robots in disguise :)
Cybertronians are masters of disguise, easily able to integrate themselves into most alien societies. Especially ones that consist of other cyber life or heavly plated alien, things cybertronians can easily mimic. When unable to mimic the native life, bots will often take advantage of halo Forms technology, creating a near-perfect solid light replica of the native life. Cybertronians also have the built-in ability to pick up and decode languages just from hearing them. with Their vocalizer being extremely flexible and able to mimic the sound of other species, and if they desire, some can mimic the voices of specific individuals.
Scouts and infiltrators are usually able to figure out how to mimic the native life's behavior and better integrate themselves. Their disguises are often imperfect, but they're usually good enough not to cause any alarm, allowing these cybertronians to integrate themselves into alien societies undetected so they can insert themselves into roles that would give them the most power and influence. This allows Cybertronians to easily take other alien planets/societies out from the inside either to destabilize them so they become non-threat or to convert Their planet into a cybertronian colonies. But if an infiltration is unsuccessful, Cybertron has enough military might they can usually enforce their will on a planet by force, if need be.
During the war, due to Cybertron's unstable state, many Cybertronian colonies were able to break free from Cybertron's control, and many civilizations whose development was purposefully stifled were able to finally Advance without Cybertrons Influence.
Course, an infiltration campaign is not the reason why our little groups of stranded Autobots and Decepticons are stuck on Earth. So, the stranded bots don't have the same tools that an infiltrators might have. On earth, they can not mimic the native life very well, They are too small and often lack any plating, but they can mimic their vehicles and other mechanical devices, but that can only help so much. Neither side Possesses a haloform generator, leaving them reliant on native beings to perform certain tasks for them and help keep their existence hidden. Barely any Bots on either side had been on an alien planet before, and the ones that have only ever really been on Cybertronian colony worlds. But, one of the stranded Autobots is an ex-infiltrator and is more than familiar with dealing with unkown alien worlds. :)
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pairing: kuroda yukinari x gn!reader (no prns)
summary: he was always just watching from afar
warnings: none :)
He was always watching from afar. He would watch the way you would always say you were tired, but you'd be paying full attention every class. He noticed how you would genuinely be interested in class when you enjoyed the subject, but when you didn’t you’d subconsciously frown at the work given.
When he was practicing afterschool, sometimes he’d see you walk out of school a little too late and he’d realize you were studying in the library again. He would usually just watch, but today he just really wanted to talk to you. Maybe he was feeling particularly lonely that day after you had a seating change and you sat even further away from him than before. Whatever it was, he was feeling rather impulsive today.
“Sorry, I’m going to go ride outside for a bit,” he told his teammates and rolled his road racer outside. Little did he know, most members of the team knew about his little crush, especially the third years. It was a little too obvious to not notice, because every time you were in his line of vision, he was looking at you. They had hardly ever seen the two of you talk, but all they could hope for was all the best for their vice-captain— he was always looking at you with the sweetest gaze ever.
And for the first time ever, he was stepping forward
“Okay, take your time,” Izumida said.
“Hm? Oh, thanks,” Kuroda said, unaware of what Izumida had meant.
Oh, would he just end up just walking past you again? He wanted to talk to you, but what would he say? Immediately, he knew he would probably end up just watching you from afar, unable to say anything. He sighed at the thought of that.
But to his surprise, you turned to look at him. Okay, now what does he do? What does he say?
“Oh, Kuroda!” you said, taking your earbuds out. Gosh, he loved that about you. You were probably only going to talk for a bit, there was no reason for you to put them away. Yet, at the same time, he was somewhat surprised you knew his name— you were in the same class, of course you did. Maybe he was surprised to hear you say it, rather. “Are you off to practice now?”
“Oh, yes. I’m in the road racing club... which is probably obvious now,” he said, frantically. Gosh, he was making a fool of himself, you didn’t even ask! He was just so flustered, the words weren’t coming out right.
“Of course, I know!” you said. “How would I not know Mr. Vice-Captain of our school’s pride and joy road race team! Do you have a race soon?”
“I do. Quite soon actually... on Saturday,” he said, mind blank. He was just going to answer your questions now he wasn’t capable of much more, he realized.
“Saturday! I really shouldn’t hold you up then,” you said and he scolded himself for saying that. He would’ve rather talked to you for a little longer and practiced all through the night if he had to. “Where and when is it?”
“Just up the Hakone mountain,” he said, surprised. It’s one thing to ask where, but to ask when? He was going to start having some false hope. “In the morning, at around 9.”
“Would it be weird if I show up?” you asked, a little less energetic than before, almost as though you were afraid he’d tell you not to come.
“No, not at all,” he said, a little too quickly. “...Please do.”
Immediately, your face glowed up the way he loved to see it. He could not believe you were talking to him right now.
“Then, I will definitely be there,” you said. “I’ll let you go for real now, I want to see you win that race.”
“Oh, crap, I forgot my water I’ll need to go back to get it. I’ll see you,” he said. “Thank you.”
“See you!” you said and walked off, putting your earbuds back in.
He didn’t lie, he only had one bottle when he usually carried two, but usually he’d just go on and buy something at a vending machine. However, he knew his ears were red and the last thing he wanted was for you to see. He walked back in and no one questioned how quickly he was back, (because they were all watching) which he found weird, but that was the least of his worries.
“How did it go?” Izumida asked.
“Oh, I haven’t gone yet,” Kuroda said. “I realized I forgot a water bottle.”
