#i guess this is kind of a feeler post? to see how it might go down?

[longeyelashedtragedy]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged by @tetrapod7 ...i did some of them already, but not all! so i might as well answer the ones i didn't already answer!

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 155! now that i have an anonymous fic these all will get more annoying to answer, looool

2. what's your total ao3 word count? 478,822

3. what fandoms do you write for? right now i just write for "men's football rpf." i'm occasionally tempted to write for the Old Fandom again.

4. top five fics by kudos: top 5 of all time are all from a song of ice and fire days:

drabbles of ice and fire

captivated

egg baby

arya saves the day

ends and beginnings

was i the best writer of aged-up arya/jaqen AUs in the fandom? uh, yes, since 4 of those are...that, lol.

if we're just talking footy though...

shakira ex machina

doce

two hundred words to say i love you

ça c'est ma dope

hairbrush

oh ffs...removing the crossovers....

shakira ex machina

two hundred words to say i love you

hairbrush

the right kind of blue

desperate times

5. do you respond to comments? sometimes....when i don't lose track 😭 i need to be better...

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i answered that here!

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? ummm...not sure. could it be 5.VII? that's a really satisfying ending. i'll go ahead and say that one.

8. do you get hate on fics? only once, and it was a very pathetic stab at armchair activism "how dare you write a fic on this problematic topic" shit. it could happen again at any time i guess.

9. do you write smut? unfortunately...i'm not very good at it and it stresses me out.

10. craziest crossover: i wrote hozier x jaqen h'ghar for my bestie long ago and posted it at like ass am in zurich airport :')

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? yes! answered here. it was this rakidric! published 3 days before we all locked down. i have not read this in a zillion years.

12. have you ever had a fic translated? also answered here!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? answered here but also i want to cowrite with someone so very much!

14. all time favorite ship? also answered here!

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? my ivantoine, "In The" :'( and others too...my post-WC modren for example. i'm wondering if Mare Liberum will ever be finished. we'll see...

16. what are your writing strengths? i think i am confident and experienced and that comes across (?) even things i wrote a while ago, that i think are "better" (more artistic, more daring) sound less experienced at the same time. my dialogue has improved so much. i think my fics have a good rhythm--varied sentence lengths, good use of repetition and parallelism, line breaks, etc. i like to think i can get people to empathize with/care about people they didn't expect. my writing helps me examine my own flaws. i am not sure what else? my bff said i describe love and loss really well <3

17. what are your writing weaknesses? i think i'm a weak writer, actually! i think my writing is shallow and always sounds the same. a lot of angsty endings, alienated characters, sounds more immature than it should. i don't know how to make porn hot (because i think strange things are hot, i guess?). truly, i've been grappling with how shallow it all sounds. i am a deep feeler (lol) but not a deep thinker at all and i think that shows.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language? answered here

19. first fandom you wrote in? answered here!

20. favorite fic you've written? honestly--my favorites are probably still trophy boyfriend and then "chief of the armed forces" because that's just an absolute crackfic masterpiece. in footy...i probably should pick some favorites, no? let's go with dangerous, i tore off the golden branch, possible red card - violent conduct, rojo y blanco/crvena bijela, and 5.VII. i feel like some franko fics belong here but i just chose 5!

[mxtx-mbti]

Type spotting & why it's so tricky

Hello, everyone!

If you've been around the MBTI block, you know that typing can be hard, full of guess work, and be downright confusing. Have you noticed that cognitive functions can throw off someone's perception of an overall type depending on which ones they're paired with? Or two types that you'd never think could be confused can make you double-take if they happen to share some functions or are the shadow/mirror image of each other?

For example, I've been noticing that Fe/Si (Extroverted Feeling/Introverted Sensing) can seem a lot like Fi/Se (Introverted Feeling/Extroverted Sensing) in certain ways. Depending on our own type, that can also color how we see the cognitive functions showing up in others because it subconsciously looks familiar/foreign to us, so we're more likely to lean towards or away from certain conclusions more than others. It can make your brain hurt sometimes, but it's fascinating to see the deeper details of how this all works together, isn't it?

I personally believe it's impossible to know for sure 100% what someone else's type is, and unless you're the author who wrote a character with a certain type in mind, typing fictional characters will always be speculation. People can mistype themselves & others for all kinds of reasons:

lack of knowledge

stereotyping

misattribution of a cause

lack of data

personal bias

fictional vs. real

Everyone is unique, humans are complex, and there's always more hiding under the surface than meets the eye. I'll be sharing some resources that I think do an excellent job of explaining these blind spots while also going into the differences of the intorverted/extroverted versions of the cognitive functions: intuition, sensing, feeling, thinking, judging & perceiving.

I love MXTX and talking about what we love/admire/wonder about these complex characters--MBTI is just my vehicle to open that conversation. I've been thinking over the last week about how to approach this blog & how to better format it for talking openly about the possibilities of a typing & how these characters might be operating under the surface, so I might be changing my first few posts while also leaving some open questions for you all & sharing some other resources to help us talk about the cognitive functions & how they work.

(For example, a future post might be: Wei Wuxian: Introverted Sensor or Extroverted Sensor? or Luo Binghe: Introverted Feeler or Extroverted Feeler? I'd then go and find examples for both options & have you guys guess which one you think is more likely)

I'm always open to the possibilities, so let's explore them together! :)

[slendermankin]

Had another creepypasta nostalgia moment yesterday..... highkey wanna try to like. Actually rejoin the fandom but. Ough. Its dead on twitter which is were ive been recently and here its.... eough. Great artists, sweet ppl, but just. So many ppl obsessed with online posturing and The Disk Horse

[funkymbtifiction]

I remember the post about the current situation between Ukraine and Russia, where you said feelers are most concerned about the victims and all the lives that this conflict is taking while thinkers are focused on the possible repercussions this might have in the long run, Putin's motives, will other countries get deeply involved? Do they benefit in some way from this conflict? Or quite the opposite?

I used to type a friend of mine as NFP till I listened to him talking about the matter. I compared his reaction to my grandma's (who I think is an ESFJ) and find out they were not on the same page at all. My grandma first thought was: "God please help those innocent people! How many lives is that evil man (Putin) going to take to stop this nonsense?". My friend on the other hand was pretty detached about it. He doesn't seem faced by it. He did not call Putin evil. He just wondered what drives him. He wondered what countries will support Ukraine or Russia? In case of a war, which one will come on top? Are there any layers of this conflict that we ignore? My friend has never been into politics. He has always considered them boring stuff. I thought that was the reason of him being so impersonal about. Besides Fi's apparent tendency to take into consideration what personally matters only: If it doesn't affect me, why should I care? But then again, he seems so detached about the situation (he doesn't seem to care that much) and when talking about it, he doesn't mentions the people suffering. Whether he ignores it or it doesn't even cross his mind till someone else points it out. Besides, his mother has called him a bit cold and insensitive in the past, with a cynical point of view most of the time. So I guess he's a thinker after all. Or do you think a feeler could have that kind of reaction?

Intuitive dominants (INJ/ENP) are very good at 'abstracting away' from a topic and treating the people it impacts in a detached way, as part of a working hypothesis, regardless of being feelers or thinkers. But ENFPs in particular get touched by human suffering, so if something yanks them back into the actual moment, as opposed to just theorizing on the who, and the why, and what might happen next, something that humanizes a terrible event for them -- they will abruptly switch into humanitarian mode. For example, if they were to see a video of a child screaming in terror and running between rooms in their house, while watching bombs fall outside their window -- the ENFP might have a swelling feeling of angst for that child, and anger that war exists, and that people get hurt for no good reason other than a dictator deciding to take over their country. If he's able to remain detached and objective and analytical even when faced with the emotional perspective, he could be an ENTP instead. While ENTPs are affected by Fe, their Ti is sufficiently strong enough to let them focus on theorizing, strategizing, and problem-solving (that is their solution to humanitarian concerns, to "fix it"), whereas the ENFP is more likely to get emotional and then show tert-Te behaviors (rigidity, wanting to punish those responsible, and making angry statements, ie, "Putin should be dealt with harshly!!!" that don't fit their usual, overall tolerant, open-minded approach -- "he is a bad man and he should be ______").

[stillness-in-green]

MLAWeek Coda: The Lore Post

Sorry this is a few days late!  To the surprise of absolutely no one who has read some of my longer meta posts, I just don’t know how to shut the F up.  (Spoilers: this post is only a few hundred words away from being as long as everything else I wrote for the week put together.)  

Anyway, hit the jump for, in order:

A quick breakdown of the Liberation Army’s general structure.

A list of members, broken down by broad generation, including the ones we have gotten explicitly IDed in canon, the ones I based on figures we see in canon, and the ones I completely made up.

The basic tenets of the MLA and some discussion about their views on quirk supremacy. (feat. fandom salt)

An overview of the way the Advent shook up the political landscape in Japan and the Hearts & Minds Party’s place in that landscape.  Pretty much the same material Trumpet’s victory speech from Day 4 covers, but modestly more in-depth, removed from the need to play well to a crowd, and with some added explanation about the structure of the Diet for readers who are less familiar with it than Trumpet’s audience would be.

A timeline (with only moderately arbitrary dates!) covering the birth of the glowing baby up to the first year of the manga.  Mostly concerned with detailing the events the MLA would care about, but with a few other points of reference to contextualize things for the rest of us.

Bonus Fun Facts: discussion of the considerations that went into the timeline, a look at All For One’s actions re: the MLA, and some miscellaneous blurbs on terminology, worldbuilding and characterization.

A smattering of asides in the form of footnotes.

Note that while this material is based in and accurate to canon as much as I could remember at the time that I was doing my notes on my fills for the week, there’s a lot in here that is based entirely on supposition, interpretation and, at times, just plain-old guessing.  

Thanks to @codenamesazanka and @robotlesbianjavert for their assistance in naming, brainstorming, and just generally putting up with me while the Liberation Army was completely devouring my attention.

@red-the-omnic Somewhat belatedly, here’s that list of MLA members you asked for back during the middle of the week.  Sorry to make you wait so long! 

Enjoy!  

———–      ———–      ———–      ———–

ORGANIZATION

Grand Commander: Destro and Destro’s line of descendants.

The First Families: Those who fought at Destro’s side and escaped to continue the fight, and their descendants.  Veritably all high-ranked within the MLA, their tie to the original incarnation of the Army marks them as elites, whether or not their quirks would do so otherwise. The elders of the First Families do a certain amount of collective decision-making when and if the Grand Commander is unable to do so and has left orders otherwise.

Sanctum: “Sanctum” is a special position in the Army.  The name denotes the person who’s tasked with remembering the MLA’s history, practices and lore—the position is considered contiguous, so even when someone is new to the name, they’re still considered “the longest-serving member of the Liberation Army.”.  When they’re getting on in years, they select an appropriate protégé, to whom the name will pass upon their death/capture.  The name must always go to a member of the First Families (though in truth, they’re only on their third one, so it’s more of a pattern so far than a hard rule).

Commanders & Lieutenants: People in charge of major operations, liberated districts, etc. Frequently, though not always, members of the First Families.  Have discretion over their own assignments, but may not have much influence in the Army’s operations on the whole, depending on who they’re connected to otherwise.

Advisors: This title denotes those who are specifically tapped to give advice and aid to the MLA leadership.  Levels of authority vary depending on who they’re advising.  Advisors of lieutenants, if any, are a step above the rank and file, advisors of commanders are about on par with lieutenants, and advisors to the Grand Commander are considered commanders in their own right, regardless of any other rank they may hold.

Rank and File: Pretty much everyone else.

———–      

KNOWN MEMBERS [1]

The original MLA—

Destro: Yotsubashi Chikara.  Established the Meta Liberation Army in his mid-30s in response to the development of what he felt were overly restrictive laws on the usage of meta-abilities. Having observed evidence that meta-abilities grew stronger generationally, he was particularly concerned that no oppressive laws could be enforced by the generation that established them because the next generation would always be more powerful.  Thus, he believed that establishing the use of meta-abilities as a fundamental right was the only way for society to avoid indefinite intergenerational strife.  He was particularly incensed by the government co-opting the message that got his mother murdered to put a pretty, self-congratulatory sheen on laws that did the exact opposite of what she wished for.  Allegedly committed suicide after some months in prison.  The MLA is highly suspicious of this claim—they’re correct to be, but not for the reasons they think.              His quirk, which his entire line would inherit, turns a key emotion into enhanced strength and resilience in the form of a characteristic ink-blot marking.  While it would develop over time, the basic nature of the quirk remained the same. Chikara’s driving emotion was resolve.

Fathom: Destro’s lover, she dedicated a decade of her life after his capture to building up the survivors he’d left behind.  It’s said her son got his drive from Destro, but his anger from Fathom.  Had a large hand in raising her son to be the sort of man he was, particularly in her decision to commit what many considered to be suicide-by-hero when he was in his teens.  A large part of that choice was wrapped up in her never-fully-assuaged grief over Destro’s loss (and, she believed to the end, his murder), but there was also a cold calculation to it—her making a big show of it would lead the police to believe that her attack was the last gasp of the Liberation Army, ending their investigations into MLA activities.  It would also stoke the fires of her son’s rage, honing him into a stronger weapon against their enemies.  Her judgement in both cases proved broadly on-point, though her death did serve to make her son more cautious than she might have hoped.              Meta-Ability: Antennae.  A pair of insectile feelers emerging from her forehead that give her a passel of sensory boosts, particularly in the taste and smell categories, and which also make her able to detect shifts in the air from quite some distance.)

Cascade: A man whose meta-ability lets him turn body parts into loosely controllable masses of water.  Can’t transform fully.  A quick-thinking type able to make hard calls.

Sweeper: A woman with a radio-scanning quirk.  Caught by police in the same fight as Destro.

Sanctum I: The first bearer of the codename.  Had a protective ability of some sort.

Sanctum II’s father: The same quirk as his daughter; see below.  Known for getting some eight people safely out of a police raid by carrying them all out at once despite not actually having superhuman strength of any kind.  (Probably tore several muscles in the process, but adrenaline is a hell of a thing.)

The Second Generation—

Destro’s son: Raised to deeply resent heroes and the government that put them in place, but he was also very cautious of them.  He was profoundly aware that his death would mean the end of the dream that his father had begun and his mother had cultivated, so he was very meticulous in spreading the MLA’s influence underground, rebuilding their numbers before he even began to consider starting to make attacks again.  Destro’s army had been a guerilla force; his son’s would be something much more dangerous.  His driving emotion was anger, and he had two children before being killed by a cerebral aneurysm at 43.  Was able to use his power to make his body larger.

Sanctum II: A woman with an unusual fondness for the traditional Japanese arts, particularly tea ceremony.  Meta-ability: Stride.  Teleport to any location she can directly see by taking a single step forward.   Can take whoever she can carry under her own power. (First Families lineage)

Anchor: An advisor to Destro’s son.  Prominent bull horns.  Meta-ability: Immobilize.  Similar to Lock Rock’s Lockdown quirk, except it only works on his own body.  Very good at wrestling holds (and holding his breath), he tends to fight with backup that can deliver finishing blows to opponents once he has them pinned down.  (First Families lineage)

The Third Generation—

Yotsubashi Kyouyuki: The elder child of Destro’s son.  Deemed an unsuitable Grand Commander for his driving emotion of joy.  Always presented a façade of being cheerful and upbeat, but the ever-present rhetoric that the MLA pushes about the ongoing suppression of quirks and the misery and injustice it leads to left Kyou always struggling with guilt.  In college, it finally got so bad that he resolved to run away, enlisting the help of a friend with a swap-based teleport quirk to get him out of a party undetected. His fate thereafter is a secret that’s been taken to the grave by the MLA members involved in it, but given the typical reactions of illegal underground cults to members wanting to leave, it’s unlikely that he’s living somewhere in happy anonymity.  (Name means Unyielding Happiness, following in his grandfather and nephew's patterns of having characters in their names meaning power/strength.)

Yotsubashi Yukie: The younger child of Destro’s son, and Rikiya’s mother.  With a driving emotion of sorrow, and having been steadily losing family her entire life, Yukie wrestled with depression for most of her life. The presumptive heir to the title of Re-Destro, she spent considerably more time in training than her older brother, but she never much had the temperament for it.  When her father died only a few scant years after Kyouyuki’s disappearance, she expressed her fears that she was incapable of being the leader the Army needed.  This led to her becoming a mother at a relatively young age, continuing the bloodline rather than picking up the banner.  For all her struggles with her grief, Yukie was very determined to at least be there for the son on whom the weight of leadership would fall.  The world of My Hero Academia is a dangerous one, however, particularly before All Might established himself as Japan’s pillar, and Yukie was a casualty of the chaos of a villain attack when Rikiya was ten.  (Name means Glittering Conqueror, ditto the note above about the family pattern for name kanji.)

Rampart: Guardian and general caretaker for Rikiya in his younger years.  Hand-picked for the role by Yukie, who had considered him a close friend since their school days.  Meta-Ability: An earth manipulation power akin to Pixie-Bob’s, though less powerful.  (First Families lineage)

Shinseigi: Trumpet’s uncle, unspecified code name.  Also in politics, though of a more local variety.  Meta-ability: His speaking voice makes listeners suggestible.  (The phonetic pronunciation of his name sounds like “New Justice,” but the kanji are “Sleeping Voice Technique.”)

The Fourth Generation—

Yotsubashi Rikiya: The current Re-Destro (42); CEO and President of Detnerat.  He took up the former title when he was only 6 years old. With the succession of losses that were his uncle, grandfather and mother, the MLA has been fairly careful with him, grooming him with care and rarely leaving him without some form of supervision, be it Rampart when he was young or Trumpet in college.  An extremely dutiful child grown into an urbane man whose good humor disguises a morose—and occasionally volatile—inner character.  Always under a lot of stress (his MRIs are clear so far, though, haha!), but there’s only so much effort dedicated to mitigating that, since stress is his key emotion.  The first in the family line to be able to separate his power from his own body, in the form of his Stress Bomb attack.

Trumpet: Hanabata Koku (44).  One of Rikiya’s advisors and party leader of the Hearts & Minds Party (see below); has known Rikiya since their preteen years.  The Hanabatas were a political family of old, but largely saw those fortunes crash and burn when they started manifesting quirks a few generations into the Advent.  They’ve been clawing their way back into politics ever since and were an early target for the MLA’s project to infiltrate and/or start their own political party.  It was decided very early on that Koku’s quirk and his family connections made him a good choice to groom for leadership of the HMP, so he and Rikiya bonded over their similar positions.  They would go on to attend the same university, during which time they became romantically involved.  In truth, Koku’s university was functionally chosen for him on the basis of which one Rikiya would be attending; the First Families were not about to lose another Yotsubashi to college life.  Koku is more aware of this particular fact than Rikiya.  Still a little wistful about their college days, his opinions regarding Re-Destro’s big starstruck crush on Shigaraki are borderline unprintable.

Sanctum III: Twice’s No. 1 advisor, the dude with the big imperial handlebar moustache and what looks an awful lot like a dress uniform for the Japanese navy.  A few years older than Trumpet.  (First Families lineage)

Curious: Kizuki Chitose (36).  RD advisor and Shoowaysha Publishing Executive Vice President.[2]  From a relatively small liberated district up near Sendai; the MLA connections plus her own profound ambition got her moving very quickly up the MLA chain of command. Daughter of a wlw couple; got her blue skin from her bio mom.  One younger sibling, a sister.  Masterminded the dinners we see the group having in Chapter 218, originally to make sure Rikiya was getting at least one well-apportioned meal a week and a chance to socialize with the closest thing he has to peers, but also because it proved to be an invaluable opportunity to swap information and rumors.

Skeptic: Chikazoku Tomoyasu (31).  RD advisor and Feel Good Inc. board member.  On the bottom end of the generation age-wise, a prodigy in every sense save his broadly terrible people skills.  Recognizes Rikiya’s stress tells because he shares several of them himself, and is also the only person of Rikiya’s generation with the confidence to verbally push him around a bit.  It’s regarded as borderline scandalous by their elders, but Rikiya himself finds it bracing, and anyway, Skeptic’s ability to organize a schedule for maximum efficiency is nothing less than miraculous.  Got Rikiya onto fidget toys.

Toryu:  Toryu is the family name of Galvanize (aka Taser Face aka Kaminari’s Dad).  Mr. Compress’s No. 1, the dude who strolls out onto the lawn after Cementoss rips the hotel a new one and immediately gets his smarm repackaged and returned to sender by Kaminari and Edgeshot.  Great for morale before that, though!  In Rikiya’s age group, his mother’s side of the family (from which he gets the electricity powers) has been in the Army for at least as far back as her school days. (The name comes from the characters for leaping/rising and current/flow.)

Slidin’ Go: Tokoname Tatsuyuki (37).  He’s Slidin’ Go!  Skeptic’s No. 2, possibly because Slidin’ Go strongly resembles the puppets Skeptic is so used to barking orders at and there’s comfort in familiarity.

Aozono: Family name for another of Rikiya’s childhood peers, nothing is known but that green skin runs in the family as far back as her father.  May or may not be related to Curious’s family.

The Fifth Generation—

Geten: Real name unknown.  Family status unknown.  Age unknown, but I’d peg him in the 18-23 area.  Seems to be allowed to attend the weekly dinners without contributing anything but his incredibly terrible table manners.  Can talk an impassioned game about the Liberation Army’s goals (though he pushes the quirk supremacy line a good deal harder than anyone else in the Army is shown to; it’s not even close), but it’s fairly clear that he’s more personally dedicated to Re-Destro than he is the MLA’s cause in and of itself.  I’ll be honest; I have no idea what Geten’s deal is. My tentative headcanon is that he’s an orphan—the English meaning of his name, Apocrypha, refers to sacred writings of uncertain authorship/authenticity—who’s in some kind of Batman-and-Robin guardian-and-ward situation with Re-Destro, but I didn’t wind up writing enough about him to come up with much beyond that.

Nimble: Spinner’s No. 1, the woman with the weird paper-strip-esque hair who doesn’t seem to be in possession of a nose or mouth.  (She absorbs air through her skin like a frog, which is why no one has ever seen her with that sweater covering both of her shoulders.)  Nimble is a friendly sort, though she regards her outgoing good cheer as being a simple matter of social networking.  Ambitious, but sensible about it.                Meta-ability: Sky Write.  Allows her to project letters and pictures into the air around her, giving her a way to communicate she would have otherwise lacked.  She can create words in air she can’t see, but it takes some concentration, and the closer the better.

Scarecrow: Spinner’s No. 2, 21 years old.  Born with amelia (see link in Day Two’s author’s notes) that disfigured his face and severed his arms in the womb.  His quirk-based forelegs—a pair of spider legs emerging from his shoulders—can do a certain amount of basic object manipulation, but it tends to wig people out, so they push him to use his prosthetics like he’s “supposed” to (see Stray Notes section for more on this).  He was viciously angry about it even as a kid, and his parents were frustrated, making them easy pickings for cult indoctrination.  A family friend recommended that they look into Detnerat, where it wasn’t long before Re-Destro himself took an interest in their situation (or at least in making a good impression on them).  Scarecrow joined the Army as quickly as he was allowed to—16.              Meta-ability: Webbing.  The bug legs can project silk like a webspinner (the insect on which he’s based), allowing him to do anything you might broadly understand Spider-Man to be able to do with his webbing, though he certainly lacks Spider-Man’s strength.

Red: Named in passing in the manga, he’s the laid-back dude with the fluffy hair who serves as Skeptic’s No. 1 post-merger.  Probably invaluable in helping Skeptic maintain what bare vestiges of chill he can muster.  (First Families lineage)

The Sixth Generation—

Every child currently under the age of 10 being raised in MLA households with a picture of Destro over the mantle.  It’s not a small number, representing a group that neither the fandom nor the Hero Commission seem to have even realized exist.

———–      

CORE TENETS & THE MATTER OF QUIRK SUPREMACY

Re-Destro is not (contrary to popular fandom belief) in favor of full-throated, might-makes-right, survival of the fittest Quirk Darwinism.[3]  Destro’s will was for people to be able to use their meta-abilities as they saw fit to the extent that that freedom did not interfere with the freedoms of others. He was against the regulation of meta-abilities, but he was not—to the best of our knowledge—against the regulation of crime.  His belief was that one murderer with a fire ability killing people did not justify barring everyone else with fire abilities from using those powers to fire clay, start campfires, engage in fire-themed performance art, use fire to char wood in artistic patterns for money, help park rangers set and direct controlled burns, coordinate explosions for the movie industry, light cigarettes in public, or any other of dozens of possible uses for a fire ability that don’t involve burning people alive.

The MLA do believe that meta-abilities have an impact on one’s personality, but they also believe that that’s okay; that it should be understood and accepted, not feared and repressed—Curious would not have wanted to turn Toga into a tragedy about the consequences of repression if she didn’t think that a spree of bloodletting murders was a tragedy.  Their belief as an organization is that people should be free to use their powers as they see fit in the same way that they would any other natural talent or cultivated skill.  They believe that people will, if free to do so, naturally gravitate to ways of improving their own lot in life via use of their meta-abilities.

Freedom from regulation and freedom from discrimination—these are the core tenets that the vast majority of the rank and file hold to.  A great many of them are laborers, blue collar types who just want to be able to better support themselves and their families.  Many others are those who suffered discrimination because of their quirks and want better for both themselves and their children.  Of course, the further back their connections go, the more likely they are to both be higher-ranked in the cult (with attendant greater resources) and to have grown up soaking in generations’ worth of resentment, groupthink, and radicalism.

Geten, a particularly virulent and single-minded MLA attack dog, has parsed the tenets to mean that people with strong, well-trained meta-abilities will naturally be able to use their powers to do more and raise their status in the MLA’s ideal society, and thus that those who can’t or don’t choose to will not be able to live lives that Geten personally thinks are worth living.  Likewise, Trumpet doesn’t fault Spinner only for his weak ability, but also for his anti-social tendencies.  Of course a politician who’s deeply invested in a narrative of people uniting to throw off their chains and better themselves would be disdainful of someone who locked himself in his bedroom for years and emerged only to violently lash out at society.  (Spinner’s right to call Trumpet a huge hypocrite on this, mind; terrorist cult members have no business lecturing other terrorists about the correct way to violently reform society.)

The MLA does have a problem with quirk supremacy, but it’s not quite the problem fandom thinks they do, and it’s certainly more nuanced than fandom thinks.[4]  Frankly, I could write a whole post dissecting this, but rather than analyzing the canon at length in a post intending to be about my fanon for a series of slice-of-life MLA fics, let me just lay out some issues I think the MLA have.  Note that these opinions may vary member to member, particularly as you work your way up the chain of command.

Many in the MLA believe that people with poor quirks are less capable of asserting their will and becoming whatever they want to be.  They are not, notably, alone in that that sentiment—we hear versions of it not only from villains like Trumpet and All for One, but from the paralleled parents of Midoriya Inko and Shimura Kotarou, the would-be hero Bakugou, and even the iconic hero paragon All Might.  While it’s not universal, My Hero Academia’s Japan is full of people who believe to some extent or another that people with weak or no quirks are inherently less capable of making their mark on the world.  The MLA is just more blatant about it than most.

The MLA are, as a group, not concerned about the fate of the quirkless.  My suspicion is that this is because they think quirklessness as a trait is on its way out—that the touted 20% of the world population that’s quirkless is hugely weighted towards the elderly, those who are from generations when quirklessness was more common.  Think about it: 20% is two out of every ten people.  Statistically speaking, that’s a huge portion!  You only have to look at Deku’s middle school classroom in Chapter 1—thirty kids, exactly one of whom is quirkless—to begin to suspect that there’s something a bit off with the 20% figure.

Further, the MLA follows Destro’s beliefs, and we know from Destro’s manifesto that he believed meta-abilities were growing stronger over time.  So to their mind, not only is quirklessness becoming a thing of the past, but so are weak quirks in general.  While their clear disdain for both is damning—and certainly discredits them as a group suited to decide how society should be structured!—please understand that, “We’re not very concerned with the rights of the quirkless because we think that there won’t be any such thing as quirkless people within a few more generations,” is not the same statement as, “We are A-OK with 20% of the world’s population being second-class citizens for the entire rest of human history,” and it is really not the same statement as, “People with no quirks, or bodies that can’t handle their quirks, need to be proactively removed from the gene pool and we are actively advocating for a systemic, organized culling.”

That said, their disdain, if blown out to society at large, would absolutely lead to discrimination and, undoubtedly, incidents of the same sort of violence that the MLA themselves were forged from.  That they haven’t thought or don’t care about this is one of many things that make them villains.

Further, there is an ugly strain within the MLA that still recognizes quirk marriages.  Because the MLA values freedom, they’re not as ubiquitous as you might think (at least if you think the MLA is a bunch of quirk supremacists with no other goals or values)—“freedom” does nominally include the freedom to marry who you want rather than let your own meta-ability trap you in a life you hate. However, it’s equally true that in a group that believes very strongly in the value of quirks, the power of quirks in the future, and the necessity of fighting a war to bring about that future, there will obviously be members who support the practice.  There are absolutely men and women who have been bullied and guilted by their families into loveless marriages for the sole purpose of producing children with powerful, desirable quirks.  How likely this is in any given location mostly depends on the commander’s opinion on it, though it’s a very rare one indeed who would go so far as discouraging it entirely.

———–      

THE HEARTS & MINDS PARTY

(Considerations on Japan’s political landscape.)

The current monolith of the Diet, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, managed to hold onto power for a full century after the Advent, but their grasp grew shakier and shakier over time.  Initial measures to bar meta-humans from voting proved increasingly unpopular as the percentage of the population with meta-abilities grew both larger and older.  People with easily-concealed powers gained office, sometimes being outed, sometimes not, but on the whole, decades of oppression and violence led to an ever-more-popular opinion that the LDP had mishandled the whole mess.  They lost their supermajority in the Diet when their longstanding alliance with the Komeito party splintered, regained it again for a few electoral cycles, lost it again when Komeito itself fractured, and so on, their once implacable numbers shrinking year by year.  Still, they managed to hold onto a coalition majority right up until Saneki Yuuichi was elected to the House of Representatives.

Saneki headed up a small party based almost entirely on the issue of meta-human basic rights.  Like many meta-humans of the period, he believed that the best way for meta-humans to attain those rights was to live like so-called “normal humans,” to show that meta-humans were just like everyone else. His party advanced the ideology that meta-humans should only use their powers to help others or better society, not to advance their own self-interest.  They pushed stringently for metas to be allowed equal recognition under the law as any Japanese citizen, but also supported measures such as requiring licenses for the use of meta-abilities and limiting those licenses to those actively engaged in assisting police.  Deeply tied to respectability politics, Saneki’s party contained virtually all emitters, a scant number of transformers, and no heteromorphs, who the party felt were an impediment to reaching their legislative goals, but whose particular needs could be brought back up at a later, more receptive time.

Saneki’s politics gained him many supporters, but also drove many into the arms of the Meta Liberation Army, who vocally loathed him and everything he stood for.  The confluence of public dissatisfaction with the spike in violence represented by the MLA, Saneki’s coalition gathering popular support among both metas and non-metas, and the rise of named, organized hate groups trying to roll back what few advances had been gained in meta-human rights finally spelled the end of the LDP’s majority.

The LDP falling apart prompted a scramble for power that would stretch on for nearly half a century. Old alliances whose only common ground had been opposing the LDP found themselves free to seek groups with more compatible goals.  Young single- or dual-issue parties leapt at the chance to address their issues with more fervor.  New parties sprung up across the country.  Not only meta-humans, but minority groups of all kinds saw new avenues to press for substantive positive changes that had been dead in the water under the LDP.  Voting numbers surged as they had not for decades.

The old, conservative elements of the Diet were not gone, of course—they remained a substantial powerhouse!—but no longer could they muster the undefeatable veto-proof numbers that they had once enjoyed.

Like everyone else, the remnants of the MLA saw opportunity in the new, ever-shifting status quo.  With the place of metas secured for the time being, there was no longer a need for metas to form coalitions in the Diet merely to get their basic needs addressed.  A single-issue party from its inception thirty years prior, Saneki Yuuichi’s party was fragmenting, unable to decide on a single direction now that their uniting issue had been resolved to their satisfaction.  In recognition of meta-humans reaching population parity, the MLA launched a project to begin seeding the ideals of Liberation at the highest levels yet—the Hearts & Minds Party.

