#not just for all the characters and mechs

[squibsformers]

Miscommunication

Rodimus x Human Reader, Drift x Ratchet x Human Reader

Summary: After Rodimus tried looping you into something you really weren't into, you sought out your other partners to complain about his reveal of character.

Word Count: 1,128

AN: NSFW suggestive talk, no outright smut. Also hi this is my first tf writing soooo lmk what your thoughts are, i love comments. I'm already working on a reader insert series and wanted to start with a few one off bits. Enjoy! tagging valveplug just in case.

Drift looked up when you entered the medbay, his greeting dying on his glossa as his field just PINGED with the waves of displeasure coming off you.

“Jeez… what's got you all wound up, huh?” He straightened his backstuts as he stood up more from the desk he leaned over, messing with Ratchet temporarily set aside.

You hissed a rush of words under your breath as you strutted in, something that he couldn't TELL what was said but he understood it wasn't very polite. Even the older medic bot lifted his head to address you.

“I only managed to make out Rodimus in all that. What did our oh so brilliant captain do to piss you off?”

 “I thought this whole time we were leading up to something… fun. But it turns out I misread every step. He thinks he's BETTER than me.”

“He's the captain, he is better than you.”

You whipped your head around to glare at Ratchet. “Better enough that I deserve to clean the dirt off his kibble with my tongue?? Because I feel that's pretty fucking degrading.”

Both bots stilled, and the medic's “Wait, what-” was interrupted by Drift stalling briefly and talking over him. “That doesn't sound at ALL like something Roddy would say.”

“I thought so, too.” You huffed before your attitude melted into something a bit sadder. “I mean… I've been flirting with him for so long, and he's been receptive towards it. You even told me he said he likes me. So I don't know where this came from…” 

Groaning, you put your face in your hands, and idly Ratchet patted your back while working (and half listening). 

“I didn't even think that would be a thing with you guys, making someone tongue-polish your like, plating and stuff.”

“That sounds like something Megatron would have had Starscream do back in the day,” Ratchet groused, making Drift mock gagging.

“I'm going to purge my tank, don't make me think about those two like that.” A shudder wracked the ex ‘con's frame. “Eugh. No it's not really a thing with us. Is…is it a human thing?”

“Ah…” The question made you pause to think. “Not… really? I mean, kind of. It's usually an extremely exaggerated form of punishment from someone who wants to uh… show superiority while demeaning the other. Though it's shoes or boots for us, not armor spikes. The idea is to polish the dirtiest article of clothing with their tongue - or glossa - so they feel... sub-human. Though there's always exceptions, and some people are into that kinda thing as like, a kink? But it's really not…what I'm looking for.” You wince.

….Ratchet paused his comforting as he listened, before turning to look you over. “Hold on, back up. Armor spikes… kid, what did Rodimus say to you?”

Drift leaned over the autobot's shoulder, studying you closely. The samurai looked both confused…and disbelieving.

Alright, fine then.

“He said ‘Y’know… Maybe you can put that glossa of yours to use and… clean my spikes with it.’” They let out a grumble. “I didn't peg him for the degrading type…”

The two mechs went oddly quiet and still.

“Spikes… plural?” Drift pressed.

You thought back more, mulling the memory over, of the captain of the Lost Light leering down at you with that heated smirk and his thumb on your cheek…and shook your head.

“No, sorry. Just spike.”

“PFFT-”

You looked up to see Drift looking away, one of his servos clamped over his intake as he cackled. His limbs shook and he held onto Ratchet to steady himself. The medic was looking away, face buried in his hands. His shoulders shook.

He was also laughing at you.

“What. WHAT! HEY?? HELLO!!”

“Kid…Kid, Sp..spike is another term we have for plug.” Ratchet mumbled out. Still laughing. Very much laughing at you. His words caused Drift to wheeze and bend over, his vents stuttering as he cackled.

“He was asking you to interface finally and you totally missed it..!! Oh Primus help me, what did you say? What did you say, tell me. Please, it has to be good.”

Your face got warm as you thought of the fact that you had finally gotten Rodimus interested enough he would make a bold pass. Your face was hot when you realized you had totally missed his signals. Your face was practically on fire when it clicked just how badly you fumbled the whole interaction.

