#and this is not mentioning the real possibility that idw goes down before even getting to that point

[beevean]

Considering the state of IDW, I'm truly curious if we'll see Surge and Kit again.... and even more what will be done with them when they return. Redemption? Sudden death? Pulling another disappearance for like a year? I cannot help but feel the writers put themselves in a complete corner regarding what to do with these two...🤔

Their fate is so ambiguous (read: I did not understand what happened in that page) that they could feasibly be brought back. And like... the writers have still quite a lot of potential to milk from them: they could reveal where they come from, they could change their relationship into being fully inseparable siblings, they could actually deprogram them somehow and give them something of a happier ending...

As for whether they'd do it... I don't know. I don't believe, like others here, that S&K completely lost popularity: ofc they got less fanart now that they're less relevant, but I still see some of it, and I still see some saying that they are the best thing that came out of IDW. A return would be appreciated. But what would they do? The way Flynn talked about Surge after #50, he sounded like he truly believes her to be nothing more than a "maim maim kill kill" villain that Sonic had to calm down (bruh lol), so I wonder if he even sees the complexity of his own characters. We do know, OTOH, that Stanley has a passion for milking angst out of characters, so maybe she would go down that route?

Also the problem with IDW is that its pacing is absolutely atrocious, and the writers simply don't know which events need more screen time and which ones could be limited to a few issues. Remember: S&K were put under the spotlight for more than a year! And at the end of the day they were barely utilized! Would they be reduced to a filler 5-issue arc, or replace Eggman for anothr year? :^)

[in1-nutshell]

interactions with buddy from our world meeting the IDW bots and you know I gotta include my people IDW Optimus, starscream, bumblebee and windblade

Bots are in need of hugs and Buddy is READY!

Hope you enjoy!

Real World Buddy meeting Optimus Prime, Starscream, Bumblebee, and Windblade

SFW, Platonic, Minor Hurt/Comfort, Human reader

IDW

Optimus Prime

Buddy goes straight for the pedes and hugs him the best they can.

The Prime is a bit confused why there is a random human hugging his pede.

Buddy tells him about their situation with dimension traveling.

Optimus knew some of his scientists had mentioned the multiverse and other possibilities, but he never thought it would actually happen.

He promises to help Buddy return home (not that they are in a big hurry).

One thing Optimus does notice right off the bat was the human rarely left his side, which was a bit of a problem.

Not that he didn’t like their company, he rather enjoyed their time together.

He didn’t want to accidentally step on them, so he offered to have them on his servo or shoulder.

Buddy has made his shoulder their permanent residency.

The human has a strange sense of telling when he is feeling down.

They have dubbed it their Buddy sense.

When their senses start tingling, Buddy starts hugging him and telling him all of his accomplishments and how they are so proud of him for continuing to move forward and doing the right thing.

Buddy happily perched on his shoulder. Optimus: “Do you want to go down now? You have been up there all morning.” Buddy: “Nope.” Optimus: “Very well.” Buddy lovingly snuggles closer to his neck cables. Buddy: “Thanks Prime.” Optimus chuckles a bit and continues to do his work.

Starscream

Starscream was startled when the door to his office was suddenly open.

He looked to see who it was, but the door quickly closed.

He figured that someone accidentally opened the wrong door.

But it was the little huffs and pants that caught his attention.

He stood up and looked down over his desk.

A little hand reached for the edge and a small human pulled themselves up.

Starscream demands to know why the human was here.

They pant a bit telling him to give them a second before speaking.

They turn to him with literal stars in their eyes telling him that he is their favorite Cybertronian.

Starscream, while he liked the compliment, is sure this human has a concussion.

But they further tell him about their world and having always wanted to meet him, to talk to him.

He looked like he needed a friend.

Starscream said he didn’t need any friends, he survived this far without needing them.

Buddy sat down and asked him about how it made him feel.

4 hours later, Starscream is still rambling about his unused plans to overthrow Megatron while Buddy is waxing his servos attentively listening to every word.

Starscream does listen to Buddy when it’s their turn to rant and does give some good advice.

Some are questionable but most of it is solid.

When the Buddy sense starts tingling, they are immediately by Starscream’s side.

They ignore the stares and quietly stand by his side.

This does so much for the poor bot, even if they aren’t saying anything

In private, Buddy makes sure to tell him how resilient he is and how his ambitions have cared him farther than he could ever dream of.

Buddy is his emotional support human for the time they are there.

Rattrap walking into Starscream’s office. He sees Starscream with a type of mask on his faceplate and Buddy with their own little mask watching something on the TV. They both gasp. Starscream: “I told you Donna was cheating on David!” Buddy: “But why Chad!?” Starscream: “Isn’t it obvious, Chad gets Donna and the company AND the company! Perfect revenge against David and his ‘dead’ brother.” Buddy: “That IS GENIUS!” Starscream: “Of course it is! Did you not see those blueprints for the tank?” Rattrap closes the door. Rattrap: “What did I just walk into…”

Bumblebee

Bumblebee is used to having humans hug him, he personally likes most of them.

But when this random human from out of nowhere hugs them like their life depended on it, he becomes more worried than startled.

Maybe the human is in trouble and needs him.

When he gets the information on Buddy and their little predicament.

Bee promises to help them in any way he can.

Being on the smaller scale of bots, Bee doesn’t have to worry too much about stepping on them.

That being said, he doesn’t mind them being on his shoulder or helm from time to time.

When the Buddy sense starts tingling, Buddy aggressively jumps and hugs him best they can.

They refuse to let go until he feels better.

This works as much as he hates to admit it.

Sometimes the hugs are long, but they benefit them both in the end.

