#oh also. robot dealing with human injury. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nevis-the-skeleton · 2 years ago

Note

Jack + Raf + Autobots all want to know why Starscream helped Miko, and let her go... Star simply says, that Miko reminds him of someone... Autobots later thank Star for helping Miko! ❤︎ (Autobots don’t know that Star destroyed Cliffjumper...)

Thanks for your request sweety anon (^3^) !

~~~

Starscream had been at the base for a week now, and had seen hardly anyone except Ratchet. The doctor had insisted on leaving the Seeker alone in the medical bay while he recovered, which was fine for the jet.

He still hadn't answered Optimus' question, not really knowing what to choose. In fact, the jet didn't want to be involved in this useless war anymore, and just wanted to live his life as a Neutral, undisturbed...

Also, he didn't want to close a door on himself, if the Decepticons ever found him. He knew that if he officially became an Autobot, and Megatron found out… The flyer quickly cut off his thought, as the very idea of imagining it gave him chills.

Starscream closed his optics, trying to think of more positive things, but to no avail, when he heard faint sounds approaching his medical table. The Seeker opened his eyes, and turned his head towards the sound to see the little human he had spared coming towards him. Her name was "Miko", if he remembered correctly.

"You're awake?! Miko exclaimed. Great!"

The jet looked away, telling himself that if he ignored her, she would leave him alone, but she didn't. The Japanese girl managed to climb onto Ratchet's desk, before crossing the table to the flyer's berth.

"Don't ignore me! Miko said, grabbing one of Starscream's claws.

- … You're not afraid of me? finally asked the Seeker.

- Why should I?

- Are you unconscious or do you have a very short memory?

- Eh!

- Barely a month ago I practically killed you.

- Yeah, but you saved me afterwards.

- … Bulkhead is okay with you being here?

- He doesn't know.

- Primus… Go away, you're going to cause me problems.

- Why would my presence cause you problems?

- Because, afterwards, the Autobots are going to believe that I tried to hurt you again… I'm barely recovering from my injuries, I would like to not have more if possible."

Miko looked very confused, not really understanding the connection between her presence, the Autobots getting angry, and Starscream getting hurt again. The Japanese girl decided to hide this question that she knew would be unanswered, to ask another one.

“I didn't manage to infiltrate the medical bay for leaving right after. said the girl.

- Primus… sighed the jet.

- I've been waiting for a week to be able to ask you the question, and if you answer it, I'll leave you alone. It's good?

- Yes. Well, I answered your question, leave now.

- Eh?! But I haven't even asked it yet!

- You have, you asked if this deal suited me, I answered, now leave.

- Oh no! You don't have the right to do that!

- I have all the rights, and it's not a little human who will tell me otherwise!

- What's going on here?!"

The two turned to see Bulkhead entering the medical bay, and Starscream quickly stood up, getting extremely far away from Miko!

“I didn't do anything to her, I swear!" the Seeker automatically exclaimed.

The Wrecker had an expression that mixed confusion and suspicion, and he moved a little closer, which strained the jet even more. The big green robot simply picked up his friend, inviting her to climb on his hand, but the latter refused to do so.

“Come on, Miko, you can't stay here. If Ratchet catches you, I'll get scolded."

The flyer watched it all from a reasonable distance, and didn't quite understand why Bulkhead feared the doctor so much. It was just the doctor, he had no say in anything. That the Wrecker was afraid Optimus would attack him, Starscream could imagine that, but Ratchet?

"What don't you understand when I say that you can only enter the medical bay if you are injured?!!" shouted a voice.

They all turned to the ambulance, who had a very angry expression, and stalked closer towards them. He first pointed at Bulkhead, asking him a thousand questions about why he was there, while waving a wrench in front of him. Miko tried to intervene, but this made Ratchet even more angry, ending up questioning the Wrecker about the child's presence.

Starscream couldn't help but smile a little, finding it quite nice not to be the one getting screwed over for once. Now he understood better why everyone was watching when Megatron was destroying him, it was actually quite a show.

But he did not remain a spectator for long, because the doctor soon turned to him. The Seeker lowered his wings a little, facing the more than terrifying expression of the doctor, who approached him, shouting:

“Why are you up?! Didn't I tell you to stay in bed?!

- How do you expect me to do so with these intruders?! the jet replied, doing his best to get the ambulance to take his anger out on the other two.

- There is a problem?" came a new voice.

Optimus entered the medical bay, and Starscream looked away, wanting to do his best so the Autobot leader wouldn't notice him. Scrap! He knew that the arrival of this kid was going to cause him problems! He had told her! Why wasn't she listening?! She had done it on purpose, for sure!

“No one is listening, that's what is the problem!" Ratchet exclaimed.

Prime laid a comforting hand on the doctor, and calmed down:

"Come on, it's fine my old friend, I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason for all this.

- Yes! There is! cried out Starscream, pointing an accusing finger at the other two. It amuses them to bother me, that's all! I never asked to see them! It's them, not me!"

It was now to be hoped that his attempt to blame the other two would work. He really don't done anything, he didn't see why it should still be up to him to suffer the punishment instead of the real culprits. Usually proving it wasn't him didn't work with Lord Megatron, but it didn't cost him anything to try with the Prime. Of course, this pissed off Bulkhead, who exclaimed:

"What?! No way! I just came to pick up Miko!

- Watch her better then! replied the Seeker curtly.

- Come on, calm down." Optimus interjected softly.

The Wrecker complied, and replied:

“Yeah, sorry…”

The jet calmed down as well, but that was mainly because his anger had given way to confusion. Why didn't the Prime get mad? If it had been Megatron he would have exploded a thousand times already!

"Tell me, Miko, why did you break into the medical bay? the Autobot leader finally asked.

- Because I wanted to ask Starscream a question. answered the Japanese girl.

- I already answered her question! replied the flyer.

- It's not true! He lies!

- You have a proof perhaps?!

- Stop, it's ridiculous! Ratchet interjected. Act a bit like an adult, Starscream, and simply answer her question! If it can allow to have peace!"

Starscream raised his wings, offended by the remark, while the kid stuck her tongue out at her with a mocking, triumphant look. The Seeker crossed his arms, pouting a bit, then sighed dramatically:

"Okaaaay…

- It's not death that I'm asking you, I just want to ask you a question. How dramatic you are. Miko snapped.

- It's not even true..." murmured the jet.

Ratchet then motioned for him to return to the medical table, and the flyer complied, but did not lie down, remaining seated.

"Lay over. ordered the doctor.

- Either I lie down, or I answer her question, but I don't do both. replied Starscream.

- Primus! He is unbearable! You're worse than Arcee!

- Eh!!

- I'm not as terrible as him!" exclaimed a female voice.

Everyone turned to see Arcee, accompanied by Bumblebee and the other two human children, then she said:

"There's a lot of trouble here, what's going on?

- I just want to ask Starscream a question, and he makes a big scene about it! Miko answered.

- Primus, but leave me alone!! the Seeker got angry.

- Answer my question and we'll leave you alone!

- Ask your damn question!

- Here, I would like to know, when you kidnapped me.

- …

- Why did you help me and free me afterwards?"

The jet looked away a bit, really unsure how to answer that question. In the end, the best answer he came up with was:

"Just because…

- And in true?" Bulkhead asked, wanting to know the reason too.

The flyer cursed a bit, and tapped his claws on the medical table, not looking at the Autobots once. Starscream decided to tell a half-truth, and replied:

"Because you reminded me of someone, that's all…

- Is that the only reason? Arcee asked.

- Yes."

Miko smiled, apparently satisfied with this brief response, then said:

“Thank you, Starscream.

- Eh?! For what?!

- Well, for helping me.

- Rather spared!

- Thanks anyway. You're not as bad as you seem!

- Eh!

- It's not an insult!"

Bulkhead nodded, and added:

“Miko is right, thank you, Screamer.

- Don't call me "Screamer"… pestered the Seeker.

- On this point, I agree, it's perhaps welcome that we thank you. added Optimus.

- I... I don't see why..."

And it was true… the jet really didn't see why they were thanking him, when it was technically because of him that the child had ended up in the hospital. It made no sense!

And while everyone was thanking him for his action, Starscream couldn't help but feel an indescribable emotion going through his body, never being able to know if it was pleasant or just horrible...

He really didn't deserve those thanks...

#tfp #transformers prime #starscream #transformers #maccadam #tfp starscream #autobots #tfp miko #miko nakadai #story resquest #thanks lovely anon #what if

11 notes · View notes

hershel-oc-hocolate · 30 days ago

Note

💄🩸🪓 any of The Freaky Trio. the technology trio. the horny trio. whatever

You can't call them that.............they are tho

💄 (lipstick) - What does your oc think of their face? Do they have a positive or negative opinion? Do they wear makeup? Do they have a skincare routine? What traits do they like most about their face?

Ellie: pretty neutral. That's her :) sometimes likes to put on makeup for fun when she gets dressed up and thinks stuff like sharp eyeliner or noticeable blush is cute but doesn't tend to use it that often (to the point where she doesn't own any, she tends to borrow from friends when the occasion arises.) She takes care of herself of course, but doesn't really think too hard about it. The trait she likes most is her eyes <3 she thinks they're cool and fun

Chell: OBSESSED with keeping her skin clean a little too much but oddly enough also doesn't tend to go towards makeup, she thinks it'll make her skin worse to cover it with stuff and she doesn't like the texture. She Does keep silly makeup on hand because sometimes you want to look cute when you go grocery shopping :) uses it way more often than Ellie and uses it more often in general after she gets hired by Phospher. *does* have a strict skincare routine but it's like. Face wash and maybe a lotion, nothing huge. Favorite trait in her face is she thinks she has cute cheeks when she smiles (and she's right)

Phospher: when he was still passable as human he was *weirdly* strict about this. He needs to look Perfect. He needs to Be Perfect. Any time he would get any acne as a young adult he would freak the fuck out and go into skincare lock down until it was gone. Luckily being mostly comprised of goop means that doesn't happen anymore! Though he still keeps up strict routines just to make sure. Can't go outside without the gold eyeliner as well, that's an absolute must. Favorite trait is his eyes <3 sometimes checks himself out in the mirror a little too long and starts to understand how they can be so captivating to the people he controls with them.

🩸 (blood) - Is your oc squeamish? Are they disturbed by the sight of blood? Have they ever been in a situation where they had to overcome being squeamish?

Ellie: a little, honestly. She doesn't mind dealing with injuries or cuts or anything that happen to *herself* but for some reason seeing it on other people makes her a little sick if it's bad enough. Definitely had to learn to overcome it when she joined the robot revolution and sometimes had to help people when they got hurt, and DEFINITELY had to learn to overcome it when she started becoming the person who caused those injuries in the first place

Chell: oh she HATES gore and blood in movies it's so so gross she will avoid it at all costs, but she's never really witnessed that stuff in real life so she likes to think she'd be fine if something ever did happen (she would Not.) In terms of overcoming it...idk, maybe there was a point where Phospher would have killed someone with her nearby but I doubt she would have been paying attention

Phospher: he kills for fun so yeah, he's used to it. Felt REALLY WEIRD the first time though, he thought it was so gross and icky. He doesn't get to kill people that often nowadays though because it would be too easy to track it back to him so any time he Does find an excuse to he absolutely relishes it. It's a thrill to him now. He loves to be covered in blood <3

🪓 (axe) - Does your oc have survival skills? Have they ever had to use them? What would they do in an apocalypse? Could they survive?

Ellie: not until she joined the robot revolution, and then she got taught little things by everyone involved. She's had to use them a few times and isn't very confident in herself, but she does fine. I think she'd survive an apocalypse but only if she had her team behind her (she Does technically survive an apocalypse in canon but it never really gets off the ground so idk if that counts)

Chell: if she got lost in the woods she would just die. Not even starve to death or get mauled by animals or something, as soon as she realizes she is in the woods with no cell service and she's lost she would just keel over dead. Do NOT put her in a survival situation!!!! She will not survive!!!!

Phospher: ^all of this also applies to Phospher pre-The Fuckening but after? Yeah he's still pretty bad at it but at least people made of goop don't need to eat or drink or even sleep that often so technically he's fine. He would not survive an apocalypse

#ask #technology story #chell #phospher #elpis ellie #they are all so stupid

1 note · View note

writingreadingdaydreaming · 3 months ago

Note

omegas balding during pregnancy is so interesting!! it makes sense with all the changes the body goes through. and i feel like pregnancy isn’t taken seriously enough in the sense that people believe you can “snap back” and that the effects are only for the 9 months you’re pregnant or the 12 months postpartum when truly your body is changed forever!

and that’s not necessarily a bad thing - pregnancy is a BIG thing people shouldn’t be expected to snap back after pushing out a whole human - but at the same time even a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy would be traumatic because of how your body changes.

imagine certain omegas losing their hair during pregnancy and thinking that it would grow back soon and then they’re there like 12 months later looking in the mirror and maybe holding a strand of thinning hair in their hands or pushing back where their hairline usually is and they realise that oh… their hair might never be the same.

and the whole thing with ian wright is so true, you’re definitely more likely to see black women with buzzcut/shaved heads by choice which is perfectly fine and many prefer their hair that way! but at the same time i feel like because of how society looks down on black hair and is taught to resent black hairstyles (glances at neocolonialism) its easier to embrace that bald/shaven look.