“I… I said Ew, no thanks. And came here-”

“THAAAAHAHAATS THE WORST THING YOU C-COOOHOULD HAVE SAID!!! AAAHAHAGHA OH PRIMUS-”

“Frag me, kid you did not-”

There was no saving you. Both mechs were now openly laughing at your misery. Your face buried in your hands you mumbled out a weak “How was I supposed to know!” that only made Drift start losing it all over again.

After some time (Ten. Minutes.) the two much larger beings had settled, Ratchet returning to his work and chuckling on occasion while Drift…pestered you over your absolute dropping of the ball.

“I can't believe this. I'm almost scared to flirt with you now because you may not get it!”

“Driiiiift…!” You whined, the cheeky samurai squeezing your hips. “Let me go, I want to jettison myself out of the airlock.”

“Not a chance!! I mean I want to make sure if I tell you I wanna have you eat my valve from the back that you aren't going to mistake it for me, say, threatening to mug you or something.”

Your face was bright red. “Drift!!”

“Or, oh man, if I tell you I want to slot my plug between your thighs, maybe you'll think I'm wanting you to-”

“RATCHET! DRIFT IS BULLYING ME AGAIN!” Complaining loudly, you squirmed in Drift's hold while eyeing his Conjux, displeased and humiliated and hoping the medic would scold him or something.

Ratchet barely spared you a glance with his optics as he continued his inventory count. He was literally busy and not paying attention to you two.

“Between words from attractive mechs, manhandling, and something almost too big to go in, you enjoy being bullied, and all of us here are very aware of it,” drawled the grouch's response.

You stared at him, mouth dropped open in shock and WORSE embarrassment at how he called your bullshit out. All while Drift began cackling all over again.

—

You stared up at the habisuite door, staring at the imposing metal barrier of captain Rodimus Prime's personal chambers. Your stomach twisted in knots nervously, your palms somewhat sweaty as you raised a fist and knocked hard, twice. Mentally, you prepared your apology as you heard shuffling and the soft clank of pedes across a metal floor.

God, you hoped the mech thought stupid was hot.

[daylesspax]

Favorite transformers ship, favorite mech out of all of them (or a list)

and fic recs? Just because I wanna get to know you

Okay! So sorry it took so long to answer this, lmao

My favorite ships rotate every month depending on what fanfiction I’m reading

Currently, my favorite ship is Jazzprowl!

My favorite character also rotates depending on the fanfictions I’m reading, but Rodimus is a classic for me ;)

For fic recommendations… wow, I have a lot but I obviously can’t name all of them so I’ll give a short list of some good ones (almost all of them are finished)

The Crime in Crystals series by Aard_Rinn, amazing Jazzprowl and exquisite world building and storytelling! Super fun and amazing badass moments!

And I Alone Have Escaped To Tell You by astolat, a time travel fic centering around a G1ish Cyclonus, very fun time with an engaging plot and incredible characterizations! I adore this rendition of the classic Cyclonus!

Echoes of Messatine by MileMusketeer… Ooh boy, this one is a doozy. This fic is a long-term commitment, and it will take you for a ride— Megatron angst and dark topics galore!

The Echo Garden by AltraViolet is a classic in my opinion, a masterpiece in worldbuilding and some truly professional work on Soundwave’s character arc! Some of the most well-done content on the Rodimus/Soundwave ship, on the use of dimension travel, and with the Lost Light in general!

Attack on Prime by melishade! Because of course I’m going to promote it lol, this is an incredible, in-depth crossover story of Attack on Titan and Transformers Prime— I consider this a personal classic and one of the best TF crossovers I’ve had the joy of experiencing :)

I have none-TF recs too but I really don’t feel like listing more… 😅

Read my fic, Exception, too if you want, idk, I think I did okay on it

[princess-of-the-corner]

God I forgot about Qilin. Cool asfk akuma, arguably one of Gabes best designs, dragged down by the fucking ticket inspection and bringing in the goddamn army. (As well as how the episode felt like it was written avid ACAB Enthusiasts)

my problem with the episode is that it's a bit all over the place in a few spots like.

Firstly take this with a grain of salt because I'm white af

Okay. This is supposed to be an episode about racism and the cops being harder on minorities. But it doesn't.... come across that?

The ticket inspector was initially doing his job. Sabine didn't have a bus ticket. Yes it's because Mari got off the previous stop with the tickets, but if he handwaved everyone who said 'oh I totally bought a ticket but I lost it'.......

