#meridian writes

[lexicorp]

Transformers Earthspark: Another Place, Another Prison

scribbled da hek outta this doodle so idk what type of style it is but its cute anyway sdnsifbsnd

This chapter ended up being twice the length I thought it'd be, and is a whole lot of just Starscream and Hashtag talking about an assortment of things. There's a good bit of silliness, like the ridiculous strain of conversation surrounding nicknames (the Hashbrown thing I got in my head from @the-sheep and their lore. Which doesnt totally align with my characterization of Star admittedly, but with my brother having been the one to point out that Sprite [the nickname for spitfire] is also a soda brand, the dots were connecting XD). Then there's some actual serious talk as well, that has a bit of sus, because of course.

Previous Chapter: A Game Of Charades

First Chapter: The Need For Read

Next Chapter: Scientific Method

Chapter 17: Helm In The Cloud

These past quartexs had been…odd. To put it lightly. 

The data cycling through Starscream’s processor was filled with strange, corrupted files that he couldn’t seem to access, aided by far too many painful memories to quantify. Although, in the past deca-cycle with the Maltos, he’d found himself remembering, or even creating, more pleasant events. 

The Malto brats could actually be…rather endearing. Of course, Hashtag was always his favorite. Anyone who said they didn’t favor a particular individual within a group was flatly a liar, a tactic which he could of course appreciate; since he’d only admit his favoritism blatantly to Hashtag herself, after all. She had by far the best style of spunk about her, as she easily dealt out smooth bouts of sass paired with her equally patient and excitable nature. Her strong determination when decided upon a task, was admirable, even. Hashtag would have made a great Decepticon! Although he supposed that…wouldn’t be a compliment to her.

Even so, after their more recent moments of “hanging out”, Hashtag had begun to cease her guarded posture that she had carried so often before. Only seldomly would he glimpse her shielding her chestplate protectively in that strange way Twitch or the human brats occasionally did as well. But it had become easier to get her back in a better mood as she seemed more comfortable with his presence. Something about that fact made a long smothered flame flicker within Starscream’s tired spark. 

He enjoyed seeing her happy, making her laugh, even at his own expense. Surely this foolish behavior was only to lull those fools into thinking him passive enough to grant him more freedom. He didn’t…he couldn’t care. It was far too risky to allow such a thing. Regardless, he still felt as if he owed Hashtag something, and wanted to be in her good graces. So many of the others here just fawned over Megatron. Was it too much to hope for his own fan for once? A feisty little student who would admire and stand by his side! He certainly didn’t need such a thing, but it would be…useful. Yes, that was the extent of it…

Hashtag was always quite the helpful young femme, even when some of her ill Earth gotten mannerisms or quips could be confusing. At least with that “Chess” game, it was just similar enough to Fullstasis that for a moment he felt even minutely connected to Cybertron again from all these lightyears away. Perhaps he could attempt to use that Chess to recreate Fullstasis so that he could share the superior game with her! Starscream could simply rotate the square-ish board on its side to be the correct diamond orientation, and modify the Chess pieces to reflect their counterparts. A “bishop” was nearly identical to a quarg in how it moved. Similarly with a vig to a “rook”. Although she might be disappointed that the King’s counterpart had far more offensive capabilities, while the Queen’s was defensive. Sure, one could skew their strategy either way, but that was typically the more popular approach. Even if Skyfire had often only buried his Pvaq in the corner while using the Staiv as a living shield leading the wall of mykns; which he’d always defend stubbornly when Starscream had teased him for it. Those matches had always carried on for groons of a painfully slow back and forth with both of them insisting the other conceded. That ridiculous shuttle had been more content with a stalemate than subjecting himself to yet another loss at Starscream’s blatantly superior tactical prowess. Perhaps Starscream should have relented more victories to him as he’d done Hashtag…

That doesn’t matter now.

Now, he had been given the task of collecting those fruits spawned from the stalky perennials plainly labeled “Apple Trees”, stationed around the perimeter of the cow containment field. Initially, he had assumed the pristine condition of those apples he gathered was irrelevant as long as they weren’t a crushed mess upon the ground. Yet apparently, as he was later corrected, it was important to examine them with more scrutiny to determine whether there were any pests infecting them, or blemishes that would need to be severed at a later date. The defective fruit was set to go to their lower class animals, while they kept the better portion for themselves. That ungrateful cow shouldn’t have made such a fuss when he’d attempted to liberate it. Then maybe that blasted bug wouldn’t have noticed, and it could have foraged its own, high quality fuel, instead of settling for scraps. 

Regardless, the squishy, oddly shaped fruits were strange to imagine as a means of fueling the humans’ fleshy frames. Skyfire never liked the idea of dissection, with how squeamish the soft-sparked mech was, although Starscream couldn’t help but be a byte curious of their internal functions. Yet the memory of those G.H.O.S.T parasites, and their similar interest towards Cybertronians, made that train of interest falter. At least, until a violet spark flickered with the revelation at what glorious revenge it would be if he could get his servos on one of those wretched humans to take them apart as well. 

Starscream chuckled darkly at the thought, with a fleeting image of those disgusting human organs arranged across a steel table.

Then, Hashtag’s voice cut through his ruminations. “Whatcha thinkin’ about there Spaceman?”

Starscream’s optical ridge furrowed as a look of disgust came to his faceplace that he couldn’t shield from entering his vocalizer. “What did you just call me?”

“What, Spaceman? It’s perfect right?” She strained to reach one of the apples on a hidden branch and flipped it into a crate. “I’ve been tryna think about more nicknames for you than just Screamer. Starship’s a fun one, but not goofy enough. I mean, sure I could also just go with Star as a different shortened version like how my siblings call me Tag, buuuut Spaceman is just funnier. You should've seen the look on your face!”

Starscream rolled his optics and scoffed with a grin. “If we are tossing around such absurdities, perhaps I should title you Hashslag.”

“Yoooo that sounds like a fire wrestler name!!”

“No it–”

Hashtag began making ridiculous poses as if flexing her physical prowess. “Hashslag comes into the ring and DEMOLISHES the competition! The undisputed champion that’ll uh–” She paused a moment to search their internet for assistance in her speech– “throw melted slag chairs at her enemies!!”

“You are quite proficient at twisting things to your advantage, aren’t you?” Even if Starscream had meant it as a minor jab in retaliation to her stupid Spaceman mockery–she had immediately translated it towards describing what she’d inflict upon her enemies, as opposed to a reflection of her capabilities. Decepticon material indeed. 

