#I’m not adding transformers prime on here…

[mossyscavern]

(Insert creative introduction title here)

______________________

It’s uh… just an au for the whole entire transformer franchise.

Each different franchise has the same au, which probably needs a lot of work with naming cause… it’s gonna be hella confusing if I have the exact same au but for a different franchise… or maybe that’s what people want? I dunno..

The au is as such.

Megatron being bumblebee’s dad (or mom, whatever floats your boat, I know both floats mine)

Why? Because there isn’t enough fanfiction/art to satisfy my serotonin and I like the idea of megatron being a great parent who also takes his role as a leader seriously, but… people have different opinions and I respect it… but I was getting hungry..

Plus I’m a bit obsessed with the idea of megatron being a parent who’d probably bend the universe just to see his kids happy…

So I said ‘fuck it, I’ll do it myself.’ … sooo I’m making megatron a parent in all variations of transformers so you’re probably gonna see a lot of ‘megatron as bumblebee’s parent’ on this blog as a hyperfixtate thing…

I’d like apologise in advance before going overboard-. But yes. I’m still making megatron a parent in all variations of transformers… cause I do what I want.

[compaculaaa]

Please excuse my attempt at being funny

[valacre]

: ̗̀➛ Grand New Life

Sentinel Prime x Reader - Transformers One

“Be careful—oh there it goes,” you say, throwing your arms up as your golden winged alien enters through the front door, shattering the glass sphere surrounding the ceiling light as he straightens up. Just shy of hitting the roof itself, though too tall for any unfortunate hanging lights. “I told you to wait outside!”

“Pardon me, but what about my previous – rather pathetic display – of begging in that infernal forest, did you not understand?” said he, far too cocky for his own good, and especially so since he had, indeed, been begging you not thirty minutes before not to leave him alone. “Besides, it is wet out there and I’d rather not have my paint ruined any more than it already has been.”

“It’s water, not acid, rain can’t harm you,” say you, but tipping your head you add: “Unless you’re prone to rust.” His shuddering confirmed your words. “Ah, well, you should still have waited. A few seconds out there wouldn’t have killed you, and I wouldn’t evaporate from being out of your sight either.”

Wings flicking, he sent you a sullen but unimpressed look. You couldn’t help but snort at the sight.

“I almost find it hard to believe you are an evil dictator from a different planet. You seem like such a sad little thing,” you say, and he bristles at your words, obviously offended by them.

“First, I am not a ‘sad little thing’. Second, I was not an evil dictator. All I wanted was to have my freedom from the Primes, and I kept the citizens of Iacon safe from the Quintessons too. I think it’s hardly seen as evil to wish for some luxuries at the end of a solar cycle,” he says, chuckling like a rich man who had no worries.

“Mhm, sounds like something an evil dictator would say, and I highly doubt you’ve told me the whole story,” you say, seeing him look at you with false hurt. “I think you cherry picked your words very carefully. Why would you be sent into space to die all alone, after all? Sounds to me you did something very, very bad.”

You didn’t wait for him to respond, only added: “Watch your head,” and went on your merry way into your home, sighing as you tried to sort through what your life had suddenly become. This whole thing was not what you needed. You hadn’t moved into the countryside to escape life’s more complicated struggles just to find yourself within the world’s biggest side quest.

“This, uh, home of yours doesn’t sound structurally sound,” said Sentinel, coming into the living room behind you, minding his helm as he ducked through the open doorway. “The floors are creaking terribly, and this material—”

“Wood.”

“… This wooden material seems far too weak.”

“It’s an old farmhouse that I bought for cheap. Trust me, it looked far worse when I just moved in. I’m not done restoring it yet, but it’s comfortable and antique,” say you, smiling a little as you glance around the room. You’ve yet to fully decorate, thrifting what you can, or being given what your fellow villages didn’t want anymore, but it’s become a lovely home in your eyes, and that was the most important thing of all. “It’s full of history, if you will. I like it.”

Sentinel gave you an odd look. You rolled your eyes and waved a hand at him.

“Anyway, I hadn’t planned on you staying in here. The old stable will be restored soon, so you can’t stay there, but the barn should be comfortable enough for you. At least the roof will be tall, and the straw will keep you warm once the weather turns colder.” Again, Sentinel gave you a look. “The barn is the wooden building you saw outside, the grey one with the turf roof and curved access ramp.”

“That one?!” Sentinel looked appalled at the thought of staying at such a place, and for a brief second that panic crossed his face plate. You took a subtle step back, not wishing to be tackled again. “Absolutely not! That place looked ready to collapse at the slightest gust of wind. I deserve—”

“You are in my home,” you say, voice firm and not accepting any excuses from him, “You begged me not to leave you alone, and though I admit I do feel sorry for your predicament, I will not tolerate any demands from you.” Walking closer to him, you set your hands upon your hips, a motion that has him briefly looking you up and down. You ignore it. “If you do not wish for me to leave you out in that forest with that pod you crawled out from, I suggest you do as I say and accept the hospitality I am willing to offer you. I promise I will do what I can to fix up the barn for you so you’re at least not miserable in there, but for now it will make do as it is. Got it?”

Sentinel suppresses a shudder as he looks at you, keeping eye contact with you even as his broken pride wishes to surge forward and make proper demands. But his gratitude of being taken with you, of being offered to stay by your side so crippling loneliness wouldn’t ensnare him again, is too loud within his processor. And so, as he glances over the bruise that discoloured parts of your face, he lowers his wings in submission.

“Understood,” he says, and you nod, walking past him, ignoring him as he reaches out a few digits to brush against you, feeling that softness again for the briefest moment. It was so strange but so wonderful all at the same time. Different from him, but lovely. He wondered whether you’d allow him to touch you properly again. He’d held you against your will within the forest, and if he wished to stay on your good graces, he had to behave.

One thing was for certain, though. He could never tell the full truth of what he’d done. He didn’t regret it, not at all, but he knew you wouldn’t approve, and you’d most likely toss him aside like rusted scrap if you came to learn of it. He could never let that happen.

This picture of a Norwegian barn was the inspiration for the one I mentioned in the story, though I added a turf roof to mine because I like it quite a lot. Sentinel’s new cosy home! <3

Previous / Next Music: Claudio Constantini – Reminiscencias & Rune Realms – Midnight Snowdrifts

[ondeemand]

Transformers One Review

For the sake of convenience, I’ll be referring to the characters as their new names (Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee) instead of their old ones (Orion Pax, D-16, B-127).

Also, I didn’t grow up with Transformers, so this will be mostly from an outsider’s perspective. I can’t tell what possibly was or wasn’t a retcon or how accurate to the source material it was, but I think the background info on their world held up very well and they were able to explain it clearly to new viewers like me. It definitely would have hit harder if I grew up with Transformers and knew more than just facts from cultural osmosis, but I still enjoyed the movie a lot.

Notes/Things I’m Neutral On

Very weird to hear my name (Dee) being said throughout most of the movie by Chris Hemsworth’s bad American accent.

Also, I forgot that Megatron has transformed into ground vehicles before. I only ever knew him to turn into a jet, so I was kind of confused that he was a tank in this movie. I hope we get to see him get upgraded to a jet in the next one, but the tank is still cool.

Pros/Things I Liked

Simple but effective color theory with their eye colors. Main good guys have blue while Megatron has yellow, sitting between good and bad. Still a friendly color at first, but slowly turns closer to orange and then fully red as his anger and hatred consume him (and after he met the red-eyed Starscream, a cowardly man who ends up enabling Megatron‘s more violent/aggressive tendencies)

○ Also I don’t know if I was just seeing things, but it looked like Megatron’s eyes got more yellow whenever he looked at Optimus which is so sad and so gay.

I really thought they were gonna push a romance between Elita and either Bumblebee (goofy manchild x competent woman trope) or Optimus (male lead x female lead, blue x pink), but I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t. Sadly, there’s still time for it in future installments, but I can dream.

Not to be gay, but spider woman sexy. Airachnid was so obviously evil that it was funny, but I can’t fault Sentinel for having her around because I, too, would want a deadly goth woman to be my right-hand lady. They felt like the evil, less developed versions of Mustang and Hawkeye. I am in love.

The animation is gorgeousssss. The environments, the character designs, the fight choreography, the transformations, the lighting, the texture, mwah mwah MWAH STUNNING!!!

○ Sorry, I’m never gonna stop talking about this. The way they were able to make square/blocky figures move so fluidly was fantastic (and proof of concept that a fully animated Minecraft movie would have worked). ○ The camera angles were also great for framing both the dramatic, intense, and/or high-action moments like fights or chase scenes, while also adding a lot to the comedic moments. Like when the camera stays tracking Optimus’ face when running through the forest, only for him to suddenly fall down a cliff neither he nor us saw coming, only to then zoom out to the perspective of the guards below, showing them stumbling and falling. ○ The contrast between the mechanical and organic elements on the surface were really cool, and the way it was introduced was able to convey this idea that organic life was this strange, alien thing. ○ The way the surface just rebuilds itself into these jagged, blocky terrains was really unique and interesting! It felt like a glitched computer model because of its rougher shapes which really added to the fear and hostility of the surface.

90% of their jokes landed and they landed hard. The bit where Optimus looks like he’s about to transform and then just fucking books it is incredible. The audio and camera work help add to these as well, like the music building as Optimus pretends to transform, the camera zooming in close to different parts of him, only for all background noise to cut out as it shows Optimus running away. I won’t name every joke and quip I found funny or we’d be here all day, but they’re certainly a highlight of the movie.

I love Keegan-Michael Key, but I wasn’t a fan of him as the comic relief character of Toad in the Mario movie. When Bumblebee showed up I got a little nervous, but I really loved his performance of the character.

I really liked the midpoint pep talk about hope. That’s a really nice reason that Optimus is the leader despite not being as skilled as other people. He has the hope for a better future and it was a core part of his character from the beginning, and I really like the idea that a leader is someone who can envision a brighter future no matter what.

Alpha Trion transforming was SICK AS FUCK!!! I love that he was more animalistic when the rest of the cast become vehicles. His final fight was so cool, and it actually made me kind of emotional to see him at the end with the rest of the Prime ghosts.

