#what if... what if the reason tarn's face is fucked up is because he looked too much like orion and megatron couldnt bear it

[mychlapci]

I don’t know much about Tarn but I think him going with Megatron would be perfect and set him up to have serious mother issues

even better if we combine this with the ask i sent about Megatron teaching the sparkling that Orion is dead and Optimus Prime must be destroyed

-millipede

Tarn is perfect for it, honestly. Trust me. The agony Optimus will go through when he realizes that the little bitlet he and D16 had in good faith, that was born out of their love, during a simpler time, has grown up to be one of the decepticons' most violent and brutal killer.... oh man. he'll feel so guilty.

And Tarn would have such intense mommy issues. Megatron is so messed up after the events of the movie, he's angry and in denial and bloodthirsty, he killed Orion and Optimus Prime is standing in his place and he needs to kill him. He's slipping into obsession and little Tarn just wants his carrier to love him... but Megatron needs a soldier, not a son. Tarn understands that, he'll be that, for his carrier, if it means Megatron will pay attention to him, love him.

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #51 — Ten Has Done So Much for All of You, and for What? You Don't Deserve Him.

So, obviously, last issue ended rather poorly for Team Rodimus and Pals. It doesn’t look like the start of this one going much better, as a mass of baddies bombard the late Necrobot’s “Fortress”. Whirl, being Whirl, wants to go out and face his certain death head-on. Everyone else is more than fine to wait for death to come to them.

Rewind, showing off the skills he’s picked up as a videographer over the last several thousand years, gets the security cameras up. I’m assuming that Censere had these installed to keep an eye out for bored space teens who might have wanted to graffiti his millions of plinths. Too bad it didn’t save him, or his property, as outside, Tarn is shooting the ground with his twin fusion cannons. He’s having to hold his arm in place with his other hand, as I’m sure the kickback of firing two lasers at once must be something fierce. He finishes and commands his troops to cease firing, everyone withdrawing.

The Lost Lost Lighters are super jazzed about this, Brainstorm stating that they must have heard about Tailgate’s Power Punch, an attack with a name so banal, it surely must kill anyone who faces it, if only so they don’t talk shit about it after the fact.

Megatron, however, knows what Tarn’s pulling, as he’s a theatre kid, and everyone knows that the really intense theatre kids follow their scripts to a T, and will murder you for trying to ad lib like some filthy fucking improv performer.

By doing this, he’s honoring Shakespeare.

Swerve has begun to bawl like a baby over how bad the situation has gotten, likely recalling all the awful shit he witnessed the last time he crossed paths with the DJD. Magnus, who still has his arm off, because Velocity is all about uplifting her fellow women, demands that they try to call for assistance, then apologizes for swearing, even though he’s absolutely at the very least said “damn” in the past. Maybe he’s confusing the total inability to curse with the IDW publication law that you’re not allowed to say “bitch” until your series has been truncated by 50%. Or maybe he only allows himself to swear in the presence of poor snack management. Anyway, it’s not like it matters— Megatron’s just informed everyone that Tarn also likes to cut the phone lines in situations like this.

All of this, because you wanted middle management for your faction.

Because Megatron never baked any sort of loophole into the DJD’s way of handling shit, because how the fuck could he have possibly known he’d one day have to denounce his entire reason for existing to satisfy the commercial whims of Hasbro, the gang is going to have to figure out some way to defend themselves or escape in the next eight hours. Rodimus orders everyone to split up and look for clues, blowing off Ten in the process.

Velocity calls Swerve, the closest thing to a doctor besides her, to come look at the Necrobot’s corpse, which appears to have turned into a pile of ash. Swerve informs her that this is what happens when someone who’s old as balls kicks it. Now, it may concern you that Velocity, who was the only doctor for a ship of over 200 until this morning, doesn’t know what a dead old man looks like. However, we must recall that age-related spark burnout hasn’t been a thing until very recently for Cybertronians, and Caminus, the colony Velocity is from, is marginally younger as a society. It probably just hasn’t happened in her circles yet.

Velocity and Swerve play around in the pile of old man dust, until she pulls a key out, with “1/001” written on it. Her search party will be focusing on finding what this key goes to, as it was surely important, given that it was on Censere’s person at the time of his death.

Over on the DJD’s ship, The Peaceful Tyranny, Deathsaurus stares at the corpses Tarn’s nailed to the wall of his room. The nails have Decepticon insignias on the heads, because of course they do. These are the same corpses Tarn had on the wall of his office in Grindcore. Tarn asks if Deathsaurus is impressed with his first editions, and when Deathsaurus is understandably bewildered by this question, Tarn explains that these are corpses that were sent home after dying in the mines of Messatine, who had Megatron’s writing etched into their organs by Terminus, so that said writing would reach the outside world. Tarn thinks it’s pretty fucking cool, but Deathsaurus is, again, bewildered by this interior design choice. In general, Deathsaurus is bewildered by a vast majority of the ways Tarn chooses to live his life.

Tarn, opening the mouth section of his mask to drink a shot’s worth of energon, likely totally unable to see as he does so, since the eye holes don’t line up anymore, says that if Deathsaurus was a true intellectual like Tarn was, he’d understand that trying to chase down a ship with quantum jump capabilities is really difficult when you no longer have a sneaky little double agent to give you exact coordinates, so grounding their targets was the best option. No word on how Tarn feels about the ship he super-nightmare-death-murdered being perfectly fine now.

Deathsaurus really just wants to know why they backed off after having their targets cornered, because he hates Tarn and his stupid little games, having been working with him for at least a couple months by this point. Tarn, however, has the audacity to be smug about how all the Autobots are probably tearing each other apart out of fear, as the sun makes its way across the sky.

Back with Velocity’s search party, Nautica’s joined the one-and-a-half doctors in the Key Quest. Velocity asks Swerve about why Ten came down with the rest of the group, and in Swerve’s defense, it’s not like anyone knew this was a murder trip until after they’d arrived. When the brain attack happened last issue, Swerve hadn’t disclosed what exactly he’d heard— now, however, he admits that he’d gotten an earful from Ten about the Ambus Test, and how just because he’s made up of the corpses of multiple religious hermits doesn’t mean he isn’t a person too, and also once that union gets going, he’s gonna sic lawyer-mode Magnus on him.

Anyway, they found the door that key went to.

Back with Rodimus in the main room, he’s collecting the notes of all the other search teams. Rung’s face has been shaded to look like he got lip fillers. Rodimus isn’t pleased, but it isn’t because of Rung’s gotten work done.

Nightbeat, however, DOES have good news to pair off with the bad. News so good he starts using metaphors, which confuses and frightens Magnus. Nightbeat has found the quantum travel device the Necrobot used to travel to the deaths he recorded, and what do you know? It’s got just enough juice to get everyone out of dodge and into the loving embrace of safety. Hooray! Time to form an orderly queue, going from most to least obnoxious paint job.

Then Team Killjoy shows up, Velocity and Nautica letting everyone know what’s behind door #1: it’s a bunch of organics in stasis.

I will say, the inverse of Transformers fans collecting robot toys mint in package is decidedly more disturbing.

Whirl isn’t horribly keen to die over a bunch of squishy nobodies. Nautica states that the organics are vulnerable and need protection. Skids, really wanting to be in that straight-passing relationship, agrees that the DJD will totally kill these guys, because they learned their technoism from SOMEONE MEGATRON. Chromedome, who has had his husband back for maybe six months at this point, really doesn’t want to stick around for the sun to set. Cyclonus asks just why the fuck there’s a bunch of dudes in the basement. Tailgate wonders if it really matters, considering the situation at hand. Magnus, needing direction in his life, makes sure that Rodimus hasn’t decided to take a nap standing up like a horse. Brainstorm, who has been oh-so-subtly trying to edge the door to the quantum tube shut, makes the point that they could do a lot of good after the fact, if they left now and then vowed to protect a slew of organics afterwards, which would eventually even out their sins, probably.

Rodimus feels pretty good about this proposal, but he loves looking like the most appealing, middle-of-the-road choice, and says that they have some time to talk this out. However, we’ve forgotten that we’re riding with Mr. Ex-Peace Through Tyranny, who does nothing in half-measures and loves to be contrarian to Rodimus at every given opportunity.

This turn of events is such a shock to Rodimus, he shouts at Ten for trying to show him something. Poor Ten.

Rodimus reminds Megatron just what exactly they’re up against and what he’s signing himself up for and for what variety of living creature, but Megatron is aware of all of these things. Looks like the talking to Skids gave him on the duplicate Lost Light finally sank through his thick skull, and he’s ready to be a big boy about this whole Autobot thing. He then informs everyone that he’s not doing this to make a point, and that anyone who wants to dip is welcome to do so, as long as they’re doing it for themselves.

Of course, it’ll be a cold day in hell before any Autobot lets Megatron out-Autobot them, and it’ll be an even colder day before Cyclonus leaves his not-boyfriend alone on Murder Planet. Oh, and the fact that organic life is just as valuable as mechanical. Totally. Everyone defaults to stay, Rodimus closing the door to the quantum tube.

Swerve then offers a real heel-clicker of an alternate escape plan: what if… we just stole the DJD’s ship, stuffed it full of the organics, and flew away before anyone noticed? Now, this is, of course, an immaculate plan, which no man could ever find fault in, but Whirl is not a man, but rather a machine, and does question where exactly they’d be getting the keys to such a ship. Cyclonus is trying to be a bit more of a supportive friend to Swerve, since the last time the guy felt left out, they all had to project their consciousnesses 400 miles out and pay NYC rent, asks if there is more to this perfect, perfect plan, crafted in one of the finest minds of any generation.

There is not.

So, we’re gonna steal a ship.

Ravage offers to track the smell of unwashed bachelors and Megatron body pillows to see where the DJD parked. Rodimus gives him his blessing, marveling at the skillset at his disposal, as Magnus makes a fucking wild face of incredulousness and Ten sulks in the corner.

Before he runs off, Ravage brings Megatron a phone and asks that he talk to Tarn, because surely if anyone can get him off the warpath, it would be his old boss.

Back at the Peaceful Tyranny, Tarn, Deathsaurus, Nickel, Tesarus, and Vos are going over the plan for the day. Sure hope Deathsaurus can parse Primal Vernacular. Tesarus reminds Tarn of the time they went after Heretech and he turned a storm shield into a forcefield that held them off for days, but this band of Autobot nerds aren’t Heretech, now are they? Even if they do have an ex-Wrecker, a Skids, and the power of love on their side.

Then Tarn tells everyone to shut the fuck up, because he’s getting a call on his electric razor.

Back at the “Fortress”, Megatron stands astride the space scooter, looking horribly depressed, as he prepares to have a little chat with his most murderous fanboy. Rodimus questions this decision, having clocked that even on his best day, Megatron wouldn’t just whole-heartedly decide to effectively kill himself for the sake of 50-60 organics he doesn’t even know.

Of course, we’ve seen that at least one planet in the Magisterian system still has life, as the Scavengers had to use holomatter avatars at some point, as seen in issue #45. Perhaps if Megatron knew about this, he wouldn’t be so keen to go on a suicide mission.

Over with Ravage, he passes by Skids’s plinth, which I’m sure isn’t an omen of any kind, and discovers that the smell of B.O. and hot pockets he was following wasn’t attached to the Peaceful Tyranny, but rather a base the DJD and Deathsaurus’s boys threw together. Also, Ten’s been crawling after him in an attempt to keep hidden this whole time, over what was likely multiple miles. He didn’t do a good job in the slightest, but points for tenacity, buddy. Ravage understands that Ten’s just trying to help in some form or fashion, so Ravage gives him a special job: bullet sponge.

Deathsaurus’s men, Helex, Kaon, and the Pet all see Ten up on the hill. Kaon in particular looks very excited at the promise of a plaything, so much so that he lets his rabid little chihuahua off-leash.

Meanwhile, Megatron races across his personal field of spark flowers, on his way to rendezvous at his plinth with Tarn. I wonder who suggested this meeting spot? When Megatron arrives, he demands that Tarn at least face him with his, well, face, but Tarn says that his mask IS his face, even though we know it isn’t, because Tarn couldn’t commit to the bit hard enough on this particular front for some reason.

Megatron offers himself up for surrender. But enough about his crisis of morality, let’s get back to Ten.

Ten, former Legislator that he is, fights valiantly, throwing four guys in the air at once, even as the Pet scratches his collar bone and Helex punches him in the head, his face telling me that he’s gonna do horny mouth shit with Ten’s brain if he manages to get ahold of it. Kaon’s in the background, shooting electricity into the sky. I think he’s just happy to be here. This nonsense up on the hill allows Ravage to sneak over to the base to check for a ship that DOESN’T smell like wine, jockstraps, and viscera.

Back with the Autobots, someone finally remembers that Ten’s a person, and asks where the hell he’s gotten to. Magnus isn’t sure, though he knows where he HAD been. I expect better from you, Magnus. Ten is your little buddy! Your brother in artistic arms! He even left something for your enjoyment, while he went out to help Ravage!

After having solved the issue of their defense system, Ten went out and got his ass shredded for multiple pages, where he was repeatedly shot and set on fire and torn limb from limb and electrocuted (I guess someone finally pointed Kaon in the right direction). It seems like the end for Ten, but his assailants are suddenly shot and dealt with, blanketing the hill in silence.

Silent enough to hear the equivalent of twenty USD in Australian dollaridoos, having been converted into English pounds, rustling around in a British guy’s wallet.

[gatorseverywhere]

I will send you Transformers thoughts.

- Tarn wants Megatron, but what he needs is a dommy mommy. Or a cat.

- Overlord is a sub.

- Cold constructed mechs would have really fucked up ideas about sex and intimacy. The differences are incredibly pronounced between the survivors of the first batches versus the last ones under the "3 step class"

- Prowl's longest lasting relationship is a monstrosity of a coffee machine that he salvaged from his old station's trash because it, in his opinion, was still operational and gave him the best brew for breakthroughs. Said machine produces a sludge that unfit for most mechanisms consumption and can be classified as a food war crime. Not to Prowl though. He knocks it back with a straight face.

- Megatron most definitely fucked the cassettes.

- Nautilator has a sheet for mechs to fill out their kinks and icks because of the Voice. He also memorized a variety of Megatron's speeches and speaking mannerisms so he could nail the imitation and do things on the fly.

- Riptide has two dicks.

- There should be more cultural misunderstandings between the Lost Colonies and Cybertron. Or have a language barrier.

- Solus Prime was a buff femme with shoulders to bench Megatronus.

- Liege Maximo is a short king with heels.

- Starscream could be trans. All his frame works and trades versus his True Form.

There is a mention of nsfw, proceed with caution

I love all of these-

Tarn definitely wants megatron, he's so down bad for him, Megatron is the only mech who could ever truly put tarn in his place, but the angst possibility is also phenomenal, especially with Meg's defection.

Im not quite sure what you mean by the cold construct bit, but i agree about the fucked up part.

I can not say i agree with overlord being a sub, but maybe when it comes to certain mechs. He's dominant until someone who isnt scared of him actually steps up to his authority. At first, he definitely considers killing the mech, but he decides it could be a fun challenge to let the mech try to dom, then he finds out he definitely does not mind it-

Prowl can stomach the most VILE coffee ever. As long as it keeps him wide awake, he'll drink it. He's tried the alternative, calming things to help him sleep better, like tea (decaf), but it never helps, so to cope with his inability to sleep, he just forces himself to stay awake. Also, yeah he can't hold normal relationships to save his life. Most mechs can't handle his lifestyle.

Meg's and the cassets would be a sight to see bro, he rewards them for doing so well, especially on infiltration missions where they're small enough to sneak into autobot base.

I'm sorry i dont no nautilator very well unfortunately 😔

Two spiked riptide, i love it, he looks like a shark so ofc he gets the double dicks.

Culture difference, i love it, especially when practices are so different, and it's just a culter shock.

Buff femmes is my kryptonite, i need solus to bench press me

Leige maximo is so fine for no reason

We all know starscreams original name was Pretty Poison, so now that means he used to be a femme with that name and changed his name to Starscream. We love a trans king.

Thank you for the asks, i adore all of these ❤️❤️❤️

[lord-squiggletits]

pharma really is such an interesting case. one thing i’ve always felt with pharma is that he absolutely doesn’t want consequences. and facing up to it requires a lot of looking at and showing people what he’s done and you know. the consequences. i mean hell he’d rather start a plague than say “hey i got coerced into doing a very bad thing by the djd”

I do understand what you mean about Pharma not wanting to face consequences, but on the other hand, I kind of understand why Pharma made a plague rather than admit to medical malpractice/murder? Because like, the thing that I don't see brought up often enough with regards to Pharma is that blackmail... is blackmail. Like, as someone who's unfortunately been on the receiving end of blackmail, the entire point of blackmailing someone is that you corner them into doing bad things by convincing them that they CAN'T turn to an authority figure to ask for help. Like, the person doing the blackmailing generally convinces the person who's getting blackmailed that if they try to reach out for help, the law/authorities/etc either won't care about their predicament or will punish them for the bad thing they did that they're getting blackmailed about.

I kind of feel like (and this isn't an attack on you, just a commentary about the nature of blackmail) when someone like Ratchet looks at Pharma and says "but you could've called for help or shut down the clinic or anything!", it kind of ignores the fact that...... when you're being blackmailed you're fucking terrified, and people who are terrified generally don't jump to the most rational, safe solutions possible? When you add in the fact that Pharma was blackmailed by Tarn of the DJD, notorious hater of Autobots and fanatic leader of a torture club, it's not hard to imagine that Pharma was both afraid and in pain (or threat of pain) while at Delphi and thus wouldn't be thinking straight about it.

I don't know, like. Yeah, on one hand Pharma made a plague and killed a bunch of people to try and cover up his crimes and maintain his career. But he didn't just do it for ego related reasons, he was also almost certainly facing threats of torture and death.

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

Judgment Day: A Malevolent Fic

Faroe is nearly six.

