#and megatron knows this. he knows‚ because he has always known optimus and has always been able to see what he does

[awarmbowlofhomemadesoup]

I know I said in my post that the miners used to have a long-running bet about whether Orion Pax and D-16 would go through Conjunx Endura or Amica Endura ritual. And it's too funny to not elaborate.

The bet happens among miners on the same floor as Orion and Dee in the miner dormitory. The two are easy to recognize because:

Dee is known to be one of the best miners,

Orion is known to get into trouble first thing in the morning (as shown by the annoyed "Again" by one of the background characters when he landed on the train), and

they're always seen together.

Now, on to the bet. It started as a joke. But the more miners joined in, the bigger it got:

Some think Dee could do better for a mate and bet on Amica Endura (a bot can dream).

Others believe there's a reason Dee still hangs out with Orion even when Orion doesn't care about getting into trouble and bets on Conjunx Endura.

Jazz bets 3 to 1 that whichever ritual, it's Dee who would initiate first because he has a "more steady rhythm" than Orion's beat.

Elita-1, even if she's not in the same dormitory floor, knows about the bet because they're on the same team. She retorted it would be a million years before something ever happens between those two gobots.

Prowl thinks they'd eventually separate due to differences but doesn't bet. Sadly, this happened, which would've ended the bet.

But when the war with the Decepticons came, the bet was forgotten. They know Dee. They can't joke about it anymore, knowing he became their strongest enemy now.

But, oh, after MILLIONS of years, the Autobots and Decepticons are coming home to Cybertron for a common cause. The peace agreement was tentative at best. But slowly, they began adapting a pattern of norm.

Then, the autobot who had kept the record of bets stumbled upon their old belongings.

It only took one mention to the other Autobots before the stupid bet came back with full force on their now co-leaders.

B-127, now Bumblebee, finds out about the bet and says he bets they would be happy either way. (It's a wonder he hadn't accidentally blabbed it to Optimus yet)

Ratchet finds out about the bet. With a disapproving air, he declares, "I bet Optimus Prime would do the wise thing and go through Amica Endura first—is what I would say but knowing him..." he slaps a couple of shanix on the table, "20 to 1 odds he'd proposed first to that buckethead."

Optimus Prime felt a difference in their political meetings where they have to negotiate with Megatron and the Decepticons but he appreciates the newfound interest.

The Decepticons caught on to the bet.

Starscream surprisingly refuses to participate, but jeers that he bets Optimus would die from some self-sacrificial shit and Megatron would die from loneliness 3 years later. Skywarp comments, "Smart, I'll triple that!" So now there's a deadpool on the side.

The lull of the end of the Decepticon meetings are subtly taken as opportunity by some Seekers to know what's Megatron's thoughts on commitment.

Megatron is suspicious that they're up to something, but as long as they keep their nose cones clean, there wouldn't be any repurcussions.

(I'm sorry I'm not as familiar with other Autobots and Decepticons. Feel free to say what you'd think said characters would bet on👍)

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

There is a brutal contrast in how Megatron and Optimus's stories end. Optimus nobly surrenders his spark, along with the Matrix of Leadership, having been sent off by his dear and trusted friends after giving them a fond farewell. He has accomplished his life's greatest goal; now he is able to rest. He dies willingly, at peace, bringing hope and giving life to the next generation by restoring the Allspark.

Megatron had already been killed, and was told that he can never join that very Allspark. Having been enslaved, and only released because of Optimus's actions, he is now reanimated, inhabiting his own corpse. His only remaining ally, who has constantly betrayed him, does not understand him. He flies off, alone, having lost all his forces and failed in his mission, and realizing that his life's greatest purpose was misguided. He is left, we can only assume, to live a hellish and hopeless life--a shell, consumed by the past.

And he did not tell Optimus goodbye. He knows that Optimus will leave him behind, will obtain the heaven he can never enter. He gives him the parting gift of his repentance, to acknowledge this. But in his refusal to say farewell, there is an echo of his own wretched endurance. He does not get to rest. Megatron will remain, eternally alone--eternally waiting for a reunion that will never come.

[mychlapci]

Booba hcs! So out of tfa Optimus, Sentinel, and Elita, Optimus has the biggest rack. Like, massive booba. Truly proportional to his chassis. How does he keep it all in? He wears a binder, obviously! (Bind responsibility kids.) Sentinel is jealous because of his little mosquito bites. And Elita is sitting at a comfortable c-cup.

Although there is something else I headcanon. Optimus is underweight. That tiny waist? Not good for a semi truck. Ratchet has been begging Optimus to eat something since they met. It isn't until Megatron notices that his little rival is basically a twig, and not a healthy one either, he starts bullying Optimus into eating more.

"You call that a truck? I've seen speedsters with more weight. It's honestly a little concerning, is the Council not feeding you little bots properly?"

Half out of spite, and partly because he knows Megatron is right, Optimus starts eating more, putting on weight, but it's not just water weight. He works out, builds his routine around his waist, hips, and thighs, he definitely doesn't skimp out on leg day anymore, and by the end of it, he's completely filled out. His hips don't exceed the width of his battering ram shoulders, but they come close. Toned abdominals lined with a healthy layer of fat, not the flabby, grisle kind, but the strong, jiggles ever-so slightly, best-part-of-the-meat kind. And those thighs? His hydrolics are strong enough he could crush a mech's helm (or pelvis) between them.

Best part? With the improvements to his frame came improvement to his confidence! His team listens to him more often, they see how much more happy he is (and can tell why he got the name "Optimus"), and it didn't hurt that he looked and felt amazing. When the Elite Guard saw his new look, Jazz whistled, Ultra Magnus nodded approvingly (he'd known and was always a little concerned about Optimus' weight), and Sentinel's jaw dropped.

As for Megatron? He was floored by the glow up his little Prime underwent. Absolutely smitten. Especially after Optimus used his weight to literally flip Megatron over and pin him down (if only for a few moments). He knew then and there that he had to have this little Autobot to himself. He wondered what Optimus would look like pregnant, mmm, that's a delicious thought. All round and swollen with his bitties, made him hard just thinking about it.

And with Optimus feeling so much better, his libido higher than ever. He can't help but imagine that big, brutish, warlord pin him down, pry open his panels and ravage him. He squirms thinking about it, his valve getting wet very quickly. It's been so long since he'd been properly fucked. Maybe a late night drive would help clear these thoughts.

Little does he know, a certain warlord was thinking the same thing. In the morning, or rather, late into the afternoon, Optimus comes limping back to base with dents in his pelvis, lubricant stains on his thighs, and a slightly bloated belly. (Megatron on the other hand has an almost mangled pelvis from how tight Optimus was gripping him)

Three weeks later, he's purging his tanks and a quick check-up reveals a sparkling or two in his forge.

augh... chubby tfa Optimus is such an amazing image i cannot stop thinking about it. He's always been a little too skinny in the waist department, and honestly it never bothered him, not until he starts filling out and realizes how miserable he was... Now he's stronger, has a sturdier core and he feels more attractive, somehow....

Now that Optimus fits into the decepticon ideal (although... he probably has a little bit to go), Megatron is very interested in pounding his fat little valve. That thick waist and those huge thighs are perfect for pregnancy <3

[that-one-weeb-but-it-transformer]

Your Optimus' Older sister, and he's always looked up to you even as a Prime headcannons

When Optimus was "born" you were still young, you could remember holding him

Basically you guys were inseparable since you were young

You helped him get through his schooling and a job at the archives actually

You were kinda like that embarssing mom, especially infront of Femmes you caught him glancing often

"Ooo is that your little-" "no! No! No!"

In an honest respect you both have each others back, you've been there for every big ceremony he's been apart of.

He told you about becoming a prime first

You were more than proud of him.

And even as a Prime he really still found you a roll model

Always looking up to you like he did when you were both younger, either it be in battle or in simply speaking.

Its unfortunate but you both broke apart with the wars final days

He to earth and you, well he didnt know exactly what had happened to you

He hadnt forgot about you, but pushed you to the back of his mind.

Maybe he hoped you'd find your way to him like all those times you did when he got lost as a youngling, telling him it'd be okay as he cried scared he had lost you forever

"I always come back. Don't I Orion?"

What a way to run back into each other, back on earth that is

Everyones shocked to be honest.

They had never known Optimus had a sister, none the less one so different from him.

Also. He showing a happy emotion? Its a good day

"Still light as ever I see!"

Not you picking him up in a hug, basically embarssing him.

The bots were glad to have another well rounded fighter

And Miko was just glad to meet another kick ass bot

"Optimus has a sister? And that sister is you?"

"Bam! Right on the dot! Me and ol Blue and Red here! Together again! Huh?"

Despite your outgoingness you do keep silent, they've realized Optimus started doing your little finger on the chin thing as you think

"I didn't think Femmes could be so tall."

"You're just mad because she's taller than you, Jackie."

Tall femme supremacy

"So! What did you do on Cybertron?" Miko asked happily.

"Do?" Y/n questioned hands on her hips, "what do you mean do?"

"I bet you were a Wrecker like Bulkhead and Wheeljack! Are you a prime?"

"Oh my occupation!" Y/n smiled as she thought, finger holding her chin in thought, "well i did a number of things, anything to get some energon on the table."

"I thought you and Orion lived in Iacon." Raffle spoke.

Y/n nodded, "We did. Didn't mean it was easy. I did do a number of things Im not proud of Anything for my little brother." Y/n answered with a smile.

"I was more than happy to ruin my own reputation and life to get him where he needed to be." Y/n spoke.

"Wow." Jack responded, "I'd wish I had siblings like you."

Y/n smiled with a nod, "never break up a set. I use to tell him that all the time."

Megatron? Terrified of you

Mostly because you've been able to kick his aft more than once in his life time

Picking up your injured brother

Protecting your injured brother

Taking the shot for your injured brother

Ratchet came out of base to even get Optimus immediate medical attention, but you snapped back and wouldn't let anyone touch him as you held him close

Ratchet knew you before hand so it was a bit helpful that he knew all the things you been through.

Arcee argues with you for it

"You could of gotten Optimus Killed!' She shouted at Y/n, pointing a demanding digit at Arcee.

"I know what Im doing. Back off!" Y/n demanded, "and don't point at me."

She slapped Arcee's servo away.

"You shouldn't even be here! You're a liability! You don't help in anyway and disrespectful Optimus!"

"Disrespect? I'd kill myself before I ever disrespected my little brother-"

"Thats just it! He's a leader not your little brother! Not no more! He thinks your embarrassing!"

"Oh please." Y/n spoke

"You're just dead weight-"

"Thats enough!" Ratchet demanded pulling the two apart.

"If Orion thinks Im such of a dead weight. He can tell me. And I'll leave." Y/n spoke, "and I won't come back."

"His name is Optimus." Arcee argued.

"And thats where you miss." Y/n defended, "This isnt just a discussion about war. This'll be a discuss about family."