Now he does get unreasonable after that, accusing her of being hostile, having her arrested instead of just printing a ticket, etc. But this is also a show where the 'you seem to have broken a law so you immediately get arrested' is not out of place. (I mean sometimes it is BUT it's a 'what works for the story' thing). Doubly so as the target audience is children who sometimes do think 'oh god oh god I sneaked one extra candy they're gonna send a full swat team and arrest me and I'm gonna go to jail!!'.

Then you have the whole thing of literally all the cops showing up for one lady and then the Akuma and then the cops ignoring LB and CN in favor of blasting the Akuma with weaponry despite months of the Heroes handling this on their own. Which at first seems out of place until you remember episodes like Rogercop where all the cops weren't mind controlled they just went 'yeah I guess the obviously Akumatized(controlled by supervillain) cop in a mech suit is in charge because the mayor, who he kidnapped, said so. Time to arrest the Heroes!!". So while it hasn't happened in a while, cops just acting Like That™ aren't out of place in this world.

And like. The ticket inspector is a rando who is only seen here going against Sabine, but we have no idea how he'd act with a white guy breaking the same law. And Roger has been shown to be corrupt as hell toward white people(specifically the Couffaines who as far as we know are white). So it doesn't quite get the message across that this is out of the norm.

Then you have Marinette having to apologize to the ticket inspector who, at this point, is now much more reasonable of 'well she did technically break the law by riding the bus without ticket or ID, but given the circumstances we'll let it go' but Mari insists on paying the fine like he was in the right.

Honestly I feel like this episode suffers from not being direct about what the issue is. Yes it's implied that it's a racism thing, yes most of the audience including the kids will probably pick it up. But when you give that much wiggle room on 'what is motivating this character's actions', then combine it both with stuff that's /supposed/ to be extreme but is par for the course in the series and the protagonist apologizing to the guy who instigated all of this.... it gets very mixed and it can get lost and make people who do see the allegories wonder if they're just reading too much into things.

And I don't know exactly where to place the blame on. Did the writers pull back to try and make the situation more 'relatable to everyone' thus making it relate to no one? Was it a bigger thing of the studio or S&P saying 'hey you can't depict real racism in a kids' show'?

I mean either way there's some blame on the writers for the other flaws like Mari apologizing and undercutting anything the ticket inspector did wrong. But still.

[svartalfhild]

Even more thoughts!

Emmrich has officially stolen my Rook's heart. Sorry, Lucanis, you had a good run, but your game just wasn't quite as effective on me as Emmrich's was.

This is fine, though, because my lowkey shipping of Lucanis with Neve got major vindication.

10,000 years of shame for Illario. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $100. What a dumbass.

Idk what happens if you save Minrathous, but if you don't, Neve's final confrontation with her personal villain is, uh...well, let's just say I'm a bit worried for her. Woof.

Worms! (if you know, you know)

Been lusting after Myrna's robe and I thought I finally found it, but it turns out it's a pants version that's basically the Mourn Watch starter outfit with a coat. I hate those pants so much. I just want that cool ass coat but alas the clothes underneath are awful.

Not sure how I feel about Shathann getting character development at the last second, but man, I feel so bad for Taash.

Harding and Taash are very cute together.

I didn't expect Harding to be the one to cancel the old man for romancing Rook. Davrin's reaction to the news is hilarious, though.

The Lucanis and Davrin drunk scene is priceless.

Crying big ugly tears for Bellara.

MANFRED!!! BIGGER, UGLIER TEARS FOR MY SON!!!!

Harding's banters with Lucanis about dreaming are so funny and often relatable.

The choice at the end of Emmrich's arc is heinous. Thanks, BioWare. I will never recover.

Never over the fact that the Veilguard has a book club. Love these nerds.

"I think we're out of onions. Again." XDDDD

I love how between banters with Neve and a codex entry about Manfred, it's pretty clear that Lucanis is a Union Man, or should I say Guild Man. He is all about fair compensation for labor. I know this isn't necessarily surprising, since he's a guild assassin, but I'm very much enjoying the fact that it comes up in game.

I support Bellara and her writing aspirations.

Lmao, Rest In Annoyance, Johanna. Enjoy watching/listening to Emmrich woo his girlfriend and not being able to leave. Enjoy Manfred routinely walking up to you to (in his own way) call you a nasty bitch.

