#in Trion’s defense he was never told

[novafire-is-thinking]

First Contact

OP: In my caste, I may read and I may index, but I am forbidden to analyze.

M: How do you know where to index if you don't analyze first?

OP: I try not to ask myself questions that don't have answers I can do anything about.

M: Who has told you that you can't do anything about the answers? I never even had a name. I went out to die for the pleasure of strangers. Now I am Megatron, and I will fight when and where and for what reasons I please.

OP: Fight who?

M: Those who would tell me... like they tell you... that we do not have the right to determine our own fates. Interesting that even in Iacon my words are being heard.

OP: It is my task to hear all words.

M: But you don't answer all of what you hear. And surely you don't answer all of what you hear on channels that you hide for fear of being eavesdropped on.

OP: No.

M: A great many Cybertronians would love to have Iacon as their home. Yet you are there and still unsatisfied. What does that tell you?

OP: We should meet.

M: Should we? Why would I meet you?

OP: If you have goals beyond Kaon, you’re going to need to tailor your message so it will resonate beyond the castes who smelt ore and die in the pits.

M: Or the rest of Cybertron should learn to understand those castes. Even you do not, and you consider yourself one of us.

OP: Then show me what I do not understand.

The above is the first conversation between Orion and Megatron over the Grid. This conversation in Exodus occurred right after the oft-referenced moment where Orion gets upset about the fact that he does not have free access to Six Lasers—an amusement park reserved mostly for the highest castes. More than one fan has found this laughable and used it to point out how Orion was blinded by his privilege, and while I agree, I also think it’s important to not stop there.

In the above conversation, Megatron called Orion out and put him in his place. Orion could have responded defensively, but he did not. He asked to be shown what he did not understand. His open-mindedness impressed Megatron.

However, I will also point out that Megatron spoke of his personal ambitions more than about the collective goal of his group at the time. There’s a passage in The Covenant that I believe provides excellent evidence that Megatron saw things as him against the world from the start as opposed to him having the mindset of a benevolent revolutionary. I may or may not get around to sharing it in this series.

Motives and Methods

He understood Megatron’s reasons, and perhaps even more than the gladiator did Orion Pax wanted the freedom and initiative that would come with the end of caste and Guild.

Where they differed, Orion Pax suspected, was in method. He believed the change could be created through political means: spreading new ideas, watching them catch fire, attracting enough followers to their vision that eventually the High Council and Sentinel Prime would have to take notice. That was the vision of Orion Pax.

Sometimes he was concerned that Megatron did not have as much patience as he did.

Yes, you read that right. Orion once thought he desired the downfall of the caste system more than Megatron. It seems arrogant, but consider young Orion’s original dream from The Covenant. Without destroying the caste system, there would be no expansion outward. No opportunity for the exploration and discovery he so desired—not just for himself, but for others as well.

What did Megatron want? He wanted to fight. Alpha Trion said in The Covenant that Megatron was “of the line of Megatronus” and that “he was, at heart, born to revolt.” Megatron desired to conquer and control. To fight someone. Anyone. As long as he could fight against something. It just happened to be the caste system, and if others came along to benefit from his revolution, so be it. Meanwhile, Orion wanted there to be a collective, collaborative effort to destroy the system for the sake of moving forward and upward as a species.

So, I don’t think Orion was correct in thinking he wanted to rid Cybertron of its caste system more than Megatron. It’s just that their motivations and methods for doing so happened to be different.

A Social Strategist

“I don't need you to tell me what's easy and what isn't,” Barricade said. But he was already moving to go back inside. Perfect. “Lugnut,” he added with the door open. “Don't let this mech go anywhere.”

Mech, thought Orion Pax. He’s got to put me in my place. Gladiators wore their emotions on their sleeves, it seemed. He wondered if he should have reacted to the insult, or if a reaction would have been too provocative. Then he started thinking that he was being too deliberative, overthinking everything he did, overanalyzing everything others did.

