#I just want to see the djd all on screen

[the-decepticon-apologist]

Me, waiting for a Transformers TV show (or movie) that heavily features the entire DJD:

[novafire-is-thinking]

Latest project: MTMTE/Lost Light Home Screen theme

This was a 3-day project, plus the time it took me to track down good character refs for all the icons. Each page tells its own story via app & widget arrangement, but I’ll put all of that under the cut since I know not everyone is interested in such things. But if you’re like me and enjoy nuanced explanations that go beyond the surface, read on.

Oh, and for any fellow iPhone users who want to do this (or something similar) for themselves, I’ve uploaded all the components I used into a Google Drive folder here.

Page 1:

Comprised of much of the original crew arranged in no particular order, except Rodimus being an obvious choice for first as the captain of the Lost Light. I also made sure my favorites—Drift and Perceptor—weren’t far below. And of course, I couldn’t forget the Lost Light itself and the infamous Rodimus Star, which acts as the first of two “bookend widgets,” as you’ll see by the end of the page 4 breakdown. ;)

Page 2:

Here, I placed the rest of the main original crew, plus a few additions that came along after. The top section is meant to pose the question: “Yes, we’ve achieved something, but at what cost?” Y’know, since the four characters at the top eventually left the Lost Light crew, either by choice or by death. The bottom two-thirds of the page is a nod to the final standoff with the DJD. Those seven characters played a significant part or were at least present during the ordeal. R.I.P. Skids. *cries softly*

Page 3:

My favorite in terms of story-telling. ♡

I wanted to create a visual representation of Megatron’s redemption arc, starting with his old ideology of “peace through tyranny” to his somber moment of reflection in the field of spark flowers to his adoption of a new philosophy of “peace through empathy.”

And the character arrangement follows that, of course:

Top section: Most of the professionally sadistic DJD (i.e. those who fully embodied Megatron’s old philosophy of “peace through tyranny”)

Middle section: Two additional Decepticon sadists and two morally dubious Autobots (i.e. wild card characters who fall somewhere between the two sides)

Bottom section: Megatron himself and three characters who played key parts in his journey of redemption and striving for atonement (i.e. those who represent Megatron’s new philosophy of “peace through empathy)

Page 4:

Basically a summary of Lost Light. I mean, look at them: a former DJD member, a dinobot, a group of lowly Decepticon scavengers, a couple of “nobodies,” the “greatest Autobot of all time,” a disgraced-blacksmith-turned-adventurer, and an archaeologist. Not at all the bunch one would expect to come together and save the universe, yet they did just that. And it was beautiful. That’s why I chose the broken Rodimus Star as the final widget—the second bookend. It represents broken people coming together for a purpose that benefitted the greater good. It’s a tribute to these individuals (and all the others) from diverse and even controversial backgrounds who weren’t necessarily “good,” but were sure as hell good enough. In the end, every single one of the final Lost Lighters—old and new—was worthy of that silly little star.

[petitelepus]

Hello! I noticed matchups were open and wanted to send one for TF MTMTE/LL. I'm a straight female with long, wavy brown hair(it's usually in a bun and when I take it down it poofs out) and I have light brown eyes. I'm an Aries and an introvert. I tend to be shy(I blush easily). Meeting new people makes me nervous, but if I get along with them I can crack a few jokes. I'm a major mom friend(someone has to look out for the wild ones). I like drawing and writing(mostly sci-fi and fantasy). I do occasionally lose my temper (usually at video games & electronics, but not unlimited to people). I can be stubborn at times but tend to keep an open mind. I can often see both sides of an argument, and try not to get involved. I belive in second chances but I hate backstabers. While I am pretty shy, I won't hesitate to speak up when I know something is wrong or to defend a friend. Loyalty, honesty, trust, and friendship is what I hold dear to me.

(I hope that wasn't to much info! I didn't want to over do it but I wanted to give a good enough description) Love your work btw! Your "Little you, Bigger problem" fics are my favorite!

I match you with Rodimus Prime!

Rodimus was excited to meet you. He had never seen a human before so it was a huge thing for him. And then you come, all shy and cute and he feels like his Spark is about to burst. You are so fragging beautiful.

You try to make a good impression and Rodimus is just looking at you with hearts in his optics. You try to break the ice with a joke.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"What's a chicken?"

You and Rodimus stare at each other. You're speechless and he is all smiles. He can tell the two of you are going to get along.

Your shy and introvert nature show, but that doesn't stop the flaming mech from courting you. You're actually taken aback by how he flirts with you and that makes you even more shy.

You believe in second chances and since you're in Lost Light thanks to Megatron, Rodimus can't completely hate him. You forgave him the crimes he committed towards humanity so maybe Rodimus can give the old warlord a chance. He won't be happy about it, but it's worth it when you smile and say how proud you are of him.

That's when you give Rodimus a chance and you're glad you did, because the mech truly loves you and you can be yourself with him.

You look after your lover and Ultra Magnus could cry in joy. You are such a good influence to Rodimus, he actually once returned his report on time thanks to you.

When Aries woman falls in love she absolutely glows. You're happy and mindful of others and just occasionally you get mad during video game nights but that's only cute and hilarious. How a little you can be so cute when you curse at the television screen.

So when Getaway and rest of the ship betray Rodimus and others, you're seething. When the crew gets the chance to escape DJD and you all decide to stay, you confess to Rodimus how you wanted to grow old with him.

You survived, but the question was left in the air and after getting his paint job changed, Rodimus approached you and asked if you really meant what you say when you were all about to die.

You're blushing when you tell him that you meant every word you said and he kneels before you, still towering over you and asks you to become his Conjunx. How can you say no to that?

So you, Rodimus and friends of yours head forward, ready for future together.

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

Character review!!;(4/4)

Wild Wheel!!;

Wild Wheel was one of the more disappointing bots on this show, while also being one of the more creative ones. See, Wheels here was one of the bots that was lost as the ark crashed. Long story short, he was forced to adapt to the ways of the west, and became a cowpoke that swore revenge after Optimus Prime. He had a cool flashback type thing too, it was honestly very creative, from his story, to how his design was affected. The reason why I label him disappointing was because he was highlighted in his debut episode, then was pushed to the side as a helper to the main team. I’ll give him that, autobot turning con was pretty peak. His characterization would be rated 5/10, but I’m gonna give him 7/10 as a final total. There was potential here, but this show has its priorities in the wrong place.

Drift/Deadlock;

Now let me explain here. Drift may have an alt mode, but I don’t give a shit, these two are all that matters, fuck whatever WIP he is. Look, I, like everyone else, nearly pissed themselves upon seeing Deadlock. He’s adorable, he’s a pacifist, and he’s honest to Primus abused on both ends of the spectrum. That, was SO great to see, a decepticon turning autobot. Now you’d think, with such a change, they’d let him have some characterization. Maybe let him have one episode where he debates with his choices. But no. No, they take some a promising idea, and forget about it till like, late into season two I believe. Then they have Drift, pop out of nowhere, and end up being traitor. There was no hint, no build up, and we all felt for HOT ROD after that, not Drift. I was too busy being upset by the suddenness of it all, that I couldn’t be mad at Drift. Never before, have I seen something so useless, and so half assed, as Drift’s character and role in the series. DEADLOCK gets 8/10 because he’s so precious, DRIFT gets 1/10, suck it. I’m still pissed, to this day.

