#what good is finding a sense of community if its built on disliking others and fakeclsiming instead of lifting others up?

[whatdoinose]

as a osdd system i feel incredibly isolated in system communities not only cuz theyre so alter-based but also. every fucking OSDDID specific space is founded because they don't like endos and not cuz they just wanna have a nice supportive place for OSDDID folk. its incredibly stupid. like what are we even doing atp?

[johannwolfgangvongoethe]

Umineko, again

episode 1, part 7

i am not entering the Danger Zone where i want to see fanart of natsuhi but i cannot look her up bc i need my mind to be absolutely unblemished. if i saw a spoiler now, that would ruin everything. i actually care about this enough to actively avoid and fear spoilers. thats how serious it is getting. usually i really dont care.

so. back to the story.

eva suggests the servants did this together and its obvious she also fears what they could do, should they find out she knows. this makes sense superficially. perhaps it was even done under the directions of kinzo or natsuhi. man eva really fucking hates her. except why would the servants do this and why would shannon be a victim, too? and why would they draw that weird summoning circle on the sheds door? perhaps the closest theory that makes sense is that kinzo was behind it all and possibly got help from genji but even so... getting rid of his children and doing weird black magic shit might make sense but again, why shannon?

if this was an ace attorney game, we would now collect evidence. but it isnt and we cant because its dangerous. that would be too easy and umineko really loves to take its time before it presents you with conclusions.

never heard of her

concerningly, maria has entered her joker arc now. i cannot say whether this is her or beatrice using her as a vessel, much like i think she did during the reading of the letter. i just highly suspect shes doing that. ehhhh, not sure this needed three different cg's that get creepier each time. you're overdoing it man. its creepier if theres just a Little off about maria's face. this is my personal subjective criticism.

in general, i personally dislike the creepy child portrayal they started doing with maria. mostly bc i think its corny and instead of making things More Scary and creating tension, its just ruining the built up atmosphere. for me.

later on there is discussion whether her behaviour can be written off as Purely roleplay but i am not quite buying this. there has got to be more to it. then again if there is One thing that can change a childs speech pattern like this and influence their entire body language and behaviour.... it gotta be a witch hyperfixation and urge to roleplay.

so what does all of that mean!!!! huh!!!!!! it seems important to me that breaking free off bonds is a topic in this. everyone dead seems to at least share this common burden. some sort of social obligation to bound them. who doesnt!! but this seems to be an important topic in this game.

battler's personal resolution haver theme is really good. he is so funny. he is not buying any of this. from a rational standpoint it is correct of his to keep his guard up and suspect the worst of his questionable relative. from a meta standpoint it is extremely funny and bizarre he would rather blame a relative than escape into the more calming belief that a magical being could be causing all of this. even when the servants all straight up tell him beatrice is a person.

battler said NO escapism. i accuse my aunt of murder like a man. and then he also threatened the servants into talking, i guess. well, let him be mean, he has lost so much....

it seems battler specifically was just born with the inability to see or talk to her. skill issue. so she has to communicate with him through others? AND THE THING IS he is right. there is no reason to believe in a witch. he might look silly to others but i get him though.

is this beatrice in the room with us right now

servants of course accept beatrice as the culprit no problem and they seem to just straight up know that the six dead people were choosen by chance. interesting. so thats just one of the normal game rules? i guess? i had been wondering.

also i had not expected my comment about how natsuhi living reminded me of a game of werewolf to be this accurate. so maria's charm actually did it's due. wtf my questions are actually getting answered.

ALSO

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF THEM ALL

natsuhi with a gun

the lore for that gun is so fucking funny. grandpas western culture love is so unserious if you Are the western culture reading this

[oliviamillss]

reading dreams chart

im only going to use up to orb 3, for stronger accuracy lmao

**if you can’t be bothered to read it all, theres a summary paragraph at the bottom**

sun:

sun in 7th: strong emphasis on relationships. tends to copy others lingo/habits. extroverted. probably ‘needs’ others. only really shows his true self around his close friends/family/partners. 

sun at 19 degrees: a libra degree. (emphasis on this bc libra rules 7h), makes him a very charming, likeable, particularly popular guy.

sun opposite ascendant: inner conflict, probably doesn’t feel like people see him for his true self, may struggle showing true self. may feel misunderstood. may need approval/validation a lot.

sun square mars: hints to daddy issues. may struggle with a lot of built up anger and frustration, but it seems like he takes it out very positively, as you can see he is competitive, so i think he lets it out through gaming. probably very energetic, motivated.

sun square saturn: high expectations for himself. probably the type of person to think ‘i’m only good enough if i do this’. probably very hard on himself. also probably very insecure of himself, but doesn’t show it. another sun square masculine planet, more hinting to daddy issues.

moon:

moon in 7th: probably relies on close friends/family/partners a lot. loves to help people, esp people he’s close with (kinda mr beast vibes). probably very like ‘oh shit, he’s sad, i need to do everything within my power to cheer him up’ if that makes sense lmao

moon in virgo: looking after people!!! esp with the sun square saturn,, high expectations. probably a very much perfectionist, which also explains why he is competitive. may ‘always need to be right’. but virgo moons are actually so lovely omfg

moon at 9 degrees: sagittarius degree, likes to help people by optimism, and giving things to the person that they would want (im aware that sounds obvious lmao). probably feels a sense of achievement when cheers them up.

moon square pluto: probably hard time dealing with and growing from negative things that have happened, possibly struggles with letting things go. possibly self destructive (why did that one heatwaves part come to mind), possible trust issues + anxiety, probably very particular about who he lets close into his life, maybe quite protective. 

mercury:

mercury in 6th: likes to help people, probably not disappointed if he spends his time working with someone, may struggle with anxiety/depression. a quick learner, probably overthink every word because it wast the ‘perfect’ thing to say. 

mercury in leo: funny asf, and out there, also thinks his ideas/things to respond and say are the best, with the 6h and 7h placements, he is open to listen to others, but in the end he only really wants his one lmfao, good with conversation.

mercury at 1 degree: aries degree, another fire placement which emphasises the loud, out there kinda vibes.

mercury trine mc: career and reputation are strongly linked with what he says. (this is obv bc hes famous lmao). he’s smart, particularly with technology and its linked to his career. *im aware this sounds like im just describing him, this is exact so thats why its overly accurate*

mercury opposite neptune: daydreamer, probably has a lot of thoughts and ideas in his head, but they just dont come across right. probably zones out, may struggle with focusing. but very creative, has big and creative ideas. i havent mentioned it before but its come up too many times now, but he has a lot of placements, when manifested badly, creates a good manipulator

mercury square jupiter: optimistic, possibly thinks his ideas are the best (we’ve covered that before), can be really overly talkative or just nothing at all. (i rlly dont know much about this placement)

venus:

venus in 7th: he will have a beautiful relationship with his future partner. charming asfff, probably a good flirt. tends to love love. needs to be liked, sort of a pleaser. 

venus in virgo: the type of person to remember everything about the people he cares about. loves to help the people he cares about. probably sees the people he truly loves as ‘perfect’, which may end up being really bad if they’re toxic. 

venus in retrograde: struggles feeling loved, possibly feels like he doesn’t deserve love. probably the type to be like ‘how could you ever love me?’

venus square mc: attract people who take care of him. either has self-esteem issues, or is quite a dependant person. creative. may struggle finding people who support his career, or may have to change a few things about himself to be liked by others. 

venus trine jupiter: very likeable, and he’s veryyy lucky. he’s funny, and a generous person, probably very giving to his close friends and family. charismatic asfff, likely he will marry someone foreign. 

mars:

mars in 9th: more things hinting to attract(ing/ed to) foreigners. loves experiencing things with people he cares about. likes to learn more and more, possibly stubborn, makes sure his opinions are known.

mars in scorpio: that boy needs privacy in his life, doesn’t like being predictable. probably an overthinker. we’ve already known this but he’s definitely a top. probably could get anyone he wants, seductive asfff. also pretty spiteful.

mars at 17 degrees: leo degree, fame bitchesss

mars square ascendant: hates to lose, competitive. people may be intimidated by him at first, can’t really hide anger, pretty stubborn.

mars opposite saturn: really hard on himself. wants to be the best of the best, leader. stands up for himself. another placement hinting to daddy issues. harsh about his work, and himself in general, perfectionist. 

mars square uranus: anger may change a lot, a lot of energy, probably struggles to focus, doesn’t like to be the one who is being controlled/has restrictions. probably struggles with authority. outbursts of anger.

jupiter

jupiter in 3rd house: loves writing, and is actually pretty good at it. knows how to talk to people, how to persuade them, and how to manipulate them. good liar, knows how to sell his wants across, how to get what he wants.

jupiter at 4 degrees: cancer degree, cancer rules his 6h. he uses his luck/money to help others.

jupiter square neptune: big dreams, desire to escape the world as it is.

saturn:

saturn in 3rd: afraid of/ is often misunderstood. struggles to open up?, maybe he wasn’t listened to much growing up. hard on himself academically, feels like he isn’t smart enough. hard time expressing himself. maybe feels like noone really cares for what he has to say?

saturn at 16 degrees: cancer degree. idk what else to say abt it lmaoo

saturn square ascendant: quite serious, maybe struggle with the way he looks? possibly quite overwhelmed about his life,, feels like he has too much to do at times. fear of rejectionnn

saturn square uranus: maybe he doesn’t like change, tradition v change clashing. authority troubles. probably needs freedom, but feels unstable without what he’s used to. rebelling against norms. 

uranus: 

uranus in 12th: probably very curious about unexplainable things, maybe quite into conspiracy theories. two complete ends of the spectrum: fear change/need it, unpredictable things happen/ everythings the same. 

uranus at 14 degrees: taurus. taurus ruling 2nd, i guess it shows change in dream’s wealth.

uranus opposite north node (and conj south node): with exceptions, doesn’t like conflict. he is fine with joke conflict, but the second there’s an actual argument he tries to be the ‘peacemaker’ guy. technology is major in his life. also quite nervous about his career/future. 

neptune:

neptune in 12th: awful sleep schedule. overworking himself, never relaxing. vivid dreams. once again, this has come up loads and i just haven’t mentioned it: intuitive asf, george is the same. whether either are aware of it or not, they are super intuitive.

neptune at 2 degrees: taurus degree.

neptune sextile mc: creative, also likes helping others, empathy to the public. has big dreams career wise. 

pluto:

pluto in 10th: determined person, gets a lot of hate, but also a lot of love. trust issues, persuasion/manipulative abilities. leader leader leader. another hint to daddy issues, maybe privacy invading, maybe overprotective. don’t want to be controlled.

north node:

north node in 6th: overwork himself. but i think we can interpret this as his life goal to be working to help people. literally mr beast. just work hard, and give a lot away. humble.

chiron:

chiron in 9th: possible restriction from either his or his communities beliefs/religions. maybe he’s afraid of leaving where he is right now (sapnap moving to orlando, whenever its brought up its always george coming to orlando)

lilith:

lilith in sagittarius: need for truth. dislikes restrictions. hides emotions, uses humour to avoid them/ make people think they’re okay when they’re not. stubborn asf. 

lilith in 10th: tend to be sexualised/ reputations for being sexual. another placement hinting to daddy issues. really wants to be at the top, the most powerful. likes using his dominance/ power to seduce. motivateddd.

lilith conjunct pluto (exact omfg): typical ‘mystery’ guy. probably the mystery/scorpio vibes he pulls off attracts/ seduces people. the most dominant partner ever. sex is probably so intense and overwhelming

moon square lilith: possible mummy issues. his need for sex can change quick asf, from one end of the scale to another. struggles to open up. 

 i ought to mention!!

there’s a theory that the degree of your venus sign is the birthday of someone who is v important in your life. what’s dreams you may ask? 1. and when are george and sapnap’s birthdays? the 1st. they’re soulmates, your honour.

summary!!!

basically, dream has so much care and love for his friends and family, and probably relies on them a lot. he only shows his true self around them, and he (at least thinks) people don’t really understand him in the way his friends and family do. he is a social person, who’s very likeable and charming. he lovesss helping people, doing everything in his power to cheer others up, he remembers details about the people he loves. he is such a perfectionist, needing to succeed and win and everything, and is very competitive. he probably doesn’t think he’s ‘worthy’ if he’s bad at something. he sets very high expectations for himself. he is very hard on himself. if he wants to, he knows how to manipulate people. he has so so many placements for an amazing manipulator. he may struggle to express himself or open up, and may be hard on himself academically. maybe he doesn’t feel ‘listened to’. a lot of emotions like anger and sex drive may change rapidly for him. he over works himself a lot. a major theme in his life is tradition vs change. he is probably afraid of change, or finds it uncomfortable, or he may have some sort of attachment to traditional values/things, no matter how much he wants to change. he is also a peacemaker. he was born to be loved or hated, kinda like marmite but if the balance was more equal. he doesn’t like restrictions. he uses humour to hide his emotions.

im also thinking of doing a synastry reading between george and dream but idk yet lol

hope you guys enjoyed, this took ages lmao<3

[silkling]

Hi Silkling, could you please write a TFP story where Sierra discovers the Autobot's secret and joins up with Team Prime? TFP never really did much with her, and I think that a shame. I think Smokescreen would make a good partner for her.

Absolutely! Great to see you again in my ask box! :D your last prompt was super fun to write to, so I’m looking forward to this one! Now, I admit, I never paid much attention to Sierra, and the show didn’t give us a lot to work with, so I’m going to have to come up with some of her characterization. And I agree. So I’m mashing her with Smokescreen. It’s gonna a be great. I love Smokescreen very much! I even have a whole AU of my own for him. He’s a tiny happy dumbass and since Sierra has basically no canon personality, I can make her be his long-suffering but still very fond best friend.

———————————————————————————————————

Sierra had been having a good day. Emphasis on the word had. It was the weekend. She had packed a small picnic, grabbed her favorite book, and hopped on her bike. She’d ridden out to the popular hiking trails, intending to take a short hike and finding a nice place to spend the afternoon with a her novel and her snacks. The sun was out, the weather was great, and she had nothing to do today. It was perfect. So, of course, the laws of the universe demanded that something go wrong.

‘Murphy is a cruel bastard and and I’m going to punch him in the face when I see him in the afterlife.’ She thought viciously, staring up at the hulking titan that had just crushed her lunch and bike under a single massive metal foot with a sense of numb disbelief. ‘At least I still have the book.’ She ignored how the thought echoed with a note of hysteria as she shoved said book into the messenger bag over her shoulder.

“Are you Sierra O’Niell?”

She was only slightly surprised when the massive robot spoke. Because why wouldn’t the giant robot that had just moments ago been a jet be able to speak? Honestly, what even was her life at this point. She was more concerned with the fact that the thing knew her name. Her initial instinct was the demand how it knew her name. But she’d seen the movies. She knew that would only confirm it’s suspicions.

“Who?” she forced herself to ask instead, surprising herself with how steady her voice was. It was the shock, she told herself. It had to be. It was making her emotionally numb. “What are you?”

The robot seemed startled, before it snarled something that was most definitely a curse. It started speaking, though not to her, and it took Sierra a moment to realize it must have been talking over some sort of built in communication system. “-wrong human, Soundwave! This pathetic fleshling you pointed out to me doesn’t even know who I am talking about.” It paused. “What do you mean it’s not the wrong human? I just told you-“ it cut itself off. “Ah. I see.” A sinister grin twisted at metallic features. “Thank you, Soundwave. I will return with my prize shortly.”

Oh, Sierra did not like the sound of that.

Sure enough, the robot turned to face her when it was done. “It seems you lied to me, little fleshling.” it sneered. “My associate tracked the signal of your personal communications device. You humans never go without it, I’ve been told.”

She blinked. “You hacked my phone?” she sputtered, and oops, she’d just confirmed her identity. ‘Stupid, Sierra.’

