#no one is gonna look at a dead kid and immediately assume he has an alive alter ego

[potatoeofwisdom]

[fanaticalthings]

Most children, once they've grown up and moved out, sometimes come back to visit their parents to use their house as a sort of personal grocery store

And with Bruce being a literal billionaire whose house is always stocked with food and supplies, the batkids (that aren't living in the manor) definitely visit just for the purpose of taking shit for themselves.

---

For Dick, it's just small things, food and maybe some utensils. Bruce is barely in the kitchen so he never notices dishes go missing, and there are like 10 other children in his house so literally any one of the younger kids could've stolen food in the middle of the night, so he doesn't bat an eye at all.

Babs probably steals Bruce's hardware or his tools from the batcave. Sometimes, if she's nice, she'll leave a note.

Steph probably takes shit that no one will notice at the time but will absolutely be annoyed about when they need said thing. Stapler, soap bars, the microwave plate, etc...(Taking after Jason, she steals the hub caps off the batmobile's tires)

However, for Jason, once his relationship with Bruce is somewhat decent, of course he's gonna be petty and start stealing the more expensive shit in the manor for his apartment. Jason's microwave is broken? The next day, the cave's self-made and enhanced microwave made by Bruce for convenience is just gone.

Jason's feeling a coffee maker for his place? The one in Bruce's study disappears, too.

---

At first, Bruce thinks he's just sleep deprived, but then much bigger things start to go missing, like the whole TV and couch set in the living room. He assumes the younger kids are just playing pranks on him (sounds like something Stephanie would do) but then Bruce notices that the thief deliberately avoids stealing things from the kitchen, which is where Alfred is most of the time, and suddenly Bruce has an irritated clue on who the culprit is.

At first, he doesn't say anything, until one day he comes back, tired from a patrol, and is about to log in all the info on the computer only to realize his batchair is gone. That's when he texts Jason a blunt "If you really need things for your place, you can just ask me. I'll buy them for you." (As if Jason himself isn't loaded from his totally legal activities)

---

So now Jason's pettiness levels increase tenfold, and oh, wouldn't you look at it, his bike needs some new tires, and he knows a great place to get some more.

One night, Bruce is just blearily getting up for a late night snack, only to see Damian scamper away with a...lamp? So Bruce immediately follows him into the foyer only to see ALL of his kids (sans the ones not living in the manor), trying to haul two arm chairs out the window, and they just stop dead silent to stare at him until someone whispers a nervous "Crap"

Bruce doesn't even have any energy to fight, he just pinches his nose and is all "What is the meaning of this" in his tired dad voice. And Duke meekly responds with "we wanted more chairs at Jason's place"

And suddenly it all makes sense. Not once did Bruce wonder how the HELL Jason managed to lug a whole 60in TV and a full couch set on his own in one night. Of course, he had accomplices. Bruce just turns right around and goes right the hell back to his room to sleep. He'll deal with this in the morning.

[remotepixel]

headcanons for platonic peter parker who wants to be your brother sooo bad

AAAA ok i want to say thank you so much for requesting !!!!!! i was literally so excited when i saw it lol.

I set this around Homecoming but didn't specify too much.

TW: yandere themes!

I imagine Peter always wanted a sibling.

-As a bullied, ‘weird’ kid, he grew up wishing he could have someone to hang out with when no one else wanted to.

-Of course, his parents always said no (since it obviously isn’t as simple as young him thought) and he never pestered May and Ben about it, too busy grieving and learning the struggles of money, but the idea lingered well into his teens.

-And, when he met you, he couldn’t help but think maybe God was granting him his wish.

He would be very clingy (to put it simply).

-If you’re in the same school, he’ll make you sit with him and his friends at lunch, walk you to and from lessons, anything to keep himself glued to your side.

-If not, he’ll be constantly checking his phone, texting you 24/7 (or calling you if he can), to the point I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a couple detentions for it.

-He acts like being away from you is the worst thing to ever happen to him.

-Like if doesn’t get a constant reminder that you’re not ignoring him and you’re just busy he’s gonna drop dead.

Outside of school, he would normally invite you around his house to build lego Star Wars or binge old movies no one else your age knows.

-I think he’d really like having things only between you two - like an inside joke or a project you work on together - both because he has an excuse to talk to you, and because it makes it seem like you’ve know each other your whole lives (something he wishes desperately was true).

I imagine Aunt May seeing you two hanging out one day, squabbling about how to properly ensemble the last piece (he’d probably go with your judgement no matter what though), and tells him something along the lines of ‘stop fighting with your sibling’ as a joke.

-The way Peter’s face would just be 😯 before breaking into a massive smile that permanently stays on his face for the next month.

-Like, even Aunt May agrees that he’s your brother, that's basically the same as her adopting you, yeah? no-

Peter is a bit delusional if you couldn't tell.

-Like, the way he constantly called Happy because he convinced himself that it was gonna go through eventually? Yeah, you’re getting the same treatment.

-He assumes you feel the same even if you so much as look at him (I bet he’ll think it’s some ‘sibling secret code’ and look at you in the same way so it looks like he understood).

That isn’t to say he’s ignorant to your emotions though.

-He copies your feelings in a way - like, if you’re sad, he’ll be as well, if you’re angry at something, he’ll be angry, etc.

-He isn’t one for violence but I don’t think he would care if Spiderman webbed/roughed up a few people who were annoying you (I don’t think he’d do much more unless you were in serious danger or he got too caught up into his feelings like in no way home).

I can’t believe I didn’t mention this before but he would be so jealous if you actually had (a) sibling(s).

-Like, he’s supposed to be your brother, but now he has to compete with people who know you so much better than he does? People who get to live with you and say you’re related without getting funny looks?

-(He lied to MJ once and it immediately backfired- he just wanted someone to actually think you and him were siblings, ok? Is that really a crime?)

-I don’t think he would have it in him to be outright mean to them, but he wouldn’t be overly nice either, just neutral enough to hide any jealously and not get banned from seeing you.

He tries not to come across as pathetic (don’t tell him he lowkey is-) but he’s never had much of a family before. Sure, he has Aunt May but everyone else? Dead, just like that.

Siblings is a whole new world for him and he just wants to be there for you, be your role model like Stark is for him, and prove that he can be the best brother ever.

I have re-read this but my tenses might be messed up </3

[pxtched]

ok so this head has been rotting in my head and i think its time to let it free.

so pirate!miguel stumbles on siren!reader's territory by accident bc his ship got wrecked and he was sorta the only left of his crew (u can change that if u want ofc) and siren!reader saves him cus she wants to know if any other man is gonna come so she can prepare herself for a future attack. he wakes up by mouth to mouth but he doesnt realise until siren!reader herself says something about it. the rest you can decide.

i love ur fics sm! stay hydrated!<33

𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞

╰ Pirate!miguel x Fem!siren!reader.

╰ angst, death, slowly gaining trust then immediate betrayal, (not really…)

AN: this is so short I’m SO SORRY, thank you for letting it free!! Thank you for requesting and hope this is to your liking!

Miguel ohara.

That was a name that was well known, feared, and one of the strongest captains and have one of the most strongest crew in the sea. Get attacked by him? You’re dead, you aren’t making it out alive.

He’s listening to his crew mate talks about sirens, saying how they are worth a lot and they should go hunting for one! Miguel instantly rejected the idea, saying it’s a waste of time.

Miguel never really believed in sirens, he thought it was some tale to scare kids and to make pirates like him search endlessly for them.

“Awh c’mon!” “No Peter, It’s just a waste of time and resources.” “You are like probably the only captain that dosent believe in sirens” “Because I’m not stupid.”

He remembers helping another crew hunt a siren but never even saw it, nor heard it. Miguel scoffed at the fact he wasted his time helping someone hunt for something that probably wasn’t even real.

But now? He believes, he saw one. He even looked at one. Talked to one.

Miguel felt like he had a fever dream, he doesn’t know how to put it into words that what happened in that day was real and not some random dream.

He’s not even on his ship anymore, not his crew, just some random people. He dosent know what happened to his crew mates but just assumed the worst.

It happened so suddenly, He was sailing on the ocean on his ship with his crew mates. Laughing and just having fun. When he least expected it, the tides got rough, the waves got higher and it was stormy too.

The last thing he saw before passing out was a massive wave, All he remembers is feeling the impact and then black.

His ship wrecked god knows where, His crew mates most likely dead sinking down in the same ocean but different area than Miguel. Miguel was drowning alone.

Until you saw him, You noticed him sinking down. Your first thought was free food but then you realized who he is. He’s a pirate. The same ones who try’s to hunt your kind. You scowl at this discovery but you soon realized he’s alone, his ship is gone too.

You could get information if there’s any attacks coming, their weaknesses and then kill him.

So, you save him. Grabbing his body, stopping him from dying and throwing him on the shore. you look at his body, you recognize that symbol that’s on his chest...your eyes widened, you grit your teeth as the grip on him tightened.

This was the Captain that helped that crew hunt your kind. Yeah, you are going to kill this man afterwards.

You give him CPR, isn’t working. So you give him mouth to mouth. Soon enough he’s awake sitting up immediately, coughing up some water. He looks at you, looks around. He’s at some random island as some lady saved him.

“What do you want from me? Is there anyone else coming? Is there going to be future attacks I don’t know about?” You immediately question him.

He looks at you once again in confusion and opens his mouth to answer but his mouth closed then his jaw went slack as his eyes widened in horror as he realizes that you aren’t a human but a siren.

He frantically searches for his cutlass but you hold it in front of him “looking for this?” You say as you toss it in the water. He looks at it sink I the water then looks back at you in fear but regain his composure.

“I don’t mean any harm, I didn’t even know—“ you scoffed, not believing his words “Oh cut the bullshit, answer my questions now.” You demanded him.

You get closer to him narrowing your eyes at him as he backs up “Is there going to be any men attacking me? Is there going to be people trying to hunt me down?” You questioned him once again.

“I’m being truthful, I don’t know. I didn’t hear anything about people looking for you. I don’t mean harm, You can see that my crew mates are not here most likely dead. My ship is wrecked. So please trust me.” He pleads, you glare at him and backed off.

“Why would i ever believe a pirate Like you?” You sneered at him, and he sighed “Please, I’m alone. You have my word.” He pleads once again. You look at him trying to see if he’s trying to trick you but you don’t see any malice in his eyes.

You decided to trust him, you felt bad for him. And you especially know how it is to be alone so, you just nodded and point your head to the island “There’s some food there, You Can stay” you tell him and you swam away in the water.

He smiled and began to explore the island, trying to see what he can work with for the time being. He can deal with this, He is a bit shaken up that he just talked to a siren.

As time went by, you guys respected your guys space. Staying away from eachother…which was actually you avoiding him because you still hated him.

But after a couple of days, you talked to him more. Making short and awkward small talks but it’s something!

Now Miguel sits at the shore, looking at the water as he searches for you. He notices your eyes staring at him back and he’s a bit startled but he offers his hand to you, you swim up to him and take his hand.

“Yes?” You say, tilting your head. He smiled at you and puts an apple in your hand “Here, I don’t really know what you eat and i don’t want you to still hate me” you eyes widened at his kindness.

You couldn’t help but chuckle a bit “you don’t do your research?” You say as you take a bite of the apple, usually you’ll just eat whatever is in the sea or sailors but sometimes an apple wouldn’t hurt.

He shakes his head “No, I don’t focus on stuff like that. I just focus on where I’m going, why, and the safety.” He admits honestly, you raise and eyebrow at him being a bit skeptical of him.

“You were there helping another pirate hunt my kind” you pointed out and he sighed “you think I wanted too? It was a waste of my time and my resources. Even after that I didn’t believe”

You smile. Maybe he isn’t half bad “Realized I never got your name, What is your name?” You asked him.

He smiles, knowing he’s getting on good terms with you “Miguel, Miguel ohara” and he offered you a handshake, you give him a handshake.

“you aren’t that bad Miguel, I thought you were going to kill me or send men my way” you joked and he shakes his head.

“I wouldn’t either way, why would i crash my ship risk my teammates life and my own! just for a chance to get you?” He asks and you thought about it. Huh, he was right. “Dunno, people are desperate.” You shrugged and he laughed.