The stabbings? The beheadings?? The branding??? The way Megatron tore Sentinel in half and then ripped his heart out on-screen holy shit???? This movie was incredibly brutal and I loved it. It’s such an interesting phenomenon that children’s media is allowed to be about as graphic as they want as long as it’s against robots, even incredibly sentient ones like in the Transformers series.

○ I watched the 1986 Transformers movie for a class earlier this year, and while it also had a lot of brutality in it’s fights, the new movie felt more intense. Part of this could be attributed to me watching the 2024 movie on a big screen vs the 1986 movie in my living room, but there are other reasons as well. The 1986 movie had more upbeat songs playing over the fights, specifically songs like The Touch and Dare, which helped keep the tone lighter and more exciting. The 2024 movie didn’t have anything like that, allowing the action, while still cool and exciting, to take on a more serious tone. This is also emphasized by the graphics of the movie being 3D instead of 2D. While the 2D 1986 movie is a stunning masterpiece, people still view it with the idea in mind that, since it’s a cartoon, the stakes and story will be less intense. The 2024 movie being 3D with very detailed graphics and lighting already has more visual intensity. The characters are still these bright, poppy colors, but they can come across more moody and dark due to the environments, lighting, and textures that the 3D medium more easily allows. And while the painted backgrounds and cell shading of the old movie are great, the CGI backgrounds are a lot closer to realism, so the harsher elements like metal and rock, which make up a vast majority of the environment and characters, look real too.

The way Megatron’s hate consumed him to the point where he started acting more villainous and, while not entirely similar to Sentinel, still ended up hurting innocent people was tragic. Trying to push away and deny everything about a person only to wind up being just like them. This was perfectly shown in the end credit scene where Megatron is branding himself and the new Decepticons with Megatronus Prime’s face. To him, it may be him reclaiming the traumatic experience and literally using it like a badge of honor, as well as thinking he’s honoring Megatronus Prime. But in reality, he’s just inflicting the same trauma done to him onto others, just like Sentinel. Such a cool way to show how every villain is the hero of their own story.

The doomed yaoiiiiii I’m never gonna get over them. The only other Transformers media I’ve consumed is the 1986 movie, which kills off Optimus Prime in the first 25 minutes and Megatron becomes Galvatron, so I never knew the depths of their homoerotic relationship.

I’m a sucker for “the hero and villain used the be friends (and maybe even lovers?)” trope, so Optimus and Megatron’s relationship and the general premise of the movie was already a slam dunk for me.

I’m also a fan of legacy stories like Avatar and She-Ra. While this movie didn’t get as in-depth with the concept, I enjoyed that they played with the idea of legacy and taking up the mantle of the former Primes.

I absolutely loved the end message that Optimus gives us. Hope, freedom, and autonomy are incredibly important things to learn, and as a trans person who very much wants to keep control over what I do with my body, I really resonated with that last one. I think it’s really cool that they included a message like that in this children’s movie about robots that turn into cars.

Regarding the message of autonomy, I love that it gives the term Autobots a new meaning. Auto meaning “automobile”, since they transform into cars, and Auto meaning “self”, as they are now fully their own bots with control over themselves.

Cons/Things I Disliked

Mid vocal performances from everyone except Brian Tyree Henry and Keegan-Michael Key. And as I mentioned before, it was hard not to focus on Chris’ attempts at an American accent, not to mention how recognizable his, as well as Scarlett Johansson’s, voices are.

The plot felt a little disjointed in the first 1/3-ish.

○ Good setup with the main characters being an oppressed working class with one dreaming of better things and the other hesitant to fall out of line or take risks. But then suddenly there’s a race, and then they’re in it, and then they lose, and then their leader wants to promote them. At first it feels like there are hints that he’s a scummy celebrity-type and that meeting their hero is what will spur on the disillusionment with their society. But then some random douchebag that doesn’t like them reassigns them which goes against their leader’s command, and that’s how the plot kicks off? ○ Also, Elita’s involvement felt kind of rushed/hand-waved. They all get stuck on the surface, but instead of trying to make her way back to report them like she was saying she would for the past few minutes, she makes a complete 180 and heads the expedition herself. ○ It all just felt a little strange, but once it got going the rest of the plot felt fine.

Megatron’s descent into “evil” felt kind of rushed. I understand that he feels betrayed and I really love where the character ends up by the end, but it felt like a real 180 without a lot of build up.

Some jokes fell flat or felt annoying and kinda cringe. That’s the territory of children’s movies though, so par for the course.

TLDR

Overall, this movie was a really fun watch and I’d love to go see it again. While some parts fall a little flat, the movie is lifted from mediocrity by its many Pros. From the stunning visuals, to the quick humor, to the tragic origins of two friends driven apart by their ideals, I’d recommend this movie to anyone interested in animation or the Transformers brand.

8.82/10

[theprettiestchandaleir]

I wanna make a earthspark rewrite au lowky

Some ideas I had for it below (just me rambling of about 1 day worth of me thinking it’s mostly bumblebee currently as he’s the first one I’m redesigning)

1 def adding in Skybounds iron apprenticeship and clan system I feel it be a good thing to add with earthsparks family oriented feel

2 bee gets sent into hiding due to a injury in the final battle (bumblebee with a cane once more heart emoji) as scouting in the shadows is safer then being out in the open with a known injury

3 rubble exist(ed)s and is the actual reason bee doesn’t want to mentor I liked the he wants to get in duty again thing for like one episode and they just kept bringing it up again even though they supposedly solved it and it started pissing me off so this is my fix (Also I’m a sucker for rubbles death haunting bee)

3 bee and Optimus are in a iron apprenticeship 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

4 (VERY) possible starscream redemption

5 bee has a situationship with starscream (this relationship is def not inspired by idw in any shape or form tooottallyyy) and possibly breakdown but I want to give him his oomfi back (knockout) so polyamory idfk yet

6 megop are the only healthy transformer relationship currently (they got over the divorce and are now happily married again/hj)

7 bee try’s to genuinely teach the Terrans more then just fighting (the stuff he never got to teach rubble)

8 sense rubble is here he was killed while bee was actually a autobot in the war after that bee defected for a awhile as he lost trust in the autobot method because he joined to make a future rubble was safe ( he joins back before they leave to earth tho)

9 in reference to the starbee situationship it started when bee defected around that time starscream was kicked out of the decepticons (inspired by prime in a way) and are basically forced to work together to survive for a bit before being picked back up by there respective sides

10 I want the difference between autobot and decepticon to be more grey esp when it came to bee bc him jumping a decepticon for existing was funny but like you also have a situationship with another decepticon I dont wanna hear it faggot 😒

11 breakdown and bee had been best friends before the war started so he had met rubble even during the war as bee wanted rubble to grow up ineffective to the war as much as he could including a bias against sides (he was still warned of the dangers of it but it was ab both sides)

Anyways I’ll stop yapping and think up more story stuff now but you can tell this au is made to cater to me specifically 🥲

[solar4seekstron]

Character Introduction - Reader in the Bayverse. (If anyone has a good name for reader please let me know)

Hello! Hello! Your dear Solar is here! Guess what? I’m rewriting the Bayverse movies (Kinda)!!! And add ing in reader because I mean who hasn’t imagined theirself as a Cybertronian fighting alongside OP and Bee, right?

In the 5 Movies there is………………………………a lot. Going on-

As some of you have guess these chapter will be pretty long and although it’s a rewrite. Not too much will be changed and like with my other stories like Before and So Forth and Transformers One Awakening series. Yes, the reader will be Gender Nuatral so They/Them will be used. As always you guys can just imagine it’s saying he or she if you are that gender. While yes it’s a self instert in the story it’s also a story of an added character of my creation. I’ve been wanting to write this since I realized I enjoyed writing when I was barely an adult.

Just wanted to wait till I had more of an audience. Even if all of my followers don’t always like my posts >:(!

Jk. Jk. I know SOME people like my works. I’ve always wanted to create a character for the series just because I love that crap. If reader inserts and x reader stuff isn’t your cup of tea. DNI then. This is for people who do to enjoy and just have fun talking to other fans. I only wish for people to enjoy my work while self instering time to time.

Overall this post is to give a deeper look of what I have planned for you all and the series of the bay films. This introduction under the cut will tell you what you need to know about the character and what to expect. Hopefully as I write the series I can continue to make thier personality shine.

This is a true passsion project of mine. So the first chapter wont be released until Christmas. And then will be released every Sunday.

Seeing that there are some sexual scenes at times I don’t see why the robots can’t? (In my own opinion I feel that it makes sense that because the robots are sentient and now we have a nonbinary robot! Along with when you look at wheelie and the twins from the second film. So I’ll try my best to add in the humor when it feels right for the situation.

In the movies it’s always Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee but now here it’ll be with the reader add in all the movies.

Since the story is x reader in a way the characters are semi soft yandere. But not all the time.That’ll be explained and explored later. I did change up the lore a bit so please bear with me please I did as much research as I can but had to keep remembering that I’m also doing this to have fun. So you know if there are things in here that you weren’t expecting or you didn’t see what you wanted in part of their lore. Sorry my writing isn't always for everyone.

Notes: Wheeljack in the third film will be rewritten. I’m sure some people like his design and character. But I hate it- My boy deserves more respect and love then this!!! So like I’ll do in the Knightvers with ROTB I’m going to rewrite him like how he is in Prime. He’ll still die because I know I can make that an interesting plot point like with every other character.

Not just Optimus Prime ok. As for in between movies I’ll do the best research I can since I know there are comics for them. And if anyone has a link to them online or overall plot points for the movies and in the comics. Let me know!

Reader will have their large part in the story like how I’ll write for the others. I hope you guys enjoy this series and yeah knowing that the movies have a lot going on it might take me a little over half a year to finish.

And not to worry I won't grow bored of this series. I have been thinking about and planning on working on this series along with the knightverse movies for a long while and I don’t wish to disappoint!!

Anyway, here’s the reader and their character! I hope you guys like them!!!!!

———————————————————————————

Character.

Basics:

Besides Optimus, Ratchet and Senitnel and a few other Decepticons. They can speak Cybertronian. In a way a former Knight like Optimus. Worrior under Sentinel during the war before Optimus became leader.

Uses They/Them Pronouns.

