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yloiseconeillants · 7 months ago

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@eorzeanflowers asked: 16 17 (For the GAP. :D (I love that this the acronym))

16. One thing one character likes about their partner(s). 17. Now one thing that the other character(s) likes about the first chara.

I had to crowdsource this answer again, so (putting it under the cut because there's some Strategically Censored Nudity in one of the screencaps lmao and also THIS IS GOING TO GET VERY LONG)-

Ariadne would say that One Thing She Likes About Kytheon is how easy he is to talk to - like he's so worldly and full of stories so you would think he wouldn't care that much about whatever petty nonsense was flitting around your head, but that's not what he's like at all? He manages to listen to people in a way that feels engaging and vital and makes her feel like less of a fool every time they have a conversation.

Kyth @mythandral: She's social and warm and has a great laugh; he likes how their modes of affection are very similar. She's his hug go-to (and god, what an honour) (TRULY)

Ari ADORES Mori and admires her so much. The first thing that comes to mind is how like, subversive Mori seems in a place like Amaurot - that she does what she wants and isn't as plagued by the pressure to conform to Amaurotine social rules as Ari feels like she has to - and that feels so freeing to be in her presence.

Timoria @lilbittymonster: Mori loves Ariadne's devotion to her projects and her fascination for flora whenever they manage to get her outside of Amaurot. Amaurot is always so obsessed with the perfect and the grandiose that it's refreshing to be around someone who finds beauty in the mundane and the rot and the little things in the soil beneath them.

She would say that Minthe always knows exactly what to do (from Ari's perspective at least) - like not just like, knowing what would get her up in the morning or how to exact righteous vengeance on Hades - she just seems so confidently Right about everything. I can easily see the two of them collaborating on Something and Ari Not knowing what is Off about it but something is wrong - and like, Minthe swiping a quick taste or look at it and knowing exactly how to fix it.

Minthe @tallbluelady: The nice thing about Ariadne is that she's real passionate about the strangest things.

Ariadne and Icarus have never done anything wrong in their entire lives and they know this and love each other.

Icarus @hermits-hovel: I imagine he grew to like her a lot during the theatre days. She was a LOT of fun to work with and probably didn’t fret about the same things that he did lmao (something that would’ve kept him grounded tbh. Which IG applies also to their mutual cope later but idk. Ari’s personality gels with his in a lot of ways and I love it.)

Ari would like, really struggle to put into words to a neutral third party something that she likes about Ras so it would probably be something like "Ras can lift me to windows I cannot reach on my own" gkslgk. But what she would WANT to say if she could form words about it is his gentleness that she witnesses in small moments - with creatures and with her (i think about his futile attempts to do Nice Things for her when he thinks she won't remember and it kills me because of course she does. Her memory is fucking excellent which is why she has to go to Mnemo to erase her memories in the first place - and that she sort of recognizes what he is attempting but knows he doesn't do this when she's sober creates a maelstrom of an overthinking loop - like does Ras only like her when she's drunk and she should never mention this to him ever since he only does it because he thinks she won't remember so she will lie about how much she can't remember from Last Night but hopefully in a way flippant enough that no one is worried that she's joking about getting black out drunk on a regular Basis) ANYWAY outside of the agonies watching him with creatures feels like a Secret and she treasures that

Erasmos @azure-dragonsinger: Ras likes that Ari cares about her weird mushrooms, that she fills silence easily and generally admires how sociable she is. (He also likes that she got him to come out of himself and included him in things but he also didnt like that so he doesn't want to encourage it XD) Also also its Ras so he'd just be like "Ari's pretty cool."

Ari would just be like "Panthea is the coolest person I have ever met in my life" and then go on to list in graphic detail all the gross stuff they've been up to. (i just want to like, point at the bit about staying within societal expectations again, because like, I do think that Ariadne really does struggle with this, especially considering that like, she's friends with people like Kyth and Mori who make it seem so easy to buck expectations [even if that's not actually the case or not] so having someone like Pan around who is like, deeply entrenched in Amaurot and its ways and bureaucracies and still manages to navigate it and find space to be true to herself is so so so inspiring)

Panthea @whatsthisascianbullshit: And as for Panthea I think it's definitely an admiration of someone who is also interested in the less idk pretty? parts of how nature and life works and forges onwards in that interest while navigating staying somewhat within Societal Expectations™️ she really loves how Ari seeks to include people and I legit think she gets little flutters every time Ari turns her smile towards her. It's warmth and inclusion and staying up late drunkenly discussing the impact venom glands would have on the decomposition process as far as fungus was concerned

BONUS: not GAP members but friends regardless:

Ari thinks Ares is a very intense person and loves that? But also their willingness to put up with her nonsense fbslgjd i don't think she expected that from Ares and is completely delighted (and will be careful to not push her Chaos Agenda too much to the point of discomfort)

Ares Nemo @abyssalmermaiden they admire how she's found what she likes (fungi and decay) and gets creative with it. And she's fun to be around and doesn't make them feel like they need to be defensive (the way many academics do)

Ari loves that Daedalus is both passionate AND good at what he does and the gremlining is SO FUN. Daedalus is fun! Even his fucking giant robot castle of Depression is fun when it isn't trying to kill her.