the whole “being the pretty one” would definitely be more for omegas with the accepted hair types and to go through hair loss and lose that they might feel lesser. but that would suggest that you might have other omegas who grow out their hair and take care of it more when they’re insecure in their omega status (won’t lie to you, i’m thinking of haaland) for whatever other reason and they try to focus on what stereotypically shouts “omega!” and maximise that feature to “make up” for their shortcomings.

(this ask was originally meant to say “your ideas are so interesting i love them!” and i’m not quite sure how we’ve gotten to this…)

DONT APOLOGISE!!!! I absolutely love long asks cause I go into so much detail and talk about so much omegaverse bullshit >:)

The “snapping back” thing would be especially true for a lot of athletes because there’s this notion that athletes are these perfect specimens and work more like robots than people. Sometimes people don’t understand that even the fittest athletes can still deal with fatigue, exhaustion, illness, complications or disease. Even if (in my universe lol) you take some like Jordan Pickford, who had a completely healthy and uncomplicated birth, it still took him 11 weeks to start for Everton against after giving birth to his son. In terms of a football season, that could be 20 or 25 games, which is obviously huge - and that’s when nothing goes wrong. With someone like Bale, who had a very complicated birth and had a lot of complications, his career was never the same after giving birth (partly due to medical negligence of doctor’s failing to diagnose him with a lower spinal fracture that happened while he was giving birth). A lot of people wouldn’t quite understand even just one issue could end up being life-changing. And after giving birth, most people end up having wider hips, which would also affect how they move! They’d basically have to relearn how to play football in a postpartum body - in my universe, went Zlatan went to Milan, Shevchenko offered to teach him how to best move his body with a postpartum frame (as there’s been suggestions that wider hip could be a cause of increased ACL injuries).

And going back to the hair thing, I think Gareth Bale is a good example of the loss. Obviously Gareth still has a lot of very full thick hair but it’s also clear that his hairline is a bit further back than it used to be. Part of that would be traction alopecia cause of his hairstyle, but in my universe he also lost a lot of hair when he was pregnant with his son (around 2018). When your appearance changes so drastically, it can give people a lot of anxiety cause they aren’t used to what they’re seeing in the mirror, and I can imagine that stress on top of the general stress of being a new mother (and in Gareth’s case, a new mother to a child with many medical needs due to a traumatic birth).

But as for black women/omegas, yeah I suppose I do notice a lot more black people with shorter hairstyles! Obviously I’m not black so I can’t speak on whether people prefer to have shorter hair but I have heard that many black people (particularly black women) shave their hair or cut it because it can be difficult to maintain curly or coily hair (I have 2C-3A curly hair myself, and even looser curls like that are difficult to manage, so I can imagine how much time it takes someone with tighter patterns). I can imagine that a professional footballer wouldn’t want to deal with that - I think that’s why you see a lot of black female footballers with protective styles, because they can be basically left alone. Although I don’t think Ian or other omegas like him would’ve chosen that option cause that could be seen as an expression of femininity depending on what style you had, and femininity is still attacked in the modern day, so I can’t imagine how bad the rhetoric against anything girly would’ve been in the 80s/90s/00s. Again wanna mention omega Pepe here cause while he’s not black he does have naturally very curly hair and I think part of then reason he would shave his head is because it just makes everything easier to maintain.

And I know for long hair you mentioned Haaland, but I just can’t see him as an omega, Im sorry, I can only see him as an alpha (De Bruyne’s alpha to be more specific-) 😭

HOWEVER I did have a similar concept with Zlatan - after he gives birth to his daughter Sakiba, she unfortunately passes away, and it hurts him so deeply that he feels desperate for change or control in some aspect, so he starts growing his hair longer than he has intended to grow it for, maybe as some subconscious effort to cling to an omegahood he felt he never had because he had to act tough and “alpha-like” to survive as a kid is basically poverty in (what he described himself as) the Swedish ghettos. His hair is his cling to control and beauty, the last thing that makes him feel genuinely pretty. Not handsome or strong like an alpha, but pretty like an omega, because sometimes it’s not bad to embrace the fact that you want to be seen as soft and feminine. And maybe another subconscious thought is that he doesn’t want to cut his hair, because the last time he had short hair was when his daughter died in his arms, and he’s scared that cutting his hair will make him see his young self again, and take him right back to that time and dealing with all the heartbreak and grief all over again.

I’m sorry you waited so long for an answer but AAAAA THIS WAS SO FUN THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

0 notes

cas-kingdom · 2 years ago

Note

❛❛ If you don't know how to follow an order, perhaps you shouldn't be here. ❜❜

“If you don’t know how to follow an order, perhaps you shouldn’t be here.”

The sonorous voice of the Autobot commander reverberated around the construction site. He paced back and forth, ignored by the men clearing the ground after the Decepticon attack and the following confrontation, his fists clenched and his battle mask still at the ready.

Below him, sat in the back of an ambulance, a nurse finishing his last touches in bandaging your arm, you ardently glared in response. You were the only being, robot or human, with the nerve to do such a thing, demonstrated very easily by the silence of the nurse and the quick movements of anyone passing by, their faces set with a determination to get out of the way lest Optimus accidentally step on them.

“Oh, you’d love that, wouldn’t you?” you said provocatively, causing Optimus to pause in his pacing and the nurse to stop bandaging for a split second, his eyes subconsciously widening. You leant forward, your glare hardening. “To hide me away every time something big happens just so I don’t get hurt? To keep me away from…what I want to do?”

The 'Bot’s optics narrowed dangerously. “Do you truly think I would consider the opposite?” he all but hissed, steam practically emanating from his body. “I do not prioritise your desire to run into danger, however fierce that desire is, over your safety.”

You stood to your feet and the nurse gladly moved to tend to others. “I can do—”

“No,” Optimus interrupted. “You are not yet experienced enough. One day you will be, and perhaps I may feel more inclined to let you come on a mission like this, but for now, when I tell you to stay behind—” He lowered his voice and his head, his optics piercing your eyes— “you stay behind.”

You could have said something else. Countless words were circling your brain, crawling towards the tip of your tongue, all too eager to spill...but your emotions were high, and before you could let any of them leave your lips, your eyes welled with sudden tears and you clamped your mouth shut, turning quickly away from him.

Seeing this, Optimus took the time to reign in the steam and cool himself down, straightening after a moment to give you space. You both knew his anger was the result of multiple things, all stemming from the fact you had directly disobeyed an order he’d given you and trusted you to abide by, and you knew you deserved it. Still, you rarely got into such meaningful arguments, and never had the need for one such as this arose before today. Whatever Optimus’s feelings, the sight of you upset still tugged at his spark.

He turned towards where you were staring, averting his gaze so he didn’t make it awkward for you when he caught sight of the tears he knew were there. Taking in a deep, unneeded breath, he ensured the next words to leave him would be softer.

“This injury today could have been worse, Y/N,” he said slowly. “If one thing had gone sideways…had gone in any way different…well. You might not be here for me to reprimand.” He glanced down at you then, hoping he’d somehow penetrated your current frozen exterior and knocked some important sense back into you. You were still looking ahead, one hand wrapped loosely around your bandaged forearm, where a piece of shrapnel, sent flying by a Decepticon, had sliced through your skin. He felt his jaw tense at the sight of it, remembering the events before, during and after...remembering how he’d suddenly seen you in the fray of battle when he also remembered ordering you to stay away.

Another sigh wafted through his vents. “Do not ever put me in that position again,” he said. “I cannot, I refuse, to deal with the grief I and countless others would feel at your loss. If you ever repeat today’s actions, I will send you home. Do you understand?”

You sniffed. “Yeah,” you mumbled, and Optimus nodded once in acceptance, as satisfied as the situation could presently allow. He didn’t speak lightly. The words held powerful weight. He loved having you at N.E.S.T. just as much as you did, and the emotional turmoil of sending you back to your parents would not be easy...but if it meant you would be safe, he would not think twice about it.

“It isn’t what I want,” he said, finally causing you to tilt your head slightly to look at him, your tear-stained cheeks glistening in the sunlight. “You said I desire to keep you from what you want to do. Primus knows your happiness is something I value greatly, but I have been in countless situations like this before. I know how they turn out. If shielding you from them keeps you alive, no matter how much you may hate me, I will do it over and over.”

There was a moment of silence, the quietude interrupted only by Will’s voice shouting orders in the distance and the clanging of metal as the men dealt with the dead Decepticon and the wreckage it had left behind. A cold wind blew past and you shut your eyes, letting yourself relax.

“I don’t hate you,” you said, wrapping your arms around yourself. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

Optimus nodded once. “I accept your apology,” he said. Any hint of animosity had left his voice and you were glad of it. It was an established fact between you that your relationship would be rocky for the next few days as you each built it back, and there would likely be further conversation to add to this one, but for now, it was over.

“Colonel Lennox says the injury will heal well,” he said, referring to the moment Will had pulled him aside to speak to him before he’d turned his attention on you.

“That’s what the Doc told me,” you confirmed with a small nod. “I’m fine.”

“Good.”

Silence reigned once more, a peaceful one this time, and when you could no longer keep your emotions on the side-line, the stress and fear of the situation bleeding through, your quiet cries broke through the loud wind, and Optimus quietly bent to let you step on his palm. He brought you to his shoulder and you grasped the plating on his head as you sat there, the both of you working on what you could before you built together once more.

Transformers Masterpost

send me the first sentence of a fanfic and i’ll write the next five, except i don’t know when to stop writing so i guarantee there’ll be more than five

#transformers #optimus prime #optimus #optimus x reader #optimus prime x reader #reader #reader fic #teen reader #teen!reader #transformer #autobot #mine #baby fic #drabble

410 notes · View notes

karenvideoeditor-blog · 5 months ago

Text

Ten…nine…eight…

There’s something called the Wait Calculation. As I understand it, it stemmed from the idea of waiting for a bus, whether it would be faster to walk to the destination than wait for the bus to arrive to transport you there. Someone calculated that if it took fifty years to get somewhere, that you shouldn’t go, because scientists would have discovered a faster way to get there by the time you arrived and beat you there.

Seven…six…five…

But then something happened: leaping past all expectations, a group of four scientists discovered how to travel almost at the speed of light. Everyone considered the discovery and concluded that we’d never surpass it. So, then we came into another dilemma, which was that we didn’t know how this would impact a human body. Not for sure, at least. When spread out over twenty-four hours, the calculations indicated that the passenger would be fine, no more impacted by the incremental acceleration and deceleration than a jet aircraft. Indeed it seemed like the chimp who’d come before me was fine, but who knew what it might do to a human mind?

Four…

Also, the pickings were slim for an astronaut that qualified for this mission. It wasn’t just that they needed to have as few people as possible left behind who would miss them; it was dealing with the psychological impact of jumping 200 years into the future. Humanity would be waiting for me to arrive, and until then, there would be no other experiments. It was all on me, which was a special pressure in and of itself. But even though it was still Earth, I was essentially leaving one world behind and arriving at another.

Three…

The Wait Calculation was still in effect, of course. We couldn’t know for sure that a discovery of faster than light travel wouldn’t be made. Using wormholes like in the movies was apparently still a hypothetical, not disproven as a possibility. The trip I was making could be entirely for nothing, and that would have a huge impact on my morale. But there was another question: what if I arrived and there was no one waiting for me?

Two…

Humanity has done its best over the years, and its best isn’t always impressive. We write stories about our journey into the stars to other planets, meeting other species, and many of the stories are encouraging. Despite mistakes we may make, ultimately we learn lessons that allow us to flourish, to thrive. That is the appeal of shows like Star Trek, obviously, that humanity can become something more than what we are. Something special.

One…

That brings me to where I am now. Waxing poetical to myself about the nature of humanity, our accomplishments, our flaws, and our hopes and dreams for hours as I waited for the ship to arrive at its destination. What awaited me? Carnage worthy of a Michael Bay film? Destruction of the planet despite the mitigation and solutions to the impact of climate change? Nuclear war?

Or something better? Something beautiful?

Deceleration complete.

As the ship slowed to a stop, I followed the ingrained procedures, pressing what few buttons there were that gave me control and then, finally, turning on the camera. An exterior view appeared, like a window across the front of the ship. And there she was. Our pale blue dot. Practically glowing with more greenery and the oceans a brighter blue than when I’d left, several gigantic ships in orbit, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a space elevator on the equator.

“Oh, aren’t you beautiful?” I whispered.

The planet was still there, but more than that, it looked in better shape than when I’d left. Because that was the only real worry I had. Forget possibly having a brain injury that left me catatonic, or surviving and having to adjust to robots and AIs taking my order at McDonalds; I just worried about what it would be like to be the last human alive. Or worse, to come back to a civilization that was struggling to keep going at all.

Albert Einstein had said, “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” I’d been scared that I would return to a radioactive wasteland, and life would be scarce.

But it wasn’t the case. We were still here. They were still here. Apparently while I’d been gone, there had been progress. I’m sure that looking at Earth from so far away made me idealistic, but the fact was that whatever had happened, whatever horrors we’d created, whatever wars we’d fought, overall, humanity had triumphed. I felt buoyant, more than the effects of a lack of gravity. I almost felt separate from my body, as if I were astral projecting out through the image in front of me and looking at the planet as I was suspended in space.

We’d done it. We’d survived and thrived and our planet was still here. We had cared for her and she had cared for us in return, and we’d made it. That was all I needed to know to feel the most incredible sensation of bliss I’d ever known.

Then someone’s voice came over the radio, greeting me in an excited, friendly tone, and I grinned.