“True, true. I see pirates fight all the time and I don’t get why!” He says while eating some berrys, You didn’t even notice but he was halfway in the water. “So, how’s the pirate life been?” You asked him.

“It’s…Something alright, it’s always shocking something. Everyday is an adventure and I…had my crew mates with me, it was fun and I miss it. I miss their laughter, and…everything.” he tells you. His shoulders dropped as he has a frown on his face.

You feel bad for him, you understand how that feels to be left alone. To miss home, to miss everyone and everything.

You put a hand on his shoulder and then loved it up to his cheek for him to look at you.

“Hey, It’s okay. I understand where your coming from. Trust me, I know how it feels to be alone. I didn’t live here always, I was with my family, my friends but then…they came. I seen all of my family die in front of my eyes.” You looked away, You didn’t like going back to this memory but you told him anyways.

“I tried to stop them but 3 ships was there. I couldn’t do anything, so I swam away as fast as I can. And that’s how I got here” you confessed to him.

It was silence for a few moments but then he apologized “I’m sorry that happened, but hey! You got me now” he says with a smile, picking the mood back up. you laughed, You Can Finally trust him.

But that thought quickly goes away, you hear the familiar sounds of a pirate ship. Your smile dropped. There was multiple, he lied to you.

His eyes widened in horror as your widened as well. You back away from him, looking at him with disgust and betrayal. You turn around to the ships and you noticed that they are aiming their pistols at you, their cannons as well.

He desperately pleads that he didn’t do this, that he didn’t know but you glared at him. You’re in disbelief that you actually gave him the benefit of the doubt and trust him.

As much as you want to attack him, You safety matters first. So you swim away deep in the water as Miguel watches, as he hears his name being called from the people above.

A/N2: im so sorry this took so long

[starluvsx]

★𝐉𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥

Chris sturniolo x fem!reader

Word count:1887

Proof read:yurrr

WARNINGS:swearing, pick me girl, couple fighting, jealousy (duh)

A/N:def gonna make a second part to this but i'm not sure how i wanna go abt it yet.also sorry i haven't published anything in awhile lol i've had lik 0 motivation and i've also just been crazy busy.btw this https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8AtpHeu/ is the everlong meme that is mentioned if you don’t know what I’m talking abt.

𖦹 𖦹

I set my lash glue down as I heard the unmistakable ring of an incoming phone call from across the room.knowing i was going out with my friends and my boyfriend and that's what I was getting ready for, I immediately got up from my vanity to grab my phone. 'matty boy' read the caller id.it was strange for matt to be calling me instead of chris but i simply assumed his phone was dead, not thinking much about it.

"hey y/nn, we're outside, you ready?'' Matt spoke into the phone.before i could answer his question i heard faint giggling in the back.due to it sounding like a girls giggle i became more confused.as far as i knew it was just the three boys and me, madi backing out because she was babysitting unfortunately.

"yea i just need to put my lash on but i'll be out in a sec"i answered truthfully. more giggling could be heard, now clearer than before.yes i was curious but chose not to ask anything because i was probably on speaker right now.

"Alright, just take your time, we're not in a rush,"Matt said calmly before I muttered a quick 'mk' and hung up the phone.

stepping out of the house i immediately saw the van waiting for me.speed walking up to it happily.as i got closer to the car i could see the front seat,the one my boyfriend normally sits in, was empty.weird yes but not insane.i mean it's not like he's shackled down to the seat.but once i made it to the door of the car i realized the reality of what was going on.nick sat on the left,chris in the middle and ashley on the right looking up at chris while leaning onto his shoulder. what the fuck was all i thought as i stepped into the car. "hey babe, '' Chris said from the back seat, causing the smaller girl to slowly get off him.

"Oh hi Chris" I said lovingly,not wanting to call him anything but his first name at the sight of him being so touchy with another girl.

"oh yea you know Ashley right y/n '' Matt said as he began to back out of my driveway.of course i knew her.although she was more of the boys friend then mine it was pretty hard to miss her with how obnoxious she was. Nick has told me many times that he's not too fond of her but Chris and Matt seem to have no problem with the girl.

"Hey,"I said with a warm smile on my face while turning around to greet the girl,only receiving a small awkward smile in return.

Once we had finally made it to the restaurant after what felt like forever we all stepped out of the car.chris gave me a small kiss on the cheek now that we were close together. "I missed you, '' the taller boy whispered into my ear, causing me to forget everything I had seen previously.

Ashley and Nick had now taken the lead of our group,Matt in the middle and me and Chris in the back.The order stayed the same as we entered the restaurant and Nick began talking to the seating lady. "yea so party of five- 'who's the fifth? oh yea nevermind' ashley interrupted.not sure how she could forget me when she was on top of my boyfriend a minute ago but ok i guess.

"chris sit with me!" she said like a little kid once the seater brought us to a booth.nick,who now was sitting to her left gave me a look that described how i felt as well.my boyfriend awkwardly obliged and sat with her, leaving me to sit with Matt.which i would have been totally fine with if my boyfriend wasn't sitting directly across from me with another girl.

"wait your seriously gonna eat all of that.'' Ashley said as I began to eat my food.being on top of my boyfriend is one thing but making backhanded comments is another.

if we weren't in public i would’ve said something as rude as what just came out of her cheaply filled lips but due to the restaurant being packed i decided to be civil "well yea im fuckin hungry"was all i said before turning to nick in order to start a conversation with him.

"Y/nn take a picture of us for the photo dump tomorrow."nick said as he handed me his phone.i nodded slightly as i opened his camera and told them to pose.but of course as soon as the word left my mouth little miss bitch hooked herself onto chris and leaned on his shoulder.

yes i was mad at her for being like this for no apparent reason but i was also upset at chris for not saying anything.he just sat there and posed as well. "ok now we gotta get you guys, Ashley, take the photo since you're like in the middle." nick asked politely

"you sure she won't break the camera?'' Ashley joked as she looked at Nick for approval of her poorly curated joke.

"yea im pretty fuckin sure."the blonde boy replied.

"If that's really a concern of yours then maybe don't turn the camera around"Matt said in my defense.Through all this Chris stayed silent.like his lips were sealed.

For once Ashley didn't say anything,snatching the phone out of my hand.And now since Chris was being weird I decided to piss him off a little.make him feel what i've felt all night.

I put up a small thumbs up and leaned onto Matt's shoulder as my pose.the boy to my right did the same hand movement as we both smiled.I knew he wouldn't take this the wrong way and maybe even would understand why I was doing this.

✧Two days later, Saturday

My thumb repeated the same movement it had been doing for the past 45 minutes.it being late at night and not exactly wanting to talk to my boyfriend due to the way he acted the other night made my night extremely boring.

the next video on my for you page was one i didn't expect to see but the timing was almost perfect.it was a screen recording of the photo dump where the person scrolled until they got to the photos from the other night.the first picture was the one of me and matt and the next one was the one i took.the one where my boyfriend acted the same way he does with me, with another girl.

the video being the everlong meme made it slightly funny in my head but no laugh came out of me.before thinking i sent it to chris and nick.i sent it to nick because i knew he would agree and talk shit with me but i sent it to chris to show him why i haven't been talking to him the past day.why i haven't answered his calls or texts.

Nick's response was what I expected to be honest. 'yea im not inviting her anywhere no more, fuck that bitch' was what he had typed and sent in response to the video.

chris did not respond at all.simply leaving me on read.that hurt more than the other shit he's done recently.not only does he always respond to the videos i send him but one where i'm obviously trying to tell him something important.i glanced up at the time in the corner of my phone.it was only 8:30.too early for me to fall asleep so i simply turned over and continued scrolling.

After about an hour I heard the doorbell ring.assuming it was a stupid kid from down the street due to there being a lot of teens that lived on my road I ignored it.then the bell rang again.I rolled my eyes and became more aware of my surroundings, now being woken up.

‘Ping’ was all I heard from my phone that was now faces down on my mattress.as I turned it over the first and only notification I had was from my boyfriend, Chris.a text message that simply read “can you open the door it’s mad cold out here”

I sighed deeply as I realized what was going on.stepping out of my warm bed and walking down the stairs in my chilly house.

Once I had made it to the door I left my hand on the knob for a moment before opening it, not exactly sure if I wanted to be face to face with Chris at the moment.but nonetheless I opened it and was met with a sorry looking blue eyed boy.

“Hey”I said quietly due to me still being tired.I didn’t exactly know what to say.we almost never got into fights like this,certainly not one’s where we went more than a day not talking.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”the boy quickly said,skipping any form of greeting.

“Excuse me?”I responded.I noticed little drops of rain began to form outside as our conversation started.was he seriously blaming me for his bs?

He was struggling to look me in the eyes,something he had never had a problem with in the past.he actually often said he could stare into mine for hours and get lost in them. “Why didn’t you say anything to me, how was I supposed to know you were upset?”he said now more arrogant hints in his tone.

“Oh jeez sorry I thought my boyfriend of 3 years would be able to know that I don’t exactly love when some random girl calls me ugly and then hops on top of him”I said in response to his stupid question.

“She’s not just some girl,she’s my friend,”he said rudely.

“Go fuck yourself”i said weakly,tears welling up in my eyes.now the rain began to hit the ground harder.it was almost as if it was synced up with how i felt.

“What”he whispered

“I said go fuck yourself dip shit,get out of my face,leave me alone,I don’t want to see you let alone talk to you right now!”i said now louder.anger and sadness being my main emotions.

“Y/n I just don’t understand why you're being like this,I get that you don’t like what she said and how she’s on top of me all the time but I’ve told her to stop,what else do you want me to do?”he said putting his hands up in defense.

“Ugh your so stupid, drop her, why is she still your friend, do you have a fucking chemical imbalance in your brain why don’t you get that?!”i practically yelled. “I didn’t want it to come down to this because I know it’s corny but..me or her”I finished

Very movie-like of me yes but so what.he needs to choose because as long as he’s friends with her I don’t want anything to do with him.

[millie-mar]

think i’m in love with you

part 1

in which Eddie believes that gay men can be friends with straight guys without there being any subtext to their relationship. duh he’s got a friendship like that! well, had. guess he was proven wrong.

| 1k words | modern!steddie | bestfriends!steddie |

A lot of people believe that women and men cannot be friends. And before you disagree, let me give you this example.

It was my last year of highschool, and I became really good friends with Chrissy. Average height, blonde, on the thinner side as most cheerleaders are, but she stood out from them. She wasn’t homophobic for one, but there was an aura around her, that compelled you to be friends with her. She invited me over to watch Brokeback Mountain; she had a huge crush on Jake Gyllenhaal while I was jacking off to Heath Ledger almost every night. I’m not anymore. That afternoon, we went to hers straight away. She was still wearing the school’s cheerleading outfit, the green and white suited her nicely. She opened the front door which wasn’t even locked and to my surprise I heard voices inside.

“Your parents are here?” I whispered to her, stopping at the entrance.

“Yeah, but it’s fine. Don’t worry Eds.” She closed the door behind us with a loud thud.

“Chrissy? Honey is that you?” a female voice erupted from within the house, Chrissy’s mum, my guess was.

“Yeah. Eddie’s here, we’re gonna go upstairs,” Chrissy shouted back, grabbing my hand and taking me towards the stairs.

“Keep the door open at all times,” a male voice exclaimed, weary clear in his voice.

“He’s gay dad!” Chrissy sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, heard that before,” his tone shifted, this time he sounded tired.

Chrissy rolled her eyes once again, mumbling something under her breath.

However, with how the world’s started to progress now, and how people started to accept the queer community, this has changed a bit. Now, every time a gay guy befriends a man, people immediately assume they’re going out. And with the media internationally making stories about straight men ‘turning’ gay, let’s say some like to butt their noses into others business. But gay men can be friends with straight guys without any kind of subtext to their relationship.

“I think I’m in love with you!” are the first words I hear from my best friend, Steve Harrington, the straightest man I know. And I think to myself.

“Fuck.”

“What?” Steve’s puppy eyes catch me off guard. Shit I said that out loud.

“Uhh what are you saying Harrington.” I let him in and just now I realise the guy is drenched, the rain chasing him as I close the door behind him.

