#JUSTICE FOR CLIFFJUMPER

[thatzmemars]

Something about Cliffjumper being killed off the moment he shows up or not having any screen time is something I deeply despise with every fiber in my being! More pacifically Transformers Prime

I love TFP so much but I hate everything about how they treated Cliff! They killed him off in the first few minutes of the first episode but not only that they bring him back from the dead as a Terrcon and kill him again, LIKE UH???

I get him having to die so the show can have a good reason for the humans to meet the autobots since it was the of Cliffjumpers death that cause Arcee to go into town so she can find any decepticons to fight just for a human kid to stumble into the mess but all he was still played dirty! The only time we see anyone on team Prime having a strong reaction of Cliffjumpers death BESIDES Arcee was Bulkhead in season 2 episode 1 when he bumps into one of Starscream clones who reveals that’s in the clones words “I won’t hesitate to skewer you as I did to certain Cliffjumper” which makes Bulkhead angry enough to offline Starscream clone but he didn’t even know it was a clone because afterwards he is scared of what he has done thinking he’d offline the real starscream since we always see Bulkhead as a gentle giant so even he was scared of his own actions;

but that’s all we get and it’s so upsetting because we know from the few flashbacks we get from Arcee that Cliffjumper has been in Team Prime for the longest time and no one on the Team seems to have any strong or slight emotion towards his passing, he was only used in the show as conflict for Arcees character and her rivalry against Starscream. Like he was definitely one of Bumblebees best friend in one of the flashbacks when he and Cliff rescues Arcee from Arachnid but we get not that much strong reactions from Bee nor anyone else. Of course the main reason for any of them to not have any feelings for his death being that they are focusing on the war and trying to not let anyone negative emotions get to them but come on even that’s not a good reason to not have any of them have a moment of grief for their fallen friend. I would have liked to see more of Cliffjumper of his relationship with Team Prime because it could have been to must wholesome content we could have seen, again I understand why they didn’t really include him that much but I’m still very upset on how they treated and used him just for plot, conflict and having a tight budget. Justice for Cliffjumper!

[angelbroad]

My Cybertron Trilogy experience

[koumori-1999]

[starscreams-crown]

Cliffjumper: "Alright... Megatron was the good guy here, he died, came back as Galvatron. Optimus Prime is a psychopath craving power. His brother is worse. Treatshot is obsessed with bringing Ultra Magnus to justice. Sideburn and Demolishor were some weird underbase thing. Oh, and Starscream is actually kinda cool..."

[blueskyscribe]

Aside from the weird ending for TFP Starscream in Predacons Rising (implied to be killed by the Predacons), the show treated him pretty sympathetically (though not kindly).

He is a Bad Guy, so when he does things like shoot Bee's t-cog to a cinder or brag about killing Cliffjumper, yes, he is karmatically punished (by losing his own t-cog, by having Arcee almost kill him, etc). But whenever Megatron starts stomping towards him, the shots are framed from Starscream's perspective. It doesn't have an air of "yeah, go Megs! this is justice!", it is unsettling, it emphasizes how helpless Starscream is, it's like a scene from a horror movie or a bad dream.

(The only time Starscream getting thrashed was played for comedic effect was when he hit Predaking, who at the time was non-sapient; so it was like Starscream was hitting a dog.)

Remember how Starscream briefly went solo and then returned to the Nemesis, vowing to be loyal to Megatron? Well, he WAS loyal for the entire rest of the show. And Megatron still degraded him, dismissed his efforts, and beat him up. (Very notably, he beat up Starscream but not Knock Out for the Silas debacle.)

In other words, Megatron doesn't denigrate Starscream because of what Starscream's done--because he's conniving or traitorous. It happens because of who MEGATRON is. Starscream isn't a good person, but that's not why he's abused, nor does it justify it, and I thought the show was pretty unambiguous about that.

That's what makes Starscream's end in Predacon's Rising so odd. I speculate that they were trying for a tragic ending of "abuse victim becomes the abuser" (as we did see him mistreating the Predacons, even after he knew they were sapient, and enjoying it).

But Starscream was also comic relief with Knock Out for the entire last season, which reeeeally didn't allow it to work. Everyone loves a comic relief guy and they are usually allowed to live, escape, or be redeemed. (For example, Iago the parrot was redeemed in the sequel to "Aladdin" even though he was totally on board with killing Aladdin and Jasmine in the first movie.) Also, Knock Out getting to switch sides made it even weirder. IMO they should have had Starscream go with Shockwave (who just, like, left??).

Anyway, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[elfdragon12]

I love what the Energon universe is doing with the transformers.

The Witwicky have more depth in them and Carly has more to do in the storyline.

Starscream being so evil and happily embracing it that I can’t wait for him to get what’s coming for him and Optimus… he’s everything. The way he’s written really does the original and beloved G1 Optimus justice. He’s a true hero and really embodies “strong enough to be gentle”.

The humans are so well-written and I am in love for how much we're seeing the humans and bots connect to each other. This kind of thing is exactly what I want to see and it's wonderful to see that more and more often in Transformers media. Really washes the taste of IDW Spike out of the mouth. ;) Carly from the beginning has always been so caring and bold and I am glad that the spirit of her is being embraced.

It's all so tragic. Slow and impending starvation drove such a deep wedge into their society that war broke out. (My current guess is that Cliffjumper's clan was "culled", Starscream seeing them as a "waste of resources".)

TFEU Starscream is G1 Starscream outside of a PG rating. If he could have, he would have.

Optimus Prime is absolutely perfect here. He's so kind, even though he's carrying so much pain. He's trying *so hard*, so hard! To have hope, even as the chance of a happy ending slips further and further away. He sees himself, his race, in the hearts of these little beings.

MY HEART!

[nevis-the-skeleton]

What if TFP Autobot Starscream (who helped Miko), bonds with Arcee over their lost loved ones... ❤️ Star talks about losing Skywarp, Thundercracker + Skyfire... Arcee talks about losing Tailgate + Cliffjumper... Star is both horrified and filled with guilt, when he learns Cliff was Arcee’s BFF...💔 (Autobots don’t know that Star destroyed Cliffjumper...) 

