#and right now i am pretty much doubling everything i wrote

[dreamwatch]

Mine is Yours

Written for @corrodedcoffinfest

Day #23 - Prompt: Up And Coming | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: None | POV: Eddie | Pairing: None | Tags: Fluff, good Uncle Wayne, good nephew Eddie, the Munsons

It’s been a year since Eddie’s been home. 

He pulls up outside the trailer in Forest Hills. Wayne’s truck is more beat to shit than he remembers, but the thing was on its last legs when he left for Indy in ‘87. Theres gaffer tape holding up the rusting rear bumper, and the tires are near bald.

He let’s himself inside, careful not to wake Wayne; the one blessing that came from all the shit of 1986 was that the government gave them a double wide and the old man finally got a bedroom again. That was the one thing Eddie could never quite shake the shame of, especially when he was a high school senior seemingly unable to graduate. He’s hoping today’s visit will make up for it a little. 

He takes his sneakers off, new ones he only bought a few weeks ago, lines them up neatly next to Wayne’s work boots, then heads into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He had an early start, and what with the flight from LA (a flight!) and the drive from Indy, he’s aching for sleep.

He takes his coffee over to the couch, the red pleather one they picked up for a steal (because it was ugly as shit, Robin had said), puts his feet up and closes his eyes. Just for a minute.

“—die. Eddie. Hey, rise and shine.”

He wakes with a gasp, wisps of a memory, of leathery skin and tails and razor teeth.

“Wayne?”

“There he is.” Wayne straightens up, back cracking as he does. “You never said you were coming, or am I going senile?”

“Both,” Eddie says around a yawn.

Wayne sticks his hand in Eddie’s curls, ruffling them gently. “If you want breakfast and a place to stay, be nice.”

Eddie rolls off the couch, giving Wayne a hug before following him into the kitchen, perching himself on a stool to watch as Wayne sets about making them breakfast at five in the afternoon.

“Is everything okay? Not that I’m not happy to see you, just a long way to drive for a catch up.”

Eddie grins. “Actually, I flew.”

“Flew?” He whistles. “My boy, the rockstar.”

They sit at the table together, bacon, eggs and toast laid out in front of them, Wayne catching him up on the comings and goings of the plant and Forest Hills; old Rose Hannigan still being a nosey bitch as usual, and Dougie has a new dog and god the damn thing won’t stop barking during the day. It’s nice. It’s so different from LA, so small in the best way, and even though his relationship with home, with Hawkins, is so complex, cut through with slithers of painful memories, he misses it. He does. It doesn’t make all that much sense.

Or is it just Wayne he misses? The man who loved him and protected him when his father couldn’t (wouldn’t). The man who gave him everything and more, who was working himself to an early grave to look after a boy that wasn’t his own.

Eddie grabs his bag from the floor and slides the white envelope out, still neat and crisp. He pushes it across the table.

“What’s this?”

Eddie huffs a laugh. “Open it and find out.”

He gets a raised eyebrow back for his trouble, but he doesn’t take his eyes off Wayne. Doesn’t want to miss this.

Wayne grumbles about envelopes being too sticky these days and then he pulls out the slip of paper tucked inside and comes to a stop.

“What the hell is this?”

“It’s a check, Uncle Wayne.”

He shoots Eddie a scowl. “I can see it’s a check. Where— I don’t understand.”

Eddie fold his arms on the table in front of him. “The album is selling. It’s doing good, actually. We’re big in Germany, the UK, I think we’re doing pretty good in Japan too. You know I wrote most of those songs, right?”

Wayne gives him a little nod.

“Well I got a nice royalty check for that. Just came through a few weeks ago.” He gestures at the paper in Wayne’s hands. “And this is for you.”

“Eddie this is… Jesus Christ. Ten thousand dollars? You can’t be serious?”

And Eddie is full on smiling now, grinning ear to ear. “I got thirty thousand.” He laughs. “I still can’t believe it.”

“Eddie, I can’t take this.”

“You can and you’re gonna.” He’s deadly serious now. “These come quarterly, this one’s the second. They’re getting bigger. Sales are growing, so, there’s more coming. And even if there wasn’t, doesn’t matter. I want you to have this—“

“No—“

“Wayne—“

“No!“

“Jesus Christ, you stubborn old fart. I have money now, which means we have money now. I’m not in LA busting my ass for me, I’m doing it for us! And this is the start. That truck should have been put out to pasture before I started high school. You’ve never had a vacation. I’ve never seen you spend a dollar on yourself.”

“Never needed anything.”

“How about wanting? You get to want, Wayne. You deserve to want. And how about not having to worry where the money’s coming from when the roof leaks, or the boiler breaks? I don’t want you to have to worry anymore.”

Wayne shakes his head, but the fight is leaving him. “Ed…” he says, a little choked. He reaches his hand across the table and Eddie grabs it.

“I love you, old man. I want you to have this. Please?”

“I’m so fucking proud of you, you know that? Even before this,” he waves the check in the air. “I’ve always been proud of you.”

“I know. So, you going to take it? Get a new fucking truck?”

Eddie can see the pride on his uncle’s face, but he doesn’t need to; he’s always known. Always felt it.

Wayne squeezes Eddie’s hand, still looking a little shell shocked but smiling. Happy. 

“Reckon I might.”

[dawnbreakerluna]

I really like this theory! Because I was thinking the same during the last few chapters when we finally get a glimpse of Sylus and MCs memories. This is the link - https://x.com/millecreupe/status/1813809147508613476?t=2YsqG032kliHKY18Z4QKZg&s=19

The way I'm so dedicated to this cause that I ended up making a Twitter account just to view this.

Let me preface that I am a bit freaked out right now because everything OP wrote about in this thread is pretty much accurately aligned with every specific detail I've predicted/theorized about Sylus and his purpose of changing fate/breaking cycles/etc. I've delayed making any posts about lore because I genuinely don't want to go back into the story chapters to take screenshots and shit, it's very tedious to me LOL 😭😭😭😭😭 I promise I remember what I can, even if it's not miniscule details, I just take away the important things!

(Side note: I've previously predicted/prophesized things before that have come true & I'm a little spooked by it. I don't like to put things out there unless I'm super passionate about a subject LMFAO)

[Warning: VERY LONG info dump/theory post ahead!]

Often when it comes to unveiling or creating monsters, there is always a price to pay. That's the common formula for any story involving someone who has an alternate form or is on the verge of becoming something non-human. It takes a special kind of trigger - often, it's intense emotional states - to unleash a creature or be granted a uniquely regal power. (ex. Eren from AoT, Nero in DMC5, Ignis in Final Fantasy 15)

I'm going to follow the evidence listed in OP's thread for my references + additional responses to the thread that are relevant, which I will link here for easy clickback! (Thank you so much again anon!)

I want to dive into one of the examples I listed first before I proceed. (Light spoilers ahead, and iffy details since it's been so long since I played the game.) While Ignis doesn't have an alternate form whatsoever, there's a DLC in FF15 where you have the opportunity to play as him during the climatic event of main story. Essentially, this would involve Ignis changing the planned fate of the protagonist where he would end up sacrificing himself in the very end to save his world and his people. Ignis pretty much defies that fate, going against godly forces and sacrificing a part of himself that ends up changing the canon ending. In short: Ignis saves the protagonist, everybody else, and everything's great. Yay!

I'm a broken record at this point by saying Sylus' involvement is going to defy fate and interrupt the timelines. TLDR; He's going to ultimately save MC from her curse and break the cycles, no matter the cost.

First, let's discuss Sylus' Evol (power). Energy manipulation can mean a lot of things, though as far as the story has shown us, this means he can bend anything/anyone at will through energetic binds. Also, he can know someone's deepest desires, which is activated when his right eye glows.

At a certain point in Chapter 9 (or 2.1), Sylus mentions something about the MC's Evol being weaker/not as strong as before. While we know Energy Resonance is the MC's power, there seems to be something more at play when it comes to it. It's a likely possibility that the MC herself is more powerful beyond resonating with others, perhaps to the point of causing re/destruction.

I like what OP says in part 3 of the thread: "I assumed MC didn't kill him but instead resonated with Sylus, making his self healing ability double in power, AND at the same time directly **pouring the energy of her aether core into the core the he would be implanted, forcibly reshaping a "heart" in his body."

[Previous quote was in alignment to: "Sylus turned into a wanderer. And if mc died and didn't kill him there, he might completely turn into a wanderer..."]

It's hard to deter me from the belief that in the flashback we saw towards the end of 9.2 that Sylus was literally in a Wanderer form. The arm that moves and reaches out to MC is a lot bigger than her own and when looked at closer, you can make out a textured hand with claws. You can see his palm held out faced upwards, and a weapon floating(?) just atop the center of it.

[10/25 UPDATE: The last time I touched this post was back in July, LMAO. This has been sitting in my drafts for months, but now with the Sylus Translation Project, I'm happy to add it to this mini dissertation.]

Here are some points from the Reddit post that struck my interest the most:

[Changed Facts] Changes how Sylus's powers work: specifically, there are invisible shackles inside of his body that prevent him from absorbing even more power. There is not a tether that prevents him from "tapping into" more power. This is a fundamental power difference and has created a complete misunderstanding about how his powers truly work amongst English-only speakers in the global community.

[Missing Fact] Sylus's Aether Core works by him invading and taking over consciousness; he does not merely perform basic mind control, it's actually far more insidious and terrifying.

[Power Nerf] Sylus's powers are actually described as "all-powerful and all-encompassing" but this was somehow reduced into merely blocking exits.

I encourage you to read the entire post in full, for it shifts so much about Sylus' character. Though for me personally, it only justifies all my speculations and conclusions about his character even beyond mistranslation. I will repeat myself over and over and OVER again: Sylus is beyond powerful, way more than we even know and I'm honestly just waiting for Infold to do something to show this grand transformation or show of power.

With these fixed translation points, it makes sense why he's so desperate to resonate with MC. A few comments on the Reddit post have the same speculation I did that it's possible him and MC have the same Aether Cores in their bodies. [OP responded to a comment with: "MC hears things like "Devour," "He's yours," "It belongs to you," I almost wonder if it's actually because they share two halves of a single Aether Core…"] [[THIS I AGREE WITH HEAVILY.]] If this is the case, I don't doubt that Sylus knows this, but he would rather MC find this out on her own due to some morale of integrity, building her inner strength, etc.

TLDR; Her resonating with him would unleash those shackles. I also don't think it's amiss that MC also has some kind of shackles, but that's just me thinking of other possible scenarios. Everything is so vague with this story because we've only been fed so much tidbits.

But one thing's for sure... I really, really think these two are the true fated pair, to a certain degree. And why it's difficult for them to resonate is due to the fact that they both wield a power that can shift the world, the universe... everything altogether.

[sammunmak]

Specs & Max Freelance Police in: Hells-A-Poppin'!