“I- I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and that was just… I think I’m in love with you.” he stutters horribly, which is unusual for Steve. I squint my eyes at him.

“Man, we’ve been friends for the twenty hears that we’ve been alive. You’ve seen my dick more times than any guy I’ve been with. If you were in love with me I would have realised.” I laugh it off, not meeting his gaze as I pick up a pillow off the floor and throw it on the couch. But I can feel his eyes boring into my head.

“Eddie, I’m not kidding.” His voice is stern, confident all of a sudden. I turn to look at him and fuck, am I in trouble. I have to admit, I have always thought Steve is beautiful, hot and everything in between, but nothing more than that. Never really had the hots for him. But fuck me, the way his eyes have darkened, brows slightly furrowed, his pinkish lips closed in a tight line. He’s angry and I’ll be lying if I said that wasn’t turning me on. What the fuck?

I grab his hand and pull him towards the door with a ‘you come in you’re dead’ sign, the door to my room. I push him in, slamming the door behind us and leaning on its surface, my head down, curls covering my vision.

“Prove it,” I say, my voice cracking slightly at the words that escaped my mouth. What am I saying?

I can’t see Steve’s face, but I’m waiting for him to tell me it’s some stupid joke, so we can laugh about it in ten years time when he’s happily married with little Harringtons running around and screaming. He’d have some high position job at a company, maybe he’d be a CEO, and we’ll keep in touch, barely but we will. He’ll tell me about another happy year with his wife, while I’ll tell him about another couple week relationship of mine that failed because the guy was either secretly married or fucking other people.

I’m so focused on my own spiralling thoughts that I just now come to my senses when I feel huge hands cupping my cheeks. Steve is now standing right in front of me, the tips of his white sneakers touching with the tips of my black combat boots. He brings my face up to meet him eye to eye. The brown of his eyes so much lighter than earlier in the apartment’s living area. So warm, the intensity of his stare is making me feel all giddy inside. His eyes shift between mine and my lips, he flutters them closed and kisses me. The softness of his lips is reflected in how softly he’s pressed them to mine. A little reluctant, or maybe just affectionate. I wouldn’t know, all the guys always kissed me with such fervour, this is a nice change. The initial shock passes and I fist his yellow shirt to bring him closer to me, our chests closer together. My lips move on their own, returning the kiss before I can think about it further, as if on instinct. Usually I’m more composed, I don’t let the moment get to me, so why? Why today? And why with him?

Part 2 ->

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep1 Musings - Looking for Home: Louis, Claudia & Daciana

They flip between siblings and parent so much even I was getting whiplash--no wonder Lou's confused. U_U

This was EEEEEEEEVIIIIIIL, AMC! 😭 Louis carrying Grace's wedding portrait, and using it to FAKE his identity in Europe, after Grace couldn't even go to Europe for her own honeymoon cuz Paul died--STOP IT! 😭😭

And you can hear just a few quick seconds of the DPDL lietmotif that always plays for Grace, Paul, and sibling!Claudia, before it takes this SUPER dark and ominous tone--the song has been tainted, just like Lou's relationship with Grace and Claudia was tainted.

Go AWF, Claudia!

And then she finds ONE, and it was so heartbreakingly touching.

I was hoping she was Alessandra, but nope, she's an AMC!OC, Daciana. I'm assuming they were nodding to one rando revenant:

And she is obviously the same "Anna" the kids were singing about--(very Gaunter O'Dimm of them, I love it 💀)--living like frikkin Baba Yaga in a grimy castle in the woods.

Daciana killed her own fledgling after Claudia blinded him--after the revanant AND Daciana attacked them first, but whatever. Cuz she said he wouldn't be able to hunt/feed with no eyes--so it can't heal; her fledglings are too effed up. She's officially the last one in the area.

And I get it now--the bear(?) head Claudia breaks off of the dead vampire's sarcophagus was a heraldric figurehead. Claudia showed it to Daciana, as a way of asking her who that dead vamp was.

She didn't want to tell them her story or hear theirs--but she wanted them to know about Cezare Romulo (RIP). (It's crazy how in 5 minutes The Vampire Daciana was way more effective than a whole hour of Dierdre Mayfair. 🙄😒) She complimented Claudia's blood, saying it tasted like the cream of the crop. Daciana only told them her name, and that she was waiting for her children--fledglings or real ones, who knows (I bet both).

Only for Daciana to kill herself right in front of them (RIP). 😔🔥

This is so sad, but it was obvious she was gonna do that.

Stop teasing the Children of Darkness after this Alessandra fake-out. She's got the same darkness in her that Nicki (AND Louis) had. And we know where that means. 🔥💀🔥

These vampires are STARVING--hungry for family, love, home: LIFE.

So is Claudia! 😭😭😭 She wants a blood spouse! She wants a companion!

So I LOVE that Morgan clocked Louis on Grace's photo--that ain't yo wife! The gaydar was beeping the second your pretty arse walked in!

Like, it's been established that Louis is a terrible liar-you don't need an investigative journalist to figure that much out. Louis is TOO honest--he was dumb AF for telling Morgan his real name! I get why he did it in the book--again: desperate to make a connection.

But on the show it comes across way different--Louis almost immediately tells Morgan his name (he doesn't do that for Emilia, even though SHE called him pretty! Istg I was picking up some flirtatiousness with Lou & Morgan; put those pheromones AWAY 😂). But you come across MIGHTY SUS if your Black arse is going around switching identities on all these twitchy Europeans, Louis!

Like baaaaaasicallllllyyyyyyy!!! 🤦 You see them shooting up corpses just to make sure--you think they won't shoot YOU!?!

Anyways, it's so cool that they made Morgan a photographer--so is THIS why Louis starts taking photos!? 🤩📸

Cuz I've been wondering how Louis makes money in Paris so they don't have to pickpocket anymore?

I love that they included this.

No matter where they go, they have to pose as Black servants and maids and VALETS and SLAVES, white folk are the same regardless of the country.

Which was an interesting parallel with Daciana, and how much they were hyping up America.

She was clearly nuts, but smart & sane enough to realize that 2 (two!) Black vampires had fled their oh-so-great "land of the free" to come to HER busted AF blown up war-torn country, so why should she expect to have any happiness over there?

I don't know a lick of Romanian, but I wonder if the "another one" she was referring to was the soldier, or the country. As Daciana realized that no matter who she made her new fledgling, and no matter which country she ran to, she'd be alone & unhappy without the people she loved--her HOME.

Home is where the HEART is! Claudia's been homeless this whole time! Daciana's got that huge castle, but lives all alone--she can't make proper fledglings. Meanwhile Louis still thinks NOLA is home, even after they killed everyone who knew them--"including" Lestat!

*sigh* I hate this effing show, it's so dang good. 😭

[whatudottu]

All this new Earthspark content (i say with a sigh, not liking what i see), just makes me think more about it? Season 1, so good I didn’t need to think about… give or take Shockwave and the rushed end. Season 2? God- and I’m hearing the bloody ‘Decepticon Dome’ is still around for I guess this is season 3 instead of 2b??

I feel like I wanna share my notes for a season 2 rewrite or at least some concepts for one (with some Shockwave edits from season 1) that I had written on… *looks at the date* 28th July just before I started my shift-

Let’s see what happens then :P

First of all, Shockwave.

What do you mean the fucking unethical science guy has issues with what he immediately labels as cybrids? TFP Father-of-Predacons guy? IDW Literally-Becomes-Onyx-Prime guy?

So you’d think my first idea is to turn him not-racist right? Make him curious about the terrans like (using my main Shockwave experience) his Prime’s equivalent interest in predacons, right?

But what if I didn’t, what if he still has that speciesism but… reflavoured it into something more fitting? Say the ‘medical exploitation’ variant of racism that TFES Shockwave can openly claim that ‘I know I’m doing all these unethical experiments to one specific group, but I would do the same for any cybertronus’ to use Mandroid’s scientific name, but really he doesn’t actually desire to experiment on others he might consider the ‘default’. The kind of racism that treats others as scientific wonders in need of full study.

Heh, TFP Shockwave got off lucky, his obsession was predacons and he only knew they were sapient after reviving one from the dead AND discovering it he could transform; something about archeology vs graverobbing :P

Shockwave in the season 1 finale thus has more willingness to work with people who he considers in some way to be lesser, at least different; what’s a good test for a species’ intelligence than watching them problem solve against a corrupt government organisation?

Now onto the actual fucking season 2 notes then shall we?

With GHOST and Mandroid gone we are lacking threats that aren’t the fucking Decepticons again. The Quintessons of course take Mandroid’s role of the active antagonist, the one or ones that act their own agenda divorced from a wider perspective, but who fills GHOST’s role as the passive background threat? Well, as GHOST was the only company/organisation that had extended their hand to establish a proper post-war cybertronian-human alliance, and they seemed to be pretty tied in to either the government or with heavy media scrutiny, in its place could be filled by the actual American government now labelling any and all cybertronian (and terran) presence as criminal behaviour and thus officially rendering them as illegal literal aliens.

I’m not saying this is what the show should’ve done because that is a fucking stretch, but if I’m gonna rewrite Earthspark that’s who I’d want to fill the slot, fanfiction (maybe bayverse) kinda stuff. Maybe for a ‘kid friendly’ ‘not-so-anti-american’ way to make it just a special task force that’s still paramilitary enough to not get conservatives to freak; but let it be known the original idea :P

Back to Mandroid, considering the type (and aesthetic) of his final cybernetics - as well as his sharkticon guards (?) that he from what I remembered freed from somewhere (like a fucking shark pit???) - what if he had in fact made contact with the quintessons and, learning that he was from Earth, they had assumed that humanity and the Malto children were the children of Quintus, they were in fact assumed kin by His abandonment. When Mo ends up waking the executioner, it is still however her cybersleeve that draws it’s attention, yet it is also the terrans that draw its ire as they seem kin to the cybertronians Quintus oh so favoured over them, but also because they are filled with Quintus’ energy and ‘getting in the affairs’ or ‘robbing the power’ of humanity by their disturbance.

It’s not particularly too far off of the actual canon motivations to coming to Earth, as they already view humanity as fellow creations of Quintus even if literally untrue and prefer them to cybertronians and specifically to the maltos, but just imagine them being more anti-cybertronian rather than ‘pick me’ over Quintus’ chosen (one of the better things about 2b/3, the Judge actually acknowledged that the human Maltos were another set of child soldiers chosen for a destiny beyond their years, heh even Prowl agrees).

In a way, with this, both the human government and the quintessons can come to the idea that (for their own reasons and information provided) cybertronian affairs disrupt the human way of life and need to - in one way or another - be punished for their ‘chaos’.

Regardless though, the Emberstone is still shattered, and it’s not coming back (though the characters don’t know that… yet).

What doesn’t happen between it shattering and it’s… let’s say ‘pieces’ for now… is that the Decepticons don’t ‘do what they do best’.

Without GHOST in the way to arrest any Decepticon by virtue of them losing the war, the Autobots can actually begin to offer a genuine chance at armistice. Maybe not full on peace, their existence is a little too criminalised at the moment to immediately settle give or take a millennia worth of war in one sitting, but it is so much easier to prove to the Decepticons that they do in fact have a chance of rest against vorns of war and years of imprisonment and - as much as saying so word for word may begrudge the mecha - can ‘prove’ that they are worth as much freedom as the Autobots so prattle on about if neither of them have power over them in the ways GHOST provided.

What are their current goals? 1) do not get captured by government agents; there’s only so many cybertronians left even with a large concentration in Witwicky, and who knows if GHOST sent their technology back to their military. 2) do not let the government know of the terrans’ existence; with what Mandroid was invested in and what GHOST had intended to learn from him, neither faction nor any of the Maltos want to let the terrans become fugitives or pet projects (the craziest scientist they’ll even begin to consider studying the terrans would be Shockwave but even then they’d prefer even bloody Tarantulas more than him). And 3) gather the Emberstone shards before the government does; if Mandroid literally killed every cybertronian and terran on Earth with one blast of the full thing, what is the strength of one fragment actually measured by?

