#before you start no i don’t give a shit about bumblebee

[bubblinelovechild]

The RWBY fandoms treatment of Adam makes me very uncomfortable

This is very long sorry I was rambling <3

There’s something really odd about the dedication RWBY fans have to hating Adam. So much so that they’ll admit the writing of the WF is racist but refuse to admit that Adam a member of the white fang also suffered from that racist writing.

There’s this weird dedication to pretending there are no problems with the choices made around Adams character and vilifying literally everyone who tries to talk about it, for the sake of continuing to blindly hate him. The fandom seems to struggle with understanding that the show is fictional and everything that happens in it is a direct choice of its writers. Y’all talk about Adam like he is a real person who has personally offended you irl. Just a huge lack of media literacy tbh.

A white man wrote a civil rights group, that he admittedly based off the black panthers, as the generic bad guys of his shitty anime knockoff and made a central theme of the show the idea that fighting against your oppression violently makes you just as bad if not worse than your oppressors. Then he mad the leader of that group a generic abusive meanie bad guy. Who essentially is what white supremacists think civil rights activist are all the way down to being the fictional equivalent of a black supremacist.

When there was backlash to this he made a knockoff Malcom X and then killed her in her only scene and made a character whose ideology is basically sit down and lick the feet of your oppressors and had the audacity to say he was based off of MLK. How the fuck do you base a character off of somebody without doing basic research on them because contrary to what people seem to believe MLK was not a doormat and this is a conversation for a different day but I’m sick and tired of his memory being weaponised against black people.

What’s worse is that Adam is the only character portrayed as actually doing something to fight racism. Ghira’s faction is only ever seen fighting against other groups. I don’t know if y’all know this but that’s not how the civil rights movement worked. Most of the leaders didn’t agree on methods but they coexisted because the main goal was the liberation of black people and they knew they had to coexist. MLK did not go around calling the cops on revolutionaries he disagreed with.

The problems with Adam and the WF are not separate and cannot be. Most of what’s wrong with the Faunus plot line is the way the show handles Adam. The choices made with his writing cannot be separated from those they made with the WF overall. Adams choice to kill his attackers to keep himself and other Faunus safe, from people literally trying to kill them, is treated the way it is because of the stance they took with WFs writing. When Adam kills a human supremacist trying to kill Ghira you’re supposed to see it as an extreme and the beginning of his turn to evil. Adam isn’t a real person every descisiom he makes is informed by the white writers of the show. Why would the bias they displayed writing the WF not apply to him?

Some of you have been abused and relate to Blake in that sense, a lot of you seem to be projecting your abusers onto Adam. I’m sorry you went through that but you are not excused from buying into racist rhetoric. It’s incredibly uncomfortable as a black person to watch people talk about how “healing” it was for them to watch a civil rights leader admittedly inspired by black people slapped around and killed by two white women. It is anger inducing to watch fans celebrate “queer representation” dancing on the corpse of a monumental disrespect to black people and our history.

RWBY doesn’t even handle abuse well tbh and most of the queer rep is not that great, there are many shows that do it so much better, there is actually no excuse for hanging on to the black people are bad for fighting against racism show.

[razorblade180]

Crazy Night

Ruby:*picks up scroll* Go for broke? This is Ruby speak-

Yang:Pick us up.

Ruby:….Hm?

Yang:.You have to pick us up from the club. Please make sure you bring the tow hitch and straps for bumblebee.

Ruby:Geez, all of you are drunk.

Yang:No. but uuuhh-

xxxxxx

Ruby:WHY ARE YOU ALL BRUISED!?

Blake:Ask Weiss.

Weiss:*over Jaune’s shoulder* I am not in the mood.

Jaune:So umm everything was fine until-

Weiss:Until that bitch kept fucking pushing me and talking shit! Let me back in!

Bouncer:No!

Yang:*snickers* So, things were fine. The vibes were good. Jaune was killing it on the dance floor a little too well and some gals noticed…

Ruby:Weiss-

Weiss:I do not care if some rando gets ideas about Jaune. I did not actively assault anyone.

Blake:First of all, ya did. Second, Weiss was on good behavior actually. Some girl started flirting with Jaune and he politely declined the advances.

Jaune:Girls number two shows up; at this point I’m actively dancing with Weiss. Girl number two is tipsy and friends with girl number one.

Yang:Ruby when I tell you she was on this man! Budged Weiss out of the way and everything! To give me credit, all Weiss said at first was “Excuse me!?”

Ruby:At first?

Yang:Oh we will get to the colorful language in a minute. Jaune gets the girl dancing off of him to help Weiss. In the most annoying voice ever, the girl goes-

Weiss: “Oh sorry! Is that like…your girlfriend or something?” I don’t have to be his girlfriend for what she did to be shitty!

Ruby:Oh I would’ve swung instantly. Also, where’s Nora and Ren?

Jaune:We’ll get back to that.

Yang:I start making my way over a little because alcohol and anger brings out feelings and I just want good vibes. That’s when girl number one walks back over!

Blake:To be fair, I think she thought you were about to hit her friend. Not that she could stop you, but solidarity and all.

Ruby:What were you doing?

Blake:Watching the drinks. By the way, Weiss had three shots at this point.

Ruby:Weiss! You’re the size of one shot!

Weiss:I am fine! Plus you think I’m dancing in a club fully sober!? I had eaten beforehand and was with Jaune perfectly fine.

Yang:(You were using him like a pole.)

Jaune:*red* Anyways, the girls start getting a little more…bratty. Mainly towards Weiss and continuing to wink at me.

Weiss:They touching your chest and making you uncomfortable! Do not under sell that!

Yang:Was swatted the second girl’s hand away and said “take a hint, you bitch.” That’s when things got a little…dicey.

Ruby:Please don’t say it.

Blake:So uhhh clubs are loud and dark. Lots of people; pretty hard to look at completely. However, I started making my way over the moment I heard low growling.

Yang:And the rest of us quickly noticed fangs and a poodle tail.

Ruby:Weeeeeiiiisssss!

Weiss:Don’t call my name like I’m the problem!

Yang:The real nail in the coffin was the girl saying “What? He’s single. You scared your little boy toy wants a real woman?”

Weiss and Jaune:…..

Ruby:Oh.

Yang:*snickers*

Ruby:Why are you laughing!?

Yang:Because you need to understand Ruby. I fucking blinked, and everything changed. Our loving Weiss is a bad ass with years of combat training. I didn’t see any of that tonight. Tonight I remembered Weiss and a literal “rich bitch” and I wasn’t prepared! Beacon training was gone! She yanked this girl by the hair and was hammer fisting her face before I could process anything!

Weiss:*covering face*

Blake:And listen, most people might course correct learning they’re fighting a Faunus, but like Yang said, alcohol and anger brings out nasty feelings. Jaune and Yang are struggling to get Weiss away from that girl while I’m blocking the first one and alll I hear behind me is-

Bouncer: “Let me go. I’m gonna put this tramp in a kennel.”

Ruby:WHAT!?

Weiss:…

Blake:I’m gonna be honest, I kinda wanted to laugh because all I could think was “Oh my god, Weiss is actually fucking pissed! It’s freshman year Weiss!”

Weiss:I was not this bad freshman year!

Blake:I know! That’s what made this so crazy! I don’t believe in ghosts but your ancestors whispered in your ear for that level of hate. Anyway, bouncer showed up and now we’re here.

Ruby:What happened to the other two girls?

Bouncer:Didn’t start the fight. Get to stay in.

Ruby:….May I please enter this lovely esta-

Bouncer:No.

Ruby:Sorry yall. I tried. Yang, where’s your motorcycle?

Yang:Conveniently, the air has been let out of the tires when the club owner and others threatened legal actions. *red eyes* Fortunately for them, I choose to be responsible and call my sister so everyone gets home, instead of causing trouble.

Ruby:And dad would be proud. Alright, everyone into the convertible. Also, once again, where is-

Nora:Engine. Start. Now!

Ruby dashed by everyone and put them in them in back of the car then super sped bumblebee over to the tow hitch while Ren and Nora hopped in the front. As Ruby drove away quickly. Weiss leaned over the outside out of fear of puking, then felt a sense of ease as Jaune rubbed her back with his semblance activated.

Jaune:Thanks for standing up for me.

Weiss:I was more made than virtuous.

Jaune:Next time, you can just lie and say we’re dating. The outcome has to be better than this.

Weiss:*red*…Sure thing.

Yang:*mumbles* Or they can make it the truth.

Blake:We can’t judge them…

Ruby:So, I take it you got revenge?

Ren:It’s going to suck when they leave and wonder why their tires are flat.

Nora:I’m sure someone helpful has tire pump. Still, that doesn’t do much for a fried battery.

Ruby:What did we all learn today?

WBYJRN:Nothing. Fuck those girls.

Ruby:…Well as long as you all are in an agreement. Let tonight end with good music! Weiss, your payment is a song!

Weiss:Zzzz

Ruby:Yeah, definitely too many shots.

Weiss:Zzzz He’s mine~ Zzzz

Everyone:*red*….

Ruby:……*turns on radio*

[jethrowest]

the closer i get is the further i feel…

- synthetic love by motionless in white

i needed to write something for these two, no matter how small or convoluted. be the change you wish to see!

pairing : homelander/victoria neuman

word count : 679

warnings : light light smut (blink and it’s gone), dominant/submissive, mostly neuman’s conflicting thoughts. 18+, mdni

writing tag

———————

“You’re distracted.”

Victoria (or maybe she was Nadia this time? She couldn’t seem to keep it straight lately) was spread like a lounging feline across the couch, blouse unbuttoned and open, completely nude from the waist down. Homelander had gone straight to work as soon as she strolled through the door, heels heard by him well before her key hit the lock. Her light floral perfume filled his senses in an almost dizzying manner, innards buzzing like a bursting beehive. He was always early. Sometimes she’d keep him waiting on purpose.

His hot mouth between her legs was normally enough to keep her from teetering off the ledge she’d managed to construct. Something cruel and unrelenting had forced itself through her brain not long after she’d realized how malleable he could truly be. She was in the business of blackmail and using others as it were. This had started out that way, with a bit of “make sure he doesn’t go full-tilt insane.” However, she wasn’t sure what she was using him for or doing here at this point. She had an idea, but feeding into it only made it fester. In any case, he’d been more than cooperative, going above and beyond as far as her personal agenda was concerned; as far as keeping him in tow, which also happened to be underneath hers- pun intended.

So, how exactly did this arrangement manage to uncover wounds she either believed she’d buried, or never knew existed? She felt nauseated entertaining the notion that she and Vought’s star-spangled, homicidal lackey had more in common than she had with anyone else in her life.

“Yeah, I’m just…” she sighed, tapping a manicured nail to her forehead. “- thinking.”

His chuckle was felt against her ignited flesh, like concentrated heat from the inside of an oven. “Wasn’t it you who said we weren’t meant to think during our little sessions?”

She scoffed in response. “A woman’s mind never rests.”

Homelander licked his chops, her taste flowing from his tongue and permeating every part of him. He could tell she wasn’t as focused as she usually was. Her chemistry was off. Plus, she had been awfully quiet, both in shudders of pleasure and instruction. They would have been close to fucking by now. Instead, he’d remained attached to her slit like bumblebee to flower. And the flower wasn’t giving him much of that nectar he needed to survive.

“Sorry.” Victoria shook her head, straightening so she was sitting as opposed to partially draped over the armrest.

He paused a moment, then took it upon himself to plop down next to her, tucking his cape off to the side. She watched him do so, wondering if she should put her slacks back on and call it a night. But she didn’t… want him to go. That was also attributing to the frenzy upstairs.

“Wanna talk about it?” His unsheathed hand squeezed her exposed thigh, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. In what world would feelings enter their equation? She should be staving off his orgasm, not hollowing herself out to a greater extent. Shit, she probably shouldn’t even be doing the former.

She looked at him again, really looked at him. He presented her with a pursed smile, and she couldn’t tell if that was an attempt at sincerity or not. Perhaps he was a little offended that she found some kind of sick amusement out of his grand gesture. Both were plausible.

Blanketing her palm atop his clothed leg, Victoria leaned in, pupils roaming his semi-forced features. “Why don’t we talk about you instead?” Her fingers traipsed across his uniform, softly stroking his inner thigh. He shivered, eyes snapping shut. They fluttered half-open eventually, his expression resembling carved marble: solemn with an incomprehensible depth. “We’ll start off easy, okay? Now, where in our brief exchange did you get the idea that you were allowed on this couch next to me?” He stiffened, inhaling through his nose.

His arousal was back, and stronger than ever. So was hers.

[nifreti-ii]

Obey Me! Brothers + Diavolo Nickname Headcannons

My nicknames for all of the brothers (plus Diavolo) and a little bit on how they would react. (I might do one for the other dateables, not too confident about how to write them.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucifer

Starlight: He's known as Lucifer Morningstar, but calling him by his last name would be lame. Instead, Starlight is way more endearing. Just don't call him that in front of anyone else. (He will 100% flush and scold you.) Lord Diavolo will defiantly think it's cute.

Lulu or Luci: Another 'Don't you dare says this with anyone around.' Though it's best to call him this AFTER you've made a pact with him. At least at that point, he trusts you. He will definitely glare at you, and you will die on the spot if not. (Lulu will grumble about not calling him that as you pet his head.)

Lucifer: Best option in general. He's proud of his name and wants everyone to know it. (As if they don't already.)

