#(this character is based on Megatron btw.)

[billie-the-sleepyhead]

You can put a dress onto your male character in fallout 4?!

AMAZING GAME JUST FOR THAT 10/10!

[gl1tt3r-gutz-and-r0b0tz-sl]

MegaCee would probably be where Arcee is the super innocent bean to help turn the murderous terrorist of a Decepticon into a more neutral character in terms of alignment. In my AU, Arcee is a gladiator forced to fight by being drugged with dark Energon while Megatron is a seasoned fighter who climbed the ranks high enough to spectate the fights. TLDR: Gladiators becoming besties and then one becomes an Autobot.

StarCee would be probably in the same universe, or if Starscream got his shit kicked in a little too hard by Megatron and was left for dead. Arcee finds him, fixes him, and keeps him with the Autobots. TLDR: She fixes his mommy issues after they get into bitch fights.

Both art works are mine. I had to delete my old account, so I'll try to re-upload stuff. BTW, this is for a fanfic I'm writing. I'll probably post it when it's done.

I'm high off of two days of sleep deprivation. IDK WHAT I'M SAYING ANYMORE LMFAO

EDIT: So, I was thinking a little bit more about MegaCee and remembered the rest of the lore kinda, I'll explain more based on the results of the pole, but essentially, in my universe, the Quintessons took Arcee while she was young, I'm talking like- five, and then experimented on her, destroying her body, ripping apart every organ, Gorey shit, etc, then hyking her ass up on dark Energon injected into her to make her viscous and kill all her cellmates. Then they entered her into an illegal gladiator ring that was like a gambling thing, bets and whatnot, then the whole Megatron thing I stated before, he was abandoned and trained by the bots responsible for the ring, meeting Orion Pax/ Optimus during it, then their falling out, and Megatron rose higher in the ranks. Arcee climbed the ladder of ranks in the ring due to her brutal and forced way of combat. Megatron almost formed an infatuation with her brutality and when it came time for them to fight one another, he gave her an opportunity. To join his cause. She accepted, they both killed practically everyone, and she became a spy for him to report back with Intel Sound wave could not. Because of the blue optics she has and her overall cuteness, she appears harmless and no one has suspected a thing. She no longer is hooked on the dark Energon, but kills out of loyalty for the most part. She does weep alone after every Decepticon life she had to take during the battles in order to not look suspicious.

Then for StarCee, to make it fair with the other ship, would be where Arcee is the same with this universe, but grows closer to Starscream, despite his jealousy of Megatron's attention being on her. Starscream, like in one of the comics, was abandoned by his mother figure, but in my universe Thundercracker and Skywarp are canonically his brothers, and he was responsible for himself and them. Due to him having to be an adult at such a young age, it could explain why he's more childish and bratty when older. This will probably end in both Arcee fully defecting to the Autobots and Starscream to join her, causing drama and shit to blow up.

Arcee will most likely be the therapy mom in both of these lol. DAMN. THIS WAS LONG AND IM SORRY. IM TIRED YALL

[archie-sunshine]

do you have like a list of all the mounts/creatures characters ride in this au? I love it when fantasy settings have bonds between people and animals

oh good god I'm not certain i could do EVERYONE

typically ground based characters will have a horse, speedsters get racehorses, minis get ponies, big frames get warhorses.

honestly, I could see megatron riding a drake or warg of some kind, but he doesnt own it anymore since yknow. he went missing.

as for fliers its more varried.

all seekers have wyverns (yes even sunstorm), helicopters are more varried, vortex has a winged serpent, whirl has a rok hatchling(who also stands in for the scraplet colony he adopted, its name is wet fart btw). Cyclonus flies with wings, skyfire has a flying machine(think hot air balloon but like caravan size) cosmos is a planeswalker/can teleport.

I could give you more information on specific characters if you were curious, but those are all the folks i can think of right now!

[nerdylittleguy]

just my rambling about the new alignment chart and poster, mostly in relation to Breakdown, but there's more in my head then Breakdown's arms spinning in circles. trust me im sane!!

i am going to add a 'keep reading' to keep the rest of you unsuspecting mortals saner than me! /lh

okay! so here are some notes i made throughout the day, edited to sound more coherent and structured because i was loosing my marbles today! (these are about the alignment chart btw!)

tarantulas... evil? i'd say true neutral or something because he just wants to be alone, not cause anyone any trouble. leave my guy alone he just wants to do science!!

skullcruncher... chaotic evil? has he even had a voiced line??

grimlock - well, we haven't seen him, either. maybe this hints at his personality? i haven't seen many grimlocks yet (bits and pieces of cyberverse, RiD2015 and G1) but he's always seemed more chaotic than lawful, or just in the middle. eh, what do i know?

the most lawful good character i can think of in earthspark is Optimus, or if you asked me to think fast and name an LG character, optimus would come before bumblebee, that's for sure. i've seen lots of people say - and honestly this sounds very likely - that optimus is being isolated from other transformers by GHOST, so they can manipulate him. perhaps that would/ will shift him away from LG?

before we get onto my main event - Breakdown, of course, anyone surprised? - i'd like to quickly say i'd love one of these for the humans!! it'd be cool i think. calling that agent Croft would be lawful evil, or even neutral/ true evil.

okay, fasten your seatbelts, you're in for a ride! maybe. a ride of my rambles!!

it seems that this chart, for better or worse, had defined the good-evil scale as an autobot-decepticon scale. fair enough, that could be the basic idea.out of the three neutral characters, we have one we've seen nothing of (however, grim still has his autobot badge, so he's not with GHOST. maybe he's more of a rouge from the autobots, not decepticons?), we have megatron (who switched sides onto the side of 'good' - autobots and later GHOST, but that's falling apart pretty fast ain't it?) and breakdown (whose heart seems in racing more than fighting).

based on that, the alignment chart could be:

good - autobot/ main characters who are obviously good

neutral - rouges, side-switchers and unenthusiastic fighters

evil - decepticons lmao.

alright, alright, but what about BD??

here's my line of reasoning: if he's dead, why has he been on both the new things released? there's a lot of characters missing from the poster - hashtag, nightshade (who's on the chart), jawbreaker and tarantulas (who, despite being put as NE, did the Maltos more good than breakdown.) etc etc. so, why put a dead man on these two new releases?

if whoever was making this alignment chart was just 'ticking boxes', so to speak, and needed a CN character, why breakdown? okay, so who else could be classed as chaotic neutral?

if our scale here truly is autobot - rouges/ side-switchers/ whatever breakdown's loyalty is - decepticon, who could be neutral?

it's kinda a short list, but here it is:

sky warp and nova storm no longer work for the decepticons. it even sounded like they considered joining the autobots, but (curiously sounding in episode 9/10) didn't for fear of ghost. technically, they're former decepticons who would take a better chance if it was presented to them. on the scale, that might be considered neutral. and they certainly have an air of chaos

laserbeak and frenzy, mostly for those same reasons. yes, they do currently (? well, last we saw, anyway) work for mandroid, but they're former decepticons and they're very chaotic. additionally, from a realistic point of view, they're more likely to be alive than breakdown. we didn't see their limbs hanging around, they're small, and laserbeak and fly. they'd get out of that brawl no trouble! therefore, if breakdown is dead, laserbeak and frenzy could have been placed in CN.

here's the conclusion i wrote down: Breakdown is alive! why would he be in the poster, and on the chart, if he's dead? what the heck would be the point of that?? especially becuase he's so popular...

oh? what's this? i haven't mentioned arms yet? well, i'd hate to disappoint. here goes!

in both the new images, one of his arms (the left one, which was seen hanging in mandroid's lair) is out of sight. unfortunately, my digging has lead me to the conclusion that the image from the chart is not new, it's from the moment when breakdown leaps, transforms, and attacks GHOST agents.