Megatron X and Tarn!!;

Now, I already know what you’re thinking. ‘Why did she include two completely different characters in the same entry? she dumb?’ to answer your second question, yes the fuck I am. HOWEVER, one statement here is wrong. These characters are NOT different, they really aren’t. See, Tarn coming in was the PERFECT ultimate opponent. Do you know how excited I was for this? I had so many ideas as to where this could turn. Maybe Tarn killed his own Megatron, planning on taking THIS Megatron as his own. Maybe he was going universe to universe taking Megatron’s, maybe killing every Optimus FOR Megatron- there were SO many routes this could have been taken. Not to mention the fact that this would be PRIME chance to give Tarn an official voice, AND bring the FUCKING DJD. This was by the far, one of the most fucking exciting moments in this series for me. Not to mention Tarn looks GOOD! big, bulky, beautiful!

Then Megatron X happened. It was total bullshit that I HATED. What was the point of bringing in someone as cool as Tarn, only to just shove a chad Megatron into the mix, and reducing Tarn to just a bunch of mindless clones? it was poor writing, it made no sense, and I’d rather sit here, and have my teeth pulled out with a rusty fork, than be THIS offended again.

In short, Tarn gets 8/10, he didn’t deserve this. Megatron X gets 1/10, fuck you.

Starscream!!;

I don’t, uhm. I don’t know why I put him here tbh. I don’t have anything much to say about him. Starscream just spent the entire series being an actual problem, and not in the usual fun way. He was a problem till the very end, and the death cult thing he had going on was just kinda weird. He was good in season one, tolerable. But aside from that, I felt myself groaning whenever he was on screen. TFP Starscream was annoying in his own right, but he had a sort of charm to him, be it how he cooed words, how he moved, and the fact that his actions were pretty much FOR Megatron. This Starscream just wanted to cause problems, and really had no other character traits. I’m not kidding when I say he’s my least favorite Starscream, 4/10, and that’s because him at the cube game was honestly funny as hell.

[dildo-swaggins-t-baggins]

Part 2 of the crew accidentally learn from the DJD that Tarn is controlling Rodimus with dark energon idea: Lord Rodimus calls Optimus to call the older prime out for all his hypocrisies, flaws and mistakes, including forgiving Megatron for all the pain he's caused everyone (Rodimus included) and then Optimus abusing his power by making Megatron (of all bots) co-captain of the Lost Light! Rodimus smiles evilly as he tells Optimus the DJD are coming to Cybertron to do where Megatron failed! 😈

Ah the angst is ripe this season.

“It's an energon, but not from Cybetron.” Perceptor said inspecting the dried chips. “Primus, it’s dark energon.” He shivered and handed it back to Ratchet. “No one knows the full effects a strict dark energon diet could do to one’s frame, and I’m positive that no one would want to know either.” 

    Ratchet held Rodimus’ energon. “It’s addictive and it affects one’s frame and processor, those mods? They’re his frame, not mod.”

    “Not to mention his movements in the fight, how fast his aim was with Getaway and Atomizer.” Megatron shook his helm, this was bad. Both of the other captains were in danger, Thunderclash could die at any moment and Rodimus was physically changing into something else. “What are the physiological effects of dark energon?” 

_________

“Ugh.” Rodimus sat up, his frame cracking, he growled as his peds tingled, his claws tore at the soft tarps as he pulled himself up. He rubbed his helm and rolled it from side to side, the air hung with a familiar scent, fresh energon. Rodimus turned to the hanging mech, Thuderclash was covered in energon, most of his inner workings were exposed and his helm lulled to his side. Rodimus felt his spark leap up in his throat and he rushed to the colorful mech’s side, gently cupping Thunderclash’s helm. “Thunderclash?” 

    Thunderclash’s intake pulled in and he licked his lips, optics flickering to life. “Uh,” He groaned and winched as he moved his helm.

    Rodimus held his helm up. “Thunderclash?”

    “Rodimus?” He mumbled it was weak and laced with stadic. 

    His spark clenched, Rodimus paused as his claws dug into Thunderclash’s plating, they were sharper now, longer. “I’m here.”

    He groaned, his frame wailed with each movement. “Rodimus you need to get out of here. Tarn, he’s doing something to you, and your frame, you’re changing.”

    “Shhh, shhh.” Rodimus nuzzled his helm under Thunderclash’s jaw, he smelt the dried energon, the leaking coolant, and most of all Thunderclash. “It’s okay.”

    “Rodimus you need to leave.” 

    “No,” He growled, pushing his face back into Thunderclash’s neck, smelling that ocean breeze that the colorful captain always carried with him. “Not yet.” He hissed, his engine growling. Protect him, save him. Rodimus’ finals twitched as a droplet struck one, he pulled away from the colorful mech and paused. Lines of washer fluid were running down his handsome golden face. Rodimus’ spoiler flicked back, he leaned in and cleared away the tears, his engine slowed to a steady pur. “Listen, you’re going to be okay.” He pressed his face plates up against Thunderclash’s, staring into those weak optics. Weak. Danger. 

    “Rodimus, please you need to leave here no-”

    He pressed his intake against Thunderclash’s, almost tasting the same as the last time, but there was that sour taste, the taste of energon. The weaker mech whined, and more washer fluid slipped out of his optics. Rodimus gently held his chassis, assuring him that he would be safe. He didn’t even think about it, as he bit down on Thunderclash’s lip plates, drawing energon, he sucked on it, tasting the other. Rodimus pulled back, nudging his face plate against Thunderclash’s. Marked. Mine. “I need to go.”

    Thunderclash sobbed. “Please stay here.”

    “I’ll be back.” His spoiler flicked up and down. Rodimus cleared away the trails of washer fluid. “I promise.” He promptly spun around, his engine returning to it’s familiar growl. 

_________

“Megatron, I think you need to see this?” Blaster called.

    Megatron pulled away from Perceptor and Ratchet, and made his way to the half broken screen. A glitchy face appeared, burning purple optics, sharp denta, spikes jutted out of his helm. “Rodimus?” He mumbled and cupped his intake.

    Drift rushed over, he was still wounded and each movement spoke how weak his frame was. “Roddy?” 

    “He’s on every channel, every transmission, it’s going straight to Cybertron.” Blaster added.

    “What are you doing Rodimus?” He mumbled to himself.

