#just saw transformers: rise of the beasts and I have so much to say about him.

[terriblyrenderedenigma]

Mirage has my whole heart bro.

Just saw the movie. Yes I'm in love with him. He's such a chill dude. I loved every moment that he was on screen and I wish I could have more. My head is literally full of him but I do not have the words to express the exact feelings I have for him without spoilers. So I wont say anything but this. Im gonna try to write at least a little about this man since my motivation is back up.

Speaking of writing, when I do write about him I might add in some g1 quirks to him that he didn't have in the movie, but wtvr just be prepared my brain be workin on some funky shit rn. Oh and-

He definitely whimpers

[spinningwebsandtales]

Imagine Going For A Joy Ride With Mirage

Mirage X Human FemReader

Rating: T

Warnings: Suggestive themes, Mirage is a jerk, teasing

Word Count: 1k

(A/N:) Transformers Rise of the Beasts is taking over my brain. While Optimus is my absolute favorite and always will be. There’s other characters I adore and Mirage is being added to that list. He really made the movie and I loved some of his lines. He made me laugh. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would enjoy an imagine with Mirage so I had to write one. I had this idea and it wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it anyway. So enjoy my Transformers madness, there may possibly be more where this came from! Until next time happy reading! ~Countess

Mirage was becoming antsy the more he had to lay low. Optimus had given strict orders that they were supposed to stay hidden and with no human contact. Which was hard when all you wanted to do was transform and stretch your peds. Mirage became grumpy if he couldn’t have any fun and he blamed it all on Optimus, so many times he disobeyed orders. Finding secluded areas to transform and just disrupt his mundane existence. One night you really disrupted everything. Mirage had thought that he had picked the perfect place at night to enjoy some time of freedom, when he spied a figure in the shadows. What you were doing there had completely left your mind when you saw the large mechanical being. With a scream you tried to run away only to be caught and trapped inside the cab of a silver and blue Porsche. No matter how much you tried the handle or kicked the window you couldn’t escape, when the car talked and froze you in your panic.

That’s the night Mirage met you and you met Mirage. While you liked the Cybertronian he was more fond of you and actually having a friend to talk to. He was easy going and made you laugh, though he could be overwhelming at times when he was really wanting to do something. His favorite though was joy riding. Your screams and panicked pleas gave him that jolt he was missing when he drove by himself.

You had met up with Mirage in the same spot as usual. The mech was pacing back in forth, watching you intensely as you sat on your regular rubble strewn spot. You would either sketch or read while he cracked jokes and tried to butt into what you were doing. You could feel his optics staring straight through you, making it hard for you to concentrate. With a sigh you shut your sketch book and turned towards him. He perked up now that he saw that he had your attention.

“What is it Mirage,” you asked. “If you stare at me any harder you’ll melt me with your laser beams.”

“I don’t have those sweetheart,” he chuckled. “But it would be awesome I did!”

“Mirage! Focus please,” you couldn’t help but laugh as he shook his head getting back to the topic at hand.

“I want to go joy riding,” he knew as soon as he asked, you would refuse. Though he did have his ways to make you say yes. You were a sucker if he brought out the water works or the sad optics. You were such a pushover and he loved that about you.

“Absolutely not,” you shrieked. Before Mirage could say anything else, you bolted. He sighed at your futile attempts to escape him. He picked you up from the ground, your protests echoing through the ruined building.

“Relax,” Mirage held you gently. You kicked and fruitlessly tugged at a digit trying to loosen his grip. Mirage held firmly so you gave up while still glaring viciously at him.

“I don’t wanna go for a “joy ride” Mirage! I’m going to die of a heart attack one of these days with your crazy driving!”

“Hey,” he scoffed, “I don’t drive crazy.”

“Oh excuse me reckless then,” you snarled.

“Thank you,” Mirage paused. “Hey!”

“My species is on the verge of extinction every time you take to the road Mirage!”

“At least you’ll be safe.”

“Oh sure that makes me feel so much better,” you threw your hands up and huffed.

The mech didn’t continue to argue with you, wordlessly transforming with you still in his grip. He plopped you into the passenger seat, your seatbelt buckling itself around you with a little extra squeeze. Mirage’s tires squealed as he peeled out, causing you to grip the seat with fingernails dug into the material.

“Loosen up sweetheart you’re hard on the merchandise,” Mirage’s voice came over the radio. His tone echoing with happiness. You kicked the dash in retaliation.

“I’ll show you hard on merchandise Mirage!”

He chuckled darkly and sped up, the acceleration pinning you back into the seat. Despite his teasing, Mirage did go a little easier this time letting you enjoy the ride more than the other times. After the initial anger and fear had left you actually began to laugh. After Mirage made his way back, he did a few donuts before finally coming to a stop. Your hair was messy and your cheeks were flushed when he finally opened the door, letting you out. Your legs were wobbly and walking was rough until Mirage came to your side and you were able to rest a hand on him for support.

“Having fun,” he grinned.

“Oh yeah tons. I love having jello legs,” you snorted making him laugh.

“Wanna go again? I like having you inside of me, holding on tightly.”

“Please don’t say it like that,” you choked. “It sounds weird when you say it like that!”

The large mech knew what he did to you and he enjoyed making you flustered. He also liked making you laugh or hold on tightly when you felt a twinge of fear at his reckless driving. But in all honesty he could never bring himself to hurt you. He had felt so lonely until he found you and now you were making the days worthwhile until Optimus was ready to make a move. Until then Mirage would enjoy the moments he got to be with you. He watched you trying to tug a knot from your hair before scooping up your abandoned sketch book. You noticed him staring again, but this time there was no mischievous look in his optics or features. A touch of sadness could be seen until it melted into his usual cocky look. You shook your head but walked over to him anyway, looking up towards him.

“I’m glad I met you Mirage,” you spoke.

He nodded happiness welling in his spark, “I’m glad too.”

[youkaiyume]

So, Rise of the Beasts!!

I saw it twice of the weekend, and I want to put down my honest thoughts.

Overall, I had a great time and I definitely think it's worth watching. Ignore the critic reviews for some reason they are offended that a Transformers movie exists to sell toys. You know, their sole purpose since the very beginning of inception. But OF COURSE I have THOUGHTS so...

Spoilers under the cut!

I liked the human characters for the most part. Noah's sudden onboard motives for going with the autobots to Peru was not as convincing but adventure needs to happen so I gave it a pass.

Mirage is like, DTF with Noah. Like he is SO ready for that tiny bf bff. It's obvious that Bee spoke so much about Charlie (cuz it seemed he was the only one who did talk positively about humans in their group) that Mirage was just. HIS BODY WAS READY.

CHARLIE WAS MENTIONED!!! AHHHHH!!! That was the one tiny smidgeon of a crumb that I wanted and they gave it to me. Granted it was implied when Optimus says "I know one was good to you, Bee" But I was told that the Latin America dub had him say Charlie's actual name. There was a SCENE that was cut out according to the Hollywood Reporter--that Bumblebee had also pulled out a polaroid pic that Charlie took of them together from the first movie here to show OP. HE'S BEEN CARRYING AROUND HER PICTURE ALL THESE YEARS I DIE WHY DID YOU CUT THIS OUT!!!

Mirage's abilities seem very arbitrary. And I do not like this. He can turn into several alt modes which seems to be only a thing that he can do... he can mass shift--which I know mass shifting is a thing but when he turns into a truck to sneak past the museum security I was like??? I was always under the impression that the bots could turn into a vehicle relative to their own actual size so this just confuses me. There is supposedly an earlier cut of the film where it was more clear that the trailer was another illusion. which I wish they kept in. Also when he becomes Noah's symbiote suit at the end?? Like, as a shipper and rule of cool I am into it, but as a person who wants rules to ground my science fiction I don't like how Mirage is just a swiss army knife for the writer's convenience. It feels lazy instead of taking the time to actually worldbuild. Nobody else can do these things.

The arbitrary mass shifting of him being as big or as small as he wants (like when he becomes Noah's exosuit) really falls apart when they keep insisting that they need the humans because only they can fit into small spaces. Well, clearly not cuz you can just do it yourself. AGAIN, PLEASE BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR RULES.

Airazor x Elena. Anyone else????

speaking of which, I am very upset about what happens to Airazor. And we never even got to see her transform. tragic.

Optimus sure was a negative nancy which--I understand why but I hope they ease up on edgy "i will rip everyone's faces off" Optimus because it feels disingenuous to his character to keep it going for too long. Like I get it, they killed your fave child so I will forgive you but also I want more of "Be strong enough to be gentle" Optimus. Not the edgelord Bayverse Optimus that they are clearly going for cuz the know certain :ahem: fans like that.

Beeeee. They put him out of commission which again, according to interviews they did just so they could make sure he doesn't steal the spotlight and give a chance for the other characters to shine lmao. He is too powerful. But also because we shots of him in the trailers, I was not too worried about Bee staying out of commission. But goddamn when if I still wasn't hyped as hell when he made his comeback. 10/10 he proves he's still the GOAT.

I hate Pablo/Wheeljack. No, after seeing the movie my opinion of him did not improve in fact it got so much worse. His design was the LEAST of his problems. Every moment he was on screen was deeply cringe. And he barely did anything!! He could have not been in the movie at all and it wouldn't have made a difference and I genuinely believe it would have been a better film. All this hullaballoo over Pablo and this is what we got. Wheeljack fans lost hard after all that defense I'm sorry this ain't it.

Hey speaking of bots that barely got any lines or screentime, wtf was up with Rhinox and Cheetor? My boys got shafted :(

There was a moment where OP is asking the bots if they detected the terrorcons and Arcee WHO IS SITTING in the pablo van was like "lol nope" and I was like GURL how could you, you're in a van. And it made no sense because don't you also have an altmode??? Shouldn't you be scouting outside to cover more ground???

I firmly believe the only had Arcee sitting in there like a dumb duck because they wanted Wheeljack to make a dumb joke in the original cut about how it was a long time since she was inside him. UGHUGHUGH.

Did I mention how glad I am that they cut the majority of Wheeljack's screentime since it was so awful especially his and Arcee's implied romance? Especially since they killed off the other femmes so the only one we got now has to have a mandatory romance. No thanks. Glad that nonsense is gone.

The Maximals' robot modes were very minimal. and they went by so fast I never got a good look at their designs.

I loved how the Maximals were harmoniously living with the native tribe--and speaking their language!

Scourge's face reveal seemed to be treated like it was a big deal but when we saw him it was just... guy without his wig on. Literally the surprise is that he is bald.

Noah x Mirage is very strong good. I have no doubt the fandom will be all over it since they seem to eat up BL romance much more readily and I am all for it. They also have all the great ingredients for it--flirting, drift compatibility, self sacrifice for the other. Another human x transformer ship for the books.

I'm sure there are some ppl who like the ending. but I.... did not. I do not want to see G.I.Joes in my transformers I'm sorry. I don't want the return of military propaganda or more introductions to several human characters that take away from the transformers. I don't want to see them exploited or used for our own human affairs--even if it's a fictional cult-- when they could be literally fighting Decepticons or Unicron or whatever. People might have wanted them in Bayverse cuz it was heavily skewed Military in those films but I don't want to see it again. It was a terrible, dark time. the Joes might be presented as good guys but I don't trust the military in general and I don't see their motives as altruistic--especially if their goal is to use them for their own purposes. Why would they help them get home? They wouldn't, if just to keep their best weapons--and Noah is bait. He is bait and he will fall for it hook line and sinker because they are bribing him with his brother's healthcare and the fact that he is struggling to find work elsewhere.I hope if they are to be involved at all it will be relegated to characters here and there but they stay in their own movies if they have to ride on Transformers coattails to revive an irrelevant struggling franchise.

There was minimal human injuries/death and I appreciate that. They did the DBZ thing where they took their fight to remote locations. This probably won't keep up if they introduce the Joes :/

Overall, 8/10. I had a fun time. I didn't love it as much as Bumblebee but it was definitely miles better than Bayverse (a low bar I know). The action was clear, the characters likable, the CGI mostly stellar. I have hope that they will bring back Charlie maybe. But hey, I took my parents to it the second time around and my Mom liked Mirage and my Dad did not fall asleep so I will consider that a stamp of approval.

