#TFA speculation

[tachyon-omlette]

I will get to the Phantos and Eda interactions, I promise, but let me ask you in return; what does Eda think of Maelstrom, Viceglide, Posthaste and the crew?

Eda is somewhat wary of Maelstrom, and not entirely because she's a mnemosurgeon. She radiates her classic morbid curiosity often enough to set off Eda like a Geiger counter; she reminds him of Quintus, and not in a good way. Chances are that he'd take measures to avoid her whenever possible, which might only make her more curious, to his dismay. It's ironic, in this context, that his neck is one of the few weak points in his armor - but then again, it'd be near impossible to get that close.

Viceglide, in contrast, he can understand to some degree. Eda does not deal with or trust Cybertronians any more than he has to - and neither, it seems, does Viceglide. They are both odd sizes for the worlds in which they exist, albeit in opposite directions. They both know the allure of zealous scientists and have in their own turns succumbed to it. Eda does not particularly like him, but he might tolerate Viceglide to a higher degree than he does any other Cybertronian, even if Viceglide does not trust him.

Posthaste gives him hope. All newsparks do, no matter how many times that hope has been shattered before. Even at a distance - because I don't imagine his creators would let Eda get too close - he can tell how much Posthaste is loved. He is glad for it, but so too is he envious.

The other members of Phantos, to him, are simply more Cybertronians to deal with. Though he would not make overtures to gain their favor, neither would he reject any attempts at conversation - though as soon as anything remotely resembling you should join the Decepticons slips out, he's leaving.

[revelboo]

I was going to dm you but I’m shy, so I’ll just ask here- I’ve been refreshing the “transformers x reader tag” since last night, and nothing new is appearing even tho you and other writers I follow have posted stuff under the tag??? this is so weird-

I just tested it and same. I can’t see new stuff under the tag either, so I’m guessing it’s a Tumblr issue.

Oh, pretty sure they’d hate it. The sound reminding them how fragile human bones are.

Weird Human Stuff Headcanons Pt 2

Various Transformers x Reader scenarios

TFP Ratchet

• Stiffening as you shift your weight and your knee pops, his denta grind. Because he’d made the mistake of flinching the first time you’d absently done it and you apparently delight in making him uncomfortable. Those little pops unsettling, because he knows how little your bones are, how fragile. “I’ve told you that’s bad for you.” Looking at you, he watches you smile up at him. And shift to pop the other knee. Primus, give him strength. “Don’t come crying to me when your joints hurt later.”

Waspinator

• Legs pinned under your clingy, giant alien wasp you fidget with your hands and absently crack your knuckles. And his head comes up, optics wide and antenna back. “Don’t,” he hisses, wings buzzing slightly. Staring at him in speculation, you deliberately crack your knuckles again and he flinches back. Wait. Wait, that freaks him out? Popping your thumb to confirm it and watching him recoil. A wicked part of you can’t help but grin. “Please,” he whines, ruining your fun at his expense, because tormenting him is like kicking a puppy. As tempting as it is to use this new knowledge to drive him off to get some space, you know you won’t no matter how annoying he can be.

TFA Starscream

• Freezing when you pop your knuckles, he stares as the mini-con nearest you flinches away with a startled chirp. “Did you just break your own hands?” Growling in incredulous horror, he hooks a servo around your waist to tug you closer and then to touch your tiny hand, trying to examine it. “Why would you do-” Anger faltering when you wiggle your fingers at him, looking sheepish. Some strange human thing? “Don’t do that again.” Because for a moment, his spark had constricted painfully with alarm that you were not only hurt, but that you’d hurt yourself on his watch.

Metroplex

• “Stop,” he growls, voice pleading as he catches your hands in his drone’s and separating them, he vents as you just smile up at him in amusement. Like harming yourself is no big deal when he’d heard those tiny bones crack and it hurts him. “Don’t ever do that again. Please. I’m here.” And you just look puzzled, not even trying to pull free as he feathers his servos over your hands, looking for damage. Finding none, he tugs you closer, resting the drone’s chin on to of your head, but not releasing your hands. Understands being frustrated or lonely, but he’s here and he can’t allow you to hurt yourself.

Previous

[burb-ie]

OKAY MORE INFODUMPING YAY

Anyways, transformers animated lore is very interesting to me because of how both sides kinda suck

The Autobots have that whole project omega thing, where they made ships whose sole purpose was to be war machines who needed handlers to keep them from squishing the Autobots.

Perceptor in this universe actually deleted all his emotions to make more room for SCIENCE, and this is even reflected in his brief appearances in the show where he’s voiced with a text-to-speech program. It’s unclear how much of him is even left in there, as he seems only dedicated to science but it still seen as the head of the Autobot science division

Autobots in general are also pretty disgusted by organics, which is usually played for laughs (giant robots afraid of small humans), but they seem to not be able to distinguish between sapient and non-sapient organic species and deem them all disgusting. However, this isn’t universal since our main Autobot team doesnt show this revulsion at all even at the start.

The Autobot Commonwealth is basically an alliance between dozens of planets who are protected by the Autobot fleet. It’s dedicated to protecting the people, who can travel between planets freely, but do seemingly live under Autobot authority. There’s even a long list of planets in the commonwealth from the Almanac, is crazy how many names they just came up with that are barely ever mentioned.