+ sam’s vices !!

this is basically an au idea i had for the alt timeline! i wrote out all the changes to the first two seasons, but it's a bit on the longer side so i'm sticking it under the cut.

this takes place immediately after sam and max steal the elevator from their future selves. there’s no obvious changes at first. the director gives them another contract after telling her they misplaced the first one, but not without threat of not giving them another one if they manage to misplace this one. once they wrap up the case and free myra stump from the hypnosis, they take the elevator (and their music contract) with them and put it away in storage, vowing to never speak of the possibility that they just killed their future selves again. ah well, knowing themselves, they probably survive. everything else afterwards is pretty much the same, though when sam and max see superball for the first time sam asks max if he looks familiar. max takes one look at him and proudly declares nope, not at all, and that’s the end of that.

the first major change happens in 106.

hugh: for in all the universe, there’s only one force chaotic and destructive enough to stop me now! but you wouldn’t do that, would you max?

max: who, ME? well, i’m- i’m flattered, but-

hugh: no you wouldn’t, not without your trusty partner, at least.

max: huh?

sam: what exactly are you implying?

hugh: i’m going to… drumroll, please… [drumroll] separate your bliss!

max: really?

sam: what does that even mean?!

hugh: it means i chop off every part of you i don’t like! it’s like circumcision, but double the laughs.

max: he-ey!

sam: quiet, knucklehead.

sam gets split into 3 vices. gluttony, greed, and wrath. wrath is formed from sam’s right ear, greed is formed from sam’s left hand (it even keeps the wedding band!), and gluttony is formed from. well, the stomach. max loses all romantic interest he had in hugh bliss in that moment. 

max is very annoyed about the whole situation. he never has to do work on their cases, and suddenly he’s being forced to figure everything out on his own! but seeing sam’s awful blissed-out state is worse. blissed-out sam is basically just a big puppy. all smiles, completely clueless about everything around him, and has to be led around by his remaining hand if max wants him to go anywhere. max considers shooting him every time he makes a comment about hugging trees or something sentimental crap like that, but one look at that big dopey grin on sam’s face and he just can’t do it. he needs to turn sam back quickly, he’s turning into a sap just being near this… shell of his partner.

wrath is in the sanctuary, threatening the COPS for information on max’s whereabouts (yes it’s just noir sam lol). when max and bliss sam finally make their appearance, wrath almost immediately tries to shoot bliss sam. max stops it, of course. it seems like max is the only person wrath won’t lash out against. max has to open one of bluster blaster’s side panels, then get wrath close enough to it to shut the panel on his ear, pulling it off wrath when it tries freeing itself.

once sam gets his ear back, he seems to randomly decide to shoot at max.

max: what was that for?!

sam: i dunno, it just felt right.

when max walks into bosco’s store, he immediately makes eye contact with gluttony sam, who’s sitting on the floor eating a giant tub of ice cream. it doesn’t seem very interested in eating actual people (haha foreshadowing?) in the freezer are a bunch of popsicles. max can grab one and give it to gluttony, who’ll chomp it down wrapper and all. max has to put jimmy two-teeth into one of the wrappers in order to get gluttony to eat him, then pull out jimmy and sam’s stomach with the magic hat.

sam: anyone else suddenly got a hankerin’ for a fudgie freeze?

max: you don’t know how glad i am to hear you say those words.

greed is inside the office, hoarding just about everything in there and more. somehow there’s items in here max didn’t even know they had. or maybe greed just grabbed everything not bolted down to the floor on the way back to the office.

max has to buy bosco’s invention (which is just a big magnet), then use the spoon bending talisman to pull the spork out of the hugh bliss statue’s hand, give it to greed, and then use the magnet to drag its ass towards him and just yank sam’s hand off it.

sam: are you using that magnet?

max: nope! it’s all yours.

upon collecting all 3 vices, sam returns to normal, and they can now go fight hugh bliss. cue world of max :)

not much else changes until 204.

once they enter momma bosco’s store and accidentally reveal max’s lack of interest in girls, momma bosco becomes infatuated with him. sam and max try and argue against this for a while, until max tells her that he’s a married man.

ms b: i don’t see a ring on your finger.

max: well check again!

max flashes his left hand, revealing a bare ring finger. oh. he didn’t put on his ring today. sam is missing his ring as well. seems they got a bit excited when flint invited them on a case with him and forgot them.

(not gonna lie this whole puzzle isnt fully fleshed out. the whole plan would be that they have to go back to their prom and essentially crash it in order to help max realize he doesn’t like girls. i did also have the idea of superball printing marriage certificates instead of patents, which they’d need to grab one from him and hang it on the corkboard in the near future, then go to the distant future and take their wedding rings from their future selves. if i do ever have an idea of how exactly this all pans out i’ll make it into a fic or something. for now tho this is the best i could come up with.)

max is very proud to show off his new wedding ring to momma bosco.

later on, sam is glad he kept that music contract on him, once one of the pedros asks for one.

of course, despite keeping their past selves from boarding the UFO, the elevator is still oddly enough missing when they run back to it.

max: hey, the elevator’s gone! what gives?

sam: hmm… remember what got us into this whole mess, the temporal anomalies and whatnot? maybe it’s another one of those? maybe this is the universe’s way of trying to correct the timeline, and we have to leave the same way our future selves did, since we’re-

max: alright, alright! less talky more- figuring out how to get off this dang ship!

ah well, having two elevators seems a bit overkill anyway. 

not so long later, in 205:

sam: you better release our pals’ souls from hell, cause my excitable little friend is getting angry.

max: and i’m angry, too!

satan: there’s no need for that kind of talk. i’ll gladly release your friends. just sign this release.

max: hold on sam, i got this!

sam: …you sure, max? 

max: positive! watch this. [he pulls out a crayon and scribbles his name on the contract]

satan: and that’s that.

sam: well that was pretty easy.

satan: now just do me a favor and think of the most horrible thing you can imagine.

max: ooh, that might take a second, there’s so many- oh, maybe- wait no, i’ve got it!

satan: good. now off you go!

[max disappears]

sam: sweet summering sausages sweltering on a busy sidewalk, what did you do?!

satan: he traded his soul for that of all your friends. they never read the fine print. now max will spend eternity in his own personal hell!

max: back in the office? where’s my partner?

specs: i’m over here!

max finds himself stuck inside a now very tidy office with specs, the neat freak of the soda poppers.

max: so where’s my REAL partner?

specs: what are you talking about, i AM your real partner.

max: uh, no. last i checked my partner was a six foot tall dog in a suit, not… you.

specs: oh, max. clearly you’re confused. you’ve always had a terrible memory. but don’t worry, i’m here to keep everything in order for you.

max is just about ready to start ripping out patches of his fur when he sees sam, sticking his big nose through the hole in their office wall. after a bit of arguing, max remembers the key card. he yells at sam to use it so they can kick demon’s spec’s ass together. when sam gets in there they do just that, ending in sam throwing the demon out the open window. with max’s personal hell defeated and leonard’s soul free they leave and finally go and confront satan.

as a bonus, a fun change to a piece of dialogue in 201:

sam: how long do you think it’ll take for one of us to kick the bucket?

max: i dunno, but i think if one of us were to go, the other would follow very close behind. maybe not even by choice!

sam: does that mean if i go first, i can take you with me?

max: sure does! in fact, i encourage it!

[rubykgrant]

(a little thing I wrote for a bigger fic, but I like how absolutely nonsensical Jon and Martin's "meet-cute" was, and now Jon gets to let Martin know the secret dorky side he's been hiding behind his very serious attitude~)

“If you don’t mind me being blunt?”

“By all means,” Jon encourages him.

“When exactly did you start to notice me- that is, notice that you found me attractive?”

“Oh, well… haha, um- that actually happened almost right away…” Jon’s mouth makes that flat little smirk that means he’s mildly embarrassed.

“Right away? Oh, come on…” Martin has trouble believing that.

“No, honestly. Before I really even knew you, before I convinced myself you were the bane of my existence, my very FIRST thought when I saw you was- he’s lovely,”

“You’re just trying to butter me up!” Martin argues, but feels himself blushing. Just barely.

“Hmm, ‘lovely’ was the first WORD that formed in my head. I suppose my other thoughts were less articulate,” Jon doesn’t elaborate on that (only twice had he allowed himself to gush about his early thoughts regarding Martin, which never really went away; once to Georgie, once to Daisy. Georgie had called him a sap, and Daisy had called him unhinged. He wonders what they would have both said together, if they’d had the chance to compare notes).

Martin continues to shake his head, unconvinced.

Jon thinks this over.

“Do you remember when we met?” Jon asks, leaning beside Martin at the sink; his body-language looks like somebody at a pub, about to drop what they believe to be a winner of a pick-up line.

“Yes, unfortunately. I think we BOTH made pretty strong first-impressions on each other,” Martin replies.

“Mmm, very much so. But- when you first ran up, and asked if I had seen a dog? I thought you were trying to tell me a joke,”

“You thought- what? A joke?” Martin turns to look at Jon.

“A joke. I was surprised right out of my train of thought, forgot about whatever I had been doing, forgot to keep my aloof and serious attitude as the new Head Archivist. I didn’t know what to think, and I was so taken off-guard, it made me genuinely intrigued. I was even excited to see if I could figure out the joke, be all impressive and clever. But then…” Jon trailed off, rolling his eyes.

“Then I made it clear- an actual dog was running around inside the building,” Martin finished. “Honestly Jon, what kind of joke could that have been?”

“Hmm… have you seen a dog? I was hoping somebody could help me SPOT one,” Jon answers. Martin’s jaw drops. That was indeed a terrible pun… but Jon isn’t finished. “Have you seen a dog? I CANINE find it anywhere! Have you seen a dog? I’m having a RUFF time looking on my own! Have you seen a dog? I’ve searched this place a HOUND-dred times! Have you seen a dog? This one is im-PAW-sible for me to find! Have you seen a dog? I’m worried it might be in GREAT DANE-ger! Have you seen-”

“STOP, HAHAHA, STOP- YOU’RE GONNA KILL ME!” Martin doubles-over, and slides down against the cupboards under the sink. He’s laughing so hard he’s crying, and his cheeks hurt from smiling.

“Terrible puns aside, my first thoughts of you were- Oh, somebody is talking to me? Oh, he’s telling me a joke? Oh, he’s lovely. Oh, I can impress this lovely man when he sees how good I am at figuring out jokes! OH, HE LET A DOG INTO THE BUILDING!”

Martin laughs again, helplessly hiding his face in his knees. Jon steps away from the sink, crouching down in front of him. Martin continues to giggle, peeking through his fingers as Jon lightly strokes his hair.

“Is that what I should have done? Won your heart with bad puns?” Martin asks.

“I’m not sure I’m much of a prize, but you certainly won my heart, regardless. The problem was ME, almost everything about you kept catching my attention, I just had my head up my own arse. I’m not good enough for you,” Jon answers. Martin finally moves his hands away from his face, catching Jon’s with his own.

“Maybe you just need to step-up and BE good enough for me?”

“I can try,” Jon says with a smile that implies he’s actually determined to do exactly that. Martin leans forward and kisses him.

[decepti-thots]

Wayyy back in 2021, a good two years ago now, I wrote a post on a bad brain day that was less actual meta and more just me rambling that was me trying to unpick a specific thing I have a problem with in Dying of the Light as a kind of springboard into my bigger thematic issue with the arc. And I've always wanted to go back and redo it but never gotten around to it. But now I have! That's what this post is! You see what I am doing here.

Right, so. Hear me out here. The crux of it is that I think the turning point of DotL works a lot better in a scenario where Rodimus saves Megatron against his will. (This is a lie, the first thousand words of this are actually just about Rodimus and Megatron's narrative roles, but I swear I will get to the DotL bit.)

Let's back up a bit. One of the things that gets pointed out about the back half of MTMTE a lot is that Rodimus' arc quickly loses a lot of focus, and that this is jarring in a comic that had previously used him for a lot of its forward momentum narratively speaking. Rodimus didn't just get a lot of focus in early MTMTE in the sense of character spotlight, but also in how the same things that drove his "personal" arc drove the wider conflicts in the comic and pushed its overall story forward. That is to say: when Rodimus fucks something up for himself, or fixes something for himself, it has broader impact on the surrounding narrative. Rodimus' low point when the mess with Overlord comes out is also the comic's low point when a bunch of people have died and things reach a nadir. And when Rodimus resolves to change things after Remain in Light, it feels like a similar moment for the entire cast and story as a whole, this sense of "OK, now we're back on an upswing post-finale".

Megatron's introduction to the story massively reduces the degree of symbiosis like that between Rodimus and the story as a whole. Rodimus stops feeling like an ostensible protagonist among the ensemble even when he still gets pretty decent page time. I think the reason why is that a lot of the connections that were previously being drawn between his arc and the overall story progression shift to instead draw those links between Megatron and the direction of the story. Which causes a few issues, but in my opinion the biggest one is: Rodimus' entire character is designed to be a character who works like that. His arc is about understanding that his fuck ups have wide ranging consequences and how to be a leader that does not hide serial killers in the basement that ruin everyone's day. (He's very relatable, isn't he.) If you meaningfully reduce the degree to which his arc drives the broader conflicts of the plot, you can't really... do much with him. Because now, a ton of the page time when things go tits up in a big way gets handed over to Megatron for reasons of pursuing his arc, which also requires he face Big Consequences head on. And page time is scarce! But without Rodimus being the character whose investment in those big stakes is the focus, you don't have those opportunities to drive his character arc forward anymore, and frankly he was way too central for that to ever be anything but awkwardly noticeable as a dangling thread.

And I was scratching my head about why all this was such an issue when this is a comic that can pride itself on narrative efficiency above all else. Listen, MTMTE is really good at having almost everything pull double duty. The first issue is a masterclass in this on its own; every scene is using character dynamics to introduce multiple characters and often multiple relationships at once, foreshadowing is used to drop character notes, interpersonal dynamics are used to lay groundwork for bigger stories that will be told down the line. So the obvious answer to this issue is surely just that you need to incorporate the new character you're finding room for in your story into one of those dynamics.

