#dr. dark mode

[novafire-is-thinking]

I’ve been scrutinizing the badges and medical symbols (or lack thereof) of the medics of IDW, and speculating about what these might say about each of them.

Out of all the medics, Flatline’s badge(less) arrangement stood out to me, so it’s time to make this way deeper than the writers and artists intended.

To wear a badge, or not to wear a badge…

Thanks to Alex Milne, the Autobots got their own medical cross:

This is worn by Pharma and First Aid, and by Ratchet before the war and during the earliest days of the conflict. He later removes the cross, but switches between a couple of different symbols and no symbol throughout the course of the war—his time spent on Earth having a lot to do with that, I suspect. Even so, after the war, he chooses not to wear any indication of his status as a medic—only an Autobot badge.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons have no universally recognized symbol for their medics. Instead, they each have their own unique symbol, or none at all. Glit has a vaguely medical-looking cross that differs from the Autobot medical cross, and Flatline has a symbol resembling the pulse of a spark:

…which I can only assume is meant to be the Cybertronian version of the following, but with a circle for the spark instead of a heart:

Meanwhile, Spinister and Nickel have nothing. Just their Decepticon badges.

Now, to combine these with faction badges:

Badge + medical symbol: Pharma, First Aid

Badge + no medical symbol: Ratchet, Fixit, Velocity, Spinister, Nickel

No badge + medical symbol: Flatline, Glit

No badge + no medical symbol: Ambulon

There are three medics who don’t wear badges; all of them are or were Decepticons. This is interesting on its own, but I’m more interested in how this may correlate to their attitudes towards treating Autobots:

Even though Glit’s KP version is willing to treat people regardless of faction, this is never confirmed for his IDW version. There isn’t enough evidence to infer how he feels about Autobots, or treating them. Yes, he was at Grindcore, but that says nothing about how he treated Autobot prisoners behind the scenes.

As for Ambulon, he switched sides and underwent the Act of Affiliation, but—evidently—not the Rite of the Autobrand. I could speculate all day about why, but that’s not important because, whatever the case, he treats patients of both factions without hesitation. Because he’s been on both sides, he has an externally observable reason to do so.

This leaves Flatline as the only badgeless—and only Decepticon—medic who’s proven to uphold a moral value of treating people regardless of faction. Unlike Ambulon, he has no externally obvious reason to do so, but he does it anyway because it’s personally important to him.

The following roams into headcanon territory, but based on what can be inferred from Flatline’s few appearances, I like to think his choice to not wear a Decepticon badge serves two purposes:

It’s his way of signaling to potential patients: “I don’t see you through the lenses of your faction and ideology, but as a person.”

It’s a personal reminder for himself of his commitment to being blind to factions when treating people; it’s a way of reminding himself he’s committed to the preservation of life first—not to any group or “order” of medical personnel.

This is not to say medics who do wear badges and belong to an order of medics don’t also treat patients based on similar values—as we see First Aid and Ratchet treating people of the opposing faction.

This is just me playing around with the possibility of inferring something deeper about Flatline’s character—what he values, how he sees himself and the world, what sets him apart from others “like him,” etc.

And besides, Autobot medics are expected to uphold their medical oaths. Decepticon medics—perhaps unfairly—are assumed to be lax in that area, so it means more to have a Decepticon medic who holds to their personal moral values despite the general attitude towards the enemy seen in many of their comrades.

On that note, I would love to know how Tarn sees Flatline…

A Decepticon who refused the Rite of the Deceptibrand.

A Decepticon who refused to cut into his spark casing to signify his commitment to the Cause.

A Decepticon who values commitment to his personal morals above adhering to any external ideology.

[robotsafari]

I am not the sunshine, I am not the moon at night

I'm no one if I'm nowhere in between

[theramblingsofadork]

Art’s not coming to me this week, so screw it! Take a massive fic of angst from the Downfall Arc of Rivet and Starline’s first time reuniting since the competition! 🔥🔥

—

📕 Fanfic: A Bitter Reunion

Context: It’s been years since the competition. Rivet’s now friends with the Resistance/Restoration and is helping Sonic and Tails storm a base that they got a distress video in from.

It turns out to be a trap by Eggman, and now they’re stuck in a force field, backed into a corner by several high class Badniks.

Starline has been with Eggman for a few days now after restoring his memories and erasing Mr. Tinkerer. (In this AU, it takes them a little while before they begin development on the Metal Virus since I think he needs more time being Eggman’s flunky.)

He’s embraced Eggman’s ideals and become a full on villain. But the past often comes back to haunt; and he has no idea what’s about to occur.

—

“A force field? Seriously?” Sonic exclaimed as he watched the orange shield crackle above them.

“Indeed!” Eggman exclaimed from above the dome, perched safely atop a railed platform where he could watch the show. “And the best part is—even if your little fox friend manages to hack into my systems to take it down, you STILL have my new Badnik Enforcers to deal with!”

The group jumped as the two giant, armored Badniks advanced a step on the three. Rivet sighed as she looked up at them, the lavender cat getting a distinct feeling of deja-vu. “Giant robots.. it just had to be giant robots..” She sighed exasperatedly.

That’s when a clapping sound caught their attention, followed by a poised, regal esque voice entering the conversation.

“Marvelous work, sir!” Dr. Starline praised Eggman as he clapped and came over to join his boss from where he had been observing from the shadows. “I must say, this ploy has certainly proven to be one of your most effective yet!”

Eggman grinned as he looked down to the platypus coming up to his side. “Why thank you, Doctor. It was quite sneaky of me to use that hologram of the villager to fake a distress call, now wasn’t it?” He snickered pridefully.

“Quite! Dare I say, they never saw it coming!” Starline smiled up at his boss, before suddenly feeling his heart freeze in his chest when he heard a familiar voice call up his name from down below.

“Starline?”

His smile vanished, and when he quickly looked down, he came face to face with.. her. A cat from his past whom he didn’t expect to see again. One whose smile he had once seen as a beautiful thing…

…Now standing with Sonic and Tails as they stood backed into the corner within the sealed ‘arena’. It was a tense and frightful moment, as the two of them processed and realized that they were now on opposing sides.

“Hm? What’s this?” Eggman questioned as he leaned an arm on the railing and peered down at his shorter cohort with a raised brow. “Starline, you KNOW this cat?”

Starline shook himself out of his shock to form an answer to the other doctor’s question. “Eugh.. She was a... former colleague of mine from back in the day,” he replied, crossing his arms as he brushed his bangs with a poised but secretly nervous motion. “…That was a long time ago though. Certainly nothing you need to concern yourself with, Doctor.“

Eggman’s frightening gaze remained eerily trained on him for a long moment. “Hmm. Is that so?” A wicked grin then spread across his face as he seemed to get an idea. “Well then, if that’s the case, then you won’t mind me destroying her and the rest of those fuzzy nuciences in one fell swoop, now will you?”

Starline felt a sudden, nervous buzz of apprehension spark in his chest, and his eyes darted over to him. He could immediately sense the man was testing his loyalties. And why wouldn’t he? Eggman had been betrayed multiple times before. Why not stamp out any possibility of that before their partnership could get too far?

Starline looked down to Rivet, and there was a moment of hesitation that flickered in his eyes as he observed her, before he closed them to turn away and say, “…No qualms to be had here, Doctor. You may do as you see fit.” He smiled coyly up at his boss. “After all, any friend of Sonic’s is an enemy of ours, wouldn’t you say?”

Rivet’s eyes widened.

Eggman’s glasses glinted like he was pleased with Starline’s answer, and he chuckled evilly before leaning over the edge and shouting down to his Badniks, “Well, YOU HEARD HIM! TAKE THEM OUT!!”

“Yeesh, that’s cold,” Sonic couldn’t help but comment, a bit disgusted by the doctor’s callous response to the cat.

Rivet didn’t say anything, staring dead set at Starline with a knot growing larger in her throat. She finally had to snap back to attention though as the large Badniks began to proceed on them, powering up their giant laser beam charged arms.

“Hey, um, Tails buddy, might want to get working on getting that shield down!” Sonic hurriedly pressed the fox, glancing over to see he had started mashing away at his tablet.

“I am!!” Tails exclaimed in return, brow furrowing as he poured his concentration into what he was doing. “It’s going to take a minute to get through though!”

“Might not have a minute!” Sonic reiterated, eyeing the glowing barrels as they grew brighter. “Looks like they’re charging up to turn us into roast dinner!”

Charge. A lightbulb lit up in Rivet’s mind, and her mind cleared as she glanced to her bangled wrist. “…Tails, quick—“ She said, glancing back at him. “What kind of power output does Eggnan give his robots?”

“What?” Tails exclaimed, briefly glancing up at her in confusion. “Why are you asking me that now?!”

“I don’t have time to explain… Just tell me!!” Rivet ground out.

Tails made a noise of protest, but obliged her and quickly tried to calculate. “Well, uh, judging from their hulls and weapons attachments, these are Mark XII Badniks.. uh.. I dunno! I’d say probably energy maybe around… 300 watts or so??”

Rivet breathed out a small breath of relief. “Ha.. 300 huh? Alright, I can deal with that.”

“Um, what are you planning to do?” Sonic asked warningly, sensing the cat had just gotten an idea.

”Even the playing field a little,” Rivet replied, stepping out in front of them so she was now the sole focal point of the lasers.

“Wait—what?? Are you crazy?!” Sonic exclaimed in shock as he registered this. “You’re gonna get yourself killed!”

“Sonic, trust me! I know what I’m doing!” Rivet exclaimed, preparing herself by setting her feet and dropping into a defensive stance.

“Heh heh heh! What a dumb creature,” Eggman stated as he watched this altercation happen. “So foolishly sacrificing herself to get blasted in the feeble hope that her friends might be able to outlast my robots for a little while longer. Pathetic.”

Starline frowned. Something was off here. Rivet wasn’t a fool like that. She must have a plan. But what? “Sir? Perhaps we should reconsider a moment.”