B - Info:

Lives throughout the movies and is always there. Being the Ride or Die of Optimus like Bumblebee. The fighter in every battle. There to help guide but also learn. One to believe in signs and path. Goes through their own growth along side the many around them. Struggles for their fallen friends.

Is one of the strongest characters in series.

Team Prime:

Scout/Warrior/Soldier (Former Knight). Voice of Reason. Cool older sibling.

Age:

Around the same age as Optimus Prime and Sentinel. The other Knights being a bit older. (I imagine they’re all around the same age. But in the story the reader is a little older then OPtimus Prime.)

Note: After some research for the story, the google search told me Hound is 60 millions years old??? And Optimus is still referred to be 9 million years old. I know they’re all supper old but for Hound to be 60 million is a bit strange to me. So I’m changing the age for them a bit.

Hound will be 29 million years old and while OP and Y/N are around 15 million years old. And the knights being only 19 million years older.

And so in the equivalent of human years OP and Y/N would be in their early 40’s.

The Knight in their mid 40’s. And Hound in his early 70’s.

Appearance:

Y/N is a pretty tall bot. Being 4 feet smaller then Optimus in robot form. So the 2nd tallest compared to the others. Their vehicle mode being a 2003 Porsche Cayenne.

(Don’t ask I think its a nice care. But do feel free to educate me in the comments I don’t know cars that well.

Y/Ns colors are black with tinted red on their paint. Y/Ns robot mode being almost like a knights but modern (Much like Sentinel Primes armor in tf5) but to match more with their own alt mode. Only looking slimmer then Sentinel because of how small they are.

Their head armor looking a lot like Rodimus helmet in Transformers Animated (But if it was styled in the berverse. Think like Nightshades armor peice and how it covers a bit of their optics.)

Their optics yellow and faceplate grey like the others. Having optics that are mostly dim but brighten when feeling certain emotions. Their optics piercing in yellow that helps with their thousand yard stare. Though they aren’t always glaring at someone when they turn their attention to someone. That’s just something that happens when really they’re just- staring.

Having a few Cybertronian writings on their helm. Both back, top, and side. A it on their shoulders and arms and different parts of their body.

Always seen with a smile on their dermas even in the toughest situations under their mask and even when they take their mouth guard off. Their visors being the color blue and their mouth guard being a grey is red.

Weapons:

A thing most noticed about them is they have two swords on both side of their hips in sword handles. Their swords being long like Sentinels but not as wide. The handles in more of a dark red with a tint of black on them. But the handles being completely black. Something others might not notice too is their somewhat small gun held at their lower back. With a Y initial on the side of it. Their arms also turning into blasters.

Though they rarely use them.

Appearence Traits:

At times throughout the movies can be seen always keeping their visors on but will take their mouth guard off even when they don’t speak. They only take both their visors and mouth guard for only important moments and if they are having strong emotions. That’s when their optics really brighten.

Usually when not fighting. They can be seen either standing with one arm down and the other will be bent. Always having at least one cervo on a sword handle being on guard. Or can be seen cleaning their swords and loading their gun after each battle. It being big or small. Or training with the others, or talking to them, or just standing there listening and waiting for orders.

They rarely cross their arms.

Fighting:

They work mostly in hand in hand combat. Only using their swords to help out in fights as more then just a weapon to slash someone with. At times using different parts of their sword when they don’t wish to kill someone.

If they are really mad. Their fighting combat becomes almost like a wrestler, which is something not seen much in battle. It’s just them showing why they don’t punch as much as they do in battle.

Note: For an example of how they fight with their swords watch “The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle Cinematic” The way the knight fights against the three characters is basically how they fight.

Traits (Sort of):

While they usually have their mouth guard down if they’re not in battle. They will at times also move their visors off as well. Mostly if its during certain situations like they’re really surprised or confused. (Plan on doing that a few times throughout.) At times they will speak but only when they’re needed to.

At times they can be seen cleaning their swords. Either it be because they have to or they’re worried and got something on their mind.

If they are really mad or just wishes to speak to the other privately. They will speak in Cybertronian. So while the others choose to speak in. They will speak in their more native language when it’s something important.

I was thinking about doing a relationship with the others part but I don’t think people will care that much and just wait to read the first chapter since that’ll show to establish their relationship when it comes to the first movie. Same thing for their backstory.

But I tell you what.

If there are people who do wish to read on their backstory and/or future relationships like a special early preview. Then let this introduction post reach at least 500 likes and I’ll give y’all a treat to help you figure out what to expect for future events!!!

Hows that? Lol.

Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this and I cant wait for you guys to see the first chapter when it releases. If any of you wish to be tagged in the first chapter to know when I’ll post on Christmas just let me know.

I cant wait for you guys to read it!!! And if you wanna talk about it just leave a comment! LETS TALK!

I hope you all are having a good rest of your day and I’ll see you guys in the next chapter!

How I imagine readers hips with swords look like. (If you know the artist type in their name on here or twitter in the comments so I can add it here please I tried looking but wasn’t lucky)

[in1-nutshell]

Human Buddy from TFP Universe meeting MTMTE Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus

SFW, Platonic, slight angst, comfort, mention of Cliffjumper, Human reader

TFP/MTMTE

Buddy in the TFP universe was Ultra Magnus’s charge.

Buddy had known the Autobots a bit longer than the kids, having accidentally stumbled on Cliffjumper stretching in the middle of an empty ravine at 11:40 pm. It was a year before Cliffjumper’s death.

“…”--Buddy

“…”--Cliffjumper

“Hi?”--Buddy

“…Ratchet is not going to like this…”--Cliffjumper

Cliffjumper had originally been Buddy’s guardian.

The pair had truly made a wonderful team showcasing the beautiful nature between Bot and Human.

Buddy had been waiting for him back at the base on that day. He promised Buddy to take them out for some takeout then get back for a movie night in his habsuite.

Cliff even managed to rope in most of the team to watch it with them. They had been waiting patiently for everyone to come back.

Buddy spots Arcee coming back and runs up to the railing with a big smile on their face.

“Arcee! Arcee!”--Buddy

“Buddy?”--Arcee

“Hey what took you guys so long? I already have the movie set up and… where’s Cliff?”--Buddy

“Buddy… Cliff… Cliff’s not coming back.”—Arcee

Buddy’s smile drops.

“What do you mean ‘not coming back’?”—Buddy

The team looks sadly at Buddy.

“No… no… no… please. Please tell me he is just running late! He is just running the scenic route! No, he got caught with the boot again!”--Buddy

“Buddy he’s gone… I’m sorry… I need to go.”—Arcee

Arcee transforms and wheels out of the base.

“Wait! Arcee! Acree!”--Buddy

Beep. Beeeep. (I’ll keep an optic on her Buddy.)—Bumblebee

Bumblebee follows the blue motorcycle.

“I’ll make sure those two make it back.”--Bulkhead

“Wait--” –Buddy

Buddy’s eyes follow Bulkhead’s form leaving the base.

Optimus carefully approaches Buddy shaking form.

“Buddy—”--Optimus

Buddy jumps the railing straight into the Prime’s chassis.

Optimus quickly holds Buddy form as they rake up a sob.

Optimus and Ratchet are helpless in trying to soothe Buddy’s crying.

After meeting Jack, Miko, and Raf, Buddy never really had a permeant guardian.

They honestly were a bit grateful for that. The wound was still too fresh. Instead, they opted to do rotations in guardians.

Somedays they would be with Arcee.

Somedays they would hang out with Bumblebee.

Somedays they would hang out with Bulkhead.

Rare days they would have Optimus, Ratchet or Wheeljack.

“Arcee? What are you doing here?”--Bulkhead

“I could be asking the same to you too Bulkhead. It’s your turn to pick up Buddy.”--Arcee

“No, it’s your day.”--Bulkhead

“Beeep. Bep. (I thought it was Wheeljack’s turn)”—Bumblebee

“Nope. Its Sunshine’s turn today.”--Wheeljack

“Very funny Wheeljack. Don’t call me that. Anyways today its Optimus’s turn.”--Ratchet

“…I thought it was Bumblebee’s turn today…”--Optimus

“…”—All the Autobots

“Did anyone pick up Buddy today!?”--Ratchet

Meanwhile…

Buddy at the library looking down the empty street.

“I think they forgot again…”--Buddy

Even after time mostly healed the wounds, Buddy didn’t have a guardian assigned to them. When Smokescreen arrived, they volunteered to be his charge. That didn’t last too long though.

“Smokescreen! Slow down!”--Buddy

“Why? You scared of a bit of speed?”--Smokescreen

“No I’m afraid of the ravine up ahead!”--Buddy

“What rev—AHHHHHHH!”--Smokescreen

“AAAAAHHHHHH!”—Buddy

Smokescreen was ecstatic to have a human charge, but it was soon found out that he wouldn’t be much fit as a guardian.

Buddy was back to the rotation with Smokescreen added in the mix. It looked like that was how things were going to stay in the meantime.

Then Ultra Magnus came in.

Buddy had offered their help to get the Second in Command up to speed. It took some getting used to for both parties.

“Those humans are breaking the law.”—Ultra Magnus

“What? Oh no, those kids are just crossing the street.”--Buddy

“Without a crosswalk.”—Ultra Magnus

“Magnus no.”--Buddy

“That’s Ultra Magnus sir.”—Ultra Magnus

Buddy had to get used to Magnus being so by the book and strict behavior.

Magnus had to get used to the whole new culture around him and the responsibility of taking care of another member of the team.

But the two slowly began bonding over considering themselves as outsiders within the team.

“Buddy is starting to become a mini-Magnus.”--Wheeljack

“What makes you say that?”--Bulkhead

“Watch. Hey Magnus!”--Wheeljack

“It’s Ultra Magnus sir.”—Buddy and Ultra Magnus

“Oh Primus…”--Bulkhead

“It’s getting worse.”--Wheeljack

“Hey!”—Buddy and Ultra Magnus

“Run before it spreads!”--Miko

After a couple more patrols, Ultra Magnus officially asked Buddy and Optimus to be Buddy’s full-time guardian.

Buddy said yes and the rest was history.

Now Buddy is Magnus’s problem.

