#calling all IDW Starscreams

[cosmics-beings]

being a starscream fan is always difficult because you have to navigate interacting with people who completely pacify him and excuse all his actions and paint him as a innocent person who can't be held accountable for the shit he does. and going as far as saying you excuse abuse if you try to hold him accountable for how he treats others. nevermind the fact that u yourself are an abuse victim and you wanna look at him multifaceted and you know, not excuse his abusive actions toward others.

but at the same time, you also have to navigate people who absolutely HATE him, and will act like they don't and claim they just see him critically, when most of their content is bashing him for his abuse, excusing it, saying he's an awful person and getting mad at people for seeing him as a victim or wanting him to have better. literally saying he deserves what happens to him. ike a lot of people will flat out slander him, while uplifting characters who are worse than him, will say that starscream doesn't deserve redemption, or saying that anyone who wants better for him is excusing him or worse, going out of their way just to be extremely unfair and critical to him.

it's difficult because i love starscream and i do see him critically. but it's hard being around people who will just pacify his actions, and then try to go to someone so you can have indepth convos about him only to realize that 'oh, this person actually hates starscream, they haven't said anything remotely positive about him'.

[revelboo]

(Not a request, just wanted to say hello!) I’m pretty sure I said it when I submitted my first request to you, but you really, truly are so incredibly talented. Each short little blurb has me so drawn in and endeared, more than most books I’ve read in recent memory. Each character is so colorful and written and crafted so lovingly and faithfully, and I just want to thank you for sharing your work with us! I hope writing these brings you as much joy as it brings us! Have a wonderful day, Revel! ♥️

Thank you so much! I hope you have a great day, too

Everything Is Alright Pt 76

IDW Starscream x Reader, Soundwave x Reader, Megatron x Reader

• Such a small, pitiful thing. Still unable to figure out why this creature was worth all the pain, Megatron glances at where you’re huddled, wrapped in a cleaning rag. Not even sure why he’d insisted on taking you with him except to punish those two for this whole idiotic mess. Wary eyes stare back at him, your face all that’s showing as you huddle and shiver. That afraid of him? After carrying you to the bridge, he’d just set you on the arm of his throne and ignored you until your shivering got on his nerves and he’d dug out a cleaning rag to drape over you. “Can I go home?” That little voice makes him pause in reaching for his datapad. “To Starscream?”

• Megatron turns to stare at you and it’s a force of will to not drag the blanket up over your head and hide. Because this one doesn’t like you, your head is pounding, and you just want to curl up against Star, hear him complain about this guy as his servos trace your spine. “He’s trained you well, hasn’t he?” He growls at you and that low, rumbling voice is neutral. The only reason you’re not having a nervous breakdown is because Soundwave is right there diligently working on a console. Or pretending to be. Every time Megatron looks away, he turns to check on you, watching over you as worry over Star eats at you. Knowing he’ll be fine, he was sent to the medbay, but still. He was bleeding energon.

• Watching you wilt in your blanket, Soundwave’s servos flex into fists. But there’s nothing he can do. You’re fine for now while Megatron toys with you and, through you, Starscream. As long as the warlord is certain he can use you to force obedience from the Seeker, you’re valuable to him. Safe. He’s not sure what might happen if Megatron realizes you’re not just a little pet to them, though. Can’t imagine that Megatron will be exactly thrilled if he figures it out. Your own thoughts are a chaotic mess of fear and worry that’s twisting about his own spark. Hurting to go comfort you, touch you, but worried about giving away how much to you mean to him and Starscream. “Does it shake like that all the time?” Megatron mutters, optics narrowing.

• “Cold,” Soundwave replies, head turning to look at the human. Noticing the way you look to him in return, expression almost pleading, Megatron isn’t certain what to make of any of it. Can’t figure out the appeal of this little thing or why it was worth all the trouble. Grumbling, he reaches a servo to touch the top of your head, surprised at how soft your hair is. And you twitch away, a tiny, warm hand lifting to lay on his servo as you stare up at him with wide eyes. Clearly afraid, but also clearly used to Cybertronians. That little hand pushes at him without effect, resisting him as you frown at him. Not so afraid, then. Oddly pleased that you have some fight as you realize you can’t move his servo and instead just scoot away from him and look over at Soundwave. Ignoring him completely.

• Baring his denta as Hook shoves him down flat again, Starscream struggles to roll onto his side and get off the berth, out of medbay. He’s already called the medic every nasty thing he could think of trying to get thrown out. That had only backfired when he’d apparently called in Vortex to help hold him down. The smaller mech grinning down at him as he fights their hands. All that matters is getting to you, he’s not hurt that badly he’s sure. He’s had worse. “Frag this,” Hook snarls at him and rears back, fist connecting squarely with his face as his head snaps back. And he’s out.