Which I do think winds up being the issue. The comic never really manages to find a 'hook' for that Megatron-Rodimus dynamic that allows them to both occupy the same narrative space, as it were, where more than one or the other character they and their dynamic are driving the story together. So we wind up with this effect of Rodimus fading into the background of it. The problem seems to me to be that their arcs don't wind up with enough overlap for them to both occupy these story beats together without one of them- overwhelmingly Rodimus- seeming superfluous. The thing is, the arc set out for Megatron can't really be about his interpersonal issues with Rodimus. The scope is too big. You're never going to be able to turn them bickering due to a personality clash into fodder to drive the actual themes of it. Not in a way that feels actually relevant to what's at stake there.

Which means that to make them foils that can function as a tighter and more cohesive narrative unit, so that both of them can take equal billing in the "this is us moving the overarching plot forward" moments, I think the conflict between them needs to be operating on a thematic level. Because in MTMTE, it's... not? Seriously. It feels like it is, because it resembles what that setup looks like in other stories where characters are these ideological foils. But in what way is Rodimus, in MTMTE, a foil to the themes and aims of Megatron's arc? He's, errr. Not someone who has been an evil warlord? He's an Autobot who has... always been an Autobot? His arc just isn't obviously complementary because it's not an arc about redemption, or even really morality at all. (Note that characters don't really talk about Rodimus' fuck up with Overlord as a moral failing, but as a personal one. The moral framework doesn't tend to come into it with Rodimus, because that's not what the story is really interested in exploring with him.)

Which makes sense, because Rodimus' arc wasn't conceived to be a counterpart of Megatron's. And Megatron's wasn't designed around Rodimus. They are two lead characters whose arcs need them to be in very different stories for things to go in a direction that will bring out the beats of their respective arcs. And Megatron's got catchup to do in series two, so Megatron wins out.

But I don't think it actually has to be like that, because there is a way I think you can take the arcs as they're shown to us and intertwine them much more, which is where I can finally circle back around to the question of Dying of the Light.

At that point in the comic, I think you can say that the one really obvious parallel between the two that can be drawn is that (on admittedly different scales) they have both struggled to work out what accountability is supposed to look like. You have Rodimus who has been through the Overlord debacle and then Remain in Light, and you have Megatron who in DotL has the whole thing where he is confronted with just how many people he's killed. Rodimus in RiL especially has a whole thing where he dismisses the idea of dying heroically to make up for his mistakes getting people killed because it's cheap, and this is a defining character moment for him. It frames everything he does going forward and answers the question of "is Rodimus capable of taking actual responsibility", which sets us up for the vote and all that stuff. Rodimus is asked to risk dying to fix things and correctly identifies this as an easy way out and says "no, I'll do one better than that", and the remaining arc we get for him before Megatron's introduction is him dealing with fallout.

Dying of the Light has the scene for Megatron with the spark flowers, and while that scene does not tend to land for me overall, I can acknowledge that it has a really specific purpose: it's the point that Megatron's later attempt to just die with Tarn is calling back to. It explains his change in behaviour. What we've seen of Megatron up to that point suggests him as someone who is trying to make amends in the sense of balancing the scales- yes, he's done bad things, but now he's doing good things, and eventually this will even things out. The flower scene is there because it provides a visual metaphor for the sheer scope of what Megatron did, and importantly it provides that perspective to Megatron. It makes the point that doing this is clearly not possible given what, exactly, Megatron is making amends for. You can't just community service your way out of that graveyard, essentially.

So this allows us to look at Megatron trying to die alongside Tarn in DotL through the lens of him basically being like "there's no way for me to actually fix this, so all I can do is die for it". And this is where we run into the change that I think would allow this to be a point where Rodimus and Megatron's arcs could be tied together by a larger overarching theme: Rodimus thinks that's bullshit. Specifically, he thinks it's cheating. We know he does, because it's what he rejected in Remain in Light.

Rather than frame Rodimus as reaching for Megatron because of his personal investment in him as someone he's now come to care about, and Megatron accepting as a gesture towards accepting that friendship, I'd offer an alternative. Megatron does not accept and Rodimus hauls his ass out of there unwillingly. Not (just) because of their developing relationship, but because Rodimus is articulating an ideological disagreement with Megatron's conclusion; he thinks that Megatron accepting he has to die because there's no point trying to do anything about it is a cheat. Cowards' way out and all that.

This reintroduces Rodimus into the parts of the comic that are now mostly being progressed through Megatron's arc because now all of that is Rodimus' fault. He's the one who decided to save Megatron when he didn't have to, and any further consequences aren't just the consequences of Megatron trying to deal with what he's done and how it continues to impact everyone; they're also the result of Rodimus' decision to save him when he didn't have to. It also means that there's now a clear thematic concept being explored in the space between these two characters and how they differ. What does accountability look like? What does punishment look like? What investment do these characters have in those concepts? These are now disagreements that can not only fuel the panel-to-panel petty conflicts between these two characters, but their actual arcs. You can draw much stronger parallels between them than just 'this one's hotheaded and rash, and this one's not, and they are Bickering', which can drive individual character interactions but not the actual wider ideas the comic wants to engage with.

It opens up a lot of narrative space for these two characters to align their personal arcs in a way that engages what is at this point driving the overall plot forward, and it therefore allows them to both occupy that walking-inciting-incident position as opposed to just being like. Well I Guess Megatron Is The Protagonist Now. Their relationship becomes a central argument about what the comic is about that they can embody and express together, and conflict over whether the right choice was made can push them through the upcoming story beats.

Overall, MTMTE has an issue where it wants Megatron and Rodimus to be foils but can't actually find a place where they are outside the surface level. But they are both characters whose arcs are about being gigantic fuck ups and living with it, so the material like... exists! The text is there if you massage it right! And that's why I think they should have been even more dysfunctional. Megatron would be sooo mad Rodimus ruined his big death scene, and if nothing else, can we all please agree that would have been really funny.

[ace-and-ink]

the other day

(i almost called it yesterday)

i wrote a poem after class

called it a warm-up

called it cards

i did everything my professor said i shouldn’t

took advice from my writing professor

who said

“here are a list of writing rules

go break every single one of them”

i’ll take this one slower

because my theatre class got out early

and i got to eat this time

the soda fountain was busted

the cherry coke wasn’t that

we read of those who wrote

with inspiration of art

i’ll never write like

the way orphan made me feel

i hear i song

and i cry

and i steal half their lines

want me to do it again?

i’ll list what i’m listening to

“take it from me

i’m not looking for anybody

i’m sick of car rides

you lied while we lay back to side”

my friend (?????)

[for our audio listeners

if you’re ever out there

there’s a series of question marks

because i don’t know

what i want her to be]

said goodbye to me as she left

and i couldn’t catch her

i had to fix my desk

i sat with a pretty girl today

she reminds me of my old friend

the one i’ve written about before

the one i’ve compared myself to with a dying moth

i wish she’d look at me like she did

she smiled at the end

before fumbling her papers

and i almost relapsed on the spot

i saw a pretty girl in my building

she lives a floor above me

i think about how my elevator sometimes

doesn’t say what floor it was going to

and i always have to double check

i wonder what system it uses

or if it just didn’t want to say it

if it skipped a line on accident

if it just had too much going on at once

i don’t think i can call this a poem

what if i call myself a moth again?

i use dogs too often

my hair looked decent when

i left the bathroom this morning

i saw my reflection when the poem wouldn’t load

and i think i almost lost three years of progress

that girl was from here

in this city i’m familiar yet foreign to

i reread my own poem

and i’ve suddenly never used a metaphor in my life

i talked about rocks

and i wrote about moths

i’ll only be a hit online

- by online i mean i’ll get clicks

from my one online friend -

my roommate always keeps the door open

the same friend from before had her room rekeyed

i don’t know how to make this a poem

my professor would never take this

i keep getting snapchat notifications

of my old teammates from home

celebrating each other’s birthdays

i almost don’t even go home for mine

so should i use a simile?

should i add a metaphor?

i can’t say i agree with holly in that song right now

i can’t drive

but they’ve lied while we laid together

and they’re still going on about getting high

let’s see

what can i say here?

i feel like a fish in a fishbowl

- there’s my vehicle -

i can see everything i want

but i can’t get to any of it

- there’s my tenor -

my writing class made me feel

like i at least have a chance

so far poetry

has made me feel like i’ve been fooling myself

i can’t call this poetry

i can’t say i’m good at all

which isn’t the problem

it’s that i don’t feel like i can be

i’m laying in bed

the brain killer

and now i don’t want to go to geology

which isn’t for another hour

i’ll call this a warm-up

like i do

being the fraud artist i am

saying every piece i don’t like

was a practice sketch

so i don’t have to claim it

hey if i add a period here

can i call this all enjambment?

ah shit nevermind

there it goes

i’ll end it on this

anyway.

— warm-up: tenor

[callmejudgement]

More on my Quirk

In my script I wrote I brief description of my quirk, but If you have not read Lord of the Mysteries you likely do not understand much of my powerset, so here’s a breakdown (with illustrations)!

Quirk: Magician

My quirk provides me with a series of 8 tricks to fool reality.

Trick 1: Flame jumping

With a snap of my fingers, I can teleport (or jump) between flammable objects (matches, candles, shoutō…). Unfortunately the radius is pretty small at 30 meters, but it does grant me simple flame manipulation within the range (in order to ignite the objects for the jump).

Trick 2: Illusions

By influencing the surrounding environment, I can create Illusions with colors, sounds, and smells that would be close to reality, allowing me to pass off the false as true and deceive the enemy.

Trick 3: Damage Transfer

As long as I am not dead and can still move my hand, I can transfer vital wounds to unimportant areas like arms, turning fatal wounds into minor injuries.

I can't transfer the damage to other people or items.

Each wound can only be transferred once.

I can also transfer the wounds of others.

Trick 4: Steel Card

I can turn paper into sharp objects which can be like throwing knives.

Trick 5: Air Bullets

I can produce air projectiles with power and speed comparable to that of bullets fired from a revolver just by mimicking sounds.

Trick 6: Paper Figurine Substitutes

I can transform a Paper Figurine into myself and swap places with the figurine. It can not only block a fatal blow, can also use these substitutes as a crude body double.

After using the substitution spell, I reappear in a different but nearby location.

Trick 7: Underwater Breathing Trick

I can create a thin, invisible air pipe which would allow me to breathe freely underwater as long as I do not swim deeper than its length (5 meters).

Trick 8: Historical Projections

I saved the best for last!

I can summon people or objects that existed in the past for a limited time. There are three factors that influence the probability of successfully summoning the target and the duration of the summoned target:

1 The more detailed and the better the understanding I have of the corresponding piece of history and matters, the higher the chance of success is and the longer it will last.

For example, say I want to summon giant military grade gun that I have only seen once — 5% success rate.

Summoning that same gun after researching how it works, who created it, when it was created, etc —70%

Summoning that same item after using it or owning it — 100%

2 When summoning people, it is easier to summon someone “weaker than me”.

Summoning OFA — 0.005%

Summoning Bakugou — 60%

3 Being closer/ friends with a target makes them easier to summon them and maintain their summon for a longer time!

Summoning Aizawa on first day of school — 5% success rate, lasts only for 3 minutes.

Summoning Aizawa after 6 months in 1A — 100%, success rate, lasts for 15 minutes.

I can currently only summon 3 Historical Projections at one point in time. However, there are ways to get around thie:

Say I want to summon a delicious meal that I ate in the past.

I need a table, chair, utensils, and the meal.

Wait! That's more than 3 items!

So instead of summoning everything separately, I'll summon the entire table from when I ate the meal. Including everything ontop of it (meal, plates, utensils).

Snazzy right? Now I just need a chair!

Caveats

A Projection of a person far stronger than me will be weaker than the original.

Historical Projections do not have intelligence, and can only act upon my orders. They also can only answer questions that the I know the answer to. This is because projections are not conscious or aware.

I also scripted incredible balance, flexibility, coordination and agility. Along with danger intuition that allows me to often pre-dodge attacks that would be very damaging or even lethal. However, I wouldn’t really say that this is apart of my quirk. Just think of it as training and genetics.

[badwolfwho1]

It's halfway through the year? Got any favorite albums/books/tv shows/whatever to recommend?

So for the first time I have actually been keeping a spreadsheet with the intent of ranking all the things this year to keep track of what I've read/watched etc and not rely on my memory so in theory this should be easy but in truth I've only been updating it for movies and books so I will have to rely on my memory after all.