Given that apparently a shard with just a little bit of water is enough to make an entire spark (or at least, depending on what we learnt from 2a or the designs in 2b/3) act in replacement to a spark, probably decently powerful enough-

But to quote Brennan Lee Mulligan in his quite popular Game Changer, on a planet with 70% water coverage, weather patterns of a few sorts that scatter H2O in its many states to its surface, and all the time in the world between the Emberstone shattering and scattering, it is a “…statistical wonder…” that there were TWO (count them, 2) ‘’’’’’’’’Chaos’’’’’’’’’ terrans throughout - I’ll give it this - the entirety yet exclusively of the Americas.

First of all, FUCK THE TERM ‘CHAOS’ TERRAN! Let’s describe them as shard-spark for now, continuing to use Mandroid’s scientific terms we do not know if there’s a particular biomechanical difference beyond the Emberstone shard to sever the terrans AKA cybertronus terran from their new shattered siblings… or perhaps only cousins.

Second of all, shard-spark terrans are NOT born evil, just troubled in whatever relevant ways their circumstances cause them to be. Most often however without the conflict between the factions, a lot them if they do not happen upon a body of water in a location of dry weather conditions or even unluckily get stuck in a glass display would end up probably already being terrans by the time Autobots, Decepticons and 3rd or 4th party lock onto their signal to track them down from interesting community reports.

You know what was funny? Seeing everyone fall in love with Breakdown projecting a father-son relationship onto Aftermath who conversely didn’t give a shit, because y’all would just see Breakdown imposing that as just the cutest thing ever when he literally didn’t earn the right to think that way about a stranger that happened to be a child.

No, if Breakdown wants his ‘being a parent’ moment, he needs to put his back into it and make an effort to at least fucking try to be a parent? Hell, he can fucking suck at it and maybe even fall into a similar situation where he imposes the parent-child relationship onto a bad relationship, the main caveat being that it isn't supposed to be funny that Aftermath doesn't get it.

Breakdown can be the first contact with a shard-spark terran, maybe a few others or maybe alone, maybe he and Bumblebee took it upon themselves to race towards a shard only to discover a lost child. Instead of the fucking gang recruitment way 2a attempts to explain Aftermath going along with Breakdown, both the racers are mildly freaking out that there's a solitary kid who may or may not be a little fucking pissy right, just in the very spot both their scanners are saying IS the Emberstone shard they've been tracking. It takes a harsher more Decepticon standard demand to get Aftermath to follow either of them over a softer weaker Autobot plea; a force of habit for both of them, even if Breakdown starts actively avoiding Bee's responding glare.

Something about Breakdown associating harsh orders, reprimands and mutual hostility says more about him and his relationship to 'family' than it does on Aftermath sneering at squishy feelings that make him feel weird and preferring the worse treatment since it's the one thing he's got experience in. Something about how in fandom spaces every group of people is immediately turned into found family or just straight up family? Well- considering that Breakdown joined the Decepticons because the Stunticons also had done so (and changing Breakdown's association of Decepticons as family down to Stunticons as family), considering that most iterations of the characters 4 mentally ill soldiers and an abusive leader that actively preys on his team's weaknesses then... heh.

Breakdown finding the bickering and the fighting and the unspoken assumptions of that meaning family... it DOES mean more for Breakdown than it does for Aftermath doesn't it? :P

I don't think I got a good order with this but :P With GHOST gone the Autobots don't have a main base anymore, and by don't I fucking MEAN IT they don't go back to GHOST headquarters after all is said and done; it would be the first place to look for cybertronian activity after the government finds out the closest thing humanity had for bot sympathisers went belly up after all. Between them and the newly freed Decepticons, there is only one neutral ground between them on the Malto farm, but it would be Starscream to bring up stink over it (if even in his mischaracterisation in 2a he labels Autobots as oppressors) siting that the Malto's are functionally civilian and shouldn't - whether or not they could at all in the first place - be responsible for the housing of all these soliders; it's a farm, not a warbase, there is no need to bring more children into their squabble especially with the likelihood of crossfaction shared quarters he'd say.

There is one fortification left to stand against potential government hunting, even if it means to repair defense systems and cloaking devices, even signal scramblers just to hopefully allow rest to those tired of running. None of the Autobots would be happy about it - the Decepticons might disagree seeing it as potentially a little bit funny and as a little bit of petty revenge - but that base may or may not happen to be quite purple in it's paintjob, Decepticon base. To offer the curtsy that none of the 'Cons were given however, the Autobots in addition to the betrayer Megatron would be allowed free reign of the base, give or take a few zones off-limits even to lower ranked Decepticon forces. It's not like the Autobots would have left the base unraided in their time under GHOST's thumb, so there's no doomsday weapons to be wary of anyone activating.

Actual base life doesn't feel horrible for the Decepticons who, thanks in all due part to Megatron's aggressive leadership and hostile work environment, are already particularly used to being near permanently on guard even at rest; if the Autobots still had a base of their own in the local area the Decepticons would've made an easy transition even if still incredibly tense. It takes an extremely disciplined trigger for the Autobots not to snap under the tension, everyone save for Megatron who is used to being on edge, unfortunately for him the Decepticons give him shit constantly and tends to skew towards aggravating him than any of the 'Bots.

However, at the very least the remaining scientists have access to Shockwave's lab, which he might be more willing to share if it helps Wheeljack and Tarantulas to agree to run some tests on the terrans and actually begin to study them to get the full picture, at least as full as they can without dissection which is one of the compromises Shockwave would have to contend with especially if Nightshade wants to be science team buddies with at least the other 2. Either way, probably the least hostile section in the crosshabitation Decepticon base? Mostly because of the fact they're all agreeing to science together rather than punch each other.

But not everyone actually remains in the base, some take off to find better opportunities or because they find the base environment more stiffling than usual real free spirit types, AKA Breakdown. And also why I don't think I ordered this the right way- but I suppose from Emberstone to 'chaos' terran to Aftermath to Breakdown may break if I went no GHOST to no Autobot base to 'don't hide warriors in civilian homes' to Decepticon base to Breakdown to Aftermath... actually no... because then I can go to 'chaos' terran again and bring up Spitfire and others.

So, speaking of...

Shard-spark terrans, while not guaranteed to be trouble-kids so to speak, they are more predisposed to such given the circumstances of their creation in addition to the presence of the shard they are aptly named after. Aftermath is of course a bit of a destruction lover, it feels so good to break things it's often quite the shame that to have a broken thing, you must destroy something that may or may not have a use when it is unbroken. Breaking trees, breaking roads, breaking armour (even if it's a little baby dent to a soldier who's dealt with worse from a kid who didn't even exist up until a week ago), all the same to Aftermath who loves the thrill of it and hates things that make that thrill go away.

Can't even make a dent in that annoying Jawbreaker's armour! Ugh, he'll just have to teach JB to break something for him to make these gross feelings stop AKA JB discovers 'breaking things' stim and (with a bonus quick rewrite of his altmode episode where HE'S the one wreaking havoc on town because 'STOP BABYING HIM' 'WHY WON'T YOU LIKE ME' 'I HAVE AN ALTMODE NOW WHY DON'T YOU PAY ATTENTION TO ME' feelings) feels like really bad about it when he wants to break more things and scream :P good thing his mum's a veteran she can probably get him to do a war cry!

Spitfire kinda immediately did a gifted kid speedrun I think instead, Twitch 2.0 with a better drone model with better and more capabilities and the speed to out fly the out-mode, only up until it is Twitch who is preferred for her softer attitude and willingness to give up all that lets her win for someone else. Look Megatron, if you introduce a 'non-deadly' version of the Polyhex Protocol, maybe make fucking sure there is literally no fucking way for someone to be in immense 'death by falling' danger? Look look look look look- you put a newborn into her first race (btw, created while falling and thus having first hand experience that falling isn't deadly), say it's not to the death, and expect her not to assume that the giant cliff beneath the flying fox was also safe?? And that you had initially planned the Malto CHILDREN to run the course also and yet failed to create a proper safety net, literally or not you have a flight mode you could've played spotter!

Is Spitfire without fault? No, but what do you expect a newborn storm child to know about safety especially with a competitive streak like the one she's fast to develop! You all told her how she has the better altmode and 'better than this' why are you all looking at her like she'd suddenly BROKEN!?

And all these fuckers think they can all hug it out while she stands out in the rain biting and gnawing for attention?! Gross!

:P AKA Spitfire is like 12 (minutes) old and already fallen from grace, no wonder she gets a kick out of mutual 'want to bite people' sibling Aftermath :P

I think these thoughts are spiraling though to be fair my notes are also at this point spiraling-

Spitfire and Aftermath love to brawl with each other, it's too wild to be called sparring but it's not particularly deadly enough to call a battle, though it does get out of hand in ways that Breakdown - if he's still trying for parenthood - isn't even prepared to deal with (bumblebee voice: first time?). During one such brawl, Breakdown alternating between chasing the pair and backing off as they throw in more hits on each other, the kids accidentally run into Skullcruncher and - instead of backing down like someone more in the know - end up dragging him out of his listless reverie when Spitfire dodges Aftermath's double hammerfist after he threw her into the Decepticon.

Now why am I bringing up Skullcruncher is he secretly my favourite character? No, no he really isn't. But considering he's been used as a tool to not only display Mandroid's mind control technology as well as the visible consequences of that technology being used by GHOST, I feel as though he'd been left in the dust to kinda... regress? To disappear into his head? Some fucked up torture coping really, just in a literal brainwashing sense since :P GHOST wanted a pet project test subject. The aforementioned science team, with the help of everyone that was mind controlled and able to tell of it, have been trying to work through the brainfog it seems to have left Skullcruncher with. Regardless of the actual care they have for him specifically, they want to know if there's any actual lingering corruption on a mecha's processor all in due part because of it, to see if it would affect them physically as it had done mentally.

Between Shockwave's calculated response only providing his own experience in cold logic, Hashtag's experience (Shockers listing her under 'confounding variable' because of her status as a terran) having been used to connect her to Starscream when it counted the most whether or not she was good at playing therapist as a child full of fears and no wisdom, and Megatron nearly gunning down a kid he believed to be the hope of all cybertronian kind (all of the science team is reminded of how he has changed, how he now feels guilt over the future he could've failed instead of snuffing it out himself without mind), there may be a few networks rewired via the cybertronian equivalent of neuroplasticity... but the results so far are inconclusive and it's looking more and more likely to just be biopsychological placebo and coping mechanism Skullcruncher invariably got himself stuck in.

But getting dragged into the antics of laughing yet snarling children, going around beating each other around base not out of malice but out of pure enjoyment and glee, being chased around by someone who has the time and freedom - if not, the ability to be panicked about something so relatively small - to try and deal with the situation? Sure, the first strike is always surprising, and maybe he panicked with something violent in response. But the shard-spark siblings were already in the ebb and flow of their fight, if they got caught or grazed by jaws, if they got hit or dodged a sweep of claws, they'll fight like they always enjoyed. Skullcruncher may not be fully present, may not ever be, but hey... maybe those kids can help fight away the monotony and get him out of his head, out of the past the same faces of over a million years couldn't get to sooner.

Something like that?

And to give more love to other side characters that don't even get voices, why not some more Insecticon content- hell, why not a shard-spark terran who becomes an Insecticon, or at least has a bug altmode that caters to their personality. The 'sit alone inside the tube of a playground set all recess' type, the 'uses thoughts to give themselves company' type, the 'weird loner' type who's non-verbal and asocial? A very patient praying mantis, who takes the bugs outside when they're in and wants to show others the cool little creatures? To BE a bug?

Breakdown, who's willingly tied himself down to who he immediately claimed as his kid... his kids now? He... let's Spitfire decide for herself if she wants to be that but... Aftermath calls him 'old man', that's... that's what humans call their 'dad' right? They both make his spark ache and he's growing more and more confused at why he doesn't just run, take to the streets and drive away where his spark can be free again. But the idea sends his systems into a stronger more whole-body version of the feeling, shooting through his chest down through his arms and legs, in ways that feel familiar but... warmer than with any of the Stunticons.

Bumblebee, who was more or less stuck with the Maltobots as Optimus changed his mission, having gotten to actually learn from them as they learnt from him; he knows the feeling, he knows it strongly. And if they get to hang out more now that they aren't actively fighting each other - though I guess it's still a mutual 'hiding from the government' thing isn't it - they might get to talking about it.