Notice how Orion so quickly came to his conclusions with very little prompting. Typecasting can be an issue, but it’s impossible to navigate life without making some assumptions. In this case, I believe Orion’s assumptions and his gift for analyzing and reading others helped him to understand Megatron’s passionate nature and his tendency to provoke for the purpose of testing another—incredibly useful for strategizing later during the war.

Seeing Clearly

Entropy, or the consciousness of it, was my other companion. This was one reason why Orion Pax, with his dedication and tireless focus, stood out from the other clerks. He seemed to resist the robotic monotony of the data-harvesting enterprise; instead the size and scope of the task invigorated him.

Yet it was not for this that I came to realize that he was to become the next Prime.

It was a combination of observation, research, and raw... it is difficult for an archivist such as myself to say this...

Intuition.

Orion Pax seemed different. He was humble but certain, rigorous in completing his assignments yet unafraid to deliver results beyond or contradictory to the stated parameters.

And when he first began to discern that a few gladiators in the forgotten savagery of Kaon’s pits were beginning to grow into something more—Orion Pax might have been expected to do one of two things. He might have ignored the data as irrelevant, thus confirming the caste bigotry that those gladiators hated. Or he might have passed on the information without comment to his superiors, who might also have ignored them out of caste bigotry or suppressed the dissent without investigating its origins.

Orion Pax did neither of those things. He investigated, analyzed, synthesized—and when that still did not satisfy him, he went to those who were dissatisfied. He learned.

He empathized. Unencumbered by the prejudices of his age, he chose to see clearly.

Again with the intuition and empathy. Orion chose to look behind the curtain and allow his natural curiosity to take him places his peers never dared to go. He didn’t set out to lead a revolution. He didn’t waltz in and play savior. Orion merely followed his curiosity and realized he had the means to help Megatron’s movement in specific ways. He said through his actions: “Okay, I see where this is going, and I’m here. Show me what I need to know so that, perhaps, I can make this easier for all of us.” Orion never implied that they owed him for his contributions to the cause. It was his hope to make a difference and prevent a violent uprising by showing Megatron and other lower-caste bots that he, as an upper caste bot, was willing to use his higher position to work toward the common goal of societal change.

However, he was just one guy. It wasn’t enough for Megatron and the others, and Orion had to learn that the hard way. It’s not that he failed. He followed his intuition and did his best. It’s just a fact of life that, oftentimes, one person’s best isn’t good enough.

Librarian to Luminary

As he left my study, we were both stunned to see that the data clerks had come to the atrium outside, every single one of them. They stood in a double row, perfectly silent, having come just to see their former colleague and to pay their respects to what he had become.

For Optimus Prime it must have been a moment of intense and conflicting emotion. He has not spoken of it to me; since he left at that moment, he has been absorbed in the skirmishes around the perimeter of Iacon. The clerks glean every bit of data about his actions hungrily, as if it were Energon itself that they might nourish themselves with. Some of them would get up and fight if it were permitted, but as I have written, they are all either created not to fight or have been so damaged that field repairs cannot refit them for the battlefield.

If Soundwave had been present during this moment and read Optimus’ thoughts and feelings, I think Cybertronian history might have taken a much different path. Optimus did not choose to become a leader or a figurehead. Perhaps that made him weak in the eyes of those like Soundwave and Megatron, but Optimus was able to see what they could not—that the conflict was likely to end in a Pyrrhic victory.

Megatron charged forward with overconfidence in himself and expected everyone to fall in step behind him. Meanwhile, Optimus walked forward with caution and humbly accepted that many saw him as an inspiration and the keeper of Cybertron’s future.

In the end, both were necessary to wipe Cybertron’s slate clean, but Optimus desperately hoped it wouldn’t have to result in so much destruction while Megatron never really cared how he got his way.

Megatron was destined to be the revolutionary.

Optimus was meant to be a luminary.