note the red lights underneath his torso, and behind the letters. apologies for the awful episode screenshot!

the angle and zoom on the chart made this hell to pinpoint, and i still don't feel perfectly confident, especially due to his head's angle - something just feels off about the images, but maybe if i'd pinpointed it better it'd make more sense. and obviously the above images are not perfectly pinpointed, but it was hard to find a frame where it wasn't all blurry! maybe someone can get a cleaner image?

the image from the poster, though, it's bugging me. he's literally a few pixels on it, but...

that other arm is bailing me out here! as far as i saw during ep 14, i didn't see him raise his arm like that, but that could be just me. also, here's a shot from later in episode 14:

it has paint scratches on, and because the poster-breakdown is a few pixels, i can't really see if there's scratches there, but there might be a little bit of discolouration in similar places. so, either the poster is like... an unused image, or the paint is there (painting... knockout?) or (so??) it is a new image. whoohoo! he'd... be alive, then??!!

and would it really be one of my rambles without a little diagram?

no i cant do proportions. next question--

anyway, i'm sure i've missed something, or made a massive leap, but it's been chewing away at my mind all day, so enjoy! feel free to point out stuff that i have missed/ assumed. thanks for reading :)

@transformers-earthspark, you seem to enjoy my madness. /lh here's more overanalysing!

(funfact: i have been rambling about this to my family. my dad joked about a wanted/ missing poster...)

the search continues i guess!

[melishade]

ok what about knockout somehow arriving on attack on titan earth the characters meeting a bad guy turned good

The thing is with TFP Knockout: He didn't turn good for the sake of knowing that the Decepticons were wrong in their endeavor and the Autobots were right. It was literally out of a necessity for survival. So Knockout didn't necessarily become a good guy, he was just trying to play it smart. And it worked, he wasn't given any prison time by the end of the series and the Autobots seem to be just fine with having him around. It's weird. It's like everyone's okay with the vain doctor.

That being said, if Knockout were there he would ABSOLUTELY HATE IT!

It more primitive that Earth! The titans are terrifying! The humans are gross! Hanji won't leave him alone! There are no car washes! And worst of all, his former boss is there!

Primus might as well just kill him now!

So Knockout would stay as close to Optimus as he possibly can the first couple of weeks because he's the only person that isn't out to get him. And Optimus just accepting it at this point.

The first human that he even starts to like is Levi, because is essentially a germaphobe and he would give Knockout a wash. Knockout's never felt this clean before in his life, that's how precise Levi is, and vows to keep him safe for this very reason.

Levi's annoyed and Hanji laughing her ass off.

Knockout would totally give Historia and Ymir relationship advice. He sees from a mile away that those two are soulmates and gives them tips on how to improve their relationship. Surprisingly they would work. Historia asks how Knockout would even know this, and Knockout briefly talks about Breakdown to her. Historia ends up giving him a comforting pat on the servo and offers her condolences. She ends up confiding in Knockout her fear of losing Ymir to the 13 year curse and how she was scared she wasn't going to be prepared when she's gone.

"You're not going to be," Knockout states bluntly, "It's going to hurt. It's going to be painful, because the person you spent every day adoring will be gone forever."

"That's...scary," Historia swallowed.

"At the very least...you have a good support group," Knockout reasoned, "Decepticons aren't known for being soft."

Historia and Ymir actually feels safest when talking to Knockout about relationship advice because same-sex relationships would definitely be more common on Cybertron and not frowned upon. It's unexpected. The Survey Corps and Optimus were not expecting this.

BTW Knockout and Breakdown relationship is the literally personification of "Be gay. Do crimes." and you can't change my mind.

Hanji ends up taking one look at Knockout prod and immediately wants to replicate it for 3D gear purposes. She starts pulling all nighters trying to get it right and continuously asks Knockout about it.

The Survey Corps do eventually see Knockout bring his a-game in a fight and immediately become terrified of him. Seeing Knockout ram his prod into the neck of Reiner's titan form with a grin on his face would haunt them for a good few weeks. Decepticons are just ruthless.

I think that Knockout would do his best to avoid Megatron, considering he did betray the Decepticons while Megatron was hijacked by Unicron. Besides, Knockout has both seen and dealt with Megatron's brutality. He doesn't want to be anywhere near that if he doesn't have too. He'll probably do a quick repair but that's it.

The only time that Knockout would even think to muster up the courage to confront Megatron would be about Breakdown. We know that Knockout and Breakdown have just become canon over the years since TFP, and they were most likely in a relationship in TFP. Based on what we've seen in show after Breakdown's death, Knockout was given no solace or comfort after the loss of Breakdown. He was basically told to suck it up and move on. The closest thing he got was torturing Cylas, but that was still the corpse of his former lover. That's messed up on so many levels.

Once the distrust would dissipate between the Autobots and him, I think the Autobots would give him solace and comfort him for his loss and the abuse he went through under the Decepticons, which is one of the things Knockout grows to like about the Autobots. He won't admit it out loud, but he appreciates that they give a damn.

So if Knockout were to confront Megatron about Breakdown, he would really just call Megatron out for his blatant hypocrisy. How he refused to save Breakdown from the hands of MECH, and that it was Bulkhead who went to go and save him. Not the Decepticons, Breakdown's most hated nemesis. How he constantly berated him after what happened with MECH. How Megatron refused to ignore the decrease in morale among vehicons after Breakdown died because Breakdown was the only one talking to them and treating them like more than drone. The biggest one, being the Cylas incident, and making the conclusion that if Cylas had succeeded, they would've kept him around. And if Megatron did, Knockout would've defected on the spot.

The Survey Corps would definitely get more insight to the Decepticon work environment and would just despise Megatron from then on out. The fear would turn to hatred.

Levi would add this to the increasing list of reasons they shouldn't trust Megatron.

(This was interesting. I didn't think I would have a lot to say about Knockout. Although I feel like I'm going to need to make a list of "What if this TFP character was in Attack on Prime" soon.)

[transfemstarscream]

Have you ever read 'The Truth About Megatron' on DA? Its honestly one of the best tf fan comics I've read and probably the best characterization of scream & Megs I've seen (not a ship comic btw)

actually YES!!!!! i read it some time ago and i was honestly shocked about how much it impressed me! it's entire story is based upon characters talking to each other, which i adore because many don't appreciate the form of storytelling between characters that don't revolve around too much third-person narration. i love the rather contradictory tellings each character gives about megatron, while also tying that to why they believe in him. i can't give too much away because i think people should read it for themselves (it's 65 pages but it's not too text heavy, so it's a good read) but the twists and turns are simple but sweet.

the artistic choice to have megatron a blank white canvas with only his optics visible throughout most of the story, and the most he's told about the more color he gains, the more sentient he becomes, and in return the background characters start to lose their details, lose their colors and become simple silhouettes when just a few pages ago they were all detailed as they talked about him is so...! :hearteyes:

i also have a favorite panel of it.

[lord-squiggletits]

Zeta's influence on the course of OP's life is so, so fucking important, but then the actual screen time he gets is of him being Obvious Bad Guy and the only way characters ever talk about him is "Zeta acted like he was progressive but he was really just the same as the rest" so the effect is that the narrative TELLS US that Zeta was Orion's mentor and made him who he is, but doesn't actually show us why that would be the case or HOW he made Orion the way he is. In fact it basically says that everyone knew Zeta sucked leaving us wondering what the hell Orion even saw in him to follow him for so long.