“Has anyone seen Buddy? I thought they were in the other room, but they are not there.”—Ultra Magnus

“Nope can’t say I have.”--Wheeljack

“Hey now that I think about it, I haven’t heard Miko in a couple of minutes.”--Bulkhead

“…”—All the Wreckers

Wreckers sprinting out the door.

Buddy is fiercely protective of their kind but strict guardian. Buddy hid along with Miko inside Wheeljack on their way to deal with the Predacons.

 Magnus nearly had a spark attack seeing Buddy sheepishly come out of the compartment.

“Hi Magnus…”--Buddy

“… I expected this from Miko! Not you!”—Ultra Magnus

“Wrecker charges solidarity Magnus.”--Miko

Buddy did not leave Magnus’s side in the medbay after he had gotten his servo crushed by Predaking.

Absolutely refused to leave.

They made sure to help Magnus out in any way they could as he healed from his injuries.

Buddy does open up to Magnus about the loss of their first guardian and does not want him to going anywhere.

What is he crying?

No, no he is not.

The others are glad that Buddy finally has a guardian and happy that Magnus has loosened up a bit. Maybe things were finally looking up for the pair.

Now in the present...

The team had recently discovered a new relic from patrol.

Ratchet and Wheeljack are inspecting the new relic, trying to see what it could do.

Optimus was trying to decode its scripture meanwhile Ultra Magnus watched from Ratchet’s side.

Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Smokescreen are watching with some distance between them and the kids. They were all playing a game of catch near the groundbrigdes entrance.

Wheeljack touches one of the wires and Ratchet grazes over the machine.

The machine begins to light up and float.

“Woah!”--Ratchet

“You can say that again Doc-bot.”—Wheeljack

“Don’t call me—WOAH!”

Ratchet ducks as the relic flies over his helm.

The relic zoomed over past the team and kids towards the bridge stopping shortly after the arc entrance and turned off and dropped on the floor.

Buddy ran over to it despite the Autobots protest to get the machine for them.

“Don’t worry I got it!”--Buddy

“Buddy, I don’t—”—Ultra Magnus

“Wait, I want to see how far they try and carry it.”--Wheeljack

“Wheeljack—”—Ultra Magnus

“I bet a couple of feet.”--Bulkhead

“10 inches max.”--Smokescreen

“Smokescreen!”--Ultra Magnus

Magnus sighed a bit as he walked over to Buddy with the relic. Buddy managed to prop the machine up when it started glowing.

They just looked at the beautiful colors, completely oblivious to what was going to happen.

The next thing they remember was the swirling colors of the groundbrigde turning on and seeing Magnus’s servo brush their legs before blacking out.

The machine as it turned out had somehow activated the groundbridge remotely. The team was running towards the bridge, Magnus being the closest tried to reach out to grab Buddy.

He failed and fell flat on the concrete beneath him with no Buddy or machine to be seen.

Meanwhile on the Lost Light…

Rodimus, Magnus, and Megatron in a meeting discussing the latest reports.

A whirling portal suddenly shows up.

“What is that thing?!”--Rodimus

“How am I supposed to know?!”--Megatron

“If Brainstorm is doing another unauthorized experiment—”—Ultra Magnus

In a flash of green light, a small human and broken-looking machine fell rather ungracefully onto the table. Rodimus and Magnus immediately look at the human while Megatron comm in Ratchet to bring the med kit just in case.

“Which one is hurt this time?”--Ratchet

“Well… it’s not one of us exactly…”--Megatron

“Then who—”--Ratchet

“It���s a human.”--Megatron

“… what?”--Ratchet

“Ratchet—”--Megatron

Heavy footsteps get louder.

Buddy groans feeling a slight poke on their side and opens their eyes slowly.

They come face to face with a red, blue, and grey set of robots.

The grey one looked familiar, but Buddy couldn’t put their finger where they had seen him before.

The red one gave off Smokescreen and Bumblebee vibes for some reason.

But the Blue one...

Buddy only knew one Autobot with shoulder pads that tall.

“Magnus?”--Buddy

“Umm… yes? How do you know my designation?”—Ultra Magnus

“… Oh, Magnus is going to kill me.”--Buddy

“Wait why would I do that?!”—Ultra Magnus

“No, not you, My Magnus. I think I’m in some other dimension or I finally snapped and I’m hallucinating everything now...”—Buddy

“I assure you everything here is real.”—Ultra Magnus

“Hey better question. Who are you?”

“I’m Buddy. Apparently, I’m from another dimension. And you guys are…”--Buddy

“I’m Rodimus! You somehow know Magnus here and that’s Megatron.”--Rodimus

“…No offense but why hasn’t he—Is he wearing an Autobot badge?!”--Buddy

“Yes, it was given to me by Bumblebee.”—Megatron

“…I need to sit down…”—Buddy

When Ratchet opens the door, he nearly walks out.

Rodimus was trying to talk to a small human on the desk, Magnus was looking for any injuries while glancing at the strange machine while Megatron was inching his way further and further from the human.

Then the Human looked at him with wide eyes before fainting on the spot.

“Ratchet I think you killed them.”--Rodimus

“They’re not dead.”--Ratchet

“Maybe it was the stress of them being in another dimension.”—Ultra Magnus

“They’re from a what now?”--Ratchet

Ratchet sighs a bit and begins his inspection on them. They do wake up within a minute.

“Ratchet?”--Buddy

“Let me guess I’m from your dimension.”--Ratchet

“Yeah… it’s a good thing some things don’t change.”--Buddy

“What?”--Ratchet

“Nothing!”—Buddy

Buddy was scared. Not only had they managed to travel to an entirely different dimension, any bot they knew before didn’t even know who they were.

They had to befriend practically everyone they knew all over again. What was up with Buddy meeting new Cybertronians in weird ways?

The news about a human on board catches on to everyone like wildfire. Especially Brainstorm, Nautica and Perceptor.

After a bit of analyzing the remains of the relic, Brainstorm finally concludes that it would take some time to get something like the relic to work.

Buddy is fine with the arrangements if they do get back. They are worried for their family back home, especially for their Ultra Magnus.

Buddy stays by a hand full of bots after stopping to get their basic needs. They tend to be closer to Ratchet and Ultra Magnus, especially with Magnus.

“So, tell me who else is on your team?”--Rodimus

“Well we have Optimus.”--Buddy

“Naturally.”--Whirl

“Hush. Continue Buddy.”--Magnus

“We have Ratchet, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Arcee, Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee, and Smokescreen.”--Buddy

“…And?”--Swerve

“And what? That’s the entire team.”--Buddy

“There’s no way—”—Skids

“Do you know if anyone else—”--Megatron

“I don’t know anyone else!”--Buddy

Which led to a funny moment when they found out about Minimus Ambus.

Buddy was taking a nap in his office after he said it was okay.

He had completely forgotten that Buddy was still in the room when he came out of the armor. That’s when he heard a shriek from Buddy.

“AAAHHHHHHH!”--Buddy

“What! What is it!?”—Minimus

“Who are you! What have you done to Ultra Magnus?!”--Buddy

“What are—Woah! Buddy put down the sword—wait where did you get--”—Minimus

Buddy missed another swing with their new sword, complimentary of Brainstorm, and held it high.

“All right shorty Pringle man, I’m only going to ask you one more time. What. Did. You. Do. To. Ultra Magnus?”—Buddy

It takes a bit for Minimus to explain his whole situation.

They do calm down after a while and want to get to know him better.

Minimus isn’t crying. What’s crying anyways?

Buddy does eventually befriend with more bots on board but is never too far from Minimus or Magnus.

Buddy becomes a temporary mascot at Swerve’s.

“Swerve, have you seen Buddy?”--Magnus

Swerve pointing across the room.

Buddy is on top of Ten with a speaker next to Whirl’s holoform.

“You know what to do Buddy!”--Whirl

Buddy nods and plays the speaker.

“WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION!—”—Buddy and Whirl

THUD!

“OH PRIMUS! SOMEONE GET RATCHET! MAGNUS DOWN! MAGNUS DOWN!”--Buddy

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”--Whirl

Eventually the day comes for Buddy to return.

Buddy has a tearful set of goodbyes to all their friends.

They give the biggest hug to Minimus as they race to the portal.

Minimus now has a subspace filled with photos of him and Buddy with their mini adventures on the Lost Light.

Meanwhile in TFP universe…

Everyone is on edge.

The team had even gone and infiltrated the Nemesis multiple times trying to see if Buddy was on board.

The kids are just worried about their friend.

Ratchet and Optimus keep searching through radar and trying to decode some encrypted information via Decepticon radio.

Arcee would come to the roof more to talk with Cliffjumper grave about Buddy trying to cope.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen try extending their patrols to search for Buddy.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack taking the Jackhammer out to widen the search a bit.

Magnus tried to keep himself busy as much as he could and tried to figure out where Buddy could have gone to.

He knows the grim possibility of Buddy’s survival after a few days of the search, but is in denial, he knows Buddy is out there and wants to bring them home.

Later that day…

Buddy gets flung into the hard floor of the base, nearly sticking the landing if they didn’t trip on their own foot.

They slowly got up and looked around realizing they were finally back on the base.

They were so happy that they began to run to the main room.

Miko is the first to see Buddy and scrambles out of her seat alerting Jack and Raf.

Miko throws herself at Buddy knocking the two of them to the floor.

The boys join in hugging Buddy.

Hearing the kids’ sudden movements and squeals Ratchet turns from his screen and nearly passes out gripping the railings.

Buddy was here.

Buddy was alive.

He is quick to get to Buddy picking them up and rushing to the medbay.

He is just focused on checking for any injuries.

Once he is satisfied, Ratchet will give Buddy a light scolding and hug.

Bumblebee then commed in for Ratchet to open the groundbridge.

He opens it leading Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Arcee into the base.

Bumblebee whirls in excitement seeing Buddy.

Smokescreen pauses with Arcee seeing Buddy but snaps out of it quick and races to Buddy with Bumblebee and Arcee hot on his tailpipe.

At the same time Bulkhead and Wheeljack had entered the base from their latest expedition on the Jackhammer.

They look over to see Buddy being nuzzled by Bumblebee and also go over to see how they are.

Wheeljack makes sure to at least ask Buddy a question only Buddy would know.

It wouldn’t have been the first time a member of team Prime was subjugated to mimics.