"Yeah, that's just classic worry for you." "Bee, I KNOW what worry feels like, we've been at war for Primus knows how long!" He hated the way it sounded like Bumblebee was brushing him off, emphasised with waving of his hand like he was dusting his plating. If his 'cool' slipped well, the 'Bot didn't press him on it. "Always worrying about dying, worrying about energon. Pit! Worried about shrapnel to the wheels, can't keep beating you in races if my tires blow." Maybe not the best thing to bring up considering... "This is different." It has to be, because he knows he worried about the Stunticons, and they were his family. But... "Breakdown," When did he look away? Breakdown turned back to face Bee, "it's worry FOR them. It's... it's a worry because you care? I care about the Maltos, for the humans AND the terrans, and... I feel worried about them?" He can't help it, Breakdown laughs. A quiet chuckle really, turned snickers as Bumblebee's expressions twist. "HEY! What's so funny about that!?" Just in time to feel a fist beat against his shoulder - right on that afformentioned wheel, hah - even though his optics are narrowed and dentae bared, Bee vents out a laugh he tried and failed to hide. "Mr Never-Settle-Down hiding some wisdom I missed?" He squints at the name but doesn't let that stop his smirk. "Hah, come on Bee, you said it like you were such an expert before! But look who's confused now, right? Because 'classic worry' is so hard to explain." Bumblebee shoves against Breakdown's chassis, venting out another huff. "Okay sure, I'm not perfect at explaining it but!" "You care about them, these new... shard-spark terrans?" Aftermath, Spitfire, almost instantly that burst of 'classic worry' runs his systems wild. "I'm not an expert, so don't quote me on anything but..." He offered up his hand, beckoning for Breakdown to take it in one bold move. "I can help with what I do know, yeah? You've got one handful of kids don't you." With another pulse of his spark, the 'classic worry' - that 'worry FOR them' emotion - shivers down his wires and back up to his chest. Wordlessly, Breakdown takes up the offer with a small quick nod of acknowledgement, and feels the residual tingle simmer. It's not the same feeling with the Stunticons, this kind of worry but... maybe that's a good thing. "Good talk, Feelings-Expert, now why don't I the Winning-Expert take you up on that race?"

Can you tell I hate the first episode of season 2b/3?

Get prepared for a mood shift, we'll be talking about GHOST again!

Obviously because GHOST going defunct and maybe so suddenly it's hard for anyone to corral it under control of the next in rank, it IS an entire organisation after all, there would be quite a few lingering resources within the building itself that the government may be interested in let alone the mecha that would be at a disadvantage to those who would access such resources. Mind control technology and research (definitely don't want the government having that), anti-cybertronian weapons and restraining tools, the fucking GHOST harddrives that were placed in the fucking public recycle centre A YEAR AFTER GHOST FUCKED OFF AND DIED!? Yep that's all getting scavenged, at least as best as they can be while the government is extracting as much resources they can without needing to be sneaky about it.

Hah, considering the lows GHOST is willing to go, one such section - another where the cybertronians can't seem to access one way or another - ends up leading to a morgue of cybertronians, Autobot AND Decepticon. Some of course were known casualties, others are now confirmed dead rather than missing, but missing is an apt term. Missing limbs, missing parts, missing heads. Open chests, open sparks, open processors. Cybertronians were only machines to GHOST, only machines to Mandroid, only machines to manipulate and not even mind control... reprogram would be the term more accurate.

With a well of supply for how cybertronian brains may work, of course someone could eventually slap a remote control onto them and pilot them like a puppet on strings, and it's something something pretty horrific yada yada robot corpse desecration is like nothing on human TV screens.

Hmm... as I said I did like that Prowl acknowledge that hey maybe kids shouldn't get involved with war (even if it might've been framed as 'are we sure children are capable of doing adult responsibilities), so I wonder if I should continue with what my July 28th notes say about him or not... hmm...

Okay! MAYBE! I think it could work?

ANYWAY! Villain Prowl who is a stickler for the rules, villainous only in the way a lawmaker is (read: maker) and collaborating with the government to work cybertronians into the system so that they may be apart of the judicial system, which uh fittingly reflects the quintesson motivation and probably would be really cool to parallel the two. Prowl finds out about human war crimes and goes 'hoo boy some if not a whole fucking many of these laws have been violated by the cybertronian war' and resolves to fix it, but under American government cannot do anything official nor fair while the law only considers humanity. Something something 'cybertronians shouldn't be held to human standard law' yada yada 'so you think yourself above it!?'

Maybe not VILLAIN Prowl per say, more antagonist Prowl who wants to atone for the crimes committed on Earth's surface and give back justice to the people but doing so in the only way he knows how, like a cop. Or at least like a second in command/high ranking Autobot commander and advisor, doing his 'due diligence' to make sure that justice is served and that crimes are punished, which I mean ACAB and all he's still a bastard about it by doing it AS FUCKING SOON as GHOST collapses or at least working actively after the fact but :P

Hah and yeah, Prowl would be stiff lipped about children engaging in conflict. For all the bastard cops that oh so value the punishment part of crime fighting, there are laws in other areas (especially around war) that are to the benefit of the innocent. It's just that war crimes seem to really be listed down after the war has official come to an end and the cybertronian war is still in armistice as of now, in due part because Prowl has committed to atoning NOW of all times :P

This was a bit of a mess, I hope you derive some enjoyment out of this

[rebo-chan]

Sorry y'all this one's gonna be a long one lol fun analysis/theorizing/headcanoning whatever the fuck this is under the cut :)

So, lately I've been really thinking about Lambo and Tsuna's relationship, Lambo's connection to Vongola, and Lambo's spot as the Lightning Guardian. I know as a fandom, we tend to disregard Lambo because he has like.. two fights in the whole series or wish that someone else was made the Lightning Guardian because that boy is Literally Five. And I won't act like it wouldn't have been cool to see another character as Lightning Guardian (My Haru Guardian fans rise up where are you) but I think what Amanos done here is really fun too from an analysis perspective.

To start with, Tsuna's family is not really a..traditional Mafia family or even a traditional Vongola family either. Let's look at this here, he's got his Two Best Friends(TM), his crush's big brother, the leader of the Disciplinary Committee at his school, a criminal, a half dead girl, and the aforementioned five year old as his guardians. This is FAR from what's likely expected out of the Vongola family, even when you date it back to Primo AT LEAST PRIMO HAD PRINCES, PRIESTS, SAMURAIS as his guardians. (Though he gets away with having One Best Friend (TM) as his guardian.) Yet somehow, their family makes it work!! They survive the Mafia world, multiple times throughout the series and when it's not working they get stronger as a unit and they fight for each other and make it out together. And I think that's the beauty of their specific family.

So then you have Lambo, who Tsuna would do anything for just to avoid Lambo having to experience a fraction of the shit they go through. And Tsuna actually SUCCEEDS at this, he doesn't normally succeed when it comes to being avoidant of Mafia stuff but this was something throughout the series that he was so genuinely adamant against. He only let Lambo fight when he truly had to and even then he very minimally let the Mafia world wrap its greedy paws around Lambo. Kokuyo arc, Tsuna didn't even sort of kind of a little bit consider taking Lambo with them (which would later help keep Kyoko and Haru safe), Varia arc, knowing that this would disqualify him, Tsuna decided he could not allow Lambo to keep fighting.

Future Arc, Tsuna kept Lambo out of the fight as much as he could, allowing the non-fighters to take care of him and I-pin. Shimon Arc, Tsuna felt real regret at the prospect that he allowed Lambo to come.

(And Arco arc where Lambo was hardly present at either, which I'd like to imagine that if Lambo was involved in Arco arc then Tsuna may have just absolutely fucking died)

Tsuna to Lambo is not his guardian (Frankly, he doesn't view any of his guardians as such, they are his friends, his pride, his comrades, and those he has traded blows with and knows they can be trusted.) Lambo to Tsuna is his little brother. This five year old was sent on an assassination attempt that was absolutely in no circumstance meant to actually succeed and the Bovinos know that. To send Lambo to assassinate the strongest hitman was a death mission. So, Tsuna took this child in (or rather this child stuck around bc his Mom makes banger meals) and immediately Tsuna assumes the role of his brother. Lambo and Tsuna are the closest out of all the kids. (Ofc Tsuna loves I-pin and fuuta too, but I think it's safe to say Lambo is his dumb little brother)

Now, I don't think that Tsuna is ever going to see Lambo as anything but his little brother. I actually theorize that the way TYL Lambo is the way he is because Tsuna never really got out of the habit of babying him. He's calmed down since he was a kid and developed a more nonchalant personality with the occasional tantrum because you can't tell me Tsuna DOESNT STILL view TYL Lambo as a non-combatant. When Tsunas 15, he looks at 5 year old Lambo and goes no thanks that boy is never touching a weapon in his life. When Tsunas is 25, he sees 15 year Lambo and goes that is STILL a child he is never touching a weapon in his life. And yes he's completely unaware of the hypocrisy in my head.

This is a spoiled little brother no one can tell me otherwise.

So we know Tsuna just sees him as his kid brother and not a real guardian. But then you have Lambo's feelings about the whole matter. We know that Lambo doesn't really consider Tsuna a boss but as his big brother, but I don't think that changes a lot for Lambo. While fighting is scary for Lambo, he still desires to follow alongside Tsuna and his friends. He doesn't want to be left behind and makes Tsuna promise him he'll take him wherever he goes. He sees Tsuna freaking out about him being a child in a battlefield and he goes, "No you don't understand, I want to be there."

And that? That right there is what fucks me up after everything. Lambo as a concept for a Lightning Guardian feels really unique because of this. He's the youngest one. He's always going to chase after the others, trying to keep up with them, to walk alongside them. One day, he wants to catch up and be considered a rightful Guardian like the others. And that is so... Tsuna and him would be batting heads over this because I cannot see Tsuna relenting on Lambo staying out of the battle. I cannot see Tsuna ever feeling like Lambo's ready. Not because he thinks Lambo is weak, but because Lambo's his baby brother and Tsuna needs him more away from the battle or else he can't focus.

While Tsuna doesn't react outwardly in this frame, I do think it's not a coincidence that he could focus on fighting the battle and not be "impatient" as Reborn put it, the moment he saw Gokudera and Hibari on the battlefield. He could focus easier knowing his friends were running around saving Lambo and co.

Okay, so you have the Big brother who wants to protect his little brother from seeing the same stuff he does, from fighting the same battles he does, and wants him to grow up as a regular kid (a right which he had been robbed off the moment a certain hitman showed up at his door). Then you have the little brother who wants wholeheartedly to be there, desires to catch up to his big brother and know the world that his big brother knows.

How does this difference in value get addressed? well it doesn't because Lambo is still 5 and Shounen jump are cowards for ending Amanos series when they did <3 B U T we have this.

We all know this scene for when we rewatched Reborn for the first and went "..wait.." because that was some actually sweet foreshadowing from Amano. Okay, so. We have a Lambo who finally did it. Finally is someone worthy of being called the Vongola Lightning Guardian. And Tsuna and co are implied to have just been... Gone. All of Tsuna's efforts to raise this kid in a regular life are ripped away because something happens to HIM, not Lambo. And from Lambo's perspective, he's caught up finally but the person he was following isn't around anymore. He didn't think he'd see him again. I think it's safe to assume that this scene either implies that something happens to Tsuna in his 30s (since we know he wasn't actually dead TYL) OR 20yl Lambo is from a parallel world where Byakuran had actually won and actually took Tsunas life.

And I think that's some real meat to bite into for these characters. A little brother who will lose his big brother if he doesn't do something, get stronger in time. A big brother who won't let him join the battle because he's afraid of losing HIS little brother. A Vongola Lightning Guardian who wants to be a shield for his Boss, and a Boss won't let him be a shield.

And that? That's a good concept for a Vongola Lightning Guardian.

Thank you for reading this far if you did :] this is a bit of a ramble but I was thinking about it and I felt it nice to share. I hope maybe I shared some of my brain worms with you <3

[leading-manhattan]

Dysfunctional || Modern AU

You can also read on Ao3!

