#Starscream will always be a beautiful woman to me

[oldeubagel]

Starscream and body dysphoria

[krussyarts]

Ahhh finally drew @aeodonii's Screamer, she's sooo fashionable

[ohdearlingwhathappened]

A Pair Made in The Pits

Falling Behind Pt. 3- TFP Megatron x Reader

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.5

A/n: Thank you all, once again for your patience and understanding on the time it took for this chapter's release. It was hard to find time to write between multiple ER visits and the passing of my dog, but I was finally able to finish it up! I hope you all enjoy, and I would love to hear your thoughts. WC: 7099

And thank you to @callsign-relic for allowing me to commission her beautiful work for my story's cover art! You always make amazing pieces!

Warnings: Torture, cursing, Starscream and Megatron being a dick, and deprecation. If I've missed anything, please let me know

Y/n wasn’t sure as to how one of the Autobots- probably Optimus- had returned her car to her driveway, but she wasn’t complaining. She did, however, inwardly groan over the fact she forgot to turn off her 6am alarm after all of yesterday’s excitement, especially after the awful sleep she had. Y/n’s mind kept her up all night, the voices of anxiety now practically screaming that something was wrong- that something wrong was done. And it wasn’t until she had finally gotten to sleep did it feel that seconds later her alarm was blaring in her ear. 

Getting up, against the wants of her body, Y/n slowly makes her way to her kitchen, debating whether or not she wants coffee or tea to start her morning. Looking in her fridge and seeing a lack of milk, the decision is easily made and she fills her kettle with water and begins preparing the steeper and getting the oolong out of the cabinet. However, before being able to take the first sip, the sound of the rumbling and then resounding hiss of a semi coming to a stop. Taking a look outside her living room window, there sits Optimus, waiting for Y/n to come outside, presumably to go back to the base.

“Shit.” Y/n groans, rubbing the bridge of her nose, wondering if the kids are also being ushered out of the house this early. 

Pouring her tea into a travel tumbler, Y/n scurries around her house to take a quick shower and get changed into a black blouse tucked into a midi, and finishing it off with a pair of booties. She applies some makeup and practically runs out the door, grabbing a random book on the way. 

“... Good morning, Optimus.” The passenger side door pops open and Y/n quickly climbs in and makes herself comfortable. The woman gives an airy laugh while fiddling with her hair, “I didn’t expect you so soon, I had to rush around to get ready.”

“Good morning, Y/n. I apologize- I did not mean to rush you, though it may be best to get back to the base sooner than later.” The cab hums with his response- even if Y/n hadn’t been inside, she was sure she would have felt the baritone vibrations nonetheless. 

The drive back was long and quiet, much like last night. Taking a sip of her tea, Y/n finally looks down at the book, and it takes all of her restraint not to spit it out onto his dashboard. What looks back up at Y/n is a sweaty, shirtless cowboy and the title ‘Ride into My Heart Like a Stallion’. A gag gift given to them by their friend half-way across the country, of which Y/n never intended to touch, let alone read. Y/n couldn’t help but truly consider the pros and cons on whether or not she could just chuck the book, but she knew it would drag up more questions if she just threw the book out the window, so she simply crossed her arms over it and hoped that no one would ask her about it throughout the day. 

“Y/n?”

Snapped out of her thoughts, Y/n looks over to the head unit of the dash, not entirely sure where to look before responding, “Sorry, it seems I was lost in my own thoughts.”

“I was asking if you needed to stop anywhere before heading back to base? We do not have much for humans at this moment.”

“Oh um, no, I’m alright. I have my tea and a book, and I’m sure the children will be able to keep themselves occupied as well. I’m not completely familiar with the boys, but Miko will most assuredly be fine; give that girl a pencil, paper, and something of interest, she’ll be kept busy for a while.” Y/n laughs to herself for a moment, though a worried expression passes over her face, “She’s a creative girl, but I worry about her being lonely. Her host parents aren’t used to her, and she doesn’t really have any friends at the school. I think, despite the rather strange circumstances, that perhaps being with you all may be good for her.”

“You seem to care for them well. Do you have sparklings of your own?’

“Sparkl- oh, Children? No no no. I don’t have any- um- sparklings. Closest thing I hope to get to that is Miko. I haven’t figured out my own grievances in this world, and it wouldn’t feel right to bring life into a world where your own quotemate may be a cruel joke.”

“A quotemate?”

Y/n takes a deep breath through her nose and casts her eyes to the ceiling of Optimus’ cab, trying to come up with a succinct explanation to the complex system that not even humanity has completely figured out, “Well, a quotemate is someone you are connected to. In the simplest of terms, your quotemate is the person who is supposed to protect, love, and stand beside you. And the way you find them is a quote that appears on one of your wrists- hence, ‘quotemate’. There’s a few more details, but that’s the gist of it.”

“We had a similar- but not very common- phenomenon on Cybertron, however, we call our fated ones ‘sparkmates’.”

“It’s a much prettier word than our species’. Why sparkmates?”

“Your kind call them hearts; we call it a Spark. It contains our life force and our memories. And in the case of the ones in which we are destined, they are our other half and thus hold the other half of our spark. Those of our kind who have a sparkmate were encouraged and expected to cherish and hold them dear.” Optimus’ cab is silent for a moment for a moment, “Though, after the start of the war, people began dreading hearing the words engraved on their frame, fearing their other half would be on the other side of the battlefield.”

“...Do you have a sparkmate, Optimus?” Another hum runs through the cab, before turning into the slightest chuckle.

“I do. He’s not the easiest mech to get along with, but I would never have made it as long as I have without him.” The bot’s facial feature may not be present, but Y/n can easily imagine the fond, endearing smile that would have otherwise found itself on the large mech’s lips. “I will be forever grateful for Ratchet’s undying support.”

“Ratchet?!” Once the statement sets in, Y/n’s head whips from the ceiling of the cab to the center dashboard at the revelation.

“You sound surprised.”

“Well, I haven’t spent much time around Ratchet, but he’s not the most- how do I put this- welcoming?”

“I will admit Ratchet is wary about the involvement of you and the children, but he will not cause you harm.”

“OH! Oh no- I- I didn’t mean to- to imply that he- I know Ratchet wouldn’t hurt the children! He just visibly doesn’t seem to like us.” Waving her hands in denial, Y/n scrambles to fix the miswording of her statement, but it doesn’t seem Optimus was too worried about the misunderstanding.

“Give Ratchet time, he will adjust. I have no doubt you both will get along with time.”

“You’re right- after all, we all will be spending much more time with each other. I look forward to getting to know all of you.” She smiles, glad to know Optimus, and likely the rest of them will take good care of the kids and herself. Maybe she would be able to pick Ratchet’s mind at some point for information about the anatomy or history of the Cybertron people.

*       *       *       *       *       *

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” This is not what the young woman had hoped would be, quite literally, crawling around the base, but she couldn’t peel her eyes away from the thing that Ratchet had just squashed, “I hope to hell and back that is not what you people consider some kind of bug!”

“No, Y/n. I’m afraid this may be the effects of dark energon.” Though Optimus’ voice is normally quite dark, Y/n could easily pick up on the deep worry that whatever this ‘dark energon’ brings, means nothing good will come of its arrival in the base. “ Seeing as it has some of the residue Arcee found on Cliffjumper, it would stand to reason that it was what brought both your equipment to life and Cliffjumper back from the dead.”

“It would answer the question as to why Cliffjumper’s life signal came back online, but dark energon, Optimus? It’s such a scarce material- it’s virtually nonexistent. Why would it be on this rubbish planet?”

“May I interject?” Both bots turn their attention to the woman they had evidently forgotten was there- one much more open to the interruption than the other. “Um- may I ask what energon is? I thought you said your people’s Allspark was made of it, so why would it attack Ratchet? ”

At the question, Ratchet scoffs and begins running diagnostics on the squished piece of equipment that previously housed some of this energon stuff. His blatant display of annoyance was no less irritating than it was yesterday, but not only did Y/n not want to start some sort of argument with Optimus’ sparkmate, it also wouldn’t get them anywhere, so she would refrain from mouthing off to the condescending mech. At some point, she was going to have to have a one on one conversation with Ratchet about speech behavior and ways to go about explaining things without making the rest of the room feel as if they’re a massive inconvenience, but now was not the time- no matter how tempting it was to tell him to shove his opinions up his tailpipe. 

“Energon is the lifesource of our people. Dark energon is something that can give life-” Optimus gestures towards the mangled metal, “- but the cost is great. Not much is known about it, as Ratchet stated- dark energon is a rare commodity, but it is not something to underestimate, hence why I believe Megatron is the reason why it has found its way to this planet’s surface.”

Both Y/n and Ratchet look at Optimus, almost in synch, “But why?”

“To conquer this planet by raising an army of the undead.”

“Where would he find that many Cybertronian dead, Optimus? It’s not like Megatron is going to just stumble on a burial ground on this planet.” At least the sass Ratchet displays isn’t always just directed at any human- his leader isn’t even exempt from the proverbial lashings of the team’s medic, though Y/n supposes that may have something to do with them being connected.

Before Optimus could answer, his thoughts are interrupted by the sounds of the rest of the Autobots’ alt-modes. Upon stopping, each kid hops out of their respective guardian, having obviously come from some kind of fun. Looking at her phone, Y/n realizes that it's still a little early in the day, so she is a tad surprised they woke up this early on a Saturday, but she’s glad to see all of them having fun and maybe even bonding with their new companions. Seeing Bulkhead awkwardly handing Miko her electric guitar, she already has a feeling the girl will be putting on at least one show while they are at the base, knowing the acoustics are much too tempting for the girl to not play at least one song. 

“Autobots, remain here. Ratchet and I will be outside of communications range for some time, so I’m putting you in charge.” Optimus give his orders 

“Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing, babysitting is another.” The sight of Jack scoffing and rolling his eyes at her wording is easy to see- any kid his age wouldn’t like the idea of being babysat, even if it was by an alien robot. The femme crosses her arms before gesturing towards the medic, “Besides, Ratchet hasn’t been in the field since the war.”

“My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!” Ratchet’s call from his computer forces a laugh barely covered by a cough from Y/n, which she quickly mouths a ‘sorry’ when he shoots her a look. 

“For the moment, it is only reconnaissance.” Optimus tries to assure the smaller bot, but both Arcee and Y/n could smell the bullshit from a mile away.

“Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?” 

At her continued questioning, Optimus pauses and furrows his brows, “Arcee, much has changed in the past 24 hours. We must all learn to adapt.” Before she could get another word out, he turns to Ratchet, “Ratchet, bridge us out.”

And with just a few steps, they were gone.

“Okay chief, so, uh, what’s on the activity list?” Jack looks up to his mechanical guardian only to be met with a scowl.

“If I’m not mistaken, Jack, you should have some schoolwork to do. Why don’t we give them a break from whatever activities they treated you to this morning?” Y/n smiles at the kids, trying to give the Autobots a needed time off from their newly appointed roles as guardians. “Miko, you can practice some of your guitar and then start on some of your work, and Raf, I’m not sure of your schoolwork load, but I suggest you start on any work you may have.”

“Yes ma’am.” All three kids say, some more begrudgingly than others, all while setting up for whatever they are to get done.

“Good, I’m going on Patrol. Bee, you’re with me.” Arcee makes her way to the tunnel, ready to go out.

“But Optimus told us to stay here.” Bulkhead brought up the leader’s orders before almost immediately being shot down. 

“When Optimus puts you in charge, you can call the shots.” With that, both Arcee and Bee transform and are down in the tunnel in seconds, leaving the kids, Y/n, and Bulkhead left.

“So, uh, what’s on the activities list?” Bulk turns, seeing Miko plugging in her guitar to the amp, the feedback forcing everyone to cover their ears.

“Band practice, anyone?” After a moment of silence, she turns to the younger boy, “Come on, Raf. You play anything?”

“Um… Keyboard?”

“Laptop and samples-”

Y/n smiles and shakes her head, glad to see the kids are getting along before opening her book and tea thermos, taking a seat near Ratchet’s computer stand so as to not get in the kids’ way. She never planned on reading this kookie book her friend sent her, but it was either the book or be subjected to joining Miko’s makeshift band after an already hectic week.

“Y/n, are you joining?”