It’s face twisted into a cruel expression of glee. She did not like it. “Indeed.” It began bending down, and then a large hand was reaching towards her. “You shall be coming with me, human. Soundwave has seen how Jackson Darby is fond of you.” it purred. “You will make a lovely bargaining chip against that pathetic human runt and his Autobot protectors.”

And wait, this was because of Jack? How did he come into all this? If this thing was after her because of him, that had to mean he knew about it and it’s…friends. Did robots have friends? She didn’t know. And wait, Autobot?

She stiffened, scrabbling away from the large metallic hand, shunting those questions to the back of her mind to be answered later. Escape the terrifying metal monster now, murder Jack for pulling her into this later. Clearly though, the robot disliked her attempt to flee because it only growled and stepped towards her again.

That’s when she heard the roaring of a powerful engine. It made the robot pause too, and they both looked to where the sound came from. Then, over the crest of a hill, a white and blue sports car came flying in. It had red accents and bold 38s painted onto its doors. Sierra was impressed. She was no car person, but even she liked this one. Only, the car started breaking apart once it hit the ground, unfolding and growing into the form of, you guessed it, another robot.

Sierra despaired for her luck. ‘Murphy is going to die a second time for this. He’d better be prepared.’ She thought with vicious hysteria.

Except, to her great surprise, the new robot didn’t try to help capture her. No, instead it rammed full force into the tall jet robot that had tried to snatch her up. Said jet yelped before quickly getting back to its feet. Sierra heard the should of metal and gears shifting, and saw the newcomer’s large hand change to some sort of weapon, though not one she could recognize.

“Terrorizing humans now, Starscream?” it taunted. “Can’t say I’m surprised, you always were one to sink so low.”

The first robot, Starscream, apparently, snarled in outrage. “Pathetic Autobot!” it roared, and oh, so this newcomer was Autobot?

Except, from the two names she’d heard already, that didn’t sound like the type of name these robots seemed to have. She did notice the little face badges they wore, the white bot bearing a red one proudly on its shoulders while the jet robot wore a smaller, pointier face on its chest. So maybe those had something to do with the whole ‘Autobot’ thing? Hell if she knew. Sierra was clever, and she’d always been good at puzzles and mystery solving, but she didn’t have enough information for this whole…thing.

“I’m not the one who’s picking on defenseless humans, ‘Con!” the car robot barked, smirking at the skinnier jet.

The jet only snarled, lifting an arm that she was just noticing had a freaking missile attached to it, and the white robot stilled briefly, before shooting her a frantic look and oh, would you look at that, she seemed to be right in the blast radius of the missile, and oh god she was going to die-

Except, there was that shifting sound again, but much larger, and then car robot was leaping towards her. It hit the ground in car form, it’s driver door open as it slid sideways in her direction, and then she was swept up into it and the door slammed shut. Tires squealed, and then they were peeling away to the sound of a missile screaming and impacting where they had been a half second before. The jet roared in outrage, but the car robot was speeding straight towards civilization, and it seemed to want to avoid that because when she glanced at the rear view mirror she saw it leap into the sky and transform before flying away.

Sierra slowly sat up from her ungainly sprawl, pulling the seatbelt across her chest on reflex before sitting back against the driver’s seat and wheezing. Her heartbeat, which she only just noticed had been thundering wildly in her chest, started to slowly calm, and she had to force herself to take deep, even breaths to keep herself from hyperventilating.

Now, Sierra wasn’t an irrational girl. She was among the top students of all her classes, she was smart, she knew a lot about various topics, and she had a good understanding of how people worked. She was clever, she knew she had a good head on her shoulders. She kept some of her interests closer to her chest, and she played the good, polite, quiet girl for the adults, because she wasn’t without manners, thank you very much. All that meant, though, was that she wasn’t prone to screaming in terror and running like a madman when she was freaked out by something. She would prefer to understand something rather than be irrationally terrified of it.

This, though? This was a bit much, even for her. As her heartbeat calmed, a sense of nausea built in her throat. “Excuse me, robot?” she squeaked. She wasn’t even sure if she could communicate with it while it was in car mode, but it was worth a shot.

“It’s Smokescreen.”

What?

“What?”

“My name is Smokescreen. Not “robot”.”

It sounded miffed. Which, okay. That was fair. If someone called her just “human” she’d probably be upset too. Hell, she had been upset when that other one, Starscream, had called her a “fleshling”. Smokescreen’s voice also sounded very male, and she paused before asking.

“And you’re not an “it” either, then?”

“No, I’m a mech.” A pause. “Uh, a male, by your definitions.”

“Okay. Smokescreen. Well, I’m Sierra, and as grateful as I am for your rescue you should really, really stop and let me out. Humans don’t handle extreme stress very well and I’m about to be sick.”

“Sick?”

Oh god, did robots even get sick?

“I’m about to vomit. Which means I am very close to expelling internal body waste, and it will be right in your seats if you don’t let me out so I can barf behind some rocks.” she informed him tightly, fighting down a gag.

There was a brief moment if silence as Smokescreen seemed to process her words, before he turned off the side of the road, drove behind some rocks, and popped open the door. “Please don’t be sick in me.” Oh, now he sounded sick. Sierra felt a little bad.

She didn’t say anything to that, instead stumbling out of the car and out of sight, before promptly bending over and tossing her breakfast. She gagged on bile, and after a moment of pause to make sure there was nothing left in her stomach, she stood and made her way back to where Smokescreen was waiting. She pulled her water bottle from her bag, taking a sip and washing out her mouth with it before spitting it to the side, and then she proceeded to drink everything left in the bottle. She tucked it away, turning to her impromptu ride, and opened her mouth to speak, when-.

“Oh slag.” He beat her to the punch.

She was confused, recognizing that as a curse of some sort, and then she heard the beeping from his radio.

“Um, hold on for a minute, alright? I gotta take this.” He sounded anxious, and didn’t give her a chance to answer before there was a click as he did just that.

She heard muffled noises over the radio, though she couldn’t make out the words being said.

“Um, yeah. There was a ‘Con signal. I was close so I checked it out.”

More radio noises, angry sounding ones.

“I know, I know! But I was closest and no one would pick up their comm. so I thought I should st least check it out! It was a good thing too, Starscream was there and he was about to snatch up a human!”

A pause, and then an explosion of garbled noise from the radio. Sierra got the feeling that Smokescreen was wincing.

“Well what was I supposed to do? Let her be taken? Plus she’d already seen him so it wasn’t like seeing me was going to do much damage!”

A growling noise, followed by a hiss of static.

“Yes, Ratchet. I know. And I am sorry, alright! I know I went against code again but if I had waited a human would’ve been in Deception hands and as new as I am to this planet, even I know that’s bad!”

Wait, planet? Was this giant ass robot an actual alien? That…honestly made sense. With that day she’d had, she wasn’t even surprised. Smokescreen was still having his discussion with…whoever was on the other end.

“Yes, I’ll bring her back to base. I’m not going to apologize for saving her, though.”

More angry static.

“Yeah yeah. I get it.”

He sounded tired, defeated. Sierra felt bad, and wondered what was being said to make him sound like that when he’d been so bright before.

“No, you don’t need to send a ground bridge. I’m close to the base anyway. I’ll be there soon.”

There was a click as Smokescreen disconnected from whoever called him, and then she could tell he was talking to her when he spoke next. “Mind hopping in? I gotta bring you back to base. The boss can explain everything. I promise you won’t be hurt or anything.”

Sierra hesitated for a moment, then sighed. She knew she probably shouldn’t, but at this point what was the harm? Besides, her gut instinct was telling her that, based on what that Starscream character had said about Jack, she wouldn’t have to worry about being hurt. Not if Darby spent all his free time around these weird alien robots and came back fine. Mind decided, she slipped into the car’s open door. It shut on its own, and she buckled herself in once more.

“Thanks.” He sounded grateful. And then he was driving off.

He wasn’t saying anything, and neither was Sierra, and she let herself be alone with her thoughts. They drove for a while, and Sierra let herself enjoy the landscape that passed by Smokescreen’s window. He really was a nice ride, she mused. Sleek and fast, and his engine purred quietly as he drove along the highway. She didn’t know much about cars, but she knew his car mode was a good one.

Soon enough, they were coming towards a large mesa. Smokescreen drove right toward its side, not even slowing as he approached, Sierra tensed, about to protest, when a previously invisible door opened in the rock face. She shut her mouth, her eyes blowing wide. Oh. That explained that. Their base was hidden in plain sight. Which…she supposed was fitting, for alien robots who disguised themselves as cars and jets. Smokescreen took them through a tunnel, and then they were coming into a large central chamber. Sierra peeked out if the window to see two other robots there. One, stocky and painted in red and white. The other…was absolutely massive. He towered above the red and white bot, and she had a feeling he’d tower over Smokescreen too. He was broad as he was tall, with wide shoulders and a heavy looking chest, his metal armor painted in red and blue. Sierra didn’t know how she knew, but she just knew that this large one was a he, a mech, as Smokescreen had said.

The door at her side popped open, and after brief hesitation she unbuckled herself and stood up. There was that sound of transformation behind her, and she glanced back to see Smokescreen rising to his feet in his robot mode. Then a voice spoke and she snapped her head around to see the large bot speaking.

“Greetings, young one. My name is Optimus Prime. My companion is Ratchet, and you have already met Smokescreen.”

Ratchet. That’s who Smokescreen had been talking to earlier. “I’m Sierra.” she said after a moment. “Sierra O’Niell.”

Optimus tilted his head downwards in her direction. “May I inquire why Starscream was attempting to abduct you, if you know?”

“You’re very polite.” she remarked dryly. “He said something about wanting to use me to get to Jack Darby, so that he could in turn use Jack to get to the “Autobots”. I’m guessing that’s you guys?”

Optimus shared a look with Ratchet, then looked back at her. “Indeed. Myself and my team are Autobots. Starscream is a Decepticon. Our factions are enemies, I am afraid.” he explained. “We are not from your world, Sierra O’Niell. We hail from a planet called Cybertron. Our two factions were at War on our home, and that War destroyed our world. The Deceptions came here, searching for energon, and we have followed them to keep them from destroying your planet and it’s people in their quest for it.”

Sierra turned that over. She’d guessed they weren’t from Earth, so that wasn’t a surprise. The rest of the information was new, though. And appreciated. “What’s energon? And how does Jack fit into all this?”

Optimus sighed. “Energon is an energy source, and the very lifeblood of every Cybertronian.” he explained. “It is a natural resource that was once common on our home, and somehow Earth too produces it in great abundance.” he explained. “Jackson, Miko, and Raphael became involved with us by accident. They were seen with my Autobots when they mistakenly were pulled into a battle with the Decepticons, and the Decepticons assumed they were our allies. In order to protect them, we took them under our watch and guard to ensure they could not be harmed.”

So, Esquivel and Nakadai were part of this too. She shouldn’t be surprised. She’d seen the cars that picked those two up, now that she thought of it. Speaking of which….

“Jack’s motorcycle is an Autobot, isn’t it? And Miko and Raphael’s cars?”

Optimus hummed. “Indeed. Arcee, Bumblee, and Bulkhead were the ones to initially partner with and save the children in that first encounter. After they were brought into the fold, it made only sense to assign them as their Autobot guardians.”

Sierra nodded as she took that all in. Then she frowned. “I’m involved now too, aren’t I? I would have been involved regardless, if the Decepticons were really after me, but Smokescreen saving me just means my involvement is going to be more pleasant than it otherwise would have been.”

Optimus and Ratchet shared yet another look, before casting their gazes to Smokescreen. The white bot fidgeted under their combined stares, head ducking and looking uncomfortable. “While we are not pleased that the youngling acted on impulse and charged into battle against protocol, we are pleased that he saved your life, young Sierra.” Optimus said after a moment.

Sierra blinked. “Youngling.” she repeated in confusion. Then she narrowed her eyes. “You’re not getting him into trouble for saving me, are you?” she asked heatedly. The very idea insulted her.

Optimus twitched as if startled, then rumbled a soft chuckle. “Youngling, yes. It is a term used by Cybertronians to refer to those of us who are not yet fully grown. Smokescreen is the equivalent of a human teenager.” he explained. “And worry not. In this instance, we can overlook the breach in regulations. It would send a poor message to punish a bot for upholding the Autobot creed.”

Sierra relaxed at that, nodding. Then she narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to want to have a discussion with you later about why you’re letting teenagers fight in a war, but I know now isn’t the time.” she said threateningly.

Both older bots startled back and her tone and words, and Smokescreen squeaked from behind her. She turned and drew a harsh line across her mouth before he could say anything, and she watched as he stared, slack-jawed, before closing his mouth with an audible clack. That done, she returned her attention to the apparent leader. There was one more thing she wanted settled.

“You said the others got guardians, right?”

A nod.

“Well, if I’m going to need one, and something tells me I will, then I want this one.” she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Smokescreen.

Optimus’s eyes narrowed in what she realized was a faint smile. “If Smokescreen agrees, then I have no issues with that.” he hummed. “All I ask is that you remain here until our liaison with the human government arrives. Agent Fowler will want to discuss some matters with you before you return home.”

Sierra blinked. So the government knew about all this. That was good to know. It meant she wouldn’t get in trouble for conspiring with aliens if it ever came to light. She could also understand why they kept this whole thing a secret, even if governments hiding things from the public wasn’t always a good thing. In this case, it was a good thing.

“As long as I’m home before my curfew.” she agreed.

Another bow of that great head, and then Optimus was turning to stride away. Presumably to make contact with this Fowler. That left her and Smokescreen with Ratchet.

The stocky bot glanced at them, then turned to that odd console she’d noticed earlier. “Smokescreen will show you around.” Was all he said, waving them away with a dismissive flip of his hand.

Sierra, taking that as her cue, turned to the youngest bot. She thrust out her hand. “What do you say? Partners?”

He seemed confused, before slowly crouching and extending his hand to tap a finger to her palm. “Yeah, sure.” he seemed a little awed that she’d want to partner with him.

She smiled. “Good. In that case, why don’t you give me a ride and show me around your base?”

Smokescreen seemed confused. “Ride?”

“On your shoulder. I’d like to see it from your perspective.”

He blinked, then shrugged and put his hand, palm up, on the floor. Sierra took that as her que to climb up, and he carefully transferred her to his shoulder. Cool. Very cool. She just wanted to ride on the giant alien robot, and now she got to. That was cool.

She saw him look at her out of the corner of his bright, shining blue eyes, and she smiled warmly. “Well? Show me around your home, big guy. I’d like to get to know you.”

Smokescreen perked up, the little protrusions on his back wiggling with his apparent joy, and Sierra grinned a little wider. Oh, he was cute. How a giant robot could be endearing, she didn’t know, but he did it. He was sort of like a puppy. A giant, metal, alien puppy. She held on as he started walking, and she listened with half an ear, processing and noting what he told her as the rest of her mind turned over the events of her day.

It had been stressful, and scary, but now that it was all done and she was fine…

‘Yeah.’ she thought, watching her new partner eagerly show her around the small, hidden base he called home. ‘I think I’m gonna like it here.’

———————————————————————————————————

And that was that! I hoped you like it! It was fun to write. The show didn’t give Sierra a last name or a real personality, so I had to kind of do that bit myself. And I was right! I did enjoy writing this. The prompt inspired me to write this faster than I thought I’d be able to. I do not expect to be able to fill a prompt this quickly again. Unfortunately. Also, Sierra is definitely going to be the straight man to Smokescreen. He’s going to need it. Badly.

Until next time, friends!

[lysmune]

Aquarium Date

      Levi spends a day in the human realm with you.

(Leviathan/MC) For Levi’s birthday

     Akihabara is the obvious answer behind the portal you’ve dragged him through, but he’s taken aback when that’s not where both of you end up in.

     Nope.

     Instead, he finds himself surrounded by a throng of normies, loud, clamoring groups of them that huddle in a line that moves as quickly as it’s replaced, an endless conveyor belt of people.

     “This isn’t Akihabara,” he weakly manages and you shake your head.

     “Nope, it’s the aquarium,” you answer and he’s not quite sure if he likes the sound of that, but he’s a little less jittery when you squeeze his hand. “You okay, Levi?”