It really sucks considering that IDW already had a well written mentor/student relationship that also only had a few pages dedicated to it: Megatron and Terminus. All the flashbacks with Megatron and Terminus makes it very clear the person he was before Terminus (believed in collective action and didn't believe he should hold power as The One Leader), it shows what Terminus taught Megatron (that people need strong leaders in order to stay on course, and if Megatron truly wants revolution he needs to seize control), it shows us that Terminus had a vital hand in Megatron's life (by disseminating his writings via the corpses of miners). Then, the rest of the story of Megatron's life makes it clear that his change from the shy pacifist miner to the tyrannical and controlling warlord was partially informed by the ideas Terminus gave him. It shows us a CHANGE in Megatron's mindset that happened AS A DIRECT RESULT OF TERMINUS in a way that shows Megatron didn't see himself as the One Leader of the Revolution until Terminus suggested it to him!

(Using Megatron is sheerly for the sake of a convenient example of a similar character, not me saying that they were intentionally connected or that Megatron's characterization came at the price of Optimus'.)

Meanwhile, all we know about Orion and Zeta was that Zeta helped Orion while he was on the run from the Senate, Zeta somehow became Prime (we literally don't know how), and made Orion his security enforcer. And then we go from Orion saying "I'll always follow you" as Zeta acts normal in one flashback to Zeta basically saying "fascist propaganda is good actually, btw I might entrust you with the Primacy one day" while Orion looks away from him in obvious doubt.

Where is the Zeta Orion was supposed to look up to? Was Zeta being honest when he said the Primacy could be his one day, or was he just trying to manipulate Orion? But how would the latter make sense when Orion has never coveted the Primacy in his life and was clearly more content with being a follower than a leader? What did Zeta do to make Orion trust him so much??? Why are we told that Zeta "made [OP] who he is" when the only change OP seemed to undergo due to Zeta was going from happy to doubtful to serve? How did this change Orion's behavior at all? He was already a good leader, he was already a good fighter. What the fuck did Zeta do to make him who he is? What mentorship did he give him??? Why did the story never fucking tell us any of this??? Why did they decide to write Zeta as the most obviously evil bastard ever and think it would make sense for the virtuous Orion to follow him??? Why was one of the principal characters of the entire franchise given a "mentor" who "made him who he is" yet said character's relationship with OP is almost entirely based on OP doubting him most of the time? WHY IS THE STORY TELLING ME THESE THINGS INSTEAD OF SHOWING THEM???

[scrumptiousmongerhumanoidshark]

What’s going on with my blog?

To answer this question, is that I’ve got stuff planned for it, but there’s a lot of mini problems on my part. But here’s the man ones:

1. I plan way to many things, and those things are often good ideas, but I never do them or write them down.

2. I want to start working- but I quickly grow bored and move onto different topics very quickly.

3. I have a few illnesses (Mentally) that prevent me from focusing on one thing at a time- I’m currently going through all of my drafts right now and working on them all at the same time.

4. Lots of testing and planning for summer.

My future plans:

Harpy Au: The au is simple, it’s a tfa based universe, where the decepticons, and autobots are put into a ‘redemption’ facility after their war, the all spark is more of a giant crystal, that’s in the middle of their forest and gives them their magic. (I won’t go into detail on that or their culture on this post) They work with several humans (all of which have different temperaments, ages, views, religion and heights) and if they do well on all of these (Like Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime- Megatron and Swindle also passed) they will be released into the world and allowed to live their own lives, however they want too. That’s all I’ll share here- but your all free to ask about it.

Dragonformers au- I know, I know, this is a very common one, but hear me out. The transformers aren’t the dragons, their the dragon riders. Dinobots are rebels, Decepticons are mercenaries, Neutrals are bounty hunters, and Autobots are peace keepers. They are all at war with each other, and very few of you may be asking- what about the insecticons and predacons? They don’t give a shit. They won’t join either side. They’ll kick all their asses. Primus is the leader of the autobots, the only one to ever see him depends on the universe, Bayverse, cybercerse, Beeverse and primeverse Optimus is the only one to meet Primus (except for Bayverse sentinel but he was killed for treason by Optimus- and Megatron got angry and helped kill him) in Animated verse however, Ultra Magnus has met him. Now each of these verses are their own kingdom, now you might think- what about the other universes? The answer: I don’t know any of them. I’ve seen a little of G1 but not enough to know anything. Bayverse are the front line fighters, surrounding the kingdom in a strong, but quickly fading line filled with bots built for war, Primeverse is in the ring behind them, followed by Beeverse, then Cyberverce, and then the ‘not working Brains’ of the group. The Decepticons move in seemingly impossible to tell with verse their from when they strike, as they all work together very well (usually..) however they are always beaten. As far as the autobots know, they have the same defense as them.

Dragon Au: another one- this one is something I’ve been planning with @bigoltrashpile (btw I do apologize to you about the long break in our conversing-) their characters are dragons at war with humanity, no one knows where they came from, but they just know that the moment they see bone, they’re already dead. The theory is that a necromancer- who is an outcast of our main tribe- broke the seal keeping the dragons trapped and now commands them. But who knows.

[baebeyza]

5. 11 and 19, go off Babybae

Thank you ~ WARNING: SALT for A/rmada, Beast M/achines, G1 O/ptimus, a little B/east wars, P/rime Wars and ID/W

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

No.

11. Most disliked arc? Why?

Gotta a few I can list- - The love triangle arc in Beast Wars- listen I love Beast Wars, but that was making me cringe so hard. - G1, end of season 3, the Hate Plague arc. I stay by the opinion that Roddy should have solved that and Optimus should have stayed in his space grave. No other Optimus ressurrection pisses me off more than this one.  - Beast Machines, the Jetstorm=Silverbolt part. They could have written this so much better to have it make more sense and Blackarachnia not a hypocritical murderer.  - The Autobot Starscream arc in Armada, reason being that I do not buy the circumstances that made him defect, its contrived as fuck. Neither Megatron nor Thrust should have had any reason to do what they did, simply from a logical standpoint. They are not that devoid of braincells! It made no sense and no one can convince me otherwise.   And then he stays Autobot for only three episodes. 

He should have defected when he and Megatron fought the first time, at least in that episode, Megatron’s asshole behaviour was shown + it made sense! Seeing Starscream defect because his boss beats him for no reason would have hit harder, if you ask me, and I would have felt for it more. AND it would have lasted longer! - Prime Wars and whatever Starscream had going there - disappointing. And I say that as someone who loves the show, but that part was lacklustre. 

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

I wouldn’t say hate, I don’t feel too strongly about it, but people acting like either G1 or ID/W (mostly the latter tbh) is the only continuity to exist is tiresome.

There is so much more to explore and see and every continuity has something to offer and I don’t like it when people talk like they don’t exist. 

I am talking about tweets or posts starting like “In canon” or “Canonically”, without specification. As if the canon they talk about beats every other canon in the ground and makes those non-existent. 

And even when they don’t talk over anything else, ID/W is seen as a standard, the highest of the high. 

Petty point, I know, but people referring to Chromedome from Headmasters as “Heterochrome” or making fun of him for not being like ID/W Chromey is annoying me because of this - I don’t like seeing his character being reduced to what he isn’t, based on a the version of him from a comic that came 26 years later! (Btw, I do love HM Chromedome, he is a special boi and I love him for his heroic yet hotheaded personality. So please, goddammit, stop referring to him as Heterodome, as if him being with Arcee had anything to do with his story or personality. In the anime their romance is hardly seen anyway!)

Again, I am not hating it, I am just miffed whenever I see it. 

I have my personal reason for not liking ID/W and preferring other continuities, so I would love it if people didn’t view that one as the general canon.

[popwasabi]

Why I don’t give a fuck about canon

Recently, after randomly coming across some dope pictures of Transformer toys on Instagram that gave me a strong case of nostalgia, I was inspired to revisit an old childhood favorite in “Beast Wars.”