Previous

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[zeropro]

since you've already shared your opinion on thundercracker, could you please tell us your thoughts about skywarp? 🙏🙏(btw absolutely love how you draw him❤❤)

haha, hm…I don’t really care much for canon skywarp! sorry! I fell in love with this character while reading starscream fan fiction, I had very little opinion on him at all prior. he wasnt in TFPrime, and Earthspark’s skywarp was completely forgettable. yeah, I think the most ive seen of him in canon is idw1, and haha, he sure is a guy who is in that comic sometimes. he sure does shoot thundercracker for not wanting to genocide a whole city. 

the fun thing with skywarp in fan fiction is his lack of any real canon characterisation means he can really be whatever you need him to be to round out your home brew seeker trine dynamic. most fics write him as the most emotionally open of the three, sorta acts like the glue that keeps starscream and thundercracker from breaking apart, sorta like their kid brother. i like a skywarp that is just a silly little guy who just wants to have a good time and actually cares about his trine and canon skywarp… decidedly is not that XD 

which i guess is fair, skywarp does spend a lot of time getting betrayed by the other seekers in most media. earthspark starscream left skywarp and nova storm behind when attempting to escape GHOST, idw skywarp calls both thundercracker and starscream traitors to their face, cyberverse starscream slorped all the seekers when he absorbed the allspark, and lets not even talk about what skybound starscream did to him while he begged for his life. there never seems to be much love between the seekers in any media, despite them referring to each other as brothers, which is a real shame in my opinion. I havent yet gotten to the part in idw where thundercracker writes a screenplay about starscream and casts skywarp to play starscream, but that does sound like somethjng hilarious to look forward to, as I’m kind of just really wanting to see my boys have a positive canon interaction for once lol. 

apparently skywarp features really prominently in dreamwave, even becoming leader of the decepticons at certain points?? but I don’t plan to read those comics. I did read the wiki tho, and like honestly? good for him uwu

the most consistent character traits for skywarp in pretty much all fanfiction is that he is 1) a prankster and 2) he’s stupid, or is at least thought to be.  turns out both these traits are canon to his character spanning way back to his toy description!

((also thank you im glad you like how i draw skywarp ngl I think a major factor in why I like skywarp so much is because I really like my design for him, like?? am I allowed to find my own drawrings cute??? he’s so cute omg just look at him! he’s my boy!!! he’s my aaaaaahhh!!!!!!))

[scribe-of-hael]

The complicated life of Starscream

Tw: mentioned of Abuse/abusive Realtionships

I think whats interesting is the dynamic that Starscream has with Megatron in some ways. Because seems like no matter WHAT Starscream does. Being helpful ,loyal, or being backstabbing and sneaky.

Megatron finds a way to abuse him. That comes back around to the idea of , "No matter what you do, your abuser will never be happy and find new ways to be upset at you."

This is shown pretty well in TFP. Where Starscream trys to break free, be on his own. He struggles, even looses his Tcog in the process but he is a problem to everyone. The switch between his loyalty form s2 to s3 is a bit drastic. He is, very clearly, trying to do what Megatron asks of him and never once trys to go behind his back again.

Yet, even for a simple mistake, he is beaten. Megatron is completely incapable of trusting Starscream fully (reasonable) but Starscream is never going to be able to please Megatron fully either. Megatron doesn't know how eles to communicate with Starscream that isn't violent because that's how he responses, to violence and fear.

Starscream isn't perfect in TFP, he's killed Bots (as he told us repeatedly about Cliff jumper) , but everyone was someone before the war. I always wondered what he was like?

That and the fact Starscream mimics Megatron's abusive behavior in order to try and get respect. He HITS people , somtimes with little reason. He shoves and even belittled those who have actively tried to help him and show him concern (Knockout). Somtimes it works, most times it doesn't. He knows fear and violence works on him, why wouldn't it work in others ?

It's kinda a real thing, a friend who has these problems , basically puffing out their chest and bullying people close to them in order to get a sense of power and control that they normally don't have.

It comes down to Control and Safety.

Alot of times, in IDW Starscream does become a leader of Cybertron but almost always finds a way to sabotage himself. Why? He's traumatized. Conditioned to think he can not be anymore than what he was, what Megatron thought he was and what ppl think he is.

Bumblebee even calls this out, and in a fit of emotion, Starscream says its because he is Alone. No one is there to protect or vouche for him. (Which isn't fully true but that's his reality, how he sees it)

In order to keep himself safe, Starscream has defense mechanisms and coping strategies that are built to protect himself. He lies, he backstabs, he starts shit, he is combative even verbally when he doesn't even need to be. These strategies that were once used to help him, now make life difficult when ppl are trying to be there for him. Pushing people away, trying to give the illusion of control and dominance.

Rounding back to TFP, there was a theory i saw, (I think so, but in pretty sure I'm not the only one who thought of this anyway) that in RID, Starscream puts back in his old armor or parts of his frame from before.

My theory was that Starscream in TFP looks alot like Megatron in terms of color. Why go from a blue, white and red color to grey ? And was the armor even off him in the first place ?

My theory is Megatron purposely stripped him of parts of his own body, to make him both smaller and physically more vulnerable. Being a good representation of an Abuser stripping away who a person is, will all is left is the then vulnerable and under their control.

To add intop of it, in s3, its clear Starscream is loyal. The bot trys to go get Megatron or attack the autobots for killing him. Shockwave has to DRAG him away. In the movie, he STILL flinches at Megatron's movement towards him depsite him saying he "now knows what oppression is". FLYS AWAY & LEAVES HIM BEHIND.

This Starscream still has Decpeticon values, has only ever served Megatron for Millions of years, is still clearly afraid of his abuser and atm purpose to keep going. And he just LEAVES. Leaving Starscream to pick himself of being confused, scared and no idea what to do i'm sure.

Not to mention Megatron never once got anything done to him for all the pain and suffering he ever cause ld. He basically got off scotch free. Which to me, reflects the injustice some ppl feel and get when an abuser just leaves you in the mess THEY made and you get NOTHING from it. No justice, no recompense, no apology. You have to figure out how to BE without them.

Point is that Starscream is a complicated character in media. Different versions to show case this behavior. What i hope to see in the future, what I pray for, is seeing Starscream not only be able to break free of this cycle. But become more than what he thinks he is, what anyone thinks he is.