Also love the banter where Emmrich's like "Why the FUCK did you think it was a good idea to build a mech, Johanna???"

Highly recommend bringing Lucanis/Neve and Taash/Harding along for each other's personal quests if they're together or even just at the flirting stage, because you get good shippy stuff.

Earning Solas' respect is so satisfying. That's right, experience growth, bitch!

Haven't done Davrin's big final arc quest yet, but I'm fully prepared to get emotional, given how things went with everyone else's arcs.

Some fun DATV things I'm experiencing:

Playing as female Rook makes the first few quests until you get Lucanis very Girls Night, which I really started to notice after a friend pointed it out and she is so right.

Neve is bestie.

Lucanis' intro cinematic made me feel so attacked. That shit was so my brand lol.

Lucanis and Neve's banter is hilarious and if I don't romance Lucanis I may end up shipping him with Neve.

Did Bellara's first personal quest and almost cried. Hit me a little close to home.

Neve's hangout quest was delightful. I want to chat and snack and walk around with her all day.

Neve and Bellara's developing friendship is so fun. I want to see a scene where Lucanis gets involved in their cooking adventures.

Shopping and getting coffee with Lucanis was like Oh No He's Thoughtful And Charming And I'm Weak.

Chose Lucanis over Neve in that one decision that made me want to scream and now she's hardened and I'm so sorry bestie I was thinking of the defenseless people and I will never be okay again.

Varric playing mentor to Rook got me right where it hurts. He's there for when you need an adultier adult to tell you that you're doing okay and that he's proud if you. I cry forever.

Assan and Manfred are my SONS and I LOVE THEM and I make the most ridiculous noises when they are on screen. THEY ARE SUCH GOOD BOYS.

The quest to acquire Emmrich is fucking delightful if you're a nice Mourn Watcher and you bring Bellara along. Just three huge nerds enjoying each other's company while doing dangerous shit.

Davrin and Emmrich's banter is like two dad's comparing notes.

As a Watcher, Myrna kinda feels like my mentor-mom, which is funny.

More thoughts to come. Just wanted to scribble down a few things so far for the people to let y'all know I'm having a fucking blast.

[lesbiansanemi]

Got a big ass official art book for gurren lagann at the con and I got the time to actually comb through all 500 pages tonight and the entire thing is very cool and is honestly inspiring me to pick up drawing again but also I do have to admit I was not expecting all the official yuri art in it???? Like goddamn Yoko sure does like sensually laying on top of other women huh

[time-is-restored]

do you guys every think abt death vs immortality as a thoroughline in like. literally all of the mechs albums.

old king cole is explicitly warped by immortality (never to forgive he would eternal live, his hands dyed red by gore - can be read a few ways depending on where u place the emphasis, but at the very least communicates that his wrath is facilitated By his immortality), and the olympians commit attrocities in order to hold onto their wealth and the immortality that it grants them (murdering arachne, yanking heracles' chain the second he tries to go freelance, having a monopoly on the acheron etc). the value they put on immortality and living forever, and the fear they have of ever possibly losing it, has completely warped their morals and priorities.

and while it comes up less in tbi, there's still significant emphasis placed on how odin has been in power for a century (both thor + the narrator bring it up, and there's also an emphasis on how long ago the bifrost project was started, and how 'no one left living' can explain its science). her villain monologue in rangarok iv places the extinction of asgard as an honour - a ruin that no one can possibly rebuild from is called 'apotheosis'. and as she says at the end, the idea that no one can possibly outlive her is a key draw for odin. asgard dies with her.

in hnoc, the only really immortal character is brian (and we only really know that bc of knowledge we get from outside the album), but the axis of life and death as a privilege vs a curse is still very present. 'mordred's gift to Arthur could be love in his own eyes / fating him alone to keep the life to which he clings', not only posits that the gift of survival isn't inherently good + kind (which the audience would immediately recognise as love, not possibly love), but places emphasis on the fact that arthur is now utterly alone. the station's death at the hands of mordred is hardly a happy one ('Its people damned, doomed by a man who's lost all his regrets'), but arthur's fate is arguably worse. severed from the finality and closure of death, what does he become? [insert that one cool theory abt hnoc arthur becoming old king cole here]