Wow… I think if Arcee ever finds out the truth it could be really dangerous for Starscream ^^; … I feel it's going to be between cute and super sad (TvT)… Thanks for your request sweety anon ^^! Besides, it's funny, but I wrote a somewhat similar scene in my story "The Polar Star" X), the difference is that Skyfire is alive, and Arcee already knows the cause of Cliff's death.

~~~

Arcee was in the medical bay with Ratchet, after a mission during which they came across Airachnid. The Autobots were lucky to have Starscream with them, as he was quite responsive, and saved the warrior from dying at the hands of the Triple-changer.

The motorcycle was not looking at Optimus, while the latter was quite disappointed with her behavior. Arcee put herself in great danger, and the mission could have gone horribly wrong. The doctor continued to repair the injuries of the motorcycle, and said:

“You should thank Starscream, it's thanks to him that you're still alive."

The Seeker watched all this from afar, and decided to move closer, not really looking for a thank you, but wanting to make one thing clear.

"I hope next time you don't have the same stupid idea like running right into your enemy!

- Mind what concerns you! the warrior got a little annoyed.

- It concerns us all! Because of you, we almost failed this mission!

- You really only think about the mission, huh?!

- Of course! What exactly do you think about when you go into battle?!

- …!

- The principle is to don't die, Arcee! So why are you going into it?!

- Stop arguing! Ratchet growled. Arcee you thank him and we move on!

- … Before that, I would like to know what got into her!

- Starscream, don't insist.

- No, I want to know if I should expect an event like this again or if it was exceptional!

- It's not the first time… admitted Bulkhead in the distance.

- Bulkhead! Arcee was indignant.

- I think he better know. It really surprised him you know.

- No wonder, since he follows orders like a little Turbofox!

-…?!! Pardon?!!! Starscream get angry.

- If Optimus ordered you not to move, you would! You're so afraid of not satisfying that you forget your own dignity!

- And you?! You think you're have dignity when you answering Airachnid's taunts?!

- …!

- You are predictable for her! She knows how to piss you off! I don't know what she did to you exactly, but it would be nice if it didn't make you forget your team!

- As if you knew what teamwork was!

- Well, apparently I know it better than you!"

The Autobots and the children watched their confrontation from afar, unsure how to intervene. The two robots continued their argument, and Arcee cried out:

"OK! You wanna know the fragging reason?!

- Well yeah! replied the jet.

- She murdered one of my friends in front of me! She deserves to die!

- So you're doing this for revenge?!

- I want to do Tailgate justice!

- Is it really worth losing your life?!

- What do you know anyway?! You never loved anyone but yourself! You can't understand ! You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love!"

Starscream's wings flew up in indignation, and he angrily replied:

"Shut up! You don't know me! Frag!!"

Everyone looked at the Seeker with surprise, while the latter had the wings high with rage, and the body tense. The jet looked away, a mixture of shame and anger crossing his face. He clenched his fists, and quickly turned his back on Arcee, rushing for the elevator to the roof of the base.

~

Starscream was on the edge of the roof, and really wanted one thing, and it was to sink into a hole, or else become invisible… He wanted to disappear, to flee… he didn't want to see the Autobots again… it was too much shame… What a stupid reaction! Why did Arcee's words hurt him so much?! What did he get out of getting upset like that?! It was useless... really useless...

The Seeker lifted his wings in spite of himself when he heard the elevator door open, but he didn't turn to see who it was. He really didn't want to see anyone, so he preferred to ignore them. Was it too hard to leave him alone for five seconds?!

"Hey, Starscream." said Arcee.

The jet clutched his wings behind his back, and scowled at the warrior's voice. He did not look at her, and replied curtly:

"Don't you have other people you want to be mean to?!

- The one who is currently mean is you!

- …”

The motorcycle sighed slightly, and scratched her head, before declaring:

“I came to apologize.

- Is it on your own initiative, or did you "stupidly" listen to an order from Optimus.

- Actually, it was from Ratchet."

Starscream finally decided to look at Arcee, who continued:

“But he's right, what I said wasn't nice. I can see that upset you.

- Not necessarily…

- So what are you doing there, sulking on the roof?

- Maybe I didn't like how you surrounded me so well!"

The warrior could hear the sarcasm in the Seeker's voice, and she stepped forward before sitting down next to him. The jet grunted a bit nastily and moved, which upset the bike.

"I don't have Rust! Arcee exclaimed.

- You're too close."

The warrior raised her optics, telling herself that Starscream really had a serious problem. She wasn't that close!

“I haven't heard a single excuse yet." finally said the Seeker.

The motorcycle sighed with a smile, and answered:

"No, it's true.

- What are you waiting for then?

- How impatient you are!

- It's my trademark!

- I wonder what your friends could think of it!

- …I never had any friends…

- …”

There was a silence, before Arcee spoke again.

"Liar."

The jet said nothing, and no longer looked at the warrior, returning his gaze to the desert horizon in front of them. The motorcycle did the same, and sighed softly, before declaring:

“I had a great friend at the time, his name was Tailgate.

- The one that Airachnid killed?

- … Yeah…

- How was he?

- Hm?

- Well, he was a good friend…?

- Very…"

Arcee said nothing more, talking about it seeming to be quite difficult for her. Starscream looked back at the warrior, he hesitated and flapped his wings, then said:

"You're right, I lied to you...

- About?

- My friends…

- Where are they now?"

The Seeker didn't answer, but his drooping wings spoke for him. The motorcycle made no remark, until she smiled:

“Tailgate loved to joke, even though he was really lame at jokes.

- Ha! Surely he would have gotten along well with Skywarp! Even if his thing was more pranks!

- Who is Skywarp?

- He was a member of my trine. He wasn't very smart, not to say completely stupid sometimes.

- Hey! That's not very nice for him!

- But what?! It's true! He always managed to put himself in the some scraps, you always wonder how!

- It's your it's your doppelgangere in this case! laughed Arcee.

- I won't allow you! the jet indignantly smiled.

- Birds of a feather flock together as they say!

- Oh no! The difference is that when he found himself in scrap he always managed to get out of it!"

It was then that Starscream quickly lost his smile, and he lowered his head, before adding weakly:

"Until he couldn't find a way to do it…

- It's a bit the same for Tailgate…” sympathized the warrior with sadness.

There was a bittersweet silence, and the motorcycle asked:

"And the other member of your trine, what's his name?

- His name was Thundercraker.

- How was he?

- … Big?

- But no ! In character!

- I said it! Big! He thought big! Always looking far into the future, as far as he could!"

The Seeker had the optics shining with love when he spoke of his trine, as if they were still alive, despite the fact that he spoke of them as the distant past. But that look was quickly dulling, as the realization of their disappearance always came back eventually… The jet sighed with sorrow, and shook his head, before saying:

"I'm bothering you with my stories...

- Not especially… "

The flyer gave Arcee a grateful look, before looking at the horizon again. The warrior swung her legs above the void, before saying:

"I'm sorry I said you didn't love anyone… I realize how wrong I was…

- … You weren't totally wrong…

- …?

- … Before I met TC and Warp, I was friends with another robot…

- Who was called?

- His name was Skyfire…

- …

- He died before the war, and I was so sad, that I had decided never to love anyone again… Until I met my Trine… but, again, it was a huge mistake…

- …I can understand how you feel…"

Saying those words Arcee turned to a rooftop burial, which the Seeker hadn't actually seen when he came up. The warrior smiled sadly, before losing it completely, then declaring:

"After Tailgate, I swore to myself that I would never have a partner again... I didn't want to lose anyone again..."

It wasn't long before the jet saw the horn on the grave, and his Spark froze in his chest, as he realized who it was!

"It's... the flyer stammered.

- Yes, it's Cliff…

- …