It's time for her to take a step into the broader world of ruling as Hastur sees it, and that includes declaring judgment on guilty parties. But condemning to death is not easy for anyone, much less a little girl - and Nibbles, who couldn't care less about life or death, takes issue with Faroe's tears.

So Hastur gets her out of the way.

Written with @sepiabandensis.

Part of the Surrogate series.

AO3

---------

Faroe didn’t want to do it.

“You must, my child.”

She didn’t want to do it.

“My daughter, I have prepared you for this. You have witnessed my hand move against our enemies; you have watched as I mete out justice. It is time you learned to do the same.”

No.

The goat joined in, bleating.

“It is necessary, my dear one. Life feeds life. Life is, on occasion, the cost for transgression. It is necessary for ruling.”

Then maybe she wouldn’t rule.

“Faroe!”

It was so rare for daddy to be displeased with her. The shock of it sent her into an even rarer tantrum, even though she knew very well it wouldn’t get her what she wants.

She just needed to yell.

#

And then Nibbles tried to headbutt him. Actually tried.

Hastur had a headache. He’d received bad news. He was in a bad mood. That stupid goat almost pushed him right over the damn metaphorical edge.

But this was Her get, and he dared not kill it; and it was Faroe’s pet, and she would cry. So instead of raining fire and brimstone, he made a bubble-like pocket dimension and shoved the goat inside, then put them both in Faroe’s room for a time-out.

He was trying very hard to focus on the issue at hand. “He would dare?” he said to his spy.

“From all accounts, oh glorious lord,” said Tarn, on his knees, looking up as if Hastur hung the moon. “That which I overheard was not complete, yet had gone too far to be considered anything but intention.”

In other words, actual planned regicide. “Do we have proof?”

Tarn looked terrified. “I could gather none, my lord. Only what I heard.”

Hastur did not need proof, honestly—but it would be such a good opportunity to continue Faroe’s lesson.

Once she was done being absurd.

In the other room, muffled, his daughter continued to scream. He knew what this was. He recognized it: this was Arthur’s defiance, coming through.

His headache worsened. “I see,” he said to his spy, noting the tension of shoulders, the wild hope for approval, and sighed. That was, after all, the downside of breaking a human so their personal gardens flourished or died on Hastur’s good will: one had to provide that good will to water them. “It is well done.”

Tarn looked ready to cry for joy. “Th-thank you, my lord! My glory! The sun of my soul!”

Yes, yes. “Dismissed.”

Tarn bowed and scraped out, backward, genuflecting and all but singing praises.

So now there was a plot to kill his daughter, fomented by one of his stupid, forgotten offspring, and he couldn’t even talk to his daughter about it because she was currently melting down over perfectly reasonable education.

This was Arthur’s fault. Directly or not, it didn’t matter.

Blame gave him something to do (Tempt John? Infuriate him so Arthur was in pain? Where was the downside?), so Hastur headed his way.

He hadn’t expected to walk into the middle of a blazing row.

#

John didn’t want to do it.

“John, we have got to talk about this.

He didn’t want to do it.

“John… this is a problem. We have got to figure out our next steps.”

No.

The piano reflected Arthur’s frustration, translating it into big chords and fortissimo banging.

“What are you going to say? That we can just ignore it? That you don’t feel the pull, that you’re not in pain? You said I’m life support. The only people who need life support are dying, John!”

Then maybe he’d just die.

“John! You fucking moron!”

It had been so long since John and Arthur had had a real argument that John almost didn’t know what to do. He loved hearing the passion; he hated seeing the anguish on Arthur’s face, reflected in his direction no matter where he looked (Hastur had even put mirrors on the fucking ceiling).

But they weren’t going to talk about this. It was bad enough that John wanted, deeply, to be whole again. The last thing he needed was fucking Arthur Lester even pretending he had the right to make that choice.

“John, listen to me!

Nope.

He just needed to sulk.

#

What were they fighting about? Was this why his head hurt so much today?

(Hastur dismissed that thought before it had time to take root.)

It wasn’t hard to listen in, to lean on the mark, to peer into the nastiness that was Arthur’s mind and ignore any little thrill he might feel while doing so.

Well.

Arthur was on board?

Arthur was on board?

That was unexpected. He hadn’t planned for that—for Arthur, of all people, to be considering that John had to rejoin.

What an unexpected gift! It was as if one of the two locks stubbornly keeping Hastur from his own treasure suddenly jiggled loose.

He had to be careful with this. Arthur was… obstreperous. Contrary in the extreme. If he realized, actively, that he was on Hastur’s side, he’d do an about-face out of raw, cussed stubbornness.

He could use the Faroe situation. Yes. That would do.

Hastur backed down the hall an appropriate amount, and let his power bloom.

#

“You’re being a child,” Arthur snaps, banging away at the same three chords just because. “You know, I was trying to be gentle about all this, but you’re being such an ass that I—”

Fuck. He’s coming.

Arthur stopped talking with an aggravated puff of air, and banged even harder.

A concert grand, John thought, could really take a pounding.

Hastur entered with the self-importance of a god in his own realm, wafting atmosphere like ozone. “Composer. Piece.”

“Oh, look, John,” said Arthur, who had the gall to be mutinous today. “We’ve lost our names and gone back to titles.”

Really? I hadn’t noticed, John jumped in, because they couldn’t only do one asshole at a time, apparently. I didn’t even realize we had company.

“We do,” said Arthur “Does it matter?”

Not one little fucking bit.

“Good.” And Arthur kept playing.

You’d think a human he’d already broken once would have the self-preservation not to behave like this, but it was Arthur.

Which brought Faroe back to mind. Which…

“Gentlemen,” said Hastur as though none of that had occurred. “I am here to inform you that there has been a direct threat on Faroe’s life.”

Arthur spun. “What?”

“It is nothing you need be concerned with, directly,” said Hastur as though it was all just fine. “I am informing you as a courtesy. You do not have a say in this.”

“She… will she be safe?”

“What do you think, Arthur? Do you think she’ll be safe? With me? Her father?”

Arthur. He’s riling you.

Arthur’s breath came faster. “You… what… what’s going to happen?”

“Simple: I am going to crush their stupid little settlement so hard that the very earth will reject their bones out of fear—once I have the evidence I need.” He didn’t really need it; the one behind this was one of his offspring, and he had the right to do as he pleased with it. Still, he wanted to teach her to start with evidence and move to intuition later, so for this case he had to—

“Can we help?” said Arthur.

John made a noise like somebody choked him.

Arthur was just fucking full of surprises today. “What?” said Hastur.

“Help. Can we help?”

Arthur, don’t be an idiot.

“No.” But now, Hastur was thinking. “Though I find it interesting you would offer. You’re not upset? I’m exposing my child to things I hardly think you’d find appropriate.”

A beat of silence, heavy, thick. “She’s a five-year-old girl. Anybody wanting to murder a little girl gets what they get. Can I help?”

Fuck, he was easy to point sometimes. Threaten Faroe, and all his stupid human morals went right out the…

Help… help! Oh, such an idea, Hastur now had! “No. You can’t.”

“What?”

“Enjoy his wellness today, John,” said Hastur. “It’s rare.” And he left, heading back the way he’d come.

“What did he mean by that?” Arthur said.

John sighed. He meant I’m being an idiot and wasting a good day.

“A good day?”

Play one of those stupid folk songs for me. The weird dirty Russian ones?

Arthur snorted. “Really?”

Yes. They’re funny.

“You’re not wrong.” Arthur clearly understood they weren’t going back to the topic.

They’d been dancing around it for a full year. If John had his way, they’d continue to dance, and never, ever discuss it.

He wasn’t going back to Hastur. He didn’t care what it cost.

Arthur played, and John enjoyed, and grudgingly admitted (only to himself) that he was grateful Hastur had talked some sense into him.

#

Help! What an idea! What a brilliant thought!

The plan came together as if he’d spent months crafting it. This would work so well.

Hastur swept toward his daughter’s bedroom, no longer concerned if she were still crying, because she, in this instance, was not the goal.

The gods-damned baby goat was.

#

Oh, Mother Goddess, Nibbles was pissed.

She couldn’t get out of the bubble.

She couldn’t even make it go in a chosen direction. It was connected to Faroe, somehow, following her through the room, but Nibbles’ many hooves and powerful bleats did nothing. She was stuck in the air like some damned wraith, unable to touch Faroe, watching her melt down.

Admittedly, Nibbles found Faroe’s distress confusing. Life fed life. Threats must be taken out. Nibbles had killed rats and more on Faroe’s behalf already. That was how it worked. What was the problem?

Maybe that didn’t matter. Faroe was so upset. And this baby human still wasn’t quite able to communicate the problem, leaving Nibbles to try to piece it together herself, which—

Hastur the Asstur came floating into the room.

“My daughter,” he said that gratingly warm voice, gathering Faroe up without hesitation, cradling her in his many squirming arms. “I am so sorry this has been so hard for you.”

She clung, of course, because Hastur was safety, because Hastur’s approval meant much.

Nibbles bleated her challenge.

And then, the unexpected: “Nibbles. I need to speak to you after this.”

Eh?

Nibbles was not sure she’d heard that right.

“There, there. It is a hard day, my precious Faroe; but you shall do what you must, as we who rule must do, and then it will all be over.”

“I want it to be over,” she sniffled, burrowing into Hastur’s squirming limbs.

“The only way for it to be over is to do what must be done.” Hastur held Faroe, and cooed at her, until she calmed down. “My daughter,” he said. “May I borrow your friend for a moment? We are going to discuss something important.”

Faroe sniffled. “What?”

“I have a secret mission for Nibbles. She can tell you after, but right now, it is of utmost importance. After all, I trust her, as do you.”

Well. Of course, Faroe trusted Nibbles, so she was all for it.

That was all well and good, but Nibbles didn’t trust Hastur for a second; he’d let Arthur be peeled in front of Faroe, after all.

Hastur crooked a tentacle in Nibbles’ direction and walked out the door, keeping her in the bubble until they were safely in the hall.

He didn’t even pop it in the air like a jerk. He lowered it to the floor first, gently.

Nibbles did not think she could be more suspicious now if she tried.

“I know you overheard earlier what is at stake.” Hastur was speaking to her as if she were…

Not a pet.

He’d never done that before.

She just eyed him from a hundred different eyes, a hundred different angles.

Hastur sighed. “I intend to move against these fools before they can harm her. And make no mistake—they fully plan to murder her. They possess some confusion that, once she is gone, I will accept a creature of their choosing in her place. Preposterous.” Hastur somehow gave the impression of smiling with a thousand teeth. “Foolish. Fatal.”

Nibbles could get behind this. Things that threatened Faroe should die.

“The challenge is that my spies are…” He hesitated. Sighed. “My spies are not enough to find the proof I need before acting. And then it occurred to me… you, spawn of Shub-Niggurath, Dark Young… you love her nearly as much as I do.”

Nibbles graciously let that bullshit slide. She knew who loved Faroe more.

“And you… are far more capable than any spies I currently have on hand.”

Then came silence, and Hastur clearly expected her to do something, or respond in some specific way.

She glared at him, suspicious, ears pinned–but head cocked. Listening.

“Would you be willing to spy on our enemy? To send to us direct proof of their plotting. To provide that which cannot be dismissed—the plot from their own mouths, spilled like poison? For you, I do not believe it would even be dangerous. For Faroe’s sake, we must make an example of them—but in order to do that, I need incontrovertible proof that they deserve the wrath coming their way. Then, and only then, can this be a proper warning to all who would follow.”

Nibbles was being given a mission.

An actual task, proper and important, to help keep Faroe safe.

But she would have to leave.

But Hastur would be there, to watch over her. And Hastur loved Faroe, even if it were only a fraction of the amount that Nibbles did.

These conspirators thought they could get past her. That, she realized, was the crux of the matter. She would not let them. She looked up at Hastur, standing as tall and as proud as she could, and she nodded.

#

Hastur sat with Faroe at his side. Their thrones were identical, though differently sized—black now, gold like marble veins running through them—and placed under grim, spare spotlights that made them all that was visible in the room.

There were many important beings here, but from the view of the throne, they stood in the dark.

They were silent, hulking shapes with occasional glinting eyes, with accidental power-leaks flashing green or arcing yellow.

Faroe did not wear one of her usual glittering dresses today. She looked tiny; she looked pale. She wore a sheath of black, thickened with leather armor; and atop her head was a crown, black and gold, the only point of reflection in the room.

“My people,” said Hastur, and it was a terrible sound, barely a voice, more an underground storm. “There has been… a breach of trust.”

Deathly silence in the room.

“The city of Sarkomand faced justice for its arrogance in ancient times,” Hastur said, “meeting deserved fate at the claws of the moon-beasts. Of late, it has been… repopulated.”

The word was damning.

“And those who chose to live there are fools.” Hastur waved his arms.

Between them, hovering in the air, appeared a war room.

There was no question of its purpose; upon the table was laid out a blasphemously accurate model of Carcosa, with significant points marked in tiny red flags.

The beings leaning over that table were varied, vast, not any one thing, but united in purpose and point. They were viewed, somehow, from above—as if from a dark corner, perhaps, a gathering of innocent shadow.

“She sleeps here,” said one, tentacle stabbing with frightening accuracy into the tower that held Faroe’s room.

“And the guard?”

“The goat.”

“Fuck,” muttered another. “Any luck finding an opening during the day?”

“No. She’s more guarded outside than in. This is our best shot. It has to be at night—and for the love of fuck, don’t shoot the fucking goat.”

“She’s human,” scoffs another. “It’ll only take one spell.”

Hastur made a motion as though ripping the image from the air, the violence of it and anger of it shuddering reality and making the witnesses groan.

He waited until they were silent again. “Faroe.”

She looked so tiny.

She looked so pale.

Her tiny rosebud lips trembled. Her cheeks were red, as if from crying. But damn if she wasn’t going to make her daddy proud. “They are guilty,” she said, as taught.

“Very good. And your judgment?”

She did her best with the word, and the over-pronunciation somehow made it more terrible, more powerful, more damning: “Execution.”

A soft whisper of movement among the gathered crowd; her word carried doom.

“So let it be written. So let it be done.” Hastur touched her back with one tentacle, gently.

She trembled, but sat tall, staring into the dark.

“I will discover the source of this leak,” Hastur said so casually, so calmly, not at all a threat in any way. “And what I do to those involved will make what becomes of Sarkomand seem like a dream. You are all dismissed.”

One by one, the important people shuffled out, afraid, subdued. Most had no idea who was guilty.

All were afraid they might be declared so.

And none—not even one—could see that tiny human as naught but a child anymore.

#

She cried into the night.

Hastur held her.

He waited, past the time Faroe fell asleep, for Nibbles to return.

“You did well,” he told her, as if Faroe had not clearly been sobbing. “You saved her life,” he told her, as if Faroe weren’t visibly upset even in sleep.

And then Hastur just fucking left, and Nibbles stared at her charge, so tiny, face blotchy and pale, and knew something had gone terribly wrong.

#

Hastur was not at breakfast. Scuttlebutt said he was laying waste to a city with severe prejudice.

Arthur and John were subdued. Whatever argument lay between them had soured things, and they weren’t talking much.

Faroe was subdued. She still sniffled, on and off, and poked at her porridge without joy.

Nobody at breakfast spoke, but the palace was abuzz, and soon enough, Nibbles figured out just what had been done: she’d been gotten out of the way for what Faroe was made to do.

This was not the victory she had envisioned.

She tried to feel better. She hunted through the palace, smashing rats, scaring anyone who’d ever so much as looked sideways at her charge.

Nibbles did not feel better.

After breakfast, Faroe went to her room—not outside, not to play, not even to lessons—and that’s where Nibbles found her. She opened Faroe’s door with a practiced ease.

Faroe sat up in bed, startled. “Nibbles?”

Nibbles walked to the girl’s bedside, head low. Ashamed. Slowly her head turned towards the golden crown, its black stones glittering in the dim light of evening.

It was beautiful. It was cruel.

Faroe curled up, pulling her knees to her chest. “...I had to, Nibbles. I saw what you showed us—everyone did. Daddy was right.” Her breath hitched. “Daddy w-was right.”

She broke down into sobs and Nibbles stepped forward, a soft noise of despair leaving her as she nosed against her Faroe’s arm.

The girl twisted, wrapping her arms around the goatling’s neck, and nestled her face into one of the gentler cracks in Nibbles’ plating while she sobbed.

Nibbles lay her chin on Faroe’s back, which rose sharply with every desperate inhale and sob, and tears welled in Nibbles’ many eyes.

This was no victory.

This was a failure.

Hastur did not return until evening, when he threw a party to celebrate the destruction of his enemies (including his offspring, which no one was willing to say).

Nothing more was said about it at all.