“Tell me something only the real Buddy would know.”--Wheeljack

“I know that Miko was the one who stole Jack’s last soda he was saving for finals.”--Buddy

“Wait that was you!?”—Jack

“I think we are not seeing the fact that this is the real Buddy!”--Bulkhead

“Yeah that’s great, awesome, but Miko—”--Jack

“Bloodshed later, Buddy hugs now.”--Miko

Finally, Optimus and Magnus enter the room.

They both freeze seeing Buddy.

Optimus is the first to welcome Buddy back.

Magnus was still in the same place.

Buddy walking to Magnus.

“Mags? You, okay?”--Buddy

Magnus drops to his knees in front of Buddy and scoops them in a hug close to his chassis.

Buddy does their best to hug back.

“I’m fine Mags. I’m here.”--Buddy

“…You’re here… you’re here…”--Magnus

[starblitzy-started-a-fire]

Transformers: Future AU Fanfic

Part 2

Part one here!

“Welcome to Cybertron, young bot,” greeted the one in the middle. You couldn’t do anything but stare, your head still a bit overwhelmed. One of the bots on the right scoffed, causing you to look at him. He was the one with the crown, and he was peering down at you with minimal interest, but major malice. You resisted the urge to quiver beneath his gaze.

“So…what is the importance of this rat anyway?” said the crowned bot abruptly, distaste dripping in his voice. Despite your nerves, you found the courage to be upset. Why was he calling you a rat? What had you even done? You had just walked in here!

“Starscream-,” began the bot in the middle, before he was interrupted.

“Lord Starscream, Prime. Do not forget it,” snapped the bot, Starscream, you supposed. The female bot sitting next to Starscream glanced at him in both warning and something else you couldn’t quite place. Her stern stare made him back down. Starscream huffed and leaned back in his seat.

“Apologies. We must move on to the important subject. The one you were summoned to discuss,” said the one next to Starscream. She watched you with seriousness in her gaze, but with a small smile. You smiled back, even though you were still a bit nervous. You were in a completely different world, with no idea what was going on, after all. Though a part of you was amazed, another part of you was afraid, and missed home. You had to get back home, you had to-

“We can’t seem to locate where your ship came from,” said the middle one, whom Starscream had called ‘Prime’.

“Which is unusual,” added the bot to the left of Prime, “As Cybertron has built many bridges with other colonized planets in the past few years.”

“Your words are true, Megatronus,” Prime said with a nod.

“True as they may be, they offer NOTHING to help with the REAL problem!” claimed Starscream harshly, this time ignoring the stare of the bot beside him.

“At least my words are true at all, unlike yours,” Megatronus replied, sternly, but without any malice.

“Oh, how mature of you, Lord Megatron!” Starscream remarked, throwing his hands up into the air. You looked between the two, waiting for something to happen.

“Petty as always, Starscream,” muttered Megatron/Megatronus. The Prime gave both Megatron and Starscream a stern stare before turning back to you.

“Where were we?” Prime asked politely, but you could see in his eyes that he was tired. The bot on the left end of the table raised his hand.

“We were discussing Master Mystery Bot over here. Oh, yeah, where the heck did you come from?” asked the bot, adjusting his red cape as he talked.

“I…I don’t know. A planet?” You replied, shrugging slightly.

“Oh, wow, look at that. Tell us something we don’t know,” scoffed Starscream. You tried to think of an answer, but you had nothing.

“I don’t know what happened. I just know that I was put on a ship, launched into space, and then…” Your voice faded to nothingness.

“Something went wrong,” guessed Megatron. You nodded, having remembered that much.

“Huh. Bad pilot, am I right?” commented the bot on the left.

“Rodimus,” scolded Megatron, sighing as Rodimus shrugged as a lackluster apology.

“I…I guess,” you replied. Prime thought for a moment, then cleared his throat and directed his attention towards you.

“And you don’t remember the name of the planet you came from?” Prime asked, as though confirming something.

“What? Of course I…should. I swear I know…why can’t I remember?” You responded, your voice slipping into mutterings of confusion. Something wasn’t right. You knew the name of your planet, it was…it was…what? What was going on?

“I’m so sorry, I just…I just can’t remember what it’s called,” you finished lamely, a bit disappointed in yourself. Prime nodded in consideration, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

“You cannot remember the name of your planet?” inquired the female bot sitting beside Starscream. You shrugged slightly and dipped your head. What else could you say? You truly couldn’t remember, however strange that sounded to the Council, it was the truth.

“Windblade, do you really believe this strange-rather suspicious might I add-bot is telling the truth? How ignorant could you possibly be?” Starscream chuckled, narrowing his optics slyly. Windblade gave him a look in return; you guessed that the two bickered often.

“Can you tell us anything about your planet?” Megatron asked, ignoring both Starscream and Windblade’s statements. He leaned forward a bit to see you better. You nodded, opening your mouth to say something. But nothing came out. Surprised, you tried to think of something, anything about your planet, your home.

“It…it was stable. Beautiful, orderly. Perfect,” You described, those words being all you could conjure up. Megatron nodded, though he looked suspicious of your answer. Prime seemed satisfied enough, though you could tell he wasn’t finished with this whole mystery yet.

“Very well. I’ll have someone escort you to a safe place for now until we can get you back home,” Prime said, raising a hand to call for a guard. He looked at the others sitting beside him, waiting for their approval. Megatron and the lady, Windblade, nodded in satisfaction of Prime’s decision, while Rodimus gave a thumbs-up. Starscream busied himself with cleaning out his sharp teeth with a finger, but finally gave in and gave a stiff approving nod after being stared at for a minute.

“It is decided. The guard will guide you to a place to stay. Until our next meeting,” commanded Prime, standing up. You watched as the others stood up with him and place a hand over their chest, some more enthusiastically than others.

“Peace be with all. And Till all are One.”

[playedcrowd5610]

Jazz - Danny Phantom x Transformers Prime Crossover

Summary: Danny and his sister have some catching up to do.

---

Set in a series where Danny finds Starscream one day and decides to start haunting the Decepticons. That's basically all the context you need but if you want more here is the rest of the series:

Haunting the Nemesis

Part 1: Chasing Stars

Part 2: Burning Rubber

Part 3: Adventures of the Decepticons' Pet Ghost Or Tumblr Master List

Part 4: Falling Stars

---

Danny sat cross-legged on Jazz’s small dorm bed, watching with a small smile as his older sister turned on the kettle and pulled out two china cups from her cupboard. Danny absently glanced around, looking over how neat and well-kept her dorm was. She was always organizing, always making sure everything was perfect. Danny remembered how much of a hell it was for her to live with their parents, leaving weapons, tools, and even just puddles of ectoplasm lying about the house. Her bedroom was her only safe space, and Danny was pretty sure it was the only clean room in that old house/lab/deathtrap of theirs.

The faint scent of peppermint tea filled the air as he watched Jazz fill the two cups with boiling water. She added some honey, tapped the spoon on the edge of the cup and placed it into the sink, turning back around to Danny with a smile on her face, a cup in each hand. Despite the peaceful setting, Danny couldn’t shake the anxiety that twisted in his gut.

Danny hadn’t been by in months, he hadn’t contacted her in just under that… and now he owes her an explanation.

"So," Jazz finally sat down on her desk chair, spinning around to face him and passing him his cup of tea. "How have you been doing? I was worried. I haven’t heard from you in a while." Her voice was gentle but filled with concern.

Danny sighed, glancing up at her. "I'm fine, Jazz. Really."

Jazz narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced. "Fine, huh? You were basically homeless the last time I saw you. Where have you been staying?"

He shifted awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. How was he supposed to explain this without sending his overprotective sister into a full-blown panic? "Uh, well… about that. Promise me you won’t freak out?"

Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Danny, you know that’s not really helping me not freak out."

"I’m serious," Danny pressed. "Just… hear me out before you start yelling, okay?"

Jazz leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "Fine, I promise. What’s going on?"

Danny took a deep breath. "Okay. So… I’ve been staying with some, uh, aliens." He gave a light smile at the end.

Jazz blinked at him, stunned for a moment. Then she stared at her brother, waiting to see if he would start laughing. He didn’t. " Aliens? You're staying with aliens? "she asked incredulously.

Danny held up his hands in surrender, one still holding the mug. "Look, look. I know it sounds insane, but we’ve seen weirder things than that, right? And they're not the, you know, invade-the-world type… Well, not exactly. I mean, they did try and kill me at first, but they're actually kinda nice once you get to know them."

Jazz’s mouth opened and closed, trying to find the words. "You… what?"

"They're called Decepticons— or, well, technically, their species is called Cybertronian, but they’re basically giant thirty-foot tall robots." Danny continued, trying to keep his tone casual. “They're a little murderous, and most think humans are the scum of the earth, but they’ve also kinda… started caring about me?"

Jazz blinked, clearly struggling to wrap her head around everything. “So…you’re living with a bunch of alien robots that want to kill you?"

“In a giant spaceship, yes,” Danny said. Jazz stared at him, looking dumbfounded. Danny gave her a sheepish smile and wrung his hands together. "I mean, they're not so different once you get past the whole ‘giant alien robot’ thing.” He waved his hand to the side. “They have personalities, and grudges, and, well, issues… a lot of issues. You would honestly love trying to psychoanalyze them, Jazz."

Jazz started rubbing her temples. "I don’t even know how to respond to that."

Danny leaned forward, his expression earnest. "Jazz, I’m fine. I promise. I can handle it. I know how to protect myself." He glanced up at her expression. She seemed more concerned than he originally thought she would. "I’m sorry, Jazz, I didn’t mean to worry you. But now they’re… my responsibility, in a way. I’m finally getting them to grow their limited views on humans, and I've managed to prevent at least…” He looked to the side, counting on his fingers. “— Twenty? Twenty unnecessary deaths since I moved in, so I count that as a win!"

Jazz’s expression shifted to confusion at something Danny said. He was about to ask her what was wrong before she spoke up. “They think you’re human?”

Danny laughed and rubbed the back of his neck again. “Ah, right. I don’t think they know ghosts exist. They just think I'm a really strange human with no self-preservation skills. I mean, why burst that bubble for them.” Danny shrugged with a laugh.