“Nah, I’m good with just listening, Miko. You know I prefer listening to you play.” Shooting the girl a smile and thumbs up, she returns to the downright awful writing of this cowboy love story. Y/n has to go to the bookstore at some point to send an equally bad book. Maybe a silly alien romance book- forbidden love. They’ll be rolling on the floor at the concept. 

As the woman chuckles to herself, the familiar green lights from yesterday start blaring, letting them know Agent Fowler had returned. Bulkhead rushed the kids to hide behind his pedes and Y/n didn’t want to risk being seen running over, so she kept her spot under Ratchet’s computer and motioned to the kids to stay quiet just as the elevator door opened.

“Prime? Prime!” Y/n couldn’t see the man, but she could tell that he must still be on the platform, since she could no longer hear his footsteps. Just like yesterday, he did not sound happy.

“Agent Fowler, uh, he’s not here. Nobody’s here! … except me, of course.” The green bot chuckles awkwardly, and Y/n silently groans- this mech is going to get them all caught if his nerves take over. 

“Well, where is he? Wait, let me guess-” as Fowler rants and raves he must have started to move because Bulkhead begins taking steps to keep the kids out of sight. However, his movements and the cable to Miko’s guitar don’t seem to be mixing well, from the way Y/n sees Miko nearly fall, only for the boys to catch her. But the slight fall was enough for the guitar to send sound through the amp, she just hopes that it wasn’t enough to break the man from his tirade.

“Since when are you bots electric?” Fowler questions and Y/n is pleading for whatever deity that may be listening to grant Bulkhead the ability to come up with some kind of lie, but the kids beat him to it.

“Hi. We’re… interns! Earning extra credit in auto shop.” Jack awkwardly smiles, hoping his lie is bought.

“Alright. Let’s move. I’m taking all three of you into federal custody.” Hearing his footfalls on the metal stairs, Y/n makes her way over, picking up a piece of the squashed robot from earlier that Ratchet must have missed. 

“Over my dead body.” She holds up the metal piece like a makeshift bat, more than ready to take a swing.

“Woah there. By the stripes of Uncle Sam’s shorts, ma’am, put the weapon down. I’m just going to take you and these kids to-” Taking a step back, Agent Fowler puts his hands up to show he didn’t mean any harm, only to be cut off by the woman again.

“Nowhere. You are taking these kids nowhere. Optimus has promised protection for these kids and like hell will I allow some random ass man, trusted government agent or not, to touch a hair on these kids’ heads, let alone take them anywhere.” Y/n takes a look behind her, and in seeing the kids looking between Y/n and Fowler apprehensively, she drops the metal to her side, not letting go in case something goes awry, “… I will go with you, if it will get you to leave.”

“What?!” Miko shrieks, coming to hold onto the sleeve of Y/n’s blouse, making her briefly glance back before bringing her attention back to Agent Fowler, ”You can’t go with him! He-”

“Bulkhead, get Miko.”

“Uh I don’t-”

“Get her now, Bulkhead. She is your ward, act like it.” She shoots the metal giant a glare, watching as he finally picks the girl up, not that she went peacefully.

“No! Put me down, Bulk!” Miko thrashes in his hold as Y/n walks towards Fowler.

“Let’s go have a conversation with whomever your boss is, shall we? I’m sure I can convince them that leaving these children in Optimus’ care is the best course of action.” She grins at the man as she passes him on the way to the elevator, a grin that holds a level of malice that makes Fowler nearly let the woman just stay instead of getting in the confined space of his helicopter.

But only nearly.

“And I know that my superiors will have all of you in custody.” He grabs her elbow and finishes leading her up the steps and into the elevator. Both adults could hear Miko screeching in Bulk’s grasp, threats and complaints that turned to pleading the closer Y/n got to that elevator. Y/n didn’t say anything. She didn’t look back. But with every step she took, her heart squeezed with each scream from the girl. It isn’t until they get onto the elevator and the doors close that the tension from her shoulders ease and the breath escapes her. 

“Is that so? I’d say if your superiors are as weak-willed as you, I’ll be back before it’s time for the kids to be back home.” She doesn’t bother looking over at the man, not even as he mumbles something about respect and ‘women and alien robots being the problem with his blood pressure’. 

Before long, the elevator comes to a creaky stop and the doors open to reveal the orange hue of the rock the base is hidden under and a view that, under different circumstances, would be quite gorgeous, especially with the breeze taking away from the baking early fall sun. A few feet away lies the helicopter Agent Fowler presumably arrived in earlier. The reality of the past ten minutes was setting in with each step they took towards the vehicle and while Y/n absolutely would have stood up for those kids again in a heartbeat, maybe she wouldn’t have given herself as collateral quite as quickly. 

“Get comfortable, it’s gonna be a long 5 hour flight.” Tired of his hold on her arm, Y/n pulls herself away before scrambling up into the body of the helicopter, grimacing at her lack of grace. 

“I don’t suppose you’ll be providing in-flight snacks. After all, you seem to have such star spangled hosting skills.” She adjusts herself in the passenger seat, and never in her wildest days would she ever thought she would hope and pray for a vehicle to turn into a giant robot and prevent her from being sent to a government facility, but here she sits- hoping for just that.

“Are you going to be pushing my buttons this entire flight, or will I have an ounce of peace on the way to the Pentagon?” Fowler pulls himself up, lacking his own grace and nearly falling face first into his seat, forcing a snort to come from Y/n.

“Well, you’re more than welcome to send me back to the base.” The suggestion brings out a laugh of Fowler’s own, no other answer needed nor given. Starting up the chopper, he glances over to ensure the straps were done properly before handing a set of headphones to Y/n, before the sound of the blades becomes too loud.

Finally, the vehicle lifts off the ground and the flight to Washington D.C. begins, making Y/n wonder if she could properly time being over one of the larger ‘islands’ of sandstone littering the Nevada desert to jump out of the copter, but deigns it too risky to attempt. While she’s turning over possible solutions in her head, Fowler rings his boss, “Sir, Agent Fowler. We have a situation. I’m en route from the autobot base. I’ll brief you in person.”

Choosing to save her breath, Y/n continues looking out the window of her side of the vehicle, noting the sun ebbing its way closer to being at its highest point. That was one thing she hated about this area, while she found the landscape to be gorgeous, it quickly became boring seeing the exact same hues of orange, yellow, brown, and the occasional reds. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes after Fowler informed his boss of his location that the sonar built into the dashboard started beeping with an icon flashing on the screen, getting closer to the center of the sonar’s radius. 

“I am begging you to tell me that is either a big bird or a friend.”

“What in Uncle Sam’s beard-” Looking up from the dashboard, Y/n sees some kind of drone flying right at them and lets out a shout, pushing the steering gear to the side with her foot before the thing coming their way. Luckily, Fowler snaps out of his shock quickly enough to grab the steering before the both of you could go crashing into the canyon side. 

“Watch it!” 

“You watch the fucking drone!” And as if her luck wasn't bad enough, in the next moment, the helicopter jostles, claws of whatever had attacked them now sinking into the roof of the helicopter's cab. Moving in her seat, Y/n looks up to the ceiling and shrieks upon seeing the sharp talons that easily make up the length of her face stuck in the metal above her, forcing the agent to cover his ears. 

With a harsh yank from above, the copter jerks in response and the last thing Y/n remembers is the feeling of the cold, hard glass making a sharp impact with the back of her head, before everything went dark.

*       *       *       *       *       *

The feeling of weightlessness while simultaneously feeling as if something is pulling you down by your ankles is something Y/n can confidently say she's never felt before. That sensation accompanied by the frigid air around her and the pain of having her arms being held twisted uncomfortably in the air made her transition back to consciousness that much more unpleasant. Tension and pain racks her body every step closer she gets to being awake, drawing out a strained hiss from the woman.

“Ooh? Look who's finally decided to join the party.” A scratchy voice drawls from a few feet to her left. Opening her eyes, Y/n is met with two bright, red eyes made all the more piercing with the bot's white dots that must act as pupils. Despite the strain on her throat and body, she lets out an ear-shattering scream and kicks the new mech.

“Ach! Why you little-”

“Where am I?! Who the fuck are you?! Let me down!” Paying little mind to the irritated figure before her, she struggles in her chains, squirming and shaking.

“Awwww the little human wants to be let go?” A sharp talon pricks Y/n's chin and lifts it to bring her eyes back to his, the grin on his face a celebration of his premature victory.

“Yes! Please!”

“How polite. Such a rarity in humans.” He chuckles to himself, obviously thinking his little stab to be funny. “All you have to tell me, dear, is where the Autobot base is. Can you do that for me?”

“Don't tell him anything!” Finally, Fowler speaks up from Y/n's left, shocking her into whipping her head to face him, not having even noticed his presence prior to him yelling.

A silence fills the cold, dark room and Y/n looks back to the mech before her, a desperate look in her eyes, “I'm sorry, what's an autobot?”

The mech wrenches back, his grin twisting into an infuriated scowl. Standing to his full height, he wraps the chains that hold her around his hand and pulls them up and towards him, further twisting her arms until a sickening pop echoes in the room, forcing a scream to rip from her throat. Any kindness, faux or no, had vanished as the bot before her snarls, “What do you mean, you don’t know?!”

Y/n’s breathing is shallow and panicked, the burning sensation surging down her arm and through her shoulder causing her to squeeze shut her eyes. Luckily, it was only her right arm, but there was no time to appreciate that. After a moment, she opens her eyes to see the now-blurry mech leaned down in front of her through the tears building and streaming down her face, she hiccups, “I’m sorry! I don’t know what you’re talking about, I swear!”

“Fine. If you’re going to play like this, I have no choice but to escalate matters.” He brings himself back up to his full height and turns to another bot who presumably is standing guard at the door. “Bring the prod.”

Prod?! If struggling in her chains wouldn’t exasperate her dislocated shoulder, Y/n would be moving every which way in order to find some way to get out of this nightmarish shitshow.

“Please, sir. I don’t know anything about any Auto people! I was picked up by this man after getting lost in the desert.” Tears beginning to subside, Y/n glances at Fowler and then back to Starscream, “I’m sure you’re a reasonable… robot-”

“I am not one of your feeble human machines, I am Starscream! Current second-in-command and future leader of the Decepticons!” The door opens, letting more cold, stale air into the room, and the bot from earlier reenters the room, holding what can only be described as some futuristic bident. Starscream snatches the device from the other Decepticon, “Finally, what took you so long?!”

“I’ll be nice and give you one more opportunity, humans- where is the Autobot base?” Switching his tactics to address Fowler, he leans down to the man and holds the prod up to his chin.

“Sure thing,buddy, right after you eat my star-spangled shorts.” Fowler laughs but is quickly cut short as Starscream activates his prod, a pink electrical current running between the two prongs. Upon pressing it to Agent Fowler’s ribs, the man screams in pain, clutching his own chains in an attempt to ground himself.

“No!”

“As I imagined, energon and human nervous systems don’t mix.” As he keeps the energon-infused prod pressed to Fowler’s skin, his grin only grows. With each press of the instrument, the clothes begin to sear away, allowing the energon access to his bare skin, no doubt doing further damage, if the smell of burning skin is anything to go by.

“Starscream, leave him alone! Please!” Voices in her head plead with her to keep her mouth shut, to no avail. The man is suffering, and while Y/n wasn’t exactly Fowler’s biggest fan for taking her away from the Autobot base, she didn’t want to see the poor man suffer.

And he stops, but only for a moment. The humming of the torture device and the heavy gulps of air Fowler sucks into his lungs at the brief interlude fill the otherwise silent room. Starscream’s eyes flick back and forth, not really focusing on anything. After another moment, he gives a thoughtful hum of his own, “Perhaps you’re right. I may have been going about this all along.”

“Yes! I’m glad you-”

“If what you say is true, that means you’re an innocent human. And what a shame it would be if a, what do you humans call them- “protector of the people” was to allow a civilian to face such methods of… interrogation.” And without another moment’s pause, knives felt as if they were entering Y/n’s bloodstream from where Starscream jabs her, ripping yet another agonizing scream from her throat. 

“Stop it, con! She has nothing to do with any of this.” Fowler barks, jostling his chain to attempt to wriggle out of his constraints.

