire_Casander

In a world where (almost) everyone has a tattoo on their right wrist with one set of coordinates that point to the place where their soulmate is born, Alex thought he wouldn't be any different. He couldn't be more mistaken.

He has two.

The Real Thing by elliebird

Max checks on Michael the morning after Michael saves Max’s ass from Wyatt Long and his dumbass buddies. He sees more than he’s supposed to.

Written for a Tumblr anon who one of their friends walking in on them or anyone of them finding out about Michael and Alex in an interesting way 

Sundering by romancandles 

“You know it was just an Air Force balloon, right?” says Alex.

Michael smirks. “That’s what they want you to think,” he says, with a wink.

The Old Guard

Peer Reviewed by ishandahalf

[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies (jms.eds@jms.com)

[Subject:] Ad-hoc note from the editor

I have noticed an uncommon level of animosity in your responses to your reviewers (or rather, one reviewer in particular). I am writing to ask if you would please do your best to keep your interactions civil. In fairness, I have also sent a similar request to the reviewer you seem to have this friction with. I trust you will both try and remain more professional in the future.

Again, thank you for submitting your work to this journal.

Sincerely,

James Copley, PhD

Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Medieval Studies

An (accidental) academic epistolary romance as (inadvertently) documented via a (theoretically) rigorously blinded peer review process.[citation needed]

third for a word and the song keeps going Macremae

It was honestly shaping up to be a pretty uneventful year before the Vatican got on Nicky’s bad side.

Or: three times in 2008 that the team genuinely thought about killing Nicky if only to get him to shut up about the changes to the Catholic English Mass and his unrelenting opinions on them, and one time Nile did.

Apex Predators In Island Ecosystems (Freeman et al., in press) by Sixthlight

Palaeobotany PhD student Nile Freeman and her supervisor Joe al-Kaysani are invited to billionaire Stephen Merrick’s new project – a theme park full of cloned dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong?

This Rough Magic by Marivan

When Joe came to Scotland to study the sea, he did not expect to also encounter a beautiful man claiming that A. he’s a selkie and B. they’re married because Joe picked up his scarf.

It sounds like a fairy tale and that’s a problem. Because Joe’s a scientist. And selkies don’t exist.

Wars for the broken by Yuliares

Five years into his exile, Booker is joined by a companion he never expected to meet. Together, they try to work on healing.

Sometimes they go down to the sewers just so she can scream and scream. “I like to hear it echo,” she explains. “Underwater, you can’t hear anything. Here, at least I can be heard.”

“I don’t feel like a warrior anymore,” she tells him, throwing bread crumbs at pigeons. “I feel broken.”

“You’re still a warrior,” he says roughly. “This is still fighting.”

a good (eighth) impression by deanniker

Over the next few months, Joe runs into Nicky every so often at the farmer’s market. Some weekends Nicky doesn’t make it, because of his work schedule - Joe doesn’t understand it because he doesn’t ask, though he does start to recognize when one of those missing weekends is coming up because Nicky will stock up on things with longer shelf-life. When they do run into each other, they make small talk and move through the stalls together.

Joe doesn’t mention it to Lykon when he stops by, because it is kind of weird, that Lykon’s ex-boyfriend texts Joe things like - If you’re here, the apples look particularly good this week and thank you for that recipe, I did not know what I was going to do with that much couscous

Or,

Joe wouldn't usually consider starting anything with his best friend's ex, but as long as they keep it casual, it shouldn't be weird... right?

get back to where you once belonged by tenderjock

Nile takes a sip of her cappuccino and closes her eyes.

(Booker and Nile get that coffee. Life happens, along the way.)

a house; a home by mehm

“Is this a kidnapping?” Joe asks as Nicky checks both their seat belts. “Like, I don’t mind. It’s just not quite what I expected for my birthday.”

In which Joe gets a birthday surprise, because that’s the stuff you have time for when you and the love of your life become mortal at the same time.

the ties that bind by damaskrose

“There’s a story I heard many times,” Andy begins, “in the Mediterranean. Threads of fate and three sisters. One to spin, one to measure, and one to cut.”

Clutter And Croutons by flawedamythyst

Joe and Nicky have an argument, and then Nicky talks to Nile about what it really means to be in a relationship for 900 years.

Inception

My Big Fat Slightly Annoying Wedding by jibrailis

Arthur and Eames elope for ~tax reasons. Certain people in their lives are not happy at the lack of a wedding.

Remember Sydney by pathera

When Eames shambles into the safe house outside of London, he finds a red light blinking on the phone.

For the inception_kink prompt:

Arthur is on a plane which is about to crash. No way anyone is going to survive. Instead of panicking he calmly calls the team's office and gets the answering machine. He hangs up before the plane crashes.

Give me Arthur's last message to the team.

 (TW: Character Death / Angst)

Of Such Deceitfulness and Suavity by delires

In which emotions manifest themselves in unusual ways.

YO, K2tog (it's like a code) by lazulisong

“Oh my God,” moans Arthur. “I’ve paid less for Somnacin. Good Somnacin.” A horrible thought strikes him. “How much is the yarn --”

“I want you to have an unguarded reaction,” Eames tells him, and pulls him up from the floor.

(They run an extraction on a knitter.)

hit the ground running by orphan_account

"I travelled halfway around the world for you. I dealt with the French for you."