“Denied.” Eggman’s grin gleefully split his face in two as the Badnik’s guns glowed and reached the peak of their charging.

Rivet then held out her hand, and Starline caught sight of a familiar glowing orb. His eyes widened a smidge, and he held out his hand, realizing there might be a critical flaw in his plan. “Sir, I really think—!”

Too late. The Badniks fired on the trio, lighting the area where they stood up with a searing blast of white hot light. The sound of their lasers echoed out for a good five seconds, before they overheated and had to power down.

Eggman snickered wickedly as he waited for the dust to settle and looked down to Starline with a bit of scoffing disappointment. “I knew it. You are soft, Starline. And while I can’t say I’m surprised, I certainly am disappointed. I would expect more from someone claiming to be my #1 fan!”

As aggravated as he wanted to feel at that biting response, Starline could do nothing more but hold a hand to his head with a groan. “Sir— that’s not why I was trying to stop you!” He stated as he stepped forward to step up onto and peer over the railing. “If anything, I was trying to warn you!!”

“Warn me? About what?” Eggman questioned with a shrug. “They’re as good as burnt ashes now.”

Starline finally spotted what he was looking for and sighed quite frustratedly as he pointed down into the clearing smoke. “Are you quite certain about that?”

“WHAAAAT?!” Eggman exclaimed, nearly losing his balance as he craned his neck and body over the edge of the railing to see what Starline was pointing to.

Sonic and Tails coughed as the dust around them began to settle, both completely uninjured from the attack. They uncurled from their protective positions to gawk at Rivet, who had taken the enemy’s attack head on, and whose wristlet was now absorbing and defusing the last of the energy like a vacuum cleaner, ending with a sharp ‘shing’! and making the gem inside glow a brilliant bright blue.

“Whoa!” Tails exclaimed, his tails flicking in awe.

“Um, what just happened?” Sonic questioned dumbfoundedly with a blink, unsure whether or not to be worried or be in awe.

“Oh yeah, I guess I really haven’t gotten a chance to show you guys this yet, have I?” Rivet looked over her shoulder at them with a confident smile before holding up her fist. “My gauntlet here lets me absorb and store up energy from any kind of energy based source and use it as my own power!”

Her eyes sparked as she faced the robots again and tightened her fist with a smirk. “Which means, the good doctor up there just gave me the floor to wipe his Enforcers out.”

“Grrr…!” Eggman’s brow furrowed against his forehead, and he turned on Starline, grabbing the platypus by his coat and shaking the poor Doctor about furiously. “YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS, DIDN’T YOU?! WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOMETHING SOONER?!”

Starline grit his teeth as he was shaken like a ragdoll and held up his hands in surrender. “T-the thought only just occurred to me a few seconds ago! I-it’s been years since I last saw her, Doctor! I-I swear, it completely slipped my mind!”

“GRRH..” Eggman dumped the platypus back onto the ground before turning back to the scene before him. “Well, no matter!! My Badniks will still make quick work of them!” He then shouted down to them with a raised fist, “DON’T JUST STAND THERE YOU FOOLS! ANNIHILATE THEM!”

The Badniks beeped as Eggman’s command came through again, and they prepared to attack once more, powering up for another shot. But Rivet wasn’t about to let that happen.

She sucked in a deep breath, steadying herself. One shot would be the most effective move here. She had to make it count.

The cat activated the crystal, calling up all that stored up energy and channeling it into her fist. With a powered up shout, she then drove it into the ground in front of them, cracking the earth.

The outward impact of the motion was boosted tenfold, and a cratering wave of earth was sent exploding out in front of them. It smashed into both Enforcers and sliced through the laser arm of one of them, knocking them over as the ground was torn up beneath their feet.

“WHAT?! NO!!” Eggman shouted.

“Whoa-ho! That was so cool!! We are TOTALLY going to have to go over the details of how that works later on!” Tails exclaimed, stars glinting in his little inventor eyes.

“Yeah.. sounds… good to me..” Rivet said before she pitched forward, grunting and landing on her knee from the effort. She underestimated how much power the glove had stored up, and the impact had sapped her own energy as well. “But right now.. You gotta get that shield down. I bought you some time, but it won’t stop them for long.”

Sonic clapped her back as he passed, it now being his turn to take up the front. “Don’t worry, I can take it from here. Thanks for evening the playing field for me though! Gotta admit that’s a really neat trick.”

In a flash, the hedgehog took off, launching himself straight for the struggling-to-recover Badnik Enforcers and managing to knock it back into the earth, cracking it’s exterior hull and offlining it.

“No no no NO!!” Eggman screamed from above, gripping the railing so tight that his knuckles were probably becoming as white as his gloves. “THAT’S NOT FAIR!” He glanced to the control board besides him and pushed another button. “Grrr! BACKUP!! GET IN THERE AND LEAVE NO SURVIVORS!”

“Oh come on,” Rivet grumbled as the arena door reopened and a swarm of a few smaller Badniks flew in. They just couldn’t get a break, could they?

“Don’t worry! I’ve almost gotten through!” Tails told her, pressing faster on his tablet’s buttons before sending her a glance. “Just a little bit more and I’ll have this shield down! Think you can use your little trick to keep them off me for a little bit longer?”

Rivet blew out her breath as she eyed the approaching bots. They were much smaller.. With a bit of energy she should be able to down them. “Right.. I’ll see what can I do.” She agreed as she pushed back to her feet. “Work your magic, genius child.”

Together, her and Sonic fought off the attackers, with the hedgehog ping ponging his way around the room like a speeding bullet, decimating the Badniks while Rivet dragged some power out of a fallen Badnik and used that to fight away any strays coming for Tails as he hacked the security grid.

The two fighters eventually even teamed up to use the severed Badnik Endorser’s laser to fire off and fry the other operational one.

Starline watched as this battle took place from behind orange spectacles and frowned. He could tell the tide was turning, and it was not in their favor.

“This isn’t looking good, doctor—“ He finally stated as he backed away from the ledge. “Perhaps a tactical retreat is in order?”

“Tactical retreat?!” Eggman exclaimed, glaring back over his shoulder at the other doctor. “Are you mad?! WE’VE GOT THEM ON THE ROPES!”

“HA HA! GOT IT!” Tails suddenly shouted excitedly, and the force field covering the battle dome flickered as it powered off, before fading away completely.

Eggman paused before groaning in frustration. “…On second thought, maybe a tactical retreat doesn‘t sound so bad.”

“Deeper into the base!” Starline exclaimed, pointing to the ajar door they had originally come through. “There are more security measures deeper in that can protect us!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Eggman grumbled grouchily as he ran through the door first with Starline trailing behind him. The platypus looked back briefly towards the battle before growling and letting the metal door close shut and lock behind them.

Tails heard the clunk of the door and looked up to see the two men had vanished. “Sonic! Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline are getting away!” He called over to the hedgehog currently destroying the remaining Badniks.

Rivet ducked under a Badnik crashing to the ground, before seeing that Sonic was preoccupied. She swore, having lost her board in the rubble somewhere during the fight. Looking around for something to boost herself with, she dug her fist into the fallen Badnik’s broken hull, absorbing the small amount of power it still had.

She then used it to launch herself upwards onto the upper platform. “I’ll catch them!” She called.

“Rivet, wait!” Tails called out after her, but of course, the cat didn’t listen.

—

Two sets of different sounding footsteps echoed down the hall as Starline and Eggman gained distance from the fighting. “That door won’t hold them for long,” Starline told Eggman hurriedly. “Where’s the closest safe place to go from here? Preferably somewhere with more reinforcements?

Eggman pointed ahead of them. “Down there! The security room is just beyond that hall! We’ll be able to activate my secret weapon there!”

“Secret weapon?” Starline blinked in fascination. “Well that certainly sounds promising.”

“Starline!! Eggman!!” Rivet’s voice came bouncing up the hallway. The platypus gasped and looked back to see the lavender cat chasing them from down the hall.

“Oh dear..” Starline felt his heart drop in his chest, before he focused up and looked up to Eggman. “I’ll lead them off your trail, sir! You get to the security room and activate that weapon! I’ll join you again using the warp topaz!”

“Fine with me!” Eggman said without skipping a beat, the inventor huffing and puffing now as his arms and legs swung wildly.

“Best of luck to you, sir!” Starline slid to a halt and glanced back to see Rivet’s gaze had locked onto him. Sonic and Tails weren’t far behind her.

His eyes narrowed, and he quickly broke off down a side path.

“Looks like they’re splitting up!” Rivet called back to them. “I’ll handle Starline! You two get the doc!”

Sonic frowned as she split off from them to follow the platypus. He didn’t like this. If Starline was separating from Eggman, then he probably had a plan. And if it was anything like his and Silver’s first encounter with the doctor, then it might not end well.

“Tails, go with her to be safe! And be careful!” He called to his best friend, before zooming ahead to chase after Eggman.

“Right!” Tails nodded and split off from Sonic, flying down the hall after the cat who was steadily gaining distance.

—

Ducking through another side passage, Starline found himself in the room where vats of some kind of concoction Eggman was working on was being stirred by giant, industrial sized machines. Wanting to get a better vantage point, he summoned up a portal to take him to the top of the catwalks above, panting from all the running and glancing over the edge to see if he could spot Rivet and Tails.

The fox was just coming up on the entrance, looking around as he called for his friend. But he had lost track of Rivet. Ruby eyes darted back and forth and searched for her lavender form amidst the whirring machines. Where was she?

“So— that’s it then.”

Starline let out a squeak of surprise and nearly jumped out of his fur as the sound of the cat swinging herself up and thunking down on the catwalk besides him snapped him out of his thoughts. He quickly scrambled back to gain some distance between them. So fast—!

The Rider’s frustrated green eyes locked onto him, and her ponytailed hair swung behind her as she approached him, motioning her arms.

“It’s been three years, Starline. Three years since you’ve stopped answering any of our calls. Since you up and disappeared with no goodbye, no explanation, leaving us only to guess where you could have gone!” She shrugged. “I get that you didn’t want to join us after all, but you could have at least SAID something!” She tilted her head. “And now, I find you here after all this time. Allied with Dr. Eggman and ready to let us die to his Badniks.”

