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#Now that I'm further in the tags

wolves-in-the-world · 22 days

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the thing about eliot spencer as a character, right. the thing about him.

(and as always your mileage may vary on my analyses so if we disagree that's cool actually)

is that he is in fact a somewhat emotionally constipated idiot who is occasionally sensitive about his perceived masculinity and gets defensive about emotional intimacy around other men (largely hardison, who's much more comfortable expressing affection and embracing a softer kind of masculinity), but eliot displays enough emotional awareness and sensitivity and respect for women etc etc that anyone who's been subjected to that era of television will put on rose-tinted glasses without even looking twice.

(and he is, don't get me wrong, incredibly emotionally aware for a professionally punchy guy with enough trauma to sink the titanic. it still startles me to see.)

on top of which we have the layers and the accessories and the excellent hair with the secret braids and the way he barely has an ego and he's good with kids and protective of his team without taking it too far, and some of us never stood a fucking chance.

#eliot #eliot spencer #orig #further discussion in further tags #I'm being perhaps a little critical and there are other ways to read eg the fragile masculinity moments #but I Do think they were intended this way and largely come across this way #I'm quite happy playing with a fanon eliot who's better at this shit is the thing? it feels faithful enough to the original.#but this is something I'm chewing over in a rewatch and it's interesting so far #the fact that he pretty consistently respects women doesn't stop him from treating men and women differently y'know?#the fact that his bantering with hardison expresses affection and gets quite soft over time #doesn't stop him from pushing hardison away on a semi-regular basis. often physically.#the fact that the fandom unanimously decided he's an utter gentleman in matters of dating #doesn't quite negate the time he physically stopped aimee from getting away when he wanted to talk to her #though that's one I might disregard because it's so early and I think they hadn't quite figured out the characters then #and it was admittedly a brief moment followed by very consensual happenings #perhaps. honestly. eliot may be reflecting the attitudes of the show here.#which were very progressive for the time and are still startling on several fronts now but also showing definite signs of age #arguably fanon eliot (as I understand him) is eliot adjusted for inflation. as it were.#there's a lot going on here I'm having a normal amount of thoughts about it I'm. stopping now

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nostalgebraist · 17 days

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On the topic of Declare:

A little while ago, on a whim, I prompted several different chat LLMs with a line from the Arabian Nights that has special importance in the novel:

O fish, are you constant to the old covenant?

In the book, this is used as a sign between members of a secret group, and there's a canned response that members are meant to give to identify themselves. (Like "I like your shoelaces" / "Thanks, I stole them from the President.").

I thought it'd be funny and impressive if one of these models responded with the canned phrase from Declare: that would have demonstrated both a command of somewhat obscure information and a humanlike ability to flexibly respond to an unusual input in the same spirit as that input.

None of the models did so, although I was still impressed with Gemini's reaction: it correctly sourced the quote to Arabian Nights in its first message, and was able to guess and/or remember that the quote was also used in Declare in follow-up chat (after a few wrong guesses and hints from me).

On the other hand, GPT-4 confidently stated that the quotation was from Jubilate Agno, a real but unrelated book:

When I asked Claude 3, it asserted that the line was from a real-but unrelated-poem called "The Fish," then proceeded -- without my asking -- to quote (i.e make up) a stanza from its imagined version of that poem:

It is always discomfiting to be reminded that -- no matter how much "safety" tuning these things are put through, and despite how preachy they can be about their own supposed aversion to "misinformation" or whatever -- they are nonetheless happy to confidently bullshit to the user like this.

I'm sure they have an internal sense of how sure or unsure they are of any given claim, but it seems they have (effectively) been trained not to let it influence their answers, and instead project maximum certainty almost all of the time.

#ai tag #(it's understandable why this would occur)#(it's hard to make instruction tuning data that teaches the model to sound unsure iff it's really unsure)#(because it's hard to know in advance - or ever - what exactly the model does or doesn't know)#(but i'd imagine the big labs are working on the problem and i'm surprised they haven't gotten further by now)

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blood-orange-juice · 5 months

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You are all going to block me but I just realised that I do low-key ship Aether/Lumine.

Hear me out.

It's the plot of so many myths. The best known is, of course, Izanami and Izanagi's story (the whole reason why siblingcest is so popular in Japan. same level of cultural importance as the madonna/whore complex for Christians), but there are also Fu Xi and Nuwa, Sun and Moon gods of the Inuit mythology, a bunch of Greek gods, a bunch of Egyptian gods too iirc.

Old cultures that had god-kings (some dynasties in Egypt and, as we discovered recently, Ancient Ireland) considered marriages between siblings a norm for them specifically and something to be frowned upon or at least unusual for everyone else.

You can't convince me the twins were not god-rulers in some faraway world (they also found it so boring that they don't do it anymore. actually, I'll stand by this headcanon even without shipping them).

Celestial beings that already are one and the same in some sense. Twin stars.

The symbolism just does something to me.

I wish I could say this is not about boring human sex (they are interstellar eldritch beings anyway. merge your photons my funky little sibcons, as Ray says) but nope, I think their interactions can easily take the form of boring human sex too.

(it's just not the main thing they have going on)

I'll show myself out.

P.S. there's also a bonus: all Traveler ships are now threesomes

#my chilumi headcanon now officialy has every single trigger warning under the sun #also I have no moral right to criticize people who ship skirk/childe now #I'm worse #tw: twincest #how do I tag it properly so that people can filter?#every day we stray further from celestia #I'll just tag this ship as dioskouroi from now on #dioskouroi #not that I plan to write a lot about it #*aethers your lumine*#I'm in my problematic ships era #it's funny but any kind of incest is usually my hugest squeak #I'll nope out of it with the speed of light #but I guess it's different with twin gods #look. at least there's no age gap #aelumi #travelercest

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mokutone · 2 years

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image desc under readmore:

ID:

Panel one shows Tenzō having turned away from Kakashi. There's tears running down his face again, but his posture hasn't gotten tight and defensive again. "Hah. That's a pretty big drawback," he says, half joking,

Panel two, Kakashi's arms enter the frame and grasp the edges of Tenzō's happuri. Tenzō, seemingly caught off guard, lets him do this, too surprised to even mind that Kakashi can see his tears. "On the bright side, you have a home," Kakashi counters, "people you trust,"

"and a shiftless, good-for-nothing Captain, who's too lazy to fill out the paperwork for hospital-dodging." Kakashi says in panel three. The image shows Kakashi smiling more convincingly, if a little apologetic, gripping Tenzō's happuri in his hand.

Panel four shows him holding Tenzō's happuri out with one hand, and Tenzō grabbing the metal sides of it with both of his own hands. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure you're not a liability or a threat to Konoha," Kakashi says.

In the final panel of the comic, Tenzō ducks his head, looking up with one tearful eye as Kakashi reaches out. Tenzō is still gripping his happuri in his hands, close to his chest. Kakashi's back is drenched in the yellow light of the hall.

"My couch is yours, if you want to stay the night," Kakashi is saying as he ruffles Tenzō's long, now-unbound hair.

/end ID

#my art #naruto #comics #yamato #tenzō #yamato tenzo #kakashi #ok u can all breath a sigh of relief now #the situation is mostly over. tenzō is still coming down from his panic attack but its much less intense #and kakashi is going to set him up on the couch + probably put pakkun out there with him 2 help tenzō further if needed #and then kakashi is going to fix the wards that tenzō destroyed. hes going to flop down on his bed. and hes going 2 try his best 2 recharge #tenzō is going to tuck himself in on kakashis couch w/ pakkun resting on his stomach staring at him (its fine. its what pakkun does.)#and he's going to stare blankly at the ceiling for a few hours #occasionally flipping between thoughts of ''I'm the worst Kohai the world has ever seen. This was so inappropriate.''#or alternately just feeling impossibly lucky and warm and grateful and u know what. dare i say it. safe.#because. guess who just learned that he can rely on kakashi if he's out of his fucking depth. YEAH BABEEEYYYYY #not that he wants to put kakashi in a situation like this again. he very much does not.#anyway final tag notes:#thank u all for everyone whose been leaving their reactions in the tags and replies it has been soooo enjoyable to me #ive been slurping them up like noodles. yum yum yum. some of u have been right on the money and others of u have come up with #really interesting interpretations that i hadnt even thought of #and overall theres nothing like. being able to share ur work and see how people react to it kinda in real time? like page by page?#it was a pain to post it like this and i have no doubt it was a pain to read like this.#but it was lovely to recieve reactions to individual pages

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alphabetcompletionist · 4 months

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hello, yes. @periodiccompletionist swayed me to Sentinels of the Multiverse hard enough that i made a proper charlie card for funs. they did the text of the front face like months ago but i'm dolling it up now. look at my child.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

26/26

#and per se and #alpha beta charlie #<- gonna try to tag them now since i make enough posts #usually the bit of the cards is that they're pictures from comic books. but charlie's ostensibly from word girl. so it's screencaps instead #...apparently there's a real hero named alpha. which is a bit of a wrench. but not like i'm taking this much further #i have zero idea how to balance sotm cards but i know the words and i'm having fun

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thychesters · 1 year

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Luffy is like staring into the sun.