it's like. on a meta level, the reason we as fans don't put much emphasis on the depravity + cruelty of the mechs is bc the people portraying the mechs are all charismatic + skilled performers. in live gigs they're all portraying the fun side of their characters - roasting each other, bantering with the audience, making fun of the characters they're singing about, referencing off-screen violence - bc if they portrayed their lore too literally they'd be comitting felonies LMAOOO

but narratively, its like. literally every album is a meditation on the ways that the glorification of immortality can ruin civilisations - can ruin galaxies. whether its rooted in the fear of you specifically dying, or of being outlived, or overpowered or forgotten, or if its done for the sake of someone else's survival... it's all corrosive. if u refuse to accept the indisputable impermanence of life, you lose the ability to value it, and u numb urself to the reality of just how fucked up it is to cut another person's life short for any reason.

like. i do think some of the mechs started as good people, and some of them even might still have ethical standards, but i REALLY cannot stop thinking about how fucking. fascinating it is that this group of immortals who are KNOWN for basically considering nothing but how fun and/or violent any given activity will be, have basically filled their entire discography with songs about how their continued existence is corrosive and brings tragedy + ruin wherever they go.

so how self-aware are they? do you think those old morals + ethics still linger in their mind, when they're writing down these tragedies? they willingly self identify as liars + thieves + bastards, etc etc, and they seem to have no trouble identifying the 'bad guys' in the various albums (ie: humanising snow + cinders + rose, but not king cole), but do those concepts actually mean anything emotionally, or even theoretically, for them all beyond their dramatic potential? do they remember their lives before they were mechanised as it actually happened, or do they remember it as lyrics to a song? is it possible to be entirely self aware abt ur own capacity for violence (as jonny in paticular claims to be), if you no longer relate to violence as anything other than a narrative device - a means to an end, whether comedic or dramatic?

[kandicon]

On the assumption that any lost body parts of the mechs still exist after removal and don't, like, disintegrate or something:

Note: since the fictions talk about all brains being rounded up and put to work no matter how small or unusable, this poll does not require that the mechs had to have their brains harvested as a whole for a brain to be counted (aka brains collected by a death from head explosion, for example, still count).

The Toy Soldier and Drumbot Brian are not included for obvious reasons, but the idea of ferrymen looking really hard to try and find their brains after they "die" and being confused is very funny to me.

[rocksanddeadflowers]

It's the winter solstice today so I am again thinking about Lyfrassir celebrating Yule on the Aurora to try and keep Yggdrasilian traditions alive. Hanging up spmistletoe (space mistletoe) or spcedar (space cedar) etc to bring in greenery, or cooking a large traditional feast, maybe they request Marius and other willing mechs to preform Yule carols.

I think specifically Marius would have many feelings about Lyfrassir celebrating Yule, not just bc of the violinspector thing but bc the lore I picked up, Marius is Space German, so he presumably had a variation of Yule in his past. (Also the fanon(?) idea of Marius having written The Wassailant album in his universe, like the Kofi Young album, is chef's kiss btw.)

Just.... Lyf emotionally rambling on about the celebrations they grew up with while Marius teaches them to make Thomas Wheel breads bc he may block out much from his past but he somehow remembered this and it means so much to Lyf that he may as well.

I want the others trying to help the holiday spirit. I want Tim to tell Marius that this is just like Christmas and he should definitely kiss Lyf under the mistletoe bc it's tradition and he rants about Santa Clause bc what do you mean you guys didn't have that? I want Brian to bake gingerbread cookies shaped like octokittens. Raphaella flying around hanging up decor and occasionally scooping up Jonny and forcing him to help (he acts way more upset over it than he actually is). I want the Toy Soldier being compared to nutcrackers but it actually ends up playing Mari Lwyd which, while being mainly Welsh it's close enough and its absolutely lovingly terrifying. Ashes insists on a Yule Log that's an entire tree (Lyf explains that's just an exaggeration or myth but also won't kill their fun). Nastya and Aurora shift the day-night lighting cycles to feel as close to a Midgard winter as possible. Ivy is honestly the only one trying to find genuine traditional celebrations (both out of caring for Lyf and bc she needs this to be accurate period) to help Lyf with.