Mammon

Magpie: You would have called him Crow instead, but Magpie sounds cuter. Especially after finding out how Magpies collect Shiny things to put on display for potential mates. (Mammon will proudly show off his car and jewelry to you and blush whenever you say how shiny they are.)

Mams: To be honest, this man will be smitten with you within the first week. So calling him by his designated nickname will be a must.

Bonbon or Monmon: Calling him Bonbon (along with Magpie) is a sure way of getting him to blush. He'll get all pissy about the human giving him these stupid names, but if you stop, he'll demand why his brothers get nicknames and not the 'Great Mammon.' (He would totally lay in bed and squeal about how he's your little Monmon/Magpie.)

Leviathan

Levi: Generic nickname everyone calls him. 

Levi (Le as in level, vi): This is my inner dick coming out. He'll get all red and fussy about it. Went on about how 'That's not how you say it', and 'stupid normie doesn't know how to pronounce my name.' (He will lose his shit if you say his full name the same way.

Guppy or Levi-chan: Leviathan.exe has stopped working. The dude would have to go through a hard reboot before responding. Poor thing doesn't think an icky otaku like him deserves a cutesy nickname from you. (Mf does.)

Lord of Shadows: He'll get all excited about it. He Probably will hug you, calling you his 'Henry' before getting his bearings and freaking out about what he did. (Probably disgusted for doing a 'normie' thing.)

Satan

Sate: Pretty sure he doesn't have a nickname, or at least one used consistently (Like a certain red-eyed demon). Doesn't act like it's a big deal. (He secretly likes having a nickname).

Saint: Another 'to be dick' nickname. If you do this before you establish a friendship/pact with him, he WILL want to kill you for the stupid joke. (If you do so after, he'll just be annoyed)

Satan: You can't go wrong with calling him by his name. 

Kitten: A guaranteed way of getting him to blush. Especially if you scratch behind his ear as you do it. He'll be red and lost for words. (He might start to purr if you keep petting him.)

Asmodeus

Asmo: Another generic nickname.

Az or Azzy: He'll think it's cute. Probably will refer to himself as your 'Azzy'. (Won't let anyone else call him that.)

Princess: This man will SQUEAL. He's gonna tackle you and give you hugs and kisses. Don't you dare ever call him anything else ever again. He'll get all pouty about it. (He will call you his prince charming.)

Beelzebub

Beel: Another generic nickname!

Bumblebee: Flies and gnats aren't cute, but you know what is? Bumblebees! It especially helps that they have similar wings. The first time you called him it, he was so confused. When you showed him a picture and explained, cutest little smile ever. (You'll never tell him it's also because he has a huge ass like one.)

Honeybee: Another case of explaining it and him being all cute. Likes the idea of being seen as a friendly baby boy. Another reason for the nickname is that he's such a sweetheart, sweet like honey. 

 This was just too cute not to share > Bees

Belphegor

Belphie: Woah, another generic nickname!

Cow: He'd probably get all pissy that he didn't get a cute nickname like his brothers, even more so after you call him it. I'm sorry but this bitch killed us, he's not getting a cute nickname. (He'll glare at you from his napping spot.)

Calf: First time you called him it, he pouted. He won't ever complain about it, though he'll pout every time. (Secretly likes it. He'll happily think about it before every nap.) 

Bell: Won't think much about it since it's similar to his other nickname. (Give him a collar with a bell on it, I dear you.)

Diavolo

Diavolo: This man got so excited the first time you called him by his first name. To be honest, it just slipped out, and you panicked HARD. (But after seeing his gummy smile you realized you did well.) 

Dia: Another case of this man beaming, probably raving about it to Barbatos. "The human gave me a nickname! :D"

Sunshine: Dia is like a shining light in Devildom, usually upbeat and positive. So when you called him sunshine (after asking to give him another nickname.), he gushed. 100% hugged you and twirled around, laughing the whole time. One time, you called him sunshine during a meeting. He got so happy, face flushed, eyes closed, and a massive smile on his face. (Lucifer was mortified and scolded you for 2 hours.)

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I've been thinking about these damn nicknames for days I tell you. I couldn't take it anymore. I had fun writing this, I think it's all so cute.

Check out my Masterlist for my art and writings. :D

[earthstellar]

Battle Analysis: TFP S2 Episode 18 - New Recruit

I like how in the beginning of Smokescreen’s introductory episode, we get to see a decent little battle which serves to emphasise how each character works well independently and together in a fight. 

it actually reminds me a lot of how my father (who was a field medic in the Army) used to tell me about how some of his casualty extraction missions went, in terms of how Ratchet is positioned with the others in formation etc.

Then I started thinking about it, and I thought it might be a good scene to go over in a little more detail. 

So, since I’ve never done a battle analysis before, I figured I’d try covering this one! :) 

The Situation at Hand 

It’s worth keeping in mind that the setup here is that a Cybertronian pod has crashed down to Earth’s surface, and the Autobots are unable to ascertain if it is an enemy pod or not. 

So Optimus asks Ratchet to bring his medical kit, in the event that it is a fellow Autobot who may need medical attention, which is a reasonable decision and places Ratchet in the field with good purpose. 

They leave without Bulkhead, as he is still recovering from prior injuries.

The order in which they arrive on scene via ground bridge is notable: 

Bumblebee is a scout, so he’s out of the ground bridge first. 

Arcee is supporting Bumblebee as spotter/additional firepower; Both her and Bumblebee are in “on point” positions, meaning they are the most exposed forward. 

Optimus is, in this situation, the heaviest hitter, so he takes a central position-- This also allows him to remain in reasonable proximity to all members of the away team, making it ideally easier for him to command. 

Ratchet is in the rear position, slightly offset to Optimus’ left, giving both Optimus and Arcee good cover of him if things happened to kick off immediately upon arrival on scene. 

This is a good deployment arrangement! 

Arcee and Bumblebee proceed forward and get to the crashed pod first, which makes sense; This is why they’re on point. 

But then the group spaces out a little bit, which isn’t ideal; Oh shit, it’s Decepticons!!! Mostly Insecticons. 

Immediately we see Arcee and Bumblebee close in together, something they’re probably familiar with and were possibly trained to do, given that they are in complimentary positions in deployment most of the time. 

But this leaves Ratchet exposed, and you can actually see in his posture here (sorry for the blurry screencap, this is a very short moment and the camera moves over fairly quickly) that Ratchet is wary of the source of enemy fire and appears to be trying to move closer to where Optimus is generally at. 

Again, this makes sense: Medics are, unfortunately, a huge target on the battlefield. (Geneva Convention treaties don’t apply here, and even if they did, most of the time they’re just ignored in reality. It’s not great.) You DO NOT want to be in the open anyway, but especially not when you are a very easily identifiable, highly desirable target for enemy fire. 

As a medic, you aren’t just charging in with any others, you’re constantly strategically trying to figure out the best way to provide support and not die while doing it. While Ratchet does have one of his wrist blades deployed here, keep in mind, Ratchet does not have a blaster or long range weaponry. He’s at a particular disadvantage in this situation. 

So Ratchet’s best chance for cover and his best position to provide support is with Optimus, who is more likely to be hit (owing to slower speed and larger size compared to Bee and Arcee). Thus giving him more protection and allowing him to serve as functional support. 

For those of you who have played TF2, this is probably the most obvious part of why the Medic/Heavy combo is so good. It provides maximum benefit to both people/players. 

(At the same time, the reason he didn’t follow Optimus from the get-go is likely because since Bee and Arcee have lighter armour, they might be at greater risk of injury from just one or two shots, compared to Optimus who’s a bit hardier. So he took a middle position, which unfortunately left him with no immediate cover.) 

Unfortunately, Ratchet is also old. So he’s instantly pinned by a fuck off huge Insecticon; There’s no way most could have reacted in time to dodge this, but especially not him. 

What I especially like here though, is that the impact of this hit appears to genuinely stun him. 

It happens quickly, but you can see how he’s looking straight forward here, his limbs are out to his sides-- It seems to take him a full second to recover and actually look up. 

While Ratchet is just about pinned, the Insecticon does actually leave a noticeable amount of space in between them, which makes me think this impact definitely hit Ratchet pretty hard; He has enough space here to take a swing with his blade, but he doesn’t. 

It’s interesting because this is a pretty good shot; The Insecticon has a fully exposed torso here, which would be a good area to target with a blade as their armour seems thinner to allow for greater range of movement and speed. 

But! Not taking the opportunity here was also a solid choice. 

Ratchet, being smaller in terms of height, may have been able to get a good jab into the torso and upward with his blade, which would likely have caused some decent damage in a sensitive area and may have even allowed for a large tear to form in the armour, leaving the Insecticon more vulnerable to blaster fire or any follow up impact to the chest/waist. 

At the same time, in the moment, Ratchet is now trying to recover rapidly from a hit that was hard enough to stun him while also having to evaluate if the risk of taking any action here would be worth it. The Insecticon could easily close in, especially with greater speed...

...And of course, the Autobots are experienced at working with each other in the field. Ratchet also likely understood that Arcee and Bee are still close enough to provide assistance, and might have made the call to depend on their aid rather than risk damaging his wrist blade-- Which is still a medical tool, and his primary purpose in the field is to assist others if/as needed. If his wrist blade is damaged or dulled while trying to puncture Insecticon armour, that would leave him less capable at his primary function here.

 Arcee ends up coming in from the side to take the opportunity instead, which is quickly proven to have been a good choice of action. And very good situational awareness on Arcee’s part, too! 

Arcee is grabbed by the Insecticon after giving it a reasonably heavy kick, but is able to get out of it’s grasp with a solid backflip-- Ratchet just does not have the flexibility or frame type to allow for this type of escape, especially not after just having been stunned by a full-body impact. 

It was the right call for Ratchet to leave it open so Arcee could land the hit. 

Sure, the Insecticon may not have been able to grab Ratchet in the same way, but Arcee has the reaction speed to match, and created a ton of distance in between her and the enemy almost instantly-- Something Ratchet could not have done if the Insecticon further advanced on him, as the boulder he was rammed into limits his movement options.

We then see that Optimus has also moved back over to close the gap between everyone, with Arcee next to Bee (although hard to see in this particular shot) and Ratchet now in a better position to provide support (behind and to Optimus’ right), even though he did not have to move himself-- Optimus moved over to him, instead. 

Smokescreen shows up, initially jumps over Bee and Arcee to take point position, then leaps back-- And firmly plants himself in front of Ratchet as well, while also maintaining enough distance to still remain on point. 

It’s worth remembering that Smokescreen at the very least went through boot camp for the Iacon Elite Guard (even though this seems to have mostly been a ploy by Alpha Trion and we don’t know what the actual selection process was like for any of this), so Smokescreen does seem to have some ability to know where to position himself in battle, even if he lacks experience and his tactics amount to “fire a lot at the enemy or in their general direction”. lmao he’s still learning though, it’s fine. 

As far as Smokescreen is concerned, there was a gap exposing their medic, and they only have one heavy hitter (Optimus), so he’s put himself in a position where he can cover Ratchet, easily move to group with the other faster, lighter weight bots if an advantage opens up for them to move forward, or move laterally to provide fire support for Optimus if need be. 

Honestly, not a bad position to take, it’s just the way he went about it and his “shoot everything” approach which is problematic, lmao. 

At this point, he ignites the energon fuel leaking from the pod by accident, which leads to a bit of an “oh shit run away” sequence-- But we can still see that they maintain a reasonable formation in falling back: 

Ratchet, in the rear and most defended position, is now first out. Arcee on the far left is running up ahead to get in front of or alongside him, to regain a more on point position. Bee is following her, slightly slower to keep the formation reasonably tight. Optimus is taking the right side, and Smokescreen follows suit slightly to the right as well but in a good position to turn around and take an immediate point position in the opposite direction if needed to provide some rear cover.

They successfully bail behind some rock formations for cover from the burning fuel explosion, and you can see the order in which they get there, consistent with the previous sequence. 

They land in the appropriate order: Arcee, Ratchet, Bee, Optimus, then Smokescreen last.

And that’s pretty much it, the explosion took out the Insecticons and Smokescreen proceeds to embarrass himself immediately. lmao 

This whole little scene is a particularly good example of the Autobots sticking to their roles in battle while also understanding how best to operate and work together as a team when deployed. 

Although it’s fairly short, it showcases everyone’s respective roles in battle very well! 

Bee is an excellent scout, and we know that, but it’s nice to see him actually handling things effectively in the field; Notice how he’s one of the few who didn’t get pushed around too much here! When the team had to close in together, they did so with Bee’s general position as their defensible point, and stayed more central to where their fire was being most effective. 

Arcee got to showcase her skills in a few ways here, speed and situational awareness both being critical. It would have been easy for her to fixate on what her and Bee were doing, but she knows better than to get lost in a single focus and came to Ratchet’s rescue very effectively. 

Ratchet was ready throughout to provide support if needed, and when he got attacked, he knew to rely on his teammates to assist him rather than risk taking additional damage as the sole medic. 

Optimus did a good job (as expected) being both their sole heavier gunner and their field commander-- Double duty, as Bulkhead’s still out of commission. He was clearly right to order a retreat when he did, and didn’t bother fixating too much on Smokescreen’s sudden appearance, instead remaining focused on the task at hand. Not that any of this is surprising, but it would be interesting to compare his field command style to Ultra Magnus’. 