[daiourage]

That One Arc in Prime Where Optimus Lost His Memory But This AU Makes No Sense Because It's a Mix Between IDW and One

Happy New Years! My drawing app keeps crashing so I decided to draw my ideas on paper, and this took quite a while;;;

As always, press/click for both the full picture and for better quality!!!

["Brief" explanation of this comic:

1. In a previous post I mentioned wanting One to continue into something similar to the IDW continuum because I,,, love IDW, just in general, but the IDW MegOp crumbs are also tasty--//shot 1-2. Also the way the characters refer to each other is intentional please I think I know what I'm doing?? It's been a while since I consumed TF content (until recently) though. This entire comic is a what-if scenario that came to me when I was showering lol-- 2. MegOp is established 👍 (insert "old man yaoi joke" here (I agree with y'all btw, not mocking)) 3. In the last panel, I was debating whether or not to put Elita with Bee in helping Megs call Optimus "Pax", but decided to put Starscream because I feel like it makes more sense non-One wise. 3-2. I wanted to include more dialogue with other characters, but it ended up looking like it was shoehorned in because the concept was very MegOp centered I'm so sorry (me to every other character) Just know I love every one of y'all-- 4. I have crudely simplified the characters by complete accident. My bad;;;; in my defense, every character changes a lot when I'm not looking (I had so much trouble trying to figure out which Bee design to use),,, 5. It is very fast paced on accident as well;;; might sound like a badly translated manga, too;;; I don't know how it turned out but maybe my bilingual self is in that one phase where I'm good at neither language;;;]

It might look a little messy because it's been so long since I've touched colored pencils I'm,,, gonna try to get used to it since my app doesn't seem to be getting fixed anytime soon;;; (I don't know if it's an iPad problem or an app problem;;; Sketchbook get your shit together please,,,)

Also, I used a couple of sparkly colored pencils but I'm not sure it translated well in the scan so I'm a little disappointed but eh,,,

Also also, have this thing I drew of Megs being lovestruck in the last page when Optimus comes back lmao--

My bad for the long post; it's currently 4 AM because I stayed up watching music shows over here;;I hope we all have a wonderful year. I have a feeling my TF phase is gonna last a couple years longer than it usually does jlsdlakjsdlkfja

Let's all have a good time, yeah~?

[startheskelaton]

I'm not sure how Nightflyer and Soundblsster met Sparkplug, but I guess they met her at Earth.

So I'll do my interpretation of how Nightflyer and Soundblaster got on Earth.

Nightflyer was at the palace as usual, going to his berth after he finishes all work for the day he overhears from his sire's chambers about space bridge and how it can take someone to a different planet.

Interested, he begs and pleades Soundblaster to help him try the space bridge, which Soundblaster soon agrees with, using this as an opportunity to get rid of Nightflyer.

So they sneak out and go to the room where the space bridge is kept, and they eventually find it after a few miss ups at which room is it and knocking a few guards or less.

They tried using the space bridge, but it went wrong, and they both ended on the same planet called Earth. They ended up in different places, Nightflyer ended up in the same forest where Optimus first arrived and met Spike, and he's amazed by Earth's beauty while Soundblaster ended up in near fancy human city as he wondered where the living FRAG he ended up.

And that's pretty much it. You can tell me how they actually ended up

Also, I think Nightflyer and Soundblaster would love Earth and its culture.

Nightflyer like Optimus from idw comic and maaaaaaaybe Repunzel from Tangled would fall in love with Earth's beauty and its creatures and plants since he never saw that back Cybertron where everything's metal. To his, this would be a dream come true since, like you said, he's into mutants and plants.

Soundblaster wouldn't like it at first, but then he sees humanity's arts, creativity, literature, museums, and many more humanity has to offer. Like Nightflyer, this would be a dream come true to him, too, since he's into art and literature.

.

.

Bonus: Back on Cybertron, Starscream and Shockwave panicking where the living Primus where their sons went and screaming at anyone while Slipscream tries to eat her energon cereal.

Anyway i really love your ocs and I wish to know more about them. I really love how you have progressed the story so far. I love it.

Actually the real answer is a good bit different, however I love the story you made, It was vary fun to read!

This is how it really went down.

Shockwave chose Nightflyer in particular to be the one to go to earth undercover, he did this because he knew that Night was so loyal to his family, that he wouldn't change sides if need be (this would be proven right later). Nightflyer was absolutely mortified when he was told that he needed to go to earth, not because he didn't like earth, but because he would have to go alone to make the plan look believable. Also he would have to purposefully crash his ship on the planet... but the alone thing was more of priority for him.

He dose make it to earth and makes the ship crash, making it look like he desperately trying to escape from Cybertron. He would be found and taken to the Autobot base (after checking him for tracking devices) where he would be questioned and checked to see if his arrival would bring more enemies to the planet. He was kinda blacked out for a while (because of the crash) when he was sent to Ratchet's med bay to undergo an emergency check up. And who just happened to be the reluctant medical assistant on hand? Sparkplug. She really had to fight her dad in order to stay and help with the exam (she really wanted to be part of something exciting, and a random hot guy falling from space was definitely exciting).

They properly met during tryouts for being put on a mission team. Nightflyer passed well (however he needed to hide his full potential as to not tip off that he was part of the Cybertonian guard). Sparkplug on the other hand passed with shockingly flying colors for a bot her size, however was immediately turned away by Megatron (this is because Sparkplug has been training most of her life to be qualified for off base missions, however is shot down by her dad each time at the qualifying tests. Like her late father, she's not one to take rejection lying down, so she has trained for years and gone to every try out. Much to Megatron's dismay, this has only forced her to get stronger then she would have been if he had passed her earlier).