Beginning as a local party in a prefecture in which the MLA had gained significant underground support, the HMP campaigned on a platform championing individual freedoms and a wide range of improvements to Japan’s battered and overworked social safety nets.  They made an effort to showcase diverse representation in their leadership and gave impassioned speeches promising to reach across party aisles in searching for nuanced solutions to the various difficulties facing the country.

It’s impossible to say exactly how large the Hearts & Minds Party is compared to the Meta Liberation Army, which is claimed by Re-Destro to have 116,000 action-ready warriors (the “warriors lying in wait, ready to rise to action” description presumably indicating that his count does not include uninducted children).

On the one hand, one can presume that everyone who’s a member of the MLA is voting for the HMP on every ticket they can, but not every member of the MLA—who induct combat-ready warriors as young as 16—is old enough to vote, and many probably live in districts or prefectures where the HMP has yet to establish a campaign-ready foothold. On the other hand, while the HMP certainly serves to funnel people towards the MLA, it doesn’t require membership—indeed, it’s far better for their goals for them not to do so.  Therefore, it’s also probable that the Hearts & Minds Party has many supporters who are not (yet) counted among the Liberation Army’s number.  Thus, for the purposes of ballparking estimates, I opted to simply suppose that the two areas lacking overlap (MLA members who can’t vote for the HMP and HMP supporters who aren’t members of the MLA) are relatively equal.

That established, we’re working with a party that has 116K voters/supporters/members.  The closest thing to that number that I could find numbers for is the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), which counted 300K members as of 2017.  Using their total membership compared to their representation in the Diet (as well as a willingness to viciously bastardize anything resembling reliable political math), I plugged in my estimate for the HMP’s membership and wound up with the Hearts & Minds Party holding four seats in the House of Representatives, five seats in the House of Councillors, and sixty-odd assembly members in various prefectural positions.

For some context to those numbers, the House of Representatives (more powerful, but more vulnerable to sudden electoral shifts) has 465 members, 233 of which are required for a majority, and 310 of which are required to override vetoes imposed by the House of Counsillors. The House of Counsillors (less powerful, but serving longer terms and unable to be dissolved for general elections like the House of Representatives can be) has 245 members, with 123 required for a majority.

As you can see, the HMP holding a handful of seats isn’t going to tilt the My Hero Academia world on its axis.  Still, it’s more seats than any number of real-life Japanese political parties hold, and right up until the one-two punch of Shigaraki taking over the MLA and Hawks outing Trumpet’s allegiances to the Hero Commission, the Hearts & Minds Party was well on-track to continue growing its power and influence.

———–      

TIMELINE

(For ease of calculation, most dates are rounded to the nearest five years.)

1980: A glowing baby is born in Qing Qing City, China, heralding the Advent of the Age of the Extraordinary.  For almost two decades, meta-abilities remain rare and poorly understood—incidents are widespread and show huge variance, so most people write them off as anomalies or hoaxes.  As the years go on, however, meta-abilities become more widespread, moving out of the realm of the odd headline that many people think is an elaborate hoax into an alarmed spotlight as it gradually becomes apparent that this is a thing that all humanity is undergoing.  Most major technological development pivots to trying to understand, undo, document or control this new phenomenon.

2030: The child who will become All for One is born.  By this time, society is breaking down into chaos. Across the globe, measures from outlawing all meta-ability use to internment are seen.  Eugenics laws are discussed or put in place.  Communities attempt to run out metas and, in response, groups of metas attempt to form their own communities.  Infanticide rates are rising alarmingly.

2060: Yotsubashi Chikara and Ujiko (original name unknown) are born.  Japan is in complete disarray, awash in mob violence, with organized groups of both metas and non-metas attacking victims indiscriminately.  Developing an ability can get you disowned.  Divisions among the meta minority are developing a noticeable strain of respectability politics rhetoric.

2065: AFO forces an ability on his younger brother, unintentionally creating One for All.  Chikara’s mother is murdered by an anti-meta mob for attempting to speak out in defense of the normalcy of her child’s ability.

2085-2090: Saneki Yuuichi becomes the first meta-human to attain a seat in the Diet. Despite nearly a century of violence, meta-humans are becoming a larger and larger percentage of the population, and the people of Japan are tired.  The prevailing sense is that it’s time to make peace; however, the peace that is being forged involves laws sharply restricting the use of meta-abilities for those who haven’t been formally licensed.  These restrictions see markedly mixed reactions from metas.  Chikara rallies the most vehement dissenters to create the Meta Liberation Army, calling himself Destro.              Disagreement over how to handle the MLA finally finishing the job of rattling the Diet free of the death-grip of the LDP.  Many years of fractious elections will follow as new coalitions form to try and seize majority power.

2095: Japan signs an international accord acknowledging the fundamental rights of meta-humans.  This gesture begins to splinter both internal support and public sympathy for the MLA.

2097: Destro is captured by police and their newly designated Quirk Unit.  Other surviving members of the MLA are hunted down or go into hiding.

2100: The term “Hero” is formally adopted, having been casually in use for some time.  A Hero is one who is licensed to use their power to fight quirk-based crime in accordance with local and federal laws, assisting the police when requested.  The Hero Commission is established as an agency with oversight in the licensing and regulation of Heros.              Destro dies in prison.  Though the matter is questioned, no proof of foul play is ever brought forward, and the death is ruled a suicide.

2110: Ujiko presents his paper on the Paranormal [5] Singularity Theory.  The paper suggests that the power of quirks is continuing to grow with each generation and will, in time, become more powerful than the human body can control.  His evidence is inconclusive, however, and his citation of some of Destro’s observations on the phenomenon becomes a particular sticking point.  In a country that is finally beginning to get its feet back under it, no one wants to see another widespread panic.  Ujiko is stripped of his position; having been living on campus at the time, he’s left functionally homeless and is approached by All for One not long after.

2120: The population of those with quirks and those without reaches parity in Japan. Seeing an opportunity, the MLA launches the Hearts & Minds Party as a local political party, intending to grow it over time.

(2125: Yagi Toshinori is born.)

2138: Yotsubashi Rikiya is born.

(2148: Debut of All Might.)

(2165: Shimura family tragedy.)

(2174: All Might “defeats” AFO.)

2175: Hanabata Koku is elected to the House of Representatives.  He’s not the youngest party leader in the Diet, but he’s close.

2180: The events of Deku’s freshman year at UA lead the MLA to turn their attention to the League of Villains.

———–      

STRAY FACTS

Why 1980/2180?—

It’s an even number for ease of calculation, triangulated between a few considerations.

Firstly, tasers are mentioned in the One for All dream, so the events of the dream (which themselves are happening far enough into the Advent that society’s had time to slide into all-out chaos) must post-date the invention of the taser, which was in 1993.

Secondly, Spider-Man’s silhouette is seen amongst the group of characters who represent the “fantasy” that became reality.  If we assume that those media properties existed in-universe (since the narration is delivered by Midoriya) and were assumed to be fantastical at the time, they must predate the Advent—Spider-Man is the newest of them and his first appearance was in 1962, his material being translated into Japanese by the 1970s.

Lastly, technological and societal development crashed to a halt with the Advent.  The world of My Hero Academia generally reflects a modern-ish Japan, so I wanted modern technology—and modern social reforms—to still feel modern to the characters.  Thus, the point at which society stopped developing needed to predate the Digital Revolution, which really began to hit its stride in the mid-80s.  Hence, 1980.

The opening period is, admittedly, fairly generous on my part, and does assume a certain amount of modern advances were probably underway, but then were lost, sidelined or rolled back as the chaos spread.  You could probably trim off twenty years by stepping up how quickly quirks begin to appear and spread, but the very beginning is the best window to do so.  I’d still peg the Advent at 1980 based on the calculations above (again, it has to fall somewhere between the mid-70s and 1993) but, for example, maybe All for One is from that first generation, and society only takes 30 years to reach the lowest point of its collapse instead of 80.

As to the 2180, the older characters introduce several requirements for the post-Advent timeline.  Ujiko was 50 at the time that society was beginning to stabilize, while AFO dates to its days of utmost chaos.  AFO also needs to be running on at least one anti-aging quirk prior to meeting Ujiko; if the only one he were running on was Ujiko’s own, then based on his appearance and the mechanics of Ujiko’s quirk, I’d peg AFO at merely 85, and he needs to be not only over 100, but far enough over 100 that he’s described that way rather than as “a century-old evil” or something to that effect.

Meanwhile, All Might can’t really be any younger than 50, and seven generations of OFA bearer predated him, even if they did all die relatively young.  Destro’s mother was killed in those early chaotic days, while Re-Destro (himself no spring chicken) is told as a child that the MLA has been in hiding for generations.  “Generations” implies at least two; I further suppose that Rikiya needs to be at least the original Chikara’s great-grandson for him to describe himself simply as Destro’s descendant, rather than use a more specific relationship term.  All of this points to a fairly lengthy stretch of time, much more than is glossed over by Midoriya’s series-opening narration.

AFO and the MLA—

I mention in the very first story of this series that the MLA’s contacts all go “mysteriously missing” after the capture of Destro.  While the police certainly did their own measure of work in tracking down the Liberation Army’s members and allies, there was another figure with a significant hand in the MLA’s downfall.

All for One, then in his early sixties, had watched the rise of the MLA in some interest.  On a personal level, he admired Yotsubashi’s charisma and resolve, and, of course, he wholly supported the free use of quirks (well, his own free use of quirks, anyway)!  On the other hand, All for One also sought to restore order to society, albeit order as he himself envisioned it.  While he was confident that there was no one who could stand up to him no matter whose ideals won out, Saneki Yuuichi’s way promised a more stable society, and bribable and/or blackmailable bureaucrats seemed easier to manipulate than ideal-driven zealots ready to give their lives for the cause.  Thus, AFO decided to help the police a bit behind the scenes, offering a few tip-offs and hints to guide their efforts to end the threat of the Liberation Army.

Of course, as long as Destro was alive, the cause of Liberation still had its focal point. And AFO was still a bit curious to meet this man, who’d inspired so very many loyal followers.  It was an easy thing to arrange.  An interesting man, and an interesting quirk.

Destro did commit suicide in prison.  A man who had always embraced his meta-ability for motivation, and whose ability transformed that motivation into power in turn, AFO stripped him of in the same moment. Isolation from other contact, separation from his lover, his friends and allies, and his cause, a gap in his psyche like no pain he’d ever experienced--all of these piled up on one another into a fatal despair.  After AFO’s visit, there was no need for anyone to arrange a convenient death for Destro.

(And if in later years, the monstrous Noumu, who are driven entirely by pre-programmed, single-minded resolve, are flint-skinned from head-to-toe, well—who would ever even think to connect those dots?)

The Mother of Quirks—

An interesting thing I observed from Re-Destro’s confrontation with Clone!Shigaraki is that, based on their exchange, it doesn’t seem to be common knowledge that the Mother of Quirks is the mother of the Meta Liberation Army’s leader?  Re-Destro’s apology for assuming Shigaraki wouldn’t recognize the story suggests that it’s a matter of fairly basic historical education, but he then goes on to explain her connection to Destro at some length—if that connection were taught at the same time her story was, surely he’d see no need to do this? Clone-a-raki’s response backs this up—unlike the general existence of the Mother of Quirks, which was such basic knowledge that he was insulted that Re-Destro thought he wouldn’t know about it, her connection to Destro was unknown to him.

Re-Destro describes the connection as “an inconvenient truth.”  This, in turn, suggests that the connection has been actively obscured.  The MLA’s place in history is taught; the originator of the term “quirk” is taught, but the two are not connected to each other. Kids in school aren’t taught that the very child whose mother was murdered for her words hated what his country was using those words, that message, to do.  It’s naked appropriation that continues to this day, and it’s no wonder that the MLA is furious about it.

The Quirk Unit—

An early term for the group that would, in relatively short order after their formation, officially be dubbed Heroes.  Composed of both meta-humans already on the police force and vigilantes willing to remit themselves to legal oversight, they fought quirk-based crime in many forms, from the common mugger to the terrorists of the MLA, and even former allies in vigilantism.  Well-regarded by history thanks to their efforts in reining in crime and disorder, but quite a controversial group in their early years.

MLA Age of Induction—

Being raised in the MLA means being raised with the goal of eventually being assigned a codename and tasked with supporting the Great Cause in whatever fashion your superiors think you best suited.  The minimum age for this is 16, though 18, being the age at which students graduate from high school, is more common.  At no point is there really a safe way to leave once you’re involved; they are, after all, a secret army.  There’s no aging out of the MLA—it’s a lifetime tour—but disability, injury or general decrepitude can get you assigned to work that generally won’t expect you to see open combat.  The Army is composed of a great many lifetime-of-service families, after all, which means they need teachers and caretakers; another option is dedicated work for the Hearts & Minds Party, who always have room for community organizers.

Liberated Districts—

Settlements that are at least 85% MLA-inducted.  At their largest, they’re small towns; rural villages are far more common.  Without exception, they’re isolated or out of the way.  Tend to have unusually good access to city services compared to similarly-sized settlements.  Deika was one of the largest districts the Army had, chosen for the Revival Celebration due to its combination of a sizable population and a particularly closed-off location.  The MLA knew they’d need many warriors to fight the League of Villains, but they also needed a site that was not merely remote, but that had controllable points of access.

It can take well over a decade to hit the 85% saturation mark in even small villages; Deika and the MLA’s handful of other full-fledged towns are the work of generations.  They begin by moving people into an area and setting up gatherings on some useful pretext or another, enthusiastically welcoming newcomers and very, very gradually indoctrinating people further into the ideology.  Financial support, an accepting environment for difficult quirks or those with patchy legal histories, the odd homeless shelter or food kitchen, a robust presence in the foster care network—the MLA is very, very good at making themselves a warm, sincere, reliable presence in peoples’ lives, a group that encourages everyone under their banner to be their best selves. They think everyone deserves that kind of support!

They are also willing to shed quite a lot of blood to make sure that everyone can get it.

On the Intersection of Disability and Quirk Suppression—

There are a few factors contributing to why Scarecrow can’t use his quirk to do things others would.  First, his quirk is the kind of off-putting that gets Gang Orca ranked third-most villainous-looking hero and leads Shoji to wear a mask because his face disturbs people.  So Scarecrow’s quirk is already the kind of visible that makes people look at him askance.  Compounding this, his prosthetics are obvious, visible to any old person, and people have a very ugly tendency towards bootstrap, “you can do it if you try” mentalities around people with disabilities.  These two factors mean that people who are disturbed by his creepy articulate bug legs would much prefer that he use his significantly less-creepy prosthetics, to the degree that they’re willing to suggest that he’s being lazy if he doesn’t.  They cite the quirk-use laws as a deflection tactic, but Scarecrow—whose pattern recognition functions just fine, thanks—is keenly aware of the underlying mindset.

Nimble is in much the same boat—she literally can’t talk without falling back on a visual representation of some kind (sign-language, a text-to-speech reader, etc), and why on earth shouldn’t she be able to use the fastest and most convenient one without people getting up her ass about it?

None of this is the kind of thing that would likely get either of them arrested (though Scarecrow’s creepy enough that the odds are higher for him, “villain quirk” bias being what it is), but the laws-as-written, nonetheless, are discriminatory, and that makes people justly angry.  Angry people are easier to radicalize, and the Liberation Army has been working that angle since their very inception.

Re-Destro and Trumpet’s College Days—

RD’s an Engineering major with a focus in Manufacturing; Trumpet’s in PoliSci.  They’re two grades apart, with Koku being the older.  Those two years of greater experience shift the power balance between them significantly when Rikiya arrives for his freshman year, facing a new place, a new workload, an entirely new rhythm to his life.  For the first time, Koku is not merely a friend in similar circumstances who is still—as they’re both reminded near-constantly—subordinate to Rikiya’s every word.  Rather, he’s a senpai, someone with specific experience in every aspect of this new stage of life—and someone who’s had two years to become more eloquent, more well-studied, more confident, more mature.

Removed from the immediate supervision of the First Families for the first time in his life, Rikiya allows himself to lean on Koku in ways he never would have back home. Koku, for his part, has had his responsibilities here impressed on him by the First Families at some length, and has spent his entire life being groomed to devote himself to his Grand Commander.  Having said Grand Commander looking to him with such glowing esteem in his eyes—well, there’s no denying that it’s pretty enticing.  The two of them enter a romantic relationship that will endure for several years until Rikiya gets his head back around the idea that Koku’s ability to say no to him is fundamentally compromised.

The Bindi Connection—

I had no reason to develop them any, and thus I don’t have names to assign, but it seems that Twice’s No. 3, the smiling old woman with the gingham dress and the rough-and-ready attitude to combat, and Geten’s No. 2, the short-haired woman whose face is being devoured by her out-of-control sweater neck, are related.  Note the bindi on both of them, as well as the similar hair color, particularly in the page introducing all the advisors.  Mutual connection to Dabi’s No. 3, the guy who got into a fight with a hole punch and lost, is uncertain but possible based on the confronting-the-heroes page spread in which Hole Punch dude’s hand lays familiarly on Grandma Bindi’s back while Big Sis Bindi turns partly towards him as if to whisper some sarcastic observation about how lame Cementoss’s ponytail is.

———–      

FOOTNOTES

1: Regarding codenames, the first generation of the MLA tended to have names that reflected their meta-ability in some way.  From the second generation on, at the behest of Destro’s son, the codenames have become less literal, and thus less revealing.

2: Viz renders the job tile “Executive Director,” but having checked the raw, the Japanese term, senmu, is associated with a fairly specific level of executive authority, and it’s lower than I would peg “Executive Director,” which to my ear sounds synonymous or slightly below Chief Executive Officer.  Executive Vice President is wikipedia’s translation; Google returns Senior Managing Director.  In any case, she’s near the top, but not at the top.

3: At least, he wasn’t prior to meeting Shigaraki.  Now he’s pretty much in favor of a very organized and coherent belief structure that can be summarized as, “Watch Shigaraki tear down the world ‘cause he’s beautiful and I love him,” and honestly, mood.

4: I’ll just come out and say it: fandom blew Geten’s words way out of proportion because a bunch of people got mad that he was being mean to Everyone’s Favorite Serial Killer Dabi.

5: An archaic term by this period.  Even “meta-human” saw more use in academic parlance, while the term “quirk” had become much more widespread among the general population since its official adoption during the period of legislation twenty years prior.

[howtohero]

#296 Return of the Starter-Villain

Hello How To Hero Heads! Today we’ve got some exciting news to share with you, we’ve finally hired a new supervillain correspondent: Everyone’s favorite lameo starter-villain, Smuggles. Say hello Smuggles. ||Hello Smuggles.|| Sheesh, this guy. I know, I know you must be shocked that I even allowed this to happen. Many of you will recall that I never signed off on, approved of, or got along with our last supervillain correspondent, Dr. Brainwave (don’t pretend you didn’t love Dr. Brainwave like a son, I seem to recall you being incredibly broken up when he died.) but that was because Dr. Brainwave was like, a credible threat who posed an actual danger to us and who once genetically engineered a giant monster that ate me. But Smuggles isn’t anything like that, he’s like the lowest of low-tier supervillains. ||It’s true, I was once hired to smuggle several objects into America, including a TSA uniform that was my exact size, and I never even once thought to put on the uniform to make the rest of the job easier.|| You may recall how in our original post on starter-villains we mentioned that he was on the rise ever since he teamed up with fellow low-level supervillains, Perry the Pirate and Charlie the Fish-Whisperer to hijack a canoe. But we’re both please and dismayed to say that our prediction was wrong. In the past three years, Smuggles has made absolutely nothing of himself. ||I once accidentally turned myself into a bowl of ice cream on a hot summer’s day.|| That starter-villain team didn’t even last past that first job, Charlie the Fish Whisperer went on, as you know, to become one of the most feared supervillains in the world and we all live in fear of the day Chuck the Fish Whisperer uses his awesome powers to escape the prison dimension the world’s heroes trapped him in. And Perry the Pirate became a lawyer I believe. But Smuggles, man, Smuggles. He’s no threat at all, so I was thrilled to see his application among the many we received following Dr. Brainwave’s untimely demise. So, welcome aboard Smuggles. ||Thanks! I’m excited to share my villainous insider knowledge with your read-|| Yeah yeah, that rocks man. So, anyway, in honor of our new staff member, we’re going to take a look at what happens when your starter-villain returns. 

A starter-villain is, of course, the villain you fight on your first night out as a superhero. The costumed jaywalker whose swift defeat you use to springboard your career as a respected crime fighter. They will undoubtedly be the easiest villain to defeat that you come up against. As you become more experienced and proficient in superheroism, you’ll look back at your first fight fondly and laugh about all the ways the fight could have ended even quicker than it already did now that you’ve learned and grown a whole bunch. As time goes on and you fight more and more supervillains, eventually meeting your one true nemesis and a whole slew of other villains that you’ll tango with on a regular basis, you’ll even forget who your starter-villain even was. ||I’ve been a starter-villain to over 30 superheroes, and even though I send each of them a holiday card every year, I’ve only ever gotten one response.|| But, as Smuggles just demonstrated, your starter-villain will never forget you. And soon enough, once they’re ready, they’ll ensure that you never forget them again. ||The one response was from Hatman and he just sent a card saying “New phone, who dis?” Like, it was a postcard, a signed postcard. A signed personalized postcard. It said “Hatty Holidays!” and everything!||

It’s very possible that the starter-villain you defeated was also just starting out their costumed career. A crushing defeat on their first night is sure to sit with them, (supervillains being notoriously obsessive, dramatic, and good at remembering how they got their various scars), and they’re going to stew with that for a good while. Even if it wasn’t their first night of attempted-villainy, a defeat by a rookie superhero is sure to make them a laughing stock in the supervillain community. And you know what that means... ||Years of unanswered holiday cards||... revenge. 

Your starter-villain will soon come to see you as their nemesis. Even though you’re perfectly happy with the eternal battle of good versus evil that you’ve already got going on with your actual nemesis. They aren’t going to care that you’re already seeing somebody (off to prison in handcuffs). They’re going to want you for their own. They’re going to spend every waking moment of their life plotting against you. Taking the time to really learn everything there is to know about you. This is just one more reason why it’s so important to to make sure your secret identity is ironclad before you start your superhero career. Because as soon as you defeat your first villain, there’s going to be someone out there working to uncover who you really are. ||Honestly, most superheroes don’t even bother trying to keep their secret identity from me. Many of them have just walked up to me and introduced themselves like “Hi, I’m Joe.” It’s kind of insulting.|| 

For that reason you’d do well to keep tabs on your starter-villain after you defeat them that first night. Their quest for revenge will start immediately and their scheme is just going to grow more and more protracted and elaborate the longer you let things lie. If you’ve already lost track of your starter-villain and it’s been a few years since you’ve been a superhero, I’d start shoring up your defenses. The longer you go without hearing from them, the worse it’s going to be when they eventually rear their ugly ||that’s just rude|| heads again. So put out some feelers, try to find out what they’re up to. If you can’t track them down through your superhero network of contacts, you can even try reaching out to your nemesis to see if they can help. Depending on how obsessive and vindictive your starter-villain is, your current nemesis might also find themselves in your starter-villain’s crosshairs. If you literally have no idea who your starter-villain is, sorry, you’re just going to have be on high alert all the time. 

You may discover that your starter-villain has since turned over a new leaf and is actually now operating as a superhero or working with a superhero-adjacent organization such as the OPG. On the surface that makes sense, I mean, they were barely a supervillain to begin with. So the jump to superheroism is not as extreme as it would be for say Al “Da Boss” Marconi, or Karallaxus destroyer of worlds. But even though it might make sense for a starter-villain to have become a superhero, you must not believe it even for one second. Even if some part of a starter-villain truly wants to be better, you can be sure that an even bigger part of them actually just wants revenge on their starter-hero and joining the superhero community is just one of many increasingly inane steps in their protracted revenge scheme. 

The only way to truly dissuade a returned starter-villain from dogging you forever and always is to either die or pretend you did. Otherwise they will track you down and hunt you to the ends of the known universe. ||And don’t forget the multiverse, Chuck the Fish Whisperer may be consigned to another universe, but that doesn’t mean his hatred has diminished one iota.|| Exactly! A starter-villain will stop at nothing until they’ve repaired their reputation in the form of destroying the person or people who tarnished it in the first place. 

Defeating your first supervillain is an important milestone in the life of any superhero. Unfortunately, it is also an important milestone in the life of that very supervillain, whose life will become utterly subsumed by their embarrassing defeat at your inexperienced hands. Smuggles here is really the exception that proves the rule. ||Wait what?|| Normally, starter-villains become exponentially more dangerous by the time you next encounter them. So you must never underestimate a villain just because you beat them when you were a little kid wearing garish tights and you happened to be doing parkour near your convenience store right when it was being robbed. So why don’t you all take a moment now to check in on your starter-villain and make sure that you’re still able to beat them! 

(All right, that’s a wrap on How To Hero #296. Great job everyone, we’ll see you next week.)

||Um.||

(Oh hey, Smugs. Good work today I guess. In the future we all prefer it when the supervillain correspondent kind of harasses Zach a bit, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re a bit lackluster compared to Dr. Brainwave.)

||Oh well-||

(You know, I didn’t even want to hire you. I was gunning for Snipey McSkullface. That guy has style.)

||In the form of a skull face-tattoo, yes, I’m familiar with him.||

(Anyway, did you need something from me?)

||Er, yes. I was told that this position came with housing?||

(Oh yes definitely it does! You get to move into our super sweet basement! Right this way, follow me.)

||Thank you, it’s tough out there for a costumed smuggler. So I’m kind of in between homes at the moment.||

(Oh yeah? Wearing a distinctive bright costume makes smuggling more difficult? Who would’ve thunk.)

||Sigh.||

(Did you just say “sigh”?)

||So this basement...||

(Oh yeah! Dr. Brainwave used to live there, you know before he exploded, so a lot of his junk is still down there, but don’t worry we did our best to clear out the mutant alligators.)

||What do you mean you did your best?||

(Listen Smugs, at the end of the day mutant alligators will be mutant alligators if you catch my meaning.)

||I’m not sure I do...||

(Ha! Classic Smugs, anyway enjoy your new digs I’ll see you around.)

||Sure... thanks||

||Wow, they really left everything just as it was. All of Dr. Brainwave’s equipment and machinery is still here. This couldn’t have gone better... Now if I just fire up this thing ah, nope, that’s just a feed that shows what everyone else in this building is thinking about. Not what I’m looking for, but I’ll come back for that later maybe... Oh gross, you know what this thing should be burned. Now let’s see, shrink ray, precarious stack of explosives, ah! Here it is! The interdimensional warp gate generator. Excellent. Now, if I just power it up, and set it to the proper frequency. Yes... Yes! Yes it’s working! Oh now they’ll rue the day they disrespected Smuggles. Each of them will pay dearly for how they treated me... now that you’re back old frien-||

Hey, Smuggles? Oh good, Parenthesis Guy got you settled in, just wanted to thank you for your great work today and to check if you needed anythi- What are you doing.

||Oh Zach! Hello! What do you mean?||

Why is there a warp gate open in my basement? What are you doing with that thing?

||Taking my foul revenge on you and everybody else who ever slighted me! The world will crumble before me and my ally!!!||

Listen, if this is about the jokes, I’m sorry about that, but you really don’t want to do this. Trust me, this isn’t going to end well for any of us.

||It certainly won’t end well for you and all of your superhero friends. Ah, there he is. Welcome back, Chuck the Fish Whisperer.||

Oh... this is bad.

[itsakpopalypse]

Kim Inseong (SF9) Astrology : How He Loves

“You already know what’s coming... 😏 can you please do one of your wonderful astrology „how he loves“-posts for SF9‘s Inseong, thank youuu 😄😘 “ -  @randomkpopfiction 

A/N, for you my love, my bebe, anything ^_^  I hope you enjoy. who is cackling evilly in the distance? If you can hear it from where you are it’s definitely not me...

without further adieu 

STOP THAT’S CUTE

So!!!

He is a Cancer sun, Rising Libra, Aries Moon

so this is suuuper interesting. ALL THREE ARE CARDINAL SIGNS

in fact, his entire chart is HEAVILY cardinal

this is really interesting but we’ll talk more about that later. 

Libra and Aries are sister signs, meaning that they are euqal but opposite

Both are the Cardinal of their element, and they are both in the “Active” elements type

this is interesting because while Cancer is a sometimes too moody sign, 

Libra is very temperate and controlled, and Aries has passion and determination

this should be a nice balance for Cancer’s general “I’m upset so I can’t function” moments

honestly at first glance his chart made me go WHOAH

because his aspect design is.... elaborate

Libra rising suggests he is open, charismatic, talkative and open minded

when you first meet him he will be super easy to get along with and likely crack a lot of lighthearted jokes

Libra’s are a bit flirty... very flirty...

so are Aries.

so there is probably a good amount of that unintentionally

Like he one of those people you meet who just compliments everyone and seems like they are jokingly hitting on every one around them

they will hit on a broom if they think it’ll get a laugh

Cancer suns are ... Complex? 

deep thinkers, deep feelers. The Cardinal of  Water

their feelings are like an ocean

it can be sweeping and rough or calm on the surface, but underneath full of life and excitement

they are represented by the crab so that means he may have a tough shell to crack emotionally 

especially if he feels like those feelings are not something the people around him need to see or know

Lunar Aries are full of AFFECTION

but are picky with who it goes to

so if you are in that circle expect all the touches and joking and compliments

His mercury is also Cancer so his communication can become blocked if he is truly emotional

he might need to pull into himself and think about it before expressing himself

that’s healthy and good!

Venus in Gemini, combined with a Virgo mars is a really interesting balance

it means that while Gemini tends to be... flighty until it is fully sure that that’s “the one” and fears commitment, Virgo  Mars (Mars being somewhat more dominant for male expression of affection) Will be more slow moving and tempered

basically he may WANT to jump right in and right back out, but his Virgo mars will say, no, take your time and learn this person well before you jump in

and will act as a voice of reason when Gemini starts fearing that it’s being tied down

North node in Sagittarius suggests he is intellectual and adventurous at heart 

maybe the type to take you places you have never been 

sight seeing in whatever way you prefer, touring new cities, hiking, etc,

wants to build experiences with you, not just give you gifts

all together!!

The type to compliment you at the exact moment you are feeling unsure 

“That skirt makes your legs look a million miles long.”

“How did I get so lucky, seeing your smile every day??”

“You make me happier than I can express. Just by being you.”

little out of the blue moments

definitely holds your hand when you’re on a drive

points out something in the distance and talks about it’s beauty only to tell  you that you are far more beautiful

inside and out

compliments your abilities too!!

He has the inquisitive and collectors mind of Sagittarius and Aries, 

like if you stimulate him mentally he will bust a nut in his heart 

the biggest turn on for a Cancer sun with an Aries moon is someone who can keep up with them in Wit and keep them on track when they start to get too bogged down by details

physically I think he would be the very possessive type since Cancer does NOT like to share

I imagine that means sitting close isn’t close enough

his lap?? Perfect for sits

likes to whisper into your ear from behind

half cause it’s cute half to feel you shiver

plops his head on your shoulder and wraps his arms around  your middle, probably fiddling with your fingers while he does

nuzzles into your neck to make you giggle

CUTE

might make you turn around so you face him mid lap sits

so he can rock you back and forth and rub  your back with little pats and gentle scritches

what is that?? your thighs?

for his head to go on 

will grab your hand and place it in his hair and just stare until you get the idea

he wants you to reciprocate

do not, do not

do not give this type of attention to another member

will get jealous and pout and refuse to speak to you 

until 👀👀👀 guess you’ll find out below

18 + below,

SPICY TIME

Get your man, please

You knew this was coming

Remember what i said above, about Jealous Cancer?

GIRL

We knew a Gemini Venus means ALL THE KINKS

we know an Aries moon means PASSION AND CONTROL

we know a Cancer sun means JEALOUSY INTENSITY AND POSSESSIVE 

before anyone freaks, no , i don’t mean possessive like controlling or unhealthy, but in a relationship where it’s established that these traits can come into play time... expect it to come OR YOU WHATEVER

And we know mars in Virgo means RULES AND DETAILS

honey 

oh 

oh honey

good luck

honestly

He would ensure you felt safe first, you’d have really good communication about sex and kinks and what is and isn’t okay and then....

he’d be sure to follow through

look . 

