#im just so aaaah

[yepmadness]

I wonder if. Maybe. Since we are back in an unfamiliar forest setting… this all might be a sort of mirror to s3? Or at least we are getting to one.

Back in the woods fresh off the cusp of death, though he did actually die this time to be fair, still injured but there is help this time. Arthur is still, despite it all, tentatively happy. Not like he was back in Addison.

The blood covered snow in the dark versus the green of a bright afternoon.

Last time Arthur was the most alone he has ever been, at least that we have directly been around for, with Yellow. A bitter partnership formed on lies and threats. Versus now, filled with a sort of hope for the future, not alone.

I just don’t think the parallel is unintentional. I just think it’s nice. Because there was so much hopelessness in that time—but he isn’t stuck in that anymore. At least not right now.

The forest is still isolating, yes, it still pushes off the path and leads deeper into a sense of uncertainty. But we don’t seem heading into the forest? We are coasting it, beside the path, but not on it. Still grounded to reality, not wandering aimless with no direction. Not falling deeper into it, heading for a point, not to be stolen away and tucked deeper.

Is that, perhaps, part of the theme of rebirth we have been leaning heavily on? Forced back into the unknown but it is better, and safer than it was before.

This forest is a place of security in contrast to the all the threats it previously provided because the situation has changed, the company has changed, their mentalities have changed.

They more or less know what they need, where to go, having a sense of direction and purpose. And I just think that’s a notably nice change.

[linootte]

I started lineart two times, hated it and then said fuck it and cleaned the sketch. As Nature intended.

The new official M9 animatic made me so happy!!

[zeropro]

My first fanfiction! It's Starscream's origin story, for my Trine AU. I hope you all check it out~

Full chapter below cut: (tw: abuse, assault, SA adjacent language)

Starscream: Origins

She loved Starscream, regardless of what anyone would say. It may not have been her hand that placed his spark into his frame, but she had selected the model in which that spark would be placed, and it was her credits that paid for that spark to be thawed. As a mechanoid race, Cybertronians did not form parental bonds in the way some organic lifeforms would, but from the moment she laid eyes on him, she had loved him as her own. 

Dim optics gazed down at the contract laid out in front of her. She had known this day would come, and if she felt a distinct pang in her spark, she had only herself to blame. She studied the glyphs of his designation displayed on the datapad form: Starscream. It was a beautiful name, as was everything about him; his laugh, his snark, his hunger for knowledge, all the way down to his lithe yet powerful frame.

It was a seeker frame. A warframe. Constructed cold off of assembly line blueprints like every other mecha in his class. Generic and inferior, her peers had warned her. Just another one of those mindless knock-offs. A brute. How laughable it all sounds to her now.

After all, Starscream was a perfect specimen in every way, healthy and beautiful and strong. It was a stark contrast to her own traitorous frame.

Then again, it was because of this cursed illness that she had commissioned Starscream’s creation in the first place, and every moment since then had been an absolute joy. She remembered his first flight, his excitement and how beautifully he cut through Cybertron’s sky in his jet mode. She thought fondly of the way his faceplates would scrunch up in concentration when presented with an equation he couldn't solve, and how adamantly he refused help until he had thoroughly exhausted his processor. She recalled how desperately he would plead with her to take him to Iacon, to Vos, to anywhere there were people and culture and life. He would have loved the bustle of the city. 

 Allowing herself a sad smile, she let the memory files play unbidden in her mind as she picked up the stylus. Their time together had been so short, but she had surely made it count. 

With considerable effort, Cryak sealed the contract with her glyphs. Yes, she would cherish those memories for a long time to come.

~-~-~

“Cryak… What’s going on here?”

Starscream stood gripping the frame of the medbay door, his peds planted firmly just outside the threshold. He could feel the hand on his shoulder tighten slightly, urging him forward, but he refused to budge. 

Unease had latched onto his processor the moment he realized they were heading to a different (much more isolated) location than he was accustomed to, and the feeling only compounded at what greeted him inside. Two, not one but two, medical berths were set up in the center of the tiny room, unfamiliar instruments and displays clustered around both. The doctors (he assumed they were the doctors) both wore full-cover face masks, and their paint had been blacked out. Whether as some form of safety precaution or to hide their identities, it was uncertain, but neither option felt particularly comforting at the moment.