Smokescreen did a good job of figuring out where to fit himself in during battle; He just really needs to stop fucking around, lmao, but he also just woke up after a fairly long stasis and he has very limited actual field experience prior to this, so that’s worth keeping in mind! 

---

Hopefully this was interesting; I just woke up so I’m still sipping a coffee lmao but I wanted to write this up while I had a little time. :) 

If you read all this, thank you so much!! :) <3 

[lightning-themultifury]

Pt.4 of my deranged shit.

Link to pt. 3

TFP

Figuring out what to do before Agent Fowler finds out: Getting settled in (pt.1)

(Mild angst 🫠)

•

Optimus: “So… You are a certain subspecies of the extinct night fury?”

Lightning: “That about summarizes it.”

Optimus: “Well, now to figure out what to do with you…”

Ratchet: “Throw her outside.”

Optimus: “Old Friend, be nice. She’s not done any harm thus far.”

Ratchet: “Hmph.”

Optimus: “As much as just letting you leave would be the simplest option, a being such as you will not be safe… Arcee.”

Arcee: “Yes, Optimus?”

Optimus: “Could you set up a temporary room for our new companion, please?”

Arcee: “Yes Sir. If you could, follow me.”

Lightning: “Oop- we’re goin’ now… A crap- wait up!”

Bulkhead: “Maybe we should start carrying our human companions around so they’re not having to run after us…”

Ratchet: “You all can have fun with that. I rather not.”

——————

|Arcee walking with Lightning to her new quarters|

Arcee: Just to give you a bit of an early heads up. We do have humans that stay here after school—”

Lightning: “Other teens?!”

Arcee: “Yes, why did that make you excited?”

Lightning: “I have been stuck with one too many human adults that have been actual horrible and ab*sive people so, kinda refreshing to actually possibly talk to people that are or are near my age.”

Arcee: “That is understandable I guess… You had mentioned that you had been used as a lab rat on multiple different occasions… Are you going to be okay?”

Lightning: “Probably not, but at this point I am taking the depression in stride.”

Arcee: “Lightning… That’s not okay.”

Lightning: “I know. It’s just… I haven’t had time to get adjusted to my current life, grieve on my terms, or just— let alone be me and not some fearful animal.”

Arcee: “How about this… When you feel like you’ve adjusted to living around here and if you feel the need to talk and vent for a bit, we will be there. If that sounds alright with you?”

Lightning: “I… I would like that… Thank you.”

Arcee: “Don’t mention it kid… Alright, so. This is your bertheroom or as you may know as a bedroom or your quarters for now. Mine is not that far down from yours and it is next to Bumblebee’s.”

Lightning: “Who?”

Arcee: “We’ll introduce you to everyone when we get the chance. For now just explore the room. I will be back in a few.”

————————

This is a two part. Sorry y’all 😔

[jetsandflowers]

HELLO THERE! I'M JET/FLOWERS! 🌼 Consistently losing my sanity over the giant space robots (as you do), I'm over-enthused and over-caffeinated and have a brain that wanders like a little fish. Sometimes I write! Sometimes I art. Most times I just stare into The Void.

🛫MY TF FANDOMS🛫 🌼 Transformers Animated 🌼 Transformers Prime 🌼 G1 Transformers 🌼 Transformers Earthspark 🌼 Transformers Cyberverse 🌼 Bumblebee Movie 🌼 Rescue Bots

🌼 Transformers One

🛫UNMENTIONED🛫 🌼 Bay movies (nah. thanks. the fanfics I've read go hard though) 🌼 Comics (may start reading 'em soon!)

🛫FAVORITE BOTS🛫 🌼 Blitzwing (TFA): EVERYBODY APPLAUD THAT COURT JESTER RIGHT NOW he's the funniest MF here. Wife material??? Brain says yes. 🌼 Ratchet(TFA, TFP): That's Peepaw!!! 🌼 Wasp/Waspinator (TFA): I am a hard-core Wasp apologist. He was a big meanie but he didn't deserve That. Wishing hugs and therapy on that dude! 🌼 Bumblebee (TFA, Earthspark): That's The Guy. Homie who you could kiss material. 🌼 Swindle (TFA): Baddie. I love him. 🌼 Blurr (TFA): That's Zippy!! 🌼 Starscream: I love him in every iteration 🌼 Shockwave: I love him in every iteration 🌼 Soundwave (every iteration): He's the only one with brain cells! Prime has the most Shaped design to me and I love the idea about his vow of silence, but G1 will always be my true fave. 🌼 Hound (G1): no real reason. He's my little guy, a true blorbo. 🌼 Blades (Rescue Bots): just the most blorbo!!! 🌼 Nightshade (Earthspark): They're actually perfect.

🛫MY SHIPS (I collect Blitzwing ships like cool coins at this point) 🛫 🌼 Blitzwing X Bumblebee (TFA): Ma'am, why are you shipping those two clowns together, I hear you ask. Well, maybe because they're silly goofy, and I think they should exchange clown noses. Real talk though? Vibes. Also together they could get away with murder - Actually, SIKE, no they couldn't, and that's precisely why I'm shipping them. 🌼 Blitzwing X Wasp/Waspinator (TFA): I know it’s weird but it’s like dark timeline Blitzbee for me and I dig it. I'm the only one that ships this as far as I know but it rocks anyways. 🌼 Blitzwing X Blackarachnia (TFA): Think about the body horror discussions they could have, man. Additionally, she made him Like That according to the Allspark Almanac. Like HELLO. Someone had to suggest it at least. It'll be me I'm chill with that. Also, can we talk about the actual Stein and Madusa energy they give o- aight, I'll stop now before I go on forever. Side note for persuasion purposes: they're also mostly dressed in the asexual colors. Hell yeah!!!

🌼 Charlie x Bumblebee (BB movie): HUMANS AND ROBOTS LOVING EACH OTHER: THE SHIP. YAAAAAYYY!!!! 🌼 Optimus X Megatron: When I tell you that any love story between these two is so Pride and Prejudice coded... UGH-the DRAMA. Disgusting! Give me more!!! 🌼 Starscream X Megatron (TFA, G1, Earthspark: oh I ship them, sure, but like, in the way where it's like they're in the middle of a nasty divorce. Horrible. Beautiful. Mwah!

🌼 Thundercracker X Skywarp (G1): Wholesome. Adorable. 🌼 Swindle X Lockdown (TFA) they slay and it’s everyone’s problem. 🌼 Shockwave X Soundwave (TFP & G1): I don’t gotta say anything more than they’re just top tier. They get shit done. The end, amen. 🌼 Slipstream X Blackaracknia (TFA): now this? This is beautiful.

🛫TAGS🛫 🌼 Art Tag: #Jet's art

[littlemisssquiggles]

...So about the SIXTH episode of RWBY V9...

This is the episode where I think my general opinion will probably get me in trouble with a certain community within the FNDM. Already you can probably tell where I’m about to go with this knowing exactly what happened in today’s episode if you saw. But; since I’ve always did my best to remain honest in my remark posts, I’m just going to come right out and say what I have to say regarding this episode. Specifically a certain moment in it.

[SPOILERS AHEAD! NUFF SAID]

Something to be said about the Bees...

If you were expecting me to gush over the big Bumblebee confession and kiss that was dropped today then I’m going to have to disappoint some of you. I mean…I knew it was going to happen eventually given all the hints that were dropped this season and even prior to it even in the promotional material like the volume poster.

However; despite expecting it…I’m sorry ya'll but I didn't care for the major Bumblebee moment at all.

If anything, the moment left me rolling my eyes and feeling genuinely annoyed that the showrunners chose to dedicate a portion of the episode to this rather than anything else.

Outside of the setup, the visuals and the music (I really loved the little theme that was playing throughout the moment), if it were any other ship---a ship that was better developed, this moment would've had me over the moon. 

Being the hopeless romantic that I am with a shipping heart that’s bigger than I am tall, I should’ve loved this moment! I WANTED to love this moment because, not gonna lie, it got me a little bit during the build up bits. But only because it was such a ridiculously sweet, tender moment and as I said, the set up was fantastic.

It should be a crime to give me such a beautifully executed confession scene with all the fixings and waste it on a ship that I don’t care about.

The fact that this, compared to other shipping moments that came before, was wasted on the Bees---I just felt nothing for it.

And before anyone jumps down my throat and calls me names, let me just counter by saying this one thing:

My issue with Bumblebee as a romantic pairing has NEVER been the fact that it's LGBTQ (and I genuinely hate seeing this accusation used every time someone so much as criticize this ship).

Good writing is very, very important to me. It’s what I look for the most in every piece of media I consume from books to TV shows to movies, etc. In the case of stories with important character bonds and romantic subplots, the writing backing said relationships between characters is what matters foremost to this squiggle meister.

To put it bluntly, I could give two shits whether a character relationship is straight or queer. Just tell a goddamn good story because a good story will make any character or character connection---be it straight or LGBTQ---worth getting invested in.

This is my gripe with Yang and Blake’s so-called romantic journey. The development of these two leading ladies from strangers to friends to lovers has not been a good story or at least not a well-written one for me from the start.

There has been some noticeable bumps in the road to get us to the highlight of today’s episode where Yang and Blake profess their love for one another and then seal it with a kiss.

And while the more vocally passionate supporters of this ship would often like to disregard/flat out deny the humble beginnings of the Bees, I simply cannot because I pay too much attention to the writing in the story of RWBY.

My main gripe with the Bees has always been in its execution; the way the show chose to go about writing and portraying this pair. It never felt natural to me. It always felt forced because rather than actually backing the Bees with good writing, the writers felt that suddenly shoving them together after 5 seasons of focusing on another Blake ship and then shoehorning little nuggets of Bees into moments where the timing felt off was enough.

Spoilers. It wasn’t. Not everyone bought into the Bee romance. Myself included. 

This episode, sadly, only proved to further my point.

I was more invested in the other part of Episode 6---the part that focused on Jaune's story as the Rusted Knight.

I honestly was expecting this episode to be the one where Ruby finally has her breaking point. The way the CRWBY members were telling everyone to avoid spoilers prior to today’s episode over on Twitter, I felt like this was going to be the pinnacle episode where that happened.

But no. Turns out the highlight of episode 6 was the Bee kiss and…again, as I’ll reiterate, it did nothing for me.

The rest of the episode...

While the Bee shippers can have their fun gushing about the Bee moment and that alone, for me, I was more invested in the non-Bee related aspect of the episode.

The fact that Alyx's adventures in the Ever After were indeed true. The fact that Alyx wasn't entirely the “kind protagonist” as she was made out to be in her own story. The fact that she had a brother that she willingly sacrificed to the Tree as a means of returning home. The fact that the Tree is actually dangerous. The fact that the Curious Cat pulled a Kyube from Madoka Magica and is not the friendly ally we pegged it to be (Or at least that is what we're being led to believe)

All of these reveals interested me far more than the Bee kiss and I wanted more from that part of the episode.

Personally I'm still willing to put my fate in the Curious Cat. It did seem genuinely saddened after it parted ways with Ruby, Weiss and Jaune.

A part of me is still willing to believe that in the end, the Curious Cat will do something good for Ruby to get her and her friends home. I wish to hold out on that, mainly because I do like the Curious Cat as a character.

Another part I thought was interesting was the part in the beginning---the part where Jaune ended up on the beach and destroyed the strange clock-shaped fruit that he discovered on the strange tree.

While the episode didn’t say more about that part, it does make me wonder something most curious.

Did Jaune unknowingly mess up/turn back time in the Ever After by destroying the clock fruit?

I mean, it would explain how he was able to meet Alyx and her brother Luis in the past? Clearly Alyx's story took place in the past long before RWBYJ were born if her story was one they grew up with, right?

So interestingly enough…Jaune’s future is Alyx past? Because Jaune met Alyx and her brother in the past but Jaune is from the future after Alyx long completed her adventures in the Ever After and returned home?

I dunno bout ya’ll but I found that twist to be kind of cool. So basically Jaune lived on the Ever After for quite some time given his maturity. But again, Jaune is from the future but met a character from the past.

That makes me wonder something---the mysterious time fruit that Jaune found and destroyed---is there more of it? Could that be an alternative to helping RWBYJ return home safely to Remnant without needing to go to the Tree?

Because as we were made well aware of, the Tree is not quite a tree of life but more so a Tree of Death---another nice twist. However, there is one aspect of it that does remain to be true despite the Curious Cat’s trickery. It does seem like the Tree has the power to return non-Afterans to Remnant but through some kind of sacrifice.

It seems like in order to go back to Remnant, a sacrifice needs to be made?

If Alyx was required to possibly kill and offer her brother up to the Tree of Death to return home to Remant, what if...RWBYJ would have to do something similar?

Imagine if...in the end, Ruby is the one to remain back in the Ever After while her friends go home without her?

What if...Ruby is met with the same ultimatum from the Tree of Death as Alyx? Give up something precious to her in order to go home?

But unlike Alyx who was selfish in her final choice, what if...Ruby doesn't do this? Obviously Ruby would never give up her friends/loved ones the way Alyx did in her story.

What if...Ruby does the opposite of Alyx and sacrifices herself so that her friends may go home without her.

And unlike Alyx who was the lone survivor of the Ever After who wrote her own brother out of her story and her life essentially, what if…Weiss, Blake, Yang and Jaune all return to Remnant and are forced to carry on Ruby’s legacy because back home on Remnant, it would be as if Ruby never existed. Written out of the story.

This makes me think back to the last thing Cinder said to Ruby before leaving her to drop with Neo.