Albums

I do not keep track of the albums I've been listening but I have been listening to Avantasia's discography lately and it's all been hitting for me, I think the Wicked Symphony especially was my favourite of their work.

I also listened to The Moody Blues' 'Days of Future Passed' just today so I'll mention that as well, I enjoyed it. (I fully intended to come back here and write some more later but I guess I didn't, it's neat I guess)

Judging based off my liked songs on Spotify I really liked most of Deep Purple's album 'House of Blue Light' and both of Savage Garden's albums.

For a perennial I still love The Bangles' third album "Everything", my first listen I had a few standouts like "In Your Room", "Be With You", "Something to Believe In" but I currently adore pretty much every track on there.

Have I listened to much modern this year? Alas no I am cursed by most of my current listening habits coming from deciding to check out whatever is being referenced in the current episode of Jojo that I'm rewatching and since I just reached Part 5 that means at best they'll be 25 years old.

Books

I've actually kept track of my books so this should be easy, 'Catch 22'; It's a classic for a reason, it's just really really good.

The Adrian Tchaikovsky zone; I read 'City of Last Chances', its sequel 'House of Open Wounds' and the final part of the Final Architecture trilogy 'Lords of Uncreation' this year, all phenomenal (2, 3 and 4 on my books of the year list), City of Last Chances slightly pips the others (and as the opener to a series is the easiest rec). You get a huge and diverse range of points of view all over a city under imperial occupation, great worldbuilding as I always expect from him. There's even a giant centipede what more can you ask for? (I'm also reading his Alien Clay right now, that's a stand alone novel starring a scientist exiled to a work camp on another planet because of his political activism, real good so far, love all the weird alien life it has. It'll probably be joining the Tchaikovsky zone unsure where at though yet)

Oh I've just noticed Bret Hart's biography isn't on my list so I gotta say "Hitman", incredible. The life of a wrestler is wild and Bret Hart especially has had quite the life. So much I didn't know about. The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be (but not the best on my list).

The rest of my top ten, CL Clarke's 'The Unbroken' and 'The Faithless', Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone's 'This is How You Lose the Time War', AK Larkwood's 'The Ten Thousand Eyes' and Garth Marenghi's Terrortome

Games

I feel like I've barely played any games this year. Slay the Spire is still the only Roguelike you'll ever need. I'll be replaying Slay the Princess when Pristine Cut comes out later this year so I'll throw that in here, that's an incredible horror visual novel, tons of branching paths, all voice acted to perfection. I'm in the middle of a Freedom Planet replay, so if you like classic 2D Sonic games this is a really good Soniclike

(Me from after I wrote all this) Oh yeah Hades II exists and I somehow forgot about it I have no idea how that happened. Yeah Supergiant (I always have to double check that in case I write Supermassive) always hits, every single one of their games is gold, Hades II continues that trend. It might still be Early Access but it quite comfortably surpasses release Hades I in content so I am incredibly excited to see how it grows.

Movies

Number 1 at my list is Godzilla Minus One, it's so good, I watched it last year, I watched it this year I'll probably watch it again in the Minus Colour version. I'm a Godzilla mark (I still have at least some objectivity Godzilla x Kong sitting at 12 hasn't even broken into my top 10, wait Oppenheimer isn't on here probably 13 then) and while I've definitely not even nearly seen of all Godzilla's filmography I think this is him comfortably at his best. As in all of his best films as a metaphor as well as a giant radioactive dinosaur.

I watched Rashomon the other day and it feels like a real basic thing to say but yeah Rashomon's really good, as with Catch-22 it's a classic for a reason. Not good enough to surpass a radioactive dinosaur apparently but what can?

And my number three on my list, Asteroid City, great framing device, great set design. Just a genuinely fascinating movie, had complete hold of my interest at all times.

The rest of my top ten in order The Banshees of Inisherin, Monster, Speed, The Menu, Happy Death Day, Scream, Scream 2 (Maybe Happy Death Day should be lower than the Screams actually) Oppenheimer is probably going to land somewhere in that top 10 as well.

TV

Delicious in Dungeon is good, everyone knows Delicious in Dungeon is good, everyone's watching it. World building, funny, great cast its all there, I should read the manga some time. I should definitely read more manga in general.

I've also watched The 8 Show, a Korean Drama show. Eight strangers are offered a chance to participate in a psuedo game show where they live on eight seperate floors and are paid money for the length of time the show goes on. The ones living on the lower floors earn less money and the ones on the higher ones earn more. (Shockingly it's a metaphor for capitalism). Things fairly rapidly degenerate. You'll obviously think of Squid Game watching this and its not as good as Squid Game but its still pretty good.

And obvs you know I'm still on that Buffy watch, on the cusp of finishing Series 6 of Buffy, the most frustrating so far in that it has some good ideas dragged down by a number of terrible decisions; magic becoming a metaphor for drugs, having to see those three nerds on screen frequently, that death etc etc.

Oh yeah I'm watching the Acolyte, I'm not gonna say its great but like its shockingly decent. Falls far short of Andor but aside from that its probably one of the best Star Wars shows they've made. If you like Star Wars this is one of the better shows to check out.

(Somehow I forgot I watched all of Hacks this year!?!?!?!) Great stuff, love those two. Hope they continue to be weird about each other forever.

Other

I'd love to rec a manga but I cantinue to only read two manga which are Hajime no Ippo and Jojo and they're both over 30 years old and still going and I cannot recommend something that long. Last time I mentioned Ippo was like at least six months ago I think I said it was slowly moving towards a conclusion it has moved no closer to a conclusion since then I think it's gonna be another decade. I still love it my favourite character is probably going to have his character arc finished by the end of the current arc, Mashiba's is going to become world champion, he is going to be respected rather than just feared, he's going to have friends, he is going to defeat the personification of the dirty boxing style that carried him through most of his career and he's going to stop being so overprotective over his sister. Either that or he'll get injured and have to retire from boxing forever in a karmic callback to his original sin in boxing when he broke Miyata's foot like thirtyodd years ago. Hopefully the first one.

[flipping-the-coin]

[Inquisitorial Report: Subject - Megatron of Kaon]

[Authorization Level: Alpha (Elite Guard Selective)]

[Listed Authorizations: Head Elite Guardsmech Smokescreen]

[Assigned Inquisitor: Hush]

[15 Vorns after Cybertron’s Restoration - One Vorn into assignment]

═════════════════

Hush here with another report. As usual, it's been a pretty tame stellar cycle. Megatron really doesn’t do much, Smokescreen. I’m not joking. I thought he was terrifying at first, and don’t mischaracterize me when I say he still is absolutely terrifying, but if you know how to deal with him, it isn’t all that bad. He’s been doing a lot of writing recently, but that’s about it. He wrote a rather well done piece on Orion Pax’s dancing. I didn’t think I was one for romantics, but even I can admit it was a wonderful little thing. It was so sweet and well thought out. I think Orion will like it when he reads it. I plan to go find some nice solarite blooms for Megatron to give to Orion alongside the poem he’s composed. It will be a lovely accent piece to really add to the feeling of the gift.

There really isn’t a lot about Megatron to discuss, but since I would like to meet glyph count and have something to do other than knit another three stuffed turbo foxes, I’m going to tell you more about what’s been going on. Hope you don’t mind Head Guardsmech, but I’m really quite bored and this is a nice way to get my thoughts recorded for when I inevitably have my memory wiped and I need a refresher on handling my targets.

So you know I made up a company, right? Of course you do, I put it in my last report. Anyway, I put on my disguise, changed my paint, and swapped out my visor for a gold one before going to meet Orion as my new persona, Melody. I double-checked that everything looked good and covered up the wings of my badge. Then, once it was a good way through the morning, I walked up and rang the doorbell with my bag of gardening tools. You have no idea how long I spent frantically learning about gardening. I read everything I could get my servos on and I even went to train under a florist for a few deca-cycles. I had Carnage go out and look for plants for me as well. Did you know that the ruins of Crystal City are filled with plants thought extinct? I mean the city has been on fire since the Quints blew up Vector Omega, but the fires aren’t as bad now, so I could feasibly go fetch some plants.

Right, back on topic. I made sure my disguise was perfect and then rang the bell. I made sure Megatron would be out at the time just so that in case things went south I would be able to book it without being murdered. Orion’s field is nasty, but it won’t outright kill a mech, at least not based on what I’ve seen. If the Primal Steward and Megatron can walk it off, I am sure I can handle it too. That said, Orion answered the door pretty quickly and seemed genuinely surprised to see anyone there at all. I smiled as nicely as I was able, and our interaction went something like this:

“Hello! I’m Melody from Melody Photographics and Landscaping! Would you happen to be Orion Pax?” 

Orion was really shocked when I introduced myself. He hesitated a lot at the door but replied soon enough.

“Yes, I am Head Archivist Pax. What can I do for you?”

 I think he was expecting me to demand money or something with how he was giving me a look. Maybe he thought Megatron hadn’t paid dear Melody for the pictures. He wouldn’t have been wrong if he had thought that. Megatron hasn’t paid me for scrap, but at this point, I do what I do because I’m bored, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

“I was hired to tend to your garden and the exterior of your hab. Would it be possible for me to step in so we can discuss what you would like to get from this arrangement? I can begin work as soon as I know the budget I will have available and what you would like to see your garden become.”

Again, he looked like someone had come and slapped him upside the helm with a brick. Honestly, I can see why Megatron is fond of Orion’s optics. They are very expressive when he’s running through lots of emotions. He invited me in pretty quickly, and we ended up sitting down to discuss plans over tea. Orion makes killer tea by the way. I don’t think I’ve had tea since I got put in this post of mine, so his tea was extra nice. Did you know he likes his tea with loose crystals? I didn’t but now I do. 

We chatted for a bit and he asked all about how I got my job and who hired me. I told him Megatron hired me to take care of the place since my photographs turned out well and he liked my work. I also let him know that I do have a feline named Carnage who stays with me to assist me with my visual impairment. That one I came up with on the spot when I accidentally slipped up about my visor. See, the one I was wearing wasn’t actually a medically enhanced one, it was just protective. I think he might have been worried I was hiding something, either that or he was just curious. Whatever the case, I panicked a bit and took off my visor to show him why I have it.

I might have scared him, but I don’t think so. It’s really hard to tell with Orion. Sometimes he’s as clear as crystal, and other times he’s impossible to read. He just looked at my mutated optics, asked if they were painful, and then made an understanding noise. It was… relieving to have somebody look at my face and not be disguised. Megatron is going to have a field day when he finds out that his nickname of 'spider’ for me is far more accurate than he originally assumed. I know what I look like. I know that it’s because of my optics that I was made into an Inquisitor.

Sorry, it’s just nice to not be immediately gagged at. Following my reveal, Orion asked about Carnage, to which I just stated that Carnage comes and goes but doesn’t cause trouble. Then, once he seemed confident in my genuine interest in gardening, he grabbed some datapads, floor plans, schematics, designs, and so much more that I didn’t even know he had. By the time he had everything laid out, his entire kitchen table was covered in documents detailing his property and how he would like his garden to look. It was honestly super fun working with him to design the layout of the garden. We spent all cycle debating what would look best where.

I’ll tell you what, though: Orion Pax is rich. Megatron never spends much shanix, so I haven’t actually seen the sheer amount of cash these two monsters have in their accounts. But when I asked how much I could spend and made it clear I was happy to purchase whatever was missing, Orion outright shut that idea down. He shook his helm and went over the expenses for the garden, which I will have you know are absolutely astronomical considering what Orion wants. This is what he told me:

“Melody, you look like you haven’t fueled properly in vorns. I am not going to have you take shanix out of your hard earned salary to pay for my garden. I have a substantial inheritance to my name, and even with all these expenses, I will still hardly scratch the surface of those funds.”

He showed me his account, Smokescreen. He’s got more shanix than some senators have at this point! He’s disgustingly wealthy, and I did, in fact, choke a bit when I read his account balance. Orion is related to Alpha Trion, right? Well, that fragger must have been swimming in funds because Orion looks like some sort of foreign prince with how much shanix he has just sitting around. He told me a good chunk of his inheritance was made null and void with the shift in economics and the new currency system, but that much of it still held strong because many of his assets are in relics, property, and documents.

It was wild. I ended up handing Megatron a copy of the amount of shanix in his and Orion’s accounts a few cycles later, and he did an actual spittake at the number. I can’t blame him. Even deca-cycles after the matter, I still find myself recalling just how much cash my targets have to their names. I haven’t seen that much money anywhere, much less in one place at the same time. 

