#michael for some parts of this for some reason

[ceruark]

campus crush - pt. 1

synopsis: bllk men as uni crushes you see around campus! (ft. itoshi sae & michael kaiser) words: 2.0k notes: gn! reader a/n: let me know who you'd like to see next! :>

itoshi sae - gym crush

it’s virtually impossible to not know of the itoshi brothers on this campus; their reputation of being gorgeous but absolutely untouchable precedes them. 

you’ve never had a class with sae— being in two completely different disciplines, the only time your paths cross is at the gym. not that you ever approach him, god no. you’re much smarter than to willingly subject yourself to someone so cold and condescending, thank you very much. you’ve seen how that’s gone over for other people, and you'd much prefer to keep your self-esteem intact rather than delude yourself into thinking that you might be “the one” to finally get through to sae.

however, you do find yourself… staring at him when you’re at the gym. it’s not in a creepy way, you swear. it’s just that there’s not many people who bother to go to the gym early in the morning before classes, and he obviously knows what he’s doing when he’s using the complex machines that you’ve always wanted to try, but have been too intimidated to even attempt to use. so, you’ve taken to watching him do a few reps on some of the machines while you do your warmup on the treadmill and then approaching the machines a few minutes after he’s left it. you feel kinda stupid following him around the gym like a lost puppy, but after a few weeks you’re already starting to notice that using the machines is paying off, so you swallow your embarrassment and keep doing it.

besides, it’s not like you’re the only person in the gym ogling him. you just happen to be doing it for more respectable reasons (not that you’re entirely innocent when you’re watching him— you’ve had to look away on more than one occasion when he gets to doing bicep curls, for your own sanity).

in fact, people staring at sae and his brother when they’re in the gym is such a normal occurrence that you’re genuinely surprised when he comes up to you and proves that he seems to have actually noticed you watching him.

it’s midterms, so naturally, you’re a bit out of it, the stress leaving you distracted as you think about all the work you have to get done before the end of the day. despite how busy you are, you still came to the gym to blow off some steam— you’re quite proud of yourself for rolling out of bed this morning instead of wallowing in your misery.

it happens like a train wreck in slow motion. at first, when you see sae walking in your general direction, you’re unconcerned. but as he draws nearer, gaze locked on you, you start to question yourself, wondering if maybe you didn’t get as much sleep as you thought and now you’re hallucinating. 

no such luck for you, though. when he comes to a full stop beside the machine you’re on, watching you expectantly, you can feel your heart come to a full halt as well, experiencing equal parts dread and awe as you process what’s happening. you reach up to press the pause button on your headphones and one side of it off your ear. 

when you look at him, he just blinks and says, “your form is wrong.”

you blink back, uncertain of what to say or do. “oh, um—” you look around, not wanting to meet his gaze. “thanks for letting me know.”

after a moment of awkward silence, he sighs— as if you’re inconveniencing him and he’s not the one who approached you first— before taking a few more steps forward. sirens go off in your head as he leans over you and reaches forward, nudging at your arms with his fingertips. “bend more at the elbow, and pull in before you lift up,” he instructs. you do as you’re told, but he stops you as you’re bringing your arms back down. “don’t let your elbows lock all the way. and don’t let the weight drop entirely unless you’re done with the rep. you’ll hurt yourself if you keep doing that.”

the next rep is the longest one of your life— not just because you can feel the strain more now that you’re using the machine properly, but mostly because sae is standing right beside you the entire time, making sure your form is correct and you don’t slip up again. once you let the weight drop, you spring out of the seat, eager to get out from under the microscope he’s decided to hold over you today for whatever reason.

“well, uh, thanks again.” you pick up your water bottle and nod at him politely, already beginning to turn on your feet. the stairmaster on the other end of the gym looks more appealing now than it ever has.

“your incompetence is distracting,” he says, stopping you in your tracks. you glance back at him, stunned. he sounds annoyed, yet he adds, “just ask me how to use a machine if you need help.”

your ego is a little bruised, but your friends will not shut the hell up about how you’ve gotten explicit permission to talk to itoshi sae, which— yeah, okay, you guess your pride can take a bit of a beating here and there if it means you get to talk to him.

michael kaiser - library tablemate

now, of course, you know who he is long before that fateful night in the library. you’re pretty sure there’s not a single person on this damn campus who doesn’t know he is.

he’s tall, gorgeous, muscular, and commands attention every time he walks into a room. sure, he’s egotistical, but it’s justified in just how intelligent and talented he is. he can even be a bit flirty if you catch him in a good mood—something a few of your friends have put to the test a few times. needless to say, you had a bit of a “hallway crush” on him for a long time— you know nothing about him besides the fact that he’s hot. but, then again, who at this university doesn’t have a thing for michael kaiser?

so it’s reasonable to say that you nearly have a goddamn stroke when he drops into the seat diagonally across from you where you’re sitting in the library. 

it’s midterm season, and you— along with many of your peers— have holed up to study or take care of essays and take-home exams. you’re abruptly snapped out of your essay-writing fervor by the sound of the chair across the table being pulled out, and your stomach backflips so violently when your brain registers the familiar blonde-blue hair and tattoo that it’s a miracle you don’t start gaping or otherwise make a fool of yourself.

every table in this part of the library has at least one person at it, but for whatever reason, kaiser has decided that you’re the person in the room least likely to be a nuisance to him. and he’s right, for you quickly avert your eyes back to your laptop and return to writing your essay, even though you’re hyper-aware of yourself right now and haven’t been able to complete a sentence since he got here. 

you’re in the middle of spam-texting your friend about your current situation when someone commits the cardinal sin: they call out their friend’s name loudly, yelling on a strictly noise-free floor. you glance up briefly, irritated, and you also catch kaiser throw a look over his shoulder in similar annoyance before going back to studying. to your chagrin, the two girls start talking to each other, occasionally bursting out in loud, grating laughter.

for a few minutes, you just watch them, willing them to notice your death stare and get the hint to take their conversation elsewhere. they don’t, though, too caught up in gossiping to notice the countless people around them giving them dirty looks.

at some point, kaiser looks back up from his psychology textbook, making direct eye contact with you— you were still glaring at the girls standing behind him. he’s clearly pissed off, and he holds your gaze for just a moment, as if commiserating with you. then, with a slow exhale through his nose, he shuts his textbook loudly, drawing the attention of the girls to your table. he turns the full intensity of his glare on them and asks, “can you clowns fuck off somewhere else?”

the girls scurry off in record time, and there’s a collective sigh of relief that travels through the room before everyone returns to their own work.

that weird moment of commiseration seems to have solidified a bond between you two— at least, that’s what you think, given that kaiser continues to sit at the same table as you after that. you’re doing mental gymnastics trying to downplay the whole situation, convincing yourself that he’s just taking a preference to this specific part of the library and this particular table the same way you have. it’s most likely got absolutely nothing to do with you. (besides, those times you’ve caught him already looking at you when you go to sneak a glance at him are not what you think they are. he’s probably just irritated that you keep looking at him. you should stop.)

“if you’re so sure it’s not you, then try sitting somewhere else for a change.” your friend’s words echo through your mind as you enter the library during finals the following semester. it’s been months at this point, and your entire friend group is just as invested in this as you are. you’re actually considering testing your theory today, especially because you really need to finish this essay and don’t need any distractions in the form of gorgeous blondes sitting nearby.

you catch a glimpse of him already sitting at your usual table as you walk up the stairs, and you hesitate for just a moment before going up two more floors— it’s not like he’s even gonna notice you’re not there. you find a secluded nook that has four large, plush chairs facing each other, two placed on each side of a table set between them. it’s much cozier than your usual spot, so you curl up on one of the chairs and settle in to work on your paper.

the sharp sound of something slamming against the table cuts through the music playing on your headphones and startles you out of your flow state. it’s been about an hour and a half since you started, and you’ve made good progress. you look up, ready to give your fellow student a piece of your mind, but you falter when your eyes meet kaiser’s. his eyes are stormier than usual, conveying his irritation with something. with a quick glance down, you realize the sound you heard was him dropping his textbooks on the table.

you pause your music and ask, “um, do you need something?” it’s the first time you’ve actually spoken to him, and you’re trying really hard to ignore how nervous you feel. he glares at you for a moment longer, before he just rolls his eyes and takes the seat across from you. you wait for a response, but once he resumes his own studying, you return to your essay.

you end up wrapping up your assignment before he finishes his studying, and as you’re slinging your bag over your shoulder and preparing to leave, he says, “if you’re finally tired of this shitty library, i know a nice cafe off-campus you can study at.”

your heart leaps into your throat, and you swallow before you answer to ensure you don’t choke on it. “oh, sure, that sounds nice. do you have the address?”

he looks up from his notes and slides his gaze to you, his expression appearing as cold and bored as ever as he gives you a once-over. “just go to our normal spot at the usual time,” he says, turning back to his notebook. “i’ll take you there.”

