#just some little interpretations of mine cause i like robots

[dotster001]

Howdy!

So I recently came across your twisted earth au and im loving it so far! Now my request is, what if we, the reader, (y/n whatever you wanna name it) gets transported from our game into their world? I can just imagine y/n finding out about idia or ace’s body pillow of us and y/n not knowing to be either shocked, confused or both. I’d love to see your interpretations of this with the rest of the cast!

Have a nice day/night!

Twisted Earth Literary Universe

3k Masterlist

A/N: I tried to be realistic. Also, imagine that each of these scenarios is a separate universe, for realism sake 😂 let me know if you want a version of this where we find some of their fanfiction supply I've talked about Floyd shirt before. It's this with your face on it.

Ace and Deuce

"This is the ADeuce duo! They'll probably be in some of your classes, and both of them are super fans of you!"

Cater Diamond, who had the voice of a friend of yours (you were very confused by this place, and starting to get very scared) had found you when you woke up in a strange coffin. Now he was showing you around.

You noticed, on the wall, a poster with yourself and many of your friends on it.

"Oh! That's so cute!" You said, pointing. You missed them already.

"That's Deucey's," the red headed one of the duo said, wrapping his arms around the bluenette, whose face was turning a bright red.

"He also has-"

"-Ace don't!"

"A plushie that looks like you!"

Ace pulled a tiny plush off the desk, and showed it to you with a proud smirk.

"Oh. It's kinda cute," you felt your cheeks growing warm. Who knew you could look so adorable?

"Ace has a body pillow!" Deuce blurted, causing you to drop the plush in shock. Deuce winced at that.

"What the hell dude?" Ace hissed. "That's simply not true!"

Deuce dodged around Ace, diving under a bed and pulling out a life size body pillow of yourself.

Your jaw dropped. "Oh my God…"

"What! His was cute, but mine's not?" Ace pouted.

"His was cute. Your intentions are questionable," you muttered.

"You think his intentions are questionable now, you should see the back," Deuce smirked, but was quickly tackled by Ace.

Octotrio

Two very tall twins were showing you around your new living space. When you had indicated that you didn't even know where you were, and wanted to go home, a scary aura had filled the space, so you decided to keep your mouth shut, for now.

The sillier one, opened a door, singing out, "Azuuuuul~" as he walked into the room.

Oh my God.

What the hell?

The room was full of what looked like video game merchandise….except on closer inspection it was of yourself and your friends.

"Oh my God-" you whispered, mildly scared that you might have just been kidnapped by stalkers.

"Azul! We found something!"

"I'm at the printing press," a voice called back from the back of the room.

The calmer one took your arm, and escorted you to the back where a silver haired man was printing T-shirts….with your likeness on it.

You felt faint. You gripped your escort just a little harder.

The man looked up, his face turning a bright red.

"How-"

"Dunno! We just found them asleep in the mirror chamber! First come first serve, am I right?" The silly one said with a smile. "Ooh! I gotta get my shirt!"

"Floyd-" his twin warned, but it was too late, he'd already run off.

The silver haired man was still staring at you.

"I know what this looks like, but-"

"Ta da!" You turned, and looked at his shirt, and finally gave into your building terror and passed out.

Idia

You'd woken up to a robot boy smiling at you sweetly. He was saying something about how he brought you here, but you couldn't understand a word of it. And now he was showing you around your "new home". You figured, just smile and nod, then you could get out of here when the advanced robot boy wasn't looking.

He knocked on the door, and you heard a voice from within.

"Why are you knocking, Ortho?"

"Cause I brought a friend!"

You heard a crashing sound, a muttered, "no no no" and what sounded like hasty scampering.

"I'm coming in~!" Robot boy pushed open the door, and you were met with pitch black. Except for the glowing blue fire in the back corner.

"Big brother! This is not good for your eyes!" He flicked on the light, and the blue fire hissed in the corner. You could now see the blue fire was a guy, who was curled in on himself, peeking at you from over the top of his knees. His golden eyes filled with terror that only got worse as Ortho showed you around the room.

Then it caught your eye. The body pillow on the bed. The animated character on it kind of looked like you. Your eyes clicked from the pillow, to the guy, and back again, not failing to notice the widening of his eyes as he knew you knew. He pulled up his hood and buried himself in it.

"It's not what it looks like," he muttered. "I'm not a creep, I just wanted to cuddle."

Oh God….

You're pretty sure you were kidnapped.

Crewel

The man before you was a bit intimidating. But you definitely trusted him more than the guy with the crow mask, so you couldn't complain too much.

He was eyeing you, and making some sketches in a notebook. Not much of a conversationalist, unless you would try to stand up and stretch, then he would say, "sit, pup," in a booming voice that would startle you back to your seat.

After a while, he stood up and moved to the giant wardrobe behind him, flipping through outfits, before pulling one out.

"Is this something you would wear?"

You nodded. It really was! It looked more expensive than something you would wear, but if you had the funds, definitely!

He smiled softly, almost proudly, before handing it to you.

"Try this on please. Bathroom is over there." He pointed with his red stick, and you rushed over there. 

Hopefully in the time all this was taking, the crow man would have found a way home. And maybe you could keep the outfit!

It was as you were undressing that you noticed the tag.

Twisted Earth

Y/N L/N Line

You froze. What? Why was you name on the tag? You knew from your short time here that there was magic, so that could be why a tag with your name was there. But how did he know where you were from?

"Hurry up, pup!" He called from the other room, and you quickly pushed the thoughts away, opting to try on the outfit as fast as possible.

Sam

You didn't know where you were. But there was a line outside this shack, so hopefully somebody could help you. You'd mostly just gotten a lot of stares so far.

When you got inside the building, you saw someone at the counter, and felt relief. A professional! Surely they would at least have a phone for you to call home with!

You stepped up to the counter, opened your mouth, and were cut off by,

"Hello, my little imp, how can I-" and then he froze, staring at you with wide eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me they were here?" He hissed over his shoulder.

"Who's they?" You asked, unsure why this man was mad at you already.

"No, no, not you, somebody else," he muttered, before taking what looked to be a calming breath. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know, that's why I came over here. Can I borrow your phone?"

He stared. Then slightly tilted his head. Then glared at someone. Then slowly nodded.

"Sure! Let me just run to the back and see if one of my workers has a cell phone available. Please help yourself to anything in the store while I'm gone."

He was gone in a flash, and you started to wander. It seemed like a convenience store, just with a couple weird things you'd never heard of, like dragon's years. Maybe it was a type of alcohol?

Then you found it. It was a small section of the store, but it has enough in it to recognize plushies, posters, and shirts with yourself and your friends on them.

A hand on your shoulder made you jump.

"You must be very confused, Y/N," the man from the counter whispered in your ear. He took a step back and extended a hand to you.

"Take my hand and I can explain everything."

[thevoidofwinter]

this is SUPER late bc its been A Time lately and i also kinda forgot for a while oops. BUT. a little bit of rambling about my cccc/hms designs + interpretation as requested by @keruukat :]

so first off, all three of them in my "main" designs for them are incredibly creature coded. this is literally just because i wanted to and enjoy that type of theme. mind is dragon themed, heart is... bird creature thing. themed. and soul is cockatrice themed which was actually not my idea and a big brain suggestion my friend @atticustimestwo came up with (thank you forever atticus btw. probably never would have thought of that myself sLJFKSL) !!! as a result of this, they're all incredibly instinct driven and highly reactionary. yes mind hates this.

side note, i also have different names i like using for them! mind is helios, heart is lunaris, and soul is anularis. this was mostly just to separate them when doing rps with friends but i've come to really enjoy these names :]

but with that out of the way! i'll start with my mind design bc i'm biased towards blue and dragons oops.

originally, he started out being the least creature coded of the three, both in terms how i was messing around with design and actually in how i read the "timeline" of the album, as it were. in character wise, he absolutely hated being "inferior" to the other two. he didn't have any claws to speak of, no scales, no feathers. he was the most human looking and he didnt like that. so what does he do? oh yknow.

design wise, i realized i liked leaning more into the robotic theming like a lot of people do bc idk! it's fun. why not. and then my dragon bias hit when i heard that One Line in RoE while drawing one day and the gears started turning. i still haven't ironed it out 100% drawing wise, but here's what i have so far:

a good part of the left side of his face is a screen! its default is just an eye, though it can be just about anything. it definitely turns to a clock during RoE and i do imagine it becoming super animated during TME. also glitchy from Be Born into TME as well.

his floating crown is a hologram he keeps up at most times, but the sun halo is just kind of. always there.

there's a lot of metal. like. a LOT. his neck is plated + his modulator is built into that. his entire spine is reinforced with metal. metal arms, probably some metal patches elsewhere too. and yknow the robotic dragon tail

he glows ominously in the dark. you can see that here- just kind of an aura type thing along with the glowy robotic bits on him.

he has irises and pupils, though most of the time they aren't visible bc he is. Tired. they snap into visibility when he's focused or angry though. (i have a very vivid mental image of them snapping into focus during the intro of TME)

he has mechanical wings! they're retractable and mostly are just there because, again, he couldn't bear to be "inferior" to heart and soul, who both also have wings. he can fly with them, though most of the time they're literally just for threat display. also yes, there are slits in the back of his jacket for the wings i just forget to draw them lol

he has an innate need to Be The Tallest. they're literally all the same height but this bitch wears heeled boots with metal on the soles to make himself taller.

the sun patch on his right jacket sleeve was put there by heart; the crown on the left he did himself.

he kinda??? has electricity abilities that he gained over the process of turning himself more robotic. this is important to note for a later note with soul :)

...that's all i can think of for now but i'm sure there's more i'm forgetting. its fine! onto heart :D

heart has always been the most creature coded to me, as the representation of emotion. and yknow. emotions can be pretty damn innate, instinctual, and visceral. or maybe that's just my take on it cause mine sure are lfsdkjhdfjk

i couldn't choose between black and white wings so his are both! a gradient from white into black with white speckles and purple heart-shaped markings on a few of the primary feathers :] he also has a lot of feathers in other places, such as covering his ears, his neck, chest, arms, legs, and of course tail.

his eyes aren't actually physically damaged! his near-blindness and extreme light sensitivity are actually a result of mind glowing blindingly bright (something something don't stare at the sun) after the shot, and then later the harsh red glow of soul's trident when he got the scars on his face.

his halo is a crescent moon most of the time, though it can change to different phases either on command or in reaction to his emotions. i haven't quite decided which phase stands for what yet, i'll figure it out eventually...

he loves loves loves putting patches on things, especially different textured ones. the heart patch on his hoodie sleeve is soft!

his blindfold has the phases of the moon on it! they weren't initially there as the blindfold was given to him by soul, but mind later embroidered the phases onto it during a concord loop.

his tail is actually kinda prehensile and really strong- he can totally use it to hang onto stuff and even hang off a branch upside down.

he used to be able to fly easily, but after getting his wings broken one too many times in scuffles, it's a lot more difficult to do so now. theoretically he still could with enough adrenaline, though.

he slouches a lot because of his wings, so he usually appears to be the shortest of the group. he can and will stand up straight for threat displays, though.

guy really doesn't like wearing shoes most of the time. socks it is.

aaand i think that's all i have for heart atm!

soooo, soul moment :] soul is such an intriguing guy to me. we really don't see (or hear, ig) a lot of him for a good part of the album, so tbh even to me he's still kinda an enigma. i do adore him a lot though. this guy is SO tired and done with heart and mind's shit, please let him have one (1) nap.

i went back and forth on this guy's design a whole lot before atticus suggested the cockatrice idea, and even a little bit after that i debated it for a while. should he be the most human, or appear so far disconnected that he's barely recognizable? WELL. turns out i went kinda midline with that lmao.

he has both scales and feathers to mirror heart and mind's respective features. i love a symbolism

he has a mane of feathers going down his spine, though it's usually only visible on his tail cause. yknow. clothes.

his wings are summonable, and he doesn't usually have them out cause they're HEAVY. they're a mix of draconic and feathered wings as well. he can also fly with them, though it's usually too much effort for him to even consider.

he has four red diamond-shaped lights hovering above his head at all times, like heart and mind have their respective permanent halos.

when under extreme stress/emotions, he has three light horns that manifest, reminiscent of his trident. he also glitches the fuck out

^ the visual glitching is actually a result of mind. what happened during the shot was that heart shot at mind (and missed, but the fact that heart even tried was the problem) -> when he finds out, soul unintentionally snaps and freaks the fuck out, attacking heart and mind -> mind panics and absolutely electrocutes soul, causing his form to glitch and go black and white -> ever since then, extreme emotions causes him to start glitching again!

the shadow half of him is also reactive to his emotions, though is there more often and easier than the glitching. it's pretty much his default, especially during cacophony. (i have a pretty vivid mental image of it fading into view during dream)

the back of his jacket has a trident, crown, and heart embroidered on it, something that all three of them worked on together :]

this is literally just for comedy reasons, but soul's shirt is usually a basic t-shirt, but sometimes it has text on it and the text can change at will

also have a few misc notes that i think are fun :]

while i do adore these creature-esque designs, i also want to do more abstract designs (that they're probably liable to shift to under extreme stress/it being their "true" forms), as well as closer to human designs :]

same thing with clothing designs. i'm so indecisive help. i think im gonna do all of one or two color designs, and then some alt designs where they mix and match colors some!

i do like to imagine heart is physically the strongest out of the three, mind mentally the strongest, and soul the strongest overall. just in relation to each other, of course.

...and i think that's all! at least all that i can remember right now lol, i'm likely to come back and edit this or reblog with additions when i think of more things. it's kinda intimidating to finally be posting this bc im usually so quiet on this front, but i hope whoever manages to read this giant wall of text enjoys! :D

[sunrisetune]

Tag! If you would like, please tell me about your Courier and F:NV run decisions -- and DLCs as well, if you'd like! Did you have a favored home base in the game? Creepiest location?

Thank you Syrup from the past whose question I definitely didn't never actually answer publicly hahaaaaaa sorry friend! I appreciate it <3

My courier is actually a repurposed Killjoy OC of mine from several thousand internet years ago; she isn't my only courier but she was the first one I played, & only one I’ve finished the game as so far Her name is Violet! her hair’s blue and she does have pronouns.

She worked out an Independent Vegas with no treaty between the NCR and the Vegas gangs. (It annoys both my storytelling sensibilities and my like 'interpreting political messages in video games' sensibilities that the "best" ending is the 'Annex everything to the sci fi-US government" one but ANYWAY) Tried to solve problems diplomatically, but when she can’t, shoot them with a multiplasma rifle and cause chain reactions until they melt down into radioactive goo. As one does

In the DLCs: she tends towards the choices that kept the most people alive. Example: I flat-out didn’t know that we could talk Ulyesses out of the whole ‘nuke half the desert from orbit’ plan, if I could I would’ve spared him. As it was, decided to shut the facility down & let our brave robot friend make his sacrifice honourably. And I only cried about it a little bit! Ignoring ‘Honest Hearts’ bc it is both bad and stupid; I still haven’t played Old World Blues, but I’d like to! Whenever I hear something about that one I think, “Okay, this has to be the weirdest and horniest thing in the add-on” but somehow I have been wrong every time so far. x)

- I had two (2) favourite home bases actually! The first one was our hotel room in Novac. The second was the luxury suite in the Lucky 38, both bc I’m a sucker for The Drama and bc I can fit all of our friends in there with things I gave them. I liked setting up the ‘canteen’-type area in the kitchen and, like, isolate different parts of my inventory in different fridges. Like, “This is where the soda and street food goes! And this one’s for the medicine and the bombs c: “ We had at least three coffee tins and pots at a time, everyone got their own cups. And one (1) teddy bear per friend, bc I’m not a monster

- Creepiest location in the general game for me is Searchlight, for sure. It’s so avoidable and so fucking sad. And, like, one of the ways that the game used toxic waste as not just a backdrop or funny status effect but part of the plot, and how horrifying it is as a weapon. The soldier we meet there who’s ghoulified?? I’ve said this somewhere before but man I love when the game remembers it’s a sci-fi story. - Creepiest place including the DLCs would be the Sierra Madre! Dead Money is my favourite for a reason. The sheer body horror & regular horror of the ghosts. Some of the same as Searchlight as well; the place itself, the air, is hostile to us; we’re absolutely surrounded by dead; and (stealing a line from a Bioshock post I’ll link w/ I find it), the plot knows what it’s point is. The whole resort was metaphorically and literally broken, from the very beginning and the ground up, and that was what doomed everyone in it.

Also about Dead Money: I appreciated how the reason for the setting made sense. Like w/ playing it I was thinking ’’Oh, vending machines that can print whatever’s needed’’; and then Elijah is like ’’vENDING MACHINES THAT CAN PRINT WHATEVER IS NEEDED!’’ Also Pt II: stuck a grenade in the creepy-ass ghoul singer’s pocket. Arguably most satisfying kaboom in the game. Get smithereened douchebag

[gooperts-gunk]

ok yeah so we all have our daydream delusions of who we want to join the server and be part of the federation, right??? mine even include people i don't know but i hear people wanting so im like ok... i will conjure an interpretation of this person for my federation member daydreams based on what i've seen on twitter dot com... that being said here are my delusions but i dial back the detail as to not get embarrassing about how much i daydream

so first i rainbow color-coded them based on the 8 timer room doors, royg CYAN biv PINK right? but at the same time i wasn't sure how accurate my color placings were of some people i wanted so instead my current interpretations are not color-constrained and look like THIS

head scientist, with the most power - tinakitten - she deserves it, i want her to have an important federation role IMMEDIATELY upon joining, and considering that she's possibly the carrot in ice hint... LET'S GOOOO, yes she must be evil for my visions to come to fruition, my interpretations of her are based on her conflict with c!quackity back in the dsmp. she has gone down a dark road..... i forgive her though LUL

portal controller - rtgame - he just signed a contract he doesn't care THAT much about the federation, YOU KNOW HE'D BE SO GOOD ON A RP SMP, btw his smpearth self is canon here mr galaxy man portalled in that's how he got his job, they snatched him up immediately

caretaker, census bureau manager - ihascupquake - she raises and monitors the cucuruchos and the workers, and she raised jaiden, BTW NO ONE HAS BROUGHT UP THE CONCEPT OF QUAKE ON THE SERVER AND I HATE YOU ALL FOR THAT SHE'D BE PERFECT!!!!!! JAIDEN WOULD BE HER DAUGHTER AND YOU KNOW IT!!!!!!, i heard she was a witch in a past smp maybe this could come in handy somehow, she has experience with children irl and in minecraft but we don't talk about in minecraft (BABY JOBY!!!!!!!! </3)

ecosystem & agriculture manager - lyamargarita - SHE WOULD BE LOVELY her and her sunflower theme, she'd be perfect for everything plant and living based, i don't know much about her only things based on what i've seen from......

weapons expert - skeppy - HEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAH OHOHOHOHO YES YES!!!! UH HUH!!!! HE'S GOT A LOT OF FIGHT IN HIM!!! but here's the kicker HE IS BRAINWASHED TO SOME EXTENT to have RESENTMENT TOWARDS C/Q!BBH so it causes a rift between them that q!bbh will desperately try to patch. he retains trauma from dsmp so he has a dislike towards lava but can't seem to remember WHY either out of brainwashing or out of his brain blocking it out, and he has a strong preference to ice because of it. he finds the cold comforting. hope ur heart broke just then.