Bumblebee and Buddy watching Starscream and Windblade argue for the 50th time that day. Buddy: “How much do you want to bet they’ll end up together?” Bumblebee: “Buddy! We don’t—” Buddy: “Okay then how about Onslaught and Blast Off? I bet it’s going to be Blast Off who makes the first move.” Bumblebee: “…15 shanix, and Onslaught is the first to make a move.” Buddy: “50 shanix.” Bumblebee: "You don’t even have shanix.” Buddy: “Not yet.” Bumblebee: "Do I even want to know the idea behind that?” Buddy: “Bets if you don’t.” Bumblebee: “Fine then. 100 shanix on Windblade being the open who tells him.” Buddy: “I raise you to 150 and Starscream accidentally does it in the heat of the moment.” Bumblebee: “Deal.”

Windblade

Windblade doesn’t have much interaction with humans.

Mainly gets most of her information from bots who went to Earth or videos she has seen.

It’s almost a pleasant surprise to see one sprinting until they are right in front of her.

They stared longingly into her optics before hugging her pede.

Not something she expected but hugs universally are good things, so she doesn’t mind.

Is very invested in hearing about Buddy traveling through universes

She makes sure that Buddy is always with her.

Buddy barely walks the entire time they are with Windblade.

She makes sure to introduce them to her friends.

Some have better reactions than others.

Buddy sense starts tingling, Buddy is gently patting Windblade on the helm and giving her hugs around the neckcables.

Windblade has cried at some of the nice things Buddy has said to her and is not afraid to admit it.

Buddy: “SO Windblade, what do you think about Chromia and Ironhide?” Windblade: “Oh! There really good friends of mine.” Buddy: “… I mean how would you think about them getting together?” Windblade: “They wouldn’t do that; they don’t like each other that way.” Buddy: “… Okay how about Onslaught and Blast Off?” Windblade: “I don’t know too much about them.” Buddy: “…Tigatron and Airazor?” Windblade: “Who?” Buddy: “YOU LITERALLY HAD A MEETING WITH THEM AN HOUR AGO! ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU DIDN’T SEE THOSE SPARKS!?” Windblade: “You saw sparks?” Buddy: “…”

[tomeandflickcorner]

Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: Apocalypse- What, Now?

Interesting premise, but unfortunately it got dragged down by too many unnecessary jokes.

This episode begins with a prologue scene, with a moment from the distant past.  You can tell it’s the distant past because the scene is presented with a dull yellow tint to it.  The scene apparently takes place in the year 1684, but we’re not told that until later on. Bandits are in the process of breaking into the Monastery of Saint Theophilus, which we’ll eventually learn is located on a mountain in Greece.  Now, granted my knowledge of world history is limited, but while I have heard of monasteries being raided by Vikings from the 790s through the 11th century, this event is taking place during the 17th century, long after the Viking Age came to an end.  (Not to mention the fact that I actually did a little research and there doesn’t seem to be historical evidence to suggest the Vikings ever invaded Greece.) So that presents the question of who exactly these bandits are, and why they chose to attack this monastery.  In any event, the abbot of the monastery opens up an ornate looking box and removes an old book that he refers to as The Codex of Saint Theophilus.  The Abbot refers to this book as the monastery’s greatest treasure, and announces that it must never fall into the hands of non-believers.  The Abbot entrusts The Codex to a monk who was with him, reminding him that the wax seal holding The Codex shut must never be broken. The monk entrusted with The Codex’s safety then attempts to escape from the besieged monastery by climbing out the window and down a rope.  But the rope was apparently not long enough for the Monk to reach the ground safely, and we hear him screaming as he falls from the mountain.  So, did this monk just die off-screen? If so, it can probably be concluded there weren’t many survivors of the monastery’s siege.  I imagine there was a lot of bloodshed that day, as I expect the bandits would probably have killed anyone they came across during the invasion of the monastery.

We then flash forward to the present day.  Ray and Peter are attending a rare book auction somewhere because Ray heard that one of the books that will be auctioned off is a copy of Benz & Frank’s The Ectoplasmic Gourmet.  And the nerd in me is wondering what this book is even about.  Based on the title, it sounds like a cookbook.  So is it a cookbook listing recipes made exclusively for ghosts, or are we going into To Serve Man territory here?  Anyway, before the Auctioneer gets to the book Ray is after, he presents the next book on the list.  Which, as you might expect, is The Codex of Saint Theophilus.  No idea how they managed to recover it in the first place, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.  The Auctioneer begins the bidding on The Codex, but because the dust that the auctioneer blew off the cover ended up going into Peter’s nose, Peter ends up sneezing at the worst possible moment and therefore accidently buys the book for $1,000.  Which seems a bit contrived, particularly since you’d think the Auctioneer would have dusted the book off before the auction even begin. Or at least have not blown the dust off in the direction of the people attending the auction.  

So Peter ends up with The Codex.  While they do approach the Auctioneer afterwards, they’re told that all sales are final.  But they are welcome to come to the next auction so they can sell The Codex again there. Until then, though, they’re stuck with the Codex.  Peter and Ray then return to the Firehouse where Egon is attempting to build something he calls an Ectoplasmic Disintegrator.  Which strikes me as quite disturbing.  If it does what it says on the tin, it means this new invention will disintegrate a ghost. Isn’t that the same as destroying a ghost?  I think there should be some ethical consideration here.  Though the Ectoplasmic Disintegrator does blow up pretty quickly, so hopefully Egon will take that as some sort of cosmic sign that he shouldn’t dabble in such a thing. When Peter and Ray return, Ray informs the others that they hadn’t been able to obtain a copy of The Ectoplasmic Gourmet because of Peter’s poorly timed sneeze.  The surreal thing about this is that Ray’s tone suggests he’s annoyed, but he has a large smile on his face.

