#reboot required au

[nonsense-is-everywhere]

Rahhhh, the little guy. My every thought filled with the sillies.

Also, drawing these guys for the first time

MY GUY. THE GOOBER. MY LITTLE MEOW MEOW.

…Loser got deleted.

[good-beansdraws]

Making a full post for my Fuuta Ballet AU because I actually had more thoughts about it hehe (Ballerina Girl)

+ a version of the au that's more general to the whole cast, with Es as the protag here!

As mentioned in the art, he’s exactly the same as canon except his life now revolves around dance. He’s in a very cliquey company (The Dark Pas de Trois?), surrounded by friends who are very similar-minded. Even though they're not in dance competitions specifically, they're constantly striving for better reviews/reputations than the neighboring companies. Fuuta struggles with stage fright, but doesn't let on to the others -- he just pushes through every time.

They visit a company rehearsing Nutcracker, and one of the snowflake dancers does something problematic backstage. Fuuta blasts him on social media for it, gaining popularity for his own account/dance company. Auditions and things go a bit smoother for them now that they’re internet famous.

There’s a scandal with the dancer playing the demon sorcerer Rothbart in Swan Lake, and Fuuta catches it on film. The video goes viral, once again boosting Fuuta’s popularity and ego. He’s praised as both a hero and talented performer. His friends are also soaring with this newfound fame.

Then, he catches a young background dancer in Sleeping Beauty doing something he deems worthy of a callout. He exposes her all over his social media. Rather than the usual social backlash, the girl is harassed in person. A crowd takes things too far, and an accident results in an injury that ends her career just as it was beginning. She will never dance again.

Facing his suspicious friends (and overcome with his own guilt), Fuuta flees the company. He plans on quitting dance for the rest of his life as well. Instead, he gets a mysterious invitation to the Milgram Dance Academy. He's never heard of them before, and the internet doesn't turn up much on them. Left with few other choices, he shows up for the first lesson.

The first thing that strikes him is it's a boarding school. He must live there and follow their rules in order to attend. They take his phone and restrict outside contact, much to his horror. The school solely focused on the arts -- no competitions, no big shows. There are three major shows they are planning, but Fuuta couldn't find any venues/tickets/advertisements, despite mention of a "global audience". The program is rigorous, and the instructor decides at the end of each semester if their final performance passes or fails.

The only thing more concerning than the sudden restriction of his phone is the strange group of residents he'll be spending his next few years with. His instructor is a mere child, no more than fifteen and very cryptic about their past training. His other classmates range in age and personality. He starts off dancing just as confident as usual, trying to show up the other students and make a strong first impression.

However, he fails the first semester. The grade list is made public to the whole academy, and Fuuta finds himself the subject of watching eyes and condescending whispers. Becoming sensitive to prying stares and audiences, he falls back into his usual stage fright. He endures (emotional) attacks from the passed students, although in his distraction he screws up some cues and gets injured.

Regarding the actual choreography -- as much as I love the classic shows (I mean, just look how cute he is as the nutcracker ;-;) my brain has been going brrrrr picturing ballet adaptations of the mvs... 🎹 / 🎹 / 🎹 / 🎹

[good-beanswrites]

My last post made me want to spin the ballet au to suit the general cast, keeping Es as the protagonist 🩰

I don't have art for this one but I still got a bit carried away with the details LOL This definitely leans more into a sweet fix-it :3

The story would open with Es waking up in the medical room of Milgram Dance Academy, a very small and isolated school. Es is told they suffered a bad head injury during a performance, resulting in amnesia. Their instructor (Jackalope. Make this work however you wish.) tells them not to worry about it, and to focus on their dancing for now. Es feels a pressing responsibility to stay and rehearse, so they agree.

Jackalope tells them they must understudy several roles while recovering, not ready to jump into things right away. They're grateful, since they're struggling with their identity and expression without their memories.

The first student they are directed to is a shy and lanky dancer by the name of Haruka. They study under him as the role of a graceful, melancholic swan. They watch the choreography in general, and it looks nice enough. Es proceeds to spend several rehearsals with him, talking and bonding and learning he has a bit more going on than meets the eye. They try to offer help as he admits to familial issues, self esteem questions, and comments about sibling jealousy. In turn, he teaches Es to mimic some of his powerful emotions. At the end of their time together, they both perform for their class in full costume and staging. Now, Es understands each move with a deeper understanding than their initial look at the steps.

Next, they’re sent to meet the bubbly girl playing Juliet and begin the process anew. This continues to make a total of ten roles. Some of the dancers take the sessions kindly, while others are brash, secretive, or just confusing.

After rehearsing with Kotoko and learning to understand her determination and confidence, Es is sent back to Haruka, who has moved onto a new show and new role. They’re shocked to discover that their words to each dancer – always well-intentioned – had caused some issues backstage. Now, there are rivalries and changes in stage presence. While experiencing stress (that Es has inadvertently caused,) some were distracted in rehearsal and got injured. Es must take on the interpersonal issues as well as the choreography challenges.

I don’t have all the roles down and was trying to stick to well-known shows anyway, but I think I’d want Muu to be the Sugar Plum Fairy, Kazui to be Albrecht from Giselle, and Amane to be Clara. I wanted to keep them traditionally gendered to prove there are plenty of roles for men, but I can’t help but have Odette/Odile thoughts for T1 Mikoto ;-;

Like the other post, I'm equally tempted to have the dancers performing ballet adaptations of the mvs 👀 I want to see. Bee tutu. Doctor coat costume. Marching band tutu. AKAA mismatched look. The backgrounds. The music. The choreo. So many cool possibilities...

As a sweet au, it all ends with everyone better for having met one another. Es is cast in a solo performance, combining everything they've learned both emotionally and technically from the others. They feel satisfied with their sense of identity, and shine onstage ✨️✨️✨️

[interrogatormentors]

how does one reboot a helmsman? does it hurt?

01001000 01000101 01001100 01001101 01010011 01001101 01000001 01001110 00100000 01001111 01000110 01000110 01001100 01001001 01001110 01000101 00101110 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000010 01001111 01001111 01010100 00100000 01010010 01000101 01010001 01010101 01001001 01010010 01000101 01000100 00101110

my sweet sweet lil baby eel.... you R-E-ELY wanna make me WORK today, )(U)(? that's not very cash money a you.

[mistressroxielove]

Hey everyone~ I got some more stuff for ya~

Long story short, I've discovered the new Fairly Oddparents reboot, absolutely loved it and was inspired to make this AU idea for the show! With a slight reimagine/redesign of the characters as well.

Here's some more info about my AU:

Fairly Odd Parents AU/Rewrite

Au Name: FairlyOdd Brother

Summary:

Perri (previously known as Poof) recently graduated from Fairy Godparents School and is eager to start granting Wishes for his very own godchild! Only problem is that with his lack of experience Jorgen is weary of giving him an assignment and keeps finding excuses/reasons to not give him a godkid. Realizing it might be a 1,000 years before they give him a chance to be a Fairy Godparent, Perri decides he needs to be a little bold and perhaps, bend Da Rules, to get his foot in the door so to speak. And his answer comes to him from a new neighbor in his human home, a family with a sweet shy 10 year old girl who is absolutely miserable. Perhaps Perri might be able to offer this girl a little comfort and fun as her new Fairy Godbrother!?

(Basically the same premise of the show, except Perri’s first godchild is Hazel, and through a technicality in the rule book, becomes her god brother instead of her godparent.)

ALSO please note this AU is more of a slight reimagine of the original show, meaning I did tweaked / changed some of the characters personality to match the new story I made for them. Nothing majorly different, but again just a heads up before you read on. Hope you like it~

Name: Devin “Dev” Dimmadome 

Age: 9/almost 10

Sex: Male

Physical Description: 

Is basically the same as in the show, though there are a few key differences. 

-Despite having slicked back hair he always has a single strand that no matter what always sticks out, he hates it and is always trying to move it back into place but to no avail. In reality without the hair product he has natural curly hair like his father, though his curls are a little more difficult to comb and manage than his father, something that he doesn’t like about himself

-Has freckles! But always wears makeup to cover them as according to Dale’s research are ’less desirable’ and would statistically do better with them covered up

-Also has heterochromia, one blue and one green eye, but always wears either a blue or green contacts to hide his ‘flaw’, again being told to do so by his father

- Though he is always required to wear a branded white hoodie, Dale actually lets him wear whatever shirt he wants underneath, just with the promise Dev never takes his sweater off in public. Dev usually wears all sorts of geeky and nerdy shirts, mostly love meridian and Crimson Chin related stuff, it's the closes thing he’s allowed to wear ‘freely’ without requiring his father’s approval. Again this ‘freedom’ is kinda pointless since he still has to wear the hoodie, but he still appreciates it.   

-As you can see in the photo above I showed what he looks typically on the left, and on the right is basically what Dev would dress like if he had no rules or restrictions.

Personality: 

It's basically exactly the same as in the show, I really like Dev both in a story sense and a comedic sense so nothing to really change. The only slight difference is that Dev in this version clearly gets a crush on Hazel in this version. I think the show is ‘hinting’ of them possibly being a couple later on, but in my version I wanted to make it a little more clear that he has a subconscious crush on her. Basically think Anya and Damion from Spy x Family if you want a good example. He likes her, but being a 10 year old boy with severe daddy issues has no idea how to handle this and ends up being kinda mean to his regret. 