Hashtag’s grin widened, “Of course! ‘Cause I’m awesome! And that could be a great stage name! Maybe I’ll even use it as my gamer tag actually–”

Now that was too much. If she confidently proclaimed such a stupid title to the world, she’d be far too susceptible to the petty scorn of her opponents. 

“You are NOT identifying yourself as Hashslag.” Starscream ordered with crossed arms and a stern glare. “Your designation in such an environment should command respect, and THAT would be just as easily skewed against your character.”

“How?”

He put a servo to his faceplate in exasperation for her naivety. “Slag refers to the waste matter produced when refining or smelting ore. I am sure you found the definition with your abilities, but it is a commonly derogatory term when directed towards someone. In many ways. If you are a slagger, then you are an extremely low member of society and considered inept. If you call someone a lump of slag, it is comparing them to something useless. Sure, it can be used threateningly when proclaiming you will annihilate them so completely that only slag will remain; but pairing it with a portion of your designation will only allow those around you an easy pathway towards mockery. You cannot believe I was serious about such a title as that. It was clearly a joke. No one would take you seriously with that name.”

Hashtag put her servos up and allowed them to then fall heavily in frustration. “Okay okay! I get it. You were trying to be mean and whatever–”

“Wait- no, I wasn't– ugh scrap…”

Suddenly her expression turned to a mischievous smirk as she turned back to gathering more apples with a laugh. “Nah I know you were just being a goofball. But I gotta admit I’m a bit jealous. How come Spitfire gets such a cute nickname and I don’t? I might even be a bit offended!” She paired her last statement with an overly dramatic tone and servo to her chestplate that could have been mimicking his own manner of mock hurt.

“What, Sprite? That is only a title referencing her small stature paired with her typically sassy nature.”

“Aww, not that she’s sweet like the popular soda brand?” She snickered, “I guess that tracks. She’s actually way rude.” 

Starscream scoffed as he attempted to focus on the ridiculous apple gathering task again, “Yes, that would hardly be fitting. What even is this “soda brand” you speak of?”

Hashtag whipped out her datapad and trotted up to him with a sparkle in her optics, apparently finding amusement in the topic. “It’s this carbonated sugar water with mysterious “natural flavors” and citric acid made by the big wig Coca Cola company!” She pulled up a string of images displaying an array of bottles and cans detailing a green logo with the Sprite title. Then changed her keywords in the search bar to procure images placing the strange beverage alongside other odd products. “It’s sold everywhere! Like in stores, which we aren’t allowed in–or fast food!! We can go through drive-thrus with Mo and Robby on the way back from school sometimes to get stuff! Wacky D’s is their favorite.” 

Starscream leaned closer while squinting his optics in an attempt to acquire a better view of the ridiculous stream of advertisements for disgusting human fuelling varieties. He took the datapad from her to scroll through the panels of information himself, which she again seemed to find humorous for whatever reason as he hummed in thought. After a couple kliks of analysis, he came upon an image displaying a “breakfast deal duo” which showed that Sprite thing, as well as its orange and red mirrored counterpart titled “Fanta” that made him think of Twitch. But even more hilariously, was the particular item between them that was referred to as a “Hashbrown”. It was indeed brown, and frankly looked horrid. He had no idea why anyone would put it in their intake–but the fact that it shared the same prefix as Hashtag was too perfect to pass up. If she wanted a nickname tied to Sprite’s, she could get one comically linked to her foolish misinterpretation. 

He passed the datapad back into her servos and pointed at the items with a smirk. “If THAT atrocity is Sprite, then I suppose you would be this hashbrown slag.” Starscream’s wings fluttered in amusement at the absurdity as he turned to move aside one full crate of apples for an empty one to take its place. 

Hashtag paused a moment before looking his way with squinted optics of her own skeptically. “While Hashbrown sounds adorable–why do I get the feeling that it isn’t actually that wholesome coming from you?”

Starscream chuckled at the sight of her silly little scrunched faceplate. “Perhaps not. It isn’t nearly as reprehensible as Hashslag, yet I fail to see why humans would even want to purchase those disgusting products. Therefore I'd certainly say Hashbrown is ridiculous enough that it just might stick if you insist upon calling me Spaceman.”

Hashtag tossed an already bruised apple at him, which he easily blocked with a raise of his arm, as she too began to crack up about the prospect. “Oh yeah! What about I call you Starry instead? Or would that be too cutesy for Mr. Tough Bot?”

“Ugh, pass.” Starscream waved a servo as if dusting the horrid alternative from an imaginary shelf. “In all practicality, if you truly must decide upon some means of a secondary designation for me, then I may allow you to simply call me Star. That is “what my friends call me”, you could say.” More accurately, what Skyfire had called him. “It is more customary to select a shortened version of your companions true designation. Like how you are more commonly called Tag by your siblings. As you had previously stated yourself. Or referring to Bumblebee as Bee, and Elita-1 as simply Elita.”

Hashtag tilted her helm slightly in thought as she struggled to decide which crate the apple she picked belonged in. “Hmm… alright fine. I guess that works.”

Scrap. Now she seemed bored, or even a bit disappointed. 

“Although…” Starscream drawled as he tried to think of what in particular she could be looking for, since this apparently held more meaning to her than he’d initially thought. “If I were to bestow you with a more…creative, alternative to your designation–I suppose I could call you Amethyst. Most obviously because of your violet paint resembling the quartz’s hue, but also because it can be a symbol of beauty in impurities. Because of course, the fact that it gets its color from the presence of iron ions within its structure, that would then oxidize when exposed to radiation. Thus it is a rather inspirational gem, and could be worn to ward off negative energy. Such a thing that was far more popular in Caminus, but still quite interesting from a scientific perspective when studying the geology of varying celestial constructs regardless.”

Hashtag grinned as her spunk returned, “Man, I never would have expected you’d be a rock nerd–Wait! Let me figure out what gem you’d be!” Her optics went white as streams of color coded data flowed across them, until an image appeared on her visor that she then transferred to her datapad. “Found one! Some Pietersite can be red and blue like you! This one looks really cool with a gold streak too–And! Apparently it's considered a tempest stone, and a protective talisman that’d cleanse negative energies and emotional turmoil! Actually, maybe you could use some of that, huh?” She smirked and nudged him playfully with her elbow before continuing to poke his shoulder plating with her digits. “Right? You totally need some gem action to get those warm and fuzzies past your bad boy exterior. And you could call yourself the Tempest Protector! That would SO be your awesome wizard name if you played D&D with us.”