“Precisely. The faster you tell me where the Autobots are hiding, the sooner I stop hurting our friend here.” Driving the point home he jams the prod back into Y/n’s ribcage, releasing another scream from the woman. Similar to when Fowler was receiving the same “Decepticon hospitality” Y/n’s clothes began to singe away. Fighting the desire to keep her eyes closed, she struggles to look at Fowler and give him the briefest of shaking her head, before letting it hang down, the weight of her own head too much to keep up.

I am not doing this just for you to give it away, Fowler. Don’t fuck this up.

She knew she couldn’t say anything that may give her away, so the hope is that her fellow prisoner could understand to keep his mouth shut, even if she is to suffer for it. The next jolt was to her right arm, as if that arm hadn’t already been pulled from its socket, just at the crook of her elbow. To drive home the fact that he didn’t plan on letting up, Starscream dug the prod in harder against her skin, drawing blood to the surface. He finally retracts the weapon and holds Y/n’s head up with a dagger-like finger on each cheek, turning her to fully face Fowler, not that she could see him very clearly, “Come now, Agent Fowler. I don’t think our friend has much more in her. Haven’t you realized the Autobots have abandoned you? I am the only one you can rely upon now. So, tell me what I want to know, or we’ll see how many more she can take.”

“Please… no more. I’ll tell you,” Fowler breaks eye contact with Y/n, ashamed to give up after she’s done so much to keep quiet. He couldn’t keep sitting back, letting her take the brunt of Starscream’s sadism anymore. It takes so much strength for him to muster the words, “They’re in… secret government base.”

“Fowler… no.”

“Go on.”

Shots being fired were audible from beyond the door across the room. And unless Decepticons practiced their aim in the empty hallways Y/n briefly saw, that means the opposition was aboard. 

That means the Autobots had come to save them. 

“You were saying?” Having also heard the commotion outside, Starscream becomes more antsy, and it shows.

“In the old steel mill… or was it under that carnival funhouse?”

Finally fed up with the disrespect and sass, Starscream frustratedly yells and stabs the prod back into Y/n, the intensity of the voltage much higher than it had been earlier. The shots were louder now, being heard even over Y/n’s screeches. If Fowler wasn’t halfway into unconsciousness, he would have tried to distract the mech as much as he could, but he couldn’t think past staying awake and alive. 

“I’ve had enough of this.” Starscream begins unraveling Y/n from her chains, not trusting the others to keep the Autobots at bay, let alone defeating them. He may not leave this moment the victor, but like hell is he going to lose both hostages. Y/n doesn’t have the strength to fight back after all that had been done, barely even registering that not only is she free from her chains, but she’s also haphazardly being shoved into a cockpit and losing consciousness for the second time that day.

The door to the room opens a moment later, a silent Vehicon just stands in the entryway.

“Well?” He asks, patience draining with every passing second, quickly turning to shock when the Vehicon’s frame drops and both Bulkhead and Bumblebee are poised for blasting whatever stands in the room, immediately shooting the other Vehicon with Starscream. Aiming his arm towards Fowler, Starscream glowers at the interrupting bots, “Not so fast-”

“I wouldn’t.” Arcee taps him from above, having snuck her way in through the ventilation shaft. 

“Oh, but I might.” 

“Where’s Y/n?” Bulkhead keeps his blaster aimed towards Starscream, but with a brief glance around it’s easy to see there is no other organic life, other than Fowler- only chains that now hang empty.

“The other human? She said she didn’t know you, so we… parted ways.”

“NO!” Bulkhead shouts and immediately begins shooting, prompting the other to take fire as well. Starscream can only jump from side to side in order to avoid their gunfire. 

“Apologies, Autobots, but I’m sure you can find her body down below somewhere.” He cackles as he transforms into his alt-mode, and races out of the room, knocking Arcee from the vent and Bulk and Bee into the ground. 

* * * * * *

Y/n wakes up in another dark space- only this time it’s much smaller and warmer; there’s a sway to the room, if you can call it that, but she isn’t sure if the sway is from the nausea overcoming her or if wherever she is is actually moving. The last thing she remembers is a final shock to her body before passing out. Eyes adjusting to the light, it’s easy to determine the surrounding space is the inside of some kind of jet, but instead of the cockpit being parallel to the ground, it’s upturned, like the aircraft would be facing the sky. She was in a Cybertronian- likely Starscream, if the color scheme is anything to go by.

Pressing her hands to the ground, Y/n is quickly reminded of the fact that Starscream had ripped her right arm out of its socket. Looking down, she notices her clothes are burnt and ripped beyond repair- her blouse now adorned with asymmetrical, distressed sleeves that barely go past her elbows and the skirt being a shredded mess, likely from rough handling of Starscream’s razor sharp talons; Taking her foot and stepping on the pathetic scraps of fabric of her skirt, Y/n uses her functional hand and rips a handful of the fabric strips away. Y/n balls the cloths up and puts it in between her teeth as a makeshift mouth guard. The limb now felt numb, but she knows that popping it back in is going to burn; her left hand grasps the right arm’s bicep.

Deep breaths. Deep Breaths, Y/n.

And with an upwards jerk, she feels a brief click in her shoulder, but the limb doesn’t doesn’t stay in place, forcing a deep inhale through her gag.

Relax. You’re not going to be able to reset it if you don’t fucking relax. You just survive until Optimus gets you.

After another few deep breaths, Y/n tries it again and feels a more solid click as she screams, muffled by the burnt fabric in her mouth; letting go, her arm stays in place, though a reignited burn returns to the site of the wound. With her arm taken care of, getting out of this wretched place is next on the to do list. Banging a hand on the glass enclosing her in this dreadful mech’s cockpit, the needles in her throat become even more pronounced as she groans, ”Let me out.”

Nothing changes. His steps are still steady.

“Let me out!”

Again, nothing.

“STAR-”

“STARSCREAM, YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL! I ORDERED YOU TO AWAIT MY COMMAND!”

Upon hearing such a loud fury, Y/n immediately seeks out the most stable part of Starscream’s cockpit and hunkers down. If she has learned anything, it’s that these Decepticons generally deal with disputes through violence, and she doesn’t believe that stops within their own ranks.

“Please, Lord Megatron, I meant no- AGH!” and just like that, Starscream, and Y/n transitively, fly across the room at Megatron’s hand. And though Y/n can’t see him, it did not sound like it took much physical exertion for him to do so. 

“Instead, your mindless agenda resulted in the disabling of my ship and the delay of MY PLANS!” Megatron raises his hand again, more than ready to strike Starscream again.

“My intentions were pure, master. I only wanted you to be rid of Optimus.” Y/n’s world tilts as Megatron brings his foot against Starscream’s head, smashing it into the ground and allowing sparks to fly; she grunts at being thrown from her “safe space” and rolls onto the glass under her that begins cracking under the pressure of Megatron’s foot. She hates crying, but after the third time death threatens to barrel down your door, the stress begins to cap off, and so the weeping begins.

“NO ONE RIDS ME OF OPTIMUS PRIME BUT ME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? DO-” The sound of Y/n’s wailing, though faint to Megatron’s audials, catches his attention. Lifting Starscream above himself by his throat and turning him enough to get a glimpse into his cockpit, making perfect eye contact with Y/n. Slowly turning Starscream back to face him, Megatron tightens his grasp around his throat and hisses, “Starscream… explain yourself.”

“My lord, She is a friend of the Autobots! I took her as a hostage so we can extract information!” His voice comes out staticy, a sign Megatron may be doing more damage than he should as he continues constricting his grip. 

“You are as stupid as you are a disgrace to the Decepticons. Bring the human out.” Megatron growls his command and releases his throat, sending his second-in-command scrambling to retrieve Y/n, who in turn dodges each grab at her body, thanking the fates for making his cockpit on his back while bi-pedal.

“Stop moving, you-”

“Keep the fuck away from me! I already told you, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, you walking scrapyard, and me speaking to your troglodyte of a boss isn’t going to change that!” Unfortunately, there’s only so many places for Y/n to run to, and her Yakety sax impression comes to a close when he manages to snag a part of her skirt. Bringing her out on the palm of his hand whilst using his thumb to press her to lie flat on her stomach, he presents her to his master while scowling down at her.

“Why you insolent little-”

“You are wasting my time, Starscream! Is she telling the truth- have you really learned nothing from your own hostage?! Not only have you wasted our resources with your stunt, but you have given the Autobots a reason to storm this ship!”

“No, my liege! They won’t come here to find her- they believe her to be dead.” Starscream allows a shaky smile to creep its way onto his lips, hoping to at least somewhat appease the brute in front of him. Processing what he’s just said, Y/n stops trying to move her way from under the mech’s thumb.

They think I’m dead.

“And what does that leave us with? A soft, useless human who can’t even escape the confines of your servos, let alone provide any kind of productivity for our cause.

No one is coming to save me.

The image of Megatron’s face moving to be right in front of her entire body snaps Y/n out of her spiraling thoughts of lost hope, the heat and humidity coming from his mouth breezes against her, forcing goosebumps to crawl along her arms. The mechanical giant looks her person up and down, then scoffs,

“Worthless scrap.”

The woman bristles as he begins to make his way towards one of the room’s doors. Having noticed Starscream loosening his hold on her back, Y/n stands and snarls at the back of Megatron, “I’m sure you know all about being worthless, wouldn’t you.”

His heavy foot slams to the floor midstep, once relaxed stature stiffened as he slowly turns back towards Y/n and Starscream, in which the latter panickedly looks between the girl in his hand and the mech who has killed other Cybertronians for less. Megatron turns his attention to another mech Y/n had not previously noticed who is practically hidden in the lack of light on this ship- of whom looks back to Megatron. The two stare at one another, as if speaking with each other telepathically.

“Starscream, take that… thing to Knockout for examination.”

Taglist: @the-unhinged-raccoon @hystericalanarchy @mythicallystupid @darkfangx399 @nixblizzard16 @crowleysthings @delectableworm

Let me know if you would like to be added to the list!

[elfmoon3]

A Shadowy Mist Chapter 31 (Transformers Animated story)

Pairings: Prowl x Oc, Bumblebee x Oc, Optimus Prime x Black Arachnia

Summary: Shadow Mist and Meagan wanted to take the former con Black Arachnia to the oddity shop. Optimus Prime calls Sentinel Prime about Black Arachnia's issue.

Location: the Autobot Hideout

It's been weeks since Black Arachnia quit the decepticons and went with LockDown and BrakeDown. However, the poor technorganic is showing signs of depression which makes Shadow Mist worry. She noticed that she was staring at Optimus Prime talking to Sentinel Prime on the terminal. "So she just quit?" The Elite Guard member asked. "Wow! She's even tougher than Starscream." Jazz said in the background. "Yeah, but if she's joining the Bounty Hunter LockDown, she's still dangerous, Optimus." Sentinel said, "I understand that Sentinel, but I somehow doubt she'll inject us with cyber venom." He said, Sentinel thought about it. Since he knows Black Arachnia as much as Optimus does, he should at least go down to earth and talk to her. "Is she , ya know, willing to talk?" He asked, "So far, she kept her distance." Optimus said, "But, let's give her some time." He suggested. Shadow Mist sighed, "Still not willing to talk to him?" She asked the spider bot. "What do you want?" Black Arachnia asked. "Meagan and I thought you should come with us to the oddity shop." Shadow Mist said, "I would take PixelSpark, but she's creeped out about the place." She added as Meagan walked up to them. "Mr. Poe is a bizarre but very nice man. There's nothing too weird or strange that bothers him." Meagan said, the spider bot sighed, "I guess, but why are you two asking me to go?" She asked, "Thought we could cheer you up by taking you shopping." Meagan said, Black Arachnia looked at the half blood vampire and got up. "We already asked Optimus the other night about it. He's ok with it as long as you stay in your robot mode. He doesn't want you to scare people by accident." Meagan added. "Alright, I'll go." The spider bot said as she walked out the door with Shadow Mist and Meagan. Optimus sighed as he saw them leave.