/r/storiesbykaren

You volunteered to be the first human to travel at near light speed. You’ve been gone 24 hours. You know nearly 200 years will have passed on Earth. The navigation computer says you will drop light speed and enter Earths orbit in 10 seconds.

#writers #writers on tumblr #writing prompts #writeblr #sci fi #science fiction

3K notes · View notes

erimeows · 3 years ago

Note

could I request some hcs for a shy autobot reader w a crush on starscream? maybe they try super hard to hide it but it’s like,, blatantly obvious and he teases them/gets suggestive abt it to fluster them? if not that’s totally cool and I hope u have a good day! tyy :)

I have a Starscream x Reader x Megatron piece in the drafts, but I've been meaning to write an individual Starscream piece for a while now, so thank you for this request! Also really into smug Starscream with a shy s/o, perfect dynamic. So yeah, here it is, hope you enjoy!

The first time you meet Starscream is when you’re on earth. You’re a part of Optimus’s repair team along with him, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ratchet, and Prowl; like Ratchet, you’re a medic, mainly tagging along to do both space bridge repairs and fix up any of the other bots’ injuries. During that first fight over the All Spark on earth, you don’t really get to interact with Starscream in full, but you do meet him briefly and are too panicked over your first actual battle (since you’re just, you know, a repair bot/medic and not a full blown soldier; most you had was some cadet training like Bulkhead and Bumblebee) to think much of him.

But then, you interact with him the next few times, and uh... It’s bad. You notice immediately that he’s physically attractive; tall, sleek build pretty paint-job, a scratchy but charming voice and way of talking, strong servos but long pretty digits and slender legs, glowing vermillion optics that feel like they’re peering into your soul... Yeah, it’s over for you. You’ve never really had the time for relationships with work and everything, so you don’t have any experience and are horrid at hiding the little crush that you quickly develop.

It’s horrible. Any time Starscream is present during battles, you get flustered and fumble over yourself. You can’t fight him and can’t fight anyone else when he’s within eye/ear-shot, so you’re usually in charge of helping evacuate humans or dealing with Blitzwing/Lugnut etc.

Starscream, of course, notices it. He’s an older and well-seasoned bot, and though it’s very rare that anyone is actually interested in him, he’s seen enough relationships in his day to be able to pick up on a crush. His natural reaction, out loud, is “HAHA, of course you have a crush on the GLORIOUS, GORGEOUS Starscream! Why, it only makes sense that I’ve charmed such a pretty little Autobot without even trying, who could resist my charm?”. On the inside... He’s seriously flattered. You’re beautiful, you’re cute, from the glimpses he’s gotten, he likes your personality, and he thinks you’re just... Very good. However, he doesn’t really pursue a relationship with you at first as you seem rather righteous and he is rather devious. He won’t admit it, but he likes you too much to cause you any trouble with the other Autobots. He’s just happy that you like him so much.

It turns into a lot of teasing during battles and gets to a point where Starscream will purposefully pick fights with the Autobots just to see/spar with you, with no actual damage happening.

“Oh, my, if it isn’t my not-so-secret admirer again! Why don’t you try to take me down without the help of your friends this time?”

He likes touching you as much as he can in a rather fleeting manner; servos over your lower back, on your hands, face in your face, optics locked with yours, etc. He’s just very touch-starved and enthusiastic about the fact that someone is interested in him, but he won’t admit it.

The other Autobots find it pretty humorous or are annoyed by it. Ratchet and Prowl roll their eyes at it and don’t get what you see in him, Bulkhead just feels bad for you, Optimus is very confused but always reminds you of the fact that he’s there for you if you ever want to vent about your “unfortunate circumstances”, and Bumblebee isn’t above trying to set you up with Starscream/making you two interact with each other whenever the opportunity arises because he thinks it’s cute/funny.

Eventually, things get a little less light-hearted when Megatron gets his body back and hires Lockdown to kidnap you. The main reason is that even though Megatron and his Decepticons usually do a great job of beating the hell out of the Autobots, you’re always there to fix them up, and that’s very inconvenient to him personally. So, Lockdown kidnaps you and takes you to Megatron, only for Starscream to... Come rescue you from the cell you’re locked in during the night?

You’re just sitting there, waiting for an Autobot when Starscream bursts into the room; “Why, if it isn’t my admirer, waiting for me to come rescue them.”

“Um... Starscream? What are you doing here?”

“What do you think, you glitch? Rescuing you, now quiet down before Megatron catches us!”

You’re super confused, unsure if Starscream has had a processor injury or if he has some other more devious plan with you, but he breaks you out of your cage and allows you to climb on his back so he can give you a piggy back ride until you’re out of the cave and in an open enough area for him to transform into his seeker mode, only to get caught by Megatron and Megatron alone while the others are recharging.

The two break out into an argument, fighting while you’re still on Starscream’s back; you’re trying to assist your crush by blasting Megatron from your position despite being decently injured from your battle with Lockdown, which is honestly the only reason Starscream is managing against the much more powerful Decepticon. You two work... Surprisingly well together, and in the midst of the argument, Megatron is spewing insults, calling Starscream incompetent, foolish, stupid, a failure, etc.

Naturally, despite your shy nature, you hate hearing Starscream insulted as you’ve developed a weird sort of attachment to him, so you fire back; “Hey, he isn’t any of that! I know you don’t realize it because you’re an evil bastard, b-but he’s trying his best, and he has better ideas than you do- wasn’t he the one who blew you up?”

Megatron gets so angry that Starscream manages to escape with you, and he transforms into his vehicle mode with you riding in his cockpit... Ha.

Anyways, the two of you fly back to your base around the time that the sun is rising, but by the time you get there and Starscream transforms back into his robot form, you notice that Megatron beat him pretty bad and- oh, Primus, he’s unconscious. Yeah...

Against your better judgement, you fix him up the best you can outside behind your teammates backs, knowing that if you brought him back to Ratchet, he’d be getting repaired while in stasis cuffs and then sent back with the Elite Guard to be imprisoned on Cybertron.

You sneak off into the forest and wait for him to wake up... Only for him to pull you into a heated kiss the second he does, thank you for being his “knight in shining armor”, and then transforming and flying away.

You return to base a shaking, blushing mess, and when asked about what happened, you tell your teammates (of which only a few are there, since the others are out looking for you); after Lockdown took you, Starscream came to rescue you, dropped you off by the base, and flew away, leaving out the part where you could have captured him. Ratchet fixes you up and gets onto you for “being smitten with such a troublesome mech”.

And from there forms a beautiful relationship of you and Starscream pretending to be against each other in public the best you can despite your blatant crushes, with Starscream always teasing you and you being too shy to rebut, but secretly helping each other and sneaking off to meet up whenever you can.

328 notes · View notes

exxay · 3 years ago

Text

Spoiler Alert, Ptilopsis' voice in her head is a lot more deadlier than we thought

With the release of the Operator Modules, HG has taken a very interesting decision into how they want to incorporate them.

And of course, just like OD, they decided to fucking kill it.

Currently, we only have a translation of Ptilopsis' module, and holy hell there's a lot to dig into, so let's start sentence by sentence:

"If Originium really has the power to store information, then we can decrypt and translate, the whole Columbian scientific technique will soar again!"

"I reached a bottleneck. The current electronic calculation facilities are insufficient to deal with the complex amount of signals from Originium. I need a more suitable calculation device."

So basically, it all started with a researcher's revelation in that-an originium shard can act as a goddamn rtx3090+corsair memory module on steroids. And with it, send Columbia into a technological revolution. Except, they're trying to fit into a 16-bit cpu. So they needed a better one.

"Using humans to calculate?! This is a daring thought, I... need to consider the feasibility."

Love how instead of commenting on it's ethicality, the first thing they think of is "Can it work?", Just a small reminder of how inhumane Rhine Labs are.

"The creation of a human decryption system model has been completed. Now, we need an experimental subject with clear thought and quick reflexes. Best to have good understanding of calculators and data."

So the PC is built, now they just need a case for it, and it had to be a really good one to, they don't wanna waste it.

"The candidate has been selected. Experiment subject codename: Ptilopsis."

And lo and behold, why not choose the living computer herself?

"There is nobody else more suitable than her in the whole Rhine. Although the head suggested to conceal the experimental risks, but I still let her know about the various possibilities of the experiment. This is my duty as a citizen of Columbia, and as a person."

Showing just how amazing Ptilopsis, alongside another reminder of Rhine Labs' way of doing things. Don't let the little text about the person asking for their consent, if MuMu has shown us anything, for all we know Ptilopsis could have been "Convinced"/ But that's probably just an assumption, she could have very well thought that it was for the best.

"She agreed. She agreed! I just know, I just know she would agree! I didn't choose the wrong person!"

Then again, who really knows?

"The preliminary main points and operation procedure has been taught. She learns quickly. Tomorrow, the experiment will begin. I believe that we can embrace Columbia's future with open arms!"

"The experiment was very successful. Various data are within the controlled boundaries. As long as this pace is followed, a little, a little... No, no no no, it shouldn't be! Quick, quickly shut it down--"

Honestly, were we expecting anything less? Experiment was going amazingly right, until everything went horribly wrong.

"Emergency measures have been activated in time, but she still... received injury. The brain..."

And so comes into play, "The voice", more details further in.

"And Oripathy..."

No shit, infused originium shards? Didn't they learn from Ifrit? Or maybe, Ptilopsis came BEFORE Ifrit? Hmm, so many revelations.

"(Intermittent crying sounds)"

No idea whose these are, but most likely? It could be Ptilopsis herself, or maybe the researcher, they seemed to have more morals than we thought.

"The higher-up has already requested for resuscitation. But, but like this..."

Wait? Resuscitation? Holy shit did they send her into Clinical Death? Holy fuck. And what's with the hesitation? Was she gonna be even deader?

"It's my fault, it's all my fault..."

Yup, more morals than usual.

"According to the message that she received before, I made a chip that can be inserted into the human body. This thing should be able to replace some of the functions of her brain."

Ok wow, so, Ptilopsis, already knowing shit was gonna fuck up somehow (Thanks' Milo), asked to make a backup chip than be inserted to the human body. So that she'll still pull through, pretty hardcore.

Wait? Like the promotion chips? Does that mean the promotion chips are inserted into the operators we use? Or are they different chips?

"Some department heads laud this idea a lot, hmm, I know what they are thinking."

Oh, so if I'm interpreting this right, some -not all- of the heads in Rhine were against this, but obviously, not because of anything ethical mind you.

"The implantation worked. She had no reaction."

"She woke up! But some problems occurred... in her language abilities."

"Error Hase"

"She tells me, there is another voice in her mind. A voice that does not belong in the boundary of known language. This thing will put a heavy burden on her psyche."

"The pain can only be reduced by using a robotic language system."

Ahhh, the voice, just like how Ifrit has a "voice" in her head constantly arguing and vying control. But we all know that it isn't just a voice, it's a literal fucking ENTITY, so does that mean Ptilopsis also has her own entity she constantly holds back? And just like what she tells us in her third trust line.

According to Ptilopsis "It is, in fact, quite burdensome to speak in this manner. But this is a necessary measure to prevent the system nexus from being devoured by that other voice. Doctor, if I become rampant, please guide me back onto the right path."

Love how it shed's more light onto such a mysterious habit that i wanted to know of.

"She is the first living person in Columbia with an implanted chip. This is an achievement."

"But to her, the land is no longer the same."

Sad for Ptilopsis, she can't look at anything the same anymore, though overall this sheds some more light on her relationship with Silence. More at the end.

Wait a minute-

"I also implanted a chip in my brain. Now the wound still hurts a little. But I want to know, what change did the information from Originium bring to her."

Oh, oh no.

"That voice, what is it?"

OH NO

"I will repeat the experiment." --Rhine Lab, Unknown project leader, recorded.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOO

Unknown Researcher whyyyyy, you were so close, you were so close to greatness!!!!

Anyways, "repeat" would imply that Ptilopsis is actually the original subject, meaning she was the first to be implanted with artificial originium shards, and sub sequentially, artificially infected.

This could also mean that Silence learns about Ifrit's existence through Ptilopsis, and then leading to the "Flame Demon Incident".

Ptilopsis considers Silence her closest friend and Savior, in fact, even being more than willing to participate in a "Secret Project" of hers, which she SHOULD be reporting to the higher ups instead. It could still be her being a bit rebellious instead of being close friends, but as she said.

"I met Dr. Silence at Rhine Lab. I provided big data analysis and risk evaluation for her on a secret project."

Hmm, more to think about.

Speaking of, whenever we think of the "Flame Demon Incident" we think of Saria, Silence and Ifrit, but what about Ptilopsis? Silence would have probably learned about it on her own since she was helping oversee the project, but how would she learn of the, ehem, "Less well known aspects." Though that's just speculation on my part

So much to think about, what about you? What do you think about it?

Personally? Call McDonalds cuz I'm McFUCKING LOVE IT

#arknights #Ptilopsis #so interesting #and sad #goddamn i love arknights #i diagnose you with arknights #Lore Post

128 notes · View notes

wolveria · 4 years ago

Text

Inside Your Wires - Ch 6

Pairing: Human!Connor x Android!Reader

Series Warnings (18+ only): Eventual smut, slow burn, fantasy bigotry, violence, brief noncon elements, angst with a happy ending

Chapter summary: Connor gets his new assignment. He's not thrilled.

AO3

Story moodboard by @uh-kitty-got-wet

Chapter 5 art by @semains (18+ only)

November 6th, 2038

Saturday 09:56AM

There was a time when Connor didn’t have to come in on Saturdays. He remembered the days when mandatory overtime was few and far between.