[primal-con]

Mkay my brain is working a bit better today so thoughts on Mirage! Namely his inclusion in the movie instead of Jazz and his change in personality

Rise of the Beasts spoilers below the cut✌️

Now like a lot of folks, when I first saw the trailer I was insanely pumped because I thought Mirage was Jazz. I think we all kinda saw the silver Porsche and lost our minds, and of course, I'm still bummed that we didn't get Jazz because I love him dearly and miss him more than words can express. But! Having seen the movie and had time to chew it over, here're my thoughts on Mirage's character in RotB.

So a lot of initial thoughts regarding the choice to include Mirage, and a very different Mirage at that, rather than Jazz, were of course very valid. But I think ultimately while I would've loved for Jazz to have been there, I understand why they didn't go with him. Cause tbh if everything about the movie had been the same except they called Mirage Jazz, I wouldn't have been happy.

While yes, on the surface RotB Mirage seems really similar to G1 Jazz, they're actually really different in the ways that count. Jazz is bright, sociable, charismatic, and more in tune with Earth culture than most bots. RotB Mirage is also a lot of those things! But the key difference is that for Jazz, that personality is a facade. He's an incredibly grim, ruthless person who's seen a lot and is capable of a lot of terrible things, and he uses that trustworthy persona to mask that and make people more comfortable around him.

Mirage comes off as much more genuine in his naivete. He seems legitimately young, impulsive, and vying for adventure. He does things cause they sound fun, not because he thinks it's a smart idea in the long run. The sad things hiding underneath his bright personality don't come from brutal experience and calculated manipulation, they come from a genuine loneliness and desire to explore the world around him. In a lot of ways he plays a similar role to Bumblebee in most other TF media, the naive young optimist who wants to see the best in people and be a hero. Which narratively makes sense considering Bee was out of commission for most of the movie. He's not necessarily stupid, he's just not wise, and that comes from a lack of experience compared to his so-called "hardass" peers. He sees the other bots as boring and overly serious which contributes to his desire to keep Noah on the team. He wants Someone who he can relate to, someone who's a little closer to him personality-wise, and he doesn't feel like his older and more grim teammates can fill that role.

Which I think also contributes to his likability! Because like I said, Mirage is so genuine. He doesn't usually think things through so everything he says is so honest and unfiltered. I love Jazz because of his complexity and how compelling that facade is to his character, but I ended up loving Mirage because he doesn't feel the need for a mask at all.

I think generally the choice to change Mirage's personality from his G1 characterization was because the writers didn't want too many serious characters? At least that's how it felt watching the movie. I mean even Bumblebee comes off as older and more mature than Mirage. And Transformers is very fond of its goofy, unserious kid-appeal characters who are closest to the token humans. I'm cool with it mainly because big changes between generations are pretty common and this wouldn't be the first or even the wildest change of pace from one appearance to the next. As for why Mirage and not another character, who really knows. Probably the fact that he hasn't had much of an established personality in any of his rare TV appearances. And using a known name is usually easier than making a whole new character, just fan-attachment-wise.

Anyways, sum total thoughts: I liked him! And the movie's enjoyable if you don't go taking it too seriously, though that could be said about most things. It's also better with a friend! It's no ground-breaking cinema, it's an action franchise movie and exactly what you'd expect from one. But the characters have chemistry and personality and that's usually what matters to me. So yeah, all nitpicks aside it's a net positive from me!

[tending-the-hearth]

transformers: rise of the beast + what i loved about it

this movie was absolutely PHENOMENAL and had me on the edge of my seat for the majority of it. it's the first time i've seen a transformers movie in the theater, and i'm obsessed. i've loved transformers for the longest time, so this movie just had absolutely everything.

so below i've put together a list of everything i loved, my favorite moments, little over-analysis bits, all of that good stuff!

spoilers below if you care!!

first off, i absolutely loved how they set up the Maximals, and gave them such a distinct look and storyline. it was a great way of introducing new characters, as well as setting up the main plot device of the key!

Noah's relationship with Kris made me so emotional, like he loves his little brother SO much, and Kris loves him just as much, like UGH SIBLING DYNAMICS

Elena my beloved beloved nerd

She's one of my favorite characters in the movie, and I love how they portrayed how much she loves research, and how much knowledge she has

Obsessed with Noah keeping track of Mirage's braincell within the first five minutes of their meeting

but also their meeting + beginning scene, absolutely no thoughts in either of their heads (affectionate)

Noah and Mirage's friendship being built from the very first car chase, and them communicating so well even before Noah knows what Mirage is!!!

"I work in a museum and you've broken in and now we're hunting for an ancient artifact together" is SUCH a quality trope and Noah and Elena are so valid

Just saying I don't think I've ever happy-stimmed so much during a movie then I did when I saw Optimus and Bee show up on screen

Optimus being so against trusting the humans vs. how protective and fond he is of them in the Bayverse movies was such a good choice, and i'm so happy they gave Optimus more of a character arc!!

THEY REFERENCED CHARLIE AND THE BUMBLEBEE MOVIE REALLY BRIEFLY AND BUMBLEBEE GOT ALL SAD AND WAS LIKE "I HAVE A FRIEND" BECAUSE HE LOVES CHARLIE SM

Kris being just as protective over Noah as Noah is over him!!!!

ARCEE <3333333

Optimus continually calling Bumblebee "Bee" healed my heart he loves him so much

Going off of that, Elena finally giving us an "Optimus is Bee's big brother" confirmation made me SO happy

also yeah... Bee... baby boy... I literally thought I was going to have a panic attack bc i was so upset over him dying

listen Transformers Prime traumatized me with Bee's death first, so I still have a hold over from that era

I love Wheeljack with my whole heart and was absolutely terrified he was going to die during the battle with the Terrorcons

the Maximals are so fucking cool, I love their designs, and Primal's entire character???? beloved????? fantastic??

AIRAZOR DYING OF THE SAME THING THAT KILLED IRONHIDE I'M GOING TO BITE SOMETHING HOW FUCKING DARE

Primal having to kill Airazor was devastating

Noah running to check on Elena after that fight, Noah and Elena my beloveds 😭😭

MIRAGE 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Absolutely heartbreaking

The "home team?" "home team." callback hurt my soul

also Noah being Sonic, Kris being Tails, and Mirage being Knuckles?

BUT THEN HE'S OKAY AND THE SUIT??? AND NOAH AND OPTIMUS FIGHTING ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER??? NOAH LEARNING TO WORK WITH A TEAM???? OPTIMUS LEARNING TO TRUST HUMANS????

Also Kris and Noah basically being like "new brother? new sibling?" as soon as they meet Mirage

Bee's entrance was absolutely fucking top tier, he's an icon, he is the moment

Also Scourge was absolutely terrifying, one of the BEST bad guys

Nightbird was also so so cool and also so so terrifying, the Terrorcons were insane

FUCKING G.I. JOE AT THE END??? I FULLY THOUGHT NOAH WAS OGING TO GET RECRUITED BY SECTOR SEVEN?? WHAT THE FUCK???

Also the post-credit scene with Mirage coming back was fantastic, he's such a little shit and i'm obsessed with him

overall i'm obsessed and this is one of my new favorite movies, i'm really happy the movies are getting an overhaul, and hopefully we'll see more within this section of the franchise!!

[deke-rivers-1957]

Rock-a-Doodle Review

Don Bluth channels a fable from the Middle Ages and combines it with Glen Campbell's Elvis inspired vocals. The intent to adapt the fable Chanticleer and the Fox into an animated movie goes back all the way to the early days of the Walt Disney Studios. Unfortunately, it never saw the light of day as Walt Disney himself rejected the project in favor of The Sword in the Stone. It wasn't until 1982 when Disney animator Don Bluth left the company, that the project was revived under his own name. It faced a lot of development issues and it wasn't until 1988 that the project officially got off the ground.

Somewhere along the way the story became very messy but one thing was made clear. Don Bluth intended for Chanticleer to be similar to Elvis Presley as confirmed in a 1990 magazine article found at this link: https://web.archive.org/web/20170106230513/http://www.cataroo.com/DBrock.html. To make it absolutely clear that it was meant to be Elvis inspired if not an alternate version of Elvis, they had The Jordanaires to do the backing vocals for their soundtrack. Even with the release date being pushed back to avoid competing against the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast, the movie was seen as a complete failure. Are there redeemable factors that showcase that hand drawn animation died too soon, or did this film completely lay an egg? Let's find out.

So we get opening narration that explains how the sun rises everyday because a rooster named Chanticleer crows. Chanticleer's song very much reminds me of Elvis up until 1956. He was known for having a twang but also a bluesy sound when he sings.

There's a confrontation between Chanticleer and the Grand Duke's henchmen that prevented Chanticleer from crowing in time. The sun comes up anyway and everyone hates him. They label him a fraud and Chanticleer runs away from the farm. Again it reminds of me Elvis' beginnings where even though he liked singing and never claimed to be bigger than he was, he was heavily judged by his peers.

In a very weird twist, this movie isn't entirely animated. In fact I have no idea if this is a real story since this is now being narrated by a live action mother. I guess this is where Who Framed Roger Rabbit meets Wizard of Oz as the lines of what reality is supposed to be is blurred. We still get the disembodied narration over the live action scenes. I guess it's supposed to explain that this is all Edmond's imagination as the real life storm rages but again I have no idea.

The storm scene is tense since I'm sure a lot of farmers can relate to the real world struggles of potential flooding. The addition of the Grand Duke meeting the live action Edmond is also understandably scary if you're a child. The Grand Duke is no longer just a fictional character but also someone who could exist in this world. In fact him saying he despises rock and roll is a parallel to how Elvis had so many sophisticated people criticize his type of music. They viewed it as something that was loud and obnoxious.

So to transition back to animation, the Grand Duke transforms Edmond into an animated kitten. Because he had full intentions of eating him, I guess it makes sense within the story. Edmond of course freaks out about this since he's basically a 5 year old. With the help of Patoo, an old hound dog who I guess is the narrator, they scare the Grand Duke off. I do admit that if it isn't for subtitles I wouldn't be able to understand a word this kid says. I get that they needed a child for this role, but it's a double edged sword to try to be as realistic as possible. Edmond is written to be a little kid so it's a step up from contemporary movies that try to make kids talk like adults. The problem is that he doesn't have much of a personality outside of being a cutesy kid who's very hard to understand.

We get introduced to the other animals on Chanticleer's farm. Everyone's afraid of the rain and the Grand Duke so they need help to find Chanticleer in the city. Before they can set off on their journey, Edmond's room starts to flood. The main characters manage to find a toy box to float their way out. I have no idea why Chanticleer is the solution since he was already revealed to have no effect on the sun rise. Maybe it's meant to be symbolic where him leaving eventually lead to everything going wrong, so bringing him back could lead to things getting better. Or it could be very literal where the animals saw him as a leader, so him leaving meant no one was strong enough to stand up to the Grand Duke.

I like the organ music. It gives a unique style to the traditional villain song. It adds to the Grand Duke's character of preferring classical music over "lowbrow" genres. Since Chanticleer apparently is the only way the rain will stop, the Grand Duke has plans on making sure he never comes back to the farm. So he sends his henchmen and his nephew out to find Edmond et al.

I got to admit, I like how tension is made because of character flaws that naturally exist. For instance, the toy box the main characters are in is starting to flood because Snipes is claustrophobic. To try to get air, he starts to peck holes in the box, allowing water to rush inside. Even though they survive that, the box just as quickly gets destroyed when it pops out of the aqueduct pipe. Fortunately they make it to the city safely.

When the Grand Duke's nephew comes back to tell him the news, he's not happy. Turns out the "adequate" pipe was really a pipe that sends water right to the city. So he sends his nephew to the city, giving him sunglasses in the process.

The main characters start their search for Chanticleer and it's very obvious this is all a reference to Elvis' stint in Vegas. Heck they even show him in a pink Cadillac with his stage name being "The King". That's when the gang realize that Chanticleer was hiding right under their noses so they go to his show.

If this scene doesn't make it anymore obvious that this is Elvis, I don't know what to say. They make it a point to give him a harsh manager. Anyone who knows about the Colonel could tell that Chanticleer's manager is meant to be him. Heck Chanticleer even uses the cliche "thank you, thank you very much."

