#shuteye

(intended as a stand in for tfone airachnid but still her own character separate from that)

She was once a lifeless computer called sentinel that tarantuals remade into what she is today. his loyal right-hand lady and his eyes to the outside world. Her story fills nightbird with false hope that joining the six clan is progress towards her goal

Ida is a strange creature, she doesn't speak unless spoken to and is completely socially inept, but is always watching and recoding everything, her Shuteyes are essentially the transformer version of tumors, pieces of her body that take on a pseudo life of their own and grow out of control, but thanks to being pumped full of dark energon they degrade at the same rate that they grow keeping her functional and allowing her to reanimate them as extra eyes she can see through

She sits at the top of the six clan's hierarchy even though she lacks the six modes they're known for and observes the whole world and reports it back to her master Tarantulas with utmost loyalty, as in her eyes he liberated her from a life of servitude, not realizing thats just a lie to get her to serve him.

Before she was a real transformer, ida was a computer called sentinel aboard the maximal ship the axalon, where she served as a security system during the beast wars, as the conflict progressed the axalon was eventually destroyed, and and sentinel was left behind at the bottom of the ocean, until the wounded tarantulas found it after everything was over and used it for parts to build him a loyal enforcer, tarantulas told ida of her origins spinning it to sound as though she was a slave of Tarantula's enemies which he freed, and now is endebted to him, inexperienced with the world she bought it wholesale and never questions tarantula's orders, in fact she has even grown to take some delight in the cruelty he has her inflict on people

Ida works alongside the bubbly and energetic Navi-ko to ensure the six clan do as tarantulas desires, their origins as lifeless machines are well known and learning of them led nightbird to believe they were the ideal people for her to be around and that the six clan would grant her the personhood she so desperately desires but realized too late that their even though they had sparks their lifestyles left them with no lives of their own, and stripped them of many things nightbird idealized about life that she didn't realize she already had. They have no personal connections, no hobbies, only their work, and used their own authority to reject any attempt at steering them away from that.

Happy Halloween! Perfect timing to share what I developed for the @LostBotsZine (which you can download for free here)

I designed an entire Halloween-themed squad (bc i was sad there wasn't one in the show)

The Trick O' Troupe is my fan-made (Not Canon) squad formed from leftover Specter Halloween merchandise (left in storage from the previous year) when the energon cloud struck the mall.

Isabella Rossellini’s portrayal of Rita Marks is among the most dynamic characterizations in the “Shut Eye” series. She plays the most excellent courtier who can be both seductively manipulative and a saboteur at a second’s notice. 

For me she really brings the entire story together and her character arc is the glue that stimulates the flow of all other characters as the plot plays out. 

I once knew a woman precisely as Rita Mark and I have never before seen her depicted or replicated so perfectly to nature on screen.

The entire show is well cast and my only sadness is that there are only two seasons of this exceptional show streaming now on Hulu. 

The avid show watcher will note appearances by cast members from the “Dexter” and “Better Call Saul” shows among other recognizable acting faces. Being one who fell in love with “Person of Interest” I was happy to also see familiar actors from that series as well.

Lastly to note, Jeffrey Donovan has the same genuine quality that I appreciated in David Carradine when he brought Woody Guthrie to the screen in Hal Ashby’s “Bound for Glory” film of the 1970’s.

The musical scoring of the series is exquisite. There is an intriguing cross section of forbidden romance. It is satisfactory that the lead heroine drives a fucking Pontiac. I love the appearance of the old Indian head test pattern. I also appreciate the cigarette lighting doll in the sauna…

(Spoiler alert) Nothing spells out an era better than fucking Tab.

Criticism is not criticism without criticism:

“Shut Eye” has a little bit of wokeism in it, but not too much. There is way too much alcohol promotion. The series does become a smidgen long winded, but it was still enjoyable. The story becomes discombobulated at times, but that mystic is part of its intrigue.

—Boink Da Boinkety Boink Boink

Strategy # 1 – The Bell ~ From a Dad in North Carolina.

Kids don’t like surrendering control of their situations.  Since they can’t tell time you can imagine how their stomachs drop when we announce “its bedtime!”  Sure, giving them a 5-minute warning helps, but when that 5-minutes turns into 30 minutes because we got distracted then you’ve conditioned the child to understand that “5-minutes before bedtime” could be 1 more commercial break or could be an entire episode start to finish.  So when you finally try to round them up for bed they are more likely to be surprised and defiant and put up their defensive maneuvers.

SOLUTION:  If you give them an X minute warning, set a timer.  When the bell rings, that’s it.  There’s no arguing with the bell.  If YOU respect the bell ALWAYS, then THEY will respect it too.  There can never be a bell reset or you’ve undermined the authority of the bell forever.

Bedtime Strategy Intro