“Hm.” Starscream lightly waved her insistent digits off of him before tipping a servo in consideration of the prospect. “I suppose Pietersite could be marginally appropriate. Although I’ve always thought of myself as more of a Carnelian–but what is this “D&D” you speak of?” 

“Ooooooooh I’m SO glad you asked!” She was suddenly practically vibrating at the anticipation as she searched something else on her datapad, and motioned for him to take a seat under the trees with her. “I have to show you all my favorite youtube channels and podcasts and–Oh my gosh there’s just so many awesome things about it! I am of course the designated DM when we play, since I’m a master of storytelling! But I’m getting ahead of myself–first, I can introduce you to the classes by bingeing A Crap Guide to D&D! Because it’s hilarious and carries ALL the vibes. THEN I can show you SoOkayHerestheThing shorts, and Legends of Avantris, and Tales from the Stinky Dragon, and The Chaos Protocol, and–”

She went on and on for so long that Starscream almost began to regret asking. Almost. As even through the copious amounts of scrap being dumped his way, and how easy it could be to tune out, he’d admit it was actually rather interesting. Even the humor was occasionally comprehensible, and he was once again reminded of how similar Hashtag could be to Thundercracker. 

She showed him countless videos about the extensive background and absurdities rampant in this “Dungeons and Dragons”. In a way, it reminded him of when TC would construct an elaborate script and extravagant scenes, only for Starscream and Warp to interject their own additions and deviations. It was ironic thinking of the role a Dungeon Master was supposed to hold as the realm’s god, while the surrounding players could so easily meld, meddle, and masacre their power with complex combinations or inane side quests. Although he supposed if Hashtag was the DM, he would need to dial back such schemes. In fact, if any of the others even dared to derail the objective of her creation he would eldritch blast them into submission! Now if it were Bumblebee…it was far too amusing to tick that bug’s gears to not toy with him a little. Alas, Hashtag said he wasn’t a fan of the game when he’d given it a single shot upon their insistence. Starscream would have to drag that coward into it the next time he could, so he’d at least have one player he could shamelessly terrorize amongst a party of sparklings.

Hashtag’s presentation this time had far exceeded the one about that Hatsune Miku character. Nearing the end, Starscream still felt the urge to acquire one of these rule books himself for all those intricate calculations that she simply couldn’t properly appreciate with how her processor was wired. Not in some attempt to fall into the position of a Dungeon Master himself…as previously stated, it seemed DM’s were far too easily overruled. Although perhaps he could call that a skill issue on the part of others. Starscream could surely do better. He’d rule the world of his magistery with a script so perfect that there simply wouldn’t be any possibility of petty posterings of improvement; or any chance of challenging his direction with whatever absurd bardic tricks notoriously plagued the community!

 Starscream had begun doing a bit of research on his own after Hashtag offered her datapad to him again. While she accessed her own content remotely, and occasionally shared other random recordings she came across. There were far too many depicting Earth dogs. 

Eventually, he noticed she had seemed to be sending messages to her”fam”, as she’d done during their Chess games. Then, Hashtag flicked the silent conversation away to turn to him with a more serious tone about her. That was…unnerving. Surely they wouldn’t try to use her against him somehow. She was obviously just utilizing some sort of dramatic build up for something inconsequential. It was fine. What could she possibly be gearing to ask him that could really require this much apprehension? 

“Soo…” Hashtag lingered on the word as Starscream kept his optics trained on the datapad. “Since we’re uh, y’know, chill, and stuff right now. YOU seem pretty chill, right? Yeah–So I uh, I’ve been wanting to ask about…some stuff. Like maybe your reasons for the insane junk you did for and with the corrupted Emberstone, oooorr…what exactly is up with the chaos glitches you’ve had since. I feel like those are some pretty big things we should talk about. Especially when one of those problems is very much ongoing haha…” She chuckled nervously as she fiddled with her servos.

Ah. This again. Questions around his interaction with the fragmented stone had of course come up with Megatron and Bumblebee, but this seemed a byte different. Starscream wasn’t entirely certain in what way. Maybe it was only because of who it was this time. When the topic had come up with Hashtag previously, it was less about questions and more about venting her frustration. So what sort of explanation would she be looking for? He could go into great detail of his brilliant scheme for New Cybertron and its tragic outcome–but he wasn’t about to roll that dice on how well that would be received after last time. Then she also wanted information regarding his…glitches. That was certainly far too complicated. Especially when he wasn’t even truly sure of the details himself.

Starscream tapped his digit against the datapad a moment before lowering it to glance Hashtag’s direction with a practiced grin and straightening of his wings. “Now why should that be important? We were having a bit of fun, weren’t we? Why spoil that with a topic that is obviously causing you distress by even proposing it?” He offered her datapad back into her restless servos. “Dwelling on such things is silly, don’t you think?”

Hashtag hesitantly took back the tablet, and he hated that her bubbly demeanor was being tainted by her ridiculous insistence on committing to this course of conversation. “No. Star. It’s not.” She said firmly with a stubborn fire in her optics where, for a moment, he saw Skyfire in her place. Even the poorly concealed hurt in her vocalizer that could have only been placed there in an effort to manipulate him into cracking some sort of confession. “I just need some part of this to make sense. In stories, whether professional or a passion project with friends, things always have some sort of reason for why they happen. Even if it seems silly, or excessive, there’s always an explanation, and they’re supposed to end with a satisfying conclusion. But it’s not like YOU have a character sheet for me to reference when you do weird scrap! So I-I guess– I dunno I just wanna know what’s really going on here. That I AM making the right choice by giving you a chance. ‘Cause I still feel like we have a bit of that stuff around…lack of control…in common. But I don’t want to have to keep feeling bad about liking hanging out with you.”

“Well of course you like hanging out with me,” Starscream boasted with a servo to his chassis, “I’m an absolute delight to be around!”

She laughed, but it was dim, and her posture was again far too guarded. “Stop trying to dodge the question, Spaceman.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Hashbrown.” He smirked at her with a spun lilt to the ridiculous name that he hoped would bring that light back into her optics. 

Yet she only rolled them with a grin, “Pff. Sure. C’mon. I’m not dumb–”

“I never said you were.” He hurriedly assured her. “Far from it! You are the brightest amongst your siblings in fact! Did I mention that you’re my favorite–”

“Stop-stop–” Hashtag interjected while standing and waving her servos. “Please just at least tell me about what the Corrupted Emberstone did to you. We have to trust each other. Whatever is going on seems really dangerous, and we can’t just act like it’s fine, or like, normal crazy. Y’know? It almost made you shoot my head off, Star. I know that couldn’t have been you! I have to know that wasn’t you…”

“It wasn’t! It–” 

Crimson crashed his optics as static blazed across his processor. And he couldn’t remember. What was the name of that blasted creature he’d been aiming for?