At first Sparkplug is kinda spiteful against Night simply because he was able to go on missions despite being so new to the autobots, however something makes her look at him differently... she notices he's lying. She has no idea what about but she can feel it, something about his story is too perfect, he's moving up the ranks too quickly and cold outer shell doesn't fit with someone who wanted to break away from his original faction. So when she finds him in the library one night, she corners him, and he breaks... but not fully. He reveals his true personality to her, but not his mission. He is vary genuin about how he feels trapped by having to mask all the time, that no one would take his seriously if he was himself, and how he genuinely felt oppressed by the "the strong rule the weak" mentality of the Decepticons. In return, Sparkplug opens up about her strange existence and confusing expectations people have for her. That she needs to be a replacement but not a copy, to have prime's kindness but none of Megatron's anger, love herself for being special but listen to everyone talk about how freaky her existence is. And after that night... Sparks start to fly between the two.

Soundblaster met Sparkplug in the middle of space.

Eventually the time comes and the seekers (slipstream and company) show up on earth and it's revealed that Nightflyer was a spy the whole time. And a dangerous one at that, actually able to go up against a good amount of the autoboots. This breaks Sparkplug's heart because she talked to Nightflyer a LOT, she had no idea if any of that was real or not. It didn't help his case when he immediately sided with his sister, going back to being a deception due to his loyalty to his family.

However during this shit show, who arrives but the DJD, taking advantage to the situation to try and take Sparkplug in order to make her a new Megatron. Seeking a chance to be praised by Shockwave, Soundblaster is able to grab Sparkplug admits the chaos (capturing the last remints of Optimus prime would be extremely useful in manipulating the public or just making a super weapon) . However due to a mix of Skywarp's powers fucking up along with Slipstream's (she has the same power's as Skywarp), Soundblaster and Sparkplug are warped halfway across the universe. This now forces our characters to try and find Spark before anyone else can.

When coming to, Sparkplug is absolutely livid at Soundblaster and immediately attacks him. But due to the situation, they reluctantly come to an agrement, get somewhere where they can get back to Cybertron or earth, then fight about it then. This forces the two to work with one another to try and make it to intergalactic space station without dying. During this time, Sound only communicates through mores code, never speaking once. However him and Sparkplug have a good amount of conversations, slowly opening up to one another. They really hit it off when Sparkplug is able to relate to Soundblaster, but admit that he defiantly had it worse then her (nightflyer on the other hand saw himself and Soundblaster as equally out cased despite the huge power discrepancy). She's able to see him for who he is, what he was supposed to be, and who he wants to be... and this makes Soundblaster throw away his loyalty to the decepticons and decide to be loyal to Sparkplug herself.

OH MY GOD this was a long post, I could go on but I need to stop myself before this becomes an essay.

[blueikeproductions]

Zeta Prime as the 13th Prime is admittedly unusual.

Conceptually, the 13 were initially meant to be an intentionally vague group shrouded in mystery. It wasn’t until the Bay Fallen that the Primes began being fleshed out as a group more, with The Fallen, Alpha Trion, Liege Maximo, Vector Prime, Prima and Maccadam chosen to properly be members of the group. To fill in the gaps and explain other series concepts Onyx, Solus, Nexus, Micronus, Amalgamous and Quintus were created.

That left one unaccounted for.

Aligned tried to be cute about, by dubbing them “The Arisen”, another Prime like The Fallen whose name was stricken from history, but unlike Megatronus, The Arisen was highly regarded.

In actuality, the 13th was Optimus.

Perhaps a decades late overreaction to 80’s kids horrified at Optimus dying, and Rodimus as such not being embraced, Aligned opted to make Optimus so special, so meant to be a Prime, he WAS one of the 13.

This … isn’t exactly a popular idea among fans, as it greatly lessens the appeal that Optimus EARNED his position, rather than he simply already WAS Prime. This probably is meant to tie into the Dynasty of Primes concept from the movies that was fleshed out more in the IDW movie comics. I think it worked better there because it was just a one off thing, and Optimus didn’t even believe he was Prime, and was too humble to accept it.

Aligned would explain it as Optimus sacrificing himself on ancient Cybertron and being reborn into Orion Pax, minus his memories. TFP and RiD15 would mimic this… multiple times, having Optimus live up to being the Arisen, but that this specific cycle keeps happening makes me think the Arisen has a thinly disguised fetish.

Other media like Forged to Fight, Cyberverse and IDW would also use this concept to some extent, the simplified version being the 13th Prime is the one that was destined to truly bare the Matrix. Everyone else was just keeping it warm for him.

This typically means Optimus, except for Prime Wars where Rodimus, Optimus and finally Optimus Primal bore the Matrix, with the Boss Monkey being Optimus Prime’s true successor while Hot Rod was in a coma after being overshadowed by Unicron.

IDW saw Optimus use the religious colonists’ belief in The Arisen as a political tool to ensure Cybertron, Earth and related planets stay United. The Arisen was also one of the ancient tribal Primes, though we never got a proper look at him. Shockwave, having gone back to the past, would say Optimus truly is the Arisen, but the matter was intentionally left vague and never addressed.

Forged to Fight leaned more in the original Aligned concept, where The Fallen immediately recognized Optimus as the 13th, but Optimus has no clue what he was on about.