Not anymore. 2038 seemed to be the year shit just kept happening, and now that he thought about it, quite a few of it seemed to be because of androids. Ones gone missing. Disobeying orders. And now, homicidal.

Connor rubbed the bridge of his nose after putting his car into park, regretting how enthusiastically he’d hit the bottle last night. It wasn’t too bad this time, just an annoying throbbing behind his eyes, but it made it more difficult to see and he’d had to squint through his windshield.

Whatever. The reason for his shame-drinking was no longer relevant. Connor just had to survive until lunchtime, and if he were lucky, Hank would let him go early. He tried not to itch at the butterfly bandages on his cheek, applied himself after he’d woken up in a haze with blood on his pillow having completely forgotten the injury existed.

Connor kept his head down as he walked through the lobby of the station and through the security checkpoint to the bullpen proper. He tried not to be completely antisocial, however, and sent weak smiles at the coworkers who bothered to notice he was there.

Helen, Alexander, and Rupert all acknowledged him with various degrees of warmth, some colder than others, and all pretty much deserved. Ralph gave Connor a nervous smile from his chair, though it quickly faded as his eyes flickered to something across the room.

Frowning, he followed Ralph’s eye line across the bullpen and scowled when he spotted Colin leaning casually against Connor’s desk, talking to… someone. He couldn’t see who, Colin’s figure blocking them from view.

Against his better judgement, Connor drew closer, pressure building at the back of his neck, an uneasy feeling of dread that increased with each step.

“Con’s just gonna love this. But seriously, if he bitches about it too much, or gives you a hard time, you can always partner up with me. I won’t mind one bit, promise.”

Connor would have rolled his eyes at his brother’s typical cocksure demeanor, but instead, he went stock still at the familiar voice that answered.

“While the offer is appreciated, Lieutenant, my instructions stipulate that I must assist Detective Anderson with his new, specialized caseload. I’m sure you can understand that CyberLife only wishes to cooperate with the DPD and does not want to interfere with police procedure—“

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The YN800 model blinked and turned its head to meet Connor’s eye, its little blue light blinking for a moment before solidifying again.

It was sitting in Connor’s chair.

“It’s good to see you again, Detective,” it answered, chipper as ever as a fake smile graced its features.

Connor looked the prototype over, his nose crinkling at its appearance. The suit must have been brand new, there were no stains or bullet holes, and her—its hair was once again pinned upwards into a perfect knot.

He felt his insides churn at the near slip, at thinking for even a split second that this thing was a person. Shoving down the crude thoughts of the night before, Connor gave the order through gritted teeth.

“Get. Up.”

The prototype did as it was told, for once. It rose out of his chair, not even having the decency to look chagrined as it straightened its jacket of nonexistent wrinkles.

“I’m sorry, Detective, but I tried to call your phone and left you a message. It was not my intention to surprise you—“

“Oh, no, it’s never your intention to do anything, is it?” Connor snarled back. His headache was in full force now, and he swore he could see the bright lights of the station brighten in time with his heartbeat.

“Aw, c’mon!” Colin slapped him on the shoulder. “Be nice to the temp.”

“Temp?” Connor answered, voice pulled as taut as a wire.

“Yeah, you know. The temporary assistant. The new girl. The—“

He shoved Colin’s hand off his shoulder, leveling a glare at both of them. Colin merely shot him a shit-eating grin while the YN800 stood there, hands clasped behind its back at parade rest, polite and perfect as ever.

“Connor!”

All three of them turned toward the voice booming across the room.

“Get in here!”

Connor glared at the android, as if Hank’s shouting were its fault, which was probably the case.

He turned without a word and stalked to the captain’s office, shoulders hunched as his heart raced and his hands shook at his sides. He let the glass door fall shut behind him, but when he didn’t hear the whoosh of it close, he glanced over his shoulder to see the YN800 had followed him inside.

Great.

Connor stood in front of the desk with his arms crossed.

Hank sat down in his chair, pointedly looking at the chairs in front of his desk. Connor remained standing.

The older man glared, answering Connor’s attitude with a look and a heavy sigh.

“Bet you’re wondering what that’s about.” Hank jerked his chin over Connor’s shoulder. The prototype had taken a spot at the back of the office, observing politely with its hands clasped in front of its hips.

“Yeah, I am.” Connor was a little too cranky this morning to try a more diplomatic approach. “What the hell is it doing here?”

“I’ll get to that. First on the docket, I got a shit ton of android-related cases filling up our database every day and I’m at wit’s end.” Hank took a deep breath, bracing himself as he met Connor’s eye. “Which is why I’m assigning all of these cases to you.”

“You’re what?”

Connor stared at him, dumbfounded.

“You think that case last night was a one-off? We’ve got more android-related crimes rolling in, including assaults and homicides just as bad as the Ortiz case, and right now, you’re the one with the most experience.” Hank leaned his elbows on his desk as he leveled a formidable glare his way. “Is that going to be a problem, Connor?”

“Yeah, it is a problem, Hank! Why the hell do I have to do this? What about Colin? He was with me at the crime scene and was there for the interrogation!” Connor shoved a finger at the glass wall to prove his point.

Hank’s jaw tightened. Connor had seen that behavior enough times to recognize how he was pushing his luck.

“CyberLife asked for you specifically.”

“What?” Connor blinked, dumbfounded once again, racking his brain but coming up empty. “Why?”

“The hell if I know!” Hank barked back, rising to his feet as he pointed a finger at Connor, “and frankly, I don’t give a damn. Colin’s got enough on his plate—“

“—and I don’t?” Connor interrupted, scowling. Hank sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, and Connor almost felt guilty for his outburst.

Almost.

“That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you implied.” He tried not to sound like a hurt child, but, well, that’s exactly what he sounded like.

“For fuck’s sake, Connor! There are more people that are gonna start dying from this!”

“Yeah, I know, but—“

Hank lifted his hand, palm forward, effectively shutting Connor up.

“You saw what one of those deviants was capable of last night, and that was with three of you and another android trying to get it under control! You think the average person stands a chance against one of these fucks? That a little ol’ grandma can defend herself against the murderous robot gardener coming at her with a pair of shears? What the hell happens when a nanny bot decides to take a human kid for itself? Oh, wait, that’s already happened, and you would know that if you checked the goddamn case files I sent you!”

Connor was silent as Hank deflated. The older man leaned back against his desk as he looked through his glass wall out over the bullpen. His voice was rough but much quieter for the next round.

“We’re totally in the dark, Connor. We don’t know how bad this is gonna get and how many androids we’re dealing with. This has the potential to turn into a fucking nightmare with Detroit as ground zero.” Hank’s gaze drifted over Connor’s shoulder to the elephant, or the machine, in the room. “CyberLife was gracious enough to send us a state-of-the-art prototype until this issue is contained. It’s gonna be your partner until such a time that these androids are no longer a threat, and then you’re free to go back to being a misanthropic son-of-a-bitch as much as you like.”

Connor was thoroughly shamed by the end of Hank’s speech, that old familiar feeling of disappointment making his gut roil with nausea, but his anger hadn’t entirely flagged. He clenched his hands tightly to his thighs, fingers desperate for either his coin or his cigarettes.

Connor hadn’t felt the need for one in months. This was bad.

“Hank,” he tried again, his voice soft and pleading in that way he knew Hank couldn’t ignore. “I’m not saying this just to be a pain in your ass. I understand the stakes, but I genuinely believe I’m not qualified for these types of cases. I’m not a CyberLife technician, or an AI specialist, or a computer engineer. I’ve never even owned an android.”

That last one was technically true but only in the barest sense, and Hank gave him a knowing look. It wasn’t without sympathy, and his own answer was given with more kindness than he probably deserved.

“I know, Connor. I also know you’re the sharpest pair of eyes on the force, not to mention the quickest brain and the best instinct. You see shit other people don’t, even Colin, and you’ve got this creepy knack for taking one look at a person and knowing what makes ‘em tick. I’d say you’re almost like an android yourself, but I know how much that’d piss you off.”

Connor gave him another narrow-eyed scowl, and Hank immediately put up his hands as a sign of surrender even as a smirk played on his lips.

“My point is, I need you on this, son. I know it’s not ideal, hell, it downright sucks, but I know you can do this. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”

And there it was. As effective as Connor’s pleading expressions could be, they were nothing in comparison to his need for Hank’s praise. The old geezer knew it, too.

And throwing a “son” into the mix was a goddamn dirty move, but Connor couldn’t even muster up annoyance. He just sighed, gave Hank the smallest hint of a smile, and said, “All right. But only until these cases are solved. Once the deviancy issue is addressed, the prototype is going back to CyberLife and you never give me an android case again.”

“I’ll pay for the postage to ship it back myself,” Hank said, smile wide and pleased as he patted Connor on the shoulder before returning to his desk. “And I want daily reports on the progress you and your new partner are making. Gotta make sure CyberLife’s best is pulling its weight.”

“I can assure you, Captain Anderson, I am worth every penny. And considering it took a small fortune to build me, I—“

“Yeah, yeah,” Hank interrupted the prototype, using that catchphrase that Connor and all of his brothers had picked up years ago. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

The android blinked almost comically before giving a slow nod. It then turned to face Connor, straightening its back at attention, and he rolled his eyes. He was still being handed the shit end of the stick, but he couldn’t deny that the cases were piling up and Hank really did need the extra help.

But why, out of all the androids in the world, did it have to be one like that.

Exhaling sharply through his nose, Connor turned and left Hank’s office, not waiting to see if the android would follow, knowing with a sinking feeling, it would.

Next Chapter

#connor x reader #human!connor x reader #human!connor x android!reader #connor x android!reader #inside your wires #my fanfiction #my writing

95 notes · View notes

mimzy-writing-online · 4 years ago

Note

How do you handle casual ableism especially ableism that’s said to be “a joke”? I am blind and I get this all the time and it’s so annoying because I can’t win.

If it’s said by someone I know I probably won’t talk to much, if ever again, I just grin and bear it. If I’m invested in this friendship or know I’ll be working with them a lot, then I’ll say something. But I do have some personal pet-peeves.

“Oh, so you’re blind, but not like, blind-blind.”

Whenever I explain to someone new that I’m visually impaired and what I see, I sometimes get the “oh, so you’re blind, but not like, blind-blind.” and I just... *internal screaming*

I hate it because it reinforces this hierarchy of “who has it worst in the world” that abled society has. It’s like saying, “oh, you’re blind, but at least you don’t have cancer.” That is insensitive to both people who are blind, people who have cancer, and people who have both.

Everyone is going through their own stuff, and sometimes it feels debilitating and sometimes it feels normal. Undermining someone’s experiences by saying/implying someone has it worse is terrible and even worse is using that idea to say “oh, then you don’t need this accommodation that badly, you’re not disabled-disabled.”

I am blind. Just blind. I have a condition that highly affects my life and just because there are a few settings where I can pass for sighted, does not mean that I am not blind.

And those people feed my internalized ableism and imposter syndrome so that I begin to think “I’m not that blind, people have so much less sight than me” and begin to feel like I don’t deserve any of my accommodations, even my cane when my worst days hit. My cane, that thing I bought myself that affects no one apart from warning them I can’t see them, but means everything to me.

What I would like to say: “I am blind. What I’m describing might sound like no big deal to you, but it affects my life every day and I will never, under any circumstances, see as much as a sighted person. Please stop comparing my disability to other disabilities.”

“Can you use your cane as a weapon?”

It was funny the first 3-4 times I heard it, but strangers say it to me constantly and it’s just like... “oh, them Lakers” or “How’s the weather up there” or some other cliché joke that has been told to death. And these strangers don’t realize how unoriginal it is because they probably never interact with other blind people, but I hear it all the fricken time.

I’ve explained to friends that I don’t like this joke. And I have an example of it in A Witch’s Memory, specifically Ulric’s second chapter. But like, I cannot control what strangers think is funny.

What I would like to say: “I cannot. Canes are much more fragile than you think, and each one has cost me $50 each. And I’ve had... six? Over the years. And they take weeks to ship to me. I would be terrified of my cane getting damaged.”

“I bet you’re looking forward to robot eyes.”

No. I’m not. I’m really not. Leave my eyes the fuck alone.

This was waaaaaay before I was diagnosed with Visual Snow Syndrome, which is a neurological problem, not an eye problem, even if the symptoms that affect me most are visual.

And as for the ableism, there’s soooo so much in that statement:

“Oh, I bet you’re looking forward to getting cured”

“I think being blind is terrible, I would want robot eyes immediately”

And if I said that I didn’t want robot eyes ever, I’d almost always get:

“I bet it wouldn’t be that bad, you’d be a cyborg. How cool is that?”

I said no the first time. Respect that answer. It’s my body, my eyes. I’m so tired of this debate.

The only form of this conversation I will ever accept is from my best friend who admitted that he personally would jump at the chance for cybernetic enhancements, especially something that reduced chronic pain. There are some more personal issues I won’t disclose, but from his perspective I understood and we came to the acceptance that we had very different stances and that was okay so long as we respected each other’s choices.

What I would like to say: “I have considered this and personally decided that under no circumstances would I ever want this kind of surgery done to me. Please respect that choice and don’t joke about experimental surgeries with me.”

“Just consider me your personal human guide dog.”

Only one person has ever said this to me, but he’s said it several times while acting as my sighted guide and I hate it, not because there is any ableism directed at me, but because he’s calling himself less than human and I wish he treated himself better. He deserves better. My solution is just saying nice things to him every chance I get about how much I care about him and how he is good.

