Stop saying 'quest'

London-based robot fan. Old enough to know better. Secret fanfic writer, occasional bad doodler, frequent liveblogger of MTMTE. Loves a good quest. 

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MTMTE 53 thoughts part 2: The Chromedomeing

In which Thumb rambles at great length, you are warned

Ugggh okay here I go. I’ve made a few recent posts speculating about Chromedome’s mental state and it seems like I was fairly close to the mark. It’s notable that even though he knows injecting is damaging him badly, and even though he's feeling physically unwell, he keeps doing it anyway. At this point I think it’s 50/50 addiction and his pathological need to be useful/wanted - if he can just glean that information from the “turbofox”, he’ll have potentially saved everyone. He’ll have served a purpose, mattered for all of five minutes. It doesn’t matter that he’s going to emerge from the experience a smoking wreck. We are dealing with an individual whose estimation of self-worth is critically low. He’ll gladly damage himself irreversibly if someone in authority asks him to. That’s not the sign of a healthy mind.

And then Dominus. Oh man. Chromedome’s self-esteem issues, fear of his own worthlessness and addiction to mnemosurgery & the brief power it allows has led him to make some really, really bad choices in the past. He’s done some selfish things - mostly out of fear, but selfish all the same. And it's led him to hurt Rewind as well. In the space of a few minutes, Chromedome discovers the ‘Pet’s’ true identity and makes an almost immediate decision: fix Dominus, bring him back, make Rewind happy again. And implicit in this - the judgement that Dominus is unquestionably worth more than him, is absolutely the better person and will make Rewind happier than Chromedome ever could. Chromedome judges, finds himself irreversibly wanting, and chooses Rewind’s perceived happiness over his own life.

He could have gone the opposite way: hidden everything, erased Dominus's mind, covered up the problem. Kept Rewind in blissful ignorance just to keep them together longer. He could have done that - it would have been in character for him - but he didn't.

It’s fucked up as all hell, but it’s also oddly unselfish, at least seen from Chromedome’s warped perspective. And you have to look at the context to see why he might have made this choice. As I mentioned in previous posts, Rewind lately has been talking a lot about Dominus. His last will and testament contrasts sharply with Chromedome’s - CD speaks of his wish to be interred with Rewind, whereas Rewind’s message is to Dominus. Rewind is right when he tells Chromedome it wasn’t his choice to make, but it’s also not difficult to see why Chromedome believed he was making the choice Rewind himself would make.

Chromedome’s selfishness, stupidity and bad choices led to Rewind 1′s death (among other things - the pushing and enabling by Prowl, Drift & Rodimus are not insignificant factors here either.) Ever since he got his second chance with Rewind 2 there’s been the constant spectre of Dominus between them, more than before, and Chromedome connects the dots - Rewind got Chromedome back, but perhaps he really wishes it was Dominus.  Chromedome is not known for his measured solutions to problems - his usual tactic is to pretend there isn’t a problem. He sees Dominus, and sees a way to make everything right again: erase himself. Save Dominus. Make Rewind happy. Remove himself from the picture. (He’ll be dead - it’s not like it’ll hurt him.) Set Rewind free from the burden that is Chromedome. Never hurt him ever again. It’s suicide, but it’s also a sacrifice. Himself for Dominus, and for Rewind’s happiness. How poorly must he think of himself? (The worst bit is the excitement he exhibits when Rewind comes in - ‘I found Dominus for you!’ Like he’s doing this really wonderful thing by giving Rewind the second chance he OUGHT to have had.)

(It's also a callback to way back when - Chromedome’s solution to his self-loathing back then was suicide too. Rewind saved him then as well.)

Deep breath.

The image of Chromedome lying on the floor, sans arm just as in Under Cold Blue Stars, only with Rewind beside him now...well played, MTMTE. Well played indeed.