+ bonus - skeppy jr or simply named junior - the federation's kid that skeppy brought along :) mostly skeppy, lya, and cupquake look after the little buddy. junior was given prosthetic robot arms built into a backpack so they use them to moves around more than their little feets and they use them to play on a gameboy advance :)

those are my delusions i hope you like my vision. other people i have heard of as possibilities and have inserted in are rivers (WHO I THINK GOT TEASED AS THE BOXING GLOVES IMAGE???), aldo, i've also inserted jacksepticeye of course, i've inserted scott the woz out of my own autistic urges, no one wanted him only i did, i've also thought og 'ok what if someone joins as the code and it's matpat', i've also inserted gumiho because gumi has expressed interest, also puffy, also yogscast zoey & rythian because im not over BRC, not ever, also i've inserted my kpop faves but let's not even go there, also brunim because forever is president now and it could happen. :)

so as you can tell i based my picks on english & spanish speakers because of that bit of info we got of more members from pre-existing languages joining :) so much more i could say but brain too jumbled it is very hot where i am so i cannot think as well with all these thoughts!!!! bye bye for now -goopert

[scarabteeth]

some humanoid meeple concepts i’ve been sittin on

[kellbellsparkles]

Chapter 1 of my new Ratchet and Clank fanfic I call "Family". Clank and Rivet have built in mini Dimensionators so they can travel freely only between the two dimensions.

In the present day, Ratchet and Clank hopped over to Rivet and Kit's dimension to explore their version of Veldin. The night was bright with bustling buildings and night goers looking for a good time.

"This is seriously Veldin?" Ratchet remarked in awe. "I mean, I haven't been back to mine in a long time, but it's always had this open, dusty frontier field; the kind of dusty where kids could stand by tumbleweeds and look cool with their toothpicks and cowboy hats."

"You can thank my Nefarious for that," Rivet said. "It's the one thing that everybody can't just let go of."

"It makes sense if it is all they have ever known," Clank said.

"Along with being able to document history as he saw fit," Kit added.

"Do you know who will be in charge of the new era, Rivet?" Clank asked.

"I haven't bothered paying attention to all that," she replied while shrugging. "I'm all about the here and now." She beamed suddenly. "And here we are now!"

They arrived at a tent in between two buildings with purple neon lights. On the flaps was a sign decorated with a martini glass and four rectangles resembling cards.

"Pretty ironic to be coming to a fortune telling booth with bar," Ratchet said.

"Hey," Rivet said defensively. "Jarmin has never given a fortune that didn't come true. You want to know if you're gonna win the lottery too, right?"

"Now that I think about it," Clank said. "Receiving a fortune is much like playing the lottery. We pick any card from the fortune teller's hand or from the top of their deck depending on their dealing preference--"

"The door isn't opening itself, Bolts," Rivet cut in. She swung the flaps open. "Come on!"

The crew entered the tent. Inside was space to have a fully functioning bar. At the center were four place mats and a deck of cards. The owner, Jarmin, was a fongoid.

"Party of four today?" He asked.

"Yup," Rivet said. As she reached for her wallet, Jarmin raised his hand.

"It's on the house for your great service for ending the now former emperor Nefarious," he said.

"Really??" Rivet squealed. "I love you, man! I'll take a kick some sass with a drop of smash gin!"

"How about the rest of you?" Jarmin offered.

"Nah," Ratchet said, shaking his head. "I'm still new to this world."

"I do not drink," Clank added.

"Obviously," Rivet retorted.

"That is actually not correct," Kit said. "Robots can enjoy variants and equivalents of food and drink."

"But it's not like you NEED it. You and Clank don't use the bathroom."

Clank blinked curiously.

"I was not aware I needed to," he said.

"You don't," Ratchet assured. Clank tilted his head.

"Do I want to?"

"No." He patted his head gently, his eyes showing concern. He turned to Rivet, desperate to change the subject.

"So who gets the first card?"

Rivet put her hand behind Kit and ushered her forward.

"It's all you, Kitty," she said with confidence.

"Me?" Kit croaked. "But why? And why Kitty?"

"You'll get used to it. Now draw a card."

Kit shakily reached for the deck. Hesitating, she drew her arm back and looked down at the floor.

"What if it's a bad fortune?" she said with a frightened tone.

"Kitty, Kitty," Rivet said in a consoling tone. "If you get a bad fortune, all you gotta do is get it done and over with and then you'll have good things in life immediately after. Isn't that right, Jarmin?"

"It's what brings people back," he cheered as he brought Rivet her drink. "Here you are, honey." Rivet gave him a wink, a smile, and a pointed finger snap in response. Kit took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said. "I am going to do it." Her legs trembled as she took small steps towards the card deck.

"We're right behind you, Kit," Ratchet said gently.

Hearing her friend's belief in her, she stood firmly and nodded. She stood directly in front of the deck and placed her hand on the top card.

"Please do not be death or causing death," she whispered as she closed her eyes. With all her courage, she grabbed a card and held it in the air in a dramatic fashion. She stayed in the pose for a good few seconds.

"What does it say?" Clank asked.

"Oh no," Kit moaned. "Is it blank?"

"We can't see," Ratchet said. "You need to turn it around and show us."

Kit turned her whole body around with her eyes still closed.

"You need to see it yourself, too, silly goose," Rivet chuckled.

"Oh," Kit said, embarrassed. She opened her eyes and brought the card down to her level. She turned it over to see what it showed.

"Do you like what you see?" Rivet asked with a smooth grin.

"I think so," Kit responded. "It's a heart."

"The heart card means you'll be unconditionally loved for all time," Jarmin chimed.

"Awwww," Ratchet cooed. "You see, Kit?"

Kit's metal lips quivered. She burst into sobs and ran into Ratchet's arms.

"What did I do to deserve iiiiiiiiit?" she wailed.

"Of course you deserve it," Ratchet said happily, patting her back. "You're wonderful."

"My turn!" Rivet shouted, scrambling towards the deck with her drink in her hand. "Let's keep the good vibes going!" She drew the card swiftly as she took a sip. Once she took a look, her eyes gaped in horror. She spat the contents of her drink onto the card.

"Aw no!" she hollered. "No, no, NO!! Absolutely not!" She made an attempt to draw another card.

"Ah, ah, ah," Jarmin said sternly. "Only one card per customer, and you'll have to pay for the next visit."

"Dammit, Jarmin!" Rivet cried. "You can't do this to me!!"

"What's wrong, Rivet?" Ratchet asked with worried. Rivet slammed the card in front of her crew; they leaned in for a closer look.

"It looks like a stork carrying something in a white cloth," Kit said.

"I have heard of this phenomenon," Clank said. He clapped his hands cheerfully. "How exciting. You are being given a baby."

"There's nothing exciting about it!!" Rivet exclaimed angrily. "Babies are the leeches of society: they get in the way of a good night's sleep, having fun, and they poop something extraterrestrial!! And when they get older, they destroy everything they set their sights on and speak their own babbly language we only nod and pretend to understand!!"

"On the contrary," Jarmin interjected. "The stork card doesn't mean you'll have a baby. At least not right away. It mostly means that you'll make a great mother one day."

"But I don't want to be a mom," Rivet whined. "Why do women have to be engineered to be birth machines?"

"What is a birth machine?" Clank asked innocently. The room grew silent; Rivet stared at Clank, completely dumbfounded.

"Are you serious?" she snapped light. Kit stood in front of her, desperately waving her arms in the air to gesture silence.

"I-It's where the stork picks up the baby to be delivered," Ratchet stammered nervously.

"Oh my," Clank gasped. "So babies do come from genetic modifying pods. The little kids from the playground were right!"

"Yup!" Ratchet squeaked. "Kids sure are smarter than we give them credit for!" Rivet rolled her eyes.

"Overprotective much?" she said under her breath.

"I guess it's my turn now!" Ratchet exclaimed, desperate to draw the focus back to the cards again. He drew his card; he looked it over from top to bottom.

"Huh," he said, his brows furrowing in confusion. "What's this mean?" On his card was a lock box with something inside writing to get out.

"That's the trap card," Jarmin responded. "It means something is trapping you or you will be trapped by something." Ratchet's face fell.

"Oh," he said softly, his ears drooping slightly. "I feel a little attacked there."

"It will be alright, Ratchet," Clank said suddenly, coming to his rescue with a hand hold. "These cards do not have a time limit, and ultimately, we will have good fortune. We will all be here for one another." Ratchet sighed and gave a soft smile.

"Thanks, pal," he said.

"As always, Ratchet," Clank replied. He lightly skipped to the deck of cards. "Now, let us see what my fortune is." He drew a card from the deck. He turned it over and glanced with great intrigue.

"Oooooo," he said, eyes wide with wonder. However, Kit's eyes were filled with great fear as she held her hands over her mouth to conceal a yell. Rivet froze mid sip of her drink. Jarmin shuddered and bowed his head, doing a prayer motion with his hands. Ratchet was unaware of his surroundings and continued to be drawn by his friend's curiosity.

"It's blank," he said.

"It appears so," Clank replied. "This must mean there are an infinite amount of possibilities for me; so many unknowns."

"Wow, pal!" Ratchet beamed. "I think you and Kit are the big lottery winners tonight!" He stood up and stretched. "I'm ready to head back if you are." Clank trotted to Ratchet and hopped onto his back.

"Thank you again, Rivet and Kit," Clank said. I never could have imagined us acting as conduits for transporting between our dimensions without your suggestion."

As they left the tent, all Rivet, Kit, and Jarmin could do was watch them with sinking feelings in their stomachs.

"Are we really just going to let them be?" Kit shakily questioned.

"It could be what Clank said about being left up to interpretation," Rivet nervously suggested. "Right, Jarmin?"

"The fortunes depicted in the cards have always come true," he said grimly. "Orvus, have mercy." Rivet and Kit looked at each other with great uncertainty and dread.

[livelovelaug-h]

My best friends sister

Summary/ request: Hey could you do a hyde imagine where Kelso has this sister no one knows about but she decides to visit and since she grew up around a lot of brothers she's like this cool chick with a motorcycle and Hyde gets interested. (Can you also interpret kelso's anger when hyde flirts with his sister) ps. I love your writings

A/N: I hope you like this. Sorry it took so long I've been having problems at home nd then my phone was being a bitch Lol. Thank you so much for saying that I never thought ppl would love my stuff haha.

@forest-rav3n 😁😁

Hyde x reader 

Eric forman's kitchen

June 10, 1977

Eric: ''kelso you don't have a sister." 

"Yes I do." 

"Then why haven't you ever mentioned her in, I don't know; about 12 years." Eric said, sarcasm dripping like sweat. 

"Well she went to live with my aunt so I saw her on weekends mostly." Kelso said opening a coke bottle.

"Why'd she move in with your aunt?" Fez asked. 

"I don't know, but my dad always said it was because there were too many boys in the house. I just thought she was a robot. Or a young astronaut."

"Yeah because 5 year olds can definitely fly in space." Hyde said. 

"See I knew it!" 

"No you mor-" 

There was a motorcycle sound and a lady drove up on Eric's driveway. She turned off the motorcycle and took off her helmet shaking her hair. All the guys were in shock, drooling all over except for Kelso. 

"… sweet sweet beautiful woman." Fez said. 

Kelso opened the slide door. 

"Hey you're finally here!!" He gave you a hug. All the other boys walked out of the kitchen finally. 

"Wowww sweet ride. Maybe you can ride me" fez says wiggling his eyebrows. 

"Ah you must be fez." 

"Oh my... you know my name!" You giggled.

"No way, man you ride this?? a triumph x-75 hurricane??? This is sooo sweet."

"Yeah I got it as a Christmas present."

"That's awesome and hot." 

"Thanks haha not the only thing I got for Christmas. I also got a nice stash."

"Nicee."

"Wait, you got a moustache?" Your brother asked.

"No.." 

"I'm Hyde by the way." He stuck his hand out for you to shake.

"Nice to meet you. I'm y/n."

You turned to the last boy. "So that leaves you. Eric forman right?" You shook his hand too. 

"Yep that's me."

"Or what I like to call him 'scrawny little neighbor boy." Hyde said, making you laugh.

"That's funny, Well it's nice meeting you all. I've heard a ton of stories about you guys, and the basement."

"Ah yes many things go on in the basement. Bad things" fez says winking.

"Fez stop creeping her out. I think she's cool enough to be a new member of the circle, man. what do you guys think?" Hyde says with a mischievous smirk. 

"The circle?"

                       ~~~~

 You were so high. 

"Oh now I get why it's called the circle!! Cause we're sitting in a circle! That's genius." 

"Wow I can't believe you're kelso's sister. You're so cool." Eric says. 

"Hey! Guys i'm cool too you know."

"Yeah you are Kelso, but you don't have breast." Fez says looking at you seductively. 

"Come on dude she's more than just that she rides a bike! Oh wait, I know who's your favorite band."

"Queen and Led Zeppelin of course!" 

"No way. Mine too!! Man, Marry me." You laughed.

"Alright alright, enough flirting with my sister okay. She's not going to be interested in any of you. Tell em y/n." 

"I don't know about that, they say once you go fez you never go back." You laughed hard. 

"That was a good one Fez. You guys are really cool, no wonder Kelso was barely ever home." 

"Yeah that and the ladies." Eric said playing with a yo-yo.

"You got that right! We did a lot of things back then, none that I can remember of right now. A lot of fire crackers were involved. And hhahaa Eric, remember that time we knocked your neighbors fence down?" 

"Ah yeah those were the good times. He deserved it man!!"

"He was such a jerk." 

"Yes he was. But guys I'm starving who else wants some food?" Eric asked.

"I do." Everyone said nonchalantly.

                     ~~~~~ 

"Mom, this is Kelso's sister. Y/n." 

"Oh wow I didn't even know you had a sister. Nice to meet you sweety." 

"Nice to meet you too Mrs. Forman. There's a good reason for that but I'll save that for a different time."

"Hey y/n, whatcha wearing under that leather jacket?"

"Hyde it's making me really uncomfortable that you're flirting with my sister."

"Oh.. well in that case, y/n what are you wearing underneath that leather jacket?" You just laughed.

"Hyde! That is so disrespectful to women." 

"Yeah like you're ever respectful to women. Even when you have a girlfriend."

"Wait Michael you never told me you had a gf." 

"Her name is Jackie and she well.. she's a rich spoiled brat." Eric said. 

"I have to go but I'll see you guys again tomorrow. And you better tell me about your gf."  You punched your brother's arm just like Hyde has done several times, just not as hard. 

"Ow." You walked out of the forman residence.

"Bye y/n, bye sexy." Fez spoke the last part, of course. 

"Man, y/n is so awesome. And hot." 

"Hyde!" 