Cinder told Ruby that things would be better if she had never been born. So perhaps, this was a foreshadow to Ruby’s “death”.

Ruby’s existence will be erased, much like Luis.

Or..what if...and this is a big IF, there is another unknown twist to the story of Alyx.

What if…Alyx was never the author of “The Girl Who Fell Through the World”?

What if…the person who told Alyx’s story was in fact her brother Luis?

Hear me out on this one folks because I’m about to drop a big theory here.

What if…back on Remnant, Alyx always has a strained relationship with her brother from the jump and always secretly resented him in a way because as siblings, the two were constantly compared with Luis being the more favourable of the two children since he was the kinder of the two.

Imagine if...growing up Alyx suffered a childhood where she was always told be “more like her brother” and it was this resentment that Alyx brought with her into the Ever After.

What if...when Alyx tried to sacrifice Luis, the Tree of Death pulled a switcheroo, sending Luis back home instead while Alyx remained trapped in the Ever After forever.

It is said in the story that when Alyx returned to Remnant, she wasn't the same person anymore.

So what if... when Luis returned home to Remnant, he wasn’t Luis anymore. He had become Alyx, taking her place in the world while the real Alyx was written out of existence and replaced by Luis.

Or perhaps Luis remained as he was but he was left completely heartbroken by the events. Of losing his sister the way he did. Of leaving her behind the way he did. Perhaps Luis loved his sister dearly and being the kind person that he was depicted to be, Luis chose to carry on his sister’s legacy by writing a book about their adventures where she was the main hero---therefore, Alyx would forever be remembered as a good person because that’s how Luis---the brother she hated--- wanted her---the sister he loved---- to be remembered?

That’s my theory.

Luis became the true author of “The Girl Who Fell Through the World” while Alyx either was eaten by the Jabberwalker or became the Jabberwalker.

I feel the real Alyx was cursed to be forever trapped in the Ever After, becoming known as a monster amongst the inhabitants because that seems to be the type of person Alyx really was---

A monster who would give up her own loved ones to escape the imaginary fairytale world only to wind up becoming a prisoner of it.

That’s my hunch for now and my biggest takeway from this episode.

That being said, this is all I have to say on EP6.

~LMS (2023)

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

Transformers Rise of the Beasts

I’ll just reveal this. I cried twice at this film. While for the second time, I felt like tearing up but...crying is a strange term to describe tearing up. And I mean this in the best way. Anyway, this film has some cool posters. But it was tricky choosing one to show here. So, here’s this one.

There will be no major spoilers for this review. I will add a keep reading option. But I will...again, no huge spoilers. Yet I am going to talk about that ending scene and how I feel about it. While I...spoil it without saying anything. First the negatives and then the positives.

I was wanting to see this in IMAX. But I didn’t want to wait a few hours, so I went to a normal theater.

Here’s my biggest negative with this film. Despite many people complaining about the runtime of the later films...I wanted this film to be longer in some areas. While maybe not exactly three hours. But this is an issue I have with some of these big “Blockbusters”, and I feel like it may have to do with the number of characters in this film.

Certain things feel like they needed to be answered. And some things seem a bit rushed. Because I feel like for general audiences, it’s better to have some moments flow more and flesh out more characters. But that doesn’t mean there are personal moments and characters aren’t developed. Because like I’ve heard about this film. And I can confirm this.

Transformers Rise of the Beasts is basically trying to give you the huge action spectacles of the Bayformers films. But while still having the more personal and slow moments of Bumblebee.

Anyway, the other negatives. This one is a bit sillier. Fuck Jillian, all my homies hate Jillian. I strangely wished this character was killed by one of the Terrorcons. But that’s merely me being a sociopath and this character maybe only has a minute of screentime and something she does that I feel like...this woman doesn’t deserve nice things. But again, I sound so horrible.

(As of right now, I’m talking about Optimus Prime’s character. But fuck! I just found out that the Jillian character was played by Sarah Stiles, holy shit dude!0

But also, the ending before the credits start. This scene...I fucking hate it. Because like others, I now worry for this franchise. I get there has been crossovers with Transformers and this particular franchise. While I wouldn’t mind it down the line. But right now, no, I don’t want this crossover. I just want my Decepticon and Predacon breathren (I sound silly I know; I want those guys to show up next time) to show up in the sequel. That guy should’ve been Agent Burns from Bumblebee, not that dude.

Anyway, let’s get to the positives.

Despite I feel like this film could’ve been longer to flesh out more things. But what Steven Caple Jr. does just like Travis Knight, and a major important thing with this film. Despite it deals with a “McGuffin” story like Bayformers films. What Steven does though is that he’s able to still put emotion, characters and heart into this film. Even with how loaded it can be. 

Because I feel like if things were written a bit differently, and maybe it was longer. Transformers Rise of the Beasts would likely be one of the best Transformers films ever. It likely is, but what holds it back is again, how loaded it can be. But the film has its heart in the right place. And Steven and the writers clearly show that. It’s just trying to balance the action with the genuineness of the story it’s trying to tell. And I think people should admire that it tried to do that. Yet criticism is always allowed.

In a way, and I shouldn’t make the comparison. It’s akin to how Brad Peyton’s Rampage is so simple with its premise, but still has this emotional core in it. I’ll get back to the point.

The characters, both humans and robots.

The Cybertronians are treated like characters, like people. And that is truly special. Despite little moments in the Bayformers films that try to develop them. But they are usually treated as part of action set pieces than actual characters. Even with films that tried to develop them did so in such ways that didn’t seem I guess genuine. And then we got Bumbleebee, a simpler story about a young girl and her new robot friend. After all the Bayverse films, that was a film we needed, and I saw that movie three times in theaters.

When hearing the producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura wanted the sequel to be more action heavy akin to Michael Bay’s works. Many people like me were worried. And this dude Lorenzo, even to this day he still says stupid shit. He’s also one of the reasons why these films can be how they are. Like...there’s some videos explaining what I mean.

But again, despite the premise being filled with more stakes and less simple than Bumbelebee. It still treats the Transformers themselves as actual characters. Particularly Optimus Prime himself who has an arc of his own and you also have the character of Noah Diaz. They are pretty much our lead characters.

This is maybe Peter Cullen’s best voice over in the films and Optimus’s arc is fantastic. With him being a leader who has this heavy burden upon him wanting to protect his Autobots. Along with him having parallels to Noah as a character. By the way, Anthony Ramos as Noah is fantastic too. He’s likely one of my favorite human characters (Even though I still love Charlie Watson, Noah is still awesome) in this story. His goal, his story, along with his development are fantastic as well. There’s some conflict with their goals a bit despite how similar they are.

Again, they’re both played fantastically. Two of my favorite characters from the film. Then you got Pete Davidson voicing Mirage. Even though Mirage isn’t like his G1 self. But he’s pretty funny honestly, and his relationship with Noah is pretty great too. Mirage has some great scenes along with some of the other robots. Such as Optimus Primal and Airrazor. There’s a lot of good stuff in here.

But again, the robots are treated like characters just like the humans. Yet I do think you’ll mainly get that with characters like Optimus, Mirage, Primal and Airrazor. I think Scourge possibly as well, but I want to talk about him later. The other robots like Bumblebee, Arcee & Pablo Wheeljack (Yes, I’m calling him that too) have their moments. Whether it be for humor or small little moments. But nothing huge like character development.

You also have our second main human character Eleana. Who is also good, but I do seem to agree. She’s mainly there for plot reasons, but she isn’t a bad character either way. I honestly, liked nearly every character in this film. Even when characters like Cheetor, Rhinox, Battletrap, Nightbird and Stratosphere get a few lines here and there.

I’ll admit, while you do get to see the Maximals early on, they are mostly part of the third act. While Primal and Airrazor are the ones that get the most attention. And this one moment is the first part that legitimately made me tear up because of how affective it was. When you see the movie, you’ll understand what I mean.

Again, while Cheetor and Rhinox are there, nothing is done with them. But with all the robots despite...Pablo Wheeljack in a strange case. All of these Cybertronians are treated like characters and dealt with respect. Even with some having little screentime. It seems more earnest or genuine than how the Bayformers treated the robots.

Pablo Wheeljack is a weird case because he’s not bad or anything. His look isn’t bad and that I recall, there’s a reason for that. But they don’t explain it in the film, and it would be just better if he wasn’t called Wheeljack. In fact, I question if he should’ve been in the film anyway.

Now let's get to the Terrorcons. Scourge like others have said, he’s the best villain these live action films have had. Peter Dinklage voices him very well. Even though considering some of his lines really hints to him that he’s enjoying what he’s doing. Despite I feel like he seems to have a similar role as Galvatron in the 1986 Transformers movie. Being a slave of Unicron but instead of wanting to break free, he’s again, fully enjoying what he’s doing. Even though I feel like some depth could’ve been added to him to make me like him more. But he gets the job done.

While I do like me some pure villains who love what they’re doing. Some depth is nice to explain them. Even if it might be shallow.

Yet I do feel disappointed when it concerns his allies. While I can understand Battletrap is more of the “Brute” and he doesn’t get much lines. It’s kind of annoying when you know the history behind Nightbird as a character. But she’s instead played off as a henchwoman in this movie. Especially when you remember they talked about her character being flexible with alliances. Especially before the movie released. It looked like Battletrap and possibly Nightbird were ex-Decepticons turned Terrorcons.

I’m going to say this. I would’ve liked it if the Autobots when they first meet the Terrorcons, they assume they are Decepticons until they realize they are facing against something different and much more horrifying. Particularly Optimus as he’s been holding a burden as he’s been trying to make sure his Autobots aren’t found and no Decepticons find Earth. That’s something I wanted to see because I feel like that would be a big deal.

Anyway, I like all the robots in the film. I should talk about other stuff. Such as the score by Jongnic Bontemps. This is a spectacular score and hits the right notes. Especially there are familiar elements you’ll recognize from other Transformers films. Along with one of a certain classic villain I recall seeing a tweet mentioning it.

The action is again, awesome. You can see it, and it can be creative. And sometimes downright brutal. It’s made better when you can care about some of the characters. The set pieces are spectacular to see and what else can I say about the film? Because I feel like I’ve talked about it a lot. It was mainly the writing I wanted to talk about.

-

I think I want to finish this review soon. As a Transformers fan myself, I liked this film. While I do wish some things could be fleshed out a bit more. Like, the film could’ve been longer so things could have more weight. But the film still does it job of being a more heartfelt, yet action filled film. It’s directed by a guy who genuinely gives a damn and likes the franchise. It’s one of the best Transformers films despite its setbacks.

If you were annoyed with the Bayverse and loved Bumblebee, or you liked the action from the Bayformers, go check out this film. It’s pretty dang good. Maybe I gotta watch it more and think about it. But I was happy with what I’ve seen. Even though it wasn’t game changing, and you could be annoyed by it doing the “McGuffin” like story. But this time, you actually have genuine characters in this with some character development.

Again, despite how loaded it can be. It’s a good film, and I genuinely liked it. Hoping Transformers One is awesome. But also hoping the sequel to this gets even better, and we’d get a Beast Wars film down the line. Because I love Beast Wars. I just don’t want Lorenzo fucking shit up again.

[sanguineterrain]

honey!! number 11 on the prompt list is so steve coded, don’t ya think??

it so totally is 🥰 11. back hugs

steve h x gn!reader. good ol' pining besties <3

****

"Robin," you say. "You're overthinking it."

"Signals, Y/N. People have signals. A hand on your wrist, a secret smile. Signals! Now: was Vickie sending me signals? We have to explore all possibilities. But mostly, the answer is probably no. She just wants to hang."

"She asked you to brunch. People our age do not go to brunch."

"Brunch is classy!"

"Brunch is a breakfast date," you scoff. "Brunch is I want to get a cat with you."

"Well, I think—" Robin groans, glancing over your shoulder. "Oh, God. Heads up. Loverboy, twelve o'clock."

Before you can turn, you're being swept into a warm hug from behind. Steve's cheek presses to yours, his chin tucked in your neck. The tip of his nose is cold from outside as it brushes your jaw. Your heart haywires.

"Steve!" you squeal, his arms around your waist. "What're you doing?"

"You're gonna love me," he says into your ear.

Already do.

"Am I now?"

He walks around to face you.

"Yup," he says, popping the 'p'. "Look at these."

Steve holds up two slips of paper. Tickets to Bruce Springsteen at Soldier Field.

"Holy shit!" you cry, and throw your arms around him. He catches you with a laugh.

"These must've cost a fortune! How did you get them? I thought they were all sold out."

Steve shrugs. "I know people. So, interested?"

He knows it's all you've been talking about (and lamenting over when the tickets sold out in three minutes). Bruce Springsteen is one of your favorites.

"You didn't—Steve," you say in awe. "You really didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to. Consider it an early birthday present."

"Then I want you to come with me."

"Wh—me?"

You scoff. "Who else would I bring?"

"Someone who actually knows Springsteen songs?"

"You know enough of his hits. I mean, if you really don't want to go..."

"No!" He shakes his head. "No, Y/N, obviously I'll go. I just didn't want you to be embarrassed when I'm the only person there who doesn't know Glory Days."

"Well, that's why we're gonna listen to Born in the USA everyday until the concert," you grin. "Get you prepped."

Steve groans. "Can't believe you're giving me homework."

You turn to put the tickets in your bag. Steve crowds you as you do, chin on your shoulder. He's always affectionate with you, loose with his touches and pets.