(Another interesting point: Chromedome says ‘the original agent 113′, possibly implying another agent 113? And - Prowl must have known all along. He must have known Dominus Ambus was Agent 113, and you can bet he knew Rewind & Chromedome were looking for him. Judging from Chromedome’s reaction on reading DA’s memories, Prowl never told him.)

- Rewind punching Rodimus....honestly, Rodimus has needed that wake-up call for a long time. He is an enabler. I don’t think he’s ever done it with malicious intent, but there is a certain wilful ignorance and probably a selfishness in the way he’ll gladly employ a person’s skills without considering what that might do to them - even without the addiction factor, mnemosurgery is dangerous. Remember when he asked CD to read the mind of alternate!rodimus’s corpse? Remember Chromedome telling Rodimus it could kill him, and Rodimus’ dismissal? I love Rodimus a whole lot, but he needs to learn that some things are bigger than ‘what he wants’, and that just because he’s a risk-taker doesn’t mean it’s okay to assume that of everyone around him.

I think it matters that Rewind chose Chromedome - and again I think context matters here too. Injecting has always been an unquestionably negative thing in Rewind’s mind, for all kinds of reasons. Here's a conflict presented: Chromedome injecting & damaging himself = bad, Dominus Ambus being alive = good. Chromedome injecting = selfish, Chromedome working to undo the damage done to Dominus = unselfish. Rewind chooses Chromedome, and it echoes what he said to Megatron when he thought he was going to blip out of existence - back then, Rewind had the option to continue searching for Dominus, but chose to die, reasoning that if Chromedome was already dead, he too could accept death.

Rewind has been deeply traumatised by his experience with the DJD, and understandably so. He and Chromedome both had to adjust to the reality of being reunited with someone who both is and is not the person you loved & lost. And there's an interesting similarity in him learning about Dominus' secret 'irreducible form', his ability to load-bear, and his eventual disappearance as Agent 113 - a choice Dominus made, effectively leaving Rewind behind. Dominus did exactly what Chromedome has done - hiding important secrets, going off on secret missions (and both for Prowl...) If he had romanticised Dominus's memory before, that has been shattered somewhat.

(As an aside, there's a somewhat unpleasant irony in that Dominus' own Ambus test might well have kept anyone else from suspecting a sentient mind lurked beneath the Pet's own - the assumption that a Turbofox is, by default, a slavish beast. His 'punishment' is related directly to his own theory, which is kind of awful.)

The next time Chromedome injects, it will probably kill him. Who knows what kind of damage has been done, and whether any of it is repairable. I wonder if this is the final wake-up call? If Rewind physically amputating his arm (his needle-arm too, those instruments Rewind hates so much, and understandably so) will mean he finally removes the needles? Will Rewind asserting his choice - and therefore validating Chromedome's existence as someone wanted and valuable, because he can never seem to believe that for himself - mean that Chromedome can finally leave behind mnemosurgery as a means of quantifying his existence? Can he consider himself 'good enough' now?

(I wonder, then, what Chromedome's Big Bad Secret is? I'm thinking it's not mnemosurgery related at all. Prowl specifically states it's not shadowplays or lobotomies - so what's left? What could Chromedome have done that he regards as so bad he has to keep it a secret? Chromedome, who gives Cyclonus a second chance despite what he did at Kimia, who gives Drift a second chance despite his previous life, who gives Megatron a second chance...but apparently thinks he won't get one, or deserve one? I wonder.)

And...now their quest is fulfilled, will Rewind and Chromedome stay on the Lost Light?

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MTMTE 53 thoughts: scattered thoughts + Megatron

okay I’m saving the Chromedome (and Rewind) thoughts for a separate post because when your favourite fuckup gets a spotlight - and what a spotlight - it’s really, really difficult not to yammer on forever about it. So, below, the random thoughts about the issue, plus a bit about Megatron.

So, okay first off:

- FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC. It’s really interesting seeing the Amica Endurae ceremony, as a slice of Camien culture alien to Cybertron but readily adopted. All participants seemed to know what was expected of them. It’s good to see friendship spotlighted here, especially among a few cast members who are known to be less skilled in social matters (I’m looking at you, Nightbeat.) I wonder what this means in the long term? How will the Cybertronians adopt this concept into their existing culture?