The Autobots also have a very function based society, where people are seemingly free to choose their jobs but it seems they believe they are limited by what they can do from their programming.

One interesting fact is that Autobot frame types are reused a lot to explain why some bots look the same or similar (which is mentioned briefly in the show) - Bumblebee is a very common type, the 65356-9292-346 which is stated to be very fuel efficient. There is quite a bit of variation within these types though.

They also have the Autotroopers, who act as police in Cybertron. They are all identical in body shape and voice, which has an actual explanation! On the back of their toy box (Autotrooper 2011 toy) it’s stated that Autobots go through a remoulding process into their uniform shell, which was made specifically for this role, and that in times of war they can be brought under the direct command of the current Magnus. So… yeah, Autobots have an explicitly militaristic police force.

This reformatting is also something stated again in the Allspark Almanac, as the TFA version of Drift (he’s from the comics) used to be a decepticon and specifically got a new body when he became an Autobot. (Speculation ahead) So this disparity between Decepticons and Autobots isn’t just coincidental, it’s actively enforced.

On the other side of the conflict, there’s the Decepticon Empire:

During the Great War, Decepticons conquered numerous Autobot colonies but lost them all by the end of the war and were driven out into the rim of the galaxy. However, they rebuilt as a smaller empire (much smaller than the Autobot Commonwealth) and have a new capital planet of New Kaon.

Sentinel Minor in the Allspark Almanac (before he became a Prime) says that the Decepticons have five times less the industrial capacity of the Autobots, which is believable considering they have much less planets and are seemingly struggling to survive (New Kaon is said to be a very unimpressive capital, and their main goal is to conquer the home planet of Cybertron).

There are also Decepticons scattered across the galaxy after the war, in hiding.

I won’t recount the full backstory of Cybertron, but it’s all on the TFWiki in the Animated continuity section on the Decepticon page or in the Allspark Almanac II, but basically Decepticons are imperialists who want to expand and conquer the galaxy. When Megatron took control of the Decepticons, the tensions between the Decepticons and Autobots reached a boiling point and the Great War started.

They created a few biological weapons like cosmic rust, so they’re definitely not against war crimes.

My memory might be flagging here, but we actually don’t know much about the Decepticon society or if there are even any Decepticons who aren’t warriors. Since Autobots are obviously not trustworthy, it’s left up to interpretation. Theyre definitely some sort of dictatorship though, and see native species like humans as collateral damage at best.

They might be more tolerant of organics, since the character Blackarachnia is one of the generals, but we aren’t given any ideas since none of their colony planets have any info in general.

Blackarachnia, who’s introduced in the show, was the one who surgically made Blitzwing a triple changer. Blitzwing used to be a seeker, but the surgery made him extremely unstable and “fractured his mind”. This isn’t really expanded on though (Blackarachnia did have an episode idea in season 4, though we don’t know if it would’ve expanded on this)

Not everything might not be important, but I find it all interesting in fleshing out the world of Animated! (Also I’m totally gonna send an ask about the start of the war in animated, but you can find it also on the TFwiki). I also tried to avoid spoilers for the show lol.

omg waking up to this is the best thing to ever happen, I once again thank you for this infodump I am absorbing this all like a sponge, and ill see how I can use this in the crossover AU, also if you wanna send me an ask telling me about the start of the war then youre free to do so! im enjoying these alot

[pinkanonwrites]

Who do you think would be the best partner for a human? It's already hard to date in different cultures, the sheer amount of communication that must go into an alien relationship must surely be astonishing. Different cultures, upbringing and general bodily functions. Rung does immediately come to mind, but what do you think?

I like to think that humans have a "relationship" culture that is very different from cybertronian. What view do you have on that front?

There are a couple different bots that I think would be good partners for a human, based on a whole variety of factors like general demeanor, willingness to learn and communicate, and level of curiosity and comfort with humans. Rung is and excellent choice, but others that immediately spring to mind include G1 Hound, Jazz and Beachcomber, TFA Prowl and Bumblebee, IDW Swerve and Misfire, RID 2015 Fixit, Knightverse Bumblebee and Mirage, and Skybound Optimus Prime (from what little we've gotten to see of him so far!) All of these bots exhibit a curiosity and fascination with humans and Earth that would definitely help them get a foot in the door when it comes to making friends, and though they all have different demeanors they all veer on the side of more gentle and respectful of the average human than a lot of other Cybertronians.

As for my thoughts on Cybertron's relationship culture, it tends to shift depending on the continuity being discussed. Transformers Animated strikes me as a very harsh society where public displays of affection would be frowned upon. Meanwhile IDW (especially MTMTE) seems much more open and comfortable with the concepts of both platonic and romantic love, as well as couples. Save for the comic series we don't really get much of a peek into the relationship cultures of different iterations of Cybertron, so the few thoughts I do have are purely speculative based on what glimpses of Cybertron's atmosphere we get.