They pick a night to feast and drink, a few trading presents while they get drunk off of wassail or muled wine and singing different winter holidays carols from each cultural background that had them. Lyf is ever grateful for their newfound family. They're fucked up and frankly quite concerning, but it means the world to find that deep down, in their own way, they all truly care.

[flowey-apologist]

Hoo I think I'm soo funnyy

[purgatory-is-life]

Mechtober day three/prompt 3-found family

again, posted on my ao3 as well

Burning Love - Reality666Rift999 - The Mechanisms (Band) [Archive of Our Own]

@mechtober-2024

tws, non graphic violence, just mentioned really, incredibly vague mentions of carmilla's experiments, mentioned manipulation, implied past emotional manipulation, probably more? let me know what i should add

Ashes grew up angry and cold and hungry. They grew up alone, only fending for themself and only needing to worry about themself.

Even with the Sevens, it was everyone for themselves. Sure, they could rely more on people other than themself, sure Smooth Mickey and the Lucky Sevens would offer a shoulder to lean on when jobs got tough or someone got hurt, but it was always conditional. Love was a resource with not enough to spare, and so it was used as a bargaining chip. And they never let themself fall into the trap of believing those who offered it unconditionally. They didn’t even fall to the trap of falling for those offering it up conditionally. At least, that’s what they told themself.

And then Mickey betrayed them.

Mickey set them alight, framing them for something they never did.

Mickey took them out of the world the same way they came in–bitter, burning bright and destructive.

And the hurt, the fear, the sadness, the grief–well, they couldn’t handle those feelings. It meant acknowledging that they fell into the same trap they swore they’d never fall for again.

So they took that hurt and pain and betrayal into anger. Anger at everything, at the world, at themself, at Smooth Mickey. If the afterlife was real, which they sincerely doubted, they’d wait till Mickey appeared there with them and make sure their revenge was long and sweet and destructive. They’ll leave nothing but ash in their wake, as they did once before. Before the orphanage. Before the Sevens. Mickey will know why you never cross Ashes O’Reilly.

But they didn’t believe in the afterlife. So they couldn’t really take the vengeance they desired on those that wronged them. They’ll at least go out how they lived, burning bright and destructive and angry.

But then, as they were choking on that smoke and as the skin burnt and blistered, someone came and offered up an out like a tired, goth angel or something. But no, she was a tired goth, sure, but she was no angel. Still, she offered what they wanted most to them on a silver platter–a chance to get back at the world that let them burn alone and afraid and angry. A chance to let them be the one to burn the world around them back. A chance at vengeance.

She offered them immortality.

They don’t really remember much of the process. But afterward they could breathe so much better than they’d ever had before. And they couldn’t die, they had all the time in the world to burn.

They’d always loved the sight of fire and the smell of smoke. Malone made such a pretty bonfire.

They could see it for miles even as they flew away with the new crew that they’d joined. The Mechanisms, and the tired goth Dr. Carmilla.

The Doc offered them a hand and a promise of love and family. They didn’t believe her, of course. No one was just going to give away something as precious as love to some scrappy orphan who just burned their entire world to ash. But they let her believe that they believed her. But they had learned their lesson, and they’d closed off their heart to any and all love around them. They wouldn’t let themselves be hurt or betrayed again.

Especially as the Doc’s love twisted into something dangerous. Something a bit more painful.

This time, they didn’t experience that same degree of hurt, of pain, that happened when Mickey killed them, because they expected it. They expected that the love she offered was something finite and costly. No longer was Ashes going to let themself be caught off guard when someone pulled their offered love away violently. They kept their heart closed, and nothing could hurt them.

So when Jonny (they all know it was him, even if he denied it vehemently) sent the Doc out the airlock, they didn’t say anything. They didn’t mourn the love that was once presented to them, didn’t mourn the giver of their immortality. Ashes O’Reilly didn’t mourn people, their heart was cold and cut off from those around them. Because that’s what kept them safe their entire life.

And so they kept their heart closed, and kept their head down as they did their work. They had lots of duties as the Quartermaster, and it kept them busy. As Quartermaster, it was their job to take care of the crew and the ship, to keep everything running smoothly and efficiently, to keep their food stores full and the other miscellaneous supplies stocked and up to code. Because of those reasons, they spent a lot of time around the crew for various reasons.