Robin looks at you, brows to her hairline.

"It's fun homework," you say, ignoring Robin with all your might. "We can listen to the tapes in your car 'cause you've got the fancy sound system."

"That why you're friends with me?" Steve asks, arms curling around your belly. "Just for perks?"

You grin. "No comment. But the concert tickets have definitely moved you up to best friend status."

"Where was I before?"

You pat his cheek. Steve pretends to grumble for another moment before slipping away. Instantly, you miss the warmth of his embrace.

"If you're done clinging to Y/N," Robin starts. "The new releases need to be shelved."

Steve throws her an eye roll but goes, giving you one last smile. You return it sheepishly. Robin watches you like a hawk.

You finally relent when Steve's far enough away.

"What is it now, Robs?"

"Signals," is all she says.

"Concert tickets is not a signal, Robin."

"Oh, it's something. Steve's music taste is whatever's on the radio."

"Not true! He listens to Queen and Fleetwood Mac and AC/DC and—"

"Because of you." Robin huffs. "It's you, Y/N, it's all for you. And you're both so deeply in denial you think it's just friendship things."

"He's just..." You watch Steve stack the videos on the shelf.

The enamel pin you got him a few months ago is on his FV vest. It's a bumblebee that says bee mine! You'd thought it was cute and fun and that Steve would like it. He wears it everyday, even if it doesn't match his outfit at all.

You look at Robin, your heart in your throat.

"Signals?" you ask quietly.

She nods.

"Now you're getting it."

[local-spoon-does-a-thing]

Sickness

[(Bayverse) Optimus Prime x Reader]

A/N: Here’s some more Papa Bot fic. Should I make a bonus ending/part about them arriving at the gas station or some shit like that? Also this fic got out of hand and idk how it ended up like this. Hope you enjoy!

“Ugh...hey, Optimus? Can you roll down the window? I need some fresh air.” You mumbled out and leaned your head against the door. For some reason, you felt sick to the core. That’s probably because you were, in fact, sick. Perhaps it was something you ate for dinner yesterday? You did have a rough night trying to sleep. But at this moment, you just wanted to jump out of the moving vehicle, lay on the side of the road, and perish. Your stomach was not agreeing with you at all and begged you to purge out whatever was in it. Once the window was rolled down, you immediately poked your head out and took in a deep breath. Ah, that was much better. But that still didn’t get that sickening feeling out of your stomach. Maybe a nice bottle of water would help cure you. Your hand moved towards where the cup holders would be located and attempted to grab a bottle of water. Though, there was nothing. Looking back, you saw that you didn’t even bring water with you. Oh, right, you’ve forgotten. Earlier when Ratchet had suggested that you bring a couple bottles of water for the trip, you refused and reassured him that you were fine when in reality, you were just too lazy to carry them. In defeat, your hand flopped back down and you poked your head out once more.

Currently, you and the team were traveling to another city in a different state, as it was stated that there were some Decepticon sightings located there. This was going to be your first mission with them and after countless of merciless begging to go with them, they finally agreed to let you travel with them. Ratchet and Ironhide thought that it was a horrible idea, Bumblebee was simply ecstatic that you would get to go with them, and Optimus was just too tired to deal with your tantrums like a tired father. Who would’ve thought that out of all the members of the team, you seemed to be the closest with the Autobot leader himself. Anyone else would’ve thought that you two were polar opposites. You were a simple person that liked to joke a lot and showed some signs of arrogance while Optimus was more on the serious and wise side. Little did anyone know that you two balanced each other out. He kept you grounded to reality while you made sure that he would have fun during his time on Earth. Though your adventures with them have just merely started, you can tell that you’ve made an impact on the team. Everyone seemed more on the bright side, even the grumpy medic. They were happy and that was all you’ve ever wanted. However, your stubbornness and pride proved you not to be the easiest person to handle, like now.

“Hey, Optimus? Is there by any chance that you have some water on you? Not that I need it or anything like that. Buuuut... I might need it later.”

The old ‘Bot let out a heavy sigh and the whole truck rumbled along with him. “Didn’t Ratchet tell you earlier in the morning to bring your bottles of water? We’ve said it repeatedly that this would be a long trip-”

“Okay, okay! I get it, I was just asking in case you did have them. No need to go full on mother-mode.” You cut him off mid-sentence before crossing your arms across your chest and slumping into the seat. Moments passed by and your hands dropped down to your stomach and clutched the fabric that was in the way. Okay, you seriously needed to do something about this. You felt nauseous and each second that passed by was torturous. You wanted to tell Optimus about your condition, but c’mon, this was your first mission! You had a feeling that if you were to tell him about this, the team wouldn’t bring you to anymore future missions. And the main course hasn’t even started yet since you were still traveling to the destination. But was this really worth the trouble? I mean, even outside of these missions, you would still be seeing them.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that, it’s just- I don’t think I’m doing too well. I think I might have the stomach bug or something ‘cause I feel like I’m gonna throw up at any moment.” You half heartedly confessed to him.

At this statement, Optimus had wanted to stop the trip abruptly and check if you were okay. Guess you could say that this was his “mother-mode” or at least close to it. Worried thoughts bubbled into his metal head that he had almost forgotten to respond to you, almost giving you an indication that he was irritated and ignoring you. He would have Ratchet check up on you but then again, he only knew about Cybertronian biology, not human.

“Hang in there, [Y/N]. There’s a gas station approximately three miles from here. We’ll take a rest there and examine you.”

He then went on to accelerate his speed and over the radio, went on to report the other members of the team about your condition. You could hear Bee’s worried buzzing, Ironhide’s sigh, and Ratchet’s grumpy  grumbling of “I told you so” that was directed towards you. In response, you rolled your eyes and laid down across the seats, staring at the truck ceiling. The slight bumpiness on the road was somehow a bit soothing, but it wasn’t enough to put you to sleep. What you needed right now was a distraction. And what distraction was better than you annoying your guardian?

“Oppy.” No response.

“Timus.” No response.

“Hey, Boss Bot!” Finally, you got a response. He let out a surprised sound and you can practically hear the gears in his head turn. 

“What is it?”

“I need you to distract me.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

You were met with silence once again. He was confused with what you wanted. What did you need to be distracted from? You weren’t really doing much other than trying to refrain yourself from puking on him. It didn’t take long for you to notice that he was confused by your request.

“Just...just ask me questions. They can be stupid or not or whatever. I don’t want to focus too much on my nausea.”

“I understand. Very well then. How are your grades in school?”

You groaned and smacked the palms of your hands onto your face. You wanted to answer any other question BUT that one. Okay, so maybe you were lagging a little behind on your subjects than the rest of your classmates, but you could fix it up with a snap of your fingers! Or, that was what you thought. You’ve been so caught up with your alien friends that you didn’t think that school wasn’t as important as saving civilian lives and all that. 

“[Y/N]?” His deep voice pulled you away from your thoughts and you slid your hands down your face.

“It’s uh, it’s going...decent.” Wow, way to make yourself sound believable.

“[Y/N]...” Now there was a stern and serious tone in his voice.

“Don’t worry about it! I got it all under control. Go ahead and ask another question that’s not related at all to school.”

Once again, he let out another heavy sigh. He had a feeling that your reasoning for your grades being “decent” as you say, was because of him. He didn’t want to be the reasoning for you failing classes. What kind of guardian does that? Yes, he has the most fun spending time on you and picking up on your witty jokes, but he knew that if it ever came down to it, he would have to step back and let you focus on things that would matter in the long run. Even when it does break him.

“You need to take your school more seriously, please. You know what will happen if your parents were to find out about your grades dropping, correct? We won’t be able to see each other as much anymore. And as much as I want to be with you, I won’t hesitate to take a couple of steps back.”

That...hurt. You didn’t want to be constantly reminded of the consequences, but that wasn’t what hurt you. The fact that he said that he wouldn’t hesitate gave you a wake up call. You sat up from your lying position and looked at his radio with a panicked and disbelief look. You didn’t know what or how to respond to that. He was serious and you knew that. You looked away in shame and clutched your stomach once more. Optimus then moved his rearview mirror towards your face and saw how you looked. It broke his spark and he wanted to comfort you, but decided not to push further on the subject and change it.

“Is there anything you would like to ask that relates to me?”

You perked up at his question and had a surprised look. Honestly, you didn’t expect that at all and you didn’t even consider asking him questions. If you were to, you had wanted to try to avoid the more sensitive topics that related to the war on his planet and such questions like that.

“Hmm, you know how the Matrix-thingy chooses who the next Prime will be or something like that? Well, what were you like before you became a Prime?”

Like you were, he was caught off-guard by the question. It’s been a long while since he had spoken of his previous life. He felt a faint sense of nostalgia as he reflected on his past self. My, how much he has changed over time. Going from having a simple life to being one of the biggest roles in Cybertron history. If he were not in his vehicle form, he would’ve smiled fondly.

“My previous name was Orion Pax. At certain angles, you could say that I was more like Bumblebee: young and free-spirited. I used to work as a data clerk in Cybertron. My life was quite simple and ordinary before I heard of Megatron and came to a realization that I was not satisfied with what I was doing. That...is all I will tell for now.”

“Aww, what?! Come on, you can’t leave me hanging like that! What happened with you and Megatron? Pleaaase!”

“Some other time, tiny girl. Now, it is my turn to ask a question. Do you know what my favorite color is?”

Okay, now you were confused. Why would he go from asking a serious question to suddenly asking about his favorite color. Out of all the things he could’ve asked, he went for that one. Of course, it’s not like you were going to back down from something as simple as that. However, you had to take a moment to think. Did robots have favorite colors? Did they even have time to consider what color was their favorite? You couldn’t figure out what the answer was until suddenly, it hit you!

“Wait a minute, that’s a trick question! You’ve never told me what your favorite color was! You can’t fool me!” You accused as you pointed your finger at his radio. A deep chuckle came from the radio as you guessed right. 

“Clever girl. Well in that case, I might as well tell what my favorite color is. It’s autumn orange. It gives off a warm feeling along with joy whenever I look at it. Just like whenever I look at you. It reminds me of you.”

Your eyes lit up at his words and your cheeks flushed. That...may or may not be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you. Plus, it sounded very genuine. A warm feeling swirled your insides and a sincere smile danced across your lips. Who knew that an alien from outer space could be one of the most caring people (er- robot) you knew.

“Whoa, I definitely wasn’t expecting that answer. I didn’t know you had a sappy side.” You lightly joke. “But, thank you. That was really nice of you to say. And you should show your sappy side more often.”

“Heh, I’ll think about it.”

You then raised a hand to your mouth and let out a yawn. Optimus was able to catch it and moved his rear view mirror towards you once more.

“Am I boring you already?” He asked in a fake yet barely noticeable betrayed voice. There was a hint of amusement sprinkled onto there.

And you snapped out of your sleepy trance and sat up straight, all alerted. “Wha- no no no! It was just a yawn! I’m not-”

Your words were cut off when you heard laughter from him. Yeah sure, you’ve heard him chuckle before, but an actual laugh coming from him was quite rare. You laughed along with him until it died down.

“Alright, little one. Go on and get some rest. I’ll wake you up once we get to the gas station.”

You lied down along the seats on your back and closed your eyes. As your drowsiness was pulling you into slumber, you heard the radio turn on as lofi music played on a soft volume. Now this was most definitely making you sleepy. Soon enough, you were knocked out. Optimus silently hoped that they could stay like this for at least a very long time. With the both of you in peace, traveling in the middle of nowhere while relaxing lofi hip hop was playing in the background. Yet another moment that he gets to cherish for as long as he gets to live.

[botboots]

tough day [optimus x reader]

soft boss-bot time. little vent thingy that i started writing a couple days ago - recent shit happened and this actually really helped ground me - if you’re going through a rough time rn i hope this at least gives you a little break from everything :)) didn’t proofread this so if anything seems off im sorry warnings: low self-esteem, self deprication, vent word count: 905 (GN reader) continued under the cut

-----------------

You trudge into the base, the heavy metal door closing behind you with a groan. The sound of your sneakers tapping against the hard floor echoes throughout the warehouse as you make your way across the hangar. The noise is abruptly cut off when you reach one of the couches, your bag sliding off your back before you slump into the couch with a huff. 

Before you can even try to get yourself comfortable on the stiff furniture, heavy footsteps echo across the building. Well, if you can describe a forty-ton walking hunk of metal simply as ‘heavy’.

Angling your head back, you’re met with a set of blue optics looking back down on you. It takes you a moment to plaster on a slight smile, obvious fatigue dragging your brain.

“Hey.”

Optimus’ metal brow quirks upward, and for a moment you think you see slight concern glint the leaders face. But he simply nods to you, making his way to his designated station and busying himself with one of the terminals. One of the few moments of peace he gets, and he uses it to work.

You expected nothing less of him.

“So, where’s the rest of the crew? Bee said he’d take me with him for patrol.” You ask, settling deeper into the (very uncomfortable) couch. Usually you would be nervous talking to the prime, but you don’t particularly have the energy for it today.

“My apologies, but I’ve already sent Bumblebee on his patrol. He may not be back until later.” he answers distantly, mostly focused on the work in front of him, “However I do not think it’s wise for you to go with him either way, it may put you in danger – and you cannot exactly defend yourself from Decepticons.”

You frown, lowering your gaze. Alright, so the one thing you were looking forward to after your ultra-shitty day was just blown out the window. That’s fine. Who cares? Totally not you.