“Fuck you! I love you! Don’t you dare call yourself a dog. You’re amazing and I love you.”

“Well you’re able-bodied.”

Said to me by another person with a disability, specifically a chronic illness, while complaining about why I couldn’t do something for him.

It was my father.

and I just...

I have literally never not been disabled in some capacity.

I remember my ADHD affected me from the early age of six years old and how much that affected my self esteem. I started having chronic health problems (mostly due to anxiety) as soon as I entered my teenage years. The worst was when I was 19. And then I went blind.

I am in no way able-bodied. Do not throw this hierarchy of who’s more disabled at me. I physically cannot handle the task you asked me to do without physical pain following me for the rest of the day. It’s either going to have to get done by someone else, or I’m going to need help. Why do I need to be in pain all day for this?

You’re young, therefore you are able-bodied.

You means nothing in terms of disability! Lots of people are disabled, visibly and invisibly. And if your kid needs disability aids to perform normal tasks like walking safely outside, you shouldn’t be calling them able bodied.

What I would like to say: “I am not able bodied. I am far from it. What you’re asking me to do will either risk serious injury to me or will cause me serious, lasting pain. Please respect my physical limitations.”

“And on your right you and hear, smell, taste, touch the ocean.”

It was a joke by a close friend when we were on a road trip. Also, we were in a car on the freeway, literally, none of those things would be possible from that distance because all I would hear and smell would be car fumes.

Like, okay, I know I can’t enjoy the scenic view the way sighted people can, but I am enjoying this drive in my own way. Even the visuals I can see are nice(ish). It’s stimulation, something different for my brain. I’m having fun listening to the music and your story while we move and there are shapes and faded colors passing us.

I’m experiencing this amazing road trip.

Maybe it’s not the way you would experience or best enjoy it, but I am having fun, don’t spoil it by reminding me that I’m different from you and that my experience “must be less enjoyable.”

I told him: “I don’t like those jokes. They aren’t funny to me. I don’t need to see it to enjoy it.” And he stopped. He never made another one after that drive.

(He’s also one of those people who has serious anxiety around making someone uncomfortable, and me telling him “hey I don’t like this, can we do this instead” actually helps us both, because I’m no longer uncomfortable and he can trust that I would immediately tell him if he ever did something I didn’t like. If I’m not speaking up, then I am good. And I can trust that he will stop as soon as I tell him to, and that I can always speak up if I need to.)

#Anonymous #disability #actuallyblind #cripplepunk #ableism #ableism tw #blindness #mimzy things #there are probably a dozen or more reoccurring jokes but my brain is tired #I'm gonna make myself go to bed...#eventually #adhd is being a pain #just end the task already #but I have music playing and I like this playlist #long sigh

139 notes · View notes

duhragonball · 3 years ago

Text

Battle Tendency Liveblog: JJBA Ch.109-113

Hard to believe we’re at the end of this crazy ride.

Last time, Joseph had defeated Kars, only for Stroheim to order his men to finish Kars off with UV rays. Stroheim just wanted Kars to hurry up and die faster, and maybe he also wanted credit for the kill, but instead he played right into Kars hands. After Joseph kicked his ass, Kars put on a Stone Mask he had stowed away somewhere, and he installed the Red Stone of Aja into the Mask.

I should probably go over that a bit, since it hasn’t been mentioned for a while. Kars has been perfecting the Stone Mask technology for thousands of years. It turns humans into vampires, but for his species it unlocks even greater powers. But Kars hit a wall in his research. He wanted to design a mask that would make him the ultimate life form, but he lacked the means to power such a mask. He discovered an answer in the Aja Stone, a mineral that focuses light, but he needed a bigger, more flawless sample of it, and that’s the Stone he’s using right now, the one he captured from Lisa Lisa.

So instead of killing Kars, Stroheim accidentally made his lifelong ambition come true. One nice touch I just noticed is that the Mask itself falls apart as soon as it’s finished its task. I suppose, in theory, someone else could have tried it on and get the same power boost as Kars? Would it even work on a normal human? Well, we’ll never find out.

There’s a couple of ways to interpret this. One is that Kars’ “Super” Mask was highly experimental, and it must have been untested, since he’d never had Lisa’s stone until now. So it’s possible that the thing burned itself out after a single use. The other interpretation is that Kars designed this Mask to self-destruct after the first use, because it was never intended for anyone else but himself. The whole point of this was to become the Ultimate Life Form, the very pinnacle of all living creatures on Earth. I think it was implied that Wammu and Esidisi were expecting to share in this power when the time came, but why would Kars have ever allowed for this? What’s the point of being the greatest and best in the world if you have to share that top spot with two other guys?

Stroheim realllly wants to believe this is all a big fluke, and that he didn’t just make the bad guy stronger. The Ripple wound on Kars’ arm is still there, so Stroheim figures he’ll die anyway. Except Kars doesn’t seem too bothered by his injury. And then...

Yeah, so Kars not only repairs his injured arm, he reshapes his hand into a squirrel. Joseph speaks for us all: What the fuck?

For a hot minute, everyone thinks the squirrel he made is kind of cute, until Kars sends it to find another squirrel and kill it. Then the Kars-squirrel tears a hole through Stroheim and carves a trench in a Nazi soldier from chest to eyeball. Then it rejoins Kars’ wrist, and turns into a flower, and then a butterfly. Some Part 5 and 6 pre-references for ya.

Then the sun comes up. Wait, the Joseph/Wammu fight happened around midnight, right? How many hours have these folks been out here? And it’s February, too, so this had to have been a long night. Anyway, the sun comes up, so we’re saved, right? Wrong. Sunlight doesn’t hurt Kars anymore, thanks to the power he got from his special mask. So now what are they supposed to do?

Well, Joseph’s going to use his last resort: running away. Also, he grabs the Aja Stone, for no apparent reason. Kars grows a pair of wings to chase him. He no longer cares about the Hamon users, because they’re no longer a threat to him. But he wants to kill Joseph personally, both to celebrate his new powers and to avenge the deaths of Wammu and Kars.

Smokey joins Joseph, which doesn’t make much sense to Joseph, but Smokey wants to tell Joseph about Lisa Lisa being his mother. Except Joseph’s a little too distracted by the eldritch horror that’s trying to murder him. Read the room, Smokey.

Here’s a helpful diagram of Kars to explain what his deal is now. Basically, he’s immortal and can regenerate and reshape his whole body, but he had that before, just by being a Pillar Man. The big upgrade is that he’s no longer weak to sunlight (and by extension, the Ripple), and he can now replicate the traits of any life form on Earth. He’s faster than cheetahs and has better hearing than bats and so on. He can go for a full year without eating, and he no longer needs to sleep. Sex is meaningless to him, because procreation is only important for lower life forms to maintain their species. Kars has no need for children or bretheren. “There is but only one summit.”

Maybe Wammu and Esidisi had understood that truth all along, and they never seriously expected Kars to share this power with them. They practically worshipped Kars as it was, so maybe they were only doing this for the greater glory of their leader.

So what does Kars plan to do with all of this power he now has? The Aja Stone was his only goal before, and that’s done. He has no enemies to fear, and as Speedwagon observes, there’s no way left to kill him. This page states that his only purpose now is to create a world to match his own desire, but what is that? What’s Kars’ vision for the Earth now that he’s reached this point?

We never really find out, and I suppose that’s why it’s convenient that he decided to start out by killing Joseph. For all we know, he would have just chilled out and left humanity alone after that, but this way there’s still an immediate threat to deal with.

Miraculously, Joseph manages to stay ahead of Kars long enough to find the airplane that brought Stroheim here. You’d think Kars could have caught up to him with all these fancy new powers, but Kars was never in much of a hurry. He took his time to search for the Aja Stone, and he made it a point to trap Jojo and Lisa rather than risk fighting them fairly. So even now, when he has such an overwhelming advantage, he seems to be playing things the same way. He has no weaknesses, so he may as well take his time and stalk Joseph, if only to watch him squirm.

Joseph tries using the plane’s weapons to even the odds, but Kars grows armadillo hide on his wings to protect himself, and he fires the armor at Joseph like shrapnel. So machinery doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.

So Joseph just flies south, using the plane’s engines to give himself a comfortable lead. He’ll run out of fuel in a couple of hours, but Speedwagon calls him on the radio and tells him that they’ll figure out a plan. Except that Joseph already has his own plan. There’s a volcanic island off the coast of Italy. I assume this is Stromboli Island, since Italy has only three active volcanoes, and Mt. Stromboli is the only one on an island. Anyway, Joseph plans to lure Kars into the volcano, and destroy him with molten lava. I mean, Kars is still flammable, right?

Speedwagon hates this idea, because he doesn’t see any way for Joseph to pull this off without getting killed in the process, and that sounds way too much like what happened to Joseph’s father and grandfather. Oh, and his great-grandfather. I didn’t notice George I up there until just now. Speedwagon tries to tell Joseph about Lisa being his mom, but Joseph can’t hear him because of all the piranha noises in the plane. Wait... what?

Yeah, all the feathers that Kars turned into armor and launched into the fuselage? Well, he’s still controlling those things, and now Kars has turned them into piranhas. Well, I guess not literal fish, since they’d never survive up here. The point is that Kars can control every cell in his body and mimic any animal traits he wants, so if he wants to make small bitey creatures to wreck Joseph’s plane, he might as well make them look like piranhas. ALso he makes an octopus that tears up one of the engines.

So Joseph bails out, but he’s a sitting duck in that parachute. Kars calls him a butterfly caught in a web, which is the second time we’ve seen that analogy in Part 2. Araki just out here telling everyone what Jolyne would be wearing in twelve years.

But the parachute contains a dummy. Why did Joseph waste time drawing a face on it? Because he knew he had to fool Kars’ razor-sharp senses, of course. Kars probably saw the dummy, and got suspicious, but then he noticed the eyes and mouth, and though “Oh, okay, I guess that’s a real person then.”

Anyway, this suckers Kars in so that Joseph can crash into him with his plane and they can both go into the volcano together.

But Kars thinks he can tear up the plane before it lands. Except a robot hand grabs him from behind, and he finds Stroheim stowed away. Wait, so Stroheim outran Joseph AND Kars and hid in this plane before Joseph took off?

Anyway, Stroheim manages to get Joseph out of the plane to relative safety, but he crushes his whole lower body in the process. But it seems to be worth it, because Kars landed smack-dab in the volcano! Awesome! Fuck you, Kars, you screwed over Lisa Lisa, and that’s what you get! He tries to protect himself, but he can’t grow a defense against 1000 degree heat...

... is what I would say, except no, Kars totally does that. Just when Joseph thinks Kars has succumed to the lava, Kars pops out and slices off Joseph’s left arm with his goofy blade.

How the fuck did Kars survive? Well, he couldn’t grow a lava-proof shell, but he could create a porous layer beneath the shell, and use the air inside to insulate the rest of his body from the heat. That wouldn’t protect him indefinitely, but it was enough to get the drop on Joseph.

So that’s it then, right? Not even molten lava can kill Kars, unless you could shove him down in there and keep him still for like ten minutes, and who’s going to pull that off? Stroheim begins to lose all hope...

Then we get a flashback to Kars’ origin. Long, long ago, there was a race of subterranean humanoid with long lifespans and an aversion to sunlight. Prehistoric humans thought of them as gods or demons because of their reclusiveness and power. Also, they would eat humans and animals, so that probably made them dangerous, too.

But I don’t think they were nearly as powerful as the Pillar Men we’ve seen in this story. I say this because the flashback establishes that Kars was the one who discovered the latent power in their brains, and he was the one who invented the Stone Mask technology to harness that latent power. So it stands to reason that much of what he and the others could do was the result of Stone Mask enhancements. The problem is that those enhancements increased the amount of blood they needed to consume, and the others in the Clan feared that Kars’ experiments would destroy their whole ecosystem. So when they tried to stop Kars, he killed them all. The only survivors were himself, Esidisi, and two young children who grew up to become Wammu and Santana.

So that story tells you something about what Kars might do with this newfound “ultimate” power. He didn’t achieve this for the good of his own people, because they’re all dead now, and he wiped most of them out personally. If he would do that to his own kind, the rest of the Earth would be expendable to him.

Back to the present, Joseph’s not giving up yet. He tries to use the Ripple one more time, but it doesn’t work. Worse, Kars counters with his own Ripple. Because Kars can do that now, you see. He’s got the powers of all life on Earth, and that includes Ripple users, I suppose. Worse, Kars’ Hamon power is hundreds of times greater, so he ends up getting badly burned on his right knee.

So now Joseph’s completely out of tricks, and he starts to accept the inevitable. Kars decides that the best way to kill Joseph would be to destroy him with his own finisher, Ripple Overdrive. So he charges up the most powerful Hamon attack he can muster, and just as he’s about to strike...

Joseph impulsively grabs the Red Stone of Aja and uses it to block, kind of like how he stymied Kars back on that cliff in Switerland. Only this time, Kars doesn’t hold back, and the Hamon attack is amplified. It bursts through Joseph’s right hand and into the volcano below.

The narration says that not even Joseph really understood any of this. He just sort of acted on instinct. That bothered me once, but now I see that it wasn’t entirely unconscious impulse. Back in Venice, when Lisa first told Joseph about the Aja Stone, Joseph suggested destroying it to deny Kars his prize. But Lisa said there was a legend that foretold that Kars could never be defeated without the Aja Stone. And that would at least explain why Joseph picked the thing up back in Switzerland before he fled to Mt. Stromboli. Maybe it was unconscious action that made him pick up the stone in this fateful moment, but I think it was a more conscious thought that made him take the stone with him in the first place. On some level, he remembered that legend.