Valley by wldnst

It's an old story: a knight, a prince, a kingdom in peril.

If This Is Rain Let It Fall On Me and Drown Me by Brangwen

We used to be so brave, Eames thought. Of the two of them, Arthur had always been the more fearless.

a gentle familiarity by jollypuppet

Two weeks later, Eames is on his doorstep with bad Italian takeout and a grin, and Arthur tells him he can sleep on the couch.

Your Crisis Cannot Be Completed As Dialed by sevenimpossiblethings

Arthur doesn't do snow, Ariadne is determined to be as Midwestern as possible, and blizzards make cell phone service unreliable.

Let’s Say I Do (I Do) by xsilverdreamsx

There were, perhaps some things worse that this, Arthur thinks, as he glares at the letter in his hand with his name printed clearly in bold ink, indicating his presence in two weeks for his esteemed marriage to one William H. Eames, III, at St. Catherine's Church in London, England.

Star Trek (predominantly Kirk/McCoy)

Show the World That Something Good Can Work by knune

Leonard McCoy is a doctor, not a personal assistant, and maybe that's why he can't stand working for Jim Kirk.

It's in the little things by winterover

Bones is bemused by a persistent secret admirer.

"Wedding" Away with It by pendrogon

One morning, Bones wakes up and he's single. By the same afternoon, he's married to Jim Kirk for Arbitrary Fic Reasons(TM).

How Long Will You Stay (For Your Whole Life) by withthepilot

Jim Kirk, deputy director of the Enterprise parks and recreation department, sees all of his hard work fall to pieces when budget specialist Leonard McCoy arrives from the state capital to cut Jim's budget and threaten the livelihoods of his colleagues. But thanks to a major parks project, Leonard finds a place in the department, as well as in Jim's life—and when all is said and done, Jim doesn't want him to leave.

All-Time Favorite by mardia

What to do when your best friend suddenly starts making new friends. 

Joy Ride by Cards_Slash

While running for their lives from an alien species Kirk had accidentally enraged, they come across a car. And well, if you were to come across a car while being chased by aliens that wanted you dead, and you possessed some lingering knowledge of how to drive a car similar to said car, you would have decided to drive it toward the nearest cliff too.

Also a gunfight.

Syncytia by epistolic

He’d signed up for Starfleet on an impulse, but Starfleet meant James Tiberius Kirk: the first – and second, and third, and fourth – big mistake of Leonard McCoy’s life.

Renovation by canistakahari

Jim has a whammy put on him by an alien death ray and he suddenly craves domesticity. He's crazy with longing to shop at space!Ikea and get potted bamboo and he starts looking into adopting AND HE HATES HIMSELF AND CANNOT CONTROL THE SHIT. Luckily, McCoy is drunk all the time and plays house.

17:08 by butterflycell

She'd watched the news holos with a sick feeling, searching for information that was completely obvious in its absence. Amidst the reports of the the Enterprise's miraculous recovery and the damages sustained, there had been next to nothing about the crew or her captain. Jim had been mentioned only in passing, his name shied away from as his first officer limited interaction to the bare essentials.

The Honey of Hybla by shrift

"Bones, prepare to be my date."

[watchathon]

Stitch Day Special: Lilo & Stitch

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watch-a-Thon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a show every one-to-two days, with a short blog post where I give my thoughts on what I’ve just seen. Each new point starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. 

But today? Well, today I’ve got an extra-special post in the wings about a movie, one of my favorite Disney movies, starring my absolute favorite Disney character: Lilo & Stitch!

- I like the variation on the Disney logo. That is the kind of stuff that they just couldn’t do with their new big fancy CGI logo. 

- No clue why Jumba tried to deny that he created an experiment. I don’t much mind since it led to a funny joke, but c’mon, evil genius, you should be smart enough to plead guilty.

- “I would never, ever... make more than one.” *glances meaningfully in the direction of the series*

- “What is that monstrosity...?” He’s a cute widdle fluffball, that’s what he is!

- “Meega nala kweesta!” Canonically, this translates to “I want to destroy”, but that seems a little lukewarm for the reaction he got. Maybe a looser translation is in order...

There could be an entire aristocrats joke in those three words. The whole script to Batman v Superman. The opening notes to “Never Gonna Give You Up”...

Or maybe just “bitch”.

- Blood work is a lot different in space...

- Weird to imagine given the rest of the franchise, but Gantu was once a respected captain of the galactic federation.

- It’s easy to perceive Stitch as a dumb brute, but he’s pretty smart. He connected the dots all on his own, within minutes of his imprisonment, that if the guns are locked onto his DNA, he can use his saliva to trick them. Jumba wasn’t kidding when he boasted of his experiment’s intelligence.

- And not only was Gantu a captain, Pleakley was an expert on the planet Earth. Weird, innit...?

- “Are [humans] intelligent?” “No.” An exchange that only hurts more with every year.

- Love the implication that Pleakley was just suggesting several different relatives to assist with the capture of Stitch from when they were on the deck up until they got to the prison where Jumba was held.

- Now this is what we (or rather TVTropes) call an establishing character moment. A fish floats by holding a sandwich in its mouth, implying (soon confirming) that Lilo was the one to give it the sandwich, before rushing to the hula practice that she was late for, stopping to take a picture of a tourist along the way.