From the way their faceless helms inclined expectantly towards him, it was clear one of the berths was meant for him.

Starscream did not like check-ups at the best of times. A sudden, unexpected, and unexplained medical procedure being sprung on him was downright unacceptable. He would at least require an explanation before he would allow them to proceed.

A digit curled under his chin, gently turning his attention away from the operating theater and onto his mentor’s face. She gave him a reassuring smile as her thumb caressed his cheek.

“Everything will be alright, love. Don’t you trust me?”

Something in his processor stalled at that. “Of course I trust you,” he said, and it had to be true because despite her non-answer, he followed her into the room.

Hesitating at the side of the berth, he stood contemplating it for a long time before he turned to his mentor.

“Where is Pharma? I would like to speak with him first.” It was a reasonable request. Starscream had a right to consult his primary physician before undergoing any sort of mystery medical practice. 

Cryak was already being helped onto the adjacent berth, and one of the doctors inclined it slightly so she could more easily converse with her ward.

“Ah, Pharma won't be joining us, but rest assured we have consulted with him on this procedure.”

“And what exactly is this procedure for?” 

“Starscream, please don’t be difficult.”

It was worth a shot.

Cryak was now hooked up to all the necessary equipment, and Starscream still couldn't quite deduce what it was they were planning to do. Once again, every optic in the room turned on him expectantly and, suddenly feeling foolish, he slowly gripped the side of his berth and hoisted himself onto it.

The moment he swung his legs up, a set of panels near his ankles sprung open, revealing a set of stasis cuffs built into the berth. Two more identical panels opened by his waist, where his hands would be. 

Starscream was immediately on his peds again, backing away from the startled doctors.

“They’re going to restrain me?!” he screeched, panic twisting in his tanks.

Cryak sighed, as if he were the one being unreasonable. “They won't have to if you just calm down.”

“I can't calm down! Not until you tell me what we’re doing here!”

“Starscream–“

“No! You know I hate medical procedures. I at least deserve to know what they’re going to do to me first!”

Cryak held him in a hard stare, which he returned defiantly, not bothering to hide his discomfort. It didn’t take too long before her expression finally, predictably, softened in resignation.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. You do deserve to know.”

Starscream’s stance relaxed slightly at that, but he continued to inch towards the exit.

“I didn't want you to worry, but there's no easy way to say it. I’m dying, Starscream. The doctors say I may have less than half a deca-cycle left.”

Starscream’s wings hiked up in surprise. “But that’s…I thought…”

“That we had more time? Yes, so did I, love. So did I… You see, that is the problem with science. You think you understand a mech’s function and so you command life. You think you understand an illness and so you predict death. But all science really does is scramble for a retroactive understanding of unrelated data points. The future remains indeterminable, and death forever the impatient thief.” There was a bitterness in her voice that he knew well, it was always there when she spoke of her illness. “I was so close, too, so close to finding a cure. Another few hundred vorn or so and we could have done this properly… but no. No, we won't have that time.” Her voice was so soft now, she might as well have been talking to herself.

“Of course, that is why I had you created.” Her attention snapped back onto him, and something in her optics made his plating crawl. “You see, I knew from the outset that time was against me, so my team and I have been developing this…procedure, for the better half of my dysfunction. A procedure that could grant me the time I need to finish my work…one that requires your participation.”

“I don’t understand.” He felt the door press up against his back.

“Starscream. This procedure could save my life.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me?”

But he already knew the answer. Because Starscream loved Cryak, and if there was ever a chance to save her, all she had to do was ask and he would jump at the opportunity. There was only one reason she would have felt the need to hide, one reason she would fall silent now.

“…Cryak, what’s going to happen to me?”

“I’m so sorry, love.”

Like scrap she was.

Starscream spun around, ignoring the painful jolt as his wing smacked the door he was now trying desperately to open. It had been locked, and ripping the keypad from the wall did nothing, so he dug his claws directly into the metal and simply tore at the seams. 

One of the benefits of having a frame that was originally built for fighting wars: he was deceptively strong for his size.