- Give me ALL the Lotty exchanging medical notes with Ratchet. I love robot medicine, I love how competent they both are, how grumpy Ratchet is but admiring of Lotty's own skills and record-keeping. I want them to be doctor BFF's.

- I can’t help but think that Rung’s mysterious alt-mode is going to come into play in Nightbeat’s investigation of the hollow planet...

- Whirl is like an excitable puppy, and I actually love that he's kind of invested in Cyclonus' relationship with Tailgate. He and Cyclonus have a really interesting bond, and it's been slowly building for a long time - there's a clear warrior's respect there, but I think also a genuine friendship. And it's clear that Whirl thinks Cyclonus' reasoning for his distance is bullshit. He saw how hard Cyclonus fought for Tailgate and that's a simple enough equation in his estimation. (He's right, btw. Cyclonus had a dodgy start with Tailgate and behaved appallingly, but he's redeemed himself imo - willingly sacrificing his own life so that Tailgate might stand a chance is quite a distance from beating up a defenceless minibot all those issues ago.) Interesting parallel here between Cyclonus' 'not being good enough' for Tailgate and Chromedome's more extreme take on that same perception.

- How will Tailgate cope if he does lose his powers? If a character is going to die in the next issue, will it be as a result of this? Either Tailgate himself, or someone saving him? I can’t see it being Cyc because we’ve already had that emotional gutpunch. But Whirl, maybe....?

- Megatron needs to step up. Bear with me a sec, because I'm not for one minute suggesting he should renounce nonviolence - I strongly believe that he can contribute positively to this effort without harming anybody.

When I say he needs to step up, I think there's a certain amount of reality-facing Megs needs to engage in here. The DJD are his monster. He created them, knowingly or otherwise, and their intended destruction of the Autobot crew stems from the rhetoric Megs himself espoused in the war. And when Megs says he's scared, I don't believe for a minute it's death or pain that scares him - he's repeatedly been shown in the past to not fear death, to actively embrace it in some instances.

No, I think he's afraid of his own legacy. Of facing up to it, and potentially leaving that behind as all that remains of him. I think he saw the flowers in that field and realised that if he were to die tomorrow without making things right, that is what the world would remember him by. A tyrant, a dictator, a murderer. The DJD are the metaphorical children of his own philosophy. Megs finds himself physically weakened, rendered largely powerless by the fools energon. He's turned his back on all the things he never wanted to be - all the things the DJD embody. Effectively, in facing them down, he's facing himself down - he might have changed his ways, but in order to leave behind a better legacy, a better world, he has to find a way to neutralise the DJD. Force is not an option, by choice and by circumstance.

(also: it's hypocritical of him to claim nonviolence as a moral choice but agree to coordinate the violence of others. He can't pretend to be making a moral stand just because he's not the one holding the gun, so to speak.)

Megs needs to step up. Stop hiding. Remember who he is. And that involves facing up to who he was, as well. Megs is an orator, a wordsmith, a speaker. His power is in his words, and always has been. He doesn't have to fight, but he does have to be willing to put himself in the firing line - and that means risking death before he can fix the damage he has done. But he can change things. He created an entire political movement with his words - he started a war with the power of thought. I don't think it's unbelievable to suggest that he can use that same power again.

(if you'll allow me to be a bit self indulgent here, I feel like the lyrics to 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' are surprisingly relevant here - speaking of the warrior-poet Megs started off as, and the repentant dictator he is today, cowering in the wake of his own destructive legacy:

You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon/Shine on you crazy diamond/Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light/Shine on you crazy diamond/Well you wore out your welcome with random precision, rode on the steel breeze/Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!

[screwyourspacemagic]

It was Dominus’ test of sentience that was so exclusive that it systematically oppressed sentient beings to this day (Ten).