Fez: "Well he's not wrong."

~~~~

The end!!! 

Should I make a second part?? I can always make another part if you want and enjoyed this.

[sharpnothashtag]

The Good Ship CrushWay, Chapter 47

Bridge: KJ, Data, Daneel, Tasha, Tom, Patrick

KJ: Conn, current speed? Tom: Warp 3. KJ: Helm, current heading? Ro: 315 mark 47. KJ: When will we be there, Number One? Data: At current speed, 2 weeks, 4 days, 7 hours. KJ: Daneel, any word from Dukat? We'll be entering Cardassian space soon. Data: In 4 days at our present speed. KJ: Thank you. Daneel: (looking down, multitasking) Dukat's last message was a strange one--we'll be picking up a couple of people who need to be ferried to DS9. His neck was very tense, and he was more articulate than usual. Patrick: Was he annoyed, perhaps? Daneel: (clearly working on something else and not concerned about this) Unclear. KJ: (blinking...realizing she is going to have to get used to someone who doesn't read emotions that well) Are there any ships we need to be aware of in sensor range? Daneel: No. (KJ turns away) However (KJ turns back, fake smiling to put her best foot forward with new Lieutenant) there is a Gamma Class Nebula right (bringing it up on the viewscreen) here if you would like to study it. KJ: Would you like to study it, Lieutenant? Daneel: I have been. (buttons) There are some dilithium crystals that could be used as bargaining chips with the Borg, provided they are in a dire enough state to need them. I have also found trace elements of Galantium. KJ: Data, isn't Galantium the normal antidote given for Lyantirum poisoning? Data: Galantium Byzantride, yes, however it is only used for extreme cases. KJ: You saw the elevated Lyantirum levels from the weapon they were using. Are those levels severe enough to cause poisoning? Data: Yes, but all the drones rescued thus far have not needed the treatment. Hypothetically, with their method and frequency of travel, it would have taken a full year for the effects of Lyantirum poisoning to take effect. However, at the rate the drones were dying due to the phase variant disease, many of them did not succumb to the effects. KJ: Tom, take us by the nebula. Collect all the Galantium we can store. I have a feeling that the Borg we are about to encounter need help, and lots of it. Janeway to Seven of Nine. Seven: Yes, Captain? KJ: Coordinate with Dr. Crusher on the information I'm sending to both of you now. We need to know how the Borg reconstruction surgery could be altered due to the effects of Lyantirum poisoning. Communicate with headquarters that we have found a large cache of Galantium and are collecting it in hopes of using it for treatment. Janeway out. (turning to Ro) Ensign Ro, you and Commander Data figure out the most efficient way to dispense the treatment to as many drones at a time as possible. Lieutenant, you're in charge of harvesting the Galantium. Get down to Engineering, and make sure everyone is on the same page. Daneel: For clarity's sake, what page is that? KJ: (typing into the padd on the arm of her chair, over this before it even starts) The page where we save the Borg's asses. Again.

(throw to commercial)

B'Elanna: Emptying the Bussard collectors is going to take time, Lieutenant. Miles: We'll be here another 6 hours just making sure that they're ready--apparently no one at Utopia Planitia thought they were important enough to test before we left. Daneel: Understood. The Captain sent me to help in any way I can. (B'Elanna nods and takes them off to help clean and test the collectors. Miles is left in Engineering to deal with the programming side of things.)

B'Elanna: Can you hand me that plasma spanner? (Daneel hands it to her. B'Elanna clearly feels awkward.) So...Miles tells me that you and Data hung out last week. Daneel: (blushing deeply) Yes, we did. B'Elanna: May I ask you in what context? Daneel: We went on a date. B'Elanna: (beaming) I like the two of you together. You are both very sweet--almost innocent. Daneel: Innocent? B'Elanna: You're both consenting adults, so it isn't a "young love" situation, but it does feel like you two are generally inexperienced. Daneel: I don't come across as cold and jaded? B'Elanna: I don't think so. But I'm not really one to judge. Daneel: You aren't? You seem neurotypical. B'Elanna: That's true. But that doesn't mean that I trust the way I interpret people's characters. If I were fully Klingon, I think I would be a better judge. But (shrugs) I'm half human. Daneel: I kind of thought that I came across that way. B'Elanna: Why is that? Obviously something in your past has scarred you, but I do wonder why you think of yourself in that way. Daneel: Have you ever found someone who understood you in a way you didn't understand yourself? B'Elanna: Yes. Daneel: Besides Tom. B'Elanna: Strangely enough, yes, besides Tom. Daneel: Wesley Crusher is that person for me. (B'Elanna cocks her eyebrow.) We met while we were in the Academy. One day at lunch, I was studying for my robotics class with the textbook that Data wrote. B'Elanna: (sarcastically) A real page turner. Daneel: (enthusiastically) I know, right?! Anyway, the seat next to me in the cafeteria was open, and Wesley just interrupted my study session.

Flashback (Those of you who know me know I am not a huge fan of Wesley Crusher. That isn't Wil Wheaton's fault. I'm about to try to do him justice. Please bear with me, nonexistent readers and Wil Wheaton.) Wesley walks past Daneel without looking at them. It is as if he isn't allowed to go past--like a video game character hitting an invisible wall.

Wesley: I know this is a really weird thing to say, but I feel like I'm supposed to sit here. Glasses: (Daneel doesn't look up from their book) Go ahead. Wesley: (blinking in surprise, sits down. Notices the book.) Oh, Data's book! I really miss him. Glasses: (deeply surprised, about to fan-person) You know him?! Wesley: Yeah, he's on the Enterprise where my mom was assigned. Daneel: Cool! What's your name? Wesley: I'm Wesley Crusher. He/him/his. Daneel: Wesley? (Wesley nods. Daneel sticks out his hand.) Daneel Akares. They/them/theirs. I have a potentially strange series of questions to ask you. Wesley: (smiling, sitting back in the chair with finger guns) Shoot! Daneel: (hearing the screams of their friends as they exploded; immediately panicked, ducking under the table) Who's shooting?! Wesley: (surprised, talking to them slowly and calmly as he sits on the ground with them) I'm so sorry--I thought you knew that slang term. I just meant to go ahead and ask me the questions you want to ask. No one has weapons here. You're safe. Glasses: I'm sorry. (Daneel is hugging their legs to their chest) I'm still processing a lot of stuff from the Occupation. Wesley: That's okay. (He scoots around under the table to sit side by side with Daneel) What did you want to ask me? Glasses: (looking around) Do you know someone called "The Traveller"? Wesley: (shocked) Yes. He and I know each other well. Daneel: He saved my life. I think he was looking for you, though. Wesley: What makes you say that? Daneel: He called me by your name. He said he was "here to help find her." Wesley: I know when that was. I'll never forget it. Stardate 44161.2. The day my mom disappeared. Daneel: Did the Traveller find her? Wesley: Yes. It was one of the scariest times of my entire life. Daneel: I had a bomb inside my chest. He defused it. Wesley: I'm so sorry. (Daneel puts their head on Wesley's shoulder, still shaking a little.) Do you want to come to my quarters and get to know each other? Daneel: I would like that. However, you should know first that I am not romantically or sexually attracted to you. Wesley: (laughing) Nor I you. Come on, let's go. (Wesley gets up, dusts himself off, and offers Daneel his hand to help them off the floor. Daneel accepts.)

Conference room: KJ, Data, Ro, Miles, Bev, Tasha, and Tom

KJ: Data, report. Data: We have devised a solution. As soon as the threat of assimilation is neutralized, we will beam as many drones as possible into our six cargo bays. Galantium Byzantride will filter in through the environmental controls. Once the treatment is complete, Seven of Nine will take a sample drone, input the command to regenerate, and then we will head back to Utopia Planitia. KJ: How long will it take for the treatment to take full effect? Ro: Only an hour. It's a wonder no one has tried this method before. KJ: Tasha, I want security teams on those cargo bays nonstop until we get back. (Tasha nods.) Doctor, will there be any side effects that would affect the reconstruction surgery? Bev: There is a 30% chance of death with our current surgical routine. Data, Seven, The Doctor, and I will have to perform several holographic simulations in order for this to succeed. KJ: Understood. Lieutenant Daneel, are the Bussard collectors prepared? Daneel: Ready, Captain. Miles: Once the Galantium is collected, Dr. Crusher and I will need to coordinate on how to make the vaccine airborne. Bev: I have a plan in place for that--I'm in the final testing stages. KJ: Good work. Daneel, start the collection process. Ro, when we start the collection, drop the shields and immediately start recharging them. Tom, as soon as we're done, I want to be out of here. Ro and Tom: Aye.

Bev and Miles in Engineering

Bev: (typing in several codes) So, I heard the lovely pieces you, Data, Jean-Luc, and Patrick played at Worf and Deanna's wedding. Would you like to play for mine and Kate's? Miles: Sure. I'd love to. As far as the rest of the quartet goes, you'll have to ask them. Bev: Oh, I already have. I talked to Keiko before we left. She specifically told me to mention it while you were doing something else. Miles: (laughing) That's my wife, alright. She knows I do better when my brain is otherwise occupied. Bev: (laughs. Quiet settles in) So, this couple that we're picking up. Do you know them? Miles: Do I ever. Bev: ...do I get an explanation for that? Miles: (pressing a few buttons in a final flourish) Not at the moment. It's time to collect the Galantium! Bev: You can't just leave me hanging in suspense like that. Miles: I'll tell you this much: there is no more confusing couple in all of Starfleet, and of the same token, they are the most loving couple I've ever known. Bev: (smiling) I suppose I can handle that. Miles: (touching his combadge) O'Brien to Janeway. We're ready to start collecting. KJ: Acknowledged.

(Exterior shot of the ship. The Bussard collectors power up briefly, and then from the nebula, a Borg sphere emerges.)

KJ: (understandably pretty freaked out) Ro where the hell was that thing?! Ro: I'm picking up traces of...synthetic Lyantirum? Data: The cloaking device. Ro: We're being hailed, Captain. KJ: Take the damn thing. Borg: We are the Borg. Your technological-- KJ: I killed your Queen, you directionless drones. You report to me. Borg: Insufficient. Your simple human mind cannot possibly organize the thoughts of millions of drones. KJ: You look at me, Borg ship. I am the only person to ever negotiate with you. I am the one that has gotten away time and time again. You keep chasing me around the galaxy. Years ago when I was ripped away from my crew, it seemed that I was almost immediately forced to deal with you AGAIN. You're almost as stubborn as I am. But notice that I said almost. My efforts to help you have finally worked. Borg: We have noticed the voices disappearing from the collective. KJ: Yes, and that's because of me. And a few hundred other very important people. Patrick: (looking for permission) Captain? (KJ nods) My designation was once Locutus. Does the collective remember me? Borg: The collective recognizes Locutus of Borg. Patrick: Does the collective remember the plans of the Queen before stardate 16147.3? Borg: To research synthetic Lyantirum as a source for a superior cloaking device. Patrick: And did the collective achieve this goal? Borg: Affirmative. Patrick: How?

One drone's voice comes above all the others.

Drone: Because they assimilated us.

Three drones walk to the front of the viewing area.

Data: Sissun? Chuti? Keriss? KJ: The members of the Lyantirum think tank on Mars. Drones 1, 2, and 3: We were assimilated, and then the collective destroyed Jouret IV. KJ: I thought you weren't on Jouret IV when it was attacked. Drones 1, 2, and 3: We were not supposed to be. However, our transport ship was delayed by a plasma storm. We were assimilated. The colony was destroyed. We helped form the Lyantirum transport device and the synthetic Lyantirum cloaking device. KJ: Those devices are dangerous to you and to the space you use them in. Borg: Enough. This discussion is irrelevant. Assimilation is imminent. Resistance is futile.

The communication is cut off.

KJ: Ro, raise shields. Tom, prepare evasive maneuvers. Data: (on communicator) All hands, battle stations. KJ: The Borg have engaged us.

[autumnblogs]

Day 9: Troll Time

Time to get trolled.

https://homestuck.com/story/1527

This is the first of the events that I’ve noticed enough to talk about in Homestuck that alludes to the Alpha Kids. While Roxy on the other side of the scratch is the one actually responsible for the disappearance of Jaspers and the Pumpkins, at this point in the story, we have some pretty good suspects for exactly who disappeared both of them.

I could see myself guessing that Jade’s penpal is one of the trolls, but it wouldn’t be my first guess. I’m going to pay close attention to all of the events on one side of the scratch that are caused by the other side of the scratch, because my theory is that a Scratched Universe, more than anything else, is really terminated rather than truly being retroactively erased. Too much doesn’t make sense from a causal perspective (not necessarily from a temporally linear one) if a scratched universe is actually erased entirely, or even if it is closed off from the rest of existence - why can information enter and leave a Scratched Universe at all from an outside perspective, for example?

Are Side A Side B teleporters, appearifiers, and so on and so on, loopholes? Maybe it has something to do with the nature of Void, the Furthest Ring, and their seeming exclusion from the rules the rest of Paradox Space is required to follow.

The Doylist answer, which in Homestuck is also allowed to be the Watsonian answer, might be that while a Scratched Universe is *materially* erased, information about it is still permitted to propagate through narrative contrivances such as the author. Fenestrated planes can easily be considered narrative contrivances, but if we use this as our theory, it seems like Appearifiers and Sendificators would also have to be Narrative Contrivances (which I’m going to spell with a capital NC from here on out.) I... actually don’t have a problem with this hypothesis, so it’s what I’m going with. Also, since a friend of mine who’s reading this liveblog asked, I’m going to post a link to the tvtropes article on those two terms at the start of this paragraph for anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

Perhaps, given the proclivity for the Void to preserve lost information in the form of dreams and memories, and given the nature of Space as the medium through which events normally propagate (as well as the fundamental medium of storytelling from which all other storytelling mediums derive their medium-ness), and their proximity on the Aspect Wheel, Narrative Contrivances are objects which have are shared between these two domains - as objects associated with the Void, Narrative Contrivances are permitted to follow their own set of rules which to someone outside of the universe are obvious, but to anyone inside the universe are a complete black box, and as objects associated with Space, Narrative Contrivances function as a means by which to propagate information in such a way as to preserve causality, the logical topology of Paradox Space, and with them, the self-fulfilling nature of Paradox Space. They allow the world-line of objects travelling through the narrative to remain consistent, even when they would violate material geographical conventions.

This description of Narrative Contrivances makes me think a lot of things could be Narrative Contrivances, like First Guardians, for example, who can violate the speed of light.

This is all a lot of silly bullshit, but it’s fun to come up with theories to describe and predict Homestuck (and future Homestuck works, even though I’m not terribly invested in them.)

This has been a long Cold Open. More after the break.

https://homestuck.com/story/1529

John gets cyberbullied!

Man. Cyberbullying has really gone from being an individual concern to being an apocalyptic issue. Who knew? Maybe in writing the trolls and their cyberbullying as being inextricable from the apocalypse, Andrew Hussie predicted this.

I’m not trying to understate John’s issues by comparing them to stuff like massive social media disinformation campaigns - receiving Death Threats as a thirteen year old is terrifying, and on a general level, the fact that this kind of horrible shit was commonplace in the earliest days of social media should have been a big indicator that what was yet to come was going to be so, so much worse.

I’m also not trying to jocularly exaggerate the threat that almost completely lawless social media has on society. If you haven’t already, check out the excellent documentary The Social Dilemma, and then delete your Facebook account if you haven’t already (and since you’re reading my extremely anti-capitalist anti-patriarchy liveblog on tumblr, you’ve probably already done that. If you have, good for you!) And your twitter for good measure, come on, you know who you are. Mabe your tumblr too while you’re at it.

Cyberbullying is part of a larger theme in Homestuck, another one of those things that it’s Capital A About. As a work that is not only about growing up, but specifically about growing up in the information age, Homestuck is repeatedly about the ways that Social Media don’t just bring us together, but keep us apart from one another. Cyberbullying is one of the effects of Social Media pushing people apart - it’s so, so much easier to threaten to kill someone when you don’t have to look them in the eye while you’re doing it, and when you have the anonymity of a string of alphanumeric characters as a name to hide behind.

https://homestuck.com/story/1537

The Black Queen is a very bad woman. It’s always intrigued me that the Queens allow their counterparts’ agents free movement through their territory like this even on the eve (or the advent?) of full-scale war between their kingdoms. PM is just allowed to wander around Derse unsupervised.

I suppose that if even God and Satan can afford each other a bit of token civility while discussing the fates of sinners, so can Prospitians and Dersites.

https://homestuck.com/story/1542

@zeetheus​ John’s definitely proceeds Rose’s bluh.

Rose sips her Mom’s martini for the same reason that she later falls prey to alcoholism. Trying to grow up without help, Rose interprets the martini as a symbol of parental authority, the same way that she interprets the partaking of beverages in general as being a ritual of intimacy with her Mother. Empty signifiers.

https://homestuck.com/story/1549

Jack Noir’s grating voice is so outrageously distracting that it prevents itself as an intrusive thought in the Narrative for PM.

Actually, come to think of it, *all* of the Carapacians talk pretty much exclusively via narration. I wonder if that’s representative of an altered relationship with their narrative reality, which is the first time ever I’ve had that thought pretty much at all.

I always just chalked it up to one of the quirks of Andrew’s writing style, but especially when we take into account the fact that Homestuck is as metanarrative as it is, and that Carapacians are the only characters in Homestuck Proper who interface with the narrative prompt except for the audience, Andrew, and Caliborn himself, I can’t help but wonder. Maybe as living gaming abstractions, in spite of their limited intelligence and abilities, Carapacians have a unique relationship with the narrative laws of Paradox Space (perhaps in the same way that Narrative Contrivances do?)

https://homestuck.com/story/1569

Riffing a little more on the “Fetch Modus as analogous to thought processes” motif previously introduced, Jade’s excellent visualization abilities and vivid imagination serve her well as a Space Player, but tend to misfire, running wild, and seeing patterns where they don’t exist (intrusive thoughts make her see Johnny 5 in her Eclectic Bass and whatever the fuck mecha she’s about to accidentally imagine, I don’t know, I’m not a weeb.) Jade sure does think about robots a lot.

https://homestuck.com/story/1579

I have to say, I consider Terezi’s manipulative abilities to be genuinely pretty strong. I have never known a better way to strongarm me than by pointing out traits that I don’t know whether I feel good or bad about - it just terminates my thought processes.

Although in John’s case, it helps that he is, in fact, a weenie, a stooge, and most importantly, a nice guy. All these facts make him extra manipulatable.

https://homestuck.com/story/1584

<3

I have no reason to believe everyone in Homestuck’s universe isn’t stupidly badass, but I choose to believe that no one is as stupidly badass as the leads because it makes me happy to imagine that these kids are just ridiculously OP superhumans.

(That said, it’s kind of fucked up the level of violence that these literal children are involved in, maybe I shouldn’t get so excited about it. Should we be enthusiastic about the kids’ triumph over their dangerous enemies? Horrified by the travails they are being put through? Probably both motherfuckin’ things.

https://homestuck.com/story/1588

I think about this page a lot.

Rose Lalonde is a very dangerous young lady. She is ruthless, pragmatic, calculating, and cool. She’s even a killer, and literally just killed two imps before fighting this Ogre!

Why is she choosing to show mercy to it now? Is she just trying to get Dave’s goat? Maybe the answer is, deep down, she doesn’t really want to hurt anyone or anything.

https://homestuck.com/story/1589

Kanaya and Dave have a great relationship and I love them as friends very much. I wish dearly that there was more of them in the webcomic. They have approximately the same relationship with authenticity, which is to say that they don’t have an insincere bone in their respective bodies, but practice insincerity nonetheless to impress someone they care about.

For Kanaya relating to Rose, I think it’s a lot more innocent.

https://homestuck.com/story/1590

The least eloquent character in Homestuck has his brief, and I’m pretty sure only encounter with the most eloquent character in Homestuck.

Poor, poor Tavros. While Rose is pretty much always on this level, it seems a lot more innocuous when she’s talking to her friends, or the more mean-spirited and (relatively) competent trolls, the way she treats Tavros almost feels like bullying because of how obviously pathetic he is.

That said, he turns right around, and invokes exactly what’s coming to him. Y’know as much as Tavros is an authentic abuse victim and Vriska gaslights him into thinking a lot of the bad things that happen to him are his fault, there are a lot of times where he does stupid shit that invokes the justifiable wrath of the people around him.

https://homestuck.com/story/1592

While I could pontificate about the fact that Kanaya and Rose are my favorite couple, and squee enthusiastically, instead I will call attention to the fact that, by way of mixing her metaphors, Kanaya has been the victim of an authorial pun - she’s a Fruit Ninja. (Unless Fruit Ninja didn’t exist at the time of writing? It may very well not have.)

https://homestuck.com/story/1596

As the Page of Breath, Tavros sucks at communicating. Here, he sucks at communicating because in spite of his objectively pretty sick rhymes... he is talking to someone who just can’t be arsed.

https://homestuck.com/story/1602