At least, that is what Zoro thinks the first time he sees him. But then, his first coherent thought had been it’s too bright upon their initial meeting, looking up from glowering down at the ground to raising his head and squinting at a too big, self-congratulatory smile and do you want to join my crew?

Then it had been simple enough to blame the harsh sunlight blinding him, framing Luffy’s profile and that bright grin, and he’d bitten back the hell I will one minute and had a sword and an oath clenched between his teeth in the next.

And so Zoro follows the sun.

He follows and his skin reddens and blisters and peels; it splits at the seams and bleeds as he burns, and still he follows. It aches and cracks, and still he reaches out, twining his fingers through promises and a loyalty that will not bend.

Luffy curls a hand around his jaw and it’s a different sort of burning, flaring up into his eyes and down to his very marrow. And Luffy asks, where will you go? Nowhere, Zoro says as the words gather in his throat, raw and parched, and he chokes on them, anywhere.

His touch is a balm as fingertips skitter across his skin, soothing and pressing and digging and prying, and Zoro thinks he would burn again and again, blinded by the sheer brilliance of it all.

And then it’s dark out on the open sea, some nights, and then others too many stars dot the horizon, gathering up above them like they’re spilling out of the slit open belly of a giant, and Luffy tilts his head, blistering heat where he rests against his shoulder and looks at Zoro and says, I think I know where, and would you come with me?

And Zoro is a drowning man with a lungful of sea water, salt gathering with blood at the corners of his mouth and asks, of course, and where?

Luffy smiles and it’s a gathering of starlight and the sun, and it makes Zoro want to shove his fist into his mouth and shatter every one of his teeth, and Luffy would just laugh and bite down on his wrist and lay claim to his pulse point, like he doesn’t already live inside its every thrum.

No telling, he says. Will you still come with me?

And Zoro burns and it rages in the pit of his belly right into the raw skin of each scar, into his fingertips as they dig into Luffy’s scalp. How dare he have to ask, grin with the knowledge that he already knows the answer, and Zoro turns to follow the sun and says, yes, says I wouldn’t be anywhere else.

#zolu #or however you want to interpret it i suppose!#roronoa zoro #monkey d luffy #one piece #roses are red / violets are blue / i want to set myself on fire when i look at you -- zoro probably #(sanji: ok do NOT say that usopp: stop chopper's turning the infirmary into a burn ward. you're giving him more anxiety than usual.)#the first few lines were originally written for another wip i have but i'm bullying myself into getting further into the story first #since i'm only on episode 135 now but i'm!! impatient!!#so maybe that'll come along eventually! who knows! not me!#i wanted to try something different and write something a little more poetic with them but at the same time #neither of them are poetic at all #like why use 20 words when 5 gets the point across #sometimes love is stored in a burn. or a stab wound.#(well i already used that for that last fic with nami but that was more. her and zoro being bros. it's different here ashfjksdalgs)#pardon the typos rip #and if anyone would like this tagged for anything please let me know #kate writes #**

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cringefailnatsuo · 2 years

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Nah man because what the hell was this?

First of all, I love how these panels establish a clear difference between Hawks looking at Dabi and Hawks looking at Dabi. In the scene from 240, Hawks is looking at Dabi as he's thinking about completing his mission and contacting Endeavor for backup. Like dude? You're literally staring into Dabi's eyes and thinking about Endeavor and it never crossed your mind that they have the same eyes? Chapter 267 drives this point even further by putting a close-up of Dabi's eye after he reveals his identity to Hawks. You can clearly see Hawks having an "oh shit" moment after the reveal as he truly looks at Dabi and realizes that this one piece of crucial information has been right in his face the whole time.

And second of all, this just highlights how Dabi truly is Hawks' downfall during the raid.

The whole point of Hawks' mission was to gain intel on the League so that the heroes don't make any hasty decisions and have the upper hand in apprehending the villains for good. The fact that the HPSC president specifically told Hawks "we severely underestimated the enemy" and yet he did the same exact thing is, quite frankly, hilarious.

And in retrospect, given the knowledge that we have on Dabi's past from chapter 350, Hawks could have figured out who was behind the nomu, where they were kept, and so many other things about AFO's plan for a successor if he had paid more attention to Dabi.

#bnha #dabi #hawks #dabihawks #canon dabihawks is riddled with irony and that's why it's so great #ok but also i want to know why the hell hawks looked into dabi's background and stopped looking into it when he hit a dead end #like that's so suspicious and he didn't bother digging further?#no 2 pro hero backing down from a challenge??#i wonder how long it took for hawks to give up searching on info about dabi #honestly i'm surprised hawks underestimated him so much considering that fire is his one (1) weakness #and dabi is one of the more mysterious members of the lov since there's no info about him in the hpsc database or whatever #anyway the 'you should have been keeping both eyes on me' line hits different when you realize that dabi was keeping his eyes on hawks 24/7 #seriously the dude went through the trouble of locating takami tomie just to hear this dude's tragic backstory #and dabi copied hawks' move that one time in like 351(?) and someone called him fast or whatever #god i fucking hate narrative foils #ugh these tags are getting LONG but who even reads the tags anymore?#hello i make one original post per month and have now met my quota

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istherewifiinhell · 2 months

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IS FLYING GENDERED?

On the masculine default, typifying gender in genre, and women as the other in the transformers cartoons.

question for the ages

once again i said back in the halcyon days of watching g1 (aka 5 months ago) i was like. Nooooo, decepticon is NOT a gender that's Silly. It's funny, but as a Read Of The Text, I thought it largely unneeded. (The concept came about, as a joke, involving dismissing the bad guys using the same language you would abt women (sexistly) that they're emotional [heh, flighty], vain, and shrill) after all. If in the 80s era there are 5 whole named/speaking woman tfs, its only ever gonna get better from here right? (<- booboo the fool)

anyway

Let's consider the axiom that the assumed default gender is male, that maleness is often seen as LACK of gender, and femaleness and gender variance are the PRESENCE of gender. In certain reasoning and worldviews, of course (See Androcentrism). Then add that, for transformers, the assumed default thing a transformer turns into, is car. (Autocentrism, if you will)

(The most general term for what a tf turns into is "Alt mode" as some of them are not vehicles at all. The other mode is "Robot Mode", whether its humanoid or not)

So I will be laying out why I believe the cartoon iterations support: non standard alt modes = non standard genders. This is in spite of the fact that FIRST lady tfs were all cars. Sleek cyber cars, but still. For whatever reason, (possibly, the reason for everything in tf, toys) they might as well not exist for how woman tf characters presence in the cartoons progressed over time.

And, to be clear, this is a reading of how these works of fiction are created, not a new unified bioessentialism but for robots aliens I'm proposing for like. In universe lore reasons. I hate that idea.

That said, alt modes in order of most to least gender: Spider, motorcycle, flying (in general, with rotors, jets), tank, and then FINALLY, car. (water and space crafts are already too marginal to rank, but they too can be assumed in relation to default maleness, AND that in making one a woman, would still qualify as othering her).

The NUMBER one reason for this is the bizarre need to have an ESTABLISHED woman tf character before making new ones. AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE. With a g1 gender ratio something like.... (counting even the most marginal cases for the ladies) 9:120? (That's a rough count from a quick scanning of the tf wiki g1 char list) Shits dire out here.

The second is, ofc, character design based. cis people [stand in phrase for the hegemonic world view] are not okay, and their opinions about how tf gender must need be depicted visually is. uh? Im not a fan. Size and shape dimorphism in general is a given, and specifically having women tfs as far more humanoid and curvy in specific. Also general cartoon lady face syndrome but, whatever. I think there's exactly one character here who doesn't have "lips" or "lipstick" as a distinguishing factor. I'm so tired.