- And then after she arrives at hula practice, she explains that she had to give Pudge the fish a peanut butter sandwich because he controls the weather.

- No clue why the other girls are disgusted by Scrump. I always wanted a Scrump when I was a little lass.

- “Did you ever kill anyone?” Lilo asks the right questions.

- Nani, y’could’ve avoided this if you’d given a thumbs up instead...

- I don’t get the glare Cobra gives Nani after Lilo says that her friends need to be punished. Voodoo isn’t a failure of parenting. In many cases, at least...

- Licking Nani, growling after her capture, Lilo already has a lot in common with Stitch.

- Lucky that Lilo is such a quirky kid. The scene (semi-)explaining why she takes pictures of tourists was deleted, but it doesn’t feel like anything is missing because she already has a few habits that just plain inexplicable, like feeding Pudge, practicing voodoo with a pickle jar...

- Lilo wishing for an angel because of how lonely she is, that’s a sad moment. But also kinda funny in hindsight after she sarcastically names Stitch’s love interest Angel in the series.

- Lord give me the undisturbed...ness, of that frog who watched Stitch get run over by several trucks and only tilted its head.

- If they thought Stitch was dead, why did they keep it in the shelter? I mean, Lilo would probably adopt a dead dog, but she’s the outlier.

- I like how Jumba programmed, as part of Stitch’s destructive tendencies, an urge to steal everybody’s left shoe.

- You can just about pinpoint the moment where Stitch’s heart drops at learning that he’s on an island with no major cities.

- Just occurred to me that the badness level is red, and Stitch’s evil counterparts in the series (627 and Leroy) are both red.

- Ah, David. One of the best Disney love interests, mostly because he isn’t entirely a love interest. There is a mutual attraction, but Nani just isn’t ready for that with everything going on in her life, and David respects that and is happy to be a friend.

- I like how everyone except Lilo heavily suspects that Stitch isn’t a dog. 

- Ohhh, the thought of Stitch having drank coffee. I mean, I’d love to see it, but it’d be Hell for Nani.

- Stitch looks just plain adorable with a lei.

- Well, Lilo, you did tell Stitch he should create something. And he did, he just destroyed his creation afterward.

- Pleakley is a gender-nonconforming icon.

- The first time we see Stitch doing something without even the intention of destroying anything is when he finds the book about the Ugly Duckling. It’s clear that he’s fascinated just by looking at it. And when Lilo explains the story? It resonates with him. Or, well, perhaps he wants it to resonate with him.

- I wish I had an evil koala dog that played records.

- Are we sure that “Meega nala kweesta” means “I want to destroy”? Maybe it means “I was born to dance”, ‘cause Stitch learns about dancing and in less than a minute he’s already an expert.

- I imagine this montage, or slightly earlier, would be when that deleted scene of Lilo trolling the obnoxious racist tourists originally came into play. And I like this scene, but, I do wish that scene hadn’t gotten cut. And I wish that they fully animated it and inserted it into the movie like Warner Bros did with The Iron Giant.

- Nothing cheers me up more than this scene of Stitch and his newfound family going surfing. And especially since Stitch is aquaphobic. He’s very much aware that he cannot swim, and likely wouldn’t survive if he fell off the board into the ocean. But even he eventually gets into the spirit of it, asks Lilo himself to go surfing, and enjoys a nice bonding moment with his family. And David.

- Of course Jumba and Pleakley had to ruin a perfectly sweet moment.

- And so we transition from a heartwarming wholesome moment, to a heartbreaking tearful moment. You can just see Nani holding back tears as she says that she needs to take Lilo home. 

As for Stitch, David probably didn’t even realize that Stitch could understand him when he said that Lilo and Nani had a chance until Stitch came along. But Stitch did understand, and he’s visibly hurt by the idea. He always wanted to destroy, but in this moment, he’s ashamed of how he might have destroyed Lilo’s family.

- And the Ugly Ducking metaphor comes back, when in this moment, as Stitch is coming back to a family that he fears he may have ruined, he sees a lone duck... before that duck is followed by a big family of ducklings.

- Lilo says that Stitch cries at night. So, it would seem that even before he completely learned how to be nice, Stitch wasn’t entirely emotionless.

- This whole act of the film is heart-wrenching. First Nani gets confirmation that she and Lilo will be separated, then Stitch starts to fear that he may have caused it. Then because of that? Stitch leaves, taking only the Ugly Duckling book with him. And he can only see in himself the page of the Duckling, lost and crying.

- Then Jumba tells Stitch, who’s already in a bad place emotionally, that he was made to destroy, has no family, and could never have one.

- I don’t want to think about what happened to that chainsaw.

- There’s a certain feeling that comes up in the middle of this fight scene, where you realize that a house is being destroyed, a house belonging to a family that was very much at risk of separation. And you realize that this will only hurt their case beyond any repair.

- If the past day hadn’t been bad enough, Stitch is told by his best friend Lilo that he ruined everything, and to get away.

- And so Nani really does have her sister taken away. Now, taken away by aliens is a lot different than taken away by social services. It’s worse. This way Nani knows that Lilo definitely won’t get a loving family, and Nani will definitely never see her again.