- He's the one who allowed me to reconnect after Tailgate… He helped me all along…! But... I ended up losing him too...

- You… you loved him…?

- He was my best friend… Maybe even more…

- …

- The Decepticons killed him…! Like they killed Tailgate!

- …This is war, Arcee…

- They treated him like a test subject…!

- …”

Starscream didn't know what to answer, as a multitude of devastating emotions lacerated his Spark. Finally, he found the words to say, that came out on their own:

"I'm sorry…

- Why are you apologizing?

- Well… uh…

- You're not a Decepticon anymore, Starscream.

- …

- It's not your fault.

- …”

The Seeker wanted to admit it, to say it was really his fault, to confess his crime… But, no matter how hard he tried, nothing came out… His selfish wish that they had a possible friendship was stronger than the truth… Arcee got up, and put a comforting hand on the shoulder of the jet, before saying:

“Again, I'm sorry for what I said. I'm waiting for you downstairs, the others are worried, you know?"

She ends up walking away, not even giving the flyer time to answer. Starscream eventually found himself alone on the roof, at least, not totally alone, as Cliffjumper's grave was still there, seeming to tower over him in its shadow.

The Seeker rose in his turn, and advanced hesitantly towards the tomb. He never quite got to look at it, even when he found himself face to face with it. The jet lowered his wings, not knowing himself what they were trying to express, as far too complex emotions raced through him. Starscream finally had the strength to speak, and asked in a voice broken with grief:

"Say…? do you really think i belong somewhere…?"

But, of course, to this question, he received no other answer than silence…

[nn1895]

A Year of Moments Elita/Optimus Drabbles - May

Flower language

Most bots had delicate blooms painted across their plating for the festival – wheel-wheat flowers and uranium-geraniums.  Optimus himself was decked out in overlapping laserlillies to symbolize his message of peace and the purity of his intentions - even if the only bots to see it were his fellow rebels.

The femme that approached him now had only a single, bloom over her sparkchamber – a black-optic’d cesium. The subtle yellow and black outline was wire-thin.  

“Why have you asked for an audience, Elita-1?” he asked.  That flower…  

“I heard you stand against the Senate.”  She grinned, fangs barred.

Ah.  Black-optic’d cesium.

Justice.

 Sick fic

It wasn’t fair.

Optimus rolled and pulled the blanket over his aching helm.  They’d been back on Cybertron for barely a vorn and he caught a virus.  Sure, plugging into the ancient database in Kaon had been risky, but he didn’t deserve THIS as punishment.

Primus, if his internal temperature gauge fluctuated again he was going to –

The door to his berthroom banged open.

“You slagger,” Elita-1 growled.  She flung herself down beside him, optics flashing static.  “Got me sick too.  It’s not fair.”  She burrowed against him, shivering.

Well, at least I’m not alone, he thought, pulling her closer.

 Pet acquisition

Elita-1 was acting…oddly.

She hadn’t complained about his datapad hoard collection in weeks.  She’d been leaving her grenade launcher at work instead of the front room.  They’d had Optimus’s favorite fuel three times in the past week.  She’d taken him to the theater and sat through “Love, Fractals” without groaning at the soppy dialogue.

She was laying it on thick.

He still hadn’t told her that the turbohound puppy she’d been hiding in the backroom had accidently introduced itself three weeks ago.  He wanted to see how long he could get bribery AND secret puppy snuggles before she told him.

 “Who are you”

She’d been in the cells…how long?  She was so thirsty.

“Tell me again…” she wheezed, “about this ‘team’ of yours that’ll rescue us.”

“Jazz will have tracked me by now,” the voice said, strong, confident, a little bit thinner than it had been yesterday.  “He’ll try infiltration first.  If that doesn’t work, they’ll attack directly.”

“They?”

“Ironhide, Bulkhead, Cliffjumper, Arcee…”

She closed her optics and scooted closer to her new cellmate’s wall.

“And who are you, to have so many bots looking for you?” she asked, vocalizer cracking with disuse.

“Me?  I’m not important.  I just have good friends.”

 Sunshine

“Elita wake up.”

Something nudged her.

Primus, she was going to have to kill him, wasn’t she?

Late nights soothing crisises of faith, foiling assassinations, light account keeping – all expected.

Optimus Prime, 327th Prime, Lord of Cybertron, Guardian of the Spark of Cybertron, delightedly dragging her around his own palace to translate the ancient glyphs – unexpected.

“Elita, you have to see it!”

Poke. Poke.

Murder it was then.

“Yes, my Prime?”

“Look!”

She onlined her optics, but didn’t lift her helm from the berth.

“What?”

A thin golden line was widening across Optimus’s face.

“We’re going past a yellow star.”

 Fantasy

“And you’re going to follow me around until I make three wishes?”  This – THIS – was why discount sales were dangerous.  Sometimes you bought live ordinance and sometimes you bought enchanted jewelry – he called it a ‘Matrix of Leadership’? – that talked.

“I am yours to command until I grant your last wish, Master” the giant – mostly blue – mech said, bowing.

“Just Elita is fine. Wishes…can I just wish you free and be done?”

The mech stared at her. He blinked slowly.

“Well…you could, yes. But don’t you want –“

“No time.  I have meetings this week.  I wish you free, Optimus.”

[diaborodevil]

Planet speed beginning of the war

Sabrehorn: who wants to die first come at me with the spilling of your blood there will be justice

Deadlock: yeah what he said

Blurr: what your saying doesn’t make sense here this is a safe area for both bots and cons

Deadlock: then why aren’t there any decepticons here only Autobots enjoying themselves

Blurr: welp I’m going to have to deal with these two

Bumblebee: no no no that is not a good idea

Cliffjumper: your asking for it

Blurr: someone has to do something I’m going to fight for my home you two start evacuating people this will get messy

(So then a battle commenced between blurr and sabrehorn Blurr using speed and a home field advantage while sabrehorn used pure pure strength and swordsmanship until Blurr grabbed one of sabrehorns blades and)

*shwing*

Blurr: not so chatty now without a head huh

Sabrehorn: that hasn’t stopped me yet

Blurr: what how how are you alive

Sabrehorn: let’s just say I know a good surgeon good at giving advanced mods like how my shell is immune to cosmic rust

Blurr: what does that have to do with this

Sabrehorn: check your hands

Blurr: ah ahhh ahhhhhh

Sabrehorn: I may look like a boisterous idiot but I’m a tricky swordsman that sword is my killing tool same one I’m gonna use on this place

Blurr: your hurting both bots and cons if you do that

Sabrehorn: I’ll hurt way more bots a worthy sacrifice a grand sacrifice

*shing* *skrunnnch*

Sabrehorn: didn’t you know war means sacrifice deadlock you are truly caught in your ideals if you think war doesn’t me sacrifice you truly are masters inferior student

Deadlock: SHUT UP YOUR WRONG YOUR WRONG THIS ISN’T RIGHT IT ISN’T

Sabrehorn: welp my fun is ruined you can keep that blade literal backstabber how are you holding up

Blurr: uh uhhh ahhhhhhhhh

Sabrehorn: pretty bad but cureable

*shing* *shunk*

Sabrehorn: now he’s dead

Bumblebee and Cliffjumper: nooooo

Sabrehorn: I’ll just put this back and if you wish to not die run while there’s still time including you deadlock

And so con and bot alike ran away as planet speed slowly rusted away bot and con alike both died to the rust until eventually planet speed completely shattered gone

Bumblebee: so what’s your name

It’s deadlock

Cliffjumper: so you stabbed your comrade

Deadlock: he lied to me told me we were on virtuous mission not a slaughter fest

Cliffjumper: so what are gonna do

Deadlock: I’ll become an Autobot fight for a new cause

Bumblebee: so you gonna stick with deadlock as a name

No call me drift

And so we will now be in the start of the beginning of the war

Sabrehorn: *gasp* you didn’t have to wait so long to grab me

Knockout: I’m sorry it’s just that my coat needed to buffed anyway how did your mission go

Sabrehorn: good except that the coward deadlock ran master said he has promise but I don’t see it

Knockout: well atleast your augments seem to be working

Sabrehorn: yeah they really are something thanks

Knockout: oh do thank me I merely implanted them thank there creator

Shockwave: that doesn’t matter he’s merely a test subject a stepping stone to my true project before my lab was taken

Knockout: what were you working on

Shockwave: something that will completely change this war

Welp that’s that for today any questions comment it

[lord-of-leeches]