[spotsupstuff]

another appeal of inkypages is having it be a proper slowburn cuz hear me out

Six is a scum. he hurt Qi Xiaotian and the entire party in shadow play. and Tang is shown to have been concious of what he was forced to be doing to his adoptive son (whether the others were conscious too or not is up for a debate). and, from what ive seen here and there, people kinda rush the whole “the scholar now trusts the shadow 100% and is ready to open his arms wide for the other” which just seems. unfair to Tang as a character. Tang has a strong sense of loyality, hes logical and fucking damnit he loves Xiaotian so fucking much. hes aware that he is no superhuman n so hes cautious around things. for him to accept Six Ear to such length, there has to be a journey explaining the betterment of him

and its so important in my eyes for them to first be just friends outside of the mission after The Weapon and outside of all the stress factors and without being forced to share the same living space. a lot of the relationship progress that happens on the airship is somewhat “minimalized” by the fact that they literally have No Other Choice but stand each other. its okay if something begins there, but for Good Proper Development they should have the choice as characters to do what they want, have a room to make any choices, otherwise it feels like takin two dolls n goin “now kiss!!” (which is fine to do sometimes, dont get me wrong, we gotta get serotonin Somehow, but if u want depth in a ship it, i think, should have something more to it than that)

its mainly the reason why anything inkypages-like happens in fruit twins au so late. theres the entire psychological journey that Six Ear begins on the ship and then theres that month n smth where he Actively by himself sticks around and continues to put effort into his own moral, psychological and emotional development. this month full of work is why Tang gets so surprised by Six not seeing them at least as friends in my fics. the whole WBS mission wouldnt have resulted in that

cuz of multiple reasons, Six didnt really wanna dub any relationship a “friendship” by himself so it was important Tang would initiate the actual evolution of any close relationship by extending his hand with a patient smile and the explanation of Why hes doing this (the whole “I think I like the someone you are becoming.” sentence). next steps have to be taken by both of them so the connection between them would be a healthy one. and That has to take into account Six Ears state as a person

i like to think that... Six is the one who comes forward with the confession of something greater. itd be something quiet, like he sits next to Tang late in the evening, looking over the sea as they are hanging out at Sha Dalis place and says a silent “Im sorry”. because hes gotten better about genuine apologizing- isnt that wonderful? and because the apology doesnt make much concrete sense by itself, he adds “I might have fallen in love with you. If Im understanding myself right.” and i want them to talk about it in detail. nothing gets brushed off. this is about acknowledging everything involved so the consent and agreement can be as clear as tarn ice, because bad communication is starting to be a boring trope to constantly prod

and isnt it just so satisfying to have them hug, so close to each other that their silhouettes basically look like of only one person, and then it dawns on Six that this is all Him. this is possible thanks to him Trying and being Better and being Here and Active where it matters... usually when someone points the sentence “these are consequences of your and Only your actions” its Not Good but hes gotten so far and now the sentence leaves him breathless out of the sheer pride in himself and hes smiling and pulling the human somehow even closer

the OTHER appeal of inkypages is that the moment Tang becomes more certain around Six he WILL throw a chancla RIGHT into his face n that bastard will Not Know what the FUCK just happened at all. it just will not compute in that walnut brain of his n i think that is beautiful

[bigskydreaming]

Tarn the Uncaring and his Locus Vile remain creepy as fuck, but I can’t help but feel that this Hellions issue would be a lot more impactful if we had any clue whatsoever what Tarn and his ick squad’s powers actually are. Its the same gripe I have with the last Wolverine issue and that Arakki pirate guy......I feel like the writers are making all these new Arakki characters but aren’t bothering to figure out what they can even do beyond just make them look bad-ass or intimidating or whatever and just be vague as to their actual capabilities.

For the most part its not a big deal, but I do think sooner rather than later we do need an ACTUAL clue about what the hell Tarn and the rest of the Great Ring’s powers are, given that its been well established that the Arakki ONLY let omega level mutants sit on their ruling council, so like......I think they should have bothered figuring out what the Great Ring’s powersets are before introducing them at least, and I feel like a big reason for the vagueness is that so far....even the writers only have the vaguest idea about what most of them can do. I mean, the only ones we know for sure are Isca and Lactuna or whatever her name is....and we have a reasonable sense of what the fish dude’s powers are and they’re fairly epic....and Idyll’s powers obviously are precognition related, so....okay y’know what, I take it back. 

Of the Great Ring, the only ones we don’t really have a sense of are Tarn and the other random dude whose name I forget, and Tarn’s obviously have something to do with genetics/power manipulation.....but every time I see that giant caterpillar mutant, Xili or whatever his name is, I’m just like....okay we saw him in action but I still don’t get how his power works even a little bit.

Anyway, Hellions was an interesting issue, I enjoy seeing Sinister’s fuck-ups come back home to roost and all the Hellions finding out just how badly he screwed them on the Amenth mission, and I am intrigued by the mention of Chimera towards the end of the issue. I’m guessing all of this is building up to the reveal of Sinister’s first experiments in creating the triple-powered mutants we saw in Powers of X a hundred years in the future - and that series did mention that the first Chimera were ‘grown’ in the Vats of Mars, which is now Arakko, home of.....the people Sinister just admitted to stealing the DNA from to create these Chimera. So it all fits. 

What I’m curious about is how much of this is just leading up to the same events that already played out in Moira’s last failed lifetime, versus how much things are going differently this time around. Like, we’re finding out about the Chimera being created already, which would seem to suggest events so far aren’t playing out too differently from the last time around, given the references to them being made on Mars....BUT in Moira’s last lifetime in Powers of X, like, it was clearly referenced as MARS having been where the Chimera were first made.....while ever since the Hellfire Gala, the books have all been pushing really hard that the planet’s name is Arakko now. So what I’m wondering is if Moira’s last lifetime - where she was allied with Apocalypse for at least part of it as well - if Arakko and its mutants were ever successfully retrieved from Amenth....or if Mars was simply a Krakoan colony in that past lifetime, and the Chimera we saw a hundred years in its future were just the results of Sinister’s experiments with mutant/Krakoan DNA, with him never having had access to Arakki mutants or Tarn’s own experiments with mutation.

Because if the latter, then that would suggest that the key difference this time around, and the potential game changer for the future, is not actually Krakoa itself, but Arakko’s presence and the Krakoa/Arakko alliance, spread across two planets.

Hmmm. Must ponder more.

As for the new X-Men issue, it wasn’t bad but it was mostly meh. It felt like a lot of just action sequences with Duggan narrating how they all used their powers together to defeat the Annihilation Wave, and like....yawn? The mutant synergy idea is fine conceptually, but they are milking it WAY too hard, its like we get it, can you do something with the actual STORY rather than just being like look what happens when these two mutants use their powers at the same time? LOL. For what its worth, what story there IS in this issue is intriguing. I mean, the idea of Gameworld and its bets on the fate of Earth is pretty interesting, and Dr. Stasis is shaping up to be a dangerous threat, especially with him seeming to be on to the Krakoan resurrection capabilities (uh, not that they’ve been all that subtle about it, tbh), and allied with Orchis - thus them knowing about the great Krakoan resurrection engine as well, lmao. Like, they probably really should have put a bit more effort into keeping that under wraps awhile longer instead of just being like: 

"Oh Jumbo Carnation famously was murdered a few years ago with it all over the news and now we’re making a big deal about him designing all the outfits for our highly publicized Hellfire Gala, and you want to know how that could be possible, Mr. Reporter? Uh...look! A squirrel!”

Also, that plus the big fight between the Locus Vile and the Hellions on Krakoa after Ororo specifically WARNED Tarn that she was going to fuck his shit up if he tried to retaliate against Sinister - and that Isca and the rest of the Great Ring promised to back her on, lololol, its kinda funny that they all seem to hate Tarn as much as the rest of the Quiet Council all hate Sinister - anyway, all that has me wondering what the official policy on dead Arakki mutants is. I assume given that they’re mutants no fundamentally different from Krakoan mutants, that like, ever since they emerged from Otherworld, there’s no reason that Cerebro shouldn’t back up their consciousnesses as automatically as it does any other mutant’s....so is Krakoa sharing its resurrection technology with Arakko at all? Assuming of course that once they saw how Krakoans did it, they don’t have specific mutants of their own capable of matching the capabilities of the Five and doing the same for them. 

BUT then again, the idea of resurrection seems to fly pretty heavily in the face of Arakki culture, so I don’t imagine on the WHOLE they’re all that interested in it in the first place.....BUT BUT, that doesn’t mean that INDIVIDUAL Arakki mutants aren’t interested. And given that we know now that it was Solem who was pulling strings in Wolverine’s solo title and X-Force, and that he was behind stealing the Shi’ar logic diamonds, which are used in resurrection, and he seems to have aims towards stealing the Cerebro Sword from Mikhail in Russia......from what we do know of Solem, it would make perfect sense for him to be interested in resurrection, given how many of his own people want him dead (especially after how he fucked over War in X of Swords), and I can’t imagine Solem being all that interested in like, applying for Krakoan citizenship just for that perk if he felt he could finagle resurrection on his own terms instead.

Or that he thinks they’d even offer it to him at all at this point, given that Emma, a key figure on the Quiet Council, is personally gunning for him to get payback for what he did to Christian and the Marauder (yesssss, this is one Emma + Wolverine teamup I’m here for lololol). Course, I can’t help but think, you know who else would want payback for Christian, and who might be extremely helpful in going after a notoriously dangerous Arakki warrior with adamantium skin? Oh, idk, Christian’s boyfriend, the omega mutant capable of freezing anything so cold it can shatter with a touch....even vaunted adamantium. I’M JUST SAYING. We saw Bobby get his vengeful on after Kate was killed, and him applying that same energy towards going after someone as dangerous as Solem on Christian’s behalf, would be like....potentially the most interesting thing they’ve done with him in years.

Like, I know it won’t happen because it probably hasn’t even occurred to the writers, since most of them barely even acknowledge that Bobby and Christian are IN a relationship, but how fucking great would it be to have Solem smugly convinced that he’s a match for Logan only for him to be like “the useful thing about NOT being a loner loser like you and actually having friends and people who like me, is sometimes it pays to have a bigger gun than yourself on speed dial.” Cut to....Heeeeeere’s Bobby! You know, the dude who just singlehandedly gave your spiffy new homeplanet its ice caps. And whose boyfriend your pirate patsies tossed overboard and left for dead when stealing his ship.

Solem: Aww, fuck.

[shinjaeha]

itsay ep 5 (thoughts + spoilers)

i feel like i’m on a high that i’ll never come down from :))) the itsay effect. this show is truly a cultural reset.

first up, i just want to say that i have never been more worried about a final ep before IN MY LIFE. for the past couple eps, i’ve tried to watch them live raw, but for this one, i was afraid of spoilers (and wanted to understand everything from the first watch), so i waited for the vimeo ep to drop and let me tell you...that was both the longest and shortest wait ever...the excitement and the dread i’ve been feeling this whole week has been unreal.

as usual, this is not an analysis. tbh there’s prob going to be even less analysing in this one bc most of the time i was either crying or yelling at my screen (and i feel like this ep in general didn’t have as many scenes to analyse?). but god, i’m SO GLAD that they gave us a happy ending bc it would have broken me into pieces if i had to rewatch and recap this knowing everything had fallen apart for them (ecstatic that wasn’t the case, and my feelings from last ep on how things might go in this one actually panned out!!). after what went down in ep 4, i always thought that that was going to be the peak of the climax/conflict, and that this one was going to be much more of a healing ep...the ep that would bring more closure to each of the characters and their relationships, as well as wrap things up as a final ep should.

so the way this ep starts is actually kind of anti-climactic. esp after the intense emotions of what happened at the end of ep 4. which is understandable? like they were being petty teenagers angry at one another, but now it’s a few days later, and all those heated emotions have tempered down. they’re in that awkward stage where neither of them even know how to start approaching one another after the loaded feelings of the last ep (basically this is what happened to them when they were children. no one reached out, and they both drifted apart...only now they’re aware of what might happen if no one reaches out and it’s a question of whether they let history repeat itself).

oh-aew using the cue cards that teh gave him and being worried ;;; doing that thing that teh told him about writing something over and over again when he can’t say it out loud...teh deleting his line chat history ;;; i was torn with this one bc on one hand noooooo, but on the other, it could be representing them starting anew again?? ALSO, they always know how to make the most of the ost in this show (i think it’s the can’t translate/lost in translation instrumental?). i was literally shaking the first time i watched this.

i was actually very worried about how his mum was going to treat him after last ep...i thought she would be angry/ignore him, and i was feeling so anxious about it...maybe bc i personally know what that’s like. that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you’re scared of how they’ll react to you after a fight. teh wanting to make his mum proud is hugely important to him, so when she handed him the plate, i actually let out a sigh of relief. i’m glad that his mum understood and backed him when he needed it most (she may not be fully all the way there yet, but feelings are raw and it takes time). and i already knew hoon would, so i wasn’t too worried on that front.

tarn is so good for teh, and i really see why they were drawn to each other. but i like how she’s prioritising what’s right for her, and also telling him like it is. they need to focus on their studies now and figure out the other stuff later.

teh loitering outside the tutoring classroom before entering sort of reminds me of ep 1 when teh and oh-aew met up for the first time after their first fight...just this time it’s less straight up antagonism between the two of them and more hurt feelings as they avoid each other instead. i also appreciate the gang during this. they’re so normal and encouraging about the whole situation. they know something went down between teh and oh-aew, but they don’t really press too much about it. just let teh know that they’re here if he needs someone to talk to.

the ep 5 trailer played us!!!!!!! i was WONDERING why oh-aew would suddenly say all that nice stuff about bas (not that bas doesn’t deserve the nice stuff, he’s an ANGEL) in front of class, but their teacher was the one that put them up to it. the horror i felt as i watched teh look straight at oh-aew but turn to bless phillip instead and then start on that whole spiel about how phillip “never sees the good intentions of friends as worthless. never says ‘no’ to what friends give you” and how he’ll never leave him because of that. ALL RIGHT IN FRONT OF OH-AEW’S SALAD...STOP TEH. PLEASE. he’s digging himself into this hole himself with the passive aggressiveness again. THEN BAS COMING IN TO STEAL THIS WHOLE SCENE. i don’t think any of us were expecting him to be as forward as he was but omg. he laid it all out on the line in the way that teh couldn’t (at this point in time). i’m really, really glad that oh-aew got to hear what bas thought of him though, and that bas got to tell oh-aew all his feelings. nothing is misconstrued. he’s so brave and the utter respect i have for him increased by tenfold...what a fantastic character. just so sure and convinced in how he feels, and so uncaring of what anyone else thinks. it’s so damn refreshing. and for oh-aew to know that there’s nothing wrong with him at all. that he’s desirable and wanted and loved (it calls back to ep 4 when oh-aew’s sobbing and desperately asking teh “what did i do wrong??” again and again). it must have meant so much to him. the conflict i felt in my heart watching that and knowing that bas would be SUCH a good guy for oh-aew, but also knowing that sometimes that’s just not enough.

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON TEH’S REACTION TO ALL THIS. he’s truly facing the consequences of his actions in this one. but just imagine being in this position, being too scared to own up to your own heart, and then watching this other boy do it like it’s the easiest thing in the world?? like it’s just another regular day?? like it’s nothing?? all to the boy that you’re in love with. to the boy that wanted this exact thing from you, but you couldn’t give. it’s like teh’s watching oh-aew slip through his very fingers, but knowing that it’s bc he never had oh-aew in the first place (and the reason for that is himself). i also really love how no one in class (including their teacher) makes a big deal out of this? they’re all just applauding bc it’s a sweet confession. it would be so jarring for teh to see this acceptance when the fear of society not accepting his feelings for oh-aew is one of the reasons he can’t accept them himself.

anyway, i had like one thought in this next scene and it was just DRINK THE COCONUT TEH. DRINK IT!!!!!!! so nice to see how his fam loves and believes in him.

teh watching on as bas and oh-aew take the first step with their left foot :(((

LOVE how they use the firecrackers going off to represent anytime there’s some sort of shift in teh and oh-aew’s relationship (when they first met, when they had their first fight, and now again when they talk for the first time after the fight and oh-aew tells him teh that he and bas are dating now). it’s such a great way to symbolise the spark and passion of their relationship. anyway, this meeting mostly consists of the both of them trying not to cry as they act civil with one another and skirt around what happened. teh asking about what the deal is with oh-aew and bas is like a parallel with what happened last ep when oh-aew asked about teh and tarn...only this time oh-aew and bas are actually dating...man, this is really not the kind of news you want to hear right when you’re about to sit one of your most important exams ever :/// teh holding himself together until the moment oh-aew leaves and then just having a fucking meltdown over the news :((( as always, it just hurts to see teh torture himself in this way. but esp when he’s supposed to be sitting his exam and he just can’t stop crying in the exam room (been in that position and have almost done the same thing before). when he hadn’t finished his exam and they were like “time’s up, pencils down” the sheer panic i felt at this...ugh. i hate it.

the elation on bas’ face when oh-aew asks him out for chinese new year. he’s the cutest. THE ABSOLUTE CUTEST. and then when he holds oh-aew’s hand????? the boldness of it. he. just. does. not. care. i wish i had that sort of confidence!! oh-aew’s shock at this too. his realisation that it’s okay. that this is okay. and then bas being all “why would i be?” after oh-aew asks if he’s embarrassed. bas is literally giving oh-aew everything that he wanted from teh and more (compare this to that scene in ep 3 where teh and oh-aew grazes hands but don’t hold each other’s hands). he’s proud to be with him and to show the world. and, you know what?? i would do anything in the world for bas to be happy.

AND HERE WE HAVE IT. MY LONG AWAITED HOON/TEH HEART TO HEART. i wanted teh to tell hoon soooooooo badly, so to hear the words come out of his mouth...that his brother was the first person he told. i felt so relieved bc i knew that hoon would support him no matter what. the struggle in teh’s face and words...he fought so long and hard against ever admitting these feelings to someone else out loud that it would have felt so incredibly terrifying, yet also like a weight being lifted off his chest, to finally get them out there. to have someone else know his secret. and to know that his brother loves him unconditionally regardless. “if you like him, you go after him” THE WAY I SOBBED DURING THIS. i really loved what hoon said to teh. he didn’t sugarcoat things and say that everything was going to be fine if teh liked boys too. not every single person you meet is going to be okay with who you are, that’s just a fact, but i loved that he emphasised to teh that HE was okay with it. it’s just what teh needed to hear. and that it might take their mum some time to accept it too, but all she truly wants is for teh to be happy. just the feeling of hearing his brother, someone that he very clearly looks up to and respects, tell him that he can like whoever he wants to like?? that it’s all up to him and he’ll still be there for him whoever he wants to be with?? teh sorely needed that and i’m glad he got it. hoon encouraging him to go fight for his love!!!!!!! i was cry laughing at how teh just starts bawling his eyes out at hoon telling him to go after oh-aew, but then teh telling him that it’s too late for him bc he likes someone else. like from hoon’s perspective, he’s prob just like ‘this is so needlessly dramatic’ and the sibling energy during that whole part is too real. i love them.

watching bas/oh-aew with the rest of the gang and their respective girlfriends really makes you realise how open and accepting they all are. like teh was terrified in the scene just before about how his friends might not accept him and oh-aew, but then you see them here with bas/oh-aew and no one even cares (which i expected bc they’ve been supportive since day one, but it’s just nice to see in practice too). oh-aew teasing them all ahhh. cute. phillip being the relatable only single guy there (me at every gathering i go to with my relatives omg).