“oh my god,” your roommate gushes later that night as you relay the tale to them, “was he looking for you?”

“is it a date?” your other friend shrieks.

well, way to make you more nervous about tomorrow.

[justnatoka]

What's going on?

Poly! Lost Boys x Fem! Reader

A/n: This is VERY self-indulgent. I'm a sucker for the 'character A finds out you're actually dating character B' trope. I don't know why, it just tickles a part of my brain. This is basically a rewrite of certain scenes with a reader added in. Because I know we all want to live in this movie's universe.

Word count: 3.7k

Warning: none really, jokes at Michael's expence, mention of reader having longer hair, maybe a bit of an abrupt ending?

Summary: Michael is confused when he witnesses you showing romantic attention to all the boys. He finally asks the question that's been nagging him all night.

 “Hey, check it out,” Paul’s tone dripped with amusement. You and Marko turned your heads, following his line of sight and spotted Star. The boy from yesterday was with her.

You weren’t entirely surprised when you noticed someone trailing behind Star when she and Laddie got back to you the previous night. It wasn’t the first time some poor bastard took a fancy to her, trying to get close to her. It usually didn’t end well for them. However, there was something in her eyes as she climbed on behind David and looked back at him, something akin to interest. And when you glanced at your leader, it was clear you weren’t the only one who took notice.

The corner of your mouth quirked up a little as you noticed his change of style. He ditched the boy-next-door look for a leather jacket. A not at all subtle choice in your opinion, considering how he was eyeing your group yesterday. He looked a bit awkward, but his effort was cute. You were sure Star appreciated it too.

Your eyes wandered to David, just like always, trying to gage what he was thinking. He was already looking at them, seemingly unbothered, but by the way his hand moved, how he brought the cigarette to his lips, blowing out the smoke so slowly, you could tell he was deep in contemplation. He was planning something.

You rested your head in your hand. They looked pretty good together. He was clearly very much into her, trying to keep the conversation flowing, looking for her little reactions, eyes following her every move. And even if Star looked casual, you could tell she liked the attention. You were pretty sure that David saw it too.

The pair walked past you, towards a bike, and just as the boy started to get on, David made a move. It was all you were waiting for. You quickly hopped up behind Marko, all of you moving as one, circling them, trapping them in.

“Where are you going, Star?” David questioned.

“For a ride,” she stated in a defiant voice, even if she couldn’t fully look him in the eye as she did. “This is Michael,” she motioned over to boy-next-door.

His lips quirked into a half smile and he reached for her hand to help her on behind him, clearly feeling like he was in control of the situation, thinking he can actually get what he wants that easy.

“Let’s go,” he called to her. She turned to leave, but was stopped mid-step by David’s voice.

“Star.”

All he had to do was say her name. This time she properly looked at him, and there was a long moment when their gazes were locked together. Michael kept glancing between them confused, witnessing – without even realizing it – how David’s will took over, his mind asserting clear dominance over her. You knew what that felt like, there was no defying David. You tried it before, a long time ago, testing your limits as a newly turned vampire, but quickly learned that you’ll lose. Now you had no reason to defy him anymore.

A satisfied little smirk grew onto David’s lips as Star started moving towards him, sending a challenging stare to Michael as she climbed up behind him. It was easy to see that lover boy was disappointed, looking more like a sad puppy than anything else. Watching him deflate after being so sure of himself, fully believing that Star would choose him over us was a mighty entertaining sight. Paul let out a wheezy little laugh, and you shared an amused glance with Dwayne.

“You know where Hudson’s Bluff is, overlooking the point?” David asked unexpectedly, and your grin stretched wider. Oh, this is gonna be interesting!

Michael scoffed in disbelief.

“I can’t beat your bike,” he stated the obvious.

“You don’t have to beat me, Michael. You just have to try and keep up,” David countered, the amusement and self-satisfaction basically oozing from him.

Michael looked back at him, resigned, probably contemplating his life choices.

Marko turned around, already buzzing with anticipation.

“Hold on tight, sugar,” he winked at you.

“Always,” you kissed his neck and smoothed your hands down his chest from behind before wrapping your arms around his middle. You caught Michael’s stare, and sent him a half-smile right before you all took off with David in the lead.

Even before hitting the sand of the beach, the boys were already hollering. Adrenaline ran through your veins, firing up every nerve ending in your body. You welcomed the familiar rush, the sensation of the wind whipping your hair behind you, and you screamed and howled like the rest of them. Flying down the length of the beach, weaving between groups of frightened humans sitting around bonfires, overtaking each other in a familiar, playful dance while letting the whole world know that you were coming – it was something you could never get bored of.

David was leading the charge, like always, with Marko and Paul in the middle, both of them being absolute menaces as they barely missed hitting people, teasing each other and doing mini races from one group to the next. Seeing that you would mostly ride with them, you quickly got used to it, and now it thrilled you just as much as it did them. Dwayne followed not far behind with Laddie, driving a tad bit safer than the terror twins because of the boy.

Looking back, you confirmed that Michael was actually keeping up, and you let out an amazed little whistle. You held on tighter as you reached the forest, knowing that it’s gonna get bumpier from here on out. As much as you liked racing down the beach, you loved speeding through the woods. Even though you’ve traveled this path so much before, it still made your heart race when you jumped over fallen logs or took in some tighter turns. Not to mention the thrill of being the loudest and most dangerous predators in the dark forest, like a pack of wolves running through the trees.

You could already smell the ocean, your heightened hearing catching the roar of the waves crashing into rock. Even though you couldn’t see it yet through the thick fog, you were getting close to Hudson’s Bluff. But Michael didn’t know that.

David’s voice rumbled over the noise of the bikes as he egged him on, the harsh light of the lighthouse visible now over the edge. Of course, for a regular human, judging distances in these kinds of conditions was a challenge in itself. He was getting too close, and you wondered if he will go flying off the rock. You were only slightly disappointed when his taillight tipped in a weird angle as he crashed his bike, turning his handle just in time.

By the time the rest of you stopped behind them, Michael was already on his feet, lunging for David. You all surged forward, but he managed to get in a good punch before the boys pulled him off.

“Just you,” he challenged your leader, shrugging off the others, anger evident in his voice.

On the other hand, David was smiling ear to ear.

“How far are you willing to go, Michael?” he challenged him right back, and the clear delight on his face told you that this is where things would take an interesting turn.

It wasn’t often that you would see this kind of expression on David, but you knew it well. It was the same one that lit up his face after you first proved yourself to him, right before he turned you. Up until this point, Michael was only a plaything, some human he could play cat and mouse with. But now, David was actually interested in him; a dangerous predicament, even if he didn’t know it yet.

David decided to take Michael to the cave.

Concern immediately bubbled up in your gut, but just as the thought took form in your head, David’s eyes flashed at you, and the protest died on your tongue. He knew what you were going to say. It was too early to show him your home, too early to let him in. It was a risk, one that you didn’t want your family to take on. You were hesitant about Star at first too, selfishly worrying about how another addition to your group would change your dynamics. You worried about your safety as well, and whether or not introducing Michael to your lifestyle would compromise that. However, you didn’t want to go against David, so you decided to shut up and observe.