[incyrayinc]

Rebageling this from my transformers sideblog

Hi I’m Inc and I LOVE creating CURSED headcannons and going waaay too deep into the speculative biology of things, ROBOTS INCLUDED Lemme know if you ALSO subscribe to the ‘Cybertronian proboscis headcannon’ idea, before I posted this after whatever SHARE WITH ME IF YOU, TOO, TAKE JOY IN MAKING THE ROBOTS PROGRESSIVELY MORE AND MORE BUG-LIKE and of course, PLEASE PLEASE use this headcannon wherever and however you like if you like it! incorporate it into your stories! your fanart! I WANT TO SEE MORE OF IT (maniacal cackling) ILLUSTRATIONS FEATURING: my two custom Blorbos, Cloudy and Orange who still need actual names and reference sheets, alongside the cannon characters who I have cruelly subjected to insect-ification

Cloudy is the big one with the sharp teeth, and Orange is the small one that looks like a cat

[knight-a3]

So Transformers is a thing I like. Mostly "Transformers Animated". Because TFA Blitzwing is my favorite. I've got a backlog of stuff I've been meaning to share but just never got around to.

Like others, I have speculated what he must've been like before he became a triple changer. My current headcanon is that he was similar to G1 in appearance. His face is white, and is shaped like if Icy wore Hothead's visor. And his personality is a mix between all three of his faces. He's rambunctious and loud, but surprisingly strategic in and capable in battle, but also has a relatively short temper.

More about my Blizwing headcanons under the cut.

Becoming a triple changer basically ripped those aspects of his personality apart, and each one became an extreme version of those traits. To have any semblance of his original personality would require rapid shifting between the faces, but that's disorienting for everyone while also not really succeeding.

Blitzwing does not have DID(Disassociative Identity Disorder), nor a fictional variant of it. The faces are not different characters, and none of them are the "original" face. And they are all equally intelligent and aware(meaning Hothead isn't dumb and Random is not a innocent baby). The main difference is how each face makes decisions and expresses himself. They are all the same Blitzwing, each face just represents an isolated aspect of his original personality, and the jarring mood shift between them.

Icy, Random, and Hothead are not their names. They're just labels to clarify what behavior set is being referred to. He'll get upset if he's referred to them as if they're his name. As he said in the first episode, "The name's Blitzwing!" Using them as a descriptive prefix is acceptable (ie "Icy Blitzwing" is calm and calculated), but just barely; it's a reminder of how fractured his mind has become.

Despite the everyday struggles, each face has its benefits.

Icy is strategic, observant, and calculating. Hothead is powerful, resilient, and persistent. Random is versatile, quick-witted, unpredictable, and adaptable.

On the downside, Hothead and Random are prone to brash decisions. Hothead is easily provoked, and Random is easily distracted and is distracting. Icy lacks passion or ambition and is overall subdued.

Overall, Icy is the most stable of the three. And is the most tolerable for the other Decepticons to deal with(more tolerable than his original personality, even). Blitzwing used to switch between the faces more wildly and leaving him more disoriented. So he had to train himself to switch smoothly and default to Icy(partly so he doesn't piss off Megatron too much).

And as a final note! He was best buddies with Astrotrain. But things ended tragically. I don't have details set in stone, but I have a few ideas I'll throw out later.

[blackpensils]

There's been questions on the difference between the Megs of all 3 fics but I wonder what's up with the Optis? Specifically PN, since RoA is practically canon TFA cartoon & likewise ACL is canon up to a certain point plus these two have been compared the most out of all.

PN Opti however seemingly has a bit of a different backstory than the other two. I mean besides the whole reincarnated Orion Pax situation of course. Cause I reread it recently and I realised PN Opti seemingly doesn't have the esteem issues that say ACL kinda has?

'A simple Prime from Iacon' not a washout, or indication of belief that he's really of a lower station, stated as so more out of humbleness. So is it possible that The Incident™ doesn't happen/end not so horribly? Cause I don't think Opti was on the ship long enough to resolve whatever issues That could have spawned.

Could be just Megatron obtaining the Allspark early just in time to skew the roadway of events that would've ended with The Incident™ but regardless Optimus here seems to have graduated in a better state than his others.

But also kinda implies a different trajectory in his Academy time? While yes negotiating with the Decepticons seems to be hard task and should be tied with great honour, it's also possible that Megs requested him specifically and/or the council just threw whoever was capable but not too important justtt in case (cough but also maybe they Know. Oh actually how did Orion Pax died in the first place ouhhhh)

It could just him being humble tumble, but if he was Top of the Class, shining bright future Senior Cadet surely he wouldn't just be a Simple Prime? I mean what's stopping Ultra from expressing more of his pride & expectation on Opti, after all if he really plans for a future Magnus, wouldn't it be good for Opti to be aware and be able to prepare himself for even the possibility since it is a heavy burden? (Unless Ultra Magnus Knows too ouhhhhhhh)

As it is a more simpler and shorter fic than the others so I'm not sure it you have a far expansion for PN but curiosity is killing me hehe (also cough my conspiracy board won't stop speaking voices to me)

I believe the incident (Archa Seven and Elita’s so called ‘death’) didn’t happen at all in PN. I don’t really remember too clearly, but I think I originally had intentions of mentioning Optimus’ and his platonic trine, but I don’t remember if I ever did so. But Elita never became Blackarachnia in PN, she graduated with Optimus and Sentinel and probably works for the Science Department. Sentinel and Optimus became Prime’s together and Optimus never went to Earth. Megatron never crashed on the planet, so Sari doesn’t exist, etcetera.

Optimus was sent to negotiate because he looks like Orion, something that Ultra Magnus is well aware. He personally knew Orion when he was just a Prime and Orion was a simple archivist working for Alpha Trion in the Hall of Records. There might be more to it if I ever expand on PN into more than just shameless smut.