When Ray heads off to sulk, I guess, Winston brings attention to the wax seal on The Codex. Though only Janine seems to understand the significance of having a seal, as she’d learned about them in high school. Winston and Peter seemed to think someone had just accidently dripped candle wax onto the book’s cover.  But as Janine begins to explain about wax seals, Peter cuts her off and tells her to answer the phone. Janine points out that the phone isn’t ringing, but seconds later, it does start to ring.  (Though someone in the sound editing department didn’t do a good job at syncing things up, as Janine reacts to the phone ringing before we actually hear it ring.)

The phone call turns out to be a person complaining about a ghost haunting their chimney, so the Ghostbusters suit up and head out.  After they leave, Janine decides to take her lunch break.  But she can’t locate the book she’d planned to read while eating her lunch, so she decides to read The Codex instead.  Strangely, Janine ends up heading out to what I think was supposed to be Central Park. Okay, I can understand why you might want to eat your lunch outside if the weather is nice, but how far is Central Park from the Firehouse?  Is it right around the corner, or would Janine have had to take the subway down there? How long of a lunch break is Janine planning to take?  Anyway, Janine takes a seat beneath what I think is supposed to be a statue of some Civil War generals. (Not sure if this statue was based on an actual statue in New York, but I guess that’s not important.)  After taking a bite of her sandwich, Janine manages to break open the wax seal on The Codex. Immediately, lightning flashes across the sky, but Janine barely blinks and simply pulls out an umbrella she just happened to have with her. She starts to read The Codex and seems to not find it engaging, but she still doesn’t notice the statues behind her transforming into four ghostly horsemen until they jump down and rush past her.  Even then, Janine doesn’t seem to have much of a reaction, simply deciding that maybe she should skip lunch.

Sometime later, the Ghostbusters are returning to the Firehouse. It seems their last call was a false alarm and the sounds coming from the chimney were caused by a stuck cat.  (At least they got the kitty out.)  Before they arrive back at the Firehouse, though, frogs start raining down from the sky.  Which is highly unusual weather.  They then catch sight of the Four Horsemen.  The Ghostbusters get out to try and shoot the Four Horsemen with their Proton Packs, but the Four Horsemen escape into a nearby department store.   So the Ghostbusters head in after them.  After a while, they do manage to capture the Four Horsemen in a Ghost Trap after the ghosts get stuck in the revolving door.  Of course, the episode hasn’t quite hit the halfway point yet, so of course things aren’t resolved that quickly.  As the Ghostbusters start to drive off again, the Four Horsemen manage to break out of the Ghost Trap and fly off, blowing out the Ecto-1’s windows in the process.  And causing the car to crash headlong into a fire hydrant.

The Ghostbusters limp the Ecto-1 back to the Firehouse, where we see Janine has returned and is struggling to answer the number of phone calls they’re getting.  She tells the Ghostbusters that they’ve been receiving calls from people all over the world. It’s even implied the U.S. President phoned them. Winston turns on the news, which announces that the Four Horsemen are causing disturbances at the Nation’s capitals.  (Also, we see a brief commercial ad for Stay-Puft Marshmallows, which did make me laugh.)  At that moment, they hear the front doorbell ringing.  Winston goes to see who it is, and a bearded man in a long black robe enters. The man introduces himself as Father Yanos.  He explains that he came from the Monastery of Saint Theophilus and goes on to say that a thousand years ago, Saint Theophilus managed to seal the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse inside The Codex.  The monks of the monastery had kept the book safe for seven centuries before The Codex was lost.  Father Yanos had traveled to the city when he’d learned The Codex had been located, but laments that he hadn’t arrived in time before the wax seal had been broken, which resulted in the Four Horsemen getting released.

Okay, question. How did Father Yanos track down The Codex to the Ghostbusters?  I guess it’s possible he found out that The Codex was being sold at that rare book auction and, upon arriving too late, got the information of who bought The Codex from the Auctioneer.  But considering The Monastery of Saint Theophilus is located in Greece, I find this highly unlikely.  What are the odds that he’d hear about a rare book auction being held on the other side of the world?

It turns out the only hope they have in stopping the Four Horsemen is by re-sealing them with the Seal of Theophilus.  Which is back at the monastery in Greece.  (And Peter makes a dumb comment about how the seal must be very slippery if it’s kept in grease.)  So the Ghostbusters and Father Yanos book a flight back to Greece with Balkan Airlines, which was an actual airline carrier at the time.  I get the feeling the show writers didn’t have the best opinion of Balkan Airlines, because Winston seems to be very uneasy about being on the plane.  And it’s not as if Winston has a fear of flying.  Not only has he shown no issues with being on a plane in past episodes, I distinctly remember it being mentioned in the sequel series, Extreme Ghostbusters, that Winston eventually becomes a licensed pilot.  And in the IDW comics, which I believe take place in the movieverse, Winston had enlisted in the U.S. Air Force before joining the Ghostbusters.  So I don’t think we’re supposed to think Winston’s aviophobic.  Either way, when they arrive at Athens International Airport, Winston begins joining Father Yanos in kissing the ground. I’m guessing this is a religious or cultural thing with Father Yanos, as he mentions it’s the ground of his homeland, but Winston is simply happy to be back on solid ground.  At first, Peter teases Winston, but when the wing of the plane they’d just gotten off falls off (because the Four Horsemen attacked the plane while it was in midflight), Peter also starts kissing the ground.  Yeah, this whole scene was really weird.  Did Balkan Airlines planes have a reputation for being poorly crafted or something?  Were the writers just mocking the airline because it was owned by the Bulgarian government?  I have no idea.

Of course, they still have a ways to go before they can reach the monastery.  Because after leaving the airport, they have to take a train to some remote village near the monastery.  And then they have to ride some donkeys up the mountain pass.  And the whole time, the Four Horsemen are apparently following them. And I’m wondering how they have the time to make such a time-consuming trip, considering the apocalypse is supposed to be upon them.  The Ghostbusters even comment on how dark the sky is during the train ride.  Finally, the Ghostbusters and Father Yanos reach a large woven basket-shaped lift. Father Yanos explains that, ever since the raid we saw in the prologue, this lift has been the only way to reach the monastery.  