THE PIANIST PLAYING SKYLINE. they really wanted us all to be SAD sad huh, and they succeeded. how it pans to oh-aew and this song is yet ANOTHER reminder of teh...you know he’s thinking about cape scene where they were singing and translating to one another. on the day they made their promise to each other :( and teh being there too??????? all alone with his bowl of oh-aew on the table. feeling the exact same heartbreak that oh-aew’s feeling too :( it’s the way that so much of their relationship is beyond words for me. but they’re also both hurting so much that i just want to push them together and make them talk so they can clear everything up.

hoon talking in cute japanese to nozomi on the phone while teh goes through oh-aew’s old worksheets and cries I HATE IT HERE. i love the different ways in which teh has smelt oh-aew’s coconut scent since ep 2. how it evolves from curiosity to desire to him heartbrokenly reminiscing, every feeling changing with the shifts in their relationship.

can i just say that oh-aew’s parents are ADORABLE. but also, finding out exam results is the worst kind of anxiety. was so happy that oh-aew got in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he worked his ass off for this :’))) teh not getting his first pick wasn’t altogether surprising bc it did feel like they were leading up to this. but when he apologised to his mum about it ;;; noooo, she’s so proud of you. as someone who’s been through this process before (and didn’t get my first pick either), it always feels like it’s end of the world when you don’t get the uni pick that you want, but it really isn’t. still, it sucks when you’re in the moment there’s no denying that. but i get that it’s also particularly sad for teh since he’d already basically gotten his first pick before he gave it up for oh-aew. but again, it’s all part of the learning process, and the consequences for his actions. 

BAS BEING BEST BOY EVER YET AGAIN. how he knows exactly how oh-aew feels bc he feels it too, but he never imposes those feelings on oh-aew. he knows that oh-aew’s heart isn’t with him, can’t be when it’s with someone else, and bc he cares that much about oh-aew, he guides him in teh’s direction. it’s never a good idea to date someone who’s hung up on someone else, but i’m glad that they tried at the very least. the both of them did what they could, and oh-aew needed to experience it to know. i’m really glad that bas was there to make oh-aew realise how worth it he is too...and bas deserves someone that loves him back just as much as he loves them. seeing bas cry is the worst experience ever. 0/5. never want this ever again thank u. their hug scene was just devastating, and worse still bc it’s not anyone’s fault...you just can’t help how you feel, and that’s just the way it is sometimes.

idk why but for me, the scene with tarn was possibly the hardest scene for me to watch in this ep. it’s interesting how he’s wearing the shirt that oh-aew was wearing in ep 3 in this scene (with the bold ‘sunset’ lettering). i guess it symbolises him being ready to open up about his feelings on where their relationship is heading? either way, she’s a great friend. she’s so encouraging, and understands him and his ambitions to a tee. the both of them are always filled with such fierce determination. they just know what they want and go for it. but that’s also why these past couple eps have been all the more confusing for teh since he’s always been so sure of himself before. how she tells him that no one can take away his identity and that no one can take his dream away from him?? all these characters just knowing exactly what teh needs at the right time. she’s so incredible. no wonder teh is so scared of losing her as a friend. it’s great that he apologised for how he treated her last ep bc it’s def the least that she deserves. that being said, watching her heart get broken as teh tells her that his feelings for her have changed and asking if they can still be friends...like damn, that fucking hurts. there’s something in tarn’s face in this scene that stays with me every time i watch it, and it’s that heavy feeling of knowing that the opportunity is missed. they had the potential to have been something, but it’s slipped by now, and now they can’t go back to those initial feelings anymore. too much has changed. but it’s also that she, like bas, values teh’s happiness too much. values their friendship so much that even if she’s heartbroken, she can still overcome those feelings of heartbreak bc she cares for teh so deeply and wants to see him happy. despite the pain she’s feeling, she still encourages him to make the first move and talk with oh-aew bc she knows that oh-aew is who makes him happy. anyway, we already established this in my last rant text post for ep 4, but i love tarn with my whole heart and only ever want her happiness too. the purple hibiscus in her drawing for teh was like a final stab to the heart :(((

what i love about bas and tarn is that neither of them are the bad guys in this situation. this drama has no outright antagonist, and a lot of the time in BLs (even in standard dramas in general) that’s what the secondary love interests are used as...a hindrance for the main couple to get over. but the both of them are written (and acted) with such respect and care. it’s really hard not to fall in love with them too. the real conflict and antagonism mostly comes from within teh himself, so this series is his own journey to overcome that. a true coming of age story.

oh-aew in his uni uniform!!!!!!!!!!! cue me constantly chanting “come through, teh” over and over as oh-aew passed the restaurant hoping to see him. and I KNEW HE WOULD. not me bursting into tears as soon as they show him following oh-aew on the motorbike ;;;;;;; he loves oh-aew too much, and this was too important, he was never going to back out on this promise. i mean, he gave up his uni spot for oh-aew so he could keep this promise. technically, if you think about it, it worked in a roundabout way bc teh giving up his place was what made oh-aew decide to do the admission exam again...and better still bc he got into his first place uni all on his own accord. he proved to teh that he could do it like he always wanted to.

love that teh pushes the good luck coconuts onto oh-aew too, like his mum and brother always do for him. it’s cute. when they go to the temple again, and the significance of it being open this time so they don’t have to sneak in anymore????? my heart is FULL. another thing i love is how teh’s kind of behaving like how oh-aew did in ep 3?? being flirty?? almost toying with him?? like that part when they’re drinking the coconuts together, and he sort of slides backwards drinking the coconut, eyes not leaving oh-aew before bouncing away. that’s an oh-aew move okay. and, as always, teh encouraging oh-aew when he’s down bc the sun isn’t out. rival and inspiration. i love them more than words could ever describe.

skyline instrumental is legit the perfect song bc sometimes when you listen to it, it can make you feel like you’ll never be happy again, but then other times (like when they’re walking to the tip of the cape), it’s like a shot of pure hope to your chest. that shot of them going through the trees and right into the open space of the tip of the cape with the sun shining all around them was BEAUTIFUL. the freedom of it all, of no longer being constrained. seriously, these shots of the two of them standing in front of the golden glow of the sun are just *chef’s kiss* so stunning. cinematography on point (but when did this show ever fail me on that front).

“when i gave it, i really gave it to you” I’M NEVER GONNA STOP CRYING. i literally cannot watch this part without getting choked up and/or screaming. they’ve missed each other so much, and it’s piecing the broken bits of my heart after the last 4 eps back together again. THEY’RE FINALLY TALKING.

okay i really have to talk about this scene when oh-aew asks teh “how about you and i?” bc of the war flashbacks i’m having back to the last time this question was asked and how disastrous that turned out. it’s in how oh-aew asks it and reads teh’s hesitancy as teh thinking the same as he did last time...oh-aew’s fake smile (the same smile he put on when he asked teh how things were between him and tarn and teh told him they were pretty much the same) when he thinks that teh still isn’t willing to acknowledge he likes him back. it’s how oh-aew is willing to accept ANYTHING from teh...whether he wants to be friend or a rival...whether teh likes or hates him...as long as teh stays in his life. he’s willing to accept whatever teh wants to define them as bc he’s just missed teh so much and can’t stand to be away from him. and it’s like this is what finally clicks in for teh. that restricting himself this way is only ever going to constantly hurt the both of them. teh finally saw past himself, and realised what this meant to oh-aew. it’s like he’s finally looking at oh-aew and seeing what oh-aew needs most (has always needed most), and that in turn helps him gain the courage to say it out loud bc the love he feels for oh-aew (and for himself) is ultimately stronger than any fear he has about society not accepting them. it’s such a beautiful scene. after pushing back at himself and his feelings time and time again, he can’t deny himself anymore. his character arc has come full circle ;;; everything teh’s done in previous eps for oh-aew has shown how much he really loves and cares for him, so it just makes me happy that he released his breath and let himself be happy. it’s all i ever wanted for him.

the amount of tears i shed at teh asking oh-aew to be his boyfriend...i knew teh was very likely going to give in to his feelings for oh-aew at this point, but this was even more than i expected. that was so SMOOTH. oh-aew bursting into tears after that...SAME. then the hug in the sunset WITH the new ost song. and that last shot of teh’s handwritten full pages of ‘love’...they did the MOST with this and i’ll never ever ever be over it.

then the part 2 announcement!!!!!!!!!!!!! after so much angst, i can barely believe we’ve been given so much in such a short space of time omg. i love how teh’s tie is red and oh-aew’s tie is blue for their respective uni uniforms. ADORABLE

i know everyone was afraid (myself included) that this was going to end sad from the get go. from the trailer to the ost, we were all TERRIFIED bc realistic shows like this often end in heartbreak. we’re so used to it. but i saw someone describe itsay as a love letter to the lgbtq+ community, and i totally agree. it could very well have ended tragic/sad, but instead they subverted our expectations of the traditional ‘bury your gays’/sad gay ending we’re so used to and gave us a story that showed us that there’s realism in happiness too. there are so many struggles and hardships that lgbtq+ people have to go through bc of the world that we live in, but they CAN be happy too. this post that nadao tweeted of teh crossing out the lyrics of skyline and writing “let me set my own destiny“ instead is SO powerful, and shows the immense character growth he’s gone through over the course of the series. it made every single tear that i have shed for this show completely and utterly worth it.

i’ve mentioned this multiple times before, but i’m so grateful to nadao for giving us this drama. literally one of the best dramas that i have ever watched in my entire life. i’ve never felt so passionately about a show before, or been so attached to the characters and their relationships. everything about it...the directing, the writing, the cinematography, the acting, the soundtrack, EVERYTHING has been set to such an impeccable standard i really don’t know how, or if, i’ll ever get over it (prob not). i know i’m not the only one that thinks so, but it’s truly a masterpiece. i hope it sweeps all the awards bc it’s the least that it deserves. moreover, i’m so happy that their story isn’t over bc this cast of characters are some of my fave characters ever and i genuinely cannot wait to see more of them in march next year :’)

[eloquent-music]

💬

Send a ‘💬’ to catch a glimpse of a memory my muse has.

[ Memory Log 889342666 Initiating... ] 

Ping. One shot. Ping ping       ping            ping...  Shot after shot. Klunk. Klunk... Klunk.... 

“Another down for the count,” rang through. 

“Messatine is our homestead, our planet. Get them out of the mines.” 

“Another ticked off the List..” 

Shot after shot straight through each Autobot insignia they ran into--along with the occasional Decepticon. 

“Shoot for the fucking kill Vos. We aren’t the Decepticon Justice Division for nothing. Do your damn job.” 

A pattern that Tarn was beginning to notice time after time. Unusual. No one on the DJD had ever had a weird fixation like this. 

“Why do you shoot others like that?”

“My special signature tactic. It’s nothing boss.” 

“Alright Vos. Carry on.” 

Suspicion raised from within him. Tarn was conditioned to notice things like this. But never had he ever dealt with anyone like this--a traitor more-so. All of his subordinates had been loyal to the end. But something about this one Decepticon seemed off. 

Then there was run-ins with Delphi. Tarn and Pharma would exchange words, professional or not. Sometimes the others had tagged along but stayed out of the way. Whatever happened between the two bosses. Vos had accompanied him on a few occasions. More suspicion arose. 

Puzzle pieces started to come together in Tarn’s processor. He logged each and every thing. Every kill, both Autobot and Decepticon alike. He was watched like some Big Brother motive. 

A fuck up. A small little fuck up after many cycles of extra close watch on Vos. The Vos before the Vos everyone knew now. The Vos that was a traitor amongst the DJD Ranks for years. The one that spilled top secret information to the Autobots, the Wreckers more-so. The little ‘non-lethal’ sharp shooter who shot Autobots and Decepticons alike on their insignia as his signature move. Most Vos’ had taken the form of some deadly handheld weapon but Tarn had caught wind of something fishy and it was the last shot Agent 113 would ever get in his life. 

The reason Tarn caught on was because of his nonlethal shots. After the others had left, he’d dug out a few bullets out of the corpses. Read their encrypted messages. It fueled Tarn’s rage and hatred to the point where he started taking his frustrations out more on his victims and unfortunately onto Delphi. If one wanted to get away with spying, you had to be smarter than a criminal and the enforcers. Tarn was an excellent criminal, executioner, and enforcer alike--he wasn’t the leader of the DJD for nothing, nor was he idiotic. 

The one thing Tarn never knew about was that most of these bullets were extracted from First Aid no less when they were on Messatine. One of Pharma’s medics, a demoted nurse that hid all of this behind the CMO’s back. The one mech who could’ve set off a real bad chain reaction to Delphi. Tarn wasn’t fond of killing medics but he would’ve if he had found out at the time and the perfect plan would’ve occurred, starting with the execution of the Autobot spy as a show of force and dominance over the facility, then next would’ve become Ambulon, the Decepticon deserter, a little gift to Pharma of course, before finally offlining First Aid. He likely would’ve mounted the mech on the main entrance to Delphi that was almost barely recognizable. 

The last nonlethal shot to a Wrecker on Messatine drove Tarn right on over the edge. Crimson optics kept watch over Vos like a vulture waiting for an animal to keel over. Tarn called for Helex over with a snap of his digits, same with Tesarus. For now, Kaon was left out of the question due to his relationship with Vos. Tarn ordered Helex to radio Megatron for a new recruit that would be taking Vos’ spot. “Tell him that Vos has perished. We need a new replacement as soon as possible and to send him to Messatine. Oh--and make it worth it this time around. We need darker members. True Decepticons.” Until a later date, the truth would be told to Megatron. With Tesarus by Tarn’s side, they walked with Vos and Kaon as Helex went back to the Tyranny before them to inform Megatron and also get one of their interrogation rooms readily available. 

That’s when the swoop came in. Tesarus grabbed Kaon and held him against his frame. Tarn on the other hand swiftly kicked Vos onto his frontside, crushing him below his pedes and right into the ice. His abilities sprung to life from his spark as his vents bristled like an angry bull.  ♬ ♫ “𝓣𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓾𝓹 𝓓𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓼,”♬ ♫  he spat out to the frame that was struggling underneath his pedes. His masked moved up some so he could fully spit onto the traitor’s frame to demechanize him right from the start. The tip of his pede curled into his back as he spat on him again. 

Tarn began to paralyze the mech system by system so he could no longer move for a while. ♬ ♫ “𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓹𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻? 𝓞𝓱 𝓷𝓸 𝓷𝓸. 𝓐 𝓼𝓷𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓼 𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓬𝓾𝓽 𝓸𝓯𝓯 𝓼𝓸𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓻 𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓵𝓾𝓬𝓴 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓻𝓪𝓷 𝓫𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓯𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓲𝓷’ 𝓭𝓻𝔂. 𝓞𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾’𝓵𝓵 𝓭𝓲𝓮 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓪 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓾𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱.” ♬ ♫ Dominus thought he’d seen the worst of Tarn? Oh never. Tarn was the only living original DJD member and when his mind clicked into seeing nothing but red, there was no stopping him. 

Kaon was begging for Tarn not to go through to the bitter end that the leader was hoping for. Between the begging and his overly angry systems, he wasn’t sure what he was going to go through with. “Tesarus, for now put Kaon away in his quarters. He does not need to be a part of this though I will take into consideration his pleas.” The end result? Still unsure. 

Tarn bound Agent 113′s legs and arms still in the field before attaching the end of the chain to his frame. A large chunk of Agent 113′s frame was left in the snow so that the Delphi medic’s would come across it when they found the Autobot’s distress signals. With a swift transformation, he drug the mech behind him back through the rough ice and snowy terrain, making sure to hit the most brutal points. A great way to physically hurt a mech’s frame without killing them. Brutal yet very satisfying. 

After taking the long way back to the Tyranny, the duo had finally made it back to their homestead. That little frame had taken heavy damage and Tarn still drug him on the floor, now dragging him by his damn neck with the chain. He even  darkened every light in the Tyranny. Singing wildly like a crazed psychotic mech from a horror movie. There might’ve been a dance to his walk as they made their way to a special room. 

After Kaon was locked away, Tesarus made his way down to where Tarn was, Helex already waiting like the hangman at the gallows. “He’s been paralyzed for now so do as you will with him.” 

Helex spoke, “The next course of action sir?” 

“What will be the outcome?” Stating Tesarus as he lifted the traitor onto the operation slab. 

“Kaon seems to be fond of this wretch. So we can compromise with him. We will put him through the most torturous act that can be done to a mech but let’s add an Autobot twist to it shall we?” Speaking like a maniac as he wrung his servos together. “The Autobots have preached about being free and willing when in reality they have not. They’ve always been a badly upgraded version of the old Senate. Control by taking away whom you are by demechanizing a mech.” His claws danced over the mech’s frame. “We’ll force him back into his old alternate mode. But we will take away everything he has. We will remove his transformation cog, his weapons, his speech, his sense of reality, sense of self, everything. Reshape him into nothing but a mindless beast that will do our bidding and obey our every word. He can still be used against the Autobots.” 

“What would that be boss?” 

“Domestication to the greatest extent.” 

The to dueted one another, “Perfect boss.” 

“Let’s get started shall we?” Tarn sing-songed outwardly.

Each member grabbed a torturous device of their choosing from the walls. The whirring sounds of the famous chainsaw Tarn weld, made from the chainsaw slinging medic himself, Pharma. Made by his own design, perfected and built for Tarn and Tarn alone.

A purple servo slammed the mech’s helm into the operation slab. “I know you can hear me Dominus Ambus,” growling outwardly as Helex handed over a data pad. “I have your file right here. Look lookit here. Isn’t it delightful?” His servo slammed the mech’s face once more enough to make it bleed. “Hmmm.. let’s see here. Your file. Your old mode, a turbofox no less.” Holding it up to the mech’s face, the traitor refused. “Making it harder on yourself will make this worse.” 

More back and forth commenced as Tarn spoke to the mech using his abilities, pinching his pressure points so he could control the mech for a moment while his other hand stroked the area over his t-cog. “Helex hold the pad so that it’s in his view.” Some more time passed and the traitor finally was forced into taking on his old form. 