Ivy was always good at keeping track of time passing, despite how… confusing time was on the Aurora, making her helpful in telling when something was expired and how expired it was. Brian always helped them know how much they might need to get for the long flights through space, the long stretches of time between planets and places where they can pick up supplies. The Toy Soldier was… there, but it was always helpful and did anything asked of it. Nastya kept Aurora up and running, keeping her healthy and happy. And if there was something wrong with Aurora’s engines, or with something else that might cause delays or issues (like that time all of the cooling mechanics in the ship broke and everything in the main fridge spoiled within a week), Nastya was the one to go to. Though normally she would just appear from wherever she was inside the ship or Aurora’s vents.

Jonny, for all his melodrama and show-boating, normally actually had a decent eye for planning and had a decent eye for spots where they could have fun and refuel or restock, whatever it was that needed to get done. Tim never really did much in a way like Ivy or Brian, but he kept the armory clean and stocked and asked if they could get more ammunition or guns or knives or what have you when they started getting old and worn or were just mysteriously going missing. He kept the armory well cared for, and he was fun. He had that same pension for fires and smoke as they did, though with more of a knack for the explosive kind of fires than their usual method of burning everything down.

The crew was not a kind one. They didn’t mince words, they cut straight to the point, and they killed and maimed each other constantly. It was honestly refreshing. There was no false promise of kindness or love. The cards were all always–mostly–on the table. Everyone kept to themselves, they had no obligations to each other, they were connected through their immortality and everything that happened with Carmilla, plus their general love of violence and mayhem. But there weren't any requirements to pretend to be a family or anything more than what they were. Ashes appreciated having connections without the strings that usually came with them, without having to pretend to care or use “love” as a poker chip to get what they wanted. People listened to Ashes, and when they didn’t, they could just shoot first and get what they wanted second.

They kept their walls high, and none of the other members of the Aurora ever made any real efforts to breach them. They liked that about this mismatched crew.

Of course, they wouldn’t say they cared for them. That was dangerous. Love was something that people had only ever used against them. Only ever used to load their dice. And if Ashes ever cared for something, that was something someone could use against them. And they always played with cards close to their chest and all the dice weighed in their favor.

Just because they found themself getting softer with the crew, handling falling outs more carefully and with hand-picked words, or forcing everyone to take better care of themselves didn’t mean they loved the crew. It didn’t mean anything. Besides, for every careful word, there were twice as many gunshots and frustrated stabbings and burned belongings. They were a violent, nasty crew, killing and maiming whoever they pleased even amongst each other.

And when two new members came onto Aurora, they were subject to the same treatment from them and from the other Mechanisms. Endless violence, uncaring for gun safety and stray bullets and knives and explosions.

And as they grew accustomed to the crew and the others grew accustomed to them, they found their places among them. Marius was the ship’s ‘doctor’, and he took that very seriously. To the point that he often tried to psychoanalyze inanimate objects that Aurora had no control over as they were inanimate objects. Ashes wasn’t entirely certain when he realized Aurora even was her own person, and he still hasn’t realized that she actively fucks with him to get him on tirades directed towards objects that could not respond nor had any sentience. It was kind of hilarious, in Ashes’s opinion.

Raphaella was the one that everyone was wary of. With her science, and the pain that everyone else still felt from the Doctor, and the betrayal the others felt about how her love changed, Raphaella did not find an easy spot within the crew. But she ended up, for the first century or so at least, keeping to herself and earning their trust, proving her worth and slowly gaining the respect of the Mechs. She didn’t immediately jump into being just her usual mad scientist self–after seeing how poorly most of the other Mechs (notably Jonny and Brian) reacted to her brand of chaos and Science. And her efforts to keep her Science toned down until everyone was comfortable were very much appreciated.

And the crew of the starship Aurora, as it was now, was a comforting rock. A comforting place to return to, not that Ashes would say that. When things were too much or a trip planet-side ended up going worse than expected, they were always there to brace each other up. Ashes wouldn’t say that they loved the crew, because that was dangerous and risky and love could be used against them. But they could show it, sometimes.

In ways that worked for the Mechanisms.

They hardly even noticed how their walls came down around the others, didn’t know exactly when violence and shared chaos became just as much of a way to show their care as softness and a comforting hug on a bad day. How they interacted with the crew depended on the day and the crewmate, on what seemed to be the best way to approach a situation. Because Ashes was the Quartermaster, and it was their job to take care of the Mechanisms and keep everything running smoothly.

