#this is probably the best ratchet I've done

[pluage-docters-go-brrrrrr]

I made this during ELA.

[botboots]

Saw that your requests were open so what about TFP cons with an adorkable teen human reader? A really close friend (the emotional support bundle of joy™) that is really artistic, kind, understanding and just a pure cinnamon roll, what would be the bots reaction to the lil' human? Optimus, Ratchet,Bulkhead, Arcee, BB, and if you do the kids then the kids. If not the other bots, stay safe!

im back!! so sorry for the long ass wait, had so much going on in my life recently (graduating, going back home, etc.) but hopefully i'll be back to posting somewhat regularly! tysm for the continuous support :] love seeing the notifs pop up every day this is one of the first asks in my inbox (and i completely forgot that the prompt said reader was part of the cons... whoops) and i've wanted to get it done for a while now! have so many more to get through but will get them done eventually - this isn't the best but its cute <3 and you can 100% tell who my favs are lmao warnings: none word count: 939 (GN reader)

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Optimus:

he finds your outlook on things is a nice change of pace compared to the more pessimistic views that some members of the team can have at times

values your compassion greatly, often turning to you as a confidant over the time you’ve gotten to know each other. a mission went wrong and he’s putting all the blame on himself? you’re there to reassure him in a heartbeat, reminding him that he did his best and there’s always another chance; you keep him grounded

has an innate interest in art and writing - he used to be an archivist, after all

so he enjoys watching you indulge in your hobby, your excitement about it reminds him of his younger years of being a clerk at iacon when he would become giddy over a newfound archaic text

he’s very fond of you and makes sure you know it, taking note of the small things you like and getting you whatever little gift he can manage to find - genuinely thinks you’re cute and likes seeing you happy :] 

Ratchet:

while it may have taken him a little longer than the others to warm up to you fully, he grew to start looking forward to your company (despite his his best efforts to hide it)

he appreciates your quiet company; you’re much less rambunctious than both the other humans and his own team - you complain a lot less too, probably one of his favorite qualities about you

like optimus, your bubbly attitude gives him a much needed break from the dreary duties that come with being the autobot medic

you often find yourselves working in tandem, with you sitting on the couch working on your newest project while he stands at his terminal typing away. occasionally you’ll walk over with a nervous smile, and with a roll of his optics he’ll lower a servo for you to climb into and lift you up onto the corner of the console, huffing when you chirp a thank you before the both of you quietly return to your tasks (he enjoys it, really)

while he’s not one to vent his frustrations to you, he’ll always be open to listen to you vent about yours. even if he doesn’t respond with much, he’ll offer logical solutions and observations for whatever issue you’re having

Bulkhead:

the big guy loves art, having been exposed to his fair share of it by miko, and is very encouraging when it comes to your projects

he might not get some of the nuances or meanings of the things you make, but he tries - oftentimes making you laugh a bit at the sheer amount he misses. it’s endearing though, and you appreciate the effort

too fidgety to sit and watch you do anything for too long, but he’ll offer to drive you to a vista for some inspiration while he does his usual scouting routes, miko tagging along of course. she’ll probably bring her sketchbook with her and sit next to you and draw, chattering the entire time while blasting some music from her ipod, offering you one of her earbuds

Arcee:

similar to ratchet she takes a while to get used to you, a little cold at first to your attempts at friendliness

she notices how happy you seem to make everyone else and eventually makes a legitimate pass at being friendly despite how awkward it feels

but with how eagerly you accept it she doesn’t feel as bad, sighing in relief as you immediately start filling her in on how much you’ve enjoyed your time with the autobots

she’s not much of a conversationalist (especially when it comes to humans) so your chattiness is almost a relief - not having to keep up fake interest and energy with someone puts her in a more comfortable position; especially since you’re not one to comment on it like others tend to

will sit and watch you work on whatever your newest project is, a comfortable silence shared between the two of you

rambles about random stuff from her past sometimes - you turn out to be one of the few people she trusts enough to mindlessly dump her thoughts to, both good and bad

Bumblebee:

one of the first to get to know you, overly excited about having a fresh face around

super curious when he sees you working on something, a barrage of questions translated from mechanical chirps and whirrs with the help (and annoyance) of ratchet

he’ll actually try and mimic some of your art on the walls of hidden ditches where he and rafael hang out, excitedly bringing you along to show off his latest work and buzzing happily when you praise it

will eventually, with your encouragement, try and make something original - he ends up finding it pretty soothing and an easier way to feel understood; communicating his feelings without words can be unsurprisingly helpful for someone who can’t use any of his own

you’ll spend hours hanging out and working on your stuff - he likes when you help him with his own art, adding your own brushstrokes to the concrete wall

he’ll let you sit up on his shoulder just to watch him make whatever he feels like making, or even just taking you on joyrides in the desert where he doesnt need to worry about anything going wrong

while it’s usually you, him and raf hanging out he does enjoy spending solo time with you - usually in silence or one-sided conversations, but you understand each other well enough without words

will also figure out what your favorite songs are and surprise you with them; he loves when you get all giddy about literally anything

[smokescreenimusprime]

watched tf one the other night with my best friend and now I've been Re-Mental Illnessed, here's some Rescue Bot Smokescreen Rot I rotated while driving home :]

I think I've finally hammered out some more details of Inside Job and this is what I came up with:

like canon it starts with the Omega Keys. Specifically when Bulkhead gets attacked and knocked unconscious when looking for one

And against direct orders, Smokescreen leaves the base to go get him

there were a bunch of reasons why he did what he did. A desire to prove his capability as an EMT. He wants to be a field medic like Ratchet is, he wants to be able to do more than just wait for them to come back injured when the more time that passes the more dangerous it could be. There was also the fear of losing anyone else, especially so soon after he befriended Bulkhead. It's barely been a few days since they started getting along, and the loss of the entire Rescue Bot Force is still raw

so he goes, and finds Bulkhead unconscious and alone in the woods, with the only injury being some scratches and a blow to the back of the helm. Smokescreen doesn't have a scratch on him as they hobble back to base

it doesn't stop Ratchet's anger

Now, don't get me wrong, Ratchet is angry because he was scared. Smokescreen could've been in very real danger. He didn't know what awaited him on the other side of that portal. For all they knew, the Decepticon soldiers could've still been there, and they could've lost the last Rescue Bot in existence

but unfortunately, he says all this when still angry

and Smokescreen, as thick as his skin is from experiencing years of discrimination, is genuinely hurt by it. This isn't just a fellow medic or instructor yelling at him, this is his idol berating him for what he thought was the right thing to do

this is his idol unknowingly repeating the words that followed him all throughout his training and that he sought to prove wrong, and he has no idea how to respond

so he runs. He drives as fast and far away as he can, shuts off his comm because he just. Can't right now. He can't interact with them right now because frankly he doesn't trust himself to speak and not say something he would regret to his dying days

and unknowingly this puts him right in the Decepticon's claws

some aspects of his capture stay the same. He wakes up in the medbay strapped to a table, the Omega Key is extracted, and he is placed under the cortical psychic patch

but the differences happen in the details

His restraints are barely more than a pair of manacles that he could've probably figured out how to escape if given enough time. The Omega Key was removed before he even woke up, the incisions of surgery fresh on his frame but the work is well done with obvious care. With the patch, the mental prodding and information gathering is... oddly gentle and quick, doing barely more than verifying what the Keys are and Smokescreen's identity as a Rescue Bot before retreating

Smokescreen is not a warrior after all. He is a bot thought to be long since extinct who quite literally dropped out of the sky at their feet without warning. He may have loyalty to the Autobots but... he's not fighting this war. Not really. He's just been doing what Rescue Bots do: helping those who need it.

The "cell" he's kept in, if it can even be called that, was an old now-dead officer's quarters. The door is locked and there are guards stationed inside watching him at all hours, but they are not cruel. He gets a healthy amount of rations regularly, and has even been given a data terminal to keep himself entertained (of course, no before Soundwave had thoroughly firewalled and restricted anything that could be used against them)

the most stressful part of his capture is when Megatron comes to visit. Every day without fail, he will come check in on how Smokescreen is doing. He will ask how he's doing and they talk. About Cybertron, about the war, about how accepting the Rescue Bots were, allowing any Cybertronian regardless of caste to join, how much of a tragedy it was for them to have been wiped out.

Smokescreen is not blind to how he attempts to sow seeds of doubt into the Autobots into him. About how cruel it was for them to keep him confined to the base, how cruel Trion was for implanting a relic without his knowledge, questions if Smokescreen truly wanted to help them or if that's just what they've pressured him into doing with false promises that crumble like glass

but instead of refuting him... Smokescreen decides to play along

after all, Megatron obviously sees him as a poor, innocent, helpless bot who could be swayed by some sweet words and a cage advertised as protection

and that facade would make it all the easier to escape when the time came :)

[theoceanoasis]

Hi,

Can we get a part 3 to Rodimus secretly carrying drift & Ratchets sparkling?