    Rodimus grinned, flashing a few sets of fangs. “Hiya Optimus,” He waved. “I hope you’re doing well on Cybertron, in your luxury hab, thinking everything is over. Then again you just dumped one of the most vile Cybertrainains onto me, and you just forgave him? For everything that he did?” The grin slipped away. “But Megatron wasn’t done was he? Far from it.” His voice got deeper, his optics burned with something else, something sinister. “So I’m going to finish it, we’re coming Cybertron.”

    The video cut out and Drift collapsed, clutching his chassis. “I can’t feel him, I can’t feel Rodimus, he’s not there anymore.” He sobbed out scraping at his chassis.

    Ratchet rushed over and pulled his Conjux out of the dirt. “Come one kid you need to rest.”

    Drift clung to him, sobbing in his chassis. “Roddy, please come back.”

    “Megatron?”

    He turned to Preceptor and Brainstorm.

    “What just happened?” Swerve asked, fidgeting.

    “Rodimus just declared war.”

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 19

it’s 2021 now!! time for more transformers 

we start off w/a flashback showing tyrest retrieving ultra magnus’s body from the ship - and we get a look at magnus’s spark, which is the green color of a 0.1%er [eyes emoji]

tyrest punching magnus..... grrrrr leave my dad alone bastard man

‘the divided self’ what a good title 

rodimus is like listen man this is a lot for my poor thot brain to take in

in flashback land, we see tyrest immediately launch into a crazy person spiel about how he can and will edit the law as he sees fit to conform to the situation, because that doesn't seem like a blatant abuse of power or a huge conflict of interest or anything 

oooh the screen in the corner that says ‘thought warfare,’ I see that

oof, poor magnus. its gotta be rough to hear your boss rant about how bad at your job you are....especially bc this is right after overlord called magnus a joke and nearly killed him

its especially brutal bc as magnus says, his job is his life 

augh, I love the panel where the armor is falling off around minimus, and then the one where he’s holding the ultra magnus head...poetic 

its fascinating that there was an ‘original’ magnus who was an actual guy, and then tyrest chose to make him into this legacy symbol - I'm assuming the OG magnus had no say in this, and probably didn't even know that he was gonna become this lawman legacy figure

I do wanna know though - obviously everyone thought that ultra magnus was one dude, but how did the different guys wearing the armor deal w/that? like, did minimus have people coming up to him like ‘hey ultra magnus old buddy! remember when we fought those guys in that one place? good times!’ like, do they have to study up on the lives of the past armor wearers to prepare for the role of ultra magnus?

augh poor minimus, of course he’s been wondering about what happened with overlord after he was KO’d

oof, drift...I feel like minimus looks surprised and a little skeptical at the idea that drift was the one behind the entire overlord thing - which is interesting bc as we saw at the beginning of the story, he doesn't exactly trust drift, but it’s still pretty far-fetched that one person orchestrated the entire thing

tailgate :(

the concept of a load-bearer is SUPER cool, I love it so much

it also puts a much-needed limit on things - as in, there IS a limit to how much weight/mass a normal cybertronian frame can carry, which is why you don't see everybody upgrading to be Massive - bc they actually CANT

oof, the worst part is that tyrest is RIGHT, minimus essentially DID have a nervous breakdown after the war ended bc of the rigid way he views the world

mental health support is clearly in shambles for cybertronians, yikes. they literally have 1 therapist for their entire race, and he’s not even licensed anymore due to hipaa violations. what a mess

the ‘attention deflectors’ thing is so cool and clever and also a great explanation as to why ratchet or anyone else never said ‘hey wait a minute, you're actually a much smaller dude in a trench coat’ 

I love tailgate knowing all the stuff about the autobot code bc of magnus...my BOY

and THATS why minimus was asking about skids specifically earlier!

oh minimus, please don't put so much stock in tyrest being stable and resonable...

aaaand there's skids and swerve! brainstorm says it best - ‘because something unexpected hasn't happened for at least nine seconds.’ lmao ily brainstorm 

finally checking in w/whirl and cyclonus - god I love that. whirl asking cyclonus how many cons he killed and cyc is like psh I wasn't keeping count....................ok it was six

hhhhh cyclonus IS looking for a cure for tailgate, even though he told tg that there wasn’t anything to hope for....excuse me as I go be emo 

and now we flash over to the unethical medical conduct hell zone, where pharma is being weird and horny and ratchet is appropriately horrified 

I seriously love how unhinged pharma looks, the art & colors do such a good job conveying his feral energy 

ratchet has some massive dick energy for taunting pharma when he’s currently just a head and pharma has dual chainsaws for hands 

ugh, I love whirls speech about anger...and I feel like he really does see cyclonus as a peer, despite cyclonus wanting to kill him, which is why he tells cyclonus all of this 

I fuckgin love that cyclonus’s reaction to very suddenly getting stabbed thru the abdomen is to just glance down at the sword, looking mildly inconvenienced 

back over to ratchet - and at first its like oh wow I can’t believe pharma was stupid enough to let ratchet goad him into this contest....but then you see first aid and ambulon and its like UH OH this is gonna be BAD

the idea that getting sliced in half is no big deal for a cybertronian is wild

‘you're gonna let doctor djd cut us in half?’ yeahhhh that's an appropriate reaction, yikes

FUCKING LENGTHWAYS GOD

pharma you piece of shit

poor ambulon :( :( :( that's fucking brutal. amazing panel but....jesus

and like, to further my point from last issue’s liveblog - the fact that this very gore-y panel is okay, but swearing isn't...that's really funny honestly. I guess robo-gore is acceptable, while I'm guessing regular ole run of the mill human gore wouldn't be

then back to cyclonus, who is still looking only vaguely put out by the sword stuck right thru him

and then cyclonus just pulls it right out, which is a very bad idea for humans but probably not as big of a deal for big near-immortal alien robots

circle of light stuck in capitalistic urban hellscape cubicals 

poor skids, being asked to stand trial while having no idea what his crime is due to Big Amnesia 

OH SHITTTT I totally forgot that getaway shows up here

that is super clever though, with chromedome confusing the name ‘getaway’ with the concept ‘needing to escape’

cant believe tyrest is really dumb enough to tell minimus all his evil plans

BUT that means its time for some very important forged vs constructed cold lore

jro spelling ‘program’ as ‘programme’ made me remember when he said that he considers everyone on the lost light to be british, which is perhaps the least valid thing he’s ever said vhbghjsdbfjkhasbjk

the idea that they used the matrix - which is portrayed as kind of a holy object - in reproductive experiments is really interesting