Transformers art dumb

[brandxspandex]

Smashing through some pre-modern Spotlight issues on the way towards the meat of the main story in my IDW re-read.

Spotlight: Thundercracker again leaves me wondering how the hell Thundercracker managed to live with being a Decepticon for so long. After all, this Spotlight is set towards the beginning of the Great War and Thundercracker already has misgivings serious enough that he’s moved to commit some pretty severely treasonous acts, and this was back when organic genocide was just a side effect of the Decepticons’ goals, rather than a goal in itself. If he was already upset with how the Cons treated organics at this stage, I can’t imagine how he would have reacted when they made cleansing the galaxy of organics their policy, and I can’t understand how he stuck around after that point. I used to think that the increase in the Decepticons’ outward brutality probably corresponded to the increase in their inward brutality, so as Thundercracker gained more and more reasons to leave the Cons he also got more and more reasons to be afraid of leaving. Yet this issue confirms that the DJD existed even at this point, and Thundercracker was still willing to risk acting on behalf of his morals regardless. I suppose it’s possible that the DJD’s tactics were less extreme at this point, but I still find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that it took Thundercracker millions of years to take the final little step towards a heelfaceturn.

After letting Bumblebee live, Thundercracker seems to imply that if all Autobots were like Bee he would be willing to switch sides, or perhaps that they wouldn’t be at war in the first place. While Bumblebee is an exceptionally friendly guy for sure (in fact this issue takes time to hammer home that in terms of heroic intent Bee is pretty much on Optimus Prime’s level, even if he lacks Optimus’s focused leadership abilities – which is a big theme of Bee’s own character arc), Thundercracker seemed particularly taken with Bee because he went out of his way to save organics, which doesn’t seem that unusual a trait among Autobots. Sure, we’ve seen some Autobots that don’t seem to give a shit about organics, and some that have just been nasty pieces of work in general, but most Bots we’ve seen have been of the heroic, organic-saving inclination, so it seems as though Thundercracker must have had a warped perception of the Autobots if he thought Bee was an exception (unless of course particularly heroic Autobots are overrepresented amongst the main characters, which may very well be the case). So maybe Thundercracker didn’t switch sides and go to the Autobots because he was under the impression that they were no better than the Decepticons (and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cons were fed propaganda to maintain those sorts of perceptions).

Thundercracker also seemed pretty hung up on the fact that being a Seeker was his identity, which may have made leaving the Decepticons difficult for him. I guess that before the war most Cybertronians had a very solid sense of their identity, which was defined by their alt-mode, before the war began and threw all of this into disarray. While a big reason the war was fought in the first place was precisely because many people didn’t like being boxed into these limited identities, it must have nonetheless been very disorientating to many to have the familiarity of their old identities disrupted. Thus it wouldn’t be surprising if many went on to dig their heels into whatever identities they could find in wartime.

Spotlight: Shockwave sees Shockwave going about his whole Regenesis Ore thing, which makes me wonder how much of the energon throughout the universe was due to Shockwave’s actions and how much of it just existed out there independently. I often wonder what sort of substance energon is exactly, and whether it is in anyway comparable to any real substances or if it is something completely alien and unknowable. The fact that we’ve seen Transformers converting known matter into synthesised energon suggests that it is at very least made of the same fundamental elements as the known universe. Still, I wonder if it’s something that can arise in the universe without any sort of Cybertronian involvement.

It’s interesting that Shockwave puts his (temporary) downfall in this issue down to his failure to factor in the universal constant of chaos, given that now he’s back he seems to be fixated on “the higher order of logic that is chaos”. Was this the beginning of the path that led him to decide that becoming some sort of chaos worshipping furry was the way to go? Speaking of furries, it’s kinda funny that Shockwave ended up becoming the furry Prime when his spotlight is also the issue in which the Dinobots get their dinosaur forms. Turns out that with Shockwave, everything begins and ends with furries.

Shockwave puts his inability to anticipate and understand the Dinobots’ rash, emotional actions down to his strictly logical thought process, to the point where he actually has to shut down his higher processing to allow him to “evolve” a primal subroutine approximating rage in order to deal with them. Shockwave’s apparent evolution in this issue is never really brought up again (at least, not yet), but then again, even before reappearing in this currently ambiguously un-shadowplayed state, Shockwave was suspiciously snarky and melodramatic for a guy without emotions. I gotta say that I find it kinda hard to believe that Shockwave finds irrational and emotional behaviour so mind-bogglingly shocking and hard to process given that this issue is set a few million years into the war and he has been with the Decepticons for all that time, a movement filled to the absolute brim with spectacularly emotional and irrational individuals.

Also I’m going to post this panel because when required to draw the gadget that enables Shockwave to signal his ship it sure as hell looks like the artist just decided to give him some car keys:

I can’t really recall Cliffjumper doing anything that notable in IDW outside of his Spotlight (and spoilers in the Unicron prologue issue he unfortunately got rather unceremoniously killed off off-panel) so I had forgotten that he’s apparently a total badass whose name strikes fear into troops of Cons who he then wipes out single-handedly before using one of their severed hands to hammer in the grave of the little organic girl he wrecks vengeance in the name of. I do really like how the Autobots have their little friendly round cars like Cliffjumper and Bumblebee as their spies, saboteurs and deadly assassins.

We see some very human-looking aliens in this issue, which is honestly something that always bugs me, even though it absolutely saturates sci-fi. It just strikes me as so astonishingly unlikely that evolution would pull the same trick so many times that it really pulls me out of the story; it’s something that stretches my suspension of disbelief that little bit too far. That’s why I love it when sci-fi provides some sort of explanation behind the humanoid pattern recurring throughout their setting, often in the form of some sort of progenitor race seeding genetic blueprints throughout the cosmos. And you know what? In IDW I’m just going to assume Shockwave’s behind it at this point. It seems like exactly the kind of thing he’d do and he’s responsible for pretty much everything else in the continuity so let’s go with that.

This issue implies that Cybertronians have some sort of in-built program that enables them to pick up the transmissions of an alien world they’re on and use them to synthesise a translation of the native languages they can then easily speak, as part of their “robots in disguise” adaptability shtick. This seems to somewhat contradict later instances where we see Transformers attempting to learn languages the more traditional way, but personally I much prefer the idea that they have this more alien and robotic approach. I also like the idea that it is part of the same collection of features that allows them to have alt-modes that mimic the vehicles and technology native to the alien world they’re on, because adapting to alien environments is an intrinsic part of their natures AND HOLY SHIT what if the reason Transformers have such a hard time changing their ways and breaking free of their vicious cycle of war, yet seem to suddenly undergo rapid character development when they encounter other species, such as humans, is because of this adaptability algorithm? When they’re just around other Transformers they automatically adapt to each other so they get stuck in a loop of mimicking the same behaviours, but when they encounter other species with new behaviours they can adapt to them and break out of the loop (same could go for encountering Transformer colony worlds that have been isolated for a while)??? Ok that idea probably wouldn’t hold up to closer inspection in this continuity at least BUT HELL IT’S A THOUGHT.