Then, Starscream’s wings twitched stiffly in tandem with the smooth strings of lightning he could faintly feel flitting across them. A servo that he’d apparently lifted to his burning optic, slipped from his faceplate as he slowly stood and placed it behind him instead. Then, words were pulled from his voice box before he could even think to ask Hashtag to reiterate her question. 

“It was just as you said, little Terran. A glitch. That inverted Emberstone left a sort of echo that was only further ingrained while I was stuck inside that Titan. The chaotic force it possessed was simply not compatible with my systems, even if it sustained me through the lack of Energon available in isolation. Just like how Energon itself interacts with a human. Sure, it can give incredible surges of energy and empower certain…upgrades, but it is also quite damaging in the long term. It’s an inconvenience, but nothing particularly serious, I assure you.”

Something about that wasn’t right.

There was a pause for far too long as he felt sick. 

Starscream could barely hear Hashtag’s response over the static.

“...I’m not sure I believe you. Your optics aren’t...Are you having one of the glitch episodes right now?”

“Only a minor one. And you can have full confidence that I spoke nothing but the truth. I would never lie to my favorite Terran.” Starscream’s vocalizer danced across the final statement in a way that felt as if he were mocking himself, while placing a servo to her shoulder. It was laughable he could have any amount of fondness for her.

Lightning shot to the servo connecting with her frame as his digits clenched against her plating, and she pushed away. “You’re being REALLY creepy right now!”

Everything went black. If only for a nano-klick, that felt like groons. Weightless, with that familiar pressure. But he couldn’t think straight.

Suddenly he was torn from wherever he’d been, and thrown back into place. Just before the correct optics came online in his helm, he heard a collection of rattling voices all at once. Although they were more of a feeling than words.

Don’t mess this up.

Starscream stumbled and attempted to use the tree in place of his faulty stabilizers, but it cracked, and fell with him. His optics recalibrated rapidly to the light. While he blanked lied on the grass. Trying to remember where he was. 

“Euuuhgh…” He squinted to crispin the violet silhouette hovering over him. Then slowly sat up and tried to give her a grin, and chuckled in a way that probably wasn’t all that reassuring. “Sorry about the…tree there, Amethyst. I…slipped. Remind me…what were we talking about?”

Hashtag’s faceplate scrunched as she hesitated, then swiftly stomped over to inspect his optics. Odd. Then she sighed heavily as she slumped to the ground beside him. “Now I’m MORE confused.”

“About…?”

She dug her helm into her knees and groaned, “What about our conversation do you remember?”

That was a strange question. 

“We discussed alternative designations, and quite a lot about that D&D that we definitely decided we were going to play instead of that other ridiculous excuse for a “game night”. Then you decided to ruin our fun by bringing up Emberstone drama. Right? And something about the fun repercussions I’ve been experiencing, that somehow gifted you with guilt on the matter, I suppose. Which is ridiculous by the way.” His files started to get corrupted again after she’d mentioned his near miss while trying to blast that abomination’s smug faceplate. Hashtag still had a cringed expression. Had he gotten it wrong? His memory couldn’t be the problem here, so what was? The aching in his helm didn’t help with any of this.

“Yeah…and you were uh…telling me what sorta stuff goes on during your glitches. Like…do you see anything when your eyes go all red?”

He couldn’t admit to that. They already kept thinking he was insane. Besides, he knew those things weren’t real, so it didn’t matter. 

“No! No…Wait, do you mean as in hallucinations or just visual distortion?”

“Both…?”

“Well I can see just fine.” Starscream stood and attempted to salvage what apples he could from the downed tree to perhaps draw her attention to the more present predicament. “It’s nothing I can’t handle! You didn’t actually get hurt regarding that fleeting instance the other night, right? These glitches, as you call them, pass quickly enough.”

“But it’s–Oh my gosh…” Hashtag ran her servo down her faceplate. “I guess if you really want to insist on it not being a big deal, I’ll drop it, FOR NOW.” She pointed a digit at him after having stood up to pace. “You NEED to get better at telling us stuff though! It doesn’t help anyone hiding things, even if it’s hard to talk about. Plus I…it’s not just about you, Star. I hate having to be on edge around you all the time. I want to be able to really trust you after everything. But when you do creepy stuff like whatever THAT was that you APPARENTLY just forgot in 60 seconds, or don’t want to tell me what’s going on, or don’t give me any amount of context for why you’re being weird–I’m left to think the worst of it! This isn’t easy for me…and I’m tired of any time we ARE having fun together being tainted by everything else. I know that you can be a softy and a great teacher. But I also know that you’re still a scheming Decepticon, that I can never tell if whatever plot you have is for a good, or bad surprise. I thought I understood what was going on in your head before, but after what all went down with the corrupted Emberstone…I don’t know how much I can trust myself on that anymore. So all I’m asking from you, is a bit of proof that you aren’t trying to hide something to hurt my family that you’d just claim is fine because the laser gun wasn’t actually aimed directly at me.”

Starscream allowed the last apple to fall into the crate before he rested his servo on its edge. That was…a lot, and he was certainly not an expert at navigating all these intricate emotions these kids seemed to learn from the Autobots. He was supposed to find some way to relate to her struggle to receive it in the correct way, according to Bumblebee. The only primary connection he could make was her concern regarding stressing over the worst outcome. But then what could he say to mitigate the situation? Only stating that he wasn’t planning anything against them, would likely be unbelievable and unsatisfactory. He’d had plenty of ruminations against her annoying collective countless times after all; although in significantly less quantity or severity in recent times. Then, he wasn’t certain he trusted himself on such things either. So if HE wasn’t confident in his own intentions, how was he supposed to convince her?! This was impossible…

Then again, one thing he could assure her of was in fact regarding the glitches. He wasn’t hiding the intricacies of its effects for some sort of sinister purpose. It was far more out of concern that they’d perceive him in an even lower sight at the information. He didn’t want to take that risk…especially with Hashtag. Yet it seemed he was doomed either way. 

Starscream in-vented heavily as his wings fell to spite him through the anxious knot in his tank. “Alright, I get that I’m not exactly the most trustworthy mech around, but I…I’ve actually started to appreciate this opportunity. A little bit. It can still be extremely aggravating and I will admit I’ve fantasized about blowing up the place on multiple occasions–But! I wouldn’t actually do that! Anymore…” He chuckled and attempted to get himself back on track before it derailed any further. “Regardless, I promise that I’m not hiding anything of that nature. I’ve only ever used the apparent offensive capabilities of the curse for…retaliatory means.”