“Beast Wars,” in case you never watched or heard of it as a kid, is the continuation of the Transformer’s story set in the future as descendants of the Auotobots and Decepticons, the Maximals and Predacons, respectively, accidentally travel to prehistoric Earth to continue a centuries long battle between the two opposing factions.

There’s a lot of to digest there, so I’m not going to go into extreme detail over the plot, but the cast features colorful characters such as Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, Dinobot and Megatron to name a few. They all have interesting and distinct personalities and generally play well off each other. It was a big part of my childhood and I collected an ungodly amount of their toys back in the day.

(This was my first ever Beast Wars toy and I think it’s beautiful.)

My rewatch though was…a mixed bag to say the least. The graphics have not aged well. The adventure of the week setup of the plot was repetitive and lacked real character development at times. There were characters that were added in last minute to the show clearly to promote a new action figure over the story on numerous occasions. Though I found the humor to still be pretty good, the action was stale and just lacked high stakes most of the time, save for a few episodes.

I was not shocked it didn’t land terribly well on my rewatch but you know what did? “Beast Machines!”

“Beast Machines” was the follow-up to Beast Wars that had the Maximals fighting on Cybertron where Megatron has taken control of the whole planet using a virus that changes Transformers into mindless drones to do his bidding. The remaining Maximals manage to survive however after Optimus discovers The Oracle which reformats them into animal robot hybrids that are both mechanical and biological. This sets them on a quest to stop Megatron and bring biological and mechanical balance to Cybertron once and for all.

The series is much more narrative based than the previous as it follows a steady trajectory to its epic conclusion. The animation is much sharper, and the soundtrack is fun as hell to listen to still. The pacing is much faster as the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Maximals and all the old characters from the previous grow in interesting ways and develop into more organic people (literally in some ways). Optimus is a more hardcore and emotionally damaged leader and Megatron goes from being something of a punchline in the previous series to a far more menacing and calculating nemesis. The story touches on themes of balance, authoritarianism, PTSD, love and reunion to name a few and for a kids’ show it is, dare I say…more than meets the eye.

I absolutely loved it as a kid and I might actually love it even more as an adult, so it was shocking for me, to say the least, when I read further into the history of the show, that a lot of fans straight up rejected it back in the day.

Common complaints I came across were they didn’t like how characters, such as Ratrap especially, “changed.” They didn’t like the new bio/mechanical Maximals and couldn’t believe that Cybertron was once an organic world.

Their big reason (in just about every forum and video I saw about it)? It didn’t adhere to “canon.”

Now, I’ll start this by saying there is no objective way to critique or even not critique a story. People can like or hate something for a variety of reasons that don’t follow a strict logical pattern. Gods know I have a few questionable/divisive favorites in my catalogue that I have written about here that are based on abstract ideas and personal experiences.

(The Matrix Reloaded is still great btw)

But I will say, if you judge a mega franchise’s latest entry on how well it is supported by established canon it is, in my opinion, a flawed way to critique a work of fiction.

Canon, sometimes referred to as “lore” by fans, is most often applied and used to describe the long running back stories of franchises that stretch beyond just the main books, movies or series, or even the original narrative of the plot. Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and to a certain extent Harry Potter, all fall into this camp of series with so many interconnected parts, with more than one main character featured in each, that fans follow along this canon like ancient monks studying scripture and history books.

And they can be just as fanatical and over zealous about it.

(I wish they were more fanatical about proper hygiene or at least deodorant...)

My problem with the ways fans often view canon is that their conceptions of what a new story should be is based entirely on the past rather than what is happening right now with the story and what themes the writer is trying express with it this time. 

They base their impressions of the story on external continuity more than the internal continuity.

Yea, the changes in a series like “Beast Machines” are jarring to say the least. Cybertron was formally an organic world like Earth? Rattrap doesn’t have confidence in himself and actually at one point sells out his comrades? Transformers can be biological now? It’s a lot to take in but when watching the story play out it’s not like these elements aren’t explained through the text of the new story.

Cybertron lost balance between its robot inhabitants and its biological life forms and its why it’s out of balance now, and Megatron is the logical progression of that inbalance. Rattrap is struggling to understand his new form, half his friends on the Maximals have been turned into drones, and the remaining team out loud say they don’t have confidence in him. He has PTSD from both the events of this story and the Beast Wars and feels insecure because of how others view him and that’s perfectly logical to not just the story but also the canon. If a fan is willing to give a story a chance they will see that the canon hasn’t actually been destroyed in much of any way and the logical progression is actually there if they simply listen to what’s going on.

(Seriously, it’s not that deep.)

Fans need to stop confusing a character achieving a franchise long arc with being “suddenly different.” In this way, criticisms of canon in new entries in long running series reveal that fans really just lack imagination to connect the dots. It would be like complaining that Luke Skywalker can’t become paranoid and make a grave mistake in judgment because people never change, nevermind the character already has changed a lot from his origins in “A New Hope” to where he was in “Return of the Jedi.”

(Oh wait, people did do that…)

But that’s not to say you have to like the new direction either. You can understand these changes and still be like “well, it’s not for me. I don’t care for a PSTD angle or a new origin for Cybertron,” but that’s whole lot different than saying the new series “rapes your childhood” or “Bastardizes the canon.” All the old canon you hold nostalgia for still exists. My love for “Beast Machines” is not harmed by the existence of newer Transformers properties that don’t meet what I look for in the series.

Too often, fans take changes to established “lore” very personally because it doesn’t fit their expectations or have the same nostalgic feelings they had before. When new entries in mega franchises occur fans often try to judge it by how much it is like what they watched before, rather what makes it different and what it is saying now. Again, you don’t have to like new directions in tone or character but consistency to established work DOES NOT equal good storytelling.

I have not been immune to this myself in the past, of course. Back in the day I wrote a 2500-plus word diatribe on “The Amazing Spider-man 2” that mostly went after how it changed the character I grew up with in a bad way and butchered the established back story I knew him by.

You know what other story doesn’t follow canon very well though? “Spider-man: Homecoming.”

(Now, hear me out...)

Spider-man in the MCU is generally agreed upon to be a good thing by fans. Both movies were big hits both critically and financially and fans often go as far as to say Tom Holland is the “definitive” Peter Parker. 

But Holland’s Spider-man differs quite a bit from the comic-book webslinger. This Spider-man does not have a spidey sense. His best friend is not Harry Osbourne but in fact a retcon of a Mile Morales character. His father figure is Tony Stark, something that never happened in the comics, instead of Uncle Ben, which no matter what way you spin it is arguably his most important relationship in the series.

His character is a reverse of traditional Peter Parker too. Where comics Peter is a reluctant hero, who if anything hates being Spider-man and the burden of his responsibility, “Homecoming” Spider-man actively seeks out responsibility and in many ways enjoys his role as the famous webslinger. In fact, his whole arc is about him earning a spot as an Avenger. He wants to be THE hero and be worthy of it. It’s completely different from what we know of Spider-man.

(He just wants Tony sempai to notice him uWu)

Now I know some fans actually do complain about this Spidey from a “canon” standpoint, but most don’t. So why did this Spider-man get a pass for many but not “The Amazing” one? Quite simply it’s because stories, as cheesy as it sounds, are about feelings and stories like “Homecoming” tell a good story that effectively make those feelings connect with the audience.

We root for this Peter Parker and his journey to becoming an Avenger and successor to Iron Man because the story is told well, the emotions feel earned, and frankly both films are fun and enjoyable.

It’s easy to complain about canon for many nerds because it’s something tangible that they can point to and make a big stink about when they don’t understand why a movie isn’t reaching them. I don’t doubt that many neckbeards genuinely hate a film like “The Last Jedi” (Hell, I’m not a big fan myself) but when those same nerds enjoy something like “The Mandalorian,” a series that has its own loose relationship with canon and establishing new rules in the series, it tells me it’s not about the “lore” to them.