Cyberverse tries to split the difference. Optimus is marked as the 13th Prime when he dies in the Robo-Robotnik universe, and joins the Matrix. In the main universe, Zeta Prime is implied to be among the 13 Primes, as a power mad Starscream names several Scraplets after them.

Because of TFONE looking to greatly simplify things, the somewhat complex idea of the Arisen was tossed aside in favor of sticking Zeta Prime in the role instead. Not to mention Orion being preordained to be Optimus doesn’t fit at all for the story the movie is trying to tell.

But who is Zeta?

Well…

He’s more a concept than a character. He doesn’t really have a preexisting counterpart from Marvel or Dreamwave to give us an idea of what he’s like.

His origins seem to lie in the WFC game.

While his colors evoke Marvel and Animated Sentinel, it appears there was conflicting ideas on what his name was. The game studio declared he was Zeta Prime, while Hasbro insisted he was Sentinel Prime, with ultimately the character becoming “Sentinel Zeta Prime”. The game still calls him Zeta nonetheless, with ancillary media describing him as a former, fiery military officer who lost touch with the robots he represented. He was responsible for chasing off the Quints and ushering in the Golden Age with the various Colony Worlds until the Rust Plague happened, forcing the Space Bridges to be shut down. That seemed to mark the downfall of Zeta going forward, as he was also the Prime that retained the Quints’ oppressive caste system that Megatron (and Orion Pax) rose up against.

Hasbro’s insistence he was Sentinel persisted in the Covenant of Primus, where his younger self resembled TFA Sentinel Prime, along with having an association with the Elite Guard.

This connection to Sentinel is semi referenced in TFONE, as Zeta was the first Matrix barer, with a power hungry Sentinel shooting him dead and eagerly tearing into his chest to claim the Matrix. Perhaps this was meant to be a meta gag on the writers’ part, with Sentinel going “I’m the guy before Optimus, not you, ya pompous poser!”

The only other Zeta that we know of is from IDW, a significant Prime that like Nova Prime, influenced a lot of the lore.

Initially he looked like this.

Your typical IDW “OC”, with him eventually donning on armor that became his standard look.

I swear someone on staff at the time clearly liked Digimon, because that is straight up Seraphimon.

It even had the loin cloth sash thing.

Other artists would Roboticize the design, making the Seraphimon influence less obvious though.

What this version of Zeta Transforms into is never specified, but with IDW original villains tending to favor flying machines, I’m going with a jet.

Zeta and Orion Pax were former students of Shockwave (pre-emotionless cyclops), both being seen in having greatness to being a Prime. Zeta became Prime after Sentinel’s “death”, fulfilling Shockwave’s desires. Zeta would become Orion‘s teacher and friend, but like Megatron, Orion would notice Zeta increasingly slip into megalomania, the stress of the early Great War against the Decepticons growing, feeding Zeta’s own lust for power. The mask finally having slipped, Zeta Prime used a “Vamparc Ribbon” in an attempt to wipe out the Decepticons or any form of rabble rousers, nor particularly caring who or what the ribbon sucked the Energon out of in the process. Orion and Megatron saw fit to team up against a mutual enemy and destroyed him, though the Great War waged on regardless.

TFONE Zeta Prime visually draws inspiration from his WFC counterpart, though simplified and a bit more ancient looking. While the character model is clearly blue and gold, the in movie model looks more dark gray-ish to me, somewhat evoking Liege and Prima.

We know very little about him, though as he is worthy of carrying the Matrix, clearly he wasn’t at all like his psychotic IDW counterpart. Perhaps the stand out thing is Zeta is the first Prime to carry the Matrix here, as that usually goes to Prima. Presumably this is a vestigial nod to the old “the 13th is the true Matrix barer”, as Optimus later is the only other Prime to carry it, completing the reference. Despite this, the Primes wax on about Orion’s bravery and self sacrifice to protect his friends and expose Sentinel, dodging the preordained Optimus thing.

A notable fan theory states that Optimus’ axe on the finale might be donated from Zeta thru the Matrix, as he too carries an axe as his signature weapon.

This seems to suggest that on top of needing to simply the Prime concept, perhaps Hasbro is moving away from the concept of “The Arisen” altogether. It also implies, with the use of Zeta, the 13th can be anyone a particular story needs it to be, referencing the original concept of the Arisen being a “mystery” anyway.

I think what bugs me more is The Arisen feels like a reinterpretation of Hot Rod’s chosen one role from the original movie and Marvel comics. Modern material is pretty dead set that the Prime lineage ends with Optimus, another instance of ignoring Rodimus.

But Hot Rod & Rodimus Prime fit this Arisen role so much better, due to the Marvel Comics better emphasizing Rodimus’ connections to Primus.

As Primus in his original form more heavily resembles Rodimus.

I would like to think that if the 13th Prime is free to be anyone, that some writers will take advantage of that and stick Rodimus in the role, where he reincarnates in the modern era as Hot Rod and arises once more as Rodimus Prime. It’d be nice to give Rodimus some respect for once, rather than being the whipping boy of angry nerds ala the IDW Deviations comic or, to some extent, MTMTE/LL. We got a better outcome in ReGen One, hopefully that can be replicated in a future cartoon or the Energon Universe somehow since Hot Rod is a major character in Void Rivals. Incidentally, Hot Rod exists in the One universe also, so if the story continues, maybe we could see TFONE Rodimus at some point.

As for Zeta, we’ll have to wait and see if future material keeps him as the 13th and if so, if they try fleshing him out more. Maaaaybe leave the IDW interpretation in the past tho’, or at least reinterpret the Vamparc Ribbon as both a Solus invention and a weapon of last resort Zeta doesn’t like using if we want to let him as the good guy.