Unfortunately, as a flight frame he was also alarmingly light, as he soon found out when blackened servos hauled him into the air before he could properly rip the door off the wall. Hissing and spitting and flailing his limbs, Starscream was suddenly fighting for his life. Despite being doctors (allegedly), both mechs were heavy set grounders standing at least half a head taller than Starscream, and they weren't shy about using that crushing bulk against him. Unable to think through his panic or see through his tears, he was easily wrestled into submission.

“S-stop, you’re hurting me!” he cried as they dragged him back to the berth.

“Be careful with him!” Cryak growled from where she lay, scanning his frame for damage as they strapped his wrists and legs down. The stasis cuffs emitted an energy field that burned his plating and sapped his strength, but he continued to struggle feebly against the restraints. 

The doctors immediately got to work. Starscream squirmed as he felt their hands travel up and down his frame, hooking him up with all manner of wires and invasive patch codes. Panels to access ports he didn't even know he had were forced open and thick cords penetrated his frame, giving them direct access to his systems. He had never felt so violated before in his function.

“You know I love you, right?”

Starscream whipped his head around and stared uncomprehendingly at his mentor. How could she say something like that after this betrayal? 

“You can't imagine how much it hurts me to see you like this.” 

How could she think anything could make this alright?

“But you have to understand…”

How could she…?

“I would do anything it takes to survive.”

How could she?!

A sudden strain in his systems dragged his processor back to his frame, and to his horror, his chest compartment began to transform out without his consent.

“W-what’s happening?!” It hurt, was it supposed to hurt? “What are they doing to me? Cryak, S-stop this, please! Cryak! I…I don't…ahk!” 

With a hiss, the last bit of plating forced itself apart and just like that the painful pressure in his chest gave way to the feeling of being intimately and dangerously exposed. Starscream gasped as he took in the sight of the shimmering glow emanating from his chassis for the first time. It was his spark.

“Manual spark chamber access complete. We are ready for extraction.”

Starscream exploded in a flurry of outrage, screaming profanities as he redoubled his efforts to escape. Monitors flashed red as he twisted violently against his restraints, his vents coming out in stuttering sobs as he lost himself to the blind panic.

“He’s going to hurt himself like this. Should we put him into medical stasis?” one of the doctors asked, turning to Cryak.

“No, please!” Starscream craned his neck toward his mentor, pleading optics blown wide. She frowned sympathetically. 

“It’ll be much easier on you if you were unconscious, love.” 

But then his chance of escape would go from little to none.

“Please, don’t,” he begged, “I’ll be good, I promise!“ He searched desperately for the right words. “I don’t want to be alone…!”

Cryak nodded, and told the doctors that stasis wouldn't be necessary. As they discussed how best to proceed, he lay back down in an attempt to appear calm, his processor frantically assessing all possible options. The stasis cuffs made him too weak to rip the berth itself apart like he did the door, but he still retained a certain range of motion. He could slip his legs out of the clamps if he could move his body back, but the cuffs around his wrists hindered him. No matter how hard he strained against them, neither the cuffs nor the berth would give.

Something had to give.

He chanced a quick glance at Cryak. The sorrowful expression on her faceplates made him instantly regret it, and he quickly looked away. If he were to escape, he would be condemning her to death. Despite everything, he did care for her; she was still his creator, his mentor, his friend.

“I really am sorry, my love.”

“Yes…so am I.”

It was over so fast. No one expected him to tear his own hands off, so by the time he had transformed and shot through the damaged door there was nothing left of him besides a pair of servos still held tight in the stasis cuffs, a puddle of energon dripping to the floor, and the haunting screams of his mentor echoing in his wake.

They did share one thing in common.

Starscream would do anything it takes to survive.

[sunlit-mess]

sick(?)

[daftpatience]

trans guys! what's your favorite way to voice train. I'm too lazy to do it but it's the only thing thats outing me nowadays and I want to fix that

[girlivealwaysbean]

I love these lines so much I can not even express it

[sopordeficiency]

I painted them... goodnight (´っω=｀)

timelapse under the cut

[jostansbandc]

cookie run... random cutes...

[usertoxicyaoi]

“You old men are always up to no good. All you do is plot, cheat and set up traps for others. Aren’t you tired?” Li Dai Kun As Xie Wang. WORD OF HONOR (2021) - Episode 35.

[turnipoddity]

Just wanted to tell you that I'm meeting Cary Elwes next week and nobody understands how excited I am!!

