#than grey seals they're most likely based on

[lemon-ee]

naruto wingfic headcanons

wings (and other hidden things) - lemon_ee - Naruto (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

reference ^ for more context :)

Summing up the AU, wings are permanent and solid chakra constructs that evolve over a shinobi's lifetime. They are directly connected to chakra coils, and gain additional colors when a person goes through a life-changing experience or becomes more powerful. Kakashi seals his wings (which can be done b/c they're chakra based) to hide them, similar to his face.

Wings show a lot about your social status, connections, and personality. Small movements can indicate emotional expression (though these can be controlled with chakra and most shinobi choose to do that), and allowing someone to touch them demonstrates a lot of trust, as attacks can damage them permanently. Color changes can result from a traumatic/dramatic/generally life-changing event or a huge development in power level.

The ANBU tattoo is a strengthened wing seal. The typical jounin seal only temporarily puts their wings into a “pocket dimension” of sorts, which still allows for the wings to form while hiding them effectively for short-term high-ranking missions. The ANBU seal redirects the chakra that flows to form the wings, preventing them from existing at all. ANBU seals are much better, because the jounin version still allows the wing chakra to be sensed. Kakashi just keeps on using the ANBU version even when he’s not on missions.

Kind of already included in the story, but cool/beautiful wings = being attractive. Kakashi went around without his wings for half his life so he never really experiences this. After he starts having them out more, he goes through a sudden increase in propositions, much to his students’ consternations. Of course, wings are also related to some bedroom activities ;)

If Kakashi had looked at his wings when he still had the Sharingan, he would’ve seen a mess of molting feathers and immediately resealed them. The reason is because the Sharingan eats away at his non-Uchiha chakra reserves, keeping him in a constant state of half-chakra. To reflect this, his wings are weaker and lose feathers constantly. After his Sharingan was taken, the chakra drain lessened considerably, and Obito’s chakra boost essentially restored his wings. Also, if he did have his wings out, he would likely become chakra-drained much faster because a portion of his reserves would be dedicated toward manifesting wings.

Obito has always thought Kakashi’s silvery wings were super pretty. Obito was super disappointed when Kakashi started sealing them after his father passed away, so he only has vague memories of fluffy silver wings. You can bet he was screaming and having heart palpitations in the afterlife when Kakashi does his wings reveal during the Kaguya fight lmaooo

Shinobi can absolutely fly, it just takes more chakra than most are willing to sacrifice. It’s also not super good for fighting, because there are a number of long-range jutsu that would bring them down immediately.

Rin’s wings were purple. Side note: when shinobi die, their chakra wings disappear. When she was forcibly made into a jinchuuriki, the tips of her wings started greying and painfully molting. It was too dark for Kakashi to tell.

The orange tips on Naruto’s wings are a little more red than Obito’s were, but it was still enough to remind Kakashi of Obito, playing into his guilt complex.

The black on Kakashi’s wings actually crept further up the more grief and trauma he went through. So after his dad’s death (btw the silver reminded him of his dead dad! and his wings were stained with blood when he went to report his father’s suicide, which didn’t help the rumors later on in the older generations of shinobi…), he starts sealing his wings and never really notices the black. It increases after his entire team’s deaths. The white dots are for every person he’s killed with chidori/raikiri, so I guess it really is a good thing he doesn’t know exactly how he got them (though he probably can guess). The blue underside is the influence of Obito’s chakra and the entire life-changing experience of the war.

feel free to comment with your own additions!

[symbio-ratio-art]

(Frightbite is posed so he's a lot shorter in the drawing than he actually is!)

I finally got back around to fixing that Fredbear line to go with my Springbonnie line from before. These two are called Timiteddy and Frightbite!

Below I added more talk about my mindset when making these guys, some inspiration behind their designs, and some more lore that was too much for their dex entries. These two lines have a "friend to enemies" dynamic going for them and it's impossible to write it all in two Pokedex entries 💀

I chose Fairy-Psychic for Timiteddy because I wanted him to be based around the Fredbear plush from FNaF 4. To this day, people debate if Fredbear plush is possessed or imaginary or just Afton messing with BV. For this I decided on the imaginary friend theory hence Fairy. The Psychic type comes from "Psychic Friend Fredbear" because it was right there. I had to 😂 His design is entirely based off the Hex Fredbear plushie design with a touch of Bite Victim's constant tears. His shiny is a mix of Nightmare and Lefty with grey tears from the dead kids.

Timiteddy's whole quirk is that his entire appearance is deceptive. He gives off the vibe of a weak Pokemon due to his plush appearance, constant tears, and aversion to fighting, but Timiteddy is actually strong by default and a force to be reckoned with. Those tears are the result of an overflow of psychic energy caused by his lack of fighting. They are used for both attacking and defense, and his claws pack quite the punch as well. Timiteddy stays on the defense for than anything however, for the reasons stated above. Lots of Timiteddy can be found around younger children or the Pokemon Hareo. Despite their differences, Hareo and Timiteddy stick together. They're two halves of a duo.

Frightbite is a based off Nightmare Fredbear and the Hex Fredbear plush. He keeps the Fairy typing for the imaginary/nightmare/dream element Nightmare Fredbear is associated with, and the steel typing also comes from Nightmare Fredbear's sharp metal claws and teeth. His shiny is a mix of Nightmare, Shadow Freddy, and a touch of Puppet with the purple tears. His back is ripped open due to his evolution requirement: being defeated in battle by a Bonslaught.

Frightbite's whole theme is betrayal. The evolution is the result of a Timiteddy being destroyed by a Bonslaught, the one Pokemon line they keep their guard down around. Timiteddy are one of Bonslaught's favorite victims due to the manipulation element and the violent battle that comes after the betrayal. The negative emotions from that come from the encounter cause the Timiteddy to lose any inhibitions they had with harming others, leading to the Pokemon evolving into something much bigger and much more visually intimidating. The last remnants of its psychic tears harden into claws and the rest is permanently lost due to his ripped open back.

Some of Frightbite's ripped seams been weaponized by its evolution. The most obvious one its its stomach. While still partially sealed with a button, its chest has become a second functional mouth capable of biting anything Frightbite is able to hold into place. The second is the seams going down his neck. While the first four stitches are able to stretch with ease, the rest can be stretched temporarily to cause a devastating bite for anything it gets a hold of. A Frightbite rarely has to use this heavy of a bite however. His bottom jaw with always curve down when opened due to the lack of structure.

Despite their nightmarish appearance, Frightbite are actually great to keep around kids. They are very careful with their claws and teeth because they know what its like to be on the other side of them. Towns dealing with dangerous Bonslaught often borrow or adopt Frightbites from other nearby areas to help protect any children they have. Frightbites are one of the only Pokemon a Bonslaught will avoid out of fear.

Frightbites and Bonslaught who are raised together still have this instinctive fear and instinctive hatred for one another albeit a lot tamer than in the wild. It is important to always keep an eye on these two if you keep them together, even if they were thick as thieves when they were children. A Frightbite is only caused by a violent attack from a Bonslaught after all, and Frightbites have never been ones to easily forgive and forget...

[fushiglow]

I wonder what would happen if Saturo hadn't killed Suguru would he be expelled or banned from the jujutsu school?

The higher ups would only be shooting themselves in the foot by doing so. I don't think they'd risk someone as powerful as Gojō becoming a curse user by alienating him like that. Plus, although they don't see it this way, they *really* need him on their side because he's their strongest weapon against the 'wave of power' that's approaching — until his students are strong enough to take it on themselves.

The relationship between Gojō and the higher ups is incredibly fraught. They despise him because he actively works to undermine the status quo, but they're powerless to stop him from doing so. He despises them because they needlessly throw away lives, but he knows that forcing compliance through fear won't achieve anything in the long run. So, they're in a stalemate until Gojō can build up 'strong and intelligent allies'.

Because of his overwhelming strength, Gojō can afford to only carry out orders that he wants to. That includes refusing to kill Getō, despite the execution order. I think Gojō only takes on so many missions to protect his students — hence why the higher ups go out of their way to distract Gojō so they can send the first years to the juvenile detention centre and, hopefully, their deaths.

If Gojō just decided not to bother exorcising curses any more, can you imagine how many more students would die like Haibara every year? Gojō is almost the one man army preventing the prospective 'pile of corpses' that drove Getō into becoming a curse user. The mayhem that breaks out after he's sealed in the Prison Realm is evidence of that — exactly like Ino predicts!

So, on the one hand, I can't actually imagine they'd choose to banish him and, on the other hand, I can't imagine he'd pay the order any heed even if they did. Everything we've seen suggests that Gojō could have found and killed Getō at any time, so I think they could have already banished him on those grounds if that was what they wanted to do. It just isn't convenient for them — but having him trapped and powerless inside the Prison Realm is, which is why they put all those measures in place to *keep* him in there.

Although your question is based on a hypothetical, I also want to add that I personally don't think there was any scenario where Gojō wouldn't kill Getō at the end of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. As much as I love fic and art which explores an alternate timeline where Getō is welcomed back to jujutsu society, it could never happen and Gojō knew that. I think his decision to kill Getō was entirely his own in the end, and it comes down to two reasons:

1. He didn't want anyone else to do it

Getō was heavily injured and there was a risk that someone else would find him and finish him off if Gojō let him go. There's a popular headcanon that anyone else killing Getō is an unthinkable idea to both of them, and while I like playing with that idea, I actually don't think Gojō wanted to be the one to kill Getō at all — because of the below panel:

I think it really comes down to the fact that Gojō would allow Getō far more dignity in death than anyone else who found him, aside from perhaps Yaga, Shōko, Nanami etc. We already know he went out of his way to prevent Shōko from having to deal with Getō's body, so I can see Gojō coming to the self-sacrificing conclusion that he's the only person who can execute Getō, both for Getō's sake and for the sake of their friends and allies.

2. Gojō couldn't look away from his crimes any longer

More importantly, I think Getō finally went far enough that Gojō could no longer justify turning a blind eye to his actions. While Gojō *is* more morally grey than most characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, the one thing he always seeks to protect is youth. I think he probably resigned himself to the fact he could no longer avoid the issue as soon as Getō declared war, knowing the death and destruction he would cause.

Because of that, I've always thought there's more nuance to Gojō's words here than simply an expression of long-standing trust in his best friend:

I think Gojō *did* trust Getō not to kill young sorcerers, but does that excuse what he did to Gojō's students? To Maki especially? I don't think so, and I actually don't think Gojō does either.

I think it's possible to read his words about 'trust' from a purely pragmatic standpoint. Gojō is an incredible tactician and I actually think he played on Getō's weakness here, sending his own students to certain defeat on the basis that he *trusted* Getō not to finish them off. He trusted that Getō's desire to create a world of sorcerers would prevent him from needlessly killing his students — and he was right!

That doesn't make his actions any less uncomfortable to think about, which is why Getō implies Gojō is cruel — despite the fact that *he's* the one who beat up a bunch of kids lol. I don't think reading it this way takes away from the feeling between the two of them, but I think it's important not to overlook the ability to be cold and calculating in either of them.