Back on the subject of the garden. Orion made his plans, and I’ve been spending the past couple of deca-cyles hunting down things he wants. Orion has been helping too, and so far we meet once a deca-cycle to go over plans again. I’ve already begun clearing out the garden of all the random plant growth already there. The dirt is all sifted and energon shards have been distributed to fertilize it all. I got some bots to bring over the trees Orion ordered and I managed to convince Megatron to help me hold them up while I got the holes prepared. Currently, there is one huge techtite tree that shot up like a vining holoshade and two smaller trees from Crystal City that I grabbed. I don’t actually know what they are, and neither does Orion. We are both looking into it, but they are pretty so they are allowed to just kinda hang there.

I spent a cycle with Orion laying down walkways too. That was fun. We talked about all sorts of plants and had lunch on the deck after spending the morning laying down eco friendly path pieces. We got into an argument over a bench we were putting together for the garden, but that argument resolved itself when Megatron came out and showed us that we were both reading the manual wrong. We put one screw in the wrong place, and the whole thing looked like a fragged up mess.

I got laughed at and Orion got kisses. I may or may not have been rather bitter about that. But we got the bench finished and got seeds for some copper growths spread around. I expect them to grow in alongside the newest plants we have shipping in rather quickly. Oh, we also got a nice tea table put under the techtite tree. We’ve had lunch there once a deca-cycle ever since. First Aid even came by once and got to fuel with us! He’s really nice. I really enjoy First Aid’s company. He knows a great deal and is very caring. He took one look at my optics and prescribed me some medication I don’t know.

I’ve been taking it for a while now and I must say, while it hasn’t fixed my life’s problems or the sensitivity of my optics, I can now withstand a little more dust before my optics get all agitated. 

As a side note, Carnage has been sleeping on top of my cockpit for a while now, and just the other cycle I decided to open it up because he kept pawing at it. He jumped right in and refused to hop out. He hasn’t emerged in cycles, but he doesn’t seem to be very concerned. I can feel him in there and it’s actually pretty comforting. Is that normal? I mean, I know that some of the big fliers will let others ride in their cockpits, but are they supposed to have to fuel more afterwards?

That’s all I’ve got for now. I will keep you updated, as usual. 

═════════════════

[Report Received: Visibility Status - Seen]

[Note from Head Elite Guardsman Smokescreen: Hush for Primus’s sake, you are getting far too comfortable in your role. I can’t exactly stop you now, but please, be careful before giving away your weaknesses. As for your question? I am afraid I don’t have the answer. Very little is known about yours and others frame types. A lot of information was lost during the war. So unless you are in pain, I wouldn’t worry about it.]

[lab-rat-girls]

Hello! This my my ( @gmanwhore 's) kinblog. All my kins will be below, the green ones are important ones I don't like interacting with others of, and any with and exclamation point next to their name is a permashift!

SOURCEMATES PLEASE INTERACT I LOVE YOU!!!!

Half Life/Portal/HLVRAI:

G’: he thinks he’d blow our minds; g’ 

! Ga-men: imaginary line imaginary minds; ga-men 

Evil G-man: and by your judgment of my merit I’ll inherit nothing; e.g. 

Dr. Colette Green call me for your lover’s alibi; colette 

Dr. Wallace Breen: how many milligrams of you are still left in there?; breen 

Caroline: the devil likes to make my heart a double bed; caroline 

Barney Calhoun: kneeling in the stained glass tomb; barney 

Dr. Judith Mossman: no apologies I expect misery; judith

Dr. Helen Hahn: I wish my cohorts weren't so dumb!; hahn

Gordon Freeman: you don't know me I am the only son; freeman 

Russel; we wrote some songs by the lamplight's gas!; russel 

Cave Johnson: and I love me; cave 

Fact Core: it’s not a trivial pursuit it’s a matter of facts; fact core

Chell: under attack at aperture science!; chell

Gordon Feetman: read me my rights please!; feetman 

Bubby: come and go out my mind; bubby 

Tommy: don’t stop me now!; tommy

Disco Elysium:

! Harry Du Bois/Tequila Sunset: glass half full I’d probably just drink that too!; harry

! Ruby, the Instigator: break the lock if it don’t fit; ruby

! Inland Empire: you were an isle unto thyself: inland empire

Cuno: and I break it just because I can!; cuno

Cunoesse: it just feels inhumane to lose this much; cunoesse

Dolores: lover of the Russian queen; dolores

Titus: not gonna die on the killing floor; titus

Annette: the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true; annette

Andre: rock the casbah!; andre

Judit: the room is full of people that love you; judit

Trant: a crow knows no smell of carbon monoxide; trant

Smoker on the Balcony: I'm the treasure baby I'm the prize; martin

Electrochemistry: wine and women and wonderful vices: electrochemistry

Rhetoric: the communists have the music; rhetoric

Volition: put one foot in front of the other one; volition

Drama: put on the masks let's have us one last masquerade; drama

La Revacholarie: mother earth’s love whispered to me; la revacholaire

Danganronpa:

! Kiyondo Ishida: you’ve gotta wanna break the hearts of all those pretty porcelain dolls; kiyondo 

Kiyotaka Ishimaru: don't you make me waste my breath!; taka 

Makoto Naegi: i’ll find strength in pain; makoto 

Celestia Ludenburg: her kiss will bring you to your knees; celeste 

Hiyoko Saionji: when I rule the world; hiyoko 

Takaaki Ishimaru: teenager scare the living shit out of me; takaaki

Homestuck: 

Karkat Vantas: my name was soiled by a last call spill; karkat 

! Rose Lalonde: I’m afraid I can’t prescribe the diagnoses you seek; rose 

Roxy Lalonde: you’re telling me I’m holding up eleven fingers?; roxy

Jake English: I might rap like an english chap; jake 

John/June Egbert: like action movie hero boy 

Aradia Medigo: and as your gasping for the last of air you'll tra la la la la; aradia 

Equius Zahhak: the ship doesn't swerve as it heard how big the iceberg is; equius 

Tavros Nitram: this house says my name like an elegy; tavros

Mituna Captor: I don't care what we do I wanna get all dolled up with you!; mituna 

Doc Scratch (non-canon!!!): you understand mechanical hands are the rulers of everything; doc scratch 

I ♡ Amy:

Amy Lee: all those pretty words you say to me pick me up whenever I’m feeling down; amy 

The Walten Files:

Felix Walten: murders of murderers living in fear of it; felix 

Boozoo: the cackling carousel it spins and never stops!; boozoo

Bon/Shhhh: I’m sorry boys about the dirty night clowns; shhhh

The Owl House:

Luz Noceda: i wanna live better days; luz 

The Collector: I can run faster with no wind resistance!; the collector 

Popee The Performer:

Papi: I can’t ignore what’s under dance floorboards; papi 

Popee: so squeal like a trolly wheel or cry like a baby with autism strapped to a celling fan!; popee 

The Amazing Digital Circus:

Pomni: please please what the hell is going on; pomni 

Caine: nothing matters anymore; caine 

Murder Drones: 

! Cyn: and by the break of dawn we’ll be in love!; cyn

Uzi: you gotta see the artistry in tearing the place apart with me!; uzi

! V: my mind held the same light as the one in your eyes; v

Fionna and Cake:

Fionna Campbell: there will come a soldier who carries a mighty sword; fionna 

The Scarab: never came down from her last trip on jesus; scarab the god auditor 

Candy Queen: feels so neat never wanna be myself again; candy queen 

Slugterra:

Pronto Geronimole: so spread the word across the land; pronto 

A Series of Unfortunate Events:

Lemony Snicket: when all hell breaks loose like all hells always do; lemony (your body, my temple by will wood)

The Secret Series:

Psudonymous Bosch: what the hell can I do to have a little more heaven with you?; psuedonymous

Team Fortress 2:

PNK Pyro: you must detroy beyond all recognition; pyro/sparky 

PNK Medic: my heart is in my hand...eugh; medic/doll 

Miss Pauling: left foot over the right; miss pauling

PNK Spy: the roar of whispers in every crowd; charlotte/spy

PNK Soldier: you gotta wanna be a battering ram!; Sam/soldier

PNK Heavy: let's dance!; Lagomorpha

Saxton Hale: SAXTON HAAALE; saxton

RED Scout: I was born with the brains and the brawn!; scout 

! RED Spy: come on and twist the knife let's make this painful; spy

RED Medic: sometimes I wonder why they need me at all!; medic

Grey Mann: the world screams kiss me son of God!; grey mann

Doctor Who:

Seventh Doctor: like a bumbling dragon I fly; seven

Fourth Doctor: detective undercover brotherhood objective obscene; four

Ace: hello world I’m your wild girl; ace 

Adric: did you hear the word?; adric

B.O.S.S: Colonal Walter was shocked when he heard from the Nile; B.O.S.S.

Brigadier Alastair Lethbridge Stewart: the crew stayed at their posts and the captain at his wheel; brigadier 

Undertale/Deltarune:

Susie: my dreams are getting so strange I could tell you everything I see; susie 

Papyrus: bonetrostle!; papyrus

Asgore: I wish you could stay at least one more day; asgore

Gaster: there was only one of you until you split the world in two; gaster 

Flowey: your best friend; flowey

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared: 

Yellow Guy: I say “pardon me I’m dancing for no reason!”; yellow guy 

Lesley: No matter how we twist and turn, we're still dancing in chains; lesley

Five Nights at Freddy's:

The Marionette: you had a heart you hadn't felt; puppet

Sundrop: I'm walking on sunshine!; sundrop

Micheal Afton: look at this loser drinking coffee; micheal 

Circus Baby: try your best to hold onto to sanity; circus baby 

Ballora: to dance to spin to fly away; ballora 

Evan: I’m not allowed to cry cuz they told me I would die; evan

Bendy and the Ink Machine:

! Sammy Lawrence: i try to play Caruso but the needle skips the groove; sammy

Bertrum Piedmont: don't you know you have to be this tall to die; bertrum 

Daniel "Buddy" Lewick: dreams do come true; buddy

Henry Stein: he will set us free; henry

The Ink Demon: I can't believe you used to truly scare me; the ink demon 

Hatchetfield Trilogy

Professor Henry Hidgens: spotlight on mr. ingenuie; professor hidgens 

Webby: harlequin dolls he'd be lost without her; webby 

General John McNamara: it is the monsters who should live in dread; john mcnamara 

Ruth Fleming: should I let the coals burn out; ruth fleming

Wiggog Y'rath: whatever we want we get!; wiggly 

Paul Matthews: I DON'T LIKE MUSICALS; paul

Ride the Cyclone 

The Amazing Karnak: the sun is rising as it is descending; karnak 

Noel Gruber: I sing songs until the break of dawn; noel 

Heathers:

Veronica: I pray for a better way; veronica

Heather MacNamara: shine shine shine a light; heather

Doki Doki Literature Club 

Natsuki: let’s make something to adore; natsuki 

Sayori: this hell is member's only; sayori

Fran Bow

Itward: hear my voice; itward 

Fran Bow: it's a perfect time to die finding Mr. midnight; fran

Helltaker

! Beelzebub: honey do you have a hot meal?; beelzebub 

Hazbin Hotel:

Nifty: stitch sew cut pull; nifty 

Lucifer: devil's in the house of the rising sun; lucifer 

Emily: now I know what's real what's fake; emily 

Charlie: I can't fear you now!; charlie 

Lackadaisy:

Rocky: golly what a day!; rocky 

Freckles/Calvin: she splutters pistol shots; freckle

Chainsaw Man: 

Denji: I wanna fuck shit up!;denji

Subway Surfers:

Frank: he'll get by without his rabbit pie; frank

Poppy Playtime: 

The Prototype: it seems she broke me but I swear she can go fucking die; prototype

Elliot Ludwig: in a world of pure imagination; elliot ludwig 

Poppy: let's sing it again!; poppy

Dogday: I'd like to know why you are all alone while I am lost at sea; dogday

That's Not My Neighbour:

Scarlet Milkman: and I'm starving!; francis

Francis Mosses: been a hell of a ride but I'm thinking it's time to go; milkman

Lois Stilinsky: we can't believe what we've seen; lois

Nacha Mikaelys: times square doesn't shine as bright as you; nacha

Mclooy Rudboys: we're the terror of the skies and a danger to ourselves; mclooy

Izaak Guass: you're a toymaker's creation trapped inside a crystal ball!; izaack 

Arnold Schmidt: such piece of art is a lovely gift to see!; arnold

Selenne Sverchtz: i’ll do as I am told; selenne

Ishtar Ereskigal: we’ll be the envy of the gods above!; ishtar

Wardwell House:

Jacob Wardwell: bad thoughts lead to bad dreams; jacob wardwell

Splatoon:

! Commander/Conductor Tartar: set up our new world: tartar

Commander Tartar (au): let’s save the pitiful children!; c. tartar

The Professor: we have so much left to sing!; professor

Pearl: nasty majesty!; pearl

DJ Octavio: pump it louder!; DJ octavio

Agent 4: whoever gets the closest; 4

Steven Universe:

Pearl: I fell in love with a war nobody told me had ended; pearl

Steven: all you see and you and me we came from a star!; steven

Spinel: your new best friend; spinel

Peridot: human beings fascinate me being just the way they are; peridot

Mouthwashing:

! Anya: tied my boots like a tightrope noose; anya

Daisuke: we all want a wannabe!; daisuke

Polle: Polle says: he had it comin'!