✧ ✧ ✧

series master post

#transformers prime #maccadam #tfp #tfp optimus prime #tfp orion pax #tfp megatron #tfp character analysis #tfp analysis #tfp meta #aligned continuity #tf aligned novels #tf exodus #the one and only op ❤️💙 #who is TFP Optimus? series #long post #nova’s nerding out again

[transformers-art-showcase]

P.A.T.C.H. #7: "Starscream: The Movie"

Most often in comics, continuity is a problem for newbies. If you don’t know what the characters are talking about and what in-jokes they make, is there really a point in recommending the book? Yes, I hear you; this here feature is supposed to help with sorting those messes out, after all. But what if something has such a killer concept you can’t help but blabber on about it? Even to people not into the comic series?

Case in point: a Cybertronian tries to make a movie about Starscream for humans. My mom was sold. Be as cool as my mom!

“Thundercracker in: Starscream: The Movie”

“Optimus Prime” Annual (2018)/“Transformers: Optimus Prime” Volume 5 (upcoming as of this writing) Written by John Barber, pencils by Priscilla Tramontano and Andrew Griffith, colors by John-Paul Bove and Josh Burcham, letters by Shawn Lee

SO WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Starscream, Lord of Cybertron, fed up with his notoriety amongst his subjects, decides on a solution: good old-fashioned propaganda! Having learned of his old wing-mate’s passion for writing, he tasks ex-Seeker Thundercracker with scripting, casting and directing a movie about his life. Who cares if said ex-comrade has only written human soap opera fan fiction and unpublished screenplays so stilted, they would make “Birdemic” green with envy? He’s really into it! Surely, nothing can go wrong!

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW? Given that this issue came out in the last year of the IDW Generation One continuity, there are various bits and pieces to consider before diving in, but probably the most important has to do with the evolution of Thundercracker, from Seeker repaint to real boy fleshed-out character. While his goofy and hopelessly optimistic personality is well-established in the series and this here issue completes his origin story, it can’t harm to go over it and pick some highlights.

The fate of Thundercracker –or TC to his friends- has long been intertwined with that of two more famous Decepticon fliers: OG bad boy Starscream and official stair-pusher Skywarp. The first years’ worth of stories weren’t different: the three met Megatron together for the first time in the mini-series “Megatron: Origins”, written by Eric Holmes, penciled by Alex Milne and colored by Josh Perez. His most interesting beat in that story was expressing doubt over burning the city of Kaon, only to be pacified by Skywarp –“Don’t think. Just do it.”, he said. After that, and for the longest time, from the “Autocracy Trilogy” to the “–ations”, the blue jet remained a constant if discreet presence in the Decepticon forces. He was always there, often under Starscream, never in a major role, sometimes uncomfortable with his place.

Still, there were a couple exceptions to this. In “Spotlight: Orion Pax”, written by James Roberts, he was a reluctant underling to mad scientist Bludgeon. He crossed paths with the creepy samurai again much later, in “Spotlight: Thundercracker”, written by John Barber with art by Chee Yang Ong, this time while searching for the original Titans. In that story, he had a change of heart when he found Metroplex, and lied so the ancient Transformer wouldn’t fall into Decepticon hands. In both cases, the further away he stayed from bad influences, the more functional his moral compass became.

The great break from all the above –ironically, inspired by his original toy bio– came with his rejection of the Decepticon cause. In “All Hail Megatron” (written by Shane McCarthy and with art by Guido Guidi), after witnessing the brutalities and monstrosities his side was capable of –namely, razing human cities and creating the Insecticons-, he prevented the detonation of a nuclear bomb and briefly worked with the Autobots. (His reward? Getting shot in the face by Skywarp. Some comradery.) In the next ongoing (look for the stand-alone issue #4, written by Mike Costa, penciled by Don Figueroa, with colors by James Brown and letters by Robbie Robbins), it was revealed that thankfully, he survived, kept barely online on Earth and scavenging for fuel. He also picked up a new best friend: human television! Laugh all you want, but it gave him a new appreciation for humans and their adaptability –couldn’t his own species be like this? While he turned into a reluctant ally to the Autobots, he stayed out of intense battles...