From a less practical point of view, I think Gojō making the decision to kill Getō is a painful metaphor for Gojō finally choosing to 'free' himself of the 'curse' called Getō Suguru. I've talked before about how Gege Akutami parallels Gojō and Getō with Yūta and Rika and this is perhaps the biggest parallel — both Gojō and Yūta make an active choice to 'free' themselves of the curses of their pasts (bearing in mind that it was written before the main series which calls that into question on Gojō's behalf at least).

I went a little (a lot) off course, but I hope you don't mind! Jujutsu Kaisen has such fantastic politics and I wanted to paint the full picture in my answer! Thanks for the question ♥

[vaimetanyx]

Alright I've been sitting on some of this stuff for over a year, but here's the first part in a series of cosplay breakdowns! Starting with my most ambitious part of my Zagreus cosplay - the skull pauldron

(Full process under read more)

[Skull pauldron] [Belt] [Greaves] [Toga + sash] [Wig + Laurels] [Armbands] [Flaming feet] [Satyr Sack] [Stygius v1] [Stygius v2] [Nectar]

Now while maybe not the most complex bit of cosplay armor, nor the most detailed skull around, this was my first time working with foam and 3D pattern making in general. So I started off with a rough design mock up with paper, make a pattern with cardboard, then tested to see if the pattern worked with more cardboard (making slight adjustments as I went)

Next was breaking out the foam and starting to make the skulls for real. I had some trouble figuring out angles at first, and a few pieces didn't fit together perfectly, but it still came together in the end. The next skulls went a bit more smooth as I now knew what I was doing

Then some bulking out and detailing with foam clay! I used Lumin's Studio's grey foam clay, and would highly recommend it. I had some trouble deciding on how detailed/realistic to make the teeth and ended up using real dog skulls as reference and simplifying them

I had to prime them to paint - unfortunately plastidip is expensive and I had trouble using it on my other foam pieces, and the pauldron have a very complex shape, so I ended up sealing them with PVA glue. Not the best option but the only one I had at the time. But with that done, I could begin painting. Now, I should have done this after I'd attached the spine section, but I wasn't sure how to tackle that so I distracted myself from spine logistics by priming and painting (I just used acrylic paints)

Then the most difficult part - the spines and attaching them to the toga. My first idea was to make hollow 'bones' that would slot into each other and have internal wire so they're repositionable, but this ended up being far too bulky

In the end I scrapped these pieces and cut them up to make a more flat spine (hot glued onto a wire frame - I used copper wire that has been in my cupboard for 3 years). I had to build a mock shoulder to rest the pauldron on, and did my best to position the base in line with where the toga trim would sit

To make it stick to the toga I used a bit of velcro and two snap buttons in the side corners - the connecting point is also hidden by a material 'sleeve' to help keep it all in place, but I'll have more on that in my toga post. I needed to make sure it was detachable for transport and to be able to wash the toga after wearing it

Then another round of PVA glue and acrylic paint, a few coats of a matte sealer to get that good uniform bone texture over the whole thing, and some black poplin to cover the open base of the skulls, and they're done!

In the end, they're a bit more chunky than I would have liked, and the paint job could use a bit more shading to bring out the shape of the skulls a bit more, but overall I'm quite happy with them!

[kingsmakers]

If they were canon ELYANA AND CERIDWEN MY BABIES

I am late but LETS GO:

Elyana Sand

who the fandom ships them with

Aemond because that's her canon ship, but also lowkey there is Aegon/Elyana shipping because the tension in their dynamic is often interpreted as sexual.

why the fandom loves them

She is VERY good at reading people and using their strengths and weaknesses to benefit her (aka an upcoming confrontation with Aegon), she is also a talented warrior who doesn't really take shit from anyone.

why the fandom hates them

Also the fact that she doesn't take shit from anyone. Some people complain that all the guys are into Elyana for absolutely no reason, as if she doesn't have admirable qualities.

what the cast relationship would be like

She gets along SO well with Tom Glynn-Carney, Phia Saban and Ewan Mitchell, basically all of the younger Targaryen kids. There's a playful relationship between them.

what was their audition scene

A tense Elyana/Aemond scene that hasn't happened yet.

dependent upon the fandom, who they’d be on a press tour/at comic con with

Same as the above with the cast, because that's who they have the most screentime with.

if they spoil things

Nope, she is very good at keeping her lips sealed about spoilers!

if the show/movie has ended, are they happy with their character’s ending and the ending at large

N/A

Ceridwen Rivers

who the fandom ships them with

A bit of Daeron/Ceridwen, most of the ships keep in mind that Ceridwen is literally 16 years old but sometimes they ship her with older men (no).

why the fandom loves them

She's a non-Targaryen dragon rider who's spunky but also a little on the shy side and who doesn't draw unwarranted attention to her. They see her as a complex character.

why the fandom hates them

Some people only judge her based on her desire for vengeance and try to call attention to her growth, even though she's a traumatised teenager trying to make the most of her situation.

what the cast relationship would be like

A lot of her and Harry Collett, considering the fact that Ceridwen and Jacaerys are half-siblings. They're often very teasing with each other.

what was their audition scene

Ceridwen's scene of claiming Grey Wind.

dependent upon the fandom, who they’d be on a press tour/at comic con with

Again same as above, mostly Harry, Bethany and Phoebe.

if they spoil things

She tries not to but every now and then she will accidentally say a little more than she should.

if the show/movie has ended, are they happy with their character’s ending and the ending at large

N/A

[majingojira]

"Universal" Monsters: The Update

After the last post went over so well, I figured you all would like to see the 'results' of your input and further research. The original idea was the focus on mythology, folklore, occult, and religious beings. Truthfully, I don't think categorically, anything can really be added to this list even if we include modern monsters. But feel free to mention things you think I missed or should be expanded upon into their own categories.

Humans Who Have Passed On - This is a broad category of undead beings. Notable Subtypes include:

Blessed/Damned - People who've gone to an afterlife and come back from that.

Ghosts - Your standard spirit of those who've passed on. A subtype of this is the Haunt, which is a location so full of death that it's not so much one ghost, but a gestalt entity of horror.

Revenants - Undead that are physical. This can be a zombie, a slasher, or any other physical being that's come back from death.

The Border of Life and Death - Women who die in childbirth and the children who die similarly tend to take on special significance in cultures and tend to come back as some of the most horrifying monsters in many cultures.

Spirits - Incorporeal beings that often embody a concept. Subtypes include:

Elemental Embodiments.

Spirits of Intellect - less in religion and more in occult circles, these are plied for information since they just 'know' things.

Larva - another occult concept, basically the magical equivalent of decomposers. They eat leftover magical and emotional effluvia.

Magical Assistants - Many magical traditions invoke different spirits to perform different tasks. Sometimes, it's gods, but lesser more direct spirits are also invoked.

Patrons - Spirits of Places, Buildings, Homes, or even crafts. Humans have a special relationship with the latter spirits, and they are often invoked to aid in tasks related to the home or work.

Fae/The People Who Are Not People - A common group of supernatural beings that are like people but have both powers and limits that make them more and less than people. Often tied to the natural world.

The High Fae/The Arch Fae - Sometimes conflated with the Nordics of UFO Lore (Yeah, UFO lore has racist connotations to it). These are the High Elves, the Court Faeries, and similar beings.

Communal Fae - These are the "Common" fae, shorter in stature and often seen in groups. The "Greys" of UFO lore. Also, the common short-statured Elves, Dwarves, Svartalves, Goblins, and possibly Huldrafolk).

House Fae - A specific variety of Fae similar to the Patron spirits, but more corporeal. Brownie, Domovoi, Knockers, Gremlines -- all beings tied to the home and hearth, but distinctly 'other'.

"The Little People" - Liliputian Humanoid beings, from "pixies" to Abatwas.

Merfolk - This one is pretty clear. They are like the above Fae varieites, but tied to the oceans.

The Unreal Being - A lot of fae creatures can be just... weird. Not full hybrids, but often hybrid as a base before weirder things are put down. Weird is the key for such beings to show that they are "Others".

Giants - They're like humans, but bigger and more 'primal'. But mostly, they are big.

Giant - This is the basic giant, a person who is bigger.

Ogre - Like a giant, but usually not as big, and less human in appearance. Trolls also fit in here via the popular conception (thou Troll is like the words Faerie and Yokai, as a general catch-all term for supernaturals not infernal or divine).

Wildman/Bigfoot - A big person, covered in hair.

Animal-Like - Animals! But Magical.

Animal Bride/Animal Shifter - An animal who turns into a person, or a person who turns into an animal. These include: Wolves, Bears, Boars, Cats, Hares, Owls, Crocodiles, Lions, Hyena, Jaguars, Leopards, Coyotes, Tigers, Seal/Sea Lion, Frog, Swan, Peahen, Cow/Bull/Ox/Cape Buffalo, Shark, Hedgehog, Fox, Dog, Jackal, River Dolphin, Dove, and Cranes. I'm sure there are more.

Ancient/Sacred Animal - Often greater in size or with magical powers, but still an animal. Probably can talk, but not always.

Yaogwai - An animal that has lived for so long and gained so much wisdom that it's become a magical being. Often taking human form. The age part is more important than the shifting part.

Chimeras - Mixtures of multiple animals or impossible combinations (like Mothman)

"The Foreigner" - Like Chimera but for people. These range from people with a face in their chest and no head to those with a giant foot they use for shade, to just normal-looking people with strange habits. A product of xenophobia.

Sea Monsters - Monsters of the ocean depths. Often hybridized with land animals or otherwise of 'abnormal' proportions.

Demons - Demons are negative spirits, beings that cause maladies, calamities, and other things. They are dangers, warnings, and cultrual tools to explain away problems or to guide culture.

Hag - Fears of aging and death manifest in these evil magical old women who do all sorts of evils to the world. Sometimes just referred to as "Witches" in those cultures, but more specifically when a full dehumanizing aspect is applied to them rather than just having them be malicious spellcasters. Yes, it is often found in cultures with rampant misogyny.

Fiends/Lesser Demons - Your "Generic" Demon/Malicious spirit.

Devils - Tempters and smooth talkers. Bargaining beings.

Disease Spirit - Spirits used to explain away various illnesses.

Boogiemen - Spirits used to warn children away from activities or locations that often have mundane dangers they won't take seriously.

Vampire - A variation of the Disease Spirit, specifically accounting sickness/pestilence with a being literally 'draining the life' from others. Often given a lot of powers, but also the word itself is bandied about to describe so many monsters that it loses a bit of its meaning.

The Beautiful Lure - Succubus/Incubus/Temptresses of the Road. It's something between a Devil and a Boogiemen, but because the archetype is so common, I placed it here.

Dragons - Big, Scaley, Dangerous. Sometimes exhales a dangerous substance.

Wyrm - Dragons without limbs

Horned Water Serpent - Dragons of North America, associated with the earth and poison/disease.

Lindworm - Dragons with two limbs (legs).

Wyvern - Dragons with four limbs (wings and legs).