Later at The Ravens oddity shop

Mr. Poe was sweeping outside his warehouse size shop and saw Meagan, Shadow Mist, and Black Arachnia. "Ah, Ms. Walker and Shadow Mist, welcome back." He said, "May I ask who your friend is?" He politely asks. "This is Black Arachnia. A former decepticon." Meagan said, "Former? Was she fired?" He asked. Meagan explained the situation to the old man. "I'm sorry to hear that, my dear." He said as Mrs. Hudson came out. "Oh, hello, dears." She said, "Hi Mrs. Hudson. What brings you here?" Shadow Mist asked the elderly woman. "I'm selling some old Japanese items to Mr. Poe." She said. She then asked about Black Arachnia with curiosity, and Meagan explained the situation. She even told the two elders about the former con's origin. "Oh, so she can turn into a spider? That's fascinating." Mr. Poe said, Mrs. Hudson bravely walked up to Arachnia. "You poor dear, I get why you would feel that way." She said kindly. "I just don't like being a technorganic." Black Arachnia said sadly as she removed her helmet. "Oh, but dear, you don't look ugly. Actually, you remind me of an old Japanese legend from my youth. The Jogōgumo, a yokai that is both a beautiful woman and a spider." She said, explaining what a yokai is and telling the story. Arachnia looked at the old woman and smiled. "I agree with Mrs. Hudson. As I always quoted from my show, there is no beauty without some strangeness." Mr. Poe said as he opened the big door so the two femme bots could get in and look around. It didn't take long for Black Arachnia to notice something that suits her. She picked it up and showed it to Meagan and Shadow Mist. "What organic creature is this?" She asked, holding a giant scorpion like creature. "It's a model of a sea scorpion. They're originally from the Ordovician period during our planets history. I got it from a museum curator who was selling old items from the museum he owns." Mr. Poe said. "They were the first arthropods." He said, "I'll buy it for you if you want, Arachnia?" Meagan asked. "Like as if I had any of your planet's currency." Arachnia joked. "But, do what you want." She said. Meagan then noticed something else, a broach, and got an idea that she thinks Professor Sumdac would help with. She took a picture and sent it to him.

Later at the Hideout.

The girls return to see Sentinel Prime on earth talking to Optimus. "Sentinel? Why are you here?" Arachnia asked. "Don't worry, I'm not here to arrest you." He said, "I heard that you don't work for the decepticons anymore. I came here to talk." He said, "Still scared of organics?" Black Arachnia asked, "I'll manage, for your sake." He sighed he noticed the sea scorpion model she's holding. "Meagan and the energon scientist took me shopping." She said before he asked. "And during that trip, two very interesting humans reminded me that just because I'm different, doesn't mean I'm not the same cedet you two know." She said as an image of the old her, Elita-1, manifest in the two Autobots' eyes. The three Cybertronians decided to talk things out about the incident with the spiders, and they seemed to become friends again. Prowl came to Shadow Mist with Bumblebee and PixelSpark. "So how'd it go?" Bumblebee asked. Shadow Mist looked at how happy Black Arachnia was with her old friends and smiled. "I think she's going to be ok." She said

To be continued...

[nevis-the-skeleton]

Hi Nevis :D

I found your Transformers story requests on AO3. And I thought I may as well give it a go and give you a prompt (this is my first ever prompt by the way).

I am slightly worried that you might find it a bit intimidating by its sheer length. But then again, you can just pick apart the bits that resonate with you.

My favorite Prime character is Knockout, and to be fair, a lot of his and Starscream's character development is intertwined.

Without further ado:

Episode 11 'Speed Metal' and future episodes

'What if' when Knockout was lining up on the dirt race track in the episode intro, another rather flashy illustrious, Mustang pulls up besides him. The door on the window lowers, a pale skinned woman with jet black hair pops a gum bubble as her scrutinizing gaze devours his entire frame. A smirk begins to creep up the side of her mouth and then into a full blown out grin, she whistles and then states, "Man, those are some seriously sexy steel belted radials. I'm diggin the gold trim too, brings out a fine contrast to that cherry red sheen."

Knockout in all of his astonishing vanity and pride, is hapless but to reply, " Dhow, why thank you! I believe there is no such thing as to over in gross in the finer detailing of my esteem- my car's esteemed, appearance." The woman's grin appears to widen again.

Let the race begin.

Together, they tear up that dirt track like hellfire. An intricate dance that no other competitor can compete with, they are essentially, left in their dust. Not only can that human dish out a fine complement, but she can also drive too! This is far too exciting! There is no foul play, there is, just only skill. Dedication of their whole lives to the craft of driving. It is, simply beautiful.

Knockout engages his turbo on the final bend to the finish line, he catches her off guard with his sudden burst of speed and takes the lead. A cherry red blur crosses the finish line first. She pulls up besides him after crossings the finish line second and congratulates him on his pristine driving ability. He begrudgingly admits that she's the finest driver he's encountered (on this mud ball). They part ways after a few more praises to the flashy finishes of the others car.

In subsequent future races, Knockout is astonished and yet bemused that she turns up in her car for every other race. The two grow to become familiar acquaintances and develop an exceptional rivalry on the racetrack.

Starscream notices Knockout's increasing absence on the Nemesis and discovers his little covert frolicking with the humans. Especially with Knockouts' 'human femme'. He despises this, and sets out to make it his personal mission to separate Knockout from this human and ruin her racing career.

This however, with each attempt, always manages to spectacularly backfire on him. Instead of separating Knockout and the human, his actions only helped to draw them closer together and allow them to develop a strengthening friendship.

I also give you permission to use my Tumblr name, being anonymous or not really doesn't bother me.

Hope I have an intimidated you too much 😅.