Maybe at the dinner its revealed its drift & ratchets sparkling?

Rodimus keeps pushing off the dinner until he’s showing which happens early on because it’s actually two bitties. The other is just hiding.

He paced back and forth knowing he needed to get ready for the dinner but finding himself unable to. He didn't want to go. He couldn't force himself to act like he didn't know the truth.

He saw the look in Ratchets optics. Some part of him knew the truth and it terrified him. They had so much more influence then him. They'd already made it clear they didn't want a relationship with him.

If they knew the truth he was scared they'd take his sparkling away from him. He didn't want to think Drift capable of such a thing but neither of them could carry and they both wanted a sparkling. Maybe if he was desperate enough.

Maybe if he thought about it for too long and all the things he's done wrong his best friend would think it was for the best. His sparkling would be taken from him and he'd never get to see them again.

He doubted Ratchet would have a problem with it. He'd probably even encourage it. He'd never liked him only tolerated him when they slept together. If he found out he was sparked with his child he would take them away from him.

He rushed to the bathroom feeling sick and threw up. He then laid on the floor staring at the ceiling feeling dizzy.

His comm rang and he answered it without thought.

"Roddy?"

"Drift?"

He croaked.

"You don't sound good."

"I'm not feeling well."

"Do you need us to check in on you?"

"What's the symptoms?"

Ratchet asked having come over when he mentioned not feeling well.

"I feel dizzy and I threw up. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Get some rest we'll cancel the dinner."

"Okay."

He shivered.

"If you continue not feeling well call us and we'll come get you."

"Okay."

He lied even though he had no intention of doing that. Hanging up the comm he laid there for a long time.

He knew it wasn't over and that it wouldn't be long before Drift was trying to reschedule.

He pushed it off for as long as possible, always having an excuse and avoiding Drift and Ratchet. It wasn't easy because his pre natal appointments were at their clinic. But he managed to schedule his appointment with other medics.

His belly was growing quickly which he'd been alarmed about because everything he read said it was too soon.

His medic reassured him that it was fine and after doing an ultrasound he was shocked to find out he was having twins. One had been hiding behind their sibling which is why they hadn't been picked up yet.

Leaving his appointment he'd been so distracted with the news he didn't notice Drift or Ratchet who all but trapped him.

"What is it?"

He looked between the two of them trying to hide his nervous he was.

"We want you to have dinner at our house."

He tried to argue but Ratchet cut him off.

"Don't even think about coming up with an excuse otherwise we'll go to your house."

"Ratchet."

Drift admonished and then turned to him.

"I've barely seen you recently and I want to catch up and see how you are doing."

Drift looked down at his sparked belly and he put a hand on it.

Drift seemed dissapointed when he noticed the large swell of his belly and he gave him a confused look until he realized. They didn't know he was carrying twins and with his belly this big it meant he was farther along then they realized. Which would mean they weren't the sires.

Relaxing slightly knowing his secret was a little more safe he agreed to the dinner. As long as they thought he was farther along then he actually was. They wouldn't wonder if they were the sire.

[gaiathemuse]

I've watched Mouthwashing playthroughs and what's caught my eye is the whole "hero" title. To me, a hero is someone who protects the people with what little power they have, a do what is necessary to protect cause no else can or will. They can be flawed but overall good people at their core or willing to be good. (And if I can insert my bias,Ratchet and Clack, and Sir Daniel Fortesque are good examples of this).

But to Jimmy, a hero is someone who gets respected and rewarded, with all their sins forgotten. So what does Jimmy do when he's faced with his own actions? He makes a problem to "fix." But it doesn't go as planned because Jimmy was never good at planning in the first place. He most likely wanted Curly to do the work, while he plays background. But Curly is incapacitated, and Jimmy is forced into that role and he learns it's actually hard.

Cause being a hero actually requires hard work. They help others cause someone needs to and most times want to. When danger arrives, they're in the frontline. Yet when Anya needed help with giving Culry meds he bullied them both. When Anya and Curly were in "danger". Let's knockout Sweans with a cocktail and make Daisuke go up the vent. Daisuke is hurt? Well let's use mouthwash (even though Anya said not to) cause we don't have disinfectant anymore. Jimmy fails all these things miserably.

Because a hero solves a problem that takes place, not "fix" ones they've made. Problems can be solved, but they can't always be fixed. Curly's own mantra proves to be his demise as he assumes anything can be "fixed". He may have fixed alot of problems Jimmy caused in the past, but what he did to Anya won't magically go away. Curly sees the "best" in Jimmy despite all his actions proving otherwise. Almost like a hero who still thinks their friend turned evil can change. A trope here that's flipped portrayed as a flaw, rather than a strength.

As everything unfolds, we see Jimmy get more manic, constantly saying he can fix it, he can fix it. He will fix it. He can still be a hero. He's trying to convince himself at this point cause everything around him proving otherwise. In his hallucination with Curly, he still thinks they both (cause Jimmy thinks they're partners in crime and Curly is now unable to tell him otherwise), can be heroes. That twisted party segment was probably his last ditch effort to play up this role he made in his head, but he even fails at that (which is the point) cause he didn't earn a proper one.

And the major question anyone would would ask at this point is: Hero of what? Who is Jimmy saving at this point?

Judgment Day with Polle was reality shattering the image Jimmy made up. He tried to have a whole hero speech as if he's psyching himself up to be the underdog who saves the day against the impossible. He use of Anya's quote as if she was some friend/lover or voice of reason he's followed this whole time will be his final push to victory and not someone he abused and ignored until it suited him. And its funny cause if anything, it's that final quote that pushes him to his end. Polle challenges him. "Why are you still concerned with Curly?" As Swansea said, Curly was Captain. Captains go down with their ships. Heroes sacrifice themselves for others. Curly was dead to rights.

So who is Jimmy saving?

And only then does Jimmy realize he's not the hero. He can't be. Again Heroes aren't known for fixing problems they've made. If he goes in the cryopod, He'd have to take responsibility for what he's done. Ironically something he chastised Curly for. Having to take responsibility for what Jimmy's done, even though he knows it will all fall on him anyways. He wouldn't have crashed the ship if it didn't. He wouldn't have taken his own life either, cause then he can't control the narrative that way. You get no rewards for that. He'd be labeled a coward not a hero. Something he was running from the whole time. It wasn't until he was given the ultimatum: Be your twisted perception of a "Hero" and take responsibility or die a coward, that he takes this route. The only thing he fixes in the end is the roles he assigned. He's not the hero, he's a coward and dies as such.

[jazzsstash]

I've been rotating keferon's mech pilot au in my mind and considering the intelligence of everyone involved, I’ve concluded that the only way for the deception to last is deliberate subterfuge. Most likely, on the part of Jazz, who is the one suddenly immersed in a new world.

He hears someone slur organics shortly after getting on the ship, and pulls up short, asking what their problem is with organics. Gets looked at funny, told that the Quints are just one example of organic life but that all of them are annoying. Don’t tell Prime that, though.

Oh. Oh no. They aren't piloted.

Jazz invents. He’s from a colony planet, and the organics there were allies who did their best to fight against the Quints. Optimus likes having another mech on the team who is firmly pro-organic, even if he is a little odd.

He’s going to be straight up infamous for how he’s avoiding Ratchet. He can slip away after a battle, show up later completely fixed up and going :D, and really, no reason for Ratchet to look at him now. By the time he's been through a few fights, he could probably build his mech back up from scrap.

Getting food and water is complicated, but with how clever Jazz is, I bet he can swing it. Getting rid of his own energon ration without wasting it, which he would feel horrible about, is slightly easier. He's going to have to install a medic's tank for battle transfusions so he doesn't have to just trash it.

He’s gonna need to figure out how to jack parts of the mech into him that really shouldn’t be if he wants to fake data transfer to him being instant. Boy’s gonna be making a lot of deeply questionable choices in pursuit of “not being murdered by speciest mechs”.

He probably makes a lot of very careful overtures about organics to other mechs, and gets responses varying from “oh, they’re so cute, but kind of annoying” to “we should really leave them alone” to “we should just cleanse the galaxy of them and be done with it.” Notably, nobody saying that they’re people, or that they’d like to meet them or to work with them.

“Prowler, you got any opinion on organics?”

“While I admit some curiosity about meeting ones who helped fight against the Quintessons, they are generally illogical and not helpful.”

Optimus quietly pulls him to the side and advises that perhaps it is for the best that he continues to not specify what colony world he is from until the crew as a whole are more… receptive.

At least his friendliness towards organics and admittance that his planet has ones he likes makes his avoidance of questions that are too specific about where it is and what it’s like are more easily accepted.

Just... rotating the implications in my mind of what it would take to keep the secret, and the positionality of one human on a ship full of robots who think that the human is a robot too.