Even though Chanticleer isn't the main character, you can't help but feel bad for him. Despite being at the top of the world and having the world in his hands, Chanticleer feels lonely. That's something we know Elvis struggled with himself according to private conversations with various people he knew.

The Grand Duke contacts his manager and makes it clear that the main characters can't succeed in their plan. Despite following Chanticleer from show to show, they couldn't contact him. This is the most Elvis reference to have ever Elvised. When the average person thinks about Elvis this is what they see. It also doesn't help that his music number references Tupelo, his real life birthplace. Even the song sounds like something that Elvis would sing.

They succeed to give Chanticleer their letter, but it's all for nothing as Goldie is sent on stage. She kisses Chanticleer and that's all she wrote. He falls in love with her and completely forgets about the letter. I don't hate Goldie for doing this since she does have issues with manipulating Chanticleer. Also it's usually bad taste to blame a young starlet for doing favors to appease a man of power in exchange for a possible advancement in career. Goldie's involvement in this plot if anything reminds me of Ann Margaret. Ann Margaret and Elvis had undeniable chemistry in the mega hit movie, Viva Las Vegas. Even though their relationship in real life isn't at all like how it's portrayed in this movie, you understand that this is meant to be a play on Ann Margaret. She's the young starlet that really takes off once she got involved with Elvis/Chanticleer.

They eventually find Chanticleer or rather Goldie's trailer at the movie studio. Despite Edmond trying to explain the situation, Goldie doesn't believe him and screams. This seems to alert Chanticleer's manager as the main characters get trapped. Don't ask me how a mouse could possibly be trapped by a net with giant holes in it. Heck she literally has most of her body out of it just to sneer. I get they needed to capture all of them, but it's still an annoying aspect of cartoons where a character is trapped despite having the means to escape relatively easily.

Seeing Goldie regret what happened is exactly why I don't blame her. Once she saw the full story, she knew this was terrible for Chanticleer. We get a comedic scene of the Grand Duke's nephew trying to take out the gang while Goldie tries to tell Chanticleer what happened. She gives him the letter and I'm glad we don't have this dramatic irony last too long.

I'm also glad that Chanticleer is fully aware that he isn't powerless in this situation. He knows that what his manager is doing is blackmail and understands he has to game the system long enough to make a plan. In fact, it doesn't take him long at all to figure out how to break them free. It's honestly incredible how Chanticleer was able to understand the toxic environment he was in and was able to get out of it.

Edmond's finally given something important to do as he has to act as the get away driver. No idea why they couldn't have Patoo do this since he's bigger and it doesn't matter anyway since Edmond's quickly taken off the wheel when Peepers tries to reconnect the trailer to the car. Edmond has this flashback sequence where he realizes he can't be afraid.

Despite this being a cartoon, you feel the tension when the gang's stuck on that water tower. Just as they're about to fall to their deaths, Peepers saves them. I have no idea how she managed to get access to that helicopter and time it exactly right but we'll just call it a Deus Ex Peepina.

Meanwhile, the Grand Duke finds the farm animals with the full intent of eating them. Somehow a pig is smaller than an owl but whatever, the Grand Duke's magic. Fortunately for the animals, Edmond and the gang make it in time. Unfortunately, the helicopter crashes in the water forcing them to get stranded on island of grass.

Even though Chanticleer tries to crow he can't. Somehow it's because he has no confidence. Yeah that's a bit contrived. They should've just had it where the Grand Duke used his magic to prevent him from crowing. But Edmond interferes causing the Grand Duke to literally choke him unconscious. That's insanely dark for a relatively harmless kids movie. Like the Grand Duke by himself is menacing but watching him choke a kid is wild.

In fact it's what's actually his undoing. The animals see his act of violence and encourage Chanticleer to crow. The Grand Duke turns into a literal cyclone but because Chanticleer now has confidence, he crows. The sunlight causes the Grand Duke to lose his powers. I know it's something he's afraid of but causing him to shrink? Yeah the magic makes no sense in this movie. We get the fake out of Edmond dying but no. He just turns back into a real boy. But even then we get yet another twist. It was apparently all a dream.

In the live action world, everyone thinks it was just a fictional story. That Chanticleer had nothing to do with it. I don't know what happened with the audio, but there's a weird sound to it that makes me think it's an echo. The mom assures Edmond it was just a dream, but I'm just not sure. We see a live action Edmond interact with the cartoon farm animals. It's obvious this is meant to be like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Unlike that movie, Edmond is obviously superimposed on the animated footage. I think they're trying to show that this really is Edmond's imagination, but I have no idea.

At least the reprise of the opening song is just as good. In fact all the songs are pretty decent. Chanticleer's songs in particular are pretty entertaining and really respect Elvis' sound. Chanticleer in general is a good tribute to Elvis. He's not meant to be a joke as when he was made fun of, we're supposed to feel bad for him. He gives kids a good introduction of elements from Elvis' life. It isn't at all meant to be biographically accurate, but it's a kid friendly way of explaining the struggles he faced.

Compared to other bad kids movies, this film has actual merit. Being based on a fable gives it some credit as it's a unique story. I can also say that this movie is not at all predictable. While it does take elements from Wizard of Oz by trying to spin it as being only a dream, the movie does blur the line of reality. Was it a dream? I have no idea. That at least makes it a step above modern kids movies where you know exactly what's going to happen and doesn't try to give you something beyond the bare bone cliched characters and plot elements.

Did it deserve all the hate? Not really. It's underwhelming sure, but again compared to the content we have now directed towards children, this is harmless. As someone with no childhood attachment to this movie, I actually thought it was pretty enjoyable. If you're an Elvis fan, I would recommend watching it just to see how many parallels exist. Even if you're not an Elvis fan, it's still worth showing it to children. It's innocent fun that isn't pandering or relying on the cliched potty humor that seems to be copy pasted into a lot of children movies. Therefore, I'm giving this movie a 7/10 since it doesn't blow me away by any means but it also isn't an abomination with terrible jokes that make the audience feel uncomfortable.

AN: Shout out to the discord besties for watching this movie with me and suggesting I make a review.

Tagging: @hooked-on-elvis, and @atleastpleasetelephone.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)

With 2015's Mockingjay – Part 2 the Hunger Games, the story was decidedly over (barring a preposterous Rise of Skywalker-style resurrection or a Forever Purge-like resurgence of the titular games). The only way to keep the franchise going was with a prequel. The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes focuses on the storyline's "villain behind it all", Coriolanus Snow, when he was young and making his way to the top. If a prequel had to be made, this is the way you go. Unfortunately, the characters way back when turn out to be much less interesting than they were when we first met them and the same goes for the Games.

Eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is determined to get his once-wealthy family out of poverty. When Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) assigns Coriolanus to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the District 12 female tribute to the annual Hunger Games, he thinks he’s positioned his student to lose the coveted Plinth Prize scholarship. Instead, Coriolanus displays a type of sympathy that’s uncommon to the people of Panem and his champion becomes a favorite among Panem's people. With the scholarship now within range, will Coriolanus’ sympathy hold up?

While the premise is intriguing, there’s an inherent problem with it. When we met Snow, he was cold, calculating and charismatic, but in a “I love to hate this guy and want to see what’s coming next” kind of way. This younger Snow is sympathetic and innocent. When loss-of-innocence storylines work, it's because a part of you hopes for a happy ending where the protagonist doesn't completely fall from grace. It isn’t a spoiler to tell you that by the time “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ends, Coriolanus is a murderer with no desire to abolish the Hunger Games who only wants to consolidate more power. You know there's no hope and you’re waiting for the movie to catch up. Making that wait feel even longer is Coriolanus's transformation. It takes a long time, until the final act when the change is so abrupt you feel like you missed a scene.

Another flaw with the film are the titular Hunger Games. Katniss volunteered to participate in the 74th annual Hunger Games. Here, we're getting the 10th. In that gap, there have been some significant changes. Part of what makes winning the Plinth Prize scholarship difficult is that people have gotten bored of the gladiatorial bloodbath. You can see why. The arena is just an empty circle with weapons in the center. Even when the battlefield gets an impromptu facelift, it only allows the children to run and hide so the conflict can last even longer. It's nothing like the arenas we saw before, with varied landscapes and threats ranging from venomous insects to monstrous beasts, poisonous rolling mists and more.

Most disappointing about the picture is that you often see what it could've been. Tom Blyth is great, as is Rachel Zegler. There's a doomed bond that forms between them and it grabs your attention. As Snow becomes increasingly sinister, you wonder what will happen to the people he's allowed close, including his classmates and Lucy. It's a shame the film spends so much of its running time following Snow before he becomes corrupt. If the 157 minutes had leaned more towards the darker chapters of his story, we'd have a real winner.

The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is well made, the performances are solid and it has a great concept but the execution is disappointing. For what it does well, I won't say that it feels like an attempt to wring more blood from a stone but this prequel does not feel essential. When you're saying that about the fifth entry in a series, it means you can only recommend it to the most fervent fans, the kind who care more about getting more than anything else. (Theatrical version on the big screen, December 7, 2023)

[weird-al-song-tourney]

Very glad I found this tournament! Hyped to vote for Dare To Be Stupid at next opportunity. I'm a Transformers fan, it is my legal obligation. For Wreck-Gar, for all the Junkions, and TFTM being best transformers movie!

RIP to Virus Alert, The Night Santa went Crazy or Christmas at Ground Zero, though. Gone too soon </3 /lh

Good luck everyone, and may the best song win!

It's funny we're mentioning transformers movies now, because like

Okay so for the first time in my life, this year, I went to see a movie on my own entirely. And of all the movies, the first movie I ever saw on my own in a theatre was fucking Transformers Rise Of The Beasts.

NOT TO DISCREDIT THE MOVIE I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKED RISE OF THE BEASTS IT WAS REALLY GOOD (FLAWED FOR SURE BUT STILL GOOD) BUT ITS JUST SO FUNNY TO ME THAT OF ALL THE MOVIES, THAT'S THE ONE THAT ENDS UP BEING MY FIRST SOLO EXPERIENCE. Also I think I did well despite how scared I was being on my own. I am making progress it is good.

Okay but as for if TFTM is the best, uh, huh...I've never actually thought about which transformers movie is the best? I think the entirety of the michael bay era movies melted my brain so much that in my mind, every transformers movie has just become a singular mass of crushed soda cans & optimus commiting war crimes every 5 minutes & also just,,,just a lot of racism. Like holy shit the second movie was just so very racist how the fuck did people look at that movie & go "yeah skids & mudflap are great i see nothing wrong here this is totally okay & there is nothing problematic about this at all lets release this as is it's totally cool & stuff guys" I mean Bumblebee & ROTB were good but my brain is still not fully recovered from a decade of bayformers just somehow lowering the bar every single time, dude what the fuck were those movies they feel like feverdreams to me

I mean looking back I still think the first bayformers movie is unironically pretty decent like its perfectly fine. I cannot say the same for any of the sequels except for like the second half of dark of the moon but even then you have to slog through an hour of crap before that movie starts to get better & that's not super good if only about 40% of the movie is actually good but the rest sucks ass

Anyways yeah Christmas at Ground Zero is the one I'm moruning the most lmao, rip to that beloved classic. But even so, every song in this bracket is a banger, they're all winners in that the fact they are in this at all is proof enough that they are indeed, classics. So they will still be in our hearts.

Ok but right I'm getting sidetracked again, glad you found it too. Welcome aboard fellow weird pal.

[bearpillowmonster]

Transformers Movie Ranking

I alluded to this and immediately jumped into making it. I don't care to see the Last Knight because it's at the bottom of everybody's list. I like Isabela Merced and I like Sqweeks but I could care less from what I've seen about it.

6. Dark of the Moon - People love this one and yeah, it has cool effects but I saw this in theaters and I remember being disappointed because I wasn't sure what I just watched. I remember a snake destroying a skyscraper, Wheelie dying and Sam going to college, getting seduced by a Decepticon. Did I miss anything?