[in1-nutshell]

How's it going? I want to try the IDW request, please. (I feel like giving Starscream a happy ending.) After the war, Buddy is a senator that cares about the people in Cybertron and is Starscream's Conjux. Buddy is always gentle, blunt and very patient with Starscream - always trying to make Starscream happy when things are very hard for him. They met in the middle of the war when Buddy came across a badly injured Starscream. Despite being enemies on the opposite sides, Buddy heals Starscream. (Buddy was an Autobot medic before they became a senator.) Starscream asked Buddy why are they helping him - Buddy only responds, "Because i'm tired. Do you ever get tired of fighting?" Buddy left after their done healing Starscream. A few years after the war, their relationship started when Buddy took Starscream to a quiet place to watch the stars when Starscream is having an argument with a rude senator that really despises him, Buddy bluntly told the rude senator to frag off. Four years later, they unexpectedly have a sparkling that wasn't planned which made Buddy crying a tears of joy while I'm pretty sure Starscream fainted since he wasn't planning to have a sparkling to begin with. Starscream holds his little bean in his arms for the first time, the sparkiling looked alot like Starscream and have Buddy's blue optics. When the sparkling opens its eyes for the first time and sees him - the sparkling smiled at him with love and joy. Characters: Starscream. Please and thank you!

Don't we all need a happy ending from time to time?

Lets give Screamer a win!

Hope you enjoy!

Bot Buddy the Senator and being Starscream's Conjunx

SFW, Romance, Platonic, Mention of injury, Mention of pregnancy, Cybertronain reader

IDW

Buddy was one of the few Senators who actively fought for all Cybertronains.

From the Autobots.

To the Decepticons.

To the N.A.I.L.S.

To any other cybertronain from distant colonies.

They made many friends and enemies in those chambers; but at the end of the day, they gave it their all for the citizens to have a better future.

They witnessed the former Senate full of corruption and lost touch with its citizens.

That was not going to happen as long as they were still online.

Which made it hard to believe that this caring and kind bot’s Conjunx was none other than Starscream.

The ruler of Cybertron and the infamous former second in command of the Decpticons.

Buddy walking into Starscream’s office. They smile when they see him sitting at his desk with Rattrap by his side. Both mechs look up. Rattrap winks a bit at Starscream and wordlessly leaves the office. Starscream stands up and lets Buddy envelop him in a hug. Buddy: “How was today’s meeting with Windblade?” Starscream scoffs: “That could barely even be allow to be called a meeting.” Buddy hums as they begin to let go. Starscream looking at them with a stern look: “Who told you to stop!?” Buddy playfully smiles and pulls their Conjunx closer: “Better My Lord?” Starscream’s wings wiggle a bit before he goes on a rant about the morning’s meetings.

Buddy could still remember the day Starscream began occupying a part of their processor.

It was during the war.

Buddy was an Autobot medic, one of Ratchet’s right-hand bots when it came to field medics.

They had been wandering around some rubble looking for survivors.

That’s where they found Starscream pinned down with damaged wings.

They wanted to run and leave the scheming con behind…

… but curse their big spark.

Buddy was so tired of fighting… they hoped this would come back and bite them in the tailpipe.

They still remember the fear they saw in his optics before trying to mask it with confidence.

They remember trying to calm him down while they tried to patch him up.

They remember the anger they felt for Starscream when he told them about how Megatron used him as a shield from the blaster fire.

They remember finishing the work before running back to the base.

Their mind occasionally wondering how was the Second in Command from time to time.

Starscream remembered falling from the fire.

He remembered feeling fear when someone approached him at a vulnerable state

He remembered seeing a medic appearing from the dust and calmly explaining that they were going to help him.

He remembers staring where the medic ran off to.

He remembers the frustration he felt realizing that the medic was now occupying a part of his processor.

And it continued long after the war was over.

As fate would have it, they both met again walking down the halls of the councils’ chambers.

They continued to pass by each other at work.

Sometimes Starscream would randomly pop into their office and have chats with them or simply escape from some work.

Buddy didn’t mind seeing the Seeker in their office, in fact they rather enjoyed seeing him around.

Buddy walking into Starscream’s office: “Star—” They stop seeing one of their fellow Senator’s standing in front of Starscream. They looked furious. Senator: “And if you do not fund this project, you can say goodbye to—” Buddy: “Excuse me Senator.” Buddy moves in between the two mechs: “I was sent here to retrieve Starscream for an urgent meeting.” They grab his servo and walk out of the room. Starscream: “I was not aware of another meeting today.” Buddy slows down a bit looking at him a bit sheepishly: “Forgive me for lying Lord Starscream, but you looked like you needed help.” Starscream feels his faceplate warming up a bit: “I did not need your help… but you did save some of my valuable time, so you are forgiven. But why where you coming to my office? You filled up all the work for today.” Buddy: “Well… I-I just…” Starscream: “Go on! Spit it out!” Buddy: “Iwantedtoseeifyouwantedtogoouttotheobservatorywithme!” Starscream blinks: “Repeat that.” Buddy: “I wanted to see if you wanted to go out to the observatory with me…” Buddy notices their servo still in Starscream’s. They quickly let go. But Starscream just as quickly latches onto their servo again. Starscream: “I guess I could go. I do have a to go there anyways.” Buddy smiles slightly squeezing his servo back.

After that night the rest was history.

They did try and keep the relationship a secret.

And it worked for four years until IT happened.