Hashtag crossed her arms. “Like against something you totally weren’t hallucinating the other day?”

“Yeeesss…about that…” Starscream tapped his digits together as he struggled to find the correct phrasing. “I keep having odd visions of…” Why couldn’t he get his vocalizer to work out Meridian’s blasted designation? “That human from before who stole the Emberstone for his mass murder machine. He is an extremely annoying little pest, as I am sure you can imagine. Paired with the curse’s occasional enhancement of my more violent impulses, is not exactly favorable. And as you’ve already figured out, I had been attempting to fire upon that stupid spector my processor has been projecting in an increased intensity since my exit from the Titan–or–Terratronus’ helm. I’ve gotten better at ignoring him, but sometimes it’s…difficult.” 

“So you DO see things? Is…” Hashtag paused for a moment as if scrapping a lingering thought. “Are you talking about Mandroid?”

A short spazz of the lightning shot through Starscream’s frame, but he ignored it and snapped his digits together before pointing one in her direction. “Yes! The most infuriating aspect of him constantly plaguing me is the fact that I can’t incinerate him on sight. Then I will also admit that the lapses in memory aren't new. This blasted curse has left many of my files corrupted somehow. Even so, it is not as if these things have left me dysfunctional. I can still operate just fine. Besides, any attempt I’ve made to explain it has…” Another flit of electricity flocked to his frustration at the ordeal. “Would I really be that much of a coward if I said that I just didn’t want to deal with it?! You all already think me some sort of lunatic! Forgive me if I assumed an admission of my apparent insanity wouldn’t be beneficial to my chances of proving otherwise!” 

Hashtag’s optics were wide, but her posture was looser. “Yeah…I guess that makes sense…” Then she approached him to put a servo to his arm for some reason as she looked at his own servo, which she’d slowly pulled down from its aerial position. “Thank you for telling me, and I don’t blame you for wanting to ignore that stuff. I know how horrible it is to have Mandroid in your head.” She looked up into his optics in a way that once again made him see Skyfire for a fraction of a nano-klick. “And this sounds way too much like when the creep was all up in my circuits with his dumb device before, but with like, a different level of jank. You have to ask Wheeljack, or Optimus, or–I dunno! Just-this seems more serious than just normal hallucinations if your files are getting corrupted. Plus what happened earlier was…We really need to figure out what’s going on with this. I don’t want it to make you do something worse…”

He hadn’t thought of that. It wasn’t as if it could control him to that extent. Could it? Well it wasn’t as if he could remember the data needed to answer that question.

A small scoff escaped Starscream’s intake as he drifted away from Hashtag’s grip, which she held as long as he could, like his frame would destabilize as soon as she let go. “I doubt they could be of any help on the matter. Wheeljack has already done plenty rooting around in my circuits, and has already stated his inexperience with processor damage. That Prime can only claim to be an expert on his Matrix of Leadership slag. What befell the Emberstone was an unprecedented catastrophe that would require far more research to decode the extent of its warped nature. And I am not particularly keen on being a test subject for such things…”

Hashtag wrapped her arms around her chassis again, which made his spark ache in that odd way it seldom did. “Could you at least give it a shot…? I am still going to let the others know what you told me, and it’d be better to try something than nothing. I can come with you, if you’re scared of medical exam stuff or something.”

“Please. Me, afraid of something as silly as that?” Starscream laughed and attempted to brighten the mood as he stacked her crates along with his for easier transportation. “Don’t be ridiculous. If it will ease your silly concerns, I’ll do it. Even if the idea of being crammed into that blasted trailer again for the trip is sure to remind me how much I miss my missiles again.”

Hashtag’s smile returned as she relaxed a little, and followed him to pick up a pair of crates to bring to the barn. “Pff, alright, I’ll talk to Bee about it. I’m sure it won’t be that bad. And you never know, maybe since we’ll actually have a bit of an idea of what we’re checking for, we could get at least a little bit of a better idea of how to go about dealing with it.”

“Don’t get your hopes up there, Amethyst.”

“Oh I’ll send you all the good vibes I want, Pietersite. I’m that inspiration gem after all!”

“Hah, I suppose you’re right.”

They soon moved on from the topic as they met up with the rest of the Maltos, who’d completed their own little portion of the chores. Although he later noticed Tag pulled Bumblebee aside to discuss it, he could worry about what that whole ordeal would entail when it came to it. As long as he didn’t have to run into Megatron for such a thing, he didn’t care. To make sure of that, he made certain to inform Dorothy of the situation as well. Since the human had wanted to extend her mediator standing after all. 

These odd occurrences surrounding Quintus’ curse could be sorted out in no time! It wasn’t as if the Emberstone even existed anymore, anyway, and what remained of its original power was now within those cyber sleeves held by Tag’s human siblings. Such an effect as he’s found himself with, was likely only some form of ailment caused by his exposure to the rampant power lingering inside the Titan for all that time. It’d surely lull into obscurity with time.

Although perhaps, now he too was getting too hopeful.

[pluck-heartstrings]

you mention full fantasy I am 👀 at the sort of magic you’ll be using in the new fic~ what variety is there, are there many other sorcerers/spellcasters, what’s Eclipse’s favourite flavour? (enchantment, destructive, transformative, etc) - @clxckwork-sun-n-moon

Ohohoho /rolls up my sleeves/ I'll give you as much info as I can without spoiling too much.

Ok so Magic (true magic) comes from covenants with celestials right? Automatons can use magic but it's more alchemical based; basically they have to use the elements and it's a very wasteful/time consuming process. Once the wizard or spellcaster or whatever enters a covenant, they have access to the celestial's domain of elements.

Lemme break down the kinds of celestials:

Minor Stars

Constellations

Major Celestial Deities

(there are more than these three but they're more intricate and less useful)

Minor Stars are small, hyperspecific celestials. This is the most common type of covenant. The Star has access to a very watered down, niche element (think Strontium), meaning that the caster can use that element freely in whatever creative ways they can without time/waste. They can conjure a limitless amount of that element and its up to the caster to use their minds to conjure uses with that element. Strontium, for example, is used in the creation of bright lights and is slightly radioactive, meaning that they (the caster) can control the amount of brightness in the space they inhabit. I hope this makes sense.