She let out a small scoff of hurt. “Really? Are you seriously going to act like our friendship meant nothing to you?”

Starline in turn backed away, powering up the warp topaz but not quite using it yet. “That was all a long time ago, Rivet,” he stated. “Besides, it was a competition.” He glanced behind him, before noticing a cable behind him and ducking to the side to avoid it. “We were only using one another to obtain what we wanted in the end.“

Rivet pushed aside that same cable to follow him further along the catwalk. “That’s not true and you know it!” she exclaimed, voice straining a bit with anger. “..What about the Starpoint Squad? Charge, Cello, Hex, Lug? You were as much a part of that team as we were! We studied together, built a giant robot, went out for ice cream! You even helped us stop that mad woman from destroying Aethos!”

Rivet’s eyes were beginning to grow a bit watery as years of built-up strain and confusion swirled about as she pressed him. “Did all of that mean nothing to you? …Did we—” Her voice faltered for a moment as she changed her choice of words. “..Did the whole team mean nothing to you..?”

Starline felt his heart twist uncomfortably at her change in words, and the reminder of the Starpoint Squad’s sweet and jovial moments together. Sharing lunch at the cafe while discussing plans, him mentoring Hex on his robot designs, riding along with Rivet on one of her joyrides; all the days of triumph and tentative enjoyment, before his desires and deep fears of being vulnerable caused him to change course and pull away from them. Putting them out of his mind and leaving them behind to pursue his goal.

He finally stopped as well. “…As lovely as it all was and could have been... The fact of the matter is that a long term partnership would never have worked out between us, and you know it, Rivet.“ His tone had grown cold, almost like he was upset she was bringing it up. “Whatever commodore had back then is nothing more than a distant dream.. one that was meant to be awoken from eventually.”

He put a hand to his chest, feeling a mix of frustration and determination in his words. “This is the reality that was always going to happen. And I am meant for bigger things.”

Rivet stopped, ears rearing back as a clouded hurt hazed over her eyes. A wall had been put up that hadn’t been there before, and after a moment, she laughed, even though the sound was hollow. “…I see.“

Her voice then raised a bit more. “I had hoped when Hex and Lug told me you had sold your soul and became a monster that they were wrong. That you had a good reason for doing what you did to them.” She shook her head and a few tears were finally shed as she gave him a hurt look. “But after all I’ve seen today, I guess I was wrong about that, huh?”

Starline tried to ignore how that harrowed look made his chest tighten in pain. “I did what had to be done,” he declared firmly, tightening his fist. “It’s not my fault they happened to be convenient to my goal.”

His voice then dropped a bit as he narrowed his eyes. “And perhaps after today— you’ll find some better companions to associate with.”

This answer caused Rivet’s anger to stir, and she shouted as she launched forward at him.

Starline’s eyes darted to the control board next to him, and he quickly hit a button on the panel, unlocking a steam value. It blasted out and hit her, knocking her right over the edge of the catwalk.

She screeched and his heart thudded for a moment, realizing how far of a fall it was to the ground. But as he glanced over the railing, he saw that she had caught herself on the one of the pipes above the swirling pools of liquid. After a moment of being dazed, she shook her head and glared back up at him.

Starline felt a small chill at the cold look, but said nothing as he heard Tails’ voice approaching. Time to go. The fox would be able to save her if she could not save herself.

Without a second thought, Starline quickly summoned up a portal and made himself scarce, hoping through it and into the hallway they had come from originally. Now that the cat was mad, he had no interest in sticking around to deal with her.

He had done his part in playing the distraction.

Now it was time to go support Eggman.

[aquasandyled]

Wlrst part hands down abut being a dr is hands down being s de

But the sedond worst part is phone consultations over the phone???? For third parties?????? Like ur friend calla i "hey my mom is sick what donigive jer" like bro lmao idk maybe take he to a dOCTOR??????????

[remtennaofficial]

*STANDBY...

OOC Intro post! -This blog follows it's own little continuity, but I'll allow interaction from pretty much anyone! -This is for a Chapter 3 OC of mine, Rem! They're the Dreemurs' TV remote, and Tenna's child. (This blog relies on a lot of fanon by extension but I try not to stray too far from what's been established as of now in canon) -Rem uses they/them pronouns! -Rem is a bit younger than Kris and friends, but not by much. -Okay with RPing as long as any other blog involved is also okay with it! (Same with general _offical blog interactions!) -Mod's just here to mess around n' have a good time so idk if I'll be super duper active compared to some other "_official" blogs out there Tag masterlist (may update): - channel guide (info post) - important updates + this post - standby mode (ooc) - mod posts - power on (as rem) - in character posts Character tags: - tv star (tenna) - r̵͚͠a̸̝̋d̵͖̕ì̸̮o̶̬̓ ̴̠̈́s̸̬̑t̴̫̀a̶̫͌r̸͍̓ ̷̢̉(̸̤͋m̶̢̍ǐ̸̮ḳ̶̈́ẽ̴͜)̵̝̈́ - busybodies (weather duo) - scam mail (spamton) - nighty knight (kris)

[sparrowlucero]

Instead of discourse about showrunners and lesbians and whatever, I'm gonna bring a different type of discourse...whats ur fav and least Dr Whomst monsters. Hard mode: only the practical ones.

ok so I do like all the obvious ones, I like the angels, I like the vashta nerada, I like the not-things, I like the eternals. Here's a few deeper cuts (focusing on the tv show specifically):

they peaked with these maggots. they rock. pretty sure they're made with taxidermy? really great puppetry. I really like this thing:

what a cool design for this kind of forgotten midseason episode.

this is such a fun design for a langolier-type monster. I love how their crest and tail gives them the silhouette of a grim reaper

The 60s cybermen rock. I feel like they're hesitant to use them often in the modern show because they do look very 1960s but I think there's something really uncomfortable and evocative about the cloth faces that's lost when they're cool metallic robots. The mix between looking like an old diving suit and the implication of there being a chopped up person inside is gnarly and I love it. Simple, creepy, iconic design.

My favorite design in the show is probably this:

The 456 from the spinoff series torchwood. They didn't need the puppet to emote or move a ton since it spends the entire season in a little tank obscured in mist, so they just went crazy with the design and made it really bizarre looking. Extremely top tier alien. Anyways, negative. I really don't like this satan. the satan kind of sucks. the impossible planet is great atmospheric sci fi horror; every image of build up in it is haunting and leagues ahead of the climactic scene where he meets the satan. It singlehandedly kind of kills the vibe.

Personally I would have just kept the actual appearance off screen, just have it be eyes in the dark or something. Apparently they also tossed around the idea that it would end up being a normal little girl who was chained up in the cave and I think that would have visually fit the rest of the episode better.

I'm really not big on the modern design for the sea devils (the green one on the right). I think the classic ones clearly took a lot of direct influence from real animals and generally is a pretty thoughtfully realized design, the modern ones seem like they were first and foremost using the classic ones for reference and didn't quite capture the nuance of the design. Sad, as I would really like to see design for these guys with modern puppetry.

I think this is actually a pretty contentious opinion but the work of the specific studio who headed this redesign generally wasn't my favorite. Apparently there was some sort of major, semi public falling out between the fx studio that had been working on the show since 2005 and the people who started running the show in 2018, and they were briefly replaced with a much less experienced studio. No hate to them of course (I think this was actually their first job like, ever, and a lot of the work was done in crunch time?) but the difference did stand out to me:

[notmyneighbor]

r&d | yog sothoth x female reader

part 1/?

words | 2.8k

tnmn nightmare mode, human experimentation, science fiction, human/vampire relationship, evil dr. w. afton, eventual explicit content, none in this chapter

ao3 link

When you first hear about the new program being offered by your employer, you’re more than a little hesitant.

It’s marketed as a way to help door guardians like yourself decompress after the rigors of screening so many doppelgangers, but you’re wary of the attached disclaimer that your sessions will be monitored and recorded ‘to further aid future candidates.’ It all feels a little too intrusive and boundary crossing for your liking, so it’s a fast decline from you—until you’re offered the extra incentive of a bonus check to sweeten the deal. Money talks, and the promised amount is practically screaming your name. In the end, you volunteer to be one of the pioneers in the study.

That’s how you find yourself in a room that looks more like a doctor’s office than the therapist’s cozy space you’d been expecting, the comfortable couch you’d imagined replaced with a chair that bears a resemblance to a dentist’s contraption more than anything else. Those misgivings and doubts are kicking in again, but then your mind argues back that there’s a good chunk of funds waiting for you at the end of this, so surely it’s not too much of a hardship to bear.

You’re more than a little surprised to see a familiar face after the receptionist guides you to the chair and leaves you to your fate. It’s one of the residents of the building you guard. That engaged physicist that lives on the third floor, W. Afton. You’ve always thought it odd that his first name isn’t revealed on any of his identification paperwork—everything on file only had his first initial listed.

He enters the room briskly, carrying a clipboard and a black case. He closes the door and sets the latter item down on the counter, then settles onto the wheeled stool nearby. You suddenly have the distinct, uncomfortable feeling that this is more of a medical program than a psychiatric one.

You lean forward, your bare arms sticking unpleasantly to the vinyl cushioning beneath you. “Dr. Afton? I think there’s been some misunderstanding. I’m going to just—”

He waves a hand in the air to interrupt you, scrawling something on the clipboard resting on his thighs before his head lifts. The way the fluorescent lighting touches his glasses temporarily obscures his eyes from sight. “Nonsense. You’ve agreed to participate. This is where you’re meant to be.”

“Um, with all due respect, I was led to believe this was a psychiatric program? Aren’t you a physicist?”

“My expertise lies in research, and that’s precisely what you’ve agreed to help the DDD with. You might as well sit back and get comfortable. I’m going to ask you a series of questions, and I want you to answer them to the best of your ability. The truth, mind you; not what you think you should say or what you think I want to hear.”