(Easy, fanboys...)

I have come to understand, in my growth as a nerd, that my problems with a lot of movies and TV shows in my favorite series rarely, if ever, have anything to do with the story not meeting some arbitrary guidelines regarding canon. It has more to with the story simply not connecting with me emotionally. The story isn’t drawing me in and keeping me on its narrative path. I’m not feeling the same magic that someone else might feel enjoying it because either a) it doesn’t feel earned to me or b) it just stylistically isn’t for me.

To paraphrase a line from another mega franchise, also owned by Disney, the canon is more like guidelines than actual rules.

(Didn’t expect to see ol’ Barbosa in this write up, did ye?)

It can show you where a story comes from but it isn’t law that you strictly adhere to it. Of course, when writing a new work in a popular series you should consider what came before it but I would like writer’s the freedom to try something new and most importantly fans to be open to it. You don’t have to like it but the idea that new entries in a story MUST remain strict to the canon is bull shit. Not even the original Star Wars trilogy adhered to its own canon perfectly, as clearly the writers were in fact making it up to a certain extent as they were going along.

(hmmmm...)

And that’s ok, because some of those changes were great! Made the story better and made the conclusion stronger.

Again, you don’t have to like every new entry that tries something bold or confrontational in your favorite franchise but if writers strictly followed canon to the T we wouldn’t have things like “Homecoming,” we wouldn’t have “The Mandalorian,” and we certainly wouldn’t have my favorite Transformers series “Beast Machines.”

Canon shouldn’t be a trap for writers and it shouldn’t be a litmus test for fans digesting it. There are so many better ways to judge a story than whether or not it fits neatly into established lore. A good story is a good story, regardless of whether or not it’s supported by something as static as canon.

“Beast Machines” has its flaws here and there, but canon isn’t one of them, at least not for me. Again, if you feel that the lore is important, that’s fine, you don’t have to ignore it but I would ask you to look beyond what came before when critiquing a new story.

Otherwise, you might miss something special that comes next…

Now then... 

[tea-mew96]

An Analysis of Armada Starscream’s Character Arc

So after reading @baebeyza‘s answer to an ask here, I decided I wanted to make a separate post sharing my view on some of the points made there, mainly the ones taking about Starscream’s character arc. Make sure to read that original post before going through this in order for this anything below to make sense. This is all my personal interpretation btw, so feel free to agree or disagree as much as you want. Also, spoilers for Transformers Armada.

For starters, I’m of the belief that Armada is a mess in regards to writing up until the Unicron Battles act of the show, but Starscream’s arc was arguably one of the better parts of Armada IMO. Plus he’s one of my fave characters in the show. Thus, I’m going to analyze and provide my perspective on some of the things mentioned in the original post. 

1.) The fight between Megatron and Starscream in “Rebellion”. If you thought the fight between these two in this episode felt contrived, that’s because in-universe it kinda was. Remember Sideways? He was manipulating both Megatron and Starscream throughout that entire episode in order to get those two to fight to the death. He was successful in getting the fight to happen, but there was no death of one of the bots like he had hoped would happen.

2.) Thrust and Megatron’s plan in “Sacrifice”. It’s true that Starscream had ownership of the Star Saber when the Decepticons finally got it their hands on it. That is, until Megatron had his Minicon Leader-1 trick him into attacking Demolisher with the sword in “Conspiracy”. The end-result was everyone agreeing that only Megatron should be allowed to wield the Star Saber, questioning Starscream’s competence. Ever since then, Megatron was the one in charge of the sword.

So why didn’t he want Starscream to have the sword? Simple: Megatron is an arrogant dick who is afraid of Starscream. Megatron sees Starscream’s confidence as a threat to his status as supreme Decepticon leader, and Starscream challenging him to that fight in “Rebellion” (despite his emotions being manipulated by Sideways in order to do it) is evidence of that fear being somewhat founded in Megatron’s eyes.

As for Thrust, he’s also quite arrogant, thinking of himself as the “best tactician”. Because of his perceived high-intelligence and ability to think of “great strategies”, Thrust believes that he’s better than any other Decepticon…including Starscream. The fact that someone so “below him” has the title of “second in command” doesn’t sit well with Thrust.

Basically, what you end up with are two arrogant people who either don’t like and/or fear Starscream.

The plan that Thrust makes is aimed to retrieve the Requiem Blaster, a powerful weapon which is currently back at the Autobot base. If they want a chance of breaking in, they’re going to have to lure as many Autobots as they can out of the base. In other words, they need a distraction. And because of their combined distaste for Starscream, Megatron and Thrust decide that he is the one that should be the distraction. I’m also guessing another reason to keep him in the dark was to keep the reaction as convincing to the Autobots as possible; sometimes being informed on the twist causes a less-convincing performance, and a convincing disguise was an important thing the plan needed in order for it to work. Thrust does imply that Megatron would have to give up the Star Saber for a time in order to ensure the retrival of the Requiem Blaster, which Megatron agrees to. Starscream only got the Star Saber in this situation because of that little tradeoff to make the plan work: distract the Autobots with the opportunity of getting the Star Saber back while the Decepticons invaded their base and grabbed the Requiem Blaster. And the mission does end up being a success.

This plan was definitely a gamble, as they could’ve easily lost the Star Saber and the chance to grab the Requiem Blaster, but it was one that worked in their favor, so all’s well that ends well. Who cares how Starscream feels about not being informed? Megatron and Thrust sure didn’t.

3.) Starscream, Alexis, and Sympathy

I’m also going to argue that while the messy writing can make it difficult to feel bad for Starscream, that doesn’t mean the potential to isn’t there. I personally have a lot of sympathy for him, even if his story wasn’t executed as well as it could’ve.

“Rebellion” and Thrust’s plan in “Sacrifice” are both driving forces for Starscream to join the Autobots, and a justifiable one IMO.

In “Rebellion”, Starscream gets beaten by Megatron for…no reason. Starscream followed Megatron’s orders exactly as he wanted. But because they lost the previous battle and Megatron can’t admit to being wrong, he blames the loss on Starscream anyway. Sideways says in-show that Megatron beating up Starscream for his own loss was absurd. And the abuse only stops when Demolisher blasts his way in and intervenes.

“Sacrifice” only furthers this mistreatment of Starscream, being used as a punching bag for the plan and getting abandoned without being informed about what was going to happen. This combined with the multiple times he’s been belittled by both Megatron and Thrust sends him over the edge, attacking everyone in the base when he gets back and eventually going to the Autobots for refuge and help to get revenge.

When Starscream arrives, the Autobots-especially Hot Shot-are reluctant to have a Decepticon join the folds so little after their dear friend Smokescreen almost dying by their hand. Hot Shot in particular is still hurt over Sideways’ betrayal. I’d argue those facts make for valid and understandable concerns, even if it results in some drama.

Regardless of their hesitance, almost everyone knows and agrees that having Starscream go back to the Decepticon base after attacking everyone there wasn’t going to end well for him. Thus, Optimus orders that they will let Starscream join their ranks (he’s a good dad).

Alexis was one of the first to suggest that Starscream join, and one of the first to attempt to get him to open up to cooperation with the team, probably because she saw potential in having him as an ally like Optimus did. Towards the end of the episode “Mars”, Alexis congratulates Starscream on a job well-done with getting the Minicon Firebot to join their side (praise ain’t something Starscream receives a lot of). Starscream scoffs and says he’s only on their side to defeat Megatron, but he leaves behind a moon rock, something that the kids had asked Jetfire and Starscream for earlier before going on a mission to Mars. I agree with Alexis in her conclusion that this is evidence of Starscream starting to change for the better. In the next episode “Crack”, the kids award Starscream for his nice gift by throwing him a surprise party and gifting him a chamois. What stands out to me about this scene is that Starscream has no idea how to react. He’s confused because he’s not used to receiving many positive words of praise from his former Decepticon peers, much less a present. 