- The confusion is visible on Jumba and Pleakley when Stitch goes and comforts Nani with a quote about family. All they know about Stitch is that he was made to destroy. And then, once he’s captured, he does just about the opposite.

- “Ih.” To this day I sometimes say Ih on reflex when asked a yes-or-no question. Guess I watched this movie way too many times as a kid, huh? ...I regret nothing.

- Originally, the big red plane-looking thing was supposed to just be a plane, and it would’ve flown through a city. And it was changed because it was too soon after 9/11. But me personally, I think the big red thing is real cool, and I like it flying through the valleys.

- “Stitch is unconscious.” I like that Jumba calls Stitch by his name here. In the series, he always calls Stitch “626″ but his name is Stitch. And I like the rare occasion when that’s respected by the mad genius who created him.

- I want to believe that Stitch dodged that laser for the sake of the frog he was holding more than for his own sake. Stitch is strong enough that a few moments later, he survives an explosion of a whole truck that he’s lying on top of.

- Stitch proudly calling himself “cute and fluffy” is another thing I just love. Might be reading too much into it, but I like that he can call himself by those descriptors and still have total confidence in his ability to kick Gantu’s patookie.

- My favorite scene in the movie, and the scene I took the picture from.

Stitch corrects the Grand Councilwoman about his name. And when he’s told that he needs to go in the ship (the implication being that he’ll be punished like he was meant to be at the beginning), he doesn’t rebel or try to escape. He only politely asks that he be allowed to say goodbye.

He explains that his family is “little and broken, but still good”, both explaining it to the councilwoman and reassuring Lilo and Nani.

This is the ultimate display of how Stitch has grown. And he grew because, despite what Jumba said, Stitch could find, and did find, the one true place he belonged: With a good, loving family.

- The Grand Councilwoman is clearly remorseful that they’ll have to separate Stitch from his family, but she can’t bend the law for this one case. And she doesn’t, but it just so happens that, legally speaking, Lilo owns Stitch. And, well, what self-respecting Grand Councilwoman would steal a child’s property?

- A lot of people (including middle-school me) say that the stuff with Stitch and the aliens get in the way of the story of Lilo and Nani. I disagree. These two stories are intertwined, both about people wanting to stay with the family where they know they belong. I just couldn’t, at all, imagine one without the other.

- Now this is the kind of ending I love. It’s become common for animated movies, sequels in particular, to end on the two main characters getting separated. But here? Stitch is now a definitive part of the family, and won’t be separated from them anytime soon. Anime? What anime?

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I guess I’ll be doing this on the rare occasion I cover movies...?

Anyway, this is a great movie. A modern classic. And one of very few things that doesn’t just hold up from when I was a kid, it gets better. When I was a tiny kid, I was only interested in the space aliens. When I was in my early teens, I thought the aliens were kiddy stuff. 

But nowadays, I can truly appreciate it. I can appreciate how both aspects are vital to the movie. Lilo and Stitch are both equally important. You can’t have one without the other.

And most of all, I can appreciate the story of Stitch (as well as Jumba and Pleakley) finding a family, and Lilo (as well as Nani) saving theirs from being torn apart.

Lilo & Stitch brings me to tears of both joy and sadness every time I watch it. And I guarantee I’ll be watching it many more times in the future.

...Does it still count as a Stitch Day special if I’m posting after midnight? No, probably not. I thought I’d only take two hours, then I took four and a half. Guess that means I had more thoughts than I thought I did!

[jwillowwolf]

Magic and Miracles - Chapter 5

Sanders Sides Big Bang fic, Chapter 5!

< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >| Masterlist

Summary: “Our boss, uh, Frank?”

“Are you lying to me?”

“No! I’m just terrible with names.”

Warning/s: food mention, kidnapping.

Characters: Logan, Virgil, OCs, Roman, Remy, Remus, Patton, Janus.

Tag List: @theimprobabledreamersworld @remy-please-come-back

Read on AO3

5 | Pixie Problems

Logan noted that with each passing week, the group grew closer and became more like friends than classmates. Thanks to this, lessons became easier. Especially lessons where Remy had them working together towards a common goal. The teens of now perhaps looked like they had at the beginning of the school year, but it was almost like they’d become different people as time went on.

He had been anxious about having to fit in with a bunch of noble children, but it turned out that they were a lot more like him than he’d realised. Since the first outing to town, they had gone every Saturday to read Nigel Hawk’s adventures and other interesting books about adventurers.

This shared experience gave them something to talk about. They discussed what they liked or disliked about each adventurer, and what they would personally have done differently. As time passed, they became more and more familiar with each other until they could predict with nearly exact accuracy how they’d all react.

But, Logan also noted that there was an outlier to their group.

Virgil was a very guarded person. He metaphorically kept his distance from the others, and never shared much of anything of his personal life. It was almost like he was hiding his identity but didn’t want to lie about anything so he just kept the details to himself. Even as the group became closer and friendlier, Virgil remained stoic and secretive.

Logan wasn’t exactly bothered by this, he understood that sometimes people wanted to keep their private lives private. But for some reason, he just wanted to know more. Virgil was, in some ways, like magic: dark, mysterious, and figuratively driving Logan mad with curiosity.