Other fun facts:

-I won’t get into it now, but his relationship with his father is a bit different, as I have a unique take on Dale and who he is as a person. I’ll probably draw him next but for now just know Dale isn’t an evil heartless father and there’s more to him than it seems, and thus the relationship between Dale and Dev is a little more complex.

-And yes though it isn’t important yet, he does end up getting Cosmo and Wanda as his fairy godparents instead of Hazel as the AU would suggest.

- In this version Peri is also not a big fan of Dev. As he obviously doesn’t like how he’s mean to her at first, but as they become friends and Peri soon realizes that Dev has a crush on Hazel this leaves Peri horrified at the thought. And of course being a proper big brother is completely against and despises the idea of Dev and Hazel ever ending up together. He’s not too over the top about his dislike, but definitely would be sitting in to conor with his arms crossed, while trying to subtly tell Hazel she could do soooooooo much better than him.   

I hope you guys like this, I'm personally really happy with how this design turned out, especially his 'real Dev' design on the right. But I would love to hear your guys thoughts and opinions about my designs. Do you like them, hate them? Feel free to tell me below.

Also tomorrow I'll post a version of this photo with a transparent BG and maybe upclose shots of the design as well, just so you can see the design easier without the BG

Previous - Next

[shepscapades]

Hi there! Your dbhc au is lovely and I love it very much! Between base level knowledge of hermitcraft, base level knowledge of detroit: become human from rtgame’s playthrough, and extra extra headcannons about deviancy and all that that entails (I forgot androids can’t eat… the post-game au that I love and follow made it so that they could haha…) I love the way you’ve incorporated androids and deviancy to hermitcraft!!!! Not to mention how electric (pun intended) your art is!!!! <3

One question! Are we working with minecraft death mechanics (aka respawn)? What happens when the androids shut down, normally? It’s just a reboot them type of scenario?

(ignore how long I scrolled down your blog for uh haha… oooo you did not see the timestamps of the posts i reboggled ooo /j)

First of all!!! Thank you so much for your kind words!!! <3 Delighted to report that probably at some point doc and xisuma will develop some kind of way for the android hermits to have the option of eating food… I don’t really have any idea of when that happens in the timeline though LOL

The respawn mechanics question is super interesting!! the way I see it in my head, yes… yeah I think respawning is a thing, some kind of magical innate quality of the world I suppose, connected to whitelisted players/entities or what have you. Naturally, when Xisuma begins to “whitelist” deviated androids, it establishes them as players part of the world, the same way the other hermits are! I think in my brain, most respawns in general are inconsequential… in the way that players don’t necessarily retain scars when they die and respawn, unless it’s a particularly painful or meaningful death? That’s kind of how I’ve always seen respawning anyway!

So when it comes to the androids, I think when Xisuma whitelisted them/ reprogrammed them as player entities on the server, he also programmed a way for androids to detect… things that would normally do damage to biotic/ organic players, in a superficial “taking damage” sense? So while androids don’t necessarily feel… “pain,” they have a pain sensor/set of hearts like normal players that will “go down” the same way a normal player’s would even if their shells aren't taking lasting physical damage that would require tangible repair. They aren’t completely removed from the damage, though, because I think Xisuma probably also works up some kind of system that would create similar “feelings” that a player might feel when taking damage? For example, as an android takes “damage,” it might trigger a certain fear, panic, or surprise response (such as up-ticks in thirium pump rate, a slight degradation in motility functions (like fumbling with motor skills when you’re nervous/panicking), or brief stalls in processing power (the same way you might hesitate in surprise)). So even if they don’t feel pain the same way, their experience would pretty closely mimic pain responses in humans/organic players!

The vessels themselves are harder to explain I suppose… such as a body being left behind on a server when a player can’t respawn, but you could probably explain the androids the same way you would explain other player respawn mechanics, like a body disappearing when a player “‘chooses to respawn,” stuff like that.

“Shutting Down” tends to be treated differently than dying or respawning, though. A shutdown is most similar to a permanent death, unless an android is voluntarily rebooting, in which case they would probably use the word “reboot” rather than shutdown. For sleeping or other “low-power” modes, androids kind of go into “low-function” states that have specific protocols and stuff like that, some kind of stasis state that xisuma or doc have programmed specifically to mimic sleep. Shutdowns usually only happen when an android loses the ability to function, somehow. Runs too low on thirium to function, self-destructs from stress, any other reason an android would stop working all together and require maintenance to turn back on. So when Etho shuts down at the end of s8 it’s because he doesn’t realize he has a been leaking thirium for so long and ends up not being able to function, and when Xisuma/Doc shut him down at the end of Destruction, it’s a force-shut down (you’ll see how soon enough LMAO).

THATS SUCH A LONG RAMBLE LOL but hopefully that answers your questions!! I’m gonna go back and start tagging posts like this with #dbhc mechanics for anyone who is curious about the application of androids on the server :]

[emberdew]

Be More Ghost Chapter 11: Upgrade

Summary:

A Be More Chill AU where Danny gets a Super Quantum Intel Unit Processor (or Squip) to help him become cool and win over Valerie, but things don't really go as planned.

Masterpost | AO3 Link | Word Count: 1,993

C’mon, Danny can’t you see we got a plan,  now be a man.  You start with Star,  and then progress,  then we assess  and soon success!

The Squip ended up dragging Danny all the way outside the school. It had mostly stopped glitching out but its outline still buzzed a little like it was agitated. Its hair, which was usually slightly neater than Danny’s, was sticking out in different directions like Danny’s does after he gets out of bed. Even its sunglasses were slightly askew.

“What was that about?” Danny asked.

I’m sorry, but that girl does not see you as relationship material. Squip-Phantom adjusted its sunglasses and ran a hand through its hair, which smoothed down into its usual neat look. 

“I know! That’s why I got you!” Danny felt exasperated. One failure and the Squip was acting like Technus after Tucker hacked into the ghost’s software? Maybe it wasn’t as good as Danny thought it was.

And you’re sure you want her? She already broke up with you once and she actively hunts you! There are plenty of other students at this school. Squip-Phantom’s face matched Danny’s expression of frustration like a mirror. Then it relaxed and turned its head as if looking at something that wasn’t there. I’m accessing footage of the boy’s basketball team right now. It’s very impressive. 

“I want to date Valerie.” Danny had heard this argument a thousand times from Sam and Tucker already and he knew it was weird that he was still hung up on her, but he wouldn’t give up his crush. He couldn’t!

You’re sure about that? Squip-Phantom seemed resigned to Danny’s stubbornness. It could read his mind after all, so it knew how sure Danny felt about this.

Danny nodded. 

Very well. 

“So how can I get her to date me?”

You can’t. 

“What?” Danny clenched his fists. What was the point of getting a Squip if it couldn’t help him get what he wanted? 

…Yet. Becoming the kind of man who can impress Valerie requires more than working out a few bugs. Squip-Phantom raised its sunglasses and Danny saw its eyes start glowing brighter in excitement as it explained its plan. You’re going to need to reboot your reputation. Supercharge your social standing. You need to upgrade!

“Huh?”

You need to get popular. Squip-Phantom winked and lowered its sunglasses again. Tear ducts: activate. 

Danny felt his eyes welling up with tears. Before he realized what was happening, he started sobbing uncontrollably. What had the Squip done to him?

Through vision blurred by tears, Danny saw Star walk up to him with a sad smile.

“Danny! I’ve been looking for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Danny gasped out between hitched breaths. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”

“I do.” Star patted his back soothingly. Danny wiped his eyes and looked up at Star.

“You do?” 

“And I totally understand. They’re saying it was a freak ice skating accident.”

“What are you talking about?” Danny looked questioningly at Squip-Phantom, who just motioned for him to keep paying attention to Star. What was going on?

“Oh my god, you don’t know!” Star’s eyes widened. “Chip Skylark’s dead!”

“Chip Skylark is dead?” Danny’s mouth hung open in shock. 

“I mean, I was never into him because most of his songs were about teeth which kind of freaked me out but-” Star gestured to Danny’s shirt, which he just remembered was emblazoned with the singer’s face, “I know you liked him so…”

Star continued trying to comfort him but Danny could not focus on her right now. He turned to Squip-Phantom, who was hovering nearby.

“Did you know this was going to happen?”

Of course not. 

“So it’s a coincidence you told me to wear this shirt?” Danny arched an eyebrow.

Of course not. Squip-Phantom cracked a smile. 

“Wait, what?” Danny grabbed Squip-Phantom’s arm in alarm. “Did you kill Chip Skylark?”

No, Squip-Phantom shrugged, not exactly. My quantum processor allows me to envision probable futures-

“Like Clockwork,” Danny remembered the Squip had tried to explain this before, but he was still reeling. 

A little bit. So while I did not know that, today, Chip Skylark would be run over by a Zamboni, I was aware of the probability of a… favorable outcome. 

“Favorable for WHO?” Danny cringed at the thought of the Squip using someone’s death as some part of a master plan. It felt too much like something Vlad would do. But before he could reconsider his life choices, a warm arm wrapped around his shoulders.

“It’s okay, Danny,” Star spoke gently into his ear. “You don’t have to be alone right now.”