I’m not saying he HAS to dom?

but that’s exactly what I am saying

It’s that low key way, though

like no one on the outside would know, or have to know, that he was that way

you’d seem to have an incredibly normal relationship

isn’t the type to have you in collars or bring the play outside the room ...

but inside?

he has a box full of treasures just for his baby

he has a list you have to go over 

When you have a bad day he lavishes you in touches and kisses

“Lay back baby, let me make it all better for you..“

When you’ve been bratty he has a punishment for you 

“Ass up, grab your ankles, and count until we get to 10, miss a number and you start back at 1.”

Most days he just wants to have you in full compliance, writhing under him knowing that he is the one who gets to see you like this, hear you like this

His Lilith being in Pisces tells me he wants you all his own forever, a love driven by intense feelings, no half measures in his love

Overstim will probably be his favorite kink

likes hearing you gasp, see your back arch like oooh

will drag the back of his fingertips from your neck down to between your breasts to make you shiver

the type of lover who drags out the pleasure over and over

sensation play is a big emphatic YES

wear a blindfold so he can caress you with ribbons and silk and feathers

maybe temperature play?

Anything that get’s him the most intense reactions

probably has a tally somewhere of how many times he’s made you come in one session and aims to beat it

if you find it he’s like *grin* yep

wanna try now??

Virgo likes lists okay?

The type who isn’t shy about adding toys of any kind 

if it means he gets to see you come apart again and again he is all for it

12/10 cuddles after

like you will not get away

the koalaing has begun

you’re his until he is done with them. 

or gets hungry whatever.

All in all, He would have days where the kinks weren’t as big of a part

quickies when you’re short on time, 

eating you on the counter top while breakfast cooks

that kind of stuff

but he lives for elaborate decadence

the type that makes your toes curl every time you think about it

and your heartbeat speed up if you see that counter again because....

ooooffff

Hi i hope you aren’t dead my love 

[kattaloop]

Lexa IS More Than A Symbol

I came to Tumblr for the Clexa GIFs and stayed for the very occasional long-form contribution. So I don’t know what’s being talked about and how, but a few friends asked me to comment on this. A week ago, @rivertalesien offered a lengthy reply to an anonymous question:

“Why is Lexa the one that people want to fight for but seems to be the only one kept dead? Not that ODAAT and WE had dead lesbians but they were cancelled and fan efforts brought them back like why is Lexa the only one who can't? She has to be more than a symbol though?“

I have my own thoughts on this issue, some of which I can’t publicly elaborate on. Let me just say that you’re right, Lexa absolutely is more than a symbol and should be treated as such. But what did River have to say about it all?

“First of all, the situations with ODAAT and WE are completely different: those involve complex negotiations with advertisers in order to cover the costs and where the show will be hosted. I know it’s fun to believe that fan campaigns had anything to do with it, but it is always, ultimately down to negotiations with advertisers and studios. It makes the producers and all look good to praise their audience for the “hard work” trying to save the series, but they all know better.“

It’s right to say that money is a driving force in any decisions the networks make. But you can’t isolate a show from the broader programing strategy, and, as far as I know, advertising deals are  bundled. As with any business, money isn’t the only deciding factor, either. Power and prestige have important roles in this game of film and television, and personal preference absolutely exists. As for fan campaigns, they add a voice, one that may have, and has, in the past, convinced executives to revisit the  issue in the first place. Would they have done the same thing without that little nudge from viewers? Maybe, but probably not.

“And Lexa is “kept dead” because, and this is only inference, but I think it’s a strong one: Jason Rothenberg lost a huge business/development deal as a result of the Lexa/Clexa fan drama.“

You did your research, I’ll give you that. But I’m unsure how well you understand the reality of this business. Considering that failed pilots are more common than green-lit ones. Considering that any pilot is a collaborative process with too many components in play than for an outsider to pinpoint exactly one reason as to why it failed. Considering that this industry, for all its rigid hierarchy and rules books, can also be one of the most unpredictable - one person leaves and the whole house of cards can crumble. Considering that you refuse to entertain the pros that would accompany Lexa’s return, pros that someone with Jason’s disposition might be equally interested in as in the more petty revenge fantasies.

“Jason Rothenberg spent the days, weeks and months after Lexa’s death cutting himself off from those fans who were hurt by his actions and no doubt working behind the scenes to make sure he didn’t lose his job over his unethical, unprofessional behavior. His supporters in the cast were openly derisive of Clexa fans who spoke out and a tone of trying to ignore or undermine the fan fallout was the given order. Showing real empathy and offering to work with the audience in order to heal the divide might have gone a long way for improving his image and the show’s. Rothenberg decided to hide instead.“

Yes to everything but the last sentence. You’re assuming - sorry, inferring. I happen to know that it was not his decision. Once again, isolating one aspect from its context and environment usually leads to wrong or, at least, incomplete conclusions.

“One very clear consequence of his queerbaiting is that Greg Berlanti, the very successful (and openly gay) producer of many DC shows including Supergirl, stepped out of a development deal for a new series tentatively titled The Searchers. The project was likely mostly Rothenberg’s, but without Berlanti’s backing, it was dropped. Story was that it was too “expensive” to produce, yet Berlanti went on to get a huge deal with the CW, producing Riverdale as well as the upcoming Batwoman. Would Berlanti want to be associated with Rothenberg after the Lexa debacle? Probably not and that’s probably closer to the real reason the deal went south.“

Except the queerbaiting isn’t even fully acknowledged, still. That’s a lot to base on “likely” and "probably.” Berlanti was already getting these deals. He also had his own issues to deal with. If the production was deemed too expensive, it doesn’t mean that there’s a conspiracy beyond the normal industry processes.

“Outside of The 100, he has no produced credits to his name and how he got the job of showrunner when he had no previous experience in any capacity in a writer’s room or on a production staff is certainly baffling. He very quickly proved he didn’t have the professionalism for the job and anyone else would have been dismissed.“

But he wasn’t dismissed, and that should tell you enough to not be baffled by the fact that they hired him, even without knowing the industry from within.

“The 100 went from 16 episodes to 13 because the order for renewal had already been given and the WB/CW put out feelers in the form of polls asking the audience directly: will Lexa’s death affect if you watch the show? Who does that unless they are seeking to reassure the advertisers that Lexa’s death wouldn’t be a big issue for long and spoil their investment?”

In conjunction with a noticeable drop in ratings and other measurable factors, this is probably a reasonable conclusion. They were hoping for a surge and were slammed, instead. There were a lot of whispers, but nothing I’d consider to be confirmed. What does this have to do with why they wouldn’t bring Lexa back? If anything, it suggests they know of her value.

“Fans are capable of all sorts of interpretations of a text (oh boy are we), but one thing that I think is generally considered across the board is that with season 4, the tone toward Lexa was more than a little OTT and a tad spiteful.”

I’m glad you acknowledge that much of this is based on interpretation. In summary, the praise Lexa received in S4 felt unauthentic, the Flame and Lexa were used as an emotional device, and Clarke’s actions were problematic. How’s that any different than post-307, when nobody seemed too bothered about losing their beloved Heda, when the Flame and Lexa were used as an emotional device, and when Clarke had sex as a coping mechanism and even questioned Lexa’s humanity? The latter were all written before the backlash. It mostly speaks to the show’s persistent issues with continuity, character development, and representation.

“This is just my interpretation, but with fans crying out for her return, pleading for a spin-off and so on, and generally being the most out-spoken fandom for LGBTQ rights and better representation in media (and a never-ending drag of Rothenberg’s name), is it likely that a production that never did anything to try and make amends ever going to give in to such pleas?”

As likely as any other production, to be honest. Allow me to go back to your earlier assessment. “They don’t care about fans’ pleas.” Would they bring Lexa back for the fans? Doubtful. “They care about their own benefit.” Would they bring Lexa back if it benefited them? Now we’re talking.

But they can’t just do it any odd way. As you also said previously, they know better. They may ignore us, but they watch us. They would’ve assessed the different scenarios. From a business point of view, they’d want to avoid another backlash. Then you have a diva showrunner to consider, and a guest star who is in work and, hopefully, wouldn’t return for a guest stint if it didn’t benefit her and Lexa. It’s a tricky balance, made even more difficult by a fandom that likes to tear itself apart over conflicting opinions every 3 months or so.

Considering all of those circumstances, I can’t think of a reasonable way to bring Lexa back other than at the very end. Which would benefit the production, but more importantly, a large number of fans, the tiny matter of representation, and ADC - if done right, which I give her enough credit to make sure before agreeing to anything. I’m not saying that it will happen or that it won’t happen. I’m saying that there’s a strong case for it happen, to balance out your rather one-dimensional approach.

“There is a cruelty to this because almost any other kind of story of this kind would involve a moment of catharsis, but that moment is constantly suspended, always dangled, but never in touch.”

Personally, I’d agree with that, but I can also think of writers who’d be into it. We’ve already established that Jason and his immediate team are lacking awareness and empathy. It makes little sense, therefore, to expect them to act differently, especially if they’re leading up to another shock twist. My guess is as good as yours on whether that’s something good or bad.

“They know what fans want and it’s arguable too that Rothenberg has twisted what the fans want for his own benefit: a spin-off of The 100, but one entirely about something decidedly unrelated to Lexa. Showing online fan interest might be one way of telling advertisers: see, there’s a demand for his work.”

No offense, but this makes no sense and it’s probably the most contradicting and subjective thing you’ve said thus far. If they know what fans want, then there’s nothing to twist. It’s actually part of the reason why the Lexa spinoff campaign started while the show’s still on air: to get the word out, to make sure they know exactly what and who we want, and what and who we don’t want. Jason started talking about a spinoff before 307, so there’s literally no ground for this argument, which also has no bearing on the question. So why bring it up?

“Unless advertisers demand it, is it likely that this unprofessional queerbaiting producer would do anything except the most spiteful of nods? That’s all he’s done at this point and the story this season looks more and more like they are going to finally close the book on any Lexa mentions ever again.”

Unless advertisers become involved in the creative process, this argument is also invalid. Thankfully, there are regulations in place to avoid that. And unless you know what motivates a person, you can’t speak to what they will or won��t do. Even if you did, you can’t be certain. Once again, this is a collaborative process even under the worst of circumstances. Things could go either way.

“Fight for Lexa, there is nothing wrong with her being a “symbol” of a fight for better representation.”

It feels wrong when you reduce her to a symbol, when you put her in the past, when you tell others to seek out other representation, when you dismiss her implied humanity. Our emotions in relation to Lexa are real, and that makes her real in all the ways that matter. What happened to “she’s more than just a character?” Well, she’s also more than a movement. Let’s not use their excuses when they kill of one LGBT character and put another on their place against ourselves.

“Keep using her light, but never forget where it really comes from, something Rothenberg will never understand: it comes from you.”

Now see, this is a great statement. I, too, believe that Lexa is a part of us. Her light guided me out of the complete darkness I had lost myself in, and it became part of my own light. I’ve never come across a character like that, or person, for that matter. A sentiment that still reverberates through the fandom and beyond. I believe that her light can help so many more people whom she wasn’t able to reach in the short time she was given. And so, part of my fight for better representation, better storytelling, will always be to let Lexa’s light shine again. She deserves to live. She deserves to have her story told!

[deanssexplorations]

Connecting People

I test as an extrovert on the Myers-Briggs scale and like to think I’ve always been a fairly gregarious, outgoing person. I enjoy meeting new people in my vanilla life, and I especially enjoy meeting new people in the lifestyle. And though it may sound strange, I am really enjoying meeting men in the play scene, and not just women.

Lately, however, I’ve sort of fallen into the role of introducing cool, like-minded people within my group of friends. This has happened a number of times in the past several months. I introduced my friend Kristy to my (now her) friend Hercules. I also introduced her to a couple I met on Feeld and we had a wonderful foursome date at Twist. When I discovered my friend Heather was as keen to meet new people, both men and women (and play with them) as I was, I was happy to introduce her around. I invited her to my first date with Adam and Jennifer, which I’ve already blogged about (and she did too) so no need to go into further detail there, and I brought my new connection Maria into a date I had already set with Heather, another fabulous evening I’ve already blogged about.

But it extends beyond actual current friends to the realm of erstwhile strangers. There was a 20-something guy who found my blog via one a dating app  (where I post the URL for fun). He reached out to me, told me he liked the blog, and we started up a conversation. I discovered he hadn’t yet, but very much wanted to, have a range of adventures including a threesome and being with an older woman. I took him under wing and put out some feelers. I actually had a threesome date set up with - you guessed it - Heather, before he flaked and disappeared from the radar.

[Author’s note: No wonder my age-appropriate female friends tend to swear off 20-something guys. They find them too flaky. Meanwhile I tell them that if 20-something females were throwing themselves at me I would not be as discerning in my tastes.

Oh well.

And, by the way, if that particular adventure had played out, I already had the blog entry title picked out: Sex Protoge.

Like I said, oh well.]

Another example came during a recent trip to LA. I was swiping on Feeld, the premise of which I love as it’s pretty much designed as an enabler for the swinging lifestyle, and which I’ve met a few women on. But on Feeld I’ve found that by far most of the women there are partnered, and a great many of the profiles are manned by the guy. (See what I did there?) Which means I’ve spent my fair share of time chatting with the guys.

Which is totally cool. Lifestyle people are fun to connect with and have a great outlook on life. I’ve met some fun guys this way. But not one of them I wanted to fuck. Anyway, I was swiping in prep for my trip to LA and started chatting with this guy whose girlfriend lives in Chicago. He was not surprisingly finding it a bit challenging to navigate the lifestyle as a single guy so we shared some war stories and I offered to put him in touch with Katya, my FWB who also lives in LA - (whom I met on Feeld the year previously - and whom I was already planning to see on my trip.  Enjoy, guys, as this is one of the few pictures still left on the blog after the censors did their job...).

I don’t know if they connected, but I just sent him a text to find out. Stay tuned and I’ll let you know.

Maybe my favorite example comes back to Heather and my friend Elena, the star of the Orgasmed with Her Pants Still On blog entry. Which was a crazy fun encounter. Well, I shot Elena a text fairly recently to see how she was doing and she informed me she had dropped out of the casual sex scene. She had met a guy who she was crazy about and they had gone monogamous on us.

Except that she still wanted to have sex with a woman. She had never done so, and hadn’t made it happen during the window between her breakup and this new guy coming along. And it turns out her new guy was also down with the idea of inviting a woman into bed with them (surprise). I was getting excited at this point of the conversation and told her I thought there was a decent chance that one of the females in my circle might be interested in being their unicorn.

A few texts later, and - yes, I already telegraphed it - Heather was all in. I set up a three-way thread and a lot of fun, sexy, playful banter ensued. Eventually the two of them started texting directly, which led to a date being set, which led to some wine being imbibed (hastily, I understand), which led to a hotel room being defiled. From what I understand all three of them had a very fun night.

Which I was absolutely thrilled to hear. I am having a hard time articulating the rationale for it in my own mind, but I get a huge amount of satisfaction when I can connect people and they can have their own delicious moments. And I don’t even necessarily have to be there. I think it has to do with the thrill I get from being able to orchestrate events. My FWBs often say they think I get as much fun out of planning a date as the date itself. And they may be right.

It’s one thing to make a connection, to be courteous and charming, and make that connection happen myself. It’s an entirely different thing to introduce two people for whom there’s positive energy and for them to have sex. It’s almost like anyone can seduce a woman. I get satisfaction helping other people in their seductions.

Maybe it’s because it is the most interesting and powerful gift I can give another person. Maybe it is sort of my own form of kink. I like groups mostly because I find sex to be the most delicious and interesting way to connect with another person, and when you get more people in the room, the number of delicious and fun connections just multiples. Maybe making a connection between two people even when I’m not in the room has a similar attraction, just with a different flavor.

I kind of always just took it on face value that I do this in the spirit of fun, adventure, and generosity. And I just assumed that the people I connect all felt the same way. I think they do for the most part, but I recently learned the hard way that not everyone looks at it the same way I do.

Because I recently had my first really bad experience trying to play matchmaker between two people in my circle of friends. In fact, I lost a friend with benefits (with whom I had had great chemistry) over it. And it wasn’t that they had gotten together and she didn’t like his company, or that they had slept together and it had gone badly. No, it hadn’t even gotten to an introduction yet. It was the very fact that I was TRYING to make an introduction that started us down the path of tanking our relationship.

I’ll tell you that story, but I think I’ll do that in my next blog entry...

[ferryboatpeak]

would love to hear how tom/ben/meri came about

thank you for indulging me, anon. buckle up for the wear you like a necklace backstory i never intended to think about…

so ben’s got a film project that’s going to take him to france for three months, and meredith is jolly well going to go with, because (a) summer in the south of france, and (b) she is not going to be a single parent for three months, no way. maybe ben’s going to be on set 14 hours a day, but that’s better than him being completely gone for three months. and anyway it won’t just be her and ruby… she can get an au pair, right? right.

hiring someone abroad turns out to be too hard, and finding the right candidate who’s willing to pick up and go to france with them for the summer is also hard (this person’s going to live in their house, meredith’s getting a bit picky about it), and one night over drinks she’s self-consciously bitching to an old friend from university about this extremely white people problem. her friend, who went into academia, recognizes a pretty sweet summer setup when she sees one, and mentions that maybe she’s got a grad student who’d be interested. sure, meredith says, connect me. her professor pal puts out some email feelers to a few of her favorite students and tom’s the one who replies.

meredith’s a bit surprised when her friend sends her tom’s contact information… she wasn’t expecting to hire a manny… but tom’s emails are all spelled correctly, and when he comes to the house for an interview he’s absolutely charming, and good with ruby, and when she makes them tea tom rinses out his mug and puts it in the dish drainer without meredith even asking, so she hires him.

tom babysits a couple of evenings in the spring, so ruby can get comfortable with him. he’s in that post-undergrad period of life when adulthood is something he’s supposed to have achieved, or to achieve in the very near future, and yet it also feels kind of abstract and distant. adulthood is the provenance of people like his parents.

but now, suddenly, adulthood also means ben and meredith. the way they look when they’re going out for the evening, the way they talk to each other, the photos on the hallway table of the two of them smiling on travels to exotic places, the neatly labeled jars of spices in their kitchen, the vase of flowers on the table, the indulgently stylish furniture in ruby’s nursery… this, tom thinks, this is a kind of adulthood he likes. this is the way he would like to be an adult.

he walks through the quiet house after ruby goes to sleep, noticing little details. ben’s slippers by the door, the soft throw on the sofa, the books on the coffee table. he stops at the threshold of ben’s office and peeks through: framed posters and signed photographs from ben’s projects on the walls, an elaborate desktop setup with two monitors, a flatscreen above the fireplace. (the pictures of one direction and the poster from harry’s show at the garage don’t really register because tom’s never paid attention to any of that music.)

there’s some kind of fancy caprese salad in the fridge; help yourself, meri had said. tom gets a bowl of it and a fork from the drawer – it’s heavier than tom thought a fork should be, with a nice tapered handle – and sits cross-legged on the sofa. he’s careful about what he pulls up on netflix; ben and meri might notice the search history. on the coffee table, the baby monitor hisses softly with white noise. he’s going to have this life for an entire summer, and he already doesn’t want to let it go.

ben’s leaving the logistics of temporarily relocating to france in meredith’s capable hands, so he’s a little surprised but not terribly interested when she mentions she found an au pair, and oh by the way it’s a guy. he becomes considerably more interested, however, the first time they come home from a date night and he meets tom. tom is effortlessly charming because he’s tom and also because he’s already decided meredith is a Very Cool Boss and he’s very curious about the other half of the equation. ben asks tom about school, and where he’s from, and figures out what tom’s owed for the evening and tips him well. by the end of that five-minute interaction, tom’s decided that ben is also going to be a Very Cool Boss, and tom has also resolved that he is not going to wank about the thought of ben bossing him around. definitely not. that would be weird.

later, upstairs:

“can we talk about the babysitter?” ben asks, squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

“no, we cannot talk about the babysitter,” meredith says, rolling her eyes at him in the mirror, in a tone that conveys the exact opposite of what she’s saying.

“i think we can talk about the babysitter,” ben says, and sticks his toothbrush in his mouth. he watches meredith in the mirror as he brushes vigorously.

meredith leans toward the mirror and pats a fingerful of something from a small gold jar onto her face. “he’s adorable, isn’t he?”

“think he’s…  hmm… open-minded?” ben asks, as he spits into the sink. he bends down to splash water into his mouth.

“we can’t fuck the babysitter,” meredith says automatically. she flicks her toothbrush under the tap and adds toothpaste to it. her eyes cut toward ben in the mirror and she mumbles through the toothbrush, “wait, would you?” (she’s not going to be able to get it out of her head now, the image of little blonde cheekboned tom on her husband’s cock.)

“i… wouldn’t rule it out,” ben says, looking at the ceiling as he flosses. their arrangement with harry has opened ben’s mind to all kinds of things. but they haven’t hooked up with harry since ruby was born. seems like an awfully convenient coincidence to have somebody who looks like tom moving in with them.

“if we did,” meredith says a few minutes later, after they’ve turned out the light, “we’d have to be careful about it.” ben’s pillow rustles as he turns his head to look at her. “he’s our employee, we can’t just… i don’t know. it’s not like harry, you know?”

“see what happens, i guess” ben says, and meredith snuggles her shoulder against his before they fall asleep.

what happens is that the summer goes swimmingly. having tom around reminds them of when harry lived with them, except without the burden of the sort of nominally parental role they felt obligated to play for harry. tom’s an invaluable extra pair of hands, and he’s just so easy to have around, as if he makes every conversation brighter. they don’t want to compare him to harry – nobody else can ever be harry – but harry’s kind of a lot sometimes. tom’s not exhausting in the way harry can be exhausting, and right now ruby’s quite exhausting enough for everyone. tom’s pleasant, lowkey, helpful presence is just the right thing.

meanwhile tom is basking in their approval, reveling at being let into their life. his attraction to ben and meri is all tangled up in wanting to be what they are, wanting to have what they have. he wants it all. sometimes it feels like he’s a part of it, and sometimes it feels like he’s never going to get close enough. he wants in, all the way in.

one night at dinner it comes up that tom was a ballroom dance champion when he was a teenager. ben and meri ask fascinated questions, and meri finally insists that tom dance with her.

[remember those insta stories of tom dancing with jez butterworth and laura donnelly on the terrace at their french country house, the inspiration for this entire au? that’s where we have arrived, friends. (please watch that link, tom just snuggles right up to jez and it is VERY HARD for me not to ship it.) anyway.]

tom waltzes meredith around the terrace. they’re laughing and counting out the beat and tom’s careful not to trod on her toes even when she misses a step. meredith gives a surprised whoop! when tom dips her at the end, after they’ve circled around so they’re right in front of ben. “that was lovely,” she says, straightening up, still in his arms. they’re eye to eye now, and meredith doesn’t let go. “can i kiss you?” she asks, her eyes sparkling.

the question delights tom down to the very soles of his feet. he waits for a nod from ben, and then, like the star ballroom partner that he is, he takes the lead. it’s an easy, friendly kind of a kiss, both of them testing the waters and finding them good.

they smile at each other for a moment afterwards, and then meredith says, “all right, now teach ben something. he never wants to dance with me.”

“that’s a shame,” tom says, and holds out his hand to ben. ben is indeed a terrible dancer, and their circuit around the terrace is more of an awkward shuffle, tom trying to prod ben into leading and ben not entirely sure of where his hands go, all while tom is still riding the adrenaline rush of having just kissed ben’s wife and also being super super conscious of ben’s hand on his back, which feels entirely different than dancing with meredith (in a very exciting way.)

tom looks up at ben when they’re finished, his hand still at ben’s waist, and it is VERY VERY obvious that tom wants ben to kiss him, and so ben does. (it is unclear if meredith says “do it” in the background, tom’s not able to focus on anything other than ben.)

more kisses are shared that night, and the nights that follow. everyone gets a little handsier, a little looser, testing out the humming current of possibility that’s carrying them all along, the shared understanding that something’s going to happen. they lean closer and closer to the edge until one night in the kitchen ben has his arm around tom and tom presses his hip into ben’s – let me in, let me in – and ben lets tom slide in front of him and wraps his hands around tom’s waist and whispers into his ear as his thumb traces the button of tom’s shorts “do you want me to touch you?”

“yeah,” tom breathes, tipping his head back against ben’s shoulder, “yes, please.” ben gets him off right there in the kitchen, with tom’s hands braced on the countertop and meredith watching from the other side of the island, her breath quickening to match tom’s.

afterwards she cups tom’s jaw in her hand and kisses him on the temple and thanks him – as if he’s done her a favor, tom thinks in confusion – and tells him to get a good night’s sleep, and then she leads ben upstairs by the hand and they have frantically hot sex like they have not had since well before the baby was born. (thereby banishing any lingering doubts about whether they should be involving their nanny in their sex life.)

tom doesn’t clock that that’s what’s happening. he only knows that ben got him off and he didn’t get to reciprocate, and it’s an affront to all that he stands for. he wants to be let in, he wants to be of use, he wants to anticipate and fulfill their needs. it drives him crazy all the next day, and by the time ben and meri invite him upstairs the following night he’s practically begging to suck ben off, which meets the needs of everyone involved just fine.

[greyskieslatenights]

ikon: jundong - late nights are complicated [nsfw]

well um... long time no see, y’all.

i’ve been a little bored lately and decided to write a little something-something. this is technically part of an extended jundong college-and-office universe that i’m writing with my co-conspirator yve, but i wanted to post a tidbit of it just to put some feelers out there and see if anyone’s interested and all.

this is a college au, feat some roughly-written sexytimes. it may not be that good, i’m out of practice, but hopefully someone likes it hahaha

in which junhoe sees a new side of donghyuk and he’s not sure how he feels about all this.

“You’re drunk.”

“That’s what you think.”

If the lights were any brighter, Junhoe’s about 90% certain he’d see Donghyuk’s face flushed red, see the way his eyes are just a hair unfocused (because there’s no way Donghyuk can actually be looking at him like that, right?)

Donghyuk grins, the colored lights glinting across his teeth. “I’m not drunk, June-yah. I’ve had like, two drinks? You need to catch up with me.”

He holds out the plastic red cup in his hand towards Junhoe, who looks at the liquid inside dubiously. He bends down and gives it an experimental sniff - all he can tell is it smells like no fewer than three kinds of alcohol and fruit juices.

“It’s not drugged, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Donghyuk says. “I’ve been drinking from it. And you trust me, right?”

Junhoe rolls his eyes, snatching the cup out of Donghyuk’s hand and gulping it down in one go just to get it over with. It tastes too sweet and too strong and he grimaces after he swallows, but Donghyuk looks pleased.

“See? Not so bad. Let’s get you another one, hm?”

Junhoe wonders what other sides of Donghyuk he doesn’t know as he finds himself following him to the kitchen, where he high-fives some upperclassman Junhoe vaguely recognizes from econ or something before he pours a ladle of the death drink into his cup.

“June-yah, you know Seungcheol-hyung, right?” Donghyuk leans against the counter next to who Junhoe presumes is Seungcheol.

“Koo, right?” The doe-eyed upperclassman holds out a hand to shake.

“Yeah.” Junhoe doesn’t really know what else to say. This is why he doesn’t go to parties.

“‘m Choi,” Seungcheol introduces. “Thanks for dropping by, yeah?”

“It was Donghyuk,” Junhoe replies. I’m really too sober for this, he thinks, picking up a plastic cup from the center island and pouring himself a healthy cupful of the mystery cocktail.

Seungcheol grins, nudging Donghyuk next to him playfully. “Good ol Donghyuk, eh? Little party animal he is.”

Junhoe raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

“No, no,” Donghyuk laughs. “I just come hang out a lot, y’know? Make friends. Networking.”

“Networking? And here I thought you actually wanted to hear me talk about my car,” Seungcheol mock-whines.

Junhoe forces out a laugh, downing some of his drink just to give his mouth something to do.

“Where’s Jihoon-hyung?” Donghyuk asks. Junhoe has no idea who Jihoon is. Donghyuk must know this Seungcheol guy pretty well.

Why does the idea of Donghyuk have friends who aren’t him bother him so much? He needs another drink.

“He’s just hiding in my room manning the playlist,” Seungcheol laughs. “Not super up for socializing tonight.”

“Maybe I should hang out with him,” Junhoe says. He’s only half joking.

“You two might get along, actually,” Seungcheol says. “You’ve both kind of got that… vibe to you.”

“Vibe?”

“He means you’re both kind of grumpy and bad with people,” Donghyuk quips, hiccuping slightly at the end of his sentence. “I mean that in the most endearing of ways, of course.”

Seungcheol grins. “Yeah, only Jihoon’s about a foot and a half shorter than Junhoe and looks like a squishy little bean. They’ve got the same kind of glare, though.”

“What’re you saying about my glare?” a voice grumbles from behind Junhoe. He turns to see a short young man with a shock of bright blonde hair, hoodie sleeves extending far past his hands.

“Just that it’s very menacing, Jihoonie,” Seungcheol says.

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “Sure, Cheol.”

“Get bored up there alone?” Seungcheol asks, beckoning for Jihoon to come and stand next to him. Jihoon acquiesces, dainty fingertips shaking past the sleeve cuffs to grab a bottle of coke from the open cooler.

“Not really. Just thirsty.” Jihoon unscrews the bottle and takes a swig. “What’re you guys talking about?”

“Nothing really.” Seungcheol shrugs. “Just people. Have you met Junhoe? He’s a business freshman.”

Jihoon raises a hand in acknowledgement. “Hey. I’m Jihoon. You probably won’t see me much ever, I’m studying music production.”

“Why are you here, then?” Junhoe asks.

Jihoon barks out a laugh. “Fuck if I know. Guess I’m just too fond of this idiot.”

Seungcheol palms the top of Jihoon’s head, ruffling the shorter’s hair. There’s something about the casual intimacy of it that makes Junhoe’s stomach twist a little bit as his eyes slide over to a certain someone standing beside them.

Maybe he’s staring a little too intently, because Donghyuk suddenly locks eyes with him. Let’s go? he mouths, tilting his head to the side.

Junhoe nods. He’s not really sure what else he’s supposed to do here.

“Hey, Cheol-hyung,” Donghyuk says, “was great seeing you.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you around campus, yeah? We should get lunch.”

“For sure.” Donghyuk bumps his fist against Seungcheol’s and gives a wave to Jihoon before he fills up his cup (again?) and walks over to Junhoe.

“Um. Yeah. See you guys. Nice to meet you.” Junhoe hates the sound of his own voice right now. Why is he so awkward?

“We should hang out sometime,” Seungcheol says. “You and me and Donghyuk-ah. Can talk classes and future plans and shit, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Junhoe echoes.

Jihoon’s lips are quirked up in a smirk that unsettles Junhoe a little bit, but he figures that might just be the guy’s face.

He doesn’t have much more time to dwell on it, though, because Donghyuk’s grabbed him by the wrist and is pulling him toward the living room. The bass is stronger here, dance beats ringing in Junhoe’s ears.

“Drink some more,” Donghyuk whispers into Junhoe’s ear. He almost recoils from the suddenness of it, feels compelled to do as Donghyuk says.

“Let’s dance, June-yah,” Donghyuk says. “I’ll even ask them to put on Michael Jackson for you.”

“Please don’t,” Junhoe ekes out, but allows himself to be pulled into the midst of the crowd. Donghyuk positions himself directly in front of Junhoe, far, far closer than he ever would be usually. Junhoe could count Donghyuk’s eyelashes individually, if he really wanted to.

Not that he really wants to. It’s just that Donghyuk’s really, really close to him, and he’s never really thought about how Donghyuk’s shampoo smells but it’s kind of nice.

Donghyuk grins, head tilting slightly to the side. “Let’s have fun, June-yah.”

It takes the rest of the cup and two songs for Junhoe to hit his stride, but eventually he realizes that everyone’s too drunk and no one gives enough of a fuck to care what he does - in fact, once he starts getting into it, people start cheering for him.

Ego bolstered, Junhoe lets a devious grin sneak its way onto his face as he moves dangerously close to Donghyuk, close enough that barely a piece of paper could fit between their bodies.

“So we’re doing this?” Donghyuk taunts, leaning forward and pressing himself flush against Junhoe. Junhoe feels the air leave his lungs, replaced immediately by fire as the firm line of Donghyuk’s body moves against Junhoe’s torso.

Donghyuk’s hard. Dimly, Junhoe realizes that he is, too. When did that even happen?

Junhoe lets the music tell his body what to do, rocking against Donghyuk’s with ever-increasing pressure. He’s not sure if he’s hallucinating when he hears a soft moan in his ear, slim fingers gripping his upper arm.