He does push away help and positivity from the Autobots and the kids (to unintentionally hilarious degrees at times), but I think that’s partly due to the kind of impact his experiences with Megatron have had on his mind. He wants approval and acceptance, but once he starts getting it he rejects it. This is merely speculation from a psychological perspective, but I think Starscream has a hard time getting used to receiving kindness because whether consciously or subconsciously, he doesn’t believe he deserves it. The belittlement and mistreatment by Megatron has made him believe otherwise, and/or that every positive acknowledgement received always comes with a catch later on.

Yes, Starscream does return to the Decepticon fold later in “Crack” when Thrust convinces him that he has a better chance to get revenge on Megatron by coming back and conspiring with Thrust. But his short time with the Autobots and kids did impact him. He was extremely hesitant to fire the Hydra Cannon at Earth in “Threaten” and “Crisis” (even though he fires the cannon anyway after said hesitation), regretted the death of Optimus in “Remorse”, saved the kids from being killed by the Requiem Blaster (now in the hands of Thrust) in “Drift”,  and stays behind to help Alexis retrieve her necklace safely (made from the moon rock Starscream gave the kids) in “Portent”. Starscream shows even after leaving that he has started to learn a little bit about compassion.

During the show, Starscream becomes a person who isn’t quite sure whom he should side with, as his personal goals contradict the overall goals of both sides. And how does his story end? He gets killed by Unicron, trying to convince Megatron (technically Galvatron now, but whatever) that Unicron is a real threat and that he needs to ally with Optimus and his team to defeat him. And his final words? Telling Megatron that he was a dick to him and that Optimus treated him better in that short time period than Megatron ever did.

Look, I get it. Armada’s a mess of storytelling. I wish there was more build up to Starscream defecting to the Autobots and coming back to the Decepticon fold. But we still got a pretty descent arc in the end, even if it could’ve been done better. I can’t make anyone feel sympathy for Starscream, but I refuse to deny that his story didn’t impact me or many others.

Starscream’s arc to me is the story of an abused bot trying to find his place in the world and not truly finding it in the end. It’s the story of a bot who dedicated every fiber of his being to serving his leader and getting nothing but shit in return. I feel bad for Starscream; he deserved so, so much better than what he got.

The thing about that chamois scene is that it had a longer impact on Starscream than the episode initially implied, as I mentioned in the examples above. I’m sure exchanging of gifts probably won’t mean much to someone who is used to getting and giving them. But to a bot who’s been abused by Megatron like Starscream was? That’s a fucking revelation. That’s new. That challenges his viewpoint of the world around him. If it didn’t, he wouldn’t have had second thoughts about firing the Hydra Cannon. He wouldn’t of saved the kids, he wouldn’t have helped Alexis with the necklace. He wouldn’t of helped Optimus convince Megatron to join forces and defeat Unicron.

Alexis was a firm believer that Starscream could be a better person and by extension get onto a path of recovery by showing him small acts of compassion and kindness at a time and celebrating those small victories of improvement. She wanted to be his friend because she recognized the potential he had. She recognized that Starscream needed support, needed a friend, deserved respect. That’s something he never got much of if any during his times as a Decepticon. 

TL;DR Starscream’s character arc in Armada ain’t perfect but it’s still one of the best stories in the show that can impact you and I will forever stan him.

[nekkyousagi]

Knockout...Doctor & Designer?

Doing a little character analysis on TFP Knockout, based on something I read on his official TFWiki page. According to his toy bio, Knockout is the Deception’s weapons designer...not exactly the best one but...willing to experiment and then sell to the highest bidder!

I thought, oh sure create that bio as an excuse to sell more toys with extra cool weapons but...is this actually hinted at in the show?! Going back and re-watching TFP again, there’s actually a lot of reasons for Knockout to be the ‘Mad Doctor’ and...Weapons Designer!

Ever since his first appearance, there are tons of hints to Knockout being some kind of weapons and upgrade specialist and not just Ship’s Doctor. Whether by objectively admiring the frames and mods of other bots, or possibly giving him another reason to flaunts his own. And also explains why he’s constantly fascinated with new and rare gadgets.

In his debut episode, “Dues Ex Machina”, Knockout first assumes he’s been summoned for something not quite medically related. "I take it Lord Megatron requires a laboratory assist?" Experimental lab work for the Decepticons? Well, he does a lot of that later in the show.

And when Starscream comments the reason he’s been called back is for his medical expertise, Knockout responds: "I've done plenty of 'body work', Starscream, but I'm better at breaking 'em than fixing 'em." Body work, as in...body modifications, perhaps???

Next, in “Speed Metal”, he moans over how his specially painted door, ripped off by Optimus in order to save a kidnapped human, is “hard to replace.” Not fix...replace!!! As in, perhaps maybe a good amount of his frame is made of special modifications that can’t just be repaired so easily?? Or that he prefers replacing a part with better options than fixing them??

This is hinted at more at the end of the episode, while Starscream is reprimanding him for his actions, he says, "My mistake, Commander Starscream. But I've learned my lesson and...payed the price."

Paying the price perhaps in a literal sense...? How much energon did your pretty paint job cost, Knockout??? XD [Btw What do they even use for money on Cybertron...??]

His expertise as a weapons dealer is hinted at quite strongly in the episode “Shadowzone”, when Knockout is trying his best to help Starscream heal from his post-Megatron-thrashing, and is quite confused about his Commander’s arm going missing. But instead of trying to fix it, Knockout immediately goes into a sales pitch!! And he’s quite enthusiastic about it! With practiced salesman verbiage...like he’s done this before.

When Starscream refuses the upgrade, Knockout comments, "But Starscream, your equipment is a bit...obsolete. I'm not sure I have another one lying around."

Later he returns with an arm similar to Starscream’s original look...with added FIREPOWER, of course! Just...hanging around “in storage”!

Judging by this scene alone, you could definitely say Knockout was, and perhaps still is, a bit of an...“Arms Dealer.” XD

So...the Decepticons obviously have plenty of storage space on the Nemesis, judging by how much Energon they’re hoarding and Iacon relics and dangerous weapons they gather over the course of the show. But it seems like Knockout is more aware of what they have “in storage” than the other members, even Megatron.

To his credit, Knockout does have a great deal of medical knowledge and skill, wherever he acquired them. It makes him almost the perfect rival to Ratchet, as far as medical and tech abilities. He was very aware of the dangerous properties of Dark Energon and the side-affects of using it [Flying Mind], recognized Ratchet’s unusual increase in strength as probably the result of a ‘chemical enhancement’, [Stronger, Faster] and he showed much finesse when repairing Starscream’s T-Cog [Regeneration] and installing a fallen Prime’s arm to upgrade Megatron. [Alpha / Omega] He even started picking apart the mechanics of the Phase Shifter device before using it on Smokescreen. Quickly analyzing the base engineering despite it being a rare and unique Iacon relic. [Inside Job]

Keeping to the description in his toy bio of calling dibs on quality items, Knockout wanted to keep the Phase Shifter for himself...and on several occasions used rare and powerful weapons to make up for his small size and, most importantly, protect his finish.

Though perhaps not quite as skillful and efficient a scientist as Shockwave, Knockout’s ‘expertise’ in both medical and technological work, and perhaps pitching his collection of black market weapons and mods, was enough to buy him a cushy top spot in the Decepticon hierarchy. Shockwave, as far as the Decepticons knew, until his return in Season 3, was thought to be deceased. So an efficient replacement medic/scientist was needed in the ranks. And Knockout does fulfill the role to the best of his abilities.