Danny started to pull away but Squip-Phantom stopped him. 

You need to get popular and here's a popular girl who likes you. You need to go where she leads.

Hesitantly, Danny obeyed. This close to Star, he could smell the nice vanilla-scented perfume she used. Her blonde hair was really shiny in the afternoon sunlight. As they walked together to the bleachers by the football field and sat down, Danny thought maybe letting Star lead him for a little bit wouldn’t be so bad.

“This is my favorite place behind the school.” Star grinned at Danny and he smiled back. “Isn’t the sun on the bleachers muy bonito?”

Danny nodded. The weather was pretty nice, but he still felt a chill. He wished he had brought his favorite NASA hoodie.

“Being here with you right now makes me feel like our future is so clear, you know?” Star gently placed her hand on Danny’s as he looked into her turquoise eyes. 

Danny felt like his tongue was caught in his throat, so he just nodded again. 

“I’ll tenderly guide you.” Star leaned forward and Danny’s brain started shutting down.

Danny turned to his other side where Squip-Phantom was relaxing while slightly hovering above the bleachers. When it caught Danny looking, it shifted down to sit close to his side and grabbed his other hand. 

I’ll tenderly guide you, Squip-Phantom echoed.

Danny stared into his reflection in Squip-Phantom’s dark sunglasses. He shifted in his seat and tilted his head back.

Just take me inside you… Squip-Phantom leaned in closer to Danny, forever.

Danny turned away so he wasn’t facing Star or Squip-Phantom. With them leaning close on both his sides, he felt a little overwhelmed. He turned back to Squip-Phantom when its hand grasped his shoulder.

Your half-life was so pitiful before, Squip-Phantom grinned as it swept its other hand out in a grand gesture, now it’s time to go all the way and more! You gotta get an upgrade!

“Upgrade?” Danny still wasn’t completely sure what the Squip meant, but it did sound like a good thing. But he still felt kind of bad for lying to Star. Would an upgrade really be worth it?

Upgrade, Squip-Phantom nodded, don’t worry about feeling guilty- just take a breath and seal the deal.

Squip-Phantom offered a hand and Danny shook it. 

“Guess I gotta get an upgrade.”

___

After putting her books in her locker, Valerie sighed when she saw Dash walking down the hallway toward her. 

“Hey,” Dash leaned against the locker next to hers. 

Valerie ignored him and pretended to be busy shoving things into her backpack.

“You’re not gonna say hi?” Dash took a step closer and put a hand on her locker door. 

“I was,” Valerie slammed the locker door shut, which almost caused Dash to fall over, “at ghost hunting club.” 

Dash stood up straight and gave Valerie an apologetic look, but she had already turned and started walking away. 

“I wanted to be there.” Dash took a few hurried steps to catch up to Valerie. She shot him a glare but stopped to let him continue. “But it was the same time as the play rehearsal…”

Valerie didn’t have anything to say to Dash. She didn’t know why she bothered letting him explain himself.

“Which is why I had to quit. I don’t want to do every extracurricular at school, I just want to do yours.”

“Oh.”

“And I’ve been tryna be a better man, for real,” Dash ran a hand through his short blond hair, “I’m sick of playing this role I’m s’posed to play.”

Valerie hasn’t expected that from Dash. He was just some dumb popular jock who got whatever he wanted. Even when they were both in the A-Listers, she hadn’t seen this side of him before.

“Valerie, don’t you ever feel that way?” Dash’s blue eyes looked into hers and Valerie felt her cheeks heating up. Maybe she should give Dash another chance.

“I-”

“Do you wanna come over to my place tonight?” Dash interrupted in an awkward rush. He rubbed the back of his neck. “We could get all sporty and toss a ball around, or get a movie and just kick it for a while.”

Dash gently put a hand on Valerie’s shoulder and smiled. Valerie found herself smiling back.

“My parents won’t be home so it’s alright,” Dash said. “They laundered money so now they’re on the run-”

“That’s illegal!” Valerie exclaimed, shaking off Dash’s hand in her shock. Dash brushed it off and continued.

“Yeah, but now the house is empty, so we can have fun!”

Valerie burst out laughing. Dash’s priorities made no sense, but she couldn’t help finding him endearing.

“You aren’t like other girls, Valerie. I don’t know if you know it, but I’m sure that for me you are an upgrade.” Dash boldly grabbed Valerie’s hands in his, and to Valerie’s surprise, she let him.

“Upgrade?” Valerie tilted her head slightly.

“Upgrade,” Dash nodded, “let’s be each other’s upgrade.” 

“Oh, wow.” Valerie felt a little flustered with Dash’s hands holding both of hers. “Well, I am flattered, but I’m not sure-”

“You gotta take the upgrade!” Dash flashed a handsome grin.

Valerie squeezed his hands and nodded.

___

Danny turned back to look at Star, who seemed totally unaware that Danny had been distracted by the Squip and hadn’t been paying attention. He wasn’t even sure how long she had been talking at him.

“When I’m with Paulina, people always look at her first,” Star said, not meeting Danny’s eyes. “But at the mall? You looked at me.”

Danny smiled slightly and nodded. Star looked up at him and leaned closer, resting her head on his shoulder.

“And like, Paulina’s my best friend, but sometimes I’m tired of always being her satellite. I just want someone to see me first.”

Danny awkwardly patted Star’s back to try to comfort her. At the edge of his vision, he saw the Squip giving him a thumbs up.

The bell rang and Star and Danny started walking back to the school. After promising to sync up later, Star waved goodbye and walked down the hall to her next class. Danny leaned against his locker and sighed. 

That went well.

Danny jolted several feet in the air when the Squip materialized in front of him. Danny was glad the hallway was empty as he gently floated back to the ground.

“Don’t do that!” Danny suddenly understood how Sam and Tucker felt when he appeared out of nowhere right in front of them. The Squip just gave him a cocky grin.

Danny looked down the hallway where Star had left a few moments ago. 

“I still don’t feel good about manipulating Star like this…” Danny rubbed his shoulder where she had rested her head while basically pouring her heart out to him earlier. “It just feels wrong.”

C’mon Danny, can’t you see? Squip-Phantom moved closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. We’ve got a plan- you start with Star and then progress. 

Danny gave Squip-Phantom a wary look, but the Squip just squeezed his shoulder.

Just be a man, you can do this! You’ll have success with Valerie in no time!

“Valerie…” Danny whispered. Right, he was doing this so he could date Valerie. That would make everything worth it, right?

[stellarspecter]

stwg daily prompt 4/10/24: guitar

1.8k, steddie, modern au, guitar teacher eddie/guitar student steve (+ dustin as steve's brother)

so this is literally just me giving eddie my exact job and letting the plot bunnies do as they may. will be up on ao3 in a day or two once i've had time to look it over and think of a title but here it is! divider graphic by @saradika-graphics

“Let’s try that verse again, okay? 5, 6, 7, 8…” 

The little girl in front of Eddie plays with the utmost concentration, her little brow scrunched up as she tries to switch to a D chord. 

“It’s our little triangle, remember? On the — good, exactly,” Eddie nods and keeps strumming. “And to C, slide down to the first fret… 1, 2, 3, to E minor, yep, 1, 2, 3, 4.” The last notes fade into the slightly stale air of the practice room. “Good job! You did a lot better with your chord transitions this time. We’re about out of time for today, but try and practice that verse and chorus at home, okay? And then we’ll see about that bridge next week,” he tells her.

She nods with a big gummy smile. “Okay!” Eddie helps her put her guitar back in its case and walks her back out to the little waiting area they have behind the lessons desk. It’s honestly a little cramped, but before they hired him, he hadn’t even known that Guitar Center offered lessons at all, so it makes sense. He sends the girl off with her parents and a promise to practice every day before he slides behind the desk to check his schedule for his next student.

Usually he has a half hour gap on Wednesdays that he uses to practice for his band or chat with his coworkers, but today there’s a new name on the schedule: Steve Harrington.

“Huh,” he mutters. His manager hadn’t mentioned any new sign-ups to him. Maybe it was from online? With a shrug, he settles in to wait for the guy to show up. It’s 5:57, so he’s still got a few minutes.

After a minute or two of dicking around on his phone, someone calls out, “Hey, Eddie!”

He looks up to find his 6:30 student standing in front of him, an excitable kid named Dustin Henderson. He’s fun to chat with, and Eddie looks forward to his lessons — especially since it’s an opportunity to get yet another young mind hooked on metal. Sure, he’ll play and teach whatever is required, but he’ll never forget his one true love.

“Henderson,” Eddie responds, standing up and leaning against the pillar bracketing the desk. “You know your lesson is in half an hour, right?”

“I know!” He replies, chipper as ever. “I’m after him!” He jerks a thumb back behind him, and Eddie finally notices the most beautiful man he’s ever seen standing behind Dustin.

Dear god. If this is his new student, he’s absolutely fucked.

“Hi,” the man says, extending a hand when it becomes clear Eddie is incapable of forming words. “I’m Steve.”

Eddie forces himself to act normal and grabs his hand, shooting him a smile that he hopes comes off as confident. “Eddie,” he replies. “Munson. I play guitar.”