That Dominus wound up becoming a victim to his own test’s exclusions of consideration when he led his life as ‘The Pet’ seems like a twisted version of poetic justice. 

No doubt that was Tarn’s purpose in his ‘punishment’. 

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MTMTE #53 preview

i think i was right about chromedome

he’s going to kill himself and I am genuinely devastated

why do i always love the fucked-up characters

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a “talking about my favourite character who didn’t even appear in MTMTE 52″ post

You guessed it. This is a Chromedome post. Warnings for mentions of suicide, addiction and self-harm under the cut.

So CD is still recovering from injecting Tailgate, which Nautica points out was months ago. Rewind explains that with every injection, the recovery takes longer and longer - and that one day, CD won’t recover at all.

(Worth noting here that CD probably has injected since Tailgate - Rung asked him to take care of Skids when his memories were being returned all at once, and presumably this would’ve involved CD injecting Skids. If this is the case, it’s not much of a leap to assume that a still-weak mnemosurgeon injecting before they’ve fully recovered is not a good thing at all.)

CD needs to stop injecting. Period. It’s bad for him psychologically, and it’s bad for him physically. In recent issues we’ve only known him to inject when he’s asked to - usually by Rodimus, but not exclusively. I don’t know if Rodimus is aware of how dangerous mnemosurgery is, or whether he knows that Chromedome is an addict - my guess is that Rodimus has probably never considered it. Not out of cruelty or ignorance, but purely on the basis that if something needs to be done - reading dead!Rodimus’ memories, injecting Tailgate - then everything else is just details. But it’s still a fact that enabling an addict is a surefire way to hamper their recovery. And Chromedome is an addict. (Sunder lampshades this in a previous issue - referring to mnemosurgeons in general, but uncomfortably apt when considering CD’s situation.)

Chromedome can say no. He can remove his needles and never inject again. Both of these are true. However, the mechanics of addiction mean that these two simple solutions are not actually simple at all - and CD’s mental and emotional fragility compound this problem. Without going too far into it, because I’ve talked about this at length before, the problems here are twofold: 1) discarding his identity as a mnemosurgeon is probably a very difficult step for someone with an inflated view of their own worthlessness & uselessness 2) addiction, by it’s very nature, makes it incredibly difficult to stop. This is not intended to excuse the choices he makes (i’m not remotely interested in turning a complex, difficult, flawed character into a poor needy woobie) but I do think it needs to be taken into account when considering them. Addiction doesn’t remove a person’s agency, but it does cloud judgement and make it harder to do the right thing, and Chromedome is consciously not doing the right thing.

I mean - let’s face it, you have to ask serious questions about an individual who knows they’re killing themselves, but can’t stop engaging in the activity killing them. There are enough alcoholics in my family for me to understand this - ‘just stop doing it’ isn’t a good enough answer when you can no longer control your attitude towards the thing you’re doing. Even if it’s going to kill you. And we already know Chromedome has vowed to stop - and failed, over and over. He doesn’t like that he injects, but he likes injecting. This is an incredibly difficult habit to break, and so ‘just say no’ - while an eminently sensible and worthy solution to Rodimus’ requests - is also inadequate in the face of what’s going on in CD’s head.

He knows he’s going to die if he keeps doing it. And still, he keeps doing it.

(And I can’t help but wonder if all this Dominus Ambus business is making the self-worth issue worse. What’s the point in staying alive & getting better for Rewind when he’s ultimately looking so hard for his #1? And of course, on the surface he appears to be fine with it. Because Chromedome doesn’t do ‘addressing problems’. It’s not a healthy mindset at all.)

CD needs a lot of things - i’m thinking several sessions with Rung for starters, followed by a large kick up the arse and a bloody good talking to, the realisation that he is worth more than just his profession, a hefty dose of willpower and crewmates who support the healing process by not asking him to indulge in his addiction. Maybe then, he’ll be in a position to remove his needles and stop injecting for good.

