Kattli/Kathrine. she/they. 18+ blog. Expect fandom thoughts, analyses, rantings and such herein. Now a blog to mostly track my art journey and Transformers hyperfixation. Somehow got back into writing, too, and here we are...
Hey there all you Autobots, Decepticons, Neutrals and others! The moment you've all been waiting for is here!
It's the 2026 Jazz Week prompt list!
This year, we're changing things up just a little from the usual format and adding wild card prompts! These are prompts you can swap in for a day's prompts if you don't like either of them but still want a bit of direction for your fills. These are optional, like all Jazz Week prompts, but we hope they inspire.
Remember, Jazz Week is all ages, all ratings and all types of creative works! Create freely and tag appropriately (during posting in July) and have fun!
See you July 19th!
And, as always, the text version of the prompts for those of us who can't see the graphic:
July 19: Space//Light Show
July 20: Planning//Past & Future
July 21: Trio//Peekaboo
July 22: Swing time//Care
July 23: Telephone Game//Ballad
July 24: Avalanche//Heist
July 25: Oath//On patrol
So like what are your favorite fics that are closest to the characterization you like in the Lambo twins?
OH MY GOSH DO I GOT SOME FICS
Okay so starting off strong, Misaligned Gemini by Anonymous. Absolutely goated work. I love the story, the characters personalities, I love how much they mesh but also how misunderstood they all are. Hands down my favourite Sunstreaker rendition. The author remembers he's a sociopath, and I just love and adore the writing. The story about the Decepticons starting to rise up is also so fun. A fantastic read.
Then we've got Sideswipe's Secret Vacation Spot by BalloonArcade. This one is super fun as the Lambo twins start off as Decepticons and it's just a delight. It's also apart of a series, and the latest story part of it is just. It hits all the right marks for me and I'm really excited about it.
Hypothesis also by BalloonArcade is another really good one. Please heed the tags, as they are tagged as a ship, but it's not a shipping fic if that makes sense. (I do not ship the twins. Not my cup of tea.) It's also not really twincest, and more "they dont know they are brothers and have developed a really close and emotionally tied bond that they don't even know what it means" thus, the tag emotional incest. It is genuinely really good and I love how Sideswipe and Sunstreaker have such a close bond that others aren't sure what to make of it. It does take like, dark paths, and haven't been updated in ages, but I await the day for it's return. The fact that they're raised as experiments of Shockwave doesn't exactly help their social lives either lmao.
Gemini Rising by Mikmerakii is also really good. It's based on another fic, but you don't necessarily need to read that one to understand this one. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe essentially become guardians of these human twins as it turns out they are more aligned to sparklings than human. It's actually a lot of fun, and I adore the utter stubbornness and bad decisions the human kids make constantly. The kids are so interesting and so well written. And I love how the Lambotwins interact with them.
And then, there's The Iacon Prophecy by ntldr. It scratches. So many itches I never knew needed scratched. It's a barbarian au with Sideswipe/Prowl and it's just. UGH it's so good. I love the worldbuilding that surrounds it, it's such amazing worldbuilding. And I really like how Prowl and Sideswipe's relationship is written and how it flourishes. And I'm such a sucker for characters who can't understand each other languages at first, and it's so good. And later on when Sunstreaker pops up, it's just. The two are so good. I highly recommend giving it a read.
But yeah! These are my favourites that capture Sunstreaker and Sideswipe so well, at least on my opinion. I'm sure there are others that I have yet to find, but these just make me melt into puddles.
I actually recommend everyone write for a rarepair once because it completely changes your relationship with fandom. Engagement stops being numbers and starts being names. You know who's going to show up. You recognize usernames. Someone disappears for a while and then comes back and you're like “OH MY GOD WELCOME HOME.” It's incredibly wholesome. It is also deeply inconvenient when all six of you simultaneously get writer's block-
Sitting here today wondering why anyone still thinks Kitasan Black's arc in Pretty Derby Season 3 is a failed underdog story when the anime itself lampshades the idea of Kitasan being an underdog multiple times, especially with all of her interactions with Nice Nature. Nice Nature is there to not only give Kitasan advice but also to remind us how much of an underdog Kitasan is NOT because of how often she has won in comparison to Nature.
Nice Nature's whole thing with Kitasan is she has no idea how she can be her "sensei" and how she can give her advice because Kitasan ISN'T an underdog. She wins big G1 races which Nature never could. Kitasan sees value in her insight and experience anyway.