Third is generally, the idea of The Girl Of the Team. When there's The Girl, she often isn't JUST a normal character, who happens to be a girl. See, of course, the Smurtfette Principle. But in my view there's also a trend to give The Girl "special traits" on top of "Girl", maybe even to directly combat the idea that the Girl Character has no other traits? To stop this from being a General Primer on Woman in Media, my explanatory focus is things specific to the tf franchise.

(A phrase I use for thinking about normative modes [in general, not just the Alt ones] in within the tf universe is "unique transformerdom" or, even more clunkily, "A transformer of unique transformerdom". The excessive verbosity is amusing to me personally. All I mean by it is to have an umbrella term for any of the ways tfs can be made unique from their peers in the non allegorical realities of the fiction).

I could, and do, and greatly want to, speak about this AT LENGTH. But it keeps spiraling away from me. So I'll say for now were looking at ways a character is being depicted different from her peers, not because she is the only woman (which she likely is), but cause she's a different kind of transformer, AND if she's othered for it.

(IN SOME forms of the lore. Being a transformer woman, IS A UNIQUE KIND of transformer unto itself. Let's just say I hate it and move on)

Fourth, is the gender of villainy. There is much to be said about gender presentation of villains, the ways they are allowed to be aberrant. We will get to it. There is also all the tropes specific TO evil women, and the modes of villainy open TO female characters. But a general thing I think impacting the gender ratios of the factions is the how "Good" and "Evil" female characters are written. I'll generalize and call this the "Damsel vs Temptress" dichotomy. (See concepts like the Madonna-whore complex). Transformers, is by and large, an action franchise. Unless special reasons are made, characters who can impact the action– have more screen time, and likely more memorable, and iconic presences. A villainous woman can be unchaste, violent, aggressive. While a heroic woman, even if not a literal damsel are more likely to be in a support role. The secretaries of the action genre: medics and techs.

(Another factor is that tfs are giant robots, and the good guys are often friends with tiny squishy little humans. These make very good damsel fodder, and can be taking up the spots on the roster that might, in a different franchise, go to women. Additionally, while woman characters in transformers overall is an interesting topic. When I say tf women, I'm referring to ones that are in fictionally, transformers.)

SO, now understanding our points of attack/obstacles for getting woman into transformers. (Getting established, gendering the designed, uniqueness of existence, and general villainy). Lets go over those alt modes, and the characters that have em, in more detail.

Spiders

The "Beast Era" (1996) intro-ed the spider ofc. And what don't we have with this one. She's a villain, but shes also misunderstood, the era and design style let to these more organic shapes. And they used them to make sure she was very sexy. She's genre aware, she's quippy, she's an absolute icon. So naturally. She gets ported to other later shows. Which means we just have sexy spider ladies running around when everyone else is a fucking truck and shit.

Her own origin is, well think of her as a "Bride of Frankenstein" to the resident evil scientist, also a spider. She was designed for, and manipulated by him in multiple ways. Her protoform (A blank robot base), was supposed to be one of the good guys (a Maximal), but was reprogrammed into a bad guy (Predacon). Even then, she eventually joins them, for her own reasons. She's not even the first predacon to do so, the difference? Well the characters are a lot more NORMAL about his autonomy. Both of these characters stress that being a predacon is an identity they still see as important. But only the woman is told that really, she is was was always MEANT to be a maximal. And while that's true in a sense. There's also a plot were she's forced (by plot contrivance, not the other maximals) to get corrective robot surgery for it. And when they think she died from, everyone's more sad for her boyfriend than for her. Ouch.

The second spider, in the 2007 show, is now one in a world where she is the only "techno-organic" transformer, hence, she is spider, everyone else is a vehicle. Similar to the first, her narrative is very gendered, but less in the way were, like, I do literally think the first was was experiencing in universe sexism from other characters. Here, they really focus on the "techno vs organic" narrative, and the tragic circumstances on how that happened. In this case its just real world sexist writing.

THIRD SPIDER, (2010), instead of misunderstood and tragic evil, this ones just super mega likes to cause pain evil. She also occupies a strange place between the typic vehicular tfs, and the insecticons. This is because she has a helicopter alt mode, and her robot mode is just, a lady with spider characteristics. And, more than just a passing bug like similarity, she has the power to control the insecticons (you know, cause evil woman mind control). However, she doesn't fit in with them either, as the insecticons are at the most insect like they've ever been, in look, living in hives and that most don't even speak.

They may vary in exact character, relationship to the story's moral conflict, and design. But they stay comfortably established, dimorphised, flirty and flirting with villainy. And bonus points, always, for black widow spider trope.

SO. SPIDERS. Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: ✅️ (Extremely!) Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ Villainy: ✅️

Motorcycles

Tooooo my knowledge the first bike lady was in 2004, and fairly minor, in the actual plot, but rest assured, they did go the previously established woman route, by being pink, though, which one shes named after varies by language. But neither were previously motorcycles. (And yes, there is also this problem of mixing together or swapping out one woman tf for another. As if we have the ladies to spare). Even though motorcycle men also exist, this one just stuck for a bit. Maybe something to do with Those Movies. I think the Gendered Existence of a motorcycle is pretty evident though, general sex appeal, being smaller, the mode of riding a motorcycle is different, more physical and intimate. Mainly this ranks so high for the level of grossness they can pack in. Just how objectifying it can be, particularly with two instances where the human rider is an annoying teen boy. Naturally, I've also never seen a male and female motorcycle in the same room, but the approach to design tends to be different. And yeah most of em are Arcee, who's first alt mode was cyber car, but it's not just her.

Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: ✅️ Unique: ✅️ Othered: Depends on iteration, I do NOT like the way one gets called "tough, for a two wheeler". Villainy: ❌(they wouldn't need to be motorcycles if they weren't making them the Special Girl Autobot, after all)

Flying

General: It just tends to stick out when your one girl is only flyer in the group, even she's otherwise tactfully done. Only flyer of the Maximals, a falcon, only flyer of the dinobots, a Pteranodon.

Rotors

I can barely even figure this one. Maybe it's just a general, aesthetics and use case of the actually vehicles, the associations? None of these ladies (and special case) are very connected otherwise. As previously mentioned, the spider helicopter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A big one for this is the preschool demo shows, which are rescue team focused. In the first one the only woman on the human response worker team pairs with the helicopter, they mention she does medical at times. The helicopter is male, like the other tfs. But also he's afraid of flying, and while not the first case of a flyer with a fear of heights, their personalities are, pretty different. As he's both fearful AND effeminate, fine as character traits go but, with the tone of humour used, marks him as Other.

In the second, Whirl (pointing to icon) becomes a girl for the first time, now with standard humanized face. I assume as move to keep with the previous show of having a girl one, as there's no human team mates. She's also the only one who really likes rescue school. Aaaand that's all know of her. What more do you want from me.

Helicopters: Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ (milder than some)

But why'd I call this section rotors instead of helicopters? That would be because one of the latest Sole Female TF we just put in everything™ is a VTOL jet with rotors. She'll tend to be the only jet of her type, which is also smaller than the type of jet used for the villains.

And, of course, aside from alt mode, the thing that makes her stand out most in the cartoons? That she's very clearly a comics character. (I find the emphasize that she's "fan created" over done, as it only controlled minor aspects, and irrelevant cause tfs get completely overhauled in new versions all the time). From her design, which is a bit busier than most characters she stars with. And also uses Japanese aesthetic signifiers in ways that I think are a bit misappropriated and untactful. (VERY USamerican comics). Also, when she stars next to a guy, also from comics employing Japanese aesthetic, you can tell its not deployed in the same manner. (E.I she has hair and makeup, he has armor). Either way, her depictions have her either as badass sword lady on mission from god who's constantly getting hit on by an annoying guy. Or have her be from a different planet and has special telepathy.

Do we see how both her gender AND the cultural signifiers are having affects here? That the main woman tf in a series can be a literal alien even among our alien robots, with cultural signifiers they don't have?

Ratings Established: ✅️ (made the comics to cartoon jump) Gendered designs: ✅️ Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ (SO SO EXTREMELY, using methods in fiction and real life)

Jets

I think my association of jets with tf gender is stronger, than some of the above examples, even if there's less reason to it. And why is that? Well, lets get socratic. Here's another question.

Is This All Starscream's Fault?

No. He's not real, he can't do things. But. His legacy as THE main stay transformers character that gets to subvert gender? Yeah. (Sure, the G1 autobots have their own effete, but he's not in every single cartoon they ever made now is he? Plus now that I think about it, he is a FLYING car...)