Good luck darling

galbrandy xx

Interesting ^^! I prefer to warn that it will not be a ship, because I do not do Transformers x Human, but I see a friendship between the two X). I'm also thinking of adding Soundwave to Starscream's schemes, because surely he too preferred KnockOut to do his job, rather than spending his time with this human XD. Thank you for your request ^^!

~~~

KnockOut loved racing, he found it much more rewarding and exciting than his job as a doctor. He didn't hate his job, of course, but he still had a preference, a much more forbidden one.

The sports car didn't see why he would waste his time doing something he wasn't interested in, especially since Megatron's coma. Everything was in constant tension, especially with Soundwave and Starscream constantly arguing over whether to unplug the leader of the Decepticons or not.

Well, arguing was a big word, since the Communications Commander never had much to say to convince the Seeker not to. Basically, even if the jet didn't admit it, he was listening to the spy plane. And that surely more than he listened to Megatron.

The red robot was on the starting track, ready to start, then he saw a new vehicle arrive, a royal blue and yellow car. He had researched about earthling vehicles, and easily recognized that it was a Ford Mustang. Very good choice of vehicle.

The car pulled into the starting track beside him, and KnockOut saw the window roll down. The woman behind the wheel popped her chewing gum, before smiling. She brushed a lock of her black hair away from her eyes, and peered at the Decepticon, then whistled in admiration. The Velocitronian moved his rear-view mirror to better see the human who had whistled at him, and the latter's smile widened, before she declared:

"Dude! That's a fucking good car! I see you have good taste! Good choice of paint too! Gold and red is always a great mix!"

The doctor huffed a laugh, and was not insensitive to the compliment. He decided to answer this human, who deserved his attention a little more than the other pitiful members of her species.

"Well thank you! But I still think it's rude of you to scrutinize my appeara – the appearance of my car!"

This amused the human who laughed in turn. The flag was soon raised, and everyone started revving their engines, ready to win this race! The Decepticon laughed at these pathetic beings, who didn't stand a chance against him anyway. Let the race begin!

KnockOut wasted no time in overtaking the others, and laughed at his more than easy victory, when he heard the loud sound of an engine rumbling behind him. He moved his rear view mirror to see the Ford Mustang following close behind.

The woman quickly came up to him, the two following each other around the bends, heaving the road in a torrent of dust and sand! The Velocitronian felt the feeling of real racing welling up inside him, as it was the first time in a long time that he had found a real opponent. It seemed to him that the great desert plains of Velocitron were redrawn in the clouds of sand, bringing KnockOut back to lost times.

It didn't take long for the finish line to appear, and the Decepticon revved up, drifting around the final corner. The human gave a start of surprise and admiration, and could do nothing to prevent the Aston Martin from crossing the finish line.

The woman approached, and parked next to him, before opening her window. She looked a little disappointed, probably because of her second place, but her gaze was also shining with admiration and respect. She sincerely applauds KnockOut, before saying:

“Wow! You are awesome! I rarely see drivers like you! You were clearly born for this!

- You're not bad either. answered the doctor. You're one of the best drivers I've met since I've been here!

- It's a pleasure!"

The human smiled defiantly, then said:

"Watch out for your beautiful finish, because the next time we see you will eat my dust!

- That's what we are going to see!" smiled the Velocitronian.

The two soon separated, and the Decepticon already wanted to meet her again for a race.

~

Time passed, and it wasn't long before KnockOut's wish came true. The human and he saw each other often in underground races, their rivalry growing with each victory of one and the other. The red robot was not ashamed to consider her a friend, because she was the only one who allowed him to have fun on the road.

The doctor grew increasingly absent on the Nemesis, and it didn't take long for Starscream to notice. The Seeker was quick to confront Breakdown for answers, but even KnockOut's partner didn't know where that cursed doctor was spending his nights.

The jet took him in tail, and was more than perplexed when he saw him taking the ground bridge for coordinates that had no interest. Starscream frowned in confusion, really not understanding KnockOut's behavior.

“< Weird… >”

The Seeker jumped with a scream, before quickly spinning around to face Soundwave. The Communications Commander just tilted his head gently, as Laserbeak hovered above him.

"Primus… Soundwave… You can't appear like that behind people… I already told you that…" the jet stammered, putting a hand on his chest.

The spy plane drew a smiley face on his visor, feigning an innocent look. Starscream sighed, but wasn't particularly upset, it was impossible to get upset against Soundwave anyway. The Seeker quickly focused on their current problem, and crossed his arms as he looked at the ground bridge, before saying:

"Send Laserbeak, I want to know what is so important to KnockOut that he ignores his medical duties!"

The Communications Commander nodded, before opening a ground bridge on the same coordinates, and signaling his minicon to accomplish his mission.

~

KnockOut won the race again, and laughed in his victory, before exclaiming:

"That's 10 for me, and 8 for you!

- No way! defended the woman. It's 9 for me, you forget our friendly run, you literally saw the aft of my car the whole way!

- How vulgar you are!

- How weird you are!"

The two laugh together, then the Decepticon asked :

���By the way, I would like to know.

- Yeah?

- What is your name?

- My name?

- Yep.

- Why would I tell you?

- Why not?

- I don't even know what you look like, you never get out of your vehicle when we see each other.

- I like to keep my anonymity.

- Pffrr!"

The human laughed, before huffing, and sitting down on the hood of her car. She gazed for a time at the stars, seeing a large bird piercing the clouds, before returning her gaze to her running mate.

“If you want to remain anonymous, I don't see why I shouldn't.

- Oh ! Come on!

- Nope! Unless you give me your name!

- It's KO.

- That's not a name!

- It's a nickname!

- Ah! The agreement is not fulfilled, I don't give you my first name!

- Come on! I'm not gonna call you "Hey" every time we see each other.

- Hm… True!

- Ah!

- In any case, I will not give you my real name.

- Rho…!"

The woman laughed, then got back into her car, before KnockOut called out to her:

“Wait, how do I call you then?!

- You can call me Liberty!"

~

Starscream raised his wings in anger as he stared through the screen at what Laserbeak was seeing. He banged hard on the operating table of the computer, and cried out:

"So that's what he does instead of his fragging job?!"

Soundwave took the jet's hand away from the machine, shaking his head, indicating that he wanted the hardware to work. The Seeker sighed in annoyance, but it was mainly against KnockOut. This idiot was wasting his time befriending a human, instead of doing his job! There was reason to be angry!

“There's no way I'm letting this go! I have every intention of keeping him away from that accursed human! declared the flyer.

- < Proposal > < . >"

Starscream turned his attention to the Communications Commander, while the latter displayed the image of the human that Laserbeak had photographed, before displaying a cross on her.

The Seeker smiled, easily understanding the idea of ​​the spy plane. He nodded vigorously, flapping his wings. He quickly thought of a plan, and wasted no time in coming up with one.

“You are right, Soundwave! The best way to get KnockOut to stop messing around is to get rid of that human! I also intend to make him give up the urge to continue these stupid races!"

~

When the sports car arrived at the new race, he quickly noticed that the atmosphere was strange. He greeted a few drivers, who all stayed in their vehicles, and who didn't even deny answering him.

The doctor thought that they were particularly rude, and that he was going to be happy to humiliate them on the track. We were not disrespectful at KnockOut without taking the risk of tasting bitter defeat!

He found the mood really heavy, but it quickly lightened when Liberty stopped beside him. The brunette opened her window, and made a sign to the Velocitronian, before exclaiming:

“Hey! Hello, KO!

- Liberty, hi!

- Ready to eat my dust?!

- Talk for you!

- That's what we're going to see!"

The human popped her chewing gum in warning, before an arrogant but no less endearing smile appeared on her face. She revved her engine as the countdown ticked down, and she was the first to go!

KnockOut followed her not far behind, when he noticed the drivers behind them getting into a triangle formation. The Decepticon quickly sensed that something was wrong, and his doubts were confirmed when some cut out of the way, to go faster!

“Hey! This is cheating!" the Velocitronian was indignant.

A lot of things may have been allowed on the track, but certainly not going off the road. Even on Velocitron it was immediate disqualification! His Spark jumped into his spark chamber when he saw Liberty being surrounded by two vehicles, and violently jostled.

Starscream smiled, and crossed his arms, as his wings rose smugly. The main room was lit by light from the computer, which broadcast what was happening on the track, courtesy of Laserbeak. The Seeker scoffed, while Soundwave watched in silence, then the jet sneered:

“Bye, bye, vermin!"

KnockOut froze when he saw Liberty's car being pushed off the road, straight into a ravine!

"NO!" shouted the Decepticon.

He sped towards the human, and raced down the ravine with her, under the shocked gaze of Starscream and Soundwave. The Seeker tensed, and squeezed his wings, before screaming:

“What the frag is he doing?! »

The two Commanders froze when they saw the doctor begin his transformation into robot mode, and put their hands to their faces as KnockOut pulled the human out of the vehicle.

Liberty couldn't hide her shock, as she was held back by a giant robot, which had the exact same colors as KO's car. The sports car landed as best as he could, and picked himself up without a problem, before dusting himself with his free hand, complaining about his poor finish.

He quickly put the woman down, who still hadn't said anything, which made him quite uncomfortable. He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, before leaning towards her and asking:

“Uh… are you OK?"

Liberty ended up screaming in terror, which startled KnockOut, who clearly didn't expect it, even ending up being offended by the human's reaction.

"Oh ! Come on! I don't think my appearance justifies such a reaction!" the Velocitronian got a little upset.

Starscream and Soundwave had a rush of hope that this would end the ridiculous friendship between these two, and the Seeker found the strength to look at the screen again, after the disaster the doctor had caused in revealing himself.

The brunette looked around her, before laughing and running a hand through her hair, reflecting her nervousness. She took several steps, never really knowing where to go, before scanning the surroundings again, and saying:

"OK! OK! I see ! It's a hidden camera, right?!

- Would you have preferred…? KnockOut asked.

- You were a car not even five minutes ago!

- Yes and?

- And… And holy shit! What the fuck!

- Language...

- Yeah, well, you'll excuse me, but I have every reason in the world to swear! My racing buddy is a fucking robot that turns into a car!

- So, already, I'm not a robot. I'm an alien."

Liberty tried to say something, but she couldn't come up with anything coherent. She pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed heavily, before murmuring sarcastically:

“Oh yes…! It makes so much sense…!"

KnockOut raised his optics to the sky, then ended up saying:

"Besides, I saved your life, you should thank me!"

The human decided to look at the Decepticon, and found a trace of his very particular smile, before saying:

"You're right.

- Of course I'm right!"

The brunette laughed at that, and added:

"You're KO, there's no doubt!"

The two resumed a much more animated discussion and without the slightest ounce of fear on Liberty's part. The fact that the human discovered the truth about KnockOut had ultimately strengthened their bond, especially thanks to the fact that the Transformer was ready to reveal his secret to save her.

Starscream had his elbows resting on the computer desk, his head buried in his hands. Soundwave, him, could not hide his dejection at the situation, a hand resting on his forehead.

When KnockOut returned from his getaway, he didn't quite understand why his Commanders looked so dejected, but he didn't ask himself any more questions. As long as they weren't hurt, it wasn't his problem.

The doctor continued to visit Liberty, and with much more freedom. And, all of Starscream's and Soundwave's attempts to separate them always proved fruitless, often going so far as to strengthen the two riders' already stubborn friendship.

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Cyberverse watch! Episodes 1-10

EPISODE 1

Bee you are ADORABLE

The cartoons always seem to start off in the middle of a desert huh

Lmao this is mean but imagine if bee missed the ju-- OH NO I WAS JUST KIDDING BEE

BUMBLEBEE IM SO SORRY I WAS JUST KIDDING, I SHOULDN”T HAVE MADE THAT JOKE

Gosh I’m so glad Windblade seems like one of the main three, like, she’s one of the main people in the intro and everything

Oh man we’re getting right into the bakstory huh

THERE”S TINY PERCY

“We couldn’t be sure if it’d actually work” Windblade says as she jumps through it without any concern or sense of self-preservation

AW SHE HUGGED BEE Windblade is so cute

IS THAT...SKYWARP

It’s so hard to tell the seekers apart

AW MAN I LOVE WINDBLADE’S SWORD And I love that her wings are retractable that’s so cool

STINGER that’s a new ability for ol’ Bee

OH THAT”S THUNDERCRACKER alrighty, sorry bud, I always think you should be green for some reason

JEEZ LOUISE WINDBLADE THAT CORTICAL PSYCHIC PATCH

I wonder if Windblade is still a Cityspeaker in this show :O

oh ANNNND THAT”S THE END OF THAT EPISODE man I forgot they were only 11 minutes. Alright, what the heck, let’s do some more

EPISODE 2

Alright I’m pretty sure that pretty purple seeker isn’t Skywarp but  idk what her name is yet

Aw grumpy Bee is cute

HER FANS JUST FLEW OFF???? WE’RE JUST PLAYING FAST AND LOOSE WITH THESE DESIGNS HUH I gotta say I’m a fan

“I’m going to create a distraction while you--” *camera zooms out to show Bee’s wandered off* I LOVE THEM

Yeah Windblade may not be a Cityspeaker in this series but she’s definitely a babysitter lmao, poor gal

OH SHE IS A CITYSPEAKER THAT”S AWESOME I wasn’t sure if they’d keep that part of her backstory :’) I’m so glad

Awww they hugged again :’)))) Windblade and Bee’s friendship is so cute!!

AAWW AND AGAIN!!! GOSH I LOVE THEM “We were friends once” “We still are” WEEPS!!!!

EPISODE 3

Windblade: BUMBLEBEE STOP DRIVING SO BADLY IM TRYING TO MONOLOGUE

Windblade: I’m going to plug into your brain with this cortical psychic patch and access your memories Bumblebee: I don’t believe this woman’s ever gone to medical school

Lmao way to sum things up Bee

TRIFORCE CUBE ALLSPARK

I wonder if the Allspark swallowed up / locked away his memories AH and as soon as I started typing that some weird glowing stuff started happening lmao

Ah and there’s Starscream, the dork

Man had Saling not warned me about Peter Cullen not voicing Optimus I would’ve been totally caught off-guard by that. Man, I hope Mr. Cullen is doing ok

I DON”T KNOW WHY BUT MEGATRON SAYING “AHAHA OPTIMUS PRIME” MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD

STARSCREAM TOOK OFF HIS WINGS AND THREW THEM WTF

LMAO SHE JUST TRIPPED HIM OFF A LEDGE #Get rekt Starscream

SCARY LADY WHO THE HECK IS THAT

SOUNDWAVE

MY BOY!!! IT”S HIM THERE HE IS!!! I JUST GASPED

SOUNDWAVE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! YOU”RE DOING SO GOOD

OH MAN AND HE CAN TALK???? SOUNDWAVE BABY BOY!!!!!

OUCH poor Optimus

Optimus: Good thing I was a pitcher in my middle school’s football league *chucks Allspark through the space bridge*

EPISODE 4