Kitasan isn't an underdog she is the young peak racer who is at the top of her era and her career. Sometimes she loses and loses BIG and she doesn't understand why because she ISN'T an underdog. To her, she should be winning only to get smacked with reality that others will also be winning because they are either the underdog or just as OP as she is (or more, looking at you Duramente).
Kitasan's whole thing isn't an underdog story, it's the life cycle of a peak athlete who reaches their peak early and has to accept when to go out, which is contrasted by Gold Ship who stayed maybe too long and by the time she accepted it was time to move on, she had already faded. Kitasan Black isn't a Rocky Balboa, she's Lightning McQueen. Kitasan's arc is learning how to grow and learn from defeat, not about persevering into victory.
Satono Diamond and Satono Crown and Cheval Grand are the underdogs of S3 constantly trying to keep up with Kitasan Black.
Like the story of S3 is that yesterday's underdog is tomorrow's OP Threat and next week's past-their-prime.
COMING BACK TO THIS because I've been doing another rewatch and something else about S3's arc is hitting me. Like yes, I do think there is a storytelling problem in that a lot of of big moments happen in quiet moments, when Kitasan is having heart-to-hearts with people rather than something more dynamic and active. It's a very interesting set up for this season, but I don't think will hit as well if you're doing a sports anime with people who are expecting sports anime tropes and dynamics. It's just not the style for this genre.
But something else I am noticing is that Kitasan is a peak athlete who constantly struggles to find her reason for BEING an athlete. Like she's really good at being an athlete, loves working out, enjoys racing, could even be called a gymrat. But her primary motivation is making people happy, and racing is her way of trying to make people happy, but it feels more like she's doing it because watching Teio race made her happy, not because she's as invested in being a racer herself, if that makes sense? Like she is constantly put up against people who do have that heavy self-motivation and internal drive to RACE and it's those people who continually inspire her, but she falters when she loses because she doesn't have that core drive herself the way they do, which I think is why she falls into self-doubt and lacking in confidence as often as she does. I think part of the journey is finding that internal motivation herself instead of looking to others to inspire her into it.
I think this is also why people struggle to connect with Kitasan because she's someone who is really good at something who doesn't seem as invested in doing it as those around her, at least for self-fulfilling reasons. She's an athelete doing it completely because she's trying to please others and emulate others rather than having that core drive herself. It's also why her rivalry and friendship with Diamond is so good because Diamond's complete core is about racing. She is going to achieve that G1, she is going to break the jinx, and then move on to her next racing goal. Even if she is in part motivated by doing something for her family, her mindset is "I'm going to win a G1 race, then I'm going to win ANOTHER G1 race, and I will keep racing." Like it also shows in the difference in Kitasan's relationship with Teio versus Diamond's with McQueen.
Meanwhile Kitasan's main thing is that she just wants to make people happy, she finds value in doing for others and pleasing others and yeah she's competitive, but it's so much lower on her priority list than just...making people happy and finding her self-worth in her ability to do that. Which makes her so interesting to me because girl has to find her own drive and desire to race for herself, not just for everyone else, and it takes a while but she does, because she like realizes that racing makes her happy, too, and she's allowed to have that, not just focus on how to make others happy. That she has to want it for herself, not just want it so everyone can be happy at her for doing it. She can't just throw a festival for everyone else, she has to participate and enjoy it herself, too, or what was the point?
Stewing in some Symboli Rudolf thoughts and how badly I want a mini-series like Road to the Top for Rudolf, Mr C.B. and Katsuragi Ace.
Like I think it would be so interesting to get a mini-series about three careers colliding. Giving each Uma their own individual episode showing their progress and development and their motivations and their relationships with each other on and off over their careers, only to come to full fruition with the 1984 Japan Cup.
For C.B. you have the maverick, the outsider, the horse who does things her own way, goes where the wind takes her but she did that AND won the Triple Crown. And if we go with her canon backstory from the game, the fact her parents are a trainer and trainee who ran off together and it's kind of a scandalous thing could also impact her view on the world and how people see her and her accomplishments. How many people didn't believe she would amount to anything? How many people see her and think she doesn't have the drive or work ethic to win? Also she wins the Triple Crown, but the very next year they change the rules and her Triple Crown suddenly doesn't "count" as much as those going forward? I bet others would be really upset, but C.B. would just shrug about it. Katsuragi Ace is probably more offended on C.B.'s behalf than she is.