One song, three songs - Junhoe doesn’t know how long they’re out there. The only thing his mind registers is the warmth of Donghyuk against him and how weirdly good all this feels before there’s a firm grasp around his wrist and once again he finds himself pulled, this time out of the crowd and down a hall and into another room - someone’s bedroom. Donghyuk shuts the door behind them once Junhoe’s cleared the frame, then pins the taller up against it with surprising force.

“Tell me you want this,” Donghyuk whispers, his palms flat against the front of Junhoe’s grey t-shirt.

A thousand thoughts flicker through Junhoe’s head all at once, but the one at the forefront of his mind says to thread his fingers through Donghyuk’s hair at the back of his head and tilt his head back and press their lips together hard.

It’s all pressure and tongues and no finesse, but it stokes the fire building in Junhoe’s chest in all the right ways. Donghyuk presses his thigh at the junction of Junhoe’s legs, rocking against Junhoe’s hardness as he fumbles with his belt.

“God damn,” Donghyuk breathes once Junhoe finally pulls his lips away. He’s finally managed to undo his belt, shimmying his too-tight jeans down his thighs as Junhoe starts to take his own pants off. Donghyuk’s thighs are doing something to his mind that he doesn’t really understand but he’s absolutely not opposed to.

“Take my shirt off,” Donghyuk commands, and Junhoe swears because of course Donghyuk’s wearing a button-up.

“Can I rip it?”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Donghyuk growls, grabbing Junhoe by the front of his tee and maneuvering him down onto the mattress with strength Junhoe didn’t know the other had.

Donghyuk’s straddling Junhoe the moment the taller’s back hits the mattress, pressing their cocks against each other. It takes a herculean effort for Junhoe to pull his brain together enough to figure out how to undo buttons as a shiver of pleasure travels up his spine.

He gets about halfway through before Donghyuk gets fed up and yanks the rest of them open - Junhoe can hear at least one of the buttons hit the wall.

“What about not ripping your shirt?” Junhoe asks.

“Shut the fuck up and get to fucking me,” Donghyuk growls. Junhoe’s never really seen Donghyuk this feisty. He kind of likes it a lot.

“How--” Junhoe starts to ask, but cuts himself off as Donghyuk pushes himself off the bed to find his jeans, grumbling as he searches the pockets. His expression immediately morphs into one of glee as he pulls out two foil packets, tossing them in Junhoe’s direction.

“Huh,” Junhoe remarks.

“‘m always prepared,” Donghyuk laughs breathlessly.

“You were preparing to fuck?” Junhoe asks. To fuck who?

Donghyuk shrugs. “Maybe. What’s it to you?”

Junhoe doesn’t have him in it to reply, just reaches out to pull Donghyuk back on top of him. Donghyuk’s lips find his easily, tongue tracing the seam before he bites down. Junhoe moans, hands palming the curves of Donghyuk’s ass, pressing them together.

“Put those fingers to work,” Donghyuk commands, reaching for one of the packets and tearing it open. He flips himself down onto his back, legs spread, hard cock flush against his abdomen and leaking precum readily from the tip. Junhoe takes the packet from him, squeezing lube onto his fingers and tracing them around the rim of Donghyuk’s ass.

Junhoe’s no virgin - he knows what he’s doing as far as the mechanics of sex are involved, and he’s never felt the need to be particularly gentle with his partners unless they asked. But even in his altered mental state, he feels like there’s something different with Donghyuk, even as Donghyuk arches his back up to give Junhoe easier access. He moans as Junhoe’s fingers fill him, his own hand coming around to fist his own member.

“Just like that,” he breathes. “God, I knew I wanted those hands for a reason.”

Junhoe obliges, pushing in all the way to the knuckle. His own cock hangs neglected between his legs, but it’s barely on his mind - his brain consumed by Donghyuk spread out for him, begging for more, more Junhoe please fuck me.

Junhoe pulls his fingers out, grabbing a fistful of tissues from a box next to the bed before fumbling around for the condom. His hands skim over the blankets once, twice, three times before he finally finds it, ripping it own and rolling it over himself. He lets out a long sigh, the light pressure of his fingers down his length a welcome respite.

He settles himself between Donghyuk’s legs, pushing the head of his cock up against Donghyuk’s hole. Donghyuk pushes back against him, letting out the most sinful of sighs once Junhoe pushes himself inside.

“You feel so good,” Donghyuk whispers, wrapping his legs around Junhoe’s waist and pulling him in close. “So good.”

Junhoe rolls his hips, groaning at the sensation of Donghyuk’s walls around him. With the alcohol and the tension, he knows he’s not going to last long, and he feels like Donghyuk’s probably not going to, either.

He presses his lips to Donghyuk’s neck, sucking against the skin and biting down as he rocks into Donghyuk. Donghyuk pushes back against him, his ass smacking against Junhoe’s thighs loud and firm.

Donghyuk tilts his hips back, his eyes rolling back into his head as his mouth opens in a silent scream. His hips stutter - Junhoe grabs hold, pulling Donghyuk firm against him, flush to the base. A choked cry escapes Donghyuk’s throat as he cums, spurts of white dripping down his length to pool on his stomach.

Junhoe thrusts shallowly, his own orgasm building fast as Donghyuk’s body clenches around him. He bites down on Donghyuk’s shoulder as his release hits him, spilling inside the condom, his vision whiting out.

*

Junhoe doesn’t remember falling asleep, but he must have. Otherwise there’s no way he would have woken up.

His head pounds and his mouth tastes disgusting. He’s also got an arm thrown around someone and he’s not quite sure who.

He closes his eyes firmly, then opens them - spots dance around the edges of his vision as he gets used to the light. He spots a familiar head of tousled hair on the pillow beside him. Donghyuk’s mouth is slightly open, a hint of drool at the corner of his lips.

He looks perfect and Junhoe doesn’t know why he thinks that.

The door bangs open suddenly, startling Junhoe. Donghyuk starts beside him, bolting upright.

“Jesus, fuck,” someone’s grumbling. Junhoe has no idea who he is. “Someone really fucked in my bed?”

“Sorry,” Junhoe mumbles.

“Yeah, fuckin’ whatever, just get out of here, goddamn,” the guy grumbles. “Christ, this is why I didn’t want Cheol hosting any parties.”

Junhoe and Donghyuk manage to stumble out of bed, clothes pulled on haphazardly. Junhoe can only find one sock and it looks like Donghyuk’s going commando, but both of them shuffle out in about ten seconds and neither of them can look the guy in the eye.

“Sorry,” Junhoe says again as they leave. He gets no response.

“God,” Donghyuk mutters as they lumber down the hall, “my head hurts like a bitch.”

“Mine too.”

The rest of the place isn’t in a much better state - there’s a handful of people passed out on the sofas and the floor, some in varying stages of undress. Junhoe’s pretty sure he recognizes a couple of his classmates, but opts not to say anything in favor of following Donghyuk to the front door.

They manage to find their shoes somehow. Junhoe yanks on his black Timberlands gracelessly while Donghyuk shoves his feet into his chukkas. Despite the noise, no one else wakes up.

Junhoe opens the door after a few tries, squinting as light seeps through the cracks between the door and the frame. He and Donghyuk slip out as quietly as they can, closing the door behind them.

Once they’re in the hallway, a weird silence falls upon them. Junhoe doesn’t know what to say. To be fair, he’s not really sure if there’s a lot he’s mentally able to string together at the moment, but even if there was, he’s still pretty sure it would come out wrong.

“That was nice,” Donghyuk finally says.

“Nice,” Junhoe echoes. That’s one way to put it.

“I don’t know about you,” Donghyuk hedges, “but I wouldn’t mind doing this again. If you wanted. Minus the alcohol. If you want.”

“If I want.” Why can’t Junhoe find anything to say?

There’s a small smile on Donghyuk’s face that looks like it’s just on the verge of falling. Junhoe doesn’t want that to happen.

“Um. I want. I mean, yeah. Let’s do this again.”

Donghyuk laughs. “Let’s talk about this when our heads aren’t trying to kill us. But I’ll see you Monday?”

“Yeah. Monday.”

Donghyuk’s just about to turn around when a sudden urge comes over Junhoe - he can’t explain why, but he closes the distance between the two of them and presses a soft, brief kiss to Donghyuk’s forehead.

It’s over in an instant, Junhoe stepping back to where he had been. He’s not sure if that was the right thing to do.

If the smile on Donghyuk’s face is any indicator, through, then it definitely was.

Donghyuk waves, turning around and walking down the hall. The hazy, early-morning sun filters through the window, making everything look vaguely dream-like.

Junhoe’s honestly half-thinking this is all a dream as he walks down the hall in the other direction.

He just really hopes it wasn’t.

um. so. this is super rough unreviewed nonsense and also i haven’t written smut in literal years. lemme know what you think tho HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[ahnsael]

My last post said yesterday was a long day. It was.

So much so that I literally fell asleep at my desk last night.

Now it’s just after 9am, I woke up maybe 20-30 minutes ago, and I’m not sure I’ll be going back to sleep any time soon.

I’m almost certain to try -- there’s just something about being awake during daylight hours that doesn’t feel right on a day off.

I’m kind of glad that, sometime in the near future (though not this next week) I’ll be moving back to graveyard hours (11pm-7am). The night-owl nature is the ONE thing I inherited from my bio dad that I’m mostly okay with (as opposed to looking like him, which I hate every time I look in the mirror, and that fear of abandoning the people who love me as he abandoned me...but I idolized him as a kid and then lost him, only to have him come back when I was in my 30s in an attempt to reconcile our past, only to abandon me again and refuse to answer my phone calls or emails right afterwards).

The world is (mostly) more peaceful at night. Yes, there is more of a chance for shenanigans at the casino (though we have shenanigans on swing shift, as well, so my “security manager” experience is still good to have), but...for the most part, the world is quiet and I can enjoy it without all the hullabaloo of the daytime hustle and bustle (sorry, just thought I’d throw in a couple antiquated phrases there, just because they sounded right under the circumstances).

I also won’t have to deal with so much smoke in the casino, just because there will be fewer people there.

I mean, I still smoke a few a day (my doctor was very happy with how much I’ve cut back, though he still wants me to go the rest of the way, but...even with the patch, that oral fixation tho). But second-hand smoke has always been a different beast. It’s one thing to inhale your own smoke, but breathing in the smoke that has already been in someone else’s lungs has never been pleasant. And I notice it a LOT more since my hospital stay (and the fact that our ventilation doesn’t seem to be working right lately has led to my last two shifts leaving my breath short and my lungs hurting, even on days like yesterday where I don’t have a single smoke during my shift; many people have told us that our ventilation is the best in the area, but that hasn’t been the case for at least the past week or two). Stale, used smoke isn’t fantastic to inhale, and I have to do it for eight hours a day.

I should probably start job-hunting soon. Don’t get me wrong...I have a strong loyalty to this casino. And I HATE job-hunting. And it could be that I just put feelers out there for an office job in this same company.

I would still want to interact with the public, I think, in an ideal situation. When I was a teen, hunting for those first few jobs, I would tell potential bosses that I was a “people person” because I had heard that sounded good. But in the MANY years since, I’ve realized that I really AM a people-person (an introvert, yes, but an introvert in need of a certain amount of interaction with strangers...it’s a strange dichotomy, but I guess it falls in line with my social media presence; all of you here, and every facebook friend I have but one, started out as strangers who met online, who share a degree of openness that have made us friends).

I mean, I’ve mentioned my health issues to some of our regulars, or they’ve heard about them from other employees after asking where I was on days I missed (and I’ve told everyone there that, in general terms, I’m okay with them talking about the fact that I’ve had health issues, as long as they don’t get too specific), and then they ask me about it when they see me.

We have one almost nightly guest who comes in with whom I’ve never been close (I say a friendly hello to her, she says a friendly hello to me, but it rarely goes beyond that -- it’s not that I don’t like her or she doesn’t like me, it’s just that we’ve never sat and talked or anything). Last night, she asked me how my doctor’s appointment went, and was LITERALLY overjoyed when I answered that my prognosis was good, and that I should, if the doctor was right, be back to my old self in a few months. And she’s not the only person who I barely know who has reacted this way.

It’s kind of overwhelming, honestly, to get that kind of reaction from people who I only know from walking around the casino and having the occasional conversation with people. I’ve always felt so unimportant -- like, yes, I’m there to manage the place, which is not unimportant. And I’m there to help both the guests and my employees in any way I can (and it bugs me when I can’t help, like a slot machine that I can’t get working when a guest wants to play it and it has an issue I can’t fix). Most importantly, I’m there to be a friendly face who treats people well and is there to make their visit with us more fun, whether they are regulars or first-timers (as long as they aren’t there to sell drugs, but we’re working on that with the local sheriff’s department).

Still...maybe this will get better with my treatment, but there’s something appealing about a desk job right now, where I am not spending eight hours on my feet in a smoke-filled environment. I’ve only had one other desk job before, doing data entry in an oil company’s lab where I had to smell used oil all day (they would be sent samples of the oil in machines all around the world, test it for viscosity and usability, and then I would put the results in the computer n an AppleIIC-type program so they could be sent to the regional salespeople so they could tell their clients when they needed to replace the oil, but that constant odor of oil is one I still remember un-fondly to this day). I told them, when I left, that data entry was too boring, and that’s still probably true. But if I were to audit paperwork (as I do when I work graveyard), or have some other job where I can actually use my brain, rather than simply transferring data from one format to another by hand, which is nothing but tedious, I might enjoy it.

Let’s face it...if you’ve worked with the public, you know that some are a joy to serve, and others are the bane of your existence. There’s no getting around that. It’s your coworkers that make or break a job.

And...I’m kind of hoping, if I DO go for something else like an office job, that I would end up with coworkers who make it fun.

The hardest part is knowing that, at least in my current condition, I could NEVER do the job I used to do at Disneyland. I loved that job. I often tell people that it’s the hardest I’ve ever worked at any job, but also the most fun I’ve had at any job. Granted, it was not my first choice; I’d LOVE to be a Haunted Mansion host. I originally wanted to be a tour guide, but...let’s face it, I’m not attractive enough to wear the plaid (sore spot: my ex-fiancee once told me the same thing and I GUARANTEED her she was attractive enough -- not because she was my fiancee, but because it was objectively true -- and when I worked there the second time, after she and I were no longer a thing, she was in Guest Relations -- aka the department that conducts tours, so I was right that she was attractive enough, and I’m at least glad she went for it, even if she DID dump me in that Dear John email on Christmas Eve).

Dream job right now? Some desk job in Team Disney Anaheim (do they still call it that, and has anyone actually seen the Goofy in the atrium for themselves as opposed to internet pics taken from just the right angle? I’m not saying seeing the lines and being told that it’s Goofy from just the right angle, but actually SEEING Goofy in there for themselves? I’ve NEVER found the right angle, in all the times I was in that atrium. I mean, I see pieces, and the final product, from images I’ve seen isn’t...exactly on-model, 

(that awkward moment when you try to find a picture of Goofy looking like...well...Goofy, and the only result you find is on the blog you used to keep secret lest Disney get mad, in a post from nearly six years ago: http://backstagemagic.tumblr.com/post/24716104684):

You can see why it’s so hard to find Goofy, even if you find the right angle; it’s hard enough to see Goofy in the full image of what it supposedly looks like from the right angle, because Frank Gehry was being Frank Gehry when he designed it, and it looks more like “looking at Pluto on acid” (Pluto the dog, not the planet YES I WILL ALWAYS CONSIDER PLUTO A PLANET YOU CAN TEACH ME ON SOCIAL ISSUES AND I WILL LEARN BUT IT AFFECTS NO PERSON FOR ME TO STILL CONSIDER PLUTO A PLANET) than it looks like Goofy.

Then I could get free admission to visit the parks on my days off, (even in my current health state, I would often just go in and...hang out and people-watch, and the simple act of “being there” was enough, even if I didn’t go on many attractions), and I could contribute in SOME way to the magic. But living in SoCal is expensive. So I’d settle for just a place out of the second hand smoke, where even if I have to walk around for eight hours, it’s not frowned upon for me to sit down in between guests. I mean, if I truly do get back to where I was, as my doctor thinks I can, I’m okay to be on my feet for eight hours (I sat for about five minutes last night, and only because a guest asked me to sit and talk with him -- other than that, I didn’t even take a break); my chest hurt, as it did a couple nights before, from the second-hand smoke lingering and not being sucked out of the casino as it usually is, but other than that I was mostly okay.

On the other hand, one of my employees asked when our new manager starts. I had heard nothing about a new manager (why is it that, not only do I hear from employees that I’m moving to graveyard before I've been told, but I’m hearing about new managers from coworkers before I have been told? Oh yeah, because my boss SUCKS at communication). But we did interview a lady a couple weeks ago after I took her application. I wasn’t the interviewer, but I did speak with her for a short time, and saw her application. I was very impressed (she spent over two decades at one job, and ALSO WORKED FOR DISNEY AT THE DISNEY STORE!!! I COULD HAVE A DISNEY BUDDY AT WORK!!!).

Okay, granted, if I’m moving to graveyard, I won’t get many chances to talk Disney with her. But...at least I can know whatever shift she works is in good hands. I mean, not every cast member is a good cast member, but she was with the company for something like 15 years, if I remember her application correctly, and you DO NOT last that long at Disney unless you’re good at what you do (or unless you’re Michael Eisner -- sorry, gotta throw that one in there, because after Frank Wells died, Eisner was TERRIBLE).

[funkymbtifiction]

Agatha Christie, INFJ, and Writers

First, thank you for posting guest submissions - that “high-Fi flaws” submission was so well written (although painful, since I’m a high-Fi person, and see myself in it).

Second, I’m so excited that your book will have a section on how different types write! That sounds so fun and interesting!

And on that vein, I’ve been reading a lot of Agatha Christie novels lately. In an older post you typed Agatha Christie as an INFJ. That typing was in my mind while reading and what’s interesting to me is that for a high Ni-type her books are (in my opinion) not very abstract.

I can see Fe people focus (Poirot cares less about sensory clues like fingerprints than about psychological clues - how different suspects think and if the type of crime committed rings true with their personalities). I can see Ti in her complicated puzzle-like plots (they feel like they could have been written from the solution/inside out). I can even see inferior Se in that although she obviously has a very observant eye, she doesn’t often give much time to sensory details other than brief sketches. Her psychological portraits are better than her physical portraits.

But N types are always spoken of as being “big picture” people who can zoom out, consider the abstract, extrapolate a singular truth from a collection of details, and so on. Poirot and other characters do draw truth from a collection of facts to solve the mysteries, and Christie highlights universal emotions such as guilt, fear, love, etc., but the stories still feel very grounded to me. I just read “And Then There Were None” (about the ten people trapped on the island) and a different writer might have spent a lot more time reflecting on how guilt and fear can destroy sanity, or perhaps discussing moral relativism in regard to the different crimes the characters are accused of. Those concepts are there—you can see that she is highlighting how different types of selfishness (self-righteousness, fear of loss, desire for power, etc.) can lead to murder, but it’s a tense, fast-paced story that doesn’t have time for much reflection. 

I haven’t read all her novels yet, but so far I don’t pick up the Ni-dom art quality of being obscure, dealing with personal symbolism, etc. (a la “The Fountain,” which you have mentioned as an example of Ni-dom symbolism or art).

Anyway, what I’m getting at is not that you typed her incorrectly, but that writers may not always reflect their MBTI obviously in their writing. What do you think? Do writers’ subject matter or style typically give away their type or is it more complicated than that?

What made me think of this is that I was wondering if you would ever be interested in being paid to read a short story to type a character or the writer. Just short pieces - definitely things that would take less time to read than it takes to watch a movie. No worries if that wouldn’t be your thing though (reading requires a different kind of attention than watching a movie, and I know you already do a lot of writing/reading for your job and your own projects). The thought just occurred to me!

Thank you again for all your hard work, and good luck with the book!

Ooh, interesting post! I have considered alternative types in the past for her, but I doubt they could come up with the specific ways Poirot solves crimes. She seems to have written ‘what she knows’ (a method of thinking) much as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (ESTP) did with Sherlock Holmes (ISTP) (somewhat based on his Ni-using Professor Bell). She also, as I said, wrote so many books in such little time that she obviously had to have known exactly what they were about and who was responsible for the death beforehand and then just sat down and wrote them without much revision (Ni, not Ne).

So, back to your ending questions -- no, I don’t think you can always tell a writer from what they write or the style in which they write, but there are often clues (such as her sparseness and lack of emphasis on sensory things). I suspect people could guess me as an NFP from the fantasy stories I’ve written in the past, but not from my rather straightforward and crisp Tudor novels. (Though they could always tell I’m a feeler because of the character-focus, the relationship focus, and the need to explore the emotions that drive people to do things.) C.S. Lewis is often called an INFP, but I think he was an INFJ (used to think INTJ, but now I suspect FeTi). His children’s books are so straightforward, linear, and lacking in details and seem clear in their personal intent, I see Ni. And his theological works seem heavily into pulling things apart to understand them. I guess what I’m trying to say is -- seeing a writer explore a more abstract concept is going to give you a more clear indication of their type than a mystery novel or a western or a romance. Sometimes these things are big indicators (like The Fountain) and sometimes they are just small ones (like how Poirot thinks). But writing is very personal and you do leave your fingerprints all over it.

As for being paid to type a character from a short story -- I might consider it. Sounds kind of fun. :)

[c-is-for-circinate]

More Unfinished Fic Rescued From Drafts

I started writing this in response to a prompt from @raisel-the-riveter at LEAST three years ago, and have not managed to touch it since.  But upon rereading, it’s not half bad, and hey--the world always needs more BuckyNat.

So.  Bucky/Natasha post Winter Soldier, long before Civil War ever occurred.  Rate it a hard R or a very soft NC-17.  IIRC, the prompt that kicked this whole thing off was ‘spanking’.

SHIELD didn't know about all of Natasha's boltholes for some very good reasons.  'In case all of SHIELD turns out to be compromised by HYDRA and Natasha has to help blow all of their files wide open' wasn't supposed to be one of them, but unforseen contingencies.  Natasha's good at them.

That's what it is, when something scratches at the door of the two-bedroom shack on the outskirts of Miami, where none of the neighbors live close enough to give her a second glance and the roof still leaks from the last hurricane.  An unforseen contingency.

Last time Natasha saw the Winter Soldier, he was trying to kill her, and coming a lot closer than she likes in people who apparently know how to find her hiding places.  Steve's been after him for almost two months.

Steve's a smart guy, but ferreting out a trained assassin when they don't want to be found, well.  That's work for another trained assassin.

The Winter Soldier is wearing a light windbreaker and gloves even though it's September in Miami, completely hiding his metal arm, and also a pair of blue jeans.  Natasha counts at least two guns on him, not to mention any other knives or more exotic weapons he might have.  There's a sunburn peeling on the bridge of his nose.

He doesn't move--not to attack, not to flinch away, nothing.  "Bucky?" Natasha tries on a hunch.

"I guess so," he says.

Natasha spent weeks sharing quarters with Bruce, around the thing with Loki.  She knows how to exist in a confined space with somebody she's afraid of.

"Are you coming in?" she asks.  Bucky doesn't come through the door until she steps back to give him room.  He shuts it behind him.

.

Bucky Barnes is a man on a memorial wall in a museum in Washington D.C.  He remembers bits and pieces of that man's life, but it happened to somebody else.  Even if it really was him, it was long enough ago and far enough away that it happened to somebody else.

The Winter Soldier is a perfect assassin who follows orders.  All orders.

He realized, somewhere between DC and Mexico, that there were no more orders to follow.  Somewhere around the Bahamas he figured out that he could still follow his own.  By the time he hit Florida again, he'd decided that he would only follow his own orders.  Ever.

He needs a name, and he keeps thinking of himself as Bucky.  Steve always called him Bucky, even in DC when they met again, after all that time.

Yeah.  He remembers Steve.

Steve's the brightest, most sunlit part of every grayed-out ancient memory.  Steve is real.  Steve is maybe too real.

Natasha Romanoff is real, too.  She can fill Bucky in on everything he's been missing about his own life and the decades passing him by.  She can tell him about Steve.  She knows about his old life, even though it all happened forty years before she was born.

She hides her tracks like he was trained to hide his, and everything she holds in her hand looks like a weapon.  She's real in a different way than Steve.  She fits into the world the Winter Soldier knows, the one that's not seventy years past and dead.  She makes sense.

He needs to sleep somewhere, and this house is as safe as the Black Widow can make it.  The only one he's in danger from here is her.  He's not afraid enough of his own death to let her keep him from sleeping.

After the third night, he moves the chair away from underneath the doorknob.  If she is going to come for him, he'd rather she do it sooner than later.  He can probably take her on anyway.

.

Bucky doesn't want her to call Steve, so Natasha doesn't call Steve.

It's not quite as simple as that--she owes Steve a debt several times over, and Natasha might actually go so far as to call them friends.  On the other hand, if she did call Steve, she wouldn't be doing him any favors.  Bucky would be out the door and in the wind before Natasha even hung up the phone.  She knows his kind.

Natasha knows the look on the man; she's seen it out of the corner of her eye for fleeting seconds in mirrors, before she fixed her expression into something more safely neutral.  He's a dog without anybody holding the other end of his leash.  It's a heady feeling, the very first time.  She remembers.

Natasha's had half a dozen masters over the years, and she'll have another, once she finds some employer she's willing to trust after the end of SHIELD.  She owns herself and she takes care of herself, but she knows her limitations, and she was trained and broken too well, too early.  She needs somebody to point her.  She's done this before and she can spend the few months on her own recognizance, fixing new covers and making sure she has safe places to go the next time everything falls down around her ears, but a freelance assassin is just a murderer for hire, and an assassin working entirely on her own is pretty much just a straight-up murderer.  Sue her, Natasha likes to have a cause.

As far as she knows, Barnes hasn't been without a master since they first made him into the Winter Soldier.  Before that, he was property of the US army, and maybe of Steve, if Natasha's got all the pieces together right.  This might be the first time in his whole life he's free from everybody but the contents of his own head.

No wonder he's not ready to see Steve yet.  Natasha can respect that.

He'll figure it out sooner or later, when he realizes how much of a burden it is to carry every single decision on his own.  He's been an assassin for seventy years, in fits and spurts.  He can't stop moving.  Sooner or later he'll figure out that it's easier to go somewhere if somebody you trust is holding a map.

Until then, no Steve.  Just the two of them in this little house.  He's got a laptop, but he actually has to ask Natasha for the wifi password.  She borrowed some of Stark's tech to get the encryption, so it's not really Barnes's fault.  Natasha probably wouldn't be able to hack it either.  Probably.

Natasha crawls spider-like around the 'net, tracking down and sending out feelers towards old contacts, laying the groundwork for a new life now that she's trashed so much of the old one.  She's got a file for the HYDRA intel she's been gthering, once she has backup or some kind of direction to go after it.  Maybe once Clint resurfaces again, they can get on it together.

She makes it a point to leave the house at least a few times a week, goes grocery shopping, to the laundromat, to walk along the beach.  Sometimes Barnes is there when she gets home, sometimes he's not.  She doesn't ask where he goes, but if she orders pizza or cooks herself some dinner, she leaves the leftovers in a covered bowl for him, just in case.

He's like a cat.  They never stop coming back, if you feed them.

.

He'd rather go out at night, when he attracts fewer eyes, and stay in during the day.  He draws more attention for the jacket when it's hot and sunny out, and he'd draw plenty more if his arm were on full display.  It's not the kind of prosthetic other people have.  He's noticed.

His mission, the one he gave himself, is to find out everything he can about himself, his history, and Captain America.  If he thinks of it that way, it makes sense.  Once he gathers that intel, he can decide what his next mission is.

His mission is to have a mission.  Nobody else can send him out to kill, maybe to die.  He just needs to send himself.  Once he figures out where he's going, he can leave Miami forever.

Natasha never asks where he's going when he leaves.

.

Barnes may not be ready for a new master yet, but if somebody doesn't give him a little direction at something, he's going to crack.

Natasha's not Steve.  She doesn't do the kind of big-picture thinking Captain America can do.  That's what SHIELD was for.

He's been pacing for ten minutes.  Natasha plants herself at one end of his route and waits for him to stop in front of her.

"Do you need another way to burn off some of that energy?" she asks.

"Like what?" he asks.  He's still more monosyllabic than most, but that's fine.  Cuts down on the noise.

"Sex usually works, if you're interested," she says.  Natasha kind of doubts Barnes has gotten laid in seventy years.  She knows he could use it.  The endorphins alone would probably do him some good.

"With you?" Barnes asks, and Natasha shrugs, twists her shoulders back to leave her chest wide open, breasts on display if he's interested.  He's been watching her plenty lately, but she catches the glance he darts down at the low neck of her tank top.

"I don't see anybody else in the room," she says.  "If you want to go pick up a prostitute, I'm not going to stop you, but you're not bringing them here."

She only has a tiny twitch around his collarbone as warning before Barnes has grabbed her left shoulder roughly, pulling her towards him.  A second later, Natasha’s got them turned so the wall's at Barnes's back, her elbow at the soft part of his throat, lightning reflexes just enough to save the cartilage from being crushed.  She was definitely right.  It's been a long time for him.

"Nuh-uh," Natasha says.  Between the two of them they've closed their distance down to a few inches, and he's still holding her shoulder.  Natasha's spent a lot of time pressed up this close to people, more of it in fights than in bed.  It's always interesting when it's a little of both.  "My house, my bed, my rules."

Barnes licks his lips, and Natasha doesn't move.  He doesn't want to deal with rules that aren't his own, fine.  But he's going to need to start realizing sooner or later that trained assassins make shitty sovereigns of their own personal nations.  If she's ever going to make good on her debt and get him to Steve, Natasha needs to start pushing him in that direction sooner than later.  Now's as good a time as any to start.

"What are the rules?" he asks.

"You say stop, we stop," Natasha promises.  "If I say stop and we don't stop, I can have a knife through your throat before you have time to wonder what went wrong."  The Winter Soldier's a formidable opponent, but the man in front of her, Barnes with all his issues, too sex-stupid to pull back if she's trying to push him off?  Natasha can take him.

"What other rules?"  He hasn't moved yet, and neither has she.  With all the tension building up, Natasha's starting to hope this really does happen, for her own gratification.  She's not above recognizing that it would be hot.

"Don't try to choke me," Natasha says.  "I want to be on top until I trust you more."  He nods his head, or half nods, bobs it down without raising his chin back up.

"Anything else?" he asks.

"You tell me," says Natasha.  Stepping all over the triggers of a killing machine like Barnes is a good way to get herself seriously injured in an incredibly embarrassing way.

"I'll let you know when we get there," he says, and then, "Stop."

Natasha pulls away immediately, takes her elbow from his throat and steps back a full stride so there's four feet between them as fast as he can blink.  He does blink, but otherwise he watches her impassively.  Calculating, Natasha figures.

"Well?" she asks.

"Fine," he says.

...

He's had sex before.  He's starting to get used to the way his body remembers things his brain doesn't, yet, or might not at all.  He doesn't remember sex, not a single girl (woman? man?), not even a clear sense memory of naked skin, but the movements settle familiar with every thrust.

All of his Winter Soldier reflexes feel wired into his bones, the kinds of moves and muscle memory that make it feel like, even now, his body belongs more to the people that programmed him than it does to him.  This is different, distant, faraway, rusty, like all of Corporal James Barnes's memories are.  He's re-learning something he used to know.

Some of it's new, he thinks.  Natasha rolls over onto her back and grabs him by the shoulders, pushes him down until his head and neck are vulnerable, caught between the muscles of her thighs.  She has enough strength here to snap a man's neck.

"Eat me out," she says, and he stops, looks up over the curves and planes of her body.  "What, you don't remember how?  Don't tell me you never learned."

This isn't familiar in the same way as Natasha sliding down, wet heat tight around his cock and rolling her hips along with his, but that's not why he's stopping.  "I don't take orders from you," he says.

"Is that a rule?" Natasha asks.

He doesn't say anything.  Not yet.

"Say stop and we'll stop," says Natasha, her fingers gentle combing through the long strands of his hair.  "But I think you like having a mission."  Her fingers twist around, tighten, and pull, hair yanking sharp on his scalp.  "Eat me out, Barnes."

It's new, not Bucky's or the Winter Soldier's; the taste of Natasha sharp and musky on his tongue and the press of her thighs, just one twist of her body away from deadly, clamped tight around his ears, her fingers tight in his hair making it hurt just enough that it all feels real.  She's like him, weapon without a master, more a razor than a rocket launcher, and she knows what a mission is worth.