That Allspark looks so much like a dice....I wonder what would happen if they rolled a nat 20 on it lmao

GRIMLOCK??????

WHEELJACK?????

lmao wheeljack looks like such a dork I love him

OH MY GOSH IS THAT CHROMIA??? SCREW THESE GUYS, THERE”S MY GIRL!!!!

Lmao I love that Windblade’s essentially “Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories”-ing Bee’s memories

Optimus: Meet back here in 20 astrocycles Grimlock: Sure thing! *whispers to bee* What the heck is an astrocycle Bee: *Shrugs*

Bee: I don’t know, but this place is the pits I LOVE HIM?????

It’s so weird hearing “intellectual” Grimlock lmaooo

Bee: *grumbles* Optimus would’ve thought that was a funny joke YOU ARE PRECIOUS

Optimus: Bee, watch your footing, the ground is starting to shake Bee: Thank you for that wonderful observation, Captain Obvious

Those bugs are making such cute sounds as they attack them that’s so cute

Aw Optimus, you’re such a good guy, what a sweetheart

Dang, they have a lot of autobots on that ship

UH THEY SHOULD LEAVE AT LEAST ONE PERSON AWAKE

EPISODE 5

Aw man the snow and mountain background in this episode look so pretty

WHY IS BEE HOLDING A GOAT SO CUTE

Bee: They were very kind. They took me in as one of their own WHY! ARE! YOU! SO! PRECIOUS!!!!!

Windblade: You want a what? What is a food processor? THEY”RE SO CUTE!!! GOSH I LOVE THEM 

oh man the backgrounds on this show are absolutely beautiful

Man, you know what it’s so frickin cool that Windblade’s essentially the main character of the show (plus Bee, but mostly her) :’)

“I thought they left all the useless bots on Cybertron” “Clearly not, if you’re here” OH SNAP

Bee’s just sitting on the ship watching bad human TV while Windblade’s off risking her life lmao, I love him

Slipstream is such a moron, why would you throw a flier off a CLIFF

SHE”S A FLIER

I love how Windblade says “Ugh, I was attacked” as if it’s just an inconvenience and not a huge deal

EPISODE 6

OHHH IS THIS GLADIATOR MEGATRON

YEAHHHH IT IS

AHHHHHH BEE HIGH-FIVED SHOCKWAVE, THAT”S SO CUTE I was wondering what the context was behind that

OH MAN THERE’S ARCEE AND RATCHET

AHHH AND THERE”S SOUNDWAVE They’re all standing beside him!

MEGATRON JUST SAID “TIL ALL ARE ONE” IM CRACKING UP

Optimus: I do not intend to start a fight Bee: What if he doesn’t listen? Optimus: He will listen to me 8′((((( and so it begins </3

Lmao also:  Optimus: I don’t intend to start a fight Optimus two seconds later: *chucks a bot*

OH MAN SHOCKWAVE LOOKS SO INTIMIDATING I LOVE THAT

“The file clerk is here to air his grievances” OHH it’s interesting to see what sort of backstory they’re giving Optimus in this universe

Megatron: You are wasting your time Optimus: It is never a waste of time to speak to an old friend I AM CLUTCHING MY CHEST,  YOU GUYS ARE KILLING ME RN

GOSH THIS IS THE MOST DRAMATIC BREAKUP EVER THIS IS KILLING ME IM SO SAD

That one lady Decepticon: *grabs onto Bee and flips him over her head* Me: *CONFLICTED HEART EYE EMOJI????*

SOUNDWAVE!!! IM LOVE YOU!!!! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!

GOSH I AM RENDERED INCAPABLE OF COHERENT THOUGHT OR SPEECH WHEN HE COMES ONSCREEN

Bee: Megatron may have torn out my voicebox, but he can’t keep me from talking. I love to talk! Talk talk talk talk.... Windblade: *laughs* Shut up! *weeps into my hands* This friendship is so wholesome

EPISODE 7

AW Decepticon ships have pong on their ships that’s adorable

What is the deal with this cube...is it a person....

AW IS THIS THEIR FIRST MEETING, THAT”S SO ADORABLE, gosh, what a dorky way for Windblade and Bee to meet

IT”S A SPORT OH MY GOSHHHH that’s amazing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any sort of Cybertronian sports, that’s so cool! I always wondered what kind of sports / games they’d be into

lmao Starscream is so unimpressed with Windblade for liking the game

Ahh Windblade’s taller than him! That’s so cool!

LMAO Bee: You seem different. You’re not like other jets

GOSH THIS EPISODE IS LITERALLY MEAN GIRLS BUT WITH GIANT ROBOTS THIS IS HILARIOUS

Lmao yeah Starsream, because no one’s going to notice the cube is suddenly red instead of blue

AW NEITHER OF THEM REMEMBER HOW TO PLAY CUBE that’s adorable

EPISODE 8

Ugh, there really aren’t any good places to watch episode 8 so I’m watching it all broken up

YO VELOCITRON EXISTS IN THIS UNIVERSE NICEEEE It’s so cool seeing the colony planets!!

YO VELOCITRON LOOKS SO C

OH MY GOSH THERE’S HOT ROD!!!! I LOVE HIM OH MY GOSH BLURR IS HERE TOO!!!!

HOT ROD!!!! RODDY!!! YOU SOUND SO CUTE I LOVE YOU!!!!

Wait wtf is that evil wheeljack??? WHO IS THAT oh wait Plague of Rust??? that doesn’t sound great

“HOT DOG”

I really like Bee’s voice ahhhh he got such a great voice actor

Hot Rod and Blurr’s banter is so fun, that’s really great, and Bee’s like an excitable little kid!!! I love him!!!!

Blurr you stupid twunk, you gotta get out of there THAT RUST IS SPREADING SO FAST

OH NO HIS WHEEL GOT SOME RUST ON IT

OH SHOOT THEY’RE REALLY GONNA KILL BLURR HUH

DANG DUDE WELL OK THEN

EPISODE 9

Nicccce good friends sparring

WHO IS THIS CREEPY MULTIPLE EYED GIRL oh her name is Shadow Striker

*MEANINGFUL SILENCE AT THE WAY THEY STRUNG OPTIMUS UP*

“Ugh, I don’t even like being alone in the room with him” “I don’t like being left alone with you!” LMAO

Bee is so cute, he’s trying to psych himself up

LMAO THE GUARDS ARE TALKING ABOUT THEIR PREFERENCES AND THEIR BOSS that’s so cute what losers

AW MAN I thought Bumblebee was gonna hug Optimus that would’ve been cute

There’s so many seekers in this series!

Man I wasn’t sure what I’d think of Cyberverse but I’m really enjoying myself! It’s such a cute heartwarming show!

...I say, right as Shadow Striker attempts to do a murder / suicide thing with Bumblebee

“What’s your problem with me?!” I MEAN YOU DID BLOW HER UP BUMBLEBEE, CAN YOU BLAME HER FOR BEING MAD

EPISODE 10

Epic space battle! 

BEE YOU DON”T HAVE A SPACE-FARING ALT MODE WHAT ARE YOU DOING

MACCADAMS

THAT”S...DEFINITELY NOT HOW I THOUGHT THAT WAS PRONOUNCED

RIP buff Rung theory, you will be sorely missed

RATCHET!!! GOSH HE DOES SOUND LIKE A WEIRD NEW YORKER that’s an interesting take on his voice! I wonder how they decided on that

SOUNDWAVE!!! SOUNDWAVE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I WOULD DIE FOR YOU!!! AND HE EVEN HAS BACKUP DANCERS!!! Of course the crowd is going wild for him

AW MEGATRON AND OPTIMUS *whispers* datenight

WHEELJACK AND SHOCKWAVE AW THAT”S SO CUTE They’re both dorky science nerds / proud papas to the shocklets and OH MY GOSH DID SHOCKWAVE JUST LAUGH THAT”S SO CUTE

Gosh I love seeing the bots talking about sports that’s adorable

MACCADAM IS TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE goshhh. I still see buff Rung but actually getting to meet Maccadam is pretty neat

DEADLOCK AHHH aw he’s so timid!! I love him :’) 

CHROMIA!!! I LOVE HER!!! And aww she’s making the same argument she does in the comic

OH NO DEADLOCK POOR GUY what a sweetheart, he’s just out here doing his best 

YOOOO MACCADAM THAT”S SICK AS HELL, IM SCREAMING

THIS DUDE DEFINITELY TAKES AFTER HIS PAPA RUNG

I need to draw Mac and Rung together, I NEED to see them hanging out

“To friendship” AW THAT”S SO PRECIOUS GOSHHHH

I CAN”T WAIT TO SEE MORE OF THIS SHOW I LOVE IT

[the-energon-hole]

Nsfw Tfp Optimus, megatron and poly breakdown/knockout reaction to seeing their human naked but human is embarrassed and hiding their face due to so many scars they have in their body

((A/N - Nudity is not inherently NSFW my friend, uhm, also this might seem a bit selfish but I took “scars” and replaced it with “fat” because I am writing this in the sense that I know what it is like to be humiliated because you are fat and unattractive- I don’t know what it is like to be seen as unattractive because of scars.

I mean I can assume it’s the same feeling, but assuming things makes an ass out of you and me as they say, so if you don’t like this feel free to let me know and I will tweak it to fit your narrative better and not mine.))

Optimus Prime

-The two of you were similar in many ways, which was most likely one of the reasons why he felt as if you were the missing piece to his whole spark, and he sometimes liked to stop and think about all of the good similarities you two shared whenever he was feeling doubtful. You were both so wise in the sense you had life experiences others had not thought about having and you both had become apart of something bigger than yourselves which in turn caused you both to have people come to you for advice on just about anything and everything, you both were thrusted into leadership roles due to that wisdom and experience you had come to possess even if it was not the role you wished to play at the current time, and you both had an immense love for your people and species as a whole which sparked all kinds of interesting conversations that he loved to hear you speak great things about humanity and what they have to offer. However with the good similarities that were shared between the two fo you there were the bad ones that he had to acknowledge about you two as well- you were both so good at bottling things up inside and burying them deep inside until those feelings become to full and swell up into a manifestation that takes on the form of an emotional breakdown that you cannot allow others around you to see as it was very hard to witness a leader fall over and cry in anguish. He had anxieties about failing his people and his species when it came to his duties and his role as the Prime, you had anxieties based on your outward appearance and presentation to those around you who have a tendency to not take you as seriously as the situation would call for. He has noticed a lot of humans have a lot of opinions about who you are and how you behave just based on how you looked on the outside- you told him once that it is because you are a bigger person and people tended to assume you were just very lazy and very rude- just someone who constantly ate and ate and selfishly consumed resources more than what you really needed. He did not understand that bias against you from other humans, as Cybertronians came in all kinds of shapes and sizes and it wasn’t something that their species was concerned about- so it was a little hard for him to sympathize with how you say you were being treated. It is not that he didn’t believe you, he can see how upset you get when someone assumes something about you when they don’t even bother to know you, it was just a strange thing for humans to discriminate against. To be fair, Cybertronians kind of did the same thing, but bigger bots were made to do bigger labor jobs and weren’t told they needed to change in order to fit some kind of made up standard of beauty the marketing industry is pushing to sell more cosmetic items.

-You were probably as comfortable as anyone can get around their partner when you actually thought about it, as you probably could not ask for anyone better for you than that big boss bot who tried his best to make you feel like a queen. He was also so kind and patient with you whenever you expressed any kinds of doubts or disbelieves to him that it almost made you cry a few times how he was so willing to listen to what you had to say when others just wanted nothing more than to see you burn for who you were. Human bodies and biology were very complicated issues, and you have admitted to him that you have done everything from extreme dieting to not eating at all while nearly harming yourself permanently in that process from all of the physical activity you put your body through just to make you feel as if you can belong with all of the other beautiful people out there. Nothing ever seemed to work for you, so the only other logical thing to do was to just accept who you were as a whole which included the outside bits as well, and you are trying every day to just love and accept yourself for who you are and what you looked like- but it was harder than it looked whenever you can barely even stand to look at yourself in the mirror in the mornings. You ended up crying in front of Optimus because those feelings about who you are on the outside began to surface from the area you liked to bury so deep inside you were finally ready to burst- the thing that ended up pushing you over the edge, it was a woman at the supermarket that came up to you and angrily told you to get bigger clothing because your shirt rode up a little as you reached to get something off of a high shelf. It was degrading and embarrassing the way her tone had such an angry bite to it as other people stopped to look you up and down to make their own determination and judgments. You couldn’t get out of that store fast enough as you basically ran home and just threw on your biggest sweatshirt and baggiest jeans and sat on your couch trying really hard not to let that old crone words get to you. They got to you though, they got to you hard, as this was something that always happened to you whenever you just tried to normal things like go shopping for groceries- it was why you never bothered to dress up or to try when it came to your appearance, what was the point when it felt like no matter what you did someone always had something to say. This was why when in an intimate moment of Optimus just holding you as you cried, he asked to see you in your bare form so that he may see witness what it was that all these humans fuzzed over. It was such a blunt yet innocent request that you almost balked at the idea of the Priem seeing you as who you really were when you were not trying to hide behind clothing and beauty products. You panicked a little and told him no at first- you were afraid he was going to reject you, that he would find you repulsive and throw you away as so many before him have done when you all but essentially bare your soul to them as you would exposed yourself to him physically. He insisted wholly that he wanted to see you as you are while stroking your hair and telling you that nothing can change how he felt about you- that your physical appearance is apart of who you are and that you shouldn’t be afraid to show him all of yourself. He had a point to that argument, you can’t just keep hiding under large clothing in order to feel like you have a fake sense of power- you need to own up to who you are, so as you stood before him without anything to cover yourself, the stretch marks and the cellulite in all its glory you felt a feeling you never had before as Optimus went in to touch your face with a gentle caress. Was this confidence? Whatever it was you knew he was serious when he said he would love you in all of your entirety, fat or not, and you cried tears of joy as you leaned into his touch- he really was the other half to your missing piece.

Megatron

-It was something that the war lord picked was able to pick up on about you very quickly, as he would always watch you react time so harshly time and again with this very passionate anger whenever some bot like Starscream threw crude comments your way poking fun at your outward appearance. He noticed the raw anger and emotions in your voice as it cracked a little while you screamed at the offending bots for implying you were “more squishy than the normal human he has seen”, you went ballistic in calling him all kinds of bad names that it almost made him laugh because you were just so snarky, had it not been for the fact he can see you were fighting back some real tears and some real truma. It was a sensitive topic to you for some reason, he learned about it more once he finally got you to spill your guts to him when he began to ask really personal questions you weren’t expecting him to care about. Megatron was always an enigma when it came to personal subjects that he cared to know about you- sometimes he wanted to know everything and sometime he wanted to know nothing, as he would chalk up some of your reasons to behaving strangely to “humans and their awkward societal views”. It turns out humans are more strange than he anticipate, as apparently you were judged a lot for doing just random things around your home city simply because you were a little rounder than the average human, which he never saw as a problem because really why would that mean anything? You told him a lot of people in your society had this weird sense of superiority and pretentiousness and that “thin privilege” was a very real thing, as you were always forced to buy extra plane tickets even though you never once spilled over the sides realistically as people just hated flying next to “sweaty and heavy breathing” people, and how every single medical doctor you have ever had has warned you every single tim eyou would com in even if it was just for some minor medication that conditions “brought on by fatty and sugary foods” can kill you faster than some forms of sickness- and it just drove you nuts to the point where you will just lash out at anyone who tries to point anything out anything about you bigger body. It was one of the things he was attracted to you for, you were so fierce and unafraid to call people out on their stupid bullshit, even if it did seem they had some kind of advantage over you be it power or grace- you didn’t take any shit from anyone, and that power was kind of intoxicating for him to see whenever you decided to just all your emotions loose. If this weren’t a serious situation he would have joked about how you should just destroy them because they were obviously too ignorant to know what real beauty looked like.