Classical Dragon - Dragons with six limbs (wings, arms, and legs)

Naga - Shapeshifting Serpents of India and Indonesia

Amphiptere - Dragons with wings

Asiatic Dragon - Ryu, Lung, Rong, etc. Serpentine, magical, 4 limbs, fly via magic.

Feathered Serpent/Wadjet/Quetzalcoatl/Seraphim(?) - Sometimes winged, sometimes not winged.

Celestials - Spirits and beings associated with the skies/divine realms

Standard Celestials (Angels, and so on)

Personal Guardian Being - "Guardian Angels" or "Aspects of the Soul", it depends on the culture.

Celestial Animals - Animals associated with the divine realms (often Chimerical)

Hellhounds/Black Dogs - Dogs of darkness and the night. Sometimes demonic, sometimes not. A lot of folklore around these beings. Often they are guards.

Automata - Rare, they are inanimate objects brought to life as a psuedo-living thing either by gods or humans. Includes Golems, Karakuri, Automata (IE: the Greek Talos). More common in modern times.

Plant Monsters - Plant monsters are actually very rare in folklore. Most early ones simply expelled poisonous vapors/gases. By the 1800s, they began to move and invade locations (a dark inversion of colonialism) or used to enhance the exoticism of a location. When insectivorous plants were discovered in 1875, they got nastier, and 'reports' of such things as man-eaters began to appear. By 1889, the monsters became truly mobile. And in 1907, we get our first Fungal Infection/Takeover Plant monster.

Guardians - Spirits and beings which are designed to guard locations or even concepts. Often associated with justice or retribution as well. These can range from Tengu, Fu Dog/Shisha, and Otoroshi, to Dakini, Harpy, Furies, Sphinxes, and Gorgons. Yes, Gorgon's heads were used like a "Mr. Yuk" face in Ancient Greece.

[ixmelodix]

On: Seadweller Anatomy

In Age of Aquarius, seadwellers and landdwellers differ in a few important respects:

Gills. All seadwellers have gills - three each on both sides of their neck and ribs (12 total). The neck gills are smaller and more curved; the first gill slit traces from behind their fin on the edge of the skull to just below the fin, with the second two below it with roughly half an inch between slits. The lowest usually sits around halfway down the neck when measured from the base of the fin to the shoulder. Chest gills are much larger, and appear straighter; the lowest follows just below the lowest ribs, and the two above are usually spaced out by about an inch each above it.

When closed, gills appear as slits in the skin; the very edges are lined with sensitive skin that lacks the tough, grey outer-layer of skin that covers the rest of the troll's body, and as such are colored with the troll's blood color. When open, it is possible to see the sensitive filaments - almost ruffled in appearance - within, although gills do not open very far (the largest gills on the sides may open an inch and a half at most, and that only if they're straining for some reason; the neck gills may barely open more than half an inch, even when straining).

Gills are extraordinarily sensitive - the inner parts in particular - and not in a pleasant way. Seadwellers have been known to kill even quadrants for trying to touch inside of them, though automatic reflexes to close them if something gets too close usually prevent (unintended) issues.

As they provide a direct connection to the seadweller's bloodstream when open (in order to provide oxygen to the blood in lieu of the lungs), messing with them can have immediate, and sometimes disastrous, effects; for instance, in one notable, highly disseminated (through schoolfeeding, to young highbloods) case, a seadweller 'took a dip' in a bath full of alcohol on a dare, and died in less than an hour from alcohol poisoning despite having only 'breathed' in the bath for less than two minutes.

Gills can filter and expel debris from the water, including things like mud so long as it isn't fully dissolved in the water, but doing so is as exhausting as trying to breathe in thin air.

Due to the saltwater-adapted nature of seadwellers, while they are capable of breathing in fresh water, doing so for long or frequent periods of time will cause swelling in the gills, and in extreme cases the body as well; if they are unable to take breaks away from fresh water (i.e. they are trapped underwater in fresh water), it may even lead to death - for the same reasons as would cause salt water fish to die in fresh water.

Fins. Fins are also highly sensitive parts of seadweller anatomy, but usually in a much more pleasant (and frequently concupiscent) fashion. They are formed of four stiff, mobile ribs of cartilage, the largest on the top and declining in size going down; thin skin filled with blood vessels and nerves is stretched between the tines. At the base of the fin where the tines connect, partially hidden by a flap of skin that seals shut when under water, is the ear canal.

Most seadwellers find stimulation of the fins to be relaxing or sexually stimulating, and as such touching them is almost exclusively reserved for quadrants - mainly matesprits, but occasionally moirails or kismeses as well depending on the troll.

Though seadwellers are also able to use the mobile fins to slightly improve or direct their hearing while on land, fins mostly serve the purpose of communication. In ancient times, an entire language existed based on fin movements; but in modern times this language has been all but forgotten (as few, if any, seadwellers still bother to communicate while in the water without the aid of technology) and the fins mostly only move unconsciously to indicate the emotions of the troll.

Seadwellers are able to control them, but may only bother - if they even think of it at all - to do so in the presence of other seadwellers. It is seen as a mark of power and status to control them rather than broadcasting one's emotions through their movements, but this is a view mostly of older adults rather than the caste as a whole. Nothing about fins really exists in the caste-based wriggler schoolfeeding programs, so younger trolls generally know less about their movements or potential communicative purpose than older ones.

While all seadwellers are capable of reading the movements of another's fins on a subconscious level, few landdwellers even realize the fins' movements mean anything at all (and even if they do, they may think it's limited to conscious things like threat/submission displays, rather than being mostly unconsciously controlled and reflecting emotions).

Bioluminescence. Bioluminescence (or biolume) spots appear like symmetrical freckles all over a seadweller's body, but are primarily concentrated on the face and fins. These produce a glow which is all but invisible outside of pitch-black conditions; in lighter ones, the spots show up as blood-colored dots that differ from troll to troll. These spots are meant to identify trolls - in particular in dark, deep-water conditions where the rest of the troll is impossible to see - as well as to make their movements visible in the darkness.

Spots on the face appear darkest; spots on the fins or extremities are light enough that they may be barely visible at all in lit conditions. This holds true in non-lit locations as well; fin biolume spots glow the brightest of anywhere on the body, followed by hand and feet biolume spots, while facial biolume is a bit dimmer.

Very few trolls are aware of it any more (as very few spend time with others in extremely dark conditions), but biolume pulses and creates patterns of movement across the body; such patterns are controlled by the fins' movements, and were an aid to deep-sea communication between seadwellers relying on fin language.

Eyes. Seadwellers have eyes that are supremely sensitive to light; this is meant to aid in low-light underwater conditions, but does give them a certain over-sensitivity to bright light. They also have two sets of eyelids; while on land, the two function together as a landdweller's eyelid would, but in the water the lower, transparent lid (reflexively) covers the eye to allow for sight without exposing the delicate optic organs to any imperfect water conditions.

Closing the inner lid also helps to focus light into the eye, allowing for better vision in dark conditions; for this reason, some seadwellers who spend time in dark places on land may learn to close only the inner lids even when out of the water in order to improve their vision. However, this necessitates a great deal of blinking of the outer lids - as the inner ones require a great deal of moisture in order to not dry out - and can't be done for long periods of time without significant discomfort.

Body mass and size. Seadwellers generally have slender body types to aid in swimming, but have a much denser body mass than landdwellers; as such, a seadweller may have the same muscle strength as a much larger landdweller in a smaller frame.

They all also have dense layers of fat under their skin to protect them from the cold; the higher their blood, the denser this fat layer is, to allow the troll to descend into the extremely cold deep ocean. (Seadwellers may find they get colder faster on land than in water, but this is because they are breathing the cold air into their body rather than having the cold-resistant gills filtering oxygen, and not because the fat layer is any less effective in air.)

Most seadwellers stay relatively short, particularly in comparison to other highbloods (blue and purple landdwellers almost always tower over seadwellers); the higher-blooded the seadweller, the smaller they are likely to stay. However, this is - interestingly enough - not reflected in cultural perceptions of strength, power, or status: larger trolls are still seen as being more powerful and higher status. As such, 'lower' (on the hemospectrum) seadwellers often enjoy a higher cultural status than 'higher' ones.

It is rare for anyone to put any stock in the hue of blood within a caste in modern times, though, so the actual hue placement within the violet caste isn't seen as culturally relevant, allowing for this seeming discrepancy.

[waterblobbu]

wait no im interested can i hear more -that guy that asked about your ocs

OH OKAY. UM!!!

im going to put these under the cut because they're very long!!

SO

THOSE FIVE OCS HUH

they are called:

Ruan Kailin (阮凯琳): He's the guy in green in the image. The main character of the story, he was from the mortal realm and basically isekai'd into another realm.

Qingyuan (清源): She's the blue one with the dragon. She's fierce but reliable, and acts as a mentor character and sister figure to Kailin.

Huamin (花敏): The red one with the tailfeathers. She's the youngest of the group and the most mischievous, but she's also a genius and enjoys crafting gadgets for use. She's also a tricky shapeshifter.

Fenjing (奋精): He's the guy in greys. A solemn and calm figure with impressive martial arts prowess. He also has a mischievous side to him, and gets along well with Huamin.

Xiuying (秀英): She's the one in black. She's stoic and emotionless, only ever executing orders like a machine. She's the tanker of the group and the most powerful.

now. the other stuff.

im gonna put them in bullet points

THE SETTING

The story is mostly set in the Celestial Sphere. In the original culture, the gods and constellations essentially share one realm, but for this story they are separated and each division of the sky is ruled by each of the Four Beasts (the Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise)

The Yellow Dragon used to rule the Central division of the sky, or the area currently known as the Purple Forbidden Palace

Other celestial objects are used in this story and represented by either celestials, immortals, or demons

Demons are split into four categories here. Most are represented by the aforementioned celestial objects; the most powerful class of demon is Black Hole

THE PLOT

Based off the creation of black holes in the universe, the sole ruler of the celestial sphere used to be a massive star.

The Four Beasts were constellations circling around it. This massive star was essentially their mentor

The star also adopted a recently born star and named him Chiyou. He was set to be next in line to the throne.

Since most of the mythology here is sustained by human belief, eventually the Yellow Emperor ascended and took center stage of the cosmos. In this story, he takes on the form of his animal version, the Yellow Dragon.

But since the aforementioned star was already the sole ruler of the celestial sphere, things got a little...dicey

In Chinese culture, there's this concept of the Mandate of Heaven; the Mandate is basically a concept that allows Emperors to claim their right to the throne ("It is the will of Heaven" etc etc). This concept applies to humans irl, but I've applied it to the constellations in this story for thematic value

So the Yellow Dragon and this one star start to fight over control of the celestial sphere, both claiming the Mandate for themselves

Eventually...all stars must explode and die. The old star, already deteriorating, turns to demons inhabiting the celestial sphere for help. This horrifies the Four Beasts, who stop being neutral and change their allegiance to the Yellow Dragon

The Yellow Dragon eventually kills the old star...which explodes and transforms into a Black Hole.