[zimshan]

august braindump: on the state of tv and heartstopper

the last year has been such a strange time for me and tv. i honestly cannot remember a time i watched less new tv shows. it’s not for lack of trying but every show/season i started, i was just dragging my heels to finish. some of that is because they’re older shows that aren’t as good as their earlier seasons. stranger things s4 took me an entire year to finish. the pacing was just wildly off to me, and that’s disappointing after the incredible structure of s1. some of that is because of subject matter. i haven’t been able to work myself up to watch outlander after the s5 finale because i just don’t have the mental bandwidth for a sexual trauma storyline. babylon berlin i stopped watching because they were threatening to kill another kid. i’ve noped out of so many shows because of the ratcheting stakes, something that i'm so so tired of seeing done just for the hell of it.

of all the shows, i probably watched the great s2 quickest because it was just so off the wall and the tone of s1 still fascinates me. but even that dragged and was partly guilt tripping to justify my hulu subscription, and i could never let my guard down because it was always going for the most outrageous grotesque thing. i’m stalled on s3 now that they’re killing off characters left and right.

i watched shadow and bone s2 like 15-20 minutes at a time in july because i just found it a snoozefest compared to s1. i legit just wanted to finish it to cross it off my list. how terrible is that? the moment i finished, i started the fame game, a bollywood show, literally because of one gifset on my dash. and watched that 4x faster than anything else i’ve seen all year. cementing my idea that the best of netflix is their international shows. but that shit was pretty dark too.

so beginning of august, i opened up netflix sleep deprived and looking for something to get my mind off my impossible deadline and fuel some writing inspiration. someone on my dash was recently talking about Heartstopper, and it reminded me i missed watching it last year when everyone was talking about it. so seeing it pop up on my netflix screen, i absentmindedly thought, "what the hell let’s see what the fuss is about" and started the first episode. and you know it did the impossible. it grabbed me from the first few frames, and i looked up 2 hours later like oh right sleep. and now i just want to analyze it like a bug. what the hell makes it work where others have failed?

the binging culture inherent to streaming tv is fascinating to me because i almost never do it. if there is one anti-binger out there, she is me. i miss the era of one episode a week on a certain night every day for years. my patience maxes out at 45 minutes every time. i think it’s terrible that shows need to be so bingeable millions of people have to watch an entire season in a weekend to get renewed. because even the best shows i can't commit to doing that for. where does anyone find the time or brainspace, idek.

i know most of the coverage and reaction to the show seem to be about representation and i agree. but there’s something about the elements of Heartstopper that just work where other tv shows lately have faltered and i want to break it down for parts. because on paper it does seem so simple. some of it really is just basic storytelling in tv. those first three episodes are key and the pacing is excellent, every second counts and the acting, editing, and music really drive the show and keep it compelling. on rewatch, i can see how the addictive quality is very much in the editing, in the music, to keep it punchy so that you never think to stop watching. but it’s also in the white space, the moments they give to the lead actors to let a moment breathe. i've been beating this drum for decades now but this show gave so many good examples of it.

several 5-minute sequences caught me thinking god that so compelling why how. the one that stood out on rewatch is the texting sequence in 102 after nick’s interception of the assault scene. there’s zero dialogue but the editing, acting, and music work together to feel the weight of the moment and then lift up from there.

all these essentials combine with something unique like the animations as visual representations of emotions and attraction and create some kind of magical alchemy. it’s been a long time since i’ve thought about it but “lightning in a bottle” describes the best seasons of tv i’ve seen: where it feels like everyone on set, all the actors, every one of the crew, writers, directors, care about the story and are working on all cylinders to do their best job. in the age of streaming, this seems to be more rare than ever and learning about mini writing rooms during the WGA strike has helped to understand why. so has seeing those checks to send home the overall state of residuals in the streaming era. to do the best job people need to be paid fairly. full stop.

so i started Heartstopper and watched 4 episodes in the blink of an eye. the next day, 6; the last day 4. then i did a thing i almost never do anymore: i looked up the soundtrack. music has always been a driver for me, a tv show that nails a score or soundtrack is always gonna get under my skin more than one that doesn’t. it’s part of the necessary ingredients for a good show for me. all my forever tv loves, music plays a central role, music that defines and sets the tone for the show and then becomes forever married to it. you can create a list of the songs and play it back and see the show unfurl again in your mind. its my favorite way of revisiting a show without actually watching it, after a good vid that is. but it works best when the music is a dead lock for the scene or character and typically this is sound driven more than lyrically driven. this show uses a 2012 era style sound i already have a strong affinity for, i have multiple work playlists from the last decade to drive me through a deadline with Foster The People, Fitz and the Tantrums, et al.

but it also did a thing i haven't seen in a long while: the lyrics were used as an extension of the script for internal character POV. in the first episode alone you have the following lyrical-visual pairs: -i'll go anywhere you want to go on charlie getting ben's text to meet -i wanna get lovesick with you on nick watching charlie run and asking him to join the team -right before i'm swallowed by my mind and cursing at the sky on charlie out of place on the rugby field before nick pulls him in to the group -what's the point of looking at the view? cause every time i do i just see you on elle and tao missing each other -the world ends it's you and me/in my head if we can be together/maybe we'll live forever on nick tackling charlie and the leaves animations around them -i see the signs of a lifetime on nick getting charlie's thank you x text paired with the flowing bird animations roll to the credits

this is vidding happening here.

so i spent a good two days listening to the soundtrack and related albums as i got through my deadline. and then i started getting some more questions about the timeline on the story (the soundtrack is of a style popular circa 2012 that i associate with 8tracks playlists even though the actual songs are a bit later, 2015 onwards) and looked up the books the show was based on. i started Solitaire after seeing it was the author’s first book and wanting to read tori’s POV after the glimpses in the show got me thinking about her elder daughter role.

then i looked up the comics when i realized the timeline of Solitaire was a year later and wanted to fill in the gaps. and wow, i’m in awe of how much of the show was already here, how much detail went into the show to match certain frames. the comics are basically acting as storyboards for the show. i used to do the most basic storyboarding for vidding a lifetime ago. i’ve recently gotten the storyboarding itch again the last few months after watching some BTS docs on TCM about storyboard artists and remembering how fascinating and underappreciated the skill actually is. there's some beautiful storyboarding out there, but it doesn't have to be beautiful, it's just got to be functional. at its heart, it's about the frame, the shot, the visual that tells the story. and a lot of that is already done in the comics and translated straight to screen.

i’m inspired learning about alice oseman’s story as a young author, how she started and finished Solitaire before graduating high school, writing the story she wished she saw on the shelves. then how she was taken with her two secondary characters and started teaching herself how to draw to visualize and bring to life their own journeys. it’s such a great example of how storytelling takes on a life of its own and how you are not defined by only your current skillset. there are no boundaries on creativity and curiosity but the ones we self-impose on ourselves.

the last few years, i’ve been thinking a lot about why some works fail to resonate while others succeed, especially in regard to book to screen adaptation. it probably started with the absolute fail that was GOT S8 and rereading THG next to the films and grown from there with my TCM pandemic focus. obviously it’s a gamechanger when the author is the showrunner and that alone is rare. the whole nature of Heartstopper as a webcomic first and driven by subscribers and kickstarter donations is unique as well. alice has built up a passionate audience to create for that helped promote the show and that makes a lot of difference.

but the streaming element is an added issue. by the time i finished season 2, my one overriding thought was wow, imagine society if this had aired 20 years ago. i couldn't help but think of the kids this show could have helped, seeing such an sincere example of queer community on screen. but interrogating that further, i know it’s a silly thought. it wouldn’t have gotten made at all. in 2000, dawson's creek kicked up hate over one gay kiss that amounted to almost nothing. my best friend at 15 came out as gay and felt like he had to pirate QaF asap as the only piece of queer rep around but something far outside of our age group. this story is age appropriate for the age that needs it. in 2023, homophobic parents are waging wars on the school board and libraries in our area for carrying books with queer representation including those of oseman's. no network would greenlight 22 episodes of a queer tumblr webcomic. netflix gave the show 4 hours for its first season in the middle of the pandemic. it only gets made in the streaming era. it is a product of the times, even if the story originates 10 years earlier.