Daedalus @azure-dragonsinger: Daedalus has a deep and intense fondness for how much of a gremlin he and Ari could be together and that is absolutley something he really values even after they both leave the theatre.

#oh my god

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rawmeknockout · 1 year ago

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https://www.tumblr.com/rawmeknockout/733381767371816960/lets-try-this-again-since-tumblr-crashed-the?source=share

Me: -Eats this ask-

Ahem.

Knowing how Tarn is, i wouldn't be surprised if he just goes completely unhinged upon finding out that humans can be cyberformed. If there's any chance of reader going back to their human form, Tarn wouldn't be above to go hell and back to find a way to keep them "perfect" aka cyberformed.

Not only that but the amount of mods for to better fit the decepticons ideals, going from a complete paintjob to mnemo surgeries. Tarn lays awake at his berth upon imagining the possibilities he could have with cyberformed reader. Just like how Megatron did to him once upon a time...

Suave!Tarn might sound appealling, but Incel virgin!Tarn not knowing how to be normal around mech!reader (especially diva femech!reader. I love him S2) is very interesting 👀👀

Let's not forget that we are talking about one djd bastard. Primus knows what the other four are thinking about cyberformed reader, especially a certain blind "Pet" keeper guy.

yes because there’s so many ways to change a mech honestly i know the DJD focuses on killing and torture to get what they want and to fulfill their objective but it’s so fun to think about the other methods a decepticon can employ to reach the end they want because there are so many canon ways to fuck with a mech since their logical processor IS just data and mechanics so it’s can be,,, fiddled with in a way a humans can’t

ofc the djd has limited resources but tarn has a few favors he can call in and threaten out of ex decepticons and if he really needs to use them he will

he’ll only use these methods after he’s emotionally attached tho tarn sees himself as very logical and rational and it wouldn’t be a good look to go all in when he’s not committed to this mech

but after they’ve been enmeshed in the peaceful tyranny, now the whole djd is attached and this mech knows Secrets that they can’t just walk away with

i feel like at a certain point, unless the humans body is kept alive by brainstorm, it’ll start to rot away? which is how i separate cyberformed humans via decepticons vs on the lost light, brainstorm could theoretically put the human back in their body but the decepticons just let the human bodies die bc now they can’t go back

sorry if me jumping between askers is getting confusing lol

#asks

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tallbluelady · 1 year ago

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1. What memory would your OC rather just forget?

Okay okay. @hermits-hovel has an ancient OC of Mnemosyne who is in charge of memory crystals (such as the ones the Convocation ->Ascians keep). In his lore, the memory holder can no longer recall them as they are in the Crystal now.

Minthe, in general, is against doing this. She understands that Mnemosyne’s archive is useful and wouldn’t stop him from doing it, but part of what makes her and Ariadne’s relationship crumble is that Ari is asking him to take her memories away for safe keeping instead of actually facing them and ordering them in her mind. So you would never expect her to ask Mnemo to do this, right?

Weeeeeellllll… One night, Daedalus tells Minthe about Zodiark, far before the Final Days. Basically, who’s involved and what the summoning entails. And that it is inevitable. Minthe is brought to such a seething rage at Hades that she can hardly stand to think of him, while Daedalus is defending him. She tells Daedalus to "never speak of this conversation again" and storms out to get it removed by Mnemosyne. She returns calm but depressed with a handwritten note that tells Daedalus to not talk about Zodiark in any meaningful way so they can continue to speak to Hades (I wish I knew what that note says lol). He’s smart enough to do so and the three of them continue having a cordial relationship until the Convocation releases its plan for Zodiark.

Annnnd in a fun twist of events, Miranda gets a hold of this memory crystal and vows to kill Emet-Selch for pulling Daedalus into it!

Thanks for the ask!

#ask meme #azem minthe #mnemosyne #azem daedalus #azem ariadne #the GAP #the gap etc #like literally minthe cannot stand hades from zodiark on #not in most of her lives #aoife i have to rotate a bit more #she’s for he rejoining because it would make her more powerful #and she does help him actually #but i think she regrets it after the flood hits #and realizes she was played #anywho #yeah #the shards usually cannot stand selch for zodiark #or in miranda’s case #involving daedalus in his schemes

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pastelgrungewrecker · 1 year ago

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Full House Hand || Sg Ish

I hope you find Some peace of mind In this lifetime.