Jazz gave an awkward chuckle in response before tilting her head to the side. “How, uh… do they possibly think you’re human? You have white hair, you glow, there’s the fangs, and then the whole pointed ears thing. Have you just been around them in your human form?”

Danny shrugged. “Most of the time in my ghost form, actually. But if we come down to earth, I switch to human so I don’t show up on any government radars”

“They don’t find that you can switch forms strange either?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Danny laughed. “I mean, technically, they transform into, like— cars and jets, so… Hair colour isn’t that different.” Danny shrugged again, hands still wrapped around his mug, which he hadn’t even sipped from yet. “I think I’m the first “Human” they’ve ever been around. It's honestly really funny seeing how they have no idea how to act around me.”

Jazz laughed again and then let out a long breath, eyes fixed on Danny with a thoughtful look. "You know… if you somehow ignore the whole alien thing, the way you talk about them kind of reminds me of how you talk about the ghosts. All tough and stabby, but secretly, deep, deep down, they care."

Danny smiled brightly, throwing his hands up in excitement. "Yeah, that's exactly it! They put on this scary, ‘I'm going to destroy you’ front, but really, if you dig a little deeper, they’re really great. I mean, take Skulker. He says that he wants my pelt as a trophy, but he helped me take down some of those labs a while back, and he sometimes even gives me self-defence tips mid-fight to make me stronger. Even if he claims it's to make me more of a challenge to hunt. I don’t think he even wants to skin me anymore."

Jazz raised an eyebrow. "And these… Decepticons?"

"Same thing. They’re always posturing and threatening at first, but once they see that I’m not going anywhere and I can stand up to them, it’s different. Like… I actually like being around them. It’s weird, I know. But they’ve kind of become like this chaotic family that I never knew I wanted."

Jazz leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her hand. "So what are they like? I mean, besides being war machines that want to kill people?"

Danny smiled, his eyes brightening. "Well, Starscream is… complicated. He's got this huge ego and is always trying to one-up Megatron, their leader, but when you catch him off-guard, he's actually kind of thoughtful and gives me gifts and stuff.”

“—Knockout? He’s vain, like really vain, but also kind of funny. He’s all about his appearance, but he secretly loves to explain things to people, even if it is more like he’s trying to prove he’s better than you. But I help him out with his work all the time. And I go with him down to earth to help him join street races.”

“ —And Soundwave. He doesn't talk much; as far as I know, I’m the only person he really talks to besides his mini-con Laserbeak, who’s like his bird son. But he is honestly really sweet and is always looking out for me, and I sometimes just get to hang out in the control room while he works. Breakdown is fun to talk to, and he likes to bring me on missions when Knockout can’t come —He and Knockout are partners, by the way—."

Jazz smiled and finally took a sip of her tea. "You’re right. They do sound fun to psychoanalyze."

Danny grinned. "Oh, they are. They’re like ghosts in that way, too. They’re also in a war, so they have a lot of traumatic experiences. Plus, they’re so old. I mean, these guys have been around for thousands of years, maybe even millions," he continued, gushing over his new friends.

He paused as if something clicked in his mind. "Actually, I’m pretty they can live forever if they don’t get themselves killed. They have a spark in their chest, which is basically a ghost core, so if their body gets too damaged, as long as their spark is okay and has energon, sometimes they can change frames. Though I don’t know if they keep their memories. I’ll have to ask.” He put a finger on his chin.

Jazz’s expression shifted. She hesitated before speaking again. "Danny… do you think that’s why you’re so drawn to them?”

Danny raised an eyebrow at her change in tone. “What do you mean?”

“ Maybe… maybe it’s not just because they’re like ghosts." She paused, watching his reaction. "What if it’s because they can live that long? That if you’re friends with people who live for thousands or millions of years… you might not be alone after… after we’re gone."

Danny’s blood froze, his smile fading. "Jazz…" he started, his voice unsteady. "I’m not—I'm not thinking about that. I don’t… who knows if I’m even immortal or not, right? I can still die. I’ve done it before—three times!" He held out three fingers and laughed tightly. "I’m aging, right?’ He gestured to his currently not fourteen-year-old self. “So that means I’ll die when you guys do… right?" His voice cracked at the end.

Jazz looked up at him with sombre eyes, and he felt his core sink. "Clockwork said that one day you would become his apprentice. That you’d help him…"

Danny looked away and threw a hand to the side, his voice rising. "That’s just what he says! He’s like that, Jazz. Always talking about time and the future like he knows everything. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna live forever!" It couldn’t…

"Danny," Jazz said softly, standing up and moving over to the bed, her cup placed down on the desk. She pulled his out of his hands as well, hands that were now shaking slightly. This was supposed to just be a nice catch-up with his sister. Not this. "I understand. You don’t want to lose us. But one day, when you’re older, you might become fully ghost." She paused, reaching out to gently touch his arm. "But… I’m glad you’re finally finding friends who can be there for you. Be there for you longer than I ever can. To protect you."

Danny pulled his hands away from her, standing abruptly. His breathing was shallow, and the room felt too small. He stepped back. "No. Jazz, that’s not… I don’t want them because of that! I—" His throat tightened, and he couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought.

Jazz stood. "Danny, it’s okay. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I just think… maybe, deep down, you’re trying to make sure you won’t be alone. Even when we’re gone."

Danny’s fists clenched. The idea of losing Jazz, of losing Sam, Tucker… it felt unbearable. He shook his head, refusing to accept it. "I don’t want to think about that," he muttered, his voice strained.

Jazz’s face softened even more, and she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. "I know. But things change. And when they do, I want you to have people who can be there for you. People who understand you. Even if we can’t be. I’m glad you met these guys, Danny; I truly am."

Danny stood still in her arms, his body trembling. The thought of outliving everyone he cared about haunted him more than anything ever could. He squeezed his eyes shut and hugged Jazz back.

-

Tumblr Master List

[schmergo]

My mom gave me this chocolate London kit for Christmas and I finally decided to use it as sort of a tongue-in-cheek Fourth of July activity. I love my mom and I don’t think she meant to psychologically torture me, but this experience lowkey led me down a true long dark night of the soul and then utterly broke me. Follow my slow mental unraveling below.

I should add that I am bad at crafts and once got gorilla glue all over my hands while fixing a child’s display-only gingerbread house and spent Christmas break with a hard translucent shell on both hands gradually flaking off over the course of a week, so a fair amount of this may be user error. But also the box says this is for ages 6+ and I’m over 5 times that, so maybe they could have done a wee bit more handholding.

Anyway, here’s my journey, which should absolutely be read in the tone of Jonathan Harker’s letters in the beginning of Dracula.

The first hint that something was wrong happened when I melted the chocolate according to instructions and the next step said to pour it into the molds. The chocolate was not really the “pouring” kind. It was a chunky sort of paste that I had to spoon in. The molds filled unevenly and clumpily and at this point, I asked my husband if he’d let me try to assemble the rest of this on my own because I think I can tolerate my failure better if nobody else witnesses it.

The instructions also cavalierly said to save a “handful” to use as mortar for the chocolate tower.

How much is a handful? A Schmergo-sized hand or a husband-sized hand or what? I have very small hands for an adult, but this is for ages 6+ after all. I opted for a Schmergo-sized handful. I would live to regret that.

I chilled the pieces in the fridge for 20 minutes as directed, then popped them out of their mold. To my surprise, they actually didn’t look THAT bad.

Looking at the pieces of Big Ben that I had to assemble, I became acutely aware that there weren’t detailed instructions on how to fit them together other than just “put them together” and no actual photographs of a real person doing it. The wall pieces were still unnervingly floppy and I decided to freeze them in hopes of hardening them while I focused on the clock itself.

In addition to Big Ben, the kit came with a chocolate taxi and a chocolate double-decker bus. The taxi popped out slightly distorted but in a way I liked, with playful Toontown vibes. But the double-decker bus was still mushy and fudgelike, warping and rippling alarmingly as I tried to push it out of the mold. I opted to put it in the freezer, too, along with the walls of Big Ben.

The instructions said to use the melted remaining chocolate to stick the pieces together and to apply it by sticking my finger in it and rubbing it on. It did not mention that, even after letting the chocolate cool, the warm melted chocolate would make the details of the pieces of the chocolate you’re sticking together start to melt, too.

I began to wonder if this kit had ever been formally tested by anyone and if the instructions were written by AI, like that Google search result that suggests adding Elmer’s glue to your shredded cheese when making pizza to keep it from sliding off.

Nothing can prepare you for how bad the clock part looked, so I’m just going to let you deal with it cold turkey. Et voila.

As I cemented my terrible melted clock together, it occurred to me that I’d have a lot more fun if I really leaned into the ominous post-apocalyptic energy of the abomination before me.

What if this was the result of some kind of whimsical Doctor Who villain— or maybe The Unknown from that infamously bad immersive Willy Wonka experience— transforming major London landmarks into chocolate… during a heat wave?

How will will the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer deal with this on his first day in office?

I yelled to my husband in the adjacent room, “Maybe I’m just turning into the Joker, but this is starting to feel more funny than depressing!”

“Mr. Starmer, a second chocolate vehicle has hit Big Ben.”

The bus actually came out pretty well!

Trying to fit together the pieces of the walls would have been maddening if I hadn’t already been driven mad by the clock portion. The pieces didn’t actually fit together quite right, they were still slightly floppy, and the instructions said— after I was in blood stepped so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er— that I was supposed to use ELASTIC BANDS to hold together the tower walls while the chocolate was cooling.

The kit didn’t come with elastic bands and I don’t have any in my house except for scrunchies with my gross hair stuck to them, and I’d already come this far, so I decided to forge onward. Then a piece snapped off.

Honestly, this rules, no notes:

I did it, but at what cost? I don’t know much about British politics, but this feels like a poignant commentary on the current state of affairs or something. Should I submit this to the Tate Modern?

[whirluvr3]

Sentinel Prime’s design & Character parallels

—————————————

Okay, so you all know how everyone’s talking about Sentinel having different alt mode wings? When I first saw the film I kind of caught onto the vibe that it foreshadowed his betrayal symbolically, because, yknow, throughout history there have always been examples like that. Guess what though? He isn’t the only one with cool wings like that

(Yes, IK, common knowledge, but hear me out on these next points.)

