#mod dez

how delightful is this!!!

Dez on this one. So I’ve been thinking about it and I think what I want to talk about is the first lesson scene, where Starscream thinks this:

Magnus hasn’t smiled for him since that night in the garden, when he thought he was watching the stars with a dashing philanthropist. If he smiled now for the real Starscream, laid bare in the daylight, what would it be like?

Starscream has systematically had his ability to defend himself stripped off. Without his persona as the Best Person, without his pretenses of a moral high ground Starscream basically has to take whatever Magnus dishes out, if he wants to avoid losing his home here. Every other time in his life where Starscream has been in a vulnerable position at the bottom of the social ladder, someone above him has kicked him in the face. 

Starscream has to admit he doesn’t know something, which he HATES. And he fully expects Magnus to take this opportunity to Put Him in His Place. He doesn’t really think that he’ll be learning anything in this class–in his mind it’s a power game Magnus is playing to punish him and make him feel inadequate. The moment Magnus says, “oh, I’m sorry, let’s back up and give you the tools you need” is the moment Starscream realizes that Magnus genuinely wants to help him improve himself. Magnus actually cares if he learns this stuff, and rewards him for engaging with the material. 

For the first time since Skyfire, Starscream feels as if he could possibly allow someone to see his whole self, in full, and not be punished for it. We were talking about it in the group chat as it was being written and the idea of a “daylight self” arrested my attention. Especially in contrast to the person Starscream was pretending to be, in the garden, the previous night. 

I think this moment, as much as the failed seduction, is the moment that really showed Starscream what Magnus/Minimus’ character was. It’s not just that he doesn’t want to hurt Starscream, it’s that he genuinely wants to help him.

Sure! We have a queue that I set up a couple months in advance, but we’ve done a little bonus run of Mississippi stuff today to break it up! Hope you like it!

*Okay, so, good news, Spring Break’s a thing for me, so now I have a lot of time to catch up on drawing and Stand Royale things! *..Bad news, I’m busy Sunday too. Gonna be at a con and maybe at a friend’s house after that. *But!! I swear to you! I’ll have at the bare minimum my Stand Royale OC!