The idea that Transformers require alien transmissions in order to synthesise translations for their languages fits in well with the fact that Wheelie can’t automatically adapt to the language of the alien he encounters in Spotlight: Wheelie, give that both he and the alien are away from their native worlds. I thought that the alien having a translation device that for some reason requires the speaker to speak in rhyme in order to work was a pretty clever way of explaining Wheelie’s whole speaking in rhyme gimmick.

Wheelie’s Spotlight has the same basic core theme that most of this lot of Spotlight issues seem to have; the main character is faced with a moral dilemma where they can choose between taking the safest option that most benefits themselves, or they can save an innocent (typically an organic) and sacrifice something in the process. Each time the main character realises that if they choose to take the easy option and allow the innocent to befall whatever horrible fate is dangling over them, they will be sacrificing something even worse. The Autobot characters come to the conclusion that this is what defines them as an Autobot and separates them from the Decepticons, but we see Thundercracker making a similar decision in his own Spotlight. But of course, we know where Thundercracker’s storyline eventually takes him.

There’s a major tease at the end of Spotlight: Wheelie involving the presence of the Quintessons that certainly seems like the set up for some kind of significant plotline, but unless the Quintessons turn out to have some kind of important involvement in the Unicron storyline, I guess that’s never gonna go anywhere. It’s a pity, cos I reckon a lot can be done with the Quintessons, and in their sparse appearances in IDW they’ve always been quite intriguing.

Spotlight: Hot Rod introduces everyone’s favourite piece “woah what the hell they’re bringing that back up again now?” in the form of The Magnificence and yo hang on those Omega Guardians in this issue sure look like those things on the cover of an upcoming issue of the Lost Light:

I wonder if Hot Rod’s experience with Dealer plays into his hatred of Getaway. Hot Rod spent so much time angsting over his failures on his mission to collect The Magnificence, including the fact that he had to abandon Dealer in the process, and then he risked his life in order to save Dealer from a Decepticon prison camp. Then it turns out that Dealer was a doublecrosser who had caused the failures on Rodimus’s mission in the first place, and was still planning to stab him in the back. After all that, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Rodimus had developed a bit of a hair-trigger reaction when it comes to people who betray him.

Spotlight: Sixshot addresses the strangely sweet camaraderie between the emotional abyss/utter force of annihilation that is Sixshot and his carnage-loving fanbots the Terrorcons, which is something that, as far as I can recall, is never explored or brought up again. But, nonetheless, it’s nice to know it was a thing. It also features The Reapers, who provide an interesting little taster of some of the other aliens that exist in the IDW universe, from an electric space jellyfish to a berserker virus infected monster bird. The Reapers are all about ending war by pre-emptively destroying any sources of war, which makes me wonder how the hell have they haven’t got around to trying to destroying the Transformers yet. It’s a big universe I suppose.

Reading through these issues provided a nice little reminder of some forgotten characterisation and plot hooks that have been left dangling. It’s sad to think that most of these things won’t have a chance to be picked up now (except for The Magnificence, and I still can’t quite get over the fact that happened), but they are ready fodder for any fanfic writers who may want to pick up where canon is going to leave off.

[always-arabis]

Chapter Teaser: The Lost Son

Optimus Prime sat in the command chair, focused on the monitors in front of him. They provided a constant feed of information on shield status, weapons systems, and fleet formation. The Ark and the Lost Light were engaged with the Peaceful Tyranny and the unknown battle frigate. The Nemesis was seventeen thousand kilometers to port, exchanging volleys with the smaller interceptor-class warship.

The bridge crew worked in tense, coordinated silence as the battle raged on around them. It was just as well—little else could be heard over the klaxon wail of the proximity alarm. Sideswipe, Cliffjumper, and Mudflap manned the stations on the anterior decks, while Red Alert and Chromia stood at tactical and engineering, respectively.

A series of damage reports streamed across the secondary display. A cursory glance confirmed what Optimus already knew: the Ark had taken moderate damage to the bow and forward control thruster. A substantial concern, but it was far less damage than the Peaceful Tyranny was capable of meting out.  

No sooner had the thought crossed his processors than the Ark shuddered with the impact of another volley. The tactical display in front of him lit up with a series of high-priority alerts.

“Prowl, status report.” He ordered.

It took only a moment before his third-in-command replied, “A direct hit near the port proximity sensors. They are currently offline.”

Prime clenched his servo into a fist. The proximity sensors were located between the crew quarters and the engine room at the rear of the ship.

“Casualties?” He asked, tightly.

Prowl sent a glyph of negation by way of reply, and Prime pinged back an acknowledgment. The Peaceful Tyranny was laying down a pattern of strikes intended to incapacitate the Ark. The knowledge that Tarn had no intention of destroying the ship while Megatron was still onboard was little comfort.  

“Emergency containment fields have been activated on decks two, three, and five.” Chromia reported, grim and matter-of-fact, “The hull breach is going to take time to seal.”

“It is time we do not have.” Prime replied, “Current oxygen levels?”

“Between fourteen and nineteen percent.” Red Alert answered him, “It didn’t help matters when they blew a combiner-sized hole in the side of the ship.”

Prime grimaced internally. Fourteen percent was barely sufficient for human functioning. “Reposition Wheeljack and Brainstorm for emergency repairs. Get the oxygen levels stabilized.”

Although the security director pinged an acknowledgement, his electromagnetic fields betrayed his apprehension. It was a concern that Prime shared himself—neither Brainstorm nor Wheeljack were well suited to battle. The two scientists had only minimal armament and sporadic combat experience between them. Still, needs willed out. As long as Helex and Tesarus were tearing apart the brig, there was no one else to spare.

He turned his attention inwards, scanning through the situational reports on the tactical network. His spark contracted inside his chassis at the list of causalities: Bluestreak, Inferno, Hoist, Mirage all injured. Smokescreen dead. Prime was not so foolish as to hope that might be the end of it. The Decepticon Justice Division were Megatron’s most loyal, most fanatical soldiers. They were going to leave a trail of destruction in their wake—he only prayed they could minimize the fallout.

//I have optics on Tarn.// Bulkhead reported, //Atrium floor, near the brig entrance.//

Optimus stiffened at the confirmation that Tarn had entered the battlefield. He had not suspected the DJD leader would lead the strike-team himself, although perhaps he should have.

Megatron would have done so, after all.  

Prime stood quickly, stepping away from the command chair as he keyed up his battle protocols. The status check returned a series of low-level alerts, nothing significant, and he dismissed them as he initiated his transformation sequence.

//Be wary, Bulkhead.// Optimus warned, already accelerating from the bridge, //Tarn has an outlier ability that allows him to modulate the resonance of his voice.// He suppressed another grimace. He had seen the after-effects of Tarn’s particular brand of torture on more than one occasion. //He is a skilled and brutal opponent.//

//So am I.// Bulkhead rumbled darkly.

//Stand fast.// Prime ordered, shutting down nonessential systems in order to increase his speed, //I am moving to intercept.//

//Negative.// Arcee replied, //I have Sam. Tarn is in pursuit—third deck, section 4-D. I can’t shake him.//

At the same time, an all-points bulletin flashed across his visual display. The message was from Ultra Magnus, and it was coded as top priority. Prime did not hesitate—he opened the message, bracing himself for the inevitable.