Curly: loose lips sink ships but captain will you go down?; curly

Epithet Erased:

Molly: epithet erased!; molly

Indus: with strength in arms and hearts and heads; indus

Percy: I was born to be another cog in the machine; percy

Friday Night Funkin':

Boyfriend: gettin' freaky on a friday night; boyfriend

Pico: go pico!; pico

The Wild Robot:

Roz: the monster’s gone; he’s on the run; roz

Beetlejuice:

Beetlejuice: all you gotta do is say my name; beetlejuice

Cookie Run:

Chilli Pepper Cookie: watch me sparkle like a diamond in the rough; chilli pepper

Almond Cookie: bring some justice on your head; almond cookie

Captain Caviar Cookie: a chain’s as weak as it’s weakest link; captain caviar cookie

Electric Dreams:

Edgar: in my electric dreams; edgar

Sander's Sides:

Remus: you need not feign decency!; duke

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:

Speedwagon: colour me your car; speedwagon

Holly: can I really see what's in his mind?; holly

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream:

Allied Mastercomputer: No apologies I request misery; AM

The Nightmare Before Christmas:

Jack Skellington: and since I am dead I can take off my head to recite Shakespearian quotations!; jack

In Stars and Time:

Loop: live the dream with a time machine; you'll be waiting forever; loop

The self inserts!!! (ingnoring the TF2 guys):

(From Half Life) Omega: i will let the wind go quietly; omega

(From Portal) Delta: slipping through my fingers all the time; delta

(From That’s Not My Neighbour) The dOOrman: i am the righteous hand of god!; dOOrman

(From Chainsaw Man) Juno: shot at his wily one only friend: juno

(From Murder Drones) SD-X and SD-O: why do we bother to stay: why are you running away?: o/x

(From Mouthwashing) Theta: i always listen but i never act; theta

(From Disco Elysium) Meli: dance fucker dance man I never had a chance; meli

(From Disco Elysium) Gwynedd: for what it’s worth if it was gonna kill you it would have by now; gwynedd

(From Lackadaisy) Mary: are you really gonna die like a virgin boy?; mary

(From Splatoon) Scalla: you paint the world and i’ll play my melodies!; scalla

(From Demon Slayer) Kamakiri: you’re my best friend; kamakiri

(From Homestuck) Caesar: i too have a destiny this death will be art!; ceasar

(From Homestuck) Kenken: i feel fantastic and i’m still alive; kenken

(From Homestuck) Dragon: of course you realize we are speaking figuratively; dragon 

(From Homestuck) Asdiah: i’ll be a favourable delecacy: asdiah

(From Homestuck) Sarlet: somebody to replace yourself; sarlet

(From Homestuck) Kiyond: you’re s.p.e.c.i.a.l.; kiyond

(From Homestuck) Brioch: you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here; brioch

(From Homestuck) Trojan: i don’t wanna be free!; trojan

(From Homestuck) Jakcob: say hello “honey I’m home”; jakcob

(From Homestuck) Eevuhl: i’m a dead man either way; eevuhl

(From Homestuck) Hymnal: why was any and everything alive?; hymnal

(From Homestuck) Dearly: i am king; dearly

Miscellaneous:

The Sun (The Embodiment of Selfish Destruction): give me that old time religion; Sun

Deity (The Embodiment of Decadence and Lust): spread the word across the land; deity

Homestuck AU Caroline: your eyes are dead like outer space; caroline

Wavesprite: shutup you're stupid; wavesprite

Homestuck AU Colette: call me fighter!; hs colette

Roxtunasprite^2: your drawings look like heaven to me!; roxtuna

Sunshine: I am not the sunshine I am not the moon at night; sunshine

Cabinet Man: I won't hurt you unless you cheat; cabinet man

Bones: your baby teeth would pray for you; bones/tommy

Terezi Vantas: they will tear your city down; t vantas

Dave Harley: our mother should have just named you laika; d. harley

Karkat Medigo: it's the fate of the stars; k. medigo

Natsu Ishimaru: what a waste; natsu

Bulldog: you’re gonna go far kid; bulldog

! Ruby, the Investigator: i’m back from a fall from grace; the investigator

Swap!Cunoesse: you better run; c

[bluiex]

HI SOMEONE ASKED FOR BOTTOM SCAR FICS AND I AM DELIVERING

(sorry if someone already suggested some that i'm gonna suggest, i guess those fics are the ones who marked us)

I would like to start with mumscarian, classic, ya know?

Dicentra by rosemaryKnight is very good, the last chapter is just Scar getting ruined by Grian and Mumbo and it's filled with funny moments and heartfelt moments.

The Best Reward by Anonymous is also one where Scar gets, just, ruined by Grian and Mumbo and I'm pretty sure there's a sweet aftercare moment at the end.

Grounded by Anonymous is elf Scar being teased by Mumbo and Grian (Mumbo is a dom in this one, but like, hhhnghghgn he just... ruins Scar in all the best ways) and the aftercare scene is just so soft, and I think The Best Reward and this fic have similarities in the aftercare scene, bc I often mix them up.

it feels so good, oh, to be alone with (both of) you by Anonymous (theres a lot of anonymous fics in the bottom scar tag) is where Mumbo is the sub, but he does fuck Scar and both of them are just enjoying it. I swear Grian is also there, he's quite important in this fic. It does have mommy/daddy kink, so, be warned.

Breaking News: Does Scar is Omega? by Sumilacra is just. Poignant. Like, yes, there is smut at the end, but they're so soft to each other ad respect Scar's boundaries and it's one of the few Aspec Scar fics I found (can you tell I'm often on the Scar tag?)

Next up, Scarian and others, bc ooo boy, scarian is quite popular but with a third person as well.

all your little dooms by Anonymous is just, Scar in a dress and teasing the heck out of Grian.

insatiable by Anonymous is Grian and Scar not wanting to top and are asking kinda the whole server who wants to join them. You will eventually see why no one wants to and why Tango is stuck in the mix. Okay, this might not be Sub Scar, but it's too funny to let it pass under the radar.

CuteGuy's Present by mecha_apocalyspe7 is Scar wearing lingerie and Grian wants to ravish him. Bonus points, genderqueer Scar hehe

In his grasp by mecha_apocalyspe7 is just Scar and Grian having soft sex while Grian dirty talks him. It's one hell of a time.

elation in my promise by Anonymous is after MCC 28, Grian and Cub just want to ruin Scar in his pretty little dress he wore for the event. Peak sub Scar here, right after Grounded, The Best Reward and Dicentra.

You're So Pretty by goodtimeswithgrian is college AU and Scar is down bad for Grian, so much that he goes into subspace.

Chirp by TheDirtySpirit is just scarian soft sex, once again, but Scar is the bottom.

A Different Kind of Wager by Anonymous is after HEP lost against the Resistance, Grian gets to fuck Scar.

I'm stuck in the past, Your eyes are on the future, Who's left to watch the present? by Its5amHere is a much darker fic than any here, including rape and using kinks against the other. It's double life fic where the soulbond feels each other's sexual pleasure and, well, let's just say Joel and Etho will do everything to get the enchanter back.

Now, there's 3 fics I still want to suggest before I leave writing my WIPs and procrastinate.

The Burning One, who seizes what his heart desires by orphancrow is a Convex smut fic, where Cub is the Pharaoh and Scar is his slave and Cub teases him and I just need to promote orphancrow's fics, but they also wrote (in the same series) a cubriande (cub/Ariana Griande) fic and I felt like Scar wasn't enough of a big feature to include it here, but go check out their work for some good convex fics.

The other convex smut fic is Hubris by KieIsWrite, and warning for rape/non-con, bc it's sculk Cub fucking Scar into joining him in the ways of the sculk.

And finally, A Jimmy/Scar smut fic. jimmy's famous baths by mecha_apocalysp7 is Scar teasing Jimmy and he might not be sub, but he is a bottom and a slut, so, have at it.

Okay, sorry for the long ask, but someone summoned me and I had to suggest all these amazing works. Bloop out!

Heres the links for all the fics! :D since bloop cant link in asks

Dicentra Grounded it feels so good, oh to be alone with (both of) you Breaking News: Does Scar is Omega? All your little dooms insatiable CuteGuy's Present In his grasp elation in my promise You're pretty when in control Chirp A differentt kind of wager I'm stuck in the past, Your eyes are on the future, Who's left to watch the present? The Burning One Hubris jimmy's famous baths

[mylevisdontfitanymore]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF your last few fills are brain scrambling thank you for your service

Tbh I have been thinking about the fat himbo Bucky concept w the WG denial and then saw the recent curse one with clothes ripping and my brain said‼️

So: Any thoughts on himbo Buck just pouring out of his clothes and being like “Steve why did you shrink all my stuff in the wash🥺” since you wrote he was a former athlete just imagine some old teeny workout shorts w that stretch marked belly & lovehandles hanging out🥵plus hims poor ass about to rip the shorts in half. Meanwhile Steve probably has a coronary like “alsnsnsbd babe sorry bABE we’ll have to buy new ones” while totally stretching the daily peep show out until everything is impossible to fit Bucky’s fat ass steadily growing…hoo boy

If you want to write anything yeehaw but whatever you wanna do, if not I hope my horny ramblings were entertaining

Oblivious heavy himbo Bucky + Bucky's rapid weight gain curse

Thanks! ❤️

I am always happy to make people’s brains malfunction 😂

Also YES! That’s such a good combination 🤌🤌

Hell yes, himbo Bucky cursed to burst out of all of his clothes 🥵

I have to say though, as much as I love fast, super intense rapid weight gain… I think for himbo Bucky it would be really hot if he somehow gets cursed with a slower weight gain curse. Like, it’s still much faster than he would ever be able to put weight on irl, no matter how much he stuffed himself every day, but it’s not the instantaneous gain either. The curse is just slow enough that Steve can see Bucky expand if he keeps looking at Bucky for more than a few seconds. This also means that the curse is slow enough that Bucky doesn’t notice it - keeping on theme with the weight gain denial a little bit. Bucky isn’t paying enough attention and isn’t smart enough to notice there’s anything wrong.

Not right away.

Maybe Steve bought a charm off of someone claiming to be a witch... Maybe Steve had a sorcerer put a mild curse on Bucky that they promised would wear off after a little while... However you would like to imagine the curse came about, Steve knows that Bucky is growing much faster now than he would without some help. But, still, he isn't growing so fast as to give away the game.

So, how long will it take Bucky to notice? Such a pretty, sweet, and stupid boy. Place your bets now!

Stucky belly kink ahead! Be warned! It’s unbeta’d and there’s also some dub-con elements in it because Bucky doesn’t know, at first, that he’s been cursed and gaining weight. Otherwise, it’s the usual belly kink with stuffing, weight gain, tight clothes, etc.

Throughout the day when it kicks in, Bucky asks a bunch of stupid questions, like:

“Why are you looking at me so much, Steve?”

When Steve can’t help but zone out on Bucky. He’s watching Bucky chow down from across the kitchen island. Right now, Bucky’s happily munching on his fifth bowl of cereal. His fifth bowl even after Steve woke him up with the smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Steve had a protein shake, perfectly caloric and with the appropriate macronutrients. The traditional, sweet, and savory breakfast foods were all for Bucky.

And Bucky scarfed it all down plus, obviously, then some. Hence the five bowls of cereal.