From the get, he's not a Man's man. He's shrill, he's manipulative and duplicitous, petty and emotional, cowardly and wheedling. He is, of course, the Perfect character. Now naturally, the 80s cartoon was not concerned with your paltry logics. Starscream and his ilk are the jets, but every decepticon can fly. The gun, the cassette player, the camera, the cassettes.

And each to a last, more masculine than he is. Vocally or behaviorally, physically. Every one of them fit the gender expectations more than he does. Even being a small time grunt, is a masculine trait, after all, more so than unchecked ambition. So its not femininity from flying, from jets. But direct relationship, reference, and descendancy from Starscream that makes it. I've yet to see female versions of Jet fire and or the aerialbots, for example.

So what to do when an effeminate male villain was less maltese falcon and more that man has effeminate hips? Well. We had to start getting his ass for being effeminate, explicitly. They made the female clone of him, which yeah, is an offensive joke stemming from the various The Gender Anxieties. (Transmisogyny, homophobia and sexism. General relation toxic masculinity. A heady mix of all and more).

But I mean. It's free girl tf... Once given a name in extra canon materials, she start's showing up in other things. Once you're in books, video games, comics, and most importantly, toys, you're real. And then eventually, her first non clone appearance in a cartoon, and how her presence shaped it.

That being, Cyberverse. Which is a cgi show, you need to know this for reasons of production. Making new models is expensive. This has always been the reason you just make recolours of Starscream and name them different things. Chicken or egg on this one, I don't know, But because CV has Slipstream, and the only difference between her and the generic "male" decepticon jet, is a more feminine face; Suddenly, any random decepticon goon can be a woman.

An absolutely revolutionary take for striving to populate a fictional world with gender parity. By at large it also means they're way more lady villains, and specifically flying model of villain. The show has other woman, but none who get the same androgynous body mold treatment.

Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: Mildly to NO. Unique: By design, no. Othered: Yes for the clone, and Screamer himself, I suppose. No, otherwise. Villainy: ✅️(That's, the whole idea)

Tanks

It needs to be said. Sometimes, when doing things that transgress a norm, anteing up is less subversive. This is another reason why gender variance, female agency and overt sexuality are more common traits of villains. When already defying strictures of society. What's one more.

That's Right. TANKS ARE THE BUTCH WOMAN OF TRANSFORMERS.

Alright. Let me back up. Strika is the stone cold knock out undefeated champ of lady tf designs that, actually has a reoccurring cartoon presence. She is, admittedly, only a reoccurring to minor character.

Her introduction is in another show with techno-organics, this one involved in the struggle between well, the techno and the organic. Strika as we see her, and as the design that will go on to be iterated, is not in her normal transformer body. She has been transferred into a 'vehicon' body. Without a preexisting essence contained in one, vehicons are not considered alive, in the way a transformer is. Visually, they lack the more human body plan, a standard face, feet and hand like appendages.

To further contrast Strika against the two techno-organic woman. Both of them are tall, and slender. Their softer organic shapes designed towards elegance or beauty, whatever your subjective opinion of that result might be. They both have romance subplots too. By the way. Or honestly one subplot and one main plot. Strika. In contrast. Is built like a brick shit house. Her face is. Minimal. And her goal: protecting her planet... by terminating the heroes.

Now, existing as a character that can be referenced for other media, and given the detail that she was a "Famous general", it's off to the races. She makes a wonderful big tank menace that can fill out a background shot, too.

Without her I hardly think we could have Clobber, also from CV. Who is. The true goat. The finest thing, the achievements of all we could ever hope for. A big fuck off woman, gender swapped from a previous male design with minimal faff, with now even more personality and show presence. Friends, wants, desires. Emotions. Thank God for Clobber, Thank Clobber for Clobber. Thank Randolph Heard and Mae Catt for Clobber.

Established: Depends if you want to count that Strika had so much swag they kept drawing/modeling her Gendered designs: FUCK NO Unique: ✅️ Othered: only originally Villainy: ✅️

Cars

So now you have the final piece of the puzzle. In transformers, Autobots are Cars. Yes, there are plenty of autobots that are NOT cars, and there are cars that are not Autobots. But they're exceptions, they're aberrances. They're unique. And Autobots are the norm. They oppose the Decepticons. Decepticons are Villains. And Decepticons can fly. Modal simplified binaries and false dichotomy abound!

And the thing about those original Autobot woman, the one's who largely did not influence all of this? They were cars, it's true, but not like how the men where cars. They've not been designed from transforming car toys, with a shellac of humanoid gender over top. Their designed in the way of human gender. With the car on top.

When the preexisting clause leads to the original designs to be revisited, which, has largely only happened in more recent years. They aren't car woman robots. The cars are literally not part of their bodies, they are additional. Instead of a unifying identity of a robot who is a car, its Arcee and her backpack. Parts of cars get grafted onto their petite lady bodies, and placed anywhere out of the way.

In order to make a transformer a woman, they have to give her a gender, not understanding that that's always been the case. And to give her a woman's gender, she's got to LOOK like a woman, not a transformer. And to look like a woman, she's got to act like a woman. She must be heroic but reactive instead of active, or else, villainous, conniving and or self centered. To be a woman, we must have some other previous woman to explain her presence, or else explain it anew with her unique, strange, or exotic origin. How could she ever be a woman if she simply, existed, looked average, talked average. How could she be a woman if her body is hunks of ungendered car. How can she be a woman if she's everything we expect a transformer to be.

A woman is transgressive, a woman is not normal. Autobots are normal. Autobots are heros. Autobots are men. And Autobots do not fly.

#some shit #its not called cisformers #<- IT SURE ISNT FOLKS #a note on how im using citations here u can read BEFORE getting into the post proper #I'm writing this in mind that someone might have NO idea about tf. or. god forbid.#the general perspective of media trope analysis im working from.#So the links can be considered additional or further reading with intent of 1. if a more thorough understanding of a concept might help #2. something im eliding the name of for search reasons 3. a referential example of what im saying #4. a specifc reference/bit of info that might be unclear. in which case im usually linking to a SECTION of the page #5. JOKE #ALright now normal tag talking space.#THIS IS. serious media analysis done casually for fun! in that. I mean it. genuinely. But also im here for silly fun and im not trying #to be SOOOO academically rigorous that its still not. Posting. u know?#MUCH inspired. or i suppose u might say. encouraged to completion and whole hearted commitment by (fandom) silly serious analysis and #math theroying thematics #i have NO idea if this thing will be searchable with all the links and the words i used. but i prepared for it it case it is #AND I PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO IT!!!!!!!! SO its okay if anyone reads it!#but im also braced for bad faithing inwhich case. I will not be held responsible for my actions. thank you.#i have been told to tag this #maccadam #transformers #if someone tryies to kill me for it im not taking responsibility

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smolghostbot · 5 months

Text

Patchwork Melody - Spring

It's finally here... the first meeting story for these two blorbos. This is Chapter 1 of a 4 chapter story, so it ends on a biiit of a cliffhanger, just a heads-up. Dashes denote a POV change.

Part 2 here!

Word Count: 7k (!!!)

CWs: accidental dehumanization (Typical for this kind of story), kidnapping, accidental ableism, allusions to history of abuse, POV depiction of PTSD flashback and panic attack which are improperly handled. The worst of this lives in Part 4.

Tag List (Hopefully this isn't too presumptuous): @gt-daboss

=====

Part 1

The small figure runs, ducking behind the flower box they were digging through moments prior. Just run, just run, it already saw you!, they think, as they push every muscle past its limits in a dramatic last stand. They hear a soft voice from far above as they try desperately to flee. The ground behind them starts to rumble as they realize with fear that they've run right into a corner. Turning around with terror on their face, they cower behind their backpack, trying desperately to use their most prized belonging as a shield, if it meant they would live another day. Glancing past the bag, they stare up at the red eyes peering down at them, awaiting their doom, or worse, their captivity.

It was a sleepy Saturday morning as Melody walked out of her apartment. Normally, they wouldn't dream of being awake this early, but another round of insomnia decided that six in the morning was the perfect time to wake up and start the day. She had the day off work, and decided to go for a walk to wake up a bit after throwing on an old t-shirt and some jeans. While they'd love to go back to sleep, they'd already gotten in enough hot water for missing work, and couldn't afford to ruin their sleep schedule again. Literally, because an apartment with a front porch in this part of town doesn't pay for itself. After locking the door and putting her keys in her bag, Melody couldn't help but notice that the jingling noise didn't stop, just got softer.