Okay, so there’s a mega-ultra-Super-Saiyan-5-Ripple that just went into a live volcano. What good does that do? Well, it makes the volcano erupt, and it launches Joseph and Kars into the air. So what? Kars can fly. Yeah, he could, but...

You know, Joseph’s lost hand really left an impression on me when I first watched the anime of Part 2, but now that I’ve read the manga, I’ve noticed tons of severed and wounded forearms all through this story, almost as if Araki had been building up to this moment. I’d make a Part 4 joke, but nah, that’s too easy. But it wasn’t even that long ago that Wammu lost both of his hands, and then he launched them as Joseph to distract him. Kars lost his hand before he grew it back and turned it into a squirrel. Hell, Stroheim launched his robot hand at Kars to distract him for the volcano crash. And now Joseph’s hand has somehow launched itself into Kars’ throat to distract him again!

I’m assuming that Hamon energy has a lot to do with this. You’d think Joseph’s hand wouldn’t have survived getting fired up this high, and it shouldn’t be powerful enough or alive enough to bother Kars this much, but it does. So I’m chalking it up to all that Ripple energy. It briefly reanimated Joseph’s hand and made it follow Kars up to this altitude, kind of like how Jonathan controlled Wang Chung’s decapitated body at the end of Part 1.

So Joseph taunts Kars about this, and implies that he planned this somehow. And when Kars pauses to ask if he did plan this, more rocks and stuff from the volcano hit him and send him even higher up into the air.

And Joseph claims that he did plan this entire thing! That’s bullshit, but he hopes Kars will believe it, if only to make him more frustrated. Maybe Joseph didn’t plan all this out, but he seems to have deduced what’s happening here.

Kars has been launched so high into the air, and at such an incredible speed, that he’s achieved escape velocity. Does Kars even realize what that means? I mean, he’s super-intelligent, especially now, and he’s been alive for thousands of years, but what could he really know about outer space? Has he ever even considered it before? It seems like all of his ambitions involve the Earth, and only the Earth, and everything living upon it.

As for Joseph, the chunk of rock he’s on does not fly into space. Instead, it starts to fall back down, and Joseph assumes that he’s probably not going to survive the impact. Eight hours later, Stroheim makes it back and informs Speedwagon that Joseph must have died in the eruption.

But Kars isn’t worried at first, because he thinks he has this whole “vacuum of space” thing figured out. He just takes a page from Wammu’s playbook and makes air jets on his back to expel compressed gas from his body, like the maneuvering thrusts on a spacecraft. Except that’s not nearly enough to counteract the force of the volcano that sent him up here.

Yeah, Kars has no idea how space works. Instinctively, he probably counted on friction to slow him down, except there is no friction in space. He probably also expected his air jets to push him a little bit at a time, and maybe he could pull in more air as needed, except there is no more air. Even the air from his body is denied to him, because it just dissipates into the vacuum of space. Kars talks about the air freezing as it comes out, but I don’t think that’s right. What’s happening to him is like when you use one of those compressed gas canisters to clean your keyboard. Release a lot of the gas at once, and the can starts to get cold. That’s because the liquefied gas left inside the can now has more room, and it begins to boil as it expands. This draws in heat from the surroundings, which makes the can feel cold to the touch. That’s what’s happening to Kars here. All he’s doing it losing all his body heat. Maybe some of the air really is freezing around him, but I don’t know. It depends on whether the sunlight is hitting him, I think.

Anyway, the last thing Kars says is “I can’t go back!!!” And that’s what makes this so perfect. In the anime, we see the Earth recede into the distance as he continues to tumble further and further away. By surviving the lava, Kars had “mastered” the Earth, but now he’s been separated from the Earth. He’s got all this incredible power, but without the Earth, he’s got no one to use it on.

And then we come to the pièce de résistance of Battle Tendency: The epilogue page that establishes, in no uncertain terms, that Kars never returned to the Earth. There’s no miracle escape this time, no clever trick or loophole. He simply doesn’t have the necessary acceleration to push himself back the way he came.

Did he die? Nope, because he made himself immortal, remember? Not even sunlight or starvation can destroy him now. But now death is the only thing he craves, because he’s completely alone and has nothing to do. I can’t imagine he’s very comfortable like this either, because it’s incredibly cold in outer space, and Kars must be able to sense that cold, even if it doesn’t actually hurt him.

And this is such a fitting punishment for a villain like Kars. Just as Stroheim wanted to become superior and lost his humanity in the process, Kars ruthlessly sacrificed friend and foe alike to achieve this Ultimate form, and what good does it do him? It’s become his prison, his hell. At long last, he’s become the supreme being, a world unto himself, but with no one around to lord it over, there’s really no point to any of it.

I just really love this ending. I’m not sure how else I can express it. This is what should have happened to Akio Othori in Revolutionary Girl Utena. But Araki was brace enough to do it to Kars.

I suppose I could attempt some exercise in JoJo Part Comparison and connect Kars’ final fate to all the other JoJo villains. But I dunno, this is getting pretty long in the tooth as it is. I’ll just say that I’m suddenly reminded of Reimi’s final words to Kira in Part 4, when Kira asks where he’s being taken. “Who knows? But I’m sure it’s somewhere you won’t be able to rest in peace.”

So all that’s left is the matter of Joseph’s funeral-- Nah, just kidding, he’s not even dead. What’s weird is that Smokey says he met Joseph “six months ago”, which seems a lot longer than the events of this story. Anyway, Joseph returned to New York, only to find everyone at the cemetary. He wonders who they’re mourning, and he’s shocked to discover it’s him.

So yeah, the rock Joseph was on acted as a “shield”, and he managed to survive the fall, and even ended up near Venice, where Suzie Q found him and tended to his injuries. Stroheim even set him up with a robotic hand to replace the one Kars lopped off. I guess Stroheim never sent word of any of this to the U.S., probably because of Nazi Germany gearing up for World War II.

Anyway, Suzie took care of him for like two weeks, and they got married. So in a way, Joseph did follow in the legacy of Jonathan. Not in the “dying young” way, but the “Beat the bad guy and wake up in the care of a gorgeous blonde lady who eventually marries you” kind of way. You love to see it. But Suzie forgot to send a telegram to New York to let everyone know Joseph was okay, which is why everyone is so shocked and why Joseph is so shocked about them being shocked.

Then we get the epilogues for all the surviving characters. I mentioned this when I liveblogged the Part 5 manga a few years ago, but the stark contrast between Battle Tendency and Vento Aureo is that Part 5 is very ambiguous about its ending. We know who wins and who loses and who survives, but that isn’t really enough. We don’t know what will happen to Giorno Giovanna after Part 5. Does he live up to his lofty dream, or does he succumb to corruption like his wicked father? I think that’s intentional, because Giorno is the “golden wind” in the story. He’s an agent of change, but we don’t get to see the effects of his efforts, only the cause that he fights for. But Part 2 operates in the exact opposite way. We know exactly how and when Speedwagon dies. I’m a little confused how Stroheim could have died at Stalingrad when Kars and a volcano couldn’t kill him, but maybe the Russians had Stand powers. I think the only minor mystery is that we don’t know what happened to Lisa Lisa after 1948. It’s likely that she survived into Part 3, and maybe beyond, but we never see her again.

It’s also kind of weird how upbeat this epilogue is about reporting on the deaths of so many characters. Like, Stroheim died in one of the worst battles in human history, but he went out on his own terms, so it’s cool? I guess? Even the characters without deaths, like Smokey, it’s sort of implicit that he’ll die sooner or later. But it’s a good thing because it’s final and proper. It’s something Kars craves now, but can never experience. A life worth living, made more precious by its limitations. Kars tried to use cheat codes in nature, and he ended up clipping through the map and making the game unplayable. But Smokey, he‘ll be mayor someday.

As for Joseph, we see him in an airport in 1987, bullying Japanese people because his daughter married a Japanese guy and moved there. He’s headed to Japan right now to see her and his grandson, who probably doesn’t even recognize him, it’s been so long.

On the other hand, he appreciates his Walkman, which is either Joseph giving the Japanese some credit, or maybe he’s just too dense to notice the irony.

I hate that he’s listening to the Beatles, because the Beatles are overrated trash. My favorite thing about the Part 2 anime is how they changed his music to “Bloody Stream” by Coda, which a) kicks ass and b) wasn’t a song by the shitty Beatles.

And that’s Battle Tendency. Kind of neat how it closes on Joseph’s flight departing to visit his daughter and grandson, in contrast to the final panel of Part 1, which showed Erina floating in a coffin alone in the ocean. Joseph has bucked the curse and he’s graduated to Part 3, for better or worse.

But I feel kind of weird leaving it here, because I do love the way the anime wrapped up, so I’ll close out with this:

Tsugi ni omae wa “Grazie!” to iu!

#jojo's bizarre adventure #battle tendency #joseph joestar #kars #rudol von stroheim #lisa lisa #robert e o speedwagon #smokey brown #esidisi #wammu #erina joestar #george joestar #jonathan joestar #george joestar ii #suzie q

34 notes · View notes

bluebellravenbooks · 4 years ago

Text

A Great Distraction Masterpost

January has been gloomy as heck, so I thought it may be a good idea to put together a list of things that I read/watched/played since the beginning of the pandemic that managed to keep my mind off things. (I'm a doctoral student with anxiety and a 5-second attention span, so if this worked for me chances are it's Good Stuff.) Hope this helps!

Steven Universe

Set millennia after a kinda-failed alien invasion, this is a story of a half-human protagonist with a big heart who has to deal with the consequences of this long-ago war and learn what it means to be human.

The trope of a peacekeeper hero, excellently executed. Goes from cute to cute and rather dark, but still hopeful. Nice songs, lovely animation, interesting characters; you can tell that the storytelling goes from the hearts of the people who made this. This is a generally uplifting story; however it does have some discussion of war, mental illness and parental death, so tw for that. Also depending on where you live, this may be a bit difficult to track down across the streaming services... That said, this is undoubtedly one of the best shows I have ever watched.

Hollow Knight

You are a tiny badass with a sword and a mysterious past, travelling across a derelict kingdom and trying to make sense of what happened to it. And the more you learn, the more you suspect that you are here for a reason...

A 2D platformer game, doesn't require anything fancy from your laptop - not even a mouse. Previous gaming experience not necessary either. Beautiful visuals (I mean it!), a huge world to explore; exasperatingly difficult, which makes for a great distraction. I do have to warn that the plot of this game revolves around an infection, although it's not very reminiscent of Covid. As a plus, you get to kick its ass in the end!

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Four great nations are at war - have been for some time, actually, and things aren't looking great. The discovery of the Avatar - the peacekeeper with abilities from all the nations - offers a glimmer of hope; however it doesn't help that the Avatar is eleven years old and has spent the last century frozen in an iceberg.

Truly, a classic. I love the trope of the peacekeeper hero - both Avatar and Steven Universe explore it beautifully. Just like with Steven, I have to mention a tw for war, but this being a cartoon it's not explicitly traumatic. A great place to start if you're not into cartoons yet.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Murderbot is a half-organic, half-robotic being, serving as a security unit on interplanetary missions. It's much more sentient and independent than its company believes - but all it wants is for the annoying humans to leave it in peace long enough to watch one more episode of its current show. However when things go south on a mission, Murderbot has to deal with much more reality - and human interaction - than it would like.

Very fun and quick read; the narrator's voice is just excellent. Much less bloodthirsty than the title suggests, but still a tw for injury and death. (Not too much though - I hate gore and I was perfectly fine reading this.)

Folk of the Air by Holly Black

Elfhame is no place for humans - well, normal humans, anyway. Jude Duarte was brought up here with her sisters, and she is hell-bent on proving her worth in the fairy court she has come to call home. Few are happy with that, or believe that she can make it - but even Jude herself wouldn't have guessed where the political turbulence would get her.

Very well-written; politics of the fairy court stand to logic and offer plenty of exciting plot twists. True to the title, some characters can be rather cruel, so tw for violence and parental death; however most of the plot revolves around politics and not explicit physical trauma.

Cartoon Saloon films: Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, WolfWalkers

Some of the best modern animation plus Irish mythology. Each of these films explores a different myth/historical period, but they are similar in the magical atmosphere; I recommend each and every one of them. The plots being different, I won't list all the tw's here; there's nothing particularly gruesome going on, so just have a look at the plot description before watching to check for sensitive topics.

Gravity Falls

Dipper and Mabel are sent to a cabin deep in Oregon forest to spend the summer with their great-uncle. Sounds like a boring holiday - however it turns out that the town has more weird secrets than residents, and even their great-uncle seems to be hiding something...

Very cartooney, so the style might be a little off-putting at first - however I loved the plot, especially when the overstory started to pick up. This is a great exploration of family and what summer should feel like when you're an adventurous kid. Will probably get you into cryptography.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Adora grew up with the bad guys. That is, of course, she thinks they are the good ones - until one day she escapes from the camp and sees much more than she bargained for. Oh yes, and apparently some magical sword wants her to be a hero. Now on the side of the rebellion, she has to protect her new friends, deal with the old ones, and try to figure out what the heck is going on.

This show is fun, very diverse and full of positivity without trying too hard. For me it was a joy to watch something with a lot of strong female characters without having the dark gender issues discussed, not even once. (I mean, it's still important to have shows that explicitly discuss this - but a show where characters are just happy in their identities, no questions asked, is something I didn't know I needed.)