But Optimus definitely got the job to negotiate with Megatron because of his resemblance to Orion Pax and thus with the hopes that his looks would sway Megatron (which it did since Megatron folded Op like a lawn chair the second he got him alone).

I never intended for PN to be anything more or lore heavy, but it is fun to speculate and talk about it since it is less compared to ACL and ROA.

[justanotherperson1]

Heyo,

Just had another what if reasons since you mentioned TFP! Op somehow managing to summon Bay! Op because of a Vector Prime artifact Team Prime (and TFP! Optimus himself) would probably wonder why such a brutal version of Optimus had been sent before them instead of someone like G1! or TFA! Op. My brain immediately went to turbo creative mode and I narrowed it down to these three possible outcomes as to why.

(Pure speculation)

1. Unicron has actually managed to destroy Bay! OP’s earth and him getting summoned was kinda Vector’s way of saving a Prime (if they were in the worst possible circumstance).

2. At the end of part 4 Bay! Op leaves Earth in order to protect his friends while hunting down his creators. In this AU being accidentally summoned by TFP! Op into the TFP universe was for a reason. Perhaps one of his creators is actually from the TFP universe (*cough* Shockwave *cough*).

3. Since Bay! Op is such a brutal character, perhaps him getting sent to the TFP universe is a way of him rediscovering himself giving him hope to be a better bot. At the end of his journey he’s still our lovable war criminal but his personality can end up being similar to that of ROTB! Op at the end of his movie. (Where he can actually smile)

OOOOOHHHHH

I LOVE ALL OF THESE

Darkest timeline of all. I kind of imagined Vector to be so disconnected from any one reality that out of the billions of timelines he wades just outside of, he kind of just wanted to see what happened with Bay! being armed with the knowledge TFP! needs to actually defeat Unicron, if only to finally see a different outcome than that of Unicron simply rising.

Also super cool, because in the comics, shockwave fucks around with minerals he cultivated to control time, space, and so on if only to find a power source for Cybertron (horrifying) This one feels like one of the projects from @lets-try-some-writing (The imposter AU I think?)

REDEPTION IS GREAT. Like a sort of "calling the kings and queens of old" from Narnia moment, where the new young prince uses a relic from the past to summon his help, but those who were summoned were also in need and they defeat the enemy together. Maybe Primus is looking out for TFP! Prime after all. Soft bay! learning to not let his anger control him is also a great plus.

I don't see why all of these ideas could be used at once too. I love the trope of different characters attributing larger-than-life incidents to either purpose, god or science and the author hints at them all being the case.

[mychlapci]

TFA anon here who is actually not talking abt TFA for once again but is actually talking about G1.

Anyways, I feel like if Starscream actually carried and birthed out some sparklings he would be more respected. He may even be more tolerable while pregnant. Since he never birthed any soldiers for the Decepticons, he isn’t well respected by others. Maybe at some point he sucks up his pride and decides to carry some seekerlings and it actually mellows him out a bit because of it. Bots actually start paying attention to him and carries out his orders now. Maybe he becomes a lot tamer and calmer as his pregnancy moves along and his belly grows bigger and bigger.

Honestly, who the hell knows who got Starscream pregnant. Some speculate it might have been Megatron, but Megatron is confused on who the fuck willingly stuck their dick in him as well so it could be anyone.

The only real way they would know who the sire is if either when the sparklings are born (which will take a while) or if Starscream tells them, which when asked he just laughs and tells them to guess. The only hint they get is that it was a bot who could fly, which did not help in the slightest.

Some Decepticons say it’s Soundwave’s, others say it’s Thundercracker’s or even Skywarp’s, meanwhile very few swear up and down that it’s either Megatron’s (which was proven false) or Optimus’ (which was outrageous because he can’t fly).

I like the idea that through the grapevine the Autobots end up finding out that Starscream is pregnant.

All in all, the Decepticons descend into chaos and Starscream is watching it all with a smile while hiding who the sire is because he thinks it’s funny seeing them come up with hilariously wrong answers.

Really what I’m trying to say is that I want to see that twink pregnant and give birth.

Oh, we’ve had a “leaders prove their ability to lead by getting knocked up” thing before, haven't we… Starscream finally biting the bullet and realizing that if he is to get the respect he wants, he will have to carry young, so he gets himself knocked up and enjoys the bewildered stares directed at his growing belly.

Maybe it mellows him out, maybe people are just more likely to listen to a proven carrier in the first place, or a mixture of both, but Starscream is suddenly much easier to listen to. Not easy enough for people to spend more time than necessary near him, but just enough for 'cons to consider taking his orders more seriously nowadays....

Honestly, I hope Skyfire's the sire. Starscream's gonna have a very big litter.

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

Which characters have the highest smash-to-pass ratio so far? (In both direction, so the highest "yes" to smash and the highest "no" to smash) I'm curious, and also if you have any speculation on why that is or if you think any of the people in any of the polls got cheated / ppl are just WRONG abt a certain character's attractiveness / lack thereof

I've been holding off on this ask for awhile (because I'm lazy and I didn't want to have to remember a bunch of numbers lmaooooo) but upon combing through the blog, I have answers.

Highest smash rate is G1 Starscream, coming in with an 87.7%. Submissive and breedable king, so sayeth the transformers fandom.