Perhaps it was because Logan was a naturally curious person. Though, he found it odd that he wanted this particular knowledge since the only things he’d ever really wondered about before were stars, science, and magic. It seemed illogical to be this interested in a person. Virgil was just his classmate after all. And it wasn’t like he needed to know about him. Yet at the same time, he needed to know about him.

It was strange and confusing, so Logan decided that he might as well try getting to know what he could about him. After all, curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back. He was not a feline in any way, shape or form, but he was curious so why not?

He didn’t want to outright frightened Virgil with questions though, so he decided to simply observe. And while he didn’t learn a lot from this, he noticed a handful of subtle things. How he carried himself, confident but not arrogant. How he pulled at his hood when he felt nervous. His uncanny ability to guess what a person was going to say before they said it. And, though it might have been his imagination, the underlying echo in his voice when he was stressed.

He also noticed that Virgil would sometimes look his way if Logan was thinking of him. It was a bit odd but not exactly something to fret over. His dad said that you sneeze whenever someone’s talking about you, so maybe people also get a sort of sense when they’re being thought about? Logan never experienced such a sense personally, but he had other things to think about.

Such as today’s assignment. Remy finally trusts them enough again to go out gathering without supervision. And this time everyone’s agreed to stick together. Roman and Janus are walking in front of the group, sort of speed-walk racing each other to be the leader, though no one is sure where they’re leading them if anywhere. Remus and Willow have made a game out of touching every tree they pass by, with Patton trying to keep score for them. Which leaves Virgil and Logan silently walking beside each other at the back.

The smell of the surrounding trees feels refreshing after being mostly indoors learning for the past few days, and Virgil seems to be thriving here in the forest. Logan doesn’t know how to explain it, but he seems most at home walking here. The hood of his cape is down for once, and his face is tilted upwards to catch the warmth from the brief sunlight shining through the trees. His eyes are closed yet he walks with complete confidence in his steps. Almost as if he’s memorised the path ahead of him. Still, Logan finds himself watching the path in front of them both for any obstacles.

He suddenly stops, causing Logan to pause as well, and looks around with a critical eye.

“Is something wrong?”

“I thought I heard something,” Virgil explains, staring at the path behind them. “Probably just my imagination…”

Logan is about to respond when suddenly he feels pain in the back of his neck. In front of him, he can see Virgil’s eyes widen then struggle to stay open, like his own. Before he can even register falling down, his mind goes blank and he falls unconscious.

---

“Why are there two? You were told to get one. This one, not this one and that one.”

“Well, they were right beside each other when you pointed them out.”

“I very specifically pointed to this one.”

“They were right beside each other. If I took out one, the other would notice and then there’d be an entire group on my tail.”

“Why didn’t you wait until they were separated?”

“Ugh! I got the one we need, so can you just get off my back!”

Logan groaned and opened his eyes to locate the arguing voices. He had been sleeping so soundly before they decided to start bickering. Didn’t they understand that undisturbed rest was important?

His eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room and he noted that the voices were coming from two pixies with orange and pink wings respectively. He also realised that they were upside down. No, he was hanging upside down, by his feet, beside an unconscious Virgil.

It was then that his memories came flooding back and he realised that he and Virgil had just been kidnapped by pixies. Oh no, this really wasn’t good. Especially since he’d been gagged and therefore couldn’t use any magic to escape.

What did these pixies want with two teenagers anyway? From what Logan remembered, pixies were a relaxed neutral race, who mainly just protected areas where gates to the fae realm could be found. They were a sort of subspecies of the fae themselves, but Logan couldn’t remember how. Unless you stepped into/messed with their territories they left you alone.

He was sure that neither he nor Virgil had done such a thing, but he was also sure that pixies were extinct. They were said to have been wiped out decades ago during the revolution against the fae monarchy who had been oppressing the other races. Pixies had been eradicated and the fae had sealed themselves away in their hidden realm, wherever that was.

Logan’s mind was reeling with questions about what was going on right now, but Virgil moving beside brought his mind back to the present. Virgil had woken up and was looking around the room in a panic until his eyes landed on the pixies across the room. His eyes change from the usual stormy grey to a darker almost black shade and the next thing Logan knew, they were both standing upright and staring down the pair of pixies now tied up by their feet.

How on earth did they just switch places?

“Who are you?” Virgil demanded, his voice loud and noticeably echoing.

“Fu- Mercy! Please, have Mercy! We’re nothing more than lackeys, I swear!”

“Yeah, we were just carrying out orders!”

“Whose orders?”

“Our boss, uh, Frank?”

“Are you lying to me?”

“No! I’m just terrible with names.”

“Our boss’s name is Oscar!”

“Dang, I wasn’t even close.”

“And what exactly were your orders?”

“To bring you to the grove.”

“The what?” Logan asked.

“The grove.” A voice answered from behind.

Logan and Virgil turned to see another pixie, this one dressed much more smartly than the other two, and with an apologetic expression on his face. “I am so sorry about them, your highness. I meant for them to ask you to come, not drag you here.”

Virgil frowned and spoke in his normal voice. “And why on earth have I been dragged here?”

“If you can just follow me, I’ll explain as we go.”

“Uh, can someone let us down?”

“You’re smart enough to get down yourselves, I’m sure.” The third pixie replied as he left with Virgil and Logan.