... until he got to work with his new best friends in Season 2 of “Robots in Disguise”: Earth people! Between the regeneration of the planet and Starscream’s rise to power, TC stayed back on the blue marble and got in touch with human anti-Transformer forces, who provided him with fuel and a home. (A gift puppy named Buster sealed the deal and immediately became fealty.) In return, they wanted his services against Autobot invaders, but his love of Earth got in the way of that. What also got in the way was his new calling: writing! Inspired by the years he spent watching TV, he then went on to create totally original and very high quality screenplays, hoping they would lead to a career in film. (They haven’t so far. There’s a reason the Wiki has quotes from “The Room” in his personal page.) Still, eventually things turned out well enough: he helped untangle the mess of allegiances between the Earth Defense Command and Cybertronians and formed an enduring friendship with female Earth human Marissa Faireborn. Not bad for someone whose biggest claim to fame was being the answer to a trivia question –“Who was the first Decepticon shown in active combat in IDW continuity?”

Finally, some minor bits of backstory to make a few character beats land easier. An institute protecting Transformers with “abnormal” powers was first introduced in “More Than Meets the Eye” #11, by James Roberts and Alex Milne. The re-discovery of the Cybertronian Colonies started with the people of Caminus –Windblade, Chromia and Nautica- in “Dark Cybertron”, and they were all immediately integrated into the books –we’ve talked about the first “Windblade” mini here. The dead colony of Prion, shown in “The Transformers” #57 (by Barber and Livio Ramondelli) wasn’t nearly so lucky. The creation of the Council of Worlds for the governance of the surviving ones was detailed in the “Windblade: Distant Stars” mini-series, written by Maighread Scott, with art by Corin Howell and colors by Thomas Deer. After that, colonists such as Aileron (“The Transformers” #44, by Barber, Griffith, Perez on colors and Tom B. Long on letters) joined the action on Cybertron, though not without problems. Oh, and that huge dinosaur was brought online in the “Salvation” one-shot and has been used as an embassy since “Optimus Prime” #13-14 (by Barber, Ramondelli and Long). As it happens.

WHERE DO I GO FROM THERE? Why’d you think I listed all those previous stories above? So that you can go and get ‘em!

Okay, to be less abrasive and more specific, there isn’t that much to get into after this story, but there’s plenty to jump back to. Almost all these minor characters have had memorable stories told about them, so I’m only going to single out some personal favorites and let you decide what you might be into. Fat Fast Tankor’s most memorable outings have been at the hands of Maighread Scott, and it was in the first “Windblade” mini that he and his bestie, Tall Tankor, started getting some attention. For another visit to Alpha Trion, Adorable Old Man (And More), see “Optimus Prime” #10, by Barber, Zama and Burcham. For the amazing life of Richard Ruby, film producer and ex-superhero (no, really), check out “Revolutionaries” #3 by Barber, pencils by Ron Joseph, Sebastian Cheng on colors and Long lettering. Finally, for a story that demonstrates Marissa’s own issues (and just how much of a sweetspark TC is), “New Cybertron” (“Optimus Prime” #1-6) by Barber, Zama, Milne and Burcham has you covered.

But clearly this isn’t why you’re here. You want more of The Artist’s work. For that, head over to the “Transformers Holiday Special” (which we’ve visited before here), for the ten-page story by Barber, Burcham and Long. It is a Christmas story that is children’s storybook by way of Frank Miller, and it might be the best thing in the whole line. In the same trade you’ll find the “Revolution” tie-in issue for the “Robots in Disguise” series, written by Barber, with pencils by Griffith and colors by Thomas Deer. While it’s connected to a much larger event, it’s valuable for seeing how TC evaluates his own work and how he works with Marissa. It is a Hollywood action movie pastiche with a failed screenplay layered on top, and it’s a sweet little tribute to the character. Both of these stories work with similar themes to this one, but expand them in different directions.