Mainly due to a party hosted at Blurr’s that ended up with Starscream getting drunk off his pedes; climbing on top of Buddy’s lap, proudly proclaiming to have the hottest medic/ Senator of all of Cybertron as his Conjunx and hissing at anyone who tried to separate them both.

Thank Primus this was a private event.

Windblade, Chromia, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Blurr, Rattrap, even Waspinator have pictures of Starscream drunk flirting with an extremely flustered Buddy.

A week later they went for their routine tuning when the news broke.

Buddy had no idea how to tell Starscream about this.

Buddy dragging Starscream into their shared room.

Starscream: “All right now. What is going on with you? You have been acting all dogy and secretive.” Buddy looks down at their pedes. Starscream notice their sudden shift in mood hesitantly laces his digits into theirs: “…I don’t know how to assist you if you do not tell me My Spark.” Buddy squeezes their optics. Buddy: “Starscream… we are going to have someone else in this habsuite soon.” Starscream: “… Who? I swear if you’re thinking about adding someone move in with us—” Buddy: “A Sparkling, Starscream!” THUD! Starscream’s frame now lies sprawled out on the ground leaving Buddy in near panic. Buddy: “STARSCREAM!”

Thankfully once Starscream woke up and comprehended the news, he was almost as overjoyed as Buddy was.

It was defiantly something to get used to.

Especially with their relationship now turning public to explain the sudden pregnancy.

Starscream is STRESSED.

He wants to make sure Buddy and the sparkling have everything they need.

Thankfully Buddy has friends and allies that help them when Starscream can’t.

They are in a meeting when the sparkling wants out.

Thankfully Buddy had a plan just for this occasion and with Ironhide and Chromia escorting them to the hospital within moments.

Starscream is out the door with Windblade closely behind him when Rattrap gets the news about Buddy being in the hospital.

Starscream gets into the room and promptly faints seeing not 1 but 3 sparklings in the bed with a tired Buddy.

And he is defiantly not crying the moment he wakes up.

Defiently not crying seeing one of his sparklings frame looking like his true forms frame.

Nope, can’t prove anything.

Just wait until Uncle Thundercracker and Uncle Skywarp hear about this.

[soundwavereporting]

So you've heard Earthspark Season 3 is pretty good

Or maybe you just want to see the small screen's post-IDW take on Everyone's Favorite War Criminal (I'm not judging) but you heard season 2 is a hot mess.

Fear not! Under the cut, I present the cliffnotes of season two, so you can easily go into season three without having to watch season two! (or even season one, I guess, because I'm an overachiever)

Season Two Cliffnotes:

Decepticons are bad again. Starscream is in charge.

Something (I forget what tbh) creates 'chaos energy' and 'chaos terrans' which are terrans, but 'born bad'. They're named Aftermath and I forget the other one, but she's essentially Twitch's evil twin.

At a carnival, Mo, and the Terrans (I think all of them? idk it doesn't matter) get caught up in the nonsense of a guy named Fairmaestro. The big twist is Fairmaestro's super cool UFO space carnival ride is actually Cosmos! He fucks off into space at the end of the ep. Meanwhile Robbie meets a girl named Izzy and has a crush.

The Decepticons have also decided fucking off into space is a good idea (they want to go back to Cybertron. I forget why the Autobots don't want to), except Starscream wants to kill Megatron and OP or something, I don't remember, so they don't. Or they might've been trying to get control of a space bridge?

Mo and Thrash (I think? Definitely Mo though) meet a Quintesson.

Starscream does Stuff and raises a Titan named Terrortronus who lives under Witwicky (I think), and is powered with chaos energy. (see above), which ends up draining Aftermath & Twitch's Evil Twin of energy. Starscream also gets something called the Cyberslayer (I think) that can kill cybertronians. But also bring them back?

The kids and the Terrans realize they can 'sync', which means they turn into a combiner ship thing or something and create a dome around Terrortronus and part of Witwicky, which results in all the Decepticons being contained. Because Starscream is stuck inside Terrortronus, Shockwave takes over the Decepticons, whose goals are now to 1) escape 2) fuck off to Cybertron.

Season 1 Cliffnotes:

First, I really recommend watching season 1! It's very fun and stands on its own.

Robbie and Mo (siblings) find the Emberstone and get these cool cybersleeves, which allow them to feel each other's emotions. Finding the Emberstone also brings about the creation of two new bots (Terrans) named Twitch and Thrash, who are Robbie and Mo's partners, respectively.

The kids' mom, Dot, fought in the war and is buddies with Megatron, who defected to the Autobots at some point. Their dad, Alex, is a college professor and a Bumblebee stan.

Transformers/Cybertronians are known to humanity and there's even a comic series about them!

The Autobots & Megatron are working for a secretive organization called G.H.O.S.T. (I forget what it stands for). G.H.O.S.T. has lots of secret bases and whatever. Agent Schloder works for G.H.O.S.T. and is also a Bumblebee stan.

Bumblebee and Breakdown are umm "brothers"

In the midseason finale (I think) Robbie and Mo end up creating three new Terrans: Hashtag, Nightshade, and Jawbreaker. Hashtag's whole thing is social media (obviously) and Nightshade is a nonbinary science prodigy who makes a whole secret base for the Maltos, Autobots, and Terrans. Jawbreaker is just kind of there for comic relief and/or secondhand embarrassment.

The main threat is a guy named Mandroid, who hates Cybertronians. G.H.O.S.T. eventually becomes a strong secondary antagonist.

Eventually the Autobots and Decepticons team up to take down Mandroid/G.H.O.S.T. These last two points aren't actually mentioned in season 3 but in the interest of full context, here you go.