This is one of those absurd moments that at first blush seems meaningless, but I think helps to decipher the kinds of things that John Egbert cares about. It’s one of the moments where he ritualizes an action that one of his heroes takes - John Egbert thinks that Nic Cage is cool, and wants to be like him, so he roleplays Nic Cage for a little while.

https://homestuck.com/story/1603

We’ve barely met the trolls, and they are *already* using the humans as a convenient method to troll each other instead of staying on task.

Karkat also establishes his love of RomComs before his introduction even rolls around.

https://homestuck.com/story/1618

Conceding ground to implacable enemies is generally the correct means to win in Homestuck, usually by getting them to destroy themselves or each other purely by their own unsustainably wicked or stupid conduct. Only a being as powerful as Lord English is sufficient to destroy the Significance-hoarding antagonist that is Vriska, as she threatens to overshadow everyone else in the universe by her own inflated self-importance. Only Vriska, so arbitrarily lucky, could possibly get into position to destroy Lord English. They were made for each other. They deserve each other.

One of my favorite dialogues in the whole comic. Man, I sure love Act 4. There’s something indescribable about the dialogue Andrew writes for this part of the comic. Homestuck at its best whiplashes from silly to scary to heartbreaking to heartwarming, and back to silly again, from beautiful to ugly, and I don’t think that even Act 5, as it piles up layers upon layers, well past the number of parts needed to make a whole, captures the essence of Homestuck as well as does Act 4.

Homestuck is different in every part, of course, and for everyone who says that Act 4 is peak Homestuck you will meet someone who says that Acts 1 through 3 were peak Homestuck, or who says that Act 5 was Peak Homestuck, or that Act 6 was Peak Homestuck. I do not mean to demean any portion of the work by saying that Act 4 is my favorite. The things I like in Homestuck the most are just the most themselves in this portion of the story.

https://homestuck.com/story/1627

I’m feeling less and less intelligent as I read more and more of Homestuck, because honestly, my theories read less like honest-to-god insights, and more like somebody who just wasn’t paying any fucking attention. Here, Jade spells out basically what I’ve been saying.

https://homestuck.com/story/1640

We’ll pause here for the evening. Reading was a little sparse today, but it’s a good place to leave off, especially since for some of these I wrote just stacks of theorizing.

Until tomorrow, Cam signing off, Mostly alive except for a bit of a cough, and not alone.

[ladyadalicialove]

Akumanettes ~ Part 1

So I’ve decided as a reward for finishing my exams to indulge in Akumatied Marinettes!! I love seeing people’s takes on what her form would be and so I decided to do a small series on some of those interpretations. 

This first part will be my own versions, one of which I’ve shown before. The next few parts will be a mix of my own and fanart of other akumanettes. 

These posts will show a song that I think fits with the akuma, the actual design with a quote, small explanation of the design/outfit, the story behind akumatisation and powers.

so go ahead read these first two and tell me what you think!!

.: Marionette :.

Song: The Puppet Song - SailorUrLove

The design/outfit is inspired by the puppet from the FNAF series. Personally I love the fact that many puppets have no expression or just a single expression. They are also symbolic of manipulation/control. Because of this I think that its a perfect base for an akumatised Marinette. 

I wanted to have a look that departed from everything that is her. Mainly the lack of colour with the obvious duo-chromatic palette. 

The long white hair is very ghostly, and so is the floating black coat. Along with her single expression, it makes her appear vacant. Which is what I want, because of my head canon that follows the story.

Story:

This is set in their last year of High-school, both of our favourite super heroes have been doing it for 4 years. Marinette has especially become good at stopping akumas reaching victims. She has thwarted Hawkmoth’s akumas from reaching their victims several times, enough that it has caused a severe decrease in his super villains. Since she actively seeks his victims and talks to them about their problems, thus preventing akumas it angers him. 

Hawkmoth has been waiting for the opportunity to akumatise Marinette for some time. He wants this girl to suffer, he wants his revenge against her. And he finally gets his chance when she graduates. 

The akumatised object is the red button on her coat. The button was Adrien’s. he gave it to her during their graduation. Why? Well Kagami told Adrien about how during graduation in Japan, certain buttons of a guys shirt mean things. She told him that the first button represents oneself, the second represents one’s most beloved person, the third one’s best friends and so on. She told him this in hopes that he give his second button to her, the one meant for a love confession.

Adrien however mixes the meanings of the buttons up and decides to give the second button to Marinette thinking it’s him telling her about them being best friends forever. 

He gives her his second button, the one meant for a love confession and he tells her all about how he wants to stay in touch after graduations. Marinette aware of the Japanese button tradition, thinks he confessing to her and she proceeds to confess her feelings. Marinette wants no regrets after graduation!!

Adrien however, realises his mistake and corrects himself, and rejects her.  Marinette of course says it okay and that she obviously got too excited. Adrien naively understands, but before he can get the button back she runs.

She takes her earrings off and instructs Tikki to go to Master Fu, believing she won’t have the will to fight Hawkmoth. Tikki tries to convince her otherwise but a purple butterfly entering the button interrupts them. Hawkmoth uses to opportunity to attempt to akumatise her, convincing her that Adrien manipulated her into her confession. He tells her she can control everyone she wants and never has to be manipulated by those she trust again (the irony lol). Thus Marionette is born.

Throughout the akumatisation, Marinette remains inside herself, aware of what is happening. Watching her akuma form create a web of white strings over Paris. Hawkmoth wants her to suffer from the damage and pain she will inflict onto Paris, since she has caused his mission to be extended and he is a bit salty.

I will leave the story there. 

Powers:

Marionette can control millions of the strings from her web that is strung across  Paris. Like a spider she can feel where her victims are and can snatch them. She cocoons them in her strings and they transform into horrifying little puppets that follow her command aka they just transform others into puppets. The puppet army is coming~

Marionette however remains in a giant ball of strings at the top of the Eiffel tower. Just imagine a giant white yarn ball on the tower. She sits there, limp and lifeless in the ball fighting Hawkmoth in her mind. 

The strings she makes are uncuttable but can be destroyed by Chat Noir’s Cataclysm. But he would have to Cataclysm a lot of her strings to untangle Paris, and I don’t Plagg is up for that. 

.: Ring Mistress :.

Song: Scooby doo! Big top - When the Circus Comes to Town 

So I have actually discussed this akumatised form in another post. But there was still loads of stuff I didn’t finalise til now. 

Her design is meant to be reminiscent of Circus Ring Leaders, with the red coat, top hat and cane. Her eyes are green because they look great in green and it implies her powers aka ability to change. They were purple before but I change it :p

I wanted her to look mature but not too sexy, hence why I changed her from the original concept. I had to scrap the whip it was too much lol. But the more simple design is more appropriate for her and she certainly looks evil now.

Story:

Another day, another lie from Lila. Marinette’s reputation had been crumbling since Lila had stepped into their classroom claiming she had Tinnitus in her left ear. Or was it the right ear? 

The final straw was not Lila cornering her in the bathroom for the third time that week. But Lila had told all her classmates that she had found a diary written by Marinette, it apparently detailed all the things she hated about her classmates.

Lila had ever so graciously read it out to her class, and they were furious. Alya wanted revenge and since Marinette had left to go to the bathroom. Alya grabbed Marinette’s school bag and proceeded to shred its contents with the help of the class. They laughed as they ripped apart her sketchbook and assignments. They cackled when they destroy her stuff.  

Marinette came back to see it unfold before her. Her heart sunk as she stood frozen in the doorway, fat streams of tears had come. Her sniffle caused the class to look at her. Alya thought when Marinette discovered their doings she would have yelled out them, pull a Chloe or something. Not a confused, scared and hurt pig-tailed girl. 

Marinette ran to the bathrooms. Passing Adrien who had finally arrived from a photoshoot. (sunshine boy has no clue)

Bursting through the doors, she crashed into the tiled wall. Marinette choked a sob.

Within a few minutes Tikki had taken the earrings, she couldn’t calm Marinette down.

- intermission~ I have written a good chunk of a fanficition based on this so I won’t give the whole story away I guess -

The akumatised object is a photo of her friends, it’s placed in her hat alongside a random card. Being a hero meant she knew how to prepare against Chat. By having a decoys such as fake earrings and the car, she has possibly increased her akuma longetivity especially if Chat grabs the wrong one to cataclysm. 

sis aint playing games

Powers

Ring Mistress of course has increased speed and agility, and that cane can do some damage. However her main ability is to turn people into circus performers based on that person’s sin. She transforms the whole class excluding Adrien (he gotta be a leather boi) into circus acts. So far this is list I’ve created based on the class:

Nino + Alya - Knife Throwing = How can these two trust each other not to hurt each other when they hurt Marinete? Ring Mistress would love to know.

Lila - Corntortionist = Lying means to twist words, might as well bend along with them, eh Lila? 

Sabrina + Chloe - Lion Tamer = Abusive and an exploitative relationship. I kinda want Chloe to be the Lion? I drew it up and its funny as. Uno reverse card biotch!

Kim - Strong Man = My dude is pretty vain when it comes to his athleticism, so gotta make him a strong man!! I imagine he is the only one having a good time during this akuma attack. 

Alix - Human Comet = A risk-taker or over confident? This cocky daredevil will give you an explosive time at this circus!

Rose + Juleka - Trapeze Act = This absolutely cute duo is terrified of losing each other! Ring Mistress hopes they don’t slip, after all there isn't a net to catch them~

Max - Juggler = So many projects, so little time! How does a human calculator calculate that? Juggle those robots Max! 

Nathaniel, Mylene and Ivan, are the ones I don’t know about. Maybe background clowns?? I need help to decide what is best for them.

Ring Mistress is desperately looking for Adrien to turn him into a clown though. After all only a clown would rather maintain complacency than help a friend in need. 

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

That’s it for this akumanette post! I would love to hear your thoughts on these head canons of mine!! I hope to write stories on them and add some illustrations of the puppets and the class as a circus over the next couple of days. 

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Next part might be La Justice fanart >o<

[something-tofightfor]

Tonight: Part 5

Pairing: Logan Delos x Reader (first person POV)

Word Count: 10,025 (I would apologize, but I am not at all sorry about a single word of this)

Rating: R/NSFW. This is it, guys. This is as steamy as it gets. A literal forest of lemons. 

Trigger Warnings: Restraint, mention of drug use and casual sex

Summary: This is your moment - taking Logan Delos to bed completely and totally sober. It’s a big one. 

Author’s Note: There’s one more part coming, but I’ve literally been working on this since April. I hope it lives up to the hype I’ve created for it. This is about 8500 words of pure smut and maybe 1500 words of plot, so if you’re not into that kind of thing... don’t read it, please. 

Tag list: @benbarnestongue @its-my-little-dumpster-fire @the-blind-assassin-12 @disengagefrmreality @suchatinyinfinity @elanor-of-imladris @lexxierave @ms-delos @blah-blah-fuckit-shit @drinix @gollyderek @ymariejp @traeumerinwitzhelden @obscurilicious @thesumofmychoices @breanime @madamrogersstorytelling @songtoyou @ethereal-heavcns @editboutique @marauderskeeper@ilkaeliseb@delicatelilyflower @king4thesirens @mr-robot-x @rageshots @shinebrightlikeafanbase @littlemermaidprobz @introvertedlibrary @writing-for-a-chance @yesixoxo @ilikebeachessushiandsmallanimals @likeorions @swiftyhowlz @dylanobrusso @luminex3 @malik-payne @lynne1993 @bucky-is-my-precious  @mfackenthal@weallhaveadestiny @ladyblablabla @sweetybuzz25 @dreamwritesimagines  @audreychaz @tc-elliot @dreams-with-thoughts @kind-wolf @honeyydippaa @thesandbeneathmytoes @geeksareunique

Logan finally met my eyes, a smirk on his lips and it caused me to stop breathing for a second in surprise. He stood and stepped toward me and I stood in place, his fingers closing around my outstretched hand with surprising strength. “You wanna find those cuffs?” I nodded once and Logan’s eyes flashed in the sunlight, the smirk changing into a smile - and if I interpreted it correctly, there was some relief behind it. “Alright then.” He was standing directly in front of me, very little space between us and without warning, Logan leaned down, pressing his lips against mine in a gesture that felt filled with gratitude and maybe even a little hope. Don’t thank me yet, Logan. I inhaled deeply, eyes closing as I felt his lips part, moving mine with them. He still wasn’t touching me anywhere but my hand, but I could tell he was fighting it and so I pulled my hand away from his, moving both of them, my fingers closing around the material of his shirt as I tugged him forward.

 It was all he needed for encouragement, a chuckle from the back of his throat sending a vibration through my body as his hands moved across my bare back. His touch was gentle and exploratory, fingertips tracing over my spine and upward, hands moving in separate directions to follow my shoulder blades before his palms settled on my shoulders, thumbs digging in gently as they moved in small circles. He broke the kiss, pulling back and licking his lips, dark eyes locked on my face. “You ready, Logan?” He didn’t respond, just stared into my eyes for the span of a few breaths before squeezing with both hands and then abruptly crouching down, releasing my shoulders and moving his hands to my legs. “Logan!”

 His hands gripped the backs of my thighs easily, urging me to let him lift me, and without pause, I wrapped my arms around his neck and felt my feet leave the floor. “Wrap ‘em around me,” he breathed out, forehead pressed against the skin of my neck, breath hitting my chest as he spoke. “Hold on tight.” I did as he told me, feeling him straighten up and reposition his hands beneath me, getting a better grip even as I crossed my legs at the ankle behind his back. It was my turn to look down at him as we stood in his kitchen, my breathing shallow and his deep. This is what you’ve always done to me, Logan. But in a different way. He tilted his head back, looking up at me and I leaned down, lips finding his easily as our bodies pressed together. There was no biting, no urgency, no sense of apology in the kiss - it was Logan accepting the affection that I offered and giving it back to me without hesitation. This is what you deserve, Logan Delos. This and more.

 He took a few more steps away from the table without ending the kiss, but when he pulled back, he changed his grip again and I felt myself slide down his torso a few inches, my arms tightening around his neck. I could feel the material of his shirt against my chest, feel the way his muscles moved beneath it as he walked. I tightened my legs around his waist as I felt him do the same with the fingers on my thighs, his grip hard enough to keep me grounded but not tight enough to truly hurt. We made it to the hallway before Logan stopped walking, turning so that he could push my back against the wall to support some of my weight as he leaned against me. “Logan, what…”

 Gentle Logan was gone and had been replaced in an instant with the man I was used to as he used his body to hold me against the wall. “I’m gonna fuck you against this wall someday,” he said, the words low and full of promise. “I’m gonna hold you just like this and I’m gonna make it feel so goddamn good that you can’t remember who you are.” The back of my head hit the wall as I looked upward, my mouth dropping open as he spoke. “You’re not gonna know what hit you, but you’re sure as hell gonna know who fucked you.” His mouth returned to my skin after every few words, teeth and tongue and lips distracting me even as I unlocked my arms from his neck to bring my fingers to his hair. I don’t want him to stop. He let me pull on his hair for a few seconds, teeth bared against the thin skin at the center of my throat but then straightened up, eyes on mine. “But that’s not today.” I wish it was. I shook my head, watching as the expression on his face changed to one of resolve. “We gotta get there first.”

 “We do, Logan.” My voice didn’t sound like my own, and I shook my head back and forth. “We will.” He nodded once. “You will.” Leaning in, he kissed me again and as he did, I felt my back leave the wall, Logan’s long strides down the hallway leading us closer and closer to his bedroom. My heart was pounding - and it was only partially because of the way he was kissing me and the grip he had on my thighs. I was nervous, but it wasn’t because of Logan, not entirely. I don’t want to disappoint him. The realization stunned me even as Logan reached the edge of the bed with me, sliding his hands toward my knees to help me balance as I dropped my feet to the floor, unwilling to separate completely from him. He’s never… I’ve never… we don’t know what this is going to feel like when we’re both… I moaned his name as he finally removed his mouth from mine, tongue coming out to lick his lips even before he’d pulled fully away, and he laughed quietly at the sound of it, leaning back in to whisper into my ear.

 “You sound like you need me, hmm?” I shook my head immediately, my legs shaking slightly at his tone of voice, which was both amused and expectant at the same time. Nope.  

 “No, Logan.” I swallowed, moving my hands down and pushing him away from me gently, knowing that the longer I stood next to the bed with him, the more likely it was that we ended up back in it without the cuffs. “No, I want you. There’s a difference. Go find those cuffs. Now.” He inhaled and stepped away without saying a word, turning toward the walk in closet. I watched him move - gracefully swinging his arms at his sides, shirt pulled tight over his broad shoulders, long legs filling out sweatpants in a way that I wouldn’t have ever been able to imagine even in my most vivid fantasies - and when he reached the closet he turned back to look at me, his signature smirk on his lips. Shit.

 With a wink, he disappeared into the doorway after flipping the light on and pulling his shirt off, dropping it wordlessly to the floor and leaving me alone in the room with my racing heart. Got him here. He’s getting the cuffs. That’s good. Now… The next thing I’d have to bring up to him was the thing I was most concerned about - and one that normally wouldn’t even have been an issue. All he can do is say no, and he probably will. A few steps took me around the foot of the bed and to the side I’d slept on the night before, and I lowered myself onto the mattress, covering myself with my arms and keeping my eyes on the closet. I could hear Logan rummaging around, quietly swearing to himself and smiled - despite my apprehension - at the noises he was making. Impatient much, Logan Delos? “A-ha!” I heard his exclamation and only a few seconds later, Logan reappeared in the doorway, two gleaming silver pairs of cuffs held in his right hand, the left one - holding the keys - going into his pocket. “Got ‘em.”

 “Bring those here, Logan.” I stood again, holding my hand out. “One pair on the bed, give me the other.” Do this before you lose your nerve. His steps quick, Logan crossed the room in only a few seconds, handing me one set of cuffs. I didn’t wait, and with a satisfying click, I’d closed one end around his left wrist before he could even drop the other set onto the bed. “That ok?” He hissed through his teeth, looking down at where the metal was hanging from his wrist loosely. “Don’t wanna hurt you, but…” He leaned forward, lips next to my ear and spoke.

 “Attach it to the bed, and we’ll see.” He took my earlobe between his teeth and bit down before stepping away and sitting down on the bed. “Well?” He reached over, abdominal muscles taut above the waistband of his sweats to lace his fingers through the lattice on his headboard just above where the pillows were, near the center of the bed. Leaning over his body, I quickly attached the other end of the cuff to the bed, making sure that it was securely fastened. At the first sound of clicking, Logan’s free hand went to my hip, fingers digging in as I angled my body over his, securing him in place. One down. Using one hand, I pulled my hair back from my face and over to one side, watching as he flexed his wrist, the metal clanking against the wood. I looked over my left shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow in question. “Tighter.” He said the single word with a flare of his nostrils and a curl of his lip, his eyes wide open and as dark as I’d seen them. “I wanna feel it when I’m pulling against ‘em.”

 “Yes, sir.” The words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them, and as my hand moved from the wooden slats to the metal encircling his wrist, pushing it a few clicks tighter, Logan curled his other arm around my waist, rolling onto the bed with me. My feet left the floor and I gasped out loud, but we ended on our sides, Logan’s cuffed arm beneath my head, the fingers of his free hand flat against my back.

 “Sir?” I nodded and Logan closed his eyes, swallowing. “You’re gonna kill me, you know that?” No, Logan. You’re going to ruin me. You already have. “You better get this other arm done before I -” Swiftly moving, I eased out of his grip and into a kneeling position, reaching behind me with one hand to grab the second set of cuffs and attach them to his right wrist. Pulling his arm upward, I eyed the headboard so that his arms were even, preparing to lock the second cuff in place. “Wait!” He sounded panicked, eyes going wide and I looked down at him from my position above him, watching as he shook his head back and forth. “Just wait a second, please.” I let go of his hand immediately, breathing deeply. “Just… let me…” His hand - cuff dangling from his wrist - went to my face, his fingertips finding the skin beneath my eyes and on the bridge of my nose before moving down to my lips.