Constellations are groups of stars that don't want to be separated. Each star in the constellation is a minor star. For clarity's sake they still exist as one covenant, but the power is amplified. Think of it like a close-knit poly group that refuses to be separated at all costs. This caster has access to a wider variety of elements (each celestial usually close together on the periodic table) and the 'battery' of the caster is greatly improved. Constellation covenants are rare and require a peaceful personality to govern.

There are only two known Celestial Deities: the rival siblings the Sun and the Moon. You can understand now how Eclipse is so confident in his power. The covenant of a single one is equal to a King, the covenant of both is considered impossible, especially since the two don't get along.

Sun and Moon have access to a huge variety of elements, not limited to the singular minor stars. This allows Eclipse to be as free with his power as he wants to, but he focuses on gravitational magic and solar flares for dramatics.

(TL:DR- basically it's like alchemy from FMA, except the periodic table)

[themeridian]

headcannon that healing magic effects works like anesthesia

so after ppl wake up they feel loopy

[lodybotiongeeker]

[cityzenshark]

Another thing Earthspark (S1 at least) ignores is "what one does as an individual will represent their group". That Group can mean one's family, race, neighbourhood, country, ethnicity, whoever shares their gender identity/sexuality, etc.

The show kept focusing on "don't judge an entire group based on the actions of certain individuals from that group" and ignores the other side of this coin. While yes, it's wrong to judge a whole group just because of one or a few of them, but you have to understand what one does will affect how their group will be seen and regarded by others.

The show kept emphasizing how all of humanity is evil when only Croft and Mandroid are working separately and alone. Croft uses androids for helpers instead of fellow GHOST agents. Mandroid has his spider bots. But apparently, because of these two, the Malto family cannot trust any other human outside of themselves.

"Anyone who isn't family is evil" is the exact wording of this entire show.

Then when Decepticons keep proving their evil stereotypes true, they deserve a second chance even if they have destructive intentions towards Earth and want to hurt humans without reason because to the Malto (Terrans) "people have no reason to hate Transformers" as if their seniors continuing their civil war for 40 - 55 long years on a planet that didn't know they existed before is totally forgivable.

"Humans don't want us around," Decepticons complained.

Okay, maybe -- just maybe -- humanity might consider welcoming you if you stop your genoc1dal thoughts on the planet and its natives FOR ONCE!

[misstwisted]

In a perfect world these two would still be alive and kickin

[thenomadicquill]

The Books I Read in February. I honestly had a really good reading month, and most of the books I read were outstanding. Here is what I thought about them.

The Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule - Giving this a 9/10. It is action packed and cinematic. It is an amazing high adrenaline Star Wars book!

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake - This is the first DNF book of the year for me. I got 7 chapters in and just couldn't take the writing style or any of the characters. Nothing grabbed my attention or my interest.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman - This is a 10/10 book for me. It has the right amount of mystery, action, and the plot grabbed me right away. The world building was amazing, and I wanted to leap into the pages myself.

The Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - This is a solid 8.5. The story telling, the descriptions and characters were so visceral and real that I had a hard time putting down this book. I wanted to see what happened next. However, there were moments where the book slowed down to a crawl and it was difficult not to get bored.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett - This is again, a solid 9/10 for me. I didn't have high hopes for this book, but I was genuinely surprised by it. It mixed the high fantasy elements into the story well, the humor was great, the world building was fantastic. It did have some of the issues that plague the murder mystery genre but that was to be expected.

The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott - I give this a 7.5. It is the second book in the Star Wars High Republic Era series, and it just didn't grab me like The Light of the Jedi did. It was less cinematic and more introspective. Also slowing down a lot in some parts. But it up for everything toward the end when everything ramped up to 11. Still a solid book.

[spade-the-space-witch]

greetings Blood Meridian tumblr,, at least one person was interested in seeing my OC and i decided to draw her out.

so here’s Sanna. (temporary place holder name)

i made her for an almost au, almost fan made prequel idea i had. inspired by the early explorations of the Arctic where it goes wrong and the men become stuck in the ice during a particular harsh Winter and Judge Holden is a part of the group. (this takes place sometime during either the early 1800s or late 1700s, before Blood Meridian)

he later reveals to one of the men, one of the only ones remaining, that the only reason he even went on the voyage was to capture a native woman who has apparently been ‘causing’ other explorers to become stuck and also thriving in the Arctic environment. Judge Holden wants to capture her and ‘study’ why she’s able to thrive while they’re humiliated by the environment. turns out she’s the embodiment of nature and the wilderness and the needle fingered cold and the human made cruelty of nature, who could’ve known??

and to make up for the fact this is tagged with the main tag and only features an oc and not a canon character, i’ll make up for by sharing the time i got paranoid over Judge Holden late at night under the cut. enjoy!!!!

[atane-is-here]

snake appreciation month

Headcanon

Infinite City

I´m going to give you my headcanon about the creation of the veil and how I think it is connected to the Infinite City below the planet’s surface.

Disclaimer: I´m going to ignore the canon timeline because it doesn´t make sense to me. Like, the veil is supposed to be this ancient thing but also everything happened 13 years ago? This is my hc timeline:

In the beginning of the universe the mystic energy of celestial bodies resided within them. The creatures that would evolve on these worlds would inherit some of that power in their own hearts. This was the source of their magic. Civilizations like the ancients of Metamoor extracted the celestial powers and channeled them into objects or people. Like this, the heart of Meridian was born. The people of the elder days became incredibly powerful and sought to expand their influence. Many conflicts raged across the universe. To restore the balance between worlds the council of Kandrakar was created.

To stop the conquest of hostile aliens Kandrakar cuts these worlds off from the rest of the universe by the creation of the veil, sealing them away in these pocket dimensions. Confined to their own planet the ancient civilization of Metamoor destroys itself and leaves their monuments for the other species of the planet to inherit. All that is left are its ruins. Ruined portal frames and the never ending catacombs of the Infinite City are the only traces of an empire which had once spanned across the stars. So begins the long dark age of Metamoor in which the different factions fight over control of the planet, its magical heart and what is left of the old empires destructive tech.

In these conditions the Escanors arrive to the planet and gain control of the heart. Their dynasty manages to mostly unite and stabilize the situation. At this point most of the ancient technology is destroyed and the heart of the planet restabilized. The Council of Kandrakar considers lifting the veil which has gone frail over the millennia and free the planet from its quarantine. Their hopes are crushed by Phobos, a tyrant who seeks to rekindle the planets legacy of conquest by gaining control of its heart and using the portal magic native to the planet to invade other worlds.

Phobos is eventually defeated. Though the underlying weakness of these worlds remains. The hearts of the planets are controlled by individuals who can be corrupted or removed from the worlds. The power of the hearts gives great opportunity to these civilizations, but also brings great risks.