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MTMTE current issues - CD-RW thought

ever since Rewind lost it and ‘killed’ Megatron, I feel like there’s a been a subtle change in the dynamic between him and Chromedome, and subsequently Chromedome’s attitude. It’s very subtle and I could very well be reading a lot into this.

(Disclaimer: I could be wrong about everything.)

Previously it’s been established that Rewind does a lot to help maintain Chromedome’s somewhat fragile mental and emotional state - he’s been a pillar of strength for Chromedome through some hard times. It seems to me as though this has reversed: Chromedome has been shown repeatedly since the Megatron incident offering Rewind emotional support. He encouraged Rewind to ask Rodimus to visit the Necrobot’s planet, supported him through his uncertainty and eventual decision to look for the truth about Dominus. (Hell, even his mnemosurgery offer was more ‘let’s go back to not knowing’ than ‘let’s erase Dominus and solve the problem’, which seems a lot more measured than Chromedome’s usual solutions to emotional problems.) When Rewind suffered the psychic attack, Chromedome was there to back him up, and reminded him he didn’t have to disclose anything he didn’t want to.  (Interestingly, we don’t know whether Chromedome suffered that attack, and if so, what he heard.)

Is this good for Chromedome? Well, yes and no, IMO. I think it’s been fairly well established that one of Chromedome’s (many, many) issues is an almost pathological need for purpose, to be wanted, to be useful. This probably has roots in his being constructed cold and therefore viewed as inherently inferior, and it’s probably one of the precipitating factors in his mnemosurgery addiction, and his unwillingness to say no when someone asks him to inject. Largely, it’s a personality flaw which has led him to make bad choices and do bad things. Here, with Rewind, he gets to exercise that need to be useful in a way that benefits Rewind too - because I think right now Rewind, traumatised as he is, really needs that support and unwavering love.

Why could it also be bad? I’m somewhat uncomfortable with Rewind’s obsession with Dominus, at least when it comes to his current relationship - it sometimes reads a little like Rewind (unintentionally) rubbing Chromedome’s metaphorical nose in his prior relationship and we already know Chromedome feels inferior to Dominus. And Rewind sure is mentioning Dominus a lot lately.

Now, suddenly, it’s like Chromedome doesn’t really mind - as long as it makes Rewind happy, he’ll go along with it. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself, especially if it means Chromedome is finally coming to terms with Rewind’s past, but I’m not completely certain that’s true - we know how good Chromedome is at repressing stuff he doesn’t want to deal with right now. I can’t help but wonder if Chromedome is intentionally bottling any negative emotions in a bid to help Rewind feel better, and to help heal that breach between them in the wake of Rewind’s ‘resurrection’, and while the intention is good, I don’t know that it’s the best way of dealing with things...it certaintly hasn’t led Chromedome anywhere good in the past.

[raccattacc]

first aid, M.D. in love

[onegun-deactivated20181103]

you are cruellest to yourself

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one of the cool tidbits from the talk with jro at Orbital last night was when he pointed out that even though we follow the adventures of this group of guys, it's good to remember that in the wider hierarchy of the Lost Light they're not necessarily important, or even well-liked - in fact, in some cases the other bots probably think they're total weirdos. We're emotionally invested in these robots and get to follow them first hand, but to someone less intimately familiar with their everyday lives, they're neither important nor especially likeable. And it's interesting to consider how the other LL bots might view those we've come to love. Cyclonus? Sullen asshole who's only useful in a fight. Swerve? Shut up loudmouth and give me my goddamn engex. Whirl? Don't let that weirdo near sharp objects. Chromedome? Miserable screw-up with scary needles. Tailgate? What the hell's he good for anyway?

We love these guys, and see their value, but for the most part they're just bartenders, cannon fodder, waste disposal bots, eccentric scientists. Even those who do (presumably) rank highly either have objectionable personalities (Rodimus, Magnus) or haven't been around long enough to form any kind of bond with anyone (Velocity, Nautica)

[tinypolipo-moved-deactivated201]

No one is allowed to forget how beautiful, cute, and wonderful this bots sweet face is.