She keeps her legs over his shoulders and her knees bent around his arms, trapping them so he can't use his hands at all without a fight he doesn't give, and keeps him there until she's come three times.  His jaw aches, and the sides of his face where she's been squeezing him, and everywhere on his scalp that he's almost surprised to still have hair.  He should cut it.  He probably won't.

"Mmm, you like it when it hurts a little, don't you?" Natasha says, rolling sated and lazy on her side to watch him.  "We can work with that."

.

The first time she fucks up and gives Barnes something that sounds too much like an order, out of bed, will probably be the last time she gets the chance.  So Natasha doesn't fuck up.

It helps that she's not like Steve, really.  Steve would care what Barnes does when he goes out by himself.  Natasha doesn't.  So long as Barnes doesn't get himself killed or captured, he's old and plenty well-trained enough to be responsible for his own well-being.  So long as he doesn't go bringing danger down on this house and her in it, he doesn't really have any impact on hers.  Beyond that, he can do what he likes.  It's not her business.  It's really not.

If he starts killing innocent people for sport, Natasha's going to have to take him down, but that's not the kind of thing she can stop by forbidding it.  She's hoping it won't come to that--it'll be hard to deliver Barnes safely to Steve if he's dead, and even in this strange, confused state, she already knows he'd be one of her hardest kills yet. And, fine, she's starting to get fond of him, too, with all the time he's spent quietly hanging around and emptying her refrigerator.  But honestly, the best thing she can do to prevent that, right now, is probably exactly what she's already doing: giving Barnes one place in his life where he gets to feel like a good, obedient little soldier whose world makes sense.

It's been pretty satisfying.  Natasha knows a lot of subtle ways to exert control in bed, and she usually uses them all, but it's been a long time since she's been in a position to dom somebody who needed to be dommed quite as badly as Barnes obviously does.

"Let's try something different," she murmurs against his lips.  She's half-sitting up, propped against the pillows at the head of the bed, and he's on all fours crawling up to meet her, and they both know as well as instinct that, with the springy unsteadiness of the bed as terrain, she's got the advantage in leverage and stability.

There's a spot on the back of his head, right above the base of his neck, and if Natasha fists her hand in his hair right there and tugs, tension bleeds out of every line of his body.  She kisses him again, and Barnes' eyes go half-lidded and almost what Natasha would call trusting.  One false move and he's still more than able to go for his claws, so Natasha keeps a couple of knives stashed closer to her hand than his on the bedside table, just in case, and doesn't move wrong.  Every time they do this and she doesn't screw it up, she gains herself another couple of milliseconds of leeway and trust for next time.

"Like what?" Barnes asks.

"You like it when it hurts, right?" Natasha says.  He rarely touches her with his metal arm--she doubts he has much feeling in it at all--but his right hand touches her cheek, her shoulder, gentle enough that it's probably some half-remembered snippet from Bucky.  "I think we can do that for you."

He tugs back, and she relaxes her hand to let him, though he doesn't go far.  "How?" he asks, and doesn't say no.

(She's never had to figure out if he'd been tortured, though sometimes she's wondered just how much.  He's not asking 'how' so he can decide if he's up for it or not.  He's asking to find out what he's in for.  It's a mix of how much trust and control she's won so far and how much concern he has for his own well-being, how much he expects from the world at large to begin with.  She'll take it.

It's not Natasha's job to teach Barnes about basic universal human decency and treating himself like something of fundamental value.  She'll leave that to Steve.  Right now she's just here to reassure him that the world hasn't tilted so completely off its axis as it seems.)

"You know me," Natasha says.  "I don't even need to draw blood."

His jeans are somewhere on the floor, and Natasha's still in her bra and underwear but Barnes doesn't seem to bother with any.  He's taller than her and lower down the bed, but she's got just enough distance to raise a hand and bring it down against the curve of his ass, a hard resounding smack.  It probably hurt her palm more than it hurt him, but Natasha doesn't bother to give any sign.

Barnes jumps.  There's a split second where she can see it in his eyes, the brief moment of fight-or-flight, before he relaxes into it.  There they are.

"On your knees, over my lap," Natasha orders.  He's swift to comply.

She planned for this, and the chances that the palm of her hand, with all its many nerve endings, can outlast the Winter Soldier's HYDRA-engineered resistance to pain and damage, are approximately nil.  She picked up the paddle last time she went out for groceries.  There's no point to this if it doesn't hurt.

"I'm not going to make you count," Natasha says.  Left hand tangled in his hair, and she sits up on her knees so she can reach him better without pushing him facedown into the mattress.  This isn't about humiliation.  "You're not a little boy, and this isn't a punishment.  You say stop and we stop."

She's said that a dozen times.  It makes him complicit in everything she's about to do, everything she's been doing to him since the first proposition, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Sometimes the biggest piece of personal autonomy you have just comes down to deciding which orders you want to obey.  It won't hurt Barnes to get used to the idea.

He's tested her a couple of times now.  She always stops.  He always comes back.  She thinks he gets the idea.

"I didn't say stop," Barnes says, as close to a hurry up as she's going to get.  

"Don't move, then," says Natasha.  It'll take some effort for him to stay perfectly balanced on all fours in the face of the impact, the pain.  He always comes out of these sessions more settled when she gives him a mission he actually has to work to complete.

He's already tensed before she even raises the paddle, and stock-still like a good soldier following orders, not a muscle of him moving besides the ones working his lungs, just a little faster than normal.  Natasha doesn't give him any more warning before she swings her arm down.

The polished wood of the paddle cracks sharp against the meat of his ass, full force of Natasha's muscle strength behind it because neither one of them believe in pulling punches.  In the split second of impact, half drowned out by the sound of the smack but just a couple of instants longer, Natasha can hear the slightest hitch in Barnes' breath.

Other than that, he doesn't move.  Not a twitch.

"Good soldier," Natasha murmurs, and pulls back for the next.

.

There's a moment, every time the paddle cracks down, when he tenses into the pain.  He tightens everywhere, clamps down on every possible flinch, and lets it bloom hot over him.

It doesn't hurt enough to damage, which means it barely hurts enough to count as hurt.  There's nowhere near enough pain to white him out in real agony.  There's just enough that he can lock onto it, focus, if he tries.  His ass is awash in hot sharp ache.  Grounding.  Centering.  Real.

He doesn't entirely know who he is but he knows this, knows pain.  Knows Natasha's fingers tangled tight in his hair and holding him in place.  He can lock himself down and not move, not one twitch, not a single restraint in place.

He could hurt Natasha if he tried to.  She hasn't said it, but she's too smart not to know.  She could probably kill him, but he could hurt her, badly, maybe kill her too.

He's pinned in place.  He lets her have her way.  The stretch and pull and sharp yank on his hair runs straight down his spine to the pit of his stomach.  He doesn't want to get away.  He doesn't want to be anywhere but here.

He focuses in.  He can hang suspended like this forever, if he has to, on all fours without a muscle twitching out of place.  Maybe he will.

.

She kicks him out to sleep in his own room, after.

[wrex-writes]

Hi Wrex! I'm just transitioning from short stories into long form fiction (fanfic), and I keep getting stuck on my draft because I don't feel like it's any good, especially compared with the beautiful stories I see others write. I know I'm supposed to just let go of that, trust that it'll get better with editing, and most importantly, that I will get better with practice. The reason it's difficult is that I'm not sure that's true: I know practice works for art, since it's a physical skill, 1/2

2/2 but with writing it just seems different. Like, what are some concrete ways in which you–or any followers–have been able to improve their writing by practising? A lot of people I see just starting out, often younger than me, are just so good. I’m also more a thinker than a feeler, and maybe to be a good writer, you need to be the latter? Emotion and atmosphere are really hard for me. Anyway, this is like ten questions in one, sorry about that :) Thanks for your inspiring blog!

This is a very good question! First of all, I don’t actually think that’s true about art - I literally just saw a post about the problem with telling young artists to “just practice” without any hint of how to practice. So it’s an issue for both art and writing. Art might have a larger kinesthetic component than writing, but both skills fundamentally involve your perception and judgment, each of which need experience and training to develop.

This more than most is a question I’d like to kick to my followers. But I can tell you two things I’ve done to practice:

1) One thing I do a lot is reread writing I like (pro or fanfic) and try to figure out exactly why I like it. The key here is to stay very technical in my observations and not to get swept up in “well it just makes me feel all these things!” and similar judgments that just make me devalue my own work even more. I try to figure out exactly what they’re doing, word to word. If you’re concerned specifically with emotion, look at a story you like and analyze a paragraph with an eye toward emotion. How does the writer convey the character’s emotions? How often do they even mention emotions? Are they using key emotion-related words? Pick that paragraph apart. Then see if you can extract one little technique they’re using that seems really cool and effective to you and try it out in your own work. Don’t worry if it feels wonky at first. And - this is important - don’t think of that other writer’s technique as “the right way to do it.” Think of it just as a tool you can put in your toolbox. Other writers undoubtedly use different tools, which you’re free to borrow as well.

I mean, look - writing may seem magical, but it’s also highly technical. I have often calmed down my inner freakout of “but they’re all just so much better than I am!” by really breaking things down to a technical level and seeing exactly how my favorite writers are making their gears mesh together.

2) Another thing I do is the exact opposite of this: I freewrite, or as close as I can get. This just means I set a timer for 30 minutes and write literally whatever’s in my brain at the moment. If I’ve got a specific project brewing, I might think about that project and spew out the first things that come to mind, no matter how stupid or irrelevant. Or I’ll ask myself “what do I want for this story?” and crank out an incoherent paragraph of unrestrained wishes and ideas that reads like a six-year-old wrote it. This is actually super hard, because of course my impulse is to judge it all. So sometimes I will do something to distract a part of my attention (music with lyrics usually does the trick) so that my brain just does not have the bandwidth to write and judge what I’m writing at the same time. 

Very often, when I’m done, I’ll just throw this writing away. Or I might save it if it turns out to be useful rough notes for the project. The point is, I wasn’t trying to make it good, so I don’t reread it hoping for it to be good. It’s just an exercise. And the point of the exercise is merely to disinhibit myself as a writer, to gain access to that layer of unpasteurized thoughts, phrases and ideas that I usually filter out when I’m trying to write well. Because frankly, that filter can catch what’s good as well as what’s bad. And the more you filter yourself, the more difficult it is to reach that spontaneous, irrational, interesting part of you that’s purely creative instead of just correct.

It might seem kind of weird that I do both of these exercises: one devoted to removing the filter of judgment, and one oriented, in a way, toward strengthening it. I’m not sure why it works for me, but the two exercises seem to operate in a kind of dialectic. I know that writing is a technical skill, and that one way to acquire good technique is to become aware of techniques and employ them consciously. But I also know that writing has an accidental, unconscious, one might say id-driven aspect to it, and if I spend too much time obsessing over technique, I risk overinhibiting myself. So that’s why I do both, I guess.

Followers, weigh in with whatever you’ve got!

[verdigrisprowl]

Oct 16 Dancitron Movie Night - Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine, Galileo Seven, The Enterprise Incident

Prowl spent the entire night Focused Very Intently on Spock, which prevented him from being able to interact with either the earthling robot baseball player or the attractive doctor that randomly showed up. There IS such a thing as too much of a good thing.

After the shows were over, they tried to figure out how the earthling had stumbled onto Cybertron, and sent him home.

Today ItsyBitsySpyers 7:54 pm *Snacks are out, with extras to cover Laserbeak's bottomless pit of a stomach. Seats are in the usual configuration. Music's ready. Soundwave's comfortable. Guests are coming. Let's do this.* Swoop 7:55 pm *walks for once into Dancitron, sporting a decidedly T-Rex chomp shaped set of new repairs on one of his wings* ItsyBitsySpyers 7:56 pm *ZOOM in comes worried Bird. She hovers close to Swoop's wings and chatters angrily*

{{Who bite? Him Grimlock?}} Guest 7:56 pm *trots in with multiple plates of snacks, including a plate with tiny scorpion-shaped energon bites with mercury centers* Swoop 7:56 pm *looks over his shoulder as if he didn't know what she was clearly looking at* YAH grimlock ItsyBitsySpyers 7:57 pm *Soundwave stretches a feeler out to help the dragon balance the plates. Little Zoris... best not let his deployer see anyone eating those. Heh.* Swoop 7:57 pm Grimlock CATCH Swoop ItsyBitsySpyers 7:58 pm {{With MOUTH?}} Swoop 7:58 pm Ya ItsyBitsySpyers 7:58 pm {{What him hands for then!}} Swoop 7:58 pm *pantomimes tiny t-rex arms* Bevel 7:58 pm *trundles in happily* ItsyBitsySpyers 7:59 pm {{Him got root mode. Bah!}} *She continues fussing all the way to her seat.* Swoop 7:59 pm Him Grimlock like bite better than robot mode Guest 7:59 pm Thank you! *places plates with the other treats, except the scorpions* I made these for Zori, I heard that he needed something special... Swoop 8:00 pm *might maybe a little teeny tiny bit like the fussing >.> * ItsyBitsySpyers 8:01 pm {{Bird gonna biting HIM, pinch good with feelers, yes.}} Snap snap.

[[He is certain Zori will adore these.]] Bevel 8:01 pm *oh yes that reminds Bevel* Is Zori gonna be here tonight? Swoop 8:01 pm *cackles* You bite pinch, Him SURPRISE! Guest 8:01 pm Then I've done my job! ItsyBitsySpyers 8:01 pm [[As soon as Buzzsaw finishes polishing him up.]] Bevel 8:02 pm *claps her hands together and grins* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:04 pm ((will probably start in 10)) ((15 at latest)) Swoop 8:06 pm *scoops up two bowls of treats on his way over to join Bird, flopping down with one wing taking up as much space as possible while the other stays a bit closer to his side. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:07 pm *Laserbeak's got her feelers in the snack bowl before Swoop even finishes sitting down. Munch munch.* Clarance 8:08 pm //it's clayton but this is my google😀 ItsyBitsySpyers 8:09 pm ((Welcome. Please be advised that this is an IC stream for the most part, so if you wish to participate, you'll need to either stick to OOC comments in (( )) marks or be playing some kind of character. If they're organic, they must be able to breathe Cybertron's toxic atmosphere, be shielded by some type of magic, or a hologram.)) Clarance 8:10 pm //Ebba's an oc of mine that's stuck in her holoform. Swoop 8:10 pm *expects nothing less* Clarance 8:10 pm (())* Swoop 8:10 pm >.> <.< *sets a treat on Laserbeak's wingtip* Magnum Ace 8:10 pm ((don't worry, Magnum's PROBABLY not going to be showing off ItsyBitsySpyers 8:11 pm ((You're good to go then 🙂 Welcome! And hi to you too Magnum Ace mun)) Bevel 8:11 pm ((Bevel is jelly of all these holoforms everywhere ItsyBitsySpyers 8:11 pm *Laserbeak DOES A BARREL ROLL or whatever you wanna call it and deftly catches the treat in her beak before finishing the move.* Swoop 8:11 pm !!!!!! *CLAPS* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:11 pm *She cackles and dips low in her version of a bow. Soundwave just shakes his helm.* Clarance 8:12 pm *You hear some befuddled cursing as then a thud.* Magnum Ace 8:12 pm -is it strange, that he's almost gotten used to doorways not leading him to the right place anymore?- ItsyBitsySpyers 8:12 pm *Not at all. Doors are tricky business.*

*Soundwave sits up slightly and stretches a feeler toward the thud. What was that?* *...This is a whole song about bananas. Who put this in here. What evil is this.* Swoop 8:13 pm You Bird GOOD at tricks! Clarance 8:13 pm *It's a human-like femme but you can tell it's a holo form. maybe stuck..?* Oh.. sorry Swoop 8:13 pm Goodie tricks! Magnum Ace 8:13 pm -He'd appreciate it if the doors would stop that- ...Hello, again, I guess... ItsyBitsySpyers 8:13 pm [[Greetings. He sees you made it home intact.]] Pause. [[Or didn't and repaired yourself before arriving. Still.]] *The feeler claws move to pluck the holoform up and set it upright.*

[[Do be careful.]] Clarance 8:14 pm *Her frame gets up with a grunt, her weapon attached to her back* So, I am. Ebba. Means Strong. Magnum Ace 8:15 pm -shakes his head- Don't worry, I made it home in one piece, thank you. Bevel 8:15 pm *Bevel waves to Magnum Ace* Magnum Ace 8:15 pm -waves back. He recognizes this one, thankfully- ItsyBitsySpyers 8:16 pm ((WE START AFTER THIS. Warnings: Doomsday Machine - depictions of post-event trauma; Galileo Seven - death, violence, species-ism is the best word I have for it; Enterprise Incident - a little bit of 60s sensibilities)) Clarance 8:16 pm ((goottachaa Magnum Ace 8:16 pm ((oh fun Bevel 8:16 pm ((all around 60s warnings for everything tonight mkay Your name was Magnum right? ItsyBitsySpyers 8:17 pm To Ebba. [[Soundwave.]]

To Magnum Ace. [[Good. Do get comfortable. It should be less frightening than the last time. And one of our guests might like to meet you, when they arrive.]] Magnum Ace 8:17 pm Magnum Ace, that is correct. FakeProwl 8:18 pm *just barely arrives in time.* Bevel 8:18 pm Magnum Ace. Got it! Magnum Ace 8:18 pm And who are you talking about? Swoop 8:19 pm This fighting movie? ItsyBitsySpyers 8:19 pm *And there they are. Soundwave pings Prowl hello and motions to the spot by himself.*

[[This mech.]] *Gesture.* FakeProwl 8:19 pm *Glances at his seat to make sure it's clear before sitting and focusing on the screen. It's Spock!* *greeting/permission ping to Soundwave* Clarance 8:19 pm *Ebba sat down as she watches intently with curiosity.* Oh.. I remember this. Back on earth, i used to watch this when my friend Clay was sick. Magnum Ace 8:19 pm -he'd also like to be able to find a seat he can reach- Swoop 8:19 pm This ANOTHER talky movie : < *sad kicky feets* Bevel 8:20 pm Space fights? Swoop 8:20 pm Me Swoop never fight in space before! Want to No fire.... but lots flying! Want to try Me Swoop want to fight in space : > ItsyBitsySpyers 8:20 pm *Permission! He is thrilled. Prowl receives a wordless hint of satisfaction.*

[[Next week there will be plenty of fights.]] Magnum Ace 8:21 pm -glances over to Prowl, at Soundwave's gesture- Whirl 8:21 pm *slinks on over to his usual table. or what used to be his usual table* Bevel 8:21 pm Space fights are really quiet. It is weird. FakeProwl 8:21 pm *Soundwave receives a vague sense of muted pleasure/anticipation, thanks to Spock's presence.* Clarance 8:22 pm Soundwave, I don't understand.. is.. this.. an off world movie? Swoop 8:22 pm Me Swoop want to see grounders floating fighting keheheh Funny ItsyBitsySpyers 8:22 pm *Rumble comes skidding down the stairs with a very shiny Bug in his arms and runs for the seats. He waves his elbow at Whirl.* Bevel 8:22 pm Flailing around in space. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:23 pm [[It is Earth material, yes.]] Looks at Magnum Ace. [[Do you require assistance being seated again?]] Whirl 8:23 pm *bobs his helm in greeting* Swoop 8:23 pm Keheheh Magnum Ace 8:23 pm -Are any of the seats made for someone his height?- Swoop 8:23 pm OH WHIRL Purgatori 8:23 pm [walks in] Swoop 8:23 pm Whirl Clarance 8:23 pm *She nodded holding her jaw. she sighed softly as she then noted dually* Sound as is it noted. Purgatori 8:23 pm Oh Swoop 8:23 pm Whirl ItsyBitsySpyers 8:23 pm *The seats are different heights AND adjustable, in fact.* FakeProwl 8:23 pm *Spock's in command! How nice.* Purgatori 8:23 pm Look at that. Guest 8:23 pm *the dragon waves at Whirl* Hello! Bevel 8:23 pm *gleeful wave to the shiniest bug* Swoop 8:24 pm Whiiiiiiiiirrrrllll Purgatori 8:24 pm This is slightly disorentating ItsyBitsySpyers 8:24 pm *And now, the loudest tiny voice you've ever heard:*

#I'M SMAAAAAAAALL Swoop 8:24 pm whirlwhirlwhirlwhirlwhirl ItsyBitsySpyers 8:24 pm *Rumble holds Zori up Simba style* Bevel 8:24 pm You are! Perfect sized. Purgatori 8:24 pm [hes going to linger in the doorway...where will he sit?] Swoop 8:24 pm *chucks a goodie at Whirl* FakeProwl 8:24 pm *Glances at the noisy deployer. So he is.* Guest 8:24 pm *the dragon cheers, flapping her wings and chirruping gleefully* You're small! Clarance 8:25 pm *Ebba couldn't help but gawk over how cute she/he is!* Magnum Ace 8:25 pm -Then he'll try to find a way. For a bit- Bevel 8:25 pm *hadn't really sat down at this point, will sit wherever Rumble and Zori settle* Whirl 8:25 pm *zoops his neck forward to observe this* Well, I'll be damned. You did it, Professor Z. Congrats. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:26 pm *Then Bevel will probably be sitting near Whirl.*

*Zori waves his claws and settles onto the back of the couch with a happy chitter, waving his claws. He'll calm down in a second.* Whirl 8:26 pm *and he is so preoccupied by Zori that the goodie bounces off his head and skids onto the table* ... *stares. Swivels his helm over towards Swoop* What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Swoop 8:26 pm Hi : > Purgatori 8:26 pm [slides into a seat] Clarance 8:26 pm *She nudges soundwave for a snack.* Please, sir. Guest 8:26 pm *the dragon glides over to perch next to Zori on the couch* I heard that something had happened, but wow! You're small! KnockOot 8:27 pm Hello! *nods to Soundwave and the minicons* Purgatori 8:27 pm Knockout ItsyBitsySpyers 8:27 pm *Soundwave draws his arm away from the nudge, not one for random contact. He points to the bar. There are plenty over there.* Swoop 8:27 pm You Whirl tell Me Swoop what fighting in space like! Grounders funny? Kehehhehh. Wiggle float? Whirl 8:27 pm *he'll carefully pluck it up and turn to offer it to the excitable scorpion* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:27 pm [[Greetings, Knock Out.]] KnockOot 8:27 pm Ohhh, a space story! FakeProwl 8:27 pm *Oh, it's the very attractive doctor.* KnockOot 8:28 pm *winks at Prowl* Hello Ratchet! ItsyBitsySpyers 8:28 pm #Shockwave fixed! #...and spider #I am tiny! #and flexy #and they said um #they said I change size now #but I want to be small #yes

*Zori snatches the snack from Whirl's claws and nibbles it, chirring contently* FakeProwl 8:28 pm *STRAIGHTENS UP* Purgatori 8:28 pm [is there suddenly a very large Doctor McCoy where Ratchet was sitting? Yes, yes there is] Knockout Bevel 8:28 pm *Bevel doesn't mind sitting near Whirl. Whirl is cool* Purgatori 8:28 pm How are you fairing ItsyBitsySpyers 8:29 pm *Soundwave huffs in amusement at Prowl's reaction to the wink and glances over at the new - is that???* Swoop 8:29 pm SLAG HI SLAG *blows raspberries at the other DInobot* *as you do* KnockOot 8:29 pm Well, I haven't been teleported to a third planet yet, ha ha! Slag 8:29 pm what you swoop want Guest 8:29 pm *the dragon chirrups* I made you some treats! One moment, let me grab one! *she flies off, and returns with one of the scorpion treats* Here! For you! Whirl 8:29 pm *likewise doesn't mind; he is in good company, with Zori, Rumble, and Shovel. Shovel's cool* Hot damn! What else have you lot been up to while I was gone? Any other big surprises? Clarance 8:29 pm *She said softly, she stands and jumped from the place she was, she satarted to fly along the way and she grabbed a bag, she was also nick named Angel and she flew over and folded her bird-like wings* Sorry. *She said as she takes her weapon and puts a notch in the bag placing it back and she reaches inside taking little peices* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:29 pm *Zori gasps and grabs that snack in his other claw. He now nibbles both.*