     “Just,” he starts, eyes darting between you and the landscape of faces; “a lot of normies.”

     He flushes red when your fingers lace his. “Hey,” you call out, his gaze averting to meet yours. “We can always go to Akihabara if you’re more comfortable with that.”

     He warms at your gesture, the consideration in your invitation, and he’s more than tempted to take you up on your offer. Akihabara would be a dream for him, rows and rows of his favourite manga on display, so many figurines and anime, and Ruri-chan merch. That’d be perfect, yep!

     “No, let’s go in,” he asserts and your lips curl, soft in the morning sunlight as you tug him towards the line.

     Akihabara would be perfect, no doubt, but it’d be perfect just for him, and that’s not the birthday he wants. No, he wants a day that’s perfect for the both of you, a birthday where you’re enjoying yourself, too.

     You’d never say it, but he knows you’re not a massive otaku like he is, so he takes it upon himself today. It’s the least he can do after you’ve gone out of your way to surprise him.

     Besides, an aquarium would be fun (sans the normies).

     Amongst the aquamarine haze, the undulating blues bobbing across the floor, Levi finds himself at peace, more so than he’d ever thought he would be. Hand in hand, you walk with him through the various tanks, stopping every so often to admire the undersea creatures.

     “Look, Levi,” and he follows the line of your sight towards the cylindrical tank, to the gliding bioluminescence inside the waters.

     “Moon jellyfish,” he identifies, pressing his palm to the cold glass. They coalesce around him in response, glowing in the darkness, and he hears you let out a breath of wonder; he smiles.

     They follow the tip of his finger as he leads them in circles, straight lines and patterns, their tendrils a flickering, remnant trail. When he stops, they do too, resting, pulsing with light. He stays like that for a moment before he pulls away and they scatter into the confines of their home.

     “They seem to really like you,” you muse, and he shrugs, slightly embarrassed when he’s snapped out of the daze.

     He scratches the back of his neck, awkward and sheepish. “I was an admiral.”

     Not that he’s ever liked the title. Sure, it had given him power and respect, but all he can remember is the envy in their eyes, the contempt, the curling, forked ends of unspoken insults. He remembers the cold, ruthless isolation of being at the top and the way he clung to the only thing he knew how to do with desperation.

     He dislikes it all.

     “Levi?”

     Your voice brings him back, concern pulling the corners of your lips into a frown and clouding your eyes.

     “It’s nothing,” he replies, waving it off, though you’re not so convinced; you let it slide anyway.

     Still, if being able to communicate with marine life could make you smile like that, maybe that past of his isn’t so unbearable after all.

     The touch pools are an experience, Levi concludes. Like a swarm of overzealous otakus trying to get a limited edition merch of their favourite character, the critters come at him in troves and variable speeds. He thinks it’s cute, though the normies might say otherwise.

     “He’s just like Aquaman!” he hears a boy squeal, and he hears you laugh beside him, though you’re trying to stifle it down.

     “What’s it?” he asks.

     “Aquaman’s a superhero,” you respond as you drag your hand through the water lazily, petting the nearby manta ray that’s busy trying to make its way to his hand.

     Oh. He supposes it is ridiculous that he’d be viewed as a superhero, as a character of justice. He doesn’t really fit the image of it; aren’t they usually well-built and fit, and handsome, and charismatic? That’s more Lucifer than -

     “I think it suits you,” comes your easy answer and he blushes red to the tip of his ears, muffling an embarrassed noise, and you’re chuckling again.

     “W-what makes you s-say that?” he stutters out, lips pulling into a frown as he strokes the shell of hermit crab. You shrug.

     “You’re always kind, for one,” you start. He leans in closer to listen while you continue. “You’re passionate about what you like, you’re reliable when you need to be, and I think, most importantly, you’re someone I can easily put my trust in.”

     And he’s averting his eyes away, biting his bottom lip, his free hand coming up to cover his face as he mumble a muffled ‘thank you’. His heart’s going a mile a minute, but when he peeks at you between fingers and you look back, that smile of yours never once faltering, he can’t help but feel seen, appreciated, loved, even.

     He doesn’t protest when your fingers curl around his, when you pull his hand down to reveal the blush of him and bump shoulders. This - being with you, liking you, having you return his affections - is something he’s never imagined happening, not just because he’s, well, him, but also because it’s just a feeling he’s never garnered from the people around him.

     Yet here you are, admiring the very skills he’s been so hated for.

     “I like you,” he mutters and you look up to him, eyes wide. Without hesitation, he repeats himself. “I like you.”

     There’s a heartbeat of silence, then, a genuine, confident, “I like you, too.”

     “No trip is complete without getting souvenirs,” you chirp as the exit comes to sight, and Levi nods in agreement. Merch is everything and he’d like to leave the aquarium with more than just memories, even if that’s greedy of him.

     Ugh, I sound like Mammon now.

     He digresses.

     Passing by the shelves, all filled to the brim, he takes in the variety of options. From keychains, to notepads, to cute casings and fluffy plushies, and embroidered hats; the possibilities are truly endless.

     It’s the graphic tees that catch his eye, though.

     “Matching shirts?” comes your startling question.

     He nods, then shrugs, then stuffs his free hand into his jacket’s pocket. “It’s fine if you don’t want to.”

     “What makes you think I’m against the idea?” you retort with a grin and before he knows it, you’re tugging him along to the rack of clothes.

     Both of you rummage through your options and you’re occasionally bringing one up to model over yourself, which makes it harder on him because he thinks you’d look good in all of them, and he makes it known. You roll your eyes, calling it banal flattery, but the glimmer in your gaze tells him otherwise.

     “What about this one?” Levi asks as he pulls a light blue shirt with a picture of a content whale, tucked into the shirt pocket and the words BRB, I’m gonna whale underneath.

     You can barely stop yourself from chuckling at the sight, wheezing out an, “Oh, that’s perfect,” when he brings it up over him.

     It comes in two other colours, white and peach, and you settle on the blue while he grabs the pink one in his respective size. He wanders around with you through the entirety of the space in search of more things to take home, ending up with a jellyfish keychain and a clownfish decal while you pick up a seal plushie.

     After a losing squabble, Levi lets you pay for the entirety. “Consider it a gift,” you smile, taking the paper bag with a tilt of your head before you make your way out of the shop.

     Sunset streaks the sky in orange and purple, and he’s transfixed by the beauty of you when the colours paint you rich and honeyed. Both of you start to retrace your steps to the portal, blending in with the dispersing crowd and he feels comfortingly normal.

     “Should I carry that?” he asks as you trudge back up a hill, tilting his head towards your bag.

     You shrug and hand it over. “Sure, it’s all yours anyways.”

     “Didn’t you buy a -“

     “Seal plush?” you finish. He nods while your eyes crinkle in giddy. “It’s yours.”

     “Hah?!”

     You shrug. “I wanted you to have something to remember me by,” you reply and he stops dead in his tracks, blood running cold.

     “Are you leaving?”

     “No! God, no, Levi,” you answer, closing the minimal distance between the two of you. He’s close enough to smell your body wash now. “I just want you to never feel alone, Levi, and maybe I’m being selfish when I say I want you to think of me while you look at it, but I hope it gives you company if I can’t, at any point in time.”

     And he’s pulling you to him before he knows it, lips pressing yours in a kiss that clings like salt to the ocean breeze. You sigh into it, pliant in his arms as his fingers flutter over your cheek, your hands resting around his waist.

     He pulls away ever just and he sees that you’re the one flushed over now, and a sense of pride wells up in him when he finds his reflection in your eyes.

     “Thank you,” he mumbles, cradling you as he rocks on the balls of his feet.

     “For what?” you question, giggling.

     “For today,” he answers, but that’s not quite it, that’s not quite enough. “For believing in me, for being you, for everything.”

     “Always, Levi,” and he knows, with every inch of him, that you mean it.

[benevolent-savage]

this is what happens when u enable me lets go

(spoilers ahoy)

Firstly, here’s some somewhat miscellaneous reasons that don’t contribute to any sort of narrative analysis but are still parts of the character I like.

His boss fight is my favorite in the game thus far. It’s not super hard, but it isn’t super easy either, and I even managed to solo it on my Balance after a few practice rounds. Sufficiently challenging without feeling unfair.

His boss fight music. It is a bop and a half, go give it a listen, my soul ascends from my body a few centimeters every time I hear it start up.

His voice. I’m sure it’s processed at least a little but gotdamn his voice is so deep and spooky it startled me when I first heard it. Very curious who his actor is; I think he and Inyanga Whitestripes share the same one. Either way, very well voiced and acted.

His design is very good. It’s the perfect mix of innocuous but also spooky sorcerer fella who knows some shit. And I was afraid that the designers would try and make him like. Handsome? Under the hood? To try and make him more sympathetic? But they didn’t and I’m glad for it.

With those out of the way, the next thing to establish, I guess: I don’t interpret Old Cob to be the main villain of arc 3, nor do I interpret Raven as such. They’re definitely antagonists, but they’re not the ultimate problem; the ultimate problem is their divorce, and how they keep dragging people into their bs. It’s established the Aethyr is a physical manifestation of their anger towards each other, and as it thins, communication between them becomes possible, as Sparck puts it in this thinly veiled metaphor toward the start of Empyrea part 2.

But Cob’s still an antagonist and I love him so I’m gonna talk about that. Most of this is going to be talking about his motivations for doing what he does, since I don’t see him quite as the ‘likes to watch the world burn for the hell of it’ archetype that others might.

One of the reasons that drew me to his character is how legit his gripe is, when put in perspective. Old Cob- or Grandfather Spider, if you prefer- is not a mortal like the other antagonists of previous arcs, which establishes he has a different thought process right off the bat. This new universe was built on his suffering and he has a grudge against the ex wife who made it, so as a god, it makes some sense he’d try to destroy it and build one he would like better. He’s fully aware that what he is doing will hurt people but decidedly doesn’t care, and I appreciate that so much. He’s chaotic as fuck and he owns it, along with his superiority complex that’s as wide as the day is long.

Yet his reasoning is like. Weirdly understandable? Like, if my ex-whatever put me in jail for a lifetime sentence and stole my kidney to pay for a new house or something, I too would go apeshit and want my fuckin kidney back. That’s mostly how I interpret his situation. He’s not doing this for hell of it, he’s doing it because he wants to get back at his ex because he’s bitter and petty and for the most part he knows this but he feels justified in doing do because she ripped out his goddamn kidney- I mean heart, and he wants that back.

And then, even after all that, he and his magic are treated as if they’re inherently evil. While, sure, Shadow is a ‘dark magic’, its actual properties aren’t anything malicious by itself. It is described as “a magic that changes reality,” and that’s it. Incredibly exploitable and you should practice caution while handling it, but used correctly it is powerful and helpful; this is likely alluding to the backlash mechanic, where likes decrease the percent of damage you take, dislikes increase the percent, and I imagine the person meant to be the literal embodiment of the magic in question to be similar in nature: not inherently harmful and lashes out if he feels he’s been mistreated.

Going off that, I’m not sure he ever wanted the FirstWorld to be destroyed, and therefore believes his incarceration to be entirely unjust; he doesn’t deny that he instigated the fight between the Titans, but when it comes to being accused of its actual destruction, he gets angry.

...Okay the written text doesn’t really display how mad he got here, but he was like. Big Angy. Super offended. Honestly, a big part of why I love and analyze the hell out of his character comes from how his VA delivers his lines and his voice in general. If you haven’t heard it for some reason, I recommend looking it up. Anyway, here he’s basically saying he didn’t destroy the First World, and even if he did, he’s suffered enough punishment because of it, to my interpretation. The only one I remember blaming him for it is Raven; Bartleby was there, and I don’t recall him blaming anything other than the Titans for it. This is of course not accounting for the various changes made to the lore since he was introduced, but they could have easily thrown in a line like ‘And now Spider plans to destroy the Spiral the way he destroyed the FirstWorld!’ or something to make it clear it was done intentionally.

And this may very well be straying into headcanon territory here, but I think he holds positive relationships very closely to him, even if things went sour in the end; he clearly still has some remaining affection for the Titans, calling them ‘the children’ and being incredibly angry at Raven for forcing one of them to destroy his Heart.

When Rat loses in Polaris he shows up to praises his efforts and even comfort him, in his own weird way. He reprimanded Scorpion in Mirage, but it’s because Scorpion wasn’t doing what his dad asked him to and got his ass kicked as a result. As for Bat, every time they’re in the same room together he pays him some sort of compliment.

Bat claims that he and his brothers are meant to be his tools, and to some extent that’s true, but he also genuinely cares about them, and it’s really interesting to see a villain defect from the usual ‘not caring about anyone other than themselves’ and openly show affection for his kids while still managing to be an incredible asshole.

In line with this is his relationship with the Wizard. There is, of course, a foundation of manipulation to their dynamic, at least to some degree. I thoroughly believe that Spider was overshadowing Coleridge, at least partly, so our character could bust him out of prison.

And while this is happening, he regains some of his spent power and removes threats to it as well, namely Morganthe, using the Wizard’s help. In fact, I have very little doubt that he was at least partially responsible for her fall; his timing on that two-liner was too on the nose.

But even with that, I think he genuinely treasures the Wizard’s help and company, which is why he attempts on four different occasions to either sway them to his side, or warn them away from what he’s doing.

Boy, I want that vacation, but it’s your fault I’m here.

And then, of course, his relationship with Raven, something that is basically a summation of his character arc. Laden with baggage and tragic in concept, it is my belief that most of what he’s doing isn’t because he genuinely hates the Spiral or he wants to get back at her, but because he loved her and treasured their relationship; so upon her mistreating him, he lashed out at everything she’d made and detested it as a result. But only because he felt betrayed and hurt so he has to inflict that on other people because he is, as aforementioned, a petty and bitter old fuck.

Moving off that line of thinking, an admirable quality he possesses is how smart he is. This guy has so many wrinkles in his brain it must look like a raisin. Well, perhaps not ‘smart’ exactly, but how good he is at manipulating certain situations to his advantage. Like in Mirage; you just know that he was fully expecting Mellori to be there and fully planned to use her as a back up plan, or you could even argue that the whole debacle in Mirage was a ploy to get his hands on her, while having the added possible benefit of things actually working out.

Actually his scheme in Mirage was really interesting now that I think about it. His aim was to turn back time to when the FirstWorld was whole, further implying that he never wanted its destruction in the first place. It would also, of course, be a time where he had his Heart and would have the ability to avoid having it ripped out again. This would involve not having the Titans fight each other again, or at least not starting it and suffering the consequences. It would be everything he wanted to achieve knocked out in one go with minimal muss or fuss, compared to other methods. It’s probably a part of why he shows up personally to bargain with Eerkala and the Cabal, and why he directly intervenes in our Wizard’s efforts to stop him; it was too important to trust to any of his kids, so knowing Scorpion probably wouldn’t have been able to execute it anyway, he used his kid as a distraction for the most part.

I also like looking into the fact that his element, besides Shadow, is Storm, as opposed to pure Shadow or Death, as most major antagonists are. Storm is a school based on invention, experimentation and improvement. This is something that interests me for two reasons: one, the magic of major antagonists is always a part of their character, Malistaire the most blatantly, and two, because of this line he says in Mirage.

To my interpretation, this would imply that he sees the Spiral as something that could be improved. And as a god, he would of course find it his obligation to try and fix this flaw. When he made the barter with the Cabal, I don’t doubt he was being at least partially honest about restoring the FirstWorld; it would certainly fix the flaw it has in the context of stealing his internal organs, but he would also probably seek to improve it, make it more suited to Shadow or something.

Something else I find intriguing is how weirdly honest he is; I don’t recall him ever lying to us once, unless you count omitting certain facts as lying. But that’s absolutely something I can see him using against people, like “I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t tell you, your fault for not asking ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .” As said before, he;s really good at manipulating people and he weaponizes whatever he can; @that-wizard-oki​ made a really great post about how he uses conflicts- his fault or not- to his advantage, and does his own thing in the background without interruption, Mirage and Neumia probably being the best example of this, with Scorpion and the Cabal serving as distractions while he either carries out things himself or gives instructions.