[The DJD have breached the perimeter. The brig is overrun.]

Optimus knew a moment of spark-felt helplessness. It would only be a matter of time before Helex and Tesarus broke through the line of defense. The City Commander and Elite Guard were seasoned warriors, but they had neither the firepower nor the mass to hold off the DJD indefinitely. He knew that he was needed on the frontlines—his presence would determine the outcome of this battle, one way or the other.

He also knew it was a moot point. Tarn was closing in on the medical bay. Whether Sam or Ratchet was his objective, Prime could not speculate, but he knew one thing with absolute certainty:

Tarn would not have them both.

[f-identity]

I get that cartoons are allowed to be simplistic compared to the complicated nuances of real life, BUT.

if I start looking at TF:P too hard (which is what I’m doing for Amalgam Cybertronia), I will realize how much death and murder is contained in the Y7-rated kids’ show about giant robots that fight their war on Earth.

not necessarily human deaths, because that would’ve brought the age restriction higher up. But our dear heroes shooting at and ripping apart Vehicon/Eradicon goons? Apparently that’s okay for children to see, because the enemies are numerous, faceless, hostile, and not human.

And that’s without getting into portrayed deaths (vividly or not) of named characters like Cliffjumper, Megatron (disproved), Skyquake, Makeshift, etc - just in the first half of Season One.

Ohh nooo Starscream killed Cliffjumper, that is bad. He belongs to the Decepticons, so by association the Decepticons must be bad as well~~

Okay, murder is bad, yes sure. Not disputing that.

Next, Optimus had his reasons for getting his team to destroy the Decepticon spacebridge - and Megatron (supposedly) died in that explosion. The framing here is: Megatron could’ve ran away to save himself, but was obsessed with getting his huge army to Earth.

hurp dee durp, it’s his fault for not running away in the name of self preservation. the destruction is justified, this is his lesson for trying to bring an army of undead warriors to Earth~

anyway. Optimus and Bumblebee fighting Skyquake. Bumblebee proving himself a warrior by injuring Skyquake while the latter is in flight and later crash-lands. The camera shows Skyquake closing his eyes for the last time; the warrior was not even shown to be given a burial.

ohh nooo if the bad guy (who was stubbornly loyal to what the good guys see as a supreme villain) had joined the good guys, then he wouldn’t have needed to be killed off~~~ the good guys who killed him are apparently not wrong to have murdered him, though

Makeshift. Evil Decepticon (because he’s in the dark and you can’t even see his face) with the talent of disguising as any Cybertronian of similar size to him. Yeah okay, Starscream torturing the real Wheeljack is wrong. Any, uh, props to Soundwave for keeping Starscream from terminating the Wrecker?

Friendship jealousy plot line, identical bots battle it out. And when Shift!WJ is lobbed through the portal to the Nemesis, he turned out to have a live grenade on him which then explodes him to oblivion, and Starscream supposedly yells in frustration, and the scene was portrayed to be funny to the audience - because the bad guys did not manage to learn where the good guys live and destroy the good guys in their sleep, right?

which, if you’re the part of the audience that thinks too hard, maybe it’s not funny that there is one confirmed kill, maybe more Vehicon/Eradicon deaths or injuries

oh right, the audience was not supposed to pity the numerous faceless goons~~

---

I found a series of posts that I haven’t read in a long time, but the outlook still rings true today. Some of the readmores there are missing, but I can read-again the writings that are still available. (Not at my current hour of night, though.) I remembered them because I started looking too closely at portrayal of deaths in this particular kids’ cartoon.

The Nad of the past wanted to write stuff more overtly aligned to Decepticons and social justice, but did not have the knowledge or confidence to write a full story at a level and tone that I wanted.

AmCyb is not exactly that, but the AU more or less looks over the events of canon TF:P and goes “what were the original writers or producers thinking”

[elindae-writes]

Unburied Chapter 21, "The Doctor of Doom" Deleted Scene—Ratchet Infects the Energon Supply with Synth-En

I wrote this scene for Chapter 21 but scrapped it. This scene was meant to help set up the conflict for a totally different storyline that I changed my mind about and got rid of. We got the moon battle arc instead. I also felt that this scene made Ratchet a skoosh too villainy and made it too hard for him to come back and redeem himself later on. This scene is also the reason I needed to have Starscream end up with his own stash of hidden energon that only he refueled from.

I'm putting the scene here because I worked hard on it, was sad that it had to go, and just re-read it and thought, "well this isn't that bad and they might enjoy this scene" so here it is!!

Ratchet’s optics rapidly flickered back and forth between green and blue. He’d always thought of green as a strange color, the color of foreign worlds and foreign dangers.

But he could see truly now. No, the true danger came in the form of the one-winged menace that lurked their halls.

A traitorous little voice that sounded a bit too similar to Prime's whispered in the back of his helm. Haven't you ever noticed the scratches on his wing? The damage left by servos far crueller than his talons—

Ratchet subspaced a cube of synth-en and held it preciously and tightly within his servos. The answer to all of his problems was right here in this cube. All he had to do was unleash its power. He walked down the hall and saw it: the door to the energon supply. It was so ordinary and yet about to contain such extraordinary things.

His spark began to thrum faster in its chestplates. He’d been put on the sidelines for so long now, brushed aside and only paid attention to when useful only to just be sidelined again. He was always the bot who stayed behind while others went on adventures, he was always the bot left out of the rigorous battles and fun conversations, he was always left out of the personal jokes, and he was the bot whose opinion was disregarded.

He winced. That last one stung the most.

But he was also the bot who would change all of that.

The cube of synth-en bubbled and vibrated within his servos and he had to clutch it even more tightly to keep it close to him. As the synth-en within the cube began to shake his own frame began to shake as well.

“This is the right thing to do,” he harshly whispered to himself. But who was he trying to convince? Himself? Optimus? Primus?

Cliffjumper?

“P-perhaps tomorrow would be best,” Ratchet nodded to himself as he walked closer and closer to his destination. “Perhaps I should just turn around and leave this all be.” He’d seen mechs make rash decisions before and tear themselves apart. He was not going to allow himself to become one of those mechs.

His pedes continued to drive him forward. All he had to do was turn around and walk back to his lab, that was it—

The door drew closer and his plating began to shake—

Light pedesteps echoed through the hall.

Ratchet scowled and threw open the door. He shoved himself into the supply room and shut the door so that it was only a crack open. He stared out into the hall and scanned it. No, he was too far into this now and couldn’t allow his plan to be ruined.

Starscream stepped into view. He walked right past the room Ratchet was hidden within and lightly bounced down the hall.

Ratchet scowled at the Seeker as he strode past.

No. That bot right there was the reason he was going to do this. Ratchet shut the door with a final clang that echoed through the room.

He turned around and gazed down upon their energon supply and smiled.

The bright blue cubes were only enough to fuel them for a few days—but when Ratchet was done with them, the cubes would be powerful enough to fuel them all for weeks.

Ratchet walked up to a pile of normal cubes and gently opened up his cube of the synth-en. He gently tilted the synth-en over and watched as a single bright green droplet dripped down and into the bright blue energon below.

Drip.

Drip.

This was the right decision.

Drip.

Drip.

This was the righteous decision.

Drip.

Drip.

He shoved down the self-doubt—

Drip.

And looked upon his handiwork.

The blue cube shook with energy and began to bubble and vibrate as it began to shine green.

Maybe he couldn’t get away with this. There was no way the rest of the Autobots would drink this energon if they knew what he had done to it. The cube shone blue and green and then rapidly flashed black and forth between both colors, just as indecisive as him.