Obviously this is Bad for everyone. Black hole demons consume stars and are able to command the other demons. They dub the newly formed demon king Heiyan and set about trying to suppress him

Eventually, total war breaks out, but with the collective effort of the Five, they manage to imprison the demon king somewhere and seal it tight

So with that mess over, the Yellow Dragon breaks up the celestial sphere into 5 divisions and gives 4 of them to the Four Beasts as thanks.

Meanwhile, Chiyou is still….the star equivalent of 5 years old while all of this is happening, and has no idea what is going on other than his father went missing and that he now has control over the demon court

The Four Beasts are reluctant to kill him as he was basically like a nephew to them. The Yellow Dragon, on the other hand, sees a potential threat

While Chiyou was willing to work with the Five (and try and fail miserably to convince the demons to do the same), the Yellow Dragon gathered the other Four and fearmongered them into killing the prince off

The Black Tortoise was initially sent to do the job, but they didn't have the heart to do it, so the Yellow Dragon did so with his own claws

This betrayal shocks and enrages Chiyou…and this rage turns him into a Black Hole as well. But…a baby one

The Five are panicked because of this so the Yellow Dragon kidnaps the guy and locks him up as well to see if he can revert him back

In the meantime, as a backup plan in case either of the Black Holes break out, the Five create artificial vessels to incubate their powers

This is where the five main characters happen. All of them are artificial humanoids crafted from various materials. In the og lore, the five are referred to as the Champions, but are individually referred to by the colors of their creators (Yellow Champion, Azure Champion, etc)

Fast forward to a few years later. The Yellow Champion and Azure Champion (Qingyuan) are playing together in the Yellow Dragon's palace while their creators are having a meeting

They stumble upon the room that is holding Chiyou captive (he is trapped inside a little brazier, like the kind that trapped Sun Wukong in Journey to the West)

Out of curiosity, the Yellow Champion opens the lid

Chiyou instantly kills and devours them. Qingyuan runs to get help, but it's too late. Chiyou immediately gains strength from the power that has been incubating inside the former Yellow Champion and he breaks out

This kicks off another war in the celestial sphere, as Chiyou heads back to enact his revenge on the Five

During the confrontation, the Central Kingdom is destroyed and the Yellow Dragon severely weakened. As a last resort, he creates a new vessel, stores almost all of his power inside it, and sends it to the human realm where Chiyou rarely ventures

With the collapse of the Central Kingdom, the demons take over it and turn it into the Purple Forbidden Palace division of the sky.

As of the main story, the Four are currently locked in a bitter struggle against the aforementioned division, and they have lost contact with one another in order to focus their efforts on fortifying their individual kingdoms.

Meanwhile Chiyou is searching for his father's hidden prison with the intent of releasing him...

...and that's all I can share so far (as in, the concrete stuff that isnt floating around in a vague soup in my head)

thanks for reading all of this and having an interest in my ocs!!!

[chasingmemoriesofficial]

I didn't wanna post GL2 CM!Misako, so here's Wu instead. Third image is his "Sensei Wu the Spinjitzu Master" look. Yes, I got rid of the iconic hat but no matter what I did it just didn't look good on him.

Like Garmadon, I made him younger but also more damaged. He has a cochlear implant but it's on the side of his head that's facing away from the camera. And yes, he still has hair! I couldn't make the beard as long as I wanted but it still looks like him.

Wu and Garmadon are younger than in canon, yes, but they're still incredibly old. The oldest people on the planet, in fact, by several hundred years. Even over a millenium. But just because they can't seem to age, doesn't mean they're invincible.

Wu is arguably in a worse shape than his brother. Despite Garmadon being the more "airheaded" one, Wu is the one who gets into more trouble.

Torn ears? He used to have piercings and they got ripped out during a fight. Missing arm? Wu tried to catch Garmadon when he fell into the crevass leading to the Underworld but missed, and the crevass closed before Wu could react (his arm was crushed). One eye doesn't open as much as the other and his smile looks a lil shaky? Stroke.

Yes, CM!Wu had a stroke at one point. When? That actually goes back to Jay's backstory. Wu was the one to find him, pull the shrapnel out of his head, and attempt to seal the injury.

Except, Creation doesn't work on living matter. Or at least it's not SUPPOSED to. Wu did in fact get close to healing baby Jay, but his powers backfired on him and the strain of forcing his powers to work beyond their natural capabilities blew a blood vessel in his brain (which is what a stroke IS) and nearly killed him.

So, my mom had a stroke when I was younger. Several in fact. I'm basing Wu's disability on her, like I base most of my characters' disabilities or experiences on either me or other members of my family. I'm using my experience to write.

Another thing, English is not Wu or Garmadon's first language. It's third/fourth at best? The stroke (and several head injuries in the past 500 years or so) have impacted Wu's ability to speak and he often forgets the English words for things so he tends to look to Garmadon or Zane for help.

His handwriting is also horrible. It was actually getting better before the stroke happened, then it got worse because he can't hold a pen very well, which Zane notes because he can't read Wu's handwriting. It's probably even worse now because the arm he lost was the one he still had feeling in.

I also mentioned in a previous post that Wu underwent a Witch Rage that changed his eye color to the color of his magic. I can hear you ask, "What was his eye color before? And Garmadon's for that matter?"

Well, Wu's eyes were originally blue, like Zane's but a lighter shade. Not grey but not a very saturated blue either. And Garmadon's were, ironically, green, close to Cole's eye color.

[oceanwaveglasses]

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[cosmos-tree-house]

Apprentice List

un-colored names = this animal probably will not have central focus in the story. this might change as i develop plot and etc tavie isn't in this bc she is. irrelevant for this arc sorry girlie </3 will add later when i get 2 it

Cosmo

- Fort Slybelly, giraffe, he/him notes: Star of the hour. Knows much more than he lets on. Distrusting. A bit of an asshole. Works with Greely's apprentices fairly often for his work. Does not communicate with his colleagues. Has been around the longest out of all apprentices. Orange with white splotches and dark brown eyes - Victory Wittyhoof, clydesdale horse, she/her notes: Nickname is Victoria or Vicky. Isn't horribly into reading or literacy; works to defend protected areas of wildlife. Very nice. Green with light yellow spirals, emerald eyes. Curly-haired with a large, burly body. - Baron Rowdyapple, koala, ze/zeir notes: Oldest age-wise of the Apprentices generally. An absolute gent. Is working to conserve plantlife of Jamaa. Enjoys zeir job immensely. Dark brown with purple star-patterns and a pale undertone. Is beginning to gray. Red-eyed

Sir Gilbert

- Ember The Dragon, tiger, it/its notes: War lieutenant. Orange with rusty red lightning-patterns. Green eyes - Mellow Redflower, moose, she/her notes: Manages weaponry and medical supplies Blue with white undertones, hazel spotting. No eyes - Simple Glamspirit, skunk, ae/aer notes: Mage. Doom-and-gloom Light blue and light red. White leafy patterns. Pale yellow eyes.

Graham

- Juniper Roundeyes, flamingo, she/he notes: Pushy, envious, and annoying. Good at his job. Heavily invested in utilizing levitation and electricity-based magics; currently studying how this can be used in every-day inventions. Probably one of the older Apprentices over-all next to Fort. Green and white with a dark-green beak. Has round yellow eyes and dark-green rune-markings.

- Pioneer Goldenmeadow, wolf, they/it notes: Newest of the bunch, is swamped in work all the time. Hermit. Does not come to parties or functions, seemingly too busy. It is mute. Black/yellow, with orange splotches and navy blue eyes

Greely

- Earl Grandrabbit, hare, he/they notes: Neurotic, paranoid prey animal; everyone thinks he's an absolute freak, but he's fantastic at archival duties. Enjoys reading immensely. Rarely talks to anyone outside of work, but enjoys company. Black pelt with blue crescents; pale orange eyes and skin - Feeble Gentlebug, seal, he/him notes: Caring and analytical. Head librarian at the Chamber Of Knowledge. Enjoys a good mystery. Good friends with Grand. White with blue floral markings and a blue nose. Brown eyes.

Liza

- Nice Frozenmeadow, artic fox, she/her notes: Major diplomat, but unpopular within the public. Seen as cold to most. Very ambitious, fought hard for her position. Has three cubs, all adopted. Comes from a prestigious line of fox ancestry. White with light blue legs and pale grey-blue spotting. Gray eyes. Wears a lot of silver jewelery - Jumping Desertcloud, panda, it/its notes: Handles a lot of Jamaa's whole economics system alongside Liza herself. Loves to party. Likes wine. Allegedly in a romantic relationship with Nice Frozenmeadow. Off-white and pale yellow. No pattern. Red eyes. - Daredevil Loudstar, bald-eagle, they/them notes: Daredevil is like all of the Alpha's mutual publicist. They are generally disliked and also kind of terrible at their job. The public is mildly ambivalent about them though -- they're unpopular within the Apprentice-Alpha circle. Juniper Roundeyes and Daredevil seem to enjoy each-other's company. Tan-and-black eagle with white heart-patterns. Purple eyes.

Peck

- Grand Spikypride, wolf, she/they notes: Party-goer. Popular within the media for her ferociousness. First of Peck's apprentices, and the youngest. Emotional and a little dramatic. Best friends with Feeble Gentlebug Grey-and-pinkish cream with light pink splotches. Pink eyes - Little Desertbuddy, pig, it/she notes: Currently getting absolutely dragged through the dirt by the media. Allegedly paid/cheated to be Peck's apprentice. Gentle soul with a fantastic, showy magical ability. Good friends with Mellow Redflower and Jumping Desertcloud. Well-liked despite rumors. Muted green, light brown eyes. No patterns; extremities are slightly darker.

[berryblu-soda]

Yall gotta understand, this oc world has absolutely over the top worldbuilding, seriously

Humans used to have mostly element based powers until they almost destroyed themselves one time and their powers were sealed away

Pointy ears, fangs, colorful hair and funky colored eyes are rare but not unheard of, like ginger hair or grey eyes are, they're remnants from when the world was magic based but the general population has since forgotten it

You like alternate dimensions? Theres at least 5 of those (mirror dimension, light dimension, shadow dimension, equinox dimension (where twilight compass happens), +2 unnamed ones where "Seedling" and "Glow Stage" happen)

You like aliens? We got aliens! There are several (mostly outlaws) just chilling on earth, since it's considered a lawless zone by most advanced planets (the near autodestruction still fresh in their minds lmao), also there's a couple planets with ✨lore✨

You like dieties and immortals? Well we sure got those, that's how most powers are achieved, and they're the forgotten basis of a lot of society's structure right down to the aesthetics

Ancient evils? Well we got void creatures, the antithesis of the dieties, who they've been in constant conflict with since the start of the ages (actually I have a whole thing called the "Kaleidoscope" era, which details what went down, including the creation of several dimensions, some betrayals and murkier waters than clean cut good vs evil :D)

So yeah, all of that goes down behind the scenes, but perfectly normal slice of life stories can still happen lmao

[paper-n-ashes]

sparks and embers - chapter 3

Characters: Poe Dameron x Original Female Character, Kylo Ren x Original Female Character

Story Tags: Explicit (18+), Canon Compliant/Divergent (Set after TLJ), First Person POV, Love Triangle, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Porn with Plot, Hurt/Comfort, Kylo Ren hates Poe Dameron

Chapter 3 - The Return

Words: 4k

Chapter Tags/Warnings: medical descriptions and procedures, some sexual themes - mainly in the form of OC being thirsty AF

Read on AO3 or Start from the beginning

~

On the way back from the East village, filled with the Gossams, humans and other alien species who had similarly escaped to a simpler life, I couldn’t help but curse at myself for giving in so easily to the pleas of a good-looking stranger.