[]

the picture of queer community and lifting up and supporting others is essential for the age this is targeting. i know i'm 20 years older than that target and am mindful of that. this show is not for me. but it's been a while since i've watched a teen series, probably skam, which is a big outliner in teen shows. i think from my dash i assumed the show was going to be pure teen fluff but instead was surprised how much texture it has. the love story is the focus of the gifsets, but it does sell the show short imo. the world doesn’t ignore the dark parts---homophobic bullies, abusive partners and clueless parents, trauma and its long tail, anxiety and eating disorders, the ways love and community can uplift and support but not cure. reading Solitaire i can see where it’s coming from, a dark story that starts the verse. the darkness is there not ignored but part of the journey. its presence makes the light more powerful. but its best virtue is that despite its dark parts, it’s at heart a comforting story. and i think this is an overarching reason why it succeeds as a show. the comic does right by each character and in turn cares for the reader. so everyone working on it saw the story as a comfort themselves and did right by the story. that care shows on screen.

the way Solitaire ends is a thesis statement of sorts for the osemanverse: support and lift each other up, you’re not alone and stronger as a community. it matches skam's thesis, and heartstopper continues it. that reminder is a balm to these times. it's the ethos of organizing but it got lost in isolation of the last few years. its simplicity is part of its power. part of lightning in a bottle is timing. i know some people have lived with this story for years, but after 4 long plague years, its sincerity speaks to me. i can’t think of a reminder i needed more than this story at this time. sometimes you really do stumble on the right story right when you need it.

anyway, this verse has gotten in my brain now so fair warning. heartstopper/osemanverse posting ahead.

[eveningdawn222]

Hey,

You're nineteen. The same age I was during the first Trump election. I supported Bernie and, still to this day, hate Hillary and what the DNC did at the time.

I hated picking the lesser of two evils. I remember when Obama was elected and I still remember some of the Bush years. I still think it's absurd we're having to choose the lesser of two evils.

When it came down to Clinton and Trump in 2016, I chose not to vote. I couldn't bring myself to.

Since then, I've regretted that choice and learned a lot lot more about political theory. I've kept up with legislation at the local and state level and learned to decipher politician speech.

As someone who clearly remembers 2016 and is starting to see history repeat, please reconsider a refusal to vote for Biden if it comes down to him and Trump.

This is about harm reduction and protecting democracy. I'm pissed about our country supporting Israel as well. But withholding a vote will do nothing when the whole of DC is deadset on supporting Israel. Or when the Republicans have clearly stated with Protect 2025 that they intend to end democracy if elected - Which means you and I will be completely blocked more than we are now from getting a true progressive in.

I can't force you to vote for anybody. But some things I learned in 2016 election?

Primaries matter. Dems were forced to change their positions on some issues after seeing that Bernie nearly got elected.

Politicians don't care if you don't vote. Only if you do. Not voting won't send the signal you think it will. All it will get you is ridicule from Democrats and nothing from Republicans.

Harm reduction is incredibly important. Yes, Trump and Biden may share some issues. But I know Biden will support unions much better, is not looking to actively kill queer people like me, and can be pushed on issues like student loan debt (I didn't think he'd do anything for it - still not great but so much better than Trump would have been).

Presidents don't have all the power, but they have enough to make a difference. Democrats should have done more with the Supreme Court and Ginsberg should have resigned while Obama was in office. However, we wouldn't have the complete shit court we have today if Clinton had won the electoral college and the presidency. Jan 6 probably wouldn't have happened.

At the very least, I ask that you take time to consider what I've said. I'm terrified for my country. We can't break the ratchet until we stop it. (If you don't know what the ratchet effect is, take a sec to look it up.)

Best of luck to you. May what you need always be within reach.

yeah anon i get that. it is really scary and i am still on the fence about voting 3rd party. i want so deeply to not have to vote for fucking biden. i want a better world, a better leader. genocide joe shouldn't fucking be president but neither should fucking trump. please know that i'm not completely set in voting 3rd party, im constantly trying to figure out the best option, to the point that i'm getting literally physically sick from fighting internally with myself. thank you for reaching out, im just so conflicted between thinking "it's the lesser of two evils" and "no change will ever happen if we don't take a risk."

[konata-izumi-kinny-writes]

MTMTE Swerve, Rodimus Prime, Ratchet, Kup, and Strongarm (Rid2015) with a Human S/O who loves singing

Part 1

Please don't ask how a human lived long enough to board the Lost Light, because i have no idea in the slightest 🤣

Also... oml i LOVE Strongarm SO FREAKING MUCH AAA- SHES SO COOL <(●´∀｀●<)

Swerve

He just stood there as he realized that amazing melody is coming from you!

He thought he was hallucinating and that maybe he had a bit too much filtered Engex

Nope! Its just you.

Swerve is amazed though, he talks about it to everyone and just doesn't shut up about it 🤣❤

If you don't have stage fright he'll ask you to sing at the bar as entertainment... and to keep him company.

Big boi misses you when you're not around.

He gives you lots of human-safe drinks to give you a break and help you stay hydrated.

Expect lots of smooches after you're done with your little musical lol

If you do have stage fright, no worries, he understands and won't pressure you.

He'll be really proud of you if you come out of your shell though. Like. Incredibly proud.

Won't stop ranting to you about how amazing your voice is once the thought crosses his mind

He means well, he loves you a lot 🤣

He harmonizes with you

Hes not the best singer out there but hes not the worst either. He tries though.

He carries you around like a baby.

Its because he loves the vibrations of your voice resonating against his spark chamber

Rodimus Prime

Big flashy bastard 💛

He loves you and your voice. A lot.

Has you sit on his lap whenever he has to pilot the Lost Light.

No need for a radio, he has you 🤣

If you have stage fright he helps you get over it (ofc in a gentle way)

Loves any cheerful or upbeat songs

He likes Kikuo but only because he doesn't know the lyrics. Loves the melodies.

Hes very musical, so he'll probably end up singing along with you.

Lay on his chest and hum a tune, it'll be like the equivalent of a cat purring on your lap.

Hey, maybe it inflicts the same effects and benefits a cat's purr has too :D

Big flashy bastard. He loves you.

Ratchet

Big frumpy medic

He was really surprised to hear you, he was impressed though.

He doesn't have too much off time unfortunately, but when he does he just relaxes with you and listens to you.

You calm him down a lot

Your voice especially helps Ratchet after nightmares or particularly bad days

Very understanding if you have stage fright

He takes a slight interest in how your vocal cords work, doing research and studying how your throat moves with every noise you make.

Sometimes he lets you go with him so you can help calm down his patients

Despite how frumpy he is, he loves you

He loves songs from The Beatles

Sorry if this is short :(

Kup

Another big frumpy man

He was speechless the first time he heard you

Kup approached you and gave you a pat on the head after you noticed him

"Didn't know ya had such a pretty voice, doll."

Gave you a kiss then picked you up. Kup sat down to relax and enjoy a cygar as he put you on his lap. Whether you continue singing or not, is up to you.

He'll give you good advice if you have stagefright.

You listen to his war stories, he listens to your melodies.

He'll sometimes hum along with you, otherwise he stays quiet while bouncing his leg to the beat.

Sometimes he likes to distract you with kisses on the cheek

Romantic old bastard 💙

Strongarm

BIG STRONG BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ILOVEHERSOMUCHAAAAAAAAAA-

*ahem* right, sorry.

She legit thought a radio was playing when she heard you. She went to investigate and turn it off, but she found you instead.

She picks you up into a hug and tells you how much she loves your voice.

"Well color me impressed, sweetspark.. your voice is the best i've ever heard!"

Lots of kisses and praise was given, even at the expense of being teased by Sideswipe

Its okay if you have stage fright, shes perfectly fine being the only one to hear your beautiful vocals

She likes almost any kind of music as long as theres a melody to follow.

Harmonizes with you

Very protective, theres lots if decepticons out there and she doesn't want you to get hurt.

Overall, Strongarm is a very sweet lady and she loves you a lot. 💙

Thanks for reading

Requests are still closed, i'm sorry.

[thelaurenshippen]

I'm back with some additional info/context that I thought might be interesting to people.

I've been looking around at a bunch of different perspectives in the hopes of better understanding of peoples' concerns and the positives of the deal. this twitter thread from NegComm member Jason Winston George was very interesting to me, especially the following:

this is one of those "we've got to be pragmatic" points that I do think are worth consideration. the whole thread makes an argument for why voting no would be short-sighted - this is the best deal we're likely to get (probably true), we can't stop the advancement of technology so we need to work with it (definitely true), and we cannot let an entire season of network tv get canceled (true and it would be disastrous for the industry in ways I'm sure I don't even understand). so I do believe the folks in the union who are making the argument that we are losing the strength of our bargaining power - I'm sure the AMPTP sees it that way. this deal has a lot of problems but there is the real possibility that if we vote no, the contract we'll ultimately end up with will be worse or the same, and we'll have lost out on months of work not just for actors, but for everyone in the industry.

however, other things are ratcheting up my personal concern. Variety spoke to some of the members of the board that voted "no" and the whole article is worth a read. it makes some of the same points - that if we voted no, that doesn't mean we go back on strike, and it doesn't guarantee any of these points remain on the table. imho, if we did vote no, the AMPTP wouldn't come back to the table until january at the earliest - not only would they most likely be little whiny babies about having to do their goddamn jobs (I have no love for them lol), but nothing substantial really gets done in Hollywood from Thanksgiving to January. we'd most likely be looking at Jan/Feb/March for a new deal that says who knows what and, in the meantime, I'm not sure if we'd be on strike or if folks would continue to work under our last contract which has no protections for things like digital replicas. there's a real, legitimate argument to be made for voting yes simply to stay alive. not to mention, apparently SAG is going to be pursuing some state and national political moves to help shape public policy around this.