“Perfect,” whispered outwardly. 

 More time lapsed through Dominus’ domestication. The mech was hanging on, the trio excelled in keeping mech’s alive and perfectly aware through their torturous acts. And this went on for days on end, weeks even. Kaon was never involved. Forcefully removed from the situation. 

“Who were you working with?” 

There was never an answer. No matter how hard each of them tried to break him and they broke him. Perhaps he never knew. Perhaps he did. 

“Next we will remove who he is as a Cybertronian, a transformer. We all know what that is? HIs transformation cog.” Tarn sung, ♬ ♫ “𝓦𝓪𝓴𝓮𝔂 𝔀𝓪𝓴𝓮𝔂 𝓓𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻. 𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓬𝓱. 𝓕𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓲𝓷’ 𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓸𝓫𝓸𝓽 𝓼𝓬𝓾𝓶.” ♬ ♫ 

Tesarus dragged the mech close to the edge of the operation table so he could force the mech to transform into his beast mode. Once it was achieved both Helex and Tesarus flipped the mech onto his backside. 

♬ ♫  “𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓓𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓷. 𝓝𝓸𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓷𝓸𝔀. 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓸𝓫𝓸𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓭𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓻𝓮. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓿𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓫𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓮𝓯𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰. 𝓞𝓱 𝓷𝓸 𝓷𝓸. 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮. 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓸𝓫𝓸𝓽 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓨𝓸𝓾’𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓸 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶. 𝓑𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓱𝓶? 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽’𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓮𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓓𝓙𝓓 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾’𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝔀𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓮--𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂 𝓲𝓼. 𝓨𝓸𝓾’𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓮𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓼 𝓘’𝓿𝓮 𝓴𝓮𝓹𝓽 𝓱𝓲𝓭𝓭𝓮𝓷 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓭𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓲𝓼 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭. 𝓨𝓸𝓾’𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓪 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷! 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓮𝓯𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰.” ♬ ♫ 

“We will remove his t-cog then wipe his memories of all of whom he is before his final transformation.” Tarn removed his mask as he located the mech’s t-cog that hid in his abdomen. His claws dug out the armor to reveal the vital component. “Hold him down.” Both mech’s obeyed as Tarn leaned over the badly injured frame; his glossa flicked over his lip components before he descended downwards. His lips wrapped onto the organ and began to pull it out slowly from the beast’s frame. Line by line was broken, spilling energon onto Tarn and the slab below him. The mech howled in his pursuit. Once it was finally released from its prison Tarn slipped it out of his mouth and into his servo. “Tesarus, wrap this up and send it off to Autobot high-command with a message.” 

“Yes boss.” 

“Helex, patch him up before we start the mind wiping process. He’ll forget all he knows within a matter of a cycle. All he will ever know from now on is being a Pet to do our bidding. Nothing but a mindless beast.” Pausing the turned to Helex as Tesarus walked out to get the t-cog ready for transport. “No one will ever remember Dominus Ambus, the traitorous little Agent 113 the Autobots so loved. They’ll never know if he truly died or not. Oh they’ll assume he did but they’ll never know our little Pet will be attacking their ranks. Oh my an Autobot attacking Autobots--how delightful isn’t it Helex?” 

[ Abrupt interruption --  disengaging.. ]

[novaimpactgenerator-blog]

Human Artist S/O Reader Headcanons

Here's a headcanon that no one asked for, but I decided the world needed anyway. It has Rodimus, Drift, Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus, Megatron, Rung, Ratchet, and Swerve. In that order. Requests are still open you can find them here.

Rodimus:

-Most of your works that star him are when he's fighting. The way he can twist and turn and move is both daunting and dazzling. And he couldn't agree more. Though his favorite is a huge painting you did of a selfie you two took. He hung it up behind his desk.

-Can't get enough of your art. He loves everything about it, especially when he's the subject. He proudly displays everything you do. Even if you protest. Always says that "it's too good to stay hidden".

-Loves to watch you do your thing. He could literally watch you for hours. And that's saying something since he has a very short attention span. Though him not being able to see what you're doing is not an option.

-You better believe that he has tried to get you to do something sexual of him. He's watched Titanic once. Once! Now he tells you to "paint him like one of your French girls" while his interface panels are open at least once a week. You have walked out many times. You have given in a few times. Roddy is very pretty. He definitely tried to put the first one up in his office, but Ultra Magnus immediately walked in and took it down (to this day, neither of you know how he found out so fast when no one had even seen it yet). That was a long lecture. One time, while he was sitting on his desk waiting for you in his office with his panels open, Ultra Magnus walked in. Got arrested by Ultra Magnus.

-Loves the little sketches you do on his desk. Had Brainstorm make a nontoxic clear spray that he can put on top of them to make sure they won't come off. Will pick you up and hold you if you try to erase them before he can use the chemicals. "You can't. It's there now. And there it shall stay." Caught you peeling them off once. Literally cried and pouted for the entire day. You never did that again. He found a chibi sketch of you winking and saying, "You can do it! I believe in you, Roddy!" and looks at it when he is about to give up on writing and/or reading reports, among other things. It makes him smile.

-Keeps literally EVERYTHING you make. Refuses to get rid of any of it. "It's special and beautiful!" "It's a fucking triangle, Rodimus." "And what a wonderful triangle it is!"

-Has a wall of his hab suite and office reserved for your art. He puts the private ones and the ones he just wants to keep to himself in his hab. Everything else goes in his office. Including the triangle. Sometimes he puts your art around the ship were the others will see it, but it doesn't stay there for long before it goes to either his suite or office.

-You have received MANY Rodimus Stars for your art. Mini ones.

-Found you trying to get rid of a book of "useless" sketches and line art behind his back. He confiscated it. The pages were all over his walls the next day.

-Will often join you if you are doing some kind of cool scenery. Normally this will include fire whether it is apart of the landscape or not.

-Does not like it when you draw other bots.

-Was royally pissed when he found a drawing of Thunderclash. He called you a cheater and a Thunderclash groupee and ran off. He avoided you for an hour before he came crawling back to you. Literally.

Drift:

-The majority of the works you do of him are when he's meditating or training. He always looks so graceful and calm. Unless he's stabbing something. Then he's badass and awesome.

-Cherishes everything you give him. Keeps the drawing of you and him in his spark chamber. Frames many of the things you make for him. Takes VERY good care of them. Whirl accidentally ripped the corner of one. He promptly lost his shit. Played Chase-The-Chopper-With-Swords until Ultra Magnus caught him. Got arrested by Ultra Magnus.

-Subtly watches you while you sketch. Finds it very relaxing. Will stop if you ask, but gets sad if you do.

-Finds the little sketches you leave here and there very cute. Will look fondly at them at times. Gets sad if he notices one that he regularly looks at is suddenly gone. He needs to get something to keep them there.

-Thinks of you drawing, painting, or sketching as you meditating. Does not allow you to be disturbed until you're finished or take a break.

-Has caught you getting rid of whole pages of art before. Does not stop you. Does not let you know he saw you do it. And definitely does not collect them while you aren't looking and hide them somewhere high or behind others.

-"Wait don'T GO UP THERE!"

-Is very private about the things you make for him. Doesn't like to show others what you've created for his eyes. It was for him, not the- what do you mean they can see it?

-Has asked and allowed you to draw and/or paint him with his panels open a few times. The first time was you asking him. He didn't think you'd want to so he refused to ask you first. Only does this in the privacy of his hab suite. This time is normally spent with light flirting and suggestive movements. Movements which are followed by you saying he messed up your angle and you leaving. He doesn't move anymore.

-Will join you if the ship stops at a very beautiful and peaceful planet. Thinks of this as meditation.

-The picture you drew of Tarn absolutely did NOT scare the ever living spark out of him. (Why was it so realistic and detailed!?)

-Doesn't mind if you do art of other bots, but does get a bit jealous at times depending on the position they're in. "Isn't that a little inappropriate?" "... He's sitting down... Resting his head on hand... And not even facing me. And it's for Chromedome."

Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus:

-Most of the art staring him are when he's working at his desk. Your favorites are when he isn't wearing his armor. You do have a few of him arresting Whirl though.

-Will carefully frame some of the bigger pieces and hang them neatly in his office. Keeps them VERY clean. Readjusts then at least five times a day only to put them in the. Same. Exact. Spot. Has arrested Whirl for defacing the huge portrait you made for him with a little more force than necessary. Keeps some of the smaller ones framed in his hab suite. They are the majority of his personal belongings.

-Will glance at you while you sketch, but doesn't watch you for long periods of time because he doesn't want to disturb you or make you feel uncomfortable. Finds it soothing when you do it while he's filling out reports. You're both being productive.

-He is very conflicted about you drawing on his desk. Literally blew a fuse the first time he saw you doing it. Does he get rid of it? Does he keep it? But his perfect desk. And the crew already doesn't respect him. You didn't notice until he suddenly slumped back in his chair with smoke pouring out of the seams in his head. If he catches you doing it he will silently slide your sketch pad to you. Refuses to put anything on top of the chibi drawing of you hugging Minimus, but does block it from the view of the bots sitting on the other side of his desk with a stack of datapads.

-Does not stop you from getting rid of art. If you don't want it you can always make more. And it's your art, therefore, it's your choice what you do with it.

-Has never and will never ask you to do anything with his interface panels open. Immediately refusing if you ask saying, "That would be highly inappropriate."

-Is extremely private about the things you make for him. Doesn't offer to show anyone the things you give him. Gets a little irritated if he catches someone (Rodimus) paying more attention to your art than what he's saying while they're in his office. You're in here for a reason, damn it! Yes, it's really good, but you could at least be subtle about ignoring him.

-Is not nearly confident enough in his artistic abilities to join you, no matter how many times you tell him he's good.

-Doesn't mind you drawing the other crew members, but did get very worried when you drew a Decepticon.

-You definitely don't draw Decepticon symbols on his desk to get back at him for blowing you off to work over time.

Megatron:

-The majority of your works with him has a subject are when he's in the bridge or when he's writing poetry.

-Your favorite (and his) is the one you made of you, him, Ravage, and Terminus.

-Handles all of your art with care. He understands the importance of art. Hung up the large portrait you made of his behind his desk. Yeeted Whirl down the hall for defacing it, and had Ravage chase him. Got arrested by Ultra Magnus.

-They are LITERALLY all the personal possessions he has. He didn't exactly bring anything with him. Except for Ravage. But that was an accident. And Ravage is a friend, not a possession.

-Not only does he watch you do your art thing, but he also writes poetry about it. He loves the look of concentration you get when you're really focused. It can always make him smile no matter what mood he's in.

-Fondly traces the chibi sketch of you and him standing back to back with arms crossed over your chests and smirking on his desk. Hides it under a datapad when someone comes in after someone (Rodimus) teased him about it.

-Has never and probably will never ask you to do any kind of art with his interface panels open, but does agree if you ask him. Though only in the privacy of his room. Is not shy about it at all. "I'm far too old to be bashful," he says as he opens his panels with a smirk.

-Cringed when he found a picture of Tarn. "... Why?" That was awkward. You had planned on just drawing a rough sketch of him and then draw an X over his face, but you got carried away and couldn't bring yourself to ruin it or get rid of it, so you stashed it.

-Does not stop you from getting rid of the art you don't want or like. Does not bring it up. Because even though he understands the importance of art he also understands why someone would want to change or get rid of theirs.

-The things you create for him do not leave his hab suite or office. Has never liked people looking at his stuff, and it's worse with your art because he sees it as personal.

-Would rather watch you work than do it with you. Besides, it gives him time to write about you.

-When he got stabbed by Cyclonus he let you repaint his chest.

-Doesn't really care if you draw other bots. Justs asks that you not give Rodimus the satisfaction of doing anything for him. "There would be no living with him then."

Rung:

-Most of your drawings and paintings of him are him working on one of his models. Your favorite one is when he let you paint him without his glasses.

-He lets you paint his models when they need it.

-Loves to watch you sketch more than anything else. What you draw lets him know what you're thinking and how you're feeling. He tries really hard not to psychoanalyze you when you go from one thing to the next, but he can't help himself sometimes. He always keeps his findings to himself unless he thinks you're in a really bad state of mind. Communication is key.

-Keeps all of the things that you give him in his office. He says it creates a more comfortable environment for his patients. And he loves to look at them when he, himself, gets troubled.

-Uses the clear coat polish for his models on the drawings you put on his desk. Always asks if he can before he paints them. Covers none of them. Often smiles at the little chibi version of you hugging him and saying, "It'll be okay, love."

-If he catches you getting rid of art he stops you and asks you why. If he doesn't like the answer you give, he will try to convince you to either give them to him or continue to work on them. If you still want to get rid of them he will let you. It is your art. So it's your choice if you want to get rid of it. That does not mean that he agrees with you. He may mention it later.

-Has never and will never ask you to draw him with his interface panels open. Will always politely refuse with a blush if you ask. "I-I'm very flattered, but I would simply be far too embarrassed."

-Uses some of the techniques you say are particularly relaxing with his patients. Except for Whirl. All he likes to paint are gruesome scenes that mostly compose of him killing someone in one way or another. And that's about the opposite what his therapy is for.

-Will on rare occasions join you in sketching or painting, but he'd much rather watch you. There's truly nothing more relaxing to him than to watch you paint a beautiful and serene landscape.

-Likes it when you draw others. Especially his patients. He gets to show them when they come in. "I wouldn't do Red Alert though. He might think you're watching him."

Ratchet:

-90% of the works featuring Ratchet are of him working because that's what he's doing 90% of the time. His favorite is the huge portrait you made of him, First Aid, and Ambulon in the medibay. He hung it up in the back of the medibay where everyone could see it when they walked in.

-Really likes your art, but doesn't fully understand why he's the subject of your passion more often than not. "There are literally dozens of interesting bots on this ship, why don't you try doing something for them for a change?" "Why would I do that when I already have the most interesting one right here?" "W-Wha- I- You can't jus- You can't possibly be serio-... Tch. Fine. Do what you want." That was one of the only times you have ever heard him stutter and the only time you have ever seen him blush.

-Likes to watch you work, but you always do it while he's working. He also enjoys just being next to you while you draw. The calmness around you is so relaxing not to mention a nice change of pace.

-Loves finding the little drawings you leave around the medibay. They're especially helpful when he has difficult and/or drunk patients come in. He always looks at the one you left on his desk. It's a chibi of you smiling and saying, "Hang in there, Doc. I love you!" He did get onto you for calling him Doc, but he could never get rid of it. Though he will cover it if Whirl, Swerve, or Rodimus comes in for a che- Wait. How the hell did you get one on the ceiling!?!

-Has never and will never ask you to do anything with his interface panels open. If you ask him, he always says, "... I'm too old for this shit," and walks away from you.

-If you give him something small he asks you to hold onto it for him. If you make something small, but personal for him he may put it in his hab suite or put it on the glass of the medibay cabinets. He does have a framed drawing of a picture that was taken with you on his shoulder by Rewind on his desk.

-If he sees you getting rid of something he doesn't question it. You can always make more. But if you try to erase something you've drawn around the medibay he gets mad. "Excuse you. You already gave that to me. Now scram or go do something else. I'm working he- WHIRL, SIT YOUR ASS DOWN! NO, DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

-Lost his shit when Whirl put a hole in the portrait of the three medics. Ultra Magnus had to stop him. "And what do you think you were doing?" "Examining his brain." "YOU WERE BEATING HIM OVER THE HEAD WITH A WRENCH!!!" "Oh, was I? I get those two mixed up all the time." Got arrested by Ultra Magnus.

-Won't participate in anything art wise with you. It's just not his thing. He'd rather you do it and watch you.

-Likes when you draw other members of the crew. Especially his fellow medics and Ten. (But don't think he didn't notice you staring fondly at that drawing on your desk, First Aid. You better not.)

Swerve:

-Most of the works he's in are set in the bar or in his hab suite watching soap operas. Your favorite is a painting of a picture you took of him laughing while mixing a drink behind the bar. His favorite is the portrait of you and him sitting at the bar (while it was empty) grinning and holding hands.

-He cherishes everything you make for him. His room is covered in your art. He has dozens of the little sketches you make around his recharge slab along with the hundred or so drawings of you and him that he's asked for you to make. If he's having a bad day and you aren't around he looks at them.

-Hordes all of your art. If you make something it is not to be destroyed EVER. If he finds you getting rid of anything he immediately runs over and takes it from you. "No! Not allowed!" And puts them with the rest in his room.

-Has drawings and paintings and sketches of the crew hanging out at Swerve's proudly displayed around the bar. Loves when bots gather around them to laugh at the memories.

-Would never have the courage to ask you to draw him with his interface panels open, but he wants you to. He's watched Titanic too many times. He's had you watch Titanic too many times. You've watched Titanic too many times. You refuse to watch Titanic again. When you ask him if he'd like you to "paint him like one of your French girls" his face turns pink with energon and his fans turn on almost immediately. Of course, he says yes.

-LOVES the little drawings you leave on his bar. Had Brainstorm make a clear nontoxic spray so they would stay there in exchange for free drinks for the night. Threw a glass at Whirl's head when he accidentally scratched one off. Was chased around the ship by a pissed helicopter. Was rescued by Ultra Magnus. Was arrested by Ultra Magnus.

-He loves to stare dreamily at the chibi sketch of you blowing a kiss and saying, "I love you, Swerve!"

-Loves to paint with you, but thinks he's horrible so he doesn't do it too often unless you beg him. Loves to watch you paint on and with Ten.

-Does get extremely jealous if you draw someone else more than twice in a row. He's so worried you're going to leave him for someone else. "So how come you've been drawing Rodimus so much lately?" "He's Rodimus. He asked me to."

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #39 — Tarn Has a Religious Experience in the Cocaine Cave

Last we left off, we’d just seen the climax of Brainstorm’s Time Tour to murder Megatron, as well as completing the roundabout on all of our time loops and preventing Chromedome and Rewind’s divorce through the power of guns.

Anyway, let’s check in on everyone’s favorite gang of Decepticons.

No, not that one. The other one.