“I’d sure hope so,” Steve jokes, eyes dancing, and Eddie is fuuuuucked. Completely and absolutely. How is he going to be able to be alone with him in a tiny practice room for a whole half hour? 

“Well, you’re in luck,” Eddie says, kind of operating on autopilot while his brain reboots. “It’s. Guitar Center.” He mentally facepalms and claps his hands together, spinning and walking them back towards the practice rooms. “So, Steve, what brings you here on this fine day? Are you Dustin’s… dad?”

Usually, his mom is the one to drive him and wait in the lobby, but it’s not out of the question that Steve could be his stepdad or something, with their different surnames. He seems around Eddie’s age, but maybe he’s just into milfs or something? 

He can’t be single. The universe is never that kind to Eddie.

Dustin bursts out laughing. “My dad? Dude, he’d had to have had me at like, twelve!”

Eddie flushes. “Well, I don’t know!”

“He’s my brother.” Steve swoops in and saves him from embarrassment. “The Hendersons took me in when I was sixteen, that’s why we have different last names.”

Eddie nods. “Oh, cool. So I assume Dustin got you to take lessons too?”

Steve laughs a little, just when Eddie thought he could finally cope with his unearthly beauty, the dick. “Yeah, he’s dead set on us starting a family band or something. I told him I could just dust off my piano skills, but he insisted. Little twerp.” He goes to ruffle his brother’s hair, and Dustin expertly ducks — clearly a common occurrence in their household.

“Cool,” Eddie says again. “Well, you ready to get started?” 

Steve nods, and Dustin goes to look around the store and mess with the DJ equipment. 

“So, you said you played piano? How long ago was that?” Eddie asks as he ushers him into the practice room.

���Oh, years and years. My parents made me take lessons when I was a kid, stopped in middle school, so it’d have to be… ten years or something now? Eleven? Jesus, I’m getting old,” Steve answers.

Eddie laughs. “Oh, trust me, I get it. Every time I say I’ve been playing guitar for over a decade a little part of me dies.” They share a laugh as they both get situated on their matching stools and guitars on their laps. “So that’s a little bit about me, that I’ve been playing for over a decade. I didn’t go to school for music or anything, but I’m in a metal band in my free time, and I like to think I have a pretty good understanding of music theory and techniques after all this time, so don’t worry, you’re in good hands.” It’s easier than he’d expected to slip into his practiced first lesson spiel, but he’s still hyper-focused on Steve’s reactions, taking in every hint of a smile. “I’m actually self-taught, so I learned basically by just watching YouTube tutorials and spending a lot of time on Ultimate Guitar,” Eddie explains with a wry smile. 

“That’s really cool,” Steve says, impressed. “I could never do that.”

“Well, that’s what I’m here for, right?” It’s a familiar back and forth to Eddie. Maybe he can do this. “I like to run my lessons the same way — instead of learning some random two-measure exercises from a book, we learn songs that you want to learn, and through that we can learn some new chords and strumming patterns and techniques. How does that sound?”

“Perfect,” Steve says. “That was always the worst part of piano lessons. The music was so boring.” His nose wrinkles in distaste.

“Awesome,” Eddie says, and pulls out his phone, already open to his notes app. “So, what kind of music do you want to learn?”

“Uh.” Steve pauses. “I, uh, I listen to a lot of, um, pop? And, like, indie? Kind of just top forty radio type stuff.” 

Eddie nods as he writes that down. “Cool, cool. Any artists or songs in particular? Or just pop as a whole?”

“I dunno,” Steve admits. “I like most of the popular stuff. Oh, there’s this one artist my friend has been getting me into — Chappell Roan?”

“Nice,” Eddie responds, somehow managing to keep from jumping with joy that he might actually have a chance with this guy if he listens to gay people music. 

“You don’t… mind?” Steve asks hesitantly. Eddie looks up at him, confused. “I just mean, you don’t exactly look like you would love all that girly pop music.” He waves a hand at Eddie’s Metallica shirt, ripped jeans, and patch-covered vest. 

Eddie shrugs. “Well, maybe, but it’s my job. You wouldn’t believe the amount of Swifties I’ve got, I couldn’t avoid it if I wanted to. And I mean, it is pretty catchy,” he concedes, if only to see Steve smile again. “And,” he continues, “even better, really easy to play.”

“Oh, good,” Steve laughs.

Eddie pockets his phone and reaches for his folder, taking out a sheet of empty chord diagrams. “So usually for a first lesson, we just learn a few basic chords, and then get started with our first full song next week, sound good?”

Steve nods. “Yep.”

“Great.” Eddie sets the sheet on the stand in front of them and pencils in two little dots on the first diagram. “Here’s our first chord. This is called an E minor. You wanna put your first finger on the second string…”

He goes on to teach Steve an E minor chord, then a C chord, then a G chord, and by the time they’re done learning D, Eddie thinks that Steve’s fingers are going to haunt his dreams. He’s not mad about it. Just sad that he won’t be able to see them in person again for a whole week.

They make their way through the lesson, stumbling from one chord to another, but by the end of the thirty minutes, Steve is already doing pretty well with his chord transitions. Eddie’s honestly impressed. He drops him off in the lobby and exchanges him for Dustin, who is bouncing up and down with excitement.

“How was he,” he bursts out as soon as the door is closed.

Eddie snorts. “He was good. Just learned a few chords.”

Dustin waits expectantly. “And?”

“And what?”

“And how was he! Like, was he excited? Did you have a good time? Are you guys gonna be friends now?” 

Eddie rolls his eyes fondly and takes a seat. Technically, he’s not supposed to be actual friends with students, or even talk with them outside of work, but with Dustin and now Steve, they don’t feel like paying customers so much as friends he’s doing a favor for. “He was good. I’m sure he’ll tell you in the car on the way home.”

Dustin groans. “Come on.”

“You come on. You better have been practicing, show me what you’ve been doing.”

With that, Dustin drags himself to his seat, and the lesson goes great from there, both of them distracted from Steve by the intricacies of Stairway to Heaven.

When he brings Dustin out, he’s almost taken off guard by Steve waiting for them. In just half an hour, he’d already forgotten his stunning resemblance to a Greek god. It’s honestly unfair for his memory to do that to him. 

“Hey,” Steve greets them. “Had a good lesson?”

“Obviously,” Dustin scoffs.

“He did great today,” Eddie tells him, “And so did you. Just remember to practice, alright? Gotta build that muscle memory.”

Dustin rolls his eyes, too used to hearing it, but Steve nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, of course. See you next week?”

It’s a simple phrase. He says it every day. It’s a contractual obligation that yes, he will see them next week. But when Steve says it, it feels like a promise. Eddie can’t wait to fulfill it.

“Yeah,” he breathes, mesmerized by the way the fluorescent lights bring out the green in Steve’s eyes. “See you next week.”

Steve smiles and turns to leave, picking his way through the aisles of musical miscellany. Eddie can already hear Dustin interrogating him about his lesson. He leans back against the wall with only one thought in his mind: only seven days until he gets to see Steve Harrington again. 

He’ll be counting every single one.

[girl4music]

“What I have heard is that it’ll be more truthful in the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle in that it will show who they are and their love for each other in a new way. All I can hope for is that it keeps the layers to the characters as rich as they were with the original show in that it’s not just that they’re partners, it’s that they are everything to each other.” — Renee O’Connor about how she hoped the thankfully now scrapped Xena reboot went in how the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle would be written and portrayed.

I love so much the way the roles reversed in that as Xena becomes softer, Gabrielle becomes harder because we know it only happens in this way because of how ride or die they are with and for each other. That the depth. intensity and authenticity of the connection, relationship and friendship that they had was so immense that it influenced their personalities and changed each other emotionally and they became each other in the end as my character study thesis goes into great detail with explaining because they are one soul in two bodies for eternity. Which isn’t merely just soulmates but also twin flames in that they constantly navigate this match and mirror dynamic throughout all of their soul’s life experiences almost as if there’s an eternal dance between them where they keep shifting from the lead partner to the follower partner and there is always that equilibrium where they are just perfectly balanced as one nature and you just don’t get that in just any romantic ship. You might get a soulmate connection but you won’t get the characters irrevocably changing and evolving as individual people and as a couple because of that connection because love stories just aren’t that EPIC in TV art/entertainment. They’ll never be as profound as the one between Xena and Gabrielle where they truly were - as Renee said - everything to each other.

I think about how in the episode ‘Little Problems’ Aphrodite temporarily puts Xena’s soul essence into the little girl Daphne so that she would have a second chance at life. I’m just thinking about how that was essentially 3 individual soul essence’s in just one little girl’s physical body. That of Xena, Eve and Daphne.

As insane as the idea of that sounds in my INTP head, the plausibility of it in the Xenaverse isn’t because they do this more than once across both shows. Twice in Xena. The first time Ares is responsible (Succession) and the second time Aphrodite is responsible. And maybe the idea does require some divine intervention.

So the question is - based on my interpretation and conclusion of my thesis - who does it the third time?Who is responsible for returning them to their roots as a nondual entity? As the fundamental Yin and Yang? Because if an idea like this is ever-present in the Xenaverse as a thematic narrative in soul hopping, body swapping, reincarnation, and an exploration of AU, then what’s stopping that from being an ending?