You descended down into the cave with Dwayne leading the way, torch in hand, and you following him close behind. When your mind was frazzled, you always sought him out, his calmness and stability working wonders on your nerves.

He sensed your presence and turned around with a light frown. One of his big hands cupping your face, he leaned in, gently resting his forehead against yours. It was a small gesture, but as you drew back a few moments later, you felt much calmer, your anxiety quieting down in the back of your mind. When your eyes met, you smiled up warmly at him, and pressed a quick thank you kiss to the corner of his mouth, causing it to quirk upwards into a lopsided smirk.

You picked up another torch and helped Dwayne light the fires while David talked about the earthquake and how this place came to be yours.

“This is what I love about this place. You ask, and then you get,” he finished off his presentation after sending Marko away to bring some food.

His eyes found you sitting on the couch, observing him from afar, and extended a hand to you. Obeying the pull tugging at your chest, you walked over to him. He had an undeniable power over you, like a flame calling for the moth. Oh and what a happy moth you were!

One gloved hand caressed your cheek, and you leaned into his touch, looking up at him through your eyelashes. He leaned in and captured your lips in a kiss, moving slowly, sensually against your mouth, his teeth scraping your lower lip. He was clearly showing off, but you didn’t care, not as long as the previous little tension between you two was nullified. It was also a message to you, stating that no matter what happens, nothing would change between you. It made your undead heart flutter.

He broke away not long after, a satisfied smirk stretching across his face.

“Just like that,” he whispered as he looked at you with hooded eyes.

Michael cleared his throat next to you, breaking you out of your trance. He was clearly uncomfortable, being caught off-guard by your little public display. But he also couldn’t help but stare. You could practically hear the gears turning in his head, his mind wondering. You noticed him looking at you and Dwayne before too.

David’s tone changed back to normal as he turned to Michael.

“Not her though, she’s off limits.”

A cheeky smile tugged on your lips at his declaration, your mood back to how it was before.

That’s the moment Paul showed up next to you with a joint. You snatched it from his hand, taking a drag and handing it back to him. He passed it over to David before draping an arm around your shoulders and moving with you to a seat. He plopped himself down, and you settled on the floor between his legs, resting your head on his thigh.

All the while you were waiting for Marko, you stared at the lovebirds as they were eyeing each other from across the room. Michael was anxious to be near her or to get out of here or both. Star wasn’t better off either, drawing her scarf tighter around herself, unsure how to get out of this situation. She knew it was too late, David already took an interest in the guy she liked, and now all she could hope for was that he would get away relatively unharmed.

Cold breath fanning over your neck broke you out of your thoughts, and an unconscious chuckle escaped your throat as you felt chapped lips travelling over your skin.

“What’s going on in your pretty head, babe?” Paul mouthed against your neck, leaning back when you turned to meet his eyes.

“Food will be here soon, you don’t have to eat me,” you replied cheekily.

“I could have you for dinner any time,” he smirked right back.

You rolled your eyes playfully.

“It’s nothing serious, Paulie,” you smiled sweetly at him, planting a chaste kiss on his lips, before turning back to look at the pair again. “Possibilities I guess.”

He was quiet for a second, no doubt also looking between those two.

“You think?”

You just shrugged in return, your eye catching Michael’s stare. His gaze had been periodically coming back to you all night, and you decided it has been going on long enough.

“If you have a question, just ask. Don’t be shy, Mickey,” your voice took on a teasing tone toward the end, causing him to freeze a bit.

You could practically hear the gears tuning in his head, debating whether to voice his thoughts or whether it would be wiser to keep them to himself. He finally decided to just go with it. It’s not like you couldn’t see right through him if he lied.

“So what’s the deal with you and them?”

The air in the cave shifted.

He seemed to have to noticed it too, squirming uncomfortably in his seat. You could feel the boys’ eyes on you as a wide smile stretched across your lips. Leaning back against Paul, his arms immediately crossing in front of your chest, you looked back at your guest with innocent eyes.

“Whatever do you mean, Michael?”

Now he started sputtering, growing confused and embarrassed in the crossfire of your stares.

“It’s just that you two-,” he cut himself off, motioning to you and Paul, “and before that you and him-,” he nodded towards Dwayne, “ and…” he trailed off as he chanced a glance at David, no doubt thinking back to the kiss you shared right in front of him.

It was kinda adorable how his brain short-circuited. You couldn’t hide the amusement in your voice as you answered him.

“Yes, Michael, I’m with Paul here,” you looked up at him and he blew you a kiss. “I’m also with Dwayne,” you turned to him, and he sent you a wink, “and Marko, and David.” You turned to the blond last, your stomach twisting at the possessive heat in his eyes as he looked back at you.

“So let me get this straight. You’re dating all of them?” he tried to put the pieces together.

“Got a problem with that, Michael?” The warning undertone in David’s voice as he turned to Michael dared him to say something.

“No, no problem,” he answered meekly, not wanting to get on the leader’s bad side.

The awkward mood in the room was broken as Marko stomped into the cave, hollering, “Feeding time! Come and get it, boys!”

He deposited a takeout box in David’s lap before moving onto Dwayne.

“Over here, bud,” Paul called out and Marko tossed him a box, your lover catching it with ease over your head.

Marko finished his round by coming over to you and dropping a box in your lap, accompanied with a quick kiss to your lips. You leaned back with an appreciative “Thanks, babe.” He answered with a little grin and a “You got it, sugar.”

David’s voice directed the attention of everyone in the room to him and Michael. He was holding out a takeout box to your guest, who swiftly refused.

“You don’t like rice?” There was feigned disbelief in his voice, and a slow smile stretched across your lips as you caught the mischievous glint in his eye. “Tell me Michael, how can a billion Chinese people be wrong?”

There were snorts and muted chuckles coming from the boys, and Michael finally relented. David leaned back as he accepted another box from Marko. You were slowly picking at your food, too curious to know what David had in mind.

There was a slight anticipation in the air as Michael took his first bite.

“How are those maggots?” David asked casually, and your grin widened. Oh the smooth bastard.

The boy looked utterly confused as he stared back at him.

“Maggots, Michael. You’re eating maggots, how do they taste?”

It’s only when he looked down at his food, his amusement quickly turning into disgust as he spit out the rice, when you finally burst out in laughter, throwing your head back against Paul’s abdomen, who was practically slapping his knee in delight. You caught David’s gaze as he glanced back at you guys, his grin widening when his eyes met yours. And even though things quieted down for a second after Star’s weak protest to leave Michael be, you knew it wasn’t over yet.

You almost started snickering again at the sheer bewilderment on Michael’s face as he stared down at the spilled rice at his feet. It was just so damn entertaining to mess with this guy, his reactions were just too good.

When David offered up his noodles as a sign of peace, you waited with baited breath. Michael only took one look at the contents of the takeout box before turning away nauseous.

“They are worms,” he groaned.

Paul’s wheezy laugh echoed in your ears as David took a bite, looking back at Michael with amusement.

“They are only noodles, Michael.”

The boys were loosing it. You had to give it to him, David was a master at playing with people’s senses. He knew exactly when to pull back the curtain of reality and when to close it back up to make his victim feel absolutely helpless and confused, applying just enough pressure on their minds to make them doubt everything they see. And when they don’t believe anything anymore, that’s when he goes in for the proverbial kill. It’s exactly what was about to happen, you were sure of it as soon as Marko brought out the wine.

Your stomach dropped. You had a feeling that this was where this whole teasing and playing was headed, but you didn’t want to listen to it. Star was also getting more shifty, moving closer to Michael.

Your nerves were alive, still, you couldn’t help but stare mesmerized as David opened the bottle and brought it to his lips. You had a perfect view from where you were sitting between Paul’s legs, your body unconsciously leaning forward as David drank, the muscles of his throat working as he took a big gulp of the dark liquid. You could still remember what is tasted like; strange at first, but turning richer the more it sat on your tongue. It made you feel more alive than you’ve ever felt in your human existence. That was the beauty of turning. It was quite addicting.