5. Age of Extinction - Should've been the easiest one. I mean robot dinosaurs seems pretty hard to mess up. I'm even ignoring the story but it's long and it's boring and Transformium? The Beats Pill? Ok, that's kinda cool, same with everything seeming dilapitated and aged, giving it a semi-reboot. Ok, I actually just popped this a place higher than I had it writing this, but Mark Wahlburg?

4. Rise of the Beasts - Kept the cool redesign but somehow looked worse? The story is questionable...characters are cringe. I can't say any one part grabbed me, it was all just kind of there.

4. Transformers One - Probably the best underlying story here but it's too jokey for its own good. Over time, I imagine it'll age the best though if I'm being honest. This is not long after seeing it so I expect it to be higher in the coming years.

3. Bumblebee - It's not bad but it's not the best of its kind in any category. I saw a post the other day pointing out that the Cybertron scene ruins it and really, I kind of don't blame them because it's right at the beginning and it's immediate peak. It'd be lame without it and it's a great tease should they have actually followed up with it but as it remains it doesn't fit rest of the movie.

2. Revenge of the Fallen - It feels weird having this here as last time I watched it, I didn't like it. A dog humping is one of the jokes, an old Transformer pissing on someone is another and then giant wrecking balls used as...balls. This was one of those in the writer's strike, wasn't it?

2007 - It opens hard. The human characters aren't too bad. Unforgettable ending in more ways than one, probably the best payoff. While it has aged in terms of directing and humor, the CGI stands up and is probably the most entertaining. This one is the only one that I'd actually say is "good". The others are fun but this one actually did something, the others either tried to cash on the same or do something different enough that it wasn't my tea.

You might see this list and think "He's not much of a Transformers fan is he if he just pointed out what he didn't like." and you're half right. I saw all these movies and I always went in with high expectations (aside from T-One) and I want to like this franchise so bad. I've been trying almost everything and very few do I actually feel live up to the name. I'm sure I'm not the only one either. I liked the Animated 2007 series as a kid but that was mainly for design, I went back to it recently and I couldn't get into it. My next venture was the Cybertron games but those aren't easy to find a way to play in 2024.

[dragon-snoots-a-boopin]

I feel like this going to come off pretentious or whatever, I am going to say it anyway. In my almost 29 years on this Earth, I have seen a lot of things rise and fall.

I've seen DVD become bigger than VHS, I've seen blu-ray become bigger than both both VHS and DVD.

I've seen phones go from flip phones and phones with slide out keyboards to the types of modern smartphones we have now.

I can't even tall you how many video game console generations I have seen comes and go. From Gameboy Advance SP to Nintendo DS to Nintendo DSI to Nintendo 3DS. PS2 to PS3 to PS4 to PS4 and even Xbox 360 to Xbox One to Xbox One X/S. There are obviously more but I don't feel like listing all them because it's not important to the point.

I've seen the era of the shopping mall come and go.

I've seen the era of video rental store come and go and honestly, that one still kind of stings a bit as that was something so ingrained in me growing up.

There's a lot more I could say here but, I want to get to my point here and that's movie theaters. Something that I really hope I don't see go down in my life is going to the movies and having that movie theater experience. Yes, no one can ignore is that more and more movie theater locations keep closing. Yes, COVID has been very hard on cinemas. But, some of most memorable experiences and memories that I have is tied to movie theaters. For example, I remember my first time seeing the 2007 Transformers movie in theater and, of course, event films like Avengers Endgame, or getting to see something special like The Transformers: The Movie, despite owning it on blu-ray. Of course, there are plenty more example but I just wanted to pick some of the pretty high up there ones for me.

I think that something you can't ignore is that, in terms of going out, going to the theater is extremely cheap. It may not seem that way if you add popcorn and candy and drinks because it can add up when you add all that to it but, as good as movie theater popcorn is, all of that isn't necessary even time you go see a movie in theater.

Now, the easy finger to point would be at streaming services. It's obvious because, at the height of COVID, streaming services were the only places you could watch movies and now, movies go both in theater and on streaming which, I do think is a problem. I mean, when you think about it, why would someone want to take a chance to see a not very good movie like Aquaman 2 in the theater when they could just wait until it's on a streaming service like Max, which they already pay for? Last year, I believe that the only movie I saw in the theater was Transformers: Rise of the Beasts because I don't have Paramount Plus so it was more worth it for me. I do believe that it's not only the fault of streaming services though.

I believe that both people and the kinds of movies that are showing in theaters are just as much of a problem as well. People don't exactly act the best at movie theaters anymore. People don't care if they're talking loudly during the movie, they don't care if they're doing something annoying to others on their phones during the movie and so on. People make the experience less enjoyable for those us who are there to watch and enjoy the movie that the rest of us paid to see.

The movies themselves are also an issue too. I recently looked to see what is in the theater (at the time of writing this) and there isn't much of anything. There's that new Mad Max movie and that really dumb looking Garfield movie and that's it. The question is what kind of movies need to come to theaters to get butts in seats? Both that new Mad Max movie and Garfield movie are not doing all that well at all. Why is that? Why is it that the two most recent movies to do well in the theater were Barbie and Oppenheimer? Perhaps the big blockbusters like your Transformers, Marvel, DC and Star Wars movies are not what people want to see in theaters anymore. But, I feel like smaller movies are going to have too niche an audience to be profitable for the theaters.

Obviously, I have no idea what the solution is. Is it really that theaters are dying out slowly or are they just in a bit of a slump and are going to bounce back at some point?

[lifetimeshipper]