[erial-c]

REDACTED THEORY POST !!!

possible spoilers for the balance, sovereign state, carpe deus, and hush's audios . bare with me because this is horrifically long

tagging @mokozroach hi :3

an amalgamation of theories i have regarding the plot heavy series in the redacted verse :3

so i'm gonna try to discuss 3 different things here :

1. the timeline and how i see it

2. how blake is probably hush's brother

3. what the fuck is hush

1. the timeline (specifically when the fuck hush's audios are set)

we know that when avior and starlight get back to the overworld, + when elliott escapes, the inversion just happened . with that, i think i've found a few things that can set the events in the timeline

- in "deferred judgement" and "reforming a sadism demon", hush says that closeknit's headquarters in dahlia are empty, and that the dept. "came and scared them away" or raided the building.

i assume that what happened in the newest balance audio was also a raid (blake saying the department cut the power in the building) and iirc we're still in dahlia, so this is the same building that hush says is abandoned in his recent audios.

- in "reforming a sadism demon", hush mentions he's only been alive/sentient for "a few weeks"

this wouldn't have given me anything, but if we recall in sovereign state, avior keeps hearing the same sound effect that we hear when hush tries to explain what he is to doc.

since the closest given timeline is "facing a disaster with your demon lover" (40 minutes post-inversion), and the audios after that are probably, at most, a few days after (since avior has to explain the inversion to starlight) we can probably assume that hush has been created at this point.

this would have hush's audios + the 2 most recent carpe deus audios be set a few weeks post inversion at the least.

2. blake is probably hush's brother

so we know hush has mentioned having a "brother" twice now ('there's a stranger in your apartment' and 'deferred judgement')

we can assume hush probably means that they're brothers in the sense that they were made the same way? because obviously they wouldn't actually be blood related ("i have a brother, in a manner of speaking")

- both are also instruments/tools used by the sovereigns. hush having referred to himself as an "instrumental force" many times, and blake being called an instrument by d'deridahn ('a deal with the fallen gods').

- both also "teleport" the same way (parentheses because its technically not that?). normae mentions that hush can "be anywhere" but isn't rifting, and hasn't seen anything like it before ('getting to know your mysterious stranger'). d'deridahn also says that blake can "be anywhere". both also have the same sound effect when " teleporting".

we also know that hush and his "brother" not exactly on good terms. hush's "brother" knows that hush is different, and that scares him. this person has been hunting hush down ever since he was given form, but since hush is stronger and faster, he hasn't been caught.

- blake is an empowered human being used as a vessel by a sovereign. and with hush, all we know is that there's an "echo" of the ones who created him that remain in him (e & m possibly), but he's also neither demon nor human, and has killed several demons. because of this, we can probably assume hush is more powerful than blake.

3. what the fuck is hush

hush is called an egregore by vega, and while there are many different definitions of this, i think he leans more on the concept of an independent entity created by collective thought, because he always refers to himself as an instrumental force with a linear goal.

with this, i think hush is some sort of entity created by e'laetum and min'ara's thoughts and goals becoming sentient. i also think he's going to be the entity to strengthen the meridian.

hush is actively trying to contact avior, hence why i think he's connected to e'laetum and min'ara. he could've been created by them, on purpose or not. maybe the meridian sovereigns realized a demon and a human couldn't possibly help on their own, and created hush. or were so hellbent on their goal that they accidentally gave form to hush, since he is "the silence between the notes" and has technically existed before, but was only given form recently.

hush's focus is likely to strengthen the meridian, but in order to do that he needs another sovereign. he specifically refers to freeing sovereigns trapped in their prison ('getting to know your mysterious stranger') and that applies to the drove (d'deridahn and others, excluding e & m) because they were trapped there as punishment. but i doubt the drove would want to help after being trapped for millennia, so what now?

well, in "getting to know your mysterious stranger", normae talks to doc about hush, and tries to tell them that hush is trying to take the sovereigns' powers for himself. it's possible that e'laetum and min'ara are aware that the drove won't want to help them strengthen the meridian, so they might have tasked hush to making contact with the drove to take their powers for himself, and to aid the meridian himself.

all that or hush is just a little guy wanting to fuck shit up on elegy LMAO

[violetispersephone]

Blood Meridian by violet_persephone

Chapter 5: Interlude I: Across America, Seasons Change

A jerk of movement pulls her into consciousness. She’s no longer on the ground; she’s in someone’s arms, Inej realizes with a start. Her fingers twitch, seeking out one of her knives, but so much pain is radiating from her arm that she can’t move.

Whoever is carrying her isn’t doing so gently. With each staggering step, Inej is wrenched against the person’s chest.

“Inej? Are you awake?” says a rasping voice.

Kaz. Kaz is carrying her.

“Kaz?” Inej says. Her voice is hoarse from the vomiting and the drinking.

“Yes. It’s me. We’re almost there.”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56463739/chapters/163618366

[katerinaaqu]

I feel like I lost quite a few of my dear readers and commenters ever since I started openly not being a fan of Epic the Musical here. Although it saddens me to depart ways with many good people I understand that our lack of this common interest played its part.

I still encourage people to come and comment on my work or write their reblogs at them or my posts dedicated to my collaboration with my amazing friend @artsofmetamoor expressing their opinions, sending me their questions or sharing their disagreements so we can have a conversation

But bear in mind that when my mythology work is concerned it is based exclusively on ancient sources particularly the homeric poems and not the musical or any other modern adaptation unless I mention that to my afternotes.

Thanks for the understanding 🙏

[petitwrites]

HORIZON, the musical: "RETURN TO MERIDIAN" –or a feeble attempt at fanfiction.

A journey back to the heart of Horizon world, both literal and emotional.

[CONTEXT: Post-HFW] A new threat looms over Meridian. Aloy heads back to Carja territory, determined to avert disaster.

“She made out below her the flaming silhouette of characteristic rocky mountains, bathed in the sun’s last rays. The glow of the sunset reflected off the water in a million sparkling stars she saw dancing before her eyes, like so many shards of fire and metal.”

This 'gamified fic' is an experimental concept, designed as an immersive interactive reading in sync with the Horizon games' OST—kind of like a 'reversed-soundtrack'.

Instead of writing music to illustrate a story, as is usually done, I thought it would be fun to try it the other way around. Because, why not? ^^

The layout will [guide you to] follow the flow, with the text becoming a mere subtitle to the music... which is ultimately the true hero of the story here.