”(Y/N)? Are you alright?” Optimus’ voice shakes you out of your thoughts, making you glance up at the Autobot leader who was currently pausing his work- wasting his time to check on you.

Pushing another smile to your lips, you wave him off, “Yeah- yeah, I’m fine, dude. Don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?” his blue gaze hardens, almost scrutinizingly, as if he could see straight through your words. Which, in all honesty, isn’t that hard to do when it comes to you. You’re more surprised to see that he’s choosing to linger on the topic.

Sighing, you already want to end the conversation before it goes any further, “Look, I just had a bad day, alright? Happens to people all the time - and you’ve got more important stuff to do than waste your time worrying about some stupid fucking human.”

Optimus stiffens, and you immediately regret opening your mouth at all. You go to apologize, but the cybertronian interrupts.

“(Y/N), your welfare is just as important to us. If I have made it seem otherwise-“

“No, you haven’t, that’s not- that’s not what I meant.” Guilt worms its way into your chest. “You’ve treated me fine and whatever, I’m just- not used to it, I guess? I don’t fuckin’ know-“ Now your voice is beginning to strain, and you duck your head to avoid Optimus’ piercing gaze - almost as if it would tear you in two you should you so much as glance at him. You hear him ex-vent, and the sound of metal clunking against the floor greets your ears, growing louder until you can safely assume that he’s standing close. Still you refuse to meet his gaze, muscles tense within your now hunched form. All the stress packed into your tiny, miserable body is evident.

“…Sorry.” You mumble.

“There is nothing you need to apologize for.” He speaks softly, the seemingly constant hum within it allowing your body to lose some of its tension.

“But there is.” You counter, dejected gaze finally meeting his face, “I always end up ruining shit for other people because I can’t just keep my damn mouth shut – I always waste people’s time.”

Silence engulfs the hangar. He places an open servo next to you. Hesitantly you climb into it, and the prime lifts you to his shoulder as he stands. You stumble onto it, having to grip the metal collar so you didn’t slip off as the metal giant makes his way out of the building. Warm desert air hits your face as the two of you step out.

cba to finish this properly but heres what happens

Just sits outside with you and neither of you say anything

Eventually he speaks up and hes like “I value you no matter what you think of yourself. I am here for you, and you could never waste my time.” Something along those lines, yk

You start crying a little bit but he doesn’t mind whatsoever, knows you’ve probably been bottling your shit up for a while and needed this

After a while (like ‘a couple hours’ while) he asks if you’re ready to go back inside

“Yeah, I think so.” You still feel like shit but he at least helped you open up about it

Before you both head back in though you tell him to wait and you’re kinda just like. “Uh, thanks… I really needed that.”

“Any time.” With a little soft smile that only Optimus can give and you almost start crying again then and there because wow you’ve experienced this a lot less than you should

[lovemeleo]

Please write one were Asher has an allergic reaction and Sirius and Remus freak

Um so hi, surprise. I finally wrote something again. This prompt has been sitting in my ask box for god knows how long and I finally wrote it. Sorry it took so long, anon, but I hope you all enjoy. The SW world and it's characters belong to always fantastic @lumosinlove!

If you haven't read the rest of my Asher series, here's the link for tumblr and AO3!

cw: allergic reactions, talk of medicines, IVs, and hospitals

It started as a normal day, as most days tend to do. Remus got up first, doing some yoga in the living room before turning on the coffee maker to run while he was in the shower. He had this routine down pat so of course, he was ready with Sirius’s cup of coffee when the taller man came up behind him, nuzzling into his neck.

“Morning, mon loup.” Sirius mumbled, his voice still rough with sleep as his arms wrapped around Remus’s waist.

A soft smile spread across Remus’s face as he pressed the steaming cup of coffee into his fiancé's hand, “Good morning, Pads. I can get Ash ready for Lily’s if you want a shower before practice.” Remus said quietly, already hearing movement from the toddler’s bedroom.

Sirius answered with a kiss to his shoulder, looking up at him with a grin, “You’re the best, babe,” He said as he pulled away, cheekily slapping Remus’s butt before making his way to their bathroom. Shaking his head fondly, Remus turned to start getting Asher’s breakfast ready, the oatmeal cooking on the stove.

Just as he was about to go check Asher was awake, a small pair of arms wrapped around his legs from the side. Asher rested his head on his Papa’s hip, letting out a loud yawn. Remus couldn’t help the chuckle he let out, their son so much like his daddy, it was ridiculous.

“G’Morning, Papa.” Asher murmured, rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake up.

Remus picked him up, resting the toddler on his hip as he finished up his breakfast, “Good morning, mon chou. Sleep well?” He asked as he put the oatmeal into a bowl, topping it off with some berries before getting him set up at the table.

The little boy hummed happily, sipping his milk as he waited for the hot cereal to cool down, “Yep! I had a dream that Harry and I were wizards and we got to battle a bunch of bad guys and we won of course and it was so cool.”

Remus chuckled, sipping his coffee as he listened to his son’s dramatic retelling of his dream, “Of course, you won. Most powerful wizards ever, obviously.”

Nodding happily, Asher started in on his breakfast as he continued to fill his Papa in on the wizarding world from his dream. He had quite the imagination and it definitely came through his dreams.

When he had finished, Remus helped him wash up and get dressed before Sirius came in with his bag for the Potter’s house. Lily always watched Asher during their practices, letting him and Harry tire themselves out together. They were the best of friends, constantly attached at the hip. When they pulled up to the Potter’s house, Lily and Harry were already waiting on the front porch, the boy already jumping excitedly as he saw their car pull up.

As soon as Asher was released from his booster seat, he was running as fast as his little legs would take him. And Harry, not one to be outdone in the dramatics department, met him halfway and slammed him into a hug.

Lily laughed, coming down off the porch to give the two men a hug, “Sorry, I’m not gonna sprint up to you two,” She said, giving them both a tight squeeze.

“Wow, I see how much our friendship means to you!” Remus teased, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “Now, where’s that husband of yours? Still doing his hair?”

A loud laugh came from the doorway, James appearing with his bag thrown over his shoulder, “Yeah, you know me. Very much worried about my hair when I’m putting a helmet on.” He said, throwing his bag into their car before giving Lily and Harry a kiss goodbye.

After saying goodbye to their own little munchkin, the three men were off to practice. Today consisted of some dry land training for warm-ups before moving on to some drills. They were about an hour into their drills when Coach Weasley blew the whistle from the sidelines.

“Black! Lupin! You’ve got a call!” He yelled across the ice, his eyebrows furrowed as he held out the phone.

Knowing that calls weren’t allowed during practice unless there was an emergency, the two men were to the bench in seconds, Remus quickly grabbing the phone, “Hello?”

Lily’s frantic voice was on the other side of the phone, already talking, “Remus, I’m sorry, I literally looked away for a second, and then he was screaming. I didn’t even see-”

“Lily, take a deep breath. What’s going on? What happened?” Remus said, trying to keep his voice calm.

A shaky breath came through the speaker before she continued, “I took the boys to the park across the street like I always do, and they were on the playground. It was fine then all of a sudden, Ash let out a really loud scream. I got over there as soon as I could, but he had already hives. Harry said he had a bee on his arm and got stung. I called an ambulance, and we’re at Gryffindor hospital now in the ER. I’m so sorry, I didn’t even know he was allergic.”

Remus was already unlacing his skates, the phone held between his shoulder and ear, “It’s not your fault, Lils. We didn’t know he was allergic either. We’ll be there soon.” Quickly handing the phone back to their coach, Remus and Sirius ran back to the locker room.

In less than 5 minutes, the two men were back in their car, racing towards the hospital. “Fucking bees,” Sirius muttered, quickly pulling into the parking lot.

As soon as they were parked, both of them quickly ran into the ER, their hearts pounding in their chest as they reached the front desk, “W-We’re here for Asher Lupin-Black.” Remus said to the receptionist.

She pointed them down the hall and they were off, seeing Lily waiting in the hallway outside of the room. Lily met them halfway, Harry on her hip sniffling quietly, “The doctor is in with him right now. God, I’m so sorry. I had just gone to grab my phone to take a picture of them, Harry said they were chasing the bee. I didn’t even realize there was one by them.”

Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of her head, “Lily, it’s not your fault. He’s a kid, these things are going to happen. You got him here as soon as you could and got him help, and we’re so so thankful.”

Sniffling softly, Lily wiped at her face, “I was so scared, all I heard was him screaming. The hives spread so quickly.”

The door opened as they stood talking, a doctor coming out of Asher’s room. His eyes widened at the sight of the two hockey players, probably realizing who’s child he had been working on before giving them a small smile, “Hi there, I’m Dr. Johannis. You must be Asher’s dads.”

“Yes, how’s he doing? Is he ok?” Remus asked as he stepped forward, already itching to get into the room and see his son.

Dr. Johannis was nodding before Remus had even finished, “Asher is doing fine. He came in with anaphylaxis from what appears to be a bee sting. Luckily, due to your friend’s quick actions, we were able to get him in the ambulance and give him a shot of epinephrine. He’s doing much better already, the hives have begun to fade. We do have him on oxygen at the moment as a precaution.”

Remus and Sirius both let out a breath as if a weight had been lifted directly off their shoulders. Asher was okay.

“Can we see him?” Sirius asked, his eyes flickering to the closed door behind the doctor.

Smiling, Dr. Johannis nodded, “Yes, of course. My nurse is just in there, double-checking his vitals. We want to keep him for a little bit longer to keep an eye on him but you should be able to take him home tonight.”

After thanking the doctor, Lily urged them on without her, “Go on, he was asking for you both. I’ll text Coach so he can let the team know. I’m sure they’re all worried.” Nodding, the two of them quickly made their way into the room. Asher looked so small on the hospital bed, an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth as he watched the nurse fiddle with the monitor. He quickly turned to the door as soon as it opened, eyes quickly filling with tears when he saw his dads.

“I’m sorry!” Asher cried, his voice muffled from the mask. Remus and Sirius were next to him in seconds, pulling him as close as they could without tugging any wires or IVs out.

Running a hand gently through his hair, Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of his head, “Oh mon chou, it’s okay. You didn’t know that was going to happen.”

“We’re just glad you’re okay, bub.” Remus said, running his hand gently over the little boy’s back.

Sniffling quietly, Asher rested his head on his Daddy’s side, “We thought it was a bumblebee, and Uncle James said those are fluffy and they don’t sting and they’re nice. But it wasn’t fluffy and it was not nice.” He huffed, wiping at his face.

Sirius couldn’t help but chuckle, pulling Asher closer, “Well now you know which ones to stay away from, right?” He asked, feeling the toddler nod before he let out a loud yawn.

“Sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to give you a heads-up. The medicine we gave him through the IV might make him sleepy,” The nurse said from next to them, as he headed to the door. “Let us know if you need anything.”

Remus nodded, pulling the blanket over Asher’s legs as the little boy began to doze off, “Of course, thank you so much.”

Then it was just the three of them, the only noises coming from the monitor and Ash’s soft snores.

“Well. That was fucking scary.” Remus whispered, leaning over to rest his head on his fiancé's shoulder.

Sirius snorted, his head falling onto Remus’s, “Yeah, that’s an understatement. Thought my heart was gonna fall out of my ass when Coach said we had a call.” Remus nodded in agreement, remembering the moment he heard Lily on the other side of the line.

“The team is gonna spoil the shit out of him. Like he isn’t going to have to walk anywhere for months,” Sirius continued, his hand moving to run through Asher’s soft curls.

Rolling his eyes, Remus glanced over at Sirius, “You act as though they don’t already spoil the shit out of him. Leo carried him on his back all around New York last month. Nado sneaks him treats constantly. And if Dumo brings him one more toy, we’re going to have to move to a bigger house.”

Sirius couldn’t help the large smile that spread on his face because Remus wasn’t wrong. Asher was spoiled. The team loved him, and he loved them all right back. They were so lucky to have such a supportive chosen family, and Sirius didn’t really believe in God but shit, he was grateful to whatever deity gave him this life. He had a loving fiancé, a fantastic son, and the best damn family a man could ever ask for. There was nothing better.

And when their entire house was filled with hundreds of “Get Well Soon” balloons and an entire hockey team when they got home that night, all of the worry was entirely worth it to see their little boy’s face light up the room.

[strangeinvader9]

Retrograde: The Battle

Sandra? You ok? Prime asked.

I looked down and noticed I was practically digging my nails into his steering wheel. “Sorry Optimus. I'm terrified. I'm not sure if we'll all survive this. I'm…not sure I'll survive this. I wanna run away, but I can't leave Sam to do this by himself. I know he has Michaela and all, but, well, I don't trust her. To be frank, I don't even like her, but I know Sammy's head over heels for her and as his best friend, I can't stand in the way. I just don't know what to do,” I explained.

Can you fight?

“Huh? Well, I guess. I've never been in a physical fight, but I know several weak spots on a human. Plus, I'm trying to get into shape so I can start Jiujitsu.”

Then try to protect Sam. The others and I will protect you both to the best of our abilities.

I actually felt calmer at that. “Thanks, love.” It wasn't long before we reached Mission City, watching as people ran away from the city and the Decepticons from before recked shit up. A presence somewhere in the city set my nerves on edge. More so than anything else. Megatron. Optimus grumbled.

“Megatron?” I echoed.

Leader of the Decepticons. He cannot know of your existence, but I can't stop. I will slow down enough for you to get out and stay hidden until I can lure him away, understand?