It had been two weeks since Perceptor had broken the glass wall in Stormy’s spirit. It had been six days since Stormy had curled into himself and dropped to his knees with the kind of air-tearing scream you only hear from air raid sirens at the end of the world.

Nana did her best, soothing his hurts with every remedy she could but when the blackrot began she couldn’t help but feel the fear of God lay a hand upon her soul.

Percy explained the happenings with a cygarette between too-sharp teeth; barely restraining a special kind of rage as his own body reflected the panic and anger he felt burning deep down.

‘It’s the network he’s built. Stardust is... infected, as well. But she is far, far closer to symbiosis given her exposure was in the womb. However...’

The smoke is silver like the streak forming in his hair.

‘She is being hurt. And because they are connected- he is living through it too.’

Aurora took her steps unsteadily out of Ironhide’s old truck- the vehicle outfitted with scrap steel plating like a makeshift tank and she carefully balanced the medical supplies she had been able to liberate with the help of Ironhide’s pistol.

Her eyes softened, “We’ve only studied a little of the mycomutagen, thanks to Percy and Perceptor’s donations. But I still don’t know very much- I was brought on during the enzyme discovery.”

“Enzyme discovery?”, asked Brainstorm hoarsely, rubbing sleep out of his eyes carefully so as not to smear oil from modifying every vehicle they could find for war, “What enzyme discovery?”

“It’s a by product of the mycomutagen.”, she explained gently, “We think it’s to protect the brain of the infected organism from other possible parasitic attacks, and perhaps even to shore it up against damage from MTBI or TBI.”

“So what does that mean?”

She sighed, “Xaaron he... For some reason when it was discovered he demanded I be brought on; it turns out this enzyme compound has many uses but one specific application is what he had me throw my entire being into.”

“..And that was?”

“Mnemo reversal treatment.”

The silence was palpable, heavy in the air and broken only by a weak groan from the room Stormy was being kept in. The air seemed to crack like uranium glass- scattering its neon shards as Brainstorm clattered haphazardly to drop in front of the minicomm system and frantically began punching in commands. The screen chimed to life, and a face none of them recognized showed itself.

“Hello, you’ve reached the estate of the Honorable Crown Xaaron, how may I assist you.”, were the robotic words of the AI assistant, “He is currently unavailable, please do not hesitate to state any needs you may have and I will be sure they are delivered upon his return.”

“Xaaron Location, current.”

“I am sorry. That is Classified.”

“Xaaron agenda, previous twenty four hours.”

“I am sorry, that is classified.”

“This is Brainstorm, this is his fucking SON where is my FATHER-”

“Hello Brainstorm, you have a video message to be delivered upon your first contact of this commline. Would you like to view it now?”

“Yes, play messaage-”

The screen flickered, the feed clear and calm and dim and Xaaron sat with his hands folded together like he always did. His eyes were downturned- the tattoos on his jaw that matched his son still crisp even in low light.

“I am not a saint, my son.”, the recording whispers, “And I have told you so, so many lies. And here, at the end of the world; I have many things to confess.”

Aurora felt her spine seem to freeze- both Perceptors seemed to appear to stand at either side of Brainstorm as the recorded message continued.

“Your mother...”

A softly choked noise.

“I have been... I am a vile bastard, you were right. I had been paying to keep her at the facility you and your twin had visited- keeping her sedated. Calm. Because the sound of her crying broke the last pieces of a heart I had. But... But then these doubles... And the mycological marvel many of them carried arrived.”

Xaaron did not smile.

“The physical I told you and your double you needed was not necessary, nor was it run of the mill. I had them draw blood from you both- we had discovered a specific compound three days previous and there was. There was a chance. A chance I owed it to my family to take. To your mother.”

The man in the recording hiccuped softly, lips trembling and his bright gold eyes squeezing shut as tears leaked from them.

“To. To you. I owed it to you- To bring her back to us all. Especially now at the end of a world that never loved you, that never held you close. A world where you never knew my shore, my ocean- Never knew her sky, her mountains. Once this recording has finished- You will be sent data by the AI assistant I have installed and modified. Tracking. Information.”

Xaaron swallowed the break in his voice, “And with that- you and your twin will. You will be able to trace each other; with the proximity comm scanners. Perceptor still carries his from the Wreckers, he hides it in a boot locker. Anyone matching the DNA markers or specific mycomarkers will be able to be traced.”

Xaaron stared with his tears free and his face tired, “Find my granddaughter. Save your family. And I will see you if I am able to save ours. Please, my little warrior- my wild sun; Through all my mistakes I have made, you were never one of them.”

He swallowed hard, and leaned back as though checking something off screen to show his lack of uniform, before he breathed deep once.