#thank youuuuu~ #not yet! Bevel 8:30 pm I am looking for work? *is that a big surprise? probably not but it is news and everyone else seems to have news today* Swoop 8:30 pm You Slag laaaaaaaaaaaaaaate Purgatori 8:30 pm [pulls out datapad] Slag 8:30 pm so? Swoop 8:30 pm *RASPBERRIES* Slag 8:30 pm [so this is basically the unicron episode?] Purgatori 8:30 pm Unicron? Guest 8:30 pm Always happy to make snacks for my friends! *the dragon settles in to watch the movie, gaping a grin over at Zori* FakeProwl 8:31 pm *Sounds like Unicron to Prowl.* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:31 pm *Soundwave stretches a feeler towards the McCoy, looking it up and down. What is...?* Whirl 8:31 pm Well. Looks like you've had excitement enough. He'll nudge Zori once, gently, with the curve of his claw, and let him get snacking* Hey to you, too. *nods to the dragon, who is also good company* Slag 8:31 pm *lays head on Swoop to squish him* Tarantulas 8:31 pm *is not present, but sends Prowl a ping* KnockOot 8:31 pm Hello Zori. *gives him a smile* Swoop 8:31 pm What a Unicro-- *is squish* FakeProwl 8:31 pm *Hah, look at Spock, calculating its trajectory. Exactly what Prowl did when he first heard about Unicron.* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:31 pm *And it sounds like Unicron to Soundwave too. Which is why he's focusing on the stranger.* Clarance 8:31 pm Soundwave..? Sorry for that *She said braking off some snacks and nibbling on them.* Purgatori 8:31 pm [laughs] What if you are both, Bones ItsyBitsySpyers 8:32 pm *He flicks a hand. Ebba doesn't need to apologize.* Slag 8:32 pm What you swoop do to wing KnockOot 8:32 pm ((I"ve never seen the original series before, I'm invested)) Purgatori 8:33 pm [[my friend its FANTASTICAL]] ItsyBitsySpyers 8:33 pm {{Unicron big planet, bad god, eat all everything.}} Clarance 8:33 pm *She nodded in compliance. she then offered some. in case it was a tad hungry* Bevel 8:33 pm Aw, poor Commodore. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:33 pm ((which KO are ya btw?)) KnockOot 8:33 pm ((I loved TNG though)) ((totally-an-autobot-clone)) Bevel 8:33 pm ((TNG is da bomb Slag 8:33 pm (( Picard is best captain )) ItsyBitsySpyers 8:33 pm ((roger! yo 🙂 )) Purgatori 8:33 pm [[ EXCUSE YOU]] Whirl 8:33 pm Yeah, let me know if you get a good gig, Shovel. I'm sort of in the market, myself. *shrugs tiredly* More or less. *and now it's Rumble's turn to be nudged* Sorry for disappearing, mech. Wasn't planned. FakeProwl 8:33 pm *Wonders if maybe Kirk's theory explains why Unicron exists, too.* KnockOot 8:33 pm ((I love Picard)) Bevel 8:33 pm Space worm. Slag 8:33 pm (( Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat looks like a flesh light )) KnockOot 8:33 pm ((and Data)) Whirl 8:33 pm It's a killer cornucopia... Tarantulas 8:33 pm (( omfg it does.... Whirl 8:33 pm No! it's a giant malevolent bugle. FakeProwl 8:33 pm ((DO NOT FUCK THE PLANET EATER)) ItsyBitsySpyers 8:33 pm ((DO NOT)) Guest 8:33 pm ((is anyone else lagging out noticeably? I'm wondering if I should restart my browser)) KnockOot 8:34 pm ((Pfffft Bevel 8:34 pm I got to write a resume and advertise. That is what the Datanet said to do. Slag 8:34 pm (( WELL DON'T ZOOM IN ON IT )) KnockOot 8:34 pm ((I'm not lagging Whirl 8:34 pm ((i am not!)) ItsyBitsySpyers 8:34 pm ((a restart might be good)) Swoop 8:34 pm *stuffs goodies in his face* Guest 8:34 pm It looks like a worm. Except inedible. ((BRB then!)) Clarance 8:34 pm ((IT LOOKS LIKE ONE MOUTH. FakeProwl 8:34 pm *Oh—he's got a pending ping. Pings back.* Swoop 8:34 pm It fish Slag 8:34 pm *nudge nudge* What you swoop do to wing Magnum Ace 8:34 pm -don't mind him, he managed to get into a seat, finally- Swoop 8:34 pm GRIMLOCK bite wing Catch swoop Slag 8:34 pm (( *squish the little baseball bot omg* )) KnockOot 8:34 pm Because robots are awesome. Magnum Ace 8:34 pm ((HALP Clarance 8:35 pm //i have to go see ya sometime 😀 Slag 8:35 pm (( Angsty ex soldier baseball baby *squish squeeze* )) Whirl 8:35 pm ((seeya dude!)) Bevel 8:35 pm ((seeya Purgatori 8:35 pm This reminds me too much of the Lost Light Tarantulas 8:35 pm @Prowl: ::Are you currently at Soundwave's movie night?:: Specs 8:35 pm ((seeya!)) KnockOot 8:35 pm Oh, are you from the Lost Light? ItsyBitsySpyers 8:35 pm *Rumble nods at Whirl and nudges back.* No prob. Boss shared the message thing, the, uh. From the other guy? *Grin.* We were gonna come getcha if you wasn't back soon. Specs 8:35 pm ((okay yeah that fixed it)) FakeProwl 8:35 pm @Tarantulas «I am. Spock's on.» Purgatori 8:35 pm ITs...complicated Clarance 8:36 pm //before i go to bed- tumblr: @claytonsparrow Magnum Ace 8:36 pm ((-flails- nuuuuu Slag 8:36 pm Him Grimlock dumb. You swoop fly? KnockOot 8:36 pm ((Yay Spock Swoop 8:36 pm What dumb???????? Purgatori 8:37 pm [[god i can see where all of my gifs come from this is amazing]] Slag 8:37 pm Him Grimlock dumb. Swoop 8:37 pm how come Slag 8:37 pm Cuz him Grimlock ItsyBitsySpyers 8:38 pm [[Damned fool.]] Swoop 8:38 pm *blows raspberries* Purgatori 8:38 pm Ah, yes, the shoot it policy FakeProwl 8:38 pm Indeed. KnockOot 8:38 pm This is intense. Slag 8:38 pm *nibbles Swoop's plating* Tarantulas 8:38 pm @Prowl: ::Ssspock? Oh, Star Trek. I see.:: *pause* ::...Are you potentially interested in my presence there? And - I crafted that request very carefully, by the way, I just want you to appreciate my word choice.:: Swoop 8:39 pm *is a nibble Whirl 8:39 pm *snorts through his vents, cycling a weary sigh* I wouldn't have argued with you, mech. I was ready to get out of there after four days or so. And, glad to see that dog came through. Didn't punctuate it or anything, just like I asked. *drapes a claw over his spark* Slag 8:39 pm (( Couldn't they just say he's too traumatized and emotional to take command? )) (( Bones step up )) Purgatori 8:39 pm [[poses]] [[damnit prowl let me kick him out of the ship]] Magnum Ace 8:40 pm -settles into his seat, what are they watching now?- ItsyBitsySpyers 8:40 pm //Dog? How come you got stuck anyhow?// FakeProwl 8:40 pm @Tarantulas «... I do not appreciate being constantly questioned about how I feel about your presence.» Slag 8:40 pm Me slag no like him. Swoop 8:40 pm How come Bevel 8:40 pm Mutiny! Slag 8:40 pm him look drunk. Specs 8:40 pm I see we're fighting a glacier with a shovel. Whirl 8:40 pm Yeah. Fellow that sent my message. Name of Cotter--I think he was a monoformer...? I only ever saw him as a cyber-hound. And the station went on some kind of lockdown. I probably technically could've gotten a message out, but, uh... not without alerting the authorities. As it were. Swoop 8:41 pm Him Ratchet look drunk sometimes kehhhehhehhe You Slag like Ratchet! Purgatori 8:41 pm Swoop. Rude. FakeProwl 8:41 pm *Feels for Spock. To have rank pulled on you by an idiot that you know is going to get everyone killed...* Slag 8:41 pm Him Ratchet not steering ship into monster mouth. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:41 pm *Soundwave nods, pleased to see Magnum finally got into a seat. Space adventures, of a sort. You might even call it a star trek.* Swoop 8:41 pm Rude??? *headtilt* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:41 pm #glacier with shovel? #what is that? Purgatori 8:41 pm *soundwave im going to glare at you for that* Swoop 8:41 pm *bounces* Him ratchet KICK monster mouth! Purgatori 8:41 pm *rolls eyes at swoop* Slag 8:42 pm Him monster too big. Him Ratchet teeny. Tarantulas 8:42 pm @Prowl: ::Hmm. Am I supposed to disregard your desires then? How do I know what you want without asking?:: Swoop 8:42 pm Kick with SHIP Slag 8:42 pm You Swoop dumb. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:42 pm //What'd authorities want with you?// Specs 8:43 pm Shovels are pieces of metal that we attach to our forefeet if we need to dig. Only one of the cousins is any good at digging, and even they prefer to have tools. *the dragon shows her paws* And I have soft, fuzzy forefeet. Good for cooking, bad for heavy lifting. FakeProwl 8:43 pm «I am capable of telling you what I want you to know about my desires.» Swoop 8:43 pm Me Swoop not dumb! You SLAG dumb! Bevel 8:43 pm They are going to die if he stays in charge. FakeProwl 8:43 pm They are. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:43 pm \\SOMEBODY OUGHTA HIT HIM.\\ Pause. \\DECK DECKER.\\ Whirl 8:43 pm To take me to jail, probably. I've got a hell of a bounty on my head out there. Officially I--*makes giant air quotes with his claws* "assassinated" someone but really it was just another night at the bar. ...among other things. Bevel 8:44 pm *laughs* FakeProwl 8:44 pm *Snort.* Bevel 8:44 pm Deck Decker! Slag 8:44 pm You Swoop dumb. Whirl 8:44 pm *snrk* Y'know. I wonder if that's what Killer will look like when it grows up. KnockOot 8:44 pm You read my mind, Frenzy. Purgatori 8:44 pm Killer...? Swoop 8:44 pm NUH UH ItsyBitsySpyers 8:44 pm *Rumble's optics brighten. Holy frag, Whirl has a BOUNTY? Like, outside of their planet?* //Who was it?// Swoop 8:44 pm Me Swoop am junior medic You Slag headbutt rocks FakeProwl 8:44 pm What possible effect does he think that's going to have? He's already seen it doesn't work. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:44 pm \\NAW, NAW. THE BOSS READS MINDS, NOT ME.\\ KnockOot 8:44 pm Heh! True! Tarantulas 8:44 pm @Prowl: ::Does that mean I ought to assume you don't care or are ambivalent unless told otherwise? I - I don't know what to think, Prowl.:: Whirl 8:45 pm My barnacle. it's a therapy pet. ...and, so, question. As someone who IS from a Lost Light, are you, or aren't you, mech? FakeProwl 8:45 pm «Try "May I come see you".» Purgatori 8:45 pm Are you asking me? Swoop 8:45 pm Ratchet Ratchet Whirl 8:45 pm Yep. Swoop 8:46 pm Ratchet Ratchet Ratchet Ratchet Ratchet Ratchet Purgatori 8:46 pm yES, sWOOP Whirl 8:46 pm *to Rumble* Some guy called Imperius Drax. Apparently he was... much beloved by the galactic community. Leader of the heroic terradores. Or something. Specs 8:46 pm Eaten by a giant worm. What a way to go. Swoop 8:46 pm You Ratchet tell Him Slag that Swoop not dumb ItsyBitsySpyers 8:46 pm //Drax, huh? Not that galaxy guardin' guy, right? Cause I like him.// Slag 8:46 pm Him Swoop dumb Swoop 8:47 pm You Slag dumb Whirl 8:47 pm Nah, not him. This was another mechanoid. Like the ammonites--they were at war at the time. That OTHER Drax guy sounds like a laugh and a half. KnockOot 8:47 pm Now boys, you're both pretty. Slag 8:47 pm you Swoop more dumb. Purgatori 8:47 pm Why does Slag think you are dumb? Tarantulas 8:47 pm *hold on prowl, tarantulas is trying to find some flaw in that* Slag 8:47 pm Cuz him dumb. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:48 pm *As much as he doesn't want to mind the Unicron-ish episode much, he finds himself drawn to it anyway. All the tension...* Magnum Ace 8:48 pm -honestly has no idea what is going on anymore in the movie or room- Swoop 8:48 pm *stares at Ratchet and points at Slag* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:48 pm ((the room is SUPER FAST tonight i'm sorry)) Swoop 8:48 pm *see? see what he says?* FakeProwl 8:48 pm ((it is)) Specs 8:48 pm *the dragon looks over at the beleaguered ratchet and confirms that she never wants to be a docent in her life* Bevel 8:48 pm ((so fast KnockOot 8:48 pm ((Man, for the 70s those are good special effects tbh Slag 8:49 pm *nips at Swoop's finger* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:49 pm ((oh, nah, these are remastered FX)) FakeProwl 8:49 pm ((these might be the remastered episodes)) KnockOot 8:49 pm ((ohhhh FakeProwl 8:49 pm ((YEAH WHAT CRO SAID)) ItsyBitsySpyers 8:49 pm ((the originals were still pretty ok)) Swoop 8:49 pm :V Ratchet Ratchet Him Slag bite Swoop finger Ratchet ItsyBitsySpyers 8:49 pm ((you can look them up on the episode's individual entry in the Memory Alpha wiki if you wanna see, they're near the bottom)) Purgatori 8:49 pm I am not the one that deals with violence in this room, Swoop Tarantulas 8:49 pm @Prowl: ::...Mmmmay I come see you, then?:: ItsyBitsySpyers 8:50 pm [[Slag, if you bite Swoop again, you will be bridged away. Is that clear?]] Purgatori 8:50 pm But Slag should know that biting people is a very bad move. FakeProwl 8:50 pm @Tarantulas «You may.» Swoop 8:50 pm KEHEHEHEHHHEHHEHHH KnockOot 8:50 pm Commodore Jackass. Bevel 8:50 pm ((Kirk/Enterprise OTP ItsyBitsySpyers 8:50 pm \\HA!\\ Slag 8:50 pm Him put finger in me Slag face Whirl 8:50 pm Commodork. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:50 pm [[Swoop, keep your limbs to yourself.]] Purgatori 8:51 pm Do not make me seperate you two Bevel 8:51 pm *claps* Go Spock! Slag 8:51 pm how you do that Specs 8:51 pm *the dragon looks over at Rachet* My docents used to bribe us with food to leave each other alone at this point. KnockOot 8:51 pm Do it, Spock. Do the thing. Reagan 8:52 pm (i'm making a return fkers. meet the other half of my duol Swoop 8:52 pm Him Slag LAY on Me Swoop. SQUISH! FakeProwl 8:52 pm *Is expecting Prowl to get punched.* Swoop 8:52 pm Me Swoop haaaaaaaaaave to touch Because FakeProwl 8:52 pm (SOKLSDJFLK)) Swoop 8:52 pm SQUISH FakeProwl 8:52 pm ((I MEANT SPOCK)) Purgatori 8:52 pm [[suuuuure]] Whirl 8:52 pm ((BUT I MEAN. U RIGHT)) Tarantulas 8:52 pm (( omg gj puff ItsyBitsySpyers 8:52 pm ((LMFAO)) Bevel 8:52 pm ((omg FakeProwl 8:52 pm ((HAHAHAHA)) Reagan 8:52 pm (er.. nevermind settings need changed ) Slag 8:52 pm *licks Swoop* Shaddup Purgatori 8:52 pm [[SICKBAY, THE SONG OF MY PEOPLE]] Bevel 8:52 pm ((perfect slip is perfect FakeProwl 8:52 pm ((Prowl is projecting, it's canon)) KnockOot 8:52 pm ((hee hee Specs 8:53 pm ((you're a wonderful person prowlmun)) ItsyBitsySpyers 8:53 pm ((i'm DYING here lmfao)) Swoop 8:53 pm *cackles and shoves Slag's DUMB giant head* Purgatori 8:53 pm Boys ItsyBitsySpyers 8:53 pm *BWOOP. Out goes Swoop.* Tarantulas 8:53 pm (( u better get that documented in the logs puff. it's official Slag 8:53 pm Me Slag not boy Me Slag am Dinobot FakeProwl 8:53 pm ((it will be on the logs)) Bevel 8:53 pm Noooooooo Purgatori 8:53 pm You are a Dinobot who is about to be in a lot of trouble Slag 8:54 pm *blinks when Swoop disappears what hapn* Swoop 8:54 pm :V Tarantulas 8:54 pm *is itching to ask if prowl actually WANTS him there but then prowl might say no. maybe prowl does want him there though. maybe he doesn't. schrodinger's prowl. in the end he just sends prowl a ping to end the comm* FakeProwl 8:54 pm *Well, he attacked someone all right.* Swoop 8:54 pm *is booped away* Slag 8:54 pm You not me slag mom Swoop 8:54 pm *gross slag spit and all* Specs 8:54 pm I feel like assaulting someone else's crew is worse form than not going for a suicide mission. ItsyBitsySpyers 8:54 pm [[He should be in either sickbay or the brig.]] KnockOot 8:54 pm I concur. Purgatori 8:54 pm I may not be your 'mom', but what makes you so sure I do not talk to him? KnockOot 8:55 pm If he were my patient he'd be unconscious by now. Jetstream 8:55 pm (what does it say my name is) FakeProwl 8:55 pm He WAS illegally removed from command. If he tried to defend the attack, he might have a case. Bevel 8:55 pm ((Reagan KnockOot 8:55 pm . . . maybe dead, depending on if there were witnesses. Specs 8:55 pm ((reagan)) Tarantulas 8:55 pm @Soundwave: ::Is there space near you and Prowl at the moment?:: Jetstream 8:55 pm (fk) Whirl 8:55 pm *going to shift a bit and hunker down until he can cross his arms over the surface of the table and lay his head on them, like some big horrid gargoyle* Good thing you're not MY doctor. Specs 8:55 pm *shoots a look at Knock Out, but says nothing* ItsyBitsySpyers 8:55 pm @Tarantulas: (txt): Prowl's opposite side. Bevel 8:55 pm ((now it says Whirlwind Slag 8:55 pm Me Slag no care you talk to Him Ratchet *confused* Jetstream 8:55 pm (better.) KnockOot 8:56 pm Yes, it is a good thing, you look like the type who gets banged up a lot. Swoop 8:56 pm ((what's the count up to for Swoop getting kicked out? XD)) Jetstream 8:56 pm (wait no. i'm not using him. ffffff) ItsyBitsySpyers 8:56 pm ((three? i think)) FakeProwl 8:56 pm ((this is at least the third time)) Jetstream 8:56 pm (last time) Slag 8:56 pm Him Ratchet beat up him Thundercracker. Him Ratchet beat up you. Bevel 8:56 pm ((jetstream Swoop 8:56 pm ((Def at least 3)) Whirl 8:56 pm I mean. Fair. But it's nothing I can't handle. *which is to say, he gets banged up and then avoids the medbay* Jetstream 8:56 pm (ok i'm satisfied) Purgatori 8:57 pm *Yes, yes you do Whirl. Making me chase after your sorry carcass* KnockOot 8:57 pm Good, gooood. FakeProwl 8:57 pm ... He's just giving the doomsday machine a snack. What use does he think that is? KnockOot 8:57 pm *exactly the kind of patient Knock Out likes, the kind that doesn't come to him* Whirl 8:57 pm *we have never met, my good Ratchet; you can blame your universe's Whirl* FakeProwl 8:57 pm If he's so determined to commit suicide, he'd be better off smashing himself against the side. Purgatori 8:57 pm [[ which whirl ar you friend]] Whirl 8:57 pm ((chronosmith!)) Specs 8:58 pm Maybe he hopes to give the worm indigestion? Purgatori 8:58 pm [[yeah, we did meet, a while ago]] Bevel 8:58 pm *hasn't actually really met any of these doctors in the room and is kind of ok with that* Swoop 8:58 pm ((has it only been 3 times though... I thought this was 4? Maybe.... Idk. I don't keep track and neither does he lol)) ItsyBitsySpyers 8:58 pm [[With all of its abilities, he does not see how the shuttle could give it... indigestion.]] Specs 8:58 pm ((I've been here for two and saw another in a log)) Purgatori 8:58 pm [[oh my god he is prowl my god]] Whirl 8:58 pm ((did we? I haven't interacted with an IDW ratchet in like... a year or more so nobody's chased whirl around for a long time!)) Jetstream 8:58 pm (right here we go.) *Jetstream enters the room and glances at the bots therein* ^hm^ Purgatori 8:58 pm [[yeah, i used to interact with you on a lost light]] Swoop 8:59 pm ((how many bridge removals until swoop and i get a punch card?)) Purgatori 8:59 pm [[roughly two years ago i wanna say]] ItsyBitsySpyers 8:59 pm ((on the fifth bridge removal you get a free pin that says "Bad Bot")) FakeProwl 8:59 pm *... Prowl's saving that "condolences" line. It was very compact and it didn't offend the recipient, exactly what Prowl needs.* Swoop 8:59 pm ((pff I'll have that next week)) Whirl 8:59 pm *lifts his head and swivels his helm to stare at Knock Out, peering* Why is that--*imitates Knock Out's tone very closely* 'goooood?' Bevel 8:59 pm *have a wave new bot* KnockOot 9:00 pm ((Oh Spock)) Jetstream 9:00 pm *He notices and gives a small wave back* Purgatori 9:00 pm *shifts in his seat* Whirl 9:00 pm ((there ya go, then! Whirl's not even living on the LL any longer. Much has happened since then!)) ItsyBitsySpyers 9:00 pm *Frenzy sniggers at Scotty's comments. Rumble just throws snacks at him.* Specs 9:00 pm ((whirl has a barnacle now, which is a very important development)) KnockOot 9:00 pm Because it means you're not bothering your ship's medic, of course. Slag 9:00 pm Where Him Swoop go FakeProwl 9:01 pm *"May I offer my condolences on the death of your ____, it is most regrettable." Very good.* Purgatori 9:01 pm [[yeah, ratchet isnt on a lost light anymore either]] Magnum Ace 9:01 pm ((this one's not even Cybertronian Whirl 9:01 pm ((Killer has also had two broods of babies. Spreading joy throughout the multiverse)) ItsyBitsySpyers 9:01 pm (("Joy")) Bevel 9:01 pm I thought you were supposed to bother the medic? Purgatori 9:01 pm [[m y god ]] Tarantulas 9:01 pm *there's an awkward fuzzy mech with too many legs sneaking in the door and over to sw and prowl's couch now. said mech is awful at sneaking. alas* Slag 9:01 pm (( *squish lil sportsbot ex soldier boii* )) Specs 9:01 pm I'm only an organic, but when you're hurt, bothering the medic does sound like the thing to do. Purgatori 9:01 pm *Oh, look, a new one. Who is that?* Magnum Ace 9:01 pm ((-more flailing- Whirl 9:01 pm Ha! The joke's on you, little red, I'm always bothering everybody, /all the time./ KnockOot 9:01 pm Ha ha! No, absolutely not. Unless it's actually important. Like . . . you know . . . a contagion. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:01 pm *Soundwave glances at Tarantulas and nods. Then looks back at the screen. He wants to see if they can pull this off.* Bevel 9:02 pm And injuries and stuff, yeah? Slag 9:02 pm You Soundwave. Where him swoop go? ItsyBitsySpyers 9:03 pm [[Home, for breaking rules.]] Magnum Ace 9:03 pm -he's also beginning to feel really small now- Specs 9:03 pm ((swoop is in baby jail now)) Slag 9:03 pm Oh. =T FakeProwl 9:03 pm *Aside from the danger of the faulty transporter causing a death, they have little to lose from this plan.* Slag 9:03 pm Me Slag go home too. FakeProwl 9:03 pm *And it has an actual possibility of success.* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:03 pm *Zori starts moving toward the other Very Tiny Bot. It'll take him a while, but he's going.* KnockOot 9:03 pm Most ships have one medic per hundreds of bots, obviously you can't have that many bots going to sick bay every time they get hurt. Tarantulas 9:03 pm *oh boy, movie tension going on here. tarantulas is just gonna slide in next to prowl, put an arm over the back of the couch, and stay quiet* Purgatori 9:03 pm *oh, look, a teeny thing* KnockOot 9:04 pm I mean, we have lives to you know. Specs 9:04 pm *the dragon gets up and follows her friend. she needs to make sure he gets as many scorpion-shaped snacks as he wants* Jetstream 9:04 pm *jetstream feels something shudder on his back. he looks and says something quietly before retuening his gaze to the screen * Purgatori 9:04 pm Are you sure, Knockout Magnum Ace 9:04 pm ...oh. Hello. Who are you? FakeProwl 9:04 pm ... THAT'S not a good sign. KnockOot 9:04 pm *chuckles at Whirl 'bothering everyone all the time'* Fair enough. Bevel 9:05 pm Yeah but... but medics are supposed to be around to help hurt bots. Whirl 9:05 pm *looks briefly triumphant before setting his head down again* Purgatori 9:05 pm Why sleep when you can patch up mechs instead Magnum Ace 9:05 pm -okay, many just followed after the other small mech- Whirl 9:05 pm *looks down at Zori and Magnum* You two want a better seat? Got a whole table I'm not using. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:05 pm *Zori waves once he gets to Magnum Ace's feet - and stretches out his brand new eye stalk to peer over his back at the dragon and Whirl* Whirl 9:05 pm Well. Except the parts I AM using. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:06 pm #can we? KnockOot 9:06 pm *tsks and shakes head pityingly at Ratchet* Magnum Ace 9:06 pm If you don't mind? Whirl 9:06 pm *blinks at that eye stalk, and then gives a little startled laugh* Yeah, sure thing. *shifts and bends down, offering a claw* Bevel 9:06 pm What Ratchet said. Specs 9:07 pm *the dragon scoots out of the way so that Zori and Magnum can get to the claw* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:07 pm *Zori motions to the dragon. Come up there!* [[...He wonders how many ships it would take to terminate a living planet.]] Magnum Ace 9:07 pm -and he's following after the other two- Whirl 9:07 pm *he will ferry everyone to the tabletop, dragons included, if it is needed* *Whirl is surrounded by mechs of varying degrees of tininess. How does it always happen like this* Specs 9:08 pm *well, who can resist a Zori invitation? here she comes! although she's going to fly, to make it easier on Whirl* Purgatori 9:08 pm I unfortunately need to leave Please enjoy more Star Trek. Whirl 9:08 pm Seeya, doc. Bevel 9:08 pm Bye, Ratchet KnockOot 9:08 pm See you, Ratchet! ItsyBitsySpyers 9:08 pm [[Understood. Goodnight - and he has enjoyed your holoform.]] FakeProwl 9:09 pm It's easy to calculate. Each one is capable of producing a 97.385 megaton explosion. Purgatori 9:09 pm *is that a smile? the world will never know* Jetstream 9:09 pm *Jetstream sighs and nods at another shudder on his back. suddenly a small Spider minicon disengages and looks for things its size.* Specs 9:09 pm Bye, doctor! *the dragon waves* KnockOot 9:09 pm Kirk: Quasar Investigator. Bevel 9:09 pm *so many tinies today* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:10 pm [[Ah. No - our ships. Not theirs.]] Looks over to Tarantulas. (txt): Welcome. FakeProwl 9:10 pm You just need to know the size of the planet, how much of the surface is covered by population centers, and the average strength of their civilization's building techn— oh. ... One. Whirl 9:11 pm We can do better that one ship. All we need is one Brainstorm, really. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:12 pm [[...That's terrifying.]] But useful. Potentially. Magnum Ace 9:12 pm ...... -why are they talking about blowing up planets?- FakeProwl 9:12 pm If the planet's small enough, all we need is one gun. Jetstream 9:12 pm *The spider minicon spots other small bots and skitters over.* Tarantulas 9:13 pm *ping to sw. he's not going to reject a touch if sw reaches toward him somehow* FakeProwl 9:13 pm *... Oh. Hey. Tarantulas is here.* *Nods to Tarantulas.* Specs 9:13 pm *the dragon tilts her head to look at the spider mech* Hello there! Whirl 9:13 pm *he'll watch the spider, but doesn't say or do anything unless he is approached first* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:14 pm *Will stretch his feeler behind himself to curl around the arm that's on the couch back... if only behind Prowl's head.* FakeProwl 9:14 pm ((... murasaki means purple.)) ((that thing is green)) Specs 9:14 pm ((I know!)) FakeProwl 9:14 pm ((who named it)) Specs 9:14 pm ((colorblind white dude)) Bevel 9:14 pm *oh wait Tara hi don't mind Bevel is her new root/alt mode nothing to see here yep* FakeProwl 9:14 pm ((haaa)) Magnum Ace 9:14 pm -well, more mechs about his size around him now, that's good. Right?- Jetstream 9:14 pm *it clicks it's frontmost legs together in morse code* #Hi! I'm Wijix!# Tarantulas 9:14 pm *it's chill bevel, tara has no idea you're bevel rn* Specs 9:15 pm ((actually, it's probably the last name of someone, murasaki isn't a COMMON last name but it wasn't uncommon way back when, if jisho.org is correct)) KnockOot 9:15 pm ((Are you the Bevel who does blacksmithing? FakeProwl 9:15 pm ((oh well there u go)) Specs 9:15 pm *the dragon does not understand morse code. the dragon offers a snack. this is clearly the right approach.* Bevel 9:15 pm ((I think I'm the only Bevel but yes she does do blacksmithing ItsyBitsySpyers 9:16 pm @P: [[What one gun?]] KnockOot 9:16 pm ((Ahhh, cool! I did a thread with you way back, Knock Out got some smith puzzles from Bevel. Tarantulas 9:16 pm *slightly nudges sw's feeler, then leans sideways to bump his helm against prowl's* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:16 pm *Rumble prods Whirl.* //Say you was facin' that doomsday thing. How'd you go do it?// Bevel 9:17 pm ((Ah yes! I remember that :3 Whirl 9:17 pm *swivels his head to look at Rumble without lifting his head* You mean the big worm thing? KnockOot 9:17 pm *doesn't notice the nudging or bumping, but does find Tarantulas' robot mode interesting* Magnum Ace 9:17 pm -he is worried now. Hypothetical or not, the topic he's hearing is worrisome- Bevel 9:17 pm *will continue to be here without Tara's knowledge mwahaha* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:17 pm *He's welcome to ask. They'll clarify.* FakeProwl 9:17 pm The "moongun." Designed and wielded by Killmaster, one of the Decepticon Warriors Elite. KnockOot 9:17 pm Heh, "Killmaster." Bevel 9:17 pm Moongun? Magnum Ace 9:17 pm Moongun? ItsyBitsySpyers 9:17 pm //Yeah, the - the horn lookin' thing.// Whirl 9:18 pm Oh, yeah. Killmaster. My nemesis. Tarantulas 9:18 pm *feels those optics on him, knockout, but he's used to being stared at* Bevel 9:18 pm *sudden talk of weapons, you have her attention, Prowl* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:18 pm *Soundwave vents softly. He did intend that to be private so everyone else wouldn't hear.* KnockOot 9:18 pm I think I recognize you from that other video history. The one with the cheetah and dinobots. Jetstream 9:18 pm *Wijix accepts the snack and will try to think up a way to bridge the obvious language barrier.* Whirl 9:18 pm Well, if I had the ordinance, I guess blowing it up would be fine. But, if i was working with what I had now... *tilts his head, considering* I'd probably need some serious tech to make a bridge big enough, but shadowzone that sucker. Keep it there indefinitely or until you find a way to shut it down for good. FakeProwl 9:19 pm *The thing isn't classified.* *Heck, even the Galactic Council has a copy of it.* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:19 pm *Soundwave shifts in his space at the subject of this episode. Frenzy oh-so-casually stretches and heads upstairs.* Tarantulas 9:19 pm (( was KO talking to tarantulas? 😮 FakeProwl 9:20 pm *Well said, Spock.* KnockOot 9:20 pm ((Yep :) ItsyBitsySpyers 9:21 pm *Rumble's visor flickers in a blink*

//I - wouldnt'a never thought of that.// Whirl 9:22 pm *flicks his stabilizers in a shrug* Useful thing, brides. Or--you could probably bridge it into a star. if a bomb will disable it, a star sure would. KnockOot 9:22 pm Spock reminds me of Shockwave. Only less annoying. Tarantulas 9:22 pm *huffs in knock out's direction* I'm afraid you've mistaken me for one of my alternates. One I wish I weren't associated with. FakeProwl 9:22 pm *On the one hand, the other people on the ship need to get the hell over themselves. If three people need to die so that four can live, then that's how it is.* Specs 9:22 pm *the dragon giggles at Whirl's statement* You could say that. Whirl 9:22 pm It's more FUN to fight things like that ead-on, even if it looks hopeless--hell, ESPECIALLY if it looks hopeless, can you imagine the glory? But, if I had to, y'know. SOLVE the problem... that's what i'd do. Bevel 9:23 pm Bridge it into a really big smelter. FakeProwl 9:23 pm *On the other hand, he doesn't know why they didn't propose removing those heavy-looking chairs first.* KnockOot 9:23 pm Well, now they only have to choose two of the crew. Whirl 9:23 pm *nods to the dragon* I do, in fact. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:23 pm [[That only worked on Airachnid.]]

//...Wonder how big a bridge gotta be to do a whole planet like that.// ((THANK YOU PUFF that's bothered me FOREVER)) Bevel 9:24 pm Is that what happened to her here? KnockOot 9:24 pm Oh, I see. Got a lot of alternates? Whirl 9:24 pm *cheeky look* Bigger than the planet. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:24 pm *Ah. And Soundwave is reminded. He pings Prowl.* Whirl 9:24 pm ((n-netflix u don't... know folsom......)) FakeProwl 9:24 pm ... So is that's how they're going to do it? They're going to kill off three of the crew in order to avoid having to show Spock choosing who to die. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:24 pm //Pfff. Guess that's out.// FakeProwl 9:25 pm ((excuse you, xxxx is exactly how you spell folsom)) Tarantulas 9:25 pm I've got a few alternates, yes, though we do tend to keep to ourselves. Hyeh. FakeProwl 9:25 pm *glances toward Soundwave?* Whirl 9:25 pm ((PFFT)) Bevel 9:25 pm Why is everyone being so mean to Spock? KnockOot 9:25 pm Really? I quite enjoy socializing with mine. FakeProwl 9:25 pm *PROWL LIKES BEVEL.* Specs 9:26 pm How do spacebridges scale with size? I had to get materials for one, but I never built it, and I don't quite know how it works. Hopefully it never breaks. Whirl 9:26 pm I dunno. You might be able to manage it. I mean--it's an issue of power, right? *Whirl's been working on miniaturizing the bridge process, not super-sizing it* Bevel 9:26 pm *YAY* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:26 pm *Soundwave lifts his arm just enough to point at the baseball mech.*

[[Tonight is a night of many good things. Company included.]] Tarantulas 9:26 pm (( bevel gained one (1) prowl brownie point Whirl 9:26 pm *but as far as he can tell there's no real limit* Jetstream 9:26 pm (ok so it's clear. ^Jetstream^ #Wijix#) Bevel 9:26 pm ((considering she probably started in the negatives she's doing pretty good 😄 Magnum Ace 9:26 pm -baseball mech is watching the show- FakeProwl 9:26 pm *Glances where Soundwave's pointing. SITS UP STRAIGHTER.* Whirl 9:27 pm I have no idea, dragon. Sorry. *100% lying he has some idea, but that's a secret project* *sorry specs* KnockOot 9:27 pm ((Man, good point about the chairs Specs 9:27 pm *the dragon shrugs her wings* Well, that makes two of us. Thank you. Jetstream 9:28 pm ^Couldn't they just make a return trip?^ FakeProwl 9:28 pm ......... Magnum Ace? Jetstream 9:28 pm ^I mean why is it that every human space investigation goes about this well Tarantulas 9:29 pm You do seem amiable enough, so your alternates would be equally decent company, I imagine. Is it Knock Out? I don't think I've properly met you before...? Bevel 9:29 pm Blue is for science right? Magnum Ace 9:29 pm -heard his name- Hmn? ItsyBitsySpyers 9:29 pm *He wants to side with Spock on this matter. They are being ridiculous with this business of holding funerals while under attack and possibly not getting off the planet.*

*But he also knows how long he spent searching the asteroid field for Rumble and Frenzy.*

*...He opts not to say anything.* FakeProwl 9:29 pm *!!!* Specs 9:29 pm ((that would be a band, according to anthropology class!)) Whirl 9:30 pm *you shan't be accosted if you approach the Whirl Table, prowl, come and see ya baseball boy* FakeProwl 9:30 pm Hello. We spoke on the comm. Magnum Ace 9:30 pm ..oh! You must be Prowl. Hello! FakeProwl 9:30 pm *... Okay he can't talk, the episode is too distracting.* Jetstream 9:30 pm ^Fifty shanix says pointy ears gets captured^ FakeProwl 9:30 pm *To be continued.* KnockOot 9:30 pm Why, thank you! No, I don't believe I've had the pleasure. Magnum Ace 9:31 pm -it is, he kinda wants to know what's going to happen- KnockOot 9:31 pm But you know Smokescreen, don't you? Are you another one of his fathers? He has so many. FakeProwl 9:31 pm *Please, TV show, please let Spock be shown to be in the right. Please don't make a mockery of him for being rational.* Specs 9:31 pm *the dragon blinks and tries not to stare over at Knock Out again. how many docents does one charge need?* Tarantulas 9:31 pm Hyeheh, no, I'm no father of his, I'm his "best science spider friend" KnockOot 9:32 pm . . . that sounds like a Smokescreen nickname, all right. Tarantulas 9:32 pm Though you may call me Tarantulas. Whirl 9:32 pm *scoots his head back over to regard Rumble* What about you? Same question. *SUPER delayed response there. Whirl doesn't even explain* KnockOot 9:32 pm Sounds good, best science friend spider. Tarantulas 9:33 pm *snickers* KnockOot 9:34 pm Can't they just . . . stay in the ship for a while? Jetstream 9:34 pm ^I know! right?^ KnockOot 9:35 pm I doubt the spear-throwers could break into it. Specs 9:35 pm There's no visible water. How long can you hydrate that many humans? KnockOot 9:35 pm Well. true. Jetstream 9:36 pm ^...yeah^ KnockOot 9:36 pm Yeah, leaving that guy out there wasn't that logical in my opinion. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:36 pm //Wha- me? Uhh.// He scratches his helm. //I never - I'm good fightin' up close, but strategerizin' a whole thing like that's--// Frown. //Gimme a sec.// Whirl 9:36 pm Death by Ikea Rug. FakeProwl 9:36 pm WHY is he out there at all? Specs 9:36 pm It's easier to wait outside a den long term than it is to live in one. Also the matter of food... Although technically... Bevel 9:36 pm Spock told him to stay on guard. Whirl 9:36 pm *he'll simply nod at Rumble, and wait patiently* FakeProwl 9:36 pm Ah. Missed that. ... They're both idiots. Magnum Ace 9:37 pm ..... FakeProwl 9:38 pm They're willfully ignoring the rationality behind Spock's decisions. Jetstream 9:38 pm ^well he's dead^ Whirl 9:38 pm Looks like bait to me. Jetstream 9:38 pm ^Good job pointy ears^ FakeProwl 9:38 pm Of course he won't order the crewman to stay behind, because there's no NEED for him to stay behind so long as the ship has enough power to lift everyone. Bevel 9:38 pm ((i can never deal with his little fists on hip thing it's just so like "well now what am i supposed to do?" and I love it Magnum Ace 9:38 pm -definitely bait- Whirl 9:39 pm They really suck at throwing spears. Jetstream 9:39 pm *Wijix nods* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:39 pm //...Make it eat itself, I guess?// Whirl 9:39 pm It's not HARD. I can do it with my claws, and they got more'n that. Really? How so? Jetstream 9:40 pm ^that was brutal^ ItsyBitsySpyers 9:40 pm //Like. Shoot itself up. You was talkin' bridges, 'n... shots go through 'em.// Whirl 9:40 pm I dunno, it's a question of like... those spear guys are clearly not very advanced. They're stupid. KnockOot 9:40 pm Even the Yeoman is turning on yoy *you Whirl 9:40 pm it's not about LOGIC or anything, it's about expecting them to behave like smart things. Specs 9:40 pm *the dragon stifles a grin* Crack a shell with a rock, crack a ship with a rock. Whirl 9:41 pm Whole different other mistake. Windchill 9:41 pm *Appears whether you like it or not.* Whirl 9:41 pm Ohh, yeah. heh. Effective AND hilarious. Nice. KnockOot 9:41 pm The doctor is remarkably calm. FakeProwl 9:41 pm *Leans forward, plants elbows on his knees, laces hands, and quietly grits dentae. Windchill 9:41 pm *The GREEN.* Whirl 9:41 pm *he'll lift his head long enough to bob it at Windchill before letting it flop back down on his arms. He's surrounded by little mechs right now. And Bevel.* *well, Rumble's only half-little. He's not ZORI small but he's small* Windchill 9:42 pm Whirl! My friend! You're not dead! Whirl 9:42 pm Incredibly, no. I came close to dying of boredom, though. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:42 pm @Tara: (txt): Tarantulas: quiet. Reason? Bevel 9:42 pm *Bevel is in a good place, all the minicons* Windchill 9:42 pm *Walks over real slow, better hope nobody's set up camp by Whirl's feet.* Jetstream 9:43 pm *Jetstream smirks at the boredom comment, not that he'll let Whirl see.* Bevel 9:43 pm *Bevel is on the floor, probably in the vicinity of Whirl's feet* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:43 pm *He wonders if this is upsetting Tarantulas somehow. A logical figure potentially deciding on the deaths of his coworkers, and all.* Magnum Ace 9:43 pm -many small mechs around you, Whirl. This one included- Whirl 9:43 pm *sit with Shovel, Windchill, Shovel's cool* Specs 9:43 pm *squints at the screen* Is he using a roast fork? Windchill 9:43 pm *NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.* Whirl 9:43 pm *oh yes and also a small dragon. Whirl's part of a flock now* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:44 pm [[Take a memento and leave the frame.]] Windchill 9:44 pm *This is what he gets for being late.* Whirl 9:44 pm Lord, what an idiot. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:44 pm *He would have settled for that, back then.* Bevel 9:44 pm That was really rude. Whirl 9:44 pm He's dead--who cares? Tarantulas 9:44 pm *glances* @Soundwave: ::Not feeling terribly talkative, I suppose. I DID introduce myself to Knock Out though. That counts as socialization, no?:: KnockOot 9:44 pm Can't they incinerate him? Specs 9:44 pm That's not an electrical tool. Is it? *the dragon would preen herself if she was privy to Whirl's thoughts, but alas, she is no telepath* Whirl 9:44 pm Just throw him in the trash., Windchill 9:44 pm *Sits down...somewhere.* Tarantulas 9:45 pm *but no, sw, tara's not really paying too much attention to the episode* KnockOot 9:45 pm Good ol' Astral Anthropology. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:45 pm @Tara: (txt): Affirmative. Concern source: sudden silence afterward. Windchill 9:45 pm I wanna see the creatures. Bevel 9:45 pm *join the floor crew, it's nice down here* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:45 pm *Light feeler tap tap. As long as Tarantulas is only feeling less talkative than usual.* Whirl 9:45 pm They look like they're made entirely of shag carpet. Windchill 9:45 pm I'll bet they look dumb. Tarantulas 9:45 pm @Soundwave: ::Aww, someone's concerned about me, hyeh.:: Specs 9:46 pm Organics tend to be a little pickier about dead bodies, Whirl. *huffs a little* At the very least, if we threw them in the trash, the corpses would attract predators. Windchill 9:46 pm *Fine...he can share the floor.* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:46 pm *Slowly turns his helm to look at Tarantulas. Must you.*