AUGHHHHH this is all so good and interesting...im really fascinated w/this particular brand of like, alien robot racism/constructism/whatever you wanna call it - I feel like it does such a good job as a plot device, where many other ‘fantasy racism’ concepts from other franchises fail, bc there's not really a ‘human metaphor’ being used here (as far as I know/can tell) - as in, this isn't a thinly veiled metaphor for something that happened/could happen in human history

in fact, this type of bigotry (or w/e you wanna call it) isn't something that is even really possible in humans - I guess if there was a stigma against being born via ivf or something...? but there isn't, so there's no obvious real-world equivalent, which I take as a sign of good writing and worldbuilding - it makes the cybertronians feel more Real, bc of course they would have their own types of bigotry based off of completely different things than humans 

additionally - and this is crucial - tyrest is wrong: there’s no like, inherent moral corruption in cold constructed bots. there's no difference at all, other than method of construction. fantasy racism plotlines often flounder here, with the oppressors having a ‘valid reason’ for oppressing the oppressed, but tyrest is just operated on religious zealot bs and some biased science

like, dude, did you ever think that maybe there are other reasons why your trials only condemned cold constructed bots? like, maybe the trial itself was biased? or societal conditions were to blame? correlation is not causation, my dude, especially when the conclusion is ‘cold constructed bots are inherently SINNERS’ lmao 

like, tyrest rlly said ‘FUCK separation of church and state,’ huh

anyways I just think the whole cold construction vs forged thing is really interesting and well-done, and serves as a good precursor to the more fleshed-out functionism stuff we see later 

so tyrest is clearly off his rockers w/the whole drilling thing - dude, you accidentally gave yourself a lobotomy, okay - but I find it kinda funny that he’s right about a lot of that stuff he said at the end, about primus and the guiding hand and stuff being real 

cyclonus saying ‘tailgate and the others’...I see you, man, I see you

also cyclonus looks fine now??? didn't he just get stabbed??? 

ah, tyrest sprinkling a little light genocide onto his plan to find salvation. nice, dude!

MINIMUS NOOOOOOOOO

‘fully deserved’ SHUT UP BIIIIITCH

poor minimus is taking a lot of Ls this arc, geez

oof, great issue! again, as usual....I loved the lore we got this issue, its so interesting...and some good character stuff too. I love minimus, I feel like he’s gonna be my fav this readthru; my first read my fav was brainstorm, second readthru was whirl, and I feel like its minimus/magnus this time. I just love his character arc...

hype af for more B) 

[imababblekat]

Imagine Rung/Megatron Finding Out Their S/O Is A Dragon When Saving Them From The DJD

~

Rung:

"Tarn, please, don't involve them.", Rung pleaded, optics tearing up behind his glasses.

Before him, the leader of DJD stood rigid, grip tight with you in his clenched servo. You bit back a pained groan when Tarn swished you about like a rag doll, blood being throw from your bitten and torn leg thanks to the Pet and his way of retrieving you from your hiding place.

"Last chance, psychiatrist. Megatrons files and we'll be on our way.", Tarn leered down at him.

"Don't Ru-aagh!", you yelped, being cut off by a painful squeeze.

Rung was never going to give Tarn his patients files, it went against every fiber of his being, but seeing the way your face scrunched up in pain made it really hard not to. It wouldn't have even mattered in the end, he knew Tarn and his crew of murderous psychopaths wouldn't let either of you go if he did give him Megatrons files. He'd at least hope though that if he had, they would spare you with a quick-

"AAAGH!!!"

"Rung!!"

The orange bots upper half fell forward in his trapped seat that was actually Kaon, huffing and spitting out bleeding energon from the his captors electric shock. He looked up to see you hitting Tarn's fist with all you had, the latter ignoring your pitiful attempts of escape and to cause harm in favor of capturing Rung's gaze as it peered out behind his falling glasses.

"The files.", the tyrant said once more, his voice low and making Rung feel as though a vice was clenching down on his spark.

Mustering up what energy he had left, the psychiatrist grit his denta, optics glaring harshly now that his glasses had fallen completely off, and in a tone that even surprised him, told Tarn off.

"Go frag yourself, Tarn."

The DJD leaders optics widened behind his obscuring mask. This small Autobot sure didn't seem to have it in him, but there was no missing the cold, venomous spite dripping from not only his words but also his very own glare alone. Tarn would be lying if he said he wasn't just a little impressed. However, it didn't matter, because all that strength and bravado only caused him to let out a small, hearty laugh.

"You amuse me Autobot, but. . ."

Tarn nudged his helm back to Helex who quickly open his built in incinerator.

"I grew bored of you a long time ago.", Tarn finished with a drop in his tone.

Before Rung or even you had registered it, Tarn had thrown you back into Helex chamber, the glass door shutting tight and cutting off your terrified scream. The chamber lit with fire, covering any view of you the Lost Light psychiatrist once had, and he lurched forward only to be sent another painful shock from Kaon to stop him from calling out your name. Tarn turned on heel, walking past his closing in team members like a pack of wolves as he pulled out his communicator.

"Eyebrows made his decision not to give us Megatrons files the moment we strapped him down; we've wasted time. Do what you want with them, I'm going to call Nickel and-"

Tarn didn't get to finish, as he had been quickly interrupted by Helex screaming. He turned around fast to see the round mech fall to his knees, his friends staring at him in just as much confusion as their leader, only to suddenly have Helex throw his chamber open and a large fireball to come shooting out. Before it's path was Kaon and Rung, but the Con had only time to transformer back to bi pedal mode before being slammed and engulfed by raging flames and smoke.

The DJD grouped up before the plume of ash and smokey clouds which glowed bright red and orange, weapons at the ready and all on edge. Tarn narrowed his optics to try and make sense of what was happening within the dense cloud, when he heard another pitiful scream and sickening crunch. When it had all finally dispersed, he knew what those sounds had come from. Before him and his team stood a terrifying beast, one of hardened scales and pure muscle. Thorn like spikes poked out along parts of their armored body, and two giant, sharply pointed horns curled out from the top of their head. Two pairs of powerful wings spread out from their back, making them look bigger and more menacing. Finally, they had razor sharp eyes, slits for pupils that screamed death, smoke flowing out from their nostrils and from their mouth, the later of which was filled to the brim with insanely dangerous looking rows of teeth, some of which were piercing straight through the DJD member Kaon.

Staring straight into his spark, this creature, a dragon, tossed Kaon's half dead body at Tarns pedes. Never once did he take his optics off the creature, but from the wet feeling that began to seep the soil at his feet, Tarn didn't have to look down to see the damage his teammate was in. His guns lit, ready to fire along with those still standing, but before he could give the command, the deathly monster spoke.

"Leave.", their voice rang out like thunder and courses of other voices all together; the energon from Kaon dripping out and splattering the ground.

The two stared at one another, snake like eyes holding that of Decepticon optics, before eventually it was Tarn who lowered his stance. He was a strong, and terrifying enemy to have, and while typically one up for a good fight, he could tell this was not a foe he'd want to face, or at least today with half his team down. Saying nothing he waved to Vos and Tesuarus, the later helping up a very drained and in pain Helex to his pedes. Picking up the limp, but still barely alive Kaon, Tarn looked to the dragon once more, who of which never took their threatening gaze off him, before he finally turned to take leave.