Aiding someone merely for their physical appearance? How horribly unprofessional.

The voice in the back of my mind was loud. And curiously judgemental.

It had been over a full day cycle since I’d departed the clinic, making Poe vow to remain within the confines of his bed until I had returned. I’d left him with enough food for two days of my travelling, hygiene supplies, a drip running slowly for some pain relief and range of tools for him to attempt getting BB-8 up and running, hoping he wouldn’t have any reason to struggle getting out of bed.

The thought of his still fragile femur bone breaking and splitting the artery I’d spent all my energy on mending was beyond frightening. I worried about him every minute I was awake, imagining any number of complications that would leave me a corpse to find when I arrived back.

Bleeding, clots, stroke, infection, sepsis.

It wasn’t easy to slip those thoughts from my mind in the lone starkness of the Raxus countryside. There wasn’t really anything to look at except grass and sky, nothing to distract me from the worst case scenarios.

I’d convinced some of my old patients to join my cause, promising them better medicine and equipment if I was only able to have a comm-tower to order everything I needed. It didn’t seem like lying. The comm-tower really was my only link to the rest of the galaxy, and I would have needed it fixed anyway. Only now, time seemed to be more of the essence.

After spending the night amongst the locals I had grown to be familiar with over the last few years, I’d begun the trek back with the knowledge at least one problem had been solved. Some promised spare parts, others were going to follow my path within the next day cycle to get my comm-link back online. I hadn’t divulged all the story, at least not the part about this repair job apparently being a determining factor in the fate of the galaxy.

I hadn’t pressed Poe about what that meant exactly. I was used to the Resistance and their soldiers having somewhat of a flair for the dramatic when it came to war, after healing many of their battle wounds in years past. I knew how fervently they believed in their cause - that they were the only thing standing between galaxy wide harmony and First Order dictatorship.

I understood their hope of peace in our lifetime, but I’d lost mine a long time ago. Good, bad, they were just two sides of a coin that would flip for eternity, desperately chasing power for their own reasons.

In truth, I didn’t particularly care. I just hoped to live my life somewhat free from the burden of picking a side.

*

Before unlocking the clinic door, my feet aching from hiking for 6 straight hours, I drew in a long breath with a silent prayer I wouldn’t be walking in to find a dead body. With a fluid motion I turned the handle and pushed the door open, my head popping in first around the entryway to where Poe’s hospital bed stood. He immediately heard the latch clicking and shot his head up to meet with my eyes.

“You’re back,” he smiled, as I noted how much colour had returned to his face during my absence.

He looked so much better.

For the first time, I found myself studying his face, my stare tracing from his strong angular jawline to his high cheekbones, the prominence of his nose, the whiskey colour of his large cheerful eyes, his tousled deep brown hair. Then I took in his wide grin, shapely pink lips curled upwards to show perfectly set white teeth.

Stars, he’s so handsome.

In the muddle of memories I’d conceived from the night of his crash I’d not recognised, at least not during the time I was struggling to keep him alive, how attractive he was. And now with his health a far better picture than the last time I’d seen him, it was all I could notice. My heart quivered through a beat as he beamed at me, soon realising his smile was more a reflection of the prospective good news I brought with my return, making it settle back into a normal rhythm.

“Hi,” I breathed, walking closer and setting my pack down at the foot of the hospital bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” he answered, “The smaller burns are almost gone, and my chest wound is closed, look!” He pulled up the grey hospital shirt I’d managed to change him into before I had to leave. This time when I saw the nakedness of his chest and abdomen I couldn’t help but stare at his softly defined muscles, all tensing during his movement. He was right, the hole below his rib now sealed, a newly-formed, pink scar in its place. The chest tube was still secured above it, now redundant.

“Gotta love bacta,” I hummed. “I can take that drain out now if you like.”

He looked at me incredulously. “You’ve just done a 30 hour round trip for me, not even sat down, and you want to dive head first into more treatment?”

“I... uh... I mean... I just wanted to help you feel better,” I stammered.

Poe shook his head, smirking. “It’s okay, I appreciate it. Really, I do. But I’m alright, the tube can wait. How about you rest for a second and tell me how the mission- I mean, trip, went?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Two days ago you were begging me to get going so I couldn’t waste any time, now you’re telling me I can take a load off?”

"Uh, yeah… Sorry about that,” he grimaced. “Having some time to think while you were gone... It made me realise everything you’d done and were doing for me - a stranger you had no reason to help." Poe took a long exhale before speaking again, his tone serious. "I was in a lot of pain, just woken up in a strange place. It’s still imperative to get a message back to the Resistance as soon as possible but... that’s not your burden to bear. I can't thank you enough for your help, but I'll try not to ask too much more of you.”

It seemed not only had his physical health improved, but logical thought and patience had returned.

I took my cue to sit on one of the opposite hospital beds, letting my feet dangle over the edge to kick my shoes off, feet pulsing with gratitude at their release. “There’s some villagers coming tomorrow,” I started. “They will hopefully have a new comm-tower up and running within the next couple of days. I told them about your droid too. There’s some spare parts in that bag.” I pointed my hand out to the satchel at Poe’s feet, glancing at the L shaped table beside his bed I’d set up. BB-8 was sitting on top of it, head and body still separated and now unbolted at separate points, wires haphazardly sticking out in different directions. Falling back into the mattress, I let out an exhausted sigh, relishing the feel of the squeaky mattress under my body.

“I really owe you. The Resistance owes you,” Poe praised after a few moments of silence, as I heard him begin to rummage through the satchel. I held back a frown, even when I knew he wouldn’t be able to catch sight of my face.

I didn’t do any of this for the Resistance.

It occurred to me then I wasn’t really sure why I’d done it at all. I had always been a sucker for those in poor predicaments, hence why I became a doctor in the first place. But the trek had nothing to do with treatment or medicine. It was purely at the behest of this pilot, who’s charming appearance in the dimmed orange light of the evening made my skin feel hot.

“So, how did a girl like you find herself in the middle of nowhere on the Outer Rim?” Poe questioned, fiddling with some of the parts.

I sat back up. “I’m not a girl. I’m 28. That’s a little too old to be called girl anymore.”

Poe chuckled, the sound of his laugh both warming and positively thrilling. “I apologise. How did a woman like you end up here?”

“I used to work on Coruscant, that’s where I started my medical training,” I explained, remembering the glittering planet I’d spent much of my young life on. “Then moved into the war relief efforts on medical frigates scattered throughout the galaxy. Treating wounded soldiers day in day out took its toll, having people constantly injured and almost dying for a war they didn’t start.” I glanced to Poe's expression, seeing a glow of understanding behind his eyes before I continued. “Plus, there were more than a few times I felt a little redundant. The medical droids they have kind of... made my treatment obsolete. I wanted to practice medicine in a place where adequate health care was rare or non-existent. I wanted to help those who were most desperate, who otherwise couldn’t afford it, those who would actually value the care of a live human doctor. So I picked a planet at random, and settled here."

The random part was an utter lie. No one had cared about Raxus since the Clone Wars, and the First Order wouldn’t make it their priority to conquer Outer Rim worlds for a while yet. It was a quiet, calm planet with countless refugees fleeing here to make peaceful new lives. They wouldn’t be concerned about old, rusty equipment, lower quality bacta or no medical droids. They would simply be happy at having a doctor within a day’s trek.

And no one would think of looking here for a Force user.

Poe studied me in quiet thought for a moment, taking in what I’d divulged. “Well, they're damn lucky, with how nicely you patched me up. You’d run circles around some of the doctors and medical droids at the Resistance base.” He grinned at me again, earnestly, another attempt to thank me for my work. I felt the pit of my stomach tense, and it wouldn’t retreat, the thought of his smile lingering in my mind even after he’d gone back to his tinkering.

It had to be because I’d been in isolation for so long, why I was reacting so strongly to the innocent smiles and compliments of a man I barely knew. I definitely wasn’t used to conversing with men so close in age to my own. Most of the local humans were older, married with children, and I rarely made conversation around any other topic than their illnesses.

“What... uh... Why were you flying over Raxus?” I asked awkwardly.

His eyebrows creased together as he looked back at me. “Raxus wasn’t my destination, but I... can’t tell you any more than that.”

“Oh…”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he urged. “It’s just, you know, highly confidential.” He seemed apologetic, like he owed me more of an explanation.

I nodded, agreeing the less I knew about the Resistance and their missions the better. “Well, you’ll be able to get back to it in a couple of days,” I insisted, breaking the awkward silence that had lingered. “Some time and a little bit more bacta and you’ll be like new again.”

“Actually, speaking of that,” he started, an uneasy expression now settling in his features. “I was wondering when you were thinking of letting me get out of this bed.”

“Depends on the reason Poe. I’d recommend starting your formal rehab tomorrow at the absolute earliest, otherwise we can get you up and walking if you need to do something… uh… specific.” There was no hiding the waver in my voice.

He laughed, louder than he had before, the sound making it difficult for me not to blush. “Aren’t you a doctor? Why are you embarrassed for me to use the bathroom?”

“Hey!” I frowned. “I was trying to save you from being embarrassed.”

He shook his head, still chuckling. “I’m alright on that front for now. I was actually hoping to use your refresher. It’s been a few days…”

“Oh of course!” I’d cleaned him up as much as I could before I’d left, getting rid of his obliterated flight suit and helping change into the bland hospital outfit I reserved for overnighters, but even to myself the idea of a shower was enticing.

A thought flashed into my mind of steaming water hitting Poe’s sun darkened skin, trickling down his toned body as he lathered himself in soap suds.

Woah.

Okay.

That was new.

It had been such a long time since I’d felt the fire of blood rushing to the lower portion of my abdomen, insides clenching at the heat so suddenly ignited.

Poe was looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue. I internally shook away the incriminating thoughts before they could be conveyed on my face. “How about I get that chest tube out first? Then I can help you to the ‘fresher?”

He breathed out in relief. “That would be fantastic.”

I stepped lightly off the hospital bed, walking shoe-less over to my medical trolley to drag it back to Poe’s side. And immediately, without me asking, he sat up and began a haphazard attempt to pull off his shirt, left arm bandaged and stiff, right arm enveloped in the cast I’d made and evidently still painful to move.

In a wordless reply, I helped him pull the fabric over his head, confronted with the image of a half-naked, strikingly handsome man in front of me.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t recognised any of his raw allure when he’d been almost stripped completely bare by my own hands on the night of his crash. It seemed bizarre I wouldn’t have noted the strong, broadness of his shoulders, his armoured chest littered deliciously with dark hair, carved abdominal muscles tensed in waiting.