We’re back with the Decepticon Justice Division, or at least some of them. Because Tarn is the narrative focus for today, we’ll be breaking this issue into chapters, because that’s intellectual or some shit. We’ll also get what might be an almost-illegal amount of narration boxes. While certainly in-character for Tarn, who has already established himself as pretentious in the most irritating fashion, good god does it clutter up the page. What’s Tarn thinking about, anyway?

Oh right, he still thinks that Vos and Kaon are dead.

Vos’s little phrase there doesn’t translate to anything, by the way. I checked. Honestly, I think it’s a shame; why bother having a fully rendered (if simple) cypher if you’re not going to use it?

Anyway, Tarn, Helex, and Tesaurus are just about finished with Blip, a Decepticon who was unfortunate enough to be at the top of The List at the moment.

Tarn isn’t really feeling it right now though, having lost a bit of the spirit. He’s burnt out, you see; on the DJD’s theme song— which I’ll remind you is one of Ultra Magnus’s favorite songs— on all the murder, and the endless churning of a war that never seems to go anywhere.

Still, a job’s a job, and he’s nothing if not a good performer. He tells Helex to take Blip’s brain out of Blip’s mouth, and Helex complies, in the “censored” way. Originally, Helex was going to kiss Blip’s brain out of his mouth, and that idea got all the way to fucking pencils before someone pumped the breaks.

Which brings me to our artist for the issue, Hayato Sakamoto. Sakamoto is known for having drawn a lot of doujinshi— Japanese self-published comics— several of which were rather racy. He’s done a lot of work for Transformers, including package art and Japanese-specific publications, as well as toy designs. His current pinned Tweet, at time of writing, is a link to his print of Halloween Rodimus, wearing pumpkin booty shorts. He’s got everyone covered in the horny department, what an ally.

Getting back to the issue, Helex spits out some brain juice from that kiss that didn’t happen, while Tarn has a chat with Blip about his crimes. What horrible thing could Blip have possibly done to incur the wrath of the DJD?

No idea what these two think they’re sitting on. Tarn must be the squat king of the fucking universe, to hold that pose through his explanation of Decepticommunism’s take on religion.

Blip has objections to his being on The List, and not just because he’s about to get turned into chunky salsa. He’s literally the only guy who thinks he’s a Sparkeater, and that hardly counts as a religious cult, now does it? But Tarn believes in nipping things in the bud, as it were, and he asks Blip if he has any final words before Tesaurus gets ahold of him.

Blip, to his credit, actually throws Tarn for a bit of a loop, grabbing his mask— bastard couldn’t even commit to properly replacing his face with the symbol of his cause. Blip demands to see Tarn’s face, claiming he’s hiding from something. Tarn doesn’t say anything, walking off to let Helex and Tesaurus finish today’s work. His narration, however, is very chatty, saying that the reason he wears the mask is so that nobody can see him looking away from the moments where he denies his victims the “mercy” of being talked to death, instead leaving the finale to his peers.

Back at their very pointy ship, Peaceful Tyranny, the boys head in for prayer time at the dual life-sized statues of Megatron, Helex leading the sermon of all people. They finish just in time to get yelled at by the tiniest and best member of their team, Nickel.

Hold on, let me look something up.

Christ alive, Nickel, you might as well’ve called the man a slur.

Nickel is their medical officer, and also apparently their adoptive mother, as she chastises the lot for their lack of hygiene and health maintenance. When Tesaurus grumps about having health insurance, Tarn threatens to write him up. Still, it seems like they all have at least some sort of rapport going on. Of course, Tarn has to ruin the fun, by telling Helex and Tesaurus to bring their personal development plans for their employment appraisals.

The appraisals of their murder job, where they murder people.

Later, Tesaurus shows up to Tarn’s quarters, even though he bitched earlier, probably because he knows better than to ignore an order from his boss. Tarn is at least a gracious host, offering a beverage consisting of innermost energon that’s apparently from a guy as old as Tailgate.

Yeah, energon being as diverse of a substance as it is really makes for some weird implications.

Anyway, Tesaurus and Tarn get through the appraisal pretty quickly— turns out the guy who turns into a giant blender on treads is really good at dismembering and murdering. While they do this, Tarn’s narration boxes go on about the importance of administration and professionalism to the Decepticause.

I fucking guess, Tarn.

Tarn notices that Tesaurus is even less into this process than usual, and asks what’s up, even though he already knows the answer. Tesaurus is thinking about Vos. And Kaon, but he feels like a bit of an afterthought. I get the impression Kaon’s the weak link in this team.

The events of the Alternate Lost Light Super-Murder Power Hour took place eighteen months ago, when Quantum-Duplicate Brainstorm called up the DJD to come nab Overlord. His only stipulation? No one else gets hurt, as to not blow Brainstorm’s cover. Yeah, that’s why. Absolutely not because he cares about these stupid Autobots. Tarn agreed to the terms, fully intending to keep this shit covert.

It’s just too bad he and all his coworkers were fucking tweaked out of their goddamned gourds at the time.

The DJD, high as balls off Nuke, because that’s real professional, ran into Drift— who is on The List for defecting, back when he was Deadlock— and they saw red so hard, they painted the interior of the Lost Light pink. With robot blood.

They eventually went back to the ship, at Nickel’s insistence, to steal the quantum engine, only to find that the Galactic Council and the Black Block Consortia were there for the exact same thing. This happened a month ago. Which makes me wonder why the fuck Rewind spent nearly a year and a half laying inside his brother-in-law’s chest cavity. Maybe it was a “Tailgate in the hole” situation.

Kaon and Vos got lost in the fight, assumedly killed in action. We, of course, know that they are very much alive, and actually feeling well enough to commit heinous dismemberments, thanks to the magic of blood donation. It would seem that the twinksome twosome haven’t been able to contact Peaceful Tyranny though, so Tesaurus doesn’t know that.

Tarn acknowledges that they retreated without going to pick up Vos and Kaon from the planet, and Tesaurus makes a comment about Decepticons not abandoning their own. Tarn takes this slight against his Decepticonism, to his Decepticon-masked face, in his room that appears to only have Decepticon badges as decoration, relatively well.

Tarn grabs Tesaurus by the head, practically sticking his fingers in the guy’s mouth, and gets in kissing range as he gives him a taste of the murder-voice. It wholly looks like Tarn’s about to kill Tesaurus over this comment, but he backs off, because he understands how stressful this has been for everyone. In fact, he tells Tesaurus that they’re going back for Vos and Kaon’s bodies, as he pats Tesaurus on the cheek in a way that looks like he’s about to snap the man’s neck. Again, Tarn is just the epitome of professionalism.

Helex interrupts this absolute HR nightmare to report that he just teleported Vos and Kaon aboard, and, wonder of wonders, they’re alive! Yayyyy! Tarn is astounded by this news, but he ain’t seen nothing yet, because Helex then hands him that new version of Towards Peace that Kaon grabbed from Trailcutter. The one where Megatron denounces the Decepticause. Tarn takes the news relatively well.

Tarn reflects on the destruction of the only thing that makes up his personality, going so far as to take off his mask to stare at it contemplatively, like the dramatic bitch that he is. We only get to see the bottom half of his face, as he tells Kaon to meet him in the fueling chamber. I do want to stress, knowing what this son of a bitch looks like literally doesn’t matter, as we’ll find out towards the end of MTMTE.

Deep down in the abandoned mines, the DJD have set up their fueling chamber. Well, they call it a fueling chamber, and it’s technically correct, but what it actually is is the cave that they do their space-cocaine in. Tarn floats in a tank, hooked up to about thirty tubes that pump Nuke into his body while he screams in pain. Kaon, the motherfucker who doesn’t have eyes, is in charge of watching Tarn, as Nickel provides commentary. Nickel’s never been down here before, having been picked up by the ship relatively recently. Kaon tells Nickel that the nucleon down here is special, as it’s been structurally rewritten by temporal bullshit— thanks, Brainstorm— and their stash is irreplaceable, though he’s certainly tried.

Which I guess means that Kaon is their plug. No wonder they keep him around.

Nickel is a little worried about Tarn having hooked every major vein in his body into a bath of liquid cocaine cut with time travel and gas station dick pills, convinced that the guy is trying to kill himself. Tarn’s narration boxes confirm this, as he reflects on his life. Skids is there. I’m sure that doesn’t have any unfortunate connotations.

Tarn opens his eyes to see Nickel slapping at the glass, and he has a change of heart, busting out of the tube and flopping onto the floor and catching himself with his suddenly terrifyingly-large hands.

Foreshortening be damned, they shouldn’t be this huge.

Smashcut to Peaceful Tyranny floating outside of Deathsaurus’s warworld, which looks suspiciously similar to the Rod Pod. Deathsaurus stole this warworld for the purposes of joyriding around the galaxy with all his friends, and that’s the reason they’re there, right? Though the DJD seem to be going out of order of The List, which is pretty out of character for a guy like Tarn. Vos is over by the controls, in his default gremlin pose, maybe he can shed some light on the situation.

…Well, at least we know he’s trilingual now.

Kaon bumps that estimate up to the thousands, having gotten an earful of the inter-Decepticon radio frequency. Tarn claims that Deathsaurus’s defection is a mystery, though he images it wasn’t for any rational reason, knowing Deathsaurus. Tarn then informs his men that this is, in fact, a meeting, and not a super-murder death spree. Seems like a bad idea to not tell your men what the hell is going on until it’s basically already happening, but what do I know? I’m not a murder tank with a hard-on for workplace synergy.

The DJD board the warworld, Deathsaurus greeting them with a box under his arm, seemingly in the middle of something. Up on the topmost catwalk, a couple guys slap the wall for no discernible reason. Vos seems ready to go crab-mode at a moment’s notice.

Deathsaurus asks Tarn to hold his box for him, even as Tarn is requesting a moment to discuss the Megatron issue. Deathsaurus makes a jab at Tarn’s well-known thing for Megatron, asking where his Autobot mask is, then tells him to go stand on the X.

And Tarn does it, because he is the stupidest bitch alive.

Literally how has this man survived this long.

Tarn is, of course, blown the fuck up, though he takes it rather well, only getting somewhat singed. Deathsaurus knew from the moment Tarn called, he was trying to trick him into trusting him enough to get killed. Which he actually wasn’t, for once, but you can’t blame Deathsaurus looking at the statistics and making a call with his self-preservation in mind. Tarn, lamenting how his talents precede him, fires a warning shot, but Deathsaurus is on a roll now, fully intending on removing this threat from his home. The rest of the DJD watch from the doorway. Kaon suggests they do something, but Vos and Nickel know that Tarn wouldn’t appreciate the help.

Tarn asks Deathsaurus to be reasonable— which is a stupid fucking thing for him of all people to say— before immediately using his murder voice. Deathsaurus, knowing this trick already, cuts off his audio sensors. It would seem that he didn’t know that the DJD had a communications officer, however, as he’s surprised when the inter-Decepticon frequency gets hijacked. Tarn finally has his in, having finally gotten enough of a leverage to force Deathsaurus to actually listen to him.

Tarn uses this leverage to talk about the Decepticons’ foundation, which I’m sure is one of his favorite topics. In the beginning, Megatron was sweeping the board, win after win after win, basically taking Cybertron overnight, before looking at what he could do to the rest of the galaxy. Seeing the universe as staunchly anti-robot, he decided he would remedy this injustice by committing genocide on countless organic races, a lot of which didn’t even know who the Cybertronians were.

I fucking guess, Tarn.

Deathsaurus is sick of this history lesson, demanding that Tarn get to the goddamned point. Tarn admits that he’s been a bad Decepticon, equating Megatron to the Decepticon cause, having placed the man on a pedestal that reached into the heavens. But he had a revelation during his drug-induced stupor, when he opened his eyes to find Nickel trying to get him out.

Nickel was picked up by the DJD because her planet— a colony world that was populated by Cybertronians who had come there by Titan— had been razed by a plague created by the Black Block Consortia. Tarn realized that the real purpose of the Decepticons was to correct injustices, and the mass murder of Cybertronians by organics is one of the greatest injustices he knows of. He asks Deathsaurus and his men to join him, in exchange for being removed from The List.

Deathsaurus has an additional condition however; he wants Tarn to kill the rest of the DJD, as repayment for all of Deathsaurus’s men that he’s killed in the past. Tarn, to his limited credit, considering how Tesaurus’s appraisal meeting went, refuses Deathsaurus’s demand.

Deathsaurus then says that they have a deal, much to Tarn’s confusion. Deathsaurus was testing Tarn, to see if he’d be someone worth following. Now knowing that he can be trusted, at least to some extent, Deathsaurus gives Tarn control of his men.

Tarn’s new goal, as an embodiment of the true Decepticause, is to destroy Megatron and those who are currently affiliated with him, seeing as he’s directly opposed to the Decepticons now. The new List currently consists of Megatron and the entire crew of the Lost Light. Tarn’s pretty sure they already got those guys, but he’s not gonna question how they’re all fine now. It’s been a long day for Tarn.

Anyway, time for a group photo! Everyone say “mass homicide!”

[ask-mystical-bangtan]

transient

warnings: risk of secondhand embarrassment

length: 2,565 words

Yoongi had never been a big fan of traveling. He liked his dwelling and the comfort it provided, and he rarely, if ever, saw any reason to leave it.

He had found the little pond he called home almost six years ago, after a rather unfortunate accident involving some now potentially scarred-for-life fishermen in the river he had previously spent his time in. There was a huge, complex cave system that stretched for miles upon miles in every direction underneath his tarn, but he hadn’t explored much more than what was near the main pond’s area. He saw no reason to – what good would it do him? He had everything he could ever need right where he was, and there were little to no humans around. Besides, there wasn’t anything there that he hadn’t already seen.

Or, so he had thought.

One day, he found a rock at the bottom of his pond. Of course, this wasn’t really an unusual occurrence, and there were plenty of rocks around, but this one was different.

It was manmade.

It had been resting just outside the mouth of one of the longest tunnels in the entire cave system, one that frequently had a rather strong current flowing through it into the mire. The rock must have been carried from its source at the other end of the tunnel all the way to Yoongi’s pond – it was definitely small and light enough to have been swept along.

So, despite himself and his inhibitions, Yoongi found himself swimming along said tunnel. It wasn’t that he was curious, of course not. He just wanted to know what was potentially living in the caves with him. Not that he couldn’t handle whoever it was.

There were no other tunnels that broke off of the main channel, which was weird for this particular system. It was also really, really dark. Yoongi trailed his hands along the walls on either side of him as he swam, not only to look for potential branching off, but also to make sure he didn’t run into a sudden curve. It was longer than he expected, despite being aware of just how vast the caves were, and after a long while of swimming he started debating going back.

I’m probably more than halfway by now. If I turn back it’ll be an even longer swim.

Sighing internally, Yoongi kept swimming. The water was slowly warming, indicating either an upward curve bringing him closer to the surface, or an area exposed to direct sunlight. Or that he was in some sort of unnatural structure.

His suspicions were confirmed when he spotted more of the peculiar rock he had found in his pond. Much more of it.

Gradually, pillars took shape around him. The tunnel started to noticeably slant upward, and the dirt around him became mixed with bricks of the same rock. Roots poked out from the cracks in the rock, more and more moss covering the walls the further up he went.

Yoongi spotted sunlight. He was almost entirely vertical now, looking up at what seemed like a surfacing hole, maybe a fourth of the size of his pond. Big enough for a couple people to splash around in, but not nearly large enough for a naiad. Whoever this structure belonged to was a land dweller.

He swam a bit harder, letting his hands fall to his sides from the walls – the rough, unfamiliar brick causing unpleasant tingles on his skin – and finally broke through the surface.

Yoongi shook his hair out, and became aware of the sound of birdsong as he did. He blinked his eyes open, water droplets clinging to his eyelashes, and looked around. He was in some sort of huge…temple? Really? A temple?

What the hell was this doing in the middle of the forest? Yoongi could remember the general area of where the tunnel ran, and it was definitely not near any sort of civilisation. He kicked his legs gently, swimming closer to the edge of the hole and resting his hands on the side. Vines wound around the pillars at the edges of the rooms, colourful birds and reptiles flitting to and fro among the rock and flora.

The roof was somewhat dilapidated, caved in in some areas and totally sunken in others, letting the warm sunlight break through. The hole Yoongi had surfaced in was nothing more than a collapsed area of the floor, the tunnel likely eroded over long periods of time due to the strong current. There was an open archway of a door leading to another area of the temple that Yoongi couldn’t see properly, and a set of huge, wide stairs on the other side of the room. The stairs lead to nothing but what probably used to be a huge stained glass window – there was nothing left of it but bits and pieces of colourful crystal and some ironwork.

“Hello?”

Yoongi nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice, and whipped around to face its owner.

A naga stared back at him.

Yoongi’s mouth gaped. He hadn’t seen a naga in years. No one had seen a naga in years. Like, centuries. And here one was, in an old, ruined temple in the middle of nowhere.

Any words Yoongi could have come up with were stuck somewhere in his throat. Not only was he looking at something that had been believed extinct for centuries, but he had accidentally trespassed on its territory. He had no idea what nagas were capable of, and this one had a direct passage to Yoongi’s home. Shit.

Finally, he opened his mouth to say something, but the naga beat him to it.

“Dae…hyun…?”

Yoongi blinked, mouth still open. Daehyun? Who the fuck is that? Before he could correct the naga, it had excitedly slithered all the way across the room in a couple seconds flat, only a foot away from Yoongi’s face now.

“It’s you!” the naga exclaimed, smiling so wide it hurt Yoongi’s cheeks just to look at it. “I knew you weren’t dead, not really! You had to go into hiding or something, right? So they wouldn’t find you again? Or-” the naga gasped, and his voice dropped. “Were you injured? Do you still need help? Did it really take all this time to heal?” The naga’s hands were shifting nervously from the jewelry around its neck to hovering around Yoongi’s shoulders and face and back again.

Yoongi swam a few inches back, his shoulders tensing and drawing up to his ears. The naga’s hands dropped.