You ended up leaving after dicussing it with Optimus

"But Y/n I don't understand why you are leaving"

You didnt tell him what had happen.

"It's just best for the team. If you need me, Im a comn link away."

It's almost like a big sister going off to college, but instead of coming back after 4 years, you won't come back at all

Kinda just fell off the face of the earth again :(

He never did comn you, and you never did come back.

He felt as if he's disappointed you in some way

That could be the only reason you left in such a way

Sure though, he'd find you again on the feild.

In a cave specifically, slumped against a wall, sword at your side, dead cons around you.

Sure, you did defeat all the cons, evident by the slashed chasis, decapitications, and sliced off body parts.

Turns out just one too many injuries got you this time around.

How his spark ached seeing you in such a stature

Never to see you alive again, never able to repay such a debt he had as you being his big sister

It's even more unfortunate that he never learns of why you truly left

[karioke13]

My Transformers One thoughts!!!

✨Spoiler free✨

Holy moly this movie was just so…WOW!!! Before I start with my thoughts, I would like for y’all to know that I’ve never been this hyped for a movie in a long time! I was so excited I was shaking from excitement that my family kept asking if I was okay! 😂

Ok now to my thoughts. First off, I just want to mention how good the voice acting was. Chris Hemsworth did such a phenomenal job as Orion Pax, later Optimus Prime. Whenever his character gave a speech, I was crying because of how amazing and inspiring it was. And Orion in general was just so adorable and fun to watch! Now Brians voice acting was spine chilling! His decent from good friend who sticks to protocols to becoming the revenge seeking Megatron just flowed ever so nicely! The writers did an incredible job with his villain arc. Plus, Brians voice acting just made it even more incredible! And Michael Keegan as Bumblebee was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS! My mom loved him she thought he was so funny! He was kinda, sweet and always willing to help his friends. The chemistry that Optimus and Elita have with each other was *chefs kiss* you can tell she really cared for him throughout the whole movie! Everyone’s chemistry with each other was amazing!!! Every single character had such well done chemistry with the others, showing the good writing in this movie!

Now the music and animation, was OFF THE CHARTS. They both flowed so well together. The music made me feel so teary eyed because of how beautiful was! It made you really feel in the moment. And the animation was absolutely STUNNING! Seriously yall, shoutout to all the animators for doing such an amazing job with the animation style. It was just so incredible. So if you are really into animation and/or music definitely check this movie out!!

And finally the plot in this film. I swear this plot is absolutely heartbreaking in this movie. So many moments that make you feel. The friendship bond between Orion Pax and D-16 to the long known enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron was simply so sad to watch. And it really makes you feel hooked to the story watching D-16 going through his good guy to bad guy transformation. It really makes you feel for the guy. There were also so many dark moments too which was pretty shocking but honestly pretty valid for the story and I like how they didn’t try to shy away from all that. The writers really embraced it, show the horrors and the reality of war, corruption and betrayal. Honestly, I haven’t been this hooked on a plot for a movie in a long long time!

I had so much fun watching this movie. It made me feel like a little kid again, getting excited about a movie and what will happen and why the characters change. Seriously shoutout to everyone person who worked in this movie yall did an amazing job! I’m really considering watching this movie because of how good this movie was. 10/10 movie rating for me. I definitely recommend yall to watch this amazing movie, it has such amazing characters as well as a really good lesson from this movie! I can’t wait for more of this Transformers story! I had a really good time! 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

Also I brought my Optimus Prime plushie and my Bumblebee funko pop, along with my new Transformers One shirt to the movies with me! And I also took some pictures during the movie as well! (No spoilers i promise!!) Have a look! 🤗

[cozzzynook]

regarding the latest post with bee and cliff being meg and op’s sparklings: what are their reactions to star being bee’s conjunx?

I imagine megs is gonna blow a fuse and immediately try something to make them split, cliff takes his sire’s anger as well but he’s vocal about it, op is trying to be civil here but has his own doubts. bee knew this was a mistake but bought star because it would eventually be known soon, meanwhile star has a smug smile and isn’t (not a lot anyway) phased by bee’s family. drift and ratchet don’t like it either, neither does their sparklings. but their sparklings are more accepting, since if bee likes this menace of a seeker maybe he’s not that bad. (they may or may not be right)

adore and love your writing 🫶🫶

😭 thank you!

Bee is 100% not ready to introduce his conjunx to his family.

Cliff is downright unbearable in his complaining and his sire is over the top literally shooting his canon at Starscream who is laughing and antagonizing the former war mech.

Optimus is no better because he does keep his conjunx from offlining Starscream but he does threaten him with a Spark scalpel curtsey of Ratchet who came to the family dinner with his conjunx and sparklings who brought their conjunxes and sparklings.

Cliff is conjunxed to Mirage who proved his love for Cliff already, so the mech is just sitting back watching everything unfold happy to not be the subject of his conjunxs creators ire.

Starscream is not an idiot.

He does not take Optimus’s threat lightly and he knows to fear that mech more than Megatron. He’s dealt with Megatron for thousands of years, he knows how to deal with him.

Its Drift and Ratchet along with Optimus that he fears.

He knows who Drift used to be and he knows Ratchet can and will take him apart piece by piece.

He has no intentions of hurting or leaving his little space bee but he does wish for this family dinner to be over with so they can go back to the peace and quiet of their home where he can spoil his little brat of a conjunx and enjoy his spoiling right back.

Starscream matches Cliff’s snide remarks right back and matches Ratchets glares with devious smirks while carefully taunting Optimus whenever he makes an underhanded remark and he matches Drifts weary glares with raised optic ridges.

By the end of dinner Bee has enough and lays in on his family for being so rude to Starscream.

“Carrier! You can’t say a word about my choice in conjunx when sire was a warlord!! Sire! You worked with him!!! You both committed war crimes! Uncle Drift you were a decepticon too at one point and Uncle Ratchet you conjunxed him when he was still a con! None of you have the right to judge so stop it! Or I won’t be coming back!”

“And cliff!”

Cliff was just staring with his mouth open since Bee so rarely yelled.

“Stop with the remarks! You hated it when sire and carrier treated Mirage like this! Don’t do it to me and my conjunx!”

Bee stands and yanks Starscream with him who looks shocked and follows Bee before holding him and lifting him up.

“While your family is quite rude to guests. They have a right to worry love.”

“Not you too.”

“I’m on your side always,” Starscream assured him, “but I don’t want to see you arguing with your family or on bad terms. Especially because of me.”

And Bee knew his love missed his trine even if they were simply far away back in Vos it sucked to be without your family close by. Especially since the trio were so close they practically lived with them.

“Lets head back home to Vos?”

And Starscream smiled a little at this, completely focused on Bee forgetting the others who saw Starscream in a different light.

“Only if you all reconcile,” he agreed kissing his yellow loves helm.

“I think we owe you an apology,” Optimus said after clearing his intake passage.

“Sorry Bee…screamer,” Cliff said still such a brat but at least he tried.

Ratchet was still bitter but he did huff out a gruff sorry followed by Drift’s apology.

Megatron had to be elbowed by Optimus and after a few kliks and a sigh he apologized.

Bee bunched up Starscreams dermas before his mate could make things worse.

“Thank you,” he smiled warmly, “i think we should go now. I’ll contact you guys later?”

With a sad nod his creators and split spark hugged him before seeing them off.

Dinner went well since no one was offlined but it was still a disaster.

Bee was wondering what they’d do if the two ever sparked.

He was not looking forward to that conversation.

[coffeefiction]

Megatron's "Not So Interesting' Life

So, I have this thought of an au for a while, where the war never happened but the world is littered with anomalies, entities and all that jazz, right? And Megatron, is just a normal mech, with a normal life, being friends with "normal" people and finding their newly crowned Prime off. Oh! He also gets these cool abilities that I have yet to properly set down-

If you have any ideas on what I should do with this story! Or questions! Let me know! Have fun!

_______________________

Megatron knows that he special he has always  known this. How could he not? From a young age, he could instinctively distinguish between a walking glitch of a fake and an actual mecha. It was as if his optics had been calibrated to detect the unseen threads of the universe. Shadows danced at the edges of his vision, and he always had the gnawing sense that something lurked just beyond his peripheral awareness. Not that he cared. In fact, he barely gave it a second thought.

Megatron has always known that he has abilities, that he has a gift. He knew this. He could see what others couldn’t. Yet, for the longest time, he refused to acknowledge it, treating it as little more than an inconvenient quirk. That was, until he befriended a few of those shadowy entities that liked to pass themselves off as part of the mortal world. He never really minded—they weren’t doing him any harm, again, he barely cared.

They are attracted to Megatron's gift, I mean, who wouldn't? Having the ability to sniff out someone's bull is pretty helpful.

You see, Megatron grew up in Kaon, and growing up in Kaon, which was and is a place dripping with superstition, Megatron had heard his share of horror stories: the dark, Unicron’s spawns, Primus’ Youngs, and the whispers of what prowled in the shadows. These tales were used to scare younglings into good behavior.

Megatron himself had his fair share of those stories, although, some of the elders do love to exaggerate those stories.

He likes it, not because it makes it creepy. He didn’t find them scary—he found them funny, mostly because of his friends. For reasons he still couldn’t quite fathom, his closest companions growing up were a spark eater, a ghoul, and a demon. Hearing their outrage over the inaccuracies in these tales was endlessly entertaining.

“You can’t eat a spark like that,” Starscream, the spark eater, would hiss in annoyance whenever he hears these ridiculous stories  . “Why do they always describe it like I’m slurping energon soup? There’s nuance!”

“Ghouls: do not hide under berths: waiting to snatch younglings” deadpanned Soundwave, the ghoul, glaring at Megatron. “Soundwave: not a sterotype: Stories; exaggerated”

And Shockwave, the demon of the group would just simply twitch in annoyance.

And unlike Iacon, who rarely has anything to do with superstitions and such beliefs were dismissed as primitive nonsense. (or as media likes to portray it). Kaon has plenty, it thrived on superstition, unlike Iacon,  If Kaon had a museum for the supernatural, it would probably need its own skyscraper.

Megatron can attest to it, as stated before, he is friends with some of the horrifying entities that the tales always tell. Not only that, He’d had his share of encounters with those dark forces, not all of them pleasant. Most of the time, it ended in one of three ways: a fight, a frantic escape, or an unsettling brush with death. The only reason Megatron was still functioning was thanks to his friends, who often bailed him out of tight spots to save his arf.

Yet despite all of this, Megatron barely cares.

He doesn't do much, than work at his boring office job, visit his friends and reassure them that he is well, one of the literally lives in Vos! But at least his trip is always payed, courtesy to his friend. Outside of that? His life is completely barren and uneventful.

That is, until he met the new Prime that goes by the name Optimus Prime. Not, met met him, more like saw him in the holos and the streets during the coronation parade. He didn't wanna be there to be honest, but Starscream wanted to be there, he was in town for royal duties as the Prince of Vos and he wanted to Megatron to hang out with him, that isn't the mech's lonely apartment or Soundwave's house, or Shockwave's lab.

And Megatron, is a friend, so Megatron decided to go with Starscream, begrudgingly of course. 

When Megatron first laid his optics on the New Prime, he immediately sensed something was off, and he can tell that Starscream noticed too, yet he seem calm, which was odd. Normally, Starscream would have been on high alert, his predatory instincts kicking in. But this time? He wasn’t reacting defensively. That wasn’t exactly a good sign, isn't a bad one either.

Spark eaters tend to have heightened senses, they have the ability to sniff out their pray, and they have the ability to semi manipulate the perception of others, making it easy for them to blend in. If Starscream wasn’t threatened, that meant whatever this “off” thing was, it wasn’t something Starscream recognized as dangerous—or perhaps it was something he couldn’t categorize at all.

Megatron looks at the Prime, observing him closely. Their newly crowned Prime seems nice, he speaks very confidently yet softly, a leader with stern yet does not weild his fist to cage those around him. He spoke to the crowd with warmth, crouched to address younglings optic-to-optic, and carried himself with an air of calm authority.

Megatron….he knows there is something wrong, something off with the Prime. Megatron could feel it, like static in his circuits. He wanted to dig deeper, to pull at the threads of this mystery. But before he could, Starscream interrupted.

Megatron has to put those thoughts into a file and store it for later to entertain his friend. A bored Starscream always never ends well.

Soundwave can attest to that.

So Megatron talks to Starscream as they watch the parade from the distance in the balcony of Starscream's  fancy hotel. They watch as the Prime mingle with the civilian, as he interacts with the younglings with such care.

“Ugh. Look at that pompous mech!” Starscream sneered, slumping dramatically in his chair.

Megatron arched an optic ridge. “What are you talking about? He seems fine.”

“Fine? Look at him, so pristine, so proper!” Starscream gestured wildly at the balcony railing. “He’s too sweet. It’s disgusting. He’s practically dripping syrup on those younglings!” 

"Shouldn't I be the one making complaints here? I'm the one who's gonna get affected if his rule is slag" Megatron quipped dryly, already dreading the new rules and laws that will be set if this Prime is like the other ones before him.

“Oh, please.” Starscream waved him off. “If it were up to you, you’d just brood in silence and not say a word.”

“I would, actually,” Megatron muttered. “Besides, you’re the one verbally attacking your own kind right now.” He pointed out, wanting to immediately change the topic, for all that is stands in this world, Starscream is right, he would probably just brood in silence, rules kept him safe after all.

Starscream makes a disgruntled noise. "That thing down there, is far from being my kin."

Megatron grows confuse, he looks at Starscream. "What do you mean?"

“My own kind?” Starscream’s wings twitched irritably as he leaned back in his chair. “That thing down there is not my kin.”

That got Megatron’s attention. He turned to Starscream, optics narrowing. “What do you mean?”

Starscream huffed, clearly annoyed he had to explain. “Look at him! He’s too…off. Too stiff to be a spark eater, too mellow to be a ghoul. His frame doesn’t match anything I recognize. And his voice?” Starscream shuddered theatrically. “It’s wrong. It’s too nice. No one’s voice is that…perfect.”

Megatron frowned, glancing back at the Prime. Now that Starscream mentioned it, he can see more of the odd things about him. The balance of his movements, the precision of his words, the faint flicker of something beneath the surface—it didn’t quite add up.

Huh… Yeah, he can kinda see that now.

[darkstarofchaos]

Okay. Now my more in-depth thoughts about the latest EarthSpark drop. I'll be going more plot point by plot point than episode by episode, so all my thoughts about a particular character or plot device will stay together. And of course, spoilers ahead.

I guess I'll start by giving BreakBee shippers my sympathy. For a minute there, I thought Breakdown was actually going to switch sides. And the fact that he didn't would have made a lot more sense if the Decepticons had ever had any positive interactions after being freed. But outside of a couple pairs, they only ever seemed to (barely) tolerate each other, so Breakdown's line of "they're my family" rings pretty hollow. Turns out you need to actually treat your villains like people for emotion-driven beats to make sense. Who would have thought?

Once again, the Decepticons were the most disappointing part of the show. Like, I thought Shockwave's thing about the Decepticons being more trustworthy under his command was going to go somewhere, but no. Next episode the Cons appear in, they just bail. No more Decepticons for us Con fans, because now there are only two left known to still be on the planet. And one of them is back in jail. Which could go somewhere interesting now that the bots are forced to deal with him directly instead of humans overseeing imprisonment, but I don't even know if the show is getting any more episodes, so I'm not gonna bother hoping.

Also, I was undecided last night about whether Shockwave was actually a better leader than Starscream or not, because we see almost nothing of his command. Now that I've slept on it, though, I think he was actually a worse leader. Because he did the equivalent of bet one's life savings on a horse race. Only the life savings in this case was the freedom of his troops (who are stuck with no known means of acquiring energon, by the way). Betting your freedom on a race isn't logical, it's stupid. The logical thing to do would have been to refuse to bargain, because unless the kids and Bee decided a comic wasn't worth releasing the Cons over, Shockwave had all the power. So yeah, with nothing else really known about his leadership, I have to say he's terrible at it.

Moving on from the Decepticons, this family has no boundaries OMG. The movie night episode was a nightmare to sit through, because everything about it was so unhealthy? Quirky family movie night! With no empathy, no communication, and no lesson being learned. Robbie never once tells anyone to stop trying to "help", he just passive-aggressively takes it. And as usual, that stupid emotional connection thing is nowhere to be found when it's inconvenient to the plot, because no one ever picks up on the fact that they're upsetting Robbie. This kind of humor does not have a place in a show that's supposed to be about family, especially when there's no lesson about setting boundaries or thinking about others instead of yourself involved.

Episode 3 was a nightmare Twitch had. That's why everyone was so weirdly dependent on her, and why things grew progressively more absurd as time went on. That's my headcanon and I'm sticking to it. Also, I'm not convinced magnets work that way, but it seems to be within the realm of plausibility based on a search for DIY magnets, so sure.

On that note, I'm still salty that Nightshade isn't being allowed any standalone episodes, but this batch was almost entirely ensembles, so that's fine, I guess. At least someone actually referred to them using their pronouns, unlike the last batch. But I would like to know what they've been up to lately, because I would swear they didn't have that stereotypical "scientist constantly uses technical words" speech pattern before.

Okay, frustration and tedium done, let's talk about Prowl. Actually, first we need to talk about Optimus and Megatron, because they appear first, but hey, we made it to the Prowl episodes. Otherwise known as my main reason for watching this batch.

Starting off, was Optimus always this... Mean? Like, don't get me wrong, I like an Optimus who has flaws and isn't just a saint, but I would swear he was nicer in S1. I mean, he yells at Megatron for not following his orders when Megatron didn't even do anything. He was literally just standing there, in the place Optimus left him. And in both this episode and the next, Optimus is constantly snapping at him? I kinda like the dynamic, but it feels OOC based on Optimus' character from S1. I don't remember following orders being this important to him, and I don't think we've seen anything that would lead to him putting more emphasis on it now?

I dunno. I spent those couple episodes being torn between, "I like this take on Optimus" and "pretty sure he wasn't like this before, though".

Anyway! Prowl.

I generally liked Prowl. I wish he'd been a little more socially awkward, but overall, he's almost exactly what I would have hoped for: brusque and rude when you first meet him, and rather blunt in his speech, but fundamentally a good person, and pretty okay when you get to know him. Also, he's a flying car, which is awesome. He gets to join Tracks in the cool bots club.

Was really hoping he and Optimus would have a more antagonistic relationship, though, for exactly the reason Megatron said: Optimus needs someone to question him, and he needs to listen. And Prowl does question Optimus on a couple things, but it doesn't matter because he decides Optimus was right in the end. And that's the biggest issue I have with him, because he adjusts to the status quo way too quickly. Mistrust of Megatron? Gone. Concerns about relying on human children in life-or-death situations? Gone. Four episodes and the one reasonable Autobot is already drunk on the Kool-Aid.

Like. He's right about the kids. These ancient war veterans rely way too much on literal children. Sure, they have special powers that make them uniquely qualified to solve the kind of problems that keep cropping up, but the correct response isn't, "I guess you were right, child soldiers are fine in this context". The correct response is "Who the fuck put this kind of responsibility on children." Prowl was right and I am so mad that he just shrugs and accepts it in the end.

And yes, I know this is a kids' show, and that kids' shows like to have kid characters doing cool things. But "these kids are the only ones who can do what needs to be done" and "these kids shouldn't have to be in that position" are storylines that can coexist. You can put them in a position where they're forced to take on too much responsibility while acknowledging that it's a pretty messed up situation. But no, Quintus was a good person, so obviously there's nothing wrong with him choosing a pair of kids for whatever!

Moving on.

I don't remember how the Hate Plague was handled originally, but as far as EarthSpark's handling goes, I have. Issues. The biggest of them being that this is an actual disease with cells you can study under a microscope, so how in the world does contact with an infected bot lead to instant and guaranteed symptomatic infection? And why is it defeated by cold water of all things? The instant transmission would make more sense if it was some sort of energetic virus or something, but the old "spray them in the face with water to snap them out of it" trope? Really?

Loved the thing with Izzy, though. I hated every scene she was in and was surprised she didn't end up being evil in her debut episode, so it was a massive relief that she ended up being evil and we don't have to see her ever again. Technically we could see her again because she's in Autobot custody and stuff, but whatever, I never want to see her again.

The Quintessons were disappointing. Again, I don't know if there will even be any more episodes, so maybe the writers had to rush to wrap up the storyline, but considering they were being foreshadowed all the way back at the end of S1, the payoff was just. So boring. As usual, everything revolves around those stupid cybersleeves, and I'm beginning to miss the days of TFP when almost every episode after S1 was a scavenger hunt.

Speaking of TFP, that Starscream? That was late TFP Starscream. That was not the Starscream we met in ES S1. Considering he's been completely isolated with no apparent access to fuel and no company except a couple of dead bodies for weeks or months, it's completely understandable that he's not doing well, but they really threw away everything that made this Starscream stand out, didn't they?

I have nothing to say about the Chaos Terrans. They're alive again, yay. Please tell me the magic resurrection key is gone now, because nothing makes me stop caring like the ability to just restore the dead on a whim.

Overall thoughts. I don't know if this batch was actually better than the last batch, or if it just felt that way because my standards were lower. But as far as enjoyment, I honestly like S2a better. I unironically liked the body swap episode, I perked up every time Starscream was onscreen (until the last 20 minutes), and I was at least interested in what was going on, even if I was mentally yelling at the characters half the time. But watching these episodes, I was bored. If Prowl hadn't been a steady presence after his introduction, I don't know if I would even have finished the episodes, because I just didn't care. The Hate Plague was laughably simple to cure, the Quintessons showed up just to blow up, and things were just happening to the characters instead of because of them. Aside from one or two episodes, there were no plotlines initiated by the characters.

EarthSpark has truly lost its spark.

[in1-nutshell]

Hi, is it okay to request in Transformers Earthspark?

so since we have a twin sister for TFA Elita-1, is it okay to have a twin sister for TFE Elita-1?

Buddy as the TFE Elita's twin sis.

TFE Elita's twin sis has the different/opposite of Elita, like Buddy's meek/shy, pacifist (yet has passive-aggressiveness), nurse, and/or mom friend. Or similar to Disney Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

"Buddy" is not their original name, used to be named "A-2 or E-2".

With Optimus (Orion Pax), Megatron(us or D-16), and Elita (Ariel) from their Pre-war times. You can put romance if you like

You can add this idea/s if you like:

takes place on pre-war Cybertron

TFE Elita's twin becomes techno-organic (like TFA Elita's (twin) ), or something else that is somehow related to Quintus Prime (something like, Quintus left his homeworld, using his Emberstone to seed life across the galaxy. Let's say there's an unknown/undiscovered planet related to Quintus Prime, and somehow Elita's twin landed/crashed/stranded on this planet), or not

then something happens to Elita's twin, became a missing/'dead' bot, she lost contact with her sis and friends and/or Cybertron. Later, she's found by the Decepticons, and she joins the cons, still has the same personality, also she didn't know there's a Bots Vs. Cons war happen before her missing

become a missing con, again, during the (nearly end) war on Earth, and only Megatron knows about it (ex. He and Elita's twin had a secret meet and he somehow found a stasis pod and hid her (in Witwicky near the Terran cave), or other ideas of your own)

And I'm stopping here for now since this long request, i'm putting the part two of this, and I'm so sorry if it's too much/been making too many requests

Thank you so much and also stay safe and healthy!

This... this is good.

A chance on writing Elita Ones's twin sister in a different way?

Count me in!

Friendly reminder this has nothing to do with TFA twin sister

Hope you enjoy!

Elita One's twin sister pre war backstory

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Mention of injury, Angst, Cybertronain reader

TFE

Buddy and Elita were the best of sisters.

But they weren’t always known as Buddy or Elita One.

Before the war, Elita One was known as Ariel.

Buddy’s original name was E-2.

Ariel was the more outgoing twin who always tried to get her twin to go outside of her comfort zone and to make more friends.

E-2 on the other hand was much quieter than Ariel, still held a strong presence with her.

Ariel was the one who introduced her to Orion Pax and D-16.

“E, this is Orion and D-16. Guys this is my twin E-2.”--Ariel

Orion waves at E-2 with a warm smile on his face.

E-2, who was partially hiding behind Ariel, waves back shyly.

Ariel gently pushes her forward at D-16.

D-16 smiles at E-2.

E-2 smiles back.

“Hi.”—E-2

“Hello.”—D-16

Ariel swings both of her arms around them all.

“I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”--Airel

E-2 gives them all a shy smile.

The four of them were a nearly inseparable group.

Orion and E-2 got along well, looking after Airel and D-16.

The two often had data pads they exchanged every other cycle and little chat about what they were about.

They were also the second voice of reason for Ariel and D-16 when they thought of activities or thoughts.

Ariel and D-16 looking at the tall drop off towers.

“I wonder what would happen if we went up there…”--Airel

“And what if we jumped off?”—D-16

“Exactly!”--Ariel

“Or!”--Orion

“And just hear us out, we DON’T jump off of the building, hmm?”—E-2

“We’ll be fine E.”--Ariel

“Ariel, just because I’m close to becoming an actual nurse doesn’t give you and 16 a free pass into a hospital.”—E-2

“Of course not, we have you and Orion for that.”—D-16

“D-16, you and I know that Orion is terrible at patch work jobs. Seriously just ask Ratchet.”—E-2

“Hey! I’m not that bad.”--Orion

“You fainted when you saw D-16’s injured servo. You’re not ready for any patch work.”—E-2

D-16 and E-2 got along like a house on fire.

Both wanting a better change for Cybertron, they found many things they could agree on.

Often D-16 would come to E-2 for help on his upcoming speeches and practice in front of her.

E-2, Ariel and Orion often went to D-16, now named Megatron, speeches about change on Cybertron.

The group could agree that changes needed to be made, but Buddy thought that maybe a more peaceful approach would be in the best interest of the bots.

This would soon cause a rift between the groups as Ariel backed Megatron’s bit forceful approach while Orion tried to play mediator.

It was around this time another one of E-2’s closest friends had offered her a chance to go on an expeditionary trip.

It was just to look at some planets then return to Cybertron.

Out of pure spite, E-2 agreed to go.

Anyways, he needed a medic with him in case something bad happened and E-2 had just finished with her tests and licenses.

“I’m sorry, you’re what?!”--Ariel

“Ariel calm down, I’m just going on a quick trip and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Two months the most.”—E-2

“Why can’t he just go by himself? Doesn’t he have a lab partner?”--Ariel

“His lab partner had something going on at the last minute and couldn’t go. Anyways he needs a medic in case something goes wrong.”—E-2

Ariel had a frustrated look on her face and crossed her arms.

Orion looked at E-2.

“When will you be leaving? The docking ports are notorious for taking long time to—”--Orion

“I’m leaving tomorrow.”—E-2

“…”--Everyone

“YOU’RE WHAT?!”—Ariel and Megatron

E-2 flinches at the loud noise.

“How can you leave at a time like this?! We need as many bots on our side as possible! Not galivanting through space like its some sort of vacation!”--Megatron

Buddy feels her servos tighten as her anger rises.

“This is not some sort of vacation Megatron. I’m being a good friend—”—E-2

“If you were a good friend then you would stay here!”--Megatron

E-2 takes a step forward, surprising all three bots.

“And if I don’t?”—E-2

Megatron angrily takes a step forward almost menacingly.

“Do you want to find out E-2?”--Megatron

E-2 clenches her servos and walks away.

“And where are you going coward!”—Megatron

E-2 turns on her pedes fast and angry.

“I’m going before I say anything that I might regret!”—E--2

E-2 storms off into the night.

Orion looks at his friends.

“Ariel?”--Orion

Ariel looks a bit conflicted.

“…She should be supporting the movement Orion.”--Ariel

Orion looks appalled before starting to walk in E-2’s direction.

“Orion? Where are you going?”--Ariel

“To check on your twin sister.”--Orion

E-2 was honestly still surprised to see them all at the gates for the launch.

Buddy said her goodbyes in hugs.

Orion hugged her tightly and wished her the best.

Ariel gave a halfhearted hug.

Buddy tried to hug Megatron, but he moved away.

Hurt, Buddy waved goodbye instead.

Megatron just huffed despite Ariel slightly jabbing his side.

Buddy grabbed her kits and began walking to the front of the door to wait for her friend.

Her friend came rushing in, giving her a hug, and thanking her for wanting to join.

“You’re a life saver E! Star had something wrong with his tanks and—”

“Is that him?”—E-2

E-2 sees a seeker lingering around the drop off point not too far from where her friends and family were.

“Yeah, that’s him. He wanted to see how the launch went.”

E-2 smiles at the seeker and waves at him.

The seeker looks a bit shocked but waves back.

“Are you ready to go?”

He stretches his servo for E-2 to grab.

She does looking up at her friend.

“Lead the way Skyfire.”—E-2

They made their way into the security area before reaching their pods and shooting into the starry sky.

None of them knew it was going to be the last time they were going to see each other.

The two came across the planet Skyfire had been raving about.

It was a smaller planet splashed green and blue.

It looked like a peaceful world.

Skyfire wanted a closer look at the planet.

E-2 was a bit hesitant, but she followed her friend downward.

Neither were expecting the harsh jet streams to be so strong.

E-2 felt everything about this being a bad omen and tried to radio in Skyfire to start getting out of the area.

Skyfire reported that his pods navigation systems weren’t responding.

E-2 tried to fly closer to Skyfire’s pod in attempts to attach a cord to get him out when her pod suddenly went dark and dropped.

E-2 screamed in terror as she plummeted to the planet below.

Skyfire managed to get out of his pod and managed to get to E-2’s pod opening it and dragging her out.

He tried to fly with her out of the Jetstream and back into space, but the winds proved too cold and strong.

Next thing E-2 realized was that she was falling again while the stream carried a screaming Skyfire far away.

She tumbled onto the cold ground below and rolled into a hole in the ground.

With all her tumbling, she accidentally caused a cave in.

E-2 hit her helm against a boulder before landing in a pool of cold water.

Her helm was bleeding profusely as she tried to stand up.

Trying to get up, she noticed a strange rock in the center of the cave and a small organic creature on her armor.

She didn’t notice the rock glowing until it was too late.

Her entire frame felt like it was on fire, screaming in pain.

When it was over, she fell backwards into the cool water, slowly closing her optics from the pain.

The last thing she thought about was Ariel, Orion and Megatron.

They were probably thinking she was going to come back home any day now.

She wanted to say sorry to them…

Sorry that she wasn’t coming back home…

…

Back on Cybertron the life signals on the pods had turned dark.

The station had called Orion, Areil, Starscream and Megatron to tell them about the freak accident.

Most likely faulty wiring on the pods.

Either way, none of the passengers survived.

Everyone was in shock.

Ariel then started to sob horribly.

Orion immediately came to her aid hugging her tightly trying to keep his own tears at bay.

Megatron just stood there in shock.

Starscream demanded to know whose fault this was.

He nearly clawed at the poor bot across the table if Megatron hadn’t grabbed him back.

He held Starscream noticing the shakiness of both of their frames.

There was nothing they could do now.

One of the biggest regrets Megatron had in his entire life was not hugging Buddy that day or trying harder to make her stay.

Elita regretted not being able to stop her twin from leaving and not saying love you one last time.

Orion regretted not going with her.

Maybe he could have done something to help with the faulty wiring or something.

They weren’t going to see her again, not until it was their time to go to the Allspark.

Until then… till all are one.

[littlemisstfc]

Transformers One: Is It Good Or Nah?

Hello, hola、こんにちは。So…it’s been 84 years since I’ve last written on this side of the Hundred Acre Woods. For that, I do deeply apologize for my absence aksksksjsjsj. Anyways…so the Transformers franchise, in terms of the movies, has a very shaky history.

We all know the Transformers movies; it’s pretty known by now that the movies are just a rollercoaster of quality. For every Bumblebee, there will always be a Revenge of The Fallen. When it comes to me specifically, I have a very complicated relationship with this aspect of the franchise for a better part of my life. The original G1 movie is okay. The first movie is alright, ROTF is Satan’s spawn, DOTM is good, AOE is a chaotic mess that I both hate and love, and the less said about TLK, the better. Then, a miracle happened in the form of Bumblebee (2018) and it sets the path of redemption for these movies. It continues with Rise of The Beasts and while it’s an 8/10 movie for me, it’s still a great movie that continues the momentum. Now, it brings us to today.

I wanna bring this up before talking about Transformers One because you will not believe me when I say that this movie is EVEN BETTER THAN LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE FILM SERIES. YES, IT OUTDID EVEN THE GREATEST TRANSFORMERS MOVIES BY A FREAKING LANDSLIDE. JUST…how did we even get a movie like this? The fact that it exists is truly the most mind boggling, yet pleasant surprise so far in the series to date. Words cannot describe the experience I have gone through at this moment. Just…what did we do to get something this incredible and this damn good. Amazing is an understatement; Transformers One is easily the best Transformers movie to date.

The way it gives us genuinely some of the best moments in Transformers history is an indicator of the majesty they wanted to make. Sure, no movie is truly perfect. However, for this one, the amount of things to discuss and think about is something that rivals even the most complex media such as Earthspark and Animated. So what am I doing here standing around for? Let's talk about a movie about two bros chilling in an Energon mine, five feet apart cause they’re not gay! :D

For this review…I’m going to give this movie’s pacing the respect it deserves (due to how crucial it is to the story) by highlighting the most important details I want to talk about in order. After we get the nitpicks and other good stuff out of the way, I’m so excited to unleash all the inner brainworks in my head at the moment. So let’s goooooo.

3, 2, 1, Pingu.

(Also, I will be going into spoilers, so Sparknotes version: it’s a rare 10/10. ✨)

The Good, The Bad, and The Badassitron

Let’s go get the nitpicks out of the way. I say nitpicks because they thankfully don’t drag down the movie for me. First things first: I wish that the main trio of Decepticons (Doritoscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave’s boobs) play a much bigger role here. I felt like how we got from Starscream in charge to now all of sudden loyal to Megatron after having the crap beaten out of him is where the movie could benefit from a few minutes more to the runtime. To me, their loyalty to Megatron by the end is something that needs to be earned. However, like I said, it didn’t bring the movie down for me because they’re not the focus here, The focus is on Megatron’s relationship with Optimus. We’ll get there when we get there. Bee’s fine for what he is, but I feel like he can be cut out of the movie and replaced with someone else. The story would be as it is, like he really doesn’t have much of a reason to be here. However, like I said, he’s fine for what he is. The only other nitpick I have is that it’s weird that the Quintessons have little to no direct involvement in the main conflict, since it’s their rule that led to this mess in the first place. However, since we’re getting two more movies, I’m curious to see how this is gonna play out in the future. Anyways, that’s all I have to say about the issues I have with the movie, so let’s get to the good stuff…EVERYTHING ELSE.

Oh my god, the music score? Easily among my favorite scores in Transformers media to date. The way it not only incorporates music from shows such as Transformers Prime so beautifully, but it gives the world so much life and majesty that is straight out of a Biblical epic. The ending song at the credits reminds me so much of On My Soul, just what an utter bop. Of course, I also need to mention the biggest highlight of this movie…the animation. Oh my god, this movie is utterly gorgeous. Not only are the settings so vibrant and brimming with life and personality, but I absolutely adore the facial expressions on the characters. I’m glad that it’s emotive enough to not fall into the Uncanny Valley, and the characters felt so real. I especially love Orion’s facial expressions, because of how well they convey his growing heartbreak and loss of innocence over the course of the story that we’ll discuss later here. Overall, the music and animation are good enough reasons why you need to see this movie on the big screen. Just…MMMMMMM. Delicious food.

The characters are also really likable and enduring. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna like Badassitron going in, but honestly, he’s a Bumblebee done well. He has plenty of funny moments and jokes, and I like how they don���t have him make quips during the more serious moments here and there. He is the comic relief done right. I’m pleasantly surprised by how they handle Elita’s character. At first, based on the promos, she seems to be the Ultra Serious Girlboss who girlbosses her way into the Elita One we all know and love. However, as it turns out, it’s revealed that she’s a neurotic, yet well meaning dork and I love that for her akskssk. I especially love how her relationship with Orion develops over time as they went to find the One Piece. She went from being irritated with his tendency to cause mischief at work and ignoring protocols to warming up to him because of his resilience and optimism (no pun intended) of their people being freed. Honestly, it’s so refreshing to see a flawed, yet likable Elita here and she’s perhaps one of my favorite iterations so far. Moving on, and oh man…where do we even begin with our good buddy Sentinel Prime. Not only is he one of the evil ass motherfuckers in the franchise so far, but he is a fantastic main villain. Just seeing this despicable bastard manipulate his way into power makes you love to hate him, he’s also pretty funny, and the way he poses a threat to our heroes provides enough interesting groundwork for the conflict between two of our main amigos. Also, shoutout to Jon Hamm. He did an excellent job at portraying Sentinel as this smug, arrogant little bitch. Just, amazing. And speaking of portrayals, the entire voice cast did an amazing job here. You can tell how much they clearly respect the characters they’re portraying while also breathing new life into them. This is what animation studios need to do; hire actors that suit the characters well DAMMIT. Other positives I have is the amount of neat cameos of our favorite blorbos in the background, the comedic timing is excellent thanks to the voice actors’ deliveries and banter with each other, and in spite of the darker tone the more it progresses, it also has a very cozy, fun feel to it due to one of the movie’s main central themes. And speaking of themes…this is where we will end the section here.

Now…I am saving the best for last. What I mean by that is that there are two characters that manage to be my favorite aspect of the movie overall. So…let’s go talk about them.

A Tale of Two Friends:

I’m struggling to use the right words to describe how I feel about Orion and Megatron. To me…they’re the true standouts in the movie for me. Their relationship is portrayed with so much care and gravity that they both felt like real people. Not only are they both likable and charming, but seeing their relationship break apart over the course of the movie is hauntingly beautiful and tragic. Trust me, it’s not the shipper speaking here. It’s so refreshing to see them together in the big screen for the first time since The Last Knight, but it’s also so interesting seeing them in a different light than what other Transformers media did. I’m starting in the order of the movie because the movie’s pacing is perfect. Every scene connects to each other perfectly and it makes room for the wild ride we’re in for.

First, let’s start with Orion.

We start the movie off with Orion breaking into the Iaconian Hall of Records and search for anything on the status of the One Piece. Then, he gets caught by some guards and a chase ensues. Right away, we get a good idea of his mischievous, yet curious personality and his determination to discover more about the surface world. He won’t take no for an answer and while it does lead to him getting in trouble often, it’s genuinely admirable to see him have the initiative to make the best of his situation in life. Then, right before he gets caught, Megatron comes in with a cart that serves as a distraction for Orion to slip away and they both head to work.

Right off the bat, we see that Megatron is the more relaxed, more cautious out of the two. He tries his best to stay out of trouble and to keep his good ol unhinged buddy alive due to his wacky shenanigans. At the same time, he also has the same kind of energy he shares with Orion in that they both keep their heads up in spite of their circumstances. Adding to the layers is Orion bringing him the Fallen sticker, which is how we get a good idea of how much they care for each other. True, they have their own frustrations with each other. Megatron is frustrated by Orion’s tendency to get in trouble, along with not recognizing his discomfort with some of the things he drags him into such as the Iacon 5000, and Orion is frustrated by Megatron keeping his head down to avoid trouble. However, they always have each other’s back and they are each other’s equals.

We also see that they’re both kindhearted people who will stand up for the little guy through risking their lives to save Jazz from the collapsing Energon mine, even though it resulted in Elita being demoted. From the start, their desire to make their world a better place is set in stone there. This is furthered strengthened by Orion standing up for Elita by flipping off Darkwing and both him and Megatron needing some milk afterwards. Also, quick side note: Orion’s sass and dynamics with the other characters is so damn refreshing. I love how he literally has no chill in speaking what’s on his mind, and I especially adore how he interacts with Elita. Pure malewife material aksksksz.

Back on track, he then drags Megatron into the Iacon 5000 so that they can prove themselves to be just as worthy as the upper class racers in the game. As they fly through the race track with mere jet packs, their fellow miners cheer for them and they were pretty close to finishing in first place had it not been for the combo of an injury Megatron got and the first place winner coming in. I’m not gonna reveal who won the race, but let me say that who won it is a pleasant surprise. Anyways, this earned the attention of Sentinel Prime and he went down to their recovery ward to personally congratulate them on their boldness in participating. He even offers them a nice ol place in his crib, which they might've accepted if Darkwing didn’t throw them down into Undertale due to his jealousy and anger. Throughout this scene, we see Orion and Megatron being validated by the Prime they’ve admired for so long for breaking out of the status quo and it lays the foundation for later on. Eventually, they met Bee, found the map to the One Piece, and ventured into the surface world while accidentally dragging Elita along for the ride. Pretty landscapes and peril later, they end up in the cave where the bodies of de Primes are at. They wake up Alpha Trion and he reveals the bitter truth:

Uh oh, it turns out Sentinel Prime is a LIAR and that he betrayed the Primes in order to be in charge of the Cybertronian population. Here…we see the innocent viewpoints of Orion and Megatron shattered permanently from here on out. While Orion reacts with anger as he should, Megatron is utterly furious with this horrific revelation. The Prime he has admired for so long, the Prime who just gave him an opportunity to move upwards just minutes ago…turns out to be a cowardly, spineless fraud that took away their autonomy to having basically a crucial organ in their bodies and to make choices for themselves. It isn’t helped by Sentinel giving up the Energon (that they risked their lives in mining for) to the very evil overlords that are responsible for their people being this way for so many generations.

What happens back in the cave is one of three excellent scenes that is borderline uncomfortable due to how realistic it is. We see Megatron essentially having a mental breakdown from finding out his life is a lie and Sentinel is a big stinker. When Orion tries to calm him down, he finally vents to him about his frustrations with Orion’s tendency to cause trouble over the years and calls him out for not thinking before acting on his impulses. It also helps that we see his patience starting to be worn thin earlier in the recovery ward and when Darkwing threw them both in the Undertale. Then, he finishes his breakdown with one simple, yet effective confession: he doesn’t want to just take Sentinel down…he wants to kill him. To say that hearing Megatron say this left me and the theater in shock is a massive understatement. It genuinely caught me off guard, but in a good way. We finally saw Megatron at his breaking point: his entire life, including being worked to death, has been for nothing. It’s a great scene because it’s an argument where you understand both perspectives here. You understand Orion’s bewilderment at Megatron’s unhinged behavior and wanting him to take a deep breath so he can clear his head while you also understand Megatron finally having enough of being a doormat for too long and Orion putting his own wants before others. Neither side is right and wrong, and I appreciate how Orion’s and Megatron’s emotions are valid here. From this point on, all hell breaks loose.