You could see all these emotions flit through David’s face, his eyes closed, lost in the taste. And when they opened, there was something more behind them, something predatory. In that moment he was truly a creature of the night.

There was only one word that came to your mind to describe that look: smoldering. You had to bite your lip to prevent the little noise that was threatening to escape your throat, your insides twisting in excitement. You were sure that had he directed that gaze towards you, you would have melted in the heat of it. You only half-registered Paul’s touch who, sensing your shift in mood, wrapped his arms tight around you, his own breath quickening beside your ear.

“Drink some of this Michael. Be one of us.” David’s voice was smooth like velvet, almost sensual, making your skin tingle all over.

And even through the heightened emotions of the moment you could hear the boys chanting Michael’s name, egging him on to drink. Getting back some of your senses you wanted to say no, to stop it. Wanted to reason with them that this was a mistake. But Paul’s hold on you tightened, and you couldn’t help but take it as a warning. This was about to happen regardless of what you did.

To her credit, Star tried, she really did. She told Michael exactly what was in that bottle, but by then he was too far gone. The previous teasing did what it was supposed to. He didn’t believe a word she said.

And then it happened. He brought the bottle to his lips and took a swig. Loud cheers erupted throughout the cave, the boys celebrating the initiation Michael unknowingly completed. Paul jumped to his feet, leaving you on the floor with your conflicting emotions. He patted Michael’s shoulder with a “You’re one of us, bud.” And he actually smiled back, feeling proud of himself, like he proved something, having no idea about the gravity of the situation.

You shared an uneasy look with Star, seeing your own anxieties reflected in her eyes from across the cave. You both knew this was a mistake, but the boys didn’t see it. Perhaps your motivations were different from hers, but you both had a nagging feeling that this night would change everything.

You were jerked from your spiraling thoughts by an arm grabbing your own and tugging you to your feet. You stared into the cheerful eyes of Marko, his grin wide and mischievous.

“Come on, sugar. Enough with all this moping. Let’s have a good time!”

His smile was infectious, and you could feel the corners of your mouth reluctantly turning upward.

“There you are. There’s our girl,” he cheered, spinning you around, and you couldn’t help the giggles bursting out of you.

You danced around the remains of the age old fountain before he passed you to Dwayne, who took you for a spin himself. He then brought you close, his lips stealing your breath as he pulled you down on the couch, his fingers running through your hair as you straddled his lap, never breaking the kiss.

Your concerns would come back later, you knew they would. But even though you were still apprehensive about where this whole situation with Michael was headed, you let boys’ kisses and laughter and their wandering hands distract you and make you forget for the night.

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[scourgeofmyownbrain]

I can contribute! I can talk about the LA movies a bit more and I have some more thoughts about TFP. And I have my own theory on where this Babyfication comes from.

To start, Unicron Trilogy doesn't have a Bumblebee, so you're all good there. And Rid15 Bee is pretty explicitly an adult like the entire show. He gets brainwashed into acting younger by toxins for an episode but that's it.

In Michael Bay's movies (the first 5), Bumblebee is actually very similar to his TFP counterpart. Which makes sense, TFP Bee was based on BV Bee to begin with, so it's only natural that they end up very similar. TFP Bee gets the big eyes from BV Bee. Jumping to his character in the movies, BV Bee is often depicted as, yes, younger than his teammates and more inexperienced. Right on the money there. He was the first Bee to have his voice removed, yes. His dialogue is actually mostly radio/audio clips from humans, and his more beepy dialogue isn't as common. We, as an audience, actually get to understand him, and none of the humans have this special ability to understand him like Raf in TFP. Design wise, you are right in thinking they were trying to make him cooler, they were, they made him a camaro and gave him a battle mask, they made him cool. They still gave him the big eyes, as I said, but I think it balances out. You are right in thinking that BV Bee isn't as babied as other Bees. But why is that? Rhetorical question, it is because he is not depicted as cutesy by the source material.

Jumping to TFP, you've laid it all out already. I whole heartedly agree with you that TFP Bumblebee's lack of a voice is a huge factor in how young the fandom sees him. That lack of characterization we would get from his lines of dialogue leaves so much up to interpretation. You mentioned his relationship with Raf is also affected by this lack of audience understanding; Bee can not act like an older mentor to Raf, and this affects his fandom interpretation. This is only made worse by how little attention the writers give him in the show. To illustrate, the episode when we learn that Bee is significantly younger than the rest of team prime is the same episode in which Bumblebee kills Skyquake (Masters and Students). This fact, the fact that Bumblebee killed Skyquake with his bare servos, is never acknowledged by the narrative. Skyquake is acknowledged as dead, but Bumblebee is never explicitly credited as his killer. And the writers do things like this all the time, TFP Bumblebee has killed humans before and did so for personal reasons/revenge when he lost his T-cog to MECH, but the writers never acknowledge this. The scenes that stick out the most to fans in those episodes is Bumblebee acting sad, because that's what the writers focused on. And Bumblebee's lack of comprehensible dialogue only adds to this. This is why fans look at TFP Bumblebee and call him an innocent baby when he very clearly is not innocent at all.

This is going to sound accusatory, and I do not mean to offend anyone who is like this, but I think that the younger adolescent/teenage fans are to blame for this babyfication. Yes, adults do it too, but I think most of the blame falls on the younger fans. I am not trying to shame anyone or tell anyone how to enjoy these characters, do not twist my words. But younger fans, I believe, are a large part of the reason Bee is babied. Mostly because of a lack of understanding of how adult's ages work. Most kids (adolescents & teenagers) think that once you're an adult, you stop being young (I am speaking generally and from experience, I am not an expert do not quote me). This is a blatant misunderstanding. You can be an adult and be young, being younger does not make you a child. I am young. I am in my 20s, and all my coworkers are decades older than me. And I adore media made for kids like half my age. I think to most kids, being an adult is being old, so if someone is young, they must not be an adult. I also think it also stems from how simple the world is to most kids. Bad guys are bad and good guys are good, plain and simple, english teachers are only just starting to show kids how to do reading comprehension. Yes, I'm speaking in broad strokes but you get the point.

Okay, let's compare Bayverse Bee to Prime Bee, I'll lay it out the best I can. Both of these Characters: are inexperienced, are younger than the rest of their team, are paired up with the younger humans (tfp -> Raf, BV -> Sam & Tessa), have big cute eyes, act sillier sometimes, have more youthful interests (tfp-> cartoons & music, BV -> music & movies), have shorter tempers, are traumatized by the war, can't speak, killed humans (tfp -> MECH bc T-Cog, BV -> Nazis bc helping (no i am not kidding BV Bee killed nazis king behavior)), killed fellow cybertronians. And only one of these characters is babied by the fans. Because one set of writers was too cowardly to give us subtitles or use audio clips.

Also, you didn't talk about the newer live action movies so I will. And I think most of this babyfication comes directly from the 2018 Bumblebee movie. Yes, it started in prime, but the Bumblebeee movie made it 10x worse. I've dug through Tumblr posts from the time, and Bee only became really super cutesy in the fandom after that movie. And it's because he spent most of that movie being cute and innocent amnesia boy. Yes, he ended the movie killing a con but that doesn't erase nearly an hour of cute little bug boy who doesn't know how big he is from people's heads.

I have run out of steam, I hope I made my thoughts clear.

Yesterday I saw someone on Twitter mentioning the babyfication of Bumblebee in the fandom, and that's been somewhat of a thought in my mind before, so I figured "eh, might as well write my own thoughts on the matter myself". Though in a tumblr post, since Twitter has a character limit and I don't feel like doing a thread

So yeah, that's what this is

Why does Bumblebee get babyfied so much in the Transformers fandom?