BUT!

in that same article, Variety quotes Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director of SAG, and in a Zoom with members earlier this week, this happened:

Crabtree-Ireland fielded numerous AI questions from union members. He was asked if actors could be required to give an AI consent as a condition of employment. “Yes, they can ask you for that,” he said. “If you can’t reach agreement on that, then yes, they can go and hire somebody else instead of you.”

yeah, so. uh. that's not consent. this is exactly what I was concerned about (click the read more above, though at this point, my concern here would move from "hm" to "bad") - as every decent person alive understands, coerced consent is not consent. holding someone's employment hostage until they agree to your weird thing is coercive. I can't believe I even have to say this stuff.

"but lauren", you say, "employment is always conditional on someone agreeing to a contract that they have the right to negotiate, how is that coercive?" you're right random internet stranger, except we all understand the difference between "I'm signing a contract that says I'm going to provide the service I'm being hired to perform and I'm agreeing that the company I'm signing with will own that performance I give forever" and "I'm signing a contract for that service and also they'll only let me do that if they can read my diary because the director likes to read actor's diaries to better understand them and when I give over my diary, the company can do whatever they want with it".

like....that's weird, we all agree that's weird. handing over your diary is not necessary for you to perform your job as an actor. giving a mega-conglomerate your digital likeness is not necessary for you to perform your job as an actor.

let me be perfectly clear on that last point: digital replicas, synthetic performers, and digital alteration have nothing to do with the art or profession of acting.

to expand upon this point - I was explaining all the terms to my partner the other night because it helps me to understand them better, and I was getting really worked up about the synthetic performer stuff (read about that above). and when my partner pressed me on it, I admitted that I didn't actually think that synthetic performers were going to replace actors - maybe the technology will one day be good enough, but it isn't now, and ultimately, people do not fucking want to watch made up computer people replace actors. I don't know that I believe in my heart of hearts that whole cloth AI performers are a true threat.

so why was I getting so hot headed about it? well, because it's in this contract at all. we're still waiting on the full contract language, but my understanding is that, basically, SAG (a union for actors) is saying "hey studios, please tell us if you're using a totally AI generated object in place of a human actor so we can talk about it, k thx".

I'd rather we didn't say anything at all. a) the studios are not going to fucking do this lol if they want to replace human actors they just will and b) WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT AI OBJECTS AT ALL. is the idea of a studio replacing us with pixels scary? yes. does this meaningfully do anything to prevent that? fuck no.

what it does say to me - what all the digital alteration stuff says too - is that AI objects and actors are essentially the same. oh sure, the first part of the generative AI section is "Parties acknowledge the importance of human performance in motion pictures and the potential impact on employment", but those words are not legally binding in literally any way and also...I don't think we are acknowledging that. I think, instead, by acknowledging that AI human-looking objects exist, by acknowledging that someone's physical movements could be digitally altered without their consent, by acknowledging that someone could have their digital replica film a whole scene without the actor present, we're saying that acting isn't a meaningful craft at all. I don't care if those actors are getting paid for the work of their digital replica, acting is not an art that can be automated.

I don't know. I'm still undecided. I see the practical reasons to vote yes. and I agree that this technology is going to move forward whether we like it or not and we do need protections for actors who can't afford to sue every time their likeness is used without their consent. but it bums me out that the SAG-AFTRA - the union for actors, the actor's union, the union made by and for people who perform acting jobs - is seemingly siding with the "actors are meat puppets" part of Hollywood.

finally taking the time to read through the SAG agreement summary and oof, I hope they have an AI town hall soon because...well, there are things to discuss!

so, in case folks are curious, here are my immediate takeaways from the deal as a SAG actor, a SAG producer, and person who is not any kind of expert but spends a lot of time being skeptical of contracts I sign. this is a summation/commentary, not a holistic breakdown of every point, nor even an in-depth discussion of the points I do talk about. and it is, of course, in no way legal advice or voting advice.

this post is already maybe the longest post I've ever written on tumblr (lol) and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. to be clear, nothing I'm saying here represents how I'm going to vote, how I think other actors should vote, or my be-all-end-all stance on a particular issue. this is me reading through, flagging what concerns me, and asking myself questions. and I'm here to take your questions too! though of course my expertise is limited.

(what?? something I wrote got annoying long?? in my tumblr? it's more likely, etc. huge write-up after the cut)

the good

self-tape stuff: this is one of the more niche/the thing that the general public will find least interesting, but they've put in a lot of provisions to make sure self-tape auditions have limits (# of pages, no stunts, no nudity, doesn't have to be professionally shot, etc.) which is amazing because these types of auditions have gotten out of control since the pandemic. this feels like a great gain

data transparency: in no world did I think the streamers were ever going to agree to any data sharing with either the wga or sag so even though the data is limited, this still feels huge to me.

folks who sing and dance will be paid for both of those things now, which is great

they've added MLK day and Juneteenth as holidays (about time)

a performer cannot be required to translate their own lines

principal performers are required to be given hair and makeup consultation or reimbursed for obtaining their own services - this seems like a small thing, but it's being put in here pretty much entirely because HMU services have generally been appalling when it comes to textured hair/a variety of skin tones. there's also stuff in here about working to hire more diverse HMU artists

it looks like it's going to be easier/provide a path for folks getting IMDb credits even if they're not credited on screen

miscellany: there's a bunch of gains in wage increases, P&H increases, relocation fees, franchise language etc. that all seem good to me, though my limited knowledge on those subjects prevents me from going in depth on them.

this is not important, but it tickled me, there's a term to replace all instances of "telegraph" in the contract with "email & text" which like...why has it taken us thirty years to do that lol.

the "...hm..."

intimacy coordinators: oof. when I watched the press conference SAG gave, I was fucking thrilled when they said that the new agreement required folks to hire intimacy coordinators for nudity and simulated sex scenes. that was almost reason enough for me to vote for it tbh - not requiring it is the exact reason I voted no on our last contract. however, reading the contract summary now, the exact language is: "Producer must use best efforts to engage an Intimacy Coordinator for scenes involving nudity or simulated sex and will consider in good faith any request by a performer to engage an Intimacy Coordinator for other scenes. Producer shall not retaliate against a performer for requesting an Intimacy Coordinator." this....sucks. "best efforts" and "good faith" are not the same as "required". IMO, an intimacy coordinator is the same thing as having a stunt coordinator or, like, any number of health and safety requirements. OSHA doesn't say you must "in good faith" put your "best effort" to providing fire exits. it's great that performers can request coordinators for any kind of scene, and this is still the strongest language we've ever had in a contract but....c'mon guys.

residuals: look, I can't speak to these new terms in any concrete way. there are increases, there are bonuses for streaming success, there's a whole thing about a fund regarding those successes that I need explained to me more in depth, but overall, it looks like we made some in-roads here. as someone who employs actors under digital distribution contracts that has no residuals (podcasts), I know how genuinely cumbersome the unholy trifecta of "views-success-profit" can be (as in views do not equal success, success does not equal profit, etc.). I also have no sympathy when the majority of companies dealing with that cumbersome trifecta are massive media conglomerates. anyway, long story short, idk if this is good enough, I'm hoping to attend the next info meeting sag has.

the bad

the new hair/makeup provisions are explicitly for principal actors. while I hope it leads to better, more inclusive HMU services all around I haaaate that this implies supporting or background actors (who oftentimes also have to sit in HMU) don't deserve the consideration. (then again, background actors are usually required to do their own HMU/bring their own costumes, but for productions where that's not the case, the same HMU provisions should apply IMO)

as with every contract, there's language that could be stronger, clarity that needs to exist, and important things missing - but this isn't the final contract and I'm not a lawyer, so I'm gonna leave that stuff to the experts.

but, "lauren", you say, "what about all the AI stuff? where does that go?" well, reader, I was planning on including that in the above but it's the hot-button issue right now and I think it's wickedly complicated, so I wanted to break it down separately, after I had a chance to point out all the good-bad-in-between stuff that's not getting talked about.

a note: in my career, I've learned there's two big things to keep in mind when reading a contract you might sign:

what is the worst case interpretation of this language (thank you to my lawyer, prince among men, for teaching me how to do this in practice (that said, anything I say here is not legal advice, he'd also want me to say that lol))

what are you willing to lose/compromise on/what are the limits of your pragmatism? contracts are not about a company giving you everything you want out of the goodness of their heart - it is always a compromise. pragmatism has to be a part of the equation.