David is dead on his feet. After a day of morning classes and the shift he picked up at the restaurant he feels like every spark of energy he had in him has been drained away. The only thing keeping him from sitting down in the stairwell of the apartment complex and passing out then and there is the promise of Jack waiting for him up on the second floor. There's nothing more satisfying than shoving his keys into the lock and pushing open the door. Unsurprisingly the lights around the flat are all on. It's not a big place by any means, they were two broke college kids lucky enough to find an affordable single bedroom near campus, but Jack often flipped on all the lights when he was working late into the night on a piece. In the center of their living room Jack's easel was set up with a medium-sized canvas nearly finished perched in its grip. Hence the lights.

David throws his keys on the counter, glancing around the space to see if Jack is in the room but quickly coming up short. He takes another look at the painting and furrows his brow. He recognizes the painting, splashes of navy and shades of purple that he couldn't name flowing together in a brilliant forest scene, it was the same commission Jack's been working on for the past week. The same commission that Jack's client was supposed to pick up tomorrow. It should've been finished by now so it'd be ready to collect by the evening after Jack wrapped up his classes. 

"Jack, I'm home!" David calls just in case Jack didn't hear him come in from, he assumes, the bathroom. A soft grunt comes from the couch, the cushions blocked by the back facing the door, and a sense of dread starts to stir up in David's gut. "Jackie?" He murmurs much softer into the quiet air of the apartment, slipping his bag off his shoulder and hanging it off the back of one of their dining chairs as he makes his way towards their makeshift living room.  

He's close enough now to see just who's on the couch and his chest constricts at the sight of his boyfriend. Jack is stretched out on his side, head propped up on one of the throw pillows, staring listlessly at his unfinished painting. He's still clad in the tank top and sweats he was in this morning when David left, streaks of paint scattered about his arms and clothes, and his eyes look so dead that for a moment David doesn't feel like he can breathe. He gently bats his anxiety aside and lowers himself slowly onto the armrest by Jack's feet. David swallows thickly, trying to think of the best way to approach this, but ultimately tries to take a casual approach.

"Is this the one you were working on when I left?" David asks softly, careful still not to break the fragile bubble that seemed to encase them. Jack offers another noncommittal grunt in response. David tries to push down the worry that flares cold and demanding in his chest. "I thought they were gonna pick this one up tomorrow, did they say they couldn't make it?" He presses tentatively.

Jack makes a choked sound deep in the back of his throat and David feels like his whole world collapses when Jack's lifeless expression cracks and tears quickly flood his eyes. Jack curls up, arms wrapping around his middle and legs pulling up to his chest, and David immediately jumps into action, leaping from his seat and immediately rushing to Jack's side. It's an awkward fumble lifting Jack up from the cushions high enough so that David can slip onto the couch but he manages and settles Jack lovingly against his chest. Soothing words spill from David's lips as he holds Jack tight, pressing soft kisses into his hair while Jack trembles violently with the force of his repressed emotions.

"I just couldn't do it," Jack gasps, arms uncoiling from his waist to latch desperately onto David's work shirt. He's sure there's a sauce stain on him somewhere but neither of them is in any mindset to care. "I was so prepared to finish it today, I was, but then I just sat down and suddenly it was like I couldn't get up and I-" Jack chokes on his words, a strained sob ripping from his throat.

David feels even more helpless than he did before, arms tightening around Jack while the other man tries pathetically to hold himself together. David's familiar with executive dysfunction, his anxiety has put him in very similar positions to Jack, but he also knows that there's nothing he can really do now to help. It was far too late for Jack to try and finish this painting for his client and Jack had classes tomorrow that he couldn't taint by pulling an all-nighter anyway.

"Hey, hey, hey," David says frantically into Jack's hair when he hears Jack's breath hitch. "It's okay, baby, it's alright. You can have an off day, that's okay." He promises warmly, nuzzling the top of Jack's head softly. He projects as much care and assurance into every movement, throwing himself into the act of holding Jack together.

Jack sniffs and shakes his head, burying his face into David's chest, "I gotta have this done by tomorrow. Ain't no way I'm gonna get this finished. They're gonna drop me and then I'm gonna 'ave a random paintin' I won't be able to sell." There's an undercurrent of anger and bitterness wrapped in Jack's sorrow and David hates how much self-loathing he can hear in Jack's voice. He slides a hand up Jack's back and runs his fingers soothingly through Jack's hair.

"How about this, huh? You're gonna tell the guy that you need a couple more days-" Jack looks up and opens his mouth to protest but David presses a swift kiss to his forehead to silence him. "And if the guy is a big enough asshole that he can't understand than I promise you so many people would love to get their hands on that painting. Jack it's gorgeous. No matter what you're gonna sell it." There's not a doubt in David's mind that if Jack were to list his painting somewhere it'd sell quickly. Jack was incredibly talented and even if he only did commissions sparingly there were plenty of people around the campus familiar and infatuated with his work. Jack's biggest critic was himself.

Jack lets out a watery laugh, offering David a shaky smile that nearly melts him with relief, "Just like that, huh?" Jack asks.

"Just like that." David promises easily. Jack swallows thickly, gaze drifting back to the unfinished painting that was taunting him a few feet away. "Hey, how about we turn off all these lights and order in? We can put on one of those musicals you like." David is determined to keep Jack's focus away from the easel that Jack's been lost staring at for who knows how long. If Jack sat down and just couldn't get himself back up David wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't eaten anything all day and that just wouldn't do.

Jack snorts, unclenching a hand from where it was fisted in David's shirt to wipe away the tears in his eyes, "Shuddup, Jacobs, don't act like you don't like 'em too."

David finally relaxes as the dread and worry start to uncoil. It makes room for the fondness and love that Jack imbues in him. "Yeah, they aren't so bad." He concedes agreeably. David didn't mind musicals but he'd be lying if he said that Jack singing along wasn't his favorite part.

"Can we get Chinese from that place over in Queens?" The tension is bleeding out of Jack's body and without it he melts against David's chest. He's quickly becoming a dead weight, perfectly pliable, and while this makes it a little harder to get up and turn off the lights David can't really say he minds.

"Of course we can." David nods easily, still carding his fingers through Jack's dark hair. Jack sniffles and turns his face into David's chest once again. The feeling of defeat and guilt isn't just going to leave but David's still glad to see that he's helping to make it more bearable.

"You're covered in sauce," Jack mumbles, a whiny note to his voice.

"You're covered in paint." David throws back.

A pause. "Touché."

[samwpmarleau]

fic: 2091

whumptober day 16: time loop masterlist: tumblr, ao3 Robbie delays his departure and is swept into the future with everyone else.

“You really have to leave right away?”

“Yeah. Gotta get this book someplace safe. Keep an eye on my brother?”

Daisy nods. She would’ve anyway. After all, she’s the reason Gabe was dragged into the S.H.I.E.L.D. flying circus to begin with. As she prepares to bid him goodbye — again, after having barely any time with him at all — Coulson interjects, “Come on, you have to at least stay for some grub. Crazy robot’s dead, the Darkhold’s not going anywhere. There’s cause to celebrate, Mr. Reyes.”

“Nah, I can’t. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Look,” May puts in, immediately jumping on Coulson’s train, “you’ve still got ground to make up with me for what you did to Mace, but you did save all our asses from Aida. Let us buy you a burger or something.”

Robbie hesitates, then looks at Daisy as though expecting her to tell him to ignore them and leave. She shrugs. “What they said.”

So he does, after some more hemming and hawing and silent discussion — or argument, it’s hard to tell — with Ghost Rider that Robbie apparently wins. She’s not sure she could ever call him light, not while he shares his body with a demon, but it’s nice to see him sit among the rest of them like he’s part of the team. Once the first joke is cracked, so is the ice.

He fits, Daisy observes. He could continue to fit. Become a freelance agent if nothing else, an off-the-books consultant if S.H.I.E.L.D. remains too public to properly employ him, what with all the extrajudicial murders and all. Daisy wouldn’t have to look out for Gabe, nor face the kid’s disappointment and grief, because his brother would still be around. Surely the Rider has debts he can settle in this dimension?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Robbie asks, snapping her out of her musing.

“I’m not looking at you like anything,” Daisy says as she takes a prim bite of a fry. “You could belong here, that’s all.”

Robbie’s good mood falls. “Only place I belong is hell.”

“Jesus, you’re dramatic.”

“It’s the truth. The Rider agreeing to one burger doesn’t mean he’ll agree to staying forever.”

“He will if I have anything to say about it.” Daisy reaches over to place a hand on his arm. “I’m not gonna just let you go to hell.”

“You were an hour ago.”

“Yeah, well, an hour ago I didn’t think I had a choice.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“We’ll see.”

Robbie looks very much like he wants to refute that, but before he can, the lights shut off and what she assumes are government agents burst in. The poor waitress doesn’t even get to finish her spiel about pies.

“Phillip J. Coulson,” an agent greets in monotone.

Daisy smirks at the sarcasm in Coulson’s voice as he replies, “Yep, that’s me. You got us. Nice job. And hey, congrats on the whole power outage thing, that was very ominous.”

She doesn’t get to hear the agent’s reply, however, for the next moment lands her in a very disorienting room that’s empty save for a red-striped white — oh, for fuck’s sake — monolith in the center.

“Uh, what is that?” Robbie asks. Jemma lets out a despairing ha! that Daisy can hardly disagree with. If only he knew what a pain in the ass this is. It must be a different kind of monolith, to be fair, since it’s not the same bluish-black as the one that swallowed up Jemma, but Daisy’s not inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt. Whatever this one does, it’s no less dangerous.

Indeed, they don’t remotely have time to come up with a game plan before the monolith melts into a wave of white and swallows not only Jemma but the whole group of them. In what seems like an instant, Daisy next finds herself in an equally, though different, disorienting room. A jail cell would be nicer in appearance than this one. The walls are made of grimy cement, what passes for furniture and machinery seems to be made of little more than scrap metal, and the sole light in the place is the kind one would see in a broom closet. It casts a sallow gloom over the place. God only knows where she’s been dropped.

More accurately, where they have been dropped. Robbie stands beside her assessing the room as well with a deep frown on his face. She wonders what the Rider thinks about this, whether he’s alert and ready to take the wheel or whether he’s content for the moment to let his host deal with whatever’s going on. Daisy can’t decide which she’d prefer. While she’d much rather have Robbie’s company, she can’t say she’d necessarily object to the Rider raising all kinds of hell to fix this shit. Maybe he’s even come across that monolith before, or at least has some idea of what it can do.

“Hellspawn care to weigh in on this?” Daisy asks. The stale air is suffocating.

“No,” says Robbie, tearing his eyes away from their surroundings to look at her. “We’re on our own.”

“Great. The one time we could actually use him, he’s taking a smoke break.”

“Fine by me.”

Robbie says it under his breath, as though voicing the thought at all is risking being smote where he stands. Perhaps it is. Not that she can blame him. She’d noticed how much more comfortable he’d become with both his powers and the Rider itself — something she doubts can happen in only a couple weeks. No, she’d stake the farm on time being different where he was, months if not years of traversing hell planets. All of which, from what he’d told her, was spent trapped in his own body unable to do anything but fight.

Weird teleporting monolith or no weird teleporting monolith, she can understand his relief at still being himself.

“Well,” Daisy says, “we won’t be able to figure anything out without doing some exploring. Are you up for that?”

Robbie adjusts the chain around his torso. “Yeah, let’s go.”

It’s helpful, she discovers, to have a being such as Robbie on their side. Not simply because meeting him had significantly upped their tolerance for strange — like being flung into the future — but because it gives them literal firepower they hadn’t had before. While Robbie keeps the spontaneous combustion to a minimum for the sake of maintaining a low profile, most of the time he doesn’t need to flame on at all. People can sense the power, the danger, in him even if they can’t pinpoint why, which means less resistance and more acquiescence. Hell, knowing she’s got an invincible friend sleeping one cell over even allows her to get a decent night’s sleep or two.

Nevertheless, the Rider yearns for violence, to unleash himself on the unworthy.

Kasius, needless to say, doesn’t stand a chance.