It shined green. No, no, that was too obvious, the Autobots would know something was wrong right away—

The cube then flashed blue. Had the synth-en absorbed properly? Had the power spread properly?

It flashed green again.

Then blue, then green, then blue—

“Decide already!” Ratchet shouted at the cube.

He cringed at the volume of his voice and looked back down at it.

It was blue.

He leaned down and squinted. When he looked very closely he saw a very faint green tint in the bubbles. Ratchet laughed. It was the only kind of thing you’d notice if you were looking and only if you actually knew what you were looking for.

The transfer was a success. He’d spread the power and truth of the synth-en to the rest of this cube and now that same power and truth could spread to the rest of the team. They would be grateful when they drank it and realized what he’d done to it. They would see, they would soon all see.

Ratchet leaned back and scowled. Starscream would possibly drink this energon too. No, that couldn’t be allowed to happen. There was no way Ratchet could let this kind of raw power fall into the talons of a mech who was infamous for abusing it. He’d have to prevent Starscream from refueling from the main supply... somehow. The Decepticon would need another source of energon to refuel from. Let the Seeker consume the weaker and inferior blue energon. He wouldn’t starve the Seeker, he wasn’t that cruel, Primus, no! But he would have to get creative if he wanted to ensure that Starscream wouldn’t be able to fight back against the justice that would come his way.

He looked back down at the infected cube. He’d still only fixed one of them. Now he just had to spread the power of the synth-en to all the others.

He grabbed the synth-en again and got to work.

.

.

.

Ratchet stumbled out of the energon supply room and squinted at the empty hall. His optics widened when he looked at the chronometer at the edge of his HUD. It was the dawn of a new day and a new beginning for the Autobots.

He looked down at the cube of synth-en still in his servos, the first one he'd infected. It looked like normal blue energon but Ratchet knew of the hidden power hidden deep within it.

Perhaps he should just chug down the cube within his grasp and ride the high of power all throughout the day.

Heavy pedestepes echoed through the hall and Optimus came into view. “There you are,” he said. “We could not find you in your lab.”

“Ah, yes, I was just… cataloguing the energon!”

Optimus frowned. “I thought you considered such 'menial' tasks to now be beneath you.”

“Oh, no! I was worried that Starscream had been stealing or hoarding some. But all is well! Helping us wield the might we should have been wielding from the moment the war began is never beneath me.”

Optimus frowned and nodded slowly. “I see.”

Ratchet hurriedly glanced down at the blue cube in his servos. He could chug down the cube himself, yes…

But there was now another bot here who needed its power and clarity more than he did.

“Drink! You’ll need the energy to finish the war.”

“Do not get your hopes up. The war will not end as soon as you now think it will,” Optimus sighed.

“Yes,” Ratchet said as his optics flashed a brighter hue of green than ever before. “It will.”

Optimus took a long look at Ratchet. He took the infected cube from Ratchet’s servos, Ratchet’s spark flared—

—and Optimus drank it all.

Ratchet watched with wide optics as the infected energon entered Optimus’s systems. This was right, this was perfect, this was everything he'd wanted and more. So then why did his spark seize up within his chestplates?

Optimus frowned. “Are you all right, old friend?” He leaned down towards Ratchet and reached a servo out to him—

His servo spasmed. Optimus moved his servo away from Ratchet and stared at it for several moments.

That was how it always began. First the tremors came, then the doubt, but then the came the clarity.

Ratchet smoothened his plating and forced down the doubt that threatened to rise up his throat and consume him again. No, he had spent this entire war doubting everything. Doubting whether Megatron would see the light, doubting whether they’d win, doubting whether they’d even have enough food to survive.

The time for doubt was over and the time for certainty had come.

And now Ratchet was certain that justice was near.

“Well, of course you’re shaking. You haven’t recharged in who knows how long. Don’t make me chain you to your berth!”

Optimus nodded slowly as he continued to stare at his slightly shaky servo. “I see. Perhaps you are right. You have been acting erratically as of late, but I am glad to see that you have returned to some of your old mannerisms. I trust you, old friend. ”

Ratchet flinched. I trust you, old friend.

I trust you.

If only Ratchet could bring himself to trust in his own plan. He waved to Optimus as the Prime walked off into the shadows of the base. Ratchet stood alone in the hall and clenched his servos into fists before he then spun around and walked through the halls. He had a goal and this time he wouldn’t allow Starscream to get in the way of things. A scowl crossed his faceplate as he walked right past the Seeker’s door.

He ascended a series of steps and pushed open the hatch that led to the roof. Ratchet poked his helm out and climbed out onto the rocky roof of the base as a cold wind blasted out of the sky. He looked up at the thousands of stars above and for some reason the sight of all those stars made his spark clench. The stars shined bright and it felt as if the wind screamed at him. Even when he tried to avoid the wretched Seeker he still infused his thoughts.

Ratchet sat down heavily on the ground beside Cliffjumper’s grave.

“I couldn’t save you. But I can still avenge you.”

The pile of rocks remained motionless and didn’t respond. He was used to having his patients be torn from him. Now the time had finally come to take revenge upon the one who had so cruelly torn so many of them from him in the first place. Soon everybody would understand his rage. Everybody.

Ratchet sat down and squinted up at the stars.

“Which one is Cybertron, Cliffjumper? I seem to have lost sight of our home.”

[comp-lady]

It’s Transformers Prime Time ep1

Is this a bandwagon to hop on? Cause I am hopping on it and am gonna liveblog my rewatch of tfp. Cause why not. *cracks knuckles* Let’s do this!

anyway we stan how pretty this fuckign show is

-wanders under a cut to save space-

I still can’t believe they for Dwayne The Rock Johnson to voice Cilffjumper even though he only lives for what? All of two episodes?

I do like the establishment that

Arcee and Cliffjumper are good friendos

Humans aren’t taken that seriously by them (pin it, we’re coming back)

That they haven’t seen Decepticons in a long ass while (also a pin)

Cool guys don’t look at explosions

IT’S THE BAE

WHO IMMEDIATELY STABS A MAN BOT TO DEATH WITH HIS WHOLE ASS HAND.

Y’KNOW

FOR THE KIDS :D

I have a hunch that I am eventually going to feel like the peeps at Roosterteeth during the very first 24 hours ExtraLife stream they did. Where with the increasing bonkers things they had to do for stretch goals and lack of sleep led to the point where FOR THE KIDS became less a cute call for donations and more a plea for strength. Every horrible moment in the show is just gonna be FOR THE KIDS.

ALSO ALSO I find it very interesting that Starscream and the Decepticons call Megatron “Lord” and “master” like... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaybe it’s just my USA centric human sensibilities. But that doens’t seem to mesh with your uuhhh. Main goals.

But what do I know.

HONESTLY THOUGH SO PRETTY. THE REFLECTIONS AND SUCH ON ARCEE. THE LANDSCAPES. I love, we stan, etc etc my screenshots to not do this any justice

The humans still look weird.

Also someone tell me why Jack would even think to put the bags of food on the window counter? Like... that is fast food window 101, customer doesn't get anywhere near their food until they have paid. It sits on a counter inside, away from the window.

Anyway Jack has.... a terribly boring design

Like..... meh

Okay but how awkward must it be for a cybertronian to be treated as an inanimate object? Honestly?? That must be fucking awkward af

Awww Arcee called Bumblebee family :3

Also Raf is adorable and I love him

I am already getting so many ideas for my own fic I should probably write while I watch

And now we meet Miko, my least favorite of the humans. If she would have had like....actual character development over the course of the series. Well then she probably would have been my fave. As such I stand by the opinion that her and Raf both have the best design of the kids. If I had to guess they wanted to make Jack the everyman character, so they gave him a boring design. But like... character design is important, especially for main characters. Miko and Raf have designs that convey aspects of who they are. Jack doesn’t. Raf, upon seeing the autobot base: cooooooool