You shift in your seat, glancing at the closed door and licking your lips nervously. “Are we being monitored? The literature said we would be.”

He lifts a finger and points to the corner of two intersecting walls and you realize there is a camera there. “Visual only, no audio. As promised, this is being kept confidential to assure accuracy and no bias. You can confide in me with confidence.” His lips twitch in an almost smile. His eyeglasses slide down the bridge of his nose slightly and you see slate gray eyes regarding you, until he shoves them back into place and rakes back a tendril of dark hair that’s fallen across his forehead.

“Um…” Something about this is definitely off. A lot of somethings. “Would you mind showing me your documents first, so I can verify it’s really you?”

“Of course it’s really me. How else do you think I got inside this facility? This isn’t one of those wretched downtown apartments,” he says. You’re living in one of those so called wretched downtown apartments, you want to retort, but you bite your tongue. “Still, I suppose that’s what you’re accustomed to. A lingering sort of paranoia about verifying human identity,” he mumbles to himself, writing on the paper in his lap again. “Fine. I’ll humor you, just this once. Just to make you feel a little more comfortable.” He sets the pen and clipboard down and walks to your seat, digging in his pants pocket for a leather billfold. The doctor extracts his identification card and hands it to you. “I trust I don’t need to submit an entry request as well?”

You’d never spoken much to the man, in your tenure as doorman, and you’re beginning to see why. He’s unfriendly and borderline rude. You can feel the impatience and irritation wafting from him. What did Mia, the schoolteacher he is engaged to, see in him? She’s so cheerful and kind. Opposites attract, maybe.

“It looks okay,” you mumble, handing the card back to Afton. He tucks it inside his wallet and the accessory vanishes back into his pocket. “I trust you’re satisfied? Or is there some other protocol you feel you need to follow?”

“No, you’re fine.” You feel your cheeks flushing at his condescending demeanor.

“As I’ve said already.” The soles of his polished dress shoes click loudly on the linoleum as he returns to his seat, retrieving the clipboard and writing utensil again. “Now then, shall we begin? We’re wasting valuable company time.”

“Yes.”

“Good. First question. Have you ever mistakenly misidentified a doppelganger? Or a human?”

“No to both.” It was true. Your track record, thus far, has been impeccable.

A grunt and another mark on the paper. “Have any of the doppelgangers ever threatened violence?”

“A few. Mainly once they’ve been called out.”

“Did any of them ever try to bribe you to gain entry?”

“No. I did have one promise to fully reveal himself if I let him in, and he also stated I must not like my neighbors that much, so it wouldn’t matter if I let him in anyway.”

Afton pauses, his pen freezing mid stroke. “How do you think he arrived at that conclusion? That you did not care for your neighbors? Did you have much discourse with him prior to this?”

“No. No more than the usual standard greeting. He remembered to show his card and his entry request, and they were a perfect forgery, but he wasn’t on the day’s list of expected entrants.”

“Is that when the doppel revealed himself?”

“Yes.”

“Were you frightened?”

“Of course. But the barrier is there as soon as I sound the alarm. And the DDD cleaners always come right away.”

Some more writing follows this. Afton presses on the metal at the top of the board to release the pages and turns the top one over, releasing the spring and snapping the holder back into place. “Do you ever have trouble sleeping at night?”

You shrug. “Sometimes.”

“Do you find yourself thinking about your job, even when you are off duty?”

“I guess so.”

The physicist’s lips press in a thin line. “Keep your responses to definitive yes or no answers, please.” He jerks on the tail end of his necktie to straighten it. It is a deep shade of eggplant today.

“Yes,” you say, knowing your tone is definitely a little sharp, but you’re unable to help it. You’ve been on edge ever since the man walked into the room.

“What sorts of things do you think about?”

“Wondering if I made all the right decisions. What the next day will bring. What would happen if the doppels got better at disguising themselves and blending in. Where they come from in the first place.”

Afton taps the end of the pen against the paper thoughtfully. “Do you think that will happen? That they’ll eventually be successful? That you’ll make the wrong decision?”

“I hope not. But yes, it’s a concern of mine.”

“A fear, too, wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose so.” He glares at you. “Yes,” you clarify, gritting your teeth.

“I see.” He writes briefly and then sets the items back on the counter, this time reaching for the black case as he rises. His back blocks the contents from view.

“So now what happens?”

“You’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain, so now it’s time we fulfilled ours. Providing an outlet for these pent up fears of yours.”

“Which means?”

Lightning fast, Afton slips something into his lab coat pocket. He turns to face you, and the smile he has is nothing short of sinister, a kind of rictus, as if he is one of the doppels, trying the motion out without understanding its purpose.

“You’re finally going to get caught up on some of that sleep you’ve been missing. You know, because you’ve been so worried about the doppelgangers.”

“I didn’t say—”

“Now, now. None of that. It’s too late to change your answers. It’s all been documented.” Almost casually he reaches out to rest a hand on the arm of your chair and you hear a clicking sound. In the blink of an eye twin metal bands snap over your wrists.

“What the fuck?!” You struggle against the restraints, your heels flailing and digging in uselessly as your squirm, trying to escape. “Let me go!”

“You agreed to this, remember?”

“To be restrained? No way. Get me out of this thing right now.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that just yet. One more step to go.” His voice is so calm, so placid. He’s making it sound as if this is the most normal thing in the world. His hand disappears into his coat pocket and you finally see what he’d hidden there earlier: a syringe with some eerie glowing fluid. “You’re going to want to hold still for this. It would be so unfortunate if I missed and had to puncture your skin more than once.” He does not look the least bit remorseful. Instead, there is a look of almost glee on his normally solemn features. Excitement. He’s enjoying this.

“You can’t inject me with that! I don’t consent! Help!”

“You’re wasting your breath. Sound proof room. Confidential, remember? As I told you earlier. And you did consent. We have your signature on file. A legally binding contract.” His fingers curl around your elbow, turning the joint slightly so he has access to the larger vein in the hollow of your upper extremity,

“This can’t possibly be legal. You’re not a medical doctor! You don’t even know how to give an injection!

”Do you think the doppels are the only ones who know how to forge an ID?” His voice is a low, sultry rasp. Gloating, now.

You gape at him. “What the…who are you?”

“The name is real enough. I suppose we’re better acquainted now, so you can learn my first name. Not that you’ll remember any of this later. It’s William.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because it’s what I do. My job. Seeing this through. Experimenting. Research. Enough chatter.” You feel the tip of the needle laid against your skin and you instantly freeze, holding your breath.

“Please, stop, William,” you implore gently, hoping this approach might prove more effective than yelling and struggling, knowing all the same it’s a futile attempt.

Afton’s gray eyes meet yours. “Sweet dreams. See you when you get back.” Pain. Heat inside your arm, then liquid ice.

Darkness.

***

The first thing you smell is brimstone.

You’re not even sure how you recognize that scent. Your eyes open and you find yourself in the security booth you work in every day.

But it’s different.

Four eyes, one at each corner of the window, stare back at you, following your hand movements. The walls are spattered with blood. The papers and files are crumpled and stained. There’s an ominous looking fluid dripping from the air vent. The handle of the phone looks like it’s coated in some unpleasant substance. There are holes in the plaster and some of the wiring for the door panel control is exposed, the ends fraying. You shudder and the eyes follow this motion too, ever attentive.

A tapping sound draws your attention back to the window.

You have a prospective entrant outside the glass, their hand resting on that clear panel, which has several spidery cracks, you notice with a growing sense of alarm. There are claws clicking on that smudged surface that needed to be wiped down with ammonia desperately, the owner bearing a strong resemblance to the man you know as Francis Mosses.

Alike in some ways, such as the general build and facial structure, but different, too. These eyes are golden and red rimmed. He has pierced ears, silver spikes driven into each. A gold nose ring. A choker with spikes to match the earrings, with a padlock dangling from his throat. Whereas the milkman always wears a white uniform, this figure is clad in a black dress shirt with some suspicious stains on his left chest. There are also a pair of fangs poking from the barrier of his lips, and your first immediate thought is that this pale figure is a vampire.

Ludicrous, right? But then again, is it any more wild than the eyes that are watching you from the window frame, the obviously trippy effects of whatever junk Afton has injected you with taking hold, making you have this strange nightmare?

The figure slides an ID card and entry request into the slot and you want to laugh at that mundane formality. As if you’re going to let a bloodsucker in. Yes, see, it says it right there on his paperwork. He went out to suck blood. Vampire.

“You’re new, human.”

Your eyes flick up to the creature’s face. “Have there been many others here?”

“A few.” He nods towards the room you’re standing inside. “You gonna hit the buzzer and let me in?”

“I…” You glance down at his name. Yog Sothoth. He lives in a different apartment than Francis. A different floor entirely, if these documents are accurate. “This is just a bad dream. It has to be. None of this is real.”

“It’s real. That DDD from your world found a way to create a portal here. Drugged you and sent you through it, just like the others.”

You frown. “It says here astral plane? What does that mean?”

“Exactly what it says on the label. You’re in an alternate realm that can only be reached through spiritual transcendence. In short, your mind is here, your body elsewhere. At least, I think that’s how it works.”

“This is crazy.” You pause. “What happened to the others? The humans who got here before me?”

“I couldn’t tell you. They disappear fairly quickly. Not sure who’s responsible. It wasn’t me,” he adds quickly. “If that’s what you’re thinking. I just take a little at a time. And I don’t discriminate. Blood is blood, though I must say your species is a lot cleaner than some of the other riffraff around here.”

“If it’s only your mind that’s here, why do you need to feed at all?”

“Mmm, doesn’t work that way. Me and the other residents, we are actually, physically here. It’s just you humans that are straddling both worlds.”

“I do have a physical form here, though. I can interact with things.” You lift up Yog’s entry request to demonstrate. “This makes no sense.”

The vampire shrugs. “I don’t make the rules, I just exist by them. So, am I good to come in?”