so, with that said, I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here, and a) try to find the good/the pragmatic and b) catastrophize the worst case scenario. but first, it might be handy to look at this SAG infographic for some basic definitions. let's go.

the AI good

a ton of stuff here requires consent. that is not a small thing, and the consent continues even after your death (whether it was a yes or no; though this can be complicated by your estate/your union)

the language does establish that the consent must be a separate signing from the employment contract, even if its in the contract, which is great (but more on that below - timing matters)

actors often do get paid for use of their digital replicas, though it's different based on the use/type of replica.

the actor must be provided with a "reasonably specific description of the intended use". this language is vaguer than I would like, because it allows producers to decide what "reasonably specific" and "intended" means - there's always going to be some vagueness when it comes to this specific thing, but a good start would be for producers to require not blanket consent, but conditional consent for each significant use of digital replicas.

if the replicas are being used in other mediums, that must also be consented to, thank god.

replicas cannot be used in place of background actor counts on a given day - if I'm understanding this correctly, this means a production can't just have a bunch of fake background actors by themselves, they have to engage real people up to a certain number first (which in this new contract is 25 for TV and 85 for movies). we're already filling in background with digital people or copy-pasting of the same crowd over and over and have been doing so since at least the late 90s, so it's good we're continuing to put up boundaries around that.

the AI "...hm..."

it's unclear (to me) when an actor can be asked to consent. IMO, everything is meaningless if the consent is happening as part of regular contract negotiations. these things have to happen when - and only when - the actor has already been engaged in a role and feels empowered to say no

the use of independently created replicas (replicas pulled from existing footage, not created by the actor) being allowed without consent under first amendment reasoning - this is obviously concerning a lot of people bc first amendment arguments are so broad. that said, there's a pragmatism part of me that understands this is already happening/has been happening for a while and used in ways I think are perfectly fine - I was just watching the new episode of For All Mankind (one of the best TV shows right now!) and it's an alternate history, which meant that in the opening scenes of this season they had some bonkers good deep fakes of Al Gore saying stuff he never said. I think that's okay to do in a fiction show that imagines a different US history! "but Lauren", you might be saying, "Al Gore isn't a member of SAG!" are you sure? are you positive? because I'm pretty certain he is - he was in several episodes of 30 Rock, way more people are in SAG than you think (every NPR reporter for instance), and the two worst presidents we've had in the last 50 years (yes, those ones), are both definitely members of SAG (even if one is dead). now, the other side of this is that public figures like politicians are under a different social contract than actors, and if they wanted to sue, they could, unlike the average SAG actor who might have their image abused. this is why this is in the "hm" column - deep fakes and parody/satire/commentary use of replicas is already here and there's always going to be a 1st amendment argument to make, so we need to figure out how best to limit those and protect the most vulnerable.

alteration: with this language, a project can digitally alter without consent if the script and performance stays "substantially" the same. again, this language is too mealy-mouthed. I don't know that I have a huge problem with a line of dialogue getting replaced with a digital version of that actors voice if, for instance, a word was mispronounced, or wind garbled the sound or whatever - yes, it would eliminate the need for ADR, but if we put some limit on it like..."if there are more than 5 lines in a given episode/movie that require digital alteration in the service of clarity, the actor must be engaged for an ADR session or paid for the digital replacement" then I could see this being workable. I'm also personally okay with things like costumes being digitally altered but, again, we need limitations on that. digital altering cannot replace the art of costuming but, for instance, if a costume needs to be altered to include a hate symbol or something, I think that's fine (example: I have friends who worked at the VFX house for an alternate history TV show that involved a lot of Nazi costuming and set design - a huge part of that VFX house's job was to put swastikas in places, rather than props making nazi flags. I'm okay with that!) but again, these fringe cases do not a compelling arugment make, and this contract language can be interpreted too broadly for my comfort! like everything else in this "hm" category, I need to see the final contract language to decide.

the AI bad

there's a bunch of circumstances in which actors don't get paid for creating their replica/use of it and those circumstances are too broad for my taste.

synthetic performers - this is just awful. no. no, we should not be allowing AI to generate entire actors. just............no. there's some language about the producers having to talk to the union if the synthetic performer is "used in place of a performer who would have been engaged under this Agreement in a human role" but this doesn't apply to non-human characters so....wouldn't that be all roles?? leaving the producers room to be like "this role has to be synthetic, we never would've cast a human!" is bullshit. also, even if we're having AI create a magical talking unicorn whole cloth (which, like, also no, we have artists for this), that unicorn still needs to be voiced by a human person. this whole section is a disaster.

the exceptions to consent for digital alteration are bad-bad. I talked about the potential ADR replacement above and that has a whole host of issues with it that I didn't even get into, but I can see the argument. the rest are very troubling:

there is an exception under "any circumstance when dubbing or use of a double is permitted under the Codified Basic Agreement or Television Agreement" - okay, so does this mean we can replace dubbing artists and stunt performers entirely? this section is about digital alteration, but who's to say alteration couldn't turn an actor broadly miming a fight into an entirely digital, expertly performed fight that usually a stunt double would have done? with AI translation technology, does this mean we're replacing VO artists for dubs entirely? bad!

similarly, "Adjusting lip and/or other facial or body movement and/or the voice of the performer to a foreign language, or for purposes of changes to dialogue or photography necessary for license or sale to a particular market" - Justine Bateman has a great twitter thread on the terrible puppetry potential of this but I want to draw attention to the particular market bit - we all know that selling to china is such a huge part of studios' strategies that they'll remove entire scenes or lines around queer stuff. to me, this clause makes all of that so much easier. I know the argument here is going to be "we can replace swear words and license it for kids!" which.......sure? fine? but, uh, we already have ways to deal with that? and the potential for abuse here is terrifying to me. with all the digital alteration stuff too, there's just so much icky implication for the beauty/body standard to get so much worse.

if a background actor’s digital replica is used in the role of a principal performer, they'll be paid as if they actually performed the days for that role, which, sure, but uhhhh why are we saying it's okay for a digital replica of a background actor to suddenly be a leading role!?!?! I can't think of anything more demoralizing than going to set to act in background (a job I've done! an important job! a fun job a lot of the time! but creatively limited) and then getting a much bigger role (the dream!) and.....not being able to, you know, act that role or be in scenes with other principal actors or do the thing that you've dedicated your life to doing. nightmare stuff.

woof. there's so much more to say but I'm going to leave it there. these are the concerns I'm going to go into SAG's meetings with, and the concerns I'll be considering as I decide how to vote. I know there are things I didn't address and very possibly things I misinterpreted or misrepresented - if you're an actor, I highly recommend a) reading that Justine Bateman thread and b) attending SAG's meetings to ask questions and express your concerns. and I'd love to hear what y'all think! my ask box is open.

[tigressaofkanjis]

Transformers Earthspark: My Thoughts of the Preview

This is going to be an interesting series I think. I've seen people pointing out that there's a team Optimus is working with consisting of humans called G.H.O.S.T., a cool nod to the underused N.E.S.T. probably or the forgotten Unit E, and that he has a specialized symbol to signify that. Megatron has it too which means there might be a Decepticon-Autobot semi-alliance to hunt down the dangers of Earth which that would be cool also. I'm pretty interested to see this play out.

Now my thoughts on this whole "born-on-Earth" concept for the terra Transformers is a bit mixed because it's playing with creation of a Transformer without the source of what creates a Transformer so I'm curious as to wondering were they from the Allspark on Earth, did Primus just zap them into existence, or so on? I really hope the series touches up on that subject because it's not a bad concept but if done wrong, I will see, given all the attention it has on it, it's going to possibly hurt the series as the elephant in the room.

I think we learned many times that humans aren't the best to bring in a series because you either love them or hate them and when people bite down, they go for the jugular and then that's all they focus on for determining a series' worth. But, I have some good feelings about this that maybe we'll get solid characters...

But I don't like this weird half-human half-cyborg villain idea. I really don't. Bring in foreign, hardly-used or normally weak Transformers as villains and let them shine, that's fine by me. Human villains never work because it just looks stupid. TFA knew what they were doing when it came to human villains. They knew they were jokes at the beginning and made (most) as such because they knew what the audience expected it to be and it worked. A Silas-like villain though is just an annoyance and it usually ruins the whole illusion of the series. Could I be wrong? Absolutely! Maybe this Dr. Whatever-the-hell-their-name-is may be a great villain but I don't have a lot of confidence in it until it's actually proven to me.

As for the designs, they are...not the worst but it's going to take a while to grow on me, that's for sure. They kind of have this uncanny valley to like the robots from I, Robot and Bicentennial Man which is just like the "ahhhh, that's so weird!" mentality. Megatron looks decent, he's fine. Every other Transformer, especially the terrans, have a weird factor going on and it's...it's a thing. It is definitely a thing. Optimus has babyface going and I can say TFA did it better.