They went down a short dark passage to a grey door with some symbols Logan didn’t recognise engraved in it. The pixie opened this door and Logan had to shield his eyes for a moment from the bright light that suddenly flooded in. After his sight adjusted, however, he found himself figuratively floored with awe at the sight that lay beyond the door. It looked like a massive cylinder chamber, with tree roots along the walls, weaving in and out of each other, supporting variously coloured platforms all around. There were pixies walking all over these platforms, some even flying around in the centre.

“I am not sure if you want to wait for someone to assist the human...” The pixie said.

“Would you mind if I carried you?” Virgil asked Logan, who was honestly so awestruck by the architecture he could only silently nod.

Virgil picked him up bridal style and the next thing he knew they were both in the air. Somehow not falling to their doom. What? Logan then noticed that Virgil had a pair of dark purple-almost black wings protruding from his back. They looked perfectly natural and seemed like they were as much a part of him as they were of the various pixies flying around, but Logan was quite puzzled about where they had come from.

“Can you now explain why we’ve been kidnapped?” Virgil asked the pixie guiding them as they flew through the air.

“Again, I apologize for those two. I only wanted to have them ask and escort you here because, well…”

“Well?”

“Queen Tanya has fallen ill.”

Virgil paled. “What do you mean, she’s fallen ill? She can’t get sick.”

“Not physically, no. We fear she’s been magically poisoned. None of our healers can find a cure though.”

“So why send for me? What could I possibly do?”

“There is a spell that could save her, but for the best success rate, we need someone of royal blood to perform it.”

“What kind of spell is it?”

“I am not sure. I can show you the book we found it in though, so you can figure out how to perform it.”

Virgil nodded. “Can you bring it to my room?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Good,” Virgil flew to one of the landings and continued to carry Logan down a hallway that seemed lit much better than the one they’d been walking through earlier.

Logan was getting more confused by the minute as he tried to mentally sort through all that had just happened. 1, They had been kidnapped. 2, That was an accident, but apparently, the pixies needed help from Virgil. 3, Virgil had royal blood, and while that was normal for a higher noble, a - there was no one of nobility in the human kingdom even closely related to the kings and b - he was being addressed as ‘your highness’ which indicated he was a prince. 4, Where did those wings come from? He’d never really seen Virgil without his cape but surely that couldn’t hide a pair of freaking wings!

There were too many questions on Logan’s mind right now, so when Virgil asked him, “Are you okay?”

All he could reply was, “I don’t know.”

He noticed that Virgil had brought him to what appeared to be a bedroom. It was nice and clean, with dark furniture, and many shelves full of odds and ends. Some books, a few rocks, a picture frame with different kinds of colourful leaves inside. It was the room of someone who perhaps didn’t stay here often, but kept many precious memories here.

He was sitting on the bed, with Virgil standing in front of him, nervously tugging on the hood of his cape. “You uh, probably have a bunch of questions. Right?”

Logan nodded.

“Well, I’ll try to answer them as best I can, but you should know that I did not mean for you, or anyone, to find out about this like… this.”

“Who exactly are you, Virgil? Is that even your name?”

“Virgil is my name, and well… I’m the crown prince of Srednas. My parents are King Thomas and Prince Consort Nico.”

“I still don’t understand how you are familiar with this place? Aren’t Pixies meant to be… dead?”

“Yes, and no. My papa, Prince Nico, is actually also the Prince of the fae realm. I’m well known with the pixies here in the grove, since this is where the gate that my parents and I use to visit my grandmother is located, and Queen Tanya was my surrogate mother.”

“That’s why you have a room here?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re half-fae?”

“Yes, but please don’t freak out.”

“I think I’m too shocked for that.”

“I know that the fae have a bad reputation. A terrible one, really, but please you have to understand that things aren’t as black and white as they seem.”

Logan looked closely at Virgil. “You’re scared.”

“I- how did you?”

“Your voice has an underlying echo and you’re playing with the hood of your cloak. I promise not to tell anyone of your identity if that is what you fear. They’d probably call me insane anyway.”

“Thank you, but that isn’t what… I just… honestly I’m scared I won’t be able to help,” Virgil admitted. “My magic skill is okay, but there’s a huge chance I won’t be able to pull this off. Especially if the success rate is as critical as Oscar said.”

“...What is your skill level in healing magic?”

“Um, seven, why?”

“That gives you an advantage on any healing spells, with only a thirty percent chance of failure. Add that to your overall magic skill level, the added success rate from being of royal blood twice over, and the fact you’re aware of the dangers means you’ll be doing your best. Overall, you have a chance to succeed.”

“There’s still the possibility I’ll fail.”

“And that would be there for anyone. Everything can go wrong, and will if you just give up so easily. I know you’re scared but personally, I believe you can do it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Virgil and Logan stared at each other for a silent moment. Virgil seemed to be searching his face for any hint of falsehood. He didn’t find any though. There was nothing to find. Logan truly believed that Virgil possessed the skill to pull this off.

A knock at the door startled the boys. Virgil got up and opened the door to find someone with a small stack of papers. The spell. He took the papers, thanked the person, and went to sit down and read through the spell’s details.

“This… looks very complicated.”

“I can try to help you understand it. My healing magic skill is not very high, but if we’re both trying to work the spell out then you’ll get it figuratively in no time.”

“That would be good. Thanks, Logan.”

“No problem.”