-He knew he was poking a proverbial bear when he decided this was his best course of action, he knew he was rattling your cage to the point where you were going to do something so drastic that you would end up in tears after, but it was worth it to him if he can  finally get you to talk about what was bothering you. He wasn’t a patient mech, and getting to the point was something he felt like he needed to do, since this timidness was not you and you needed to work through whatever anxiety this was going through plaguing your mind so you can be much more sharp and ready to deal with whatever situation should arise in this war. Your stubbornness will be your downfall one day as this little intervention was taking longer than he anticipated to get you to your breaking point, but, if this is what needs to be done so that you can clear your mind and as a result become closer to him, than well that was perfectly fine with him as he prefers you when you are at your best anyway. You were screaming up at him while you were nearly in tears as he said so many cruel things about your experiences being unbelievable- “I think you are exaggerating, no one with a brain would do those things to someone” and “It cannot be that bad- maybe you are just being overly sensitive”. It elicited some kind of raw anger that he was hoping to see you portray in a weird way, but it was a big surprise to see you become so angry over him just invalidating your experiences as he will have to remember not to ever do that to you under a serious circumstance, you began to throw your clothes off angrily while screaming about proving him wrong as you held your arms out as if to prove that what you were saying was true and real. You stood are in front of him as a way to challenge his doubts of your stories, and as you let it sink in that he can see everything from your stretch marks to your rolls, you suddenly became shy as a school child and all that anger you had just melted away. You tried to cover yourself as the tears began to fall as you felt so much sahem for showing so much weakness to Megatron like this, he must think you are a foolish weakling best left for dead which caused you to begin shaking a little-what a jerk Megtron was! He planned this! He wanted to humiliate you so he can get on some kind of power trip about how superior and good looking he was compared to you- just like those who think it’s funny to throw things at you on the street for just doing nothing more than just walking home while screaming “Hey, cheeseburger I think you need to go jogging in stead”! His reaction to your shift in emotion was surprising though, and as he moved your arms slowly away from your body, you can swear you were waiting for some kind of pain of him just mushing you between his claws. Instead however, you got something akin to sweet kindness- Megatron just poked curiously a little at your soft bits around your tummy, you giggled as you were very ticklish and couldn’t help but smiling sadly the quizzical look the war lord was giving to you. He told you that there was nothing wrong with you, that as far as he as concerned, you were the most beautiful little beacon of light in this universe that he would be willing to chase after until he turned into nothing but space rust. Wow, he really was romantic, and you sniffed a little as you continued to smile brightly up at him, you had to tell him that you were actually getting really cold and should probably put something on so you don’t freeze to death.

Knockout/Breakdown

-Knockout was attracted to all things beautiful! He had an eye for things that were glittery and bright, but another hidden talent he had was for finding those proverbial diamonds in the rough, and he knew that those that had the ability to hide their beauty from the public were absolutely the best gems to polish and shine so that they can rule the world as the killer beings they were destined to become! He thought Breakdown was the most handsome bot he had ever seen, with such a killer personality and an amazing ability to quip back and forth with even the most silver glossa’d bot, that he was shocked others did not share his potential- it was fine though, that just meant he could have his dear Breakdown all to himself and that the world didn’t deserve to witness his real beauty. You- oh, he felt the same way about you when he first laid his sinister little optics on you, he noticed how you can seemingly navigate the human world without turning heads all that much due to your appearance being quite frankly a little bland, but he could see it right away that you had the same gleam and glimmer that Breakdown did. He is going to put you on display for all to see, or well for at least hims and Breakdown to fawn over, but first you were going to have to come out of your shell to do that and he knew just how to make you break free from that safe space you call a shell. Breakdown didn’t understand why Knockout tried so hard to change your outer appearance like he tried so hard to do with him when they first met, but he wasn’t one to question Knockout’s intentions as closely as he does to other bots, and his wily ways of wanting to bring the beauty out in everyone was actually kind of cute. Breakdown didn’t mind so much all the aesthetic changes Knockout made him to do his frame all the time, but he knew you were a little more sensitive to changing how you looked on the outside, so he tried to be that buffer between you and Knockout whenever you got overwhelmed by all of the ranting and ravings. Breakdown knows Knockout can be a little eccentric at times, which is hwy over the bond he constantly has to remind him that you were of the more sensitive variety, and that he needs to speak in softer tones and with less harsh demands. More than that though, how the heck did Knockout even know where to get some of those fancy looking clothes he gives you whenever you show up on the ship each week after you have had your fill of the human world. They might share a spark, but Knockout was still an enigma to him with those little secret things he does, he personally thinks it’s cute and quirky when he gets all insistent you would look good in this new sparkly thing he “found” for you- and he knew you kind of appreciated it when the doc would dote on you most of the time, but when it came to specifics like clothing and hairstyles well you kind of clammed up and never really explained why. It was kind of frustrating to Breakdown, as he was so used to the open honesty one gets when you bond with another Cybertronian- because it was actually almost impossible to keep hidden emotions away from someone who could literally tell what you were thinking without having to say it, but he wasn’t so good with words and he didn’t know how to ask you. He would have asked Knockout to, but then he was afraid that you might think they were ganging up on you to try and  pressure you to tell them something you aren’t ready to talk about yet. He loved you to death, but for the love of Primus, if there was only one thing he can change about you it would have to be the fact that you were born a  human and not a Cybertronian.

-Breakdown had no idea this was coming, and he regrets not being able to read the warning signs ahead of this situation, but this is what it he was talking about when he says he feels frustrated that can’t tell what it was that you were really thinking. Knockout must have crossed some line that he couldn’t tell was there, because one minute you both were fine and happy just talking about different things, and the next you were hunched over holding your face in shame as he could hear your muffled sobbing a little through you hands. Oh he could feel the guilt running through their bond as Knockout turned to him while cutting his hands to his chest while giving him that quizzical look to see if he would know what was going on with you today, or maybe you told him something you didn’t tell him- which was fine, but it would have been nice to get a heads up if there was something he shouldn’t talk about in front of you. Breakdown just shrugged to indicate he had no idea what was going on, and as he felt Knockout pull desperately at their bond for some kind of answer to make this situation an better, he felt himself sigh audibly as he rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward motion. In the end when Breakdown wasn’t able to give any kind of indication as to what he knew what was wrong, which was honestly no surprise to Knockout as he took it upon himself to regain his composure as fast as possible in order to put on that suave mask he does whenever he gets nervous. He took his clawed hand and ran it through your hair in that soothing way that they both knew for sure you liked, you calmed down a little from quiet sobbing to no noise at all and it seemed you were brought out of whatever stupor you were in, but when you looked up at them with a sticky glistening face of dried out tears it hit both of them right in the spark. You looked down and rubbed your arms a little while you sniffed and tried to compose yourself from your accidental and rather breakdown- you can see it in thehri faceplate that they have no idea what is going on with you, and you can’t really blame them as sometimes you can’t control the things that trigger those awful memories. It wasn’t something you were comfortable talking about, and it wasn’t something you liked to share out loud and relive as you would have to walk them through whatever it was that traumatised you, but they deserve an explanation because they were so kind to you al the time and they did not mean to do anything wrong. You admitted that sometimes it was hard to see that”beauty” Knockout claims to see in you that he likes to boast about being there, that for so long so many have called you out for being this ugly troll that so many thought you to be, that it was almost impossible not to believe them after so many would corroborate that testimony. It took you by surprise when Breakdown just yanked your shirt over your head as you gasped loudly while trying to grab back at it out of his grasp. It was to late and you felt so bare and cold that you instinctively covered yourself while asking him why he would do something so cruel. He waited for a moment before he responded with “I don’t know what you mean, but I don’t see anything other than beauty here” and you looked up at him with your mouth gaping open like a fish because when the heck did Breakdown become able to throw such a romantic one liner like that at you, to which Knockout took his claw and closed your mouth gently while saying “more beautiful if you stopped gaping at us like that, my dear”. You laughed at that, you should have known that they wouldn’t see your body the way you see your body, and that made you kind of grateful that they had such a different world view. No human might find you attractive, but here you are almost naked in front of two alien robots who would tell you everyday that you are pretty before they let you forget it. It was nice, and a good reminder that you are indeed worthy of their affection and love, no matter how ugly you perceive yourself to be.

(05/20/18)

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup 5.7.2017

So I think in the year-ish that I’ve been doing the Roundups, this is an actual literal first for me. This is the first time I have one “entry” from all my major publishers at the same time and not more. I mean one’s cheating since Monstress is a collected trade, but yeah, I have one from Dark Horse, DC, IDW, Image, and Marvel. 

I could not have planned this if I tried.

In any case, fascinating coincidences aside, how did this week end up stacking up? How good were any of the issues? Lllllets find out!

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine, Image’s Monstress, DC’s Superman, IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One, Dark Horse’s Zodiac Starforce: Cries of the Fire Prince

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine (2015-present) #22 Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, Erick Arciniega, Michael Garland

I’m not sure how many more times I can compliment this comic without it sounding repetitive but where we are, All-New Wolverine actually is making me, by force, enjoy a deep space story featuring the multitudes of Marvel alien species that I struggle to care about normally but really do here and now because GAAAAABBBY.

The relationship between Gabby and all the people around her is really one of the main driving forces. There’s of course the joy that’s her and Laura interacting and Laura growing into the mentor she never would have thought herself capable of (true daughter of Logan if there’s ever been), but this issue is wise in expanding on that during the first half of the story.

Gabby and Wade basically lampoon it from the start with Wade repeatedly expressing to Laura how special and unique Gabby is, and then Gabby working her magic on Laura, forcing her to grow up and move out of Logan’s old apartment into her very own (so on the nose and yet I love it oh so much). And of course there is the hilarity of bringing Jonathan into space. 

All so that the cliffhanger at the end would leave you as emotionally destroyed as I feel at the moment!

Tom Taylor’s great, and I love how dedicated this comic seemingly is to staying out of Secret Empire and even more so to how dedicated it seemingly is to progress its own greater narrative -- namely with our mysterious hooded watcher who sees the departure of the Wolverines and cryptically moves their plans to Daken. To which I say nooooooooo our siblings were finally getting alonooonnnngggg

Great issue, on the edge of my seat for what’s to come! 

Image’s Monstress (2015-present) Volume Two: The Blood Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda

So like Descender and a few of the other Indie titles I’ve picked up in the last year, I had Liu and Takeda’s Monstress come to my radar thanks to suggestions from people on tumblr! And what can I say? Those of you who recommend stuff to me really know my tastes it seems like!

This is a beautiful fantasy story with a very dark and unseemly look at the idea of fate and inheritance by blood. There is a weight to everything and the gorgeous style of the world hides the secret of the inner ugliness behind each and every corner. 

To put things even more simply, this book is fascinatingly dark and is not the gentle Chosen One narrative that fantasy so often falls into at least in Western tropes. You can feel the influence of mythologies beyond Western, and really other than inverting the idea of a By Blood Chosen One you could argue that Western fantasy ideas do not really play much of a role within the narrative at all.

I think that’s what’s so fascinating to me. There’s a dense story with a lot to unpack, so those surface elements come off all the stronger and fascinate me into wanting to see even more of them. 

Again just a very good read overall. Much approved. 

DC’s Superman (2016-present) #26 Michael Moreci, Mike Godelwski, HI-FI

This is a very pleasant, very nice one-off read. 

I’m not sure how much impact this issue will have on the greater story being told about our titular Kent family, but it was refreshing to have a look at especially Jon’s character from a different writer. As much as I have enjoyed Jurgens, Tomasi, and Gleason, Jon being naïve and near perfect has been a criticism I’ve thought deserved its dues for sure. And it’s interesting to see him feeling more his age in this issue and being a bit more stubborn and in the wrong and just flawed in the ways that kids are.

I loved that the lesson here was two-fold -- a lesson about Clark learning how to allow children to make their own mistakes and be there to comfort them when they fall, and about Jon learning to, in Clark’s terms, “flex muscles above the neck.”

The art was quite good and while Lois didn’t receive a lot of time here, she was Clark’s rock. I’m hoping that we will get more of the feisty and tenacious Lois who needs Clark holding her back from time to time sooner or later. 