Once the group was finally gone, and the dragon felt they were no longer in danger, they uncurled their large tail to reveal the small Autobot who had not even scratch from their monstrous display. Rung groaned, turning his helm over with flickering optics. Through what he could see of the blur above him, all he could register was the last sight of his human significant other, and their cruel death, and the feeling of immense sorrow envelope his core before he laid his helm down once more.

"(y,n), (y,n). . .", he whimpered out in a choked sob before falling into stasis.

"It's okay Rung. It's going to be okay.", you, the fiery beast who's entire body covered his protectively, whispered into his audials.

Megatron:

"Let them go Tarn.", Megatron ordered in such a calm tone compared to the way he'd give orders when the DJD member knew him at his “best".

Tarn's denta gritted, his grip on you becoming tighter as you gasp for air. The flicker of panic in the ex Warlords optics give his spark a tinge of happiness, but it was not enough. The fact that Megatron, the Megatron, a leader who Tarn had followed and devoted his life to, was not only trying to stop him from squishing any organic, but an organic that happened to be the grey mech's significant other. It made Tarn sick to his core, and he had to hold back from squishing you right then and there.

"What happened Megatron? I remember a time when we'd erratic planets filled with these disgusting things.", Tarn spoke, talking and moving you about like you were nothing more than object; a pest.

"Yes, but that time is behind us now and I've changed.", Megatron replied, taking a step forward only to step back when the other members raised their weapons with a click.

It wasn't so much a concern for his safety, but yours. Megatron could easily take all of them down, but with you at risk, he'd have to be more careful about his actions.

"Oh, trust me, I know.", Tarn glared at the Autobot badge that decorated Megatrons armor.

Megatron glanced down at the badge for a second before bringing his gaze back up to Tarn. When the later had commed the Lost Light, he'd expected they wanted him as well as any other Decepticon turned Autobot on the ship. While just outside the ships bridge, and in the midst of comforting Drift, he'd suddenly heard Rodimus go off in a flurry of curses. Ultra Magnus had been the one to come rushing out the bridges doors to retrieve him, and what Megatron saw on screen made him feel both instant regret and furious anger. He knew he should have joined you when you and a group of your other mechanical friends went to the planet below the Lost Light for some fun. If he had, he wouldn't have been staring at your terrified face on screen in the hold of the DJD, and he wouldn't be here now, by himself as requested and staring at you in the grip of Tarn's servos.

"Tell me this all just some plan of yours.", Tarn began, his voice desperate and hopeful. "Tell me that you're just trying to get close, get the Autobot's guard down so you can attack them at their weakest. Tell me Megatron! Tell me this is all just some elaborate plan of yours!"

Tarn felt his spark drop when the later shook his helm. With furrowed optic ridges Megatron spoke with a low, but sincere voice.

"The war is over, Tarn. No more fighting."

"But what about all those years. All of those years spent following your orders and the cause?"

Megatron frowned, wanting to look down but kept himself from doing so. Another regret of his; taking the lives in not the sense of killing, but wasting it.

"Make new ones. You have time now; you're life is yours now."

Tarn felt his frame shake with bitter rage. Nothing he said or could do would bring Megatron back to who he was, to who the DJD leader thought he rightfully was, that much was clear.

"Enough.", Tarn's voice dropped, Megs optics twitching at the tightness around his spark.

Tossing you to the ground, a horrifying cracking sound resided and Megatron felt his body run cold when yours stopped moving. There wasn't enough time for him to take in all that just happened, because before he knew it he had been knocked back by the heavy punch of Tarn's fist. The DJD members behind him grabbed hold, and threw Megatron to the ground, using all their might to keep him there. The ex warlord was ready to throw them off, but any strength he had was quickly depleted at the sound of Tarn's lowering voice by his helm.

"You were great Megatron. Now look at you, feeling sorrow over an organic.", Tarn spat, taking in the sight of Megatrons fizzing optics and dangerous glow emitting from his spark chamber.

"It's such a shame you won't be here to see me continue the Decepticon cause. First, starting with the eradication of orga-"

"AAAGH!!!"

Tarn quickly looked up and in the direction of everyone else's alerted attention to see Vos suddenly engulfed in a spur of flames. Distracted by the frighting display, Tarn didn't see Megatron quickly regain his strength till it was to late and he was quickly punched back in the gut. Hitting the ground with a thud he gave out the order and his team began firing at Megatron. Feeling the sharp pains of being hit, Megatron waited for more once he fell back to the ground, only to suddenly feel nothing. Looking up and around him he had been shielded by a pair of large. . .wings?! A loud roar erupted, easily silencing the sound of gun fire, and just like him, Megatron was sure the other mech's were covering their audials in pain as well. When it stopped and the wings retracted, Megatron was finally able to take in the sight of what the DJD had.

A monstrous beast surrounded him, making him appear the size of a minibot, it's body covered in scales blacker than night, and some parts rigid with thorny spikes that no one would dare to be caught by. Being as close he was, Megatron didn't need to lay a servo on them to know how strong and built their body was; they could easily break a bolder with just their hands if they wanted to. Speaking of which, they had talons that tore into the earth, and on the right hand Megs could see the glowing liquid that was someones energon. Optics following their long body, he took note of the four wings on their back, the things that had shielded him from a shower of bullets and not even looking scratched. His widened gaze soon came to the dragons head, their sharp, slit eyes focused on the startled and some petrified DJD crew, but even though it was not on him, even he had a chill run of up his spinal strut. Finally, the mouth of the horrid beast was left for him to view. Rows upon rows of teeth sharp enough to pierce the hardest metal aligned it, dripping with saliva and energon, and fumming from that horrifying maw were the flickers of reddened flames just waiting to be fired out in a display of mass destruction.

After taking in the horrifying beast, Megatron took a step back but felt something strange. He didn't feel the sense of danger, that sixth sense that was always at the nape of his neck, instead he felt something strangely safe, and even stranger, something familiar coming from this dragon. Expression no loner one of shock or surprise, Megatron turned to face the DJD, his gaze landing on Tarns. Looking away from the piercing glare of the beast, Tarn felt his spark stop when his optics were captured by Megatron. That look; that look of pure terror and death flooded his processor with memories of the past. With a beast so menacing curled behind him, ready for the moment to unleash an unimaginable peril, and an aura that screamed for any foe to run, Tarn could only stare with wide optics at the mech who gave him those feelings. This was the Megatron he knew.

Quickly jumping to his pedes, he ordered Kaon to grab the charred Vos and ran back to the Peaceful Tyranny with his beaten and bleeding teammates. Megatron alone was a fight not easily won, but with the dragon behind him, Tarn got the same spark stopping fear from them as he would from the ex warlord.

Once assured that they were no longer a threat, Megatron continued to stare at the horizon the DJD had retreated over, a beautiful sunset taking over the tense and dark situation he had been in. With the pink and orange hued sky reflecting in his optics, Megatron didn't need to look over to know what the sudden breeze beside him came from.

"Why didn't you tell me?", he murmured, tone low but with a hint of softness.