Melody looked curiously over at the source of the noise, something within the flowerbed next to her door. What she saw was some sort of tiny creature with a mop of silver-gray hair that had a lone purple streak, large pointed ears that each seemed as long as its head, and what appeared to be a blue backpack. This strange thing seemed to be rooting around in the dirt as if looking for something.

Mel immediately felt a mix of excitement and curiosity. If she wasn't just having some sort of insomnia-induced hallucination, this was clearly some sort of elf, or other type of fae, based on its short size and ears. The backpack probably indicates sentience… could she talk to it? Learn from it?

But also… whatever this thing was, it was one of the cutest things she had ever seen. As Mel leaned in closer, the tiny creature's ears twitched, and it seemed to notice her with a look of dawning fear as it began to run away.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be afraid, I don't want to hurt you, just know what you are," said the human. At least, the terrified sprite thought the being was a human. It had the height and weird rounded ears, but its eyes were a bright red, and its hair seemed to be a greenish… blueish… a color that human hair is not, at least as far as they knew.

Even aside from their hair and eyes, the human was definitely an odd-looking one, being rather tall and lanky, even by the standards of humans. They were wearing a simple gray shirt, with some sort of figure on the shirt that the sprite couldn't recognize, and a denim jacket with matching pants. Their face, staring in wonder, was somewhat pale, with a light dusting of freckles that matched the sprite's own. It was outlined by a fairly chiseled jaw, but was otherwise soft in features. Round glasses were perched on their nose, creating an odd distortion on the giant creature's eyes from the sprite’s perspective. The human was staring them dead in the eyes and leaning down even closer, before they spoke again, their slightly deep voice a soft whisper, as if afraid to hurt the sprite's ears.

"Hello? I'm guessing you're either ignoring me or can't understand me. I promise I mean you no harm, little cutie. I just want to get a closer look at you real quick... I'll let you go on your way in just a moment…"

Having cornered the tiny creature, Melody bent down to lift the adorable tiny thing. Her first observation was just how small it was, probably no bigger than a few inches. Held within her loose fist, the tiny thing's squirming legs didn't even reach her pinky finger. Her comparatively massive red eyes, the result of her decorative contacts, gazed at the tiny creature with fascination, watching it flail about in her hand with a raw curiosity. Despite putting almost no pressure into her grip, afraid of hurting this small creature, she couldn't even feel the struggles of the little thing. Now that it was closer and (slightly) more still, she was able to get a more detailed look at its features. Its skin had a grayish pallor that Melody wasn't sure was natural for whatever it was. Its eyes were a vibrant purple, offset by the duller purple of the bags under them. Purple eyes would help the theory that it has magic… maybe. Aside from the backpack, which she now noticed was denim, it seemed to be wearing a loose-fitting brown cloak or tunic of some sort, with one shoulder exposed, and a small green scarf around its neck, both made out of some kind of fine fabric. Definitely not silk, but not any fabric she recognized. The scarf was a bit odd, given the spring weather, but maybe its body is supposed to be as cold as it felt in her hand. Something cold-blooded? Layers would make sense, then.

The creature's squirming slowed down, as it seemed to realize the futility of its motions. Its long ears drooped down in a clear display of sadness, and its vibrant purple eyes closed. Melody attempted once more to communicate with this tiny thing in her hand.

"Are you done, little cutie? No more thrashing around? If I let go, do you promise to not try to, like, jump or anything? You would probably hurt yourself falling from this height."

The sprite hung their head low. Upon being asked to not resist by this massive human, they nodded their head slowly in compliance. It's true, they would survive a fall from this height onto maybe a carpet, or the grass, but a drop this tall on pavement would surely leave them seriously injured… at best. And seriously injured is not the state to be in this close to a human.

The human's face lit up at the nod, and the excitement in their voice was clear as they began rapid-firing questions. "Wait, you can understand me? What are you? A fairy? An elf? Who are you? May I know your name? Where are you from? Are there more of you? Do you know magic? Why were you in my flower bed?"

The sprite couldn't keep up with the questions, and simply stared wide-eyed at their captor as if trying to process every question at once. As this human became more passionate in their questioning, their grip absent-mindedly tightened on the sprite in their hand.

Mel continued asking questions, this was her chance! Their whole life has been waiting for the moment something supernatural would finally happen, and now some kind of fae literally shows up at their doorstep. They were so excited, in fact, that they forgot about their grip until the tiny creature in their hand suddenly moved. Its ears perked up in alertness as it twitched its spine in pain. Its face contorted into what appeared to be a yell or scream, yet no sound came out. Immediately, Mel panicked and loosened her grip on the strange creature, letting it rest in her open palm.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you? Let me see!" Mel immediately noticed the creature clutching its arm in what was clear pain. A terrible chill ran down her spine, worried that she accidentally hurt the small thing, and fearing how much worse she could have done if she didn't notice.

"I… I'm so sorry, let me take you inside and we can talk there, I can see what I can do for your arm, and get you some food and water too if you need them," The human said, as if the creature she held in her palm had any choice at the moment. The human wasted no time before turning around and carrying her new find back inside.

Part 2

The young sprite had never been in this particular apartment, but immediately wished they had known about it on stealthier terms. The place was packed, plants decorating most surfaces as well as the bookcases close to the two windows. Further away, another bookcase was present, this one adorned with plants that seemed to need less sun, as well as rocks, jars of mysterious dried plants, and a few tiny bottles filled with interesting colored substances. Combined with the many thick books for cover, this place would be a prime Borrowing house.

When they were finally released from their captor's hands, they found themself roughly placed in a plastic container on a tabletop, the sides of which were easily twice as tall as the sprite. After giving a cautionary check, the plastic was indeed too smooth to climb. As the scared sprite went to dig through their bag for a hook or something, the human lifted their backpack away, placing it on the table outside of the container.

"Nope, nope, you can get this back once you answer some questions and we look at that arm of yours. I don't want you running off and getting yourself hurt, my apartment is absolutely not safe for something so small. I promise it's just for a moment," the human stated matter-of-factly. As she turned and walked towards the kitchen to retrieve her first-aid kit, she continued her barrage of questions. "So, what are you, little cutie?"

After bringing the first aid kit over, unsure what to really do for a tiny magical(?) creature, Mel noticed the lack of response. It definitely nodded yes to their question before... probably. But judging by its lack of response now, maybe it was a mistake? A simple motion of a struggling thing, taken out of context. She had to make sure. "You... can understand me, right? Nod yes and take... two steps sideways if you can understand me."

The creature stared at her, tilting its head in confusion. As it tilted its head, Melody couldn't help but notice how cute it was. Its oversized ears seemed to move slower than the rest of its head, reminding her of the floppy ears of a dog or a kitten, despite their pointed shape. When the creature did exactly as asked, Melody's eyes went wide with excitement, now having definite proof that it, no, HE understands her. He? Probably, it definitely looks masculine. She made a mental note that male pronouns would do unless the little thing corrects her. She couldn't make out an age exactly, but he seemed on the younger end. Maybe a teenager? His head and ears made it hard to tell, being so much bigger than a human's would be at the same scale. Melody gave another shot at speaking with the small creature. "Okay, so once again... what are you? Please tell me?"

Melody noticed the creature trying to do some sort of hand motions, but couldn't understand. Was he trying to cast magic? Is that a thing he can do? Melody watched with curiosity to see if anything would happen, only to be disappointed as nothing changed.

There was a quiet, awkward moment between them, as the tiny thing's ears drooped sadly again. Eventually, she spoke again, slightly confused. "Uh… was that supposed to do something? Whatever, that's fine, you don't have to say anything. I've got all day, little cutie. I'm not going to go anywhere until you talk."

Unfortunately for Melody, her determination to find out more about this strange little being lost out to her impatience within about three minutes. Their head laying on the table, they began to beg, their voice sounding desperate.

"Come onnnn, just say something. Anything. Give me any kind of answer. Pleeeeease?"

The sprite remained silent, appearing lost in thought.

Could this human be reasoned with? As they went to motion to their bag, the human continued speaking.

"Please? I just want to understand you, I can't help you otherwise."

After another moment, the sprite's giant captor stood up and walked away. They instantly became terrified. Was the human getting something to punish them for their silence? Were they finally dropping the nice facade?

Eventually, the human came back to the table with a large book. Placing it down gently, so as not to scare the tiny creature with a loud thump, they began to flip through the book.