Disclaimer though: I'm only really touching on the shows and movies and how they might contribute to the issue, and only the ones I've seen, so no Unicron Trilogy or RID 2015. And probably not much on the live action movies either since I remember them very little, just design things. I've also not read any of the comics, so they aren't weighing in either

I'm also not claiming I have the definitive answers, just some guesses based on my own understandings. I'm very socially inept, so I could be completely wrong. It's also why I'm not touching on the fandom side much

My friend told me to put a "read more" tab on this after showing her what I was doing, and yeah I probably should. Take note that this is an absolute monster of a post, this took me hours to write. So be warned

But yeah anyways, let's start this

Oh right, I should probably start with what I mean by "babyfied", so we all are on the same page here. The biggest things I think are making Bumblebee a teenager or child, whether in interpretations of canon material, AUs of official series, or people's own versions of the Transformers (though note the most damning one here is the first one, seeing a canon Bee as a kid, specifically when it is not shown that he is one. The third one is completely fine, it just is a symptom I think), and then also basically just making Bumblebee Optimus' son, or Elita's, or Megatron's, or a combination of characters; basically, just making Bumblebee someone's kid

I'll be tackling it in a general order of the shows/movies and how they contribute to the issue, starting with:

G1 cartoon

So in g1, I will admit, I think I can see Bee and Optimus having some sort of father-son relationship, at least in moments; like Attack of the Autobots which is where Optimus and Bumblebee have that iconic little hug

But I mean also, Optimus just kind of generally has paternal vibes in g1, he feels like everyone's dad. I think it might just get magnified with Bumblebee because Bumblebee is small and probably has the "cutest" personality of the Minicars, so it's just him from that group. And also, he's got a cute little Beetle car as his alt, which factors into it

He also does seem to have been written with the idea of him being younger, at least that's how the toy description feels to me

He was also Spike's best Autobot friend, and as I'm pretty sure Spike was supposed to be the young teenage human for the kids to relate to more, that probably helps with his youth factor

Though he is still functionally an adult. But I don't think the problem is as bad here, since let's be real, people mostly remember g1 for the nostalgia, iconic moments, and being the origins of the franchise; people aren't really making g1 AUs outside of that one person with the Orion Pax and Megatron knowing each other AU

So from the start, he's always had this, but I don't think we can call it an issue at this point. But it does bring in some of the main factors in the babyfication of Bee, namely:

He's small, which can give the impression of younger

He generally is one of the younger bots, even if he's still an adult

He tends to be the main friend of a human protagonist, who generally tend to be kids or teenagers

These will show up again, so keep them in mind. Now, let's move onto our next show, 23 years later

Animated

So in Animated, Bumblebee is yet again, one of the youngest members of the main cast, though this is specifically told to us, like how Sentinel, one of Optimus' contemporaries (and TFA OP is meant to be on the younger side of his variations too), was Bee's drill sergeant, as well as just Bee's general behavior

He is also the smallest member of the main cast, which can contribute to the feeling of him being younger

He is also friends with the human protagonist Sari, who is an 8-year-old at the start of the show, and the two of them tend to go along with each other's crazy schemes, rather than Bee trying to be responsible with Sari; that's more Optimus' job.

What I didn't pick up until way later than I probably should have was that Bulkhead is around the same age as Bumblebee, thus making him also one of the youngest members of the cast. Which honestly in retrospect, makes a lot of sense with how he's written, and him also being one of Sari's closest friends. I think why I didn't pick up on it while watching however comes from two things: 1, he's like the biggest member of the main cast, which doesn't immediately make me think he's one of the younger members, even though younger people being big is something they can be (I mean my brother's like 6 feet tall and he's not even 15 yet), and then 2: Transformers Prime Bulkhead, aka the one from the show that might be more popular than TFA, is very much an adult, and that was the Bulkhead I knew. So I didn't know he was supposed to be younger

We'll swing back around to Prime later, I think it's one of the main contributors to the issue, but keep in mind that interpretations from popular series tend to stay in mind and bleed over into other shows and their versions, even if that's not how they are

But back to Bumblebee, things generally aren't super different between this and g1, other than the fact that he and Optimus don't have much of a parent-child dynamic, and that this Bee definitely is on the younger side in canon, though probably still an adult? I'm not sure, but he can't mentally be more than like, very early 20s. But it happening again does reinforce these ideas of Bumblebee as a younger bot

In fanon, I don't know if the TFA side has this much of an issue, at least nowadays? I see him get shipped with Blitzwing and Prowl plenty, and I don't see him as Optimus' kid, other than like one time with the "9 months in my womb" meme, and him being an oplita kid, which might have just been for the joke and also TFA Elita was yellow, so eh. But I'm also not too big on the TFA side of the fandom anyways, so I could be wrong

So before we get to Prime, I just want to sidestep into the movies that were also coming out at the time

Bayverse/live-action movies

Now I can't say much on the writing front with Bee, since I have not seen any of these movies in a hot minute, outside of the first hour and a half of the 2007 movie. I will say though, based on what I saw of Bee there (aka mostly his car shenanigans), that is not a child, that is a sassy little bastard man. Though that could be because Bay was trying to market more to like, teenage boys and trying to make him "cooler"

But anyways, what I wanted to talk about was his design, and how it contributes to the babyfication issue

The Bay movies gave Bumblebee a redesign, looking pretty different from his original design (though that goes for pretty much everyone except Optimus)

The thing I notice most with these movie designs is how round they make him, specifically with his eyes, being so big and round, especially later. While it was probably originally just a reference to bug eyes, it makes him cuter looking, more innocent. I think by Bumblebee, they were trying to capitalize on that in the movie, making him seem cute and non-threatening in certain scenes so Charlie knows he's not a danger. Which makes sense, but it does contribute to the problem here

And in general, he's a lot rounder I think in his design. And while I'm not expert on shape language, I think I can gather that more round shapes leads to him looking more friendly and less threatening and cuter in our minds, and "cuter" leads to "younger". That's why I keep bringing up "cute" by the way, forgot to say earlier. Cuteness tends to be associated with youthfulness and thus younger characters more

And in general with Bumblebee, him being yellow, a bright color more associated with joy and optimism, and thus youth, and generally having a more optimistic and extroverted personality (though not necessarily in the Bay movies, though I can't say for sure) again leads into him being younger. Now it probably came from the fact that bees are yellow, thus he's yellow (and also black), and his personality came from that bright color. Actually the name probably also comes from the yellow color scheme, but you get it. His color scheme and personality lends Bee to being a younger character

Back to Bayverse, it did change Bumblebee's alt mode from a Beetle to a Camaro (again probably to make him "cooler"), and I think since then, Bumblebee's basically always been a sports car, outside of explicitly g1 referencing things. So it does tend to take away the "smaller" aspect of what makes him seem so young, as he's more average sized now. But the youthful connotations don't necessarily go away

This is also (I think) what started the trend of Bumblebee losing his voice, being replaced with either radio/movie clips, or just beeps that the characters can understand. Now while I'm not too sure how this affects him in Bayverse, as I haven't seen much of Bee proper in the movies in a long time (the first half of the first movie is pretty much just car Bee), and since I know he can still talk in some way, it does mean you focus less on his dialogue and how that characterizes him, and more on his appearance and actions (at least in robot mode). Or he just doesn't talk, and you can have your own interpretations of what he's saying. And as mentioned prior, his design tends to make him look cuter, adding to the issue. I'll get more into this in Prime, since I am familiar with Prime, and he doesn't talk at all there

He's also again, I'm pretty sure one of the younger bots, despite probably being an adult. We'll go over that more in Prime

I don't think I have much else to say on these movies, so to go over the general points, this seemed to cause a bit of a shift in Bumblebee's portrayals. He got a bigger alt mode, so he's not tiny anymore, but he got big round eyes that make him seem cuter, rounder features, and he lost his voice, which means you can fill in the gaps in what he's saying in your head

Now, let's get to the real meat of this, and I think the biggest cause of this all:

Prime

I hope I didn't hype this section up too much. But I think this is where all the things conglomerate into the main factors of Bee's babyfication

Bumblebee is not the smallest bot, but the smallest is the female motorcycle bot, as opposed to his sports car, so. He is the youngest Autobot, and bot in general outside of I guess the Predacons, until Smokescreen comes in in Season 2, who is also considered young. He and Optimus have a close relationship, that given their age differences, could be read as paternal. He's got the big round eyes of Bayverse and a generally round design, which we've already discussed as to how it contributes to the problem. He also does not speak at all, only using beeps that we the audience cannot understand, until the finale. His designated human friend is the youngest human companion here, and the most child of them, being only 12. All these factors combine to create the most "baby" Bumblebee so far