“There are really doppels here, too?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“How do I get back home?”

“I don’t know, exactly. Maybe the DDD will bring you back when the experiment or whatever the hell they’re doing is over? The other humans I spoke with seemed as in the dark about it as you are.”

“The DDD,” you murmur darkly. You’ve been proud to work for them. Glad to be able to help your fellow neighbors. Now, though? You hardly know what to think.

“Not sure which is worse, to be honest.”

You grunt in agreement. Afton had said something about seeing you when you got back, so you have to believe that there will actually be a return trip. There didn’t seem to be much purpose behind just sending you along one way and then not gaining any knowledge from that venture. He’d also mentioned you wouldn't remember what had happened in the office with him, which also makes you wonder: are you doomed to just keep repeating this experiment? Unwittingly participating because you’ll have no recollection of the DDD’s seeming betrayal? What was the point of any of this? You slide Yog’s things back to him, forcing yourself to focus on the creature standing across from you. “You’re chattier than Francis.”

“Francis?”

“The human that looks like you in my world. You seem like you’re a good person like he is. Maybe that’s the same in every universe.” You push the button to release the lock on the door. “I guess I might as well let you in.”

The bloodsucker hesitates. “I hope you make it back home safely. If I don’t see you tomorrow, it was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

You lock the door behind him.

[tizeline]

The Sep AU is super interesting, like it grabbed my brain and does not want to let go-

I find it interesting how from the Drax Trios innitial perspective everything Donnie is just justifies their opinion more-

Donnies dark aesthetic, murderous humor, dangerous machines, deadpan attitude and lack of liking of magic combined with his alleged backstory and being friends with a human? U could really argue he got indoctrinated into being a villainous mad scientist or smth. They don't know that that's just him, Donnie TM. I can absolutely see them being worried that "Long lost brother" got brainwashed so badly and how annoying that could be for Donnie himself lol

I'm also curious on Donnies relationship with Splinter. Is it better than in canon or similar to Canon or worse? Since in Canon Donnie is craving parental approval, does he still here?

Thank u for (potentially) answering :)

First of all, "Drax Trio", thank you, I needed an easier way to refer to specifically Raph, Leo and Mikey in this AU so I'm gonna steal that

Second, yeah, Donnie acting like a cartoon villain is really just cementing the Drax Trio's idea that he's been corrupted by humans. You know Draxum's villain song in the show? I can totally see Donnie putting on a perfomance like that XD Speaking of Draxum, to be fair he's very alike Donnie in the way that he's fully embracing the whole Evil Scientist aesthetic, but in that case his sons would just excuse it with "oh haha dad's just a bit silly goofy don't worry about it it's not like he's actually evil!"

Anyway, you know how Mikey basically forced Draxum into having a redemtion arc in the show? He'd try to do the same with Donnie in this AU. I've been thinking about this for a while so I'm defintiely gonna draw it, but he's constantly going full Dr. Feelings mode trying to teach Donnie how to be a "good person" and such and Donnie finds it INCREDIBLY annoying!

And Splinter! Being a single parent taking care of a child who was created to be a super soldier while living in the sewers is HARD, but not nearly as hard as taking care four of them at the same time under the same conditions. So while Splinter is still dealing with depression and burn out in this AU, he's doing better than what he is in canon. For years Splinter and Donnie would literally only have each other, so they'd end up growing closer as a result. That being said, because Donnie didn't have any siblings to spend time with, he'd end up demanding a lot more attention from Splinter. Which he didn't always recieve, because his dad is still very much dealing with a lot of emotional baggage. To summarize, Splinter is still a flawed parent, but he's not terrible by any means, he and Donnie are close, but Donnie is also a lot more lonely (especially before meeting April).

[reasonsforhope]

"The search has intensified for alternative energy-saving technologies for heating and cooling that don’t run on fossil fuels.

Now, by mimicking a desert-dwelling chameleon, Chinese scientists have developed a cheap energy-efficient, cost-effective coating on houses.

They say the new material could keep buildings cool in the summer or warm in the winter without using additional energy.

“Many desert creatures have specialized adaptations to allow them to survive in harsh environments with large daily temperature shifts,” said Dr. Fuqiang Wang, author on the paper describing the invention and researcher at the Harbin Institute of Technology. “For example, the Namaqua chameleon of southwestern Africa alters its color to regulate its body temperature as conditions change.”

Pictured: A Namaqua Chameleon

...Many systems, such as cooling paints or colored steel tiles, are only designed to keep buildings either cool or warm, and can’t switch between modes.

Inspired by the Namaqua chameleon, Dr. Wang and his colleagues wanted to create a color-shifting coating that adapts as outside temperatures fluctuate...

When heated to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the surface began to change from dark to light grey. Once it reached 86F, the light-colored film reflected up to 93% of solar radiation.

“Even when heated above 175 degrees Fahrenheit for an entire day, the material showed no signs of damage,” reported Dr. Wang.

The team then tested it alongside three conventional coatings—regular white paint, a passive radiative cooling paint, and blue steel tiles in outdoor tests on doghouse-sized buildings throughout all four seasons...

In summer, the new coating was significantly cooler than the white paint and steel tiles, according to the findings published in the journal Nano Letters.

“During spring and fall, the new coating was the only system that could adapt to the widely fluctuating temperature changes, switching from heating to cooling throughout the day,” Dr. Wang added.

The researchers say that the color-changing system could save a “considerable” amount of energy for regions that experience multiple seasons, while still being inexpensive and easy to manufacture."

-via Good News Network, September 21, 2023

[canarysage]

…make a psd look interesting?

aka, how to fuck up a psd no glue no borax. have you ever looked at your psd and gone, damn, this shit doesn’t fuck? happens to the best of us. here are easy ways to spice up your psds so you don’t end up with the editor equivalent of communion bread

for example purposes, i made a simplistic psd to test these methods on. they should work with most psds, but, as always, fuck around and find out on your own for best results <3

i. threshold + gradient map

this one is an easy way to add specific colors to your psds. step one: add a threshold layer, and adjust it your liking. typically, i set mine to somewhere between 60-40. if you’re making a psd to work on dark skintones, you may want to set it even lower, but if you’re working with, say, pjsk characters, you can go pretty high

wow flashbang. you can see on my example behind that it doesn’t work super well on irl pictures, and my pjsk images don’t have threshold at all lol. next thing you want to do is set the blending mode of your threshold layer to either multiply or darken—they’re basically the same thing

(psst, if you want to know more about blending modes, check out this post!)

waow crunchy! but still boring right? still boring. not to worry, here’s the fun part: add a gradient map layer, tap it, and go to the slidey icon on the side, which’ll bring up a page like this:

click the gradient in the middle there to edit it. once in, edit the black color to be at about 80-90%, and then change the white color to whatever you like. edit out, and tap the little square next to the text that says “reverse” which should make your gradient look more or less like this:

then change the blending mode on your gradient map to ‘screen’ which’ll axe all the black and just leave your color. now your image looks like this:

boy howdy, isn’t that fucked up! it is more interesting, but if you don’t want to be looking at that abomination, change your color in your gradient map to be darker, which’ll give you something more along the lines of:

…which is much more reasonable. this is a fun way to add color to your shadows slash lineart, and can be a quick and easy way to make a psd look less flat.

ii. noise gradient map

some of you may be thinking, but, canarysage, what the fuck is a noise gradient map? to which i reply: you’re boring. let me show you.

kinda fucked up, right? well, that’s the goal. unfortunately, there isn’t a way to directly edit a gradient map, but you can just click that little button that says ‘randomize’ a couple times until you get something you like! you can also mess with the percentages but i don’t do that because it looks weird

boy howdy, that’s weird looking. not to worry, though. once again, our best friend blending mode is going to come in handy

i typically go to soft light and set the opacity to about 20-30%, but, as with anything, feel free to mess around and do whatever you want. luminosity is also a fun setting for noise gradient maps, just make sure to crank the opacity way down for the sake of my eyes

wow, much better! you can see that the gradient map added a bit of purple coloring and a funky little texture. super cool! thank you, gradient map!

iii. channel mixer

i already have a post on channel mixer and i’m not rewriting all that so if you don’t know how channel mixer works check that shit out but the tl;dr is: ideally, all your channels should add up to 100 (including negative numbers) but that rule can be broken if it looks cool enough. capiche?

iv. color lookup

photopea has a few default color lookups that are pretty easy to use, but i have a couple of presets that i like to add if i’m feeling stuck. to make your own color lookup, open up a psd, and go to file > export color lookup

then save it and open it from your files. when you open a color lookup layer, you’ll see an arrow next to the text saying LUTs—click that and your new color lookup should be there

once you tap that, you’ll get a compressed version of your psd added to your folder. it’ll look something like this:

holy orange and blue, batman. luckily, you can apply blending modes to color lookups just like any other layer—mess around with them until it looks how you want!

waow much more reasonable! i set this one on color and about 55% opacity, but that is really dependent on what your color lookup looks like and how you want your psd to look. remember, there’s no right way to do things!

an additional note: if you want to, you can save the psd you’re working on as a color lookup instead. if it looks too simple or just isn’t turning out how you want, that’s a good way to incorporate it later :3 just follow the same steps as above!

v. no shame in starting over

if you’ve added and taken away, duplicated and removed, fucked around and found out, and your psd still isn’t how you want: it’s alright to just axe it. the edit police aren’t gonna kill you for it, i promise. if you’re worried about wanting it later, just save it as a psd and come back when your brain is refreshed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

psd-making isn’t an exact art, so, obviously, there’s no real simple solution to making it look how you want. you just have to mess with it and see what you’ve got. these are just my methods of making my psds less blagh, but, obviously, my editing is moderately more deranged than your average editor.

…so that’s how you do it.

[thebitchesterbrothers]

„Nobody leaves this room until we’ve found my ring!“

Oh, great. Ava needs to be at the other end of the campus for her next class in fifteen minutes.

„Is he serious right now? It’s not our fault he lost his stuff.“ Doug, one of the other students dramatically rolled his eyes.