"Okay… pointed ears say an elf, but your ears aren't really very… elven. Maybe you're a mousefolk? But you have no tail… or if you do, it's a tiny one hidden under that little robe of yours… I did find you outside of my house, and your outfit looks a bit ragged… uh, no offense, of course. Maybe you're a brownie? I have some milk in the fridge, would that get you to talk?"

They could only look at the human with a confused look. What was she going on about?

"... No wings, so you probably aren't a fairy… unless you lost your wings. Did you ever have wings, little thing?"

The confused sprite only shook their head in a slow "no".

"OK… well, I probably… uh… should have gone for something more professional than a D&D guidebook… I think I still have my old college textbooks around here somewhere… gods knows those things are way too expensive to chuck…"

The human left, and took several more books off the shelf after a few minutes of looking around. She flipped through each book, taking what felt like forever, muttering to herself as she went.

"We're miles from the nearest forest… you clearly aren't invisible… Definitely don't look human… Those clothes don't look at all suitable for living in water… it's… maybe technically nighttime? But you weren't leaving a gift… unless… you were actually planting seeds! Is this backpack full of seeds?"

The small sprite instantly went into a panic as the human looked over to their backpack, frantically shaking their head in a no, and praying that the human didn't try to dig into the bag. They already had to fix it up after… the last human they met. Luckily, this human seems to have had no plans on that and continued digging through the books, becoming more frustrated over time.

Eventually, they seem to have hit their limit, and threw their head back in agitation before speaking in a more aggressive tone than they had previously. "Ugh! Why won't you just say anything!?"

Melody noticed a knocking noise on the plastic container her little "guest" was in, and saw the mysterious little thing clearly trying to get her attention. As she looked over at him, she saw him frantically motioning with his hands over his neck, in an X shape. His mouth was moving, speaking in an exaggerated way, as if to make it easier for her to see that no sound was coming out of his mouth. He clearly looked scared, probably threatened by her voice raising. Her eyes lit up in both realization and embarrassment.

"Oh my gods. You aren't just being silent to be difficult… you can't actually speak, can you?" As he nodded a yes, Mel lowered her head into her hands in shame.

"Shit, I'm such a dick. That's what your little hand motions were, oh my gods you were signing! My dumb ass was sitting here thinking you were trying to cast spells or something, ugh, I'm such an idiot! Maybe not everything about this situation is silly and fantastical, Mel, maybe he's just mute and you're being insensitive like always."

Their head raised and their face shifted into a goofy expression as they began to cheer with a clearly sarcastic voice, "Yeah Mel, yeah, woo, get upset at a mute guy for not speaking, like a COMPLETE ASSHOLE, hell yeah, casual ableism, woo!!"

The human hung her head in embarrassment again before continuing to berate herself, putting her head in her hands.

"Ugh… I swear, I didn't know, if I had known I would never… I'm not some, like, prick, I swear. Oh my gods, I'm so stupid. Way to make a first impression, at least I know you can't hex me or whatever because I would be so cursed right now for sure."

If the sprite could communicate at the moment, and wasn't still terrified of this human, they would have had some strong words about how kidnapping was also not a good first impression. However, they had no intent on insulting their captor, despite the clear look of regret already on the human's face. They remained still, waiting for the human to compose herself.

Part 3

After a bit too much self-flagellation, Melody tried to think logically about the situation. "OK, so I don't actually know sign language, if that wasn't obvious. Can you write?"

After getting an enthusiastic nod and a point at their little backpack, Melody thought she understood.

"You can write, and have something to write with in your little bag?"

After getting a slow and cautious nod in response, the human gently placed the backpack inside of the plastic container and waited to see what happened. The small creature instantly pointed to a lighter part of their backpack intently.

"What are you pointing at?" As they looked closer to the tiny backpack, they noticed what appeared to be a different fabric sewn on, with some kind of… unusual symbols written on. The little thing pointed repeatedly to himself, and then the writing.

Her disappointment was obvious as she spoke her next words. "That's… your name… isn't it?"

The small creature seemed to be somewhere between excited and nervous as they hesitantly nodded, obviously seeing the lack of recognition on Mel's face.

"I…" They sigh before continuing, "I have no idea what that says, little cutie."

Melody picked up one of their books and pointed to an arbitrary passage of text, making sure the little one could see it. "Can you… read these words? Any of them?"

The tiny being's large ears drooped in disappointment and he shook his head sadly, as Melody's own expression mirrored his. This was about to make things much more complicated.

"Okay, well, I can't just keep calling you 'little cutie'... even though you totally are, you need some kind of name. Maybe I can try to guess? What about… Gilbert? Linus? Stop me if any of these are close to your name... Derwin?"

. . .

The completely blank response they got from the little being said everything Mel needed to know.

"Yeah, you're right, this is stupid. This would be so much easier if I could just read your little backpack patch…"

The human's face seemed to light up as they said that, to the confusion of the sprite.

"Wait a second… that sounds cute… what about Patch? Just- Just as a nickname. Until we can figure out a better way to communicate. If you like it, of course."

At this unexpected politeness, the sprite nodded their head enthusiastically. Truthfully, the name didn't sound that bad… especially compared to Derwin. And though there's no real magic behind them, names do have a certain power when it comes to empathy, something that they hoped would work on this human. They remember how the last human they encountered refused to call them anything other than… they didn't exactly get named.

"Perfect! Well then, it's nice to formally meet you, Patch. I guess I never introduced myself, it's… probably safe to do that. You tried to tell me your name, after all. You may refer to me as Melody, or Mel," the human stated, in a slightly odd manner, as she gave as much of a curtsy as possible while sitting in a chair wearing a t-shirt.

Melody went to hold out their hand, before awkwardly withdrawing and brushing it through their hair, as if they were about to give a handshake but realized the complication there. They continued talking as if nothing happened.

"Okay Patch, so I can't read your writing, but you can nod. We can… we can work with this. Can I ask you questions and you can nod yes or no?"

The small sprite nodded in approval, happy but anxious to finally be communicating, and Mel began asking simple questions.

"So… do you have magic?" At this, Patch hesitated before shaking his no sadly.

"Okay, just checking. Are there others of your kind?" Yes.

“Can they, um… can they speak?” Yes

"Is it the same language I’m speaking?" Yes.

"Do they live near here?" Mel asked, before being met with a nervous look on Patch's face. Not wanting to offend, Melody quickly continued on. "That's fair, I'm sure you're supposed to be secretive, right?" Yes.

"Okay… can you say if you live near here?" Mel asked, to a nervous nod yes. "Oh, okay! I guess you could say we're kinda like neighbors then! Um, alright, if I can ask another question, how did you get here? Like… this area?"

After being met with an unamused glance at the open-ended question, Melody decided to restate it. "Did you get here through some kind of, I don't know, portal or wormhole or… or spaceship? I just can’t believe I’ve never seen any of your kind before." Patch's head tilted again in confusion, clearly not comprehending what the human was saying.

"Okay, we'll go back to that. Actually, wait, scratch that, we need to go back a lot. Are you hungry?"

Patch's response was skeptical as they anxiously nodded yes. "Don't be so nervous. Do you like, um… I haven't been to the store in a bit… I have…" Melody paused as she tapped her chin, thinking. "Some leftover Chinese food? Some pretzels? A few apples…"

Melody noticed the sprite's ears perked up as she said apples.

"Apples are good?" She asked, to confirm what she had noticed. As Patch nodded his head slowly, Melody excitedly continued, happy to have figured out a way to help the little sprite. "Perfect! I'll be right back. I'll bring some food and water, and then we can look at that arm of yours."

After a few stressful moments, Patch saw the human return with a small green apple and a knife, which they eyed nervously. Something that sharp in the hands of a human… Patch shuddered as their mind flashed back… and in a panic, they suddenly became well aware of the fact that they were trapped inside of an enclosed space, with a human walking closer brandishing a weapon bigger than they were. They desperately tried to scamper up the side of the container with a renewed fervor, but with only one good arm, the effort was hopeless. Melody noticed the movement as she spoke.

"Woah there, Patch, calm down. I'm just going to cut it first and then give it to you, okay? Just be patient for a moment."

They watched as the human somewhat clumsily sliced the apple, clearly trying to avoid cutting herself. Eventually, about a third of the apple was sliced, and gently placed next to Patch.

"Here you go, Patch. Eat up, and I'll, uh, find a way to get you some water real quick."

