AUDIO POST

[popculturecon]

Hey! Excuse me! Anyone on this line?

[This voice sounds... like you are talking to Guyman himself. Musical and modulated, and kind of sort of loud]

Since when did Cybertron have grass? Or... y'know still be here? The fact that it's still... I mean that it's not... y'know really... dead and stuff is sort of-

NO REALLY WHY IS THERE GRASS HERE?

[He sounds pretty disturbed by this]

Not that grass is bad! I like grass, it was great on earth, if... y'know anyone here has been there at all, but like- Is that a farm? ... There's a tiny farm he- Did anyone see the tiny farm? Oh my god, I have to get a picture of this no wait, hold on.

Comments

[knight_light]

[He holds up a hand, chuckling.] Easy, slow down.

What I really want to know, is why you picked up the sword to begin with.

[popculturecon]

Well... Because the war started, and I'm Megatron's third, and one day, I'm going to have to defend myself.

I can't have no weapons, and Laserbeak has a laser blaster on it already so...

[knight_light]

[He motions Soundwave to come sit by him.]

Will you tell me about your war? And your reason for joining?

Sorry if this is weird, I am in a poor area for thinkiiiing

[popculturecon]

[He sort of flops down next to him, every inch an awkward young mech who doesn't seem to know what to do with those long limbs]

Well... It kinda started with Optimus Prime. He was Optronix once, but he had some pretty uh... nasty ideas before he actually went nuts. He apparently found some old artifact while he was acting as a data clerk. The Matrix? He added it to himself and it just sort of drove him insane. He's got some kind of charisma though, because he managed to convince a ton of other mechs to follow him.

Right around the time he started gaining power, Megatron started getting involved too. If anything just because y'know... someone had to stand up to him. He was my math teacher- My favorite teacher, like... Like he was the only mech who ever managed to block my telepathy.

We got really close in the Academy, and well, when he became the Decepticon figurehead and leader, I had to join.

Works for me!

[knight_light]

[He finds himself gaping for a moment, just...shocked at the differences! But finally nods.]

I take it you don't know how to use your sword at all?

[popculturecon]

Not... at all. I just kinda got the mod at the start of the war. I tried using it once but it was... I sucked.

[knight_light]

It's not something you can just pick up and master instantly.

Come. Let's see what you can do. You need to find your center, your balance, that's the first step.

[popculturecon]

I know...

Okay, alright so-

[He cycles out his blade. It's a short thing, made for quick jabs and fast movements.

Wanna know how long this dumb baby has had this sword?

Yeah he just sort of stands like he's in Mortal Kombat. LIKE THIS RIGHT idefkman]

No one really had any time to teach me when the war started.

[knight_light]

[He shakes his head.] Put the blade away, Soundwave. Until you find your center, you're not ready to worry about a blade.

Stand like you expect someone to try to push you down.

[popculturecon]

Oh! Okay-

[Probably best that's not out so he doesn't nick someone. He adjusts his stance a little wider and hunkers down his shoulders a bit.]

Lllliiike... that?

[knight_light]

[You're too hunched up, kid. He steps up and gives Soundwave a push, it's not hard, but it's firm. He's not aiming to hurt or actually knock Soundwave off his feet, but it's likely the young bot will stumble.]

[popculturecon]

[WHOOPS. Well he does stumble, and he stumbles a lot, trips, and then gets his balance back]

Hey!

[knight_light]

[Wing will also reach to steady him.]

That is what happens when your balance is off.

[Wing's gonna get hands on now, kid. He'll put a hand on Soundwave's chest and another on his back and kind of shift him a bit until Wing can feel where Soundwave's center of gravity is.]

Feet apart. little more. Right there. Knees bent a little. And stand up straight. Don't tense and never hunch, it only lessens your speed and your body's ability to quickly adjust. Now. We'll try again.

[Wing will shove again, harder this time even! But Soundwave should have a much easier time keeping his balance this time.]

Could you feel the difference?

[popculturecon]

[Well he listens to everything, steadying himself carefully, widening his stance and straightening as he bent his knees a little. It felt a bit funny to adopt such a pose, but in the end, it worked.

He took the shove, but didn't stumble as badly as he had the first time, letting out a brief, musical trill of laughter]

Yeah! Okay no yeah, I can see the difference.

[knight_light]

[Wing smiles.] Good. It's a stance that needs to become like second nature to you. You need to learn to move with your center in mind. It'll take some practice, but I'm confident you can do it.

[popculturecon]

I can do that, yeah... So like... how... do I do that I can't... walk around like that all day.

I get stared at enough already.

[knight_light]

[He chuckles.] You can. You're standing up straight, keeping your center of gravity over your hips. Whenever you stop and stand you'll stand with feet apart, knees just slightly bent.

[Actually, if Soundwave observes Wing, he's standing like that now, seeming completely at ease. The mech moves with grace and a lightness to his step.]

It's not as strange as you think.

[popculturecon]

[Pretty much how his positive universe iteration stands]

OOooh. Okay, alright. Yeah. I'll... I'll try that, then!

I guess I don't get to try out the sword until I get this down, huh.

[knight_light]

Small steps, Soundwave.

I'll show you some exercises that will help.

[popculturecon]

Okay... Alright so uh... I'll work on this.

Caaaan weeee... do sword stuff next week?

[knight_light]

We will do "sword stuff" when you're ready for it.

Be patient.

Besides, you will need to know what to do should you ever lose your swords, and this will help.

[He'll motion Soundwave over to his side and will start to walk him through some kata exercises.]

[popculturecon]

But it's attached to me...

[But he's very eager to jump on board, and goes to follow along. At the very least, as long as he has a reference, his poise and motions are spot on. The wonders of having a photographic memory]

Okay... Y'know, I think I saw this stuff in a movie once.

[knight_light]

That doesn't mean someone can't take it off of you. [You're a skinny thing, Soundwave, he knows mechs who could probably break you rather easily. But he's going to train you so that you're not so easy to take down.]

[He smiles...he's not seen many movies that weren't made on Cybertron, but he can imagine Soundwave has seen the like somewhere.] Then let's see you try.

[popculturecon]

But that'd be hard!

[He could see an Autobot trying to snap it off, but there didn't seem to be any around here interested in doing that.

He stammers for a moment, embarrassed]

No! I'll look stupid!

[knight_light]

[He stops and straightens.] Soundwave, it’s only you and me here. I’m the only one that will see. Besides, you can’t learn if you don’t practice. Do you really want to learn?