Lowest smash rate would be TFA Sentinel Prime with only 30.3%, which does not really surprise me, but it is kind of funny given he's basically the Autobots' Starscream equivalent (Ultra Magnus has fallen! I, Sentinel, am now your leader!!)

In terms of characters that were robbed, I'd say tfa lockdown because he was majority pass. I genuinely, truly thought people were hornier for him. He's a spiky goth dirtbag with a hot voice that seduces good upstanding autobots to do naughty naughty things, like that's hot.

And, of course, we can't forget my BOY, SEASPRAY!!!! HE FUCKS HUMANS IN CANON, ONLY TO FACE REJECTION. FOR SHAME!! /J

[blueikeproductions]

So I’m now aware of EarthSpark rumors of a major character dying in the final episodes, and for whatever reason TFW2005 insists in their speculation it’s gonna be Optimus so Twitch gets the Matrix.

-rubs temples in confusion and annoyance-

Ok so a few things.

How the slag does that make any sense? Optimus is barely a character in EarthSpark, the show treats Megatron more as the hero. The way the show treats Optimus so poorly, I think if they could get away with it, Dot would be partying like Squidward at the mere idea of Optimus dying.

My point being they offer no emotional reason or investment for this Optimus dying. TFA gave a more emotional punch for its Optimus dying and he only stayed dead for a few seconds.

Two, and this is a more silly one, but how would the Matrix even fit inside Twitch’s chest? I’m pretty sure Twitch is about the same size AS the Matrix itself, unless the MacGuffin can size change? I don’t remember if that’s ever been a thing actually. For that matter does it even make sense for Twitch to get the Matrix? Having the Matrix typically means you’re the leader of ALL Transformers (but specifically Autobots in war time). I don’t think Twitch wants that or ever had a desire for that. Nor does it really make sense to give her the Matrix simply to make her leader of the Terrans, when she and Robbie seem to take turns. … Admittedly Robbie is more the leader than she is during S2, so shouldn’t Robbie get the Matrix by that logic?

Basically this but with Robbie instead of Hawk.

It would arguably make more sense if the Terrans were to have their own Matrix, they would’ve gotten a Terran Matrix of Bonds or some such. Presumably created from the Emberstone itself similar to the TFA Allspark getting a G1 Matrix container.

There’s also the Mini-Con Matrix from Dreamwave Armada.

Although that wasn’t a symbol of leadership but a MacGuffin designed to kill Unicron by the dead Mini-Cons of another universe. Plus the more I think of it, the Cyber Sleeves are a sort of Matrix in their own right, so I guess Robbie did get the Matrix after all….!

On a related note, they tried a similar idea in Cyberverse, with Robo-Robotnik and normal Megatron both being able to use the Autobot Matrix.

Admittedly they shouldn’t be able to because even Autobot Megatron couldn’t use the Matrix without Rodimus Prime helping him in IDW. And the last time otherwise in G1 saw Galvatron being unable to use it in his cannon, and Scourge became this.

So this leads into who is more thematically appropriate: Megatron.

He is basically all but the Autobot leader in the eyes of the writers, and the best character ever in that same regard. There’s far more emotional attachment by comparison to Optimus too; Megatron’s role, similar to his IDW self, is about redemption, second chances, trying to keep the next generation from making his same mistakes, & if necessary dying for his found family. That would be a more thematic end for Megatron, dying for his sins, but fully redeemed in protecting the Terrans and Maltos against… I would assume the Quintessons.

Plus, let’s be honest, if someone were to get the Matrix after Optimus, it’d more than likely be Megatron due to the staff’s bias towards him and their clear distain of Optimus. Wouldn’t that be something, Megatron basically “wins” by being good and inheriting the Matrix to lead Cybertron with the Terrans as his cheer leaders and angels to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Still regarding the Matrix, Hasbro continues to be weird about someone becoming Prime after Optimus, and a new Megatronus Prime, Twitchimus Prime or Maltous Prime probably wouldn’t fly with Hasbro if we still can’t get a proper Rodimus Prime in cartoons that isn’t a butt monkey. -side eyes Prime Wars in particular-

[revelboo]

im 110% gonna take pictures of lego beebs once i build him nstuff BUT. BUTT. i found out the tfa constructicons just full on have plumbers cracks; the allspark almanac is full of all sorts of weird little gems gdshgjkmdsg- wanted to share since their idw counterparts got their moment to shine

Oh, no. Yikes, they’re- just, no 😂 thanks, I hate it

Drive Pt 2

Constructicons x Reader

• “What do you think the boss meant? About fragging humans?” Long Haul asks, looking from Hook to Scrapper. Because one of them must know. “Cause it sounded like somebody is.” Which makes no sense whatsoever. Sure, it’s fun enough to chase and terrorize them, but they’re not really sturdy enough for that. And far too small. Leaning over the berth where Hook had laid their human, he nudges you with a servo, fascinated despite himself with how soft you are.

• Aware of the speculative way Mixmaster, Long Haul, and Scavenger are studying you, Hook vents. “No one’s fragging humans.” Probably. But who knew? With the things he’s seen in Medbay, it honestly wouldn’t surprise him one bit. It’s not like it was that long ago that Wildrider was dragged into into Medbay by two of the other Stunticons with his spike wedged in a section of oversized concrete pipe and a lot of attitude about it. Most of it angry and sullen. And they look down on them. At least they don’t try scrap like that.