“Never forget, Brainstorm- I love you, and I love the ones who love you. If I do not make it back- If WE do not make it back, know that we have always loved you... And we are sorry we couldn’t or wouldn’t be there before.”

He smiles weakly at the camera, leaning forward enough to mimic touching his forehead to Brainstorm’s and he exhaled quietly. And Brainstorm, unbidden- followed suit as his heart broke.

The recording ended.

“Hello, this is the assistant to Crown Xaaron.”, chimed the AI voice again, “I am initiating a datadrop to the traced address of this call. Once this data download has completed, I will then be initiating a full scale facility shutdown after uploading all conserved facility data to drop serve Theta.”

“WHAT, WHY-”

“This facility was breached four hours, nineteen minutes, and eighty seven seconds ago. For the protection of all, this must be done.”

The flicker of a flashdrop, the connection buffered no doubt from the facility’s own satellites and technology.

“Data download complete. Upload and sitekill initiated. Thank you for being with Kimia until the end, Science Quadrant A Supervisor Brainstorm.”

The AI’s digital face smiled before a hideous technological screech bellowed out through the speakers and the line went dead- the screen flashing [CALL TERMINATED] at the same tempo as a funeral bells chime.

“No, no no no no no-”, stammered Brainstorm as his fingers moved furiously over the plastiglass trying to reactivate the connection, “No, no please come one this can’t- not like this we already lost Stardust and we lost Pulsar I can’t I CAN’T LOSE YOU TOO DAD THERES’S-THERE’S STILL SO MUCH TO CATHC UP ON AND-”

“Brainstorm.”, whispered Percy, “Darling, please it’s. It’ll be alright. It’s going to alright, he’s a strong man, he was a fighter once too-”

“No no no no no no please no please no no no I can’t I can’t not anymore I’m gonna lose- lose everything all over and then me and double are gonna be alone and we can’t- I don’t I can’t say goodbye and mean it not if it means forever and ever no-”

Perceptor had spirited away, coming back with the handheld and connecting it to the minicomm with no words and his scars underlit by the tiny screen.

“Per- Percy how can you just be CALM how dare you NOT EVEN FUCKING REACT HE’S-”

And then the sniper’s hands were cupping Brainstorm’s face, stroking thumbs over the inkwork lines as his voice sounded in softness.

“Ssssssh, honeybee. Calm your thunder, hurricane.”, he soothed, “I will bring him home, do you understand me? Focus on my hands, now- The tracker is uploading and will integrate upon completion- and then I and my double will go out there and we will bring them home, to you, and no one and nothing will be lost.”

“But HOW-”

“He shares your DNA- or, more accurately... you share his. If you can be tracked, so can he.”

Brainstorm paused.

“Now- go to your double. Tell him what we know. Tell him what I have said. Give him and Aid my love, and my double’s. I’ll be back by teatime.”

“Y-You fucking... prep school boy.”, said Brainstorm through the tears he hadn’t realized had fallen and clogged his throat and soul, “It’s n-nearly dinner. Dork.”

“Same difference. I’ll be back in a tick, love.”

The handheld pinged loudly, chirruping as it began its trace and Perceptor looked to his double with a nod.

Aurora watched her boy- her boys, gather each rifle case as they passed by to the door before she stopped them. She reached out; her arms thin and tired and her eyes crinkled at the edges and pulled them both into a hug made of steel and cotton linen as she kissed each of their temples.

“You both better come back home to me, do you understand me?”, she whispered, “If anyone touches a hair on your, or their, heads I swear I’ll go off my rocker for the last time, dammit.”

“We know Mumma.”, chuckled Percy, “But to come home we must away first. We’ll see you soon.”

Nana crept up behind Aurora, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder as they watched the pair go down the front steps and jog to the near-graveyard of vehicles being modified by Ironhide.

The rumble of an engine was loud- even as it drifted away.

Lock watched from the old peach tree in the yard. Both the Ratchet’s watched from the reinforced barn as the younger family members bustled back and forth from weapons stockpile to gear and back again.

Perceptor floored it as soon as they left the edge of the property- his double crossing his legs primly and worrying his lips with fangs before Perceptor looked to him.

“...So. What aren’t you telling us.”

“Their mother won’t be part of the network- it’s not a true infection, just microdosing a protective excretion so-”

“You’re dodging.”

“Stormy is showing signs of torture.”, murmured the vampiric double, “A specific kind of torture- no, not really torture thought it feels like it.”

“Continue.”

“Have I ever told you why my mother wasn’t exactly present?”

“I assumed it was much like your Ratchet- an attack by your zealot false god.”

“She tried to kill me to win a weapons contract bid.”

The air grew still as Perceptor’s eye flicked to glance at his double before focusing back on the road.