Life's New Adventures and Secrets

Chapter 2

~~~~~~~~~~

Strongarm wrapped her arms around Steeljaw pulling him into a hug, "Do you remember what's next week?"

Steeljaw thought for a moment, "Is it your birthday?" He guessed teasingly.

She chuckled, "You're such a tease. You know my birthday is still a couple of months away."

Steeljaw chuckled, "I know," he replied as he kissed her passionately, "Just like I know what next week is."

"What is it then?"

"Our anniversary," he purred as he slowly started kissing her neck, "And I can't wait."

"Got any plans for it?"

"I have a few ideas, you'll just have to wait and see," he replied.

"And just how much of it involves sex?"

"Getting impatient already, are we?" He teased.

She rises an optic ridge, "No, I just know you."

"Sex isn't all I think about, I love just spending time with you."

"Except when you're on your heat cycle," she giggled.

"True. And don't forget we'll have to watch Emberwing tomorrow. It's Thunderhoof and Metalsound's anniversary, I'm sure they'll want some alone time."

"I remember and no doubt they do. But we better keep a close watch on Nightback, we both saw what happened with their tails and we both know what it means."

"They're still so young, for all we know it could just be a phase. If it happens again we'll have to have a talk with him about it."

"Yes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightback and Seajumper continued to race against each other, trying to see who was faster, "I'm gonna beat you!" Nightback told Seajumper."

Seajumper revved his engine trying to stay with the older boy, "Why did you wrap your tail around Emberwing's?"

"I honestly don't know, didn't even know I did it until you said something."

"Weird," Seajumper responded, "Sorry about earlier."

"You wasn't hurting me it was just mean laughing at Emberwing like that."

"You have to admit it was kind of funny. I didn't know she was going to turn into that... Whatever she turned into. But she does look cool though."

"Yeah, it was a bit funny, and that was unexpected. But yes, she looks really cool in that form."

"I wonder if she'll have antlers like Thunderhoof."

"I saw some sprouting so most likely."

"She's pretty big in her beast form. Do you think we could ride her as the humans do for horses?"

"I doubt it, but you never know."

"I dare you to try it."

"I dare you to."

"I double dog dare you."

"I triple dog dare you."

"I dare you infinity."

"I dare you super infinity."

Seajumper hesitated before he tried to think, "I dare you," he let out a growl in defeat. "You have to do it first because you're the oldest," he replied in a triumphant tone as he transformed back to his bot form.

Nightback transforms as well, "How is it that I must do it first because I'm the oldest?"

"Dad does it with Commander Ultra Magnus."

"Yeah, I know. Alright, but you're doing it right after me."

"Deal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boys were hiding behind one of the shelves while Emberwing was practicing her headbutts on her punching bag, "And you said you would never use my gift," Grimlock said to Thunderhoof with a smile as he watched Emberwing.

"When did I say that?"

"When Emberwing was born."

"Well, it turned out to be useful."

Emberwing took a few steps away from the punching bag, giving it her best glare. With a growl, she charged forward with her helm low. The boys watched as she headbutted the bag almost breaking it.

Nightback gulped, "You sure you want to try getting on her? There's no need to feel bad if you want to back out," he said to Seajumper, feeling scared of the femme now.

"I-I'm not so sure anymore," Seajumper replied starting to feel scared of the femme as well. "But, we had a deal," he said as he watched Emberwing, "Unless you're a chicken." Seajumper giggled as he started imitating a chicken. 

"Hey, you're just as scared as I am!"

"Am not, I was just saying that to make you feel better. Unless you're breaking our deal, Mom always said that you should keep your promise."

"Don't bring both our mom's sayings into this!"

Seajumper just laughed as he started imitating a chicken again, "Look at me, I'm Nightback and I'm scared of a femme," he mimicked his friend's voice.

"Cut it out! I'm not scared!"

"Then prove it."

"I will, I'll jump on her back as soon as she transforms into her beast mode."

Just then Emberwing transformed as she started attacking the bag with her front paws. Thunderhoof chuckled as he watched his daughter, "Take it easy, you don't want your claws getting stuck," he warned the child.

Just then Nightback runs out and jumps on her back. With a startled bleat, she started jumping around like a horse trying to get him off. He grabbed a hold of her and held on as tight as he could. Emberwing threw herself upward trying to fling whoever was on her off. Seajumper watched from the safety behind the shelf, suddenly more afraid of the femme. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea," he whimpered.

Eventually, Nightback lost his grip and fell off. Emberwing was about to stomp on him, if not for Thunderhoof picking her up in time. "Emberwing calm down, it's okay. It was only Nightback," he soothed the frightened sparkling. "What were you thinking?" He scolded the small mech.

"I didn't want to but Seajumper dared me."

Thunderhoof looked at the shelf, seeing Seajumper peeking out from behind it. With a quiet yelp, he ducked back hoping Thunderhoof hadn't seen him, "Seajumper!?" He growled softly.

"Seajumper is not in, please leave a message," Seajumper replied.

"Get out here, now!"

Seajumper starts walking out slowly. Thunderhoof placed Emberwing on the ground next to Nightback, "Who's idea was it to jump on Ember's back?" He asked crossing his arms.

"Mine, sir," Seajumper replied sheepishly. With a sigh, Thunderhoof looked to his daughter, then to Nightback, the poor kid was shaking. Activating his comlink he contacted Wheeljack.

:: Yes? :: Wheeljack answered.

:: Your son has something to say. Could you come over here for a moment? ::

:: Sure thing, be there in a minute. ::

"Sorry," Emberwing said softly to Nightback, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah. You said you jumped on me because of a dare?"

"Yeah, Seajumper dared me," he replied sheepishly.

"You do know I could have hurt you, right? I'm a lot bigger than you guys while I'm in my beast form. Why did you accept it anyway?"

"I know. I didn't want to seem like a chicken."

"Why would you be a chicken? For not jumping on me?"

"Yeah..."

"So? It just means you didn't want to hurt me, and it wasn't smart to jump me when I was attacking my punching bag," she bleated a giggle.

He starts blushing a bit, "No, I don't want to hurt you, and I know it was dangerous."

"Just don't accept a dare when you know something is dangerous, even if they call you a chicken."

"I won't next time."

"Good," Thunderhoof replied as Wheeljack walked over.

"Alright, what's the issue?"

"You want to tell him or should I?" Thunderhoof asked Seajumper who just stood there looking down at the ground. When Thunderhoof noticed that Seajumper wasn't gonna say anything he decided to tell him, "Seajumper dared Nightback to jump on Emberwing's back."

Wheeljack looked at his son, "Why would you dare him to do that?"

"Was wondering if we could ride on her as the humans do on horses," he mumbled.

"Why?"

"I just wanted to try it."

"You did promise you'd go after me," Nightback muttered.

"I did..."

"And he will, if Emberwing doesn't mind," Thunderhoof said with a small smile. The femme snorted.

Seajumper looks at him, "Really?"

"A promise is a promise," Wheeljack nodded.

"YAY!" He shouts with joy as he runs to jump on her back.

Emberwing had to resist the urge to buck him off right there, "If you don't get off me I will sit on your helm," she growled.

"Awe, come on, Emberwing."

"If he can stay on for eight seconds then you'll do nothing. If he falls off you can charge at him, or sit on his helm," Wheeljack responded.

A sly grin formed on the young Predacon's face, "Deal."

"Oh this will be eaSYYYYY," he says as the young femme starts bucking, "WHOA! WHOA!" Didn't take long and he fell off. Emberwing was a short distance away, her helm low as she pawed at the ground preparing to charge.

"You may want to run, Seajumper," Wheeljack chuckled as they all watched the femme.

Seajumper transformed and drove off as fast as he could. Emberwing let out a bleating roar as she chased after him.

"Should we stop her?" Nightback asked worried for Seajumper.

"Naw, he deserves it. He needs to learn."

Just then Steeljaw walks up to them, "What's going on?"

"Seajumper dared Nightback to jump on Ember's back and now she's chasing him because he couldn't stay on her for eight seconds," Wheeljack replied.

Steeljaw looks at his son, "Nightback, did you jump on Emberwing's back?"

"Yes, sir," Nightback replied with his ears pulled back.

"And what happened?"

"She threw me off."

"Did you learn your lesson from it all?"

"Don't take dares if it involves something dangerous, and don't let others call you a chicken."

"Who called you a chicken?"

"Seajumper."

"And he was the one cowering," Thunderhoof put in.

"Yes," Nightback said. Seajumper's scream could be heard from the other side of the scrapyard.

"I better go save him," Wheeljack chuckled as he left to find his son.

"Well, I think you had enough of a punishment," Steeljaw tells his son.

"I'm sorry."

"Just don't do it again."

"It's Seajumper who should be sorry," Thunderhoof stated, "You sure you're okay?" He asked the young mech.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Good, I better go help Wheeljack," Thunderhoof said as he left to catch up with the Wrecker.

"Are you going to tell Mom?" Nightback asked looking up at his father.

"I'm debating."

Nightback looked to the ground, he felt like he had let his dad down. Not to mention he felt embarrassed for what had happened, he couldn't believe that Emberwing had managed to get him off of her so quickly.

"Are you alright, son?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

"About?"

"How did she get me off so quickly? I'm older and stronger than she is," he replied feeling jealous.

"She's probably stronger in her beast form."

"I guess."

"Don't underestimate a femme, trust me I know. I learned that the hard way."

"What do you mean?"

"I underestimated your mother big time and found out the hard way just how strong she really is."

"What did you do?"

"Well, um, your mom and I were enemies before we got together and I got into two fights with her, the first one I won and took her down but the second one she won and took me down. She had improved greatly in her strength and fighting skills since the first time, which I had not expected."

"Why were you enemies?"

"Well, I was a 'Con criminal and she was an Autobot cop, she was after me to lock me back up and I wanted to get rid of her and the others so I could stay free and follow through with the plans I had."

"What happened, did you change your mind?"

"She helped me change my mind when I fell in love with her. When I fell for her my plans suddenly changed as well as my outlook on everything."

"How did you know you love her?"

"After our last fight, I couldn't get her out of my processor. I kept thinking about her, I kept dreaming about her, and I got to the point where I had to see her as much as possible. I first thought it was ridiculous and that it was just a phase I would grow out of, but then I saw it wasn't and I fell in love with her more and more."

"What are you guys talking about?" Strongarm asked as she walked over to her son and mate.

"Just telling him how we were before we got together and how I knew I was in love with you."

Strongarm sent him a wave of love before picking up her son, "I think it's time for you to head to bed, it's getting late."

"Awe, Mom, but I'm not tired."

"You'll be glad for it in the morning. I had to help Metalsound and Thunderhoof calm Emberwing down, and I know what happened," she told her son, "Are you okay?"

"You do? Yeah, I'm fine."

"As long as you don't do it again. I don't want anything to happen to you." I need to talk with you later. She told Steeljaw through their bond as they walked back to their quarters, Nightback was already fast asleep. Tucking him in, Strongarm kissed his helm before she left his room closing the door behind her.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" Steeljaw asked as they went to their bed and sat down, "Are you alright?"

"We found a set of tracks, Metalsound thinks there might be a small group of Decepticons roaming around. I don't want Nightback going outside of the base without someone to watch him," she told him feeling worried about their sparkling's safety.

"We'll both keep a close watch on him, and I'll be keeping a close watch on you as well," he says as he wraps his tail and arms around her nuzzling his face into hers. "Had too many close calls."

Strongarm giggled at the nuzzle, "You're right, I seem to be a magnet for those kinds of things," she replied as she hugged him.

"Yes, you do."

"I hope we can break that, I feel like I'm cursed."

"Well, nothing's happened in 5 years, so things are going pretty well so far."

"Now we just have the rest of our lives," she joked.

"And I'm gonna keep you safe through it all. I don't know what I'd do if anything was to happen to you."

"You'd have to look after our son," she told him as she leaned her helm onto his chest, listening to his spark pulse. "And I will do the same thing if anything happens to you. I don't want him to be alone like you were."

"As much as I love our son I wouldn't be able to live on without you."

"I really appreciate that you love me that much, but I really would like for you to live on for his sake."

"I'll try. But nothing will ever happen to you, I will be sure of that."

Strongarm planted a kiss on his lips, "We should get some sleep, we're going to have our hands full tomorrow."

"Yes, let's go to sleep then."

They both lay down and slip into recharge, still holding each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1

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[olivia200312]

Prime Missing~ TFP! Optimus x Half-Predacon! Reader *Request*

Requested by the lovely CreatorCat

Plot: Hi there! Could I please request a TFP Optimus x half Cybertronian and half Predacon female Autobot reader? Only Optimus knows she is like that. Her Predacon form is a dragon and her vehicle form is a mustang car (Wildstyle colors from Lego Movie). Her fighting style is dancing (dance fighting, usually coordinated with music only she can hear in her earpiece, unpredictable). It takes place during Beast Wars where they meet Ultra Magnus. Optimus goes missing and the reader is very upset because she has a crush on the Prime.

Ultra Magnus grows a crush on her after seeing her fight in battle. He is concerned she'll get hurt because her style doesn't fall into the protocol and can't be monitored. He forbids her from joining the ranks in battle until she 'shaded up'. The reader is devasted and falls into sort of depression because that she wouldn't be able to dance or fight anymore and that was what she lived for. Optimus returns (finally) to find his crush (the reader) not herself anymore. They have been 'broken' and fight the way that Ultra Magnus saw fit. He's horrified because this wasn't 'his Y/N' and confronted Ultra Magnus. Afterward, Optimus takes the reader aside and confesses and she smiles for the first time in 'forever'. The next battle she's in, she breaks protocol and does her original style of fighting much to everyone's happiness (except Ultra Magnus). She also reveals her Predacon side to protect everyone from the Decepticons and Predaking.

What do you think?

That's a long request ever since I got a request to write a high school version. Lol. So, I read the entire text here and began to think. Do not think it is a bad way. I absolutely love the request but however, I don't like a few things. I'm not familiar with Beast Wars at all. I know only like literally one character and that is Optimal Primal. He is in fact the new Prime in Power of the Primes after Optimus' death. Don't believe me? Watch the 10 episodes or follow the OC book that I'm working on since I'm partnered up with Alita-One and others on Quotev. Furtonaly, I don't like Beast Wars at all since it's different. I also couldn't help but cringe a bit since it's TFP playing in Beast Wars. I remember some clips and scenes where Optimus actually goes missing after the base got exploded and Ultra Magnus appearing. I also remember Predacon's Rising.