Melody was only gone for a moment, as she found a water bottle cap and filled it with water. When she returned, the apple slice was well over halfway gone, leaving only the peel, which the little being had apparently eaten around. Melody could only chuckle to herself at how quickly Patch had eaten that much. "Woah, you were hungry, weren't you, Patch?"

Melody noticed Patch's face and ears turn a bit red, as he rubbed behind one of his big ears sheepishly.

"Do you… want more?"

The little being, still looking bashful, shook his head no, and patted his stomach. Melody placed the cap inside of the plastic container and watched as Patch quickly drank the entire thing. Clearly this creature needed to eat and drink a lot more than his size suggested… unless he was particularly hungry. Looking closer, Melody could see that Patch's skin had already dramatically changed color, being more of a human-esque warm skin tone than the gray tint it was before. Was… was he malnourished? Should she insist he eat more, or was devouring that apple slice already "eating more"?

Deciding to trust the tiny creature's judgment, Melody began to cut another slice of the apple for herself, not wanting to waste the rest of it. After holding out the slice to Patch as a final offer, and receiving another head shake as a response, Melody took a bite of the apple slice, and looked over at Patch, only to see him staring at her.

Patch knew they should have looked away, but couldn't help but watch as Melody took a massive bite out of the apple slice. The sprite tried not to think about the fact that the bites the human took were each roughly as big as they were. While they almost believed (almost) that the human meant them no harm, they still couldn't help but panic at being reminded that they were sitting in what was technically a food container and watching the human eat. They wouldn't… right?

Memories immediately flooded back of them, the last human to have taken Patch like this, and how they would threaten the sprite. Shivering in fear, the sprite looked away, closing their eyes tightly and hoping to get rid of the memory, so they could focus on the present.

Part 4

"Okay, now that we've got you some food and water, let's look at that arm, and see what's wrong. I'm going to take you out of this container, but you have to promise me that you won't leave this table, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

Patch nodded, but instantly regretted it as Melody's hand quickly reached down to scoop them up and place them down on the desk. While it was only for a moment, the sight of the human's hand flying towards them at such a fast speed caused them to flinch and recoil in fear.

“Okay, hopefully that was… a bit gentler, wouldn’t want to hurt your arm again,” Mel said, unaware of how much Patch was thrown about during that small trip, even with Mel consciously trying to be gentler than before. “So, I’m far from a doctor, but I get the feeling you wouldn’t want me to bring you to an actual doctor, or like… I dunno, a vet or something.” Melody immediately noticed Patch’s face grew worried as she quickly added on to her thought, “Not- Not to imply that you’re an animal, just they’re better with small things like mice, and you’re… anyways, let’s… just take a look at that shoulder. Can you, um, roll up your sleeve or something?”

Hesitantly, Patch did as they were asked, and rolled up their ill-fitting sleeve as far as possible, revealing a red and swollen shoulder. They saw the human wince as she saw it. "Okay… that looks like a sprain… at best. Obviously it hurts to put pressure on it, but can you move it?"

Thinking how to answer, Patch moved their arm a little, and then winced in pain, causing Melody to gasp slightly. "Oh no no, don't move it if it hurts! But that's something, that means it probably isn't completely broken… okay… maybe we should wrap that up? Like in a sling or something. Um… let me check my phone real quick, I'm sure I could figure out how to cut some of this tape up into a little sling for your shoulder. I'm so sorry again if I caused that, I wasn't thinking and I just…" Melody said, her thoughts trailing off as she started to research what to do about this tiny injured arm, leaving Patch to plan their next move.

Finally free from the container, and with their giant captor distracted, Patch instantly decided to make a break for their backpack. Quickly digging through the front pocket, they pull out their trusty rope hook before slinging the large pack over their good shoulder. Without hesitation, they immediately latch the hook to the table's edge. It's a loose fit, but they only need to get about halfway down before the fall is safe, from the looks of it. Wrapping their legs around the rope to make up for the sprained arm, they begin to descend. It's slower than they would normally go, but the ground is so close, and there's enough clutter that they can easily find a hiding spot as long as-

"Hey! What are you- no! You promised!" Melody cried, as she reached out to grab the little runaway, cupping him in her hands.

"Are you mad? That drop could have killed you! And trying to climb with some kind of broken arm, what were you thinking, Patch?"

After she deposited him back on the table, Melody let out a sigh. Her red eyes focused intently on Patch, as if trying to read his mind. "Why are you trying to get away from me that badly? Don't you get that I'm just trying to help you?"

I'm just trying to help you…

…

I'm just trying to help you…

"... so please, just come onto my hand. I'll take care of you, little guy. I promise."

Hungry, lost, and desperate, they find themself nodding, staring into the deep blue eyes of the figure in front of them, their smile wide. Maybe this human is telling the truth, maybe not all humans are bad… maybe the elders were wrong after all, they think to themself.

As they reach out and touch the hand, it is as if they strike a pact with a demon. They hear that all-too-familiar laughter as everything around them darkens. Memories flood back, stinging their soul like ice cold flames. Their whole body is filled with phantom senses as the combined physical and mental impact of the last two years of their life hits them like a tidal wave. Heat, cold, pressure, pain, sights, sounds, smells, taste. Too bright, too dark, too loud, too quiet, too much, too little. They try to scream, for anybody to help, human, sprite, spirit, anybody.

But as always, no sound comes from them.

…

"Uh… Patch? Are you… okay?"

Mel's scolding tone softened as the little thing in front of her began to tear up, staring off at something. She took in his appearance, trying to figure out what was wrong. He looks… like he's breathing faster, maybe, and seems to be gripping his little backpack as if his life depends on it. Did she scare him? What did she say? Unsure what to do, Melody brought a finger gently to Patch's face, to wipe away the tears.

"Hey, little guy, I'm… it's okay, I'm not mad or anything, I…"

Melody's finger suddenly filled with pain, as she pulled it away in shock.

"OW! What the hell, Patch! Did you just bite me!? What's wrong with you!? Is that how you treat somebody trying to comfort you? You just bite them? What are you, a raccoon!? We both know you're better than that."

Mel had never been the best at reading faces, especially when the face was half an inch tall, but the emotion on Patch's face as she yelled seemed to be one of fear. He was staring at her, almost through her, his bright purple eyes completely dilated like a deer in headlights. His ears were pulled back, almost flat against the sides of his head, and Mel could tell his breathing had gotten even heavier and more uneven.

"Well? I know you can understand me, Patch, don't pretend like you can't. Why the hell did you just bite me!?"

Melody wasn't sure what kind of answer they expected, but Patch curling into a fetal position and sobbing was definitely not it. As the tiny person silently cried on her table, Melody could only whisper one thing to herself.

"Oh, fuck."

Part 5

Patch woke up from their slumber, and found themself half-covered by… soft paper of some kind. The kind usually found in human's kitchens. They didn't remember when they fell asleep, the last thing they remembered was… panic. Ah. As their mind began to wake up, they realized they must have fainted or something.

As they regained their bearings, they noticed Melody, sitting all the way across the room on a chair facing them, but clearly invested in a book. As the sprite sat up and pushed the makeshift blanket aside, the human's eyes darted up from the book.

"Uh… hey. I'm… if you're awake, I'm going to come closer, okay? Just back to where I was sitting before. I can't really see you that clearly from this far away, and I'd like to hear what you have to say. Or… see it, I guess."

After a moment, the human got up, and carried the chair back to where it was before. The human seemed… uncharacteristically anxious. What were they doing?

"I… don't know what I said, or did, to make you respond that way, but I clearly upset you. Badly. I'm sorry."

Patch was thrown for a complete loop at the tonal whiplash of how she was acting compared to her attitude before. What happened while they were unconscious?

When Patch began sobbing, Melody instantly knew that she messed up. Badly. That wasn't the response of somebody snapping back in rebellious defiance, that was somebody lashing out in terror. In her fascination with the strange person on her table, she completely overlooked that she was probably, like, thirty times his size. If they were in that situation, they would probably be absolutely terrified, especially if something that much bigger started yelling and shouting. And it was so obvious to them in hindsight that he was having a panic attack. Melody cursed herself for not realizing sooner. Imagine having a panic attack and then you see a car barrelling towards you, no wonder he -literally- snapped at me, she thought, cursing her lack of social skills again.

She continued to watch the poor thing, not wanting to say or do anything, for fear of upsetting him further. After what felt like an agonizing amount of time, he seemed to stop crying, but Mel noticed that he had also gone still. They looked closely, suddenly afraid of the worst, but he seemed to simply be asleep. Unsure what to do, they ripped off a small piece of a paper towel and carefully laid it over his sleeping body, being careful to avoid it touching his face. They picked up one of the more detailed books, as they figured now may be the time to look for more answers as to what this little fellow is.