It’s a decent issue, and I’m glad Moreci is proving that people outside the usual team can tackle this new-old take on classic Superman and on the all-new Jon Kent. 

IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One (2016-present) #11 Mairghread Scott, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente

I knew we weren’t close to seeing the end of Windblade! And not at all because I cheat and looked at next month’s cover back when the solicits for it came out like forever ago. 

Rather than jumping around POVs which TAAO has made a habit of doing (well might I add!) with its ensemble cast, the continued narrowing of focus down to Starscream, with a short interlude showing Windblade’s internal mental battle, really worked for this issue. It’s so fascinating to get all the facets of Starscream’s perspective that we do here, and especially how the scars of being a Decepticon and being abused by Megatron still affect him greatly.

As the one Cybertronian who seemed the easiest adjusted to the new world of post-world Cybertron, it’s both expected and yet very shocking to see that it was a ruse. He has been as badly effected as nearly all the other Autobots and Decepticons have been by what they’ve lived through.

And I’m usually exhausted of the hallucinations about Bumblebee which I know are going to eventually be revealed to not be that much of a hallucination but it worked to great effect here. Mostly because Bumblebee left lol With that ominous ending silhouette and the subtle parallel between Starscream’s years long hallucinations of Bumblebee with the struggle Windblade is undergoing with two minds at once. 

Reminds me of certain elements of Transformers Prime and Scott is a fan of bringing in elements of the Aligned universe into the IDW fold...

I really loved this issue, and especially loved the art. It breaks my heart knowing this series is coming to an end.

Dark Horse’s Zodiac Starforce: Cries of the Fire Prince (2017-present) #1 Kevin Panetta, Paulina Gancheau, Sarah Stern

Ever since I read the original Zodiac Starforce comic, I was really hoping we would be getting more of a follow up because my love of this genre and my love of how clever this comic was and how good it was with building this complicated world was too much for the tasty treat we got out of the original. And I couldn’t have been happier to hear we were getting just that!

We’re picking up a few months since the ending of the first volume and it’s really interesting to see how much our girls have grown in their various roles since then. I’m also getting the sense that this new storyline is going to be taking the opportunity to focus on the characters who didn’t get so much attention the last go around, like Kim and Molly and Lily. 

Kim’s home life really strikes close to home for a lot of people, I’ve got to say. I’ve seen these situations play out, and I have to really applaud this comic for showing how important and defining it is for a supportive boyfriend/husband/etc. for a young woman in such a bad situation can be. It both helps women in the situation to feel as though they can seek support, and tells young men in the world that they can and should be the type of partner who is this supportive.

It’s interesting to see how the events of last time have played into everyone’s relationships months later, and it’s for better and for worse, especially for the scorned girls and boys who got a taste of the dark powers of Cimmeria. I’m so interested to see where all of this goes!

So this is going to seem incredibly strange but I would almost be willing to call each and every single issue that came out today a tie because I just genuinely enjoyed reading each and every one of them that much. It was such an amazing and unexpected variety this week for me and it just hit all the feelings I needed them to fit. But, as always, twist my arm and I can offer a real answer. 

And that answer is Transformers: Till All Are One. It has so quickly become my favorite Transformers title from the entire IDW line and I just was enraptured in each panel. It’s a definite win from me, even in a week as fantastic and tightly held as this one.

So how was everyone else’s Wednesday pull? Agree with me? Disagree? Think I should be picking up something I’ve missed? Please feel free to let me know!

[zlutldr]

Why Villains Rock

I was recently talking to another person about why villains could be so attractive/interesting to some of us and that led me to realize some interesting things.

I’ve loved villains since I was a tiny little girl. 

I was a ridiculously good kid. 

I saved bugs from boys who would torture them for fun, I helped everyone I could and wanted to be friends with everyone I met. 

And yet for some reason I adored the bad guys. Scar, Jafar, Lotor, Starscream. The heros usually did nothing for me.

Looking back I can finally explain it.

Take the average hero/heroine from kids’ entertainment:

good-looking

reacts rather than act proactively

average or lower than average intelligence

little to no ambition

no plans

designed to be relatable for the ‘average’, ‘normal’ person

Take the villains:

usually ugly (or very beautiful instead, but hardly ever bland)

proactive and motivated

often smart (or at least cunning)

ambitious

plan ahead and execute those plans

often quirky or gay coded

The second list can be used to describe me. I was like that for as long as I can remember. I was always weird, always proactive, always planning, always struggling to achieve what I wanted. 

And now that I think of it, I find it very disturbing that so many very good qualities are given almost exclusively to the badguys, the ones kids are not supposed to emulate because they use those qualities for malicious ends. Kids hardly ever get role-models that would teach them to take control of their lives and achieve their goals. The only examples of a protagonist with those qualities I can name off of the top of my head would be Tiana (2009), Judy Hopps (2016) and Danny (1997).

Tiana is amazing, she’s a hard-working woman with not just a dream and a wish upon a star, but an actual business plan. She wants to rise above her station, she wants to run a restaurant. And she’s “working hard each and every day” to get there. That’s what I’d like to show to my kids when I have them! There’s a princess I want them to emulate.

Judy is much in the same vein, only she wants to be a cop. Despite how tough the job is and how much the stereotypes are against her.

Danny may not be the brightest and his plan is also pretty basic (to be a star), but throughout the movie he never gives up even though Hollywood is rough on him. He’s also the only one of the three who was around when I was a kid. And little me always liked Danny despite the fact he was a main character (the fact he’s a cat probably helped XD).

All those characters strive to achieve their goals without direct outside pressure, just because they want to. I guess out of the lot of them Judy is closest to cunning and scheming (how ironic that she’s a rabbit). I thought of putting Mulan on the list, but her journey begins not out of her own desire for change, but only because her father’s life is in danger.

Kids entertainment at large gives children role-models who fumble through life with no plan and little to no agency until the villain comes and leaves them no choice but to react. It makes sense from a narrative point of view to have a hero who reacts to the villain’s schemes and not the other way around, but with the overwhelming majority of kids entertainment working this way I’m afraid we’re not encouraging kids (and the adults they grow into) to take control of their lives or have ambition. We tell them those things are bad, ugly weird people do those things (and by association being ugly and weird is also bad). It’s only ok to react, to act only in response to some very big event/danger, etc.

Thankfully I never much cared for what other people think (in contrast to what they do), so the fact all my favorite characters were baddies - and what others might think of that - never worried me. I felt perfectly comfortable finding inspiration in the villains’ drive, their schemes and the aesthetic. I made grand plans myself, and I made those plans a reality. I grew up poor, but I wanted financial security and went to get a degree that pays, now I’m middle-class. Disney cartoons made me want to search for that one true love, I went out and looked, and I’ve found it in my dear @luffik. She was in a different country though, so after six years of a painful long-distance relationship I realized another plan: I moved abroad - something I’ve worked for it since I was kid. And now I did it twice.

So take inspiration from the worst of villains if you have to, but don’t go with the flow if the flow is carrying you towards a waterfall. Make plans, think your options through, act smartly and don’t give up. Tenacity will get you anywhere.

P.S. Dexter from Dexter’s Lab is probably another good protagonist role-model by my criteria, but the show wasn’t available in my home country, so I’m not sure. Also I guess the segment of Tarzan growing up in the Disney cartoon kinda works, but it’s not central to the story.

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup 30/5/17

What’s that? Is it Wonder Woman Week? It’s definitely ladies week... plus some lovable turtles all the same and you know what? This particular comic reader and reviewer could not be happier for it. So let’s see how things pan out...

Image’s Saga, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One, DC’s Wonder Woman (2017- ): Wonder Woman Day Special

Image’s Saga (2012-present) #43 Brian K. Vaughn, Fiona Staples

Now that I’ve almost completely caught up on Saga in digital, I thought why the heck not go ahead and subscribe to the series rather than wait for the trade collection. ... Also I’ll admit that them selling this issue at $0.99 to attract new readers got me since in the long run I’d be saving by buying monthly rather than waiting for the trade. You got me, Image. You finally got me. Damn. 

In any case, Saga continues to be just completely unparalleled in its relevance and heart. It conquers issues of the day -- including transgenderism, abortion rights, mixed race family dynamics, and raising children in unconventional environments -- while also being wholly set in its own universe with its own rules and settings. It mixes Sci-Fi and Fantasy flawlessly while addressing the notes of incompatibility between them.

And then sometimes you have to fight shit monsters. 

Obviously I adore this comic and as long as it’s been running, I actually can’t think of a better hopping on spot for new readers than this issue, as it comes to address so much of what’s happened in the past of these characters, bringing things back around circle, and also brings us a new shock with the last page revelation. 

A true “wait what” if I’ve ever seen one. 

Great comic, great issue, and a must read for anyone interested in truly defining change in the industry. 

Also as a complete side note, I wonder how many of my fellow 90s kids saw that zebra throughout the issue and had a craving for fruit stripe gum. Like it was intense. And I’m not a sugar person. 

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present): Free Comic Book Day 2017 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Cory Smith, Ronda Pattison

I’m always a supporter of Free Comic Book Day, but another thing I find interesting about it is how companies attempt to use it to bring new readers up to date on current storylines or preview for upcoming big events. A lot of times, though, that unfortunately leads to things being a tad lazy with their freebies, reprinting already run issues or making a hodge podge of comics to sort of tease newbies. 

IDW, as always, refuses to be so insular or simple.

Not only was FCBD a new issue for the series, but it provided the characters’ perspectives on the past two years of storylines together and brings about a compelling and complete story within the issue itself -- having a villain to be defeated, a puzzle to figure out, and in general giving a satisfactory issue on its own while still hinting toward the upcoming return of the Dimension X plot of the ongoing series. 

I love these characters, I love how well handled they are, and I love how IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continues to use ingenuity in bringing together the entirety of the TMNT franchise. It’s fantastic. 

IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One (2016-present) #10 Mairghread Scott, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente

The depths of Starscream’s depravity continues and I kind of adore watching the descent? I was actually curious if mneumosurgery was going to receive more development in non-Lost Light/MTMTE titles and considering my fascination with it in my own fic, I’m obviously very pleased to see it brought into Scott’s work now. I love that his arrogance and manipulation seemingly knows no bounds and yet we can’t help but feel like his work actually is in the best interests of Cybertron as he sees it. Or is it?

I love that the universe also keeps expanding -- Chromia hunting Legio, Arachnid being a mneumosurgeon that has been working with Starscream since the very first storyline’s mysteries (and being a different character from Black Arachnia which makes me excited because yassss have my cake and eat it toooooo), Elita One’s work counteracting Starscream. 

I love it all so very much. And Blast Off and Onslaught are now officially a #poblematic fav couple, dammit. I already have 30 of those for Transformers. 

DC’s Wonder Woman (Rebirth) (2017-present): Annual #1 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and MANY MORE!

Four-stories-in one and Wonder Woman once more delivers on the sort of quality that has been expected of the title for the last year. We completely retcon the origins of how the Trinity originally met and their interactions with each other is just top tier fun both from Rucka’s writing and love for all three (and Lois!!!) as well as Scott’s never failing to amaze art. And I can’t help but feel like this was the definite highlight of the whole annual, which explains this being the cover story. 

The others are... decent to okay. With the Japanese setting story kind of obviously misunderstanding the emphasis Rucka’s past year of worldbuilding has put into Diana using her lasso rather than using her sword but still it got us some peace there.

All the stories are fairly good for pumping one up for all aspects of Wonder Woman and the excitement that will come from her film debut this weekend, but I also feel like there’s some missed opportunities here.

I was really hoping for a preview of the next creative team’s work, and especially at least getting a sense of Shea Fontana’s characterization for Diana, which we didn’t really get. And even more importantly, for a Wonder Woman spectacular celebrating all there is to love about Wonder Woman and what she means as an icon... I’m not really pleased with the idea that her first annual of this series has so few women working on it. 

Diana’s consistently muscular, beautiful, kind, and resourceful throughout the story but it’d have been doubly as awesome if DC had used this opportunity to promote more of their female creative talent. 

DC’s Wonder Woman (2017-present): Wonder Woman Day Special #1 Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp, Laura Martin

It’s a reprinting of the first issue of Wonder Woman Rebirth. 

That’s not entirely a bad thing, and it gave me the chance to reread the first issue like I talked about doing in last week’s Wondy installment, to see if the racial cringing was any less cringing (it’s not), but it’s a reprint promoting the current book just in time for new readers excited by the Wonder Woman (2017) film out this Friday to pick up a free comic digitally, or go to their local stores and pick up the first two volumes of Rucka’s run which includes Wonder Woman: Year One and Wonder Woman: The Lies. 

It’s good marketing, even if I’m still really displeased with the handling of race issues in the beginning of Wonder Woman’s Rebirth return. 

There’s not much more to say to it than that. 

Overall this was a good week and it was especially great on the front of being full of comic ladies, but even though I’m as happy as anyone to celebrate a good Wonder Woman Day, my absolute biggest emotions for this week’s comics definitely came from Saga, which is one of the greatest comics of this generation and a pleasure to read, but especially on the ball this week.

But that’s just my opinion! I’d love to hear from all of you. Agree? Disagree? Think I missed a good comic to pick up? I’d love to hear from you!