To pull all of this together narratively, I think it’s important to consider this line from Mellori during one of their confrontations:

He feels powerless, so he puffs up his god status. He has little power to fight with, compared to before, so he mostly manipulates and creates back-up plans while causing conflicts to serve as distractions. His love hurt him, so he lashes out at others and drags them into his problems.

You may ask, “But Sam, these are all bad qualities, why should we like him because of this?” And I would respond “Because it makes him a complex and interesting antagonist.” The kind of character that executes his shitty actions in such a way that you can’t help but respect- even just for the level of dramatics put in to it- while also having a motive that makes you stop and consider that maybe he has a point but is very much handling the situation the wrong way.

Like, c’mon, he ticks so many villain boxes. Tragic backstory? Check. Blatant thespian who owns it? Check. Gets his hands dirty before the climax of the story? Check. Smart/ manipulative/ has back-up plans? Check. Understandable, strong motives? Check.

He’s got layers. Like onion. I felt like there was always something new to discover about him, and for that I can assert my opinion that he’s one of the best characters in Wizard101.

lmao if you read this far into my simp-for-shithead post congrats. feel free to shoot me more asks on the subject bc i cant write persuasive-essay-esque format anymore my brain is rotting. if you will excuse me, im off to listen to the chronoverge combat track for the 82937487734th time

[evakuality]

Mia, episode seven

Sorry, don’t read this if you like Mia.  I am not a fan of hers in this episode.

1.  Ugh.  I do not like that there is no recognition here of the conversation with Kiki.  I don’t get it - if you’re going to have that conversation and make it feel like a wrench for Mia to ‘give up’ Alex, why not address it properly?  Even if this comes up again later, I dislike that when she arrived there was no discussion about the Kiki thing, and now it’s all about sex with no recognition that she is now literally lying and going behind Kiki’s back.  Worse, it was Mia who told Kiki she would do whatever it took to keep her friendship, so she lied about that too.  I’m really disappointed in where this went.  She didn’t have to tell Kiki she would give Alex up - they were having a really honest conversation and she could just have said ‘I fell for him even though I know I shouldn’t’ and I don’t understand why they made that choice.  I don’t remember the og on this at all so I don’t know if they got it from there, but even if it is in there, they could have chosen to not have Mia deliberately and specifically lie to Kiki’s face and then act like she has no compunction about it at all.

2.  Okay so they’re finally talking about Kiki, but Mia dismisses that with ‘it’s not about Kiki’ and ‘I already talked to her’?  When that conversation literally ended differently, and now she’s lying to both Alex and Kiki?  Yeah, this isn’t doing it for me at all.  And to think, I actually did like Mia before this.  But the end of the last episode and the start of this one has really revised my feelings on her.  It’s not just Alex who’s being a dick in this situation.  I also don’t like that we’re supposed to be feeling sorry for Alex here because he has ‘problems with his parents’.  I know, assuming this is like the og, that there is a deeper thing here with the sister, but even so.  How on earth can they have a relationship when it’s based on lies and hating each other’s family circumstances?  I still don’t understand what they see in each other.  If it’s only sex, then there are SO many more people out there and nothing so far has sold me that either of them genuinely likes the other as a person.

3.  And yet another clip with Mia knowing she’s being an asshole and choosing not to address it.  I know she has this need to be in control and I know she���s doing something that’s for her for once and that’s probably both exhilarating and scary, but ugh.  The amount of lies is really building up.  Most of the other couples in our little world have communication issues etc, and many are hiding things, but actually lying on purpose like this isn’t as common and Mia is just casually throwing them out there like it’s easy.  Also ‘why me?’ ‘because you know who I am’ - ummmm, no she doesn’t Alex.  You’re literally hiding stuff from her as well!!  Unless you mean, she knows you’re an asshole and gives you the time of day anyway?  Plus, it’s not believable - Alex clearly started stalking/pursuing/gaslighting her well before she showed that she ‘knew’ him.    Like it’s nice that they’re trying to ‘communicate’ here, but if they’re just going to keep lying it’s not actually going to help.

4.  I get what they’re going for with this little bubble the two of them are in.  But Mia literally is avoiding her life and the more time she spends not connecting with her friends, the more likely they are to be concerned.  This bubble can’t last and I dislike that this whole thing is built on such a fragile and unbelievable base for them as they pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist.  It’s strange that I’m okay with it with Matteo and David and their fake vs real thing, but I think it’s because the issues are different and there were no specific promises to other people not to connect.  Keeping things private is different from lying outright.  Plus, neither Matteo nor David was an actual asshole and I still don’t believe that Alex isn’t the guy he showed through 1.5 seasons, and the one who was so awful to Kiki.  

5.  And of course, as expected, Kiki finds out when she’s trying to do something nice for Mia.  And of course she’s now more hurt than she was before.  So, now Mia thinks ‘I can’t do this to Kiki’?  Not a few days ago when Kiki was vulnerable and open with her?  No, it has to be now after she made things 500% worse.  It’s funny - I don’t usually find myself in a situation where I dislike the PoV character in these shows.  But here I am.  I actually dislike Mia in this episode.  I can usually get where a character is coming from even when I can see them totally stuffing up, but here she’s made conscious and deliberate choices and I don’t have any sympathy that they’ve come back to bite her.  I usually have some sympathy for the struggles, but not today.

6.  I know, from things that I’ve seen around, what this bunch of all-caps texts from Alex are about.  But again, Mia has no reason to know and respond the way she does.  It might have helped if we knew ahead of time what is going on with him, even if it was mentioned casually before maybe.  But instead, we have her jumping to her feet and rushing off to him for no real reason.  This is, again, the big problem Druck always has - pacing and making the story beats believable as an entirety rather than as discrete clips.  Even looking at the time for this episode - we had the entire build up and destruction of their relationship within the space of half an episode and now less than a minute later it’s all back on because of this panic attack.  It’s too fast, no time to breathe.  Skam and its offshoots always work best when things are allowed to develop organically and at a pace that isn’t this rushed.  The clip format is half to blame for this, but even with that it should be possible to develop this whole thing at an easier pace that builds tension and makes sense.

7.  Pacing, pacing, pacing.  Ugh.  Just this episode Mia explained why she’s not ready for sex, and now when Alex is or has been in a vulnerable state, she’s all ‘hey you know what would be a great idea?  Sex’  Why does all this stuff all have to be in one episode?  Why did we need so much of Alex being an asshole at the start of the season only to cram so much of the important relationship development stuff into one short episode?  I know they had to cut it down from the og (thank goodness, that one was far too long), but there are ways they could have done it while letting all these plotpoints breathe a bit.  It’s too crammed into one episode when it didn’t have to be.

8.  Yes Hanna, express this stuff for me: ‘all this happened in the last 3 days?’ Exactly.  Also this scene proves once again why Mia and Hanna should be a thing.  They have real, genuine conversations in which no-one ends up feeling belittled.  And they have great chemistry.  Seriously, Mia should have looked in this direction.  But honestly, in terms of pacing, Kiki finding out at the end of this episode and then this whole part being the focus of the next one would work better.  This whole business with Carlos is cute and all, and his advice is actually pretty decent, but again it’s all so rushed.  Again, I know this was released clip by clip and so the format is a bit different, but it should probably also work in an episodic format.  I feel like I’ve lived 3 episodes all in one go and now we have the other girls showing up and being disapproving as well; it’s too much.

9.  I don’t like that two episodes in a row (and after such a LOT in this one) we have a ‘Mia trying to be open with Kiki’ scene.  This excuse ‘I wanted to protect you’ is unkind and we already saw on more than one occasion how Mia protecting Kiki was a bad thing for Mia.  Also ‘I didn’t understand that it’s something serious between Alex and me’ is such a huge problem for me.  She literally lied to Kiki’s face and then went to Alex immediately afterwards.  So either she did know how serious it was or she didn’t really care that much and didn’t need to go back to him at all.  This is so frustrating because we’re supposed to accept all of this at face value when actually on any sort of consideration it doesn’t hold up.  So even though Kiki’s little speech is really good and does highlight all the issues I have with Mia, unfortunately a) I already disliked her because of it and b) because it’s all so rushed, I don’t care about any of it.  Except Kiki.  Which, considering how awful and racist etc she has been is a huge feat.  And effectively, Kiki has moved herself aside and allowed Mia to have Alex if she wants.  All of this in one episode!  

Basically I did not enjoy this episode, there was too much crammed into it (I have this same issue with some of Nora’s in s5, and it is one of the biggest issues I often have with Druck compared to the og) and so while Kiki’s speech should have been a turning point allowing us to see a way into Mia’s future, I am actually left disliking our main character and not all that inclined to watch the rest of the season.  

[willowaudreykeyes]

Okay: I’ve watched it 4 times and here’s the things about the episode that I find interesting. Or that I’m looking too much into. You guys can all decide because idk.

- Roman seems to make alliterations when he's shocked? He's done it before, but now he's done it again and when he's surprised that Thomas 'lied' or 'tricked' the ticket person.

- Virgil has resting disappointed face even as he eats popcorn.

- Roman is very dramatic about the age thing. "He's in his thirties, he may as well be in his sixties." "Can't think of new excuses quick enough in his old age."

- "I love you" is very big words. Do not use them, or forget them, lightly around Virgil.

- Have they always been on his back so much about lying, or was it only after Janus was introduced?

- Possibility: Romans eyes actually change into hearts when cute guy appears?

- Also: Roman goes into Shakespearean when cute guy appears.

- Roman is so optimistic when it comes to love! But not about other Sides? He's rather pessimistic when it came to Virge (at the beginning) and Janus. And kinda Remus too.

- Roman has used "We don't know if he's not gay" more times then the three can count.

- Pins equals introverts way of talking apparently. I guess that makes sense, since there’s pins for almost every kind of hobby, and Virgil knows this too.

- Roman sounds rather happy when they found out that Nico likes Paramore. Supporting his emo friend and his hobbies right there.

- “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is and will always be a Prinxiety thing. Did you see those star eyes Roman gave? And how happy-surprised Virge was?

- Virgil does think about romance too. “You can live like Jack and Sally, if you want.” Kind of cute.

- Virgil has eyes like a damn hawk. He saw those pins and went full on x10 zoom on them.

- Roman’s got some adorable music happening when more clues appear.

- Sticker/Button System must be followed or Virge no happy.

- Roman is almost as good as Patton with puns, except he has to explain it. Has he done that before? I feel like he has. I feel like this is a thing but I’m not sure.

- Roman and Virgil have about the same wavelength when it came to the creepy stalking-ish part. They both cringe when Thomas goes off to the side.

- If you use a word at the end of a sentence that sounds like a name at Roman, he thinks you got his name wrong. He did it at some other point I can’t remember when but he does this. Kind of feels like a autism and/or ADHD trait? (I know I for sure get confused sometimes)

- “Great... he’s gay” “Great indeed...” “GREAT INDEED” I love them. Just gonna say that again.

- Roman has this big thing about his name and it doesn’t seem like its a thing he’s faking? He seems genuinely confused. The one that’s two above mentions it, and the way he spelt it at the trial? And how he seemed very defensive when Janus spelt it wrong? This is a thing.

- Virgil is a self-proclaimed expert of anti-social etiquette and I say he deserves that title. 

- Virgil also really likes non-verbal ways of communicating. 

- Roman does the thing where you put your two pointer fingers together and its adorable.

- Fast head nod of agreement coming from Roman here. Over dramticness? Or actual quirk?

- Roman very much freaks out when flirting goes wrong. Not just a Virgil thing. 

- Virgil be scaring Thomas with zero regrets when he lost his test that the Universe gave him.

- Virgil be very glad to admit when he’s panicking. He also has admitted when he’s anxious in the past. He knows it, acknowledges it, makes Thomas and the others deal with it because dealing with it isn’t in the job description.

- Roman’s fine with compromise! Virgil gives an idea that attempts to help the romance part, Roman’s not 100% happy but rolls with it. Besties right here (even if they don’t know it). He does have a limit though.

- Nicknames are forever with Roman.

- Virgil is on Thomas’ left side, the more ‘thinky’ side of the brain. Roman is on the right, the more ‘feely’ side of the brain. It’s kind of more obvious in the scene where they grab Thomas a lot.

- Roman really slips with his feelings when he’s stressed. He says stuff that’s usually more about his self-worth. “You’re making a mistake.” “If I am, I’ll add it to the list.” That was said under a lot of stress and frustration. He’s done it before and he’s done it again; except now they don’t address it and it’s just a passing sentence.

- pLaNt

- Virgil would rather embarrass Thomas by making him talk to a stranger, instead of the guy that he thinks is cute? I mean, its very embarrassing by the end of it and Virge barely seems affected by it.

- And now Virgil is compromising. He works with Roman to make sure that Thomas looks okay (the “check your teeth” line).

- idk wtf the sty’s thing is about. Weirdly placed anxiety over it? Or something?

- Roman is very impulsive and basically throws Thomas into the trash can when a bad thing happens in front of a lot of people. Ego was definitely hurt there. Why hide instead of run away? Did Virgil sorta influence that?

- Plans help anxiety. Pretty sure they’ve covered that topic before, but lets just do a recap in this I guess.

- Virgil is half the people on this platform “Cyberstalking... but real life”. I mean, everyone makes a metaphor that has an actual word behind it sometimes. 

- “Try Speaking from the heart” ... I expected Patton, but there has been moments before where a Side who is expected to be there, isn’t there. Logan showed this in “Moving On” when he physically left but he never REALLY left. Patton showing up to add his own words to this may have been too much for him? Or he thought it would be for the others?

- Ah crap here’s the monologue-

- First off, it’s very honest. Full on honesty. With no holding back. And it really hit the feels; but is it realistic though? (Genuinely asking I’ve never been in that kind of situation)

- Very rambly too “I honestly don’t know what I’m doing at the mall today. I don’t know what I was looking for... I guess that answers my question- The mall is where you go when you want something but you don’t know what it is because the mall has everything.” Very rambly, very nervous, very honest.

- Roman and Virgil are very... in awe? Shocked? What is this? Roman looks so contemplative as he looks at himself in the mirror and I wanna be in his brain and know what he’s thinking.

- “I don’t know a lot about anything. Least of all, myself.” Okay, Janus just pulled all the way away for a full minute and forty-eight seconds (this is 99% accurate) to just let Thomas talk and feel didn’t he? This is just complete honesty.

- Anyone would be awkward with the guy coming out of that stall. I’m awkward thinking about it and seeing it again. Moving on-

- “I gotta stop wooing strangers in bathrooms” just a 3000 word fic of at least one other time that he’s done this and I will be yours forever

- Virgil is a dramatic emo who dislikes lying. Crossed arms, waiting outside for him, looks up when he says “you know what I meant”- They’re all part of an actor your at least a LITTLE dramatic.

- Virgil has a big thing about lies and relationships. This has to do with him and Janus’ relationship somehow- It’s about Thomas’ relationships with friends and his romantic life too. He didn’t seem as annoyed about them in the ‘Lies’ song way back when which didn’t mention lying about any type of relationship.

- “Can’t have true love if the relationship isn’t built on truth.” Is this what he was thinking about in the bathroom? Its a cute line either way. 

- Okay, Roman and Janus have some kind of... something. Cause a lot of Roman’s talks about his goals for Thomas pushes Thomas into relying on Janus until Roman realises that it’s morally bad OR (as seen in the talk after the bathroom scene) when he realises that it’ll be bad for Thomas in the long run.

- “Will (D)deceit continue to be the answer to all of your problems? Is that fair to him?” HIM WHO!? Janus or Nico!? Both!? AHHHH! This could mean so much in any direction you throw it but I can’t find the dang words!! “No, he’s better off without me.” This could just be Thomas misunderstanding the ‘him’ Virgil means too or he does understand idk-

- “I was afraid you left!” *INSERT TWO SIDES SCREAMING HERE* Hahaha he’s literally screaming on the inside omg-

- “He fears things too!?” Virgil doesn’t understand how people work when he’s worked up. Duly noted.