IS IT ANY GOOD? It was the culmination of a few years’ worth of stories with an endearing secondary character taking center stage. It offered a sideways look into a fascinating time in “Transformers” comics, through its less important players. It was a funny and poignant look into what can go wrong with any piece of art we create, consume, curate and love (or, more importantly, ignore). It had some exceptional so-bad-it’s-good writing and art. It had a cute puppy in it.

PUPPY! WHO’S A GOOD PUPPY, WHO’S THE BEST PUPPY?! BUSTER IS! YES, SHE IS! Stop baby-talking one of the main characters and concentrate! Here, this should keep you busy!

LIKE A MOVIE STAR WITHOUT MOVIES | THEME AND CHARACTER Strip away all the superficialities, and what is this story about? An artist attempts to create a work of art, and Poe’s Law comes into full effect. His source material is controversial –few people have kind things to say about Starscream. His sources lack credibility –the subject of the movie himself is a liar with a ton of guilt on his shoulders. His production value is low -seriously, I’m having “Pop Quiz Hotshot” flashbacks here. He himself lacks training and discipline, and he and his crew aren’t on the same page –oh, and one of them isn’t paid. He gets preoccupied with details -Megatron had a different frame in “Robots in Disguise”! There goes the suspension of disbelief! He has so little faith in himself that he blindly follows whatever advice he’s offered –is it a commercial or personal work, then? And in the end, no matter his passion and drive for the project, he fails for reasons beyond his control, not even his own mistakes. This kind of story can work only if we’re invested in the mad ambition of its main creator, and TC’s unlucky, stubborn and likeable enough to pull it off. The annual, then, becomes a love letter to art creation in general: a whole lot of people with conflicting ideas try to create something meaningful against all odds. Even if the end product isn’t great, you have to feel for all the effort, the time and energy spent (or wasted) on it, right?

There’s also an extra layer to all this, and it’s specifically about Cracker’s relation to his work. At this point in the series, TC has officially renounced the Decepticons and wants to leave a peaceful life on Earth. This project about one of his former associates makes him ask all sorts of questions: what drove Starscream to do the things he did? How does he handle the unstable political climate after the Autobot victory? Did the War ever mean anything to anyone? And what is there to do after the War? These aren’t easy questions, and the ex-Seeker’s own stance on these issues is complicated by his personal feelings and involvement. This might be a movie about Starscream, but deep down, this is a story about Thundercracker. (This becomes even more apparent when one remembers the two share the same mold.) While the theme of failed or doubtful artists is universal, the specificity of this million-year-long War informs it with extra nuances that enrich an already interesting character portrait.

“Oh man, I just can't figure Starscream out. Sometimes he’s just too smart. Sometimes he’s just flat-out stupid. Other times he’s just evil.”

ENHANCED BY BRAND NEW SPECIAL EFFECTS| ART This whole examination could have ended up dry and boring, but in the hands of penciler Priscilla Tramontano, it gets a life and energy it would otherwise lack. Her greatest strength is the expressiveness she lends to the characters, and so she’s the perfect fit for a story with lots of quick, fully dialogue. Little casual touches and details, like reading glasses or cups of coffee, make the world of alien robots a little more approachable and help ease us into its confused protagonist’s mind. John-Paul Bove’s colors are bright and poppy, but moody in the more serious parts (like TC’s meeting with Dirge and relaxing at the beach near the end). Andrew Griffith and Josh Burcham contribute pencils and colors respectively in two key scenes, one flashback to just before the War and the trailer for a rival production. Their more detailed, somber yet action-oriented style helps draw attention to them, but the overall tone doesn’t shift from the fast-paced comedy and introspection of the whole issue. In any case, the story never loses its sense of wonder: this is a charming, strange little world, and in the increasingly serious main title, this can sometimes fall through the cracks.