As the Ghostbusters board the basket-like lift and ascend up to the top of the mountain, the Four Horsemen appear and end up severing the rope, causing the lift to fall and crash.  Right atop Father Yanos.  Miraculously, none of the Ghostbusters broke any bones, and Father Yanos didn’t die from having four full-grown men landing on him.  But now the Ghostbusters have to climb up the side of the mountain to reach the monastery.  All while dodging falling rocks and strong winds. Peter ends up losing his grip when a bolt of lightning nearly hits him, and he falls.  But he once again narrowly avoids death because he lands safely on a rocky ledge.  Peter decides to stay put while the other Ghostbusters continue climbing.  (And we get an animation error in which we see Egon and two Rays reaching the monastery.)  Upon reaching the monastery, Egon, Ray and Winston instruct two monks to fetch them the Seal of Theophilus and some wax.  The two monks hurry inside to retrieve the items as the Four Horsemen are seem approaching.  Egon announces his plan to trap the Four Horsemen within a Ghost Trap as they fly overhead.  Then all they have to do is seal the trap with the Seal of Theophilus.  

The Four Horsemen are once again successfully trapped in a Ghost Trap, but when the two monks return with the Seal and a block of wax, the monk carrying the Seal trips, and the Seal falls over the edge of the mountain. Fortunately, Peter (who is still standing around on the rocky ledge) catches the Seal, but apparently doesn’t think he can manage to throw the Seal back up to the other Ghostbusters.  With time running out, the Ghostbusters decide to toss the loaded Ghost Trap down to Peter so he can seal away the Four Horsemen. So Winston throws down the Ghost Trap and wax down to Peter, but the wax falls onto Peter’s face.  (The wax is apparently soft enough to splatter over Peter’s face.  Granted I’m not that familiar with wax seals, but don’t you have to melt sealing wax to get it that soft?  If so, that wax should probably be scalding hot.)   Fortunately, Peter is still able to get the wax onto the loaded Ghost Trap by tripping and happening to fall face first onto the trap.  But he still has to place the Seal onto the wax, and the loaded Ghost Trap is starting to smoke.  And here, we get one more unnecessary joke with Egon urging Peter to make the seal impression, and Peter responding by imitating a seal. (Oh, knock it off!)

Thankfully, Peter is able to quit acting like an idiot long enough to press the Seal upon the wax.  As a result, the Four Horsemen are once again sealed away.  Right away, the dark clouds overhead dissipate and the sun begins shining through.  If that wasn’t enough to indicate everything is now okay, grass and flowers instantly form atop the mountain, and a flock of doves appear.  Even though Peter doesn’t seem to appreciate having the doves flock around him.

As you can tell, I had quite a few issues with this episode. There was the fact that they didn’t seem to accurately acknowledge the passage of time, considering Janine’s lunch breaks are long enough for her to be able to head over to Central Park. Not to mention they have the time to travel to a remote location of Greece when the end of the world is fast approaching.  (You’d think Father Yanos would have brought the Seal of Theophilus with him in case The Codex got opened before he could get there.  Wouldn’t that have been smarter?)  And Peter’s jokes were more annoying than funny.  Yeah, Peter can be a bit of a smart-aleck at times.  But even he knows when it’s time to be serious. At least that was always my overall impression of him.  So what was he doing here?  He felt almost out of character in this.

(Click here for more Ghostbusters reviews)

[ebachan]

IDW Metal Virus - Theory time 2 + some thoughts

Yo, I have finally read the most recent issues right before my bedtime... I should stop doing that ^_^;

I had the next ideas in my head for a while, so why not to get them out.

First, I’ll address Shadow. I have heard people complaining he goes Vegeta-way = being a bigger jerk than before. Yeah... I have read Ian Flynn wanted to write the previous issue differently with Shadow going down in a more heroic way (trying to Chaos Blast people if it can wipe out the virus off them), but SEGA said NO.

That leaves us with him being reckless and getting infected. Yeah, he is Ultimate Lifeform. It can include “protection“ from the virus, but Shadow and everybody else (probably excluding his most close friends) put too much value on this title - making Shadow bear more responsibility.

However, he is as biological as anybody else - with just a few special powers - and that is something he has to learn - even if the hard way. I hope this arc will serve a purpose for him to turn a bit more “self-aware“ in the way he will think more before leaping.

The whole “only cowards run“ may be a subtle reference on his escape with Mario on Ark. There he ran instead of fighting with the soldiers and Maria died. Couldn’t he then see running not as a mean of fighting but as a failure?

I SOOO wouldn’t be surprised this could be behind this decision.

And for second Shadow - If Sonic can burn the virus running, can’t Shadow? If Sonic now takes Shadow on a long run then he could theoretically free himself, regaining his free will at least. It seems to be quite possible. The others can’t keep up with Sonic, neither he can drag them as his own Virus gets stronger. not to mention it would do nothing in the long run.

What I also like is how Dr. Straline isn’t just a fan-boy, but somebody with a brain. He now sees how flawed Eggman is, questioning his decision to follow him or worshiping. It seems possible, Dr. Starline may turn against Eggman in order to heal the virus. As only he sees the problem is much bigger than Eggman allows it to be in his mind.

I so can see the story go in a direction where Zombots either stop listening to Eggman altogether or Shadow “gains control of them“ as he is the “strongest”. So in a way, Shadow could direct his army toward Eggman based on some instinct - Protect at every cost. And that can easily result in attacking everybody.