But, all-in-all, I'm more than willing to give this show a chance. It seems like something solid at least story-wise. If...Megatron is a part of this G.H.O.S.T. operation, and Optimus and Elita One are assigned partners (as it appears to kind of look like), please give Megatron an assigned partner that can out-sass him because I guarantee it will be hilarious if his assigned partner on the team is someone like Ratchet, Arcee, or Ultra Magnus. They could bring salt to his pepper for some comedy gold!

[favesgrave]

IDW 1 End Thoughts

Okay, I've had most of the day to process things. Maybe I can put it all into words now. Spoilers below (duh).

I still can't decide if I like this ending. I'm leaning more towards "no." Unicron was the final arc, the endgame of the series, and so many characters got killed off. I'd recover from one death, and then another would happen. Starscream, Soundwave, and Wheeljack were all favorites of mine, so seeing them die was... not fun, to say the least. They aren't going to get to enjoy a peaceful world.

And I get it, I guess. Thinking about it in-universe, this was the best outcome for everyone else. Without other bots sacrifices, more probably would have died. I'm not happy or satisfied with it though, especially with Cybertron just getting destroyed. That really bummed me out.

Now, onto Lost Light. The final Lost Light comic was a giant punch to the gut for me. Ratchet dying, Megatron getting his sentence (which we never actually find out what he gets), the crew splitting up, and a few other things.

Like... everyone forgetting Rung. Just, why? Why was that necessary? Was there an actual reason given and I just forgot? Was it supposed to be funny or something? I didn't find it funny. Just... really, really sad. After everything he did, they just forget him. I'm not cool with that.

Time for Megs. Because... yeah, we knew this was coming. It's been something established since he joined the crew. Even if he did good things, like helping the Functionist Universe, there's still so many unforgiveable things as well (I say this as an IDW Megs fan!). I guess his sentence is up to fan interpretation. Death, or eternal imprisonment.

Rewind... oh, I'm so sorry buddy, you got done dirty. First he dies, and then we get him back and things are happy for a while! Then in the last issue he's like, paralyzed. I don't like that either! Unnecessary sadness, once again! Same goes with Ratchet's death! I'm pretty sure there's characters older than him that are alive. But nope. Ratchet dies from age burnout. Yippeeee.... Brainstorm's whole thing with his accident was another punch to the gut!

And I feel really bad for Rodimus. It seems like he may be an alcoholic now? Or something close to that. He still gets to go on adventures in space, but like Drift told him, it's not the same. It'll never be the same without the Lost Light crew.

SPEAKING OF THE LOST LIGHT CREW!!! THEY JUST DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER FOR YEARS? IT'S THE FOUND FAMILY BREAKS UP AT THE END TROPE AND I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. Like, I get they all have their own lives... but still. You get what I mean, right? And I know that there's that copy in another universe, still going off on adventures, but it's just not the same. The main characters, the original ones we got attached to, they're still living their lives, most in less-than-happy ways. It just kills me a bit.

So, in conclusion, the IDW ending makes me feel empty. It leaves me going, "Oh. This really is it, then." Though, I do think the Optimus Prime comics ended better than Lost Light. That one truly was bittersweet for me, while Lost Light was just gut-punch after gut-punch. That being said, if you've been reading all my reactions to this series, thank you. I started this last summer and now, I'm ending it this summer. I don't know what it is, I guess when it turned June my brain went "it's pride month now FINISH READING ABOUT THE GAY ROBOTS!"

That being said, I'll probably read IDW 2. I don't know when, I've gotta find a reading order. So if anyone has one, then I'd love to see it.

[primergon]

I'm not sure if you're still doing these and it's fine if you don't since you have your own life and can be busy but if it's alright, may I request a tfp match up?

I'm 5'3, asexual and chubby and go by she/her.

I'm calm and withdrawn at first, I'm usually very silent when I'm surrounded by people I am not comfortable with. I have suspicions that my selective mutism that I had when I was younger may still be around because there are some situations that require to speak, I get uncomfortable and find it hard to say anything. I don't know, it's just a thought, not sure if I still kind of have it. I just kinda hate being forced to talk when I don't want to. I don't go out much, I prefer indoors, I only go out if I have to.

But yeah, when I'm surrounded by people I'm comfortable with, I'm more talkative and more expressive of my emotions. I don't have many friends in real life but I do have a few online ones.

I usually prefer texting than verbally talking to be honest. Its just easier for me to express. Not like I could physically see my two best friends since I had to move last year but luckily we have discord 💀🤚 otherwise my dumbass can't even go out to try and make friends nor even want to.

I like games, though, I'm also a procrastinator and a lazy person. I tend to procrastinate on my school work and other things like watching a certain anime, tv show, movie and even with playing games. I have a game block 😔👊.

I don't know, but I can be insecure about myself but I try to be positive about some qualities I have. Anyone could compliment me, I mean, there's nothing to compliment anyways, I would just say that they blind or something or wrong. I get insecure when I show people my music taste only because they just seem uninterested when I play it 😔👊. My friends reckon I'm smart but I just don't apply myself to my assignments... Idk, I believe I'm just stupid. Somehow, I don't get stressed out easily, even when a due date is coming up and I haven't done much in my assignment. But that probably depends on the subject and how important it is for it to be done, otherwise I will start getting a little stressed. I don't believe that my problems should matter ever, because I've had a good childhood, a loving family, though occasionally, I have some problems with my dad otherwise we're usually fine. I mean, my friends and many other people have it worse than me so that's why I don't think my problems are relevant.

I can get childish and get distracted easily. Like, I could be doing an assignment or homework and after 30 seconds, I'm on my phone or doing something else 💀. Sometimes, I need things dumbed down for me because I'm just like, "what??"

I love comedy and laughing, it's just fun. I like memes and sending cursed memes to my friends or anyone else that happens to be on the same server I am. To be honest, I'm active 24/7 on discord and mostly active on one server because I socially suck to talk on any other. I'm not a fan of horror because obviously it's scary yet I like watching people play horror games 🤔.

I'm not a fan of physical affection, but it depends on who the person is and how comfortable I get with them like my family for example. My love language would be quality time I think but only a bit of physical affection if I'm comfortable enough ig 😕.

I've never been in a relationship before because I fear cheating, arguments, having a significant other bored of me and all the other problems. And because I'm not that interest in romance that much at the moment in my life

In regards to people having problems in their life and they vent to me, I find it hard to comfort them. I try to do my best but I suck at it. I usually don't know what to say and I wish I knew. It's not that I don't care, I do, I'm just more of a listener than a talker but I try to find some words to say in attempt to help. It's a little easier for me to comfort someone online than in person, I'd probably be silent.

I'm good at keeping secrets, I would take them to the grave, though sometimes I can forget depending on the secret. I can be a forgetful person, not only with some secrets but other stuff I'm suppose to remember 😭.

I love music, I can't tell what genre I like, I like many songs. I'm also an animal lover and currently doing animal studies, which mostly revolves around dogs at the moment but I'm looking forward for the cat part, I love cats, I have two of them.

I'm sorry for all this information, now that I look at it, that's alot. I'm sorry 😭🤚

A/N : Hi Anon! Thanks for sending this ask, I hope you're doing well (｡𓎆 𓎺 𓎆) Don't worry about the long descriptions, I don't mind! I think I'll pair you up with tfp Smokescreen !

TFP SMOKESCREEN

01 | Smokescreen has a way of making you feel at home. In the beginning, you were reluctant to open up, yet once you've gotten to know the playful mech, you find it easy to talk to Smokescreen. You enjoy listening to him ramble on and on and on and find no trouble comforting him when he needs to hear it. In return, Smokescreen is more than happy to speak on your behalf whenever you don't feel like talking. He may be enthusiastic by nature but he isn't pushy. He never forces you to do something you're not okay with and makes you feel safe. This is why eventually you opened up to him and both of you became fast friends.

02 | Texting with Smokescreen is never boring. He's always ready with a handful of reaction pictures and a dozen of emojis when chatting with you. The young mech is naturally expressive and curious, which is why he's always up to date with the latest memes and trends. ( The way Smokescreen text may frustrate Ultra Magnus at times but it never fails to make you laugh.)

03 | Two of you share a lot of common interests which is why you get along so well. Ever since Jack taught him how to play video games, he's been asking you to indulge him. Smokescreen can also sometimes feel worn out and choose to watch movies with you indoors instead, following the plot of your favorite anime and always quoting them on the battlefield. He's not picky and is almost up for anything as long as you get to spend some quality time.

04 | With his positive, upbeat attitude, Smokescreen rarely seems upset or dissatisfied on the outside. But his inner idealism can leave the mech with a nagging feeling that some major areas of their life just aren’t good enough – which would sometimes make him feel insecure. The two of you seem to understand and relate to each other's experiences, making you comfort buddies that lift each other's spirits whenever you both feel down. He reminds you constantly that your problems matter and he's more than happy to listen to you vent, while you assure him that he is good enough because he's trying his best.