However, this is the rare case of a comic whose artistic failings are also interesting in their own way. The scenes shown from “Starscream: The Movie” itself are bad on purpose, and so multiple movie mistakes are recreated in comics form. The lighting is almost always off in most scenes, and in some cases, it’s easy to make a green highlight around the actors –the result of cheap color correction. In another scene, the focus is all wrong, and so “Megatron” and “Starscream” are blurry or stick like sore thumbs from the background. When Thundercracker cannot stage the Decepticon uprising from the first storyline of “Robots in Disguise”, he ends up using archival footage for it –and so the same panels that Andrew Griffith drew for issue #13 are re-used wholesale! While it can be distracting at first, these mistakes become doubly fun when spotted and only add to the joke. (They can also make all amateur filmmakers out there check their equipment twice before starting filming. Never go with auto-focus, people!)

“Hey, everybody! I have an announcement to make!”

AN AWKWARD PAUSE, THEN “WHAT'S MY LINE?”| PLOT AND DIALOGUE But forget pretty much everything I’ve written so far, because the number one reason to read this story is how damn funny it is. And that’s not just for the guilty pleasure of mocking Thundercracker’s work. Sure, the tone-deaf, repetitive dialogue, the hammy acting and the flubs of the final film (poor Waspinator, always a victim) are extremely enjoyable, but that ignores the real back-and-forth of the characters. Even better is how the movie scenes are staged alongside the rest of TC’s discussions and efforts. The issue is expertly paced, each page functioning as a scene into its own, with set-ups and payoffs. When read all together, it’s like a very well-edited movie: it remains fast and doesn’t sag, and the connections between the disparate scenes become apparent on a second read-through. The cyclical flow of the story –it begins and ends with a very similar scene- can be seen as bittersweet and uplifting at the same time, and it made this here reader want to re-read the issue the moment it was over.

One of Barber’s greatest gifts as a writer –owing to his experience as an editor- is his mastery of continuity, but here he also demonstrates a firm understanding of Transformers and pop culture. His cheeky world-building –giant robots make movies, too!- combines satire and Trans-fan practices -repaints are totally a thing!- into one whole. Humans get a lot to do in this world, too, being both friends and potential business partners, in a co-existence that might even bring to mind the days of the original cartoon. My favorite example might be TC’s interactions with a former superhero, prospective film producer and distributor. The practicality of creating and curating a movie clashes wonderfully with the insanity of a sci-fi world and some obscure pop and high culture references. It’s this level of detail and care for all those losers that gives the story a beating heart that is often forgotten when talking about this specific writer’s work.

“You know what they say, ‘Love is blind’!”

THE CREDITS ROLL, THE CAMERA PANS | FINAL THOUGHTS Going over all the things I’ve written so far about this annual, I see that I could still go on. This here read focused on the story from a newbie perspective, because with continuity in mind, there’s a whole other essay’s worth of stuff to unpack! (One could re-interpret it as a Starscream and not a Thundercracker story, in fact!) But even with all that aside, this is a really fun, sweet diversion from the political drama of “Optimus Prime”, a great tribute to the bit players of the franchise and a love letter to the creative process as a whole. Oh, and there’s new jokes to find in, like, every new read! I literally just today remembered Fake!Ironhide’s Southern accent! That stuff’s amazing!

#MACCADAM’S #tf comics #IDW #optimus prime #john barber #priscilla tramontano #andrew griffith #john-paul bove #josh burcham #shawn lee #p.a.t.c.h. #p.a.t.c.h. 7 #art within art #cosplayable facial markings #grampa trion #LET’S SEE THE VENN DIAGRAM OF TF AND THE ROOM FANS #ironhide punches everyone #OUR BEAUTIFUL BLUE BOY #pretty robot starscream #problematic faves #wazzzpinator has fanzzz #WILL PROXIMA EVER GET PAID?