(DISCLAIMER: I am fully aware Sentinel in the comics has BY FAR the most similar comic design appearance to his movie counterpart, but I just think maybe a few parallels would be interesting to explore. Let’s see!)

But for a good example, take a look at Tyrest from MTMTE:

There are wings on his back like Sentinel’s, and he also (spoilers) did some pretty important yet shady and morally incorrect things having to do with a large amount of the population of Cybertron just like Sentinel prime. Another example of a similar character in the comics is Proteus:

He has a very similar color palette, just adding red. Obviously, Sentinel’s design was heavily based off of his Animated appearance, but I wonder if the nods to similar design choices were on purpose. What makes proteus an interesting case is that he had a very similarly deceiving moral standpoint to Sentinel. Take a look at what the surprisingly accurate WIKI page cited:

“Proteus is a member of the corrupt Senate on pre-war Cybertron and a heavy supporter of the Functionist system segregating Cybertronian society. While many Senators are rich jerks, he is one step above the rest, being known to manipulate events behind the scenes to benefit the Senate rather than the people and sway the influence of the other Senators to his cause. He may break a ton of laws in the process, but what does he care? Head of security Sentinel is on his payroll after all.”

Does that not scream the shadiness of Sentinel Prime in Transformers one? I just think the fact that Proteus is also not really THE command, but working under it to use the perks to his advantage is very hinting. Also Proteus’ promise being a thing? Very Sentinel TFOne coded stuff right here.

I’m just saying, other than the obvious inspirations for Sentinel prime, I wonder if they were at all inspired by Proteus’ design and demeanor, or if they just came up with it separately.

This isn’t proofread or anything, but please feel free to comment. I want to know what others think on this topic because I am very curious if anyone else agrees.

[deadmountaindaughter]

you know what I’m NOT gonna complain about? getting an ENTIRE TRANSFORMERS PRIME EPISODE AS AN AD. ideal advertising experience right here.

[cyberrose2001]

Welcome to my x-reader blog! Click read more to read my rules before requesting!

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ABOUT ME

Hi! I'm Rose or Moni. I'm a silly Australian who's a bit too obsessed with transformers, specifically Ratchet. A couple of interests of mine are writing, fitness, traveling, paleontology/fossil collecting, space/the universe in general, and some others I haven't identified yet.

This will mainly be a Transformers x Reader blog. I will write fics that come into my mind or you can request them! My ask box will remain open most of the time so feel free to drop by! I will try to write as often as I can (I work night shift as a nurse so there may be a delay). I can write for any character and if I am unsure TF Wiki is only a click away. Continuities that I can write for are down below 👇

Transformers Prime (main continuity) Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2015) Transformers Animated Rescue Bots/Rescue Bots Academy Transformers Cyberverse

IDW MTMTE (Select few characters since I haven't entirely finished it yet)

TF:ONE

When I get around to watching other shows and reading the IDW comics they will be added here as well. Bayverse I will only do headcanons/short scenarios for since it’s not my favourite and it’s hard to write longer scenarios for.

RULES FOR REQUESTING

- Please check my bio to see if requests are open or not before you send in a request!

- You must be 18+ to request anything, if you’re not over 18 and request anything you’ll be blocked.

- If you are sending a request as anon, you need to either DM me with your age group in bio or send a separate ask without anon enabled so I can verify if you are 18+ or not. The separate ask will not be posted and will be deleted (I’ve had minors request valveplug and was unaware that they were underage, please don’t try and cheat me because I will find out. That’s why I’m taking extra precautions).

-Please specify which continuity you would like for me to write for. If you do not specify, then I will pick for you.

- Max of three characters at a time, includes headcanons and scenarios.

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- Canon x Reader only, I don’t write Canon x Canon currently.

- Specify genders/pronouns where ever possible, especially if you’re requesting NSFW. If not, I’ll most likely default to GN or AFAB/Fem reader.

I’m comfortable almost anything. Here is a brief list of what I can do. If you are unsure or if it is not listed here, just flick me an ask:

Angst NSFW/Smut Poly relationships Kinks (just ask!) Dub-con and cnc (non-con is sometimes okay) M/M and F/F

These are not ok. Or, if it is illegal and makes me uncomfortable, I won't write it:

Extreme gore (body fluids are fine, just not graphic deaths that go into detail) Rape Underage Suicide and self harm Bestiality/Zoophillia

TAGS

Soon I will be cleaning up my blog and re-tagging things + adding additional tags.

- #fluff or #sfw

- #suggestive

- #valveplug (feel free to block this tag if you don’t want to read robot porn or the naughty asks that I get!)

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Feedback is greatly appreciated on my works! Spam liking + reblogging is also appreciated! I am also always looking for friends on here so feel free to DM me and we can simp or talk about these silly robots together.

(This post will update so check here frequently)

[wits-writing]

“A Wonderful Experience”: Why Transformers: EarthSpark and Nightshade Matter

I’ve been a Transformers fan to one degree or another for as long as I can remember. Whether it’s early memories of watching Beast Wars, renting the G1 animated film on VHS from Blockbuster, or reading the numerous excellent comics that have come over the years, I’ve always found something to love about this franchise. So, I was probably going to find time to check out the 2022 CGI animated series Transformers: EarthSpark eventually no matter what. But one little bird changed that from an “I’ll get around to it eventually” to “I need to make watching this show a priority.”

A little bird by the name of Nightshade (voiced by Z Infante)!

I’d already heard from people I trust about EarthSpark’s quality as a series, but finding out about the franchise’s first prominent, explicitly nonbinary Transformer got me eager to dive in. I’ve discussed characters I relate to and read nonbinary themes into in the past, but getting a chance to see a show in a franchise I love feature that kind of representation with intent was exciting. Given the fact I’ve written 3000 words analyzing the character of Nightshade now, it’s easy to say I wasn’t disappointed!

The topic of gender and how it relates to the Transformers as characters has been one of many long, exhausting fandom debates over the franchise’s nearly four decade history. I’m not here to relitigate any of that, so take it as read from here on out that the Transformers as characters do have and express gendered identities throughout the history of all its incarnations. 

To give a quick primer on EarthSpark as a whole (and why it’s great) before digging into Nightshade’s character in specific:

The series is set fifteen years after the end of the Autobot/Decepticon War. The bots that managed to survive the fighting and remain on Earth are presumed to be the last of their species. All of them are stuck in a holding pattern where the only options currently viable are a life in hiding or working alongside the government-funded alien threat detection/response agency GHOST. Optimus Prime and Megatron head up the latter efforts, in the hope of finding some peaceful balance between humans and Transformers going into the future (though neither of them are fully at ease with the situation, as GHOST clearly has ulterior motives of their own.)

The grim outlook for the Cybertronians takes a turn for the better with the birth of two new Transformers. The Earth-sparks of the show’s title (called “Terrans” throughout the series), Twitch and Thrash, who are bonded to the human children Robby and Mo Malto. Helped by Optimus, Megatron, and the Malto kids’ parents, GHOST agent Dot and her husband Alex, the decision is made to keep the Terrans a secret until the extent of what their existence could mean for the Transformers future as a species is fully understood. The Terrans become an official part of the Malto Family (lovingly referred to as “Malto-bots” by the other characters.) At the halfway point of the first season, in the episode “Age of Evolution”, this unconventional family unit expands further with the birth of three more Terrans, including Nightshade.

Between puzzling out the Terrans’ existence, hiding from GHOST, and fighting threats like the human mad scientist Mandroid, there’s a lot of thematic meat on the bone of this series’ setup. The main one I’m interested in digging into through the lens of Nightshade’s characterization is how the Terrans are written to feel like kids figuring out who they want to be as they grow up. Transformers has a history of designating one or more bots in its series central casts as the rookie/kid character, not insignificantly the Terrans’ primary mentor, Bumblebee, has been traditionally positioned as that very rookie. EarthSpark adding the narrative weight of representing a potential for all Transformers, particularly in how they’ll relate to humans while living on Earth, onto these characters gives more meaning to them being under that role.

The Terrans learn lessons about who they want to be and who they can/can’t trust (not always determined by old alliances like Autobot/Decepticon) from the older Transformers and humans alike. Also proving through their actions everything new they’ll have to offer the world they call home through the gift of their existence. Each Terran has been given the appropriate space so far to have their characters develop, each in their own directions, through this theme. 

Nightshade is exemplary of this, best understood through looking at how they’re characterized before/after their first focus episode “Missed Connection”, about them forming a bond with Decepticon scientist Tarantulas.

[SPOILERS for EarthSpark beyond this point]

Before “Missed Connection”

Something that genuinely impressed me going back through EarthSpark for the sake of writing this piece is how immediately Nightshade is fully themself from their earliest bits of screentime in “Age of Evolution.” While the other two members of the second batch of Terran Transformers, Hashtag and Jawbreaker, have their names confirmed upon them by their connection to Robby and Mo, Nightshade actively introduces themself with a bow and a flourish (“It is a delight and a surprise to meet you all!”) This beat quickly establishes their self-assuredness in their identity and that, while they’re later shown to have occasional introverted tendencies, they are anything but shy. I’m also fond of how the scene establishing their pronouns as Optimus lays out their plan of attack also foreshadows their eventual alt-mode, since they ask to be represented by an owl-bobblehead during the planning. The one scene serving as a contrast to their outgoing demeanor, as they recoil at the sight of Mandroid’s cruelty, gives the first hint towards their eventual desire to protect those in need.

There’s only two episodes between Nightshade’s debut in “Age of Evolution” and their first focus episode; “Hashtag: Oops” and “Outtakes.” Since neither is their focus episode, there’s not much to say about how they’re portrayed in either one (in fact, Nightshade’s entirely absent from “Outtakes” as anything but a brief visual cameo.) “Hashtag: Oops” does still manage to establish some key parts of Nightshade’s personality. Firstly, their comfort in themselves as they proclaim they don’t need an alt-mode (“I like who I am as I am.”) Secondly, their inclination towards tech and engineering as they secretly build a new underground base to surprise their family and give everyone more room to operate within. The latter also indicates their “better to ask forgiveness than permission” approach to their tinkering and scientific work. Which comes back around in a big way during “Missed Connection.”

Which finally brings us to the episode that’s the primary reason I’m writing this piece at all!