I’m also missing Metal Sonic - It would be awesome to see him again and actually going against Eggman in this case too. If Sonic would meet him now, he so could snap at Metal how fake he is. Real Sonic would win over his rival with his own powers. He can just go, play with his thumbs and wait, doing nothing. So much for the races - he can now race with slugs. He had never won a single race against Sonic = He had never bested him in Sonic’s top condition.

Wouldn’t this tick Metal? I’m sure it would because that beats his original purpose - Beat Sonic. If Metal Virus transforms Sonic, what purpose Metal has than? What he can do? His main objective - his purpose will stop existing. That makes Metal a dust collector, in a way. With no resistance, he doesn’t need to function.

What do you think? Could Metal or Dr,. Starline help Sonic to beat the virus? Just providing the data about the virus to Tails would do a lot as the kid may not have everything from Sonic.

And where is Knuckles? That guy should step down and give helping punches... or not, we don’t need another Zom-Hot-head XD

[autobot-ratchet]

I’ve been wanting to do a character analysis thing on Drift for a long time and now that the comic is over I finally have time to sit down and think about his arc as a whole and how the fandom treats him and I have got some Thoughts and Opinions™

Alright so Drift. let's talk about Drift at his core, who he is and what he's like, which can admittedly be difficult to pinpoint because he spends like 90% of his time throughout the IDW continuity Working On It and figuring out for himself the answer to this question, but whoa hey it was a TRICK QUESTION the answer is ~*~inside him all along~*~*~

No seriously, it actually is. even though Drift goes through a whole lot of changes, including flipping his entire outward personality around like 180°, he doesn't change so much that there's absolutely nothing connecting him to his former self (though he'd probably love for you to think so lmao)

from what I’ve seen, fandom seems to assume that the most important aspects of Drift's character are that he started out as a street rat and that Deadlock was a Big Meanie Murderman and almost all of the fics I’ve read hugely reflect that, a lot of the fandom writes Drift based on their own personal assumptions (mainly assumptions of what they think a homeless drug addict would do and what they think a "Big Bad Decepticon" would do) rather than what Drift as a character would do. When writers don’t consider who Drift was as a person or why he was an addict/Decepticon and acted the way he did, it results in a lot of gross, insulting, boring, and out of character writing

This goes for current Drift too, with regards to his spirituality. Often he's characterized as a "stereotypical hippie", and fandom often doesn’t consider his motivation for being drawn towards it in the first place. Again, assumptions are made about what he is rather than what his actions are and it makes me yearn for death's sweet embrace so let's talk about the most important and consistent things to remember about Drift's character, like overall

There are at least a couple of things we know about him that are true, even through all the personality changes and emotional floundering:

1. When it comes to fight or flight, Drift is a solid fighter, he doesn't just take abuse lying down, he is more than capable of protecting himself.

2. He genuinely believes in justice, both as Drift and Deadlock. He can't stand when people with power abuse people without it.

Let's focus on street rat Drift and Deadlock for now since that's where a lot of people either didn't read or vastly misinterpreted, and also mtmte/lost light Drift is worthy of a section all to himself given how different he is

Point 1: times when Drift defended himself

That time when Gasket got killed and he wrecked the fuck out of the cops that did it in a fit of blind rage (COPS. Meaning he’s not afraid of authority)

That time when one of his Deception comrades told him he'd tattle on him to Turmoil and he shot him in the face (like. in front of everybody, not even trying to be subtle)

That time when Turmoil tried to execute him and he broke free and bailed (again. not afraid to disobey his superiors and get in trouble, cannot stress this enough)

That time when he did it to his own dang self!!! When the heart of darkness was controlling him

so yeah Drift is not one to sit back and let people walk all over him, if someone tries to force him to do something he truly is not okay with doing, he makes them stop and I swear by all that is holy if I see one more fic where he's a poor little ex-prostitute rape victim who just needs to be healed with The Good Dick I'm going to snap you in half like a kit kat bar

lengthways, bitch

point 2: times when Drift elaborated on or demonstrated his true motives (and how that motive is justice and not just rage, the rage is fuel for the justice, y’all)

literally the whole reason Drift became a decepticon was because *King of Town voice* GOVERNMENT AIN'T RIGHT like he was angry about the blatant inequality that led to starvation and death for no reason other than greed on the part of the higher-ups

Deadlock was not super cruel and did not take pleasure in killing autobots like "heehee look how weak they are I love tormenting things weaker than me" he quickly killed as many autobots as he could because he genuinely believed that wiping them all out would win the war and that winning the war would make sure that Cybertron could become a place where no one has to go through what he did in the streets of Rodion

he was never a sadist who enjoyed causing pain and torturing autobots to make himself feel powerful or take out his aggression on them, his goal was to quickly eliminate as many of them as possible and he did a very good job of it and that is why he was an infamous decepticon, because of his absurdly high kill count

now let's get into mtmte Drift and how all this still applies to him even though he's way different now

point 1: still defending himself even though he’s nicer now

yes he liked Rodimus and let Roddy get away with a lot of things he probably would not have put up with as Deadlock but Roddy never crossed that line into "genuinely uncool" and Drift would get real with him even before the exile, like I know Ratchet said Drift "tells him everything he wants to hear" but like. not really lmAO

and of course the whole discourse with the exile, Drift took the blame because he genuinely believed in the quest and his vision and that Rodimus had to be there to see it through, you could honestly argue that it had more to do with his vision than his friendship with Roddy, like yeah they're tight but Drift had his moments where he wasn't totally down with his antics (as shown above) and he really bet everything he had on this quest

Rodimus never abused him or anything like that. Took advantage of him, sure, but like I said, he never crossed that line into “genuinely uncool” and even if he ever tried to, Drift does have his limits and does know how to say no, it’s not an unbalanced relationship, Drift just prioritized the quest above all else and him doing so happened to work in Roddy’s favor (not that Roddy wanted it to since he came clean about everything later but that’s a whole other discussion for another time)

same with Ratchet and his jabs at this religion, Drift’s got his limits and Ratchet has seen them lmao