- Roman and Virgil equals A Gay Panic

- Thomas’ first thought when panicked is to ask the guy, that he thinks is cute and has been trying to get the attention of for the last while, ‘what is wrong with you?’ ... 10/10 Thomathy

-  .Roman seems... a little resigned that another ‘chance at happiness’ is walking away? I mean, he’s super sad but resigned to his fate. That’s sad as hell. He’s USED TO THIS and I don’t like that 😢

- Virgil’s scene where he looks between, NOT Thomas, but Nico and Roman, is really well done and filled with... a lot. He psyches himself up first of, taking in quick breaths before pushing Thomas, obviously afraid but still doing it anyway. And the look he gives a very resigned Roman looks like its both guilt and sadness. Could just be me thinking that he has a ‘this is my fault’ thing.

- Full on surprise on Roman’s face when Virgil pushes Thomas. No one was expecting that.

- Carrots. The carrots brought them together. Thomas... you don’t have to eat carrots, but at least say ONCE that they aren’t all bad.

- “I like songs” you’ve also written some and sung x5 as many but okay, go with that I guess. (Is this to not brag about being a singer right away? I guess so?)

- If Nico was writing about something that happened midway through his visit to the food court, what was he writing about before that? Did he have nothing until Thomas tripped over the bin?

- “I tend to waste a lot of opportunities in my life” Then cuts to Virgil. Ouch. Direct hit on Virge...

- BRAVERY. (i’ll get back to this-)

- “Shut up, emo.” No complicated nicknames; just the easy picking. Very cute. Very yes. Roman your a sap and its great.

- When Thomas is telling Roman to ‘get out’, he sinks down and is he biting his thumb? He’s still excited. And I’m adding ‘biting’ to his list of stims.

- Virgil claps his hands.  Roman and Virgil both cover their mouths. Both yell. Manic hand movements. Virgil gets Thomas to walks around and flappy hands. (And the nervous pee too I guess?)

- OKAY. EYESHADOW. Big thing, also new. I believe that it may be him ‘growing’ as a Side. First, he believed that he was JUST Thomas’ anxiety. Then comes to term with being more then that, which helps him become a ‘Light Side’. And now, he’s learnt that ‘fear’ and ‘bravery’ can both be present at the same time and is now growing from that as well. So, his back and forth between black and purple could mean a back and forth of the ‘fear’ and ‘bravery’ aspects. Thomas about to send a bad tweet? Black. Optimistic about things ‘never being the same again’? Purple. Thomas bringing up that they just met? Black. Its a promising start? Purple again.  Purple when something optimistic, its purple. Pessimistic, its black. There’s a thing happening there.

- And also, lots of smiley Virgil when he goes purple. Brave enough to smile? Or optimistic enough to be truly happy about it?

- “Join me! No thinking!” Okay, all the ‘Roman Himbo’ stans have already gone nuts over this so I’ll keep going XD

- Roman’s first date idea is to go to France immediately and I love him for being so honestly over-the-top

- Dogs are the demons of anxiety its now a fact. They even bring out the Tempest Tongue, despite hearing the dog “thirty times a day”.

- Do not tell Virgil to relax. Black eyeshadow. Very on brand tbh. He does not relax and you should know this by now Roman.

All in all; I love them and the entire episode ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Hey, Lightning! Do you know any good BoM!Lotor fics?

Hi, anon! Thanks for the note! I know the Keitor fandom has BOM!Lotor stories. If that ship is agreeable to you, then you can search for “Blade of Marmora Lotor” on AO3 and find several fics! As far as Lotura fandom goes, I’ve not yet stumbled across a BOM!Lotor. Although I did start a BOM!Lotor fic myself a long time ago and just haven’t done more with it. I’ll copy in what I have here in hopes that you might like it!

The Awakening – a BOM!Lotor story

Princess Allura of Altea stared out the window of the Blade of Marmora central command. The battle station was situated on the edge of a black hole, safely tucked away from the radar of enemy fleets. But she shivered as she stood there, knowing she wore an ornate dress that was now 800 years out of fashion.

“Who should I thank,” she asked, her alto voice soft and halted, “for saving me and my advisor from the forever sleep?”

Behind her, the leader of the battle station and of the entire resistance stood at attention. His large, furred hands were clasped behind his back. He was Galran—tall and battle-hardened. But his yellow eyes were kind. “The alpha unit located your castle on planet Arus. The main architect of the mission, and your successful removal from cryostasis, was one of our lead scientists and warriors.”

The beautiful princess struggled to look away from the bright line of the event horizon of the black hole. She swallowed hard, then forcibly turned, managing a weak smile that stretched her dark cheeks and her pink markings. “I am most grateful to this alpha unit and your lead scientist. Were Altea still standing, I…I would have offered a great reward.” She looked down, her voice straining. “And your care to keep the Voltron lions hidden as well from Emperor Zarkon is a great testimony as to your character, and the character of this organization. Truly, in my day, no one could stand against Zarkon. But it pleases me to see that in the 800 years I’ve lost, you have built a successful resistance.”

“We operate in the shadows,” the leader clarified, voice even. His name was Kolivan, the princess recalled. “Our success relies on our discretion. Even if we desired to use the Voltron lions, it would cause...catastrophic consequences for our larger organization. Anything you do with the lions, which belong to you, will have to remain separate from the Blade of Marmora. It is well-known that Zarkon still covets the Black Lion.”

“Understood.” The princess’s white curls slid down her shoulder as she eyed him curiously. “It is most disturbing to hear that in such time, the emperor still reigns.”

“Quintessence confers many advantages to its users.” Kolivan’s face remained unreadable. “We of the Blades use it as well, for healing and extended life. It is in part how we have managed to maintain a large force against the emperor.”

Princess Allura’s blue and purple eyes narrowed in concern. “Do you not fear its effects? Emperor Zarkon was once a dear friend to my father. But quintessence drove him mad.” Her voice raised with increasing worry. “He murdered my father—then he murdered his wife and newborn son. Surely, you must know how volatile such a power source is.”

“Our lead scientist is highly aware of such effects and performs extended dilution techniques to stave away such consequences.”

“Pray tell,” she pleaded again. “Tell me who this lead scientist is? I’ve many questions about this—” she waved her hand in a confusion—”this strange new world I’ve awoken to.” She blinked her eyes several times. They were beginning to burn with emotion. “Everything is different—I can’t even understand the symbols you use on the doors here, to open and close them. And I worry for my advisor, whom I have not yet seen.”

Kolivan sensed the princess’s increasing distress and raised his hand. “My last known communication from the infirmary stated that your advisor was still awakening from cryostasis. It took you four vargas to wake up completely, and you are young and healthy for an Altean. Your advisor is older and may require more time to transition.”

Her breath hitched. She somewhat awkwardly tried to wipe her eyes. “Please forgive my emotions and questions. I am grateful for all your organization has done, truly.”

He tilted his head, his long, white braid slipping against dark blue armor. “Cryostasis unbalances many things. If you must cry, I will leave you to it.”

That seemed to panic her even more. She raised her hand. “No, please, do not leave me here. The silence of space is quite…alarming to me.” Her elfin ears flicked back in pain. “I should like to see my advisor, even if he still sleeps. Would that be possible?”

Kolivan hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, but our lead scientist does not like to be disturbed in his work. He may request that you not enter the infirmary.”

The princess scurried forward, her purple and blue skirts flickering against the floor. “I, um, surely can speak to him. This lead scientist. I’m quite good at convincing people of things. Can you tell me what this scientist’s name is?”

The leader turned away and began to open the doors, his clawed finger hitting a button. “His name is Lotor.”

Princess Allura’s brows ticked at that. “Lotor? That’s a rather…Altean name.” Her heart skipped a beat, and she raised a hand to her chest in hope. “Is he Altean as well? Are there more of us who survived the great massacres?”

“He is part-Altean, yes.” Kolivan turned and offered her his great palm.

She hesitated, then tentatively placed her small hand in his, allowing herself to be guided through the ship by him. “And—and you said that he found me all by himself? After 800 years?”

“He is very intelligent.” For the first time, a string of pride entered Kolivan’s voice, raising it out of his usual monotone. “Lotor is one of our brightest. He could more accurately describe his process for locating the Castle of Lions than I could.”

Princess Allura looked up, searching him. It was most curious to see a Galran so proudly declare the name of someone with Altean blood. “You seem to be quite fond of him.”

“I am fond of him,” Kolivan admitted. “I raised him from a pup.”

Her white brows flew up in recognition. “Ah, he is your son, then.”

“Not by blood.” He opened a new set of doors into the main hallway. “But the Blade of Marmora is a family forged by war.”  

---

Prior to seeing the lead scientist in person, Princess Allura expected this Lotor would be a heavily muscled, war-scarred man—similar to Kolivan and many other Galra onboard the battle station. But as she stood there at the entryway of the infirmary, her face slacked in surprise.

There, in a cryostasis tube, was her advisor, Coran, still peacefully sleeping away. And above him, resting atop the tube were various papers and a data pad. A tall and lean man—Altean in physique save for long, Galran arms—stood beside the tube. He wore a standard uniform, and he boasted long, white hair and purple skin. And a particularly handsome face. 

Princess Allura’s heart paused at the sight of him.

Then, a beautiful, velvet voice resounded from the man. “Computer, kick in adrenal function test zero-dash-two.” He ran a frazzled hand through his hair, unaware he was being watched. “Increase cortisol by seven percent to support wakening functions.” He stuck a pen in his mouth as he shuffled through some papers with several calculations. His voice muffled. “We have to—compensate for his additional size compared to the princess. And—” his voice turned in a mix of worry and humor—“I believe this one may also have an intestinal eel that’s awakening as well.”

“Increasing cortisol,” confirmed a sexless computer voice. “Alert. Infirmary accessed by new users, designation Kolivan and guest.”

Suddenly, the handsome man looked up. And then his sharp face faulted, and then he looked almost stricken. His hand fell away from his papers, and his pen slipped from his lips. His own mouth fell open as his yellow sclerae widened.

He stared at the princess, and she stared at him.

Kolivan greeted, voice even. “Lotor, do you have a moment?”

That broke the man’s gaze. Then Lotor said, voice halted, eyebrows knitting together as he waved his hand, “…What are you both doing here? I explicitly recommended that she wake up in a guest bed as opposed to an infirmary. And yet you have brought her right back to this place, which is in no way fit for a princess of Altea.” His voice took on a slight displeasure and stress. “And I am in the middle of a sensitive processes here; I do not have time for pleasantries. Please excuse me.”

And then he turned away, his face tight as he flipped various switches, then looked down at his papers. 

The princess stood there, feeling a strange mix of indignance and shame. “Honorable sir, I simply wished to thank you for your work and to see my advisor, for whom I worry greatly.”

Kolivan raised his voice. “Would it be acceptable for her to watch you wake him from the windows?”

The man named Lotor twisted his face as he looked at Kolivan. “You know I dislike people watching me. It introduces error.” Then his sharp, blue eyes turned to Princess Allura. Oddly, his purple cheeks seemed to carry a flush upon them. He looked back down, his elfin ears flicking back. “Apologies, princess. I promise that your advisor will wake up within the next varga at the latest. As you can see, he still sleeps.”

Princess Allura felt chastised as she watched him, and she pressed her lips together. “Then…after Coran awakens, I would like to speak with you more formally. When you are less occupied.”

“Appointment accepted.” He tossed a few papers to the side, scrunching his white brows. “Now, if you please.”

She pulled her hand away from Kolivan’s to awkwardly clasp her hands behind her back. She did not want to upset him, especially if he were the one who had saved her life. “Of course. I…trust that Coran is in capable hands.”

Blue eyes flickered back to her.

And then, from that particular angle, the Princess Allura felt a chill down her spine. Lotor’s gaze reminded her so terribly of someone that she experienced an odd déjà vu, as if  she were seeing a once-familiar face reflected in that of Lotor’s.

And the way his long hair slipped down his cheeks—the arch of his brow and the line of his aristocratic nose—even his slit eyes...

His velvet voice cut into her thoughts. “I fail at nothing,” he told her simply. His cheeks were still flushed. “Though you did not have an intestinal eel like your advisor, so you were a simpler case.”

And the clinical, scientific manner of his words, combined with his beauty, left her feeling even smaller. The princess herself flushed too, her déjà vu over his appearance slipping away in the midst of her own embarrassment, realizing then that awakening someone from cryostasis meant that he likely knew everything about her body.

She pressed her lips together to hide a noise that strangled from the back of her throat. And it was then, with the lilt of his voice in that clinical way, she realized he reminded her a bit of...Honerva of Daibazaal. A scientist. A healer.

Her heart ached as she stared at this Lotor of the Blades, wondering if perhaps he were some distant relative of Honerva’s family. For a brief tick, she dared to think of Honerva, laying ill in bed with her swollen belly, shuddering out a pained breath as she spoke to King Alfor in fear. She had been worried that Zarkon was no longer himself...that quintessence had made him unstable...

And it was then that a cold water stormed down the princess’s back, along with a strange interest. This Lotor of the Blades had Zarkon’s eyes and Honerva’s nose...

And yet, the newborn heir to the throne had been murdered by his own father.

Unless he hadn’t.

[konaizumi]

Gen Y ep 11 thoughts/reaction

- yeees, make thanuwayu canon!

- i literally just want wayu to be happy

- one of my favorite things about this show is how mature the characters feel, like a majority of the conflicts are caused by the characters being confused or unsure of their feelings and trying to take time to work through them and this unintentionally hurts other characters, but this feels more genuine than a bunch of drama created by stupid misunderstandings and characters being petty, and yes, communication would help a lot of these problems, but it never feels like the writers are just adding things in for no other reason than ‘drama’

- anyways, back to thanuwayu and that beautiful hug and wayu’s precious smile

- that brief flash of thanu’s smile, looking so genuinely happy to have wayu in his arms

- poor phai tho, I don’t want any of my babies getting hurt

- anybody else freak out for a second when he took off his shirt in the mirror and worry that he had gotten the tattoo then were immediately relieved when his back was still bare? just me?

- i tend to prefer college shows rather than high school ones, but my favorite thing about high school thai bls is how accurately they portray high school boys, just boys goofing off, showing their sexy hips

- pls poktong just kiss and make up already, i liked you a lot better when your genre was fluff

- watching pok being all flirty and douchy just seems out of character

- 15 min in and still no markkit

- i’m glad the whole blackmailing plot has now been fully explained, but seeing sandee suddenly smirking and being an asshole is giving me the same feelings as when poktong got weirdly aggressive last ep (by feelings i mean confusion and dislike)

- i wanted phai to end up with sandee bc sandee was so cute and sweet but i don’t know if i want that anymore

- also i forgive tong a little bit for what he did (getting pok beat up not switching the test scores) knowing that he had good(ish) intentions, he still fucked up tho and did a bad thing

- i’m calling it now, either next ep or next season, right when poktong is finally making progress, pok will find out about the switched scores and bam, drama

- pls poktong just kiss and make up already

- i know this scene is supposed to be romantic and all but i can’t stop cringing at the placement of the kisses, like next to the mouth but not quite the cheek? the chin??