Also since I don't like hurting other lovely characters (either rejected or friend-zoned), I made Ultra Magnus different. He'll be not crushing on the reader, but don't worry, he'll get tasted with his own medicine. Revenge will arrive.

Head area:

Brain: Processor / Brain Module

Head: Helm

Face: Face plate

Ears: Audio receptors / Receptor Orifice / Audials

Nose: Enstril / Olfactory Sensor

Eye brow: Optical Ridge

Eyes: Optics

Mouth: Intake

Lips: Dermas

Teeth: Denta/Dentas

Tongue: Glossa

Chest area:

Chest: Chassis / Thoraxal Cavity

Back: Hexa-Lateral Scapula

Spine: Bipedalism cord / Back Strut

Chest and back armour:

Chest plate

Back plate

Mid-section plating

Neck guard

Side plating

Arm area:

Arms: Arms / Restarlueus

Forearms: Bitarlueus

Hands: Servos

Fingers: Digits

Arm armour:

Gantlets

Shoulder pads

Arm guard

Lower area:

Pelvis: Pelvis

Butt: Aft / Skid-Plate

Thighs: Tibulen

Calves: Cadulen

Feet: Pedes - the high heel bits are called Struts or Heel Struts.

Lower armour:

Skirt plates

Aft plate / Skid plate

Thigh guard

Ankle guard

General/Internal components:

Muscles: Cables / Pistons - It depends on the area in question.

Veins: Fual lines

Stomach: Tanks

Lungs: Vents - used to stop the con/bot from over heating.

Heart: Spark

Tattoos: D-con/A-bot Insignias and the lark

T-Cog: The thing that allows all Cybertronians to transform, be that their arms or their whole body.

Bonus:

Penis: Spike

Vagina: Valve

Body: Frame

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

"Jack, meet Ultra Magnus," Arcee introduced her human partner to the missing commander of the Autobots.

Jack looked shocked as he took a look at Ultra Magnus. He was light blue while Optimus was dark blue. The commander had a strict look on his faceplate. What was his problem? Sure, there was a war still going on because since Cybertron, the home planet of the Cybertronians, including the Autobots, Decepticons, and the Predacons, was dead so the idiotic Decepticons moved the war towards Earth when they discovered that the Autobots had been hiding there. Honestly, Megatron was too evil and stupid for actually settling the war on Earth. Earth! The planet was involved in many wars already, especially WWI and WWII.

But let's get to the point: what's been happening?

Well, the Decepticons discovered where the Autobots had been hiding. Before it got blown up, Optimus ordered everyone to leave the base and a serious warning: don't use the phone to call or send anything. If they do, then the Decepticons can track your signal, which can lead a serious danger. Jack went with Arcee, Miko with Bulkhead, and finally Raf with Bumblebee. Eventually, the base got exploded. Optimus got seriously wounded that Smokescreen found him. He was a smart rookie for hiding him so that Optimus can possibly heal and be safely hidden. Sadly, the damage was too much that Optimus was slowly offlining. He didn't want to leave, especially not Y/N. She was a half-Predacon and half-Cybertronian. She was an Autobot. So, it means that Y/N's carrier or sire was a Predacon while the other was Cybertronian. She was found wounded in a forest by Optimus and he took her to the Autobots base. Poor Y/N... She remembered how scared she was when she was there. I mean, she was wounded, lost on Earth, and didn't know anyone. She lost her creators thanks to the war. She eventually learned fast how to take care of herself.

When Optimus met her, he couldn't help but thought that Y/N was a unique and beautiful femme he'd ever seen. I mean, she was half-Cybertronian and half-Predacon. He had seen full Predacons before like Predaking. Soon, he'll meet Darksteel and Skylynx who were brothers. Y/N had wings and a tail so she was very unique. She was thankful to fly and control her balance more. The human kids loved Y/N. Miko, of course, asked too many questions that at one point, Jack and Raf had to stop her since they noticed when Y/N got uncomfortable and scared.

But anyway, that all happened before the big explosion. Optimus grew in fact closer to Y/N that he was the only one at the base who Y/N trusted. She would stay by his side, help him and ask questions. Optimus gladly helped her whenever she was scared or asked questions. He also found her adorable in secret. He sometimes asked himself about her like her wings for example. Were they sensitive? Maybe they were? He will only know if he touched it. If Y/N ever allowed it.

While Y/N was with the Autobots, it didn't mean that she met everyone. She didn't meet Ultra Magnus at the time. He was a strict commander of the Autobots and was light blue and red. His vehicle was very similar to the Prime. His shoulderplates were weird, kinda. No disrespect. But oh boy, Y/N hated Magnus. When he saw her, he was only coldhearted and strict towards her. Y/N's fighting style was dancing but the commander didn't like it that he forbid her to do so. It was like this:

The Autobots just came back after a fight again with the Decepticons. The fight was brutal this time. Apparently, the Decepticons had a new 'weapon' and it was a full Predacon! It was a male and in fact, the ruler of the race when they went instinct many years ago thanks to Megatron himself. Shockwave managed to bring the king back from the dead. His name was Predaking. He was huge! After all, he was a male and a ruler. Since Y/N was half-Predacon, she actually can't transform. Some Cybertronians who were half-Predacons, couldn't actually transform. Some can, some couldn't. Y/N didn't mind that she couldn't transform. She liked how she looked, even having a Predacon tail and wings.

But everyone was wounded. Y/N fought against the male Predacon himself. Their fight was rough and they bit and clawed. But Y/N managed to trick him by dancing. Fighting was a little bit of dancing if you didn't know. You were moving and using your whole frame. It was exhausting for Y/N, but she won.

Ultra Magnus, however, didn't like her fighting style that he brought her into a private chamber. He closed the door and faced her, with his usual strict expression. "Soldier, I want you to change the style."

Y/N lifted her optical ridge up in confusion. What did the commander mean by that? Her armor? Her outgoing? What was it? "What do you mean?"

"Change your fighting style. Also, I forbid you from ever going to fight with us."

Y/N couldn't believe what she heard. Was he really serious? Was he going to forbid her from going out to fight? But what about Optimus Prime? He still wasn't found! He was missing ever since the big explosion that the Decepticons caused weeks ago. The human kids spread around together with their guardians and they weren't allowed to not use any technology or else the Decepticons will track them down. Jack, stupid enough, used his cellphone to text his mother that he was fine. It was understandable for a kid to text its parent to let them know that they were fine. But when it came to the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, then it was important to listen to the advice.

Ultra Magnus simply left the private chamber, leaving the poor half-Predacon femme alone.

That's basically how it happened. Ever since that day, Y/N didn't come out a lot from her berthroom. She was very spark broken ever since the strict commander told her those words. He forbid her from searching Optimus, who was still missing at the moment. How could he say that? Y/N cared deeply for Optimus just like the entire team. He was their leader but also someone that would protect others and be willing to sacrifice his life.

Y/N would only recharge all day. She ate and drank of course but it wasn't a lot like she used. Basically, how a normal Cybertronian ate. If you didn't know, humans can die from broken hearts. It was in fact a Broken heart syndrome, also known as stress cardiomyopathy or takotsubo syndrome. It was very sad to have that like heart disease. Not only humans can have that syndrome but also Cybertronians, especially the Predacons, full or not. Y/N attracted that syndrome. Everyone says that action speaks louder than words, but words hurt more than actions. Y/N had shortness of breathing and having chassis pains. That was the most common syndrome of heart disease.

Ratchet, the medic of the team wasn't blind at all and was trained to notice signs of any health problems. Since Y/N was showing those signs, he did the tests and diagnosed her with Broken Heart Syndrome or should I say Broken Spark Syndrome? Ratchet kept a close optic on her and made her take medication, especially if she showed signs of chassis pains and shortness of breath.

But meanwhile in the main room of the base...

Ratchet was updating Y/N's health on the Cybertronian computer since it was important for the medics to keep new updates so that they can keep the information. There was actually no standard treatment for the syndrome that Y/N had, but you can survive with medication and as long as you're being careful. Not only do doctors like Ratchet keep updates safe but also dentists as well. Ratchet was mad at Ultra Magnus for saying hurtful words but kept it quiet. It was time that others should watch out for what comes out of their mouths. Words can damage someone and give an illness. He began to ask himself how would Optimus react if he found out about that...

Bumblebee then walked up to Ratchet and beeped a question at him.

Ratchet signed and looked over his shoulderplate. "No, Bumblebee. Y/N is still a little bit weak to come out. I am doing the best I can to help her on track. But her syndrome doesn't have a standard treatment. Just like on humans."

Bumblebee frowned and let out a sad whirl. He saw Y/N as his good friend and cared for her as a friend. He was mad at the commander for saying those words that he nearly attacked her. Didn't the idiotic commander notice at all how much he damaged her? Why was he even doing this?! Just because she was a half-Predacon!? Bumblebee clenched his fists in anger as he started to shake.

Ratchet, being a smart aft medic, noticed it and quickly placed his servo on the scout's shoulderplate. "Easy, Bumblebee." Just as Ratchet wanted to say something further, his computer caught a signal. He quickly went to the device and Bumblebee looked curiously over his shoulderplate.

"Hahaha!" Ratchet began to laugh and clapped his servos happily. That caught everyone's attention as they walked up to him, except Y/N, who was still sadly in her berthroom to rest. She did hear Ratchet's happy laugh, which was confusing, but she didn't bother to check since she felt weak. Ratchet turned around fast with a big smile on his faceplate. "Optimus is alive!"

That caused everyone to cheer happily. Y/N fell asleep at that time. She didn't hear Ratchet's loud voice that said that Optimus was alive and coming soon to the base.

2 hours later~

"Awesome! Optimus is now like 2.0!" Miko happily jumped as she was fascinated by Optimus' new look.

"It's good to have you back, Optimus," Arcee said with a smile.

Everyone was saying how happy they were to see and have Optimus Prime back. The leader was smiling as he listened to everyone with respect. He was happy to see them as well. Even though he was almost offline for good, he thought about others, especially Y/N. But wait, where was she? He saw his friends but not Y/N. He frowned. What happened to her while he was missing? He wondered about her every day. He nearly did join the AllSpark and taking the servo of his mentor, Alpha Trion. The old smart mech understood his student's decision. He even teased Optimus to get the spark of the half-Predacon. He blushed.

Ratchet seem to realize Optimus' frown and he immediately knew that it was about Y/N. He walked up to his leader. "Optimus, I have to speak to you. It's urgent."

Optimus nodded in understanding. Of course, he heard Ratchet's serious tone, which meant that he was deadly serious, especially for being a medic. His job was to take care of others and help if needed. They both went to a private chamber to speak while others stayed. Ultra Magnus, however, got a bad feeling...

Ratchet closed the door and turned to face Optimus. "Optimus, while you were gone, others had a fight against the Decepticons. They had a new 'weapon' it was a full Predacon... a mech. He's named Predaking, the ruler of the Predacons. Y/N fought against him. I must say, I am impressed with her fighting moves. Dancing. Ultra Magnus didn't like her style at all. I saw them going to a private chamber. I learned from Y/N that Magnus forbid her from going out and he forced her to change her style..." He sighed and took a deep breath. "As a result, Y/N has Broken Heart Syndrome, also known as stress cardiomyopathy or takotsubo syndrome in humans. But I called it the Broken Spark Syndrome. She has trouble breathing and having chassis pains. I made her take medication."

Optimus couldn't believe what he heard. How could Ultra Magnus do this? He was getting angry. The commander took it too far by his words. He look calmy at Ratchet and nodded. "Thank you for the information old friend. I will speak to commander Ultra Magnus and see Y/N."

Ratchet nodded back and they left the private chamber. Ultra Magnus knew that he was busted. Optimus slowly walked up to the commander, with a disappointed and angry expression on his faceplate. He took the commander to somewhere private and let's just say that Optimus was so stern. He also finally punished the commander for what he said to Y/N. Ratchet was satisfied and mumbled under his breath: "As humans say: 'Get rekt'."

Optimus then walked through the hallway corridors, searching for Y/N's berthroom. Each bot had a nameplate hanging against the door. It was easier for everyone to find each other, except for humans since they were so small. But good that the kids remembered which room was who. They drew small symbols on each door of the bot. Ratchet got a symbol of a doctor, Bumblebee got a bee, Arcee a motorcycle, etc. Y/N had a dragon, even though she couldn't transform into a Predacon.

Optimus knocked on the door gently as he found Y/N's door. After no response, he softly opened the door and peaked in. He smiled softly once he saw Y/N recharging peacefully. But he was still worried about her health after all. He walked to Y/N, closing the door softly to not wake her up. He caressed her helm with his gentle digits and he smiled once he heard her purr. Predacons can purr a lot. Yes, even Optimus can too but not a lot like the Predacons can, even half ones. Optimus continued to caress as he sat down carefully, lifting Y/N's helm and laid it on his lap. For some reason, laps were so comfy. No wonder humans and Cybertronians fall asleep easily, even falling asleep on someone's body. It was so cute when a male slept on top of the female as a couple or friends. Family too. But mostly, females slept on top of the males.

Y/N softly moaned in her sleep as she moved a bit. She felt very comfortable. But that's when she groaned and had trouble breathing. She panted and Optimus got worried. He then noticed the medication on her nightstand. He grabbed it and then Y/N gasped and sat up, her servo on her chassis.

"Easy, Y/N," the familiar deep voice said.

Y/N snapped her helm towards the very familiar deep voice and gasped. it was Optimus! Wait, he was really here?! She was about to say something but Optimus silenced her by cupping her cheekplate, causing her to blush a lot. He helped her take the medication and soon, she breathed normally. But she felt then sleepy again. Optimus noticed it and softly pushed her down. "Recharge, Y/N. Your body needs more rest."

Y/N smiled softly and fell asleep. She can now catch a lot of rest since Optimus was alive and well. She found him more handsome. His new look, now strong body, etc. But she loved his hips, smile, voice, and smirk. As she was sleeping, she felt soft dermas on hers. Optimus was kissing her, just like in the movie Sleeping Beauty.