„Oh come on, have some sympathy. It’s probably antique and ridiculously expensive. Just help him find it and we can all be on our way.“

Just five minutes ago Ava was listening to Professor Gadlings lecture about early modern drama when he noticed the lack of his ring. One of the braver students had once asked him about his kind of uncharacteristically flashy ring he was sporting on his left hand.

The professor was known on campus as a very down-to-earth guy, almost suspiciously normal. Wearing cozy and practical clothes he always gave off the impression of a perfect son-in-law. In Ava’s opinion there was still a kind of mysterious aura about him but she never managed to put it into words. Not too much was known about him despite his cheery and social behavior.

It all added to his attractiveness. If one was into middle aged history professors…so basically at least half of the class had a crush on Mister Gadling and Ava surely was a leading member of the unofficial Dr. Robert Gadling fan club. For academic purposes only, of course.

That particular ring however didn’t seem like something the man would buy for himself. It was gold, beautifully carved and had a massive ruby embedded in the center of it.

It was just a touch too flamboyant for their professor that there had to be a story behind it.

But all he would give them as an answer was a sly smile and a cryptic comment about „how Shakespeare would die of jealousy if he could see him now.“

Said ring was now missing. When Gadling noticed his bare finger all hell broke loose.

Running his hands frantically through his hair, pulling it into a tight ponytail only to undo it seconds later. Crawling under his cluttered desk and painfully bumping his head in the process.

For a minute or two it was admittedly funny to watch the man sweat but now Ava just felt sorry for him. If she’d own such an obviously expensive piece of jewellery she would freak out too. Maybe it was an old family heirloom of some kind. The man owned all kinds of weird historic stuff, that much was for sure.

And apparently now they all had to help him find it if they wanted to leave this room anytime today.

So this is how Ava finds herself now on the surprisingly clean floors of lecture hall number five, looking for a shiny piece of metal along with her classmates.

Gadling seems to slowly but surely drift off into panic mode, spurring them on while turning every pocket of his trousers inside out, his hair sticking in every direction like one of the cartoon characters from her childhood. A mad scientist indeed.

“It has to be in this room! Keep looking! I can’t go home without it…and believe me when I say we’re all going to have a terrible night of disturbing dreams if we don’t manage to find it!” What is that supposed to mean, please?

Just as he’s about to flip his desk - yes, the very heavy and very antique looking desk - an unfamiliar voice breaks the chaotic atmosphere.

“Are you looking for something specific, professor? You seem quite distressed.”

And if Mister Gadling appeared ‘distressed’ before he’s outright shocked now.

In front of the old oak door leading into freedom - Ava can’t wait to finally leave this madhouse - stands the most gorgeous and posh looking goth prince she’s ever seen. Damn, those cheekbones alone are to die for, but his voice…dark, soothing, absolutely mesmerizing. The man looks regal even in a place that is anything but. That long flowing coat is a bit much though.

“Oh. You. Are here.” What happened to her eloquent professor?

“Indeed I am, Hob.” Hob? What kind of nickname is that?

“I mean why? Why exactly are you here? It’s just that you never visited before.”

Ava crawls back from under her chair to not miss a minute of whatever the hell this is.

She swears that Gadling - Hob, she remembers - starts to blush like a shy school girl. Who is that man that makes her professor lose his cool?

Meanwhile the rest of the classroom stopped the search for the ring, instead staring without shame at the play in front of them.

“My duties prevented me from visiting one of your lectures. I apologize for that. But you missed something of great value this morning. I thought you might want it back.”

And with that emo king (Ava really needs to find out that man’s name) calmly walks towards her professor, completely unaffected by his nosy audience.

Once he reaches the other man he gently takes his hand, opens it … and places a ring into his palm. Not just any ring, no.

The ring that “definitely has to be in this room”, as Ava recalls professor Gadlings voice. So much for that.

The stranger looks clearly amused at mister Gadlings obvious embarrassment.

“You left it next to the sink after washing the dishes. Then you realized how late you were and forgot to put it back on. I had to stop Matthew from hiding it under his pillow.”

Did Gadling have a cat? That man would surely get a cat and name it Matthew.

Gadling looks as relieved as he looks stressed by now.

“Thank you. I may have overreacted a bit.”

More than a few students agree on that but are too smart to make a comment.

That dark dream of a man fondly tucks a strand of hair behind their professors ear and wow, what’s happening? Ava tries to be as silent as possible to not ruin this moment. Her friends will never believe her.

Apparently Gadling finally found his voice again.

“You came all this way just to…”

“To take your wedding ring where it belongs, husband.”

And with that he places an almost chaste kiss on the other man’s lips and abruptly turns around to leave the - absolutely stunned and silent - room. Everyone is openly staring at poor mister Gadling now. Ava is pretty sure she saw one of the younger students filming or at least taking a picture of the whole thing. She’ll have to ask for evidence.

“Okay listen. None of this ever happened. You saw and heard nothing. Thank you for your help. Goodbye.”

Gadling quickly dismisses his students and almost flees the lecture hall.

Days later Ava still isn’t sure she witnessed a very elaborate fever dream

[snackugaki]

.... i have been so normal about wanting to draw tactical!Venus and tactical!Jennika.

hey. HEY. y’all need to go check out @donathan ‘s artwork, and if you are the proper age, go throw some money into their patreon for some... some real, real good art. 👀👀👀 ...but do not if you are a minor, that shit ain’t for you.

some IDW TMNT comic spoilers... and.... I guess... Next Mutation ssspoilers? I know some of you kids haven’t turtled up and watched my beloved childhood iteration yet.

alright, so, y’know, completely normal expenditure of my energy and skillset, amirite? big big thanks to @/donathan for allowing me to play around in their AU’s aesthetic because I have severe, terminal VenusAndJennikaDeserveEverythingoccocal SoIWillManifestItMyselfitis.

and tbh, all y’all’s fics have been, mwah, chef’s kiss. but SOME of you put LORE. delicious, tasty, appetite-inducing lore.

and i am nothing but the littlest hoebag for lore.

okay so, quick rundown for those who both A) are immune to spoilers B) also do not know Venus or Jennika’s origins-- bulletpoint time~!

So Venus de Milo, the “girl turtle”, the “fifth turtle” (not counting April’s extremely brief stint as a white-bandana’d turtle in the Archie comics run) was introduced in 1997′s Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation

An episode of “The Toys That Made Us” touched upon Venus’ creation so idk it’ll cover what I won’t deign to acknowledge.

her backtory is interesting (just her show was a trashfire /affectionate)

Master Splinter’s frolicking around in the dreamscape where all the cool enlightened old people hang out away from teenagers, right?

but oh no! dragon lord, a bad dude with a widow’s peak to rival Vegeta Dragonball’s widow’s peak; is there too! stomping around, ruining shit!

Splinter’s dreamscape buddy Chung I warns Splinter to stay out of the dreamscape ‘cuz Dragon Lord’s around

And like in true old people fashion, just ignores his friend’s admonition and tries to investigate himself

bad choice, womp womp

Splinter gets trussed up and rendered “stuck” in the dreamscape

cue the catalyst for Venus to make the 10+ flight from China to the U.S

don’t worry about what the boys were doing, just literal surfing in sewer grey water, breaking their little turtle skulls on cinderblocks, and picking fights in warehouses with Foot clan goons

tl;dr Venus still has Sixth Ranger mode on, so naturally she whoops all of their asses in the dark, ties them up (like how some of y’all enjoy writing Leo does huhu nudgenudge winkwink)

venusistheoriginalshibarienthusiastandteadrinkerfightme

and then, y’know, it’s still the 90s and children’s television so blah blah the usual “oH My gOd a GiRL tURTle???/?? AWoooOOogaaa ga ga ga” 

it’s.... I mean, i’m 38 so it no longer strikes me as bad as just really fucking embarrassing... for them. to be written saying. fuck, at least they didn’t make her bandana color pink.

so fast forward to Venus teaching them to dreamwalk so they can go rescue Splinter from Dragon Lord’s clutches in the dreamscape.

unfortunately, Dragon Lord offscreen murders Chung I so Venus is narratively anchorless post-rescue, so she’s invited to stay with them. thus ensues wacky hijinks with their new pal, Venus Boom Boom de Milo.

I glossed over the urge to write a cumulative review of Next Mutation. Just, take my word as the target demographic of the show during the last gasps of 90s Turtlemania that TNM was a trashfire overall but... y’know... if you ever needed a palette cleanser after some grimdark or angsty TMNT content, give TNM a whirl. The slapstick was intentional and The Point in the show. Venus’ circumstances for coming was as serious as it would get.

... Also, yes, they made them not related in TNM, preteen snackugaki didn’t clock why because I watched a lot of wuxia as a kid so brotherhood is a term beyond blood ties to me (and if I’m being honest, martial brotherhood is fkkn metal) and later I heard tell that it was to lure more girls into the franchise with both a girl turtle and romance options. which idk whatevs man. 

I also have to clear that, actually no, Donatello and Venus did not fight EVERY episode. Donatello, despite sprinkling a little too much barely disguised snobbery, did defer to Venus’ expertise in “the supernatural” when the situation called for it, and Venus would commend Donnie on his scientific ingenuity. They even teamed up skillsets to create surveillance drones! She essentially casted Calm Emotions on him while he tried to hack the controls of the Astro Megaship back for the In Space Rangers. They breached the divide between STEM and Humanities! They only had one “real fight" near the end of the season-- because Donnie was playing his containment breach elevator mid trash copyright strike immune proto-EDM too loud while she was trying to meditate. and that’s just being bad roommates tbh.

...christ I know it’s gonna come up too, but also NO, there was not constant advances made toward Venus during the show. At most was Mikey pulling his ol’ “I work out every day~!” schtick for like 2 episodes of the 5 spent to introduce Venus. And then after? A shipper’s desert, you’d have to dig and peer behind like 8 curtains for any viable fodder. 