Yet, despite his somewhat sadistic willingness to take apart other bots and habit of teasingly threatening victims with non-consensual surgery...

...Knockout seems to have a certain moral aversion toward ‘Biotech’.

This I noticed after the unfortunate demise of his partner Breakdown. Though we never did see him actually grieve for his fallen partner, save a brief sad look, he seemed more appalled and enraged that his partner was taken apart and fused with a human~! Throughout the show he makes many comments about his disgust for organics, calling them ‘fleshies’ and ‘skin jobs’. And as he says in “The Human Factor” and “Thirst”, he’s sure that Breakdown would've been pleased knowing that the one who humiliated his pride, despite now occupying his sparkless shell, would receive the same pain and humiliation he’d felt. I see it as showing Knockout’s more loyal side to his partner in a way not easily understood. Breakdown no doubt witnessed many a bot endure Knockout’s scientific experiments and modifications, playing his role as his assistant, and perhaps the two were less sensitive about the whole matter than you’d think... and not averse to snuffing a spark or two, if necessary. It may have been their way of surviving the war, and may have let them to being recruited by Megatron. Also might explain Breakdown’s odd skill at buffing. You’d need a good balance of strength and care to polish up rare and powerful weapons and parts to get them ready for market.

But not to get side-tracked, it seems convincing from the show that Knockout is much more than just a pretty face. And makes me glad that his moral side did eventually come out, choosing to side with the Autobots...though it may have been self-preservation kicking in. But as he said in the finale, he ‘didn’t have the best role-models.’ So perhaps throughout his life, Knockout’s only way of getting what he wanted was to wheel-and-deal...and maybe steal. Parts, weapons, buying and selling, swooning and crooning, whatever it took to survive. While still looking out for number 1...

[soundwavereporting]

In one of your prowlcoswave stories, you had written that Prowl suspected that Soundwave and Megatron had a bit of a romantic history. Was this assumption correct or not so? Of course, ignore this if it risks being a spoiler for your plot line. (Love all of your delish prowlcoswave content btw- super excited to see how they warm up to each other)

It was approximately...half correct?

That line was based off the subplot in the old ongoing series, where OP ends a hostage situation by shooting Soundwave’s head off. I also absolutely refuse to believe OP got that idea to do that all by himself.

If anything, I’d say there was a lot of mutual pining going on, especially early in the war. The relationship was mutually desired, but never actually acted upon, simply because doing so would paint a big red target on Soundwave’s back (and by proxy, on the cassettes).

So that’s one of Soundwave’s big holdouts, where in his mind if he’s worked out that he actually likes someone (and hasn’t accidentally caught secondhand feelings), he’s got a non-zero chance of being, like, shot in the head as a consequence.

thank you for asking and giving me the chance to ramble about that particular character arc of Soundwave’s!

(.......I have a lot of feelings about it)

[cyraniadebergerac]

Transformers Cyberverse Episode 7: Cube Talk about Starscream (Beware spoilers)

What’s up with Starscream this episode?

I know Star’s a bully and petty, but jeez louise, there’s usually a reason for his bullying or pettiness, not simply because he’s bored or solely for kicks. This episode seems to want to depict him as simply an elitist jerk who does mean and evil things for the kicks and giggles and has the rest of the world follow his whims. Yet, why would such a character join the original Decepticon cause before Megatron turned it completely to seeking his own power through conquest? If he does truly benefit from the current status quo, he would have to be either incredibly bored or incredibly stupid to join the Decepticons and while Starscream can be stupidly impulsive, he’s not dumb. Besides, the creators ought to know that his appeal comes from him maintaining his snobbery while having to continually fight against the obstacles that get in the way of his goals with no real respect because of his falls that he’s pulled himself through. He targets those that have opposed or slighted him because he’s vindictive and it shows that he’s not a mech to take lightly (when successfully done). His actions against Bumblebee this episode seemed to be stem from some pretty deep-rooted hatred along with the fact that Bumblebee is getting along better with Windblade then they are. Yet what did the Cube game do to them for that mean spirited trick?(nice allusion to the movies btw)

Why didn’t they play with making him the snobby underdog for this episode? Fanon has long had the Ground-based mechs look down on the Seekers, especially those that don’t follow Functionalism doctrine and work outside certain designated jobs. Seekers also look down on Ground-pounders in response, but Iacon is a ground-pounder city with major prejudice issues as the heart of Functionalism. Bumblebee does show some of that prejudice against Seekers when talking with Windblade (though that might also be him generalizing the Seeker behavior he has seen to all Seekers) and the Seekers do prefer that Windblade stick around them (which could be seen as wanting to protect her from non-Seekers or wanting to show off and court her). Yet the guards allow Starscream, Dirge, and Ramjet in with no real trouble though Star does have to do a bit of threatening (one wonders why they did the coneheads instead of Skywarp and Thundercracker) and believe Star’s story and throw Bumblebee out later on. 

What if instead Star hadn’t been believed, not because of the obviousness of his lie but simply because he was a seeker? The guard could then either threaten to throw him and his group out or just throw them out with Bumblebee having to vouch that Windblade’s with him to get her allowed to stay. Starscream could then want revenge for the humiliation, decide to mess with the game, then break in to the cube generation room. Meanwhile, Bumblebee gets Windblade to a deserted area so she can collect herself after what happened earlier, causing them to hear Starscream and his cronies break in and their revenge scheme, leading to the rest of the episode. (If Skywarp and Thundercracker had come with him, Skywarp could have been the one that came up with the prank while Star decides its a good idea and TC goes along with it.) With the above, the show could have shown a part of why the Decepticons started up in the first place as well as being a better reflection of Star’s character if they were going more classic routes and showing common golden-era Cybertronian life and the start of Windblade and Bumblebee’s friendship.

Other than those tweaks, it was a fun filler episode that gave us fans a rare look at Cybertronian culture in its heyday and backstory. I just hope that they don’t make a Starscream incarnation that does away with his lovable aspects.

[butterflyinthewell]

I have a headcanon that characters like Jazz, Ultra Magnus*, Crosshairs*, Optimus Prime and Megatron are using their actual cybertronian names, and bots with names like Bumblebee or Starscream are using close approximations to their actual names based on the planet’s languages.

*Ultra Magnus and Crosshairs are using the cybertronian equivalent to anglicized names because they are Rustians, the cybertronian equivalent to Earth’s many indigenous populations, so their names were very difficult for non-Rustians to pronounce. Mags is lucky because his is somewhat pronounceable in Autobot, Rustian and English (Ult Ra Mag Nus), but Crosshairs’ (Kroz Stiz Ay Ras) got butchered way too much so he uses an Autobot approximation.

Btw, in my little Danceverse, Mags and Crossy are paired up. ❤️ “Mags”is the nickname my human characters gave to Ultra Magnus, but Crosshairs calls him Maggie. Because fuck gender roles. 😆

Here’s my headcanon post if anyone’s curious.

https://butterflyinthewell.tumblr.com/post/181842697358/ahh-i-cant-believe-how-much-fun-i-had-writing

you know what would have been awesome to see in the bayverse movies????

the autobots actually speaking cybertronian

OPTIMUS SPEAKING CYBERTRONIAN

optimus speaking a sentence in cybertronian in age of extinction was so hot that i wish we got more then that

like g O D, WHAT A MISSED OPPORTUNITY HERE

[themadcapmathematician]

all i know abt transformers is the shia movie and the fact that darren criss plays one in the cartoons i think? should i get into transformers is what i'm asking

Oh god this is my favorite question. I’m not sure how to answer it but its my fave. Pull up a chair. I hope you’ve got some time on your hands.

The short answer: yes. You should at least give it a try. Transformers is a 30+ year old muti-media franchise that gets rebooted almost every 3 years so it basically has something interesting to offer almost any fan. If you end up not liking it that’s cool but there’s a lot to try before you decide.