If that meant letting their walls down, at least a bit, for their crew, then that meant letting themself care and admit that they loved their crew. If that meant meeting the crew at their level, then that meant helping in whatever way helping looked like that day. Sometimes it meant violence, sometimes it meant arson, sometimes it meant movie nights and sweet treats, sometimes it meant quiet cuddles and soft reassurance.

And sometimes it meant letting the crew take care of them, on their bad days. Sometimes it meant being vulnerable themself and relying on the others to take care of things when they couldn’t. Believing in them to get things done, trusting them to take care of them and to not break and leave them again. And it wasn’t always easy, trust didn’t come easily to Ashes O’Reilly, they’d been burned too many times. But their crew did what they could to help, did what they could to help them when they needed it. Their crew let them do whatever they needed to, whether that was rest or help or just be there. They all showed they cared in their own way.

Ashes couldn’t ask for a better crew.

Ashes couldn’t ask for a better family.

[wherethesaladthingsare]

just finished rewatching iron blooded orphans, my heart is broken open again

[daily-linkclick]

im gonna miss xixi every day until forever, lowkey want the og timeline to be restored so that she can live

oughgh... sometimes i delude myself into thinking she can still be alive through qiao ling NOT in the sense that her powers transferred to ql (i actually hate that idea) but in the sense that her soul transferred to ql but not in the intrusive way it's like now ql has a little tianxi ai who she can talk to . for fun

[mechsbrackets]

Hello and welcome to the Best Mechanisms Quote/Line Bracket!

Linked at the bottom of this post is the form where you can nominate quotes and lyrics you want to see included in this bracket. It'll be open for a week, and when that week is over I’ll begin the actual bracket with polls, here on Tumblr.

Here are the rules for nominations. They’re in the form, but I’ll put them in the post too:

You can nominate both quotes and song lyrics. For the purposes of this form I'm just gonna use quote as the general term, but both are completely acceptable nominees!

You can nominate as many/few quotes as you want, but please, only nominate each quote once!

Make sure quotes are no longer than 4 lines please! 4 and under is ok, but anything above will be shortened.

Please include the source of the quote - whether it be person or song! The ideal format is "Quote." - Person, but honestly just make it understandable and it'll be fine.

The most nominated quotes will be the ones who get to be in our bracket and battle it out to see what the best quote truly is.

Notes:

This is going to be a 32 single elimination bracket again! As always, please share this with your friends so we can get a nice large pool of competitors!

This form will be open from Sunday April 23rd to Thursday June 1st!

My inbox is open, so if you have any questions or want to know how your favorite is doing, feel free to shoot me an ask!

And now, finally, the link:

https://forms.gle/wy1Snm6x3RsrhyMXA

Go forth and nominate!

[valiantlyelegantwizard]

I love the spectrum different reactions of the kings when they had to recruit civilians to help pilot the ShuGods. From "taking it pretty well" to "not taking it at all" we have...

Himeno: Clearly not super pleased, but immediately knew the three people she could trust the most. The people I assume she works the most closely with in Ishabana. Probably didn't waste time in summoning them and laying out the situation.

Rita: Initially using Moffun to help them ask this dangerous task of Morfonia, the one person they have to help. But in the end, having to finally showing some vulnerability because this is a big ask but it's important. Seemed to want to protect Morfonia, but also felt that this was the one person they wanted by their side for this.

Kaguragi: Is from a culture that clearly values food and meals, so he eats with the two people in his life he trusts the most before taking out the sword. Just wanted some time with them before having to face the ugly reality.

Yanma: Seemed genuinely upset that the sword lit up for Shiokara. Very clearly didn't want to take his best friend into a battle he was only 50% sure they'd survive. Knew he had to go through with it, but was probably willing to fight the gods over this.

Gira: Literally just sitting on the throne hugging the sword because he didn't want to endanger a single person. Literally had to have that thing taken from him by Douga.

[geee-three]

okay now that im actually confronting it this makes a whole lotta sense that im going to continue to ignore

[ozcarr]

Every time I draw a knight or a robot or something I'm like Hell Yeah I am having fun I am relaxed this is so nice :^)

But its 100% because I hate drawing clothes and fabric folds. Minute I put clothes on a robot, it's over. I'm having a Regular Time