...OKAY NOW FOR JENNIKA’S ORIGINS: Jennika is an IDW character specifically so, naturally why she isn’t in (or would’ve been, AHEM) a lot of iterations yet (or at all, COUGH) (but to continue in honesty there’s a lot of legal tape to cut through since Jennika is IDW’s while TMNT overall is Nick’s) Introduced as a Foot Assassin, her place in the Foot Clan shifts when Splinter takes over from Shredder (Saki), eventually she forms actual bonds with both the turtles and Splinter to where it’s implied she also saw him as an important figure to her if not an outright surrogate father figure. And because TMNT is mess and drama the other 50% of the time, Karai takes over the Foot from Splinter and shenanigans compounded by Karai’s then-current machinations for the Foot-- results in Jennika getting shanked in the stomach by Karai during a clandestine meeting to resolve clan rivalry. She’s losing blood fast, Donnie works to save her and it’s Leo who volunteers for blood transfusion to keep her stable mid-transit. 

SURPRISE!

Leo’s blood mutates Jennika into a mutant turtle. And then Casey ghosts/dumps her. My poor daughter. She has a real rough time of it before fully integrating with the boys. Raph falls in with Old Hob, gets hoodwinked, and now they live in Mutant Town. Jennika slowly finds herself again, as a mutant turtle, a Splinter clan ninja, a girlfriend, a guitarist in a band she started, a sister in a found family, and a constable to a very little town.

okay! we’re all marginally informed about my two wonderfull daughters, Venus and Jennika~!

so if I can indulge further, I’m going to use my cognizance and make it everyone’s problem because I have beem quietly foaming with ideas for bg lore for tactical!J&V, more bullet points!

ok so, donathan mentioned a bit about their tac! Leo and Donnie being the snipers, Mikey and Raph spotting for them while also being demolitions and heavy ordinance specialists respectively

I would think, then for Vee and Jen, they’d be classified as close quarters combat specialists, complicated extraction? compromised area? call them to clean up and clear out~

give or take “magic” being a thing used in donathan’s AU, or anyone’s AU of this AU, Vee would probably be a close combat specialist along with Jen.

Vee, I feel, would, barring a ...”tactical fan”, (even though in TNM it was just her fists and her little wizard components but her toy came with a fan so.) probably use batons, Jen in lieu of her tekagi-shuko would... most likely use tactical karambit. not that large of a leap really.

for my personal lulz, Vee and Jen are... accurate, height-wise. Raph gets to be the biggest brother since alligator snapping turtles are, in fact, the largest motherfucking freshwater turtles on the north american continent. no getting around it.

my Vee in all Rise AUs is a softshell since the messy hanzi used to write her first given name, Mei Pieh Chi (美鱉气) has the hanzi that’s most commonly translated as softshell turtle (鱉). eh ‘di wow talaga

snacku what do you mean ‘accurate’???? tl;dr female turtles are usually the larger ones in most species.

and listen, I love and I mean LOVE, how some of y’all have written the tac!boys, mwah; but god I’m a professional turtle bully. I need to see them get dunked on. for nutritional value. and if it comes to it, I will provide that food for myself. brb laughing at eventually drawing Venus just offhandedly tossing Donnie into the air to skeet shoot his ass for fun brings me the greatest joy.

they absolutely dote on Mikey, as is the natural order of things. 

and even tho I stated TNM Donnie and Venus got along in the show, and depending on the existence of magic in this AU; I just really love dichotomous rivalries (in as much “science” and “magic” exist as a dichotomy, much less as “diametrically oppose” fields-- just, opposites man. i’m a simple girl with simple trope needs)

Vee’s arms (and legs) are absolutely covered in burns, scars, and missing flesh divots, just as close to swiss cheese limbs as you can be

Jen and Donnie debate tracks that go into their joint “On Our Way To Commit Murder” playlist

if Vee’s tactical look seem very familiar, and you’re wondering if-- yes, you’re correct. and you can “call her ms. de milo if ya nasty”

Vee was actually pretty calm and rational in TNM... but for this AU, she can be a little unhinged, as a well-deserved treat. (and ‘cuz that specific anime unhinged facial expression is fun as fuck to draw, which is my treat)

[aquaticlime]

MET GALA THEMES

I tried to come up with good names for these but some were just too hard. Go ahead and use any of these for your DR, I’d love to see what you do with these ideas as well. I’ll probably make another post detailing which of these I’ve scripted into my Dr to attend and what I wear so stay tuned.

The Lost City of Atlantis

I think this would be so cool! Some people would draw from the Disney movie I’m sure, but imagine everyone’s interpretation of the classic myth.

The Animal Kingdom

A Night of Beastly Beauty. For this I would like to see good use of ethically sourced furs and animal prints. Someone’s gotta be a dinosaur, like please pick unique animals. However if I see someone like Jared Leto dressed in a mascot or furry costume I’m done.

The Dark Side of the Grimm

A Night of Grim Fairy-Tale Villains in Couture. Time for the villains of fairytales to shine. I hope some people would dress as the hero’s if they were turned evil.

The Seven Deadly Sins

This one is the perfect amount of specificity while still being broad enough to let peoples creativity shine through. Inevitably some men are still going to come in a plain black suit but what can you do.

A Night at the Museum

A Timeless Journey Through Fashion and Art. How cool would it be if someone came inspired by Starry night or Monets garden. So many art pieces to choose. There are other types of museums and art to like sculptures or someone could dress like a wax figure. Personally I would like to see the Winged Victory or the Caryatid statues.

Jungle Fever

Another one that deals with animals a bit. Again people better get creative and pick some unique animals. I wanna see a someone (bonus points if it’s a woman) do a Tarzan inspired look though.

Desert Oasis

I don’t know with this one. I guess someone could do an Aladdin look, we already had Tyla do her sands of time dress so I don’t know what else you could do for this one.

Down the Rabbit Hole

A Wonderland Fantasy of Fashion. I just love Alice in wonderland. I would love to see everyone’s outfits. There is so much you could do with this! Zendaya and Lady Gaga would have to be in attendance at this one.

The Literary-Inspired Gala

From Pages to Runway. Another good broad one. It woukd be cool to see everyone’s favorite books, some fairytales some sci fi and maybe even Harry Potter. I could see someone doing a literal book outfit too.

The Neon Nights

Nobody uses bright fun colors anymore, imagine all the black lights and fun glow in the dark paint you could use. Maybe the carpet would be from a bowling alley or mini golf course.

A Carnival of Curiosities

How cool would a carnival or circus Met Gala be!? This is another good one to bring out peoples creativity. Some fun clown inspired looks and the boring people can be a ring leader.

Space Travelers

Galactic Fashion! None of these looks are going to make sense. I have a feeling Doja Cat would be either pretty good for this or just paint herself snot green.

The Wild West

A Night of Cowgirl Chic and Frontier Flair. Pretty self explanatory and quite broad. Someone’s coming as a cactus for sure, and some couple is gonna do Bonnie and Clyde.

The Great Gatsby

Roaring Twenties themed or it could be based off the book as well. People would have to get pretty creative with this one in order to stand out. Give me a man in a flapper inspired outfit.

The Magic of Hollywood

A Tribute to Cinematic Glitz and Glam! Simple enough, you could take inspiration from directors or film companies. Imagine someone going a the Twentieth Century Fox logo or a red carpet.

Creature Feature

Classic Horror film themed! I’m talking Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein, Dracula, and Nosferatu. I would go as one of the monsters and have my date be the female protagonist of the story.

Terror Awakens

This one is horror themed as well but much broader than classic horror films. You could do books, any movies or simple scary concepts. Please don’t do anything about modern day murderers, I just don’t think that’s tasteful.

˗ˏˋReturn to masterlist ✦ main masterlist´ˎ˗

[toriangeli]

Do you think armand ever loved louis in the show that was left a little vague especially with this finale.

I'll be controversial: I don't think Armand understands what love is at this juncture. He confuses it with safety, or at least security. Like Assad pointed out, he is primarily concerned with how the other person can help him survive.

Of the few people he might say have truly loved him, he'd list basically everyone who lived under Marius' roof, all of whom were burned to death by the Children of Darkness. Then if he knew the same people as in the books, he'd list Allesandra, his cultist den mom who helped torture him, and maybe Santino, who served the kind of purpose in his life some people attribute to Marius. Bianca, a friend of his in Venice, would also come up. Of those people, I think the only ones who loved him selflessly were those more his own age, like Riccardo (a fellow apprentice) and probably Bianca after a point. Marius tried, but admitted to failure in TVA.

At this point on the show, he can't even list his parents, and I'm pretty sure it was the slavers who told him his parents sold him into slavery so he'd stop trying to escape.

So he doesn't have a lot of very good examples of what real love looks like.

Did he feel great affection for Louis? Yes. But I'm not sure that's the same thing as love. I don't think it mattered that much what Louis' personality was, whether they shared goals or values. Louis was someone. Louis was outside the stagnant world Armand was trying to escape. That was what Armand loved.

I don't say this to mean he's heartless. People as severely mentally ill as, like, 100% of the characters on this show except Madeleine and Claudia, are trapped in survival mode. Survival mode isn't concerned with what happens outside the person. This leads a lot of people to cry pathological narcissism when the self-centeredness is really a symptom of a million different mental disorders.

Now, later on in the books, Armand is able to love selflessly, and loves Louis in this way he couldn't love him before (he mentions loving Louis in Blood Communion). His love for Lestat, as well, is able to make this transition. and he's supportive of their happiness together even if it means he doesn't get either of them. But at this early stage, he isn't able to do that. He's too busy guarding his vital organs to embrace someone unconditionally.

This can also be true of Louis, in a different way. Louis out of anyone has truly crippling depression, always has, and Jacob has talked about how the trauma of his brother's suicide made him reluctant to love. Survival mode.

Mind you, this is all completely separate from Armand's disorganized attachment style. People with a disorganized attachment style can love. Armand specifically can't remember how to do so. Nothing he learned about love and goodness has mattered since he was taken by the Children of Darkness. Those were things actively working against his survival once that happened. All he got for holding out trying to stand for his beliefs and his loved ones was an absolutely harrowing few pages of torture.

tl;dr: it's complicated.