“Missed Connection”

Being Nightshade’s first proper focus episode in the series, their current state as part of the ensemble cast gets reestablished in short order. Namely, how they feel out of place around their siblings. Their affinity for science and technology leads to them making their own fun separate from the rest of the family. A pattern that gets highlighted by Nightshade working to perfect a new training drone while the rest of their siblings are playing a game of tag outdoors in celebration of Robby and Mo having the day off school. When later questioned by Alex and Dot about why they don’t spend more time with the rest of the family, Nightshade says it feels like their siblings treat them like they’re “speaking another language.”

This sense of isolation informs why Nightshade is so eager later in the episode when they find a connection with Tarantulas’ own work with tech. Simultaneously providing an opportunity for Alex to offer them something they can connect with while trying to figure out how to connect with others. Like any good nerdy dad, he does it through the magic of reading. He offers Nightshade a copy of his favorite book from when he was growing up, “Winged Sentinel”, an in-universe fantasy/sci-fi series they immediately connect with and find new aspirations. Which we hear as they repeatedly call back to the books like about its hero “protecting those in need.” Their connection to this book quickly leads to the one they find working with Tarantulas, as they were in the local cemetery since it was the “last known address” of Winged Sentinel’s author.

(Quick aside: First time I watched this episode, that detail had me thinking the show was going to do a “Nightshade learns about mortality” type of story. I was relieved when not only did Nightshade grok what happened to the author pretty fast, but the episode in turn swiftly shifted to the dynamic between Tarantulas and them.)

“Missed Connection” finds its central theme in Nightshade and Tarantulas’ discussions on identity and finding one’s place within that world rife with conflict that can be directly hostile to those like them. There’s a recurrent motif in the dialogue of Tarantulas’ cynicism born from eons of experience and Nightshade’s youthful enthusiasm. Though cynicism is far from all the elder Transformer has to offer, as he also provides Nightshade with a new perspective on alt-modes they hadn’t considered and ultimately guides them to their choice.

Nightshade: Aren’t I sufficient as I am? Tarantulas: Alt-forms aren’t meant to complete you, as though you have a missing part, they further express who you already are.

Combining that with Tarantulas’ frustration at the “constrictive labels” of Autobot/Decepticon adds to the resonance this episode has with the nonbinary experience. The concept of “passing” gets explicitly evoked by him while discussing his plan to create a hard-light hologram projector so he can live freely as a human while evading GHOST’s forces. Which is the first proper disguise Tarantulas has taken in his life. While his giant spider alt-mode may provide plenty of utility, it’s anything but discreet.

His plan and attitude informing on it connects back to the broader central theme of EarthSpark as a series of the Transformers finding a new way to live on Earth among humanity with the Terrans representing the way forward. He can’t see a way forward besides hiding who he is and the only safety he can think to offer Nightshade is to join him in that life of discretion. His outlook’s best emphasized by his assuredness that the Autobot/Decepticon War resuming is inevitable, alongside that eventuality dragging him out of whatever peace he does find.

However, cracks in Tarantulas’ bleak worldview show as he begins to admire Nightshade’s exuberant demeanor and determination to be a protector. That admiration for a Transformer with the potential to live unburdened by all the hardships he’s seen leads to him delivering the best, most resonant line in the episode:

“It is a gift to know yourself so well, so young. Take pride in that.”

A beautiful sentiment aimed directly at members of EarthSpark’s target demographic on their own journeys to express their identities.

Unfortunately, the bond these characters have found can’t last. When Tarantulas recognizes Dot as an agent of GHOST, he acts rashly under the assumption that she’s holding Nightshade prisoner. He kidnaps Alex and her, planning to erase Nightshade from their memories so they can go into hiding with him. As a fight between the bots eventually breaks out, Nightshade commits to acting like the protector they aspire to be and chooses the alt-mode of a green armored owl, based on the hero of Winged Sentinel. (Alex’s proud declaration of “You read the book!” while witnessing this is great.) A form that isn’t a disguise but expresses themself as they are and what they want to be going forward.

Nightshade and Tarantulas’ conflict has grown intense enough by this point that the elder Transformer’s admiration for the young bot doesn’t come through in his reaction. Rather he flips it into an insult providing Nightshade their opportunity for a sharp, direct retort (and other best line in the episode):

Tarantulas: You’re still just the lost protoform I first met! Nightshade: You’ve just proven you don’t really know me, because I was never lost!

When the fight ends with Tarantulas’ hologram projector destroyed in the skirmish, Nightshade reflects on words Dot offered them earlier about how everyone deserves a second chance and convinces their family not to hurt Tarantulas any further. However, it seems to be a decision out of their hands as GHOST is drawn to their location by the fight. Tarantulas, finally understanding Nightshade’s situation as well as who they are, offers himself up as bait to lure GHOST away from the Maltos. Running off into the forest as Nightshade reflects on the broken hologram projector the two of them made.

Multiple rewatches of this episode, as well as the first season of EarthSpark as a whole, has reaffirmed it as my favorite episode of the show so far. The tight focus of the dynamic between Nightshade and Tarantulas, alongside the deeper meaning that can be taken from pretty much every exchange between the two, is exemplary of what makes this series standout wonderfully as part of the vast Transformers canon.

After “Missed Connection”

Since there’s not that much of the first season left after “Missed Connection”, Nightshade’s once again mostly off to the side doing their own thing. But there are small bits that show how their experiences in that episode have changed them. They actively spend more time around the rest of the Malto Family, like helping Bumblebee train for an upcoming race and showing that they’ve formed a bond built on mutual tech-obsession with their sister, Hashtag, as they work together to further upgrade the underground headquarters. 

We also get a fun minor bit of their “better to ask forgiveness…” way of operating when they add some high tech bells and whistles to Dot’s prosthetic leg as a Mother’s Day present in the episode “Bear Necessities.” A plot point that later gives the show an opportunity for Dot and Nightshade to have a nice mother-child bonding moment as she explains to them why she liked her leg the way it was in terms they can understand (“something like this is personal”) while not completely shutting them down over it (“I’m open to some small changes, but they’ll have to be ones we come up with together.”)

Though the biggest moment post “Missed Connection” moment for the character, as well as my personal favorite single scene in EarthSpark so far, comes from their subplot in the season 1 two-parter episode “Home.” As the Malto kids and the Terrans go into Philadelphia to see more of the wider world, we get to see Nightshade continue acting as a protector for those in need as they save a young person named Sam from getting mugged in an alley. Nightshade notices a pin that says “SHE/THEY” on Sam’s handbag and tells her their pronouns in return. The two end up having a conversation about how the things that make them who they are can also make them targets for intolerantly minded people. This interaction ends with Sam affirming they feel safe around Nightshade and giving the young Transformer a simple but effective explanation of what being nonbinary means.

This not only gives Nightshade further context to understand themself, but also has the important touch from a metaperspective of having a human character be the one to explain the concept. An effective dodge of what’s frequently cited as a pitfall of using aliens/robots to explore these facets of human identity, making it as clear as possible for anyone watching (especially the target demographic of kids) that Nightshade’s nonbinary identity is in no way just a product of their being an alien robot. Rather, it's an identity that simply feels right for some people living in the world. One that people who identify with it and explore their connections to it can find immensely fulfilling. 

Or, as Nightshade puts it at the end of this conversation:

“What a wonderful word, for a wonderful experience.”

(Before I dive into my conclusion, I want to say I deeply hope this isn’t the last we see of Sam in the series. Both for representation’s sake and because I like seeing the Terrans bond with humans outside of their immediate family circle.)

It would feel wrong to end this look at Nightshade’s character and how that reflects on the best qualities of EarthSpark as a series without giving proper credit to the creative voices involved in bringing them to life. Namely, writer Mae Catt (she/they) who wrote the episode “Missed Connection” and one of the three writers on “Home”, the other two being showrunners Nicole Dubuc and Dale Malinkowski. While fundamentally I believe anyone could write any kind of story, authenticity comes through stronger when writers from the same background are involved. Catt’s passion for writing this show comes through beautifully in these episodes and in how they’ve discussed the show on social media.

Her understanding for what these characters and stories can mean to the young people watching gets clearly reflected in recurrent elements of EarthSpark’s story. Aside from Nightshade’s admiration for the main character of the Winged Sentinel novels, we also see moments in other episodes of their siblings trying to figure out what being a Transformers means through in-universe Transformers comic books telling the story of the Autobot/Decepticon War. 

It’s also what drove me to write this piece. I see Nightshade in all their creative, expressive glory and it makes me happy for the kids watching Transformers: EarthSpark, seeing them, and relating to them. Every story has the potential to be a guide someone out there can use to move closer to their heart. Nightshade’s being that guide to nonbinary kids now in a way I never could’ve dreamed of growing up is, simply put, wonderful.

Happy Pride! 💛🤍💜🖤

If you like what you’ve read here, please like/reblog or share elsewhere online, follow me on Twitter (@WC_WIT), and consider throwing some support my way at either Ko-Fi.com or Patreon.com at the extension “/witswriting”

[yogurtlid10000]

Edit: so while I read IDW I’m just gonna keep… reblogging and adding to this post i guess😓

Reading IDW comics again. I found this spreadsheet with the reading order and now I'm actually reading it fully because last time I like stopped somewhere in the middle idk

also heres the uhhhh spreadsheet I found on reddit lmao

anywayn I just wanted to put some of my thoughts and reactions. Today I read Infiltration 1-6

dang it I WAS GONNA MAKE A JOKE ABOUT HOW HIS NAME SOUNDS LIKE ONION BUT HE BEAT ME

These two panels. ratchet. HAHA anyway i think its really funny his face is permanently smiling like bro i guess holomatters didnt have the technology to replicate expressions? is it that hard?

i CERTAINLY very clearly remember thsi scene from when I first read idw like last year or smth. terrifying tbh yeessh imagine accidentally walking into the decepticon leader in some underground abandoned bunker in Nebraska bruh

aw

yippee its optimus prime

[mudhound]

Redesigns for a fan continuity I’m calling Transformers Inheritance.

Gilly is the show protagonist and comes out a little small here because I mainly added her in for scale and to have a family portrait of sorts: all three gals here have CNA from Optimus Prime. Gilly doesn’t know this fact until close to hee twelfth birthday.