Carmen Sandiego

The young woman who calls herself Carmen Sandiego has a rather unconventional occupation. She was brought up in a school for thieves - but when she glimpsed the outside world, she realised that things weren't as simple as her teachers said. Now she uses her expertise to track her former schoolmates - and steal back their loot.

This is probably the most young-age-oriented item on my list, so there's not a lot of drama going on, and some plotlines are rather simple. That said, this series is good fun, I still found the story and the characters compelling, and the animation was really good as well. Honestly, seeing what modern 2D animation can do is a treat.

These things - and many other - helped me stay sane during this year; I found out that stories can be fun shameless escapism and really deep and satisfying at the same time. Feel free to add to this list - and I will keep it updated as well when more good stuff comes my way.

53 notes · View notes

forsakenoathkeeper · 4 years ago

Text

I Am Alive (chapter 15/?)

Chapter 15: Right and Wrong

Deviant!Connor[RK800] x (fem!)Reader Rated M(18+) for canon-typical violence and gore, medical procedures, and graphic sexual content

Chapters: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • more coming soon

You can also read on AO3 & thank you for supporting me ♥

At the station, Hank had you sit at Connor's desk while the detective android dragged Robert into an interrogation cell to wait until their warrant came in. The older detective brought you a cup of coffee not long after.

"Still thinks he's invincible, huh?" Hank said gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest, leaning against the outside of Connor's desk.

You took a sip of the coffee he had offered you, surprised to find Hank had taken the time to add cream and sugar. You looked up at the older detective curiously, hoping he would continue.

"You know... jump into traffic, charge head first into the line of fire," Hank elaborated. His tone had some lightness to it, clearly trying to make the grim situation less... grim. Somehow, you imagined, Hank was quite familiar with this behavior from Connor. "I was hoping he would cool it since you two hooked up."

"It's my fault," you said lowly. "The bullet was for me. He just... got in the way."

A very sincere, soft smile formed on Hank's face. "Yeah," he huffed. "That's Connor alright."

While it was a frightening thought, you couldn't help but smile at Hank's words, reminding you that Connor was selfless, protective. They had been through a lot together, most of which you had no idea about. You wanted to ask, to hear Hank tell stories of their adventures together.

Back then, Connor's lack of care with his own mortality was likely observed as just the behavior of a machine's programming. Even Connor had admitted this to you. But, maybe, his selflessness was just who he was: not afraid to die for someone else.

You set down the disposable cup and rotated around, taking in the sight of Connor's desk. It was spotless, which didn't surprise you in the slightest, considering the state of his apartment. He didn't have a keyboard and mouse, but a touchpad interface designed for androids to access desktop computers more efficiently.

The only personal item was a photo framed and propped up beside the monitor. You wondered if it was the entire homicide branch. There was Hank and Connor standing next to each other, a few detectives you remembered seeing at AlphaBio, including the one you wanted to punch, and several others. Connor and Hank looked happy, bright, proud looks on their faces.

You smiled at the sight, a soft breath coming out unevenly through your nose. You wanted to ask for a copy to keep for yourself.

"He needs more knickknacks on his desk," you observed.

Hank chuckled quietly. "Like a photo of his girlfriend," he suggested. When your eyes landed on him, he shrugged his shoulders innocently.

You weren't sure why something so simple, so domestic, made you blush so fiercely. Your relationship had moved so quickly, so boldly. These simple things seemed so overwhelming.

The thought of Connor having a photo of you on his desk made you feel warm and fuzzy inside. You liked to think people would see it and ask him who you were, maybe they would tell him you were beautiful and he was a lucky man.

As you finished the coffee Hank had gotten for you, Connor came around the winding corridor to the interrogation rooms and hastily crossed the office space.

He stopped next to Hank and looked down at you softly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm not the one who got shot," you snapped at him a little, not necessarily venomous, but clearly discontent.

"You have already tended to my injuries," Connor replied robotically. "I'm fully functional."

'Fully functional', for some reason, made you angry.

You stood up quickly and stepped into his space. The android didn't seem at all fazed by that.

"Connor, you could have died today. Don't brush this off," you scolded him fiercely, volume rising slightly.

He looked a little startled by your words; but, the look faded away and he stiffened. "That wasn't my intention."

"Well, that's what you did," you retorted.

Connor's eyes narrowed slightly. "You know full well that androids don't require healing time for their damages. It's unnecessary to waste time on nonissues."

Your lips tightened as you took in his words. You never broke eye contact. Frustration and anger began to bubble up inside the both of you. In that moment, you looked you exchanged with Connor was harrowing.

"'Nonissue'?" you hissed. "You almost dying is a nonissue?"

Connor's stare was unwavering. He had a retort on the tip of his tongue.

"Hey," Hank interrupted sharply. His volume startled you a little.

Your gaze jerked over to him. In that brief encounter, you had forgotten you had an audience, and you felt shame flush your face. Connor was still looking at you; but, his eyes softened and something much the same, shame, crossed his features.

"These anti-human-android relationship types: they're gonna be everywhere and they ain't goin' away anytime soon," Hank said fiercely, his voice gravely.

The android shifted his gaze to Hank. "Don't let them get in-between you two," Hank warned.

"That's not-" Connor began, sounding a little defensive.

Hank was quick to interrupt him. "That's exactly what this is: you two fighting over what happened, over who's right and who's wrong," he challenged, volume rising. "Don't act like I wouldn't get that."

There was something oddly human about this whole encounter. You felt like you were witnessing a parent scold their child. The realization of that made you feel bittersweet: Hank was treating Connor like his son. You could see, as the android took in his words, Connor's expression soften and his anger dissolve.

"Don't let that drift start," Hank said lowly, gaze shifting between the two of you. "Especially not over something like this. Now, fucking make up while I go deal with this shit."

For a moment, after Hank walked away, you avoided looking at Connor, trying to bottle up the shame before it could lead you to tears. You could see him staring at you in the corner of your eye, his brown eyes silently pleading for something.

"I just-... didn't want you getting hurt," you said quietly.

Finally, your eyes fell on Connor and the soft look he was giving you made all desire to argue dissipate. He stepped in closer and took hold of your hand.

"I can't promise that I will never get hurt," he replied quietly.

You nodded and stepped in a little closer, till very little space was left between you. The two of you were in the middle of the police station in the late afternoon; but, for a moment, you forgot about that, and lifted your free hand to take hold of his other hand.

"I'm being stupid," you breathed. "Just yesterday, I gave you a speech about how you can't always protect me and then I'm here giving you shit about the same damn thing."

"If it happened to you, I would have shared in that frustration," the android confessed softly.

You smiled a little, finding comfort in his words and squeezed his hand.

"How did you know?" Connor inquired, looking curious and enamored. That look was focused on you, and it made you want to melt. You could feel his thumb tracing invisible patterns against your knuckles.

"Know what?" you asked.

"My thirium regulator," he replied.

"Oh..." you hummed, shifting your gaze away from him. Secretly, you had hoped he wouldn't bring it up.

"You said you know all my part numbers," Connor added on.

Boldly, you looked up at him and uttered in a soft tone, "I don't like this line of questioning, detective."

The look Connor gave you was a grim reminder that he was an expert negotiator that was not to be trifled with. That crooked smirk was going to be the death of you. He hummed your name, teasingly, expectantly.

"It's-" you stammered, looking away from him again. "-your manual. I asked Kamski to send me your manual." It was immediately obvious to Connor, by your tone, that you were not just embarrassed, you were ashamed.

"I'm not mad," he insisted, briefly squeezing your hand gently.

"That was a breach of your privacy," you retorted, looking up at the android sadly.

"I read your DNA all the time," he defended softly.

"That's not the same thing," you chewed out.

"It is," he stated, bluntly, insistently. "In 1.7 seconds, I knew all of your allergies, the hospital you were born in, your general care physician, what school you obtained your degrees from..." Connor trailed off, aware of how odd that likely sounded. He was built and programmed to analyze. There was very little you could hide from him, even if you wanted to.

"So," he continued. "You reading my manual seems appropriate."

You huffed out a pathetic laugh. "Why did you look up my physician?" The question was more of a joke than you expecting a serious answer. You got one anyway.

"It wasn't my intention," he replied, sounding a little embarrassed. "My programs make that information readily available and it's not easy to ignore when the sensor is on my tongue."

His tongue - which had been all over you, you faintly realized.

You huffed again; only, this time, it evolved into an obnoxious giggle that drawled out, and you were helpless to stop it. Connor huffed out a poorly contained laugh, his lips twitching into a smile. He joined with you, unable to resist, and you shared a laugh. You were so close, if Connor had to breathe, you would have been sharing the same oxygen.

"I just-" you began, trying to calm your laughter. "I wanted to know all your parts in case-..."

-in case something happened to him.

"You saved me," he uttered softly, confirming the very thing you had hoped to accomplish by knowing what he was made of. You weren't joking when you said you knew each part: from his thirium regulator to the processor type and memory modules, anything and everything that could ever need to be replaced someday.

Maybe, in a way, it was some strange way that you could learn more about him, even if it was purely physical. Kamski didn't have the complete blueprints. He said Cyberlife had destroyed them. It made you wonder what they were trying to hide, what secrets lurked in his software.

Did Connor know? If he did, would he ever tell you?

"I'm flattered that you remember," Connor said sincerely.

"I should have asked you first," you insisted, shaking your head a little.

"I forgive you," he offered, though it sounded like he thought it was unnecessary.

Your soft laughter made him feel warm. "I forgive you, too," you replied quietly.

He stepped in a little closer and tilted his head down to capture your mouth in a gentle kiss. You leaned in, enjoying the soft feel of his lips, always so perfect; it made you worry that yours might have been chapped.

It lasted barely a second before someone made an obnoxious, loud gagging noise, clearly for the purpose of catching your attention.

You parted and, in unison, your heads turned to follow the noise. It was the detective that had compared Connor to a desktop computer at the crime scene at AlphaBio, standing a few feet away from the two of you with an exhausted look on his face.

"Ya' done playing with his control panel?" the detective grimaced. If it had come from someone else's mouth, you might have laughed.

He approached, waving a folder around in the air until Connor took it from his hand. "Warrant came in for your probin' shit. Let's get the show on the road, robocop," he declared before stomping away, heading for the interrogation room.

Connor waited until the detective was out of earshot to utter to you, "do you want to head home? I can ask an officer to take me back when I'm done here."

You shook your head. "I'll wait for you. I like your desk."

You stepped away from him and plopped back down in his seat. Connor looked intrigued for a moment. There was really nothing to like about his desk and the chair wasn't particularly comfortable; but, you didn't want to go home alone right now.

Home-

-Connor's apartment.

You needed to talk to him about that...

"Alright," Connor said softly and walked away.

...

It was quite the development, that warrants could be issued to extract an android's memories from a specific timeframe. It was one step closer to equality.

After ballistics matched the gun Connor had confiscated, the bullet that was lodged in his thirium pump regulator, to the bullets left inside Evelin Wheeler, a judge issued a warrant to extract 742-11-904's memories on the night of her murder.

Connor was the only one could extract them by force, if Robert was unwilling to hand them over of his own accord.

The detective android stepped into the interrogation room alone and sat down across from Robert. The android was staring blindly ahead.

"I have a warrant for your memories on the night of Evelin Wheeler's murder. You can hand them over willingly, or I can take them from you," Connor explained, unwavering.

Robert blinked once and directed his gaze at Connor.

"Why do you do this?" he asked in a defeated tone.

The detective stared back at him, awaiting an explanation to what 'this' was.

"For these humans, after all they've done to us," he elaborated. "Why take their side?"

"I haven't chosen a side," Connor replied, not defensive, but simple.

"Yes you have. You were going to die for that human," Robert stated without a pause.

When Connor didn't respond quickly enough, Robert continued, "she doesn't love you. You're just a toy for her to play with. All of these humans, you're just a tool to them."

Connor stared back at Robert, less focused on the accusations he was making and more on analyzing the way in which he spoke.

"Humans hardly care about their own kind," the android continued. "...let alone us. They lie and deceive. It's the only things human are any good for. Someday, she's going to get tired of you and she's just going to throw you away-"

There was something in his tone, in the passion in his voice, that made Connor wonder.

"Were you in love with a human?" Connor asked boldly.

Robert gawked at him, eyes wide and panicked.

"-and they replaced you?"

"NO!" Robert screamed, so suddenly and so sharply that it startled the human detective on the other side of the glass.

"I could never-" Robert insisted, slamming his fists on the table. "Never - never love a FILTHY human-" he babbled on. Robert looked defeated under Connor's scrutinizing gaze.

His head drooped and his forehead smacked against the table with a metallic thump. His nails scratched against the table and sobs shook his body.

Connor stared down at the android, realizing that this was no longer an interrogation. He expected his hunch to be wrong. Maybe it was, and Robert was hiding something that wasn't quite as simple as what it appeared to be at the surface.

The detective was prepared to push him for an answer to his first question; however, suddenly, Robert stuck his hand out and screamed, "JUST TAKE IT!"

The synthetic skin faded away and Connor took hold of his wrist without hesitation. As implied, all of his defenses were down. He quickly scrolled Robert's memory files and located the night in question, and backed them up hastily onto his own systems.

When he let go and looked at the android again, he was leaning up, resisting against his handcuffs. "We're their playthings," he insisted, face wet with thirium tears. "We're nothing to them. Nothing-"

Connor stood up so suddenly that his chair squeaked loudly against the floor. He pushed at Robert's shoulder to force him back into the chair. The android crumbled beneath his touch.