You stared at the painted sky as well, hand hesitantly reaching out to rest against Meg's metal leg, but the later not once stepping away or making any notion that he didn't want your soft touch.

"You're not the only one with a past."

~xXx~

[verdigrisprowl]

Job Interview, Part 4

"So why did you join up with Lockdown's crew?"

"I wanted to do something better than just be a front line soldier. It's not that I minded taking lasers meant for the guys behind me—I'm proud to do that—I just... I wasn't—I don't know—I wasn't proud of sending lasers back."

"At the Autobots?"

"Not because they're Autobots," Fan said. "But because they're—I shot a six-year-old once, sir. His name was Grom of Simanzian Dawn, and that happened six years before I shot him. I would put a bullet through the head of whoever it was responsible for sending Grom out to battle, any day, but there's no way a six-year-old had done anything to deserve dying."

"I authorized the sparks be defrosted for Simanzian Dawn."

"Primus on a pogo stick, I am wrecking this interview. I'm sorry. I'll go."

"Sit back down. And this led to joining Lockdown...?"

"Oh. Right. See, if you're on the frontlines—you can't pick your targets. You've just gotta shoot whoever's in front of you. You don't know if they deserve it. And they probably don't, they're probably guys just like you who don't know who they're shooting at either. I didn't like it. So I was always waiting to get transferred somewhere else—"

"As long as it wasn't to a pink alch facility."

"Right, or an exermination crew. I even put in for an internship with the DJD."

Prowl gave him a dubious look.

"What?! They're law enforcement!"

"Debatable. Go on."

"So when a couple of buddies got positions on Lockdown's crew and asked me to come, I jumped on it. I'd still be a 'Con, but I could—I could do something like what I wanted to do. Law enforcement and—and rounding up dangerous criminals and all that."

Prowl gave him an even more dubious look.

"... I was very ignorant about the realities of bounty hunting, sir."

"Mhm. So when did you decide you wanted out of that?"

"After we worked with Tyrest, sir. I was able to put up with it when it was just scavenging Metrotitan parts and rounding up dangerous, violent cults—" (is that what Tyrest has called the Circle of Light?) "—but after we discovered what he'd actually been up to..."

"You didn't want to be part of anything like that again."

"No sir. Not even accidentally. So—since the war was over—I decided I'd come be an enforcer back on Cybertron."

"If that's the case—Tyrest's actions were revealed, at least to those on Luna One, five years ago. Why did it take you so long to make it back here?"

"Oh, well, first it was finding a way back. And then..." Fan fell silent.

"... What?"

"Well," Fan lowered his voice, "S'n'wm was in charge."

"S'n'wm" wasn't a word. However, Prowl was plenty familiar with Decepticons and even some especially paranoid Autobots mumble-slurring Soundwave's name into something approximating "S'n'wm," for fear that if they said his name any louder or any more clearly, he would overhear and begin paying attention to their conversation.

"And that's a problem?"

Fan hissed, "Well, yeah! Have you seen that guy Starscream dragged up from some parallel universe? He looks like—okay, if the Necrobot existed, that's definitely what he'd look like. He doesn't even have a face. I mean—not that there's anything wrong with not having a— But it's not even empurata, they at least have optics."

"Have you heard of flatheads?"

"No."

"In some universes where the Functionist Council overthrew the Senate, they overused empurata to the point where it didn't faze anyone anymore. They started removing people's voices and replacing their whole heads with nothing but screens where they can display their words. Literally silencing the opposition."

"Oh." Fan pondered that. "Oh, jeez." He fell silent for a moment. "... And he looks like he could decapitate you with his wrist."

Soundwave was going to love hearing about this guy.

"Anyway," Fan said. "I was really glad when I heard you'd taken over." That was the nicest thing anyone had said yet about Prowl taking charge. Even if it was only because he wasn't a flathead Necrobot with arm scythes.

"All right. That's all I need. Send me your service records and any letters of recommendation or certifications you've received, and I'll get back to you shortly."

"Yes sir!" Fan jumped to his feet. "And I just want to say, sir, what an honor it is—an honor and a privilege—to be given this opportunity to interview with you, for this position, and I'm really hopeful that you'll strongly consider me a good fit for this organization's—"

"We're done here."

"... Right. Okay. Um—bye."

Prowl waited until the door shut behind Fan to start reviewing the conversation. Hm. Well. There were a few glaring character flaws, sure, but... overall? Overall, he had the qualities Prowl would look for in an officer, and didn't have the qualities Prowl intended to avoid.

He was definitely a candidate.

[scraplette]

Lost Light #10 Thoughts & Feels

After nearly TWO YEARS we finally reaturn to the titular Lost Light. Oh boy...

As always, under a readmore for them spoilers.

New arc so no LAST TIME segment :)

Word of warming, my dears. I like Getaway. He might've had some valid points regarding Ex-Decepticon warlords, but he's a piece of shit who did some terrible, manipulative things, and I like him. I like that he's an unapologetic bastard. You can enjoy a character and still acknowledge and condemn the terrible things they've done. Sometimes, it's just fun to watch a good villain at work.

So if you don't like Getaway(and you have every reason not to) this recap might not be for you. Then again, it’s not as if I’m showering him in praise.

Onwards!

+This is going to be an interesting arc for me because most of the characters are guys I'm not overly familiar with. I obviously know first Aid(hey cutie) but the rest of his team I haven't a clue.

My knowledge of the Protectobots basically boils down to this. Rook is an afterthought(Combiner Wars was not kind to him) Blades is not an adorable helicopter who likes TV shows. Mirage is the posh one who is sometimes invisible and was a traitor(except he wasn't) and isn't a Protectobot.

Aaaaaaaand that's it. Hopefully the arc will shed some light on these characters.

Wow, been a while since we've the the Lost Light. Feels weird.

+”I had a plan! Same plan as always:survive.”

Oh, First Aid :(

+Crashing into the shuttle bay isn't a bad plan. Better than exploding in space.

+Whoo. The return of trigger happy security team. Seriously, guys, chill!

+YAY! GETAWAY!

+Hi, Atomizer. Hm, why didn't you slow down? It's not like you didn't recognise the shuttle since it's obviously one belonging to the Lost Light. We saw it at the end of MTMTE #43

I see through your bullshit.

I adore that I'm scrutinising everything Getaway says. Does this mean, if First Aid had stayed on the LL, he would've sided with the Mutineers? (It does)

+Is Atomizer telling the truth here? If yes, it means the BBC are preparing for something big.

+[Covers face] Getaway is being disgustingly charming and evasive. I love it!

… I need to see these scenes in the comic. No! Bugger it! I can't wait that long! I'll do it myself! [grabs crayons]

+Rodimus with a Lafuente space colour paintjob would be stunning [fans self]

+”I like him a lot. But I don't know if I trust him.”

First Aid perfectly summing up my Getaway feelings.

+Aw, look at First Aid being all proactive.