• Everything hurts as you shift, aware that you’re lying on something hard. Whimpering when something hard bumps you and rolls you onto your back. Eyes squinting open, your heart stutters in your chest as three vibrantly green monsters loom over you. “It’s awake,” one of them says, a giant servo still outstretched. Screaming, you roll and go sprawling when you try to lunge to your hands and knees. “And loud,” the same one growls with a laugh as your eyes water at the throbbing in your ankle. Broken? Sprained? Trying to crawl away only to have one grab you by that leg and drag you back as you scream.

• “Leave it,” Scrapper growls, venting as Long Haul keeps rolling you onto your back as you panic before pinning you flat under his hand. And you’re screaming again. “What did I just say? Leave it alone.” Glowering until Long Haul huffs and lets you go and then Scrapper has to pin you on your belly when you try to scramble away, noticing you’re pretty much dragging one leg. And he almost feels bad. Almost. “Pet’s broken, Hook.”

• Pet? “I’m not a pet,” you whisper, eyes watering as you’re gently pinned flat, the pressure enough to make it hard to breathe but not crush you. And then a new one is running his big servos over you, ignoring when you fight his examination. Hearing him venting as he touches your ankle and you cry out. “Stop!” He ignores that too, carefully manipulating your foot as you sob.

• “Don’t be so dramatic.” You’re leaking as Hook checks your ankle, but really? He has no idea what to look for. If it’s broken or not. Knows next to nothing about humans. “Be still,” he snarls as you struggle, leaning over you and smacking his other fist against the berth and you finally stop, eyes wide and heart beating frantically against his servos. “Maybe broken from the fall,” he tells Scrapper with a shrug. “I don’t fix humans.” A warm, little hand lands on his servo, trying to push him away in vain. Those terrified eyes overflowing and pained.

• “Can I play with it?” Scavenger asks, leaning his arms on the berth you’d been placed on. Aware of his brothers crowding around to see. As soon as Hook removes his servo, you curl up on your side, arms over your head and legs pulled tight to your body and his amusement fades. Because you’re even smaller up close, with tiny breakable bones and soft flesh. That’s discolored in places from their handling and the fall. And the sound you’re making? That hitching, broken sound of fear as you shake violently? He hates the way it makes his spark twist and ache and looking up at his brothers, he sees their uncertainty on how to deal with this. That it’s not fun anymore. Hesitant, he reaches out to run his servo against your spine. Sees Mixmaster touch your hair and Long Haul stroke an arm as you cringe into a tighter ball. Bonecrusher brushes against him, reaching to touch your hip while Scrapper and Hook watch and exchange a look.

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[anarchistauthor]

The Last Jedi, the Last Good Star Wars Movie

I'm gonna go ahead and preface this by saying, I have no idea how this will play with my social circle here on Tumblr. I know how my Twitter and Bluesky friends feel about SW, but not y'all. I don't think I've ever even seen a post about it here, and I don't care to go look. Bottom line, I have too many opinions and not enough people who agree with me, so now you have to suffer through this essay. You're welcome.

I was a fan of SW at least as early as I have memories. I'm 29 years old, which means I grew up firmly in the prequel era, and watched them young enough that I didn't even realize older people hated them. Obi-wan was my hero, not my mentor, I never really identified with Anakin and always liked Obi the most. But, and this is important, I loved Star Wars and thought all of it was good. I read one EU book set between episodes 1 and 2, I watched as much of the original Clone Wars series as I could, and I played lightsabers during recess in school. I am at least as nostalgic as every gen xer who laments a bygone era when SW was good because they don't understand that they just liked things better as a kid. But, the difference is, that kind of person tends to despise everything about the sequel trilogy, in my experience. Not so for me.

The Force Awakens was a pretty good movie in my eyes, when I first saw it. I did notice the deja vu, I had very little actual interest in Rey as a character, but just having a female force user at the forefront was huge to me, and it was certainly, at least, a solid foundation for the next two movies. My biggest TFA hot take is that Kylo Ren was the perfect antagonist for this movie, as basically a spoiled shithead who is a fanboy of his grandpa and wants so, so badly to be cool like him. I was also the sort of person who got really invested in the ~mystery~ of Rey's origin, and the speculation of her parentage.

Enter TLJ. My first emotion, at several points during this movie, was dismay. I couldn't believe they just made Rey some random person, after setting up that her background was vague and mysterious! I couldn't believe that Luke never fought anybody and then he died! But, very quickly after, I had time to process my emotions, and I realized that this movie was something special. It manages to "yes, and" TFA while also roasting me for investing so much passion into the questions it rose. "You thought she would somehow be Obi-wan's daughter? Are you serious?" And when you get angry at that, you're met with the obvious question, "Why should it matter?" It shouldn't. We want to see the characters we love come back, but when it comes to this girl, this hero, why should she have to be related to some old dead guy in order to be special? The Force is everywhere, it lives in all of us. That is the central point of TLJ. And, arguably on purpose, this film pissed off Star Wars fans more than anything ever could.