- back to my preferred high school babies

- i can’t stop laughing at how they all got the coming of age parted bangs hairstyle to symbolize that they’re in college now

- all the high school babies look good except for pok who now has too much forehead, not that his style before was great but it was better

- thanu is such boyfriend material

- that phaiwayu hug hurts my soul, wayu looks so happy, i just want them both to be happy and not get hurt

- Finally!! 25 min in and finally we get markkit

- i want more of this thanu, thanu with a smile and joking around with his friends

- I really want jiw’s butterfly shirt

- jack and jew kidknapping mark like that was prob my favorite moment of the whole episode, that gif is now my header

- alright, padbok is back, still waiting for their story, but i kinda hope their resolution waits till season 2 bc i want character development for padbok and there’s already so much that needs to happen next ep that i think his story would only be rushed and somewhat glossed over

- i know some people hate padbok, and i also find him annoying, but ever since they dropped the idea of padbok x sab in an earlier ep, all i want is padbok redemption ark

- i guess thanu is somehow going to feature in the poktong story

- i absolutely love sab and klui, they are my favorites of the high school babies

- i guess i can’t call them high school babies anymore

- jackkoh, just admit your feelings for each other already

- aww, markkitwayu choosing custody over the babies, mark wants to be a good senior so badly

- soon as kit said they hadn’t picked a medicine beau, i was like, it’s going to be tong, and i was right, it’s ittpai all over again, but whether it’s better or worse remains to be seen

- kit really does attract the beau’s doesn’t he

- don’t worry mark, you’re much prettier than pok

- pls give me more kitwayu bonding and helping each other heal from pha

- damn kit, you were so close to getting phai to spill

- yes phai, make kit move in with mark

- i absolutely need to know what kit’s test is for phai’s suitors

- i would just like to admire dun’s ability to look so completely lovestruck, like his gaze is just so full of love and it’s so sweet

- that kiss was so cute, i’m sorry i ever doubted you thanuwayu

- that’s pha’s car isn’t it? he’s watching them? I thought he would come back this ep and cause some drama, but he didn’t so he has to come back next ep right?

- i like that they’ve softened poktong bc i like them much better as friends to lovers rather than enemies to lovers

- honestly, their story has a lot of potential but something about it is just really not working well for me and i think its the weird aggression bc they don’t annoy me when their being sweet and smiling. I think if pok had more of a bad boy vibe originally it would’ve been better bc the aggression wouldn’t seem so ooc and the conflict would feel a bit more natural

- their story also has a ton of parallels to ittpai (my gear your gown), so im interested how it’s going to go bc i did like ittpai despite the narrative issues of that show

- poktong: *doing whatever tf they’re doing*

  mark: tf did i just step in

- i really appreciate thanu just saying straight out that he has feelings for wayu, i know he struggled with it, but i like him coming to this point that’s like yes, he feels an attraction to phai, he feels drawn to him and he’s seen their poential future, but right now he has actual, solid feelings for wayu built up from their interactions over months

- what he has with phai isn’t real--it could be real, if he went down that path and choose to get closer to phai, but right now his feelings for wayu are real, so that’s what he’s choosing

- him saying they should never meet again was a little tho, spare my poor baby phai at least a little bit

- i get a dose of serotonin every time i see kit wearing mark’s gear

- the markkit is lacking this ep but they are trying to make up for it with all this good good thanuwayu content

- i’m torn between wanting and not wanting thanu to tell wayu about phai bc it will hurt wayu if he does but it’s gonna hurt more later on when wayu finds out on his own

- I can’t tell if wayu has a suspicion about phai, like he def senses there’s another person but I can’t tell if he knows it’s phai

- okay but thanuwayu are so cute and sweet together

- pls let my babies kiss, i couldn’t appreciate their first kiss bc i didn’t ship them then and wayu thought it was pha so pls let them have a do over

- you know what, i like thanuwayu having visions like thanuphai. I can’t quite tell if that was the writers’ intention, but i hope it is bc that would imply that thanuphai aren’t actually soulmates and that what they see is just a potential future, like they could be happy together, but there are also other people who they can be happy with

- i’m not super crazy about this whole ‘let’s rewrite my memories of pha with memories of you’ bc that doesn’t seem like the healthiest way to move on from pha or to start a new relationship but whatever makes wayu happy i guess

- however i do like how it ties into the whole ‘no predetermined fate’ thing and shows how life is shaped by choices and chance

- pls let my babies kiss tho

- hey so i am not liking this preview of the next ep

- anyways, so i’m liking how their handling the thanuwayuphai thing so far, but it is going to be bad next ep as im assuming the envelope that has phai’s picture is probably phai returning the picture to cut ties but obvi wayu is going to find out about their relationship

- still not sure how i feel about poktong, its better than last ep which i did not like and def shows more potential, but i think we’re gonna have to wait and see, don’t like the direction they’re taking with sandee tho

- also whoops, this got really long but i have a lot of feelings about this show

- fingers crossed for actual markkit content next ep

[wisteria-lodge]

Character Analysis - Sorting Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

a quick note on why I’m moving away from the HP terminology

So @sortinghatchats is brilliant. Absolutely my favorite character (and person!) analysis system. Instead of one house, you get two - a PRIMARY (your motivation, why you do things), and a SECONDARY (your toolbox, how you get things done.) A very stripped down refresher --

IDEALIST PRIMARY Lion/Gryffindor - I do what I feel is right. (MORAL) Bird/Ravenclaw - I do what I decide is correct. (LOGICAL) LOYALIST PRIMARY Badger/Hufflepuff - I do what helps my community (PEOPLE MATTER) Snake/Slytherin - I do what helps me/my inner circle (MY PEOPLE MATTER)

IMPROVISATIONAL SECONDARY Lion/Gryffindor- Charge! React! Smash the system! Snake/Slytherin- Transform, adapt, find the loophole. BUILT SECONDARY Bird/Ravenclaw - Plan, make tools, gather information. Badger/Hufflepuff - Community-build, caretake, call in favors.

Now let’s talk Sherlock Holmes!!!

***

Mycroft Holmes has a terrifying Bird secondary. He knows everything. He sees everything. He holds all the information in his head, all the time, and can tell you exactly how it connects. “Spymaster Mycroft” didn’t become proper fanon until 1970: in the books he’s more like a human computer, or a Mentat from Dune. This man is incapable of improvising. He hates casual conversation, hates changing his routine, just wants to sit and process and plan. He is the cartoon version of a Bird secondary.  

Mycroft is so insanely ‘big picture’ that he barely notices specific individuals. He’s off in in the corner thinking about currency regulation and the situation in Siam. In “The Greek Interpreter” he hears about a woman who might be starving to death… and sort of vaguely puts it on his to-do list. Sherlock ends up handling it.

You could make a case for either a Bird or Lion primary. But I’m going with Lion. Mycroft values instinct like Lions do (”All my instincts are against this explanation.”) And Sherlock describes him as someone who “would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself right.” This is teasing, but it’s a joke about a Lion who just sort of feels the answer, not a Bird who needs a reason to be correct. Mycroft’s Cause, the one we see him respond to emotionally, is the smooth functioning of his world. He has a little pocket carved out for his brother, but if he had to choose between the country that he embodies and Sherlock Holmes’ well-being, it’d be England every time.

Knowing that Mycroft has that much power but doesn’t care about individual people makes Sherlock... uncomfortable. It takes him a while to even mention his brother to Watson. And then he lies about how important Mycroft’s job is. Thematically, this where Moriarty comes in. James Moriarty – the older genius hiding deep in the establishment, running a criminal empire from behind a tenured professorship, never getting his hands dirty – is Dark Mycroft. Because Sherlock is pretty sure his brother is one of the good guys. He’s pretty sure Mycroft isn’t going to break bad and go full-on ‘ends justify the means’ supervillain.

But… like… he could.

Sherlock Holmes is also defined by his Bird secondary. His deductions, data, knowledge of crime – it’s his loudest trait. But it’s a model. He tells us it’s a model. This “habit of observation and inference which I formed into a system” is something he built – and honestly, he probably built it for Mycroft. The Holmes brothers don’t do conversations, they have deduction games. Sherlock never wins, but at least he plays on Mycroft’s level.

(Everything about Sherlock Holmes makes more sense when you think about Mycroft. Like the “brain-attic” metaphor. How did Sherlock get this idea that there’s some fast-approaching limit to the actual pieces of information he can fit in his head at once? Because he knows someone with far, far greater processing power).

Underneath this logical Bird secondary model, Sherlock Holmes has something that looks a lot more Snake He’s moody and mercurial. He improvises on the violin to help himself think. He loves acting. He loves disguises. He crushes on Irene Adler because their Snake secondaries have so much fun playing together. And when it’s important, Holmes goes full-on Snake. Need to get Watson away from Moriarty? Better forge a letter sending him on a fake errand.

And as far as primaries go...  he’s a Badger. Sherlock Holmes cares about people. Oh wow does he care about people. If he doesn’t protect his client, it’s not a win – even if he solved the case with some brilliant bit of detection. He despises blackmailers, because they destroy lives in a cold, impersonal way. (At least murderers care.) He doesn’t mean to upset people with his deductions, and apologizes when he gets too coldly Bird: “Pray accept my apologies. Viewing the matter as an abstract problem, I had a forgotten how personal and painful a thing it might be to you.” When Watson talks about the “depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask,” Holmes is thirty seconds away from going vigilante killer because somebody hurt John Watson.

But the feeling isn’t just Watson-centric. Holmes doesn’t require Watson at his side the way a Snake would, because as long as he knows Watson is safe and happy, he is content. Holmes need-bases. It’s important that he works for people who need him. He generally dislikes working for the rich or upper-class (Soviet Russian Sherlock Holmes was totally a thing, they didn’t have to change much). He also has a *real* problem with overworking himself, which is very much a Badger primary and not Snake primary thing to do

He even community-builds. His Baker Street Irregulars, his connections over at Scotland yard, his tribe of interesting contacts and informants. Holmes values community. To him, community = safe. He loves London, but isolated rural areas makes him nervous:

“[in London] there is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the neighbors, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set it going... But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields… think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser.”

And don’t get me wrong. Holmes loves his double Bird armor. It makes him feel powerful, and hides the fact that he cares so damn much. He likes to pretend he doesn’t: to care is to be weak, ineffective, and untrustworthy. (Mycroft is probably to blame for this bit of thinking too.) But Sherlock Holmes is still able to take off his Bird. He takes it off around Watson. 

Dr. John Watson is a bright charging Lion secondary who is completely incapable of telling a lie. He’s ex-military. He’s Holmes’ muscle/backup. He’s got a gambling problem. And the thing about Holmes and Watson’s dynamic is that while Holmes calls the shots about 90% percent of the time, when it’s important – Watson goes full unstoppable-force Lion. And Holmes just buckles.

“Well, I don’t like it ; but I suppose it must be,” said I. “When do we start?” “You are not coming.” “Then you are not going,” said I. “I give you my word of honor – and I never broke it in my life – that I will take a cab straight to the police station and give you away unless you let me share this adventure with you” “You can’t help me.” “How do you know that? You can’t tell what may happen. Anyway, my resolution is taken.” Holmes had looked annoyed, but his brow cleared, and he clapped me on the shoulder. “Well, well, my dear fellow, be it so.”

Watson’s absolutely a Lion Primary too. First going into medicine, then joining the army even when that’s not the best career move? At the beginning of A Study in Scarlet, Watson is in terrible shape. Can’t sleep. Can’t stand loud noises. He’s “spending such money as I had considerably more freely than I ought.” But it’s not so much the PTSD as it is the the lack of purpose that’s getting to him. He talks a lot about his “meaningless existence” and how how “objectiveless was my life.” That’s a hurting, burned Lion, without a Cause.

And then Sherlock Holmes stumbles in. Overnight Watson’s life has meaning. He is going to help Holmes bring criminals to justice. He is going to make sure Holmes gets the recognition he deserves. And he’s going to get him clean. (ACD gets massive kudos for being against recreational cocaine and morphine use). The things Watson loves about Holmes, things like his “high sense of professional honor” – those are things that get under the skin of a Lion Primary. This is a guy with pictures of abolitionist preachers framed on his wall. John Watson’s not subtle. 

“You don’t mind breaking the law?” [said Holmes] “Not in the least.” “Nor running a chance of arrest?” “Not in a good cause.” “Oh, the cause is excellent!” “Then I am your man.”

And of course, Holmes got lucky in Watson too. Holmes is a Loyalist primary who distrusts other Loyalist primaries – you can’t really blame him, he comes across so many repulsive ones in his day job. (Interestingly, the handful of times Holmes absolutely misreads a motive – “Yellow Face,” “Missing Three-Quarter,” “Scandal in Bohemia” – it’s because he’s going up against a Loyalist primary who is using their powers for good.) 

But Watson is a trustworthy, dependable, predicable, honorable, Idealist who can  look like a Loyalist because his Cause is so focused on one person. So Holmes can be secure in his doctor’s devotion while also getting to lean on the instincts of someone just unflinchingly moral.

tl;dr

Mycroft Holmes – Lion Bird. An extremely big picture Lion whose Cause involves keeping England together. He’s the light-side counterpart of Professor Moriarty.

Sherlock Holmes – Badger Snake. Builds a loud Double Bird model, partly for pleasure, partly have a relationship with his brother, and partly because dealing with so many low-life Loyalist primaries makes him distrust those instincts in himself.

Dr. John Watson - Double Lion. When we meet him he’s pretty burned, due to his twin Causes of Queen and Country not really working out. Luckily, he meets Sherlock Holmes, and finds a new Cause in him.

[thanksjro]

Dark Cybertron Chapter 8: Swoop is a Good Ally

Bumblebee doesn’t turn into a convertible, but that won’t stop Megatron from riding around with his legs hair in the wind, as the two of them book it for Iacon from the Crystal City. Bumblebee’s making great time, despite carrying a dude who is significantly larger than he is. As the burning city comes into view, they discuss the fact that the Titan that’s making its way downtown (walking fast, and it’s homebound) is full of Shockwave ores. The life and death ones, to be exact. This is a problem, because that means it’s neither alive or dead, and you can’t kill something that ain’t alive.
 Then Megatron goes on about how Cybertron needs him, and has always needed him, to end oppression.

Mighty high opinion of yourself you got there, Megatron. We’ll see how that plays out as the day goes on.

Over with Starscream, our fearless leader’s reflecting on how true the term “rat bastard” fits dear Rattrap. Rattrap’s more concerned about the fact that people are literally dying right now while Starscream has a pity party. Good thing Rattrap brought some party guests.

Starscream double-checks that all these friendly faces aren’t with the Titan, then gets called incompetent by just about everyone. Prowl puts together a strategy for this nightmare scenario, staring directly into the camera and showing off his lovingly rendered nose as he starts giving orders. While everyone else is going to be either rounding up the injured or trying to pick a fight with a dude roughly 50 times their size, Prowl’s going to try to figure out how to stop the Titan.

Back inside Metroplex, things are looking tense, as Nautica and Chromia are about a hair’s breadth away from beating the Rod Pod Squad to death. In an effort to dispel the hostility, Getaway points at his bellybutton, and then sat Nautica’s, quoting Optimus Prime and saying that there’s no reason to fight, because a bunch of little murderous bastards are about to pour in and cause some trouble for everyone.

And then a bunch of little murderous bastards are about to pour in and cause some trouble for everyone.

Everyone starts climbing up the rope Nautica and Chromia dropped last issue, except for Whirl, who would prefer to spend his time kicking ass as opposed to hunting for Metroplex’s brain. As the gang crawls around in the vents- because of COURSE they do- Nautica realizes that she’s talking to none other than Ratchet, and has a bit of a moment. Ratchet’s more concerned with the concept of gender being introduced into his world.

You’re right, Ratchet, it doesn’t matter. Just let people live, dude.

Everyone ends up in the left shoulder blade area of Metroplex, where his brain is, and where we meet Windblade- our fan-created character, and a huge part of why IDW had to jam the concept of sexual dimorphism into their continuity posthaste. 
 In 2013, the Fan Built Bot polls were held on the Hasbro website, where fans could vote on several traits of a new character. One of these traits was gender.


Which I’m sure Furman was thrilled about.

The majority rule was for a female Transformer to be created, one hailing from Kaon, who was an Autobot telepath who turned into a jet and had a sword. Not all of this information was kept, simply because it didn’t jive with what had been established about gender previously. Things were still very messy, so Windblade’s place of origin was changed.

But we’ll get to that later on.

Right now, all you need to know is that Windblade is here to keep Metroplex alive.