+Blades' rambling about “Delphi: Mark 2” seems silly at first, but I think it subtly explains First Aid's mistrust of the whole situation. Delphi was a bitter lesson.

+Love First Aid reminding everyone that he is, in fact, the new CMO. Ratchet said so. Should've gotten him to write it down or something.

+Bugger me. Blades is really growing on me.

+Clever to do a spark scan.

+I'm just going to quietly squee every time Getaway is on page, aren't I?

+THUNDERCLASH [sigh] What a guy.

…

… Who's in another coma.

Circles?… Ha. Ha.

Hindsight is a bitch.

[inhales sharply] You did that on purpose you slimy git ]=<

Sidebar. Seriously, what is Getaway's problem with Rung? Getaway is terrible to everyone but when Rung is involved he becomes oddly blatant about it. During MTMTE #41 he was throwing some serious shade about our favourite nerd bot to Skids, who leapt to Rung's defence because Skids will always be best boy.

I'm wondering if he was jealous of Rung and Skids' friendship.

MOVING ON!

+Oh! We're outside the oil reservoir... Something horrible is in there, isn't it?

Getaway is lying here. But why? If First Aid accepts the lie that means the rest of the crew are bound to the lie too. Does this mean the crew are prepared to lie for Getaway.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

+Adore, absolutely adore, how Getaway is making this all about him. Twisting his words to garner sympathy. Ah yessss~

+Mirage's horror over the term “pint”, and the ensuing rant, made me chuckle.

HE HAS A FACE?!

Not going to lie. I didn't recognise bare faced First Aid and went back a page because I thought I'd missed a panel.

+Nice to see Hoist is still lovely.

+They can only socialise one night a week? Hm, keeping the crew isolated is a clever way to control the spread of information. Maybe I was wrong to think it would be hard for Getaway to maintain such a big lie.

LIES! ALL LIES!

I don't understand! These are all good people! Why are they lying! Why are they surporting Getaway! Xarron! You're a bloody legal adviser! Hound was there for the #50 transmission! I’m especially baffled given what we find out later in the issue. WHY YOU DO THIS!

UNLESS! Unless... Does Getaway still have the nudge gun?

+What's the Warren? Jackpot? JACKPOOOOOOOT!

+Is the Warren full of super wise space rabbits? I'd be up for that.

+Weeks?! Cyberutopia is weeks away? Wow, I'm glad someone can make sense of the map because it looks like space bibby boop to me.

Look at this? It's pretty but what does it mean? Are those planets?

Actually, now that I think about it, they've always been very vague about the map. We know they're following the it but they never say where. We're never given names or locations, nothing. Isn't that odd.

And don't you dare think I've forgotten about the map being beamed directly into Rodimus' and THUNDERCLASH'S [sigh] brain.

Oh no, I haven't forgotten.

[Anguished squeak]

+”I think he was just frustrated. You know Whirl: He's got no idea what he wants, bit he sure as hell knows he hasn't got it.”

Accurate Whirl description is accurate.

+An empty Swerve's is a very depressing sight.

+Blades is very keen on his Delphi: mark II theory.

+What happened to those forty-two people O_O

+AH! Rook spoke! I didn't know he could do that.

I really like Mirage in this scene. In this instant he's the voice of the audience. Like us, he has a history with a lot of these characters, and it hurts to think your friends could be lying to you.

+Interesting that First Aid balked at the thought of execution considering what he did to Pharma. But, then again, maybe this ties into it. He thought Pharma being dead would make things better but it didn't. Killing Pharma was an act of vengeance and anger, and it effected him deeply.

I'm not saying Megatron not being executed was a good thing, but just like in real life you have people who're against the death penalty. Perhaps First Aid is one of those people.

+Wait! Mirage remembers the two questions! First Aid too! That means they sided with the mutineers!

+RIPTIDE!

+Hang on, Getaway sent the DJD? We know about this deal with the Galactic Council, but we always assumed the DJD was just a sad, very unfortunate, coincidence. How deep does this lie go?

Also, Getaway, that was an unnecessary dick move.

+This does confirm that this was NEVER about getting Megatron off the ship, so toodles to that sort of moral high ground Getaway had.

I'm not surprised but this information because a mutiny was in the works waaaaaay before Megatron's trial.

+SCANDALOUS!

It's just text, but I swear I can feel the sarcasm dripping through the screen. Oh God, it's everywhere! Ease up there, Getaway.

Wow, that sounds like an actual living Hell.

WHAT THE HELL GETAWAY!

+Okay, who's been nibbling brains?

+It's just occurred to me that Percy is noticeably absent...

+Not mention of sparks.

+I'm getting the “Bomp that.” speech bubble framed.

+Riptide has been promoted from freaky fish boy to good fish boy.

+I love that “going Full Prowl” is not only a thing but a recognised military tactic. Just mwah, good stuff.

+A little part of me is bummed out that no one thought to use Brainstorm's safeguards.

Oh no...

Oh. No.

SCREEEEEEEE-

So AHEM yeah... Good ending.

+Holy crap. I wonder how many loops First Aid has been through(he’s in every scene so these have to be his memories) what about Riptide? HOW LONG?

O_O

[spockandawe]

sunderedstar asked:

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ ::::)

Song 5/8, and oh man, my penchant for traditional irish music and other related genres is coming back to bite me in the ass, because it turns out that all my favorite genres are the ones most heavily inclined to writing about stories. Anyways! it’s a fun challenge. So now we’ve got John Doyle singing Crooked Jack (lyrics).

I was tall and true all of 6 foot 2 But they broke me across the back By a name I'm known and it's not my own They call me Crooked Jack

God, I love the melody for the chorus in this song. It;s funny that I didn’t get Process Man or Dark As A Dungeon, because those are in a very similar vein but I know them much better than this one. But this one has a very personal edge that’s awful nice.

First of all, the low-hanging fruit. Terminus. I’d KILL to see the inside of his head while he’s reorienting on the universe after waking up in necroworld, and how he’s evaluating and adjusting for how Megatron’s gotten very old, very experienced, and very jaded since he last saw him. I want to see how he tries to use his old manipulation techniques, how he watches them fail, and how he adapts his approach. I’d love to take this all thew way up through the end of the functionist universe field trip, I want to see him genuinely caring for Megatron, and shamelessly using him anyways, and either ignoring or brushing off the hypocrisy of the whole thing. ‘we need to overthrow the oppressors because they treat people like objects and take their freedom. now do what i tell you, no i don’t CARE if you don’t want to do it’. I think.... I’d love to end it on some point when Megatron is parsing that he’s been left behind and is struggling a bit with it, and it’s so easy to turn to Terminus for reassurance and comfort. I want the smug satisfaction of winning, all while he’s so, so understanding and sympathetic on the outside.