05 | He knows you're afraid of starting a relationship, and while he can be a bit impatient and bold, Smokescreen is more than happy to take it slow with you. While he himself is disorganized, Smokescreen tries his best to remind you to catch up on schoolwork. ( Smokescreen tells himself he's turning into Ultra Magnus whenever he finds himself nagging you.) He doesn't take it against you when you don't get what others are saying and is more than willing to rephrase it for better understanding.

06 | Smokescreen thinks you're special. He loves how you're so good with animals and how you seem to have all the right songs to show him. Smokescreen can watch you play with your cats for hours and has a copy of your playlist for him to listen to whenever he feels down. He finds it adorable how you can be forgetful at times and admires how loyal you are in keeping secrets. ( Like that one time you covered for him and saved him from being yelled at by Ratchet.) He doesn't see any flaw in you and even if he does, he accepts that as a part of you : his favorite human.

I hope you enjoy this Anon ! xx

[anon-e-miss]

Can you do "I don't know if I can stay awake" and "hang on, i've got you" from the ask meme? (Also, i like how you connected some of your minifics!)

Prowl had floated in complete silence for mega-cycles. His chronometer was malfunctioning, everything was malfunctioning. Buried beneath thousands of tons of debris, Prowl could not track the massage of time by the rising and the setting of the sun. He guessed it had been mega-cycles since the sky had literally fallen on his helm. The war had come to Praxus, and it had wiped his city-state off of the map. Their dome had been useless. Their defences had been for not, for the destruction of Praxus had come from within.

The thieves of Praxus’ peace had filled the sewers and catacombs with powerful explosives. He did not know if they had intended to obliterate Praxus or if they had only intended to bring it to its knees. Prowl could not ask them their motives, they had not lived. The bombers had detonated their explosives when Prowl had his enforcers had cornered them. They had committed suicide to see their devilish mission done.

Why did he still live? His brothers would have suggested Mortilus might be too weary to take him for Prowl would be too stubborn to die. If Prowl had had the strength or the vents he might have laughed at the thought. He was a stubborn mech, there was no denying that. But Prowl was not so stubborn that he did not recognize when he had lost and when it was time to admit defeat.The explosion had thrown him down the elevator shaft, down into Praxus’ secret core. He had been then buried alive by the shrapnel and debris that had fallen in after him. Prowl was pinned, save for his right arm. He had worn his digit tips raw trying to scratch his way free. He had stopped trying to dig himself out some mega-cycles ago now, it had been a fruitless pursuit to begin with.

There was no use trying to track the passage of time anymore. Prowl drifted in and out of consciousness as his frame starved of energon. He hardly felt any pain. That was probably not a positive. His frame was probably entirely crushed. Perhaps the only parts of him still viable were his processor and that one arm. It would figure, that his faulty processor would prove indestructible. He lay in the still tomb, buried by his murdered city, and waited, not for rescue, not certainly not, but for Mortilus to come and to do his job. Suddenly, there was a brilliant light and Prowl did not have the energy to even hiss as it blinded him. Something fell over his outstretched servo. He felt a stranger’s grief and they squeezed Prowl’s servo. Somehow, Prowl found the strength to squeeze back. It recoiled and Prowl felt a whimper rise in his throat as he reached into the blinding light for it. He found the servo, or it found him and the stranger squeezed his servo again.

“I need medical down the shaft ASAP.” Prowl listened as the stranger, a mech he thought, spoke into his comm with a strong and foreign accent.

“You get yerself scrapped?” Prowl heard the gruff voice through the crackle of the comm.

“No, Hide, I found a survivor!”

“I’m a bream out,” another voice spoke.

“Find Search ‘n Rescue. We’re gonna have to dig the poor fragger out before y’ll be able to get yer servos on ‘m.”

Prowl clung to the servo with the very last threads of strength in his frame. He felt immeasurable comfort in this barest of connections. At last he was not alone, Prowl felt a perfect peace fall over him. He was not going to die alone beneath his dead city. Someone was here, holding his servo. The blinding light dimmed and Prowl somehow had the strength to sigh with relief. A moistened cloth brushed over his cracked lips and wet his glossa.

“Thank you,” Prowl wheezed the first glyphs he had spoken since he had woken in this tomb.

“My pleasure. What’s yer designation?”

“Prowl.”

“‘M Jazz. My friend Ratchet’s comin’. He’s the best medic on the planet. He’ll take care of ya.”

It was a nice thought. Nice enough to put a small smile on his faceplates. At least he had found the strength to give Jazz his designation. He could tell X-Brawn and Side Burn what had become of him. If they cared to know. They might not. X-Brawn had said that Prowl had carved his own tomb when he had chosen to stay in their city-state rather than follow them off to war. Side Burn had called him a coward. Cowardice had nothing to do with it. Neither had denial. Prowl had recognized the danger of as the flames of war had been fanned around them just as surely as they had. But he had not believed his best hope of protecting their home had been leaving it. He had thought, with his enforcers, that he could protect Praxus. Prowl had been wrong, but so had his brothers. The Autobots had not been able to save Praxus’ either.

“Can ya online yer optics for me?” Jazz asked. Prowl had not realized he had let them dim. With a startling amount of effort, Prowl brought them online. His vision was fuzzy around the edges. He was so tired. “That’s better.”

“I do not know if I can stay awake,” Prowl rasped. His gloss felt thick and heavy in his mouth. Jazz squeezed his servo, and brushed his face. It was good. Prowl’s optics flickered. The cloying darkness was hard to resist. He was glad he was not alone.

“Hang on,” Jazz said, wedging himself into the gap. His visor clad face filled Prowl’s vision. “I’ve got ya.”

[nsane99]

25-30

25. Something my art has been compared to that I was NOT inspired by: I've got an oc named Edring, a robot fella with a round head and antenna, apparently people really like comparing her design to clank from ratchet and clank. A little frustrating because I've never seen that character before and I 100% see the unintentional resemblance.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what I intended: I don't think I've experienced something quite like this yet, lucky I guess lol. I mean, what I mentioned above could apply I think.

27. Do I warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it I draw to warm up with: Before I draw more complex stuff, I usually like doodling my ocs or other people's ocs. It's a good opportunity to make some silly little things for friends lol.

28. Any art events I have participated in the past (like zines): Sadly no not really, I think the closest thing that could count would be artfight, but otherwise I've usually just kinda sat here and done my own thing. I do wanna branch out a bit more and work with other peeps or get involved with some projects at some point should the opportunity come around!

29. Media I love, but doesn't inspire me artistically: Honestly, I kinda let myself get a little too engrossed in my own work/media that tends to only inspire me artistically, so I'm gonna say it's the stuff I haven't yet seen that everyone else loves so much lol. Will usually see someone rant about something like infinity train, owl house, or some games that I haven't gotten into, and I'll just be hella happy seeing them go off about why they love it, and enjoy the tiny clips and pieces of that media people share around when something big in it goes down.

30. What piece of mine do I think is underrated: Several commission images I've made in the past just got like, minimal engagement at best, they're always the ones I spend the most time on :P It's just how it goes though. In particular there was one I made a while back for a bud, it was their sona fighting Urayne from that pokemon uranium fan game. I spent so much time on it and it got met with some criticism for being a bit too busy looking. Will probably post it here later because I'm still pretty proud of it.

[talkeetnaadventures]

Apr 18

Yesterday I slammed out 2 more walls! I didn't think I had the energy for it going into it, but at 2pm I was at Moore's getting plywood and by 5pm I was calling my friend to come help me lift again.

The day started with about an hour of getting the dogs situated. One of the neighbor dogs came by to visit which got CG all ramped up and sent Camel into a panic tail spin.

Eventually the neighbor dog left. The girls were LOVING the sun.

1st wall of the day framed out. I've been building the walls in place so they don't have to be moved much before or after lifting.

Plywood down!

I'm not really sure what Camel was doing here but it was cute.

Walls lifted and done!

Except for a small problem. A 1.5" problem.

My foundation shifted during the winter so it isn't level anymore. It was only lifted about 1/4" in the center which I didn't think would be a big deal. Turns out that 1/4" rise gets amplified to a 1.5" gap at the upper seam between my two walls. I was pretty devastated. And honestly too tired after such a long day to really think critically about what to do. So we braced the walls in place and left them.

Today I took a stab at mitigating the problem. I got the big ratchet straps out, climbed up there, and squished the two walls together. I got the gap down to about 3/4". I think that's the best it's going to get without shimming both walls at the base. I'm hoping as the ground defrosts and softens that the center posts will drop back down a bit but I'm not holding my breath. This wall isn't load bearing so it's probably OK to have a little gap.

I also threw in one window before I decided to spend the rest of the day laying on the floor in the sun.

View from the floor. I could get used to this.