I swallowed hard, hoping Poe wouldn’t register my shaking hands as I prepared the tube removal kit. Snipping the sutures around the plastic, unsteady gloved fingers pulled out the tube as smoothly as I could manage, Poe flinching slightly at the sensation. He continued to look away as I injected some bacta gel into the wound, sealing it closed with a few new sutures and placing a waterproof dressing over the site.

“All done,” I settled. “Like nothing happened at all.”

Poe looked back to me and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. It was obvious he remained troubled by the memories of his crash, and understandably so. I’d seen the same look in many other military personnel, the attempt to put on a brave face when images of fire, blood and terror pierced their thoughts. I desperately wanted to take his mind to a brighter place. “So, ready to try walking?”

“Absolutely! Lead the way doc.”

Ugh. Eventually I would have to correct him on that.

I stepped back from the side of the bed, arms stretched in readiness for when he inevitably stumbled. “Please take it slowly. Your muscles aren’t going to be pleased with what you’re doing after over two days of bed rest.”

“Sure thing,” Poe scoffed.

Typical male.

Initially he seemed to take my direction, moving his legs slowly from under the blanket, pain now registering on his features. He swivelled himself sluggishly to let his legs fall over the side of the mattress, breathing slightly heavier to push through the discomfort.

He was leaning more on his left side, right arm hovering over his thigh. Tentatively, he slipped his left foot onto the floor and shifted his weight onto it, pushing his hand into the mattress to help himself up.

Soon he was standing in front of me for the first time since we’d met, and even amongst all the burns, bruises, dressings and bandages, he looked impossibly strong, toned muscles wrapping his form.

He noticed the timid smile form on my lips.

“Hey don’t start laughing at me. I don’t think I could handle my ego being bruised along with the rest of me.”

“Oh... I wasn’t-,” I stumbled, quietly relieved he’d misread the reason behind my smirk.

He held his hand up in protest, grinning. “I was kidding. You’re welcome to laugh at the adult sized toddler learning to walk again.”  

It was difficult not to snicker at his words. “Come on,” I encouraged. “Just think of how nice that hot water will feel.”

He sighed in agreement and moved, taking a hesitant step onto the previously fractured leg. I swiftly froze with anxiety, even when the logical side of my brain told me both the break and the artery would have stabilised exponentially by now. But the emotional side, the part that remembered the rush of blood that had exploded from the wound site, nagged incessantly at me, insisting that this was a very bad idea.

My eyes were glued to Poe’s figure as he shifted his weight deliberately, muscles tensing at the trigger of pain he was likely feeling, before he made a delicate hop to move back onto his left leg.

Even that one haggard step appeared to take a lot out of him, but he seemed determined, eyebrows already wrinkled in concentration.  He continued the process a few times over, my arms still poised in waiting for the foreseeable stumble as I walked backwards. I couldn’t help but hold my breath as he limped, following me out of the clinic room into the hallway that lead to my office, the ‘fresher, and my living quarters all the way at the end.

His steps became faster, more confident, when all of a sudden, his balance wavered.

Reacting quickly, I stepped forward to catch him, arms circling under his own and around his torso, hands now gripping the muscles on his back as he crashed into me. I would have stayed there for a moment, my fingertips registering the warmth radiating off his skin, until I became fully aware where his face had fallen into.

I felt Poe’s heated exhale through the cotton of my white shirt after his face had collided into my chest, directly between my breasts. The twinge in my lower abdomen occurred again, breath hitching in my throat.

He scrambled to push himself back into a standing position, my arms releasing from around him, his hands clamping around my biceps as he fought to reclaim his steadiness again.

“I am so sorry!” he blurted, his face dangerously close to mine, only a small touch of redness visible under his caramel skinned cheeks. I knew my blushing would be much more pronounced.

“It’s okay,” I breathed. “I was waiting for that to happen.”

His eyes widened.

“Not that!” I yelped. “I meant you falling! I was waiting for you to fall!”

Poe’s face illuminated into a beaming grin. “Sure you did.”

I frowned in protest, but couldn’t stop the chuckle escaping. I shifted to face the same way as him, an arm curling around his torso, angling my body under his own. “How about I help you the rest of the way?”

His hand gripped onto my shoulder, the hardened squeeze making the tensing inside me ripple even faster.

Focus Alex.

Poe let me support him as he limped down the hallway, and I desperately tried to distance myself from the thoughts that swirled in my mind at being connected so closely.

Eventually we made it into the ‘fresher, a white and grey tiled room with the large, frameless shower enclosure taking up most of the space, the only privacy a plastic curtain that could be pulled across the entire spans of the room. I’d designed it with the idea there would be enough space to assist overnighter patient’s in washing themselves, since I didn’t have a nurse to do it for me. Yet, it still gave me the ability to provide some discretion by stepping out past the other side of the curtain, ready to swoop in if I was needed.

And that’s what I’d planned for Poe, knowing he was hardly the type of patient that was going to let me do anything for him if he could help it. Guiding him to the backless shower chair, I released him to his own devices and quickly pulled the curtain across. It was more for my own concealment at this point, needing to take a moment to settle myself down, the memory of his hold still lingering on my skin.

“I’ll be right here if you need any help okay? Everything you need will be on the shelf under the shower start button.”

“Thanks Alex,” he answered, his voice huffing out as I could hear he’d already started to shimmy down his pants.

Stop imagining it Alex. Stop thinking about him naked, a metre away, behind that thin curtain.

The sound of water rushing into the tile floor pulled me back into some impression of reality. I busied myself with organising my own hygienic supplies in the mirrored cupboard, desperately trying to think of anything other than the man hidden from my view, steam swirling around his figure, water dribbling down his bare skin. From behind the screen I heard a pleasant moan leave him, obviously enjoying the hot water battering into his aching muscles for the first time in days.

And with that sound I felt a twinge between my legs, heat swelling and rippling outwards through my body.

Stars, that was... hot.

It felt so unprofessional, to be tantalized by the thought of a man, a patient, in the middle of such a basic act of human hygiene. But I couldn’t deny he was more attractive than any patient I’d ever had in my life, and the thought of ripping open the curtain so I could join him was suddenly the most tempting thing in the galaxy.

I locked my hands onto the basin that stood in front of me, trying not to be overwhelmed by the sound of Poe lathering soap between his hands, then sliding over an unseen portion of his body.

It was then I started to pace, hoping the repetitive movement would stop me ruminating over the indecent notions my mind was conjuring. Minutes ticked by too slowly as I waited for him to finish his routine, begging for the irresistible pull of craving to be released from me.

“Hey Alex?” Poe suddenly called.

“What's wrong?” I squeaked, cursing at myself for sounding so startled.

“I actually need some help.”

Oh maker, why do you do this to me?

I swallowed hard. “Y-yeah. Sure. Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he began, voice sounding a little forced. “It’s just... with my left arm still bandaged, and my right arm still in the cast, I can’t wash my hair. I know it’s a little strange, but could you help me out?”

My heart ricocheted inside my rib cage, frolicking at the thought of seeing him soaked in water, fingers raking through his dampened hair.

Come on Alex, try to keep at least one shred of professionalism.

“Sure,” I agreed, a more competent tone saturating my voice as I withheld my internal fluttering. “Make yourself… uh… decent, and I’ll open the curtain.”

I heard Poe’s movement as he reached for one of the towels hanging on the rail nearby and wrapped it around his lower body. The flowing water soon came to a stop, the sudden silence making me feel uneasy.

“Ready.”

I placed myself in front of the curtain between us, his stature only barely visible through the clouded screen. My jaw was locked as I took a deep breath through my nose, meditating in thought, frantically clawing at a sense of calm.

Then I reached towards the plastic, clenched my hand around it, and pulled.

~

Next Chapter

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[primroseprime2019]

Scrapheap

In the Arctic, Bulkhead and Bumblebee scaled up an icy cliff. "Are we there yet?" Bumblebee asked his Wrecker friend.

"No! We're not there yet! But it should be just past this ridge, Bumblebee!" Bulkhead answered Bumblebee's question.

Once they reached the ledge of the ridge, they slid down the ice. Once there, Bulkhead checked his scanners again.

"I don't get it. These readings are off the meters!" Bulkhead remarked. "What is that!?" Bumblebee asked, pointing to a gap.

Curious, Bulkhead and Bumblebee approached the gap in the ice. And when they looked into the gap, well...they were amazed.

◊◊◊◊

"I told you, doc. We're fine!" Bulkhead objected as he removed the lines connected to his chasis and stood up...only to have Ratchet push him down onto the berth once again.

"The only way to be certain you're fine, Bulkhead, is to endure standard defrosting procedure! You know prolongued exposure to sub-zero conditions can cause permanent system damange!" Ratchet objected.

"Ratchet, have you learned anything more about the arctic find?" Optimus Prime asked his old friend as he and his girlfriend Arcee approached the two teammates.

"Not yet. The pod can't be opened while it's frozen solid," Ratchet objected.

◊◊◊◊

The pod is still sealed due to the thick walls of ice engulfing the golden pod in its icy embrace. The room the Autobots had used to conceal the pod is flooding from the gallons of water. The ice had melted enough to provide the occupants inside a means of escape. Little did the Autobots know...

That their house guests would be nothing but trouble.

◊◊◊◊

"Arcee, Primrose and I will search for any clue that will explain the origin of our arctic find," Optimus proclaimed as him and Arcee stood before the activated GroundBridge.

"Only until your sensors sound. Remember. Once your core temperature drops into the blue zone, system failures aren't likely. They're imminent," Ratchet warned.

"We'll be fine Ratchet," Primrose said with a reassuring smile and she wrapped her arms around Optimus and Arcee, "we have each other to keep warm."

"Don't make it weird, you weirdo," Arcee said, playfully flicking Primrose's forehelm.

They turned to the entrance hall and saw Bumblebee and Bulkhead approaching. Stepping out of Bulkhead were Miko and Paige and stepping out of Bumblebee were Jack and Raf.

"Miss us, Doc Bot?" Miko asked Ratchet as Bulkhead and Bumblebee transformed into their bipedal modes behind them.

"Shouldn't they be in school?" Ratchet moaned.

"On Saturday?" Miko said in disbelief.

"We have the whole weekend off to spend with you!" Paige piped in. "Well I'm fine with spending time with Paige and Rafael. It's you and Jack, I can't really stand," Ratchet huffed.

"Hey!" Miko said, glaring at the medic. "I wasn't expecting carpool," Jack said as he walked up to Arcee, Primrose and Optimus, "what gives, Arcee?"

"Tag team Jack. It's mine and Prim's turn for exploration duty," Arcee said. "Oh. Too bad. It's a beautiful day for a ride," Jack pointed out casually, "would hate for you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors."

"Arctic exploration duty," Arcee said, placing her servo on her hip. "Indoors where it's warm," Jack said immediately.