Over in the Dead Universe, Nightbeat leads Team -Imus to Kup, the lot of them blasting and gunning down zombie robots the whole way. Cyclonus still has the Hollywood Tuberculosis cough. When they reach Kup, Orion Pax calls him old. Cyclonus has a gun now. Rodimus explains why he’s got numbers carved into his palm.

After the nightmare that was Overlord happened, and then the Luna 1 stuff, Rodimus enacted the Crisis Act. Now, the last time we saw the Crisis Act was in Eugenesis. It’s been a minute, so here’s a refresher:

In this case, Rodimus enacted the Act on himself, having the crew of the Lost Light vote on whether he should remain captain. 89 voted for him to get the boot. This weighs heavily on his mind, so much so that he’s decided to carve the vote into his hand, so he can never forget those he failed.

Off in the corner, Cyclonus is dying, but this isn’t about him, this is about Rodimus’ sense of guilt.

Orion isn’t thrilled with how Rodimus handled the situation- he claims that Rodimus would have simply stepped down from his captaincy outright, if he really felt that badly about the situation.

Off in the corner, Cyclonus is still dying, but this isn’t about him.

Not my space dad.

Nightbeat scoops Kup off of his bed and helps the old man stand, not that he needs it. No sir, this crotchety old bastard is so full of piss and vinegar, he’s gotta have the entire Industrial Revolution backdropping his big badass speech.

And then that final claim is tested, as Cyclonus’ limp body is fastball-specialed into Kup’s torso. Nova Prime’s here, and he’s pissed. Orion decides he’s gonna square the fuck up. It’s time for Prime Prime-Time Fight Time.

Back inside Metroplex, violence is taking place, as Whirl, Getaway, and Skids are eviscerating the Ammonites. Over with Metroplex’s brain, Windblade is explaining her whole deal.

Chromia, don’t be fucking rude.

Windblade is a City Speaker, a robot who can interpret the the lights and wave patterns of a Titan’s brain module for the purpose of communication. It’s a pretty sweet trick. Brainstorm doesn’t care about that though- he’s more concerned with getting the hell out of here. Ultra Magnus agrees, though he’s more concerned about the current state of Cybertron and the fact that Shockwave’s still running around. Windblade tells them to do whatever, but she’s gonna stick with Metroplex. It’s at this point that we find out how our new friends got here in the first place.

Turns out Thunderclash’s ship was taking new crew members on, and these three lovely robots were a part of the new blood. The Vis Vitalis ran into Alpha Trion not too long after they joined, freaking the hell out because Metroplex- his best friend in the whole entire world, as established in Spotlight: Orion Pax- just vanished.

Not sure how you lose an entire city that you’re riding around inside, but whatever, Alpha.

Alpha Trion was worried about his friend, but not enough to stop looking for the Holy Grail. So he had Chromia, Windblade, and Nautica come out here to do it. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to do much. This might be why Metroplex pulled the Lost Light over to this rinky-dink little water planet- so he wouldn’t die.

Do you think Roberts and Barber were aware that they were having a bunch of male characters walk all over the hard work of these female characters, by way of making them better at the thing they were sent here to do? Do you think they thought about that? Because that’s pretty much what’s happening here. They’ve been here all of ten minutes, and Nautica- who is a quantum mechanic and engineer, as will be established- has been outdone by a bunch of doofuses who’ve only got the benefit of being properly established characters helping them out.

With a little set up, Metroplex’s brain is plugged into the Lost Light’s engines remotely, and Ultra Magnus tells our boy to rise and shine.

Back on Cybertron, Fixit and Flatline are about to throw down, which Starscream thinks is hilarious. There’s a whole medical slab that contains only a single shin. People are laying in trailers, but I guess that lone shin has priority for whatever reason. Outside, Scoop is being a good lad and helping get the injured to safety. Rattrap is also there.

The Titan has hit the city limits, and everyone’s shooting at the thing to cope. The Dinobots are upset because they’re being ignored, but at least Swoop is proving to be a good friend, as he’s already acclimated to Slug’s name change. Good on you, Swoop.

The plan of attack here is shooting the Titan in the neck until the signals to the brain are cut off from the rest of the body. It’s not really working out so hot, but smart boy points for trying, Prowl.

A building explodes, because we haven’t had an explosion yet this issue. Prowl, whose little red chevron seems to be shrinking by the panel, asks Soundwave for his opinion on the current situation. Soundwave goes “I dunno” and then Megatron shows up.

Friggin’ drama queen.

Prowl, who’s had about enough of everyone at this point, breaks out a gun and tells Megs to start talking before things get uglier than they already are.

Megatron has a plan. Are you ready to hear it?

He wants everyone to:

Load up on ships

Fuck off into space

Come back later when the DJD show up

Bumblebee does not like this plan. He dislikes it very much, in fact, and throws Megatron’s legs on the ground in protest. Megatron pouts about being called a meanie warlord shit-for-brains.

Bumblebee rattles off a very inspiring speech about the perseverance of the Cybertronian spirit, and how you should never give up, and oh would you look at that Metroplex just showed up with the Lost Light.

Time for some Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Hell yeah.

[system-of-a-feather]

“The Inner World Isn’t Real”; Personal Comments from a Gatekeeper

So I have been looking around and I know that a lot of people who like to complain about people with DID and how they should “know the inner world isn’t real” and “take the inner world too seriously” and similar things. I know there are some that say “inner worlds don’t even exist” which to that I am not even going to comment on since I really don’t care to argue that. 

[[DISCLAIMER: This post is entirely based on our system and my perspectives as a gatekeeper that spends a lot of time understanding the inner world and how that works with our trauma memories and compartmentalization and stuff. This is not based on science. This is based on our experiences and as such, take it with a grain of salt. I’m not good with the science shit, that is Lucille and Riku’s things but what I do know is how our system and trauma work so this is coming from my experience.]]

Okay, now with that out of the way, the inner world isn’t real. It feels very real, it is a mental image / symptom / aspect of DID that is real, but the inner world itself is not real. If I am remembering Riku’s readings right, it is a form of coping through fantasy / daydreaming to help interpret and process trauma and understand the disconnect / dissociation between parts. Don’t quote me on that since I am remembering that from a layer or two down, but I believe that is probably founded - if not, that is my take on the inner world.

With that being said, I really very very much dislike people commenting on how systems “take the inner world too seriously” or “should know that it isn’t real and should stop taking aspects of it seriously” or “need to focus more on reality and less on their inner lives” and I find those claims absolutely ridiculous.

Firstly, at least in our experience, the inner world is primarily a safe place where a lot of parts retreat to in order to be able to relax, process trauma, process emotions, and internally go through events to either help process or come to terms with things that had happened. It is a “form of escapism” if used too much - that I understand - but more than not, it is a place of self regulation, relaxation, and being able to find peace in a mind that is full of trauma and mental health issues. It is a place that allows us to process things in an easier manner and in a more controlled environment. It allows parts to communicate and understand one another more - and if “dating” comes out of it, then so be it. That isn’t a problem and it is two parts understanding one another better and a form of self love. 

There is a reason a lot of therapists encourage the creation of an inner world if one is not inherently present. It helps to make sense of the disorder, the amnesia, the parts, and create an environment where one can relax and breathe. 

Secondly, for people that get upset about how specific and hyper fixated people can get on aspects of the inner world, they also do have to remember inner worlds, again at least in our experience, are conceptualized perceptions often built with trauma in mind. 

Yes, it might sound silly to be stressed about what one alter is doing in one part of an imaginary world and how that might affect how the imaginary world is functioning. Yes it might sound silly to get worried about how a part of the inner world is blocked off when it “isn’t really a real world anyways”, but a lot of what an inner world is is an intense and detailed metaphor / personification for parts of a whole that are not understood. 

Our inner world is structured and divided and have rules and universal laws (similar to physics) that apply to it as it is important to how trauma is processed, internalized, and structured. We have parts of the inner world that can’t change for specific trauma reasons. We have parts of the inner world that *shouldnt* change for specific trauma reasons. Some areas are known to hold heavily traumatic parts. Some areas are known to store memories that would upset others. Some alters are stuck behaving in a way or are unable to interact because of how a trauma had impacted them. 

Of course these aren’t “real” things and it sounds silly to be concerned or think much on them since they are “just an imaginary world” but they are very directly linked to the nature of the trauma and understanding it.

Thirdly, for those that comment on how “memories from the inner world aren’t real and shouldn’t be taken seriously” or anything similar, again, do remember a lot of what happens in the inner world is a conceptual understanding of trauma. If someone has very intense emotional memories of something that happened in the inner world, it is likely associated to something unprocessed from the real life. That applies similar to psuedomemories and any other sort of substitute belief. To shirk those off because “they didn’t happen in the real world” and “shouldn’t be taken seriously as real emotions” is ridiculous as - while they are likely twisted and turned to be easier to process / handle - they are almost always based in actual events that had happened to the system.

And in that regard “innerworld trauma” and “exotrauma” and “source trauma” aren’t real in the sense that “I got traumatized from my backstory”, but they ARE real in the sense that “inner world trauma” and “memories from one’s source” are able to feel real and be taken as genuine traumatizing events that happened because it was a reinterpretation and warping of actual trauma that had happened to the system. To say someone is wrong for “being traumatized from their source” and to try to push them into saying they are faking or wrong is problematic since it is very often that those “traumatic memories from a source” are warped / twisted / substitute memories personifying an aspect or type of trauma that is not ready to be digested or taken in through its truest and unadulted form. 

I have “innerworld abuse / trauma” that means a lot to me - and I know exactly where it came from in connection to our real life and I am aware that is what I am *actually* working with, but the truth is that what happened in the inner world is how I have best processed it as it is. I will likely pull away from the substitute belief, but that isn’t now and currently as it is - the inner world version can be a lot to handle. Its an elaborate re-wrap of an actual traumatic aspect of our childhood that I was gifted to hold. Yes, it isn’t real and it “didn’t really happen” but the core event did - just how it was encoded was different.

Anyways, this is getting a bit lecturey and rambly, but the point is - if people want to try to minimize the complexities of having an inner world while having DID, they should really stop. Inner worlds aren’t just some “imaginary world” or “just daydreaming” even if they are in a way. They have multiple purposes and work in a lot of different ways that are often hyper personalized to each system based on what they have gone through.

Also, for those that don’t have an inner world or have a small inner world or whatever - that is 100% valid and this post IS NOT to say that you HAVE to have an inner world or that it has to be a complex inner world. Inner worlds are not mandatory to being a system.

This post was just put out here to talk about inner worlds a little more seriously from our own experience and my knowledge of it.

((EDIT: Also, while I do say and talk about the inner world in a much more clinical-detached manner - other alters in the system would likely describe it differently. I have a particular relationship with the inner world as a large part of my job in the system is maintaining it and learning about it and how it connects to our life and trauma history. Riku and a few alters would probably consider it a lot less clinically.))

-Ray (Gatekeeper)

[nice-kill-tanaka]

Heyhihello!! Can i request a match up for ohshc?

This was from another request from different acc i did weeks ago so that requesting would be much easier, ill label the numbers so that its clearer for you to understand!

2. Hobbies

Ill add things i like here too, if thats ok 😸

:food, music (classic, alternative/rock, pop and many moree!) books, anime/manga, science, literature, daydreaming, laughter/smiles, kickboxing, volleyball, archery, knives and guns, cold weather, blue skies, strong wind, horror /thriller.

3. What i want to find in a s/o

4. What i dislike

5. Personality

Im also a capricorn and libra ascendant that is infj-t mbti personality type!

Thank you very much ♥️

[🌄 @michiyonakamura​ requested one (1) regular Ouran High School Host Club matchup. I have just the ingredients for that! Sit tight while I get to work.🌌]

Not to sound weird, but I love your energy 😭!! I admire the fact that you have such a good sense of self. I’ll make you proud, bud! 😤

(Btw, since you didn’t clarify your pronouns, I’ll just use they/them for now. I’ll change them if you want!)

And, it looks like you have an admirer:

🌷Tamaki Suoh🌷

🌱Humble Beginnings🌱

In school, even in your second year middle school class, you knew the rumors far too well. The whispers that reminded you of viper hisses that kept one name relevant in your mind

The bastard son of Yuzuru Suoh, Tamaki

Despite the other kids explaining to you (Multiple times, at that) that the boy wasn’t worth talking to, you never understood the stigma around him

Maybe it was because your parents didn’t treat illegitimate children like the sin it was in the elite professional community?? But, you were genuinely confused at your classmates, who were so ready to deny the humanity of the new kid (Because of something he couldn’t control, no less)

You eventually asked for the opinion of your “friend”, Kyoya Ootori (Really, it was just an acquaintanceship built off the request of Kyoya’s parents. You knew that, but decided not to say anything out of liking spending time with him.). To which he responded that building a relationship with someone with such a horrible status held no benefit. But, he also knew that fact would hardly stop you

And it didn’t ❤️

You started your mini-mission with simple observation

Through watching at a distance, you learned that even though Tamaki was lowkey (highkey) shunned by his classmates, he was still the sweetest person imaginable towards them 

Something told you he understood why he had the social standing he did. But, the fact that he chose to not act bitter made you feel warmer on the inside

You really, really wanted to talk to Tamaki. And hardly because you pitied him. But, because he seemed like too good and interesting a person to pass off

After further observation, you found out that Tamaki also loved music! (As he took a classical music elective)

And suddenly, you had your peace offering

The day after your discovery, you went to the library on campus and got to work. The idea was that you’d print out a ton of sheet music for piano and offer your friendship by giving it to Tamaki

You ended up printing out “’Moonlight’ Sonata”, “The Entertainer”, “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3″, and many others like them, putting them in a folder with a sticky note signed with your name:

“Wanna sit together at lunch sometime? :D —(Y/N)”

After that, you left the decision up to Tamaki. Sure, you wanted to be friends with him, but letting him come to you would be a surefire way to gauge his interest

The next day, you sat at your usual spot with Kyoya at lunch, who expressed his doubts about your efforts paying off

And while you did acknowledge that your little plan could always fall through, you kept your hopes up. The notion of making your life a bit brighter with The Power Of Friendship™️ made you giddy

As your talking veered into the subject of your curiosities about how the cafeteria’s gourmet lunches managed to be so good every day, you noticed a shift in Kyoya’s gaze. Instead of looking straight at you, his line of vision looked like it was going just past you

“Ah, excuse me? You’re (L/N) (F/N), right?”

You immediately turned around at the sound of the polite voice behind you

Well, what do you know!!

The lean boy behind you stood patiently, familiar folder in hand. His blond hair and near violet eyes only complimented his sweet-looking face. He was exactly who you were hoping to see!! 

“Oh! Uh, yeah, that’s me!” 

“I got the music you left on my desk, and I wanted to thank you! You have amazing taste in music.”

Your heart: ❤️✨😊🌺☀️

“Oh- geez, thanks! I kinda thought you’d like them. Wanna, maybe...sit and talk about ‘em?”

Tamaki brightened and you both looked towards Kyoya for permission. The two of you faced each other again once he gave a brief, exasperated nod

“Of course!”

🌳Flourishing Love🌳

Together, you, Kyoya, and Tamaki became the respective heart, mind, and soul of the Ouran High School Host Club

As the naturally likable manager, you were often a bridge between the two conflicting views of leadership. You brought a certain empathetic sense of responsibility to the table, which helped in most club functions 

Tamaki, who you became rather close to, began to fall for your love of life, and your love for others

Even he was surprised by how many other clubs you helped out in, and made it his mission to make sure you don’t spread yourself too thin ((like he often did-))

Through you, Tamaki began to learn about all of your hobbies. And every day, he’d love you a little more

Your crush developed more slowly, but surely. You started seeing Tamaki as a romantic option when he started asking for you to teach him about the many things you enjoy. No one had shown that type of interest before, and honestly?? It was a little flustering

Soon enough, Tamaki couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to ask you out before the opportunity went away!