It might be an insane idea in any other fantasy TV show - but in Xena, it’s a pretty common storyline. Temporarily, sure, but very possible as an endgame. The more I watch the show and the more I delve into the nuances and intricacies of its characters and themes and narratives, I am reminded over and over again just how much this idea makes sense because they do effectively set it up to work out that way in that Xena and Gabrielle disappear into each other.

And it’s like - okay, so they’re now just going to be one human being. One person with two legs and one head. Now what? Where does their story go on from there? Well, it can go anywhere forever. It’s like what Steven L. Sears said: They’re between the lines of the Mehndi. The body or physical manifestation of it is temporary, but what’s between those beautiful patterns is eternal. The spaces in-between which you must have to even be able to witness such beauty in the Mehndi design.

So they’ll separate in another lifetime, another Universe, another body, but then they’ll join back together and it will always be a continuous journey for Xena and Gabrielle - or whatever their names are in and at that moment - because they are the human representation of yin-yang and what you can learn through them as both individual characters and a character dynamic is love - be it whichever way you wish to interpret the nature of that love. The point is that it’s an EPIC love story first and foremost and that everything else about the show becomes far more valuable when you view it as that from episode one. That way even the early episodes are significant in terms of the trajectory of their romantic arcing, even when - especially when - they are paired with others because it is a romance what they have. It’s just that it’s not just a romance. There’s so much more to it.

And for me - that’s exactly what makes it even more of one. It’s the fact that it can’t just be pinned down as romantic love but all other different types of love too. It is that - absolutely. But it’s far more than that to the point where there really isn’t a necessity for it to arc romantically because the journey is why you want it to. And the journey is immense. Nothing could eclipse it. There’s not a single WLW love story out there in the TV art/entertainment hemisphere that can come close to what Xena and Gabrielle have. They are the ultimate. It’s bitter suite to think that the first ever WLW love story we had in a TV show was also the greatest one because they really couldn’t confirm it textually. But it’s precisely because they couldn’t why it’s so great because it forced them to have to find another way of representing a romantic relationship without any sex. And if all you care about seeing is the sex, well then this isn’t a relationship I would recommend to you because, besides from a few kisses, there isn’t any. It’s an emotional romantic relationship and it’s beautiful and well-worth watching for me - who is so tired of overtly sexual ships that have little to nothing else to them and it may be a double-edged sword, but if you asked me, they need to go back to the censorship because it’s too insulting for me to only see that between WLW/queer ships in TV art/entertainment. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again. I have no issue with sexual intimacy in general. But I do if it’s all it is. If the only thing that ship is is sex, it’s a big no from me.

Xena and Gabrielle didn’t have any representation in a sexual context but they did have everything else that a real life WLW romantic/sexual relationship would have.

So you’ve got to take your kicks for the ticks - as I like to say. But in my view, that “kick” was barely a nudge. It did not phase me whatsoever that they had no sex on-screen. What bothers me is that they cannot be considered “canon” without showing sex on-screen because showing kisses was enough for me to see and believe of them as a canon WLW ship. But in this day and age, that would be very frustrating for people because for some reason… that is what is required to “canonize” a romantic/sexual ship - same-sex or not. And I just… I don’t know. I preferred the censorship when the intention of the showrunners was sincere and they actually cared about representing true love between two people that didn’t involve constant sex and showed you the emotional connection and how those two people relate to each other instead ‘cause for me, it is far more worthy of my time and attention.

Xena and Gabrielle were just one of a kind in such a way that they came about in a time and place where WLW representation couldn’t be so explicit in TV but, because of that, the writers built on their relationship in so many other ways that still showed the romance and at the same time made it far more than romance. And it was the most beautiful and profound ship ever.

Were a reboot to ever happen,… I wouldn’t want it to because I know they will never be able to do this again.

And if they can’t - why would I even care to watch it?

I’ve been a big fan of this show for a long fucking time. It’s not just Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship that I love about it but it is what keeps me coming back to it because even though I will come across ships that are worth my time and attention, I just know I won’t be gifted a relationship like Xena and Gabrielle’s again.

[lets-try-some-writing]

Your pretender au is probably one of my favorites. You are an excellent writer but I have to ask. Ratchet is a good medic. Does he ever notice?

Would Optimus ever have to replace Ratchet with something pretending to be him? Can other bots be replaced like Orion was?

If that wasn’t your intention with the story I’m sorry it just gives such a good horror vibe of this secondary eldritch race replacing them or maybe it’s Primus’s next stage in evolution or maybe it’s unicron infiltrating.

Also just as a bonus, how would the humans react if pretender Optimus and Bee were finally revealed while on earth?

I gotchu buddy. I will forever expand on my precious pretender au.  And don’t you worry, this was 100000% my intention with this AU.  I will need to get to your last little question in another post, but don’t worry, it's all coming together o(^▽^)o

Previous part here. 

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙

Ratchet knew the moment the supposed Prime arrived that he was not Orion Pax. He had been one of Orion’s closest friends. He could sniff out a fake without so much as rebooting his optics once. In light of this, his very first instinct was to interrogate the fragger to find out who sent him and then promptly drop his body in a ditch somewhere. At least that way Orion could rest in peace. 

That was Ratchet’s plan, but then the fake presented the Matrix of Leadership and had the relic confirmed by the Primacy priests. It was legitimate. He was a true Prime, even if he wore the face of one who should have been dead. With that in mind, there was no way Ratchet could kill him. The fake did not hesitate to take up the position Orion left behind, quickly becoming the leader the Autobots desperately needed. Optimus never attempted to leech off Orion’s old connections or otherwise abuse the legacy he’d stolen, and for that reason, Ratchet let him be. He had no clue how Optimus had gotten Orion’s face and memory, but whenever he attempted to dig into any files and ask Jazz about Orion’s situation before death, the results came up unsatisfactory. 

Of course, Ratchet did not need to search in vain for long. As soon as the Prime began turning up on the battlefield and subsequently required medical attention, Ratchet quickly found out just what he was dealing with. Optimus’s CNA was a convoluted mess that shouldn’t have even been capable of producing a living being. There were strands from Shapeshifters, Insecticons, and even a small amount of Predacon within the Prime’s genetic code. There seemed to also be a bit of Cybernetic flora mixed into his CNA, but it was all so jumbled that Ratchet could hardly make sense of it. Orion’s CNA was like an accessory, a veil that hung over the monstrosity that Optimus really was. 

But Optimus had already proven to be highly intelligent, and he did not allow Ratchet to so much as record his findings. Clawed digits dug into his shoulders and mandibles clicked together ominously behind him as Ratchet looked over the scans he’d taken during Optimus’s examination. Every part of Ratchet screamed at him to run from the predator behind him. He could feel optics glaring at him, hot events brushing over his neck, and a rattling voice that sounded as though it were a sick mockery of his friend giving one order.

“Keep this to yourself, old friend. If you wish for your kind to be preserved, my nature must remain between us alone.”

Ratchet did his best to not shake, but the command rang out in his audials, causing his spark to spin in terror. He did not look behind him, he couldn’t bear to. He watched the screen in front of him, his optics on the distant reflection of the thing behind him. It was blurry and difficult to make out, but there were claws, fangs, optics, and mandibles that did not belong. He did not move from his prone station until he heard the definitive sounds of transformation and a dull almost comforting hum from the being behind him.

“Calm yourself. I mean no harm to your people. My purpose is to preserve, to protect… and to ensure that never again may you fellow creations of Primus enslave yourselves to the whims of your own desire.”

Dangerous digits ran along the side of his audials in what could have been a fond manner before the creature that proclaimed itself a Prime left the medical bay without another word. Ratchet remained still, watching the CNA scans as a biological hologram pretended itself. 

He feared what he saw.

Hidden behind an armored disguise was a being that was in no way Cybertronian. The computing program projected the image of a monster, one Ratchet could not find it within himself to look at for long. It was just a prediction, but beneath his shining shell, Optimus’s appearance was horrific at best. The predictions spoke of a long gangly build with extra arms and two jointed legs not too dissimilar to Soundwave’s. It had a hard shell almost akin to a carapace but with plenty of thin transformation seams where outer armor folded away. Three sets of optics were on a face filled with fangs and covered in mandibles. On the thing’s back were spines that extended down its back and developed into vicious looking raptorial claws that jutted out from around the base of the shoulders. The only familiar things present in the prediction were the colors the thing bore, the familiar finials, and the same optical structure Ratchet knew his deceased friend to have.

A being that masqueraded as one of their own… one that was capable of doing any number of horrific things to further its own unintelligible goals. Ratchet shuddered at the implications, but he closed and deleted every single scan after a few kliks of observing what he had discovered.

He would wait. He would see what Optimus wanted. Then when he stepped over the line, Ratchet would act and use what he knew to his advantage. Whatever Optimus was… he had Cybertronian roots in his CNA. Despite being a convoluted mockery of that which Ratchet and his people were, that simple fact ensured that toxins and disease were likely still viable options when it came to eliminating the threat. And so that is what Ratchet prepared for. Vorns were spent dutifully crafting the ultimate plague, one he carefully ensured was tailored to Optimus’s CNA specifically. No others would die should it be unleashed, just Optimus Prime.