@T: (txt): Tarantulas preference: Soundwave ignores? Bevel 9:46 pm They already attracted predators. Jetstream 9:46 pm *Jetstream sneaks a glance at the "floor crew"* KnockOot 9:46 pm The search . . . for Spock Windchill 9:46 pm *Whispers* Are they flying through a fart? Specs 9:46 pm They attracted hostiles. No one's been eaten yet. Bevel 9:47 pm *snickers* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:47 pm [[No, no. That's a separate film, Knock Out.]] KnockOot 9:47 pm Heh! Bevel 9:47 pm ...Does Spock get lost a lot? ItsyBitsySpyers 9:47 pm *Huff* [[In some ways.]] Bevel 9:47 pm *huffs* He should get a map. Tarantulas 9:48 pm *squints at sw* @Soundwave: ::I never said that, dear Soundwave. Let's just say the general subject is a bit... touchy.:: ItsyBitsySpyers 9:48 pm #I CAN MAKE ONE Whirl 9:48 pm He really can. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:48 pm *Zori puts his claws over his mouth. oops.* Whirl 9:48 pm That's his thing. Jetstream 9:48 pm #That so?# Bevel 9:48 pm *grins at Zori* Whirl 9:48 pm *too late you have an endorsement now* Specs 9:48 pm Zori is the best at maps! *the dragon has never seen one of his maps, but her faith is strong* Bevel 9:48 pm All the maps. Windchill 9:48 pm Maps...of what? ItsyBitsySpyers 9:48 pm #it is true! #all maps #lots of things Magnum Ace 9:48 pm You make maps? Jetstream 9:48 pm #treasure maps?# KnockOot 9:48 pm All sensors to the aft, huh? Whirl 9:48 pm *waves a claw* Whatever your spark desires. ...probably. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:49 pm @Tarantulas: (txt):...Understood. Windchill 9:49 pm HMMM. *Taps his chin.* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:49 pm #...I do not know spark desires Tarantulas 9:49 pm *slips his arm off the couch and pets prowl's back* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:49 pm #but I know buildings #and lands #...and a leg Bevel 9:49 pm Has Zori made a map of New Praxus? Whirl 9:49 pm Well, they've gotta tell you what it is. it's different for each person, probably. FakeProwl 9:49 pm *Starts.* Windchill 9:50 pm What about...a map of Whirl's feet? *Paws at Whirl's feet.* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:50 pm #kay Whirl 9:50 pm ... ItsyBitsySpyers 9:50 pm *Scoot scoot toward Whirl leg.* KnockOot 9:50 pm How I feel talking to Shockwave. Whirl 9:50 pm Only because it's you, Professor Z. KnockOot 9:50 pm Or rather, having Shockwave talk at me. Jetstream 9:50 pm #So like if I were to ask for like... a map of the tunnels beneath Iacon? # Windchill 9:50 pm *He didn't say it HAD to be done, it was just a bad idea.* Whirl 9:50 pm *will shft position so he can lean abck and stick one leg out, dramatically, for Zori's inspection* Specs 9:50 pm I don't have a spark, but if I did, I'd say mine was pretty happy. *the dragon snickers, and settles in to watch Zori* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:50 pm *Zori sends Bevel the tourist-version map of New Praxus* Whirl 9:50 pm Anyone else want a map of my foot while he's down there? Yes? No? Specs 9:51 pm I trust that Zori will construct the best map. Windchill 9:51 pm Best map of the best foot. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:51 pm [[No map of those tunnels.]] Jetstream 9:51 pm *Jetstream almost chuckles* Bevel 9:51 pm *tourist version maps are fun Bevel will gladly study this later* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:52 pm *Zori hopes Whirl isn't ticklish somehow. He's going to be crawling circles around that foot for the next handful of minutes.* [[....Why would he...?]] Tarantulas 9:52 pm *hums and keeps gently petting prowl, no ulterior motive for once* FakeProwl 9:52 pm ... Not now. *He's focused on this show, don't distract him.* Tarantulas 9:52 pm *unhappy hum, but his arm goes back up onto the couch's back* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:53 pm [[...Ah. How clever.]] FakeProwl 9:53 pm *He cannot focus on anyone or anything else until he knows whether Spock has saved them.* Jetstream 9:53 pm *Wijix is tempted. he won't. but he's tempted* FakeProwl 9:53 pm ... Indeed. Whirl 9:54 pm *he is not, at least not on his foot. Zori is allowed to crawl all up on it* Oh! hey, Professor, you'll never guess what I did. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:54 pm #what what? FakeProwl 9:54 pm ... It was PERFECTLY logical. That was an entirely logical decision. Magnum Ace 9:54 pm ..... Bevel 9:54 pm They were gonna fall back to the planet no matter what. Whirl 9:55 pm So. Windchill here--*nods to Windchill* and his conjunx propagated. He's got a little grub back home. Can't talk yet, but y'know what she can do, courtesy of yours truly? Beep. Magnum Ace 9:55 pm Ah! He did it! Whirl 9:55 pm I think she's catching on, too. Bevel 9:55 pm Yay! Jetstream 9:55 pm ^ ok. so the structure of this show is: start. bad thing. adjust. more bad. explosions.^ ItsyBitsySpyers 9:55 pm *Pause mapping. Gasp!*

[[Perhaps he does not understand his own choice?]] FakeProwl 9:55 pm Save the fuel for a guaranteed death in forty-five minutes or expend the fuel for a NEARLY guaranteed death in a couple of minutes. Jetstream 9:55 pm ^that sound right?^ FakeProwl 9:55 pm I don't believe he doesn't understand his choice. Windchill 9:56 pm *Ears perk up. He might just behave for a few minutes.* FakeProwl 9:56 pm *THANK you, Mr. Spock.* That was NO emotional outburst. KnockOot 9:56 pm I ship them. Bevel 9:57 pm He was thinking really hard about it before he did it. FakeProwl 9:57 pm And they are mocking him for being completely reasonable, because THEY don't understand his reasoning. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:57 pm #what does she say? [[The others *are* only human.]] Jetstream 9:57 pm ^Whirlwind would have a field day with this show... i wonder why he didn't come.^ FakeProwl 9:58 pm Hmph. Tarantulas 9:58 pm It's possible he's not explaining himself in order to have them continue to believe that he can be emotionally swayed...? ItsyBitsySpyers 9:58 pm [[That was not a defense.]] FakeProwl 9:58 pm As though that excuses it. He DID explain himself. They didn't accept the explanation. Jetstream 9:58 pm ^Yeah that was a bit unfair^ ItsyBitsySpyers 9:59 pm ((hold on netflix is acting up)) FakeProwl 9:59 pm *Glances at Tarantulas.* ... All right. You can... *Gestures vaguely toward his back.* Tarantulas 9:59 pm *smol purr - he'll return to petting immediately, then* ItsyBitsySpyers 9:59 pm [[As he said. They are only human. Their perceptions are limited.]] Specs 10:00 pm Other sapient organics seem less disposed to just smack each other in lieu of discussion. KnockOot 10:00 pm Wow, now Kirk is turning into Megatron. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:00 pm *He wanted to say inferior. There are too many Autobots in this room. He'd rather not be lectured.* KnockOot 10:00 pm Except snippier. FakeProwl 10:00 pm Everyone's perception is limited. The most logical entity in the universe has limited perception. Jetstream 10:00 pm ^And this is why I don't miss Earth.^ ItsyBitsySpyers 10:00 pm [[He is being... polite.]] Windchill 10:00 pm *Chinhands.* FakeProwl 10:01 pm The fact that their perceptions are limited does not mean they are incapable of processing a plainly and thoroughly explained logical argument—unless they're willfully ignoring it because they don't like it. KnockOot 10:01 pm You know one time Megatron dumped Dark Energon into the ship's engine? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:02 pm [[Of course they're willfully ignoring it.]] Bevel 10:02 pm He did? Jetstream 10:02 pm ^it's what humans do slaggit^ FakeProwl 10:02 pm And I'm annoyed about it. Magnum Ace 10:02 pm . . . Bevel 10:02 pm *Bevel has never seen the historical records from her timeline so this is brand new information* Specs 10:02 pm *blinks at Knock Out* Isn't that poison? Magnum Ace 10:02 pm -he's not going to comment- KnockOot 10:02 pm Mmm, more like a drug. Bevel 10:02 pm Dark Energon is evil. Jetstream 10:03 pm *jetstream wouldn't hear it anyway* KnockOot 10:03 pm That will damn your spark. Whirl 10:03 pm ((sorry, went momentarily afk) Windchill 10:03 pm (( U were dead but it's okay. )) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:03 pm *Soundwave makes a tiny waving motion with one hand. He wasn't trying to cancel Prowl's annoyance. He was just trying to politely say "Humans are stupid and self-centered organics".* KnockOot 10:03 pm My point is, a captain should listen to their crew and not be an aft. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:03 pm *Obviously, that didn't work.* Bevel 10:03 pm It is purple though. *so much hate* Whirl 10:03 pm I'm pretty sure she knows "hello." Windchill 10:03 pm *Windchill nods.* Whirl 10:04 pm And she knows the--*makes the interrogative beeping noise* The question. Tarantulas 10:04 pm @Prowl: ::Some humans - and mechs - are egocentric enough that they prefer to believe interpretations of others that parallel their own experience closest. That mmmight have something to do with it.:: Jetstream 10:04 pm ^that looks like a dark Spock. FakeProwl 10:04 pm *Prowl noticed. It didn't help.* KnockOot 10:04 pm SG Spock FakeProwl 10:04 pm @Tarantulas «I know damn well why they're doing it, Tarantulas.» ItsyBitsySpyers 10:04 pm [[That is because Vulcans and Romulans are related species.]] FakeProwl 10:04 pm @Tarantulas «I know because I DEAL with it every day of my life.» ItsyBitsySpyers 10:05 pm [[One highly logical, the other proudly emotional.]] [[And neither fond of the other.]] FakeProwl 10:05 pm *AND ANOTHER THING. To Soundwave:* You speak of it like it's a human problem. Whirl 10:05 pm Oh, and of course--*he makes the beep that gradually turns into a warble, which is the curse word Zori taught him* THAT one. But I don't know how well she understands it just yet. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:05 pm [[...Usually.]] Whirl 10:05 pm ((whop brb again)) Windchill 10:05 pm I'm not sure how well I understand that one... ItsyBitsySpyers 10:05 pm *Glance to Prowl.* [[We are watching humans.]] FakeProwl 10:05 pm Nearly every person on this planet would behave the exact same way. Tarantulas 10:06 pm *hums again and adds a little weight to his pettings. soothe soothe soothe* Jetstream 10:06 pm ^Unfortunately true^ ItsyBitsySpyers 10:06 pm *Zori GIGGLES and leaves Whirl's foot - ping, there's a map - to go to Windchill and whisper the INCREDIBLY VULGAR thing that last one means.* Specs 10:07 pm *the dragon tilts her head, and attempts to imitate that last beep* Windchill 10:07 pm *...* KnockOot 10:07 pm "He thinks you're hot." ItsyBitsySpyers 10:07 pm [[They would. And he does not like most of them. But we were not watching them. Were it our kind on the screen, he would acknowledge it about them as well - or now, as you speak of us.]] Windchill 10:08 pm I'm so proud....*Wipes away an imaginary tear.* Baby's first swear word...that I know of. Jetstream 10:08 pm ^hrm..^ Tarantulas 10:09 pm *strangely attracted to her dress* Whirl 10:10 pm *snickers and lowers his leg* Bevel 10:10 pm No one taught me swears when I was little. I had to learn them by myself. Whirl 10:10 pm And I think she knows "goodbye." Either way, I'm doing the good work on your behalf, Professor. Windchill 10:10 pm Very good work... Whirl 10:10 pm Well, Shovel, you need a good... *pauses* ...u-uncle? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:10 pm //Bullscrap. Ain't nobody lives with Ratchet 'n don't learn swears.//

#I will teach more soon #then you can teach! Specs 10:11 pm The docents made us eat bitter food if we swore. Whirl 10:11 pm *looks questioningly to Windchill; does that term fit?* Jetstream 10:11 pm #Can I learn?# Bevel 10:11 pm Ratchet said I could not say scrap until I had gone through scrap. 😐 Slag too. KnockOot 10:11 pm You wouldn't understand genetics, Captain. Bevel 10:11 pm *not the dinobot* Whirl 10:11 pm *salutes Zori* You got it. Windchill 10:11 pm *Shrugs up at Whirl. That's the word he's been working with.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:12 pm #...no #I do not know you

*Zori scoots close to Whirl's side.* *Strangers. Scary.* Magnum Ace 10:12 pm -what is going on anymore- Whirl 10:13 pm *feel free to scuttle up a shoulder if you need to, Zori* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:13 pm *Will* Whirl 10:13 pm I learned all the good ones in the aerial corps. Windchill 10:14 pm I learned all of my good ones from aliens. Jetstream 10:14 pm ^what.. the slag.^ Specs 10:14 pm *blinks* Ah. Well. That's something new. Jetstream 10:15 pm *Jetstream's tuning into the show now. * FakeProwl 10:15 pm *... Hm. Very curious.* KnockOot 10:15 pm Well! That's very reasonable of the Romulans! Whirl 10:15 pm (9daingit i walked out what happened....)) FakeProwl 10:15 pm ((spock snitched)) Whirl 10:15 pm ((im runnin all around this episode 6u9)) Tarantulas 10:16 pm *feels for kirk and doesn't know why* Jetstream 10:16 pm ((full on snitch. it was interesting)) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:16 pm ((spock told her that kirk is not in his right mind, wanted glory, and told them to invade romulan space)) Whirl 10:16 pm ((THANK Y'ALL)) FakeProwl 10:17 pm ... Theory: Spock CAN lie, Spock and Kirk schemed this up behind the scenes. KnockOot 10:17 pm The same way I feel about Autobots and humans. Tarantulas 10:17 pm ...I hope that's true, Prowl. Jetstream 10:17 pm ^ me too^ Bevel 10:17 pm Yeah. Whirl 10:18 pm *settles back in and once again goes into Full Horrid Gargoyle Hunker; his optic is somewhat dim, and he looks close to dozing* Bevel 10:19 pm *sits forward to watch this episode* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:19 pm *Zori gently pats Whirl. Poor snoozy helicopter.* Specs 10:19 pm ((why the sax music)) Bevel 10:19 pm ((aesthetic Windchill 10:19 pm *Beware, Whirl, Chill is still on the floor and can access your FEETS.* FakeProwl 10:19 pm ((it was a very saxy scene)) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:19 pm ((PFFF)) Bevel 10:19 pm ((lol Whirl 10:19 pm *blinks and lifts his head* Mm? Yep? Specs 10:19 pm ((puff no)) Whirl 10:19 pm ((PUFF YES)) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:19 pm #sleeeeep Whirl 10:19 pm *lays his head back down with a snort* You trying to hypnotize me? Tarantulas 10:19 pm *belatedly realizes why he feels for kirk. makes a tiny noise* Windchill 10:20 pm *Glossa extends slowly.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:20 pm #no! #you look sleepy #you should sleep #we will stay here #to guard Specs 10:20 pm Oh, is she going to feed him, or eat him? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:20 pm [[...The second.]] *Small huff.* Tarantulas 10:21 pm ...Her hair doesn't move when she moves her head. That - bothers me, for some reason. Whirl 10:21 pm Pfft. I will, in a little bit. Sorry. I'm not bored with the company-- *gesturesa to his possee* Just been sleeping on the wing the past few weeks. *he is blissfully unaware of the Dreaded Tongue* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:21 pm #that is okay! #rest here Windchill 10:21 pm *Ignorance is not bliss, my friend.* *If Whirl feels a sudden, wet tickle on the underside of his foot, there's a reason.* Specs 10:22 pm *the dragon DOES preen herself now* Zori is the best guard, too. But I can act as snack delivery. Whirl 10:22 pm *REFLEXIVELY KICKS* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:22 pm #snaaaaacks Whirl 10:22 pm The frag?! Specs 10:22 pm *passes a treat to Zori* Whirl 10:22 pm This message has been removed. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:23 pm *nibble nibble* Bevel 10:23 pm *it was not her promise* Windchill 10:23 pm *Tongue = bruised, but it's long so his face narrowly escaped.* Me tongue hurty. Whirl 10:23 pm *twists himself like a pretzel to look under the table* ... I should have expected that. You tongue deservey. Magnum Ace 10:23 pm -reflexively DUCKS when Whirl kicks- Jetstream 10:24 pm ^I'm sorry. the what?^ KnockOot 10:24 pm ohhh Windchill 10:24 pm *Bats his lashes coyly.* FakeProwl 10:24 pm ... The captain is definitely not dead. Is the doctor in on it, too? Specs 10:24 pm His chest is moving. KnockOot 10:24 pm Maybe they resurrect him with Dark Energon. Windchill 10:24 pm This has to be a trick. *He's kind of watching the show, barely.* Magnum Ace 10:24 pm -What just happened?- Whirl 10:24 pm *sternly points a claw* No licking. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:24 pm [[No dark energon.]] KnockOot 10:24 pm I mean, humans do live on Unicron, that basically makes them zombies, right? Windchill 10:24 pm No licking? Specs 10:24 pm I don't think one typically uses narcotics to revive people. Whirl 10:24 pm Nope. Windchill 10:24 pm Aw.... Magnum Ace 10:24 pm Wait. Unicron? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:24 pm *Soundwave nods to Prowl. Smart mech.* [[Unicron. A corrupt devourer of worlds.]] KnockOot 10:25 pm Yes, in my universe Earth and Unicron are one and the same. Windchill 10:25 pm Okay...no licking... Whirl 10:25 pm You'll live, mech. *more amused than actually stern at this point* Jetstream 10:25 pm ^ok so it WAS as fake as it sounded^ Windchill 10:25 pm I guess...but my spark is broken... How will I go on? *Hand over spark* Magnum Ace 10:26 pm He does what now? Whirl 10:26 pm There are so many wonderful things and wonderful other people for you to lick. Go forth, and find them. Windchill 10:26 pm Whirl please, not in front of Zori. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:26 pm [[He consumes worlds.]] KnockOot 10:26 pm *snickers* Whirl 10:26 pm ....I hope that's not intended to be a disguise. FakeProwl 10:27 pm ... Pfff. Jetstream 10:27 pm ^it is.^ Whirl 10:27 pm Hilarious. Jetstream 10:27 pm ^primus help us it is^ Windchill 10:27 pm Man. KnockOot 10:27 pm Needs a sassy mustache. Windchill 10:27 pm I wish I had eyebrows like that. Specs 10:27 pm The fake fur is hilarious. Did they shave a Romulan to get that? Magnum Ace 10:27 pm Should I be worried? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:27 pm [[Doubtful. He has never seen your kind in a timeline where that is the case.]] KnockOot 10:27 pm Oh myyyy ItsyBitsySpyers 10:28 pm *Soundwave tilts his helm.* Whirl 10:28 pm Booze is a pretty good inducement, I gotta say. FakeProwl 10:28 pm It's not logical to switch sides because you like their food better. That isn't even a good lie. Jetstream 10:28 pm ^moron. why'd you drink that?^ KnockOot 10:28 pm And fun company~ Magnum Ace 10:28 pm ...right then... Windchill 10:28 pm Nah. FakeProwl 10:28 pm Spock was only half telling the truth. Vulcans CAN lie, but they probably shouldn't. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:28 pm [[She is also offering him a ship, and understanding. Which some clearly do not give him, as of the last episode.]] Windchill 10:28 pm *Aw shit. He owes Rumble a drink. He forgot.* Magnum Ace 10:28 pm -making a note to ask more about it later, though- ItsyBitsySpyers 10:28 pm [[...But you are right.]] Whirl 10:29 pm Well, he's half vulcan, so a half-truth'd fit, eh? Heh. FakeProwl 10:29 pm THOSE are logical reasons to switch sides. Not food. KnockOot 10:29 pm What's illogical about food? Windchill 10:29 pm I like food... FakeProwl 10:29 pm ... I'd worry that she might pick up on that, but Spock is the only person in this show with a full brain, so. Jetstream 10:29 pm ^would you switch from bot to con or vice versa for it?^ Windchill 10:30 pm *When you have to scavenge for scraps though, food is a pretty high selling point.* Specs 10:30 pm I like to think that I could make cuisine that would be a recruitment incentive. *the dragon shakes her fur and cranes her neck archly, before gaping a grin and settling back down* But giving it to my friends is better, I think. Tarantulas 10:30 pm *squints hard at screen* Whirl 10:30 pm Ohh. She's not just offering him booze. KnockOot 10:30 pm Yeeessss, stay with this lady. Whirl 10:30 pm She's trying to boink him. FakeProwl 10:30 pm *why does she say "Romulan women aren't dedicated to logic and the sterility of non-emotion" like that's a selling point? that sounds dreadful.* Windchill 10:30 pm This is the worst attempt at flirting I've seen in a while. Whirl 10:31 pm It really is. KnockOot 10:31 pm She's saying that Romulan organics like to get it on more than Vulcan organics. FakeProwl 10:31 pm @Soundwave «... This IS flirting, right?» Specs 10:31 pm Or to get it on more creatively. Whirl 10:31 pm *with faint amusement* She's hasn't even killed anything dangerous yet. And brought him the corpse. Specs 10:31 pm Or both. Jetstream 10:31 pm ^...ok. I like this guy. he's unpredictable^ *pointing at Whirl.* Windchill 10:31 pm Right? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:31 pm @Prowl: [[It is.]] Windchill 10:31 pm No puns either. FakeProwl 10:31 pm @Soundwave «Right. Thought so. It's dreadful.» Whirl 10:32 pm *bobs his head at Jetstream* The MOST unpredictable. Windchill 10:32 pm I for one, *he rest his hand on his chest again,* cannot be seduced without puns. Specs 10:32 pm *nods at Whirl* She should at least have brought him something by now. Maybe multiple, or something impressive. Windchill 10:32 pm Really bad ones. Tarantulas 10:32 pm (( they should have played the saxy music now FakeProwl 10:32 pm ((*careless whisper plays*)) Whirl 10:32 pm Is that how Gigantor landed you? Specs 10:32 pm ((PUFF NO)) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:32 pm *Soundwave huffs and nods. It is terrible, but he finds it amusing.* Windchill 10:32 pm Among other things, bucko. Consider me seduced. KnockOot 10:33 pm *makes the transforming sound* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:33 pm //Pfff!// Specs 10:33 pm *cackles* Good one! Jetstream 10:33 pm *wijix 'claps'* Tarantulas 10:33 pm I'd much rather see her transform into an alt mode than whatever she's likely to do at the moment, honestly. Whirl 10:33 pm *to the dragon* I know, right? Her game's weak. *all right, Knock Out, you might have gotten a snrk from him, too* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:34 pm [[Still. It does prove what the Dax Trill said - that there are many who find him attractive.]] Tarantulas 10:34 pm ...Well, that's not an AWFUL dress. Specs 10:34 pm *blinks* That's not a prey item. Windchill 10:34 pm Her hair still doesn't move. Jetstream 10:34 pm ^not impressed.^ FakeProwl 10:34 pm ((git it)) Whirl 10:34 pm ((VULCAN MAKIN OUT)) Specs 10:34 pm She took that long, and she didn't bring anything back? For shame. KnockOot 10:34 pm Maybe she's wearing a helm. Bevel 10:34 pm ((sexy hand touching aw yeah KnockOot 10:34 pm Heh. Whirl 10:34 pm Why're they making claws with their fingers? FakeProwl 10:35 pm @Soundwave «Do other people think "we're not as logical as your people" is an attractive trait, or is the audience intended to think that's as silly as it is?» *Prowl supposes that's a rhetorical question more than anything. But it still strikes him as bizarre.* Specs 10:35 pm Maybe they have reproductive organs on their hands? Windchill 10:35 pm *SNICKERS.* Whirl 10:35 pm Talk about inconvenient, pfft. Windchill 10:35 pm I don't know. Jetstream 10:35 pm #tons of tiny ones?# KnockOot 10:35 pm Don't need reproductive organs to have a good time. Windchill 10:36 pm I like hands as much as the next mech, but that was...weird. Jetstream 10:36 pm #and you know this how?# ^Wijix!^ ItsyBitsySpyers 10:36 pm [[Vulcans are... sparing with physical contact. It is a restrained form of affectionate touch.]] Pause. [[And they are also somewhat telepathic.]] KnockOot 10:36 pm Maybe they have sensitive hands like medics. Whirl 10:36 pm Huh. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:37 pm @Prowl: [[There are others who believe that is an attractive trait. We, obviously, are not of their number.]] FakeProwl 10:37 pm @Soundwave «Obviously.» *And that was what he was actually hoping to hear.* Jetstream 10:37 pm ^she's still in the dress.^ Whirl 10:38 pm A heist. Nice. Windchill 10:38 pm I'm just glad that...'sensual' scene is over. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:38 pm *That others find a lack of logic attractive?* FakeProwl 10:38 pm *That Soundwave is not of their number.* Specs 10:38 pm *snrk* Whirl 10:38 pm Weak. That deserved a punch. Specs 10:39 pm At least. Or a disembowelment! Or perhaps biting his face off. Windchill 10:39 pm Phew, that's why you don't make out with your enemies. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:39 pm //I think bitin' his face off's what she was GONNA do.// Whirl 10:39 pm A nice chomp would do, if you've got the mouth for it. PFFT. FakeProwl 10:40 pm @Soundwave «... You noted that was a form of affection for those who are physically sparing and telepathic. Should I be holding your hand more?» Windchill 10:40 pm *He's gonna look real coy, there.* Specs 10:40 pm *doesn't even bother stifling a snicker* Whirl 10:41 pm *don't you look coy, whirl ain't made out with any of HIS enemies* *only his friends* Windchill 10:41 pm *TECHNICALLY SPEAKING.* Whirl 10:41 pm *YOU'RE A NAIL AND YOU KNOW IT* Windchill 10:41 pm *TECHNICALLY NO.* Tarantulas 10:42 pm *is starting to get antsy, leans on prowl* KnockOot 10:42 pm Those brows. Whirl 10:42 pm *officially classified as a neutral in whirl's filing system* FakeProwl 10:42 pm *leans into Tarantulas's weight* Windchill 10:43 pm *Darn, you, Whirl's Filing System. Thwarted again!* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:43 pm @Prowl: [[...It is not required, or specific to his timeline's version of our species.]] Slight shift. [[But he would find it enjoyable, if you wished to do it. Physical contact with you is pleasant.]]