I gulped nervously but nodded. I didn't really have a choice anyway. We rolled down an alley and he called out Now! as he crashed into a few trashcans. I jumped out of his cab, hit some bags, and remained still for a moment. Every nerve ending in my body screamed not to do what I was about to, but sometimes I can't resist an impulse.

I quickly followed Optimus, but at a distance, watching him transform and prep himself for battle. “Megatron,” he growled out.

My whole body tingled at the primal stance and baritone of his voice. Perhaps my love of cars made me a mild mechafeliac, but Optimus just took that to a whole new level.

“Prime!” A slightly higher voice crowed. I assumed the new voice belonged to Megatron. I had to bite my tongue when I saw a large grey plane fly by and take Optimus off his feet. I waited a few minutes before running out of the alley to find Sam.

I found him running in the street with some sort of cube in his hands. “Keep moving Sam,” I heard Ironhide instruct.

I ran over to catch up to Sam. “Sam! Where's Michaela?” I asked.

“Had to take Bumblebee out of the city. He got badly hurt,” Sam explained before bumping into a car with two girls in it.

“Give me that cube, boy,” a familiar voice called out. Ah shit. If that's Megatron, I think Optimus is dead. I thought.

“Now's not the time to be falling for the ladies, Sammy,” I joked as I helped him to his feet. It was the only way I wouldn't start crying.

“Hilarious, Sandra. Come on, we're almost at the building with statues on it.”

I followed him into the gated building, grabbing a led pipe for a weapon on the way. Once inside, Sam slowed down. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to some stairs. “C'mon. We gotta go up, right?”

“Yeah. I hope you like stairs.”

“Not so much, but if it saves my life, I'll climb the Empire State Building.” The sound of shattering glass drew our attention to the entrance to see Megatron looking for us. Goddammit Prime, you were supposed to live. I cursed.

“You're not gonna get us. You're not gonna get us,” Sam chanted as we ran.

“Sam, don't be a dummy.”

“Be supportive, Sandra.”

“I smell you, boy! Hmm, and the Prime's pet,” Megatron growled behind us.

“I'm nobody's pet, tincan!” Reaching what was a landing, I screamed as the floor burst behind us. “Goddamn, he's persistent.” Sam and I had to climb even more stairs, wearing me down.

“Maggots!” Megatron hissed.

I skidded to a halt before turning to the robot. “The hell did you just call us?”

“Sandra now's not the time for your boneheaded ideas,” Sam warned, dragging me away.

“He called us maggots, Sammy! You expect me not to get pissed?”

“Just run!”

What seemed like hours later, we finally reached the roof, where Sam lit a flair to attract the attention of what looked like a Blackhawk helicopter. As Sam was handing the soldiers the cube, I noticed a smaller jet land on another building. Mini Megatron? I wondered as it lifted some sort of gun, aimed it, and shot at the helicopter. “Watch out!” I shouted, pulling Sam back from the ledge. Unfortunately, the chopper wasn't so lucky and went down. I felt my heart clench but had no time to feel guilty as Megatron burst through the roof. Sam quickly scrambled to one of the statues while I tried to hide.

“Is it fear or courage that compels you, fleshling?” Megatron taunted Sam.

He didn't respond, too busy trying not to fall off the statue.

While the Cybertronian was distracted, I carefully snuck up behind him, ready to do something really stupid.“Give me the Allspark and you may live to be my pet,” Megatron bargained.

“I'm never giving you this Allspark!” Sam denied.

Megatron shook his head patronizingly. “Oh, so unwise.” His hand turning into a ball and chain, he slammed it into the roof just below Sam. “Sam!” I screamed, running over to the edge. I stopped just before it as did Sam's screaming. No. No, not him too. I thought before a burning rage took over my body. Facing the steel grey robot, I snarled fiercely. He smirked mockingly. “Ooh, and just what are you going to do Prime's pet?”

“There's a reason my last name is Phoenix,” I snapped back. Running around his legs, I used the metal pipe in my hands to bang dents into his plating before ripping out a couple of wires. He roared in pain and took a swipe at me. I dodged, but he was still able to get a claw down my back.

I screamed in pain. Gripping my pipe, I turned and quickly launched it at his head. Well, always wanted to go out with flair, I thought. “Oi, Megadork!” I called, gaining his attention. With a victorious smirk, I flipped him the double birdie and backflipped off the roof. I'll meet the others in the afterlife.

[earthstellar]

Rewatching Transformers G1 S2: Episode 1: Autobot Spike

Yes, this is where the Surprised Ratchet meme image comes from:

This episode has a lot going on including near-death of a human character on screen, body horror/a Frankenstein plot, and some genuinely unsettling scenes mostly made creepy due to the combination of some interesting dialogue/voice acting and typical G1 Quality. 

And Spike shoots Starscream in the ass mid-flight, which is fantastic. 

He also shoots his dad, which is less fantastic. 

Being a horror nerd, I love this episode, so here we go! 

Gonna put this below a cut because I’m taking a lot of screenshots here:

You can watch the whole episode on YouTube here in 4 parts, if you want to watch along! 

Alright, so it opens with Sparkplug trying to create “Autobot X”, which is straight up just a Frankenstein’s Monster of autobot parts. It’s weirdly creepy, and vaguely reminiscent of the infamous Ratchet-Megatron fusion in the Marvel comics.

I want to point out that Sparkplug says “I wanna see what I can do with a lotta spare Autobot parts and some human ingenuity” before the reveal shot above, and that’s horrific if you think about it for more than like, three seconds. 

It also may have been the origins of the MECH plot line in TFP, actually! Very similar body horror type thing going on. Anyway.

It works briefly, but it flips out and has to get shut down. 

Ironhide fires a laser, problem solved, nobody’s worried. They put Autobot X in storage, because surely a rampantly aggressive seemingly sentient pastiche of random Autobot parts is nothing to worry about. It’s fine. 

Wheeljack is like, hell yeah, I’ll help you work on it later. Which is when we get the Surprised Ratchet image, because yeah, I bet Ratchet’s freaked out a little since this thing is made of SPARE AUTOBOT PARTS. 

Then we’re swept immediately into a fight with Megatron, as many Seekers as you can fit in frame at one time, and Soundwave. 

For whatever reason, Bumblebee shows up driving through a bunch of partially blown up missile/rocket components, with Spike in the driver’s seat. Even Spike is like, dude, why are we here? And Bumblebee is just like, I mean, we couldn’t NOT show up. lmao

Unsurprisingly, Bumblebee gets shot-- In alt-mode, with Spike inside. Uh oh. 

Megatron leaves, because Frank Welker can only voice so many characters at once, and our attention is turned to the carnage. 

Ratchet is like, sure, I can fix Bumblebee right up! Meanwhile, Ironhide is like oh god, oh my god, is this how you hold a human??? Is it dead??? Optimus is gonna be pissed. 

So Optimus rolls up like, listen, take him to the hospital, come on. Ratchet lets him in the back of his ambulance mode, and Prowl goes with him so that he can throw his emergency lights on to give the illusion of a police escort, ensuring the drive is even quicker. 

(I miss the days when Prowl wasn’t a total asshole.) 

It cuts pretty quickly to Spike in an operating theatre; Apparently getting shot by alien space lasers isn’t conducive to human health: 

It cuts again to the attending physician standing at Spike’s beside, presumably in ICU although they appear to be in a private room, with Sparkplug on the other side of the bed. 

The doctor says “Hmm, if only there were a way of separating Spike’s mind from his body while we work...” Which, uh, what? What surgeon says that? You can sort of already do that in actual human medicine, it’s called an induced coma. 

But sure, we need exposition here, I get it. The screenplay here is tight. Sparkplug says he has an idea...

Back at the Autobot hangout, things seem fairly chill, considering. 

Ratchet is welding Bumblebee’s ass in alt-mode, while Bumblebee complains about how long it’s taking. lol 

Meanwhile, Wheeljack and Sparkplug somehow have Spike hooked up to a Ghostbusters colander helmet, which will hopefully transfer his mind into the malfunctioning/in stasis Autobot X frame. Yikes. 

It works! Spike is now also Autobot X. We will call him Spike X for short. 

And for some reason, Spike saying “D-Da-ad?” with this faceplate expression is incredibly funny to me, while also being really weird and creepy: 

However, this is only cool for like two seconds, at which point Spike X truly starts to lose his shit. 

It gets real creepy here, with Spike X saying in a very oddly flat inflection “Why? Why did you do this to me? Why?” and it’s pretty wild. There’s even a mild strobe effect for a few frames. 

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker try to help calm him down, but Spike X throws them both across the room. 

Optimus is like, oh shit, we made a giant metal teenager. Stop him, but use low power, because if the Autobot X frame is damaged too much, then Spike’s consciousness may not be able to be returned to his actual human body. 

Note that Optimus says this in a pretty relaxed way, then levels a shoulder mounted cannon straight at Spike X, which is incredibly funny. 

It quickly gets deeply weird and creepy again when Spike X is temporarily able to talk with his dad, and states that “it’s hard to think, like something is telling me to do... bad.... things!” Yiiiiiikes. 

He gets it under control again, apologises to his dad for the outburst (I think it’s OK, Spike), and Optimus says that he’s cool to stay at the base and he’ll be taken care of while his human body heals up. 

However, oh shit, the Decepticons have found out that Spike now has an Autobot frame-- And they know he’s unstable. 

Starscream tries to roast him, but Megatron’s like, shut up nerd, we’re gonna make Spike X turn against the Autobots! It’s a good plan, I’m serious! 

Back at the Autobot base, Ratchet is still welding Bumblebee’s ass, and Bumblebee is still complaining. Wheeljack hooks up Spike X with some network television, and he’s watching... Frankenstein. Because the six year old kids who are the intended audience of G1 may not be familiar with the source material for this episode’s plot, I guess, which is fair. (Frank Welker nails it here as Dr. Frankenstein, but that’s unsurprising, because he always nails it. I think he’s also voicing Frankenstein’s Monster, but I haven’t checked the credits.)

Obviously, this isn’t a great thing for Spike X to be watching at this particular moment, so he freaks out again. 

Wheeljack and Sparkplug come running, and somehow Sparkplug is covering ground faster than Wheeljack. It’s fine, don’t worry about it. 

Ratchet’s progress on welding Bumblebee’s ass is interrupted by Spike X breaking through the wall and seemingly flying away. lmao 

They just sort of stand there, like, well, we lost him, I guess. 

Bumblebee is like, alright, gonna go get my boy. 

So he drives out of this massive crater, and Ratchet is like, wait! Your radio transmitter still doesn’t work. (Apparently their radio transmitters are located in their asses. Fascinating.) 

Spike X sits on a cliff and says “what a drag”, which, yeah. Being a Frankenstein space robot would be cool if not for the immense psychological damage this is absolutely causing. 

However, he also calls himself a “walking garbage can” in a completely genuine put-out tone of voice, which absolutely sells that this is a teenager in a giant robot body and I laughed, I won’t lie. 

Some of Megatron’s cronies locate him and hold his position. 

At the same time, Bumblebee shows up and tries to talk Spike X down from a random destructive rampage. 

He throws Bumblebee off the cliff! And Megatron’s squad is rolling up. (Well, flying up, anyway.) Uh oh! 

Spike X is like, hell yeah, bring it. More ass to kick. And it turns out his arm mounted cannon works, because he shoots Starscream directly in the undercarriage and says “YEAH, MAN!” and it’s so genuine. 

This is the perfect reaction to being a teenager in a giant robot body and just suddenly being able to shoot lasers and kick ass. Look at how happy he is, that he just shot Starscream in the butt mid-air. It’s awesome.

Unfortunately, the Seekers do actually beat him up, although Spike X puts up a good fight. 

Megatron then takes advantage of his further weakened state, and swoops in to pitch a classic “Join Us” speech. Spike X calls him “Megacrumb”, which is probably acceptable because he’s absolutely concussed by this point. 

Megatron is willing to overlook this for the sake of teaming up. 

Bumblebee eavesdrops, and drives away-- But Spike X gives Megatron a handshake, and agrees to “make them pay”. Oh shit! 

For some reason, Optimus and Ironhide are back at the rocket facility to watch a launch. Because I guess whatever, this whole situation is chill, let’s go watch rockets? IDK 

But either way, Optimus roasts the inferior quality of human technology, while Bumblebee just drives up on site despite Military Police levelling sniper rifles at him in order to report that Megatron is taking advantage of Spike X’s inability to think clearly. 

Optimus says “I feared something like this might happen”, which, if that were the case, why not take actions to prevent it, maybe? Not the strongest Optimus episode. 

To be fair though, Ironhide transforms and is already driving off before Optimus even gives the order to roll out, so I guess Ironhide either really wants to kick some ass or cares slightly more about Spike X’s wellbeing. He has no dialogue here, so we can only guess. 

They get there, with even more Autobots who showed up at some point in the rapid scene cuts here, and Spike X is super unhinged-- Charging his weapons, he starts speaking in a more strained and angry way, and engages the Autobots! 

He hits Optimus with what appears to be a chest laser? It’s hard to see. But it’s super effective: 

Optimus pleads with Spike X to calm down, but Spike X straight up pulls MEGATRON IN GUN MODE out of his sub-space and shoots Optimus directly in the faceplate. Damn! 

The Seekers and Soundwave drop in, and start rapid firing on all the Autobots present. 