“I was still in regular contact with her- through everything.”, continued Percy, “And she was the first one I told about. About the infection. and she said she just wanted to check me over. Make sure I was alright.”

“...She lied, didn’t she.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

“She did. One minute I’m having a cup of coffee with my mother as she fixes my hair, the next minute I’m strapped up in some hellish machine. It took two weeks- two weeks to get the strength to do what I needed to, and in that time she’d already been selling scraps and bundles of her research to the highest bidder- and there is only one man who would have been able to get every last scrap of it after she was gone.”

“Your Optimus?”

“Prowl.”

The name sat in the air, turning it toxic and rancid like a miasma and the only sound was the handheld’s chime. The sun was setting- the darkness tucking around them as the fields gave way to thickets and finally full woods full of death and life and secrets unknowable and whispered only by the owls and rock doves.

Suddenly, the tracker went berserk. The location pinged a thousand different directions and sudden gunfire began to sound- the flashes disorienting and forcing Perceptor to swerve hard enough to topple the modified truck he steered. They slid- the bottom of the vehicle slamming an old tree trunk and bending at the joint between cab and bed.

Both snipers had braced- keeping their good eye shut and staying silent until the gunfire stopped.

“Turrets.”

“Oh absolutely, precious. You want them, or should I take them?”

“I think you’d do well on the ground double-”, gritted Perceptor as he forced the seatbelt latch to release with a hard yank, “How long has it been since you’ve had brunch with the devil?”

“Oh ages, darling.”, giggled Percy, swallowing hard before he stretched his jaw to show fangs like a spider’s, “Abso-fucking-lutely AGES...”

“I’ll be your cover, let’s book it.”

Perceptor slithered out on his belly, reaching back in to grab his rifle case and giving his double a nod before he crawled into the ditch they had skidded to a stop next to. And with a mad cackle and pistols in hand, Percy rocketed out of the wreckage and unleashed his assault.

It was a squad of fifteen- he could smell their infestation, smell its inferiority, how it had starved so desperately and barely held them up on their feet.

Fangs bared and jawbone clicking as his false mandible spread just a little he fell upon them with gunfire and voracious hunger- they scattered near immediately and screamed their anguish when they were shot down from the shadows but never fatally.

How merciful it would be, for the hidden gunner to allow them to die with dignity and limbs still attached.

Perceptor looked away whenever his double fell upon a new victim, instead focusing his reticule on knees and the middle of spines- chuckling to himself at the ones that wore thicker belts like that could save their skin from a disabling shot between the vertebrae. The remaining victims, all four of them, surrounded what they had been protecting- a downed transport shuttle, looked civilian by make and model but showed the signs of attempts to break into it. It looked as though the engine had been shoot own and it had gone down hard enough to bury the nose a few feet into the ground.

They raised their weapons- Percy stood tall and wild with eyes like a baphomet statue and pistols aimed as Perceptor slunk free of his hiding spot like Eden’s serpent crawling free from his guise to reveal the devil himself.

“Stand down. This is your only chance to survive.”, he said, his voice like ice.

“For a gentle use of the word SURVIVE, darlings.”, laughed Percy, his head tilting as he licked a thick smear of gore from his own chin.

They both saw as the remaining one braced as though about to fire, and they struck.

It was over in moments. Perceptor scoffed in disappointment.

“This is the best your false god has, then?”

“Numbers have been down for quite some time, double-dear. Happens when your leader kills all dissenters but counts yawning as dissention.”

The crack of a wrist being snapped hard enough for skin to tear, and Perceptor grimaced- knowing his double was no doubt draining the body while it was still warm.

“Hurry up, would you- We need to bust into this shuttle.”

“Yesh, yesh- Wumoment.”

“You really are the foulest little house spider sometimes.”

“Oh, like there’s nothing you swallow sloppily in this world, right.”

“SHUT IT.”, snapped Perceptor, trying not to snicker at the lewd humor before he stepped over the dead to inspect the door before it thudded.

It groaned before haphazardly sliding open and a soft hand held the edge tightly. Crips eyes, eyes like Brainstorm’s when furious but the wrong color, stared back out.

“...Madame, I am here to save Xaaron and one other. I am Perceptor.”, he said gently, kneeling down.

“Ah, his sniper in law.”, she said, her vice carrying the husk of grand speeches and heavy woe, “He’s taken a hit to the head when he was trying to lock down the shuttle against those. Things. They pulled up in some kind of weird tank I think, pretty sure they shot us down.”

Percy raised his eyebrows, threading his fingers together, “Fabulous sweetheart- could you do me a teensy favor and perhaps tell me where they no doubt illegally parked? They managed to wreck our ride as well.”