Okay, sure, Logan was feeling a bit shell shocked to find out that one of his friends was not only royalty but also shared the blood of a race that he had been raised to believe was dangerous although no longer on earth. It was crazy really but right now he cared a heck of a lot more about helping his friend than anything else. All he wanted to do was make Virgil feel better right now. He could ask questions another time.

The spell was indeed quite complex, but working on it together made it easier for Virgil to understand. He felt a lot more confident in himself by the end.

“I better cast the spell now that I’ve got it. Um, do you want to come with me or wait here?”

“I’d like to accompany you if you don’t mind.”

Virgil nodded and then they both left his room and headed straight to what Logan assumed to be the Queen’s chambers. Now that Logan’s mind wasn’t being drowned by confusion and questions, he had a chance to look around as they walked through the halls. Everything seemed brightly coloured and almost sparkly, from the green-wood floors to the various paintings on the walls. The paintings also seemed to have some magic to them, a few showing not only pictures but small animated scenes with the people inside the art moving like they were alive. It was quite mesmerising.

Soon they came to an ivory door with golden swirls painted like a frame around the edges. Virgil knocked on the door and it was promptly opened by a worried-looking pixie with silver hair and wings whole perked up at the sight of Virgil.

“Young prince! Thank Ysla you’re here.”

“Dune, is Tanya here?”

“Yes, please, come in.”

Dune stepped back and allowed both boys to enter the room, which was somewhat smaller than Logan had expected. Across from the door was a large bed where several pixies were gathered looking down in worry. A few looked up and seemed relieved at the sight of Virgil who on the other hand tensed with anxiety. He was scared of failing before, but now there were all these people here counting on him too. What if he failed them all?

Logan noticed this and reached to hold his hand. He looked at him and Logan gave a reassuring smile. He could do this. Everything would be just fine. Virgil took one last deep breath then went over to the bed. As he prepared to cast the spell, Logan had time to look at Queen Tanya.

She looked very young and had a strange sickly yellow tint to her skin. Her long grey hair was draped all over the pillow. Both her hands were clutching the bedcovers tightly as if her hold on them was all that was keeping her alive. Logan looked away as memories of his mother came up. Now wasn’t the time for reminiscing.

Virgil kept his voice and hands steady as he began to create the spell. There were several intricate runes involved that needed to be set off all together. Meaning he would need to draw all of them now before using the sealing word. He drew them in a sort of circle above the Queen’s bed, almost like a halo of bright runes.

As he finished the last one and sealed them, they all turned white. Everyone stood still and seemed to be holding their breath as they watched the runes begin to slowly spin. They spun around faster and faster until it looked like they were simply a single ring of light and then they burst into sparkles and fell onto Tanya.

The Queen seemed to stop breathing for a moment. Then she took a deep breath like she was gasping for air. Her skin changed to its natural shade and her hair began to turn bright purple. She let go of the bedcovers and sat up straight, her eyes opening wide and looking around in shock. There were shouts of joy from various pixies and many including Logan and Virgil breathed a sigh of relief.

“By Ysla’s bow, what’s going on?” Tanya asked.

“Tía, how do you feel?” Virgil inquired instead of answering her.

“Well, I was having quite the night terror, but I feel fine now. My goodness, Virgil, why are you here? Not that I’m not ecstatic to see you but I thought you were busy with that magic school project.”

“You were unwell, Tanya. We had to fetch him to heal you.” Dune explained.

Tanya looked around at everyone gathered critically then nodded. “Well, I’m fine now. Please leave me a moment to speak with Virgil.”

The pixies all nodded and left the room as requested, except for the Dune, who instead closed the door behind them then flew to sit beside the Queen. “Are you sure you’re well?”

Tanya smiled. “Yes, dear. I daresay I feel better than ever. Though I have quite a few questions.”

“I have a few of my own too.” Virgil said.

Tanya nodded. “May I start with inquiring about your human companion?”

“This is Logan.” Virgil introduced.

“Oh, that’s the one-”

“Lovely to meet you, Logan.” Dune said, interrupting whatever Tanya was about to say.

“Oh, yes, it’s a real pleasure. Virgil’s spoken quite highly of you.”

“Oh, um, thank you. It’s an honor to meet you as well, your majesty.”

“Please, dear, call me Tía. And this is my darling partner, Dune. Did Virgil bring only you along or are your other classmates here as well?”

“We were sort of abducted…” Virgil explained.

Dune looked at him in shock. “What? I told Oscar to send you an escort.”

“There was a mix up, but nevermind that. What led to Tía getting so sick?”

“We’re not sure.” Dune answered. “She was feeling unwell this past week, but it wasn’t until yesterday that she fell into an unconscious state like… Well, you saw.”

Tanya frowned. “I’d been getting some powerful headaches on and off, but I didn’t think too much of it with the Grand Alignment coming up and all. Hang on, why did you send for Virgil instead of Thomas or Nico?”

“There’s something wrong with the mirrors. I haven’t been able to contact them or anyone from Faehaven. We of course couldn’t send anyone through the gate, and the castle is outside of the forest bounds while the manor, and by extension Virgil, are within our reach.”

“Tía was poisoned and someone messed with the mirrors?”

“Well, we can’t prove someone’s messed with the mirrors, but something’s messed up their signal. I have sent a messenger to the castle though, so perhaps they can tell us if it’s something for all of us or simply on our end here.”