[katsukibakugo]

A Resident from a Strange World    

     Once A Visitor from a Strange World.

Otherwise known as, Yuuma is a member of Border and Kido’s ward: the AU.

ao3: [ch1] [ch2] [ch3] [ch4] [ch5]

chapter 5:

"Was it you?" Kitora asks as they walk towards one of the many entrances to HQ at the edge of the danger zone, Osamu looking like he's about to fall over from sheer stress walking a few steps right behind them. Yuuma wonders if he's tired from having to also deal with his and Kitora's passive aggressiveness against each other. In Yuuma's defense, she started it! There's nothing wrong with him accompanying Osamu (he's already got his arguments ready just in case, he's just saving them up for when he's in front of uncle Kido). "Nope! You can even check yourself if you don't believe me," he says, practically taunting. He did use Osamu's trigger so his own trigger's signature wouldn’t register as having been activated. He's not completely irresponsible. "I will," she tells him and he shrugs right back her. She won't find out the truth, seeing how it would probably worsen whatever consequences Osamu will face now and how it'll likely cause trouble for Yuuma as well. Then again, this is uncle Kido, one look at Osamu's trigger being activated and if he figures out Yuuma was with him the whole time, the man is bound to put two and two together. Of course he's banking on the other students repeating the story he gave them, if questioned- that he was in the bathroom the moment the siren started and hadn't managed to exit the building in time only to run into them and then moments later Osamu. It's quite a gamble, he knows. He's not as good as he'd like to be- at thinking on his feet that is. He really wishes he was, he thinks as yet another portal opens up above the bridge they're supposed to pass by.

Kitora's dripping from head to toe when he sees her again. "This time- this time it had to be you," she says with conviction, in a no nonsense tone. She reminds him of one of his old tutors in this moment (an older lady who always had a bad habit of trying to smack his hands with her ruler, always missing by mere millimeters). Yes. "If it had been me, I think it would've been pretty crystal clear, don’t you think?" he says instead because even he has a few tricks up his sleeve that even uncle Kido doesn’t know about. It's partially his own fault too, telling Yuuma never to show his full hand to anyone. It doesn't stop the sting of guilt within him. The chain he used to pull the bomber trion soldier down? That's one of those tricks. (He's thankful, in that moment, for the fact that he has made quite a bit of name for himself in regards to property damage- he's no Amou to be sure,  but he too destroys landscapes whenever on duty so people expect the damage when he uses his black trigger.) And the little enhancing option that he used on Osamu not too long ago? That's the newest of those tricks. Untraceable too, he found, the one time he played around with Yousuke-senpai's trion body, the other had been so confused as to why his steps had gone straight through the floor during training. No one ever figured out what happened that day, all shrugging it off as a possible malfunction which lead to an upgraded bailout system.   He managed to discover all of that thanks to a trion soldier he had from what little remained of his dad's things that he still hasn’t managed to unlock completely- the same one uncle Kido had once told him not to mess around with. Yuuma's a bit of a rebel, he'll admit, and once he's started he can't seem to stop. When he catches Kitora's eyes looking down at Osamu and the crowd that surrounds him he can't help but say, "He's genuinely good, Kitora." She doesn't believe him, he can tell by the look in her eyes, but he doesn't miss the surprise or the way her eyes lose that over critical glint for a more subdued considering look when Osamu sees them and maneuvers everyone's attention onto Kitora instead of himself. Yuuma smiles at Osamu, now at the back of the crowd, sighing as if exhausted just being around the crowd but there's a small smile on his face when a young kid from the crowd turns back to him and waves before turning back to look at Kitora. He's not too sure, but surely the feeling bubbling up in his chest is pride right??

#world trigger #kuga yuuma #Mikumo Osamu #kitora ai #f: worldtrigger