Drift is also still badass at fighting, let's not forget that

he also still gets angry like he used to, he's not an emotional pushover either

I'd also like to mention that even after his realization of self worth in Empire of Stone where he accepts that he's good for more than just being a weapon to be used by an ideal, he's still holding his own, but less lethally

Usin them hilts instead of the blades, good job honey

point 2: he still cares about justice and doing what’s right even though his mind’s been changed on how to make it happen

during his exile he went around saving mostly organics from decepticon attacks and tyranny, granted yes part of it was probably out of guilt since he no doubt participated in some destruction of organics when Megatron had him convinced it was to help Cybertron but all that's really changed is that now he realizes organics actually aren't detrimental to cybertronian freedom and they deserve to live in peace just as much as he does.

He didn't suddenly go from "whatever, organics aren't even sentient it’s fine to kill them" to "oh shit maybe they are sentient my bad", he went from "Megatron told me organics are trying to impede our freedom much like the autobots are, I have to wipe them out too if we want to win this war and live in peace" to "whoopsie doo it turns out Megatron lied to me and we're treating these organics just like the senate treated us, I have to stop this"

also the Lost Light’s quest! The whole point of the quest was to find the knights of cybertron so they could make the planet suck less, he’s still trying his best to take action to make things better on a large scale like he bought the ship and kickstarted the quest, he’s just lucky Roddy wanted to come with and charmed 200+ people into joining and being their crew for him lmAO he probably would’ve gone by himself anyway if Roddy had refused to help, he really believed in the vision he got that told him to find the knights more than anything

so yeah these two points have way more to do with Drift's character and looking over his whole arc with them in mind makes him much easier to understand, he’s a lot more than just “a helpless victim street rat who turned into a sadist to rival the DJD and then randomly became a hippie” he’s actually a pretty consistent character despite the outward personality shifts and hopefully this helps anyone having trouble characterizing him

[katieiscunning]

MTMTE #10: Sympathy for the Prowl????

Stupid carbots making me feel things. 

We open with a page summarising the political and actual situation in pre-war Cybertron, and as this arc is far more complicated than any silly car robot comic has a right to be (stupid people making a stupid series so good that I am eager to read about car robots) I will too. 

Proteus - due to become the next Prime- is apparently an alright dude, stating that he won’t blame the Decepticons for the senator’s murder until it’s been proven. He’ll even give them official political status if 1000 of them come forward and register. I think we can trust him! The last Prime, Nominus is getting a full state funeral. The Decepticons continue to be rightly angry about everything. I like this. It’s simple, and it gets the setting summarised fast in a very on the ground way. It is noir-y, and it tells us just how messed up Cybertron is. 

BUT POLITICAL COMPLEXITY TIME IS OVER NOW BECAUSE CHROMEDOME HAS A CROOK TO CHASE. It’s over pretty fast because Domey once again uses his power of sarcastic detective narration.

He goes back to find Prowl analysing what went down- this is one of Prowl’s abilities: he can look at somewhere and tell what happened there. Another power is illustrating why he is a very bad boyfriend but then being oddly endearing.

I don’t know guys. Prowl contains multitudes I guess.

The building’s Warden turns out to be Red Alert, which in anything that wasn’t this would be a stupid, unlikely coincidence. But when you have a limited and relatively small population of near-immortal beings it would actually be sort of weird if you weren’t constantly Forrest Gumping into people you know. He reveals that the guy who lived there until the whole ‘thrown from the window’ thing was an ex-senator, Momus, as well as a secret Decepticon. Prowl works out that there was a second attacker- likely still there- and hearing that he’s been discovered the robot flees, crying ‘Death to the Decepticons!’ as he goes. I wonder what his motivations are?

But before we can chase him we head back to the future, where Rodimus is conducting his own investigation.

I mean, I say investigation. He’s pretty much certain that Cyclonus is the one who attacked Red Alert- and yes, just attacked. They found his head, so it’s all fine. Robots are pretty tough.

Of course, what Rodimus thinks, Drift is willing to sign his soul away for. God, he needs some self respect. Look at him trying to be all scary as he bad-cops Cyclonus. 

It’s an… un-smart move.

Anyway, Cyclonus makes a pretty solid argument - that if he wanted to kill Red Alert, he’d be dead - and a moment later First Aid confirms that whoever it was, it wasn’t him. The mystery continues.

Back in flashback land, Prowl, Red Alert and Chromedome are under fire from the second attacker and dammit Prowl manages to be endearing again. Ugh, I feel dirty.

Anyway, they’re rescued by-

Orion tells the others that the first murdered senator was also a Decepticon which gives them a pretty solid reason for their deaths, and god dammit Prowl I actually feel sorry for you now and I have no idea what to do with that.

The second attacker dies on the ground- as it turns out he was in someone else’s body (via the Relinquishment Clinics from last week) and his spark couldn’t take the strain. That’s bad, since it means they can’t find out who he was working with. But Orion gets a new lead - he’s needed in the Luna 2 Prison Camp. A prisoner he knows - some dude called Whirl - wants to speak to him.

Whirl interrupts, happy that they’re finally getting to him, and takes the chance to make fun of Rewind’s insecurity while he’s at it.

So Whirl’s locked up for police brutality. As I’ve mentioned before, he was coerced into joining the Cybertronian police force, then told to beat up a then non-violent Megatron while he was imprisoned. Orion stopped him in time to save Megs (though not in time to stop him embracing the knowledge that violence can be used to enforce social change), and now, hated by everyone, Whirl has been having a bad time in prison. That’s not what he wants to tell Orion though: as it turns out his still-unnamed Senator friend is in danger from the Senate, and possibly worse, a giant bomb is about to go off somewhere on Cybertron. And why is Whirl sharing this?