Next up, let’s get some DOMINUS AMBUS up in here. This would be... so hard, man. Because I’d have to write it post-domestication for it to really fit. There was an idea I saw a while back, about how Dominus didn’t find Rewind II on the quantum duplicate Lost Light. And sure, maybe he couldn’t smell him when he was hiding inside another corpse. But I love love LOVE the idea of one of the last things he’s able to hold onto being that he knows Rewind, and he loves Rewind. Even now that he’s been made into the team pet, with masters who are very demanding and have been very cruel to him, personally, managing to draw them away from where Rewind is hiding, and convincing them he hasn’t been able to sniff him out. It would be hard to get the right voice to it, where the DJD has fucked over his brain to a horrifying degree, where even while doing that, Kaon still loves him, and he sure seems to care for Kaon. But Rewind. I want him trying to think and process through all the damage, and just... a very sad story, but one I’d love to get on paper.

Hmm. This wouldn’t be an exaaaact fit. But it has some interesting things I’d love to write about. So I’ve been really interested in Thunderclash lately. Because him just effortlessly being the perfect autobot, flawless in every way, I enjoy it played as a joke. I enjoy it even more if his private mental state very much DOES NOT support that idea. His image is crazy-intense, it’s unattainable. So... he doesn’t think he’s attained it. Crooked Jack wasn’t broken physically, it was emotional and mental. He’s failing everyone around him. And presenting himself in a dishonest light if they continue to believe it. But he’s an important figure to other autobots. He can’t afford to let the mask fall and take that from them. Even though it’s suffocating him, and it’s so frustrating nobody can tell something is wrong. I got at a little bit of this in the Thunderclash/Rung fic, where he tries to weasel around the whole safe, sane, and consensual thing and trick his partner into seriously hurting him for real. Because he deserves to be punished :) If he’d had more screen time and I was able to feel his specific damage out better, I’d love to have a continuation of that fic, where Rung gives him some of what he’s asking for, but stays within safe limits, and works out gradually drawing out of him why Thunderclash wants this thing, until eventually there’s an emotional crash even more significant than the physical crash. And a detail that I’d fit into that story somewhere: Thundercracker was tied to the Vis Vitalis as his life support system (that’s what got me onto the crooked jack connection). But that was... also.... his home? And the MOMENT he got free of the life support, he ditched and joined up on a new ship where he wasn’t in charge. He cut ties and bolted.

[soundwave-and-cassettes]

DJD Odyssey

Etrian Odyssey is pretty much my favorite game series of all time. The wiki has a much more in-depth explanation, but basically they’re dungeon crawling/mapping games. The first two (and to a lesser extent the third one) are known for being very difficult, something later entries in the series have dropped. I have. Mixed feelings about this. A few months ago I played a bit of the original EO and found that it hasn’t aged very well, mostly due to a lack of convenience features like “comparing equipment in the shop to your current equipment” and “clearly displayed skill prerequisites” EO2 does have those things so I wanted to see if it’s held up better.

EO parties have five members. So does the DJD. They’re not going to translate into the game nicely with classes and/or portraits that make any sense, but ehhh.

Meet the team:

He’s a healer that can and will stab you. I chose the class for him because the portrait sorta kinda reminds me of @lickoutyourbrains human Tarn. (mostly just the dreds, but shhh) And because we need a healer or we will die immediately

Tesarus is mostly blades. This portrait is mostly blades. This is as good a match as we’re going to get. Landsknechts are basically the fighter class. They wear heavy armor and use axes or swords. Their skills aren’t very exciting but they can deal and take a good amount of damage.

The best justification I can come up with for this one is uh? Orange? I wanted to use a troubadour. Troubadours cast buffs and use bows.

The idea of a gun using a gun is very funny to me. Gunners have good damage, including elemental damage, but they’re pretty squishy.

Last but not least, Helex is creepy. I’m done trying to justify these. Hexers cast debuffs and status ailments, which are much more useful here than in most RPGs.

As a side note, I do own this game, but I have no way of taking screenshots from my actual DS, so we’re using an emulator.

Title screen. 3D on the original DS was a little rough.

I kind of spaced out on screenshotting the intro but the gist is that there’s supposed to be a floating city full of riches at the top of this labyrinth and lots of adventuring guilds are trying to find it. This game is pretty light on plot. After the intro we go to create our guild

You have no idea.

Now it’s time to play the game, and by play the game I mean create 30 throwaway characters, take their gear, and sell it to buy better armor so Tarn doesn’t get OHKOed by a hedgehog. Let’s say they’re traitors and we’re taking their stuff for the cause.

Our blood money isn’t going to go as far as you might think.

Buyin a gun for a gun

The shop selection isn’t great right now, but everyone has the weapon they need for their skills and enough armor to keep them from dying immediately. We have enough money for two nights at the inn left. Time to go hunt traitors hedgehogs and bugs! We’re level 1

Graphics! I actually think it’s kind of pretty.

Our first mission is mapping the first floor of the labyrinth, and we can’t move on to other floors until we do. A guard drops your party off in the middle of floor and explains how to map, but I didn’t get a screenshot. This was originally me showing a friend the game, not an actual LP, so it’s missing some pictures it should really have. If I do another installment it’ll be better

Our first encounter is indeed a hedgehog and two snails. This is basically the weakest enemy party in the game, but at this low level they can kill a party member if you’re stingy with heals or have really bad luck

This guy hit Tarn once. This is the second random encounter in the game.

And here’s our TP after 3 fights. The map isn’t done, but we really need to get to the inn.

Sure, ok. I’m not going to look this guard in the mouth.

First FOE! If you were on the internet c. 2008 you might remember the FOE meme. Anyway, they’re powerful enemies that will attack you if you run into their orb on the map (replaced with actual 3D models in later games). This one is stationary but most either chase the party or move in a set pattern. They generally can’t be defeated at the level you first encounter them, but maybe that’s obvious considering how deadly regular enemies are.

On to the second floor. No screenshot but 2F looks exactly life 1F so I don’t feel too bad.

The main difference is random encounters. Poison deals over half of a level ~5 character’s HP in damage at the end of each turn of combat (no status ailments, besides death, persist after battle in any EO). If your whole party gets poisoned, you basically have a turn to win or flee before you die. Later games made poison a single target attack, but in this one it hits the whole party (although it does have a chance to miss). This is a good and fun game.

We survived the venomflies and almost immediately walked into an FOE. Running moves you back a square and our backs are to the wall so

Yep.

This feels like a good place to stop (we have a save, I didn’t lose too much progress). All said I was pleasantly surprised by how playable this game is. It lacks a lot of the conveniences of the later EOs (and lower difficulty settings. If you want to get into the series maybe don’t start with this one) but it also has something the newer ones are missing. I’m struggling to put it into words but I’m gonna go with “sense of helplessness”. The most recent game is a remake of this one and the “expert” difficulty setting is roughly equivalent to this game, enemy stat wise, but it doesn’t feel? Unfair? Like this game does? I am not selling this game at all. Maybe I’m just a masochist.

Anyway, if you want more of this LP-type thing or have any feedback, please tell me. Thanks for reading!

Stats at the end of part one: