#and it's why I'm doing these

[quibbs126]

So after that last practice thing, I figured I should probably try out the previous forms of Orion and D-16, or at least their heads since those I find significantly easier than the whole body (which I guess isn’t really a shocker there)

And also because as I keep bringing up, Lux, because I remembered that technically she should resemble these forms more than the final form Optimus and Megatron. Considering she's technically from before those two forms, and also those were upgrades. If she came after she might resemble their final forms more, but logistically she shouldn't

Honestly, I think I found the left side ones more difficult when sketching than the right side, not sure why. Though I do admit, I think cogless D's bottom side things look a bit off. I'm not sure how to draw them from a lower angle, or at least I wasn't until I already finished

Orion's side circles are still a bit difficult to draw, and I have no clue why, particularly since I draw them often on my AU designs. I think I just struggle with making them look good.

Also a note on the colors, it's more noticeable on Orion (probably because his helmet doesn't change colors), but the cogless forms are supposed to be a bit duller in colors. I think that's how it is in the movie, which makes sense, since the miners probably weren't getting proper paint maintenance due to their status and occupation

With the expressions, I was trying to have it so that with the cogless forms, Orion's probably got a scheme cooking, but D-16 loves him for his unadulterated self anyways. Meanwhile in the cogged forms, D-16's having his crash out, becoming a bit too aggressive, and while Orion's trying to go along with it, since he at least seems happy to be able to transform now and is just on an adrenaline rush, he's also concerned about his current behavior, hoping that it'll just go away with time and he'll be back to normal. Not sure I fully conveyed that

But anyways, on to talking about the cogged forms in particular, I had some trouble looking for good refs of these designs, particularly the colors. Like I'm still not 100% sure those are the right colors for D's helm. Yes, I have concept art, but the concept art isn't always the same as the final, as I've come to realize. And while these forms were in the movie much longer than their final forms, I can find screenshot references for those much easier

And this extends to fanart I think as well. You have the cogless forms when you want wholesome dpax before the tragedy, you have the upgraded forms for the angsty megop and stories that come after. And in AUs where nothing bad happens, I feel like you tend to get one or the other of those two or a mix of them as the default looks, depending on what you want. Even though I feel like in AUs where nothing bad happens and the Primes don't die, the characters should logistically be in their middle, cogged forms, especially since the cogless situation was a manufactured lie by Sentinel. I feel like you only get the middle in AUs where D doesn't become Megatron, and even then, they might still give him the Megatronus cog, he just didn't rob it from the corpse of the bot he executed. Or if Orion has the Matrix ripped out by Megatron and he isn't reverted back to cogless

I think it's because those cogged forms are basically seen as the middle stage evos for them, and by that point you're waiting for them to get their proper Optimus and Megatron forms. Like their original cogless forms are what we start with, what the marketing leading up to the movie showed us first, and when everything was happy between them. And then their final forms are what they end the movie with, and are the iconic Optimus and Megatron designs, the characters we know, and what they'll stay with moving forwards in the story. The cogged stages are just the day or so in between those changes, where things are falling apart and falling into place for what we know to come later

It's also sort of again, where the relationship is falling apart, due to D-16's crash-out. Technically it happens at the tail end of D-16's cogless state, but he gets his cog immediately after and that's when he starts reacting to the horrible information and Orion starts losing him, so it's more associated with this form of them

But it's also kind of interesting to me because in universe, I think these cogged forms are technically supposed to be their final forms. These are the full forms of Orion Pax and D-16, and their future forms are upgrades instead of a natural growth. It's just that we see them as middle stages because we know they become Optimus Prime and Megatron, and these aren't fully those designs yet. If they were to never become those two, or in a world where they never had their cogs removed, those middle stages are what they'd look like by default. It's just that we know they have another stage to go

I don't know, just thoughts that stemmed from drawing these

[beaft]

do genuinely find it fascinating how indeed.com is like the biggest job-hunting website out there and yet manages to be profoundly useless in every possible way

[captainjonnitkessler]

>Join a union

>Hear people constantly complaining that the current union leadership is super corrupt, it's all just the same ten guys making all the decisions in secret and nobody else in the union ever gets to know what's going on

>Go to the monthly union meetings that are completely open to all 1200 union members

>The only attendees are the same ten guys every month, giving detailed reports about everything that's going on

[icewindandboringhorror]

(also feel free in the tags to clarify Why you made the choice you made!! :0c)

[pangur-and-grim]

one thing that took me embarrassingly long to learn is "sometimes when people say things, they will not be true."

I used to tell people about this revelation and they'd be like yeah.....duh.....but like, why wouldn't my base assumption be that you're communicating to me in a straightforward manner. anyway, I get scammed a lot.

[deconstructthesoup]

I genuinely don't think I'm ever gonna get over how perfect these descriptions of the Intrepid Heroes from the Rolling Stones article are

[theenemyod]

I think people should be allowed to sleep in the same bed in a non sexual and non romantic way. I think cuddles can happen non sexually and non romantically. I think most acts of affection are non sexual and non romantic until you make it sexual or romantic (other than the obvious things like actual sex is sexual)

[post-futurism]

i see a lot of neurodivergent people talk about how they can't handle bright white overhead lighting at home, so their preference is to have warm/yellow bulbs in lamps as the main source of household lighting, often with colouful neon lights/fairylights/candles as other secondary lighting sources. I feel like this is actually more common than we think but maybe there are some insane people who love or at least are indifferent to bright white overhead lighting. so poll time.

if you say bright white overhead lighting is your main lighting preference please tell me why

[dramatic-dolphin]

"'boys will be boys' should mean-" why are you obsessed with this phrase. why does it have to mean anything. why can't we just get rid of it.

[raggedytiger]

this is so bad but i permanently cropped the file so brutally that i can no longer edit it. whoops! also panels 4-7 were fully coloured but it looks better without for some reason. pomni (penny?) is such an ugly crier. i love my horrible failgirl accountant

[singswan-springswan]

In a happy world where Jason is legally resurrected and gets to go to college like he's always dreamed of

[birdmenmanga]

they are putting yaoi in the city art museum and censoring nsfw content with heat-responsive material so you have to put your hands on it to see dick

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

hero/villain showdown but one of them has a spontaneous medical emergency and the battle gets put on hold while their archnemesis drives them to Urgent Care

[dr11ft]

chicana miku 🤎

[egophiliac]

get 'em before they melt!

(the flavors are 99% vibes + first thought only thought, don't take them too seriously)

[loopy-lupe]

ULTRAKILL sketches from a few months ago. I really love the characters and designs, the machines especially. They're so much fun to draw