“No, not that,” Izumida said, finally tired of playing dumb.
“What?” he asked, then looked around and saw that quite a few more people were looking at him, eagerly waiting for him to go on. “Were you all watching??” He felt even more embarrassed than before if that was possible.
“(L/n)’s coming... on Saturday,” he said quietly, covering his face with his hand, hoping they wouldn’t see how red it was.
“Oh, you really have to win now~” Manami said, and that made Kuroda smile.
“Yeah, I really do.”
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shadows rising — • — shaw insight
Shaw got a lot of ‘screentime’ in Shadows Rising, and hidden away in some text we get to learn some tiny details about him, which I will now skim through the book and compile everything from insignificant to flavor text.
(Yes yes, I KNOW the book came out almost 3 years ago now. I don’t care. I love thinking about Mathias Shaw and I didn’t spend all this time hyperfixating on him and collecting very damn detail about him possible for nothing (well, i did, but))
SHAW:
isn’t at all winded after vigorously riding a horse to chase after anduin (prologue, page 4)
doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to telling anduin whatever it is he needs to. he’s very straightforward, to the point (prologue, page 4)
grows distant at the mention of a horse groom in westfall no older than anduin named marvin. considering shaw had ties in westfall to begin with, this connection he lies about could be anything. (prologue, page 5)
“(...) the poor lad was hardly older than I was. Marvin was his name, I think.”
Shaw was still in the saddle, his expression suddenly distant. “I didn’t know him.”
But Anduin knew better, knew Shaw was holding something back.
“ “[Varian] wasn’t an easy king to serve, but there was satisfaction in the challenge. The same can’t be said for all rulers.” �� (prologue, page 6)
shaw’s shin has been broken before, and causes him pain during the storm on the bold arva (chapter 12, page 113)
Shaw tumbled to the railing, an old break in his shin screwing up tight enough to squeal. They were in for one hell of a storm.
shaw DESPISES sailing. he’d rather be in an office behind a false bookcase with plenty of desk space, it’s all the comfort he requires (chapter 12, page 113)
one way shaw receives covert messages from his spies is through a wind-up mechanical shark, made with gnome technology (chapter 12, page 117)
“ Mathias skimmed the messages quickly. They were written in a code illegible to anyone not trained in his specific style of short-hand. Efficient and cautious. ” (chapter 12, page 118)
shaw pays one agent, krazzet the bishop, in parrots to get intel from him. krazzet was a gambler in freehold, a fact shaw is begrudgingly aware of. i think we as a people, however, need to talk about the fact that he paid the goblin in parrots. (chapter 12, page 120)
shaw is very curious about the “strange and fascinating Flynn Fairwind”, and is unsure he will ever truly understand him thoroughly. he believes he probably doesn’t need to, but the desire is a constant — mostly in part of shaw’s nature to scrape away facades and see what lies beneath. (chapter 17, page 156)
shaw finds flynn’s scent of salt and soap and whiskey “intoxicating” ok i’m not gonna stop thinking about it?? (chapter 17, page 158)
says “blast” in place of “damn”, a headcanon i wrote that’s stuffed in my drafts but now that i’ve reread his dialogue i’m reminded that’s canon. nice. (chapter 17, page 161)
shaw has a knife concealed on a false bottom of his boot (chapter 17, page 163 & chapter 22, page 202)
shaw knows zandali. presumably enough to get him by, but not enough to catch words spoken too quickly (chapter 22, page 203)
“ He had once talked his way out of a headlock during a bar brawl in Dalara. That time it was a gnoll latched around his neck, and if he could reason with a gnoll, he could reason with anyone. ” (chapter 22, page 204)
shaw usually whittles bird statues to keep his hands busy (chapter 22, page 204)
shaw’s idea of a vacation included going to his small cabin in the highlands, sit in the grass, whittle, and work on his birdcalls. he describes his birdcalls as being “pretty good”, but could always be better. (chapter 22, page 204)
“ “You’re right, I shouldn’t go alone, I’m good at that, being alone. Comes natural to me. I was never all that personable— liked watching people, sure, observing, but too many and I just felt... swallowed up, like everyone could see me just fine but I couldn’t see them. I like to be above it all, perched. But I should find a friend.” ” (chapter 22, page 204)
shaw seems to be described as needing to fidget with something to keep his mind focused a couple of times (chapter 22, page 205)
• Usually, he whittled bird statues to keep his hands busy [...]
• Just keep your hands and mind busy.
• Then, Mathias would snap off a piece of grass and play with it, not nervously, but give himself a focus.
“Pathonia Shaw, the Silver Cutpurse”. caught three times for stealing, given the choice by the guard of stormwind to work for them or hang. she made assassinations look like accidents or robberies gone wrong, etc. taught both his mother and him. (chapter 22, page 206)
pathonia wore a grotesque amount of rings, jewels glittering on every knuckle, but on her right ring finger, only wore a tied red string. when he asked what it meant as a kid, she slapped him, so he never asked again. (chapter 22, page 206)
shaw contemplates what his life would be like if he had HIS choice. he felt a true taste of freedom aboard the Bold Arva and with flynn. (chapter 22, page 206)
shaw thinks about flynn’s scent a total of THREE. TIMES.
shaw never accepts anything at face value. when being delivered back to stormwind, he checked the ship for any traps, tricks, explosives, etc. in the four days he sailed, he was also constantly checking to make sure the prize the horde gave them was still there, as if it would somehow disappear at sea. (chapter 30, page 265)
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