(I just added a picture since I felt like I needed to. But there's not much to talk about design-wise that wasn't in the Bay section)

First up, the age thing. I keep saying that Bumblebee is one of the youngest bots in the casts, even though he's technically an adult. This is true, in part because as far as we can see in canon, Transformers don't really have "child" stages, they're just born adults. And they don't really age; or well, they do, it just takes millions and millions of years to do so, so they're functionally immortal. So, they don't really age like us humans, physically and probably mentally too, given they skip the young child years. So I mean like, technically speaking, Bee's an adult, it's not really clear where that translates into our perception, so maybe he's more mentally a child? I don't think I'm making sense here, maybe ignore this section

But he is younger, and particularly in Prime, he's in a team of bots all much older than him. If I were to put them in mental human years, I'd say he and Smokescreen are probably somewhere in their early 20s, while everyone else is probably like, 35+. Bee is notably younger than his peers, and we are made aware of this fact. And this makes him appear even younger than he is

If I were to make a comparison, and maybe this is a bit random, but take Mouthwashing for example. I may never have been super knowledgeable of the fandom, but I am aware that Daisuke is like, 22, while everyone else on the Tulpar is 35+, and that makes him feel so much younger by comparison. He's only just started his adult life, compared to the far more experienced adults around him. And while I didn't see it, I do think I remember seeing people talk about how people kept portraying Daisuke as younger and more innocent than he is when he's a 22-year-old man. I also remember someone comparing the portrayals of Daisuke in the fandom with another character from another series (I think it was Omori?), who was the same age as Daisuke, but because that character is the oldest of the protagonist group, everyone else being children or teenagers, he was portrayed super differently to Daisuke. The other character had to be responsible and make mature decisions, while Daisuke is allowed to be silly and reckless. The point I'm trying to make here is that age, and how a character is portrayed and interpreted, is relative to the characters surrounding them, with the characters on the extremes sometimes getting exacerbated because of it. This is true in real life too, but for the sake of analysis

Bumblebee is the youngest member of the Autobot team (at least until Smokescreen), and thus, he feels even younger as a result. This is probably also helped by the fact that there's no Decepticons around his age either, everyone around Bumblebee is a full-grown adult by comparison. And his close relationship with Optimus, who is meant to be one of the older bots in the group, feels very paternal, which serves to make Bee feel again younger, like he's Optimus' son. Which I like here, but it furthers the issue

And on the topic of him just feeling younger, let's bring up Raf. Bumblebee is again a friend of a human protagonist, but in Prime we have 3 main humans, ranging in ages but all in grade school, and each one has an Autobot they're paired with. And Bumblebee gets Raf, the youngest member at around 12. Due to Raf's youngest member status and technically not being a teenager, he is, as I said before, the most "child" of the group, even if they're all technically children still. I thought he was 10 until I double checked and saw he was 12, and honestly, I feel like he feels younger than Sari did, who was only 8 when we met her. Probably because unlike Sari who had no human friends, Raf does, both of whom are older than him and treat him as such. It's the relative age thing again

But back to Bee, unlike with the other humans and bots, Bee doesn't act as the responsible adult, but more of a friend for Raf, though not nearly as chaotic as TFA Bee and Sari. They aren't causing trouble; they're just having fun and cute moments. There's again, the cuteness factor that probably contributes to the young feeling he brings, but it also serves to make Bumblebee not feel as much as an adult. Arcee is definitely an adult with Jack, and Bulkhead particularly gives me responsible adult vibes with Miko, at least on some occasions where they aren't indulging in fun, reckless behavior and Bulkhead has to get serious with her. They're responsible with the kids, even if they slip up at times, and help them learn things. But Bee doesn't have that with Raf, probably because Bee can't talk and give him the lesson. Raf also doesn't cause much trouble on his own and has Ratchet for that

Which segues me nicely into Bumblebee's lack of voice in this show. This was a carryover from Bayverse, since Hasbro was still trying to have synergy with the movies at that point. But instead of radio clips, he just beeps, with the other bots and Raf just being able to understand him, even though we the audience don't. And because of this, we never know what he's saying, and he also just straight up doesn't have a voice for us to gauge his age with. Thus, it's up to us the audience to fill in the blanks in our imaginations. But with all of the discussed factors of him being cute and young, we can just end up interpreting him as younger because of it. It's also again, probably because he doesn't talk. It's like R2D2 and BB-8, who only speak in beeps, but because they're cute, we see them probably as much cuter than they would be if we knew what they were actually saying (R2 especially)

To maybe go off on a weird tangent, I think child characters tend to be seen more as objects than people, or I guess objectified more, since they don't have fully developed brains and personalities and are less likely to be able to hold their own in a fight. They're things to be protected and loved and angst over, while all they need to do is be there and be cute. I think the lack of voice ties into this in a way, I just don't know how to explain it, other than like, because they took away his voice, we can see him as even cuter and child-like instead of the grown adult he is. Infantalization, that's what I'm trying to say. I think that's term for all of this, but you get what I mean by "babyfication"

Especially because at least for me, when Bumblebee did get his voice back, I started seeing him more as an adult, because he could actually talk and had an adult voice. Yes, him learning to take more of a leadership role in Predacons Rising is also a factor, but him having a voice now is part of it too. But he only got it back in the finale and the movie, so you spend pretty much the entire show with voiceless Bumblebee, and what comes with that

I think that wraps up everything about Prime Bee's portrayal, but now let me get into why I think overall, it was what really caused this baby Bee thing to stick

Like I said prior in the Animated section, the more something's repeated, the more it sticks, and these traits of Bumblebee being the youngest have been consistent throughout the series we've covered. Not to mention, I just think personality wise, this Bee feels the youngest/child-like, though again, it probably has to do with his company and lack of voice. And also, the fact that he's well-behaved, like how people want children to be

So, by this point, this interpretation of Bumblebee is stuck in our minds as how he is, younger than the rest of the team

But I think another big thing is that Transfomers Prime is probably the biggest series in the fandom, at least show-wise. G1 was influential and Animated is still popular, but no show comes close to the amount of popularity I see for Prime stuff, particularly their brand of megop or for their Decepticons in general. The only thing I've seen come close is Transformers One, which is also the newest one and what brought new people in during this wave, so who knows if it'll stick forever. I'm not sure where IDW stands though, because I know that was big too

If I had to attribute Prime's success in the fandom to things, I'd say it's because plenty of people around my age (20s-ish?), who are definitely online and on social media, grew up with Prime (though I will note that Transformers tends to have an older fandom than I'm used to), the fact that for a long time, Prime was easily accessible in its entirety on Netflix, long before the streaming wars (and this is how I watched the show), it generally has good writing and animation, it feels like it had a complete story, unlike Animated which had Season 4 cancelled, and Frank Welker and Peter Cullen were back as Megatron and Optimus, making them feel more "definitive". Among probably other things I'm missing

But the point is, Prime is big, and it'll take a lot to dethrone it, outside of possibly some TF One sequels sticking the landing after the first movie. But that's not certain at the moment

And like I said before, popular interpretations tend to bleed into other series and interpretations, even when they don't entirely fit. There's a reason when people want Knock Out in another show, they basically want more TFP Knock Out, design and character wise, or why Breakdown was in Earthspark without the other Stunticons. Or why people basically try to recreate the g1 backstory when making Skyfire and skystar for their stories, even when I'm not really sure versions of Starscreams would ever be scientists. Why Functionism will show up in fanfics despite something like TF One not really having a place for it outside of the cogless thing. Why people will instinctively ship megop across continuities despite it not working as well in some (*cough cough TFA cough*). Why Megatron and Optimus have largely had the same backstories for ~15 years, with One being probably the most different, but still the same general beats. It happens both in canon and fanon, but it definitely happens

So when Prime Bumblebee is portrayed as young, and probably intentionally, it sticks in our minds that Bumblebee is very young and usually will be. He's like Optimus' son here, especially since he explicitly is younger than him. He's cute and friendly, even if he can get into trouble sometimes. He's just a little guy

And by this point, the franchise was like, 30 years old. There's been a number of series, and a lot of the general staples of the series had been set and remain today. I'd argue Prime is the last of the "foundational" series in this franchise, at least where we are now with it; we could end up going in another direction in the future. So it's gonna be hard to just change how we see the characters here

The shows after

I won't go into each one in detail after this, because let's be real, this is long enough already. And again, I don't think at this stage, anything other than One has left as much of an impact on the fandom/series

We're skipping over RID 2015 since I haven't watched it, but I do think it's one of the shows with the least of this problem. Probably because he is at least initially surrounded by characters his age or younger, so the age relativity isn't a factor

Cyberverse actually has Bumblebee around the same age as Optimus here, not being notably younger, but that holds true for everyone in that series; basically everyone here is the same age, outside of like, Cheetor. I don't interact with the Cyberverse fandom enough to know how it fares with Bee there, but given he's a main character, probably more than Optimus, he's probably doing fine?