 His eyes followed the movement of his hand, but the rest of his body was completely still, and I stayed still too, letting him go at his own pace. He doesn’t want to be restrained. The hand moved down, touch light against my neck, and I caught a wince as his fingers moved over the bruising, but I shook my head once, still staring down at him. It’s fine, Logan. Don’t. Barely nodding in response, he kept going, tips of his fingers meeting in the center of my chest before he flattened his hand again, his large palm moving over one breast and then the other, squeezing each for a moment before continuing lower. I gasped as he flipped his hand over, brushing against my abdomen with his knuckles, his eyes still tracking the movement of his hand and mine following his, breath coming out in quick pants instead of deep, even exhalations. He’s barely touching me, I’m done. “Logan.” His name a whisper from my lips, I glanced at his face, tearing my gaze from his hand and watching as he bit down on his bottom lip, his breathing becoming as erratic as mine.

 “Lift up. Higher.” I did as he asked, rising higher on my knees and putting my hands onto his shoulders for balance, and Logan’s fingertips slipped beneath the elastic at my waist, his hand twisting back around so that his palm was flat against my skin as it moved lower. “Fuck,” he breathed, my name falling from his lips quietly as his fingers reached their goal. “Fuck you’re…” His  fingers curled against me, and my hips moved toward him without warning, the pace he set steady and slow. Fuck, Logan. Far too soon, he pulled his hand back, eyes trained on his fingers, my grip on him tightening. I watched his hand as he brought it up to his face, gaze moving up to meet mine. The look in his eyes told me everything I needed to know - that Logan Delos, even when not fully in control was still in control, though he had his moments where he let that control slip. His lips parted slightly, and though he kept his eyes on me, his fingers passing through them and into his mouth easily. He groaned, eyes rolling backward before they closed, lips pursed around his fingers as he sucked on them to taste me. I finally closed my eyes too, nails digging into Logan’s arms and only opened them again when he spoke my name. “Alright. Lock it up.”

 He looked pleased with himself, finally content to let me finish restraining him and I nodded, leaning down and reaching over for the free end of the cuff, clicking it into place as I kissed Logan’s palm, still using one hand against his shoulder for balance. “Alright, Delos.” I sat back up, hands pressed against the lower part of his abdomen. “One more thing.” His eyes widened, watching me move above him, scooting backwards so that I was resting on his thighs. “Logan…” Now that I had the opportunity to say what I was thinking to him, I was anxious about it. He can only say no. “Logan I know that…”

 “Hey.” His voice was at its normal level, and I paused, watching as he shook his head back and forth slowly. “Say it. Whatever it is.” Yeah. “I’m kinda at your mercy right now, so…” I laughed, my hands flexing gently against his skin. Taking a deep breath, I looked down at him, eyes on Logan’s. All or nothing.

 “We’ve always used protection before, right?” He nodded. “And… you’re a Delos, you have to be careful with what you do, and how you do it, so you’ve always done that out here.” He nodded, a slight frown on his face. “But in… there, in Westworld, you don’t need to…” I trailed off. You’re ruining this. Just say it. “You don’t fuck the hosts with condoms, Logan. And I’m… I want to... “ The frown disappeared as his jaw dropped, eyes flying wide open. Logan moved his arms, giving himself as much purchase on the mattress as possible and lifted the upper half of his body, muscles growing hard beneath my palms as he leaned toward me.

 “You sayin’ you wanna do this without... “ I nodded. “Fuck.” He licked his lips and bit down on the lower one. “How? How’s that gonna work, they can’t get knocked up, but you can. You don’t want that.” No, Logan. I don’t. “I haven’t done that in as long as I can remember, I can’t…”

 “You can, Logan. With me.” I leaned down toward him, wanting him to see and hear that I wasn’t lying to him. “I’ve got an implant. I have for years. I never mentioned it before because it didn’t matter. We were… casual, and no matter how out of it we were, we always just went for your drawer or mine, and it was fine. And before you, I never would have even wanted... I get it. You have to protect yourself and your name.” He relaxed onto the bed, still staring up at me, but the expression on his face had softened. “But this is more personal than just a drunken fuck or a hookup, Logan. This is real. I trust you, Logan. I care about you. And I want you to know that you don’t have to protect yourself from me, or feel like I’m... not after what you told me yesterday. I want to help you.” He took a deep breath, and I reached up, pushing the hair away from his face, my fingers lingering on his browbone. “Say no. Tell me to reach into that drawer and I will. But I’m just giving you the option, Logan, because...”

 “But you know how many… what I do.” I nodded. “Why?” He closed his eyes. “Why are you being so good to me after what I did? Why would you want this with me?”

 “Because you need it, Logan. Because you deserve it and more. Because you need to learn that this doesn’t have to be just a release for you, a way to turn your mind off and forget.” I looked up at the ceiling for a second and took a breath before looking back at him. “I want this to feel different for you, and if this is the only shot I get at showing you what it’s like -”

 “You’re not lying to me?” I shook my head, and Logan stared at me, watching my face, my response. “Nothin’ scares me more than accidentally getting someone pregnant.” I laughed quietly, still looking into his eyes.

 “Nothing scares me more than finding out I’m gonna have a kid would, Logan. I want more out of my life than that, it’s not even an option for me right now.” The corners of his lips quirked upward, and he jerked his head to the side.

 “Lean down, against me for a second.” I did, scooting my hips slightly backward and sliding my hands up to his shoulders so that I could press my upper body against his. As I settled onto him, the top of my head against his shoulder, he shifted his body beneath me, lifting his hips slightly. “I’m clean.” His words were quiet, and I could feel his chin moving against my hair as he spoke. “I get tested every month or so, just in case. It’s not just the sex, it’s the drugs, too… the needles. The last time I used, earlier this week? It was my own stash, so it’s…” He cleared his throat. “But I’m good. You’re safe, not gonna catch…” Fuck. Though I hadn’t wanted to think of that, it was in the back of my mind - but I also knew that if he wasn’t safe, he wouldn’t have even initiated anything the night before. He wouldn’t risk me, wouldn’t risk anyone. Logan was a lot of things, but he wouldn’t ever make someone else pay for his poor life choices - and I knew that for a fact. But wait…

 “Logan.” I spoke against his shoulder, lips turned downward to press once against the skin before I lifted my head to look at him. “Does that mean…” He nodded, and though there was some fear in his eyes, it was masked with something else that I couldn’t read in the moment. “Say it, please. I want to be -”

 “I want it to be… I want you to…” He pressed his own lips together, craning his neck forward so that he could brush his mouth against mine briefly before letting out a hiss of air from between his teeth. “I want to feel you come all over me with nothing between us.” Oh holy fuck. In the moments between the halted speech and kissing me, Logan’s mood shifted again, and the need in his voice - low and thick and almost a purr - made me feel weak. “That alright with you?” He whispered my name, and I groaned, nodding my head. “That’s what I thought.” He shifted his hips again, drawing my attention back to his waist. “There anything else you wanna discuss, or can we get down to the fun part of all this?” You little shit. Sitting back, I tilted my head to the side and reached behind me with one hand, fingers finding him through the material of his sweats, outline firm beneath my fingers.

 “You do want this, don’t you, Logan?” Closing my fingers as I moved my hand, I watched his eyes narrow, tongue poking out between his lips as he nodded. “Good.” After a few strokes with my hand, I removed it, watching as his eyes opened all the way. “Let me take care of you.” His chest moving up and down as he breathed, Logan watched me slide off of his body, turning my back to him and kneeling next to him on the bed, my bent knees even with his waist. I pulled my hair away from my face, securing it with an elastic band and being sure to arch my back slightly, head turned toward him. Nodding appreciatively, Logan winked at me and then without me asking, he lifted his hips for me to pull his pants down but I shook my head. “Nope.” Not yet.

 Logan settled back onto the bed and without pause, I slid my hand beneath the waistband of his pants, nails scratching gently through the coarse hair on his lower stomach before wrapping entirely around him. He swore - loudly - my name leaving his lips as I grinned, leaning down to plant a kiss on his skin, just above his exposed right hip bone. “What are you… Shit.” His hips bucked as I stroked his length, my free hand resting on his chest, eyes focused on the shape of him. He felt good in my hand - firm and hot, skin velvety soft against mine. It wasn’t the first time I’d had my hands on Logan, but it was the first time I’d been so bold about it - and I was about to get bolder.

 My right hand going from his chest to his hip, I leaned down, mouth hovering over where my hand was moving beneath the thin material of his pants. Don’t think about this. Just do it. He wants you. Lips parting, I stuck my tongue out, making contact with the tip of him through the soft material of his sweats before licking downward toward where my hand was, knowing that the combination of my tongue’s movement and the feel of the fabric against his skin was going to get to him. He inhaled again, crying out as I added more pressure, working my way back up and closing my lips around his head through the pants, sucking gently before exhaling, letting my breath warm him for long seconds. “Logan.” I removed my mouth, whispering his name and he responded with a jingle of the cuffs against the wood as he moved his hands, changing his grip on the headboard.

 “Keep your mouth there, God.” He was panting, and one glance upward told me that he was enjoying himself, as he had his head flat against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling. “Jesus, where’d that come from? Keep doing that, that feels -” But I cut his words off, the hand at his hip pulling the waistband of his sweats down just enough to expose his tip, the hand around him settling lower and squeezing. He cried out again, my name leaving his mouth as I took a breath and sealed my lips over him, finally tasting his skin and swirling my tongue around his head. I couldn’t help the noise I made in the back of my throat, and it didn’t take long for me to pull his pants down further, exposing his entire length to the late morning sun. His hips were off the bed, which made it easier, and when they were bunched around his thighs, I moved again, giving myself a better angle and taking more of him into my mouth. “Fuck, I wanna pull on that hair.” He was breathing hard, words coming out with a bite to them, syllables accentuated with metallic clanking as he tested the restraints. “That feels fuckin’ great.” Yeah, it does. Though immersed in what I was doing - in the sounds he was making, the way he felt and tasted in my mouth, the way my left hand had moved down between his legs, fingers cupping his sack and had been replaced on his length with my right - I missed him touching me. I missed Logan’s big hands on my back, missed the way he’d grab my hips to hold me in place, missed the way that it felt when he pulled on my hair, or gripped my shoulders, mouth next to my ear or on my face and body. This has to work. I can’t have him like this once and have it be enough. It’s not enough. “You gotta… fuck, you gotta stop.”

 Logan’s voice cut through my thoughts, pain and pleasure in each word. Oh. After a few more seconds, I released him from my lips with an audible “pop”, squeezing him one more time before sitting up and clearing my throat, licking my lips. Yeah, I needed to stop. I gave him a few moments to collect himself, the skin of his upper body flushed and his eyes wide and bright but entirely focused on me before I completely removed my hands from his body, causing him to raise his eyebrows and whine, my name the only thing he said. Easing out of the bed and onto my feet, I walked to the end of the bed, looking at his lean body, stretched almost the entire length of the mattress. No need to draw this out. I reached forward, leaning over and gripping the material of his pants before I pulled them all the way down his legs, baring him completely to me.

 I’d seen him naked before, sure, and he’d seen me, but this was different. It had always been dark, our bodies illuminated by the lights in the rooms - or not at all, as we tore each other’s clothing off in the night, and this was something I wanted to remember. “You going to look at me all day, or are you gonna take the rest of your clothes off so I have something to stare at too?” He’d caught his breath, words coming out even but I heard how much he meant them, heard exactly what he wanted with each one he said. I like this Logan. I stepped to the side of the bed, watching as he turned his face to me, cheek against the pillow and a smile on his lips. “You’re a tease.” He shook his wrists, flexing his fingers, which were gripping the wooden headboard’s slats loosely. “But the best tease there is, I think. And I’ve been teased a lot.”

 “I don’t know, Logan. You seem like you’re enjoying this too much to consider it a tease.” Hooking my fingers into the elastic of my pants, I took a breath and pushed them down, the too-big garment falling to the floor easily before I stepped out of them, one knee raising to the edge of the mattress. His eyes followed my movement, his lips parting, and I brought the other leg up too, kneeling on the bed next to him as he rolled as far onto his side as he could, bouncing against the mattress and in turn, causing me to bounce, too. “What are you doing, Delos?” He groaned, looking me up and down, and I reached over, touching the side of his face.

 “Gettin’ comfortable.” With a laugh, I leaned down, kissing him hard, knowing that he could likely still taste himself on my lips and tongue - and also knowing that it turned him on even more. I heard a creaking noise after a few minutes, breaking the kiss to look up at Logan’s headboard, which he was gripping with such intensity that his knuckles were white, the wood groaning between his fingers.

 “That gonna make it, Logan? We haven’t even done anything yet.” He was smirking - the expression one that I knew well, and Logan shrugged his shoulders, nose wrinkling.

 “Donno. Guess we’ll see.” He leaned forward, lips finding the skin of my chest, and I sighed as I felt contact, leaning into him. Reaching up with my right hand, I grabbed for the headboard, closing my fingers around a different set of slats than Logan, the other hand finding his head, fingers tangling in his hair as he licked his way across my skin. Looking down, I watched his tongue moving, watched his lips pressing against me before they wrapped around a nipple and I felt the bite of his teeth. His name came out in a moan, and he groaned, the cuffs clanking against the wood as he shifted his hand, pulling, as if he was trying to get his hand to me. I tugged on his hair, guiding his mouth and he followed my lead willingly, his beard scratching the overly sensitive skin that his mouth had been on mere moments before.

 Head thrown back, I sighed, his name leaving my lips again, this time in satisfaction. Immersed in the sensation of his mouth on me, I felt him bite down on my other nipple as my fingertips found the curl of hair behind his ear, stroking it. See? This isn’t so bad, Logan. He hummed against my skin, and I made my next move - feeling myself get more and more worked up with every swipe of his tongue. Pulling my hand away from his head, I reached over, my left hand finding Logan’s right, fingers closing around each other’s with the wood between our palms. Balance achieved, I lifted my knee from the bed and hooked it over his abdomen, shifting my body to settle against his waist, feeling the warmth of his sides on my inner thighs. Oh, Logan.

 As he rolled onto his back and his mouth was forced away from my chest by my new position, Logan exhaled loudly, even as I brought my right hand to his left, repeating the grip so that when I leaned forward to kiss him, I had leverage, which was increased as I moved slightly backwards, closer to his hips. Though it started out slow, the kiss grew in intensity, Logan growling against my mouth and squeezing my fingers tightly, the edges of the wood biting into my palm. I pulled away, teeth catching on his lower lip and Logan shook his head from side to side, letting the back of his head fall against the pillow as I removed my hands from his, sitting straight up again.

 “Hey.” His voice was filled with longing, the hair falling over his brow. “Hey, come on.” He leaned forward as much as he could, eyes wide, his tongue flicking out over his lips. “Just let me have one hand free, lemme touch you.” I smirked at him, keeping just out of reach and placing my palms flat against his chest, fingers curled slightly so that my nails dug in. “It’s…” He groaned as I rolled my hips against him, knees squeezing on either side of his body. I could feel him against the back of one thigh, knew how close we were, and took a deep breath. Don’t give in.

 “Logan.” I shook my head before cocking it to the side, my mouth opening slightly as he raised his hips, reminding me of what was to come, trying to entice me further. Focus. “Logan, you don’t get to make requests right now.” He laughed softly, lowering his head, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I’m in charge, remember?” He sucked in a breath and then brought his face back to level, eyes locking on mine.

 “Yes, ma’am,” he said without blinking. “You got me a little held up right now, so...” The metallic clanking of the handcuffs against the headboard as he turned his wrists again caught my attention, eyes moving away from Logan’s face as I watched his long fingers flex around the slats of wood while he gripped them. “What are you gonna do to me, darlin’?” He looked down at where our bodies were connected, one eyebrow raised. “Aside from getting me all wet, I mean.” Sticking my lower lip out and shrugging my shoulders, I rose up on my knees and moved backwards, watching as his eyes focused between us at my waist. “You know,” Logan said quietly, tongue wetting his lips. “You’re gonna be screaming my name before you’re done.” He paused, looking up at me, eyes full of fire. “You’ve done it before and you’ll do it again, even without my hands or mouth on that perfect body of yours.” You’re probably right, Logan. But first…

 I lowered myself down again, feeling him between my legs, slipping against my skin as I moved back and forth slowly. He yelped at the contact, a noise that was not at all like him, but recovered quickly, my name again leaving his mouth in a hiss. “I like winding you up, Logan. I’ve never been able to do this before.” Slowly moving my hips forward and back, I slid against his length, which was laying against his abdomen. Without breaking eye contact, I reached down, rubbing my thumb over his tip, carefully nicking it with the edge of my nail. He inhaled, a quiet “fuck” the only other noise he made and I glanced downward before meeting his eyes again. “Looks like I’m not the only one getting a little wet, Logan.”

 “My dick has never been this fucking hard before.” I wanted to laugh at his deadpan tone, at the matter of fact way he spoke, but I was almost positive that Logan was serious, and so I decided to take pity on him, - and myself, because I wanted him inside me - raising back up to my full height on my knees and looking down. “Fucking hell.” He swore again, and as I closed my fingers around the base of him, I took a breath.

 “Logan, are you sure?” One more chance, Logan. “I’m gonna -”

 “Fuck me like you own me.” He groaned, shaking his head. “Stop fucking teasing me and fuck me already.” Without another word, I positioned him beneath me, holding him gently but firmly, and lowered myself slowly down onto him. Though I wanted to give myself time to adjust to the feeling of him inside me, Logan had other plans and when I was only halfway down his length, he rocked his hips upward, burying himself in me. “Oh, holy fuck.” My eyes on his face, I watched as his head hit the pillows again, nostrils flaring and a noise that was a mixture of a surprised groan and a yelp carrying through the room as his upper lip curled, exposing his teeth. “Fuck me.” His hair fanning over the pillow, I closed my eyes and whimpered slightly as my body responded to him, stretching to the point just before pain, muscles contracting around him.

 The feeling of being on top of Logan Delos sober was one that I couldn’t describe. He was filling my body so completely that I couldn’t speak, the small movements of his hips adding to the sensation, and I was lost. What I wanted and what Logan wanted were typically two very different extremes with one linking thread - the need for a physical connection - but the moment I’d taken him to the hilt, I felt a shift, felt something change between us. It was about more for me than helping him to overcome his tendency to hurt people - and kill Hosts. It was about more than finally having him sober. It’s about… “Logan, I’m going to start -”

 “You feel so good squeezing my dick like that, fuck.” He’d recovered his ability to speak, and I opened my eyes to look at him, watching as he nodded, both hands on the front side of the headboard slats, fingers inside the ends of the cuffs that were attached to the bed, elbows bent and resting on the mattress. “You gonna fuck me or what?” I moved at his command, raising myself up, hands pressed flat on his abdomen for balance and then lowered myself slowly back down on him. He rotated his hips, and I felt him twitch inside of me slightly, my muscles still moving around him. So good. I felt his hands on my hips like ghosts, missing the pressure of his fingers as he guided me, helping us to find the right rhythm. Maybe someday.

 I watched him as I moved, careful to not let him slip out of me fully as I rocked my hips, and Logan’s eyes never left my face, his teeth digging into his lower lip. “Logan….” He was breathing hard, and so was I, making it almost impossible  for me to speak. “Logan I want -”

 “I know.” He said my name again, eyes widening, straining against the cuffs and raising his torso off of the bed, and I couldn’t help but change my angle, reaching forward with one hand to tug on his hair. “I fucking love that.” He grinned at me, snapping his teeth together, mouth inches from mine. “But it’s not fair that you get to touch me when I’m-” I cut him off with a kiss, tongue slipping into his open mouth and he groaned again, head angling forward as I pulled his face closer to mine, supporting his neck with my fingers. The kiss continued as he bucked his hips upward into me, the changed angle not allowing him to go as deep as before, but altering the way he felt inside me.

 The new position felt more intimate, and as I circled my hips, knees digging into the sheets below us, I kissed Logan again - but this time it was more gently, lips pressing against his instead of mashing, tongue moving purposefully with his instead of haphazardly. This is why we’re doing this, Logan. To remind you. Did I want to make it possible for him to be with others while sober? No. But his well being was worth more than my own feelings, my own desires - and if I was able to help him take a step back from the destructive habits he’d formed, I didn’t care what I had to do, or what I had to sacrifice. “Hey.” I’d pulled away from him, lips trailing over his cheek and toward his ear, teeth dragging on his skin. “Logan you said - oh!” I cried out as he bit down on my shoulder, taking any chance he could get to have his mouth on me. I hummed, biting on his earlobe and was rewarded with a second bite at the base of my neck, followed by the warmth of his tongue moving over the area, lips following. “You said you wanted to make me come all over you, right?” A nod. “Then what are you gonna do about it?”