Steve has been trying to keep his cool while watching Bucky’s double chin get thicker and thicker. He’s been trying not to lunge across the kitchen island to bury his face in between Bucky’s tits. Why does Bucky have to sleep shirtless and have breakfast shirtless? It’s killing Steve! 😫

Bucky’s tits have always been soft and tempting since he began gaining but watching them get plumper and plumper by the second is awful. Steve has to chew on the inside of his cheek to keep from reaching out and sinking his teeth into those tits. Or, Christ, his nipples. As he gains, slowly but surely, his nipples are getting bigger and bigger. Softer and softer looking. Pinker and pinker. Steve is dying to know if they’re any more sensitive now than they were last night before all this started. They have to be. Right now, his nipples look so hard. Steve wants to put his mouth on his lush tits so fucking bad.

Steve shakes his head, trying to be normal and throwing on a cheesy grin, “what? A guy can’t look at his best pal?”

Bucky slurps another spoonful of milk and sugary cereal and grins sweetly. His face is already fatter, oof, and his chubbier cheeks turn the prettiest pink at the compliment. He waves a hand as if to say, stop it! But he keeps eating and he keeps letting Steve stare.

Steve looks for a little while longer until Bucky squirms in place under his appreciative stare. When he squirms his tits jiggle. And Steve can’t take it. He’s sweating. He can’t even imagine what’s happening to that tummy of his under the kitchen counter between the curse and all the food he’s eating.

Steve rasps, “I’m gonna go shower.”

Bucky nods and reaches for the box sitting next to his bowl on the counter, pouring himself another bowl.

Oh, God.

Steve rushes off to the bathroom but he makes the mistake of looking back. And he’s presented with a way-too-hot view of Bucky’s ass and love handles slowly creeping wider and wider. He’s growing out of the kitchen island bar stool right in front of Steve’s eyes. If he sits there for the rest of the day… will the stool eventually break? Will he get too big? Will his ass get two, three, four times wider than that stool?

🥴🥴🥴

Steve is-

Steve is going to shower.

Steve is going to take a very long, very hot shower because… because his muscles hurt from his run earlier this morning. That’s. That’s also why he’s so sweaty. He went on a run before breakfast. Mmm-hmm. That’s it.

“Steve, why are my clothes so tight!?”

By the time Steve is done in the shower and has changed into his comfortable, I’m-not-leaving-the-house-today clothes, Bucky is sitting on the couch, still in his own PJs. Steve trips over nothing in the hallway. Turning the corner to reveal Bucky reveals that he is still eating. He’s got the second box of their cereal out (he must’ve finished the first already 🥵) and is putting handfuls of it right into his mouth. Not caring that it’s dry. Just. Hand-to-mouth. Feeding himself. Like he can’t stop. Almost like he doesn’t know he’s doing it.

“Huh?” Steve says intelligently.

Bucky pulls at his little workout shorts. Not basketball shorts but tiny, little shorts. Like the kind you see women running in these days. Like the kind of shorts that men wore in the 1980s. Hiding nothing.

And when Bucky pulls at his shorts - the ones he wore in college when he actually fit into them - he doesn’t pull at the waistband of the shorts. He can’t. It’s buried under his tummy. Instead, he pulls at the bottom hem of them. The bottom hem has ridden up to the very, very top of his thighs, sitting down the way he is, showing off the way his pale thighs spread on the sofa.

“My sleep shorts don’t fit anymore,” he pouts.

How did Steve not notice before that even his thighs are covered in little stretch marks? Sure, they’re light. But. They’re still there. How could he miss them!?

Steve might faint. He just… just had some alone time in the shower, how does he already need more?

Steve really wants to turn right back around so he isn’t completely overwhelmed by how fucking hot Bucky is but also he wants to go right up to Bucky and he wants to fall to his knees between his legs and he wants to sit there forever. He wants to watch Bucky grow bigger and bigger and bigger. He wants to touch him as he gets softer and softer, heavier and heavier, larger and larger. Steve does neither, instead, he comes up behind Bucky on the couch, pressing himself to the back of the couch for no reason (it’s definitely not to get a little friction and pressure against himself, nope) other than to be able to massage his shoulders. An excuse to touch him, to soothe him, and to say, “sorry, baby, I probably messed up the dryer settings. They must’ve shrunk last time I did laundry.”

Bucky crunches thoughtfully on his cereal.

Steve keeps massaging his shoulders, disbelieving his hands and his eyes, how can someone’s shoulders get fat? Fuck. 😮‍💨

“It’s okay,” Bucky says once he swallows. “Can I get more?”

“Of course.” Steve’s mind catches up to his mouth after he answers, “although… maybe not today.”

“Why not?” Bucky asks, “we’re not doing anything, right? We could go shopping?”

“Eh,” Steve shrugs and can’t help but stroke his fingers down Bucky’s throat as he swallows again. He gets goosebumps. “I just don’t feel like shopping today. Wouldn’t you rather relax all day anyway.” Standing over Bucky the way he is, Steve can see two kinds of progression - he can see the way Bucky’s belly makes slow, steady progress over his thighs, pushing farther and farther out, and he can see the way the amount of cereal in the box gets lower and lower.

“I do like doing nothing.” Bucky says, all sunny.

“I know, baby,” Steve pats his head and he thinks and you deserve to do nothing. Do nothing but get bigger and bigger. But, for now, he walks away. Only throwing over his shoulder, “are you gonna shower, Buck?”

“Eventually.”

“Steeeeve how come I’m so hungry? I’m hungry all the time but why am I so hungry today? Can you hear my stomach growling?”

It’s only an hour after Bucky had an early lunch when he asks that. He’s snacked more before lunch and he’s also showered by now.

(Steve may have mourned the loss of getting to keep an eye on Bucky’s growth while he was showering, singing carelessly and loudly and off-tune as he cleaned up, but that all dissipated when Bucky came back out with a few extra inches. Asking, “did you wash these clothes too, Stevie? They’re tight too. Tighter than my shorts!” And Steve can tell. The clean clothes he’s stuffed himself into are his own lazy day clothes. An old, college t-shirt that’s white with their navy blue college logo stretched over Bucky’s bigger tits. The bottom of the shirt doesn’t even come close to covering his gut. Half of it is just hanging out, showing off his thickening waist. Showing off how his poor shorts, another pair of little ones because, of course. They are being crushed under the weight of his tacked-on belly and chunky love handles as well as being stretched across his fat ass.)

And…

Can you hear my stomach growling, only an hour after I’ve stopped forcing food into it?

Steve totally can hear it growling. Gurgling. All that food shifting around inside him. Accelerating his growth.

Steve might also be able to hear it stretching. All that plush fat struggling to grow around the mass of food packed into one overtaxed stomach. Steve can’t describe the amount of hunger he suddenly feels himself. Is it wrong to want to bite him? He’s just so fat and plump and-

Steve licks his lips. If he didn’t close his mouth he might start drooling. He wouldn’t eat Bucky, obviously, but he does want to devour him. Y’know?

“Yeah,” Steve breathes in and out. Slow. Like Bucky’s never-ending growth. He doesn’t want to faint. “Yeah, you’re alway hungry, Buck. An’, yeah, I can hear your stomach growling. Are you sure you ate enough, baby? You gotta be hungry for a reason.”

Bucky pouts, “I thought I did eat enough!”

“Do you want some more?”

“Oh, please,” Bucky moans. He moans. And. Doesn’t even seem to notice. He’s so effortlessly hot. Steve can’t stand it. He walks to the fridge to pull out more leftovers to reheat but also to stick his head in the cold. While his back is turned, Steve also bites into his fist and lets out a moan of his own. He didn’t anticipate this being so hard on him. Bucky isn’t struggling like Steve is. Bucky is just enjoying himself. Ignorance is bliss. Stupid and so, wonderfully happy. It’s sweet. Steve can’t stand it, it’s so sweet. Like, why does even that turn him on?

God, he’s a pervert. 🥴😵‍💫

“Am I always this big Steve?”

Hdhfhdjs, Steve’s brain provides helpfully. He’s too stunned by the question to add anything right away. He can’t answer! For the last two hours, he’s been trying his best to not tear through the throw pillow he’s had in his lap with his hands fisted in it to keep himself from grabbing Bucky and giving up the game and also leaving it in his lap to hide how much he’s into what has been going on right under Bucky’s nose (more like under his double-chin and past his g-u-t 🥵).

Also for the past two hours he’s been swiveling his head between the TV playing some reality TV show that Bucky enjoys to Bucky himself.

Over the past two, maybe three, hours Bucky has been munching. Steadily getting more and more snacks from the pantry. Filling himself beyond full. Stuffing himself. Steve isn’t sure if he isn’t aware he’s full, not noticing the signals from his body while being so absorbed in his show, or… maybe the curse keeps his stomach growing as well as his fat? Like, he really can’t get full, his stomach getting larger and larger, or maybe all the calories are instantly being digested and used for more fat so, he has to eat to keep up. Steve doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter though.

All the matters is not exploding.

He’s all sweaty again and very turned on and paying way, way more attention to the sounds Bucky is making than anything else. His noisy tummy. His clothes creak - the seams scream under the pressure. His little huffs and puffs and satisfied moans. His “oofs” when he drags himself up, off the sofa. His laughter at himself, nearly unable to hold his balance under the weight of his always bigger body. His hiccups when he eats or drinks faster than his body knows what to do with and the following groans of overfullness along with the sound of his hands caressing his pregnant, over-due looking gut sitting in front of him.

“Steve?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Have I gotten bigger?” He asks, turning towards Steve, bringing one of his thick legs up onto the couch, and, oh, God, running a chubby hand over his enormous belly. “Or am I always like this?” To emphasize this he wiggles, just a little. Just enough to sway his belly back and forth which is better to Steve than any perfect, sinful strip tease could ever be. His big, fat, pale gut wobbling. All that lard hanging out, thick and round, from his t-shirt that might as well be a bra at this point, straining around his full breasts, the seams bringing to pop under his fat arms. His shorts have ridden up every time he sits back down on his fat ass, and have been pushed down by his growing belly until Steve can only see little peaks of them around his fat. They’re beginning to break too.

Does Bucky even know?

Does he know he’s practically naked?

Does he know he’s rapidly gaining weight yet?

Steve’s head is spinning, watching Bucky as he continues to touch himself.

“No,” Steve finally replies, breathless.

Bucky’s eyebrows come together. He obviously doesn’t understand. Sweet, stupid boy.

Which means Steve has to explain what’s going on. Bucky’s face, as he learns what’s been happening to him, is practically orgasmic. He loves it. Then, it’s Steve’s turn to ask a question, “so, you’ve been getting fatter all day, Buck, did you seriously not notice?”

Bucky shakes his head. He grabs an overflowing handful of blubber at the side of his ballooned belly - wide and fat and impossibly heavy, sticking out in front of him. And he leaves his hand there for long enough to feel himself growing.

Expanding.

Larger and Larger.

Bucky bites his lip, just feeling himself for a moment. Not even trying to put on a show for Steve but putting on the best possible one anyway. Especially when he seemingly can’t take it anymore, letting his head fall back with a ragged moan. Shifting his hips and murmuring, “no wonder I’ve felt so good all day, Stevie. I love getting fatter.”

It flickers through Steve’s mind to say, I know, it’s why I did this. I did it for you, sweet boy. But no thoughts are sticking for long in Steve’s head.

Besides, Steve can’t take it anymore, and he doesn’t have to. So, he pounces. Lunging forward and plastering himself around Bucky’s rotund gut. It feels so much better than it looks. It feels pornographic to have Bucky’s fat balloon against Steve’s own body, slowly working to push Steve out of Bucky’s crowded lap.

🥴🥴🥴

I hope you enjoyed!

[morningstargirl666]

for ao3 wrapped: 9 (non-klaroline if i can specify, because i'm curious), 18, 30. also just to be evil: 1 >:D

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

I'm afraid I haven't written for any other pairing than klaroline this year. I wrote a dramione fic once on ffnet? What can I say: when it comes to otps I have a type.

18. The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?

Probably Rebekah. She's got more scenes in tbbw's rewrite, and I struggled with writing her in for a bit. Compared to the brothers, I think her character was never as fleshed out in the show, with a lot of it only surface level. What does she like to do? What are her hobbies? Likes/dislikes? Dreams and ambitions? We know Klaus paints; it could be argued Elijah is a bit bookish, (and if taking TO into account, has a pention for creating cults and fight clubs lmao) and Kol, we know had an interest in magic and in my opinion, was a secret nerd. All three share the family flair for the dramatic, and can be psychotic in their varying different ways. But Rebekah? The writers really fucked her over. She's portrayed more as a Klaus 2.0 temperment wise, copies everything Caroline does as soon as she rolls into town, and the only thing that sets her apart from her siblings is she has a passion for the pursuit of love, and the human life she was robbed off. Which is fine as a foundation for a character, but not as the summary of their whole character. It's one of those times where the show's misogny was really blatant and I don't like it.