After they gain their T-cogs and the recording to cancel Sentinel on Twitter by Alpha Trion, the main amigos enjoy the euphoria of transforming for the first time. However…we see Megatron enjoying the euphoria of having the T-cog too much. After fighting off one of Sentinel’s soldiers, he forcibly takes the callout post and vows to make Sentinel pay for his crimes. When Orion tries to protest, Megatron coldly tells him to step aside or else there’ll be a problem between them. Orion’s expression here is why I love his facial expressions the most as mentioned earlier. You can see all the thoughts he’s having right now, especially the shock of seeing his best friend giving into his darker thoughts expressed back at the cave. Now, the coin is flipped. Orion is the sensible, level headed one of the two while Megatron is the impulsive, stubborn one that he always scolds Orion for being so in earlier scenes.

As they make their way back home, they ended up captured by some Decepticons and are being interrogated by Starscream and his band of mean girls. When Megatron walks away from the interrogation nonchalantly, Starscream tries to assert himself as the leader. However, it ended up breaking into a fight that quickly went HOLY FUCKING SHIT, HE NEEDS SOME MILK when Megatron overpowers him. We see a horrified Orion in the crowd and they can only look at each other. Their friendship will never be the same after that…especially now that Megatron finally got a taste of power that’s been denied to him all his life. I know that this is probably gonna be a point of contention for some people with how Megatron’s turn to the Dark Side is portrayed here, so let me provide this perspective:

How long did Megatron have these thoughts?

Given presumably how many times he had to bust Orion out of trouble, and having to keep quiet just to stay alive, you have to wonder how long he kept quiet about his frustrations and hidden rage at the circumstances of his life. From that angle, giving into his intrusive thoughts is inevitable. He just needed the push to act on them. Essentially…the poor guy needed therapy, and sadly, there are no therapists on Cybertron. 😔

Eventually, Megs and Badassitron got captured along with Starscream and several other Decepticons by Airachnid. It’s now up to Orion and Elita to team up with the remaining Decepticons left and YOU GOTTA HELP US. Here, we see Orion finally realize how badly he screwed up for not understanding how his actions affected the people he cares about over the years. It got through his head that he didn’t appreciate Megatron’s patience and willingness to protect him from the consequences. While he means well, he doesn’t realize how selfish he’s also being with the things he does in his overactive ways. Upon realizing this, he takes responsibility for the amigos being in this mess…a mess that happened because of him. That was his mistake. He is now left with no choice but to go forward and make things right by his friend and the people they love. Then…we get another one incredible scene and that is Elita’s pep talk to him.

While it starts off a bit comedic due to how this is clearly Elita’s first time with cheering someone up and Orion pointing it out, it then leads to her expressing how she always admire his optimism towards a better future for their kind and his refusal to back down in the face of struggle. It’s the embodiment of the movie’s most important message: having hope even when the odds are against you. That fact that we have such a strong theme in a turbulent era we’re in at the moment is why this scene works so well. Change starts with one person, and then becomes bigger and stronger when they continue to fight against injustice and inspire others to do the same. Thus, Elita’s pep talk gave Orion the drive to get back up and keep moving forward by teaming up with the Decepticons, go back to Iacon, and free their buddies. The theme is furthered strengthened by Orion rallying the other miners into helping him, as he now has the power to make things better for his people.

Quick side note, but Elita is an interesting foil to Megatron’s in terms of how they react to Orion’s unhinged sassy king energy. While she’s also annoyed by his tendency to get in trouble a lot, she has also admire his ability to remain optimistic even with their shitty conditions. Once he takes responsibility for his decisions, she softens up towards him and she remains his dearest friend by the end. In contrast, by the time he has apologized for his mistakes, it’s too late for Megatron. It’s clear that these two are what shaped Orion into Optimus, for better and for worst.

Meanwhile, Megatron gets tortured by Sentinel after repeatedly defying him. Then, he gets the Decepticon symbol carved painfully into his chest by the blue son of a bitch. That essentially became the straw that broke the camel’s back and it ultimately drove Megatron into a point of no return. After the other main amigos rescued the other amigos and a ROBOT FIGHT occurs, Megatron now has the opportunity to finally show Sentinel that his day of reckoning has come. Now, he must die. However, after putting the callout post on Twitter, Orion realizes what his bestie is about to do and tries to stop him. However, Megatron quickly overpowers him and prepares the final blow to Sentinel. Then…what happened next left me and the entire theater in stunned silence for a good few minutes up until one point. At first, I thought to myself:

“Ain’t no way he’s gonna do this. There’s no way they’re bold enough to have Megatron do this.”

But then…it happened. The shot from the fusion cannon meant for Sentinel ended up hitting Orion instead, sending him flying near the entrance to the planet’s core and hanging on for dear life. The moment he cries out to Megatron for help…I bursted into tears right there. His innocent perspective has been destroyed permanently, and he’s now a broken shell of his formerly spunky self. To add more salt to the wound, Megatron reaches for him…only for him to declare that he’s done saving him from trouble after one too many times. Then, he sent him falling into the core. Megatron has crossed the line, and with eyes now red with hate and pain, he finally killed Sentinel in front of a now devoted group of followers who will obey his every word. He has now become the person he has sworn to destroy…

As that’s going on, Orion’s broken, lifeless body is gently brought down inside of the core and it’s revealed that he is the one who is destined to receive the One Piece…aka, the Matrix of Leadership. Thus, he is now reborn as the Optimus Prime we all know and love. The use of a theme from the G1 movie is the cherry on top of an utterly haunting, yet powerful scene that needs to be seen on the big screen.

After he has risen and put an end to Megatron’s madness, he decides that the best option for them both is banishing Megatron and his followers from Iacon. The fact that he chose this option instead of simply killing his former best friend really speaks a lot about not only his character, but also how much their relationship has essentially been ruined by how different they are in terms of wanting change. Alas, Megatron goes off into the sunset with his followers and Optimus is left there…mourning the death of their once great bond. When it showed a memory of how they met afterwards, it made me sobbed uncontrollably. At this point, you’re left with one question:

Will they ever go back to where they were at before?

Thus, we end on a bittersweet ending…an ending of two former friends who were torn apart by the sins of the fathers and the aftermath of said sins. All there’s left to do is wait and hope that everything will be okay soon.

Overall…Orion and Megatron are what makes the movie for me. Their chemistry, their character development, and the phenomenal performances of Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry are what makes them the most layered, most complex iterations of the characters respectively.

Conclusion: IT’S SO GOOD, YOU GUYS.

Words cannot describe how Transformers One is a phenomenal love letter to the franchise I hold very dear to my heart since I was a kid. Overall, this is a fantastic movie that you will love.

It has phenomenal characters, gorgeous animation, an amazing score, and a powerful story of how you have the power to change the world and make it better. For the very first time since Cyberverse, I award the very rare 10/10 to this film.

Please check it out. I applaud everyone involved in this project for making it a beautiful work of art for the fans. It is indeed more than meets the eye.

[weenwrites]

How would tfp OP, ratchet and arcee react to a reader that can see and interact with the dead? Like upon first meeting reader immediately asked optimus why is there 12 ghosts clinging to you? (12 past primes) and can share information from their own planet even they didn't know and can relay the decepticons plans(cuz ghosts don't see the need of secrets and like to gossip). For arcee, reader just tells her "he wants you to move on and be happy" (ref to cliff) thx!

[ Please do not repost, plagiarize, or use my writing for AI! Translating my work with proper credit is acceptable, but please ask first! ]

Optimus

Of the millions and millions of years that he's lived, that is the first time that someone has ever brought that up to him, and it's needless to say that he is beyond confused. He'll ask you what you mean when you say 12 ghosts, and even if you start explaining that you can see ghosts, he doesn't quite take you at your word first.

But once he finally does believe you, he finds the information you relay to be rather useful and very helpful, so he begins to seek you out for help when it comes to plotting against the Decepticon's plans. Of course there are some ghosts that are too blinded by their loyalty to Megatron to even consider exchanging information with you, but when that comes the case, Optimus attempts to help you sway them to your side.

At times the two of you have deep discussions about the afterlife, death, and existence as a whole. He'll tell you of the cybertronian notion of the afterlife, the allspark, and the well of sparks, and he'll listen to you talk about the human version of death and existence. He wonders about what causes their consciousnesses to remain, and if you have any answers for him, he would very much like to learn more.

Ratchet

Yeah yeah, sure, you can see ghosts... He's rather dismissive of you when you first try to tell him about your special ability, and the only way to make him believe you is with solid, concrete evidence. And even then, all he asks is about the afterlife before leaving you be.

The notion of another form of existence after someone dies is... Morbidly interesting to him... As comforting as it is to know about what's to expect when he dies, he's disturbed by the thought that all their fallen comrades have been wandering around for countless years as ghosts, forever cursed to exist for the rest of eternity... Unless you tell him that ghosts eventually fade or die a second time, then, well he reclaims his previous statement.

Arcee

Yeah no, she doesn't really buy it that you can see ghosts until you mention Cliffjumper, because there's no way that you would've ever known about him unless you were part of the team back when he was still around... And speaking of Cliffjumper, she's happy to hear that he had a message for her. While it isn't easy to just "move on", she tries her best to keep going.

And... Speaking of the afterlife, she asks you what it's like. She's always had the notion that there wasn't much to it. After life, there'd be nothing, and your spark would return to the well to be reborn—well, that's how cybertronians think of it, anyway. But as you explain it to her, she has mixed feelings about the fact that there are dead transformers from bygone eras that can still roam around. It's as if there's no ending to "existing", and that sort of horrifies her.

[melishade]

Dialogue prompt “what is a prime?” World leader question title?/rank?/name? of prime. Why hold more significant than cybertronias counsel

I should start making these dialogue prompts a list.

Willy had tried speaking with Optimus personally after the events of the peace treaty, but he felt as though the Prime was intentionally avoiding him and the world leaders. Some of his excuses included going to Paradis and assisting in repairing the damage caused by the Rumbling, which was harmless in it of itself.

But he noticed those excuses became more apparent. Like catching up with his old comrades, which he had frequently done. Or go to Earth to see his old stomping grounds. The world leaders were starting to get impatient, and with them rather peeved about Optimus forcing their hand to revoke all laws discriminating against Eldians, they felt like they were owed something for doing something that revolutionary.

All the other Autobots were busy right now, and there was one person who seemed to know the most about Optimus...to a terrifying degree.

"Megatron!" Willy called out for the former warlord with a forced, nervous smile. Willy could see the rather peaceful expression on his face killed the instant he called his name. He had stopped assisting with the reconstruction of a building and turned his attention to him. Willy couldn't help but feel a little awkward at Megatron now being able to tower over him more than he usually did as Matthew.

"What do you want, Tybur?" Megatron demanded bluntly.

"Well, the world leaders have been asking about Optimus and-!"

"He's busy on Earth," Megatron cut him off, "Something about a 'Day of the Dead' event."

"Okay..." Willy was confused by the statement, "Can't you go get him?"

"I'm not very welcomed on Earth," Megatron explained.

"Well can you send someone to get him?!" Willy was getting increasingly frustrated.