me: it looks like the poor man’s batcave

Also I know it’s a kid’s show it’s going to be kids who get to hang out with the autobots, but also

WHY CHILDREN GET DRAGGED INTO ROBOT WAR?

Why do children get dragged into any war hahaha eeehhhhh

WAR SCENES, FEATURING THE DEAD THE DYING AND PEEPS WHO HAVE BEEN IMPALED. Y’KNOW. FOR THE KIDS.

Starscream: do we actually have to fetch megsy?

Soundwave: *nods*

Starscream: uGH fINe

Seriously though, for someone so duplicitous he really did not out up much of a fight in bringing Megatron back.

Wall eyed motherfucker

[primergon]

TFP X GAME OF THRONES AU

A/N : This AU have been stuck in my head for ages now ! I might be writing several fantasy ficlets off these , so I’m just going to post them here + The bots stay bots here ! Only they are not titan-sized, but nearly as big as us !! Don’t hesitate to correct me if you see any mistakes <3 

A SONG OF METAL AND FIRE

ONCE, Earth was ruled under one kingdom. Under the reign of House Prime, the Thirteen ruled benevolently. Yet, the age of peace and prosperity came to a bitter end when Megatronus forced his Starsaber upon Prima. Conflict tore the once powerful House apart, leaving the Iron Throne to the hands of House Megatronus, while the rest formed their own factions. Years have passed, and Megatron, son of Megatronus, has done nothing but wage war upon both Humans and Cybertronians. 

Just as the people of Earth were about to succumb to their wretched fate, word of a savior arise from the North. He is coming, they say, the last Prime is coming for the Iron Throne. He has formed his own allegiance, and is on his way to usurp the merciless monarch.

And so it begins : A Game of Thrones.

Decepticons

House Megatronus of Kaon

“PEACE THROUGH TYRANNY”

Megatron, Soundwave, Dreadwing, Shockwave, Starscream, Knockout, Breakdown

With Megatron as king, House Megatronus have ruled the Earth with an iron fist. In the heart of Kaon lay Drakmount Tower, guarded by Vehicons and swarming with Seekers, the castle was impenetrable. The capital city was overflowing with riches, popular for its thriving community. Yet, even the sun casts a shadow - and Kaon has its own dirty secrets. Up in the highest point, sat Megatron on his Iron Throne, waiting for the young prince to come and challenge him.

House Seeker of Vos

“ AS HIGH AS HONOR ”

Dreadwing, Skyquake , Starscream ( but he left to align himself formally with house Megatronus)

House Seeker have dutifully aligned themselves with the Decepticon cause, swearing legacy upon House Megatronus. Located in Vos, a city that lies deep within Decepticon territory, it is known for having the tallest towers and buildings anywhere on Earth, giant silver towers that end in needle points. In this stretch of Sahara, they will offer their valuable armada to the King, doubling the size of his military. Dreadwing and his brother, Skyquake, equally ruled the Southern territory. While the youngest brother, Starscream, has successfully tied himself to House Megatronus. In secret, the prince felt robbed of his throne, seeking to claim his own within Megatron’s ranks.

House Black of Altihex

“ TOGETHER WE HUNT”

Airachnid & her Insecticons

House Black is situated in the darkest forests of the South. Altihex borders west of Vos, dwelling where the sun cannot touch them. It is said that the path would become deepest brown and the moonlight would bleach the stones leading up to her nest. Only those overcome with madness would dare to venture into forest alone, and hope to make it out alive. It is told that Airachnid aligns herself with no one but her Insections. Yet, she was last seen offering House Megatronus allegiance.

House Predacon of Kalis

“ FIRE AND BLOOD ”

Predaking, Darksteel and Skylynx

House Predacon of Kalis is an exiled Great House of Earth and the former royal house of the Kingdom. House Predacon conquered and unified the realm before it was deposed during Prima’s reign, making them an ancient enemy of House Prime. No one has heard of them after their exile to the Sea of Rust , until recently, the two surviving royals, Darksteel and Skylynx , have announced the return of  Predaking. Gripped with vengeance, The Last Sons of Fire offer their loyalty to House Megatronus, swearing to kill the Last Prime and end his bloodline.

Autobots

House Prime of Iacon

Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Smokescreen ( once of House Magnus )

“ TIL ALL ARE ONE “

As an act of resistance, the once noble House have taken arms to fight against Megatron’s cruel and violent regime, spearheading the Autobot movement. Yet, unfortunately, they are still vastly outnumbered. The Autobots' capital city is located far in the North, where the days are short to make way for longer nights. Gripped by eternal Winter, House Prime have adapted to living in such harsh conditions, using the brutal cold as a shield against outsiders. This has largely decreased the numbers of Decepticon spies moving in and out of the city, and only the most competent enemies can infiltrate the town undetected.

Here, the Last of the Primes swore to reclaim his birthright, and they chant his name into the night ; symbol of hope, a symbol of unity. Optimus Prime is here to reclaim his throne.

House Magnus of Praxus

Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack, Bulkhead, Seaspray , Cliffjumper

“ BROTHERS IN ARMS  “

House Magnus is a force to be reckoned with. The legendary warriors built their stronghold East of Iacon, and in Praxus, the storms were violent and the tides are high. The laws of this city are fair and just, and those who dare to threaten its people are quickly found and brought to a swift justice. Bordering the sea of rust, these Praxian Soldiers have earned their fearsome reputation through their victory over the Battle for Tyger Pax. With Ultra Magnus acting as second in command to the Autobot cause, Megatron has every right to be concerned - for the commander and his team are coming his way.

THE RACE OF MEN

Following the fall of Prima and the Thirteen, the connection between Humans and Cybetronians was deeply wounded. For centuries, humans were ostracized by the children of Primus. They are deemed as the spawn of Unciron, harbringers of death, children of destruction. Promised to bring nothing but chaos, humans were exiled to the far west.

Here, they have split into two factions. 

House Darby of Winterfell

June,  Jack, Miko & Raf, Fowler

“ WINTER IS COMING “

June Darby knew they couldn’t run from this war the moment Ratchet showed up by the gates of their castle with an injured Optimus Prime. House Darby of Winterfell is known for their fierce loyalty. Their queen knew better than to turn them away, but at what cost ? This will be a declaration of war against House Megatronus, and she was not prepared to put her children on the line for a century-old war. Yet, it has been decided, the moment the wolf prince came to Prime’s aid during the Siege of Vector Sigma. In return, the Lord of House Bishop was sent to attack Winterfell under the warmonger’s orders, and the Darby children were separated ; Miko was heard to be last seen within the ranks of the Praxian Soldiers, while Raf was spotted wandering the borders of Iacon.

With her family scattered to the winds, Her Highness has no choice but to join forces with the Autobots. Tell them the North remembers. They say. Tell them winter is coming for House Megatronus.

House Bishop of Castlery Rock

“ HEAR US ROAR ”

Silas, Sierra, Vince and Amanda ( OC )

The Bishops rule over the Westerlands. Their seat is Casterly Rock, a massive rocky promontory overlooking the Sunset Sea. The Wardens of the West are akin to nobility, yet darkness plagued the halls of their castle. Having severed their alliance with House Darby, they aim to unite themselves with the Decepticons, by offering their eldest princess to the warlord himself. The Red Rose knew she was just as good as dead within the lion’s den, following the Decepticon’s obvious distaste for mankind. Not wanting to die in their metal claws, Amanda of House Bishop and her sister, Sierra, have planned an escape. However, they were separated in their journey, with only a promise to meet by the gates of Winterfell Castle.

In the middle of her perilous journey, Amanda was aided by the Knight of Praxus. With the promise of safely delivering her to House Darby, Ultra Magnus pledged himself to the princess. Together, they brace themselves for the oncoming war.

A/N : hehehe I hope you guys like this AU ! It took a while for me to piece this together, so enjoy ( peace sign ) <3