We get some great shots of Megatron in his gun alt-mode as he tries to convince Spike X to keep attacking. Optimus and Bumblebee hide behind cover, attempting to bring Spike X to his senses long enough to disarm him. 

Suddenly, Wheeljack and Sparkplug roll up; Sparkplug attempts to talk some sense into Spike, too. 

Optimus and Bumblebee are at a loss; If they take out Spike X, the damage might take him out for good. 

However, Sparkplug fails in his efforts to talk to Spike X; He SHOOTS HIS DAD AND KNOCKS HIM OFF THE CLIFF. 

Can you imagine if they put an ad break here? lmao 

Luckily, he has like, a claw machine arm, and he catches his dad before he becomes a human smoothie. 

This shocks Spike X badly enough that while he still has Megatron in gun mode, he takes a few pot shots at the Seekers and the Decepticons decide it’s time to bounce, so Megatron bails too. 

He apologises for almost killing his dad, his dad is like hey no beef man, and it cuts to them in the hospital: 

Sparkplug takes his son’s body back to the Autobot base (that sounds worse than it is), and they prepare to transfer him back into his body. 

What’s extra funny here is that he nervously laughs and says “Hope you fixed this thing up good, Ratchet!” And Ratchet says absolutely nothing. Not a word. 

It’s a success! Dad and son hug, totally not even addressing anything that happened this whole episode, because that’s a job for a therapist. 

Ratchet, who continues to not really care about any of this, tells Wheeljack “You know, I could probably repair that mess, but I think it’s best that I don’t.” (This is a play on what Wheeljack said earlier in the episode when he offered to help Sparkplug fix up Autobot X to begin with.) 

I love how tired Wheeljack looks. LOL

Spike, now recovered, leaves us with a great question to close out the episode: “I wonder what it’d be like for a robot mind to be transferred... to a human!” 

Depending on what kind of kid you were, his question was either imagination fuel for fun humanformer ideas, or was a blatantly bad question indicating he learned nothing and providing nightmare fuel trying to imagine one of the Autobots losing their shit in a human body the same way Spike lost his shit while inhabiting Autobot X. 

Anyway, great episode! 10/10 Scary, funny, creepy, Starscream got shot in the ass by a teenager. 

[expectingtofly]

Not-So-Easy-Bake Oven, 2k

Established Dean/Cas, Toddler Jack, Fluff without Plot

day 3 of @thiscastielhasflown and i's follower celebration

prompt: baking

“Petzel, petzel, petzel!” Jack chanted, banging a tiny plastic whisk on the table. He wore a kid's apron decorated with bumblebees, dotted black lines twisting and curving to show the bees' crisscrossing flights.

“Alright, buddy, give me a sec,” Dean said, pouring a bag of dry pretzel mix into a bowl. Charlie had bought Jack an Easy-Bake Oven for his fourth birthday, and this was their first time using it and its soft pretzel making kit—much to Jack’s excitement.

Cas came over from the sink with the kit’s measuring cup filled with water. “Wanna pour?” he asked Jack. He steadied Jack’s hand as he took the cup and poured it into the bowl. “Now it’s time to mix.”

He lifted Jack up to kneel on the table, and, gripping his whisk in one fist, Jack began stirring the mix and water together—if jabbing the bowl could be called stirring.

Dean opened the oven, checking to see if it was working. Already pretty warm for a squat bright pink appliance. “Woulda killed for something like this when I was younger.” He looked at the inside of his wrist. “Used to have a pretty nasty scar from when I tried making Sam brownies in some janky motel oven.”

“You should’ve never been left unattended in the kitchen at such a young age,” Cas griped, grabbing the bowl before it careened over the table's edge from Jack’s vigorous stirring. “You could’ve seriously hurt yourself. If I ever meet John…”

Dean grinned. “He’s lucky he never met you.”

“Exactly.”

"Done," Jack announced, dropping the whisk. Dean raised an eyebrow at the bowl where the mix was only half-combined, dry powder still clinging to the bowl.

"Looks good, kid," he told him, and picked up the flimsy pink whisk to finish stirring.

Jack protested, though, grabbing his hand. "Done!"

"It just needs a little more," Dean told him. "Look, it's not totally mixed."

"Hey, Jack," Cas said. "Help me pick out stuff to put in our pretzels." Successfully distracted, Jack clambered over to him and Cas carried him to the pantry.

Dean finished stirring the mix quickly. "Good choice," he heard Cas say and looked over to see him grabbing a bottle of soy sauce. Oh boy.

The oven chimed, announcing it was pre-heated, and Dean stared at the lumpy excuse for dough in the bowl. Maybe it’d look more appetizing when cooked.

"Chocolate chips, pepper, raisins, oregano," Cas listed, coming over and setting various items down on the table.

"Uhh." Dean stared at the box of corn flakes Jack carried over to the table, nearly as big as his torso. He couldn't figure out which items were Cas’ choice and which were Jack's suggestions. "Not really sure all this goes together."

"You never know," Cas said, picking Jack up and standing him on a chair.

He might not've known for sure, but he was pretty sure he could guess. "Alright, well." He dumped the dough onto the table and divided it into small sections. "Time to experiment, I guess."

Cas sprinkled flour on the table so they could roll out the dough, but before he could even close the bag, Jack smacked his hand down on the table, sending a cloud of flour into the air.

Cas coughed, waving flour away from his face and Jack cackled, one palm dusted white. Dean laughed at Cas, until Jack leaned over and swiped at his t-shirt.

"Dude, seriously?" Dean asked him, brushing his shirt off. Jack only laughed, clapping his hands to send more flour floating in the air. "How ‘bout you put the flour to good use?" Placing a small ball of dough in front of Jack, he propped up the box that the mix had come in and studied the instructions for forming a pretzel shape.

"So first you roll the dough out into a rope," he said, following along with the pictures. "Then you form it into a u-shape." He glanced at Jack to see if he was paying any attention, but Jack seemed more interested in rolling the dough around the table and through the flour. Then he yelped, staring at his hands in bewilderment.

"I'm messy," he said, staring at the dough sticking to his fingers. He held them up to Cas, who told him.

"You have to get your hands dirty." Taking one of the balls of dough, he poured some chocolate chips on it and began rolling them into the dough. "Look at Daddy."

Jack looked over at Dean, just as his dough rope tore in two. "Dammit." He balled the dough back together. “Let’s try that again.”

Before he could try, though, Jack started clamoring for the corn flakes, so Dean set a handful of the cereal on the table. "I think this is gonna mess up the baking times," he said, skimming the back of the box. "Recipe doesn't say anything about adding extra shit."

"This is a child's baking oven. It's supposed to foster fun and creativity." Cas nodded at the box.

Dean turned the box around. Fun for the whole family! it read along with a photo of perfectly formed pretzels. At the bottom, it also read, "Ages 8 and up." Ah. So maybe a little advanced for a four year old.

Corn flakes went flying and Dean dodged one shooting towards his eye. Oblivious, Jack continued crushing the cereal with the flat of his hand, a gleeful smile on his face.

"Yup, uh, good enough," Dean said quickly, grabbing Jack's hands.

"No!" Jack yelled, trying to get out of his grip.

"Take the oregano," Dean said quickly, hoping for a distraction. It worked, except now he had to hand over the container and watch Jack sprinkle the herb all over the near vicinity. Maybe he could pass off clean-up duty to Cas, who was making his own mess, adding food dye to his dough to make a swirl of purple and pink.

He helped Jack combine the corn flakes and oregano into the dough, then roll it out into a rope. Cupping Jack's hands, he guided him through curving the rope of dough into a U-shape, crossing the two ends twice, then pulling them over to make a rough pretzel shape.

“Hey, not too bad.” Pulling out his phone, he took a photo. "Smile for Charlie, Jack."

Jack held up the pretzel, effectively warping the shape, and grinned at the camera. "I make one for Auntie," he declared when Dean lowered the phone, and grabbed more dough to form his own pretzel.

“How did you do that?” Cas asked, studying the box. Going to him, Dean did the same thing he’d did with Jack, standing behind him and holding his hands to help him form a pretzel shape. Cas' fingers were dusted with flour, and Dean got a bit distracted by the way Cas leaned back against him, letting him guide him into creating a pretty decent pretzel. Not as perfect as the ones on the box, but close enough.

“I think I’ve got it,” Cas said, grabbing more dough and forming another pretzel in two easy swoops. Okay, way better than the one before.

“Did you just trick me into helping you?” Dean asked, pulling away from him slightly.

Cas tilted his head into him. “Mhm.”

Dean rolled his eyes but kissed his neck anyway.

Several tries and several more mishaps later, and they had a few semi-recognizable pretzels. Some they dipped into a cinnamon sugar glaze that came with the kit, others they placed as is into small, pink, round dishes.

“They go in here and cook for ten minutes,” Cas instructed, helping Jack push the dishes inside the oven. Jack peered into the opening, then back at Cas and Dean.

“Done now?”

“Gonna be a long ten minutes,” Dean said, setting the timer.

They tried to clean up as the pretzels cooked, though Jack was covered in so much flour, food dye, and dough that he left a trail wherever he moved. And he would not stop moving. As Dean tried to wipe down the table, Jack ran loops around the island, and when Cas tried sweeping, Jack decided to start spinning around in the middle of the kitchen until he fell over. Then do it all over again.

“If he has this much energy now, what the hell’s he gonna be like when you give him a chocolate chip pretzel?” Dean asked Cas, putting the oregano and soy sauce back. He had no idea which pretzel Cas had slipped the sauce into and was not eager to find out.

“That may have been an oversight on my part,” Cas admitted. The oven beeped and Jack rushed to the table.

“Petzel!” he began chanting again.

"Don't touch," Dean warned, using a tool from the kit to pull the dishes out of the oven and place them on the table.

“Which one do you want to try first?” Cas asked Jack, who took a moment to study the pretzels before pointing to the purple and pink one—or what was once those colors but had now taken on a more bloody appearance.

"It's pretty," he said.

“Yes, it is,” Cas agreed, transferring the pretzels onto a plate. Dean turned off the oven, then startled when Jack began crying.

“Hot!” Jack cried, pointing at the dish Dean had told him not to touch. In hindsight, he should’ve realized the temptation would’ve been too much to resist.

“Let me see,” Cas said, taking Jack’s hand.

“No, it hurt,” Jack cried, trying to pull his hand away.

“Alright, alright.” Scooping Jack up, Dean carried him over to the sink and turned on the cold water. When he held Jack’s hand under the stream, Jack squirmed, trying to get away.

“Cold!” he yelled.

“I’m trying to help, dude,” Dean told him. “This’ll make it feel better.” More startled than hurt, it seemed, Jack calmed down after a few seconds. Turning off the water, Dean studied his finger. Not even a blister, but he nodded at Cas. “Think Dada can help?”

Jack nodded and held out his finger to Cas. "Booboo.” Cas took his tiny hand and kissed his finger.

“Are you too injured to eat a pretzel?” he asked.

“No!” Jack yelled, suddenly all energy again, squirming out of Dean’s grasp. Dean set him down and he ran to the table, clambering on a chair to grab the purple/pink monstrosity of a pretzel.

“Try one,” Cas told Dean, joining Jack and pushing over the plate.

Dean grimaced, but chose the cinnamon sugar and corn flake one. Why that was even a combination was beyond him. Bracing himself, he took a bite. Okay. Dry. Pretty bland. Crunchy which was just wrong, but not horrible—wait. He took that back. Oregano and cinnamon sugar did not go well together.

"Um. Well.” He choked down the rest of the bite and set the pretzel back on the plate. “These are, uh..."

"Not good," Cas finished. He squinted at his own pretzel, then took another hesitant bite. Instantly, his face screwed up, and he shook his head, dropping the pretzel onto the plate. “It seems you were right. Soy sauce, pepper, and raisins do not mix."

“Who would’ve thought?” Dean deadpanned. Jack munched happily on his pretzel, cinnamon sugar covering his chubby cheeks. “Someone’s enjoying them, at least.”

“For Charlie,” Jack announced, pointing at one of the pretzels on the plate.

“She’ll love a day-old pretzel,” Dean told him.

“Yes, she will,” Cas said, giving Dean a look. He pushed Jack’s hair back from his face. “It’s the thought that counts.”

Jack abandoned the colorful pretzel for the chocolate chip one, then the corn flake one. True to his word, he left one untouched on the plate for Charlie. She would get a kick out of it when she visited. I knew he'd love it!! she'd responded to the photo Dean had sent her of Jack holding up a pretzel.

“This was fun,” Cas said, a smile on his face, watching Jack.

“Yeah.” Dean looked over at the mess of bowls and dishes in the sink and back at the flour streaked table. Making a fist over his open palm, he said, “Loser has to clean.”

Cas straightened, a competitive gleam in his eye. “Agreed.”

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.” Cas threw scissors and Dean threw paper.

“Dammit,” he exclaimed. “You always do rock.”

Cas grinned. “And so I conditioned you to think I’d do it now.”

“Christ, when’d you get so conniving?” He got up and asked Jack, “You wanna help your old man clean?”

“No, tank you,” Jack replied.

“‘Least he was polite,” Cas said.

“Good luck getting him down for a nap later.”

“Why’s that my job now?”

“Sorry,” Dean turned on the water to start scrubbing the bowls. “Can’t hear you over all the cleaning I’m doing.”

Cas rolled his eyes. Dean grinned when Jack offered him a bite of his pretzel and Cas had to act like he enjoyed it. Turning back to the sink, he grabbed the sponge. This was a lot of fun.