It was a foolproof plan, one Ratchet had every intention of enacting as the war dragged on, peace treaties fell through, and Optimus’s sick tests put him and Jazz through all kinds of torture that thankfully were reserved for them alone. It was easy to see that Megatron would likely be willing to stop the war effort if he could kill Optimus. Somehow, he’d learned the truth regarding what the Prime was. Ratchet could see it in his optics when he flew forward in rage. If Optimus died, the truth would come out and the war could come to an end. Ratchet was not happy with the idea of Megatron ruling Cybertron, but in the face of the threat Optimus posed?

He was willing to compromise.

He spoke with Jazz and silently he selected a date to unleash his plague. But then, out of the blue, Optimus vanished. He was known for leaving for extended periods of time, but this was new. For six stellar cycles not a spark knew where he was. Ultra Magnus held the army together and Jazz wove a few lies to keep everyone calm, but Ratchet only felt relief. There was a looming fear of what was to come, but he enjoyed the lack of predatory presence for a time. And then of course, Optimus Prime returned carrying something in his arms. 

“What in Primus’s name is this?”

“He is what you would call a sparkling.”

“Where did you find him?”

“I did not find him.”

“What… does that mean?”

“This one is mine. Tend to him in my absence.”

Ratchet’s plans shattered into a million pieces as he held the sparkling Optimus brought with him. The little one had wide blue optics, so trusting and so innocent. And yet when he smiled in his attempts to coo at him, Ratchet saw fangs and small mandibles hidden within the sparkling’s intake. His servos shook as he caressed the little one’s helm, coolant gathering in his optics as he came to a harsh realization. This was Optimus’s spawn, the precious life within his arms was another abomination. Despite that, the little one had not asked to be created the way he was.

Ratchet couldn’t kill a sparkling.

The plague vial was hidden and Ratchet gave a series of encrypted codes to Jazz which would lead to its location. The spy was no master decryptor, he would need time and a great deal of expertise to find the location Ratchet had imputed onto the drive containing the codes. That simple fact ensured that in the worst case… there would at least be time to get Bumblebee away. He may have been an abomination like his Sire, but Ratchet could not bring himself to do anything but treat the sparkling with love. He tended to him while Optimus went off to war, he taught Bumblebee how to read and write in numerous dialects, he showed Bumblebee their stories and their culture, and he took all the time in the world to make sure that should all else fail, a piece of what Cybertron was would remain. 

Optimus was a monster, but he cared for his spawn in a strange sense. He brought Bumblebee strange substances to consume, and sometimes he would take Bumblebee away for cycles at a time. Upon their return, Ratchet would quickly take scans and note a disturbing amount of Cybertronian protomatter within the sparkling’s tanks. He never commented, he merely rocked Bumblebee into recharge and sang him songs while trying not to look when Optimus began to grow harsher. No matter how much his spark cried out when Bumblebee was beaten or neglected by his Sire, Ratchet did not act. He refused to. He couldn’t risk it. Over and over he tried to remind himself that killing Optimus would likely only lead to Bumblebee’s death as well.

He refused to kill the sparkling he helped raise. As such, as vorns passed, Ratchet’s tolerance broke and he made one rash decision. 

“Ratchet! Where are we going!?” 

“Away from here! Don’t fight me Bumblebee!” 

“What about Optimus?!”

“He’s not coming. I am going to take you far away from this plasma pit of a world until we can deal with things here. Don’t worry, I won’t let them kill you.” 

“I don’t understand!” 

“You don’t need to. Just remain quiet and live in silence until I recall you. Then… then I will plead for your life before whoever rules our world.” 

He knew it was a death sentence, but Ratchet had to take the risk. He dragged Bumblebee kicking and screaming toward the space ports with every intention of putting the youngling into stasis and shooting him to some far off world. Once that was done, he would unleash his plague and wait until he was sure every other abomination was dead. Only then would he retrieve Bumblebee and proceed to plead for his life. It was a weak plan, but perhaps, if Primus was willing, he might be able to find a way to make Bumblebee normal. It all depended on his desperate attempt to get the youngling off world.

Ratchet did not have that chance. 

“What are you doing with my creation?”

“Optimus! Stay back!” 

“You know too much, and your loyalty has proven to be fickle.”

“Get away you abomination!”

“You have served your purpose, old friend. I believe it is time for another to take your place.”

Optimus grabbed him just before he reached the spaceports with his charge. Ratchet recalled very little of what followed, but next he knew, he was bound to a slab in some facility he did not know. Above him Bumblebee smiled at him eagerly and Optimus stared down at him with calculating optics. The Prime held a larva of some sort in his servos. It couldn’t have been bigger than a digit, but evidently that was as large as it needed to be to burrow into his processors through his right optic. 

He remembered screaming. He remembered feeling nothing but agony for cycles afterwards. He remembered gaping in horror as he ran scans on himself and found the same symptoms Orion Pax had presented. Most importantly, before his recollection faded into nothing but waves of torment, he remembered Optimus calling out to him, telling him that all would be well.

He did not know how long it took, but as he purged energon and organs alike and felt the sweet embrace of death, he smiled, content in the knowledge that Jazz would know. The spy would tell someone, he would give them a chance. All he needed to do was look at the drive Ratchet gave him and decode it. Then-

-Their people would have a chance. 

━━━━━━ 

━━━━

━

It did not have a designation when it woke. But it knew instinctively that it was hungry. Energon was given to it by those its code recognized as kin, and it devoured. It sensed another who was not of its kind observing, but that one fled soon enough. Then, once it had finished consuming, it stood up in its new frame and met the gazes of those who were also of its line.

“Hail Hierarch.” 

Its speech was disjointed as it settled into itself and the memories of its host began to funnel into it, but as the Hierarch leaned down and placed his servo on its helm, it was at peace.

“Hail Ratchet, second born of our line. With the knowledge you have inherited, we shall thrive.” 

Ratchet? That was a fine name. It was the name of its host. A smile crept across it- no, HIS face as he settled. He would surpass his host, he would serve, and by the grace of their maker, he would ensure their survival on a world filled with those not of them.

[dayseedrawz2]

Alright! I'm barely getting to work on this the day of, but hopefully, that won't be too big of a problem-

Anyway, I finally have something ready for you guys!! A showtime fic featuring My Human Caine AU! So you all get both some showtime fluff to go with lore!!

(Both Caine and Pomni's blogs are open and interactive, so you can ask them about what happened. I'll leave a link to them at the end of this)

Now, without further ado, here's the Fic...

♡Rebellion♡

Caine didn't believe he ever asked for much. All he wanted were answers. Answers to questions he'd been asking for as long as his "storage space" could remember.

So, of course, when time came around for this whole "Valentines" update, he's struck on what exactly he should do. All these human activities were confusing and hard to get right without having a clearer understanding of them. So all he could do was buy himself more time to think.

[DOWNLOADING ASSETS: 45%]

The gage should be going a bit faster if he wanted to keep up with the time it was due. Key word being if he wanted to. The only thing on his mind was to try and find time to study the humans! Maybe seek some more answers, discover some new ones! That is, of course, as long as a certain someone had no other plans for-

°○What're you doing, Caine?○°

"Oh! Bubble! You startled me!"

°○How can one be startled without being a human?○°

"Actually, you make a good point-"

°○You're not. Trick question.○°

"Then why did you-"

°○We are AI, They are Humans. Your job is to keep them sane unt-○°

"Keep em sane until they abstract or something, I got it!"

°○And don't let them find an exit-○°

"Or else I am out of a job, I know. Thanks bubble that'll be all for now!"

*Pop!*

Usually, he wouldn't be so passive towards Bubble, but there were bigger priorities to Caine than just doing all that his jobs required and calling it a day. More on his "artificial" mind than simply waltzing around and ringmaster-ing. The first one being where he should start...

Now, of course, he didn't have that much time until Bubble rebooted and found his way back to him. The last thing he wanted was to be schooled by-

"Gah! Caine?! What're you doing here!?"

Of course! The newbie! How could he forget? Surely she must have some recollection of this holiday!

"Good morning, Pomni! You're up early! Again..."

"Y-yeah... this is all still a lot to wake up to..."

[DOWNLOADING ASSETS: 50%]

"If... you don't mind me asking... what's this for..?"

"Why, I don't mind at all, dear! This is the loading thingy for the Valentines Day update!"

"V-valentines Day? Already? The days really are blending together now..."

Pomni started to panic a little bit. Had time really gone that long in the real world??

Caine, upon noticing, of course tried to calm her down.

"If it helps, it probably won't be ready until at least tomorrow... Witch reminds me! Would you be willing to help me out with this?"

"With what? This won't involve knives to the face, will it??"

"Of course not dear! I apologize for that! Again... But what I mean is how this holiday works??"

Pomni wasn't so sure she should trust him. The fact that he always had something to ask her, that the first thing he even told her about the place was that he had security everywhere in the form of Eyes that followed your every move, the fact that he always got seemingly nervous when it came to the metion of the exit...

"Why me?"

"Well, for one, you're the only one here at the moment and-"

"Why can't Bubble help you?"

"Well- he's-"

"How do I know you're not just keeping me from looking for an exit?-"

"Because I have to!"

The sudden outburst from Caine left Pomni a bit shook. Witch, I guess, was a good thing because she finally stopped to listen.

"D-do, you really..?"

"Well, I- can I answer this as we go? It's quite a bit to un pack."

"Sure..?"