"Everyone else is busy-!"

"Okay, I know that bullshit!" Willy snapped before taking a deep breath, "I know it is-!"

"It's not," Megatron proclaimed before raising a digit, "Ultra Magnus has duties to Cybertron as a member of the high council." He raised another digit. "Wheeljack and Smokescreen are trying to locate survivors." He continued counting. "Bumblebee is assisting Ratchet and Knockout in identifying the deceased to give closure to the survivors. Bulkhead is currently assisting with reconstruction and Arcee is keeping guard on Paradis to ensure that everything is running smoothly."

"It doesn't seem like Optimus is helping," Willy grumbled.

"If you've known him as long as I have, you'd know that Optimus would constantly work himself into the ground," Megatron declared, "I had to tell Ratchet to force him to stop overworking himself, trying to give the people hope by assisting in reconstruction, because if any one of us is going to give the humans hope, it's the one that's saved humanity from extinction."

"See that's the thing: we don't know anything about him!" Willy declared, "We've haven't had an extended talk to get to know him. We've been told that the Star Saber is of great importance and we are aware that there is a council on your planet, but what about Optimus? What makes him so special that he is revered and respected by everyone around him? Even you? You seem to snap at anyone that has an ounce of authority-!"

"Your authority was a sham. Optimus' is real," Megatron declared, "And I've known him for eons, long before you existed. I may have hated him during a good portion of that time, but he will always have my respect."

"But why?" Willy demanded, "I have to report something back to them."

Megatron sighed in defeat. "What makes Optimus special is that he is a Prime."

"I...thought that Prime was his name," Willy recalled in confusion.

"Prime isn't a name. It's a title. The most significant title any Cybertronian can receive," Megatron explained, "Because...in the simplest terms...it means one has been ordained by our creator to fight in times of great conflict."

Willy's eyes felt like they were going to pop out of his head. "Did...did you just say 'ordained by creator'? Like...your god?! You guys have a god?!"

"Well, someone had to have created us," Megatron shrugged, "But yes, the Primes were named after our creator: Primus. The qualifications of being a Prime are...muddled, but worthy enough, and you could be bestowed with the Matrix of Leadership: the collective wisdom of the Primes."

"And...how many other Primes were there?" Willy asked.

"Fourteen," Megatron answered, "There have been false Primes, like Sentinel."

Willy recoiled at the way Megatron said that name, but quickly refocused on the topic at hand. "So, Optimus is...a demigod?"

"That has access to any and all weapons created by the Primes that preceded him," Megatron added, "Yes."

"...what made him worthy of being a Prime?" Willy couldn't help but ask.

"That's a question you'll have to ask him yourself," Megatron answered.

"Well, I can't do that if he's avoiding me!" Willy exclaimed.

"Fine, I will pass a message along for you," Megatron relented.

"Thank you," Willy said in annoyance before walking away from Megatron. As he walked away, ready to call a spacebridge, a thought occurred to him. A really fearful thought:

The world leaders nearly started a war with a titan that was ordained by a god. Willy was now filled with more dread and more questions.

(Yeah, I'll be sure to make a list of these prompts for later so it's easier to track.)

[gotbreads]

OC x Tfp Megatron (Adult Offspring)

-Said OC: Linked Here!

ABOUT:

Sire: Mornilious the Forge

Carrier: Megatron

Zeus

Height: 38ft

About: He doesn't understand emotions, causing him to be blunt and to the point in all conversations. If he hurts someone's feelings, he doesn't register that change. He doesn't register different facial expressions either.

What he lacks in emotions he gains in battle situations, causing him to have very quick thinking and very well maintained scanners with added range. Nothing gets by him without going unnoticed, his vision and audial range is also heightened.

-Downside, he easily gets overwhelmed causing him to get angry.

---Later on, Zeus learns cybertronian sign language when he needs to cut all audio feed.

For such easily engaged anger issues, he is going to therapy to regain the abilities to recognize emotions and facial expressions. And to learn ways to help his heightened senses, and ease the anger.

-Does not give a shit unless it concerns his brother and creators.

Hades

Height: 38ft

About: He is extremely charismatic and expressive, no one will ever not be happy to see him. Hades loves to joke around, flirt, bug his brother, etc.

Bots knowing that his carrier is Megatron, they'd think he would have a scratchy voice. But it's the complete opposite, his voice is buttery smooth a little deep and gravelly. Nothing like his carrier.

For his charismatic nature, he is an expert in battle, but he's a little too much of a "Let's go, plan later." He always runs head first into a problem before analyzing it, causing him to gain new scars or reopen old ones.

He will stand up for his brother, he will beat the shit out of someone if they make fun of anyone who is close to him.

-He is a dumbass

Post war Context below cut!

Megatron stayed on Cybertron within the newly established landscape, old forests finally showing their true beauty as he hid himself. Many starships entered the atmosphere, the loud and roaring sound making him feel guilty of what he put everyone through. Until, one massive starship enters the atmosphere. At first it caught him off guard, the color scheme, the lights, it was so unfamiliar.

The ship landed not far away from the forest he hid in, it was surely massive.

Parallel to the ship, Megatron saw so many be greeted by Optimus and his team. Sparklings, veterans, carriers, sires, you name it- they were all there. But one caught his optic, the tall mech with flames coming from his helm. When it dawned on who he was looking at, said mech looked right at him. The sudden movement made his entire frame freeze in place, was he seen?

Then the mech looked away, greeting Optimus and his team.

Megatron took that as the cue to leave.

-- A few stellar cycles go by leading Megatron to question who that mech was. He never forgot a face, so why couldn't he think of where he saw this mech before?

A twig snaps behind him.

His body went into the defensive, but who he saw amazed him.

The mech with flames had his servos up at the level of his helm, showing he didn't come here to fight. Once Megatron got a better look at the mech he instantly knew who it was.

Mornilious the Forge, a Gladiator before him, known for his fire bending and his weaponry craftsmanship.

They talked, mostly due to Mornilious's own curiosity.

"What if I watched over your recovery? Making sure you get the therapy you need?"

Megatron was caught off guard by Mornilious's question, a mech known by simple myth sits beside him asking if he could help.

----- Many years later:

Megatron was set into a schedule with Mornilious, the therapy helping him stay sane, showing him how to deal with his feelings and guilt.

Noticing how much Mornilious has helped him without question, simply because he wanted too. Megatron slowly started to love the old Ex-Gladiator. Including Mornilious's horrible dad jokes and puns, him not knowing current cybertronian slang/quirks, how caring and careful he is.

Mornilious reminded him of Optimus in a way, the heroic leader of the people. But much softer than the prime, the smiles, the warm hugs, the how are you's in the early morning.

The warmth is overwhelmingly lovely.

[torpedopickle]

Transformers One review. Warning: long

(Mild spoilers, detailed analysis of characters tho)

I've been waiting for this movie for years. Transformers is one of my all time-favorite franchises, but honestly it has rarely treated me right, especially in regards to movies. I've enjoyed some of them, even loved a couple, but this really is the first time where I feel like I can genuinely say that we've had a capital G Great Transformers movie. So much so that I've had to knock some points off my older reviews simply because I can't pretend like they're worthy of the same score as this movie.

Where to even begin honestly. The beautiful score by Brian Tyler, the rather great animation and excellent technical work with rigging and detailing the machines and characters, the stellar set pieces and imaginative action choreography, the jokes (which don't always land but land more often than not), and the captivating performances from namely Henry and Hemsworth. The world-building is effortless and expansive, with so many little details that work so neatly together, like trains and roads being able to adjust their path to adapt to the ever-changing environment of Cybertron's surface. This is absolutely one of the most well realized depictions of Cybertron, especially when it comes to the societal hierarchies that the characters find themselves in and how this sets up the eventual falling out between the two amazing leads.

Some might find D-16/Megatron's heel-turn to be on the sudden side, but I'd say that's more a matter of the film not always helping you notice that he's changing, rather than the change not being natural, because in my opinion it is expertly done.

It's extremely high praise for me to say that I was invested in the falling out between D and Orion, because this is a prequel, not to mention a retelling that utilizes several little bits of prior transformers stories. So the fact that they were able to make their development feel gripping, tragic, enticing, and unavoidable all at once is genuinely incredible, given I knew going in how things would turn out. Of course we know Megatron is gonna become evil in the end, but the road he takes there is so fascinating and serves as a good example of how sometimes, a predictable plot is actually a positive trait, showing that the writers effectively communicated their ideas to you as you piece together how the paths characters are set on will lead them to an inevitable clash that you can't wait to see unfold.

Megatron's radicalization worked so well to me because they make it clear early on that the foundations for his mental stability are rather shaky from the start. He's built his entire identity on this idea that if he stays in his lane, follows the rules, works hard, and trusts in his superiors, he'll be rewarded and allowed to continue living comfortably, even if his circumstances allow for limited options. He's naively grateful to the people on top of the hierarchy, blindly trusting that they want the best for him. Because naturally the system has to be fair. Because if it's not fair, and those above him have been lying to him, then he'll have nothing, because carving out an existence *inside* the system they built was his everything. His entire identity is founded on the idea that this is the best life accessible to him, and that's just the way of things, and that it's no one's fault.

So of course when it turns out to actually be someone's fault, things crumble very quickly. The system failed him, he's learned that there's no way for him to earn what he's owed within the system. And if he can't earn it within the system, then the only thing he has left is his strength and ability to take it by force. And as we know, he idolizes Megatronus Prime, known for being the strongest of his siblings. Which serves as a nice hint to what D values early on as he later needs something to cling to as his reality unravels.

While Megatron was by far the most fascinating character to me, Optimus was also captivating. Orion immediately contrasts D-16 in some big ways. Namely that he isn't quite satisfied with his place in the hierarchy. What forms the foundation for D-16's subsequent fall into despair and rage is the fact that he tried to build his entire identity on the rather rickety foundation of the system, convincing himself that this is the only place where he'd be happy. But Orion from the get-go very clearly believes there's more to life than what the system has outlined for them. So when the system is revealed to have failed both Orion and D, Orion handles it a lot better, because it doesn't shatter his identity like it does with D, it just solidifies and further encourages his existing desires.

The contrast with D also flips in a really thrilling way, with Orion initially being the risk-taker, causing D a lot of grief as he fears Orion might jeopardize the progress D has made in scaling the societal ranks by following the rules. Although once all that falls apart for D, he now becomes the risk-taker, as he's nothing left to lose, and everything to gain, while Orion is left to watch in horror as his best friend is radicalized bit by bit (not helped at all by encountering a raving gang of might-makes-right hooligans who provide extremely negative affirmation).

Their ultimate falling-out feels gut-wrenching when it finally comes to pass, and I'm just so happy that it wasn't an accident, a misunderstanding, or the tampering of a corrupting influence or higher power. These two brothers simply do not have compatible worldviews by the end of the film. The ways they respond to the same traumas in different ways is remarkable, and is a gold standard for character writing.