Her hand released the door edge, and pointed to an overgrowth of kudzu-like leafy vines a bit farther from the side of the road. Both snipers nodded at each other before Perceptor heard a grunt and a low groan from inside the shuttle.

“Sir!”

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

Brainstorm sat next to Stormy- who’s face was pale as the rising dawn outside the window- and sighed.

“...Dad left Kimia before it got. Got raided. By the other side.”, he said quietly, “...He lied about the physical, got our blood and-”

“I know.”, rasped the industrialist, leaning gently back, “I know how physicals work, and he had a terrible firewall protecting his internal memorandums.”

“Thanks for keeping me in the loop, dude.”

“The ends justified the means.”, was the woozy reply, “We’d... We’d have mom.”

“Yeah, well. Turns out- the funky fresh backpacker in your flesh pajamas? It can be traced.”

Stormy’s head whipped around to look at Brainstorm faster than a lightning strike, “What?!”

“Yeah. Yeah- he developed a DNA trace through it. We’ll be able to find Stardust, and where those pieces of shit are hiding. Hit them with a surprise assault I’d imagine.”, said Brainstorm softly, running his shaking hands through his white hair, “A-And that’s good, great even but-”

“...But what, copycat?”

“...Xaaron went out, alone, to get Mom.”, he whispered, “He left a message, he told me everything- and he said he loved us, and he said he’d try and bring her home but if. If he didn’t. For us t-to know th-that. That-”

Brainstorm froze at the warmth. He blinked eyes already overflowing with tears again as arms encased in elbow length reinforced gloves went around his shoulders in a tight hug.

“He’ll be back.”, said Stormy, trying desperately to be sure and knowing he was failing, “He has to be, remember? He. He promised he’d be there at Christmas for Stardust th-this year.”

Wet warmth on Brainstorm’s shoulder and he bit his lip to silence the sobs that wanted to sound and returned the embrace. They cried in silence, as the sun rose behind a screen of overcast and they rocked back and forth- twins curled in utero, comforting themselves with old heartbeats they still can’t recognize.

The rumble cut through the morning like a knife- they both looked out and saw the heavy machine trundling like an oncoming thunderhead up the dirt road and they looked at each other in sudden panic. In rage.

They tore out, followed by most of the family as they all feared the worst as it drew ever closer and closer before suddenly its massive engine cut off in a loud stall.

“Damn thing is held together with fucking DUCT TAPE AND PRAYERS GODDAMIT-”

“Honestly, doublemine- your language is ATROCIOUS-”

“It’s HONEST you incessant TWAT.”

“Relax, professor Bitch.”

“Young men.”

“Apologies.”

“Sorry about that, Mister Judge.”

The conversation echoing from behind tinted windows faded. The massive vehicle’s back end unfolded itself open- and a collection of slow steps sounded and gentle hushed words as those footsteps hit the autumn grass in a steady rhythm.

Xaaron squinted at the daylight, a butterfly bandage over a bright wound over his eye while the other was ringed in a bruise as Perceptor and his double led him and the weight he carried into the chilled air.

He blinked, sore from injury and guilt before he turned enough to see Brainstorm and Stormy- his smile was tired and proud and he straightened a back that both the snipers knew ached from the shuttle crash before they fell back, letting Xaaron take his final steps alone.

“Hello, my sons.”, he said- the rumble of his voice heavy as the weight he finally could unhook from the hinges of his heart, “I am. Home. I am home, and... And so is she.”

She raises her head just enough; worn out from the ordeal she had just survived, she waves weakly and smiles crooked in the way Brainstorm always had before she laughs softly and gestures with her thin hands.

“My boys- My boys, come here. Come here and give me a hug- I’ve just had the worst time of things.”

Xaaron lets her gently alight on still socked feet, her robe wrapped near perfectly around her thanks to Percy’s ministrations during the ride over and she opens her arms wide.

Brainstorm and Stormy try to stand straight, and dignified-

“Once you get some time with your mum,”, said Percy as he skirted around the rescued woman, “Then we’ll get started on bringing her granddaughter home.”

“Granddaughter?”, she gasps, glancing over her shoulder at Xaaron.

“Yes, her name is Stardust.”

Brainstorm and Stormy are still trembling, blinking owlishly in the morning light before Nana calls out.

“Oi now! Bring that lady on inside dammit- y’all gonna free- WAIT A DAMN MINUTE, I KNOW YOU!”

The woman looks up, “Ah. Madame Doctor Valerian. Delightful.”

“Senator Caecias, truly I’m charmed. Ain’t you banned from these parts.”

“Well, with the world ending, my sons being here and me not having much CHOICE-”

“Yeah, yeah. Boys, bring your mama on in, I’ll see if Aurora has anythin’ she can wear. Both’f them are tiny as hell anyway...”