[Teb’s voice]  In any case… be ready to scroll!

🎵 On your marks...

' Headset...

' GO!!

>> 🎧 MUSICAL version (special layout)

>> 📖 TEXT ONLY version (traditional layout)

SPECIAL THANKS

This fic is a first for me in every way possible: first time I’ve ever written a story (let alone a fanfiction), first time I’m publishing any of my work online… and it’s pretty terrifying!

Faithful Ao3 reader for years, I absolutely want to express my immense gratitude and admiration to all the amazing people who write for this beautiful fandom—and especially to @portabelloroad and @pikapeppa, whose work has brought me so much joy, greatly inspired me, and gave me the courage to step out of the shadows and start writing myself.

Who knows… maybe just one person might enjoy my story? Huge THANKS to these wonderful authors who will always hold a special place in my humble fan heart.

****

[monocle-teacup]

On Writing Mandroid

So an actual in depth explanation about this meme I made summing up my feelings when looking at most fanfics Mandroid is in. When I read fanfics for any piece of media, I want the characters to be IN CHARACTER. Yes, I understand the concept of headcanons, but it's another thing to blatantly ignore the character's actual behavior/mindset unless there's an AU involved where you specifically want it to be a different take. "Just don't read it then!" some of you may say. Trust me, as soon as Mandroid starts acting OOC, I immediately abandon the fic. I just want to address common misconceptions about his character.

The main things I see pop up in fics that make no damn sense for Mandroid are:

-Him acting like a pervert just because he uses mind control and the tentacle draining device

-Him attacking/targeting random humans

-His speech patterns

There's NOTHING in the show that indicates he'd act like #1. He's a scientist specializing in robotics that wants to rid the world of Transformers aka machines that run on fuel. If anything, he'd find the idea that TFs are capable of sex interesting in a "I just discovered the beings I'm studying have this attribute" kind of way. He views them as monsters and machine parts so the idea of him having his way with one makes no damn sense not even with the intent of torturing/dominating. He prefers making them suffer in other ways like taking them apart while they're still functioning.

As for #2: Mandroid only targets humans that interfere with his plans or treat him like shit (which Croft found out the hard way). He didn't have a problem with Dot until she fucked with the laser while he was removing Megatron's arm. He also ignored the Maltos in Prime Time until Mo got up in his face. Yet, I see the same thing multiple times where a fanfic author has him kidnap/target a random person that didn't do anything. His mindset/viewpoint on how he interacts with other humans is summed up in this line in Age of Evolution:

"If you Maltos side with my Cybertronian enemies, then I'll destroy you like my enemies."

So he's not an asshole 24/7.

As for #3, this is a huge one. Mandroid has a sophisticated way of speaking with the occasional pun thrown in when he's doing something villainous. I could post multiple examples from fics I've read where if I didn't know it was Mandroid speaking I'd have no idea it was him. This man isn't going to talk like a thug or casually swear. The most I can see him swearing is using 'hell' or 'damn'. That obviously falls into headcanon territory, but it's in line with what the show has given us.

Just listen to the way Mandroid speaks in this scene from the very 1st episode of the series:

Look at his mannerisms as well. For the most part, he's calm and reserved until the Mandroid bit. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that he's the kuudere personality type.

Thankfully, I've also read fics where the author nails his characterization but those seem to be few and far in between.

[lodybotiongeeker]

[mysticstarlightduck]

Writing Share Tag!!!

Thanks for the tag, @cowboybrunch (here)! <3

"What are you doing out here?" Cassiopeia stood by the metal staircase leading to the glass-domed hangar of the ship, at the center of which Meridian was sitting, staring through it at the starry cosmos above and around them in wonder.

The robot replied, dejected, but not tearing their eyes away from the sight before them, "Couldn't sleep."

Cassie began walking down the stairs, her fluffy slippers squeaking on the smooth floor, and cocked an eyebrow at the robot's peculiar answer, "... Do sentient robots sleep?" She asked, hesitantly, as if afraid to come across as rude or ignorant, "I didn't know that."

Meridian hummed, a whirring, metallic sound that somewhat sounded like a kitten's purr, "Not really. A robot can turn itself - uh" The robot stopped himself at the slip up, looking at their hands for a moment, shaking their head, before correcting the mistake "-themself off like a computer or a machine. But its not really like human sleeping. Lately I've been trying because, maybe, with some practice, I can learn to sleep the human way. I'd like that."

From where she was standing, coming ever closer to her friend, she noticed the robot's sheepish, slightly hopeless smile as they declared the forlorn, guileless plan they intended to put into practice. The sheer sadness of what this meant took her off guard, so much so that, for a moment, Cassie didn't know what to say.

She sat down beside them, shaking her mind back to the present and gave them a kind smile in return, "Well... trying is a good start!" The girl began, looking up at the stars as well as she wrung her hands anxiously. A thought crossed her mind, and she voiced it out loud, "Hm. Maybe I could research some ways to rewire your systems, safely, so we can figure out together a way to help you do human stuff like sleeping." She chewed on her lip, "If you'd like my help."

At that, Meridian gasped, finally looking at her, eyes practically glowing with happiness, "Oh. For real? You... you really think it could work?" Their voice, albeit synthetic and mechanic, was filled with the most hope and wonder she'd ever heard in her life.

She couldn't help but feel the same as she answered, "Well, only one way to find out!" The young inventor said with a bright, optimistic smile. If she was being completely honest, she didn't actually know if it could be done - but she was certainly going to try.

Tagging (gently): @kaylinalexanderbooks, @smol-feralgremlin, @oh-no-another-idea, @littleladymab, @winterandwords, @eccaiia,

@the-letterbox-archives, @illarian-rambling @agirlandherquill, @anoelleart,

@ray-writes-n-shit @writernopal, @anyablackwood, @unstablewifiaccess, @topazadine

@forthesanityofstorytellers, @finickyfelix

@cauliflowermaterial @thepeculiarbird,

@clairelsonao3, @memento-morri-writes,

@starlit-hopes-and-dreams and OPEN TAG

Taglist for Supernova Initiative below the cut! 🌠

Supernova Initiative Taglist (-/+): @ray-writes-n-shit, @sarandipitywrites, @lassiesandiego, @smol-feralgremlin, @kaylinalexanderbooks,

@diabolical-blue @oh-no-another-idea

@cakeinthevoid, @clairelsonao3,

@thepeculiarbird

@the-golden-comet, @urnumber1star, @ominous-feychild, @anyablackwood, @amaiguri, @lyutenw @finickyfelix

@elshells, @thecomfywriter