The other characters were quite fun too, while shallow, Sentinel Prime "Hamms" it up (hehe) and makes for a very fun character to hate. Elita-1 serves to nicely compliment the broader themes of classism and exploitation, and rounds out the cast very well, although doesn't have as much meat as the leads. Bumblebee's addition is in my opinion for the better, although I know many who would disagree, and to each their own. I just can't help but find it adorable how he excitedly imprints on the first people he meets after most likely going insane in what's essentially solitary confinement.

The only real point of criticism I'd be able to muster would be that Sentinel Prime is mostly just the linchpin for the other characters' arcs rather than being a truly rounded character in his own right. And I didn't find all the jokes funny, but honestly, that's a me-thing. Most of the jokes in the film were in my opinion well written even if I didn't chuckle. Many of them are jokes you can also only do in a transformers story such as the transformation mishaps, or are otherwise complimented by the setting, such as Bumblebee's imaginary friend Steve, who's name would ordinarily be a joke about it being a basic name, but in this alien setting is actually rather exotic, which does elevate the joke from being lazy, to at the very least being inspired.

Overall this really is a fantastic movie. After the first trailer I was honestly prepared for the standard Transformers experience. At best I was hoping for it to be like the solo Bumblebee film where it has some strong highs and character writing but overall flawed. But no, this is just an all-round great film, dripping with passion and talent in near every aspect. I can't recommend it more, and I'll likely make this movie an integral part of my personality forever, as if I wasn't insufferable enough about Transformers already.

[bots-and-cons]

Hello! Have you watch Avatar : The Last Airbender? If you have, how would DreadWing, Megatron and Optimus react that their s/o or crush is an Avatar and can control all elements? I find the contrast is fascinating because them being all robotic science and s/o is master of raw organic power. Imagine s/o use the Avatar State to protect them from an enemy and the bots where like 👀🧍🏻‍♀️humans can do thattt??!!!

I have seen it, though it's been a while. Absolutely great show though, now I kinda wanna watch it again. I picked crush, so maybe they don't know the reader super well yet and the powers come as a surprise. I didn’t do Megatron because I’m super tired and just wanted to post something, since I feel like it’s been forever since my last post. I also apologize if this is nonsense, I'm running on very little sleep today

~Optimus Prime~

•The avatar has always had some kind of conflict to solve, and after you met the bots, you strongly felt that maybe the war between autobots and decepticons was the conflict you could help solve

•You’re a bit of a government secret as well, and since it’s easier to keep an eye on people when they’re in the same place, you kind of ended up bunking with the autobots

•You train every day, but in secret, because you’ve been told to not reveal your powers to anyone unless lives are at stake

•So you figured the giant alien robots didn’t need to know either

•You took a liking to Optimus, feeling a sort of kinship with him because you felt like he carried a burden similar to yours, you’re the avatar and he’s a Prime

•He of course doesn't know about your status or your powers, but he does see you seem to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders

•When you and Optimus get ambushed one day when you’re coming back from town after running some errands you have to defend yourself and him

•You go into the avatar state, because you feel like your life is in danger and you also don’t want Optimus to get hurt either

•Afterwards, when the vehicons are beaten back and you come out of the avatar state, you’d pretty low on energy and just ask Optimus to take you back to the base so you can rest

•He of course asks you about what just happened, but only after a while when you don’t bring it up on your own

•Optimus honestly thought it was quite magnificent, the raw power and energy he felt coming of you was a bit terrifying to be honest

•He had never seen anything like it before, and when you talked about it, he felt like his processor got overloaded with information, because you just started talking and didn’t stop

•It’s such a relief to get to talk about it with someone, especially with someone who understands the responsibility you have

•Optimus also gets to talk about his responsibilities as a Prime, and it’s honestly so freeing for him

•You bond over your shared problems and responsibilities, and talk for hours and hours

~Dreadwing~

•After you saved Dreadwing from Ultra Magnus, and came out the avatar state, Dreadwing is just looking at you like “What in the name of Primus was that?”

•You have to explain yourself, and Dreadwing is very interested in learning more about you and your powers

•He decides right there and then that if he wants to keep you safe from Megatron, your abilities can never be made known

•You tell him you escaped from a government holding facility before you met the cons, and at first you’d stayed with them because it made you feel like the army wouldn’t come anywhere near them and wouldn’t try to recapture you

•Dreadwing was of course interested in why you were in a holding facility in the first place, but he refrained from asking, since you didn’t really seem like you wanted to talk about it

•He was more interested in your powers anyway, like what exactly could you do?

•Dreadwing is mostly interested in these things because he wants to ascertain how well you’d be able to protect yourself if you needed to

•Of course he had seen you could handle yourself quite well, but that was against only one opponent

•Dreadwing promise he would not reveal your secret to anyone, but he also made you promise you would never use it in the presence of the other decepticons, unless it was a life or death situation for you

•He doesn’t much care for the other decepticons, and showing any of them your powers would no doubt lead to them trying to exploit you, especially Megatron and Starscream

[lets-try-some-writing]

I’ve been meaning to send this request for a while now, but I let my desire for a seemingly nonexistent “perfect” moment get in the way. 😛

Anyway, your take on the Autobots’ names and their meanings is still one of my favorite posts of yours. I’ve come up with one or two meanings of my own for a couple of the characters, but I’m curious about what you think the meanings of the Decepticons’ names would/should be. :)

I've been meaning to get to this forever. Sorry this took me an eternity and a half to get around to writing for! Hope you like it!

Decepticons and their Names

Just like the Autobots, the Decepticons developed alternate names to keep their true names secret while still hinting at it. They didn't bother trying to appear more human or adjust their body language in any meaningful way. They simply never saw the need to comply with human naming conventions. However this does not mean that their true names aren't known to anyone.

Soundwave knows just about every bot's true name. It was part of procedure when it came to joining high command. A Decepticon couldn't rise through the ranks if they weren't willing to give Soundwave their true designation for security reasons. And while not the most well received of moves, it did end up keeping quite a few revolts from happening with the perpetrators true name on the line.

Soundwave however is not a mech who would abuse what power he has been given. As such, while he knows the names, he does not use them against the bot whom the designation belongs to unless absolutely necessary. Still there are times when he needs to reconfirm designations and he takes great care of them.

Megatron's true designation is long, a testament to his age and a show of his wisdom. His name has changed greatly over the millennia, but core features of it always remain even through every alteration. His name when translated into human language is roughly akin to [Resilient-Spark-Defiant-Fighter-Silver-Tongued-Truth-Speaker-Seeker-of-Change-Sword-of-Vengance]. It is as shortened a version of his designation that can be managed. If his whole name was written out, it would rival Optimus's in length. When spoken aloud his name sounds like a long forgotten chant, one whispering of times long gone all while the grinding of gears echoed quietly amidst it.

Shockwave's designation is an odd one that contradicts itself over and over again due to the changes he underwent on the Council's orders. Its almost painful to look at when written simply because of how unpleasant it is in its contradictions. His true designation is so unsettling to look at that Soundwave has put it away and refuses to even so much as glance at it until it comes time to check his files. The name comes out to be something along the lines of [Kind-Spark-Empty-Vessel-Hopeful-Light-Bringer-Endless-Void-of-Knowledge]. When spoke aloud it is both lovely to hear and painful for the audio receptors. It sounds like the humming of a spark within its chassis combined with the gentle whistle of wind, but is contradicted by the dull and toneless notes of steady clicking and grinding that nearly cancel the musical qualities out entirely.

Starscream's is surprisingly lovely and holds greater meaning than one would expect. Starscream was after all, not always a traitorous glitch fond of cowardly retreats and greed. Once, long ago Starscream was a noble leader for his people, doing everything in his power to protect them only to at some point lose himself along the way. His name comes out to be [Guardian-Star-Guiding-Beacon-Swift-Lord-of-the-Skies-Radiant-Jewel]. Starscream has always taken great pride in his true designation and has never once uttered it aloud, not for anyone. Even when giving his designation to Soundwave, he merely wrote it down and did not speak at all. However based on what can be gathered, if it was to be spoken aloud it would sound a great deal like the swaying of trees, the chiming of bells, and the constant thrum of a jet engine preparing for takeoff.

Knockout's designation is odd considering his personality, but Soundwave has always assumed that it is simply a matter of the medic having changed over his lifetime. However even with that in mind, there are still bits and pieces that apply to the persona Knockout presents. His designation translates into something similar to [True-Sighted-Spinner-of-Dreams-Faceted-Child-of-Visonaries-Bright-Sparked-Healer]. Perhaps his name spoke of an age where things were different for Knockout, a time where he was more hopeful, open, and friendly. But either way, when spoken aloud his name sounds like the distant trickling of raindrops on a tin sheet, the swaying of tall grass amid a storm, and the crackling of distant thunder all soothed by the gentle patter of stones down a hill.

Breakdown's name was by comparison far clearer and easier to see where it came from. His was straightforward, a perfect representation of his character and spoke of his true pureness of spark. His designation almost made Soundwave wonder just what the warrior was doing amid the Decepticon ranks. His name spoke of someone more suited toward the Autobot's ideals of purity, that with his name translating to mean [Warrior-for-Justice-Protector-of-the-Meek-Gentle-Giant-Comforter-Guardian-of-the-Vulnerable]. Even the sound of his name sounds like it should belong to an Autobot, that with it being like that of the quiet humming of a loving parent combined with the war chant of an army preparing to fight for their homeland.

Dreadwing's designation is one that Soundwave has no real opinion on but finds somewhat fascinating due to how it speaks of his character. It is fairly straightforward much like Breadown's, but like all true designations, it is special in its own unique way, even when translated to [Stoic-Watcher-of-Shifting-Tides-Bound-Protector-of-Spark-Shards-Enduring-Warrior]. Its spoken notes are much like the beating of hammers on an anvil accompanied why the bellows of a beast in the deep. However there is a soft undertone of wind rushing past rock, creating a gentle whistling sound. Overall a fascinating mix of sounds and meanings, but not too noteworthy in Soundwave's book.

Then there is Soundwave's name, the one he has not shared with anyone, not even Megatron. His true designation is something he has kept to himself simply because... he hardly remembers it. A true designation should be something a bot always remembers, but with what Soundwave was forged to do, only bits and pieces have stuck over the millennia. It is something that pains him. He wishes he could remember it all, but as he can't he has filled in his name as best as he can using what he does recall, earning him the translated name [Silent-Keeper-of-Knowledge-Custodian-of-the-Dark-in-All-Tireless-Watcher-of-Eternity]. He has not said it aloud, but he guesses that if it was, it would sound a great deal like the near silent murmurings of mecha long dead and the gentle swaying of all sorts of structures. His name would hardly even be capable of being heard if not for the quiet din of a stone falling into water that would echo quietly should his name be said out loud.

So many names, so many meanings, and Soundwave keep them all dutifully.