Jesus Christ this is just the sympathy for everyone issue, huh?

Orion sends Ratchet and his BFF Roller round to pic up the Senator from the school he runs- a place where he takes in Cybertronians with weird abiites that would normally result in their ostracization at best. Skids is among them, but we’ll meet the rest later.

Chromedome and Prowl visit a Relinquishment Clinic to investigate, and find a Decepticon rally in full swing outside. But their conversation is the real star here because god damn it Prowl.

Jesus I have to like the guy now. I actually have to like him.

At least Rewind is there to share my annoyance.

Inside, they meet a charming character called Trepan, a name which- in a world where sticking needles into brains is pretty common- just screams goodie. They manage to sneak in further and find a hidden lab, filled with creepy ass brain operations. Chromedome suggests that this could be the mysterious ‘Institute’, a place where out-of-line Cybertronians are sent to be brainwashed back onto the straight and narrow. This is called ‘Shadowplay’, and as that’s the title of the arc I’m sure it won’t be important again.

They escape after stealing some data and make it back to the Senator’s Academy. The Senator, reading the data, recognises it as the registered Decepticon names. Realising that the next large gathering will be at Nominus’ funeral, Orion guesses the Senate’s devious scheme: to blow up a fake Matrix during the ceremony, blame it on the Decepticons and use it as an excuse to start rounding them up. The only solution??

Look at the Senator back there grinning. That is a robot in love. Roller’s baffled excitement is pretty charming too. 

This is a high speed issue, and, as a story like that should be, it’s fun in all directions. It’s funny, and it gets everything where it needs to be for next week’s conclusion. As middle acts go, it’s awesome. But what stands out to me here is the tragedy of the characters. 

Prowl’s the standout, if only because his past portrayal has cast him as such an ass. It’s even more poignant that the guy he used to be wasn’t perfect- that he had all of the same problems he does later, just at a less extreme level- than it would have been if he were a saint. Past Prowl, while he’s still basically awful, was sweet hearted and optimistic, and he really loved Chromedome. And part of Chromedome misses him- if he didn’t he wouldn’t bother to remember his kinder moments. The war ruined who he was, and he can’t be the person he was ever again. 

And in case you needed more, Whirl summaries all the damage of trauma in that one awful image of him holding his claws together. Thank god next week’s going to be a fun heist, right? Right?

I’ve been bad at talking about art, which is so unfair because artists are already underappreciated in comics and I don’t want to contribute to that. But I’m also artistically illiterate and I know that I sound repetitive when I say how awesome everything looks every time. That all said, Milne’s work in pre-war Cybertron is beautiful. Its unearthly and weird and moody and makes it almost seem like these ridiculous robots could really live there. 

NEXT TIME: CARS DO MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!

You can get on this fun train by buying the comics over here: https://www.comixology.co.uk/Transformers-More-Than-Meets-the-Eye-2011/comics-series/7279?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC90b3BSZXN1bHRzU2xpZGVy

Written by James Roberts, Art by Alex Milne, published by IDW.

[satireknight]

TMNT S01E02 - Enter the Shredder

Can someone explain to me why we get an image of Michelangelo posing with weapons he never uses?

So we open with the least safe bedding arrangement in history: the quadruple bunk bed!

Seriously, they should have fallen over so many times during the night. It’s also a little baffling as a nighttime arrangement, because we saw in the previous episode that they all have their own beds in their own little cubbies. So why would they sleep together?

And yes, Leonardo apparently sleeps with a practice weapon. Because of course he does. Why would you assume otherwise?

So after waking them up, April watches them practice with their weapons, which ends with a grappling match and Michelangelo denting the wall with his back. Then she accompanies them to breakfast, where they either eat sushi (Japanese people do eat other things, y’know. Quite a few) or pizzas topped with breakfast cereal.

She’s raring to go find the Technodrome, which was last seen under the security building that went kablooie at the end of the last episode. But when they get there, all they find is water and giant treadmarks. Of course, the Technodrome is actually a giant white ball-shaped fortress with an eye on top, sort of like a spherical tank the size of a small town. It’s also being driven by Shredder, who is flipping the fuck out.

He’s also got a new roommate: a tentacled brain-thing called Krang.

Krang is very unimpressed by Shredder, his title, his face, and generally everything about him. He apparently has a giant army in someplace called Dimension X, which is ready to conquer the world whenever the fuck it gets here. But in the meantime, he wants Shredder to get his butt in gear and build Krang a proper body. With you know, thumbs and everything. I can see why he wants that.

Shredder’s brilliant retort? Well, he doesn’t feel safe because Splinter and his Turtles... exist. So, that’s his reason for not making Krang’s body, even though leaving Krang bodiless arguably makes them LESS safe. The real reason? He doesn’t trust Krang, and he doesn’t like the idea of the little wad of snuffy-voiced gum possibly being able to take HIM down.

Oh, and Krang lets it slip that the whole reason they were mutated... was because Shredder tried to kill Yoshi with mutagen. I don’t know why he thought it would be fatal instead of... doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

One thing that happens a lot in this series is that they almost never use the word “kill.” They use words like “destroy,” “obliterate,” “dispose of,” and other words that basically mean the same thing but without the actual K-word. Ah, censorship for children... you can talk about murder all you want as long as you don’t admit that’s what it is.

Oh, and Krang hints that Shredder should create some more mutants on his own side... and really, that’s an idea he should’ve had far in advance. We really see in these episodes that the Turtles are crazy strong, since they successfully pushed a brick wall over in the last episode, and Leonardo can apparently cut through concrete at a hundred feet.