The long answer is: yes you should and here’s why and here’s a rough idea of all the options you have to sample. I’m about to go on a long rant anon so you can check it out now or later or whatever but I’m just warning you ahead of time.

The basic Transformers plot (which I’m sure you know but I’m gonna go more in depth in a minute) is that a race of giant robot aliens who can turn into vehicles and other things have been engaged in a civil war that has lasted millions of years. This is the basic plot that all tf franchises spawn from although some explore slightly different subject matters. If that doesn’t appeal to you I mean there /might/ be a few other things you might find worth sticking around for because there’s just so fucking much of it, but you’re welcome to turn back now because that’s the basic things tf has to offer: giant robot aliens, cars and planes, fighting, some drama. Those are what tf is best at, with some variation.

It has a very active and long lived fan base and each section of the fan base is interested in different stuff with some crossover. There are people who literally only care about collecting the toys, people who wont try any other series except g1, people who only like the comics, etc. Etc. You’ll probably find people who like what you do pretty readily. If you like the toys there are toy forums and blogs. If you like the cartoons there are forums and blogs made for that too. If you like the comics, same. There’s a pretty active following of the comics and cartoon series on Tumblr alone; I would try searching the #maccadam tag since most tf activity has been moved there since the bay movies came out. Id also use the tf wiki liberally because it has pm all the information you’ll need to know about the fandom and the canon lore. There’s also plenty of fan fiction on Ao3 and ff.net if you’re into that and pm anyplace that hosts fan art has tf fan art.

Now there are several series, including comics, cartoons, the Michael bay films, the cartoon movie, spin off books, and video games. I’m gonna go over my personal favorites because I like and know them best but there are more than these if you’re interested in digging deeper.

(More under the cut)

G1: there are a lot of forms of what fans refer to as Generation 1 or G1 but if you live in the US its likely they’re talking about the very first cartoon series.

Summary: the autobots and the decepticons stripped their planet of resources and went looking for a new planet to continue surviving on. They both crashlanded on earth where they lay dormant for millions of years until conveniently awakened somewhere during the 1980s, where they continue their war all over again

Why you should try it: listen its cheesy as hell and full of nonsense plotlines and animation errors but not only is it good fun but at least watching an episode or two might give you a decent grasp on what spawned this enormous franchise in the first place.

G1 movie: this movie was a game changer. Its technically right in the middle of the g1 cartoon but it works as a standalone film too. while it has many trappings of the cartoon its better animated and has a more consistent and dramatic story.

Summary: Optimus Prime and Megatron fight, OP dies (yes he fucking DIES for the very first time. thousands of 10 year olds bawl their eyes out), Megatron gets mortally wounded, and the Matrix of Leadership (aka an autobot holy item/macguffin [this is the proto-cube btw]) has to choose a new leader.

Why you should try it: decent animation, classics lines, tons of 80s rock music, and it establishes a lot of tf conventions that would be carried over to all series that come after it.

Beast Wars: haha the 90s couldn’t be left out of the transformers fun, now could it? This was one of the first all-cg cartoon series in history and while its not much to look at nowadays, it was a big step in the 90s.

Summary: the series doesn’t center on Optimus Prime and Megatron but their decendants. The war is long over but some factions are starting to clash once again. Several members of these factions do the whole “crash land on earth while fighting” thing except they wake up during times before humans and instead of taking vehicle modes, they take animal forms, thus the name.

Why you should give it a try: it establishes the idea of Sparks for the first time, it has historical significance in the cgi realm, and it has a decent storyline with interesting characters. If you can muscle through the 90s-computer-animation look it might be the show for you!

Transformers: Animated: I dont think its a secret that this is one of my favorite tf series of all times. It was the first cartoon series I ever watched of tf and it also features my favorite toy line.

Summary: Optimus Prime is much less a war hero and more of a ..janitor really. He flunked out of the academy and spends his time repairing space bridges. One time during repairs though, they stumble across the Cube and just their luck, Megatron and some nearby cons are looking for it. They portal away to earth where they, you guessed it, crashland, until they’re awoken sometime in the future and go on adventures in futuristic Detroit.

Why you should give it a try: I like tfa’s art style and story and characterisation best tbh; Optimus is younger and more unsure of himself but also more earnest, with more visible baggage. The rest of his team feel like a ragtag band of misfits (which I have a weakness for no lie lmfao) who are still trying to find their place in this conflict and the future ahead of them. Sari is also one of the more beloved human companions and the show’s take on classics characters feels fresh and interesting, and the interpretation of the autobots and decepticons themselves is surprisingly nuanced.

Transformers: Prime: remember that 90s animation? Kiss that shit good bye my friend. This cgi is some beautiful shit. More than a few fans wish tfp is the art direction the movies had taken, storyline aside.

Summary: the autobots are already on earth, staking it out and fighting a more subdued sort of conflict with the cons. One day they get some human kids involved and stumble across some conspiracy shit and it all spirals out of control from there.

Why you should give it a try: great animation and atmosphere, gorgeous character designs, a solid interpretation go the characters, and it offers a more serious take on the story over all.

Rescue Bots: I’ve noticed this show doesn’t make the list a lot which is a shame? It has a much younger audience than any of then other series but its still quality and one of my fave tf series.

Summary: the ship of four non-combatants who were left in stasis before the war detect a transmission telling autobots to go to earth, so it…goes to earth. There they wake up on some island and are told they’ve gotta start building a repatoire with the native species…but they can’t reveal that they’re sentient aliens yet.

Why you should give it a try: ok ok, most of the series are made for 7-12 year olds with the teen and adult fans sort of in mind, this show…is a show made for pre-K kids, no joke. Its a lot less…murder-y, and this is especially saying something because it came out at the same time TFP did and in fact is supposed to take place in the same universe!

BUT, but it has a consistently well-written story and characterization, it addresses stuff I never thought it would, and its a nice break from the ridiculously high stakes of the other series. Honestly Rescue Bots is great and I wish more people talked about it because its a series totally worth watching, certainly as much as any of the others.

More Than Meets the Eye comics: there are a lot of comic series but so far this is my favorite one lol

Summary: the war is over, Optimus is done with everyone’s shit and splits the matrix in half, giving one to rodimus and they other to bumblebee. And what does roddy do with his newfound matrix half? Decide he’s going on a quest of course! And who better to go with than literally every unqualified misfit the autobot and neutral factions have to offer?

Why you should give it a try: ridiculous shenanigans, horror, drama, intrigue, strong characterisation, and a killer aesthetic. Damn it may not always give me what I want but its got a lot of exactly what I’m always looking for.

There are some video games (Fall of Cybertron, War For Cybertron, Transformers: Devastation), other comic series (Robots in Disguise, G1/UK comics), and the Robots in Disguise cartoon, however I don’t have a decent enough grasp on them to describe them super well I just know they’re pretty good and have had people recommend them to me. You’re welcome to try those as well of course.

Also if you’re into toy collecting or want to get into it there’s a lot of materials you can read and such but my personal advice is pretty simple:

1) go to walmart, target, a store that sells collectibles, a convention, or a garage sale

2) buy a cheap toy that you like. Don’t spend over like $20

3) decide if that was a fun experience or not and if you like having this toy or not

If you liked it enough to keep buying, then congrats, toy collecting might be right for you! Do your research, Don’t blow too much money too quickly, take it easy, have fun.

But yeah sorry this is really long but I do hope you consider giving transformers a try since I know I love it a lot and it really has a lot to offer. I hope this wasn’t like…a crazy response. That a crazy person might give. And that I didn’t scare you away or anything XS

the key is to try some stuff and have fun and if its not your thing that’s cool too! Have a chill night anon