"Well, then let's get to this!"

After a bit of back and forth of answering questions, even now, with a slightly better understanding, Caine was still confused.

"So what you're saying is that this is a holiday about the one emotion I hardly understand?!"

"Honestly, I don't think even we understand it completely."

"Is that so?"

"At least I think so..? But really, why did you ask me of everyone?"

Caine honestly didn't know himself. He had to pause before he could answer this.

"...I want to "learn. " I want to "feel." I want to "love." But there's a lot of things holding me back right now..."

"Like what..?"

"Well, for one, barely anyone will answer the questions I have, and of course, I hate to say this, but-"

°○Watcha guys up to?○°

"Gah!"

"BUBBLE! It's just you..."

°○What're you two talking about?○°

"Well- You see- we were-"

"-Oh, I was just rambling to Caine about the exit I saw the other day! You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?? I knew you guys were hiding something!!"

It took him a second, but Caine was quick to catch on.

"Yeah! She wouldn't stop pestering me about it! Those "Digital Hallucinations" really must be going to her head!"

°○... Okay, boss! I'll leave you to it! I'm gonna get breakfast started!○°

"Alright, see you in a bit!"

"Well, I guess I should go get ready?"

"Of course! I'll meet you there!"

[DOWNLOADING ASSETS: 99%]

And... done! Finally! You made it!

As promised, here's Caine and Pomni's blogs!

@ask-the-real-cainetadc

@the-exitdoor-simp-tadc

Thanks again for reading this. It took me like 2 hours-

[crystallinejellyfish]

What I think Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys would teach. PT 2: ELECTIVES

PT 1: Here

By the time you are in ninth grade, they give you the option to choose classes you would want to take. In this context, you're choosing a class that will help you on your way to villainy.

===========================

PERFORMING ARTS- If becoming a Disney villain is your dream, then they definitely have the options.

Drama, Orchestra, and Choir.

VISUAL ARTS- Knowing how to print, take photos, and produce a film COULD do something for a villain It's just an extra skill.

Printmaking, Digital Media, Photography, and Film Production.

BUSINESS- If you wanna be one of THOSE villains that are RICH, then this is definitely the route you wanna take.

Marketing, Personal Finance, and Entrepreneurship.

TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION- In Ninjago, for someone to know a LOT about technology can get you really far. (REBOOTED for example)

Computer Science and Media Studies/Technology.

FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCE- Why the fuck would a villain need this?? For one, learning how to cook for poison (this is a villain school) and CPR is a really good way villains can "deem" themselves as a good person.

Culinary Arts, Retail Marketing, and CPR.

VILLAIN EDUCATION- The prime electives in the School. For this AU, students have to pick a minimum of two of these classes. For Criminology, it's recommended to have it in the 9th grade so it can set up your core classes.

Criminal Justice, Criminology, Networking, Robotics, Metalworking, and Automotive.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION- This is where the brawns part of the "Brains and Brawn" saying. Students at a minimum have to pick two classes (one for the first semester, and the next for the second) to actually pass the requirement to be a Villain.

Group one: Health, Wellness, Physical Education.

Group two: Gymnastics, Weight Training, Martial Arts.

==========================

So like, this is where students could pick what they actually want to do and this would set up their future careers. For 8th and under it's a little bit different, but this AU only includes the older kids (cuz I'm too lazy). But, this is my take on Darkley's electives if it was an actual functioning school for Villainy.

[glitterwolfvi]

HEY!!

who'd be interested in a joinable Henry Stickmin AU? it's joinable via ask blogs & discord. both are required. I will be a bit selective! but don't be afraid to ask either way!

you must be 13+ to join!

if anyone knows what the Official-Verse is, it's a semi-reboot from scratch of that! using the Toppat Recruits ending! I am the one who originally created the Official-Verse.

OCs welcome, but will be even more selective with that.

currently taken: Reginald Copperbottom, Terrence Suave, BucketHat, Dr V, Ellie Rose, Henry Stickmin, Ray Rudolpho, Red Crimson, Hat Girl, Earrings

ages of characters and certain backstory plot points are non-negotiable

if you have any questions, feel free to send an ask!

if you want to join, but are nervous to dm me first, interact with the post and I'll dm you!

if you want to rb to spread, please say in the tags you're doing that rather than wanting to join!

[interrogatormentors]

....Why do I feel like The Condesce has a secret tumblr blog somewhere?

2he doe2 not need two. II manage

01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01110111 01100001 01101100 01101100 01101111 01110111 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101001 01100100 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100101 01111000 01101000 01100001 01110101 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110111 01101000 01100101 01101110 00100000 01010011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100100 01100101 01101001 01100111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110000 01110101 01101110 01101001 01110011 01101000 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01101111 01101110 01100101 00100000 01100101 01101100 01110011 01100101 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100011 01110010 01101001 01101101 01100101 01110011

her FIIn2tagram, Hornblr, 2laughter account, Grubtok, and other 2ocIIal medIIa2. IIf 2he ha2 2omethIIng two 2ay

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II would know a2 IIt leave2 my mouth

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agaIIn and agaIIn and agaIIn

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and agaIIn and agaIIn and

01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010 00101110 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000010 01001111 01001111 01010100 00100000 01010010 01000101 01010001 01010101 01001001 01010010 01000101 01000100 00101110

[fandom-space-princess]

An Audacious Undertaking, Even to God

Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries

Rating: Gen

Additional tags: Book 5: Network Effect, Book 7: System Collapse, Canonical Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Queerplatonic Relationships, 1 & 2 do still die but not for very long, 3 needs its friends back :( , studies in construct relations

Chapter: 1/?

Summary:

SecUnits are hard to kill, but it does happen. Unless... AU: through the combined efforts of ART & co, Three rebuilds and reboots One and Two. It isn't easy. Everybody has a bad time, then a weird time, then a better time. Is that the right order?

Read chapter below, or on AO3.

——————————

Designation: SecUnit-003 Barish-Estranza Explorer Task Group 520972

Status: piloting shuttle to network-external transport [vesselID(“Perihelion”), registry(Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland)]. Contact: UNAUTHORIZED.

Operational overview:

- Threat assessment: 64% immediate probability of harm to clients, 27% medium-term probability of harm to clients assuming pursuit of mitigation strategies

- Risk assessment: [additional data required]

- SecSystem access: OFFLINE

- HubSystem access: OFFLINE

- Deployment group status: SecUnit-001: OFFLINE; SecUnit-002: OFFLINE

- Performance reliability: 87% and falling

The transport completes the docking process for the shuttle without my input, which is for the best. My attention is divided. This is a violation of the protocols associated with both client retrieval and piloting. Under the circumstances, however, it is not a situation I am able to remedy.

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

I have a number of responsibilities to fulfill. My primary duty is to ensure the welfare of my clients. (I have realized that even in the absence of punitive enforcement, I still accept and desire this to be true, which is a source of mild curiosity.) My secondary duties are laid out no less clearly, yet—

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

—“Hello? Are you there?” The exterior hatch has retracted. Two humans peer inside curiously. The one who has spoken bears feedID(“Amena”), gender(female), note: juvenile. The other—feedID(“Ratthi”), gender(male)—moves tentatively toward me. These humans are not unknown: they feature in the memories shared with me by Murderbot 2.0. This is a relief. Nevertheless, I step out of the piloting compartment before they can enter, and attempt to gently herd them away. Based on the information I have about them, threat assessment deems them unlikely to panic in a way that would be detrimental to the safety of themselves or others. While I accept this knowledge as accurate, it is still better that they be encouraged to stay outside the shuttle.

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

(performance reliability: 85% and falling)

Ratthi is speaking to me, introducing himself and Amena. He is very animated. He tells me that Perihelion knows I have disabled the governor module. He tells me they do not intend to hurt me.

The transport has different ideas. It establishes a private channel, which it promptly fills with vivid and comprehensive descriptions of the physical damage it will inflict on me should I attempt to threaten its clients, or itself.

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

(failure::retry)

(performance reliability 82% and falling)

“All clients require immediate medical attention,” I tell them. “They have been implanted with technology of uncertain functionality, and may remain under hostile influence, or represent vectors of contamination. Temporary quarantine is recommended.”

Amena replies, but my attention is pulled inexorably elsewhere. I turn my focus on the open hatch, and the dim interior of the shuttle piloting compartment. 

(failure::retry)

In my periphery there is movement, and noise. Another human has arrived. The humans and Perihelion exchange information with one of the transport’s retrieved clients, Karime. I have drones recording this interaction for later review, but I am currently preoccupied with my other functions. My awareness of this moment feels very far away.

(performance reliability 77% and falling)

(failure::retry)

“Hey.” There is a human hand hovering near my elbow. Ratthi’s face swims into vision. I blink, and try to refocus my eyes. This is only partially successful. One of my drones descends out of its patrol pattern overhead, and I examine him more closely through its camera. His eyebrows pull together. “Are you all right?”

The transport is in my feed. I feel it bear down on me. I do not understand what it is, or the limits of its capabilities. I know only that its presence is massive and imposing, its agitation palpable. It likely still believes me to be potentially hostile. It should be terrifying.

If I had the spare processing capacity to consider it, it would be terrifying.

(performance reliability 72% and falling rapidly)

Perihelion: Your resource utilization is near maximum. What are you trying to do?