Though I have to admit I personally find it weird when Bee gets shipped, because surprise, I too have some amount of the babybee influence on me too. I mention it here because there's genuinely nothing wrong with shipping Bumblebee and Windblade here, if anything it makes so much sense; it's just that I can't get out of my head that Bee is supposed to be younger, and thus, shouldn't be shipped

I know nothing about the War for Cybertron trilogy

Earthspark Bumblebee is another case of being hit with the baby beam the least, which I think is attributed to his role as the Terrans' mentor. Once again, he is put as an older character instead of younger, and even more so than RID because he's the main adult teaching our young child protagonists. The age relativity is working in his favor this time. Most you're gonna get is him being called megop's child of divorce, but those two are old anyways

So far, canon wise, it doesn't seem that bad

But then we get to One, which is where I think the problem is really rearing its ugly head. See, B-127 is never said to be younger than the rest of the quartet, he's assumed to be the same age as them. Heck, you could maybe even see him as a bit older, given his odd knowledge and having been in Sublevel 50 so long. But B is constantly portrayed as younger than the rest, being the child of divorce, but actually more "child" this time, him basically being Optimus and/or Elita's son (Megatron is another parent too), despite no indication of such a bond in the movie outside of just being friends (even less so with Elita, whom he has the least screen time with of the group), or just straight up being made into a child or baby for the rest of the group to parent, despite it taking out a member of the group, especially when again, he is not said to be younger

But it keeps happening to him because it's the new popular series and some are coming in with prior expectations and knowledge of B and his relationships, that Bee must always be baby, and probably because he's very energetic and hyper and probably neurodivergent, which has a history of getting characters infantalized. Not saying everyone who sees him as younger is problematic or ableist for doing so, just that this probably contributes on some level to why it's so widespread

I think I've covered all my points at this rate. Are we finally done? Can I go do my schoolwork? Sorry, just random, I've been here for a while

So, to summarize, why does Bumblebee get babyfied so much?

Because Bee has a long history as being young, he's put around older characters who make him feel younger by comparison, he's got a design that lends him to be seen as cute and young, especially in the most well-known depictions (I mostly mean g1, Bayverse and Prime here), the fact that the show were all of these traits are at their biggest is also the most popular show, and thus influencing people's minds going forward that this is how he should be, even when it doesn't fit so well

And I don't think this mentality around Bee is going away anytime soon, and it isn't necessarily wrong to make Bee a young bot, but I think we should acknowledge that sometimes it's trying to fit a square in a round hole, it just doesn't fit as well, and we need to be mindful of that

[usercelestial]

i would like to hear your thoughts ❤️

gahhhh okay no one throw rocks at me, this is buck x oc

adam has been a nurse for a long time. he's dealt with trauma after trauma, met so many firefighters and paramedics but none with a bigger heart than evan buckley. he's seen him around a few times, the station 118 is pretty well known in their hospital for being a bit a problem station. people are constantly getting stabbed and struck by lightning, evan buckley in particular seems like maybe he pissed off god personally. they exchanged a few words here and there, laughed at a few of the others jokes, but every time they lock eyes, buck makes quick work to look away and bite the inside of his cheek. adam specializes in hurt and believe him, buck seems... hurt.

it isn't until they bring in a young kid, probably 16 or 17, with bruises and cuts all over his body. he was beaten until- well, until it was pretty touch and go for a minute there. two of them hang back in particular, hen and buck. he's talked to hen before, back when she was going through med school, she told him about her wife and kids, how hard she was fighting for them, how draining it was. adam joked about that sounding familiar, he remembers med school well enough when he was single, he couldn't imagine it with a partner and a kid.

the two of them were standing together, watching the kid be carted away, both biting their cheeks and clenching their fists. hen whispered something to buck and patted his back.

"i know, it's just- god, that was brutal." buck wipes his face.

"that's why we look out for each other." hen squeezes his arm and walks away.

"does he have anyone to look out for him?" buck says to himself

interesting, he doesn't know the full story- just that that kid looked like he was in a hell of a lot of pain. and judging by the rainbow bracelet around his wrist, he's guessing he knows why.

he's about to work himself up to go talk to him. there's something about his eyes, wide and sad and so deep in thought he wonders how he pulls himself out.

they lock eyes again. adam gives him a tiny wave and an awkward smile. buck looks like he's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and returns the nicety before bolting out the door. hen notices and looks back, processing something in her head. she smiles but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.

then buck shows up at the hospital later in his civvies, rubbing his hands together.

"hey!" adam says just a little too loudly, cringing.

buck jumps a little, like a scared deer, adam absolutely does not think it's the cutest thing in the world.

"uh, h-hi." buck is still whining his hands together.

"adam! sorry, i don't know if i ever gave you my name or if you remember-"

"i do." buck smiles, "yeah, i remember."

"good." and then he just stands like an idiot for reasons he cannot grasp before remembering he should probably speak now, "are you visiting someone?"

"do you remember that kid from earlier? the one had the um-"

"the kid that got hate-crimed? yeah i remember. he's stable now. he had a rough night, but he'll pull through."

buck visibly releases a weight off himself, "oh, good. i just wanted to check in on him. i don't know, it was a rough call, it was driving me crazy not knowing."

adam put down his clipboard, nodding, "yeah, i mean, that stuff definitely hits home for me, for sure."

"it doesn't for me," buck says and oh, shit, i guess he's not queer, fuck did i read this wrong, "i mean! like- when i came out, i had so many people that cared about me. my sister, my-well- my dad, my best friend, my boyf-" buck cuts himself off and deflates again, "sorry. i just hated the idea that he didn't have that, you know?"

"no, i get it, don't apologize. that's-thats really sweet. visiting hours are almost over but i can see if he's up for it, okay?"

bucks nods, and maybe adam is a fool with a dumb little crush but he swears he blushes a little. he feels his heart bursting a little about it. he came back to this kid, felt the need to check in and ask about him, because he didn't have something that he did.

"pull it together," he whispers to himself as he walks away.

buck keeps coming back, too. visiting the kid as often as possible, playing cards, and giving him fun facts from some documentaries he's watched. adam perks up whenever he hears one that he's watched. he lets it slip that he watched the same one, went on the same wikipedia binge. buck does that smile softly and look away like you're about to throw thing he does. adam occasionally joins in on the conversation whenever he gets a free moment. and then eventually, the kid gets discharged and buck is there to see him off. it turns out he has an aunt out in texas that's far more accepting than his folks here. he swears he sees buck tear up a little as he walks out the door, waving back at both of them.

and adam fully expects buck to go back to being a first responder he sees a few times a week and exchanging awkward, stolen glances.

but he doesn't stop coming. buck shows up the next day with two coffees in his hand. adam waves at him and buck breathes like he's psyching himself up and walks over.

"you said you liked chai lattes, so, um, i figured-i figured you would-"

"thanks!" adam decides to put him out of his misery, "are you visiting someone?"

buck ducks his head and scratches his neck, his smile looking less tortured, "hopefully, if you were free, you."