[amonggtheestarss]

Hey Gang

This is gonna be a more unique post than what I usually do but uhm...

See this guy? Black from Rodamrix. I'm gonna talk about them, because they're such a decently portrayed character in my own personal opinion and I believe they deserve more attention than what the fandom gives them (which is like... none.)

With the power of having autism and unnecessarily psycho-analyzing the jellybeans, I see Black as a pretty well assertive character. They're VERY expressive, loud, and is often strongly opinionated on things. If they have something to say, they'll say it. If they want something, they'll do what they can to get it. A decent majority of scenes of Black is them with the >0 expression and I love that aboutthem.

And as I rewatched Rodamrix for like the 2000th time, I noticed one thing.

Remember when I said they were very strongly opinionated on things? This is the one and ONLY time (as of now) Black has ever hesitated to make a decision, which is between voting Yellow or Green out. And when I watched this scene a dozen times, it always confused me because this was so incredibly out of character for Black. Black has been siding with Green this whole time, but suddenly hesitates when forced to decide between Green or Yellow. But why?

Not sure if anyone truly took much notice to this scene, because I for sure didn't. I stupidly saw it as just a "Glitch.Y is trying his best but his best isn't good enough for the crewmates," and I had assumed Black would of shrugged it off as "Man this kid is insane as hell whatever" BUT I DID NOT NOTICE they actually turned around to see the box Glitch.Y was pointing at.

Glitch.Y saved Black's life and they acknowledged it. Their ass got saved by a literal child he saw as a freak. And this is the first time we see them with a face of Genuine Worry.

YOU NEVER SEE THEM WITH THIS SORT OF GENUINE EXPRESSION AGAIN. UNLESS I'M JUST REALLY BLIND. BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME BLACK EXPRESSES GENUINE WORRY AND IT'S FOR GLITCH.Y. They've sided with Green this whole time but then has realised that just this once, Green was wrong about something, which was Glitch.Y trying to kill them all. And Black Worried. For once they hesitated, and couldn't bring themself to make such a decision.

And that's just one thing about Black. Small detail, really. They had a moment of hesitation for the first time. Oh well. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL.

Green, who is the Skeld Leader goes missing, right? That was their LEADER. They are now without a leader. And who is the first to take initiative and act as next leader?

BLACK DOES.

Yellow tries to take the initiative first, but is torn when Dr White assumes Glitch.Y and Green already dead, so Black immediately takes the lead instead. Black becomes the new, temporary leader for the team when they go to look for Glitch.Y and Green.

They even stand at the front of the team, willing to go forth before them all which would put themself at the most risk. And this isn't arrogance either, they do it GENUINELY. They even waited for Yellow's word before they start walking. They even gave each other the nod to proceed.

And they do a pretty decent job at leading too. They take after Green pretty well, in my opinion.

Altogether, I just feel like Black is a well fleshed out character, especially for someone who's sidelined for the entirety of the series. Everyone talks about Tan, a lot talk about Lime, which both deserve the attention they get of course, but I feel like Black is the most fleshed out side-character in the entire series.

I appreciate how much effort Rodamrix puts into Black's personality. I do hope Cyan gets a bit of a character arc too though. I like to see Black as Cyan to be really close, especially since they share similar personality traits. I just hope the fandom comes to appreciate Black more for his character in the series.

Also, bonus Black Alternate content

(They were actually the last to die out of the Skeld team which I found interesting. Gives into the idea they could've potentially made it out alive had it not been a 2v1. The only reason they got stopped and killed was because Purple came in as they barely escaped Pink.)

(Fun fact, Black's role in the Skeld is actually guarding*, so it'd make sense they watched outside while the others worked to fix the dropship)

(I like how Green looks directly to Black here honestly, might be a part of why Black tends to take after them. Green gives them the their attention first KYEHEHE)

(bro looks like they're trying to intimidate Purple over actually trying to stop them BEHEHEHE)

(And here, they're the first one to say something upon seeing the France Squad (and Mini Yellow))

*From Rodamrix's Instagram, a reference of Black's role here

I hope you guys understand why I like Black as a character a lot now.

Black appreciation post done. Thanks for reading.

[maddiehu7]

Apocalyptic | Daryl Dixon |

Chapter 1

I'm laying in ricks room trying to take a nap when I hear the door slam open I immediately jump up grabbing my gun from under my pillow pointing it towards the open door

"Lori!" I hear someone shout it sounds familiar I walk out quietly hiding behind a wall

"Carl!" I hear someone shout again....rick? No it can't be I think to myself starting to tear up at the possibility when I hear the footsteps get closer I put my guard back up and swiftly move out from behind the wall pointing my gun straight ahead

"Alex..." I see no other than my brother standing in a open gown with bandages around his stomach, holy shit

"Rick...Rick!" I drop my gun running to hug him

"Oh thank god your ok" he says beginning to cry hugging me harder than ever

"Me, thank god your ok I've been here waiting for you for months" I say also crying pulling back to cup his face seeing it's really him we both smile

"What's happening...where's Carl and Lori" he says sniffling

"Well it's kinda hard to explain the dead have rose basically and Lori and Carl went with Shane I stayed back knowing if you woke you'd come here" I say still smiling at him wiping his tears away

"We-we gotta find them" he say worriedly

"I know I know and we will ok?" I say holding his shoulders looking him in the eyes he nods back at me hugging me one more time

"Let me just pack up and we'll go" I say eager to find my nephew but not knowing if I'm prepared to go out into the world I barely can fight off the stragglers that come through here or come out when I scavenge and I definitely don't have enough rations for two people let alone medical supplies for Rick

"Shit" I sigh out but pack what I have and put my gun in the back of my jeans, when I hear something from outside

"Daddy! Daddy! I got the sumbitch I'm gonna smack him dead" I hear the last part and run out seeing Rick on the ground a kid with a shovel standing over him

"Hey what the hell!" I yell pulling my gun out but not aiming at the kid he looks at me confused to see another person when I'm assuming to be his dad comes over shooting a walker in the head running over seeing me

"Hey who the hell are you?" He questions putting his kid behind him

"I live here who the hell are you and why'd your kid hit my brother" I say on guard

"Your brother" he says looking over at Rick seeing he's not a walker

"Shit look we're sorry ok Duane say your sorry" he says looking towards his kid, backing up from my brother I run over kneeling down seeing if he's ok

"I'm-I'm sorry" the kid stutters out

"Hey Rick you good?" I say grabbing his face looking in his eyes he just mumbles at me when I hear a gun cock behind me, fuck

"What's his wound" the older man says I look back at him

"He was in the hospital in a coma, he got shot" I say putting my hands up trying to diffuse the situation

"And you how come I've never seen you here when we've been here this whole time" he says shaking slightly

"What can i say I keep to myself" I say a little angrily I look back at my brother to see him passed out

"Fuck, you guys live around here right? Can you help him...please" I add looking at Rick passed out, the man comes over and looks at him for a second before dropping the gun

"Fine come on" he says motioning to help him with Rick so I do lifting him slinging his arm over my shoulder groaning

"This way, Duane lead the way" the man huffs out the kid looks at me suspiciously but leads us to there house regardless. When we get there we set Rick on the bed to rest I roll my shoulders sore from carrying him

"I never got your name" the man sighs out motioning me to follow him to the kitchen

"Alexis" I say hesitantly

"Morgan and this is my son Duane" he says pointing his finger towards the kid from earlier sitting down at the table