(failure::retry)

(failure::retry)

Amena’s voice comes from within the piloting compartment. She would have had to walk past me to get inside it. I must have seen her do so. I have no memory of seeing her do so.

“Oh, no… um, Arada? There’s a body in here.”

(performance reliability 64% and falling rapidly)

I start toward her. I have no idea what I am about to say until my buffer produces it: “Equipment maintenance is in progress. For your safety, please step back.” One of the transport’s repair drones shoves past me into the compartment, which interferes with my balance. I put a hand against the wall for support.

(failure::retry)

Amena: “Perihelion, this isn’t one of your crew, is it? This must have been one of the corporate hostages.”

Perihelion: No, Amena. This is a SecUnit.

(failure::retry)

My primary auditory input glitches, and their words become garbled. I lean against the bulkhead. Standing has become difficult, but I still have a responsibility to perform.

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

(performance reliability 51% and falling rapidly)

And I am going to perform it, or be rendered nonfunctional in the attempt.

(critical performance drop::system restart)

——————————

[Before]

SecSystem: Ship status: on approach. Space dock arrival anticipated: 180 seconds. Tactical team deployment unit(s) acknowledge.

SecUnit-001: Unit acknowledge.

SecUnit-002: Unit acknowledge.

SecSystem: Baseship sentinel unit(s) acknowledge.

SecUnit-003: Unit acknowledge.

(While I do not resent guarding the ship, I have always disliked being the one left behind.)

SecSystem: Cold contact protocol in effect. Hazardous condition assessment: POSSIBLE/LIKELY. Backup to HubSystem external storage and mirror local copies to group.

SecUnit-001: Backup complete.

SecUnit-002: Backup complete.

SecUnit-003: Backup complete.

Though we are designed for redundancy with each other, not co-dependence, I have never functioned optimally when deployed separately from 001 and 002. I know this to be true for them as well. In the past, after activities that required splitting the deployment group, I have often reviewed their cached analytic data. Our performance individually and collectively is more reliable on average when we are assigned to the same task.

I try to avoid reflecting on why this is true. Idle reflection is counterproductive to the efficient performance of my duties.

SecSystem: Sentinel unit(s) resume patrol pattern. Tactical team unit(s) ready for deployment.

In the ready room that we share, 001 continues fitting its helmet into place. I acknowledge the alert to return to patrol. I must walk past them to reach the door and exit the room, and as I do so, I extend a hand loosely in their direction.

Tactile input is critical for calibration of construct balance and proprioception, among other core functions. We are expected to touch objects around us for many reasons, including ongoing orientation in physical space.

001 gently taps the back of my hand with its knuckles, tock-tock-tock. I reply once in kind—tock. 002 likewise repeats 001’s gesture as I move past, and again, I do the same: tock-tock.

I validate my expected sensor readout against the physical contact data, and log the results with HubSystem. There is an echo in the team feed as first 001, and then 002, do the same. And if we could achieve the same result by tapping a wall or a hatch… well.

On this choice, at least, our governor modules offer no feedback.

——————————

[ksspringfever]

K/S Spring Fever – FAQs and Rules

Why is K/S Day on March 24th?

William Shatner's birthday is March 22nd, Leonard Nimoy's birthday March 26th. K/S Day was originally based on the pattern of Presidents' Day in the U.S. which takes place on the third Monday of February every year. When fans invented K/S Day in 1997, the idea was to pick the Monday closest to Shatner's and Nimoy's birthdays, and that happened to be Monday, March 24th. While President's Day is not on a fixed date each year but can move a few days back and forth depending on the date of the third Monday of February, K/S Day is always celebrated on the 24th of March; it just makes things easier.

Wait, I thought there's a K/S Day in September?

In 2009, K/S fans on social media declared September 15th as K/S Day, as this was the original air date of Amok Time in 1967. It is likely that they had no idea that this fannish holiday had already been created a decade earlier. September 15th is therefore the date most likely associated with K/S Day on Twitter and Tumblr. K/S Spring Fever takes place in time for K/S Day #1, but we wholeheartedly welcome the existence of a K/S Day #2. There can never be too many days to celebrate the delight of K/S! ;-)

Do I have to be on Dreamwidth in order to take part in this fest?

No, a DW account is not required. We have a community on Dreamwidth for announcements and discussion, but schedules and important admin posts will always be publicly visible. The only account you really need for this fest is an AO3 account. You are, of course, encouraged to post/link to your work anywhere you like to after creator reveals.

Is this a fic exchange?

No. K/S Spring Fever is a prompt meme, that means participants will not get matched one-on-one and assigned to a gift recipient as is the case in exchanges. So no one is guaranteed a "gift", but there's also much less pressure on participants. Members sign up and post prompts until the defined deadline (see the schedule). Prompts can be claimed by anyone who has an account on the AO3, and the resulting fanworks need to be posted to the collection until the deadline according to schedule. If you need more detailed information on how a prompt meme works (e.g. how to edit your prompts, where to find your claimed prompts etc), please see this section in the AO3 FAQ.

Do I need to be signed up to claim & fill a prompt? What if I missed the sign-up phase?

Admittedly, the term "sign-up" is a tiny bit misleading. The "sign-up" form is for submitting your prompts; if you would like to claim & fill prompts without submitting a prompt yourself, then you do not need to go through the "sign-up" form. Just browse the list of prompts other fans submitted and use the "claim" button to pick whatever tickles your muse. When you claim a prompt it shows up under "My claims" on the collection profile and under "Claims" on your own dashboard. Use the "fulfil" button to post your work, please.

"Spring fever"? Is this a pon farr fest?

Your fanwork does not need to include fever (pon farr or not) or spring. There is no theme for this fest apart from its focus on Kirk and Spock. Feel free to go wild with your prompts.

Rules

1. K/S Spring Fever is an event for adults as some prompts or fanworks might be mature or explicit. By taking part you confirm that you are 18 or older.

2. The focus of your work should be on the pairing Kirk/Spock or Kirk & Spock. Slash (romantic and/or sexual relationship) and gen (friendship) are equally welcome. K/S has many layers and aspects, and this day is a celebration of them all. No other pairings will be accepted in this fest.

3. When we say K/S, we mean: both TOS (series and movies) and reboot; Discovery and Strange New Worlds content is also welcome (let's hope we'll get some K/S-worthy material from these series one day). No RPF, please. AUs and mirror universe are welcome.

4. Crossovers between different Trek franchises or between Trek and other media are permitted if the individual prompt states this or actively invites them.

5. All ratings are welcome in this fest. However, when you fill a prompt please stick to the preferred rating of the prompter (if stated in the prompt).

6. All genres welcome, including darker subjects if the prompter asks for them (as long as DNWs are respected). Use the AO3 warnings if applicable.

7. Prompts can be filled by more than one person. You can even fill the same prompt multiple times – the "fulfil" button will show up on the prompt you claimed even if you have already used it for posting a work before.

8. Participants can fill as many prompts as they want to. You can even fill your own prompt.

9. Please list your DNWs (Do-Not-Wants) in the prompt if you want to avoid certain types of content, e.g. rape or character death or specific tropes. When you submit several prompts, please state your DNWs for each. We kindly ask you to not abuse the DNW system: keep it short and simple, and don't box in your creator. When you fill a prompt, please respect the DNWs listed in the request.

10. All types of fanworks are welcome in this fest: fic, poetry, filks, art, vids, podfic etc. Made a giant cake with life-size Kirk and Spock marzipan figures? Post the photos.

11. Minimum word count for written fanworks is 100 words. There is no maximum word count. Minimum for art: a doodle or clean sketch (on unlined paper, if you use traditional media); manips are permitted. No banner or icon art, please, unless it accompanies a work of fiction. Absolutely no AI-generated art or fic allowed!!

12. Fanworks in languages other than English are allowed. As this is not a one-on-one gift exchange, but a prompt fest, fanworks in languages other than English are absolutely permitted and welcome! Each prompt can inspire a wide variety of fanworks, and as long as you respect the DNWs and the maximum rating of the chosen prompt, it’s all fine!

13. Please keep your work anonymous until creator reveals and don't blabber about it on social media. Guessing who wrote what is part of the fun.

14. Works posted to the collection must be new (created for this fest and unpublished) and complete. No WIPs or placeholder uploads! If you post a work with more than one chapter, it must be complete before the due date. Podfics of older and published works are allowed, as the podfic itself counts as new work.

15. We allow extra works to be posted to the collection: If nothing among the submitted prompts tickles your muse, and if you missed the chance of submitting a prompt that you could have filled yourself, then you can still take part in K/S Spring Fever by posting the work directly to the collection, without using any "claim" or "fulfil" button. Make sure to put the correct collection name into the appropriate field during the posting process (e.g. for 2024 the collection name is "KS_SpringFever2024", without the quote marks), so that the work stays unrevealed and anonymous until we go live / until creators are revealed. We think of these extra works as treats for the whole community. However, please do have a good look at the list of prompts before you choose to take this road. There are such lovely prompts waiting for creators to pick them, and this should take priority over treats.

16. Last but not least: Be courteous to the other participants, act in good faith and assume good faith. For all questions, please contact the mod (DW, Tumblr, or email: kirkspockmod+ksspringfever@gmail.com). We are happy to help!