So I fixed it. It felt like pulling teeth writing her --- mostly because I haven't written her before --- but I did it. Pretty proud how she turned out.

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

I'd say how much I've written but that would be a lie. I knew after writing 10 chapters and not even reaching 100k it would not end well for me.

I guess, what surprised me was how tbbw's story evolved as I was rewriting it? Like, there's flashbacks that explore Elijah, Kol and Rebekah's characters and intergrate them more into the story. Things like holes in the lore and plot problems just starting clicking. I think when you write one chapter at time, you don't sit back and look at the bigger picture --- the entire fic as a whole. Editing tbbw gave me that, and its better because of it.

How many words have you written this year?

You are evil. You are the evilist evil to ever evil. I am feeling so ATTACKED right now.

436,507 words. That's how many I've written --- the exact count for tbbw, as I started rewriting it around christmas last year. And I'll have you know, that amount is double from the year before, where I probably wrote around 200k. Let us hope that rate of increase doesn't become a pattern or so help me god---

[astudyinimagination]

Okay, okay, so what I'm hoping in the future is to return to my Star Wars AUs, and these are all going to take a lot of planning, but I'd like to continue them and actually finish them. Because, looking back at them, there's some good stuff in there! I want these finished just for me! :D

But if you guys want them, too, here's what I hope to get back to:

Legacy of Thrawn: AU to the Hand of Thrawn duology, wherein Thrawn's clone wakes up before Luke and Mara can kill him, and convinces them to let him help them restore order to the galaxy. This one is VERY old — I dropped it in 2010 and never finished it. It's so old that I am a significantly different person with significantly better writing skills, and I have a desperate need not just to finish the thing but rewrite it. I just... I know so much more than I did when I was twenty. xD

The Gentleness That Comes not from the Absence of Violence: My "Padmé Lives" AU. Padmé survives childbirth and takes her twins, Obi-Wan, and several of her handmaidens with her into hiding. This was my last NaNoWriMo project, and I think it's one of the best things I've ever written. The story isn't just about how Padmé's survival changes events, but how she copes with everything that's happened to her. She and Obi-Wan and the handmaidens... and eventually Ahsoka. (It was also written before the Padmé novels, so it's not rooted in the novels E.K. Johnston wrote, with all due respect to her.)

The Hermit and the Orphan: The "Obi-Wan adopts Mara" AU. Nine-year-old Mara Jade discovers that her beloved Emperor murdered her parents, and runs away... and right into Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. They proceed to adopt each other, and Mara becomes best friends with Biggs Darklighter and Luke Skywalker.

Where Light Can Be: The "Mara joins the Rebellion" AU. Same starting point, different age — Mara makes her life-changing discovery a year after the destruction of the first Death Star, and defects to the Rebellion. She ends up joining Rogue Squadron, and joins Luke on his quest to learn more about the Jedi, hoping to learn how to use her abilities in ways that don't remind her of Palpatine. Of course, she and Luke fall in love, which will have a significant impact on the aftermath of Bespin...

Star-Crossed: The hardest of all of these. Sherlock Holmes in the Star Wars universe fusion. What do an orphan-turned-Jedi, a Chiss healer, a Queen, and a Senator-turned-Chancellor have in common? Oh, that they're a private consulting detective, a former army doctor, the doctor's wife, and a mathematics professor in another universe...

Unnamed Leia time-travel AU: Double Agent Vader AU, never started. Sometime before the Battle of Hoth, Leia falls back in time to the Clone Wars, to meet General Kenobi and his former apprentice who seems eerily familiar. When she finally meets Padmé Amidala, the mysteries of her biological family and her mentor Ekkreth finally start to fall into place. Permission to write the AU given by Fialleril years ago, and I had forgotten that until recently! And now that I have some pieces of the story in my head, I am not letting this one go again!

So that's... it, I'm pretty sure. That's the stuff that I've started, mostly within the past decade, that I really want to continue. And I'm hoping to have time this coming winter to do it. (I have... other commitments plus family stuff that is definitely going to keep me from fic writing until then.)

But in the meantime, if you want to come chat with me about stuff, ask me questions... I would be so happy to talk about all the ideas I've got that are hopefully going to all make it onto AO3 someday!

[suleikashideaway]

2023

So I see a lot of people around here with their various wrapped updates regarding the progression of their art. I never really considered that I had much to say, considering I'm such a baby writer and haven't actually published anything. Who am I to join the conversation?

On reflection, I do have a lot to say, and yeah, it's worth saying. 2023 was a big year for me as a writer. So for posterity's sake, I want it known here in my blog.

The big project: FF8

Technically I've been working on a final fantasy 8 fic for years at this point. The fact that it's so personal and complicated kept me from sharing it with anyone. It was for me. It made me happy. But this was the year I decided to at least start the attempt at making it publishable.

After several drafts of this story, early this year I finally reached a point where I could write THE END and mean it. At something close to 140k words, It felt like I had climbed a mountain. Of course, now I look back and see that it was a tiny little baby hill, but it was maybe one of the most important hills I've ever walked.

To my surprise, I found a beta right away, and from there my 2023 trajectory took off into the stratosphere. They know this already, but I have to thank my beta (and now one of my very best friends) @failed221b-chill for lifting me out of the solitude and teaching me so much about everything, but especially taking on the role of my personal writing tutor. Together we went line-by-line through part 1 of my 3-part story, and my little baby writing mind EXPLODED.

Lemme tell ya. The confidence I gained from that. Woof.

It was also made very clear that I had my work cut out for me. Not only did I decide to double the entire fucking thing (by adding in another POV that was initially going to be a separate work), but I realized I needed to rewrite pretty much all of my existing draft.

In the span of a few weeks, I drafted over 35k of the other POV for part 1. With my newfound writing knowledge, I'm going through, line-by-line, and making this story what I want it to be.

Though I feel like I've grown exponentially as a writer, I still feel like this fic, as it stands, is not ready for publishing. Part 1 is almost there...I'm inching closer every day...but I don't know how long it will take to get it done to my satisfaction.

And I'm okay with that. My original goal was to have the entire 3-part thing written and completely done before publishing. Now, I may consider sharing before that goal is accomplished. Stay tuned.

Another Project: Stardew Valley

Something I learned incidentally (that I bet a bunch of other people have already learned before me, and here I am trying to reinvent the wheel of course) was that I actually needed another writing project to bounce back and forth between. Before this year, in between writing my ff8 fic, I wrote an entire Stardew Valley slow burn romance harvey/farmer fic, probably around 150k words. It was extremely cathartic and fun to write butttt I reread it now and cringe, hard, at my lil baby writing skills. I'll never delete it, because obviously it was another little baby hill I needed to climb. But as it is, it will never see the light of day lol. I keep having thoughts of how to completely rewrite this piece, but at the moment it's pretty vague. Not sure I'll ever return.

Instead, I was wildly inspired by @not-poignant's take on Alex, and feverishly wrote my first-ever Alex stuff, somewhere around 12k words. This is currently sitting on a back-burner, awaiting my soul-searching to decide what I really want from the piece.

What's Next?

My ff8 fic will always have precedence. But it's a mammoth. And due to the nature of the content, it is sometimes emotionally very difficult for me to write it. Sooooo it may be a while. That's okay with me.

In the meantime, I'm super excited that the first @ffviiicharacterweek is happening in January!!! It's given me an opportunity to write much shorter pieces that I never would have gotten around to. Hopefully I'll be able to participate fully and enjoy the works that come out of that.

Overall, it's been a damn good year for writing.

So anyway, if anyone has given this post the time of day, thanks for sticking it out to the end! I'm certainly open for chatting about any of this stuff, or if you just want to talk I'm up for that, too! I hope you have a joyous new year!

[ew-headyhearts]

i am so sorry for asking this but can we pls get some more nsfw headcanons?&2&1&/ AHHH SORRY

Okay, let me preface this by saying this, I wrote these head canons while extremely high and I've been sitting on these bad boys for a while now. Forgive me if they're a little incoherent but I figured this was the best ask to share them with. Please mind the tags. If you're uncomfortable with anything skip this one.

TW: N$FW Topics, Tord being fucking nasty, everyone just being nasty, sex toys, edging, just the tip, biting, praise, strap-ons, messy sex, questionable use of pillows, stealing clothes, using said clothes in questionable ways, VERY questionable fantasies, "onii-chan", again Tord's fucking nasty, Who needs that many dildos ever?, NO BETA READ (future Squid stopped by and made everything more coherent. You're welcome), EVEN THE TAGS AREN'T SAFE, Squid's a mess right now, Don't do drugs, unless it's legal for you like me

Edd

Chronic pillow humper. He has cum on the sheets multiple times. Don't worry, he cleans it all up very well. He just tosses that shit in the wash and passes right out afterward.

A huge fan of clothes on sex. Let that man dry hump you until he's busting in his khakis.

Service top. Much prefers giving. The guy gives great head and he knows it.

Praise kink, praise kink, praise kink. Did I mention the praise kink? Whether he's giving or receiving it, it doesn't matter. You're both getting called pretty no matter who's getting pounded into.

He talks so much during sex. It's either he's talking about how good you are or he's describing in massive detail every little thing hes doing to your body. It doesn't even get better when he's going down on you.

A massive tease. He can spend hours just fucking you with the tip. It makes it so much more enjoyable for him.

Loves edging so much, like one of his favorite things is edging you both together and see who gets so desperate that they are practically drooling and barely able to form a thought.

Did I mention guided masturbation? He loves seeing his partner get off while he whispers right in their ear how to do it. And trust me, he pays extra close attention he knows nearly all of your sweet spots and he's going to abuse that information.

Matt

Likes to use a vibrator against his cock.

He is a total voyeur and definitely makes a show out of you watching him tease himself.

Also produces a lot of precum it WILL get everywhere.

Much prefers bottoming. Stuff his holes, yes please.

His absolute favorite is to ride you/your strap and look up into a mirror on the ceiling (becausd of course he has one). Then he can look at both of your pretty faces.

He's a total biter, the vampire episode just awakened it in him.

Pin him to the wall; it doesn't matter if you're way shorter than him. He will quite literally drop to his knees in front of you if you do so.

The few times he does top he's still so submissive. Seeks out praise so much.

The ONLY way to get him to take a dominant role is to bruise his ego, which takes quite a bit of effort.

Tom

Has one of those clear pocket pussies. No idea how else to describe it. It's clear and you can see his weenie through it.

He likes to masturbate in the shower. He says it makes clean-up quicker, but in reality, it's just because the water usually drowns out his moans.

Also a fan of fantasy toys, though he's mostly interested in having those absurd dildos. Too big for any sane person to use bc he's a size king and he loves the stretch. Has more than enough dildos that it's considered illegal in Texas.

Tom's a growler and does enjoy the occasional primal play.

Masturbates in the hoodie and would not complain if you did too.

Mutual masturbation, he is so weak for it. He'd probably use a double ended dildo just for funsies. It's a bonding experience.

Chaotic switch. Does not care who is getting stuffed. In fact, he really loves it if his partner would switch mid-sex. He's much more pliant if you do so.

He loves bondage on his partner but does not allow himself to be tied up. It's a trigger for him and that's not going to be fun for anyone.

Also, a drooler as he gets closer to cumming. It doesn't matter if he's topping or bottoming, there will be drool, and it will be messy.

Tord

Has a "just the tip" fantasy. He thinks he's improved every time, but, like- it takes 3 minutes of him just thrusting the head in before he's going absolutely rabid, wanting to fuck you deeper. He likes edging himself using his partner's hole.

Does not want to stop until either one of you is so overstimulated and fuckdrunk.

Will steal your underwear. He's fucking NASTY and uses it to jerk it. He might just wash them before returning them. Emphasis on might: he's nasty and probably gets off to the fact that he's come in your clothing multiple times.

I feel like he would have a fantasy where you call him "onni-chan"

Will buy you sex toys, but most of the time they're just tentacles. If you let him though, he'd love to make you one of his own. Don't give him that power. He'll make a secret remote to use anytime he's bored.

Will nut the second you come out in cosplay, or just dress up vaguely like one of those anime girls. It doesn't matter your gender; he goes nuts for miniskirts and thigh highs.

Secretly into being dominated. Put him in his place. Please? He wants it so bad but he won't admit it.