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Very cool study titled "Recommendations for Gaming and Play in Holocaust Memory and Education" just dropped on my linkedin feed, via study contributor Dr. Christine Beresniova.

Its opening paragraphs read:

Digital games are becoming increasingly significant within Holocaust memory and education as professional memory institutions continue to explore the affordances of integrating digital technologies. The so-called Holocaust gaming taboo which has burdened both the mainstream gaming industry and small indie studios seems to show signs of lifting. Scholars have pointed out that major FPS (first-person shooter) franchises such as Wolfenstein and Call of Duty have only teetered on representation of this past, often taking liberty with Nazi themes while placing the Holocaust within the margins or completely eliding the persecution of European Jewry altogether. At the other end of the spectrum, game designers working with small budget proposals had been “promptly pressured to abandon the project” due to the backlash in public discourse, often prompted by professional Holocaust organisations denouncing the very premise of Holocaust games. However, the rising prominence of indie studios such as Paintbucket Games responsible for the historical resistance sim Through the Darkest of Times (2020), as well as the recent Forced Abroad (2022) and The Darkest Files (forthcoming), and Prague-based studio Charles Games who have produced Attentat 1942 (2017); Liberation Svoboda 1945 (2021) and Train to Sachsenhausen (2022) mark the significant shift underway. Indeed, professional Holocaust memory institutions such as the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial and the Arolsen Archives are working in collaboration with game designers and developers to produce digital games on the subject. Furthermore, one designer, who faced public backlash for a game project designed as early as 2013, has since released The Light in the Darkness (Voices of the Forgotten, 2023) and is responsible for creating the first Holocaust Museum in Fortnite (Epic Games, 2023). This would not be the first Holocaust museum in a gaming environment, however. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum launched ‘Witnessing History: Kristallnacht, the 1938 Pogroms’ in Second Life (c. 2008). The proliferation of interest in the medium’s potential to offer new modes for engaging with the past raises critical questions regarding opportunities for digital Holocaust memory practice, while also bringing into sharp focus issues regarding player/user experience, contextualisation, accessibility, funding and digital obsolescence. This report serves as an important first step in this work.

You may read the full report here. I'll be reading it later today or tomorrow. Very excited engage with this new(ish) terrain of Holocaust memory construction!

[quitealotofsodapop]

The evolution of Wukong through the eyes of the Pilgrims (mainly Zu Baije and Sja Wujing)

A terrifying beast that is only held back by the monk's presence and his divine leash. Can and will kill them all at the first chance. Wujing suspects that he might also be very lonely, but hesitates to reach out. Baijie is just grumpy and resentful.

When Wukong gets banished they are initially worried about retribution. That he'd attack them once Tripitaka reveals the circlet does not come off and he doesn't know how to remove it. When Wukong instead, visibly upset but not angry, Wujing begins to suspect they went too far. Baije is smug. Both soon realize that they definitely went too far when Ao Lie immediately bucks Tripitaka off and kicks Baijie before transforming back into his humanoid form to ask what the ever loving HELL was wrong with them. They all are horrified to realize Wukong had kept his pregnancy secret.

Upon entering FFM at Ao Lie's insistence, the pilgrims are immediately confronted with the smell of smoke and the sight of burnt trees and ashes. At first, Baije suspects Wukong might have done it, only to be reprimanded by the Stalwart whom had met them. Wujing us just feeling sorrow upon being told thus was Heaven's doing. An example made of a once paradise to punish the king who was trapped and already facing the Budfha's wrath, completely out of sheer spite. Baije is horrified upon being told this very bluntly and that with Wukong's return they finally have hope for the first time in over 500 years.

When they finally see Wukong on FFM it strikes them. It was the first time they've seen a gentle Wukong and realized he was not a monster. Baije grumbles that he's still a jerk and Wujing finally feels encouragement to approach and befriend Wukong. Things start to look up.

As months pass, they gradually get closer, Ao Lie noticeably being protective. Baije comes to the wrong conclusion and jokes about Ao Lie trying to be Wukong's baby daddy. Wukong shoots back that he already had a mate thank you very much, Baije and Wujing are shocked, Tripitaka asks if they were one of the monkeys on the island Wukong admits that Macaque wasn't there and he had no idea where he left, nor was he aware of the Egg. He says Macaque and him had broken up before he could tell him and tells then about the incident uner the mountain, claiming it to be his fault as Macaquehas appeeared shortly after some mountain gods had poured molten copper down his throat and made hurtful comments and he had lashed out at his mate. Baije feels righteous fury and makes a mental note about hot foods. Tripitaka needs a moment. Wujing punches a boulder. They start to notice Wukong's habits.

Dr. Wukong chapter happens. Pilgrims have the realization that Wukong is hella smart. Tripitaka gifts Wukong with some alchemy and medicinal books they picked up in town, stating that medicine is a good skill for a monk to have as an excuse for the luxury. They hadn't expected him to jump up and down like a little kid at the thought of learning! Cute.

Macaque appears! Wukong and him are forced to fight until Baije finally gets fed up and shouts at him to stop before he kills his unborn child. Macaque freezes as he suddenly registers one too many heartbeats. Unable to handle the revelation that Wukong was pregnant and he almost struck him with his staff, Macaque flees to gather his thoughts. Wukong is heartbroken. They begin to see a shadow following Wukong.

Macaque appears again at the request of the Brotherhood and gets bitten by Ao Lie and punched by Tripitaka, respectively. The events of Camel Ridge happen. Baije and Wujing are pissed. Wukong is very upset. Macaque has gained the Pilgrims' respect.

Macaque awakens, happiness abounds. Teasing begins soon after as Wukong is in full lovestruck monkey mode. Who knew his type was tall, dark, broody artists? Baije is envious. Wujing is highly amused. Tripitaka just wants to meditate in peace.

Pretty much the character journey of the main Pilgrims.

They see Wukong as a beast on a leash at first. Bajie's and Wujing's experiences as Celestials have already painted the Monkey King as a villain with no remorse. Tripitaka is so sheltered that in his mind; Sun Wukong is the most evil creature he has met. Ao Lie is the only one that dares see past his preconceptions (ones which are painted poorly through the stories shared between royal dragons) and approach the monkey as a fellow convicted being.

Then they begin to see him as an unstable but reliable bodyguard after the events of the Ginseng Tree incident.

Then during their first encounter with the White Bone Spirit where Tripitaka formally banishes Wukong as his disciple after being convinced of the evils he can commit (but not of the ones the spirit could do) and nearly caves the monkey's skull in with the Headache Mantra... as a hurt animal?

A pregnant creature according to the (until now silent) horse!?

A creature capable of grief and softness? A beloved king? A beacon of hope for his people? The ruler of a paradise scorched by Heaven to set an example for all demonkind?

A hurt companion. Someone who's missing their mate and has suffered terribly before he joined them. Someone who's traumatised by food being too hot, the ceiling being too low, and by being beheld by too many eyes.

When the king of Zhuzi/Scarlet-Purple Kingdom needs a healer to cure him of a confounding illness - Wukong shows a surprisingly intellectual side to him. One that he's been rarely able to flex with his role as bodyguard. He reveals a vast knowledge of medicine and healing gained from years of study under Master Subodhi. With the crafted medicine; Wukong manages to heal the King so he's able to reveal the real reason for his malady - the loss of his mate. Wukong feels so sympathetic for the King - even if the Queen had been kidnapped to punish him for harming one of the Buddha's kin. Wukong disguises himself as the stolen Queen - only for Sai Tai Sui/Jupiter's Rival to be defeated by three very protective fellow disciples after he gets a bit too fresh with the pregnant monkey.

Wukong and Tripitaka are mid-argument over valuing the Monk's safety over that of murderous bandits, when a completely new monkey appears and interrupts their fight.

The new monkey has fur as dark as night, and is shouting at Wukong about how he's become "the lapdog of Heaven". Staffs clash between the pair as tears run down Wukong's face.... until the King's pregnancy is revealed. Then the shadow monkey quietly wiggles his many ears, backs away in shock, and disappears into the shadows. Wukong cries, revealing that very monkey is his mate! The Pilgrims feel the need to teach the Macaque a lesson.

They become more aware of a shadow that follows close to Wukong's side.

This leads them to the demon-occupied city of Camel Ridge, where they encounter three more of Wukong's former sworn brothers.

Things don't go so well. The Macaque proves himself to be more loyal to his mate than to his own anger, and seemingly sacrifices himself to protect their unborn child.

The Pilgrims pray for the Macaque's recovery - and when he finally awakens, finds that their "savage bodyguard" is a cuddly love truck sap towards his mate (at least when the Macaque isn't a current obstacle). Wukong and the Macaque make adorable fluttering/purring sounds as they nuzzle and hug - the shadow monkey petting the orange one's round stomach with equal guilt and wonder.

Bajie complains loudly; "Why can't I bring my spouse along?! I wanna kiss my wife!" - and Tripitaka just knows that he's in for a headache. Sha Wujing and Ao Lie are delighted for their brother, and tease his interest in "bad boys" enough to make Wukong blush.

Now the Tang Monk has a pair of cuddle bug monkeys as his bodyguards. One that's much more willingly to murder to keep his mate safe. And although the Headache Sutra works on the Macaque (as it did in the novel), he is more likely to believe that the violence was a necessary evil. Tripitaka (nor many Bodhisattvas) cannot fault a man for protecting his pregnant spouse.

The Pilgrims even find themselves some unusual allies in the form of the Demon Bull King, his wife the Iron Fan Princess, Macaque's extended theatre family of the legendary Nine-Tailed Vixen, her twin sons, and the Jade Faced Princess. All excited to see the two monkeys back together and having a cub.

And one day, this troupe of Pilgrims will have a more precious creature to defend than the Tang Monk. Their brother's child.

(tysm for this post I really love how much y'all get into the lore of the aus <3)