For Katsuragi Ace, you have a hardworker who loves the thrill of competition who struggles but never gives up and never looks down on those that beat her, instead coming to respect them even more, coming closer to them, even. Like for Ace, losing to CB is just motivation. Until it finally culminates in her beating C.B. in the Takarazuka Kinen, which could be hyped upeven more because IRL it was their first G1 against each other after the new ranking system was implemented in 1984, so maybe it's the first big race they have after the restructuring of the Twinkle Series. Maybe losing to Ace actually hits harder than C.B. thought it would, maybe losing helps her see Ace in a new way because Ace has always supported C.B. but not she really sees Ace for who she is, too. But that isn't the end of their rivalry, they still have more to come.
Then comes Rudolf. In Cinderella Gray, iirc Rudolf leaves Japan to spend some time in the US as a child and then comes back. She traveled abroad because her parents were set on making sure she learned/trained to be a leader. She's seen how badly some of the things can be for Umas in Japan and around the world. She is driven by an urge for things to be better for Uma, to give them opportunities she knows they don't always get. There is such a protective drive in Rudolf's need to lead that I really wish they would delve into so we can see where it comes from.
She wants to win the triple crown to become the leader, she's probably ALWAYS been that way. Maybe it's even where the nickname The Emperor comes from, not from winning the triple crown. I bet Sirius would give her a backhanded compliment nickname like that for being bossy and commanding. Then Rudolf comes back to Japan, ready to kick her training into high gear and for the triple crown, only to find out they are restructuring things, the Twinkle Series comes to fruition and now there's even more weight to everything. She sees it as her chance to prove herself and be the guiding light for other Umas (like if they wanted to draw more from IRL, they could even imply how much pressure she feels from her family because they put so much time and effort into her development).
But because of her commanding demeanor, and awkward way of engaging with her peers socially (girl how are you so charismatic when you suck as talking to people normally despite your best efforts) , maybe she can't connect to those in her own class. She has tried, but when it fails, Sirius also has been withdrawing from their friendship because she sees Rudolf has changed from how she was when they were little (becoming a shadow and a standard bar that Sirius feels trapped by), so Rudolf decides to focus more on accomplishing her goal, the Triple Crown. But who does she end up having a connection with? Who does she somehow end up bonding to? C.B. and Ace. The Triple Crown winner of the previous year and the confusing Uma who sees so strong and confident despite the fact that until then she had done miserably in the Classics, and had only won one notable race (the Kyoto Shimbun Hai). Only for Ace to win the Osaka Hai and be just as determined to beat C.B. the next time they faced each other...in the Takarazuka Kinen.
I think Rudolf could learn a lot from them and push herself forward...but not maybe learn the things she should be learning from either of them, as she pushes herself harder and harder, putting so much pressure on herself. She keeps winning, the stakes keep getting higher, she can't lose, she can't let anyone down. Maybe by the end, she's not even noticing how badly she's handling things. Achieving an Undefeated Triple Crown SHOULD have been the great feat that would bring it all together...but it doesn't. Because it's never enough. Two weeks after Kikuka Sho, she's running in the Japan Cup. Insane turn over for anyone and most people would insist this is a bad thing, someone probably even tries to convince Rudolf not to do it, but the media and the fans are expecting it, her family is expecting it, people expect Rudolf to just keep WINNING. So she can't say no. She can't let anyone down. Two weeks from running a 3000m race and now she's doing the Japan Cup.
Meanwhile you have Ace and C.B. whose rivalry isn't done yet, and C.B. beats Katsuragi in the Autumn Tenno Sho. Maybe Katsuragi is wondering why she did so poorly. 5th? After finally beating C.B. in the Takarazuka Kinen? Maybe this is the point where she does start to get down on herself, but she's not giving up. She won't let that negativity win. Maybe we even get a scene where Katsuragi sees what Rudolf is doing to herself and Rudolf insists she's using what she has learned from Ace and C.B. only for Ace to be like "you must not understand us at all, but I'll show you in the Cup." Finally they aren't just an upperclassmen and underclassmen with a burgeoning friendship. They are rivals. It really changes the tone and bam, here comes the Cup.
Come on it would be great we could totally get this, come on Cygames give us all of this.
Writers who can end on sad/bad endings are too powerful.
Not me writing the most fucked up, degrading, soul-wrenching, heart-breaking, existential conflict rending trauma onto my blorbos and just...letting it stay that way. Not trying to fix some of it. Not giving it at least a hopeful slant in the end???