Look at him, love him.

[thistlebot]

More On Megatron and Nonviolence

I think that to understand Megatron’s perception of things in MTMTE, Chaos Theory, and Dark Cybertron, it’s important to understand nonviolence as something that can be a moral belief but also a tactical choice in the face of overwhelming force - two ways of viewing things that don’t always necessarily overlap.

I’m not sure that Megatron’s nonviolence was ever about the amorality of violence. I think it was always more about the impracticality of violence as a tactic of social change. I think Megatron never doubted that violence in the name of his cause was justified - he just didn’t think it would be effective.

Megatron was close friends with Impactor, after all. If he had some profound moral problem with the use of violence, you’d think this would’ve caused some kind of issue for him. It didn’t seem to.

And when Megatron discusses nonviolent direct action with Impactor in Chaos Theory, he never uses moralistic arguments. Instead, he uses tactical ones. Megatron never says “we should use nonviolent methods because violence is wrong.” He says “Violence won’t work, and this will.” His position on nonviolent direct action is entirely defined by what he sees as its superior effectiveness, not its moral superiority.

And I don’t think Megatron’s change of philosophy in Chaos Theory came about because he thought violence wasn’t justified and then changed his mind. I don’t think it was ever even a question of that to him. I think what changed was his perception of the effectiveness of violent tactics. He changed his mind because the violence of the state almost silenced him, and almost erased the new ideas he thought would change the world.

Considering this, I think Megatron’s change of philosophy in Dark Cybertron has also been, at least to some degree, a tactical decision.

Megatron talks openly about this with Bumblebee. When he talks about his use of violence in the revolution and the war, he isn’t talking about it from a moral perspective. He doesn’t say “All that killing was morally wrong.”

Instead, Megatron talks about his use of violence as a tactical error.  He doesn’t say “When I used violence, I lost the moral high ground” or “I lost sight of my ideals.” That kind of thinking is Optimus Prime’s territory - Megatron has always been eminently practical. Megatron doesn’t say that his use of violence made him lose his moral center - he says that it made him lose the war.

And while I do think Bumblebee had a big part in Megatron’s change during Dark Cybertron, I think another big part of his change was because of Starscream.

Megatron sees Starscream accomplish something he’s tried at again and again and failed. Before Dark Cybertron begins, Megatron has recently failed at yet another attempt at violent conquest.

Starscream succeeds where Megatron has failed, and he does it using only covert violence, when he uses violence at all. Like Megatron says, Starscream accomplished what he did by “winning people over,” not by overt force.

This is what Megatron talks to Bumblebee about before Bumblebee’s death - Starscream’s success where they both failed. Megatron talks about how he tried to win through violence at Simanzi and failed. And again, he doesn’t talk about this as a moral failure, but as a purely tactical one. Starscream’s mostly-nonviolent tactics succeeded where Megatron’s overtly-violent attempt at conquest failed utterly. And that - a re-evaluation of the effectiveness of violence and of the costs of violence compared to the benefits - are a big part of what fueled Megatron’s shift in behavior.

[thistlebot]

I wrote this in response to MTMTE 44, but I feel like this is a good time to repost it.

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MTMTE 49 - scattered thoughts

- Getaway. Holy shit. From a logical point of view, it makes sense to hobble the escapologist & smooth talker by removing his tools, so to speak. But from an ethical point of view? Appalling, frankly (was stasis not an option?) I feel like Rodimus makes a lot of these kinds of choices - he’s addressing the root of a problem without taking into account the moral and ethical implications of his decisions. Is removing a bot’s voicebox & limbs so different from empurata?

(I don’t think Tailgate knew the extent of what had been done to him - he only seemed able to see what we could see through the window. I hope not, anyway...it doesn’t seem Tailgate’s style to approve of torture.)