TLJ isn't just a movie that taunts the audience for speculating based on its predecessor, it taunts the audience for being overly invested in the entire franchise. TLJ looks at its series, it looks at the people who watch it, and it demands that you question your relationship with the material. It calls you a fool for assuming that an emotionally-stunted young adult like Luke would become a well-rounded mentor, for assuming that he was incapable of being tempted by darkness, for worshipping him as a pure hero. Because, who is Luke? He was a kid who was bored with simple life, got pulled away into a galactic conflict, and pretty much stumbled his way through saving the world. Even at the final moment, he was very close to murdering his father out of rage. Do you think that's just gonna go away after Palpatine died? Just because Luke put his sword away? No. It also mocks you for assuming Snoke is going to be important just because he's a large man in a fancy chair. He's a parallel to the Emperor, so you assume he'll be the same, and the movie roasts you for it by killing him off unceremoniously. And the Poe plot? That is nothing but one giant own on everyone who loved Poe assuming that the cool guy hotshot was the most important and competent person in the fleet.

The intent of all this playful mockery, I believe, was to get viewers to question how they idealize the past of the franchise. That's what it did for me. But, mediocre white dudes don't like being mocked, as we all know. They take it VERY personally, and they blew up the whole thing. They harassed creatives involved, sent death threats to poor Kelly Marie, and all in all went berserk about this movie for children about space wizards. How dare it move on?! How dare it not just be about my nostalgia?! Not just white, not just men, but I don't feel any need to deny that that's the primary demographic. There was already some backlash to TFA, but TLJ pulled no punches, and the most perpetually-offended fandom in the world lived up to its name. It's really that simple. And as a result, the Disney Overlords scrambled to make them calm down. Enter...Rise of Skywalker.

I. Fucking. HATE this movie. Apart from the fact that it tries to undo everything I loved about TLJ, it's poorly made in more conventional ways. Rushed pace, aimless writing, having no idea what to do with the characters, (not to mention giving the black protagonist a black girlfriend who has all the same backstory and traits as him, lest anyone ship him with Poe) it is the epitome of a movie that only exists for nostalgia, but it can't even do that well. If there's one lesson I've learned from the sequel trilogy, it's that JJ Abrams is not only a trashfire of a director, but he is utterly incapable of reacting to what happened in the previous movie, because he spent so much runtime just calling Rian Johnson a liar! "Rey's not no one, instead she has the most asinine backstory in the history of the franchise." To me, it reeks of a man who despised the way Rian responded to him, and is just desperate to overrule it. As a writer myself, I can't even imagine doing something like that instead of doing my best to work with what came before. The definition of hack behavior.

TLJ was a movie that tried to move Star Wars into the future, to divorce it from idolatry of the past, but ROS is a movie designed with intent to reel it back in, to say, "Hold on, art and creativity are great and all, but Disney gotta make them nostalgia bucks." A return to hero worship, to centering the leads of decades ago, to feeding the lore rather than telling a story. And the fact that it followed a film that told the story it wanted to tell and didn't give a shit how you felt about it, it's just insulting.

This is going to sound like cheesy artist babble, but to me, the art of creation is sacred, in a way. Not literally holy, but just beautiful and meaningful. Even if what comes out is bad, it's worth doing if done with sincerity. That's how I see TLJ. But given the way both fans and the rights holders reacted to it, I'm depressed and pessimistic regarding the future of the franchise. The Phantom Menace was the first movie I loved, and I still like it today. I'm sure I'll love TLJ forty years from now, and I'll probably continue to watch new SW movies when they come out. I don't know if I'll ever love a movie in the franchise again, but I can have hope. This is a movie that proved Star Wars was capable of being better, and that doesn't change just because neckbeards hate it more than they've ever hated anything. This is still going to be the franchise that has TLJ in it, and the haters can't take that from me.

[kalinara]

I did think I would feel a bit more satisfied when an actor finally confirmed what, I think, most of us knew about Kylo Ren's intended arc in the Sequel Trilogy.

Blah, blah, the redemption arc wasn't supposed to happen. Kylo was supposed to be a villain throughout. Where's that Captain Holt vindication gif when you want it?

I'd agree, personally, that it would have made for a better movie if Kylo had remained the big bad. Adam Driver, I think, is the one who really missed out. I feel like he missed out on his chance to go full out, balls to the wall evil overlord. He'd have killed it, I suspect. And I say that as someone who isn't particularly a fan of the guy.

I do think though I get why they went with a half-assed redemption arc, though. I don't think it had anything to do with the Reylos (the kiss maybe, but I'd like to think they're smart enough to realize that rabid shippers generally don't go for the romantic - die for your love type of ending. At least not if the hot guy is doing the dying...)

I think it's because of Carrie Fisher's death.

They'd said for a while that the third movie was supposed to be Leia's, in the way that TFA was Han's, and TLJ was Luke's. Whether or not this made you optimistic probably depends on how much you liked the fates of those characters in those movies. I didn't hate them, personally.

I'm not going to speculate too hard on what the original story would have been. I certainly can imagine some pretty epic stuff with Princess Leia as the Big Good set against her son as the Big Bad. But...well...when you lose one of your primary actors before you get a chance to actually film anything...well, that limits what you can do.

I suppose that's why I'm willing to give Rise of Skywalker a bit more slack than a lot of folk. They were kind of stuck. Ultra-evil Kylo Ren is a more satisfying story with the set up they had, but it's also a tragedy. For what it's worth, the man does have a mother, who will grieve him if no one else does.