Letting things stay broken and terrible and sad? I'm shaking and crying right now just thinking about doing that.
Hey there all you Autobots, Decepticons, Neutrals and others! The moment you've all been waiting for is here!
It's the 2026 Jazz Week prompt list!
This year, we're changing things up just a little from the usual format and adding wild card prompts! These are prompts you can swap in for a day's prompts if you don't like either of them but still want a bit of direction for your fills. These are optional, like all Jazz Week prompts, but we hope they inspire.
Remember, Jazz Week is all ages, all ratings and all types of creative works! Create freely and tag appropriately (during posting in July) and have fun!
See you July 19th!
And, as always, the text version of the prompts for those of us who can't see the graphic:
July 19: Space//Light Show
July 20: Planning//Past & Future
July 21: Trio//Peekaboo
July 22: Swing time//Care
July 23: Telephone Game//Ballad
July 24: Avalanche//Heist
July 25: Oath//On patrol
basically the best thing any character can do is decide they don't want to be afraid anymore - in fact they never want to be afraid of anything ever again - and take action so drastic they fail to realise that this too is a decision motivated by fear. or to account for the Consequences of that.
we all love dynamics that remind us of the moon and the sun but I am baffled by the lack of love for dynamics that are reminiscent of the moon and the EARTH.
I am so full of life but you are the reason my tides have a rhythm. you are the reason my oceans are brimming with life. you are the reason I can see the light in myself even when it all seems dark and you are the reason my orbit is stable and my seasons make sense. do you see it
The Moon exists because another planet crashed into the Earth. The planet that loved Earth so much it wanted to both be part of Earth, and leave a piece of itself to forever watch over it.
There is something profound in the subtle way that Beginning of a New Era shows the progression and closeness of Dantsu Flame and Manhattan Cafe's relationship.
The Uma who just wants to be seen and valued for her own efforts despite feeling invisible, and the Uma who sees things others can't and has faith in her own truths despite others doubting her.
so embarrassing to watch yourself become obsessed with a character that feels tailor made for you specifically to become obsessed with. feels like i fell into a trap made just for me. like damn they got me. those are all the things i like and go crazy for
The smaller the mech, the more it happens, the bigger the mech, the less often, but the stronger the reaction when it does.
The smaller the mech is, they barely even notice, potentially always slightly Ready To Go but the reaction is so minimal they can ignore it. Cassettes could be reproducing all the time, but eh, they don't feel like it right now, they're busy.
But once a millennia everyone has to evacuate their city so the Titans can get it on or you're going to die in the process from the force of how damn wild and uncontrollable it is. And oh look 100 years later, you get a new city-state out of it!
Something I'll always love about Earthspark is the emphasis it gives to alt modes. As far as I can remember, alt modes are generally treated as just a disguise or travel mode. TFP Knock Out is the only exception I can think of, but it's treated more like a vanity thing with him.
But in Earthspark, it's treated like a form of self expression. Nightshade initially doesn't want an alt mode since everyone talks about them as a way of completing yourself, but Nightshade is already confident in who they are, so they don't need completing. It's only when Tarantulas explains it as a way to express yourself that Nightshade changes their tune.
The fact they treat alt-modes as a personal thing to each mech is such a great aspect of the themes of individual expression and your own personal journey. How Nightshade sees alt-modes when explained they are about expression by Tarantulas, is different from how Jawbreaker sees alt-modes when finding the one that fits him the most after his discussion with Elita, where he wants to wait to find the RIGHT AND MOST PERFECT alt-mode for him, but then also feels held back and frustrated when it's not happening fast enough. Like he both wants to wait but also hates what waiting means and how he feels it limits him.
Whereas Twitch found hers by accident and it just Worked, it fit her and she loves it, and Thrash picked his for the emotional connection and bond it gave him with Mo, his forever ride-or-die.
And all journeys are seen as Valid And Correct. The journey is personal and that is all that matters.
Then you have Hashtag who jumps at the chance to get to pick out a new alt-mode, and probably would alt-mode hop with the trends or her own style/mood because that's how SHE relates to her alt-mode. Her alt-mode is fun and cool, but she isn't tied to it the way the others are and this is also seen as valid.
(And then there is Bee's whole thing about how he obviously has feelings about having to give up his other alt-mode even though he likes the one he has now, it's not the same and feels different and he's not sure it will ever feel as Right as the other one did and one that one hits you a little bit.)