It was hearing Nana call Caesias their mother that broke them. Both of them surged forward and flung themselves onto her willowy frame with broken sobs shattering free from birdbone ribcages and she laughed though her tears had begun when she felt their arms wrap around her.

She held their heads to her chest, shushing their cries even as all three sank down to kneel in dewy grass.

Inside the assault vehicle that had been liberated- the handheld flared to life briefly and chimed out.

Somewhere, away from the reunion- Stardust had closed her golden eyes as a CR chamber’s door clicked shut; and the tracker so far away from her chimed as she opened them once again; and they were underlit in vicious and voracious crimson.

#pastelwrites #shatteredgalss #lmao crim is going to snap my spine like a mortal kombat finisher move

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quietbluejay · 1 month ago

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Last Stand of the Wreckers 6/6

okay so if they had the arrangement then why was ironfist so shocked by aequitas and the whole situation

Ultra Magnus says Prowl was against the Aequitas trials in the first place, so he wonders why he wanted this mission to go ahead anyways

"can you imagine what would have happened if the Decepticons had gotten ahold of those records?"

the ultimate propaganda weapon against the Autobots

Ultra Magnus hands him the complete Aequitas records on a data slug - Ironfist's legacy

…how'd they get all the info onto a small data slug also maybe i just forgot something but why didn't they use a slug in the first place okay i checked through it nothing about it needing to be a brain download

Prowl asks if any of the data was corrupted. Ultra Magnus didn't have the stomach to check

"And it's the only copy?"

Ultra Magnus knows what Prowl is thinking. If the data was corrupted, they could destroy the data slug, and all the records would be lost…and no one would be the wiser

maybe he should have checked before giving it to Prowl…

and then ultra magnus literally never brought it up again and neither did prowl for that matter

and there we go! that was Last Stand of the Wreckers! whoof

honestly, i really feel for Transformers comics that you really need to read them at least 3x to really get them cause like first time is just…figuring out who the heck these characters are and trying to keep track of the different designs like this was my third time reading LSOTW? and it's only now i could really tell apart characters and even then sometimes… it's also getting used to the art style like, some of the art styles like Stone or Lawrence it's easier to tell characters apart because there's an element of, idk, stylization maybe? also the colouring plays a big role here so i guess be grateful i am doing these having read them a few times before skdfjhlsdf

Further thoughts:

there's a lot of uncomfortable rhetoric in fiction around mercy killing and living with disability though that's not directly what's going on here but it's in play, especially seeing how it gets contrasted with other characters' treatment in similar situations by different writers

(also, still mad about Snare's death, he got shot in the head and was dying but slowly enough that he could give exposition)

i remember i saw this somewhere else but perceptor just quietly walked away from team war crimes to go on the lost light and received no consequences ever or reflection or like anything

also like every single positive thing about the ending gets undercut by where the comics went after this (and also ironfist's death) but also really? not one single decepticon surrendered to them just for a chance of getting away?? they all just conveniently disappear like dnd npcs

actually huh you know there was like no news out of there for years the decepticons also didn't seem to know what was going on so like…how was overlord expecting news to go out? through shockwave?

re Prowl keeping a hold of Overlord we KNOW Bee knew about it because Bee insisted on him being repaired but bee never set up a trial i mean arguably they never had a chance or time but did bee just…forget about it? bee: okay we're back on cybertron we should deal with overlord now prowl: he's, been, uh, blown up bee: what prowl: he was on the lost light and it blew up bee: why was he on the

but also…….so overlord was chilling on earth in stasis right, for most of the entire costa run and prowl wanted to do the mnemo memory thing why…did he not just request chromedome to come over from kimia send a request to xaaron be like "we need a guy with the skills"

prowl: reading him his rights overlord: just kill me prowl: so you are revoking your right to a trial overlord: kill me …i can actually see that happening

i think i do get why LSOTW is so well regarded or at least why it was at the time it came out it's definitely very different in terms of well, everything from most of what came out before it it also hit the zeitgeist, too, I think

hmm thinking okay im not actually a military strategist but wouldn't it have been better for it to be an exploratory mission + rescue, check on the state of aequitas then come back with reinforcements to take back the prison and only do aequitas retrieval/destruction if it was clear it was needed

the reveal i think would have worked equally well if it had just been a single small computer in a small dark and dusty room it'd be like "we came all this way for that?" also would work great as a metaphor for the faceless people behind the command lines making the decisions the committees etc etc

it's also very hard to have a discussion around ethics and war crimes when you're painting the entire opposite side as evil npcs like okay yeah part of the whole point is that it shouldn't matter what the other side is like, what you are doing is still wrong but you can write them as (evil) people and not faceless hordes i know this is a bit besides the point from aequitas that one shot of Squadron X looking up at Impactor was great! it did get into it that great line from springer i just think especially because one of the themes was about the ethics of wartime propaganda and a lot of propaganda is turning the enemy into the faceless evil masses that it shouldn't have turned around and been like "yeah okay that bit is mostly true"