 His head shot back, knocking into the headboard and he stared up at me, cheeks flushed. I dropped a hand to his shoulder, staring at him with hooded eyes. Even though I desperately wanted to let him free so that he could touch me, the teasing was well worth it - the way he felt moving beneath and inside me was almost intoxicating, the sounds he was making - and making me make in return - the most beautiful things I’d ever heard. He took a breath, clearing his throat, and when he spoke again, it was in a voice that I’d never heard before - deep, full of want, absolutely designed to get me worked up. “I’ll do anything you want me to do, just keep riding me.” I straightened up, finding that Logan had bent his knees, giving me something to lean back against as I arched my back, finding a new rhythm. “Good girl.”

 Logan kept up a steady stream of words as I continued to raise and lower my body, supplementing his uneven thrusts with the rolling of my hips, my teeth catching on my lower lip. It felt good - but there was a disconnect. Logan couldn’t anticipate my movements or rhythm in the ways that he typically could, and it was keeping him off balance. “How’s that feel, Logan?” I leaned forward, away from his legs and raised my arms, locking my fingers together behind my head, elbows pointed at the ceiling as I moved my hips. “You like - ” He groaned, closing his eyes and without pause, I leaned forward, grabbing his chin with my thumb and forefinger.  “Hey.” His eyes flew open, and I kissed him on the mouth, stilling the movement of my hips, Logan’s length sheathed by my body. “I’m done playing around, Logan.” He nodded. “You said you were gonna make me come, and I think it’s time that we make that happen, don’t you?” He nodded, an almost pained look on his face as I straightened up again, tightening my hold and feeling him thrust his hips upward as much as he could.

 I winked at him, taking a deep breath and rising slowly, allowing myself to pull completely off of Logan. “What are you dong!” He whined my name, and I heard clanking and the groaning of wood again, my eyes moving to the headboard, Logan’s fingers closed around the links between the ends of the cuffs on both hands. “I thought you-”

 “Logan.” It only took one word to stop him and I shook my head, planting one hand on his thigh and pushing before I turned my body so that my back was facing him, carefully crossing his body with my right leg and raising up as I glanced back over my shoulder at him. His eyes were wide, teeth bared in a snarl that I knew wasn’t because he was mad - it was because he couldn’t form words. His chest was heaving, and I reached down in front of me, fingers wrapping around his slick length again as I pulled him upward and back into position, a shudder going through my body as he made contact with my entrance. Do it. Without wasting any more time, I sunk down onto him, hands splayed against Logan’s thighs. He cried out my name as I did so, the muscles in his legs tensing beneath my touch, knees slightly bent.

 “Fuck.” He hissed the single word out, and I closed my eyes, imagining the way that he was watching the movement of my back, the flexing of my shoulders, the way he looked disappearing into my body over and over. “Take every fucking inch, that’s it. Take it all the way.” He moaned as I found a rhythm, meeting the tiny thrusts of his hips stroke for stroke. I hated not looking at him, hated not being able to see the way I knew his teeth were fixed onto his lower lip, the way his hair was drooping over one eye. But the noises he made encouraged me, and from the angle we were at, Logan and I synced - finally. As I moved, I reached up with one hand, freeing my hair and feeling it tumble down my back, Logan calling out my name as it fell. “Feels so fucking good, goddamn. I can’t believe how good you feel riding me.” He paused and sucked in a loud breath, and I moaned again as he shifted his hips, raising his voice. “I’m gonna make you come so fucking hard, you can’t -”

 “Fuck, Logan!” I yelled his name, gripping his thighs even tighter as my head drooped, body responding to the cadence of his voice, low and sure and as cocky as I’d ever heard it. “Logan, you… I…” I whimpered, squeezing my eyes shut, but didn’t stop moving, feeling myself getting closer to fulfilling my end of the promise he’d made me. Logan, please. Don’t stop, don’t. “L-” He was still swearing up a storm, cuffs jangling against the wood as he struggled against them, the movement of his hips a perfect counterpoint to mine, but the words he was saying were lost to me. I was focused on where our bodies were connected, on the way his muscles were taut beneath my fingers, the way he felt sliding into me, the slickness I felt between my legs, evidence of the way that Logan was making me feel, the grip of his hand on my hip… What?

 My eyes flew open and I looked down, seeing Logan’s right hand against the skin of my hip, fingers curled around it, the still closed end of the cuff cold against the side of my leg. “I got it.” He spoke quietly, but his tone was as even as it could be in the moment. Oh shit. I looked back at him over my shoulder and saw his chest heaving, head moving slowly from side to side, the splintered edges of one of the headboard slats next to his face. “I won’t hurt you.” He broke free? He stopped moving and I did too, turning my upper body, grip on his thighs loosening. “If you want to stop, we can, I -” I shook my head, making a decision without stopping to think, pulling off of him again and out of his grip before crawling up the bed next to him.

 Logan pushed one of the pillows out of the way, rolling back onto his side to face me, hand staying at my waist, eyes downcast. No. You don’t get to do this to yourself. Reaching over with one hand, I touched the side of his face and he took a breath, slowly looking up at me. “You gonna finish this, Logan?” His eyes widened, and I took his free hand in mine, pulling it from my waist and placing it against my cheek, nodding as I lowered my lips to his, kissing him. I trust you. I can get away if I need to. Logan grunted against my mouth, returning the kiss and I lowered myself onto the bed next to him, one leg hooking over his hip, my hand reaching behind me to help guide him back into me.

 But I didn’t move my hips, instead waiting for Logan to make the move, and when he did, with a gentle jerk of his hips, the noise at the back of my throat gave me away without fail. Shit. Logan tugged on my hair for long moments before he moved his hand away, fingers against the skin of my arm before sliding it lower, his grip returning to my hip as he rolled his against mine, the movement practiced and fluid. He didn’t break the kiss until he’d rolled me onto my back, cuffed arm once again under my head, supporting it without breaking stride, his long fingers flexing against my skin. “Talk to me,” he rasped into my ear. “I’ve been doin’ all the talking, and it’s your turn now.” I’m not… I don’t… “You look so good right now. Below me? Even better than on top of me.” I gasped, crying out as he spoke into my ear, his hair tickling the skin beneath my eye. “You won’t talk?” I can’t. He cleared his throat, teeth grazing my cheek, his chin moving against my jaw. “That’s fine. I’ll keep goin’.”

 And he did, whispering things to me that were absolutely filthy, carefully timing his thrusts to line up with his words, the strokes of his fingers up and down my side, the kisses he planted on my lips and my throat, lips moving over the skin as if he was worried he’d break me. But below that? His hips slammed into mine, my leg tightly wrapped around him, toes curling as he took me right to the edge once more, filling me in a way that he never had before. I gripped his back, knowing that my nails were going to leave marks on his skin - as red and angry as the marks he left on his own arms, but a lot less dangerous. It felt like we’d been in bed for hours, but that’s how it always felt with Logan; endless minutes, non-stop pleasure… except this time, we’d both remember all of it. “Logan…” I muttered his name, eyes squeezed shut. “I want to come, please.”

 “You were made for me to fuck, Jesus.” Logan swore, biting down on my shoulder, the sharp sensation of pain followed by him saying my name. “Hey.” I opened my eyes, looking up at him, surprised to see the intensity in his gaze. “You feel fucking amazing, but it’s time for you to come.” I nodded, breathless, watching as Logan dragged his tongue over his upper lip, raising an eyebrow. He circled his hips in the opposite direction from what I was expecting and then pulled back, pausing. “Now.” He thrust forward again at the same time that he gripped my thigh, tugging upward on it to open me up more and I came - hard - crying out below him, trying and failing to say his name even though I was breathless.

 He didn’t stop moving, though, prolonging my pleasure as he continued to buck his hips into me, sweat present on his brow and against the skin of his back, slick beneath my fingers. “Logan,” I swallowed, finally finding my voice sliding my hands down to his ass and squeezing, urging him to go deeper, even though I was so sensitive that it almost hurt every time he moved. “Your turn. C’mon Logan. Fill me up.” He moaned, the sound low and long, his sweaty forehead drooping against my clavicle as I leaned toward him, speaking into his ear. “Come, Logan. I want to feel you, I want you to fi-” He grunted, hips stuttering as he yelled, the sound turning into a groan as his fingers tightened even more against my skin, the feeling of him pulsing inside me combined with the added warmth of his ending rendering me speechless again, weak beneath him and unable to think - let alone move. Oh my fucking God.

 Logan slowed the movement of his hips but didn’t pull out, letting the majority of the weight of his body rest atop mine, one leg slightly bent to keep some of it off and sighed deeply, forehead still pressed against my shoulder. He took a deep breath, hand releasing my hip as my leg fell away from his thigh, my breathing slowly evening out, though I was nowhere close to functional. Silently, Logan shifted, rolling onto his back and tugging me with him, still inside of me. “Wanna look at you,” he breathed, using his free hand to push my hair back from my face, gathering it in his hand and twisting. “Wanna…” He closed his eyes, head falling heavily back onto the pillow. “I wish…” Even though the last thing I wanted to do was get up, I took a deep breath and carefully backed my hips away from Logan’s feeling him slide out of me. Gonna be messy. He opened his eyes again, ready to speak as I scrambled off of the bed, feet finding the floor and taking a moment to steady myself before I stepped away from the bed, crouching down at the foot of it.

 I picked up his pants, reaching into the pocket and taking out the handcuff keys before dropping the material back onto the floor, returning to the edge of the bed next to Logan Suddenly, I felt exposed, the warm sunlight streaming in through the windows, my entire body bared to Logan’s eyes. I looked down, even as I unlocked the cuff from his wrist, leaving the other end hanging from the headboard before wordlessly passing the small piece of metal to Logan, who used it to undo the restraint from his other arm, the cuffs falling to the bed with a quiet clink. Now what? He flexed his fingers, bending his left arm in order to get some of the feeling back into it, and before I had too long to consider my options, Logan’s hand dropped to my thigh, all of the fingers bent toward his exposed palm - except for his index finger, which moved slowly over my skin, knuckle side down.

 “Look at me.” Gone was the authoritative man from a few minutes prior. Logan’s words were little more than a plea, and even though I didn’t want to, I turned my head to him, fighting back tears. How do I tell him what that meant to me? I can’t stay here. I can’t. “What’s wrong?” I shook my head and Logan sat up, leaning closer to me, lips pressed together.  “Hey.” I licked my lips, feeling myself start to shake. I shouldn’t have done that. “Don’t do this.” He said my name, but I was frozen; I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and Logan acted quickly, wide brown eyes full of something I didn’t expect: fear. “Don’t pull away from me, not now, not after...” His hands moved, and the next thing I knew, I was back in bed next to Logan, body stretched out and facing his, both of his arms tightly around me and one leg hooked over mine as I pressed my face against the front of his shoulder, heart hammering in my chest as I fought back a rising panic in my chest.

 We were both sticky and spent, both still halfway breathless, Logan’s shoulders and chest marked from my nails, and yet I still couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say. It’s done now, we can’t go back. The room was silent, and I could hear the faint sound of the ocean through the window, but neither of us spoke for minutes. I had plenty of things I wanted to say - questions I wanted to ask, but I didn’t know where to start. It’s not your right. Logan shifted, pulling his arm out from beneath me, and I braced myself, stiffening as I prepared for the worst.

 “No one’s ever done anything like that for me before.” He sounded unsure, and I finally looked back up at him, surprise evident on my face. “You… trusted me totally, even after I got free.” He grinned - a shadow of his usual expression, but it was still real. “You shoulda told me to stop, should’ve re-attached the… but you didn’t.” He shook his head, fingertips moving across my back, lightly touching the skin that he’d been gripping only a short time before. “I’m not an idiot,” he continued, eyes narrowing for a second. “I know it’s not this easy, right? Once isn’t enough.” He shook his head. “But you trusted me, and I didn’t think… I didn’t think it would feel like that.” Logan leaned closer to me, brushing his lips against mine, and when I didn’t pull away, he pressed more firmly, hand pausing against my back and pushing against it, drawing me closer to him. “This feels good.” He sighed, nuzzling against my face with his nose, closing his eyes and dropping a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “You feel… right.” What?

 “Logan, what are you…” His eyes opened, finding mine. Right? “I don’t…” My heartbeat quickened, and I shifted, unwilling to get my hopes up, despite what had just happened between us.

 “Can we talk about it later?” He swallowed, eyes squeezing shut as he held back a yawn. “You wore me out.” His hand moved from my back to my side, and Logan turned his head toward the pillow, unable to stop the yawn that followed. “I’m… fuck, I’m tired.” Yeah. OK. I steadied myself and started to roll away from him, preparing to collect my clothes and leave when Logan froze next to me. “Where are you going?” Unable to help myself, I reached over, moving my fingers through his hair and exposing his entire face.

 “I’m gonna go, Logan. It’s… we can talk about this later or…” Or never. But instead of letting me go, Logan’s hold on me tightened, eyes opening all the way.

 “No. Please.” The word leaving his lips again astounded me and I stopped moving, unsure. He never says please. “I want you to stay.” He nodded, the weight behind his words supported by the action and the expression on his face. “Stay with me.” We’d passed out together before, utterly exhausted from the alcohol and the sex and waking up on opposite sides of the bed, tangled in the sheets and blankets, but Logan had never actually asked  me to stay - it just happened, and it wasn’t ever discussed, one of us simply waking up earlier than the other and leaving without any of the awkward conversation. It was never awkward between us, not after the first night, because we’d always known what was going on - what our encounters meant… until now.

 “Of course, Logan.” He relaxed as I agreed, and I rolled over and away from him, unable to look him in the eye any longer. It’s a start. A few seconds later, I felt Logan moving, the bed shifting under his weight and a faint “thunk” as the handcuffs hit the floor when Logan pulled the blanket flat, draping it over us. I expected him to leave space in the bed like usual, but was shocked when I felt him lay back down, one arm tentatively wrapping around me and pulling my back to his chest, knees bending to fit with mine. I could hear him breathing, feel the warm air against my back, the pads of his fingers spread out against my abdomen. There was a pause in his breathing, a soft exhale, and I moved without thinking again, turning my body toward him as much as I could, lips seeking his out and finding them exactly where I hoped they would be.

 He kissed me desperately, the hand sliding up my body beneath the blanket, his torso shifting so that I could roll to face him, the upper half of his body propped up on one elbow, his other arm bent on the far side of my body, hand flat against the back of my head, fingers tangled in my hair. I do need you, Logan. I thought I did before, but I know it now. “Stay.” He whispered the word against my mouth and I nodded, finally opening my eyes to look up at him, feeling his chest pressed against mine. “We’ll figure this all out, but I…” He gritted his teeth together, kissing me again. “I need you here.”

 Settling down next to me, Logan again fit his body with mine, even though I rolled over to lay flat on my stomach, head turned to face him as one arm slid beneath the pillow. Instead of resting his hand on my back, Logan reached over, keeping his fingers in my hair, tilting his head downward so that his nose was pressed against my bare shoulder. Neither of us spoke again, and after only a few minutes, his breathing evened out - Logan was sound asleep again, and try as I might to fight sleep so that I could figure out what the fuck I was going to do next, I felt myself drifting off too, fingers absently trailing over Logan’s back.

---

[contrivedcoincidences6]

The Invisible Cord (reboot)- Chapter 1

If you want to read the prologue go here

***

I look out the window and watch the wind blow through the autumn leaves. The swirling colors are able to hold my attention far better than the droning on of my biology teacher giving her lecture.

“Ms. Meeks? Ms. Meeks!”

The teacher’s irritable voice reaches my subconscious along with a series of muffled snickers.

“Yes, ma’am?” I ask.

“You seem to be distracted. Would some extra homework tonight help you concentrate?” she asks, hands on her hips.

“I’m not distracted, ma’am. I’ve been listening.”

“Well then, what are ribosomes?” she asked, her lips pursed.

My mind moves back in time to moments before and as I picture the leaves in the trees I can hear Mrs. Jefferson’s voice telling me the answer.

“They help produce the polypeptides that make up the majority of a cell’s structure and are required for activities that are necessary for the cell’s survival,” I repeat, using her exact wording just to be a brat.

“Alright then, what about endoplasmic reticulum?” she asks with a sigh.

For this I have to think back to a few minutes earlier. I remember how the light had shone off of Mr. Randall’s car and it comes back.

“The endoplasmic reticulum is a network of membrane-covered channels that transport the materials made in the cells, and are connected to the nucleus,” I say, again using her exact wording.

“Well, you certainly have done your reading,” Mrs. Jefferson says, giving me a subtle nod of approval. She seems to want to continue her little quiz when the bell rings. The students start to get up and as I gather my things I hear her voice through the crowd.

“April Meeks. I would like to speak with you before you leave.”

I walk up to her desk, making just enough eye contact to make her uncomfortable.

“What was that performance just now?” she asks, incredulous.

“I was listening to you, Mrs. Jefferson,” I say with a small shrug.

“You were not paying attention to the discussion or even taking notes.”

Fighting the urge to roll my eyes I tap my head. “Eidetic memory,” I answer with a straight face. Try not to react as her mouth twists into an ugly pout.

“May I leave now?” I ask as she simply nods, gestures towards the door.

Not surprisingly, May is standing right outside the door. As my best friend, she seemed to sense that I’d been causing trouble and she shoots me a harmless glare. Her long black braids sway around her head as she walks next to me and waits for me to say something.

May is basically my only friend. Growing up in the same foster home our caretakers decided that our names meant we were meant to be friends. And they were right, we’ve been inseparable ever since.

“That was stupid, April.” May says in her lecturing voice. “Why would you draw attention to yourself like that?”

I gave her what had to be my fiftieth shrug of the day.

“I’m just sick of sitting in a mid-level bio class pretending like I’m actually learning something.”

“So do you not want to stick to our plan then?” she asks, stopping so that I am forced to turn around.

“I never said that,” I mutter, letting out a soft sigh. “I just- why does it have to be so boring?”

“You don’t think that I’m bored?” May throws up her hands.

“But you know if we are all pulled out of the class people will start to notice we’re different. They’ll notice and then they’ll take you again.”

I look down at my feet, clad in Converse shoes that have seen better days.

“May, just for the record one more time, you are not my mother. I know all of this. And I don’t want to get taken. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I’m tired, and soon enough another birthday is going to come and go and I’ll have nothing new to show for it.”

Sighing she squeezes my fingers before looping her arm through mine.

In two days it will be my 16th birthday. I know for most everyone else in my class a sixteenth birthday is an important event. Sweet Sixteen invitations have been plastered all over lockers and everyone’s excited to get their learner’s permit.

To me, it just means another year. One filled with even more questions and fear than the previous one. It just so happens May’s birthday falls exactly one month before mine and she shares the same detachment.

We’re similar in more ways than that. Both of us have little concept of our lives before the age of five. It’s not that our minds were erased, or at least we don’t think they were. There are shadows that sometimes come in the night or a moment of Deja Vu. The memories don’t seem to fit in anywhere, just like us.

Sometimes I will have flashes to my mother singing to me as she makes me my lunch but I can’t picture her face. I can think back to being in the car with my father on a road trip but I don’t know where we were going. Most vividly though I remember all my visits to all the doctors. Those memories are the strongest ones and it’s another thing May and I have in common. Both of us have been in and out of the hospital for our entire lives.

“I just don’t want you to take risks like that. We need to follow our rules. I mean, really. Just two more years and we are out of this hellhole. That’s what you should think of on your birthday. Just two years until freedom.”

Her arm tightens around mine and I know that she really believes it. I smile and bump her shoulder, wanting to believe. ____________________________________________________________________

We watch them walk out of the school and try to interpret their behavior, this…display. The two of them have linked arms and upturned lips, and it makes us curious. Makes us wonder. Even though technically none of us are programmed to do that. We don’t think in depth. We don’t experience emotion. I guess one could consider us robots. One perk though of our clinical detachment is our reliance on our instincts. They’re essential to who we are and have helped to keep us safe. To help us survive.