"i was about to go on my first break, if you wanted to go for a bit of a walk." adam suggests.

"that sounds great." buck clears his throat.

"great, gimme just a second, alright?" he walks away and hears buck mutter what he thinks, "i used to be better at this."

a few weeks pass by like that. buck hovering just on the outskirts of his life, very careful not to step too far in, but still present in a way that drives him crazy. he can't stop thinking about him but he only gets him for fifteen minutes now.

"do you wanna go out for dinner sometime?" adam asks, trying to sound as casual as possible.

buck gasps, like audibly, like a woman fainting after meeting the beatles, "i-uh, i should probably get back, sorry."

oh, he watches him go. and then stop in his tracks. and then turn back around, "can i get your number actually? or instagram or something?"

trying to contain his excitement, he nods, because of course he nods. when a hot, sweet as fuck, puppy dog eyed firefighter offers you their phone number, it's a crime to say no.

eventually, they do end up on a date- or at least he thinks it's a date. he can't be sure. the wine certainly feels date-eske but he really can't be sure because buck is barely looking at him in the eyes. he picked his very best "possibly a date" outfit and went in with low expectations for anything other than a really pleasant, really awkward evening. he decides though that if he gets to spend it with buck, it feels worth the awkward tension. especially because sometimes, he can coax him out of it and he looks so- vulnerable, an open wound. he's like a starry sky that hides behind a cloudy night.

adam doesn't remember what he says but eventually they start talking about things that should probably be save for the 40th date, not the maybe, jury's still out first.

but adam definitely knows he says, "you seem like you've been hurt." because the moment he does, he wants to punch himself in the face after buck gets this horrified expression like adam just said he likes kicking dogs in his spare time.

then, the moment passes, and he clicks his tongue, "i used to be better at hiding it."

"it seems like maybe it's a good thing you don't."

buck shakes his head, "i also used to be better at this," he gestures between them, "dating, flirting, having a crush," which does get buck to smile and adam gets to see that twinkle in his eyes again.

"oh okay, so this is a date, noted. and- you're not terrible at it, it's pretty adorable, actually. and i'm hardly one to judge. i'm very familiar with hurt."

buck keeps smiling, "well, my hurt is a 40 year old firefighter-pilot who broke up with me a year ago, so- i don't know how familiar you are with that kind of hurt."

"oh, i am all too familiar with that kind of hurt. does this hurt have a name?"

buck sucks in a breath, adam gets the sense that he hasn't said it in a while, "tommy. tommy kinard."

adam feels like buck is cracked open right now, "are you not ready to move on yet? cause, i'm okay with just being friends!"

"i really don't want to."

"be friends? damn, okay-"

buck puts on a hand on his for a second and adam's heart flutters, "no, i don't want to be just friends. tommy was- well, i loved him. i mean, i-"

"still do?"

"god, i'm really cursed to fuck up first dates, aren't i?"

"it's okay. i mean, i like you. i've liked you for a while, you know? and i've had my own tommy, the one that got away, one i'll never stop loving. i think-" it hurts to think about but he knows it would hurt more to forget about it, "i think what our tommys have in common is that we never let them go, or stop loving them, but we-" he sighs, thinking about his own heartbreak, his own first love, his own missed connection, "we take the love we have for them and we can let it grow into love for others too."

bucks bites his cheek. adam briefly wonders if the inside of his mouth is scarred of all the biting, "i guess i'm scared of giving him up. like if i stop thinking about it or if i like someone else, he'll disappear and everything we had will just- vanish," he chokes out.

adam hums, "it won't. that's the great thing about tommys, right? they stay with you, you never stop feeling that love. you just- build on it and give it to the next person."

buck has tears in his eyes now, adam thinks he might too, but god he's looking at such a beautiful man, with such a big heart and he can't help but thank whoever tommy is for giving him so much love that he's overflowing with it.

"sorry-"

"don't apologize, this got heavy really quick and we're only half way through the bottle of wine," they both laugh into their glasses.

"i guess i'm a little- hurt, like you said."

"i'm a nurse, buck, i kind of specialize in hurt. and if you're willing to try, i'd like another date, one that i actually know is a date beforehand."

buck really does blush this time, "i can do that."

buck leans in and kisses him on the cheek on the way out, oh god, he's a gentleman too, i'm so screwed.

down the line, when they're celebrating their engagement in the same park they used to walk through on adam's breaks, he thinks to himself, not for the first time, oh, tommy kinard, wherever you are, whoever you're with, thank you for loving our man, and thank you for letting me love him just as much.

[localsamalicer]

My bestie made a DoorKeay kid and one time when talking about them having a baby it was brought up that if Gerry were to be pregnant distortion Michael would still somehow feel the majority of the pregnancy pains.

[creaturefeaster]

ive been thinking about this for a while, i sent an ask about it a while ago but i was in a spot with bad service so im not sure if it sent or not, so sorry if something like this already went through to your ask box. But, how does vilmer and maja speak and know swedish if cq doesnt take place on earth? is there a different place that’s native language is swedish, and also is it called something different? or is sweden just laying around somewhere on theia

It's a mix of a few things, and it applies to all real languages used in the CQ universe:

1) There are no Earth-aligned countries on Theia, but there are definitely parts & communities of the world that have different languages, accents, and dialects. This is also why there are other languages spoken such as Spanish or French, why Bonnie knows languages such as Hungarian, and so on.

2) Even though I chose to express the world's writing primarily in English, it's still a language just like any other and should not be assumed the default for the entire world of Theia. Many places they travel to, were there to be any survivors, do not speak English at all.

3) My ass is not about to conjure 100 different fake languages for the world when there are plenty of interesting and very real languages to explore & implement into the world. The swedes spawned in this world and they are here to stay, and no they won't elaborate how or why.

Also yes it is still called swedish, same for any other real language used in my writing ^_^!

[edge-oftheworld]

quarterly reminder that lighter is a BOP

[ennard-is-near]

“I know it was an accident” (from the SL secret night) get slept on so hard. I think about that line every day and I’ve never seen anyone else talk about it.

[broken-clover]

Holiday retail shifts this year are turning me into an unironic hallmark villain. Something uniquely wrath inducing about getting snapped at over 30 cent discounts while the radio blares songs about it being the most wonderful and peaceful time of year. If anyone comes within my vicinity with any song that has the words merry jolly christmas reindeer snow or bright in them or has that obnoxiously twee sounding singing that's like 50 years old or sounds like frank sinatra or has nasally small child singing I'm going to beat them with a lamppost. If they play any iteration of 'my favorite things' again I'm committing arson. I'm reaching the end of my rope. I look at the calendar and there's still two more weeks to go

[offthewall1979]

the "mj's real voice was really deep, the high pitched voice was just an act for the public" thing is really tiresome. people just talk differently in different situations. i think he was self-conscious, i don't think it was some grand manipulative scheme. he grew up in the spotlight, with hundreds of thousands of people focused on his voice. he spoke like that as a very young teenager. there are private phone calls where he sounds just as gentle and high pitched as in interviews. there are live performances where he used a deeper voice to command more attention. maybe there WAS an element of manipulation - i do think he was very aware of his image and effect on people - but i don't think it was some elaborate conspiracy

[8cfc00]

i love relistening to podcasts to the point where relistening to any episode becomes incredibly boring because i already know what happens

[tothechaos]

just played bg3 for the last five hours and with my door closed, the heat generated from my pc was enough to raise the temperature of my room by several degrees compared to the rest of my apartment

[bravevolunteer]

me vs the urge to rewrite my bio for no reason

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Art Collectors (5.18, ITC, 1967)

"I don't understand you, Mr. Templar."

"Why, it isn't that I object to doing the fair thing, it's just that I don't like being forced to do it at gunpoint."

[fantasticgothicpeachsludge]

Help help help I had a fnaf dream that actually fucked me up

[irregularmelody]

just watched An Undeniably Canon Five Nights at Freddy's Timeline and all I have to say is: I'm undeniably enamored by this whimsical creature.