I apologize if it isn't familiar a lot. I decided to try and make it a little cuter for the fans, especially the ending part.

[captainshadowgirllostfan]

I absolutely disagree with a notion that one single character needs to be focused on for several episodes to have development. That's ridiculous. And the idea that Season 3 had so much characters and Season 2 didn't? Dude most of the characters in Season 3 came from Season 2 with some few characters introduced and of those few characters introduced, they were focused on

We saw the evolution of Geoforce, in how he started as a temperamental prince to a...well still a temperamental prince in the end but there were moments he had matured, a lot more since the beginning if the bad guys didn't get in the way but of course that's the role of the bad guys. I think his temper was always meant to be something Geoforce was going to struggle with and that's okay. It fits his name and plus it's pretty realistic because for some reason people seem to think one lesson of patience changes us into actually patient and mature when that's not true. I think there are just some flaws we are born with and struggle with our entire lives, learning the same lessons over and over again

It's why real life people are just irritating right

Halo went on a journey from a girl unsure of who she was and her powers to finding a new name and identity for herself and exploring her own intense emotions, balancing it with her own powers

Forager grew from a bug who depended on his hive to tell him what to do to an independent bugg who decided he will fight and represent for his own hive, for those who need it.

Nightwing grew from a lone hero who didn't want to a team or to be a leader to a leader anyway (albeit reluctantly) and having the maturity to learn and acknowlede the mistakes he made when needed

And as much as I dislike M'Gann as a character, I'd say the same applies for her as well.

Superboy too. Though with him, he finally embraced and owned what happened to him and used it against his abusers instead of letting it shame him in order to help others like him.

I could go on but yes there was a lot of characters but each characters had their own archs and problems that got dealt with in different episodes

Beast Boy had finally dealt with the grief and loss of his mother figures and also grew as a leader and fighter for those just like him

Tara fought back the manipulations of her captors who tried to turn her against her loved ones. She accepted what happened and what she done and owned up to it.

Black Lightning also had to deal with his own guilt and betrayals

Artemis dealt with the grief and loss of Wally and also became a mother figure for both Halo and Tara.

El Dorado finally accepted the mantle of being a hero because he wanted to inspire and help the new meta teens whose metagene was activated and didn't know how to deal with their own identities. Who thought they themselves were dangerous even though they had to live with the powers they had.

Cyborg finally accepted being a freak after having to undergo a transformation with the Fatherbox because his life was in danger. He learned to let go of his anger and accept what happened, to start over and create a new identity

Which I guess is the theme of Outsiders. To deal with abuse, loss, grief, your own guilt and to rise up from it.

And then there was the overarching conflict of the heroes losing their way by fighting on the same terms as the villains, by using the same tactics despite how unprincipled which addresses what Artemis and Kaldur did in Season 2 by lying to the Team about Artemis' death.

Like how can you complain about that I don't get it? There was a lot of development...Did you really just want to focus on one character or a few like Season 1. I'm sorry but I found Season 3 to be soo much more engaging with the twists and turns and also the risks of how much the heroes could of lost. There was a lot of conflict and that's what made it engaging.

It wasn't just a bunch of kids hanging out, it was kids talking to each and helping each other deal with each other's issues and fighting a group that wanted to enslave and hurt them

What's not great about that!?

[ragingbookdragon]

Panthera Felidae et Celeritas

Barry Allen x Meta!Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 2K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: Gonna make a second part...sometime...later...Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

The meta-human was fast. And while he wasn’t as fast as Barry, he’d managed to snap the speedster’s femur with a well-placed kick. Barry went down, holding his leg whilst he grit his teeth and shoved his bone back into place so it’d heal; Hal landed beside him, ready to pick up the slack and protect his best friend.

Striding towards them, the meta had a sick grin on his face as he ribbed, “I’m going to use your spine as a toothpick, Lantern.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Hal shot back, baring his teeth as he raised his arm, ready to form a construct when a hulking figure of orange, black, and white fur darted from around the corner of a building, sprinting right up to the meta.

It reared onto its hind legs, one big front paw swiping down harshly at the meta, connecting to the middle of its back, and both Hal and Barry watched the man’s eyes widen in first a look of shock, the next of pain as a sickening crack sent the meta to the ground, upper body spazzing as their lower body stilled.

“I can’t feel my back!” he screamed in agony and the beast bent down, its face next to the man’s and opened its mouth, snarling fiercely, flashing long, razor sharp canines. The meta whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut and the beast took one last look at him before turning its golden eyes onto Barry and Hal.

They stared back with equal mixtures of fear, but the beast chuffed and turned tail, bounding away as quickly as it had come.

“What the fuck just happened?” Hal asked.

Barry shook his head, blue eyes wide as he said, “I have no idea…but I think there’s a tiger loose in Central City.”

***

There were big cat sightings all over Central City—cheetahs, cougars, jaguars, leopards, snow leopards, ligers, lions, tigers; someone even said they saw a saber tooth tiger, which Barry highly doubted, but sure enough when he’d gotten to the scene and tested the DNA, it linked to a few scientific discoveries and genomes closely relating to the extinct beast.

He’d half a mind to bring the League in on the discoveries, but the animals weren’t killing people, and he was still reeling on how to explain to his team that there were animals running around that weren’t even native to the US, nor having populations in the state. Oddly enough though, the animals were never seen in the same place at the same time. Each sighting was on a different night with a different big cat, telling Barry that this had to be some type of trainer releasing the cats on particular times.

He spent almost an hour, well a human hour, not a speedster hour, triangulating territory across Central City before he finally found a common location inside the sightings—an old amusement park that had been shut down a few years before, waiting on renovations when someone would finally buy it.

So, what did Barry do? What Barry did best—he went alone to see which kitty cat he could find first.

***

The entire park was eerie, dark and creaking, rusted metal and cracked plastic everywhere. It almost made him think of those post-apocalyptic video games. Still though, he quelled his fears, though they boiled in his stomach, and hopped over the barriers, quietly walking the silent park.

Every noise had the hair on the back of his neck rising, turning in circles to look behind him at whatever it was, and at one point, he briefly considered calling for Superman—nothing gave you nerves of steel like the Man of Steel.

Shaking his head, he reaffirmed his own abilities. He could do this. He was fast enough to escape danger, he just had to sense it coming.

The sound of nails on metal echoed in Barry’s ears and he shivered, peeking around the corner of an abandoned booth to see a sleek black jaguar scratching at a metal door until it shoved open, and it slipped inside.

His brows furrowed and he looked around before quickly following it, slipping inside the doorway. It led down a further hall and into a tunnel, and with the large metal pistons and wheels in the walls, he assumed it was the underneath of an out of order roller coaster.

Glancing down, he saw paw prints in the dusty ground that obviously hadn’t been disturbed in a couple decades. Barry frowned and continued down the hallway, coming around a corner.

The second he turned it, he ran smack dab into something, and he gasped, immediately shoving out. Whatever had run into him went to the ground with a pained grunt and he blinked in the darkness, looking down, surprise bleeding through him as a woman’s face cleared in the darkness.

Barry had so many thoughts running through his head, but their safety overrode it and he bent down, hauling her up as he whispered harshly, “Never mind what you’re doing here, we have to leave now.”

“What?” she hissed back, letting him tug her down the hallway. “Who are you!”

“My name is Barry. I work at CCPD.” He glanced back at her, well, over her shoulder. “There’s a big cat somewhere down here and we need to get away. If my calculations are right, there are more around.”

“Wait, you know?” she questioned, feet skidding to a halt and Barry looked back at her.

“What do you mean? That the big cats are hiding around here?” she nodded, and he tipped his head. “Yeah. I figured it out with the police scans and public sightings.”

Her jaw started to go slack, and he tugged her again. “C’mon, we have to get out of here before that panther comes back.”

“It’s a jaguar.”

He stopped. “What?”

She pulled her wrist out of his grip. “It’s a black jaguar not a panther.”

Barry cocked a brow. “How do you know?”

“I…” she seemed hesitant, diverting her gaze. “I can’t tell you right now.” She hurried past him. “But you don’t have to worry. There are no cats here.”

“But my calculations—”

“Are wrong, Blake. There are no cats here.”

“It’s Barry,” he retorted. “Barry.”

“Whatever your name is,” she scowled, pushing the door open so they could both get out.

As they did, he pulled out his phone and shone the flashlight upwards so he could see her features. “Who are you?”

She blinked. “It’s not important.”

“It is. If you know about the big cats roaming the city and hurting people, then I need to know.”

Her face pinched. “They’re not hurting people. They’re helping.”

Barry recalled the meta-human incident—the meta’s spine had been broken in one swipe of that tiger’s paw. “Breaking spines and other important body parts isn’t helping people.”

“It’s not like I’m eating the criminals!” she shouted, then slapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide and Barry gaped at her.

“What did you just say?”

She shook her head. “Nothing! I didn’t say anything!”

“No, you said something alright. It sounded like you said you weren’t eating the criminals.” He leaned closer. “Who are you and what do you know about the cats?”

For a moment, she merely gazed at him, then she let out a heavy sigh, shoulders drooping as she resigned herself. “Alright…I’ll talk.” She exhaled. “My name is (Y/N) (L/N). I’m a part-timer at the STAR Labs research facility. A few months ago…I was helping one of the scientists identify a common DNA strand found in the Panthera family and how it would react if spliced together in a new animal when—”

She trailed off, unsure of herself and Barry encouraged, “When?”

(Y/N) sighed again. “I don’t know. There was a mistake with the experiment. Some kind of electromagnetic shock that caused an entire building outage.”

“What else?” he questioned, and she shrugged.

“When we went inside after the power was back on, the test subject was deceased. Doctor Lesia asked me to clean up and I did, but I must’ve gotten contaminated somehow. Maybe through an open wound? I don’t know.”

She inhaled, meeting Barry’s blue eyes. “The DNA sequencing experiment didn’t fail though.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked curiously and she looked towards the door.

“Give me a moment.” As she walked back inside, she quickly stuck her head out and said, “Don’t be alarmed and don’t run, okay?”

He was wary of that and after a few moments, he heard scratching at the door and the door handle bent down, then the door pulled open, and the black jaguar bounded out.

Barry was quick to step back with a sharp, “Shit!” but the cat didn’t do anything, it merely sat down and looked at him; he took a closer look, eyes widening and he breathed, “Oh my God…it resequenced your DNA.”

She nodded, making a low growling noise, then disappeared back inside, only to reappear herself once more. “I’ve been able to transform into any cat whose DNA sequence belongs to the Panthera family.” (Y/N) shook her head. “I have to transform at least once a day, or it’ll happen without my control, and I can’t risk it happening at my job or out in public. So, I come here and transform, then run around Central City.”

“And fight crime,” he surmised, and she tipped her head side to side.

“It didn’t start out like that, honest. I realized I had all this energy pent up and running and scouring seemed to get it out.” (Y/N) blinked. “The first time I ever fought ‘crime’ was when I stopped a meta human from attacking Flash and Green Lantern.”

Barry stared at her. “You broke the meta-human’s spine.”

She winced. “I…didn’t realize I’d hit him with that much strength…but it was that or risk him hurting another hero and I didn’t want that to happen.” (Y/N) looked at him. “Please…please don’t tell anybody you know this. I’ll stop, just please don’t tell anyone. If you do, who knows what government science squad will come after me and kidnap me.”

Her face was the picture of pure terror and she reached out, grabbing Barry’s jacket, tears welling in her eyes as she begged again, “Please Barry, don’t tell anyone.”

Barry took her hands, squeezing them gently. “I won’t. I promise.”

She blinked tearfully and asked, “You won’t?”

“No, I won’t tell.” He smiled at her and fiddled with the ring on his hand, showing her the lightning symbol on it. “Not after I owe you for saving me and Green Lantern.”

(Y/N) eyes widened, and she gaped at the ring, then at his face. “You—you’re him…the Flash.”

He nodded. “Yeah.” Barry sighed, looking around, seeing the moon high in the sky. “Look, it’s late right now. Why don’t we both go home for the night and meet up sometime later?”

“To do what?” she questioned, and he met her eyes.

“Well, I doubt we’ll be able to undo the resequencing of your DNA. There’s no telling how damaging it could be to you if we try.” He thought for a moment, then decided, “So how about this, we meet up, and we’ll see about training you.”

(Y/N)’s face pinched. “But I’m not a speedster?”

“True, but technically you’re like me. You’re a meta-human now.” Barry smiled, wide and toothy. “And if there’s one thing I know how to do—it’s help meta-humans control their powers.”

She searched his gaze for a few moments, then she nodded. “Alright…that seems like a fair plan.” (Y/N) held out her hand and Barry took it, shaking it firmly. “Glad to be apart of the team, Flash.”

“Glad to have you, er…” his brows furrowed. “Do you have a name yet?”

(Y/N) pursed her lips in thought, then her face lit up and she replied, “Panthera.” Barry snorted and she flushed. “I know…I’m a nerd.”

He shook his head. “So am I.”

[tamlinsbedroom]

Chapter 16: Run Away

WARNING: Rape in this chapter a little after the time skip towards the end.

That night, I told Tamlin and Rhys that I’d be in the library reading. That I needed to distract my mind from everything that’s been going on. They seemed to understand, as my drastic change from being a human to this would overwhelm anyone.