“Uh…I don’t know who this Daehyun person is, but it sure as fuck isn’t me,” he said, unable to help the hint of condescension dripping from his words. The naga flinched. “I live in the tunnels connected to this hole, and I wandered a bit too far, that’s it. I’m not even from around here. So, no need to get so worked up over nothing.” The naga’s whole body seemed to slump. Its huge tail shifted and coiled, and then it was backing away. Yoongi wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not, but the entire room seemed different – almost like the very atmosphere had dropped with the naga’s mood. He stayed relatively far away, unsure if he should just leave or not.

“…Sorry,” the naga mumbled, just loud enough that Yoongi could hear it. “I mistook you for…someone else.” A glance was shot at Yoongi over the naga’s shoulder, something dwelling in those brilliantly blue eyes that he couldn’t quite decipher. “Didn’t mean to freak you out.”

Yoongi forced his muscles to relax, but stayed where he was.

“It’s…fine. I wasn’t expecting to find someone over here.” Even as he spoke, Yoongi frowned. Who was this Daehyun? Did he really look that similar to someone else? Someone that had clearly lived in this area? Someone who knew a naga? “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking…”

The naga looked at him again, more fully this time.

“Who is Daehyun? How am I…so similar to them?” Yoongi wasn’t sure what boundary he was overstepping by asking this, if he even was.

The naga turned away almost immediately.

“That’s none of your business.” Yoongi’s lips parted. The naga’s tone was drastically different from just a couple minutes ago. What had been warm and inviting was now cold and shuttered. Even so, he wasn’t deterred.

“Well, I’d say it is, if I resemble them so much you immediately mistook us.”

“It isn’t!” the naga snapped, turning sharply back around to face Yoongi, its lips pulled back in a snarl. “That’s not for you to decide, naiad! Now get out of my house!” The utter anger on the naga’s face was unsuitable, Yoongi thought.

“Can you at least just-”

“Get! Out!”

The naga’s huge tail lashed out like lightning at Yoongi.

Acting entirely on instinct, Yoongi ducked below the water. There was a crack and a giant splash from the impact of the naga’s tail on the surface, the ripples of the contact shuddering over Yoongi’s skin. He waited, quietly, but didn’t hear anything else. Figuring it would be better to stay away from whatever nerve he had just hit – and perhaps this naga altogether – Yoongi turned himself around and swam back down the tunnel to his pond.

----

Yoongi couldn’t stop thinking about the naga. He had never been one for feeling bad or guilty about speaking his mind, and he hadn’t expected his chance encounter the other day to be an exception. He had struck a nerve with a total stranger – not hard to do – but had fled before the situation could have gotten any worse. And, really, he figured, it was mostly the naga’s fault for getting up in Yoongi’s face like that.

I shouldn’t have reacted like that, though.

Yoongi scowled at his own thoughts and slouched a bit more in the water, his mouth dipping below the surface.

I hate this.

He had to apologize, right? Even if it wasn’t totally his fault, it was still sort of because of him. And he just really, really couldn’t stop thinking about the naga.

Fuck it.

Without giving himself time to second-guess himself, Yoongi dove down into his pond and beelined for the tunnel that lead to the naga’s temple. It was just as long of a swim as he remembered, but this time he was accompanied by self-loathing and a nagging voice somewhere in the back of his head telling him he had really fucked up this time. What other explanation was there for this awful feeling of guilt, after all?

When he surfaced in the naga’s temple, the creature itself was nowhere to be seen. The big, ornate room looked much the same as before, if a bit darker. Yoongi swam to the edge of the little hole and propped himself up on the broken stones. He leaned forward, craning his neck to try and see into the other room, but the doorway was situated at too odd of an angle for him to get a good look into. He grunted and settled back again, looking around.

“Can I help you?”

This time, Yoongi was more prepared for the sudden voice. He turned around, and found the naga in the same spot as last time, eyeing him warily. Yoongi didn’t blame it, really, with the way he had acted. He was frankly surprised he wasn’t being kicked out immediately.

“Uh.” He stared for a second, unused to having to apologize for his actions. “I just…wanted to come back to say sorry. Uh, for the way I acted. The other day. It was stupid. I was…stupid.” He let out a breath with those last words, hating the way that whole apology came out. “I shouldn’t have pried about something that wasn’t my business. So. Yeah. Sorry.” Yoongi stared down at the water, unable to look the naga in the eyes. Not out of embarrassment, necessarily, but frustration.

Why doesn’t anything I say ever come out right? That sounded so dumb. Why couldn’t I just have apologized normally and gone on my way-

“It’s okay.”

Yoongi looked up sharply at the naga’s voice. It was smiling gently at him, the look reassuring and calm despite the horns curling around its head and the shocking blue of its eyes.

Wait. Why am I paying so much attention to what it looks like? No one has seen one of these for centuries and I’m worried about its eyes? Seriously?

“I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did either, you were just asking a question,” the naga continued, slithering closer. The temple almost seemed to move along with it, breathing and shifting in sync. Yoongi watched carefully, for some reason. “So, I’m sorry too.” It settled on the ground close to Yoongi, the very tip of its huge tail dipping into the water, as if checking the temperature.

“What’s your name?” The question was out before Yoongi could even register thinking it. He mentally smacked himself. The naga looked vaguely surprised, but not shocked.

“Jimin,” it said softly. “I’m the God of Love.”

“Oh.”

Oh? That’s all you have to say? You finally know why you can’t stop thinking about him – he’s the God of fucking Love of all things – and all you can say is oh?

Jimin’s smile widened a bit at Yoongi’s bluescreening.

“Don’t worry, I get that all the time. ‘Why are you locked up in the middle of nowhere if you’re a God? Why haven’t I heard of you, or seen you?’” He shook his head, the jewellery around his neck jingling gently with his movements. “It’s a long story, if you were wondering as well.”

Yoongi tilted his head at the naga, observing him carefully for a minute.

“If that’s what makes you happy, I don’t think I have the right to say anything about it at all, let alone question it,” he said finally. He definitely wasn’t about to judge how someone else lived after all the shit he’d gotten for his own solitary ways. Jimin seemed to perk up at his words. The whole temple brightened, subtly.

“You remind me of someone I used to know,” the naga said, and Yoongi wasn’t sure if the fond warmth in his voice was his own imagination or not. “That sounds exactly like something he would say.” Yoongi shifted a bit uncomfortably under the naga’s gaze, unsure if this was meant to be a compliment or not. “Don’t worry,” Jimin added, shifting his eyes away and up past the broken ceiling of his temple, to the blue sky above, “that’s a good thing. He meant a lot to me.”

They lapsed into silence for a few moments, but it wasn’t the awkward sort of quiet that Yoongi was used to. It was more comfortable, familiar.

Weird.

“My name is Yoongi. I already said this, but I live in a pond attached to this tunnel,” he said, gesturing down to the water he was still treading. Jimin looked at him closely, as if considering something.

“You should come visit me more often, then, Yoongi,” he finally said. Something about his tone was final, and Yoongi thought with a bit of amusement that this was more of a command than a request. Not that he minded, the naga was proving to be good company so far.

Yoongi smiled.

“I think I will.”

[half-mer-child]

Just curious, what do the rest of the DJD think of the reader?

Nickels a jellyfish

Seeing you at first she’s not happy. Honestly she scares you more than Tarn and Pharma combined. She keeps trying to get Pharma and Tarn to get rid of you. One night your alone with her the others on a mission to het someone from the List whatever that means and your worried. She approaches you and your eyes widen with fear your hands are lightly shaking. You know she has more control than Tarn that if she killed you Pharma would be upset but she wouldn’t be punished. But when the time comes her stingers out ad ready to kill you painfully she… she can’t. She sees you weak and vulnerable and scared and then she… stops. She just stops. She can’t. Because that was her. You let go starting to sob unable to control yourself as you think your going to die and then you feel arms wrap around you. Sniffling as you look up surprised she’s… she’s hugging you. “Your okay. I’ll keep your safe. Your okay…” Crying in her arms Nickel swears to protect you. You’ve never had a mom and she becomes like that to you. A mom figure/naggy grandma that makes sure your okay. Oh god is this hell? She’s worse than Ratchet. Your half mer half human and that’s rare in itself but one without a tail who can still breath underwater? That’s really rare and unheard of. Expect a lot of surprise medical appointments and coddling as she hugs you. Also if any of the others are being to rowdy or rude to you she’ll shock them. Including Tarn if he’s being to pushy. She actually is the one who eases your mind about Tarn and Pharma explaining there doing their best. Slowly you start believing her even if it’s not the whole truth and she starts making bridge’s so you can connect to Tarn and Pharma. The new parents couldn’t be more grateful.

Tarn-Octomer

Instead of t-cogs Pharma was taking egg pouches from mers. It’s the biological part of them that helps produce the eggs. Tarn unfortunately is sterile and because of this may never have pups. So when Pharma joined the decepticons and explained his dilemma about his own pup after bonding with Tarn and how she was being raised on land and living with his enemy he will do anything to have reader as his own pup. He doesn’t bring it up at first knowing Pharma wants time with his daughter once he gets them back but Tarn is desperate for love even if it’s not his biological pup it’d still be HIS pup and that’s something. You first meet your new self proclaimed father when he kidnaps you at the pier. It’s been a long stressful day you went to relax so you walk to an abandoned dock dip your legs in the water at the end and stare at the sky looking up at the sunset. Lets just say his tentacle wrapping around your leg and a sudden venom that knocks people out as he pulls you down into the dark depths isn’t a fun way to meet someone who wants to adopt you. It’s only because the rest of the pod is speaking on his behalf that he even has a chance of being loved by you and even than that love is ricketedy as best. Still it’s something and he’s more than greatful for that.

Pharma-Stingray

Being a Stingray Pharma has a very nurturing nature. He’s your father he loves you. Love him back damn it. He never gets mad at you or screams and yells like you do. Tarn might but he knows your trying to give yourself a reason for hating him. You don’t remember the first six years of your life and he’s upset about that because those were the years he snuck away to see you and your mother and you don’t remember all the good things he did with you. He played for hours with you. Gave you pretty shells. Swam with you. Hell the seashell bracelet you wear on your arm is something he gave you and he sees the way you look at it! Why do you hate him???

Fine whatever you don’t remember all the good times? He’ll make new ones. Still seeing you as a pup and missing most of your actual child life he cuddles you close all the time. He wants to hold you and love you and give you attention like he used to. Why are you squirming? Why are you crying? He’s not hurting you! Stay still! My god your worse than evey pup he’s ever met. Nickel help! Shocking him lightly Nickel rolls her eyes pulling you away from your clingy dad. Space. Give her Space Pharma. It’s okay Nickels better at this. She finds things you and your dad have in common and slowly you start bonding even if it’s not a solid relationship it’s getting there. Thankyou Nickel.

Tesarus-Hammerhead

Being a hammerhead mer Tesarus or Tes as he lets his friends call him is gigantic. Not as big as most but he’s up there. His eyes are placed farther apart having the Hammer Heads head but if anything it helps him see better and gives his team a better vantage point. His teeth being a shark can tear through anything. His teeth are actually better than average and is his main defense or weapon while hunting mers from the list. Bored as he tries to think of what to do he learns of your arrival. He’s actually excited. Finally something spontaneous and not boring! Humans are interesting maybe he’ll be entertained.

When he meets you he gets an earful of screams as his tail propels him backwards. Damn this pup is a howler!

Ignoring their obvious discomfort he gets as close as her overprotective sire will allow and scans the kid up and down… why are humans interesting again? He starts getting bored but then stops. Wait she’s human how is she breathing underwater? Be prepared for random prodding and strange questions from this mer as you may be the only thing that doesn’t bore him.

Helex-Tiger Fish (Hydrocynus vittatus)

Helex is a beast. A huge lurking giant mer with patterns and build similar to the Tiger Fish. Scares the crap out of reader as she starts back pedaling to get away from him. She flings herself in Pharmas arms not wanting to die. Frankly Helex is insulted he has more class than that.

Helex has the mer power to super heat water so he tends to like the cold deep seas so he can practice his abilities but what he enjoys doing with them the most especially on hunts is burning mers alive. Boiling their blood and killing them is fun and interesting in his case to watch. Learning that reader stays away from him hiding behind one of her parents as he passes. But as time moves on not adapted fo the cold waters reader slowly starts freezing. Helex caring for his teammates and having a strong sense of loyalty ends up cuddling you raising your body temperature slowly so you wouldn’t freeze to death. Your not friends not in the least but he refuses to let you die. Whether out of self preservation because his bosses would kill him or because he actually likes you is unknown.

Vos-Piranha

A small mer originally from the Amazon rainforest river he adapted to salt water making it to the ocean he joins the decepticons. He looks kinda cute actually until he smells blood. One drop and he goes into a frenzy tearing apart the mer and showing he may be small but don’t fuck with him. He knows who his target is to making him all the more lethal.

When Tarn and Pharma bring the human to show everyone their new pup he makes a comparison of the two of you quickly. Underestimate either and there’ll be hell to pay. Gaining his respect when he learns as a child you stabbed Tarn with a seashell and swam away with a friend he tries conversing with you wanting to become your friend. Wtf is his voice…? Whatever language he’s speaking you don’t understand. You’ve hears lots of different mer dialect. But what is the screeching coming out of his mouth??? Tarn. Halp.

Koan-Angler fish

Blind his first instinct when he hears a new voice is to swim towards it with The Pet and question Tarn. It was a scary sight seeing a deep sea angler mer and your screaming definitely scares him a little. The Pet whimpers swimming behind Koan at all the screaming. When Tarn finally calms his new pup down he explains who Koan is and how he’s apart of the pod and now your family. He hissed family out and tries to get it through your head that that’s your life now. The Peaceful Tyranny is your family now. Koan curious as who this is asks to touch your face. Your confused until you realize he has no eyes and is trying to map out what you look like. Giving consent hesitantly he feels your delicate skin and not feeling any scales he realizes your human and gets confused. Looking at Tarn for explanation after he’s done and from what he can tell your a pretty for a lander Tarn states how it’s Pharmas pup and she’ll be staying with them. Nodding at the answer he’s one of the only well in comparison is one of the only sane minded individuals here. He becomes your peace in the storm and when you need a break is more than willing to let you bitch. Stroking your hair and braiding it if it’s long enough he tries to convince you Tarn and Pharma mean well and as hard as it is to believe he eases that into your mind over time and you do start to believe it. The Pet-Pufferfish The Pet is a pufferfish honestly the cutest thing as long as you keep on his good side. Once you and Koan slowly but surely gain a mutual friendship The Pet is all over you. Your his friend now he decides stubbornly and starts following you around when Koans busy or he thinks your not having a good day. He reminds you of Bob and has a calming effect reminding you of your old pod and how you’ll get home eventually. But for now you’ll except until your friends find you your stuck here and take his cuddles when his spikes are retracted. At least its some sort of comfort in this dark situation.

[roseymoseyberry]

Knocked Out (10/?)

Guess who’s finally back with a brand new track chapter!

We’re approaching the end now, folks. Unless something goes horribly wrong, the next chapter should be the last one. Soon all miscommunications will be discussed and decisions made!

Thank you all so much for your comments and likes and reblogs and just. All your support and patience. You’re the fucking best.

Title: Knocked Out

Series: Transformers: Prime with the constructicons shoved right in there, and just a sprinkle of ideas pulled from tfidw

Pairing/Characters: Breakdown/Knockout, joined by Bulkhead and the Constructicons

Warnings: Robot injuries (nothing super gory), sexual jokes, language barriers, and fluff. Oh the fluff. Also slow burn I guess depending on your definition of slow haha.

Fic Summary:

And so there Breakdown found himself, with an injured barbarian in his arms who turned those dazzling crimson optics towards him, and for a split second Breakdown felt as if it was his knees that were injured because boy did they feel weak.

Barbarian AU where the citymech unwittingly does the kidnapping.

Chapter Summary:

Praxis wasn’t the largest city. Praxis wasn’t even the prettiest city.

But what Praxis did have was culture and the shanix to afford it.

|Chapter 1|Chapter 2|Chapter 3|Chapter 4|Chapter 5|Chapter 6|Chapter 7|Chapter 8|Chapter 9|Chaper 10|

Nothing in the universe could have made Breakdown regret kissing Knockout.

However, the mixture of smug and excited expressions on the crew’s faces when Knockout dragged Breakdown back to the stream – “I’m washing you now” he had insisted while interlocking his digits with Breakdown’s and tugging at him – came close.

Knockout didn’t seem to mind one bit that the crew had gathered around the stream edge. In fact, when Bulkhead had greeted them with a teasing “Well hey there you two,” Knockout had grinned back at him while all but shoving Breakdown into the stream.

“Thank you, Bulkhead,” Knockout said with a wink and Breakdown groaned while Bulkhead laughed and slapped him on the back.

“Couldn’t let this idiot keep playing hard to get and torturing you both!”

With a huff, Breakdown sat in the water with his back to the edge and started to wash himself. It was impossible to hold onto any frustration he dragged up though when Knockout asked Scrapper for his coarse scrubber and then got to work on Breakdown’s back and shoulders. So Breakdown just stewed in his flustered embarrassment while avoiding the amused optics of his friends.

But then the constructicons started drying each other off, chatting among themselves as they did, and Bulkhead appeared in front of Breakdown with a rag to help wash off the spots that Breakdown couldn’t see past his chest. Eventually Scavenger started talking to Knockout, asking first if he could help dry him off, and then with that permission given he babbled about how they could get buffed and waxed once in Praxis – “You just seem like a mech who actually cares about his looks, unlike all these cheapskates I’m stuck with. It’s totally worth it. It’s amazing how much it helps with making colors pop. If it can help a big blockhead like me look good then it’ll blow Breakdown fragging processor when he sees you--”

And once everyone was clean and dried off and settling down for an early night, the worst that Breakdown got was the occasional slap on the shoulder and knowing look from the constructicons and the grin that Bulkhead shot him when Knockout flopped into Breakdown’s lap.