"The Arctic? I've always wanted to see snow!" Raf said happily. "Me too!" Paige said happily.

"I would invite you to join, Paige, Rafael. But the conditions are much too extreme. Even for we Autobots," Optimus said.

"We understand," Raf sighed. Optimus, Arcee and Primrose turned to leave.

"But," Optimus said and he looked back at Raf and Paige, "I will bring you back a snowball." "That would be awesome!" Paige and Raf said happily.

Optimus gave a soft smile and nodded before he, Primrose and Arcee went through the ground bridge.

"Transportation complete," Ratchet said and nearly jumped back when the ground bridge controls suddenly exploded and sparked, "by the Allspark."

"So what do you think we should do today?" Miko asked. "How about video games?" Bumblebee suggested, much to Raf's excitement.

"Video game tournament! Last one standing wins!" Raf said. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Firestorm, here now!" Ratchet called out.

"Prepare to be destroyed," Miko smirked as she took the controller from Raf and waved it in front of Jack's face. "Yeah, not really my thing, Miko," Jack said.

"What? Scared of losing to a girl?" Miko teased. Jack stared at her for a moment before he took the controller from her, "bring it."

"No mercy," Miko said and she and Jack started to play. Paige looked at Raf, "wanna play our own arctic exploration?" "Yeah," Raf said with a smile as he got up and the two ran down the stairs and into the hallway. Firestorm, Bulkhead and Bumblebee walked over to Ratchet.

"You can't boss us around just because the boss is out," Bulkhead said. "I need some heavy lifting," Ratchet said, "the ground bridge is down."

"But Optimus, Arcee and Primrose made it through right?" Bumblebee asked in concern. "Optimus, Arcee and Primrose made it through just fine; it's getting them back that concerns me," Ratchet said, "now remove those panels. Chop chop."

◊◊◊◊

Raf and Paige trudged through the hallways, pretending to be in a blizzard, albeit Paige was walking slower than Raf was as she imagined herself to be in an actual snowstorm.

"Temperatures sub-zero and dropping... gotta... get back... to base," Raf said. Paige giggled and she squeaked as she almost tripped herself and the two laughed only to stop when they heard a light, metallic clanging.

Raf turned to see a loose screw lying on the floor. He walked over to it and picked it up. "Where did that come from?" Paige asked.

"Don't know," Raf said. The two heard metal clanging again, this time above them. They looked up in surprise. There was nothing there. Paige felt a shiver run down her spine. 'This place can be scary sometimes,' she thought.

She jumped slightly when Raf yelled in surprise and he tripped over something. Paige looked at him in concern and she helped him up. A little metallic grey and black creature with deep violet-blue eyes stood in front of the two and Raf yelped in fear as he jumped back into Paige.

The creature tilted it's helm. "Where did you come from?" Raf asked. "The Autobots never said anything about pets," Paige said, "but it is pretty cute." The creature purred happily.

"You wanna play fetch?" Raf asked, showing the screw. In response, the creature jumped up and down and happily ran in a circle, making Paige laugh. Raf laughed and threw the screw, "good boy! Go get it!"

The creature ran after the screw and jumped up... only to start eating it. "Oh no! Don't eat it! You're gonna choke!" Paige said, startled. The creature only turned to them and walked over to them.

"Or... not?" Raf said, surprised. The creature nuzzled his leg, purring softly. "Now that is cute," Paige chuckled, "let's go show him to the others. I'm sure Ratchet won't mind." Raf smiled and nodded before he picked up the creature and he and Paige went back to the main hangar.

◊◊◊◊

"C'mon, come on. You want some?" Jack asked with a grin as he and Miko continued to play. When Jack won, well, he was quite proud of himself. "In your face!" He said to Miko before he started to do a small victory dance. Until the lights went out and came back on.

"What the-? Great. Power outage," Jack said. "Aw, it wiped out our game," Miko said, gesturing to the static on the tv. She got up and walked down the stairs.

"But I was winning!" Jack exclaimed. "Bummer," Miko said tauntingly.

"What could've caused this?" Ratchet said as he examined a piece of chewed machinery. The lights flicker. "Or that," Bulkhead said.

"Hey, everybody! Look what we found!" Raf said. "We're busy- ahh!" Ratchet shouted in fear when he saw the creature sleeping in Raf's arms.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee quickly jumped to their pedes, blasters out and their optics wide with fear. Firestorm took out his blaster but he didn't aim it at Raf and Paige.

"Hey, hey!" Miko exclaimed as she and Jack got in front of Raf and Paige, "what's with you guys?"

"Scraplet! Scraplet!" Bulkhead exclaimed with fear. "What's a scraplet?" Paige asked.

"The most dangerous thing ever to crawl upon the face of Cybertron," Ratchet said. Miko, Jack and Paige looked at the so-called scraplet in Raf's arms with disbelief.

"This?" Jack chuckled, "are you kidding?" "You're giant robots," Miko said, "scrappy, here, is... teeny."

"You have no idea the damage that teeny thing can do!" Bulkhead said.

"Aw, he wouldn't hurt anything," Raf said reassuringly as the scraplet started to wake up. It looked at the bots, examined them for a moment before it opened it's mouth, revealing sharp jagged teeth and it leapt out of Raf's arms and ran towards the bots. It leapt for the nearest bot and that was Bumblebee. It started to eat his leg, much to the kids' shock.

Bumblebee grabbed at the scraplet but it was in vain as it started eating at his arm. The scout whacked the scraplet away. It tumbled across the floor before it got back up and went to attack again only for Raf to start hitting it repeatedly with a crowbar.

Raf continued to hit it until Jack stopped him. "Easy there, killer," he said.

Dropping the crowbar, Raf hurried over to Bumblebee. "I did not see that coming," Miko said.

"I don't think anyone did," Paige said. "I'm sorry, Bumblebee," Raf apologized worriedly.

"It's okay, Raf. You didn't know. I'm okay," Bumblebee said. "Is he going to be okay?" Paige asked.

"Only a mesh wound. He'll live," Ratchet said reassuringly.

"Now do you believe me?! All Scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal! Especially living metal!" Bulkhead explained.

"Well, bug squashed. Game over, right?" Jack asked.

"No. When it comes to Scraplets, there's never just one. And I fear I know how they got in here," Ratchet answered gravely before taking them to the storage room and checking a giant metal ball surrounded by water, "It's a trap. A Scraplet trap."

"Uh...an empty Scraplet trap," Bulkhead corrected nervously.

"Most likely ejected into the space eons ago only to wind up in the Arctic where the temperature kept them in stasis," Ratchet guessed as he transformed his light back into his hand.

"Until we brought the thaw," Jack and Paige said in realization.

"Now they're wide awake and ready to brunch," Miko piped in.

"So...how many are we talking about?" Raf asked nervously.

"Thousands. The power malfunctions and GroundBridge damage are sure signs their infestation is well underway," Ratchet proclaimed.

◊◊◊◊

"Arcee, Primrose, what are your statuses?" Optimus asked as he scaled down a cliff face and his sensors began to beep.

"My sensor's going off. Guess we should call for pickup before things get chilly," Arcee remarked.

"Mine's going off too," Primrose said.

"Optimus to base. Core temperature readings have reached the blue zone. Prepare to activate GroundBridge," Optimus requested...only to have static greet him in response. This surprised and worried him.

◊◊◊◊

"Ratchet to Optimus. Do you read me? We have a situation!" Ratchet tried to report, "The Scraplets have gotten into the commlink system! If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they'll reduce the entire base into a scrapheap!"

"Well, I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead suggested, earning bleeps of agreement from Bumblebee.

"Evacuation is not an option. If we don't get the GroundBridge back online stat, Optimus, Primrose and Arcee will perish!" Firestorm said sternly.

"They will?!" Jack asked nervously and Paige widened her eyes in fear.

"Bulkhead! You never run!" Miko said.

"Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a bot! I have! They pick you apart from the inside out! Going for the small juicy bits first! Fuse by fuse! Circuit by circuit! 'Til there's nothing left! And I mean nothing! Not even your optics!" Bulkhead cringed. "Nyah!" Paige said with a shudder.

"You have to let us help," Jack said as he bravely stepped forward.

"We're not made of metal," Raf pointed out.

"Yeah! Scraplets can't hurt us!" Miko added.

"Typically, I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality," Ratchet began, "no offense."

"None taken?” Paige said, confused, furrowing her eyebrows.

"But it would appear to be an advantage under these extremes," Ratchet finished.

"OK. So we pair off. One bot, one human. I will watch you back while you repair the GroundBridge," Jack decided.

"And we all go on a bug hunt," Miko said, referring to her, Raf, Paige, Firestorm, Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Bumblebee and Bulkhead shuddered.

◊◊◊◊

Optimus, Primrose and Arcee were struggling to walk through the Arctic. The crisp winds were attacking their joints and armor as they stumbled through the snow, trying to make contact with base.

"Optimus to base, do you read?" Optimus asked.

He heard a familiar grunt from behind him and he turned to see Arcee laying on the ground. Optimus helped her up to her pedes.

"You sure a nice long drive wouldn't help? I hear Miami's beautiful this time of year," Primrose said jokingly. Arcee chuckled.

"The nearest temperate climate is too dangerous. Attempting to reach it would expend too much energy and hasten the freezing process. Until Ratchet sends for us, and he will, our best option would be to seek shelter and insulate ourselves," Optimus said. Primrose spread her metallic wings and she wrapped them around Optimus and Arcee in a desperate attempt to keep them warm and close.

She couldn't exactly activate her fire powers at the moment as she was shivering. And she was cold easily.

◊◊◊◊

"I get to be your bodyguard for once. How cool is that?" Miko gushed excitedly as Bulkhead looked around nervously.

"Raf found the first one here...right?" Bulkhead asked before the lights suddenly went out and a loud high-pitched scream was heard.

The lights turned back on and Miko turned to Bulkhead. "Did you just scream like a little girl?" She asked.

"No. Maybe," Bulkhead said, "can we talk about this later?" His charge only shrugged and only walked ahead. They heard clanging which made Bulkhead even more paranoid.

"Take it easy, Bulk. Just take it easy. Everything is going to be-,"

Miko was cut off by Bulkhead shooting at the walls and ceiling as he heard even more metalic clanging. When he shot at the right spot on the ceiling, cables fell down on him.

Miko turned and her eyes widened in shock and confusion as her guardian waved his arms around at the cables frantically. "Okay," Miko said, "wish I hadn't seen that. Bulkhead! You're fine! It's just a bunch of cables!"

Upon hearing that, Bulkhead stopped his panic. "Oh. Right... cables," he said sheepishly as he tugged one down and a bunch of scraplets fell down on him.

◊◊◊◊

In another part of the base, Raf and Bumblebee scanned the hallways, looking for any signs of scraplet infestation. Like Miko, Raf was armed with a crowbar. "M-maybe there aren't any around this section?" Bumblebee asked nervously.