(and then I started writing my little essay critiquing LSOTW)

"i can't believe wreckers missions aren't fun adventures and involve horrible death!" says man who has read thousands of wreckers mission reports and rewritten them into adventure stories for the masses yes the reports he got were redacted of classified info but for him to have gotten the impression of tomfoolery and adventure implies a level of creativity on the part of either the original report writer or whoever is censoring the mission reports that goes completely unaddressed by the text

presenting the guy writing the propaganda as an innocent sure was a choice

Ironfist is supposed to be the audience surrogate character, he's a fanboy Just Like You ok joking about who fanfics the fanfiction writers aside i'd honestly rather someone who wrote fanfic using it as commentary than a writer who doesn't see the point of fanfic and thinks of it as a weird creepy thing

but in this case it's the equivalent of being an obsessive fan of a theoretical version of House of the Dragon with the sex scenes cut and somehow not picking up on the incest maybe a bit of a crude example there lol I left out the fanfiction/fanboy stuff from the essay in the end even though it's an important part of the authorial intent and why ironfist's personality is the way it is, but also it's an aside

honestly when it comes to fanfic writers writing fiction about rpf i always bounce hard because they're not actually writing about rpf they're writing about people writing fanfic except that in universe all those people and events are real so it's very uncomfortable

(and then in the end I ended up cutting all the Ironfist stuff out of the final version lol)

here's some of what I cut:

When it comes to Ironfist, one must wonder how many levels of cognitive dissonance he is operating on. The propagandist, having read thousands of (admittedly censored) reports of Wrecker missions and rewritten them into adventure stories for the masses, goes into shock after seeing Rotorstorm's violent death at the hands of Overlord. “This was supposed to be an adventure!” he claims, a statement which, coming from him, requires one to believe he is either operating in a state of extreme self-delusion, or an amount of creativity on either the part of the original report writer or the censor - both of which go completely unaddressed by the text. In fact, it is explicitly stated by Ironfist that he has learned to spot the signs of a coverup, when it comes to what happened at Pova. Things do seem to point towards a certain level of sanitization in the after-action reports, but he supposedly spent years reading them obsessively and rewriting them into stories. He is also familiar with the Wreckers casualty rates. While it is in theory possible for someone to be able to have read that volume and be unable to pick up on various suspicious elements, this does not match with what we are shown and told about Ironfist’s personality and critical reasoning skills. Moreover, given he is the one writing the propaganda, this begins to speak to a type of self-delusion that becomes criminally negligent. He may not be the one responsible for censoring the reports but he is responsible for glamourizing the Wreckers. If he deliberately chooses to avert his eyes and lie to himself and others, that is in a way more repugnant than the cynical propagandist deliberately whitewashing war crimes - the deliberate cynic at least recognizes that he is not a victim.

I did do a bit of rhetorical grandstanding here and used some stronger language

further Chronicles of Bluejay Trying To Write Essay:

starting to question everything i know now is LSOTW actually about how propaganda glamourizes shady actions and papers everything over into good guys vs bad guys, and ends up leading to deaths it's what is holding this essay together otherwise it's just "this is bad writing and he's written in a way that doesn't make sense"

do you think its thesis is "real war isn't like the adventure stories where it's heroes vs villains, this is what it's really like" or "There are, always and only, bad people. But some of them are on opposite sides". in going through my essay I'm genuinely wondering if I've had it all wrong is are they actually not going for realism and instead going for "everyone is actually a horrible person"? because in which case having the decepticons be a solid evil mass with no agency, while it may be bad writing, isn't actually undermining the thesis actually wait it makes more sense if i put it like this my thesis statement is that Wreckers undermines its own theme: example 1: Ironfist's entire character example 2: the Decepticons are badly written and flat, in the case of Overlord and torturer guy, over the top evil, in the case of everyone else, they don't really act normally and get treated like video game enemy crabs i kind of feel like i need a third example to sort of make everything gel together either that or to split it into two separate short essays, one about ironfist and one about the other one example 2 is the one that really undercuts that point because there's nothing humanizing the other side its like "killing the enemy is primarily bad because of what it does to you as a person"

quoth a friend:

the big thing about Aequitas was being confronted with the ways the autobots don't have the moral high ground over the decepticons, which a lot of them frame the morality of their actions around killing the enemy is only bad if they're named, have speaking lines and are relatable or if you're specifically ordered not to the focus is more on the person doing the killing than on the people being killed

#bluejay reads transformers #bluejay salts about idw1

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