"Thanks...for uh taking us in" I say smiling half assed at Morgan he just nods back

~~~time skip~~~

It's been a couple hours I've been checking on Rick on and off and so has Morgan cleaning his wound, I explained to Morgan the past few months and our plan to find our family he didn't say much in return

"Dinner" Morgan says to me and Duane we both get up and head to the table sitting down when my brother comes out

"Hey Rick you ok?" I question going to help him walk but he waves his hand for me to stay seated so I lower myself back on the seat waiting for him to talk

"Yeah I'm ok...thank you..." he says waiting for them to say there names

"Morgan and Duane" Morgan says sitting down also

"You shot that man today" Rick sighs out how confused he must be I think sadly

"It wasn't no man" Duane says defensively

"What the hell was that out your mouth just now?" Morgan says looking at the kid I smile lowly at the father son relationship

"It wasn't a man" he corrects himself

"You shot him in the street out front- a man" ricks says getting more aggravated

"Rick it wasn't a man ok it was a walker member I told you dead rose, video game style" I say looking up at him sorry to break the bad news

"She's right, now come on sit down before you fall down" Morgan says pointing towards the chair next to me I smile a little at his words Rick complies sitting down Morgan serving us some food I go to eat not having a hot meal in forever when they hold hands to pray Morgan reaching his hand to me

"Oh ok" I say quietly going along with it even though I was never religious and definitely now more than ever isn’t

"Lord we thank you for this food, thy blessings, and we ask you to watch over us in these crazy days amen" Morgan says looking up at me and Rick

"Amen" Duane says, I go to eat almost moaning at the feel of food in my mouth Rick smiling smally at me. After dinner we all sit in one of the bedrooms relaxing when we hear a car going off I'm immediately on guard looking at the window and I'm not the only one as Duane freaks out a little

"It's nothing one of them must've bumped a car" Morgan reassures the kid

"You sure?" rick asks I look at Morgan wondering the same thing

"It happened once before, it went on for a few minutes...get the light Duane" Morgan says me, Rick and him going to look out the window

"It's the blue one down the street, the same one as last time, I think we're ok" Morgan says me and Rick looking out the window carefully, damn there's a lot out there tonight I think to myself

"That noise won't it bring more of them?" Rick questions

"Nothing we can do about it now just have to wait them out till morning" I say sighing noticing Duane come in the room and peak out the window

"She's here” he says gasping I look at him confused

"don't look. Get away from the windows....i said go, go on" Morgan says when he won't leave, I look out to see a woman walking towards the house, what the hell? Duane goes in the other room crying

"Duane, Duane quiet now come on" Morgan goes over and hugs him trying to keep him quiet that must be someone important I think sadly looking at them, me and Rick go and sit back down as the door knob rattles

“She uh…she died in the other room on that bed, there was nothing I-i could do about it, that fever man her skin gave off a heat like a furnace, I should’ve-I should’ve put her down man I should’ve put her down I know that but I- you know I just didn’t have it in me she’s the mother of my child” Morgan says crying silently I almost tear up at the sadness of it

“I’m so sorry Morgan” I say truthfully looking at Duane he just smiles smally through his tears

(To be continued) let me know if you liked it!and yes Daryl will come in soon lol

[stitchlingbelle]

Watching Halo, Episode 6

We kick off with the immediate aftermath of the battle, and they do a good job of showing the human cost here—my baby Kai screaming in pain, the long, long lines of the injured and dead being carried into the base. The Master Chief claims that he’s fine and Cortana tells him he’s full of shit, which I appreciated. Makee is unconscious—sedated? I assume she couldn’t just sleep through this—and speaking Sangheili (I finally looked up how to spell it).

As everyone but Halsey is off the ship, Master Chief locks her in and gets TALKY as he threatens to murder her. I’m not gonna lie, I adored this scene. There have been throwaway lines about the Spartans’ intelligence, but this is the first time we really see Master Chief show off his specialist knowledge and problem-solving skills. He’s positively chatty in a very unnerving way as he explains how Halsey will die—if Cortana doesn’t take over his body and stop him, which she doesn’t. He doesn’t go through with killing Halsey (unfortunately, though I very uncharitably enjoyed listening to her panicked screams. A+ acting). I’m not entirely convinced that his test actually proved what he wanted it to—we know Cortana is programmed to take him over completely if needed. Is her access to that function still blocked by Halsey, or did Cortana choose not to use it? If it’s still blocked, was Halsey unable or unwilling to give that access in time to save herself? (She, or her clone, has already shown herself willing to die for her vision if necessary.) Chief seems to assume Cortana would do anything to save Halsey because she’s her creator—but is that true? What does Cortana want?

Makee, like the sledgehammer she is, is going straight past subtle and demanding to speak to the Master Chief and no one else to give up Covenant secrets. How does she even know who he is, gang? If this weren’t a 9-episode season I would have enjoyed them screwing with her by trotting out every other Master Chief in the UNSC before finally letting her talk to John, but we gotta keep things moving, instead. His tough-guy act lasts all of thirty seconds before she drops the term “blessed one” and he crumbles. If she’s so important, Chief, how did she get away? (Also, did she have star charts memorized as a kid and access to nav data as a prisoner? How does she know what the human name of this star system is? I know, if she didn’t we wouldn’t have a show, blah blah blah.) She also gets a cool new human outfit this episode, which I assume is a standard-issue thing, but appears conveniently fashionable, well-fitted, and cleavage-revealing.

Meanwhile, there’s politics and the brass backstabbing each other because their brainwashing & slavery program isn’t running as smoothly as they hoped. (No one reads history OR scifi around here.) (Are the Spartans even paid? What do they spend it on? They need a union.) Consequences are catching up to Halsey in the form of some sort of interrogation (mar dhea, as we say in Irish—as if! I’m certain she’ll wriggle out somehow). Aaaand John interrupts thirty seconds in, which is probably not how the military or the law usually works and in the real world would almost certainly be enough to get her off scot-free, to question her while Parangosky and Keyes watch virtually. “He’s going to think we’re complicit!”/ “Margaret, we ARE complicit!” made me laugh in a very dark way. Miranda slips in at one point, too.

Villain monologue! I have to say, I HATE this sort of villain more than any other. Humanity is too violent, so I, supergenius, had the ~unprecedented~ idea to make a group that’s even MORE violent! No one’s ever thought of that before! Babe, you just reinvented the military and cops, except now they have bigger guns and less connection to their home communities. When we say in PoliSci that one of the definitions of a state is “the entity that maintains a monopoly on violence”, this is literally what we mean. So other groups are now incentivized to create their own Spartan programs to compete with you, or some other arms-race solution? (And this is leaving out all the child abuse, fascism, and “who decides?” of deploying a hyperviolent solution.) Dear Halsey, your ideas are unoriginal, inefficient, do not scale well, and are ultimately ineffective. Please see me after class.

Speaking of the child abuse, holy God, the rest of her explanation was truly horrific. Flash clone kids, created just to die in pain? That’s just sick.

I feel for Miranda, who just got her entire vision of her mother as anything other than a monster ripped from her, and I appreciate that her response isn’t to make it about herself, it’s to offer sympathy to John and then snap to when he asks her for help. How much of this is also a revelation for Cortana, given that she keeps saying that Spartan records don’t exist? Whether she knew and is having that knowledge recontextualized, or whether she’s hearing all this for the first time, she’s about to have choices to make herself. John wonders how much control Cortana has over him, and I’m over here wondering how much control Halsey has over her. The other person who gets to learn all of this is poor Kai, who gets the less-than-comforting reassurance from Master Chief that they’re still Spartans, and the even-less-comforting words, “Get better, 125. I’m gonna need you.”

Back with Halsey, she faces her first-ever consequences when Parangosky reassigns her and has her kicked out, giving her lab, the Spartans, and the artifact over to Miranda. I still don’t trust it will last, but it’s nice to see her outmaneuvered at least once. (Referring to John’s very real anger and anguish as “theatrics” and laughing over the idea that anyone could possibly arrest her? Someone push her into a volcano. Preferably right after she watches Miranda comes up with some brilliant breakthrough that leaves everything she did in the dust, and more, shows it for the flawed bullshit it is.) (Can you tell I am starting to REALLY dislike this woman.)

Miranda gets the lab, which is stark and huge with giant screens, much more glamorous than her previous cluttered, normal-monitor-filled premises. Nice set design there. I’m not sure if she realizes it’s also her invitation to become as complicit as her parents. (The Spartan program is being questioned, but if it’s not shut down, how do you get more Spartans? How will she justify keeping  those pellets in the other Spartans’ backs? Or is she about to start a little rebellion of her own?) But of course, her access is immediately compromised by her mom demanding to see her. *insert Admiral Ackbar gif here*

It absolutely is a trap, as expected. I assumed it would be a bug planted on Miranda to take back to the lab, but it seems Halsey used a high-tech contact lens to copy her daughter’s retinal data. 1. I am surprised she didn’t have that already, weirdo that she is, and 2. This is why biometric data is a disaster. It sounds super fancy and science fiction-y and unhackable, but the problem isn’t your body being hackable, it’s the MACHINE being hackable. It doesn’t know where the data is coming from, just that it IS the correct data, and you can change your passwords BUT YOU CAN’T CHANGE YOUR EYEBALLS.

Ahem. Meanwhile, in terms of character work, Halsey pulls this all off by pretending to get emotional, but does it in such a weird and off-putting way that it’s believable for her. I have so many questions about this woman. Why and how did she even end up with Keyes? Why did she even HAVE a kid? (Oh god, she didn’t originally have Miranda for the Spartan program, did she? Is that why she’s so hostile towards her, because she washed out and is therefore ‘flawed’?) Telling Miranda “I’m sorry that you’re upset that I’m a sociopath” was a hell of a move.

Eventually Cortana breaks through to Halsey (who is debuting her new line of loungewear, incidentally). Interesting that Halsey takes credit for Adun’s work. Cortana, you really, really need to consider your life choices right now…

Meanwhile, there’s some drama around finding the planet Makee told them about, which gives me a bit more of the worldbuilding—they’re using telescopes to find it, not relying on previous charting missions or sending a ship in person. Humanity is still limited in its explorations and knowledge of the greater galaxy. (Could they find friendly aliens at some point? Allies against the Covenant?)

The doubt is enough to send Master Chief and Miranda running to the artifact, fortunately not with Makee in tow just yet. (John’s level of suspicion is pleasantly surprising.) Clearly Kai’s humanizing of the team worked, because Miranda is obviously worried about John as a person as they argue over him touching the artifact again. Halsey, Adun, and Cortana all watch as John nearly fries his brain—and Makee’s as she goes into an instantaneous, identical medical crisis. He inevitably remembers her words and is able to accept the power and suddenly they’re both having a vision of a ring planet of some kind. Aaand it immediately turns into a “We See Each Other” moment. Of course it does.

[iwonderwh0]

I've been replaying dbh lately, and: I unlocked Amanda's profile in the gallery and realized I'd forgotten one important detail. That Amanda has the authority and ability to remotely deactive Connor, at any second. The only reason she didn't during the escape of Jericho or Night of the Soul was because he was still UsefulTM. As she could assume control of him anytime, anywhere, but needed him to ingratiate himself to the Jericrew and get close to them before murdering Markus on live TV (and i wondered about that for a while - why wait, why not just kill Markus in the church, or hell, even immediately after deviating at Jerico - but i suppose it's a much bigger negative impact on public opinion to watch an android kill the deviant leader live. Their support is still tenuous, at best. This would likely tip plenty of people into believing that deviants are, in fact, unstable, unpredictable, and dangerous.)

But also...the fact that Amanda could have Thanos snapped Connor at any moment and he would have crumpled to the ground like an electrocuted pigeon. I just feel like, that as a fandom, we don't talk about this aspect of her nearly enough.

Imagine, if you will, Hank waiting for Connor at ass fucking o'clock (for him), freezing his ass off and hoping and waiting Connor wasn't hurt, wasn't laying dead in a ditch, or burning in an alley somewhere- and then he turns and Connor's there, missing a tie, but still with that goofy Superman curl and goofy smile. He's tugging the kid into a hug by the neck before he can think twice about it, and he thinks that maybe. Just for a split second. That maybe the world ain't all bad.

Connor's nearly melted into the embrace, lax (as much as THE stiffest android he's ever met, anyways) as can be, except he suddenly tenses in Hank's arms. Hank leans back, putting distance between them, just enough to look Connor in the eye, except the deviant isn't looking at him. Instead, his wine dark eyes are fixated ahead, wide, blank, and unseeing.

"Connor? You alright?" He asks nervously.

Connor does not reply, or tilt his head, or do any of the other 300 little idle animations he does. His LED is a steady, unblinking blue. He doesn't even seem to be simulating breathing.

"Connor? Hey, talk to me, kid." He knows his voice is edging near panic, but he doesn't care, giving Connor's shoulder a little jostle.

Connor remains unresponsive for 4 seconds, and then-

his LED turns a bright, burning red, his eyes roll to the back of his head, eyelids flickering up a storm, and he starts falling backwards. Hank watches it all as if in slow motion.

"Whoa, hey, hey, hey-" He yanks Connor against him, lowering him until he's cradled almost in Hank's lap. "Con, help me, what do i gotta do? I know fuck all about androids, so you're gonna have to tell me what to do here." He knows holding a hand to an android's forehead won't tell him anything, that they don't even get sick or cold, but he does it anyways just to have something to do with his hands. "I can't-fuck, just please, be ok. Don't do this to me, please-"

Connor's red LED flickers, once, twice, then holds steady for a moment before dimming slowly to nothing. Empty, grey, and lifeless.

Somewhere, far away from the icy slush and the screams bouncing off the detroit streets, Amanda snips another dead rose.

Damm, okay!

Yeah, I think shooting the deviant leader on live tv during the victory speech is surely much more impactful “last twist” than doing it in the middle off some mess where someone else could still theoretically take over the leader role (although it’s not like Connor didn’t try)

So you want that hug scene but with drama? Can’t blame you, haha

Although I’m a huge fun of something like this happening right then and where Connor resisted shooting Markus, once again during the speechtime. I mean, him shooting himself regardless of whetger or not there are Markus. Because if he can resist Amanda when Markus is alive, it’s not entirely sure why isn’t it an option when he’s alone, so shooting himself in both scenarios kinda make sense imo

[brainwormsprompts]

Night Guard Danny (DP x FNAF)

So either due to the GIW or the parents finding out going wrong, Danny has to flee Amity Park in a hurry. Since he's half-human and still needs to eat, that means that he has to find somewhere that won't do secure background checks and find out that this identity doesn't have the necessary requirements. What's one place that doesn't do that? That's right! Freddy Fazbears.

Now this is in a location where there are haunted animatronics bc of a missing children's incident. Danny immediately recognizes this place as a Haunt and does a ghostly aura greeting/explanation. This confuses the children and they don't immediately clock Danny as the one who sent it. Fazbears hires Danny but leaves the job notice up, assuming that he's gonna die or quit at the end of the week.

The first few nights, the animatronics attack. Having fought with his rogues and befriended them, this doesn't faze Danny. (Haunted animatronics are nothing when you've had to fight your future evil self.) In fact, being the chaos gremlin that he is, he's probably having fun and/or calling up to Amity Park to make sure that it's doing ok. Danny's assuming that the children are either testing him or are waiting to talk till later. He knows that the animatronics are possessed a la Ghost Sense so he's just vibing waiting till they are ready to chat.

Every night he leaves with a smile and a bounce in his step. And this scares the morning crew. They've gotten used to night guards looking panicked and stressed or straight up missing and dead. So even if they don't know exactly what's going on, they know it's bad. So having Danny consistently pop out of it with a smile scares them. He also stays which is the next shocker to them. Now Danny is staying because he wants to make sure that the GIW doesn't catch wind of the place and capture them (plus, he's also having fun) but they don't know that.

After the second week, management decides to shadow Danny to make sure that he's actually showing up and doing his job. Whether or not the animatronics are attacking that night or not is up to you. Either way, Danny's casually talking with management while keeping the office secure. Management leaves bewildered by Danny.

Then Mike applies. Considering the reputation that Fazbears has, it doesn't get a lot of applicants. They seriously consider not hiring him, but then decide that they can make use of Danny and have him train Mike. Afterwards, they can just have Mike and Danny on different days.

Now in between when he got hired and when Mike came in, Danny and the children actually got to talking. Danny's priority is making sure that the kids are safe and have escape plans while the kids want to know what is up with him. Upon realizing that the kids are essentially trapped in the animatronics and not knowing why, Danny calls Frostbite to have him come by the restaurant to give them a check up.

When Mike comes in, Danny's not all too happy. Both because there's another ghost adjacent being he has to watch out for and because this is a stranger, can they be trusted and all that. Danny fields out Mike, decides that he can be trusted and tells him what he knows. Mike does end up meeting Frostbite for a check-up as well. There are probably more shenanigans to be had, but this is all that comes to mind.