(((Sure, there was the issue of his customers being upset about his relationship. But, Tamaki would cross that bridge when he got to it, wouldn’t he?)))

It was actually in the library that Tamaki officially confessed. He gave you a book that you had already read, insisting that you look through it again. Albeit, confused, you complied by opening to the page bookmarked by a red rose. There, you saw a sticky note with a specific paragraph number written on it

The paragraph you read was a love confession that perfectly described Tamaki’s feelings

You looked up from the book to meet Tamaki’s eyes, that were free of the exaggerated version of himself. He was serious about this, and serious about you

After you two got together, Tamaki would’ve loved to flaunt his new relationship, but you eventually convinced him to keep it under wraps for now

In fact, he found the Secret Forbidden Relationship™️ shtick kind of ✨exciting✨ 

However, he will at some point get impatient and accidentally out your little romance to the Host Club (Kyoya had known all along of course)

One of your first dates was watching a “light” thriller at your place. In other words, the movie scared the crap out of Tamaki, while you comforted him like the knight in shining armor you are ☺️

Being as compassionate as he is, Tamaki would love easing you into becoming more verbally expressive. The improvement isn’t necessarily for him, since his higher understanding of other people means he can interpret how you feel too. But, he knows that taking that change is important to you, whether you’ve outright said it or not

Tamaki will become a lot more adventurous with you and all of your interests. The rest of his friends are actually concerned about his physical health 😅

During the winter months, you and Tamaki made it a habit of going out on days below freezing, and cuddling at a library/cafe 

Expect many, many chocolate roses from Tamaki in the places you frequent, with sweet little love notes attached to the stem

^The notes also include polite reminders of tasks you may have forgotten throughout the day

The reason Tamaki loved dating you (And not just you in general) was because you two had gotten together of your own volition. No outside forces like wealthy family or meddling friends were involved. This relationship belonged to only you two, and that fact couldn’t be taken away 💕

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

[🌌 There you go bud! That’s one matchup for the road. Hopefully it lasts for a while, but if it doesn’t, feel free to come back! I’d be thrilled to see you again.🌄] —Reagan

[ilikelookingatthings]

I think we need to wait a while to judge King Il completely guys...

You know what I find most interesting is alot of people are assuming that king Il’s love for his wife and daughter aren’t real now because a focus has been on his overly religious self letting that religion get between him nd his brother, Il bringing up stuff about the yon-hi’s bloodline. and Kaashi implying that she thinks Il was only happy for having a red haired child. The religious aspect of it also gives us a chance to look as his overly protective father self as having other motives that are less loving in keeping Yona uninvolved in stuff. And its reasonable that since we spent the time seeing yuu-hon get humanized and how deeply he cares for soo-won and his wife on a personal level that we can assume the opposite with prince Il.

But thats a little unfair...like king Il definitely isn’t a perfect all benevolent person especially with taking some how his dislike over when his brother did in regards to soo-won. On the other hand its a very human thing people do and he wasn’t outright cruel to soo-won. Not particularly nice but very human.

Theres also the fact that we know he is pretty kind and hates violence as these are traits that yon-hi and yu-hon recognized in him and are real parts of him. He did run into fire to save Kaashi, who his more well liked brother sentenced to death.

Kaashi implies she thinks Il is only happy for having the red headed child and it definitely contrasts and yu-hon and yon-hi had that slow romance they built up over time. Kaashi sensing a red light and asking Il to marry her saying his wish will come true. 

Its easy to dismiss King Il if we think negatively as someone who didn’t truly love his wife and Yona and his protectiveness a type of superior possessiveness over the red dragon or something. That he was just jealous of his brother and bitter under that kindness due to being looked down on by alot of people in the palace including his brother who sucked at communicating. Plus some dislike he has toward Yu-hon wife and child to some degree even though yu-hon is the one at fault for the bad stuff that happened.

But we are also only seeing a limited side of him. He didn’t remarry after Kashi and they were together for a while so its possibly that prince Il did properly come to love her. After all both shared that guilt over having brought yon-hi to see the head priest which triggered the events that would lead to setting all of them on fire. Prince Il was actually really cool looking when he was getting Kashi out of the fire and directly going against his brother’s choice. He seemed genuinely concerned and scared of Kashi getting involved with yu-hon’s family because it increases the chances that his brother could find out her identity which he feared would lead to her death. Both Kashi and Prince Il witnessed a great horror up close, both are pretty religious and considering how often he went to the temple they were probably already aware of one another.

Prince Il does have a genuine kindness about him though it doesn’t seem to reach out to soo-won. King Il I think probably did genuinely love Yona and his background makes his over protectiveness work even without her being the reincarnation of king Hiruyu. It also raises the question of why did he isolate Yona so much if she was supposed to reunite the dragons. and King Il did worry about Yona, grieved his wife at her death and did make her soup. King Il also did impress Hak for a reason. I really do trust Hak’s judgment and he had been the one chosen by the original emperor so there has to be something there.

King Il definitely is more complicated than we thought but it would b unfair to simplify all hi love to be some type of illusion or not real compared to yu-hon’s love. Its frustrating but no one got in trouble for killing all those priests and burning down those temples so its understandably why Il would be wary or wouldn’t like yu-hon and yon-hi and even soo-won to some degree as a reminder. How many children priests did yu-hon kill?

I can’t help but wonder if Il was shaken by that because it was the first time Il saw the atrocities and what his brother was willing to doup close and personal.

Yon-hi sees what yuu-hon did as something he did to protect her and his promise he made to her family to keep it secret but I’m willing to bet it was also a excuse for yu-hon to get rid of the priests system that he had stated he disliked and saw as unnecessary.

I want to believe Hak’s good judgment that what Hak believed about king Il wasn’t a lie.

After all even if soo-won still betrayed and did bad stuff to him we know at his core Hak wasn’t wrong that Soo-won would be a worthy king and Soo-won does care about Hak and Yona even if Soo-won is deliberately shoving that part of himself down.

Over all we know king Il was a flawed king in his views and methods but his ideas weren’t wrong exactly even if they were naive.

And kashi was almost burned alive and a lot of others were to....she doesn’t exactly seem the optimistic type and I don’t think she married him for love at first either.

Dude was willing to grab a sword with his bar hands and have a conversation without letting anyone else catch on what he did.

[witchesoz]

What we know of Oz: Book 1, Good Ol’ South

We did the East, we did the West, as well as bits of the North… Next direction is of course the South! And I will begin immediately with its Witch, for once. # Glinda. The Witch of the South, or the Good Witch of the South. 

The heroes decide to go see her after the Wizard fails to carry away Dorothy with him. Even though at first they don’t think about her – for Dorothy it is understandable given that she only heard her name mentioned briefly at the beginning of her adventure. The Scarecrow can’t possibly know her. As for the Lion and the Tin Woodman, it is unknown why they don’t think of her… the Tin Woodman in particular knows very well about the Wicked Witch of the West, and that since the beginning of the adventure. She is probably not the most well-known public figure in Oz at the time… Anyway, it is the soldier with a green beard in the Emerald City that informs them of her existence. He mentions that she can help because she is “the most powerful of all Witches”. He also mentions that she rules over the Quadlings (clearly, she is the queen of the South) and that she lives in a castle built at the edge of the desert (which leads him to assume that she may know a way to cross it). And when asked if Glinda is good, interestingly the soldier doesn’t answer right away, he merely says that the Quadlings “think” she is good, and that she is kind to everyone. So he doesn’t say that she is a Good witch, but that she apparently looks like one (even though we know that she is a Good Witch thanks to the Witch of the North description of her). He also adds that Glinda is a beautiful woman that looks young, but in reality is old if not ancient, and that she merely knows how to “keep young despite the many years she has lived”. Once they arrive in the Quadling Country, our heroes go to the castle of Glinda, located at the most southern part of the country. Her castle is said to be very beautiful, and guarded by “three young girls in handsome red uniforms trimmed with gold braids”. Glinda herself is found in a big throne room, sitting on a throne of rubies. She is described, as said previously, “both beautiful and young”. Her hair is a rich red in color, falling in flowing ringlets over her shoulders. Her eyes are blue and kind, and her dress is pure white (because remember, white is the color of the Witches). Glinda is indeed kind and benevolent, making sure that Dorothy’s companions go home, revealing to Dorothy that her shoes are her ticket back (Glinda seems to have the most knowledge about magic, along with the Wicked Witch of the West), and even kissing gently Dorothy upon first meeting her. However, when you look at her dialogue with adult eyes, you realize that Glinda is actually deeply ironic. Snarky one would say nowadays. She keeps making subtle jokes. Speaking of the Scarecrow she says that “It would be a shame to deprive the Emerald City of such a wonderful ruler” and when he asks if he is really wonderful, she says “You are unusual” ; and to the Tin Woodman she says “You are brighter than him (when polished)”. Small jokes that fly over the characters’ heads, but that are certainly not cruel or wicked. But yeah, Glinda apparently always dreamed secretly to be a stand-up comedian Xp # As for the South in itself… The land of the Quadlings, the red country, the South of Oz. Interestingly, the characters only take three days to arrive there, contrary to the longer travels they previously had (it was probably a way to shorten the book at this point, because this is actually their fourth travel). The soldier mentioned that the road to Glinda is very easy, it is a straight road to the South – but it is “full of dangers to the travelers”, which is the reason why none of the Quadlings ever come to the Emerald City. It is quite weird given that the soldier previously said that he knew what the Quadlings thought of Glinda… maybe people from the Emerald City went to the South? Among these dangers on the road he mentions “wild beasts in the woods” and “a race of queer men who do not like strangers to cross their country”. Of course, we will meet both. I personally think the land of the South begins at the episode of the “fighting trees”, because previously it was just the Emerald City territory, so I’ll begin here. The first obstacle our heroes meet is a thick wood with “no way around it” because it extends as far as can see, and when they try to enter it the trees actually move their branches – they bend down, twine around them and fling them back, tossing away whenever they try to pass. These are the trees that are remembered in Oz lore as “the fighting trees”. However, the Woodman manages to pass under one after cutting one of its branches – the tree “shakes as if in pain” but it can’t prevent anymore the heroes from passing underneath. Behind these fighting trees, the rest of the forest is actually absolutely normal. As a result they deduce that only the “first row” of trees can bend their branches like that, and that they were given wonderful powers to act as the “policemen” of the forest, keeping strangers out of it.

At the edge of this wood, they find the China Country. (As a small note, many people think that the episode of the China Country was added later, once the book was finished, due to how out of place it seems, and due to a slightly different writing style which really denotes this part). The China Country is a “stretch of country” with a floor as smooth, shining and white as the bottom of a big platter, and surrounded by a high wall of white china, smooth and higher than the heroes’ heads. This time the heroes could go around it, but they try not to, out of fear of losing their direction. This country is actually populated by people made of china, or precisely by the china figures used in “our” world as ornaments and decorations – small china houses in the brightest colors, china barns and animals, and even a china church, all populated by milkmaids, shepherdess, princesses, shepherds, princes and clowns. We actually know they are THE china figures we collect because, as a princess explains, whenever one of them leaves China Country, they lose the ability to speak and move and can only “stand around and look pretty”, ending up on mantels and cabinets, paralyzed but apparently alive (yeah, that’s creepy). It also shows that the China Country seems to be an enchanted place (or a cursed one) giving them life. Due to being made of China  these people tend to be very fragile, and break easily (this is why they don’t like having non-china beings walk around us, and also probably why the wall was built – there is a strong sense of “secluded and protected communities” in the South of Oz). However they can be mended (there is a “mender’s shop” somewhere in town) but in general they dislike being mended because it is “not pretty”, and apparently being mended too much in the head leaves one “foolish”. We also know that to cross this country, one needs roughly an hour. Right on the other side of the China Country there is a “disagreeable country” filled with bog and marshes, and covered in a tall grass and thick underbrushes that actually hide muddy holes. Right after this country, solid ground comes back and we enter in another forest – with trees bigger and older than anything our heroes saw previously (which means the Munchkin forest and the Fighting trees one). Our characters think that the forest is gloomy and “wilder than ever”, all except the Lion that absolutely adores this forest, especially the softness of the dried leaves and the “richness and greenness” of the moss – this is the forest he will want to live in. This is actually the forest of the wild beasts the soldier mentioned before, and we see them in the middle of a council, terrified because a monster installed itself in the forest, devouring them. I will jump a bit the animal descriptions, keep them for another talk about animals in Oz, but I will stay a bit on this monster, probably of the same nature as the Kalidahs since animals don’t often refer to other beasts as abominations. This one is said to be a “tremendous monster, like a great spider, with a body as big as an elephant and eight legs as long as tree trunks” (note that while this monster is referred to as the “great spider”, in its description it is always said to be a monster “like” a great spider). Its body is covered in coarse black hair, it has a great mouth with sharp teeth a foot long, but its main weakness is its neck: between its head and its “pudgy” body (it has been noted that the beast feasted on numerous animals ever since its arrival, hence why it may look quite fat), its neck is actually as thin as a “wasp’s waist” and this is how the Lion kills it, but cutting off its head (while it sleeps). We also know that this beast arrived quite recently in the forest, so it is not some sort of ancient evil dwelling there for a long time. And, next to the forest, is the ultimate obstacle of the South: the hill of the Hammer-Heads. It is a steep hill, covered from top to bottom with hundreds of great pieces of rock, and behind each rock is hidden (or lives) a Hammer-Head, the “queer men” the soldier talked about. The Hammer-Heads are short and stout men, with big heads flat at the top supported by a thick neck full of wrinkles. No female is mentioned and they also lack arms. Their danger is that their neck can stretch out extremely fast, “as quick as lightning” and thus they can throw their heads flat-side first to hit people with a great strength and send them tumbling down the cliff. And they do that with “boisterous laugh” to anyone that tries to cross their hill because, as they say, “this hill belongs to us and we don’t allow anyone to cross it”. They are not even afraid of the Lion’s roar, which says a lot. The characters again don’t want to go around the hill out of fear of losing their way, and only can cross thanks to the Winged Monkeys intervention. # Now… a big question: what is exactly Quadling Country? This is a big one, especially in this book… In later Oz books, it is considered that each of the four regions make up all of Oz. Aka, everything in the West is Winkie Country, everything in the South is Quadling Country, everything in the East is Munchkin land… However in this book, while at first we believe that the fighting trees, china country and hammer-heads hill are all part of the Quadling Country, Dorothy and the narration keep repeating that the Quadling Country actually begins behind the Hammer-Heads hill, and that everything before that is not Quadling land but… something else. Which is quite interesting, especially when compared to the other regions: as soon as the heroes set out to the West they immediately entered the Winkie lands, and in the East, while the great forest is at first implied to be part of the Munchkin country, at the end of the travel there is a distinction made between the Munchkin land and the forest… So yes, you can either chose to consider that the South Land is indeed all of the South of Oz, but that the Quadlings Country is merely the most southern part where the Quadlings live proper, a region of the South Land, or you can consider the Quadling Country to be the name of all of the South of Oz. Anything is possible. The Quadling Country proper is described as beautiful, rich and happy, “field upon field of ripening grain, well-paved roads running between, pretty rippling brooks with strong bridges” (note that this is the only country with the mention of bridges, you can find them nowhere else in Oz). The favorite color of the Quadlings is red, and thus the fences, houses, bridges and clothes are all red, “bright against the yellow grain and the green grass”. The Quadlings themselves also appear mostly as farmers. Like the rest of Oz they are described as short and “good-natured”, but they also have a specific trait: they are all “fat” or “chubby”. (This lead to some artists interpreting the Ozian races as all having a different body type, the Munchkins being small, the Quadlings fat, the Winkies muscular, etc… an idea that I personally quite like). There also seems to be an explanation for the Quadlings’ fatness hidden in the text: when they are welcomed inside a Quadling house and share their supper, it is mentioned that the Quadling family serves the protagonists “three kinds of cakes and four kinds of cookies”: it seems that the Quadling diet involves a lot of desserts, candies, treats and other sugary things. No wonder they all end up with some extra-padding on their body...