WHAT OH MY GOD TOASTY!!!! THATS SO COOL!!!!

[lotusarchon]

I need to get my hands on MXDS so badly rn but I don't know where to read them I'm gonna throw up

[demadogs]

i always say i dont want a book to have a screen adaptation out of fear of them doing it dirty and then i think of the most perfect casting ever for the main character and im like FUCK now i wont sleep until i see this happen

[kateis-cakeis]

Do you ever think how Series 5 is defined by Merlin seeing that vision of Camlann, of Mordred stabbing Arthur, of Arthur falling?

Much like how Morgana changes when the Cailleach tells her about Emrys, paired with her own vision of Camlann, Merlin changes when he is given a similar vision, similar knowledge.

Merlin is darker already after the 3 year time skip, but the entire series you see him slip into this version of himself that is hardly recognisable, even when you compare him to his characterisation in S4.

But it's that vision, the actions he takes with Mordred, how he behaves with Uther's spirit, with the Disir, with brainwashed!Gwen, with Gaius when he tries to prod at what Merlin has become, even with how he acts around Finna...

It's something that knocks me down every time I watch a bit of Series 5, any scene with Merlin feels like I'm watching a man at his very limit. Like he's so close to straight up murder I think.

Much like how Arthur says in S5Ep1, betraying their beliefs is what would destroy everything they've strived for.

And if you look at Ep5, Ep11, yeah, yeah that's exactly what happens with Merlin. He's so darkened by his destiny, so determined to do almost anything to protect and save Arthur, that he betrays himself.

And that ties into how Merlin is the light to Morgana's darkness. Where Merlin changes because of love and his will to do good overall, Morgana changes because of hatred and her will to do everything to succeed, even hunt her own - which includes her search for Emrys.

It's just !!!!! because I love how Merlin acts in Series 5. It's the little things too, like the way he puts on his jacket when sneaking out to meet with Finna, the way he's so smug when he says Mordred has beguiled them all, the way he stares at brainwashed!Gwen when she's about to accuse him, the way he snarls at Uther's spirit.

I love him, I love him so much, I could talk about Series 5 Merlin all day, he's just perfect!

[pennedinblood]

We need a continuation to the 2 blind mice Vees AU.

ask and you shall receive. :] [original post here] -voxtek (originally voxicare) was founded so the vees could have their own institution for medical care that didn't exploit their recently-descended broke asses. of course, when they're in charge, everybody else in hell gets exploited...just a wee bit. it's ok if they do it ;), and they're marginally better than everyone else, so that competitive advantage over other corporations is what gave them the edge (lesser of two evils)

-if you work for the vees you get free healthcare, they aren't that heartless (major incentive to form contracts with them tee hee). wink wink angel's one black eye being a sign of contract? also—vox's assistant canonically wears glasses—anyways. ;)

-the later addition of voxtek was initially created to pour mountains of research into optical care tech (fancy shmancy glasses, high-tech prosthetics, etc.)

-originally i liked the idea of vox's visual processors (or whatever the hell he sees with) being damaged at some point, BUT i think i much prefer the concept of him being completely blind when he lands in hell to kinda match with the other two. televisions are naturally loud, they have speakers, of course, which makes sense as to why he can talk. but televisions can't see you, can they? :]

-vark was originally a guide dog!!<33 :D

-so yeah between the three of them the only one who can see anything at ALL is val, but it's blurry as shit, naturally. they learn to deal with it together, growing in the ranks towards overlordship, and when their empire is at such a point— val gets the fancy shmancy glasses. vel gets the sci-fi robotic eyes to replace the plastic doll ones. vox upgrades himself to the point of being able to translate images to his mind. it's far from perfect, these things conk out left and right, and there's a shit ton of other issues they deal with just because of the nature of their bodies. but they've grown accustomed to dealing with it, and they're rich enough to afford the best of accommodations

-also the alastor bit still makes me giggle. vox found out about that monocle and instantly felt that shared connection 😭

[hayaku14]

read this one kaishin doujin where hattori calls hakuba "sagucchi" lmaooo it's so cute

[suhnshinehaos]

you guys,,, why can’t my brain just like ??? shut up ???

im getting hit with more brainrot aaaah