- Chekhov’s model ships! Rung was pretty cool in this issue, putting himself in harm’s way to keep Skids (and everyone else) safe. As for his choice at the end? I think it was the right thing to do. He says he disagrees with the tribunal’s decision (I’d love to know more about this - what were the circumstances?) but by stepping down, he’s being honest with his patients. I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of medical personnel working while struck off (this is a real thing that happens in real life and it’s an ethical minefield.) It’s a shame, as he is clearly very good at what he does, but it was also the honest thing to do.

- Skid’s memories...when Chromedome refused to unearth them I wasn’t sure he’d made the right decision, but I think he was justified given the circumstances. Skids can hardly be held responsible for what he did (he was extremely naive, though) but between Rung’s assertion that returning those memories in one swoop would be damaging, and the content of the memories...I can see why Chromedome chose to protect Skids. His indirect hand in Quark’s death just makes the whole thing all the more heartbreaking, especially since he genuinely believed he was doing a good thing for him.

- This issue is essentially a friendly reminder that Tarn is a terrible person.

- Lots of body horror in this issue - Thunderclash being turned inside-out was brilliantly drawn. (Poor Thunders!)

- I can’t help but hear Sunder’s voice as Him from the Powerpuff Girls

- Sunder’s speech about a mnemosurgeon’s fate...I hope we’re not seeing Chromedome’s fate foreshadowed. It seems like addiction is a common thing among mnemosurgeons, and Chromedome’s skills have been used a lot lately. Rung, obviously choosing the greater good - Skids’ acute emotional and neurological trauma - over Chromedome’s long-term addiction (I’m assuming here that Rung is aware of this) and associated health issues of mnemosurgery. I understand and support his choice but it’s also interesting to observe how many times Chromedome is called into use by a crew who almost certainly know Chromedome’s issues with injecting.

- Megatron denouncing violence seems to have been on the cards since at least the flower field, if not before then. I sincerely hope this isn’t just going to be revoked when Tarn shows up - I’d absolutely love to see a nonviolent solution at least explored.

[koch43-deactivated20191213]

Chromedome.

I owe Shioshio this from 2015 December to now, finally completed.

[mazzlebee]

could you do a rung with C8 if youre still doing the emoji challenge? if not sorry to bother you!!

This might be the last one I do! I dunno! Maybe I’ll pick them up again some other time! C:

[thumb-quest-blog]

no but I seriously think Dominus Ambus isn’t all he’s cracked up to be.

Whose testimony do we have to go on? Rewind’s, and Chromedome’s. Obviously Rewind thinks DA is pretty special, and obviously Chromedome totally believes everything Rewind has to say on the subject.

Who else? Minimus Ambus, whose relationship with Dominus seems strained, to say the least. He’s been pretty cagey on the subject of Dominus since the start.

The Ambus test is clearly deeply flawed - as illustrated by Ravage, and also by Ten, both of whom exhibit obvious sentience and agency, albeit in an atypical way. It seems odd to me that someone who championed the rights and equality of the ‘disposable’ class should invent such a restrictive and arbitrary test. Minimus’ subsequent defence of and friendship with Ten suggests he also disagrees. There’s also the matter of his relationship with Rewind, and the questionable ethics in starting a relationship with an individual who is, under the laws of your society, basically a servant. Or slave, even. You can’t help who you fall in love with, though...

I don’t know, maybe Dominus is genuinely a super amazing, smart, top-notch guy, but something about him sets alarm bells ringing.

[thistlebot]

SotW #2 - Jonah and the Whale

Having Prowl swallowed by the whale is perfect. 

Prowl is Jonah, running from the sins that he’s committed. The Wreckers are the crew of the ship he sails on. Like the crew, they suspected his shady behavior but turned a blind eye to it while it benefited them. And now, they’re unwilling to cast their Jonah overboard to save themselves.

Inside the whale Jonah truly faces what he’s done, accepts his punishment as just, and is forgiven. I wonder what Prowl will do? 

[squiddybiddy]

This totally happened before they exploded.

[freelyclearsoul]

xd

[velvet-apricots]

@bammshee