"Don't these things ever stop eating?" Raf demanded in annoyance as they ran to a chewed up air vent. Bumblebee ripped open the remainder and Raf let out a yell as he posed to attack but there weren't any scraplets inside. But they did hear clanging and that made them nervous. Their fears were confirmed when dozens of scraplets jumped out of a floor drain, snapping their jaws and flashing their razor sharp teeth.

Bumblebee began to frantically shoot at them even though he knew it would hardly do damage.

◊◊◊◊

Paige and Firestorm walked down another hallway. Firestorm looked around. "I'm getting a strange sense of deja vu right now," he sighed. Paige looked at him confused, "why?"

"My brother used to scare the scrap out of me with a fake scraplet," Firestorm sighed in annoyance, "as funny as it was, it still gave me a near spark attack." Paige stared at him before she started to giggle.

"Hush, you adorable kitty-faced child!" Firestorm exclaimed, his faceplates turning bright blue. Paige giggled more only to yelp when scraplets suddenly dropped down on Firestorm who screamed in fear and surprise.

Paige quickly transformed into a gryphon and she quickly leapt up onto Firestorm and whacked the scraplets away.

Transforming back, she grabbed the metal bar and destroyed the scraplets with it. Firestorm slumped back against the wall, panting heavily.

"You okay?" Paige asked worriedly. "I will be," Firestorm sighed.

◊◊◊◊

"How's it going over there?" Jack asked casually.

"I've repaired the damage conductors and re-routed the central conduits. But the GroundBridge still won't receive power!" Ratchet reported in anger as he punched the floor nearby.

Jack looked around as he heard clanging. He turned and widened his eyes in alarm.

"Whoa!" Jack yelled as he saw the scraplets fly towards Ratchet ready to devour the medic, "They fly? YOU NEVER SAID THEY COULD FLY!"

Ratchet began backing away from the oncoming scraplets, hoping to protect himself from their endless anger. However, all of his attempts were made in vein. The scraplets still got him. Their combined force knocked him to the ground. Together, they began to bite the medic.

"RATCHET!" Jack cried as he rushed to help.

Jack began swinging his metal bar at the scraplets. "The fire extinguisher!" Ratchet exclaimed.

Nodding, Jack ditched his metal bar for the fire estinguisher. He ran over and attacked Ratchet with the carbon dioxide foam that was trapped inside the fire estinguisher. With the estinguisher, the scraplets stopped eating Ratchet alive. They all fell off of him dead.

"Ratchet, get the patch kit. We're leaking Energon like-WHOA!"

Bulkhead's request was cut off by the sight of even more scraplets attacking them.

Paige widened her eyes in shock. "EAT THIS!" Bulkhead yelled as he pounded some scraplets...only to scream when he found one eating his hand.

Raf and Miko immediately ran over and began trying to keep the scraplets off of Bulkhead, Firestorm, Ratchet and Bumblebee. Jack and Paige pitched in with their weapons as well. But it still wasn't enough. Scraplets continued to attack them.

◊◊◊◊

In the Arctic, Optimus, Arcee and Primrose had taken shelter somewhere near a mound of snow.

"Arcee, wake up," Optimus said. "Just resting my eyes," Arcee murmured as she rubbed her blue and lavender optics.

"The longer we remain alert, the longer we remain alive," Primrose told her.

"What do you suggest? Wait. How about a game?" Arcee suggested, "Let's play Who Screwed Things Up Back at Base?"

"Our predicament could be the result of a simple malfunction," Optimus reminded her.

"Caused by Bulkhead. Let's see. No commlink. Maybe even no power. The big lug probably tripped over a cord. He's never been too graceful. I remember when we first arrived on Earth and Bulkhead walked into those power lines. Who knew he could dance like that?" Arcee laughed.

"Bulkhead may be...too large for this world. But his inner strength is without bounds. One should not be measured by size alone," Optimus sighed.

Primrose chuckled softly and she leaned against Optimus. "Th-there's this game... that Paige told me about," she said, "us being here reminds me of it."

"How so?" Optimus asked as he pulled Arcee close. "The Wayfarer... they walked through a snowstorm," Primrose said and she looked up at the snow-covered sky, "this is the same snowstorm we're in."

"We'll survive this Prim," Arcee said sincerely. Primrose leaned into her and Optimus and gave a small nod.

◊◊◊◊

Jack, Paige, Miko and Raf had taken care of the swarm of Scraplets that were attacking Firestorm, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Ratchet in the command center.

"We get them all?" Jack asked, only to have the sounds of metal whirring greet their ears.

"Hardly. These were just scouts," Ratchet shook his helm.

"So the rest of them know we're in here?" Bulkhead whimpered nervously.

"And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal, Optimus, Arcee and Primrose will never make it home. We must get the GroundBridge operational," Ratchet declared.

"Then we can use it to send the Scraplets anywhere on Earth," Raf piped in.

"Why not back to the Arctic? We already know they don't do cold," Jack pointed out.

"Sweet! One-stop shopping!" Miko cheered.

"Given the body mass of the Scraplets, the sub-zero temperature should freeze them on contact. So think, Ratchet, think. If the GroundBridge is still down..," Ratchet trailed off.

"There could be a number of reasons the GroundBridge is still down, Doc Bot. Hell. For all we know, there could be a leak in the fuel line," Paige shrugged.

"That's it! A leak in the Energon fuel line! Paige Mariah, you are a genius!" Ratchet exclaimed before he did something that surprised everyone...and it was more than because of his current injured state.

Ratchet cradled the girl and gently kissed her cheek, making her squeak and blush furiously. When he let her go, Paige stumbled backwards in surprise and embarrassment. Miko smirked at the sight she just saw while Raf tried to calm Jack down.

"If we weren't breaching, one of us could go back over there and fix it," Bulkhead said, breaking the moment between Ratchet and Paige.

"Where do we find it?" Jack immediately asked.

"And how do we fix it?" Raf wanted to know.

After getting the instructions from Ratchet on how to find and fix the fuel line, the children set off with a tool box to fix the breach.

"Remember. We're okay. We're not metal," Jack reminded them.

"I cannot believe Ratchet kissed you on the cheek!" Miko exclaimed.

"I'm having a hard time believing it either," Paige confessed with a smile.

"Dude, you're like, in love with the Doc Bot! How come you're so surprised?" Miko asked.

"Because I never thought it would happen. I never thought he'd feel the same. The list goes on," Paige answered.

"Can you two talk about this later?" Raf asked, reminding them of the mission and the fact that Jack looked like he was ready to murder someone.

"There's the breach!" Jack cheered as they approached the breaching fuel line, "Come on! We've gotta work fast!"

It didn't take them long to fix the breach since they worked together. Jack and Paige operated the blowtorches to seal the piece of metal while Miko and Raf held it on place. As soon as they had finished, the Scraplets flew past them.

"They're getting ready to feed!" Raf cried.

◊◊◊◊

Optimus, Arcee and Primrose laid on the snow, side-by-side. Primrose had passed out, doing her best to keep her family warm with her metallic wings even though she knew it wouldn't do much.

"You know the worst part? After battling 'Cons all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, this is how our sparks go out?" Arcee said in disbelief.

"Arcee, this may not be the finish we had planned. But if we are to become one with the AllSpark," Optimus was cut off by a gentle gesture.

In her weakening state, Arcee reached up and rested her servo on his. He turned his servo over and held hers tightly. "It's been an honor serving with you, Optimus Prime," Arcee murmured.

◊◊◊◊

"RATCHET! ALL SYSTEMS GO!" Jack reported as they all sprinted into the room.

"FIRE IT UP!" Miko exclaimed.

"GroundBridge...activated," Ratchet panted as he activated the GroundBridge before falling to the ground.

Above them, the Scraplets swarmed. When Firestorm looked up at them and the activated GroundBridge, he remembered something Ratchet had said about them needing bait to attract them.

"Bait, huh?" Firestorm muttered with a smirk as he limped towards the GroundBridge and let out a loud whistle, gaining the attention of the Scraplets, "Ready for the main course? Come and get it!"

He ran through the GroundBridge with the Scraplets following, eager to eat him. When he ran through, he saw Optimus and Arcee trying to make their way there with Optimus carrying Primrose on his back. But their strength was waning. They could barely keep themselves upright.

"Down! Down!" Firestorm cried before falling into the snow face first.

As soon as they saw the Scraplets follow him through the portal, Optimus stood between the approaching Scraplets and Arcee. Luckily the scraplets were frozen before they could reach them. Harmlessly, they bounced off of Optimus' plating.

Optimus and Arcee looked to Firestorm who shook the frozen scraplets off of his plating. "I'd invite you in. But the place is a mess," the Autobot warrior remarked.

◊◊◊◊

Moments later, they were all recovering from their respective traumas all around the Scraplet-littered command center. Jack, Paige, Miko and Raf stuck around to help them. Raf monitored Bumblebee's vitals, Miko monitored Bulkhead's vitals, Jack monitored Ratchet's vitals and Paige monitored Arcee's vitals since she was in a worse state than Optimus.

"Report bio-circuitry status," Ratchet requested.

"Levels are rising," Jack responded with a thumbs-up.

"Excellent. Rafael, keep a close watch on Bumblebee's electro pulse monitor. Miko, check Bulkhead's interface patch," Ratchet instructed.

"Levels are steady," Raf reported.

"Looking good!" Miko piped in.

"Paige, monitor Arcee's temperature and system operations," Ratchet said to Paige.

"Temperature's rising steadily and systems are operating normally," Paige informed with a relieved smile.

"Perhaps you should get some rest yourself, old friend. You saved quite a few lives today," Optimus pointed out.

"It wasn't all my doing," Ratchet confessed as he glanced at Jack, Paige, Miko and Raf with a proud smile, "We're just fortunate the infestation happened on a Saturday."

"Our human friends may be small. But they are strong," Optimus complimented, his optics looking directly at the kids.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a high-pitched scream of terror. It was Miko. Immediately, Jack, Paige and Raf surrounded her with metal bars in their hands.

"Scraplet?" Jack guessed.

"SPIDER! Is it on me?!" Miko screamed as she ran out of the room with the rest of the Autobots looking on in confusion.

"Did she just scream like a little girl?" Bulkhead asked.

"She is a girl, Bulkhead. What's your excuse?" Paige smirked, earning a playful glare from the former Wrecker.

"Behave, kids," Arcee joked with a smirk as she sat up. Primrose chuckled wearily as she leaned against the wall. Taking in a sharp inhale, she let out an exhale, sending frost and mist up into the air.

Snowflakes began to fall and snow slowly started to build up. Raf laughed happily and Paige smiled.

"Snowball fight!" Raf exclaimed and he threw a snowball at Paige who quickly dodged it with a squeal. She glared at him and smirked before she threw her own snowball at the boy. Miko and Jack soon joined in.

Optimus smiled softly and shook his helm with amusement as Ratchet grumbled about the mess the kids were making.

[dulaman-na-farraige]

Don't mess with them

Suddenly felt the urge to draw @trucbiduleschouettes 's wonderful OCs Auray and Noyal in their seal forms. I love them a lot! Hope you won't mind my drawing them without asking for your permission (I wanted to make it a lil surprise) and they'll cheer you up!