While they were talking with Lucien, I planned my escape. I knew that they had spies all around the courts, waiting for the valuable subjects of the high lords to no doubt surrender themselves for the greater good.

I snuck out from the library, through the window that led to the balcony. There was an ivy bush below, and it would—I hoped it would, cushion my 10 foot fall.

I had to be quiet, as I knew faery ears would hear if I made too much of a sound. And so, I swung my leg over the marble balcony, and right down I plummeted into the ivy. It didn’t cushion me as much as I thought it would, I learned. Especially because there was a rock in the tangle of leaves that scraped up my foot. It hurt, but my adrenaline was high. I ignored the throbbing as I began running.

I ran straight into the wood, the thickest part that once I breached would hide me from even faery eyes. Prythian was a scary place to be in at night, Rhys and Tamlin had told me before. I attested to that, as I felt eyes on me. Not eyes of prey, but of predator. I tried to ignore the yellow eyes I saw reflecting back at me in the moonlight as I swiftly kept up my pace.

I heard a branch snap, darting my eyes to the sound. It was a beast, a wolf to be exact. It’s glowing eyes had nothing but malice in them as it paused. I tried to back away slowly, but tripped on a tangle of weeds. The wolf transformed, turning into a man. No, a faery male. He had jet black hair that was cut to his shoulders, and yellow eyes just like the wolf.

“What is the high lord of the night and spring courts little thing doing in these big bad woods?” He smiled like a cat, his white teeth gleaming.

“I-I had to…” I stammered, confused as to if this male was part of the rogue soldier of Hybern’s malevolent plan.

“Ah, of course you did. How noble.” He lunged toward me, grabbing my wrist as he winnowed us to a place I’d never been. I could have sworn I heard a beast roar, and the high lord of the night court scream for me.

I was thrown on a dirt floor, the male that had taken me now gone. When I looked up, several sets of eyes were on me. All were males, most high and few lesser fae from the looks. They cleared a path as black leather boots, shined and polished, came up to me.

“You must be Alanna.” I looked at the male, but not at his eyes. I didn’t have to in order to know who it was. It was that same rogue soldier that crashed through Tamlin’s window, threatening us all before. He got down on a knee, gripping my chin harshly, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“Did your high lords not teach you to look others in the eyes when you’re being spoken to?” He gripped tighter. “Answer me, my little whore.” I shook in fear at his words. At that word.

“Please. Please don’t hurt me. You said you wouldn’t if—“ He slapped me across the face with a bruising intensity. I yelped, my hand going up to soothe the sting.

“I do what I want. Trust me.” He stood. “Had I had to go get you myself, your fate would be far more unpleasant than what it’s going to be now.” I didn’t want to know what he meant. I didn’t want to know what plans he had for me.

He gripped me by the collar of my dress, dragging me through the dirt. My hurt leg stung as the dirt got in it. The other faery males laughed and joked as I was drug along.

“Quiet! You’re scaring the poor girl.” The rogue soldier joked, throwing his head back and roaring with laughter. He sat down on a large, metal throne, leaving me at his feet. He looked down at me with a smirk. I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t an attractive male, with his sharp jaw and lean yet toned muscles.

“Get on all fours.” He instructed, with a sharp edge behind his words. I halted, staring back at him with tears in my eyes. What was he going to do? I panicked.

“Don’t make me have to repeat myself.” He warned, motioning for me to do what he asked. Reluctantly, I got on my four shaky limbs. I awaited something awful, but what he did was nothing short of humiliating. He put his feet on top of me. As if I were a useless ottoman. Tears fell down onto the dirt as the laughter from the men faded into nothing. This is what I did. This is what I had to do. I just hoped that my suffering wouldn’t last long, and somehow I’d luck out.

My mates faces flashes in my mind. They were undoubtedly worried out of their minds, trying to conceive a plan to get me out of the mess that I willingly put myself in.

The males legs were heavy. My back and limbs ached, struggling to stay up.

“Having a hard time, pet?” I heard him ask from above me.

“P-please. I can’t…” I mumbled, my voice shaky and tired. To my relief, his legs were off of me, but I was instead yanked up on my feet. He held my hair roughly in his grasp.

“Strip.” He commanded. My eyes widened. Strip?! In front of all of these males that—I couldn’t. I couldn’t possibly—

Before I could think anymore, a blade tore my dress right down the middle, from collar to hem. It fell off of me, exposing my thin, lacy white undergarments. Naturally, I covered my breasts, my cheeks burning red with shame.

“Dance.” He instructed, but not before turning me around and slapping my backside with such force it made me stumble forwards.

“B-but there’s no music.” I tried to reason.

“Did I say dance to music?” He met my gaze. That was lust in his eyes. Pure, malevolent, cruel lust. He looked at me as if to say ‘I dare you to refuse.’

And so, I began swaying my hips, twirling as tears ran down my cheeks. My sobs became my music, and the males around me made disgusting comments, watching my every move.

“I’ll fuck her soon enough.”

“We should gang her and then bash her head in.”

The slurs of speech made me zone out into a world of hate, and I was made to dance until I collapsed.

The last thing I remember was being carried and dumped into a cell, laid atop a straw bed.

❥❥❥

I didn’t know how long I slept, but I didn’t dream. It was an utter blackout, my body needed it.

I was waken up by someone splashing my face with cold water. I wiped it from my face with my dirty hands and looked at the individual who’d done that with a dangerous glare.

I quickly softened my look when I saw that it was the rogue soldier. What the hell was his name? I hated referring to people with things other than their name.

“Rise and shine, my pet.” He tossed the end of what looked to be old soda bread into my cell, landing on the dirt floor. “Eat up, or you’ll regret it later.” He walked off, that cocky smirk still plastered on his stupidly attractive face.

I ripped the bread, chewing it up and swallowing it as fast as I could, trying to ignore the old taste and texture. No water, except what had been dumped on me. How thoughtful.

I laid in my cell, thinking about my mates. Thinking about them fucking me, then treating me like a queen bathing me and coddling me to sleep. I missed them…and it had only been less than a whole day. My ramblings came to a halt as the rogue soldier was back in front of my cell, unlocking it.

He strode in, his tall stature aiding him. He picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder as he walked off with me to gods knows where. I held on to his back tightly, in fear that he would throw me down harshly.

And he did throw me. Except, not onto the floor, but onto a bed. I knew from the looks of the chambers that they were his. Weapons scattered the tents walls, the bedding not as lavish as a high lords, but still quality. I scrambled, hugging me knees to my chest. I was, after all, still nude from when he’d torn my dress in half.

“This is the part where you learn how to be my pet for the rest of your miserable life.” He grabbed my throat tightly, squeezing it as he lowered me down.

To my horror, he crawled in between my legs and began unbuttoning his trousers, his hard member springing out. No-no this could not be happening…this couldn’t—

Without warning, he plunged himself inside of me, no arousal to lube him. The pain was unbearable, like I was being torn in half, the friction burning my walls.

“Stop! Stop! Please—“ He put his fingers in my mouth, down my throat, silencing me of coherent words.

He proceeded to rape me for what felt like hours, as I laid in misery. At least when I ran from my village and those other men had used me, I was knocked out from hitting my head. This…this was horrifying. And I was awake for all of it.

I didn’t know why Tamlin or Rhys couldn’t reach me down our mating bond, but they couldn’t. It was as if a powerful spell had been placed on me, preventing it. So, I prayed. Prayed to the old gods, to the cauldron and mother like the fae, to anyone who would listen.

[maki-s-wife]

Pairing: Reiner x gender neutral!reader

Warnings:attack on titan season 2 spoilers, angst, cursing

1.3k words

I’m very sorry it took almost a whole month to get this out, I unconsciously made this a gender neutral reader This also ended up only being a Reiner fic I completely forgot about the Bertholt part I hope that’s ok if you’d like me to add something or change it you can request again for it

Request from: @sugarandsoft

The requests had spoilers that I couldn’t hid from first glance so I hope i tag this right

"I wish I'd never learned that there were people like this, that way...I wouldn’t have become...such a half assed piece of shit” Reiner said as he looked down at his feet.

What was Reiner talking about you thought. You slowly walked closer to him and reached out to touch his shoulder. As you did he started to remove his cast and once he did you froze in your tracks. That steam...that steam was same when eren was regenerating when he got hurt. There was no way out of all the people Reiner the man you had started to fall for in the years you trained together could be a titan. You and eren stared at his arm miraculously healing before you.

“Reiner are we really going to do it? Right now!” Bertholt screamed. “What are you guys talking about” you said as you stood in one place shaking. Your hand slowly creeping to your menuver gear. Reiners eyes went from cold and scared to soft. They were so uncertain as they stared holes into your own eyes.

Bertholt also turned his attention to you. You were about to say something else, demanding them for more answers even though you had an idea of the truth when Mikasa yelled “y/n” “eren”. You jumped out of the way to see her attack Reiner and bertholt. You were nothing less than confused. You couldn’t think properly...why was everything happening so fast. The next time you looked up you saw little yellow sparks surrounding Reiner and bertholt. “Eren, Y/N get away from there” armins voice yelled.

You took one last look at the two. Taking in their faces one last time you could have sworn to see them both mouth the same thing. “I’m sorry”. You let out silent tears as you grabbed onto the wall for stability and watch the man you’d give the world for and the other you saw as the closest thing you saw to family turn into the beasts you sworn to kill. The ones that killed Eren parents and hundreds of others. They destroyed wall Maria and sent many people into poverty.

Your vision was blurry now but you carried on trying to survive this heavy blast. Though you were loosing your grip. You didn’t have any strength left. Whether it was because two of the people you trusted the most betrayed you or the pressure of the blast everything hurt. You watched as the armor titan and the collosal rises from where Reiner and Bertholt stood. "Shit" you yelled as you accidentally let go of the walls. was this really the last time you'd see the love of your life and best friend. Before you could even finish your thought you realized you were now in the hands of the armor titan...Reiner.

He had you in his hand now. Reiner looked down towards you.

His eyes were not the same eyes that would look at you Only just hours ago. Those weren't the eyes you fell in love with now they were glowing but cold. You shut your eyes tight as you went done the wall at a quick speed. you looked to refiners other hand to see Eren crying. you couldn't help but let out even more tears than before. Too much was happening and you didn't understand any of it. Why did it have to Reiner and Bertholt out of all people. you thought back to when Reiner told you about his hometown.

"I want to return to my hometown...and I want to take you with me y/n"

Thinking back to everytime Reiner and Bertholt protected and comforted you when you needed it. When they'd train you with full power for you to do your greatest. Whenever Reiner would say the sweetest things and you'd just fall harder for him. Everytime Bertholt would sit down and talk to you about cool things he read in books.

you snapped your eyes open to see Eren transforming in Reiners other hand. You felt Reiner grasp you slightly harder. Your conscious was slowly subsiding as Eren punched Reiner. Your head was pounding, you could barely breathe, you wanted to throw up from all the commotion and betrayal, you couldn’t even tell if you were truly alive at this moment. You closed your eyes, the pain of everything finally wearing you down.

The next time you opened your eyes you saw a tree in front of you. You attempted to lift one hand and looked down to see your hands tied together.

Quickly looking around you spotted Reiner, Bertholt, Eren and Yimr. Reiner took his head out of his hand and looked at you. The two of you made eye contact. He looked almost scared of you. He looked away once again.

“Oi what’s going on....”you said quietly ,Then it hit you.

Everything that had happened Prior to you passing out. You tried to get up but noticed you legs were in the same condition as you hands. Eren stood up looking angry. He started yelling at the two as yimr just sat there Regenerating her leg. You just looked down thinking about the situation.

“Reiner and Bertholt betrayed you. Reiner...Reiner betrayed you. You didn’t know where you were. Are you going to die? You had a lot of questions but it be stupid to ask them wouldn’t it.

Your head snapped up when you heard Bertholt speak. “Back then...I thought I felt sorry for you” he said averting his eyes from Eren. Looking at eren now you saw a scary look in his eyes. You never saw that kind of look in Erens eyes before. Before Eren could speak you cut him off. “Reiner...say something” “say something right now, you killed so many innocent people you have to say something” you yelled in a raspy voice. You were crying again. You were conflicted.

One side of you wanted to run to Reiner tell him things are going to be ok and that you two could run away and forget everything...start over. The other side wanted to punch him. Punch him a million times to kill him.

You hated yourself for wanting to forgive him but you were in love with him. And for Bertholt...you just didn’t know. He seemed so much colder than normal...or what you thought was normal.

Eren looked at you and spoke again. You just kept looking at Reiner, you wanted him to speak but he wouldn’t. “Don’t you think I know that” Reiner yelled at Erens statement. Eren continued calling the murderers. He wasn’t wrong.

Then there was a gross feeling in your stomach. You were in love with a murder, your were friends with one. The same feeling when Annie was revealed to be the female titan.

Back with the corps is where you wanted to be. Back home and things back to normal.

That’s what you thought as Reiner yelled more. Yes you wanted him to apologize, to feel regret for what he and Bertholt did. He showed no remorse and that was scary.

They were both quiet now and you let out a hurt chuckle. Everyone’s attention was on you now. “Reiner why don’t you come over here” you said still looking down. You weren’t scared as you heard him make his way towards you and crouch down. Looking up slightly more you spoke

“I was a fool to fall in love with you”.

Wether you thought that was true or not Reiner was beating himself up inside. He was in love with you as-well. He hurt the person he loved. He wanted to take you with him back home. To have a wonderful life with you. But after hearing your words those dreams shattered.

All he whispered was an “I’m sorry”. And turned and went back to his original place.

Somehow nothing and everything made sense right now but all you could think about was how your own dreams shattered

And unknowingly to you so did Reiners