"So… it's been about a half hour since you fell asleep. I don't know if you measure time the same way, so that may not be helpful, sorry. Are you feeling okay?"

Still baffled, Patch gave a hesitant nod yes. The human seemed nervous, as if thinking carefully of what to say. "I… must be pretty scary to you, huh?"

Patch didn't respond, unsure if this was a trick or not.

"You don't have to say it, that's fair. You're probably worried that I'll be upset. You don't seem to believe me that I won't hurt you. Has…" She stopped to think, trying to figure out how to word this gently, "I'm not the first human who's met you, am I?"

Unsure where this was going, Patch softly shook their head in a "no". Melody sighed before continuing. "And they… weren't very nice to you, were they?"

Her red eyes stared deeply at Patch, as if attempting to glare into his very soul. Patch tried their best to avoid eye contact, but it was clear what the answer was.

"I'm… sorry. For whatever that person did. You didn't deserve it, whatever it was. I know that means, like, fuck-all coming from me, though." The human sighed again before continuing their speech.

"You know, I… I'm not very good at this. At any of it. The whole emotional support thing. Not just because you're a little… whatever you are. I've always been the worst at upsetting people without meaning it. I honestly, swear to the gods, only brought you here to help you. You were injured, and I caused it. Or at least some of it. But… I probably let my excitement get ahead of me. I know, I put you in a literal plastic container like an asshole, but I was just… worried. I didn't want you running away with your arm injured. Honest. I get it if you don't believe me though."

Patch's look of confusion hadn't gone away. This human seems… like they're planning something. Why the sudden act? Are they trying to get them to let their guard down?

"I didn't want to move you while you were sleeping, but… I can bring you outside, if you want to leave. I'd… want to leave me too. Just point to the door and I'll do the rest. But, I would genuinely like to learn more about you. You may have been able to tell that, well, I've always wanted to meet somebody special. Anybody. And then I found you and just got so excited and… I'm sorry about it."

Carefully, Patch walked over to their backpack, waiting for the human to stop them… but she didn't. They hoisted the bag over their good shoulder, and walked over to the hook that was still on the edge of the table.

"That's fair. Can you please let me put you on the floor, though? I promise, no funny business. Just like… an elevator. It's the least I can do."

This is it, Patch thought. She's going to insist that I get in her hand, and then wham, into a box or cage or something. Figuring that if anything happens, it happens regardless, they shake their head in a firm no.

Melody's heart was breaking during this entire conversation. They finally met something supernatural, and it was pissed at her. She did literally everything possible wrong, as always, and now it was costing her the most interesting event of her life. But she tried to continue being apologetic, figuring that this wasn't about her at the moment.

"I get it. Let me at least move a chair over then? You can climb down to the chair, and then the floor. Please let me do that at least?"

There was a hesitant nod of approval, and Melody moved the chair as promised. Their tiny guest made his way down to the floor, and started walking to the door. It took a bit of time, but Mel didn't dare interrupt or interfere.

"All right, I'll open the door so you can get out. It's been… nice to meet you, Patch. Even if you don't feel the same."

She opened the door just enough for Patch to get through, to make it clear that she wouldn't follow. He climbed over the door sweep and stepped outside, before turning around to look at the human with confusion.

"... What?"

Patch was… confused. Did the human just… let them go? Just like that? No grabbing them? No having to escape out a window, having to climb down a brick wall in the dead of night? Just… letting them walk out the door?

They pointed and motioned in a direction, confused, hoping the sentiment of "I'm going to go now" was a universal one. It seemed to be, as Melody gave them a nod. "Yep. Go wherever you want, I'm going to shut the door… and probably go back to reading, I guess. Maybe try to figure out what you are still, but I won't follow you. You have my word."

And with that, Patch walked away. The door closed, and Melody went back to reading their book, as all of the tears that they were holding in finally came pouring out.

Part 6

It had been about two weeks since Melody met Patch. Two weeks since she made him hate her. She returned to work as normal, spending the slow days at the library reading up on mythologies, trying to learn anything about what he was. Research led down a rabbit hole of conspiracies and disinformation about the existence of all sorts of elves, fairies, and other such creatures, but somehow nothing reputable. Melody could only be baffled by this, How could they live in a city, and yet nobody has ever documented them existing? Despite this, Melody kept Patch’s existence close to her own heart. After all, he clearly just wanted to be left alone.

Before leaving for work every morning, they made sure to leave out an apple slice, and every evening, it was gone when they came home. It was probably just taken by a bird or rat or something, especially because the peel was also missing, but they wanted to believe that maybe Patch was getting them. The other option, that the little being had run as far from her as possible, was just too much to bear. Leaving out fruit was all she could do to believe she was repenting for how she treated him.

It was a dreary evening, about sunset, when Mel had to go out to the nearby alley to throw out her trash. As they were taking the trash out back, they saw something move in the corner of their vision. They turned to see what it was, expecting some kind of pest, when…

"Oh, Patch! I, uh… hello."

#aaaa pressing the post button is so hard right now the fear is real ok i'm doing it i'm pressing the button #tell me if this is Too Long and i can split up the further chapters #actually just tell me anything. at all. i'm clawing at the walls for feedback over here #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #g/t ocs #g/t whump #tiny whump #g/t angst #oc tag: patch #oc tag: mel #patchwork melody

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cloud-the-forgotten · 7 months

Text

Imagine if Galacta Knight wasn't sealed away because he was evil/too strong. Imagine it was because he couldn't control his strength. He becomes so strong that if he isn't consciously dialing it back he could seriously hurt someone just by trying to give them a high-five.

It gets so bad that after defeating/sealing Void, he begs the Ancients to seal him away because killing one of his species is incredibly hard and dangerous to the people around them, and he doesn't want to hurt anyone. His time spent sealed away puts him in a state of consciousness and unconsciousness where he trains himself to dial back his strength.

Moments when he's taken out of his seal to fight are moments when Galactic Nova is controlling him, because the Clockwork Star knows Galacta Knight would refuse to fight if he had the decision. Unfortunately, Galacta Knight is completely conscious when this happens, and he hates how he feels both distraught because of the situation, and excitement from the thrill of the fight.

#I'm angsting him. and bringing a new idea to the table (maybe. idk if someone thought of this yet >w<)#idk if this counts as woobifying but uh. just think of this as a 'what if' scenario since I don't hc this :3 #this is just an idea that popped up in my head :3 #my wording is weird now that I look at it. oh well >w<#cloud does a ramble :3 #blorbo tag <3 #cloud's 12am thoughts #<except it's not 12am it's actually 7pm I'm just really tired #kirby #galacta knight #galactic nova #<since it's mentioned #kirby series #kirby fandom #kirby au #<technically? probably won't go any further with this idea though :3

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waitineedaname · 2 days

Text

I have finally gotten myself together, and written the beginnings of my fake political marriage chengqing fix-it!

an excerpt from the first part:

Jiang Cheng was embarrassed to admit that this particular solution had occurred to him frequently after their last parting, when he was kept awake wondering about her safety. It wasn’t the most elegant solution, and definitely not his preferred solution, and it would easily create more problems than it solved, but… “What if we were engaged?” “Jiang Cheng, have you gone insane?” Wei Wuxian said, which was really rich coming from him of all people. Wen Qing looked like she agreed with him and this pained her.

and from the second:

“Jiang-zongzhu, I appreciate everything you are doing for me and my family,” Wen Qing folded her hands on her lap and stared him down imperiously, “But I have no intention of having sex with you.” Jiang Cheng wondered if the stress of the last week had finally pushed him over the edge and this was a hallucination caused by qi deviation. “I didn’t expect you to!”

#the untamed #mdzs #jiang cheng #wen qing #chengqing #wei wuxian #jgs is also there but I don't want to tag him #my writing #i am furthering my aro4aro married chengqing agenda!!!!#they will eventually be in a qpr but they haven't gotten there yet #this au has occupied. so much of my brain lately. so I'm very excited to post it!#it's really hard writing from this point in the story #bc both wwx and wq are not at their best and therefore aren't acting how they would usually #i'm excited to explore more of this au #both bad things (jc is now in close proximity to the people who did non-con surgery on him im sure this won't have any consequences)#and good things (wen yuan gets to grow up among jiang disciples and jin ling!)

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