One of our key instincts is fairly basic. To protect our mothers. We’ve had so many of them and while we failed most of them years ago when we were still too young and unskilled to prevent them from being harmed, we know some of them still live. Some, against all odds, have managed to survive and weather all the illness and all the death that’s been thrown at them, and we believe with everything in us, that we still have an obligation to them.

We know there are few of us now. According to all the official documents we’ve managed to access we are considered to be extinct. The truth is though that we still exist. We still create. We still have roles. We just need to embrace them quietly. Slowly. The way we’ve been trained to.

Looking to our sister she nods. We move forward, to follow the duo. They are real humans. They are to be protected. Unlike us. We’re secondary. Just biological material stolen from the humans, grown in the bellies of women who didn’t ask for us. Although we are all that remains of the original batch, the ones not created in test tubes, we all still consider our mothers to be our mothers. In every important sense of the word. It’s only because of their ova that we came into existence. While these two could be considered related to us in a sense they may as well be of a different species.

However, these children are important to our mothers. Therefore they are important to us. In two days time we will make contact. ____________________________________________________________________

“All I’m saying is the only reason he’s interested in me at all is because of the list.” May says, playing with my hair while I try to do my homework.

“What list?” I ask, half paying attention.

“You haven’t heard about the list the football players have?” she asks, looking at me as if I’m missing a crucial piece of information.

I shake my head and she moves from lying on her stomach behind me to scoot up next to me.

The expression on her face tells me that whatever ‘the list’ is, it’s easily the most important thing going on in the school. No wonder I’m clueless.

“It’s basically a fuck-it list. It’s like a bucket list, but it’s just a list of girls they want to fuck. I know Andrew is only sniffing around me so he can check off the ‘black girl’ box.”

“At the game the other day you said you wanted to eat bacon off his ass, so I really don’t get why you care,” I scoff, peering up at her through my glasses.

“It’s the principle of it!” May exclaims as I roll my eyes, and put down my textbook.

“But you are only interested in him for his ass. He’s only interested in you because of a list. Both of you have motives aside from actual interest in the other person. That being said, are you really telling me you won’t have sex with him?”

“I never said that. I’m just saying that I don’t appreciate his motives. Jennie was his token ‘Asian girl’. Have you heard of anything more crass than that? Still, she said he was a tiger in the sack. Hey!” She exclaimed giving my arm a soft swat, “You could probably get on his radar! Maybe he hasn’t checked the ‘redhead’ box yet.”

“No thanks. I’m good,” I say, shaking my head.

“You know, you’ll need to start dating at some point. People talk. Especially about the cute ones.”

“Aw, you think I’m cute?” I tease, earning an eye roll. “I’m not interested in dating, May. I mean, really, what’s the point?”

“Well, it’s nice for someone to show interest in you. There are also physical benefits of course.”

“Too much effort for something I can just take care of myself.”

May just shakes her head at me, flops back onto her own bed.

“You know if you’re into girls that’s great. I can get you the numbers of some I’ve been with.”

“Just some?”

“There’s only a few who would be worthy of you, my dear,” she teases as I let out a long sigh.

“It’s not that I’m not attracted to anyone I just have no interest in dating. There are way more important things for me to worry about right now.”

“You keep on with that attitude and I’ll tell you what’s going to happen: you’re going to be celibate for years. Until you finally figure out that there are no answers out there. But by that time I’ll be too old a woman to be able to enjoy it.”

Choosing to ignore her comment I find the last answer to the worksheet, hand it over to May to copy.

“Thanks,” she says, crossing back to her desk. Now it’s my turn to lie back on my bed and stare at the ceiling.

“Do you think that our parents are still alive?” I ask after a beat and she answers before I’m even done.

“Who knows? If they are they probably don’t care. I don’t know why you keep thinking about this. Who even knows if we have parents? For all we know we’re test-tube babies.”

“But what if they are alive and out there missing us. Maybe they’re trying to find us.”

Jumping a bit when she lies on the bed beside me I let out a sigh, fold my arms.

“I’m not dismissing that possibility, I just don’t want you to get your hopes up. I’m worried you’ll plan your whole life around this idea of a family out there looking for you and then find out there’s just…no way for you to have it.”

“But I feel like I did have it, May. At least once. All the memories I have from before, those have to mean something, don’t they?”

“If they’re real,” May sighs. “Look, they might be. But think about it, if they can erase our memories what makes you think they can’t plant fake ones?”

Just thinking about that makes my head hurt. In the way, it does when I’m on the verge of a long cry. Curling on my side I rest my forehead against May’s shoulder, grateful she knows without my saying it that she should stay put.

Her fingers run through my hair, “Just to be safe though we can watch Anastasia again tonight.”

I laugh and close my eyes trying not to yearn for more than this perfect moment.

[perictione]

Isn’t tumblr fun

Okay, so I’ve seen some conflicting information flying around since the announcement literally an hour ago about tumblr’s new policy. 

Fandom content will be affected, first of all. Here’s a direct quote from the new TOS. Bold is mine.

What is considered adult content?

Adult content primarily includes photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts.

What is still permitted?

Examples of exceptions that are still permitted are exposed female-presenting nipples in connection with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth moments, and health-related situations, such as post-mastectomy or gender confirmation surgery. Written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art, such as sculptures and illustrations, are also stuff that can be freely posted on Tumblr.

So what does this all mean? TL;DR: 

1). N/SFW fanfic will still be allowed, for now.

2). N/SFW fanart will NOT be allowed. 

3.) If you tag something as N/SFW (etc), no one will see it in search. 

1). N/SFW fanfic should still be allowed.

Written content is still cool! For the moment. So fic writers (like me) shouldn’t be affected, except for what’s happening to the fanart community. However, if this new policy doesn’t get tumblr back into the app store, I’d expect erotica to be next on the salt and burn list. 

Not in the new TOS, but newly added to the ‘why aren’t you appearing in search section’ certain kinds of links in posts now cause them not to appear in search. Tumblr hasn’t told us what those kinds of links are. When I post fic, there is usually a link involved, so that’s fun. This also has the side ‘benefit’ of making it harder to cross promote other platforms on tumblr. Want to post your content from twitter? Or your blog? Or another website? Tumblr might throttle your post. 

2). N/SFW fanart will NOT be allowed.

I know it’s a bit confusing. Tumblr is saying that nudity in art (including digital illustrations like fanart) is allowed. However, that only applies to art that does not depict a sex act. Sex acts like—well like any of them. Basically any fanart that depicts characters in a sexual situation is now NOT ALLOWED. They can be naked...but it can’t be sexual. The exact implementation of that distinction is going to be complicated. For example, masturbation is a sex act. So a nude depiction of a character needs to be one where they aren’t engaged in touching themselves or turning themselves on in any way. 

‘Sex acts’ is also a pretty broad in another way—characters do not have to be nude to engage in a sex act. I’m going to assume that kissing does not count. What about groping? Humping? An illustration where nothing explicit can be seen, but the characters are clearly doing something naughty? Guess what, that depicts a sex act. 

I’m willing to bet that tumblr is going to err on the side of caution here. Tumblr may take an even harder stance in practice, where nudity is only allowed if the art is not meant to arouse the viewer. Basically, if it doesn’t resemble a renaissance painting in spirit, it’s out. At least, that’s my expectation. 

For the Transformers fandom specifically:

Some people have said that because we aren’t depicting human beings (usually) in N/SFW fanart, we’ll be fine. That is really not an accurate interpretation of this new policy. Here’s why. 

In the language that mentions sex acts, tumblr does not specify that ‘sex acts’ have to involve a human being. 

Some explicit TF fanart depicts humanized genitalia on mostly human-shaped robots. I know if I were the moderator enforcing this, that would definitely make the cut as adult content. Actual animals engaged in sex acts, like a photo of two bunnies doing what bunnies do, is probably going to be allowed. 

And here’s some proof that is going to segue us into point #3: the ‘furry’ tag has been throttled. Or blocked or shadowed or whatever. Furry art, as we all probably know, does not depict human beings. 

3). If you tag something as N/SFW (etc), no one will see it in search. 

A ton of fandom tags have been directly or indirectly throttled in the past week/two weeks. What’s happening is that certain tags can no longer be searched for at all. I posted about this when I discovered it last week. 

If you search for ‘sex’ it comes up with “That’s about it for sex. Try another search?” And there’s a whole list of tags (which tumblr has not made public because they suck) that are like that. N/SFW is one, ‘safe sex’ is another, ‘chronic pain’ is also on the list bizarrely. ‘Furry’ is another one—which clearly demonstrates that tumblr doesn’t think that adult content must be about real human beings to get banned, which is why I think the Transformers fandom needs to worry.

But wait, there’s more! If you tag a post with one of the banned tags (N/SFW for example), then it won’t show up in any other tag at all. Tagged your photo of your french fries as N/SFW as a joke? Guess what, it isn’t going to show up in the ‘french fries’ or the ‘fast food’ tag either. 

Guess what that does! It disincentivizes tagging to warn! Make a post where you mention sex and tag ‘sex’ or ‘nsfw’ so people who just don’t want to read about sex won’t see it? Well, you’ve succeeded, now no one will! Your N/SFW headcanon won’t show up in the fandom tags if you warn for it properly either.

To conclude:

Basically, yes! We’re fucked! I’m really sad about this, because I love fandom, I love fandom on tumblr even, and the little community of transformers fans I’ve got around me now is great. I’m sad that we’re getting hamstrung here. 

I’m also really grateful that I got off my ass and started participating in fandom for really the first time this past year. No more lurking! I’ve made friends, who are wonderful and a delight, and who I know I’m not going to lose because tumblr isn’t our only point of contact. I’ve also got mutuals on here who I don’t have points of contact with outside tumblr. And all the cool people I follow, I know I won’t be able to keep all of them wherever fandom goes next.

But I’m hopeful. Fandom has always managed to find its sea legs in the past. We’ll do it again. We’ll build this city again. 

[nevergiveupneverrun]

Bodyguard - Chapter Twenty-two “More than words” Part Two

Hello, I hope you’re all doing great. Here is chapter twenty-two of my story Bodyguard. I’m sorry by advance for the mistakes… English isn’t my first language and I do my best. Here is the link of the previous chapter: Click Here.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter :) 💛

- Do you have the score of the song? Is that the one you have there? She nods while looking at me, a little lost in front of my question. - What song is it? - I was asked to do a cover on a love song. And I… I choose to cover « More than words » by Extreme. Coincidence? The situation is in any case confusing. This song I’d heard it hundreds of time, maybe even more. It was a song he sang regularly, charmed from the release of the title. One of the pieces he taught me to play… I was a little disconcerted to find that among the thousands of possible song, she had stopped on this one… a song that reminded me of memories and specific moments. But I couldn’t let myself be overwhelmed by the weight of the past when Amelia was in doubt. I move towards the piano and I feel the fixed weight of her eyes on me. I grabbed the guitar and sat on the stool in front of the piano, placing myself from the back of the instrument to face Amelia. I find two big wide blue eyes scrutinize me. I put the guitar on my lap and held out a hand to claim the score. She gives it to me after a few moments, without looking away from me… reacting like a robot, facing me, in a purely automatic gesture. I take a look at the sequence of notes that appears to me, recognizing familiar chords… I put the sheet of paper on the ground after going through it and put the guitar firmly on my lap, one hand on the neck and the second grazing the strings. - You… you know how to play? I don’t answer her question. I just rub my hands against each other, then take the position of the first chord. And I start without waiting for the intro of the piece.

The first notes resound in the room and the melody wins me as every time I heard… pr played this song. My fingers slide on the strings, the chords come naturally without me having to look at the score, as if this music was still anchored in me, in a very specific place in my memory. After a few seconds, I look up at Amelia. I discover her amazed before me, mouth slightly ajar. Then very quickly, finding my eyes, I guess a slight smile settle on her lips. At the end of the intro, I make a slight nod and she sings immediately, mixing her voice with the notes that escaped from the guitar, the rhythm of my finger.

Saying I love you Is not the words that I want to hear from you It’s not that I want you Not to say But if you only knew

I suddenly realize that my feet are beating time and that my head moves to the rhythm of chords, rocked by Amelia’s voice… her softness added a particular dimension to the song that transformed it almost.

How easy it would be to show me how you feel More than words is all you have to do to make it real Then you wouldn’t have to say That you love me Cause I’d already know What would you do if my heart was torn in two More than words To show you feel That you love for me is real What would you say If I took those words away Then you couldn’t make things new Just by saying I love you

I stay focused on Amelia’s image. I had completely forgotten the score and I realize that I didn’t need to follow it, I remembered the melody perfectly… by heart. Amelia was in front of me, eyes closed: she seemed to be inhabited by music… she was beautiful and I felt a strange feeling, as a particular connection that was established between us at this moment… and made me forget everything else.

More than Words

Another voice less intent then rises in the room. And it takes me several seconds to realize that this voice is none other than mine, while I accompany her at this moment of the song. Amelia opens her eyes instantly and smiles at me, with a slight nod as if she encourages me…

Now that I’ve tried to talk to you and make you understand All you have to do is close your eyes

I hum slightly on each end of the sentence as the original two-part version. Like the covers, I’ve done in the past when I mixed my voice with my dad’s. The song, however, seemed different to me, with the crystalline voice of Amelia making the words maybe even stronger.

And just reach out your hands And touch me Pull me close

I capture Amelia’s look at this moment of the piece where I have to pinch the strings, in perfect synchronization with her words.

Don’t ever let me go

She plunges her eyes into mine, and I hold on to her voice to place the chord at the right time, succeeding perfectly this part of the song.

More than words Is all I’ve ever needed you to show Then you wouldn’t have to say That you love me Cause I’d already know

Amelia stares at me for a few seconds and I understand what she asks me without having to communicate. I join my voice very slightly to hers… pressing notes a little longer when she has to follow the lyrics.

What would you do if my heart was torn in two More than words To show you feel That you love for me is real What would you say If I took those words away Then you couldn’t make things new

Just by saying I love you

These last three words, I can only whisper them by looking at her… troubled by the eyes she returns to me at this moment. By these words that touch me and remind me of moments of complicity and tenderness too few of my past.

Lalala-Lalala More than words Lalala-Lalala More than words

I finish the song in the manner of my father, by a series of chords rising in the treble then down again in more serious tone… supporting the last note to lave Amelia last three words a cappella.

More than words

I repeat the melody while Amelia holds us the final notes and I conclude the piece of an ultimate chord slipped on the strings.

Silence resumes suddenly in the room. Silence reconnects me to reality and disintegrates this bubble where I had taken refuge with Amelia for the last four minutes.

I keep my eyes lowered on the guitar, to get a grip on myself. - It was beautiful… you play divinely well… this song is not easy, I even know that Andrew was not happy when I told him I had chosen this song… but you, you have interpreted it perfectly… without any hesitation… you…. I look up: her eyes sparkle looking at me as if she saw me for the first time… as if she saw me in a new light suddenly… - You are incredible… Three words, a look and a heart that beats a little stronger in my chest. I should have looked away, but I can not be fascinated by her reaction and captivated by this spark in her eyes that I can not interpret. - Behind the bodyguard, an exceptional guitarist… I think you play this piece as nicely as Nuno Bettencourt… - Don’t overdo it. - No, really… you…you hid your musician talent… - It’s another part of my life… I have not played for a long time… - You should not leave this talent untapped, you’re so good, it’s a waste… - Amelia… - Richard should hear you… you really are… - Amelia… please… I played to help you out tonight, but don’t think it will be a habit… it’s all behind me… I had responded rather firmly, overwhelmed by the progress of her thought. I was touched by her eulogistic opinion but the guitar remained an almost forbidden object for me: the weight of the past, the memory of events that had marked me forever. - Excuse me, I’m surprised… and impressed… I appreciate in any case that you help me to prepare this pice although it weighs you visibly. - I can make an exception for an evening… - Thank you… you want to try again once? You can refuse, I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable… but there are two, three parts I’d like to sing along that could be improved. - Ok… I take the guitar in hand and after exchanging a new look with Amelia, I re-start the melody. True to herself, a single review of the song will not suffice: it’s in at the end, a dozen times that I will play the piece, surprising me to find a certain pleasure to renew this link with the music that I had put in parentheses so many years.

I finish with the last chord, Amelia in front of me, a sheet in her hand with the lyrics where she had scribbled many indications over the tests. - Thank you so much, Owen… I am much more confident… I’ll have to give some directions to Andrew to accompany me exactly as you… I like a lot of the chords that you do in the end… and your voice is pretty magical I think… - I don’t worry about Andrew, he’s a very good guitarist. - Yes, but he clearly does not have your voice… and I’m not sure he’s that good… with what I’ve seen from you in a few minutes… - You know as well as me that the most important thing is not the musician but the voice that we accompany and at this level, there is no problem for you on this song. - Thank you… She takes a look at her watch and a smile quickly grows on her lips. - Always interested in what’s waiting for us in the kitchen? I understand immediately her allusion and I smile too widely in return. - Of course! - It should be ready for a tasting I’ll see what it is… you join me in two minutes? I nod, amused by her sudden enthusiasm. She almost leaves the room in running and I laugh at seeing her go. She sometimes had these attitudes close to a girl who was quite disarming but definitely gorgeous. I rest the guitar in its case, placed a few steps. I get the score with the fingertips to place it on the piano with other leaflets already in place. The title of the song then suddenly sounds in me.

More Than Words: more than words.

A crazy interpretation of Amelia’s attention, of the cake she had cooked for me, imperceptibly invading my mind.

                              More than words to show you how…

This sentence to summarize: a sentence that I can not finish because it would only materialize a reality that scares me. - Owen, it’s ready! Her indication reaches me from the ground floor, her impatience was touching… and still worthy of a child. - Thanks, I’m coming! I leave the score of the gaze, destabilized by this idea which had sprouted in my mind… but I quickly chase it.

It was just one simple attention on her part to thank me.

Simply.

Nothing more.

No more than a word… no more than a thank you.

Thank you for reading! I hope you’ll like it. 💛

[all-the-love-harold]

The Daily Anna- Chapter 12

It’s here! and there’s no way it would have happened without @lovesmelikebrandnewstarlight and her endless support. 

There’s only three or four more chapters left of the story, so please let me know how you’re felling about it! 

Master Post 

Cheshire.

 When I was 18 I picked my life up and moved it to London, I even took my best friend with me, but my favourite part about moving away has always been coming home. Not because I hate living in London, that’s far from the truth, it’s because when I go home everything is calm and part of me feels like a kid again.

 Conveniently, Harry is also from Cheshire, in fact we grew up not far from each other and somehow our paths didn’t cross until we both lived in London. Funny how fate works.  

 We’ve been spending the last few weeks sharing ourselves between both of our families and it’s been really nice to hear Harry share stories about his childhood here, it’s funny how we both have such different experiences attached to the same places.

 It’s been nice to escape everything. I haven’t been to a single doctor’s appointment in the last two weeks and Harry hasn’t been in a studio. We don’t have any responsibilities when we’re back here and it’s nice to have that time together, without the stress of our real lives.

 We head back to London tomorrow though and our two weeks of Knutsford ice cream and afternoon snuggles will come to an end. I’ll go back to having a doctor's appointment every second day and Harry will go back to spending almost all of his time in the studio.

 Our little Cheshire adventure has come to a close, but next we head to Australia with our families, in honour of my little brother’s 18th birthday, so ‘The Daily Anna’ will once again become a travel blog.