Except...we can't actually film the grieving, can we? We can't film the confrontation between despairing mother and lost son - whatever resolution was likely to happen. We can, at least, use some lost footage to TRY to build the relationship between Leia and Rey that needs to happen for that side of the story, but even then, we'll need Force Ghost Luke to help with the more reactive parts.

And of course, they need to write Leia herself out as gracefully as possible. In a way that doesn't require a lot of new footage and still gives the character a sense of accomplishment. Otherwise, you might as well have just blown her up with Hosnian Prime.

So...half assed redemption arc. With not-exactly-force-ghost Han to help there. I do feel like they could have done a better job with Kylo's part there. You know, made it look like he was at least interested in doing something OTHER than violating a woman's mind and terrorizing her for a good third of the movie. But well. No one's ever completely happy with things.

I don't know. In the end, I think the folks behind the Sequel Trilogy did what they could to give us a final, reasonably satisfying conclusion. There were fuck ups along the way (see: Finn, see: Poe. Though that fuckery started with TLJ, IMO) but, I think if we sat down and watched all nine movies in a row, and got to Rise of Skywalker's closing scene...I think we would end it feeling like we'd reached a workable ending to the Skywalker Saga.

Probably because we'd be too exhausted to notice the plotholes at that point. C'est la vie.

[fictionkinfessions]

Ughh.

I'm tired of seeing content about TFP MegaStar, and not even a shred of TFA MegaStar.

Oh, so when our relationship has a clear, abusive power imbalance, that's when you find it interesting, but when there's a more equal power level between us (that would be more interesting to explore, mind you) you don't even care?

I've seen art, writing and speculation all about me and someone I had never even began to love. But what of me and someone who had I loved quite strongly? Barren.

Fuck me, there's actually a few moments in TFA between me and Starscream that would have people screaming over it if it happened in TFP. We have a lot more moments of tension between each other in canon, and yet? No one seems to even think about it much.

Sure, I didn't fancy Starscream anymore after his whole backstabbing spree (probably) and that's what people see in canon.. but I'm still frustrated.

I just want to see content of us in a relationship that actually happened, but instead everyone focuses on an alternate version of us where there's usually a power imbalance, or the one continuity I remember said power imbalance.

...Or maybe I miss Starscream more than I think. And hate Megatron more than I thought.

- Starscream from Transformers Prime and Megatron from Transformers Animated, #🃏💜💗🤡

x

[vodid]

Okay, so big news that sounds wholly unbelievable but I assure you is 100% true: turns out that everything the fandom knew about Blitzwing’s backstory is technically a lie.

For context, a few months ago a YouTuber named Keyan Carlile made a video detailing all the potential ideas for TFA Season 4, as well as sharing a recently discovered authentic document detailing the original pitch for Season 4 that featured Blackarachnia as the primary antagonist of a season primarily set on Cybertron on his Twitter (both of which I highly recommend you checking out, by the way), and you’re never gonna believe this: turns out that the idea of Blackarachnia experimenting on Blitzwing into a Triple Changer was never the original intent of the TFA writers and only came about because Hasbro demanded a Triple Changer Megatron and the writers needed to come with an excuse as to why Megatron would return to Earth.

Not only that, but given how the original pitch is the showrunners’ preferred direction of the season and, now that they’re no longer bound by Hasbro mandates, likely the route they’ll go if TFA ever gets revived and the fact that the AllSpark Almanacs, the only place where it’s officially mentioned that Blitzwing was experimented on by Blackarachnia, aren’t even fully canon as they were written by a fan who got hired by Hasbro and Marty Isenberg talked multiple times about how it didn't always line up with their decisions and choices for the show, results in the revelation that not only is Blitzwing’s supposed origin not the original intention, but that it isn’t even fully canon.

So now half the fandom’s going crazy speculating on what his original/“true” backstory is, ranging from Quintession experiment to Shockwave experiment to even Autobot experiment (the last of which is especially intriguing as it potentially implies that becoming a Triple Changer was the inciting incident that drove Blitzwing to fall in with Megatron and that Blitzwing might not even be his original name) and I, for one, welcome this new wave of fanart, fanfiction, and fan speculation.

(Plus, now people don’t have to resort to demonizing a female villain who was supposed to be viewed as sympathetic and redeemable or making her appear worse than she was meant to be seen to get their fix of angsty, messed-up backstories, so that’s definitely a win in my book and one step closer to stamping out misogyny in the Transformers fandom).

it never particularly read well that a character who suffered from an extreme freak accident that led to a lot of self-hatred and ostracization would cause the same thing to someone else. although it always felt like blitzwing coped better with it(? maybe i'm misinterpreting his silly self-deprecating humor lol)

given how the autobots are in tfa, i wouldn't put it past them to have experimented on blitzwing and causing him to turn. it's an interesting idea!

one idea i see floating around here and there that i'm a bit partial to is that blitzwing was very desperate to be better for megatron, especially as they were losing/had lost the war, and so he subjected himself to the experiment, with or without informed consent (doubt there was — i'm sure he didn't consent to or even know of the repercussions of it 💀). blackarachnia in this situation is more or less irrelevant. she either has some weird twisted inclination to experiment (the idea that she is to reverse-engineer her transformation is an interesting thought) or is just following orders. but she certainly deserves a portrayal that does her story justice

canon is just a suggestion after all