It was actually comfortable as the crew casually talked about their plans for the next day. They would arrive at Praxis before midday, so Breakdown could branch off to take Knockout to a doctor – one that Hook recommended readily, though he refused to go with them, simply saying that they had a history – while the rest of them contacted and met with the head of the project. They could settle into their lodgings and explore the site and hopefully give Breakdown plenty of time to figure out what was to be done about Knockout’s leg and when.

By the time they had finished with serious planning and started discussing which bars they should hit up first, Knockout had started to doze where he was tucked under and against Breakdown’s chest, his engine purring happily.

It was nice.

And his crew was nice enough to not comment when Breakdown bent down just enough to press a small kiss to the top of Knockout’s helm, or when Knockout released a small ex-vent and nuzzled closer.

Primus but he hoped he was right and that Knockout wanted to figure out how to make this work.

Praxis wasn’t the largest city – Tarn won that competition due to the sprawling nature of its factories and dilapidated apartment buildings, tied with Vos only because in terms of height nothing could hold a flame to the towering Vosian skyscrapers. Praxis wasn’t even the prettiest city – the constructicons were more than happy to brag about the work they had put into the rightfully named Crystal City.

But what Praxis did have was culture and the shanix to afford it.

It was a busy melting pot of mecha looking to make names for themselves. The road between Praxis and Crystal City was so well worn with scientists coming and going that it had eventually been properly paved and had weekly shuttles going back and forth. Engineers, detailers, inventors, writers, artists – whatever their crafts and dreams, mecha brought them to Praxis looking for their big break in the guise of rich patrons taking interest in their street-side shops or a chance to present their work at The Assembly.

And mecha who had no particular aspirations besides living in a nice city but couldn’t afford Crystal City or Vos flocked to Praxis to reap the beauty and fun those starry-eyed mecha brought to their doorsteps. For that very same reason, tourists were plentiful, which meant traders were constantly traveling through to sell their wares alongside the dreamers.

Breakdown wasn’t sure he really fit in Praxis.

Certainly he wouldn’t have ever been able to afford it if work sites didn’t set up lodging for the crew while they worked. Maybe something small in the outskirts of the city beyond the safety of the walls if he was fast enough to beat out the hordes of mecha looking for that very same thing.

But even so, it was a city for movers and shakers, for creative processors and skilled servos in highly-regarded fields, and the mecha who liked to think they deserved to be around those types and had the shanix to back that belief.

Breakdown was a simple construction mech and he was satisfied with that lot in life. Truthfully he felt more at ease in cities like Tarn where mecha spent their days doing physical labor and their evenings drinking with friends. Even Kaon was fine since Breakdown was a big bot, and Kaon was a city that respected physical strength.

But at least Praxians didn’t look down on Breakdown the way that Crystalians did or Vosians no doubt would. He wasn’t special but he wasn’t scorned. Mecha of all shapes and sizes and alt-modes made their home in Praxis or just travelled through.

It was diverse enough that even Knockout didn’t get too many looks. Certainly there were some – though whether for his looks, the towel around his waist, or his braced leg, it was hard to tell – but nothing rude or looking for answers. If they had thought he was a barbarian, the most they showed was giving a slightly wider berth than usual. Any barbarian walking casually through Praxis would be seen as one of the rare barbarian traders brave enough to do their business with citymecha, meaning they brought goods that were scarce and worth any trouble that might come with them.

All in all, it was ideal for Breakdown that no one paid Knockout much mind since the barbarian’s face was nearly all optics with how wide and bright they were the second they made it through the suburbs and past the gates into the city proper.

Knockout looked torn between sheer curiosity, awe, and terror. Having Breakdown’s large servo intertwined with his while surrounded by Bulkhead and the constructicons kept the terror at bay though, so it only appeared when something particularly large or loud came across their path, and only in the form of Knockout’s armor clamping tight to his frame and his servo squeezing Breakdown’s. As long as Breakdown squeezed back and leaned down to explain in a calm voice, Knockout would ease back into curiosity and awe.

Breakdown was pretty sure Knockout didn’t actually understand any of his explanations, or at least very little. Explaining a pressure washer wasn’t exactly easy. But knowing that Breakdown knew and wasn’t worried about the various wonders of the city was enough to appease the barbarian. After all, Knockout had seen Devastator, massive and terrifying, and realized that Breakdown was right to say the titan wouldn’t hurt him. There was little on Cybertron more terrifying to behold than a gestalt of six combined, so if Knockout could trust Breakdown about Devastator, then anything that Praxis could possibly contain was easy to trust with Breakdown’s word.

Not that the constructicons didn’t also try to get some explanations of their own in. Longhaul and Scavenger were particularly invested in explaining things to Knockout, pointing them out and then arguing with each other about who could do a better charade. Hook tried to get them to cut it out with a couple smacks to their helms while insisting they could wait until after Knockout had common cybertronian installed.

It lasted all of five minutes before Knockout stared with obvious intrigue at a shop model showing off their extravagant buff, detailing, and wax jobs, and the two were back to falling over themselves to explain citymech fashion.

“And what do you two know about being fashionable?” Bonecrusher asked, his tone flat despite the flicker of his visor that gave him away. Mixmaster cackled and even Hook snorted.

Before the two had a chance to defend themselves, Scrapper interrupted, saying, “Alright, enough. This is our street.”

With that, the constructicons swarmed Knockout.

“Sorry we can’t come with, Knockout, but you’ll be fine! All fixed up and good to go before you know it.”

“Doc’s a mean bucket of bolts, but he’s nicer than Hook so you’ll be fine.”

“Frag you. But I’ll admit he’s good, even if he’s a pretentious slagger--”

“You’re never gonna let that go, are you? Just cause he knows more than you--”

“Say that again, I dare you--!”

Knockout was already snickering at the antics, though he quieted when Bonecrusher placed a servo on his shoulder.

“Try not to lose ‘im, Knockout,” he said, giving a little squeeze as his helm tilted towards Breakdown. “Cause if you get lost, we’re gonna have to tear up this city looking for ya, understand?”

Breakdown doubted he did, but Knockout still grinned and lifted his servo where it was holding Breakdown’s.

“Breakdown stay with me,” Knockout assured confidently. Bonecrusher nodded and, with one last pat, removed his servo.

Primus, if Bonecrusher was attached, Breakdown could only imagine how bad off the rest of the constructicons were. It would be a bad time all around if Knockout did leave.

When he left.

Primus, Breakdown didn’t even know what to think anymore. So he just shoved those thoughts back and ignored them as he tightened his grip on Knockout’s servo.

Finally the constructicons stepped back and Bulkhead quickly stepped up, grabbing Breakdown’s free servo to shove his shanix chip into it.

“Bulk--!”

“Oh no you don’t,” Bulkhead interrupted, removing his servos instantly and even clasping them behind his back so Breakdown couldn’t hand it back. “I told you before I’ll help out, so don’t be afraid to use some of my shanix, yeah?”

Breakdown huffed, but he closed his digits over it and carefully put it away in his subspace. “Thanks, Bulk.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Then Bulkhead clasped Knockout on the shoulder and said, “I’ll see you later, Knockout, yeah?”

“See you later?”

“Yeah! I’ll see,” he started, pointing at his optics and then down at Knockout, “you later. I—I don’t know how to explain later, but--”

Knockout waved him off though, nodding as he said, “Yes, you see I later.”

“So let’s see if I’ve got this straight,” the doctor said, his optics flicking from Breakdown to Knockout and back. “You saved some barbarians from some other barbarians, this one got his leg slagged, and you decided to pick him up and bring him all the way here because Hook recommended my services.”

Breakdown’s servo fisted in his lap as he nodded awkwardly.

“I mean, I brought him for a doctor in general, but Hook said if it wasn’t gonna be him, it would have to be you.”

The doctor leaned back a bit in his chair, optic ridge raised.

“Did it look like it hurt him to admit it?”

Breakdown had spent enough time around mean slaggers to know the sly gleam in the doctor’s optic, and it actually put him at ease to see. Professionals were intimidating, but mean slaggers were his day-to-day.

“You’d think he was ripping out his own spark, Doc.”

With a short laugh and a wave of his servo, he replied, “That sounds right. And don’t call me Doc – Ratchet will do just fine.” The doctor got to his pedes then and gestured Breakdown and Knockout to follow. “Alright, follow me back into the examine room and I’ll take a look at what we’re working with.”

Knockout stiffened next to Breakdown, though given how uncomfortable he had been since they had entered the clinic, it didn’t make all that much difference. Just enough for Breakdown to notice and pat his arm comfortingly as he asked Ratchet, “Right now? I thought you said you wouldn’t be able to do it today?”

Ratchet snorted as he gave another insistent gesture. “Yes, yes, I know what I said. But inventory can wait and you dragged this mech a long ways to see me. Unless you want to wait until my next free appointment three weeks from now--”

Breakdown nearly choked and stood up quickly. “Nope, right now is great. Come on, Knockout.”

Knockout stood up at Breakdown’s prompting, servo on his forearm, and Breakdown couldn’t help noticing, not for the first time, how cowed the barbarian had been acting since they had entered Praxis. While it was making this all easier, Breakdown still couldn’t say that he really liked it. He’d rather have badly translated arguments with Knockout than to see him just follow along, completely out of his element and overly cautious for it.

It was one thing to have travelled with the crew, but being surrounded by a whole city of mecha that Knockout couldn’t really understand, in language or culture, had to be a lot.

Breakdown paused before giving Ratchet an apologetic grimace as he said, “Actually, could you give us one second?”

Ratchet gave an exasperated ex-vent, but he waved his servo at Breakdown to do whatever he needed to.

Breakdown moved to face Knockout completely, his servos holding Knockout’s upper arms reassuringly. “You doing ok, Knockout?”

The barbarian blinked up at him, and then there it was. The fog of confusion lifted and Knockout rolled his optics as the corners of his lips curled up slightly. “Yes, I doing ok,” Knockout stated, all cool and casual confidence, hip cocking to one side. “Safe with you.”

Breakdown couldn’t help smiling as he said, “Yeah, you’re safe with me. But this is all still pretty intense for you, so I won’t be offended if you’re not doing ok. You can tell me if you’re scared.”

Knockout’s optics dulled for a moment before he shook his helm.

“I doing ok. Not scared,” he insisted with a little indignant scowl now. It didn’t fool Breakdown.

“Sure you aren’t, tough guy,” Breakdown teased, squeezing Knockout’s arms reassuringly. “Do you know why we’re here?”

“Why here?” Knockout clarified, and when Breakdown nodded, Knockout pursed his lips as he dug around his processor. Finally he tipped to one side, looking past Breakdown towards Ratchet. “You’re doctor?”

Ratchet looked startled at being included in the conversation. Or maybe he had already been surprised by their conversation and Breakdown hadn’t noticed since the doctor was behind him. Either way, Ratchet blinked before replying, “Yes, I’m a doctor.”

Knockout looked him up and down, not appearing especially impressed. “You fix my leg?”

Apparently that was enough to snap Ratchet out of his shock as he scowled. “Excuse me?”

“Ok, alright, enough of that!” Breakdown interrupted with a forced chuckle, hoping to defuse the situation. “Yes, Knockout, Ratchet is a very good doctor who is going to fix your leg like I promised. So be nice, ok?”

Knockout stared at him in confusion.

“Nice?”

Ratchet snorted behind Breakdown.

“Maybe you should have started with teaching him that word,” Ratchet said before stepping up next to Breakdown. Without waiting for any sort of retort, he focused on Knockout, saying, “Course, I just assumed you didn’t know any common, so look who’s talking. Let’s try again since we’re off to a bad start. I’m Ratchet.”

Knockout considered him for a long moment before flashing him a purposefully charming smile.

“I’m Knockout,” he replied with a flourish of his servo. “I’m a doctor.”

“You’re—what?”

Breakdown scratched the back of his neck, saying, “His name’s actually Noc--”

“Knockout,” the barbarian corrected.

“—and he’s a barbarian doctor, so, you know.”

Ratchet glanced up at the ceiling with a tired sounding ex-vent.

“He’s going to be a terrible patient.”

Breakdown pulled out what he hoped was an endearing grin as he said, “Well, sure, he’s gonna want you to try to explain what you’re doing, but he already picked up some vocab from Hook so it’ll probably be fine.”

Ratchet didn’t even look, just turned and waved his servo to indicate they follow him as he grumbled about being too nice for his own good.

Breakdown owed Hook endless thanks for patiently teaching Knockout anatomy terms, because despite Ratchet’s dismay, it didn’t take too much time for him to explain what he was doing every step of the way. The doctor flashed a bright light into the wound and with a thin tool indicated each strut, tube, and wire as he talked through what was damaged and how he would repair them.

Or, well, ‘fix’ them. For all that Ratchet had complained, he slipped into simpler vocabulary with ease, reusing the words that Knockout knew over and over so as not to complicate anything.

Which, Primus, even simplified it was complicated for Breakdown to follow. But, at the end, Knockout hemmed and hawed before nodding.

“Yes, you can fix.”

“Glad to know I have your approval,” Ratchet said sarcastically, but he did look relieved as he straightened up. “Alright, I just have to gather some supplies and then we can get started.”

“And you’re gonna implant common, right?”

“You don’t enjoy communicating with a couple dozen words?” With a snort Ratchet continued, “Yes, yes, of course. He’ll be in stasis for the surgery anyway so the datapacket can be downloaded and installed while I work.”

“Great,” Breakdown said, ex-venting with relief. That was going to help address the ever tightening ball his spark was becoming, torn between memories of the stream and how there was no way that Knockout would leave and the simple fact that Knockout had a home and tribe out there waiting for him.

He was so afraid of saying goodbye.

Ratchet paused as he passed Breakdown though, optics focusing on Breakdown’s face.

“Want me to take a look at that for you?”

“Look at wha—oh.” Breakdown reached up to scratch the back of his neck, sheepishly shaking his helm as he remembered the patch over his shattered optic. “Nah, it’s fine. Hook is gonna take care of it for me once he gets a replacement.”

Ratchet’s optics narrowed as grabbed Breakdown by the front of his chest to angle him down and look closer at his good optic.

“I think I have the right type in the back,” Ratchet insisted as he ignored how Breakdown squirmed under his gaze. “If it’s just the optic that’s slagged, I can slip you in after Knockout to replace it. Shouldn’t take very long.”

“That’s really nice of ya to offer, Doc, but uh, I don’t think I can afford that.” When Ratchet’s ridges lifted at that, Breakdown was quick to add, “I have enough for Knockout, so don’t worry ‘bout that! But both of us would probably break the bank so, you know.”

With a curious hum, Ratchet glanced over towards Knockout and then back at Breakdown, optics looking far too knowing for Breakdown’s tastes.

But he let go Breakdown and headed towards the back room.

“Don’t touch anything while I’m gone.”

And as soon as Ratchet was out of sight, Knockout was reaching out for Breakdown, asking, “Ratchet fix your optic?”

“Nah,” Breakdown said as he walked closer to the examination table Knockout was sat on. Knockout was quick to grab his servo. “I told you I was gonna bring you to see a doctor who could fix your leg, and I’m gonna keep that promise. You get fixed first. Hook can always fix my optic later.”

Knockout considered him, his other servo reaching up to cup the side of Breakdown’s helm, thumb carefully tracing the edges of the patch.

“Hook fix you soon?”

“Dunno. I mean – I don’t know, but hopefully it will be soon.”

Knockout gave him a disapproving look.

“Will be soon,” he insisted, his servo squeezing Breakdown’s. And, despite himself, Breakdown chuckled as his spark warmed.

“I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be ok. I’ll get you up and walking first, and then we can figure out what to do about my optic.” Knockout’s optics narrowed and that only made Breakdown smile more. “You first. Then me.”

“Breakdown--”

“No arguing,” Breakdown interrupted, spark only growing warmer at seeing how concerned Knockout was. “I said I’m gonna take care of you, and that’s what I’m gonna do.” When Knockout still looked unconvinced, Breakdown added, “I want to take care of you.”

And wasn’t that the truth at the end of the day. Promises were one thing, but Breakdown wanted with all his spark to make sure Knockout was healthy and happy.

And, to Breakdown’s surprise, that finally quieted the barbarian. Those crimson optics searched his face and, slowly, Knockout’s expression softened and something new pulled at his optic ridges.

“You want to take care of me?”

“Yeah.”

His servo traced the angles of Breakdown’s face, then down his neck along the thin plating and the small gaps in between.

“Still want me?”

Breakdown felt heat flood his face, but he nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

Knockout smiled, though it wobbled as his servo slipped around to the back of Breakdown’s neck, pulling him down and in towards him. Knockout’s lips were gentle as he kissed Breakdown, moving slowly, tenderly, intimately—

“I want you,” was admitted against Breakdown’s mouth, quiet and full of more emotions than Breakdown could identify, and his spark swelled until he would swear he was choking on it. Knockout was staring at him, optics bright and his lips curling back into that soft and impossibly warm smile, and then he laughed sweetly as he repeated, “I want you, Breakdown.”

Nothing could have kept Breakdown from kissing Knockout silly, from holding him close while Knockout grinned and wrapped his arms around Breakdown’s shoulders to keep him there, murmuring the phrase over and over—

“Sorry to intrude.”

--Except the utterly unapologetic voice of Ratchet.

Breakdown’s optics onlined instantly as he broke away, already stammering out apologies while Knockout snickered and Ratchet rolled his optics while pushing the cart of supplies over, not looking the least bit surprised.

“It’s fine, just save it for once you’re both out of my clinic, would you? Mecha these days, I swear.”

It was hard to feel guilty though when Knockout had his digits intertwined with Breakdown’s and he kept looking up at him with such a gleeful look on his face, sneaking kisses to Breakdown’s knuckles here and there before Ratchet snapped at him. Even then, Knockout just snickered again as he finally let go of Breakdown so that Ratchet could start hooking up medical cables.

Breakdown wasn’t even sure what had happened, what it meant to the barbarian, but his spark was eager to mirror the excitement and affection.

There was no proof, no reason to believe it, not until they talked—

But Breakdown’s spark was finally at ease because it was certain that Knockout was going to stay.