 ***

Since her diagnosis Anna had been poked and prodded like there was no tomorrow, but it wasn’t for nothing, her kidney functions had improved tenfold since she started her treatment and she was starting to get her appetite back again although he diet was limited to clean foods that wouldn’t cause a build-up of toxins between treatments.

 She was on dialysis now, which meant that every second day she would go into The Royal London Hospital and sit there while a machine did her Kidney’s job for her. It wasn’t all bad though, The NHS had assigned her own nurse who she got along with very well. Her name was Beth and she was just about the sweetest old lady that she’d ever come across.

Beth’s entire job was to make sure that Anna was comfortable and sometimes that just meant sitting with her if Harry couldn’t. They talked about almost anything under the sun, Anna gave her the rundown on what it’s like to date a pop star and Beth told Anna about her time as a midwife and she was completely fascinated by it.

 The treatment started almost as soon as they’d arrived home from Cheshire and Harry made sure he went to all the appointments that he could. With the tour over now his main focus was his second album but that could wait for Anna to get better. Anna was beyond grateful for all the support that she was getting from her friends and family during all this. She was never short of company, there were even times when she had to tell people not to visit. Ronnie had developed a habit of hovering since he found out, and that was fine, until one day, it wasn’t.

****

Anna’s Dialysis took around three hours. Three hours of sitting in a chair and staring at a wall, so she was happy to get a text from Ronnie, saying that he was going to come and see her. Harry was already sitting there quietly responding to some emails and keeping quiet conversation with Anna. That was the beauty of their relationship, they could talk about anything and they could do it for hours but sometimes it was nice to have some other company.

Ronnie stormed into the Dialysis centre of the hospital, camera bag halfway unzipped with the camera hanging out of it, his glasses about to fall off his head

“Christ Ron, you look like you’ve been hit by a bus” Anna giggled

“So do you” he remarked back to her eyeing off the dialysis machine “What the fuck is that?”

“My robotic kidney’s” she giggled

“She’s basically the terminator now” Harry said, putting his phone away in his pocket.

“Right” Ronnie nodded unable to make eye contact with Harry. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get along with him, it was more that Harry was exactly where he wanted to be. He brushed it off as best he could and sat down next to Anna, opposite Harry.

“Busy day?” Anna asked, trying her best to keep the conversation going with the two of them.

“Big shoot” he nodded “with Mabel actually”

“Ahhh” Harry said fondly “How is she?”

“She’s great, fun to work with” Ronnie admitted “She got in contact with me after your gig actually”

“You’re welcome” Harry shrugged, a little arrogant smile appearing on his face. Anna cringed knowing that Ronnie would interpret that the opposite way to what Harry had intended. If he had though, he didn’t say anything, he simply shrugged and moved on and Anna had to admit she was quite impressed. She’d always known Ronnie to be the petty type, always overreacting to the smallest of triggers.

Anna’s nurse Beth, who would sit with her on the days that Harry wasn’t able to make it, made her way over to them the second she saw that Ronnie was sitting there.

“How are we going my dear?” She said warmly

“Feeling squeaky clean” Anna smiled

Beth shuffled behind Harry and checked on the machine that was currently attached to Anna with two big tubes in her left arm, one for the blood to go in, the other to take it out.

“You’ve still got a few hours left dear, can I get anyone anything, tea or coffee for the lads?”

“No thanks” Harry said with a charming smile on his face

“I’m ok” Ronnie nodded

“Is the famous photographer friend that took you to meet Prince Charming over here?” It was no secret that Beth thought Harry was wonderful and if she was thirty- or forty-years younger Anna might be worried about it, but she just found it endearing.

“Sure is” Anna nodded “this is Ronnie”

Ronnie shook Beth’s hand “nice to meet you” he smiled

“You too dear, I’ve heard a lot about you” she turned back to Anna “feeling alright dear?”

“Yeah” Anna nodded

“Great we’ll give me a buzz if you need anything, I’ll just be doing some paperwork over at the nurses station”

She left them sitting in silence and Harry reached over and put his hand on top of Anna’s in a comforting manner and she suddenly felt awkward. It was weird enough having Harry and Ronnie in the same room, but it was even weirder for that room to be in a hospital where she was having a machine do what her body couldn’t. It felt too personal. Too intimate having Ronnie there.

 “You guys can still have sex, right?” Ronnie asked out of nowhere

“Ron!” Anna said, taken aback by his forwardness

“Our sex life is just fine”. Harry’s voice was calm and unaffected by awkwardness that had just filled the room.

“I heard it took you awhile to put out for him though An”

“Drop it Ronnie” she glared at him with fire in her eyes

“Didn’t take you that long with me, did it?”

Harry blinked a few times, staring at Anna and then Ronnie. Did he hear that right?

“You should leave now Ronnie” Anna was blunt with her words and Ronnie knew that he’d crossed a line. He stood up and packed his things properly, before he turned and left the ward. Neither Harry or Anna spoke for a few minutes once he was gone, they both just started into space, not knowing what to say, but it was Harry who broke the silence.

“When?” is all he said

“Years ago,” Anna said quietly “It meant way more to him than it did to me. It was one time, but he hasn’t been with anyone since”

“So, he’s in love with you?”

“He’s not” she shook her head. “We’re just friends H”

“He definitely is” he said, “why else why would he still be around?”

“We’ve been friends since nursery Harry, he’s still around because it was one night”

“It’s a little strange An” he was still holding onto her hand so she knew he wasn’t mad but she could tell it bothered him, the way she guessed it would bother her if had had slept with someone he was that close to.

“Have you never slept with one of your friends?” she asked curiously, not to cause an argument but so that they could see eye to eye.

“Nope” he shook his head

“Never?” Anna sighed, in disbelief.

“Not even a kiss” he added

“It didn’t mean anything H”

“I know” he said, bring her hand up to his lips and kissing it softly “might have to thump the guy next time I see him though, so he doesn’t get any ideas”

“You wouldn’t do that” Anna smiled, making light of the whole thing “Please don’t hate me” she sighed

“We both have a past An, mine just isn’t my best friend”

“I know it’s complicated, and maybe he is in love with me just a little, but that’s where it ends”

“I trust you” Harry smiled “But I don’t know that I trust him”

“You don’t have to, you do have to tolerate him though”

***

Harry put his studio time on hold where he could to make sure that Anna was getting the care that she needed he wouldn’t be back into song writing mode until October.

As far as she’d come since starting her treatment, Anna wasn’t fully recovered and not yet able to miss three weeks if dialysis while they were gone, so Harry had taken on the responsibility of making sure that there was always a hospital close by and he’d even been in contact with a few specialists to make sure that Anna was getting the best care possible.

Everyone was going, Anne, Gemma, Debbie John, Gabby, even Ronnie had agreed to make the trip. For Timmy, of course.

Anna didn’t know if she was excited or nervous at this point, on one hand she was thrilled to be taking the trip with everyone she holds close to her heart, in honour of her brother, but on the other she wasn’t sure how it was all going to play out having everyone that close together for three weeks. Harry felt almost the same, he loved Anna, he wanted to do this all for her, but the thought of spending every day for the next three weeks with Ronnie made him cringe. He’d taken this flight only a few short months ago, but he’d forgotten just how long it took. A whole day. On a plane. With Ronnie. No wonder he was exhausted when they landed. But so was everyone else.

“I think we should just get dinner at the hotel restaurant tonight” Anne said, in the taxi on their way there “We can go exploring tomorrow”

Debbie nodded “Sounds good to me, Anna, Harry? Is that ok?”

“Sounds great Mum” Anna nodded with her head rested on Harry’s shoulder. Driving along she could see out the window and her heart fluttered as Sydney Harbour came into sight. She’d dreamt about this for years, of stepping off that plane and honouring her baby brother but she never thought it would be real, she never though she would get here. The sun was about to set over the harbour as it came into sight and Anna was taken away by its beauty. She’s seen it from the plane as they’d landed, but with the sun glistening off the water she really fell in love with the city that she’d been in for less than an hour.

Checking into the hotel was chaotic to say the least, it was already hard enough trying to get everyone sorted with so many of them there but then Harry was spotted by a few fans and what was already chaos turned into a disaster. It was Anne and Gemma that noticed them first, saying a quick hello in the hopes that that would be enough for them to leave. But of course, with Harry that close to them they weren’t going to leave without getting a picture. And in the middle of it all, Anna started to feel light headed. She knew the flight was going to knock it out of her, and she was due for another dialysis session in the morning, but right now she couldn’t stand up. She was standing out in the open, so she took a few deep breaths to centre herself and she leant up against her suitcase.

“Are you alright Anna?” Gemma said, a look of concern on her face

“Fine” Anna sighed, trying not to appear rude.

Ronnie’s arm snaked around Anna and all of her weight lent on him.

“I got you An” he said softly, “Hot shot over there just gave me the room key, let’s get you some proper rest”

At that Gemma dropped her suitcase and wrapped her arm around the other side of Anna so that she didn’t fall.

The rooms were stunning and as much as Anna wanted to stare out the window, she needed to lay down. She passed out almost immediately and she didn’t know how long Gemma and Ronnie hung around for, because when she woke up they were gone, and she could hear the shower running in the bathroom. She was feeling much better now, although dinner did feel like the least appealing thing and she was sure that’s why Harry was in the shower. The room was dark now, light only by the faint light coming from under the bathroom door and the city lights that surrounded the building. Anna sat up and rubbed her eyes while she searched for the glass of water that she vaguely remembered Ronnie putting next to her.

“You’re awake” Harry’s voice echoed around the room

“I am” her voice was still croaky with sleep

“How are you feeling?” His towel was wrapped around his hips and he made his way over to sit next to her on the bed.

“Much better” she smiled

“Good” he kissed her on the top of her head “I called the hospital while you were sleeping, we can go in any time after 8 am tomorrow”

“Thanks H, we should aim to be there by 8:30 so we don’t waste the whole day” Anna said, finally finding the water and taking a sip. She hated that half of this trip was going to be spent in a hospital, but she knew that there was no way she’d make it through three weeks without treatment.

“Sounds good,” he nodded “Dinner's at 7 so we should get ready”

Anna looked over at the clock and it was already 6:45 which meant that she didn’t have time to shower. Grateful that she’d packed face wipes and deodorant in easily accessible areas of her luggage she was able to get ready with five minutes to spare and manage to look half decent. Naps really were wonderful things, she thought to herself as her and Harry stepped out of the room and into the lift.

The hotel restaurant was quiet, the only table reserved was their own, but Anna had a sneaking suspicion that harry had paid to have it closed to the public tonight, so that they could have a little peace and quiet. They were the last to arrive and everyone else had already decided what to order.

“What are you going to have An?” Harry asked scanning over the menu

“I’m not that hungry H, I’ll just pick at yours if that’s ok?”

“That’s fine” he said, although he was concerned that her appetite had disappeared again “I think I’ll get the seafood basket”

They ordered, and conversation remained light between all of them. Harry and Ronnie were sat at opposite ends of the table, so there was no reason for them to start bickering and Anna had the chance to properly talk to her dad for the first time since they got on the plane yesterday.

 When everyone’s  food arrived Anne raised her glass, “To those we’ve loved and lost, and to good health” she winked at Anna.

Everyone followed suit and raised their glasses in a toast and then they started eating, silently for the most part until someone would occasionally speak up about how delicious their meal was.

Gemma broke the trend and dove in deep “Tell us about Timmy” she said sweetly

“Bravest eight-year-old I’ve ever known” Anna said quietly. This was something that had only dawned on her since she started her treatment, when he was sick she remembered everyone always telling him how brave he must be, but she never really understood just how scared he must have been, fuck, she was scared, and she understood everything that was happening to her, there was no way that he did.

Gabby nodded in agreement with Anna “He never let on that he was in pain”

“He was more than his illness though” Debbie added, “He was the sweetest little boy in the playground, always there to make sure everyone was ok. I was so proud of who he was” tears were filling her eyes and she picked up her napkin to wipe them away. Anna did the same and Harry hovered his hand over her lap, under the table until he found her knee and gently squeezed.

“He would have loved this” Anna said “having everyone together like this would have made him so happy”

“I’m sorry that we never got to meet him” Anne said “he sounds like an angel”

“Our little superhero” Gabby smiled

“Why Australia?” Anne asked sensitively

“He was fascinated by the animals, and I promised by fourteen-year-old self that I’d get here one day to see what he never got to” Anna said with tears forming in her eyes. It was strange to be feeling sad about Timmy’s death again, for years she’d been numb to it and then after months of therapy, she chose to remember only the happy things. Timmy as her energetic eight-year-old brother, rather than Timmy as her dead baby brother.

Gemma could sense the tone of the conversation becoming less than happy and raised her glass again

“To Timmy” she smiled “Our superhero”

[kcwcommentary]

VLD1x08 – “Taking Flight”

1x08 – “Taking Flight”

“What exactly is a tick?” The ongoing joke this show does over its many odd time units is one that I always enjoy.

“Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?” Lance asks Allura. Allura responds by crossing her arms, turning away from him, making a facial expression of displeasure, and growling. Once again, she’s showing that she’s not interested in Lance romantically. That the show eventually throws this repeatedly expressed reality out to have the two of them romantically involved in the end is so frustrating. Allura is actively uninterested in Lance. I get the feeling that the show thinks that this is a funny joke. Ha ha, Allura’s upset that Lance is coming on to her, so funny, right? No, it’s not funny at all.

“We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!” Keith says, with a voice that indicates that it bothers him that Lance is being super dismissive of that moment. Again, I think the show wants us to interpret this as being funny, but it’s more that it makes Lance look like a jerk.

Sendak is being kept in a pod. How he was rendered unconscious in order to be put in the pod is never explained. Last we saw Sendak, he was very much conscious, just trapped inside a forcefield.

“They’ve been under [Zarkon’s] thumb for so long they don’t even know what it is to be free,” Hunk says. Like I said for last episode, the idea that slaves don’t know what the concept of freedom is is absolutely ridiculous.

Pidge tells everyone that she’s a girl. “I can’t man-up. I’m a girl. I mean, I can man-up because that’s just a figure of speech, I don’t have to actually be a man to man-up. I just have to be tough,” Pidge says. While I kind of appreciate that the show is trying to deconstruct the term “man-up,” I can’t ignore that this episode was written by a man, so I’m not surprised to see the show trying to defend the use of the male-centric term. Ultimately, this bit of dialog is all about trying to absolve men from having to be more inclusive when they talk. Just, ugh. Also, Pidge, through accepting the validity of the term, is equating being a man with being tough. Just… no.

Lance is the only one to freak out over learning Pidge is a girl. Hunk and Keith’s casual reaction is nice, but I think I like Coran’s the most: “We were supposed to think you were a boy?”

So, the Castle Ship launches. The ship is a big ship, but we never see it fully staffed. With the show continually building the Voltron Coalition, one might would think the ship would eventually fill its complement of crew, but the show never bothers to do this. Also, the ship launching again makes me wonder how did the ship get partially encased in rock?

Lance’s siren noise: “Rerrn!” Shiro responds by covering Lance’s mouth, saying, “Nope, not doing that.” Thank you Shiro!

Introducing Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer. I really like the visual designs for Rolo and Nyma, but especially Rolo. He looks realistic, yet not too human. That’s a difficult balance in visual designing alien species in space shows. I don’t get why the whole Castle Ship has to land on this moon instead of the use of a smaller shuttle, which would logistically be a lot easier to manage. Lance instantly drools because Nyma says “hi.” I might not be so annoyed by the show’s blatant heterosexuality if the show had treated its queer characters better. As it is, moments like this scream not just heterosexual privilege, but also male privilege that their sexuality is the one given focus. There’s an odd juxtaposition of Pidge reacting toward Beezer the same way that Lance reacts toward Nyma. I doubt the show itself knows what it expects us to interpret with comparing Pidge’s reaction toward a robot with Lance’s sexual interest in Nyma.

Rolo rides the social cues that Team Voltron is anti-Galra in order to manipulate them. Hunk is aggressively suspicious of Rolo. Shiro backs him up, at least. There is a sly quality about Rolo that seems to make his untrustworthiness blatant, but I guess this being a kids’ cartoon that is purposefully downplayed in the characters’ reactions toward him.

Allura asks Rolo for information about the location of Galra forces. This comes back to my comments for 1x05. Team Voltron had been training in use of the Lions and the combined Voltron, partially by kicking around parts of the Galra ship. Pidge and Shiro eventually go to the ship to get some data about the Galra captives as part of Pidge’s search for her brother and father. But why hadn’t they already tried to get information from the ship’s systems on the Galra forces, specifically for the reasons that Allura is asking Rolo now?

Nyma’s manipulation of Lance is annoyingly blatant.

We see Haggar’s Komar Experiment/ritual. (I’m not a fan of the conflation of science and magic with the same action being both an “experiment” and a “ritual.”) “Druids of the Four Directions,” Haggar calls out. Four directions? That’s a very two-dimensional perspective, and not one I would expect from a space-based show. Also, the specifics about who the Druids are, where they come from, etc. is never really explored on this show. They’re basically faceless, bad-guy magic-users. I assume the name Druid is derived from the old version of Voltron?? Anyway, the process seems to involve little more than Haggar screaming and some glowing lights.

What in the world is this planet? It looks like a blossom whose outer petals are blooming. This is not how planets work. The way this planet looks is absolutely, totally ridiculous. Maybe the way this show designs palents should’ve been an early clue that ultimately the show doesn’t care if things make sense.

So, Haggar sucks the quintessence out of an entire planet, killing all the life on that planet in the process. She states that this process is one that allowed them to gain that whole planet’s quintessence a lot faster, that the old way would have taken years. This suggests the Galra have gone around absorbing quintessence from planets a lot over the past 10,000 years. It begins to hint at the issues of sustainability that end up at the heart of Lotor’s arguments in later seasons. But the fact that they’ve been working in such vampiric methods for 10,000 years also calls to question how they’ve been able to sustain their domination and not faced sustainability issues long before now, even if the old methods of quintessence extraction took years to complete. The show also never fully explains what the Galra use quintessence for. We’re supposed to understand it as an energy source, but what is it used to power? Balmeran crystals have already been shown to be the source of a ship’s energy. Zarkon implies that energy production in the past is excessively labor intensive, but all we’ve ever seen the Galra doing is standing around or attacking Voltron.

So, Nyma unsurprisingly tricks Lance, enabling Rolo, Beezer, and her to steal the Blue Lion. The plot of this episode is lacking in originality.

Rolo aims to pilot his ship through the “Zolor Asteroid Belt.” This is a peeve of mine with space shows/films. Asteroid belts are always depicted as being dense areas, but they’re not, at least if we’re going off of our asteroid belt. This is an instance of our space fiction causing people to have glaring misunderstanding of our solar system.

Keith engages in a dogfight with Rolo, missing him with his Lion’s lasers, but somehow has a giant space boomerang that he’s able to hit him with. Where did that come from? And how is it easier to aim and successfully hit a target with it than it is with a direct blaster weapon? This boomerang has not yet been established in this show, and it’s not explained here at all. Keith ultimately captures Rolo single-handedly.

Now that he needs Keith’s help, Lance is less interested in being a jerk over their shared bonding moment like he was at the beginning of the episode. This episode makes Lance seem so stereotypical; he’s definitely had way better moments in other episodes than any of his time in this one.

So, Team Voltron’s reaction to Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer’s betrayal is to leave them stranded on the moon they started out on, telling them they’ll have to wait for someone else to come along and help them. If Voltron is supposed to be trying to behave in a grander, better way, I don’t see how stranding them is a valiant, up-right thing to do. At the least, I would think Voltron would leave them with necessary parts for them to repair their ship, but leave it up to Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer to do that work themselves. Just stranding them and telling them to hope another ship comes along seems cruel.

And the episode ends with Haggar pledging to use a handful of quintessence – she says “all this quintessence” like she’s planning on using a lot of it, but we’re shown her only holding like a 16 oz. bottle’s worth – to turn a lizard into a Robeast. So, I guess that’s one way to use quintessence.