“I spoke with my dads two nights ago, so I’m not sure if anything happened with my mirror.”

“I think we can leave this alone for now. There isn’t much we can do with just us here. I should thank you for saving my life, Virgil.” Tanya said.

“Well, Logan was a huge help with understanding the spell mechanics.”

“Then thank you both. We should have a feast to celebrate!”

“Perhaps we can plan it for another day though. You have just been healed from the brink of death.” Dune pointed out.

Virgil nodded. “And Logan and I ought to head back to the manor. I can only imagine the kind of stress everyone will be going through at our disappearance.”

“Aw, but you just got here,” Tanya complained.

Virgil smiled softly. “I promise to visit properly soon, Tía.”

“Good. you’ll come too, won’t you Logan?”

“I would be honoured.”

---

A/N: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. I'll be posting two chapters a day until the full fic is up, so if you want to be tagged, you can just ask.

I'd love to hear what you thought about the chapter if you wouldn't mind commenting. Thanks again for reading! Here's hoping you have a magical day 💜

[jlf23tumble]

July fic recs? 👀

I loveeee that emoji, it’s so cute and nosy, I respond to it on a visceral level, this is literally me anytime a friend of mine indirects someone (only I cannot unlock the mystery of using emojis on Tumblr, so I just go, “Who ya indirecting //insert nosy emoji eyes//???” Oh, me.) I’m actually a teensy bit behind on some fic in my “to read” pile (longer fic for the most part) because I’m a genius who decided to run a fest in the middle of my biggest work month EVER, but I’m sure I’ll catch up on those outliers soon--in the meantime, I *do* have some fics I read this month that I absolutely loved. Enjoy!!!

I’ll start with the baby I birthed this month, @momrryfest2020!!! I just posted the author reveals, so go here and read every single one of 'em, holy SHIT, they’re so good!!! Lactation! Regular mom stuff! Pregnancy hi-jinks! Insanely amazing pairings!!! Definitely worth the time, they’re all short! And as a related bonus, two superstars originally wrote longer fic, withdrew those stories, posted them outside the fest, THEN CAME BACK and wrote shorter ones so we’d have a full roster--my heart swells every time I think about it, tbh. So yes, highly recommend Donor-Conceived by @jaerie and The Baby Whisperer by @jacaranda-bloom!!

Shot, by @sashinalash, 751 words, Harry/Louis. This is part of the @wordplayfics challenge, and I think it’s one of my faves??? A stream of consciousness that describes the chaos of Harry’s camera roll.

Knife’s Edge, by @sadaveniren, 1.4k, Harry/Louis. Another one in the wordplay series, but ALSO part of this author’s series about people on the BDSM scene who are also parents. Each installment is a gem, but this one? NICE!!!!!

serotonin stole the moment, the best of me was left under the bedsheets, by publunchesownmyass, 2.5k, Harry/Louis. One of my fave newer authors, I’m so glad I subscribe because I was blessed with so much this month? Perfectly bite-sized, too!! This one imagines a BTS during one of Louis’s recent interviews (with sexi results).

Girl you can bend me, shape me, make me, by enbyharry/ @non-binharry, 3.5k, Harry/Louis. Godddd, I love Asia, who said, u know what? I’ll write a bl fic, but Harry’s gonna be massively pregnant, and it’s gonna kill every annoying characterization in the genre, and I think that’s neat (p.s. I LOVE YOU, ASIA)

i moustache you a question, but i’ll shave it for later, by adoreloux, 3.9k, Harry/Louis. The banter in this one, all the names Louis has for Harry with a 70s porn stache, good stuff!

Dreams and Stars, by objectlesson/ @alienfuckeronmain, 4k, Gimli/Legolas. Look, these people could be called Barfli/Armslice, and I’d still read it and LOVE IT, and I’m still bowled over that this is only one of 150 or so E fics in this pairing??? It ticks so many boxes, I’m really fascinated with the rest, tbh.

the one that keeps the dream alive from the morning, past the evening, by publunchesownmyass, 4.3k, Harry/Louis. Banter banter banter, this author and dialogue, swoon!! 90s AU? Swoon even more!!

Compromised, by AlchemyAlice, 5.7k, Napoleon/Illya. I literally YELLED when I got this notification, one of my favorite series authors posted something new??? That’s old/unreleased? But new? BRB, gotta reread that collaring series!

mon petit, little one, by publunchesownmyass, 5.6k, Harry/Louis. I think there are least three (3) seriously great fics about Harry getting fucked in that sweater, and i am here for ALL OF THEM, two of my fave fandom authors have now done it, even better! YESSSSSSS!

All Night Long, by objectlesson/ @alienfuckeronmain, 62k, Bard/Bofur. This one’s a wip, and I’m hashtag blessed I get to edit and thus get all the sneakpeeks and ability to yell in the google doc about it, IT IS SO GOOD!! Oh, Bofur! Oh, Bard! HIGHLY RECOMMEND, you definitely don’t need to see the movie to fall in love with this story and these two dum-dums.

....and I literally just started to look at A Sweeter Place, by anonymous, which is older Harry/Louis and one of the ones in the “to read” pile, so you’re getting an up-to-the-minute snapshot, ha!