Prowl might remember that Soundwave mentioned it before inquiring about a relationship, roughly a year ago. Whirl 10:44 pm *you've been re-categorized, Rumble* Magnum Ace 10:44 pm ...they weren't prepared for that? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:44 pm *Oh, oh, did he get moved up to Total Badass?* Windchill 10:44 pm *Sighs.* Whirl 10:44 pm *Rumble was always that. He's officially 1.5 friend. More than friend* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:45 pm *An honor* Tarantulas 10:45 pm *snrk* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:45 pm [[...Fascinating.]] Jetstream 10:45 pm #sorcery!# Specs 10:45 pm *the dragon keeps trying not to giggle at the eyebrows, they look so weird! they don't look right on the naked organics!* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:45 pm [[And more efficient than our own was. For once.]] Bevel 10:45 pm That cloaking device is really cool. Whirl 10:46 pm Kinda takes the fun out of it, if you ask me. KnockOot 10:46 pm Wow, Kirk. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:46 pm //Pfff!// ItsyBitsySpyers 10:46 pm //Takes the fun out how?// Windchill 10:46 pm Pfft. I don't need to be invisible. Whirl 10:46 pm Makes the fight too easy. And, more importantly--it makes showing off WAY harder. Jetstream 10:47 pm can confirm. had one once. ^ Windchill 10:47 pm *As much as people might be spared from having to look at him, this is sadly not the case.* Jetstream 10:47 pm *twas Jetstream* Whirl 10:47 pm *not even invisibility could hide windchill's huge butt* Windchill 10:47 pm *Nothing can hide that huge butt.* FakeProwl 10:47 pm *... This is a very poor time to flirt, Spock.* Windchill 10:47 pm *The Twerkinator.* FakeProwl 10:48 pm @Soundwave «I would find it enjoyable as well.» Whirl 10:49 pm *blinks very slowly; dozing off again* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:49 pm *Soundwave turns his hand over, then.*

[[They do look better on Spock, in as much as any organic feature does.]] Windchill 10:49 pm Whirl. Whirl. Whirl. Wub. Whirl 10:49 pm *blinks* mm? Wh--PFFT. Wub. Windchill 10:49 pm Wub. Specs 10:50 pm *the dragon stretches and yawns* I can't doze off here. Best be heading back before I fall asleep too. Thanks for having me, Soundwave. See you all next time? Whirl 10:50 pm *to his gathered friends, gravely* His little one calls me Wub. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:50 pm [[You are welcome, dragon. Return as you will.]] Whirl 10:50 pm Seeya, dragon. Windchill 10:50 pm *Beams proudly.* Specs 10:50 pm *the dragon shakes herself and trots off* FakeProwl 10:50 pm *... Prowl meant AFTER everyone was gone. But you know what, he'll take the hand.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:50 pm *And that will mean all the more. Now, is Tarantulas asleep over there...?* Jetstream 10:50 pm *cue Wijix dancing* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:51 pm *Soundwave slowly stretches a feeler toward his face and moves to tap a mandible with a tendril* FakeProwl 10:51 pm *As long as they don't start swinging it around or touching each other's faces in front of everyone.* Windchill 10:51 pm *Pokes Whirl's foot.* Whirl 10:51 pm All right, you losers. I gotta get a good night's sleep in. ugh, I did nothing for three weeks and I'm STILL tired, this is lame. *pokes back* Windchill 10:51 pm You're lame. Bevel 10:51 pm Night, Whirl! Whirl 10:51 pm You're objectively wrong. Tarantulas 10:51 pm *no, just leaning on prowl still. a mandible flicks out at the feeler* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:51 pm //Kay. Seeya next time, huh? Don't get trapped again, heh.// Windchill 10:51 pm I'm always wrong. Jetstream 10:51 pm ^Wijix. Whirlwind'll have my hide if we don't get back. Whirl it was a pleasure.^ Whirl 10:51 pm I'll be here if I can. And, pfft, believe me--I don't plan on it. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:52 pm *The feeler darts back and... imitates a spider cleaning its face. As he learned when Prowl was in the hospital.* Whirl 10:52 pm *salutes Jetstream, and, with n o small amount of smugness* Of course it was, mech. Magnum Ace 10:52 pm Good night? ItsyBitsySpyers 10:52 pm ((*touches spide face*, three seconds before prowl goes "as long as nobody's touching faces)) Whirl 10:52 pm ((HEHHEE)) Tarantulas 10:52 pm *snickers* I'm not about to mimic you back at the moment, Soundwave. (( l m a o Jetstream 10:53 pm ^uh and... ^ *never caught Prowl's name* ^ .. you. was interesting commenting on that show with you.^ Whirl 10:53 pm ((sorry to duck out so soon but for the next three weeks my schedule requires me to be up at 5am so i must sleep :') )) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:53 pm ((oh my gosh GET REST)) FakeProwl 10:53 pm ... Huh? Bevel 10:53 pm *stretches her back* Tarantulas 10:53 pm (( sleeeeeeep Windchill 10:53 pm (( Good luck my frien )) Bevel 10:53 pm ((ewww sleep is very important for 5am work yes FakeProwl 10:53 pm *He didn't actually realize they were conversing together. He was talking to his own couch.* Er. Sure. Whirl 10:53 pm *bobs his head to the room* Unless i get trapped by the dark and mysterious forces of... *shudders* bureaucracy again, see you next week. I'll try and make Teach's night, too, if I can. Windchill 10:54 pm Bye, Sucker. Jetstream 10:54 pm * they weren't. more saying similar things through the show* Whirl 10:54 pm Bye, loser. Windchill 10:54 pm That's me! Jetstream 10:54 pm *he wasn't saying it was nice talking with him. he didn't talk with him* *and we out!* Magnum Ace 10:55 pm .... ItsyBitsySpyers 10:55 pm //Blurr'll like that. Seeya// Salute. Whirl 10:55 pm *pauses long enough to call through the doorway* La Mer! Next time, Soundwave! *and he will salute Rumble back* Hell, I will too. Windchill 10:55 pm *He knows this one.* Whirl 10:55 pm *now off to scout out a place to crash* Tarantulas 10:56 pm *waves lazily with a spide leg at whirl* Windchill 10:56 pm *Spreads out on the floor, humming.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:56 pm *Disappointed feeler withdrawal. Ah well. If he'd kept Tarantulas busy, he might've been able to ask Bevel something.* Tarantulas 10:57 pm *get creative, sw* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:57 pm *...To Pit with it. There are such things as secure lines.* Bevel 10:57 pm *secure lines are totally creative* Tarantulas 10:57 pm *heh, that also works. tarantulas isn't in a hacking mood at the moment* Magnum Ace 10:58 pm -so, he's just...going to move away from the sprawling large mech- ItsyBitsySpyers 10:58 pm @Bevel: [[He did not have the chance to ask you his question last time. Would you find it rude if he - or others - were to ask you questions about your shape-changing abilities?]] Tarantulas 10:58 pm @Prowl: Were you "huh"-ing at me, dear? FakeProwl 10:59 pm What? Tarantulas 10:59 pm Oh, just a moment ago. Nevermind if it's of no concern. *pets doors* FakeProwl 10:59 pm Oh. No. Someone over... *gestures vaguely* There said something toward me. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:59 pm *Zori does a little dance to the music on the table where Whirl had been, happy that he can actually move a little more now with all these segments* *Rumble snorts and joins him without leaving his seat. It's not really his jam, but the Bug seems to be having a good time, so why not? Bevel 11:00 pm *perk up slightly at the sudden private comm* @Soundwave: Oh! I forgot to remind you. I do not mind questions! Windchill 11:01 pm *Spreads out more, like melted butter but less savoury.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:02 pm @Bevel: [[Then both he and Prowl have some to ask soon. Curiosity, for each, and historical records for himself.]] Bevel 11:02 pm *moves slightly away from the butter bot* Windchill 11:02 pm *He might get his stink on you WATCH OUT.* *COOTIES BEWARE.* Magnum Ace 11:02 pm -trying to find a higher surface he can reach- Bevel 11:03 pm @Soundwave: Prowl too? *she thinks about this for a half moment and nods* Yeah ok. *ew cooties* Windchill 11:03 pm *Gross sobbing sounds.* Whirl's gone..he...left me. All alone... Bevel 11:03 pm I think he was tired. Windchill 11:03 pm *Surrounded by people.* He looked really tired. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:04 pm *Soundwave watches Magnum Ace curiously. Does he mean to touch the ceiling tonight?* Windchill 11:04 pm But I have to be dramatic, doesn't matter if I understand. It's obligatory. Tarantulas 11:04 pm I quite sympathize with you, Windchill. Windchill 11:04 pm Oh yeah? Magnum Ace 11:04 pm -no, he was back on the floor, he wants back up now- Bevel 11:05 pm You have to be? Windchill 11:05 pm Yes. Bevel 11:05 pm *Bevel is happy to help Magnum Ace back up if they need it* Windchill 11:05 pm I wouldn't be ME if I wasn't dramatic. Magnum Ace 11:05 pm -If he was up that high, it meant he was about to pull some stupidly overpowered strike that shouldn't be done indoors- Windchill 11:05 pm Unnecessary drama makes up the bulk of my decisions and personality, after all. KnockOot 11:06 pm That's the spirit! Go big or go home. Windchill 11:06 pm And... I have a lot of bulk. *GASPS.* FakeProwl 11:06 pm *... Sneaks glance at rest of the room.* Bevel 11:06 pm I guess. Tarantulas 11:06 pm *squints amusedly at the giant-ass mech on the floor. yes* Windchill 11:07 pm *He likes this movie and this song.* *There's only one way to cheer himself after Whirl's leaving.* FakeProwl 11:07 pm *Look at that. The attractive doctor AND a star baseball pitcher, both on the same night. And Prowl wasn't even able to enjoy them because he had to focus all of his attention on Spock.* Windchill 11:07 pm *That is* *To Sing.* FakeProwl 11:08 pm *Maybe they'll come back next week.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:08 pm *Oh, he remembers this song. And Windchill's singing? Record record.*

*Prowl -could- go speak to them now.* Windchill 11:08 pm *It doesn't sound the same as the original, he only sings Soprano so far as anyone knows.* Tarantulas 11:08 pm *...how's windchill's singing. is it decent* KnockOot 11:08 pm *hums along* Bevel 11:08 pm *this is too high for her to sing even if she likes it quite a bit* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:09 pm *Soundwave, obviously, will not be singing a damned thing.* FakeProwl 11:09 pm *Nope. Can't do. He used up his One (1) icebreaker on the pitcher.* Magnum Ace 11:09 pm -well, he's not going anywhere. He still has no idea how he is getting home- Windchill 11:09 pm *It's decent when he wants it to be. Often, though, he finds singing poorly is more fun and hilarious.* Tarantulas 11:09 pm *fairfair* Bevel 11:09 pm *ok technically she could mimic him perfectly but that's only fun sometimes* Windchill 11:09 pm *For now, there's some effort put into it, albeit not more than necessary to carry the tune.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:10 pm *A little vocalized request for assistance never hurts, little baseball star* Tarantulas 11:10 pm *so long as windchill's not screeching off-tune, we're good* KnockOot 11:10 pm ((They used milk for this scene ((And he had a hellishly high fever Magnum Ace 11:10 pm ((damn Windchill 11:10 pm (( That's both fascinating and terrifying.)) *Not tonight, you've all been spared.* FakeProwl 11:10 pm ((I knew about the fever. all that milk, tho. that's horrible)) Tarantulas 11:10 pm (( at least he was probably cooling off in the rain ??? Magnum Ace 11:10 pm -once he's done watching this, it's interesting- KnockOot 11:11 pm ((I know right?? Windchill 11:11 pm *Hmm, this doesn't sound overly familiar.* Magnum Ace 11:11 pm -okay, song over, time to get help. Again- KnockOot 11:11 pm *looks over at Prowl* Bevel 11:12 pm ((I love Good Morning so much more because OT3 but Singin' in the Rain is suc a fun song Magnum Ace 11:12 pm ...Soundwave, was it? Windchill 11:13 pm *Opens his mouth to retort with an ominous, 'Soundwave isn't here,' but shuts it.* *He's kind of behaving.* FakeProwl 11:13 pm *loOKS AWAY* Magnum Ace 11:13 pm Do you mind helping me get home, again? Tarantulas 11:13 pm *notices the look/look away, hmm* FakeProwl 11:14 pm *Oh look a way for him to insert himself into the conversation!* You've helped him get home before? KnockOot 11:14 pm *oh well, Knock Out is used to being looked at* *looks back at the screen* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:14 pm [[Wednesday. But if you'd like the honor...]] Magnum Ace 11:14 pm ...? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:14 pm [[He did bridge Swoop, himself.]] *Rumble hops up and goes to prod Knock Out with a claw* FakeProwl 11:15 pm ... Hold on. KnockOot 11:15 pm ((Wow, right now the music is PERFECTLY syncing with the Dracula gif on Astrotrain's blog. ((It is hilarious ItsyBitsySpyers 11:15 pm ((LOL)) KnockOot 11:15 pm Hey Rumble! How goes it? FakeProwl 11:16 pm *Looks at Magnum Ace.* If you need help getting home—how did you even get here? Before I talked to you you'd never made contact with an alien before, now under a week later you're exploring Cybertron? KnockOot 11:16 pm You're one of those sports bots, right? I watched your exploits in Smokescreen's stream! Magnum Ace 11:16 pm I have no idea. I was supposed to be going to the rec room. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:16 pm //It goes. Listen - you got good cleanin' stuff, right?// Windchill 11:17 pm You guys... KnockOot 11:17 pm Sure do. What's up? Windchill 11:17 pm I'm covered in... GERMS. Bevel 11:17 pm *since no further questions are forthcoming tonight, Bevel is going to go. She has to write a resume. Very important.* Windchill 11:17 pm *Wiggles on the floor to spread more germs.* FakeProwl 11:17 pm ... The rec room. On what planet? KnockOot 11:17 pm *daintily pulls his legs up* Magnum Ace 11:17 pm Earth. Like last time. Tarantulas 11:18 pm Earth? KnockOot 11:18 pm Bye, Bevel! Windchill 11:18 pm *Did he hear Earth?* Tarantulas 11:18 pm *is suddenly in this convo now, don't mind him* Magnum Ace 11:18 pm Yes, Earth. FakeProwl 11:18 pm ... You were walking to a rec room on Earth and you ended up on Cybertron. Magnum Ace 11:18 pm Bevel said it was something that the multiverse pulls sometimes? Windchill 11:18 pm Hey, man, that could happen. *Nods sagely from the floor, butting in.* Happens to me all the time. KnockOot 11:19 pm Sounds about right for the multiverse. Windchill 11:19 pm It's how I officially met Whirl, even. He'll tell you. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:19 pm //Good polish. We kinda stole Ravage's t' shine the Bug up tonight. He's gonna flip.// FakeProwl 11:20 pm *Opens mouth. ... Shuts mouth.* Right. Well. Welcome to Cybertron. Magnum Ace 11:20 pm ...so it is a common thing? KnockOot 11:20 pm *tsks, but looks pretty amused* FakeProwl 11:20 pm You should maybe avoid that door. And tell others to avoid it. If a human walks through next time, they'll suffocate. Windchill 11:20 pm I think so? Magnum Ace 11:20 pm Thank you? KnockOot 11:20 pm Got anything to trade? Magnum Ace 11:20 pm The last time it was the door to the workroom, though ItsyBitsySpyers 11:21 pm //Almost anythin' this joint got in storage, I got. Whatcha lookin' for?// KnockOot 11:21 pm Some really high class high grade. FakeProwl 11:21 pm ... *Glances at Soundwave.* That's a problem. Some kind of wormhole, it sounds like. Any way to close it? Windchill 11:22 pm *Block the hole with Windchill's fat ass.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:22 pm *Rumble leans close to whisper conspiratorially.* //Now, I dunno if you noticed, but...// *Waves a hand at the bar.* Magnum Ace 11:22 pm I would appreciate it. We don't need any of the humans coming here on accident KnockOot 11:23 pm *grins, also leaning close* 'S why I asked. I'll leave it to you to choose the kind. Trusting your judgement here, Rumble. *reaches in his subspace for polish, because of course he has some on hand* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:23 pm [[...Perhaps, but he would ask Tarantulas first. It took us over a year to discover how to undo the overlapped territories we accidentally created, and his notes are only partial ones. Part of being forced off the ship without all of his files.]] Magnum Ace 11:24 pm So...for now just check the doors before a human goes through them? FakeProwl 11:24 pm Especially when your world hasn't made official first contact yet. *So much for steering the situation in a way that could be advantageous to the leaguers, if this progresses.* Tarantulas 11:24 pm You created what how where?? *tarantulas has heard neither hide nor hair of this, sw, pls explain* FakeProwl 11:25 pm Unless there's something better that can be done? *Glances at Soundwave again.* I don't have experience with this. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:26 pm *Rumble hops over to the bar to dig through bottles.* //Where's Ratbat when you need'im...// *Mumble mumble.* KnockOot 11:26 pm *vaguely* Thought you booted him out or something. Windchill 11:27 pm *Dozes a little: a practice round before going home to sleep for real.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:28 pm //Well, yeah.// *Dig dig.* //...You like Crystal City stuff?//

*Soundwave leans around Prowl to look at Tarantulas for a moment.* [[Overlapped territories. One human land mass temporarily shared space with another.]] KnockOot 11:28 pm Damn right I do. Magnum Ace 11:28 pm Ah...so...I guess for now I have to be careful? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:28 pm *And now back to Magnum Ace and Prowl.* [[He supposes an effort could be made to try to contain it, but...]] KnockOot 11:29 pm *nudges Windchill with his foot* Still covered in germs? Windchill 11:29 pm *Opens an optic. Luckily, he doesn't startle easily unless he wants to, for drama.* Always. I'm a dirty boy. Magnum Ace 11:29 pm So far it has only been on the lower level, if that helps? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:29 pm [[Until the actual stabilization, sending some sort of probe through before arriving and banning human access would be best.]] KnockOot 11:30 pm *leans his chin on his hand* You know Shrapnelle, don't you? I can tell from your large lovely hand. *hands Tarantulas 11:30 pm @SW: You mean spacetime coexistence of multiversal land masses, or? And when? I'm confused by your wording, I think. Windchill 11:30 pm ...I assume you're talking to me, as I do know a Shrapnelle. KnockOot 11:30 pm Mmhm, mmhm. FakeProwl 11:30 pm Have you heard of any other similar incidents elsewhere on your world? Or is what you're experiencing the only such trouble you know of? Windchill 11:30 pm One eye, sings bass, says 'fuck' a lot? KnockOot 11:31 pm Bless her Windchill 11:31 pm She grabbed my dick once. *TMI? NEVER.* KnockOot 11:31 pm Did she give it back? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:31 pm @Tarantulas: [[Are you familiar with Earth and its individual territories?]] Magnum Ace 11:31 pm So far, only myself. Windchill 11:31 pm Yeah. Tarantulas 11:31 pm @SW: Yes, quite. What of them? Windchill 11:31 pm I... Don't know what my hands have to do with her. KnockOot 11:33 pm Let's compare! *holds up his own hand* Windchill 11:33 pm *He's gonna squint, and try to figure that one out.* 'Kay. FakeProwl 11:33 pm Hm. I suppose that makes sense... I haven't even been able to access your planet's Internet, yet I've managed to make contact with you and one of your teammates—suggesting that whatever... spacetime phenomenon is connecting your universe into the broader multiverse is localized, physically, where you are. Windchill 11:33 pm *Holds up a hand for comparison.* KnockOot 11:33 pm *Vulcan / Romulan hand make-outs* FakeProwl 11:33 pm *Pokes Tarantulas* Does that sound reasonable? Windchill 11:33 pm *Gasps.* Her germs..Are on our hands... KnockOot 11:34 pm *gasps too* Windchill 11:34 pm *Wiggles his giant fingers.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:34 pm @Tarantulas: [[The one known as... Louisiana, he believes, temporarily shared space with the one labeled Texas. Humans and mechs flying or driving through the first would find that their navigational systems registered them as flying or driving through the second. And then back on the correct path when they exited it.]] KnockOot 11:34 pm ((*chortles* Windchill 11:34 pm (( Good lort. )) Tarantulas 11:34 pm @Prowl: Yes, of course. It hasn't happened to any of his associates, has it? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:34 pm @Tarantulas: [[We lost several Vehicons for over a year because of that.]] KnockOot 11:34 pm See? Only the largest and loveliest. Windchill 11:35 pm ..You mean to tell me she has a large hand fetish? I feel so scandalized. KnockOot 11:35 pm Do you feel used? Windchill 11:35 pm I should have known... She only wanted me for my large hands... And not my body. Tarantulas 11:36 pm @SW: Oh goodness. You said notes - do you still have any? KnockOot 11:36 pm Well, not all of your body. Windchill 11:36 pm *Priorities.* *Covers his optics with his other hand and fakes dramatic giggle-sobs.* Betrayal... FakeProwl 11:36 pm ... One of his associates made comm contact with me, but—Magnum Ace, you said that you're the only one who's had such an experience yet, right? Have you told anyone back on Earth about it? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:37 pm @Tarantulas: [[Partial. But only for use helping this being.]] *Subtle hand motion toward Magnum Ace.* [[And only with Prowl's permission.]] KnockOot 11:37 pm *fake sympathetically pats his back* Windchill 11:37 pm I can never love again... KnockOot 11:37 pm What about lust? FakeProwl 11:38 pm What? *Heard his name. ... In his head heard his name.* Magnum Ace 11:38 pm As far as I know, and no, I have not told anyone else FakeProwl 11:38 pm It's possible your teammates have had similar experiences and not told anyone else. Have any of them, leaguer or human, disappeared recently and not reappeared? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:39 pm *Belatedly, Rumble hands Knock Out a good big cube of The Good Slag. Because the mun forgot.* Windchill 11:39 pm Lust? Magnum Ace 11:39 pm Not recently. Tarantulas 11:39 pm *hums and waits for prowl/magnum ace to finish* KnockOot 11:39 pm Why thank you~ *hands him the polish* Windchill 11:39 pm *Lowers his crying hand to scratch his chin.* *As fake as his act might have been, actual tears smear his cheeks.* Hmm. I'm gonna say... FakeProwl 11:40 pm "Not RECENTLY"? ItsyBitsySpyers 11:40 pm *Rumble subspaces it and shoots KO a thumbs up before jogging back to Zori* Windchill 11:40 pm HELL YEAH. Magnum Ace 11:42 pm -trying to figure out how to explain compulsory retirement, and if he wants to- Windchill 11:42 pm *Wipes his gross face.* Tarantulas 11:43 pm Was it in any way seemingly quote-unquote supernatural or without explanation otherwise? Because you DID say you've never made alien contact before on your Earth. Magnum Ace 11:43 pm There are...other reasons for a Leaguer to go missing and never appear again.. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:43 pm *That's got his attention.*

[[What other reasons.]] FakeProwl 11:43 pm ... I meant "disappear" and you DON'T know where they went. Magnum Ace 11:44 pm -phew- Then, no, none have done that, Prowl. Windchill 11:44 pm *RAISES HAND.* FakeProwl 11:44 pm I'm trying to establish a pattern of random teleportation on your planet. THAT problem, we're going to deal with later. Windchill 11:44 pm *Whirl isn't here to use his teacher voice but he's gonna try anyway.* Magnum Ace 11:45 pm -he's beginning to feel like he got in over his head- ItsyBitsySpyers 11:47 pm //Whatcha raisin' hands for?// Magnum Ace 11:47 pm Right. No, nothing else like this has happened before. Windchill 11:47 pm For attention... FakeProwl 11:48 pm Then it might still be containable. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:48 pm //Well, ya got it. Whatcha need it for?// Tarantulas 11:48 pm Certainly. And - the last location you jumped to was here, correct? Or was it Blurr's...? Windchill 11:48 pm I don't. Magnum Ace 11:49 pm Blurr's. He was the one with the...fangs and claws, right? Windchill 11:49 pm *Well, maybe he has a question for teleportation guy, but seeing as they're probably feeling interrogated already, it's not important.* Tarantulas 11:49 pm Hyeheh, yes, that's him. Magnum Ace 11:50 pm Then, yes, his place. FakeProwl 11:50 pm *Winces. THAT'S unfortunate.* Tarantulas 11:50 pm Soundwave, who was there last week and also here this week? Windchill 11:50 pm *Puts his hand down, having gained 0.02 seconds of attention. About average.* Magnum Ace 11:51 pm -It was. He felt like Blurr was going to try and eat him. But it was only a joke...right?- ItsyBitsySpyers 11:52 pm ((makin me do RESEARCH just a sec)) Tarantulas 11:52 pm (( IM SORRY Magnum Ace 11:52 pm ((-pats- ItsyBitsySpyers 11:53 pm [[Bevel, Magnum Ace, himself, Ravage, and Rumble.]] [[He believes Windchill has something to ask as well.]] *Point.* FakeProwl 11:53 pm ... Magnum Ace, you have my comm line, correct? If you find yourself lost again and need help getting home—or just somewhere safe—you can comm me at any time. Windchill 11:53 pm *Looks around stupidly.* Magnum Ace 11:54 pm ...thank you I hope I don't have to take you up on that, though. FakeProwl 11:54 pm *Turns toward Soundwave* My avatar was there as well. Bonecrusher was piloting it, but it was from my generator. I don't know if that makes a difference, since it was only passed over comm data. But I HAVE also made comm contact with both leaguers known to have made contact with Cybertron. Tarantulas 11:55 pm ...You know, that IS probably it, I suspect. KnockOot 11:55 pm *is dozing off* FakeProwl 11:55 pm Really? Do you think comm units can do that? Magnum Ace 11:55 pm It can be something like that? Windchill 11:55 pm *How can you doze off when Elvis' hair looks that ridiculous.* FakeProwl 11:55 pm How? KnockOot 11:55 pm *his hair has hypnotized him* Windchill 11:56 pm *That explains it.* Tarantulas 11:58 pm *is squinting off* ...Give me a moment. Yesterday Windchill 11:58 pm *Stretches.* Windchill 12:00 am I should start thinking about heading out. Tarantulas 12:00 am (( magnum-mun! i should get in contact with you 😮 a few of us have to leave soon but ideas are afoot Magnum Ace 12:01 am ((sounds fun KnockOot 12:01 am Night, Windchill. FakeProwl 12:01 am ((yeh we need to talk out How it is he keeps accidentally showing up, and whether we want to solve the problem and/or make up a way for him to start voluntarily coming)) Magnum Ace 12:01 am ((we do need to do that, because there is only so many times he can pull this Windchill 12:02 am (( I don't even bother explaining how Windchill is here ever. )) Tarantulas 12:02 am (( i think tarantulas can fix it and then give him access to either a person or manner in which he can commute, but i'd like to talk it out first Windchill 12:02 am Goodnight, Not-Sucker. Magnum Ace 12:02 am (('chill just pops up ((and that would be awesome Windchill 12:02 am (( It's the will of the multiverse. )) Magnum Ace 12:03 am Good night ((it is Windchill 12:03 am (( Actually I do have an explanation but it's stupid. )) (( And it's basically the above pfft.)) (( But anyway. )) *He might ask questions...later, if he remembers and still deems them relevant.* *For now, he Hungers.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:05 am *Don't eat any of the minicons out back. Soundwave will throw a fit.* Windchill 12:06 am *The minicons aren't corpses and haven't slighted his mate, they're probably safe.* Tarantulas 12:06 am @Prowl: ....If you allow me access to Soundwave's notes - because apparently I have to ask for that - I could read up and tell you more. And possibly I'll have questions for Bonecrusher. Has your comm unit been behaving in any way erratically lately? Windchill 12:08 am *Gets up with some exaggerated groaning.* FakeProwl 12:08 am ... I recently picked up a large burst of new comm frequencies. That's not "erratic behavior" so much as "an unusual occurrence," though. But if maybe I'd suddenly gained access to several universes I wasn't able to access before, that might explain it. Magnum Ace was among that burst of new frequencies. *To Soundwave* Why is Tarantulas asking me to grant him permission to access your notes? Tarantulas 12:09 am *nods. good evidence for his hypothesis* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:09 am @Prowl: [[Because he did not know if you would trust Tarantulas with notes on how to compress and decompress spaces, given that he idolizes Shockwave.]] Magnum Ace 12:10 am ...my comms. are short-ranged only, if that helps. About the length of typical stadiums. Windchill 12:10 am *Walks for the door, slowly, dramatically, like a lethargic zombie.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:10 am [[Mind the doors, Windchill.]] [[He's filled enough broken walls from Astrotrain.]] Windchill 12:10 am The only thing I've ever broken here... Is my spark... *Gross sobbing.* FakeProwl 12:10 am @Soundwave «... If he someday decides he feels like imploding the universe I think like there are more efficient ways for him to pull it off than that.» Windchill 12:11 am *He does TRY to be careful and not actually damage things.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:11 am *Very well. But if it comes to that, he's taking the I Told You So moment.* Magnum Ace 12:11 am ...? -he'd like to know what a spark is, but later he'll ask- ItsyBitsySpyers 12:11 am [[He will deliver the notes later.]] Tarantulas 12:12 am Hyeh, much appreciated. FakeProwl 12:12 am My comms use subspace channels—they can stretch nearly indefinitely. So that doesn't prove much. Windchill 12:12 am *Stops suddenly, standing up straight.* KnockOot 12:12 am Well, I'm off . . . good night, all. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:12 am //Seeya, Doc.// Windchill 12:12 am Shitknuckles. FakeProwl 12:12 am At least, I don't think so. *Looks to Soundwave. You know more about comms.* Tarantulas 12:12 am ...Could I have your comm frequency, Magnum Ace? Windchill 12:12 am *Raises hand* Magnum Ace 12:12 am Sure. Tarantulas 12:13 am (( idk just pretend he pings it to him or smth Magnum Ace 12:13 am ...yes? ((just gonna go with that Windchill 12:13 am I still owe Rumble a drink, I forgot this time because I'm stupid or something. *Or something.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:13 am //Gimme next time. I ain't forgot.// Windchill 12:14 am I'm not promising it'll be any good, mech. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:14 am //Still want it. Could pawn it off on somebody else.// Windchill 12:15 am I GUESS that's a plan. I'll remember better...next time. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:17 am *Soundwave refrains from rubbing his crest. Too expressive in public. But this is asking too much of him without enough data. He needs to observe it in action, or test it with different comms, or -something-.*

[[He requires additional information before he can give an opinion. At the moment, he does not even have concrete locations for these 'doors', or have complete specifications for both models of comm unit.]] [[Once he has those - at the VERY least - he can begin researching.]] FakeProwl 12:17 am *Nods. Valid answer.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:18 am //You better. I got a Ravage 'n I ain't afraid to feed 'em.// ItsyBitsySpyers 12:18 am *Rumble snickers. It's an empty threat, but it sounds good.* Windchill 12:18 am ...You gonna feed Ravage an entire me? Magnum Ace 12:18 am Ah. Locations as in where they're located in the building or global coordinates? Tarantulas 12:18 am Needless to say, we'll have to be in touch, Soundwave. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:18 am [[Both. And we will.]] FakeProwl 12:19 am One set of coordinates leads to the other. Magnum Ace 12:19 am -he can get those, thankfully- ItsyBitsySpyers 12:19 am [[Providing things haven't overlapped.]] *If all doors are somehow sharing the same space as one door, he'd like to know about it.* FakeProwl 12:20 am ... If they've overlapped then they just have MORE coordinates, don't they? Magnum Ace 12:22 am -he's just...going to sit down now. He does sports, not science- ItsyBitsySpyers 12:22 am [[It will be a mess. That is all he can say.]] Tarantulas 12:22 am *it's alright, tara's got the science for you, soundwave's got the comms, and prowl's got the coordination skills* FakeProwl 12:22 am ......... Do we have any more pressing questions at the moment, or can we let him go home now? He's supposed to be training for the upcoming season. Silver Castle is the defending champion team. Tarantulas 12:23 am I've got his comm now, so no, hyeh, no more questions at the moment. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:23 am [[He has no questions as long as data is received in a timely manner.]] FakeProwl 12:23 am *PROWL'S SO PROUD OF THEM prowl's never seen them play a game.* Magnum Ace 12:23 am -Prowl will get to see last season as soon as he can get hold of Ms. Island- Windchill 12:24 am *He'll assume that yes, an entire him is intended to be consumed.* Bye, suckerrrrs. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:24 am ((i missed it 😧 yes an entire windchill consumed over time)) Windchill 12:24 am *Vanishes, probably literally once out the door.* Magnum Ace 12:24 am -because right now he's about to nod off where he's seated- Windchill 12:24 am (( I just gotta go lol no worries. )) Tarantulas 12:24 am (( *waves!* Magnum Ace 12:24 am ((g'night! FakeProwl 12:25 am Then, with your coordinates, I can send you home. *He can get to do that this time, right?* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:26 am *Yes.* Magnum Ace 12:26 am -Back to his feet- That would be appriciated FakeProwl 12:27 am Coordinates? ItsyBitsySpyers 12:27 am *If Mags here doesn't have them, Soundwave will send them.* Tarantulas 12:28 am *suddenly* Should we call you Magnum, or Ace, or the full Magnum Ace? Magnum Ace 12:30 am Hmn? I don't mind, most of my team calls me Magnum anyway. -and he still has the star chart, if Prowl wants that?- Tarantulas 12:31 am Very well then, Magnum. A pleasure to meet you. FakeProwl 12:31 am *That will require a lot more questions in order to yield actual universe coordinates, he'll take already-calculated coordinates from Soundwave.* Magnum Ace 12:32 am -it's what he used to get home. Was a very interesting trip- ItsyBitsySpyers 12:33 am *They're sent. As is the star chart he got the other night that was just offered. Just in case Prowl decides to visit some day.* FakeProwl 12:34 am *Not until he's ready to blow some humans' minds.* Magnum Ace 12:34 am -Just don't scare Owner. She's a really nice human- FakeProwl 12:34 am *you call her Owner.* *Right then. Bridge open next to Magnum.* There's your ride. Ping me when you get through so I know you reached the correct location. *Just in case. Planets move, Prowl didn't see how Soundwave did his math.* Magnum Ace 12:36 am -She owns Silver Castle, and he joined willingly- Magnum Ace 12:37 am Thank you. I'll do that. -And off he goes- Tarantulas 12:37 am (( night!! Magnum Ace 12:39 am ((mun is coming off a caffeine rush. whooo, it be bedtime for this dingus. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:39 am ((night!)) Magnum Ace 12:39 am ((g'night! Tarantulas 12:40 am *nuzzles the top of prowl's helm* FakeProwl 12:44 am *Leans into the nuzzle on one side, squeezes Soundwave's hand on the other.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:45 am *It seems business is done for the night, and light piling up has commenced, so he'll squeeze the hand back and make himself comfortable with a lean of his own.* FakeProwl 12:48 am ((And then they lightly cuddled until they went home, the end.)) ItsyBitsySpyers 12:48 am ((PFF)) Tarantulas 12:48 am (( <3