Anyway, April heads up to the newsroom, while Splinter and the Turtles try to track down the Technodrome. For some reason Raphael thinks it’s gonna be hard to find, even though... well, it’s several stories high and even wider. It’s not like it can go anywhere covertly.

And at the zoo, some robots appear and drag down a rhino and a warthog. Goodbye, animals, you’re probably dead meat, given that drop. 

“Still no sign of the Technodrome!” Did you really expect it to be under a pile of old boxes?

They finally get around to a giant underground cavern with giant tank treads, but the trail is cut off by a cave-in. Splinter tells them to go around, while he’ll go through. Uh, why not burrow through, and have the Turtles just squeeze in behind him?

Meanwhile, Shredder goes to the gang of thugs who were chasing April in the last episode, and offers them power, strength, and revenge against the Turtles. For some reason, they only really care about that last part.... which is funny, considering that Shredder’s obsession with them later in the series could be classified as a mental illness.

So what’s he doing? Well, he takes two guys, straps ‘em down, brings in the rhino and warthog, and opens a can of sparkly pink stuff. Eek, unicorn spit!

The Turtles, meanwhile, manage to bumble out into an open street in the middle of the day, with no disguises. They are failing at ninjaing.

Also, April’s boss is kind of a douchebag, since he apparently wasn’t concerned that after doing a report on sword-wielding thieves... and after her camera crew openly abandoned her to a gang of murderous thugs... she went missing for days. Did nobody call the police? Nope, he’s just pissed at her for going missing.

The Turtles have somehow gotten new disguises that in no way disguise the fact that they’re bald green animal-people.

Yeah, he’s wearing a jacket and sunglasses. I’m suddenly blind to the obvious.

Also, weren’t they supposed to meet up with Splinter on the other side of that cave-in? Why are they relying on April to find the Technodrome for them? Especially since her main lead is, “Robots stole animals.”

Speaking of which, Splinter finds it... and is immediately abducted by a robot. I bet he wishes he had just told the Turtles to follow him.

“If this hole caves in, we can dig ourselves out. You can’t.” Erm, are you really experienced at digging?

They all drop a few hundred feet next to the Technodrome... and I’m suddenly wondering why nobody has just glanced down the hole and seen what’s down there. Or at least put up some safety barriers. Someone’s gonna fall down there and sue a LOT.

Oh, and to double on “April’s boss is a douchebag,” he refuses to send her a camera crew until she has a story to report.... even though she’s only at the zoo because he gave her a story to report.

Fun fact: if I had ever wanted a career in journalism as a child, this series would have killed it.

The Turtles go inside the Technodrome, where Shredder starts doing the crushy-closing-walls thing that Star Wars made famous. I love that apparently he set up this giant war machine to have booby traps just in case he wanted to do something like this.

So they almost get squished flat, but of course some quick rewiring of a control panel allows Donatello to turn it off. Then robots attack them... and then MORE robots attack them, this time in a manufacturing plant.

Sorry, i just can’t imagine what those things manufacture. What does the giant smiley-faced spider-drone do? Or the cube on tentacles? Or the bipedal claw machine? Or the thing that exists entirely to thump things flat?

“We were trained to fight people, not can openers.” Well, it’s all theory, Raphael. The fact is, the public is way more comfortable with people beating the shit out of can openers.

Seriously, what manufacturing function does that serve? It’s a multi-armed thingy with flying saw-blades. 

Also, Michelangelo’s nunchuks are apparently made out of the tree of life, because he can smash right through metal with them. Not just once, either. He does it several times in a row.

Indiana Jones laughs at your pain. Fortunately Donatello happened to pick up a bomb in the last fight, and they can blow the door open right before the thing has a chance to crush them. Again, Shredder apparently set up all these traps... without a particular goal in mind.

Fortunately for the running time, they bumbled right into the chamber where Splinter is hanging from the ceiling, looking oddly sheepish.

But before they can get him down, Shredder comes in and reveals that he’s in fact Oroku Saki, and he wants them to join the Foot Clan. Why should they? Because he was accidentally responsible for them being mutated because he tried to kill Splinter. Which is like saying, “I date-raped your mom and got her pregnant, so you owe me because you exist.” Shockingly, this brilliant logic doesn’t win them over to his side.

Shredder calls in his own mutants, Bebop and Rocksteady, who are strong and intimidating (for now) but are also dumb as a sack of hammers. The Turtles grab Splinter and leave, and head right back up to the surface. Bebop and Rocksteady follow them up, and the Turtles trick them into a zoo cage. April takes some footage of them, since she apparently can’t get any of the Technodrome, and they’re dragged back underground by more of those annoying robots.

Seriously, is someone gonna cordon off the holes in the ground?! This whole place could collapse.

Verdict

This episode was a slight improvement over the first, possibly because they didn’t have to cram in all the backstory. It’s a pretty simple search-and-fight story, with some diversions along the way. I’m still not sure how or why the Turtles bothered to get disguises that didn’t disguise them at all, for instance. And they kinda bumbled out of the sewer in front of dozens of people. But it had minimum silliness, and it kept on its plot pretty well.

The animation is still gorgeous, especially in the fight scenes; sometimes the turtles’ faces can be a bit blobby, but the bodies and motion are absolutely top-rate. 

It also introduces us to our secondary villain Krang, who doesn’t really do much in this episode besides nag Shredder and make croaking noises. That seems to be a pattern thus far; the villains don’t do much when first introduced, then the do stuff in the next episode. Shredder’s much more active here, and he’s still pretty intimidating, despite the suckiness of his “join me and we can rule the galaxy” speech.

Gotta mention that this is where I like Bebop and Rocksteady the most in this series. They’re still too easily defeated, but they aren’t the cartoonish buffoons just yet. Ain’t quite up to IDW standards, though, where they’re dumb as hell but also scary.

Overall, a good chapter two to this five-part arc.

Grade: A