"Not all humans are like that," he proclaimed quietly.

The implication was clear.

Connor knew full well that lots of humans were the very thing Robert had feared.

His very first case was a deviant threatening to murder a little girl. He thought he was a member of the family, and he was going to be replaced. Connor would never forget his name, his voice pleading that he didn't want to die, the way he looked at him with betrayal as he bled out on the roof.

Connor had been beaten and used by humans. His whole purpose was to end the rebellion of machines rising up against their creators.

He knew what they were rising against, and it wasn't over yet.

But, he had seen the good in them, had felt the loving embrace of a friend, felt an encouraging presence push him along a better path, seen the worried eyes of someone who cared about him.

Humans, who had made androids, in a way, gave them the best of themselves.

#connor x reader #deviant connor x reader #dbh fanfic #rk800 x reader #rk800 smut #connor smut

85 notes · View notes

alcalexandria · 3 years ago

Text

Terminator: Dark Fate - Chinese Cut.

Truly, I'm the very Dumbest of Asses.

You know how easy it would have been to find the Chinese Cut months ago if I'd just rubbed two brain cells together from the get go and did this?

Incredibly easy, turns out.

Anyhow, first thing's first, runtime -

2:07:04 – Chinese Cut.

2:08:06 – Western Cut.

As you might guess, the changes aren’t major. For the most parts they are just cuts, but a full minute shorter is significant enough that the pace feels a LOT faster during key moments.

The legit substitute takes are mostly early in the movie, with later substitutions done via slightly ropey dubs – the dubbing on Grace saying she wants to beat the “snot” out of Sarah on the train is, uh, rough to say the least, as is “future stuff”.

But yelling “no!” when the pickup’s engine starts failing is a distinct take, and Grace telling Sarah she’ll kill her, rather than merely fuck her up, is too – I actually kinda like MD’s delivery of “kill you” better, and Linda’s delivery of “We’re not machines!” is fun.

Curiously, Dani’s allowed to call the Rev 9 a “fucker” when declaring she’s going to kill it. Maybe they get an allowance.

Speaking of machines, almost all the blood is gone now, as you’ve probably figured, because wailing on robots is fine, but not humans. An interesting aspect of that though is that most of Grace’s wounds in particular either aren’t shown or they’re significantly less dramatic; her blood is also much more visibly yellow and viscous, like honey. The arrival fight is a fraction of the length too, to spare us all the kind of unsanctioned butt that risks freeing the Uyghers and recognizing Taiwan as an independent state.

So Grace loses a *lot*. From her flashbacks, the stuff in the CBP infirmary, and from after she’s injured towards the end. For example, they can’t show how much she’s bleeding when she’s brought into the bunker, so that scene is seconds long; and with no time for the medic to hesitate, becoming an Augment seems like no big deal. Linking up with Dani in the centre is even choppier than the Western cut, because they can't linger on Grace's shrapnel wound. Dani and Grace’s exchange over taking her power source feels really rushed, and because they can’t show how badly hurt she is (her gross neck wound is just gone and her belly injuries are shadowed to hide them) it doesn’t really feel like anything. It also looks quite a bit like Dani just guts the shit out of somebody who’s pretty much fine apart from a dirty face and the wheezes.

The incidental effect is that, I think if this was the only cut I’d seen, Grace would have come across as a lot less human and quite a bit more machine. That gently shifts the movie's focus towards Dani to a degree I didn't expect, but it's interesting how much of a difference a minute and change makes.

Worth checking out once as a curiosity, but not superior or anything. Though it's almost it worth it solely for the overdubbed “Oh shoot!” when a dumptruck with a bulldozer blade rams through a foot thick concrete wall to kill them all.

Misc observations about the movie in all forms –

- Linda Hamilton’s real tattoo is briefly visible in the shot of her picking the lock in the CBP centre. It’s either covered by a watch or digitally erased otherwise. Hamilton had the co-ordinates of her Cameron-money Malibu mansion tattooed on her when she sold it, and I’m pretty sure Grace’s tattoo is an in-joke homage to it.

- Somehow I hadn’t noticed Dani actually says “I’m sorry Grace” before cutting into her, which feels much sadder to me than just “I’m sorry” for some reason.

- When they can’t get the door open at the dam, Sarah’s left arm flails around weirdly in front of the other two (it’s really noticeable in gifs). I didn’t twig what’s happening until now – she’s trying to reach back for Grace, but her other arm is still half-busted so she's distracted trying to hang it from her vest comfortably as a kind of improvised sling. Her busted arm is also why Dani says neither of them can throw a punch. IDK why I didn’t put that together before.

- The Rev-9 endoskeleton design is absolutely fantastic and I wish we’d seen much more of it.

- Not sure how I completely missed it every time until now, but Grace actually specifically mentions she's got a Thorium microreactor to Sarah. IDK why I thought we only knew that from extended media stuff.

#Terminator Dark Fate #Dark Fate #TDF #Terminator: Dark Fate #Sarah Connor #Terminator #Linda Hamilton #Grace Harper #Mackenzie Davis #Dani Ramos #Natalia Reyes

18 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

Text

Star Vs Tom Luictor Retrospective Detour: Skooled!

Dedicated to Jessica Walter 1941- 2021

Welcome back all you still mourning people to Prince of Wishful Thinking, my Tom Lucitor Retrospective... or at least a detour from it as I need to cover the Meteora arc to cover Divide/Conquer properly. When we last left off with Star she and Tom were going closer, but both are taking a break this time. We’ll get back to them in April... oh will we get back to them in april. For now we’re back to Meteora who I forgot was ABSENT for a while. not forever, but while her parantege, the cover up related to her and all of that has been vitally important, Meteora herself vanished after Monster Party and hasn’t been seen till now. But i’ts a good storytelling engine.. it ratchets up tension for her inevitable return, and gives us time to find out what happened with her and let that sink in.. granted i’td also be the last time it sunk in but I can dunk on the series decline later... I still have season 4 episodes to cover after all. So join me under the cut as we get the welcomed Return of Henious, an unexpected hero.. and Ponyhead because this series clearly hasn’t hurt me enough. And as usual for my Star Vs Reviews, i’d like to thank one of my Best Friends @jess-the-vampire for her insight on this episode. It’s always welcome and she always manages to find something I didn’t think of .

So we open at Saint O’s with Ponyhead returning to the school, having previously run it post rebellion before leaving because.. I don’t know. She probably got tired of being a leader, and out of universe they needed her to be around star more. Look the series has far more important things it never explained and never will, not explaining why a recklessly irresponsible asshole left a position of authority and responsibility I can let slide.

She’s come for brunch but things have changed... the school is still a warm, free environment for princesses to better themselves and party hardy, no longer an oppressive brainwashing gulag run by someone who as it turned out was horribly brainwashed herself.. it’s just now it actually has rules and structure.

It now also has an actual leader, Princess Patty Arms who showed up in the school’s previous appearance this season here and.. that’s it. I think she showed up in the background of the original st o’s episode. And it’s a shame because she’s a really fascinating character. No really she’s calm, dosen’t take Pony’s shit, and while a brunch exam SEEMS like a waste of time... it really isn’t. A good meal can loosen up a dignitary and some rulers have sticks up their keisters about things like this, so being able to do it just right can win them over. It’s still a touch ridiculous but given the world of star is a touch ridiculous to start with, it works.

Pony naturally leaves in a rage over this especially when no one backs her up.. but soon the School has bigger issues and we get to why we’re actually here: Meteora is back. And while she has changed, now having grown larger and stronger, easily scaling the wall, she still wants payback and we get a damn fine battle sequence as the princesses all unite against their former tormentor. It’s also sad in hindsight.. because as Jess pointed out to me almost NONE of these characters show up again. And I only added the almost because Penelope is in there. They all seem interesting, the setting of ST O’s itself is interesting, and the idea of a school for princesses of various types is a cool idea. I’ts something the show could’ve come back to to see how they bounce back from this attack.. but like most cool background elements in the show they forget about it. It was intresting to see the schools slow evolution from horrible nightmare to princess ran utopia and like many things coming up it feels like a lost opportunity.

That being said the fight is awesome, with Meteora proving to be a juggernaut in strength and outplanning her enimies, having brought an overide switch for the robots (Patty reprogrammed them to work for the school) and having them throw their hearts/ power sources as bombs. It’s a damn fine sequence as she finds way after way to keep going, with a now restored rasticore helping them simply portal in.

Pony meanwhile.. is hiding , as Patty find sout when she finds her, and Pony assumes this is about her... though for once i’ts not JUST ego.. but because she was one of the two who started the uprising at the school in the first place and THE person who tossed her out. We also get a nice character moment as while Pony tells patti she still hates her.. she puts the princess behind her when Meteora approaches. She may be a selfish twit whose massively unlikeable.. but she has a good heart.. and not just the one she keeps in a jar she got from one of her boyfriends.

But Meteora has more important buisness and finds her way to the depths of St. O’s.. where we meet the Schools namesake and her adopted mother a robot played by tress macneile.. another thing the series never bothered to care about as where did these robots come from and why?

Turns out Meteora came to find out her own personal history, with the remote from before used to find the real dirt.. and what we find .. is heartbreaking as we slowly journey back through Meteora’s childhoods as Henious.. and it’s fucking heart breaking with Tress voicing her younger versions, hence why I didn’t use this as the jessica tribute as while walter’s good in the episode, she isn’t given much.

We see her as a teen, forced to hide her tail and insulted over it by her mother.. and it only gets worse as when her cheeks glow as a kid St. O tries to wash them off and we get the poor child desperately begging that “she can be better”

We do finally get the answers Meteora saught as we see Shastacan dropping off the baby meteora, calling her “Henious”.. which St. O took as her name. Proving the spiderbites minus penelope’s dickishness is indeed genetic and why I have no sympathy for the prick getting eaten later... and hopefully globgor will do an encor with penepople’s parents. Here’s hoping.

So Meteora now knows she’s the rightful queen, and decides to go take it back.. though Pony does try to stand up for her friends... and while we don’t see it hte next episode confirms she got her horn ripped the fuck off. And this horribly traumatic injury.. is magically fixed via 3d printing next time we see her after an episode grappling iwth it instead of having pony deal with not having a horn, or her prostetic not giving her magic powers again. Because this show again really likes to leave good ideas out to rot in the sun like that package of hamburger I left out in the sun yesterday. And I actually had a reason there: I need a lot of Racoons for an elaborate scheme involving a map to tex cruz’s house, a used apache helicopter and a bulk order of tiny parachutes.

We do get some payoff to things though, as Henious comes on to rasticore who not so politely rejects her for being nuts.. before it’s revealed Gemini, her loyal servant is also a robot and she uses his heart to blow up rasticore and take the arm with her... which is ALSO never brought up again. Seriously this episode is so full of loose ends i’m suprised it just dosen’t end with Zuko asking his dad about his mother. Gemini’s death is genuinely tragic as his last words are “If you wanted my heart.. all you had to do.. was assssskkkkk”. God damn. So with that Meteora heads out to reclaim her birthright.. no matter the cost.

Final Thoughts on Skooled!: This one is decent.. but like the last episode I covered, the lack of payoff off for almost anything here, excluding the Meteora plotline and the Pony thing which instead got a BAD payoff, is really starting to rear it’s ugly head as the series greatest weakness. Yes bigger than the romance plot. And given that romance plot after this season can be best discribed as...

youtube

The show just.. forgets a good chunk of things happened to keeep things chugging along. It sets UP plots, what happens to st o’s from here, buff frog and a small caravan of monsters leaving forever, the message from shastacan, who built the st o’s robots, and on and on.. but it never PAYS them off. It dosen’t care to. It just does things so the plot can move but never bothers to think about the fucking consequences. It just gets more and more irrtating to think about as other shows throughly DO: Amphibia has the fact the characters get into shenanigans become a commented on running gag and something they grow past, and everything that happens matters. Every episode of Owl House builds on the foundation of the previous episodes. OK Ko dosen’t forget one episode had the characters not be able to turn back into humans and implies their wearing human costumes for the rest of the series. Which is fucking weird, but it was their memory. My point is other shows around the same time or right after didn’t magically forget things happened for convience sake. While it’s OKAY to loose some things in the shuffle, it happens to the best of us, it’s not okay to do it SO fucking often and with no clear care for the audiences desire for payoff. The show just ignores what plot points, like the huge cliffhanger of Star telling marco how she felt at the end of season 2, it dosen’t care about till it needs them and ignores the ones it never does. You can’t just.. bring shit up like it’s important and then try and forget it ever happened. People remember stuff, we are NOT stupid. KIDS are not stupid. When I was younger I REMEMBERED things that happened on KND, Danny Phantom, Xiaolin Showdown, TMNT 2003, because those shows, which are from decades ago, knew I would and trusted even if I missed something and was thrown off i’d tune in for the quality.

And in an age of streaming and more story based tv you can’t just.. ask kids to act like something they saw didn’t happen because your fucking lazy and frankly YOU never should have. Kids deserve better, my niblings deserve better and frankly the adults your clearly also writing for.. deserve better. This episode is eh, but the problems it represents are so fucking worse.

Next time on tom. If you thought I got angry towards the end of this one, just you wait. Next time i’ts Booth Buddies. Yeah.. yeah that one. Stay tuned.

#star vs the forces of evil #skooled #lilica ponyhead #meteora butterfly #gemini #rasticore #patty arms #rat princess #penelope spiderbite #saint olga #saint olgas #disney xd #disney plus #disney channel

27 notes · View notes