F.A.Q.

Q: Um, I heard Tarantulas was in this show?

A: He's in Season 1 Episode 13, "Missed Connection". Unfortunately he doesn't show up again afterwards :( but he is in my heart, always.

Q: Soundwave ep? Is he divorced?

A: Watch Season 1 Episode 8 "Decoy" for all the answers.

Q: Is Wheeljack really yeehaw?

A: Yes. Laserbeak is ALSO yeehaw.

Q: Why don't the Autobots want to go back to Cybertron?

A: I honestly don't remember.

Q: Are you a Prowl stan? Is that why you made this post?

A: Per my blog description: "despite the title of my blog, i am actually a soundwave stan."

Unfortunately, Soundwave doesn't have enough screentime in this show (especially season 3) to justify a "Season 2 Cliffnotes so you can see Soundwave". Prowl is another favorite, though.

Q: Is Season 2 really that bad?

A: To be entirely honest, it killed my interest in transformers for the last five months! YMMV.

There. I've done it. Go enjoy Prowl.

[ghostingcrows]

I used to talk about this a lot but 

IDW Prowl is probably one of the most complex characters in the comics and I absolutely hate it when hes reduced down to “the asshole character”

Cause like

Yeah sure hes got a bit of a stick up his ass

But I feel like people just end there analysis of him there

Has he committed a lot of war crimes and done unethical stuff

Yes

But so has literally EVERYONE else in this universe

Starscream is literally the pinnacle of war crimes

The comics make a point calling out even Optimus for his questionable actions and orders during the war with the Dinobots saying he makes them do the dirty work for him

Megatron literally commits genocide and yet his story ends with an alternate version of him going free and exploring the universe with the LL

The literal war lord was treated better and is looked upon more positively than Prowl and I think it just came down to how fucked Prowl got by the writers

Because while Megatrons redemption was all in your face and you got a shit ton of flashbacks that try to justify the eventual atrocities he would commit you don’t get that with Prowl

Even when Prowl is absolutely in the right you constantly have it disregarded by characters making jokes about him overreacting (being mad OP is sending the space tyrant away with free reign of his own ship isn’t overreacting btw-) and as such you start to think of him as a genuinely irrational character when hes not

Prowl is bad at keeping the relationships he forms yes 

But he is not always at fault for that

While his relationship with CD ended poorly Chromedome is also shown to be kinda of a dick sometimes and commits his fair share of fucked up things such as when he literally ATTACKS PROWL AND FORCES HIS WAY INTO HIS MIND TO PROTECT HIMSELF FROM THE CONSEQUENCE OF HIS ACTIONS WHEN PROWL THREATENS TO TELL REWIND ABOUT THE SHITTY STUFF HE DID IN HIS PAST

This leads to Prowls inevitable snowball out of control when this attack leads to an opening for Bombshell (I think its been a while since I read the comics) to use his tech to mind control him forcing him into combining with the contructicons

Something we learn is an immensely intimate thing with their minds being kinda melded 

This was something Prowl did not want 

And when all was said and done and he was calmed down he still had to live with that gesalt he was forced into with them following him around like fanboys

Nobody ever even really stopped to check in on him 

And as such he understandable went a little bit insane

He had just faced an immensely traumatic invasion of his body and mind and on top of stress form feeling like everything was out of his control and like he couldn’t stop the bad things from happening alongside bitter emotions being brought back up with a return visit to Earth and reunion with spike AND the fact that he feels like Optimus doesn’t trust him and like hes just letting Starscream do whatever he want (something that understandably freaks him out seeing as how he spent 4 million years fighting Starscream) he just kinda snaps

He trys to destroy the space bridge so that no one else can leave or get through and so he can regain some semblance of control

Is it wrong

Yes

But he was not in a good state of mind and no one was helping him at all 

And immediately following his arrest afterward Prowl is confronted by OP who is supposed to be his friend and when Prowl doesn’t say the right things to him to placate him Optimus’ response is to punch him out a window and beat the shit out of him

And not being given any room to breath this is immediately follow up my him getting kidnapped by Tarantulas who is very obviously an impactful and negative part of his past

Prowl just has bad event, one after the other, happen to him over and over again and not only does no one check up on him afterwards to see if hes okay but everyone actively makes fun of him for being understandable unstable

Prowl is a fucking tragedy and not many people seem to be able to see beyond what characters in the comics think of him

[crying-fantasies]

Hiii! Sorry if I keep sending you more ask-

I was wondering what if Mayhem accidentally got transported into the TFP universe? (Considering it's the Idw comics, anything wacky is possible 😭)

How will Soundwave from that universe react to Mayhem? And will Mayhem react to his 'dad'?

Thanks for the ask! Sorry for being so late.

In reality this could go down in many different ways.

TFP Soundwave, as far as I've seen him, holds Laserbeak as his own last shard of sanity, maybe in the past he had all of them and, well, the gladiator pits, the war, that little drone is all he has left, I don't know if in TFP the concept of sparkling or new sparks exist like it does on BV or this AU, but maybe Laserbeak was someone like that for him.

Having that in mind, as in by some fucked up chain of events (as in having Sunset near with his inherited bad and absurd luck), Mayhem were to fall in any other universe (because after the whole Brainstorm-made-a-time-machine-and-teared-the-whole-reality-apart well, now we have a multiverse!) you can bet that first and foremost Soundwave, as in the one in this reality, will tear even more the barriers between realities to have his sparkling back.

Meanwhile TFP Soundwave looks at the sparkling with a big interrogation mark on his visor, because where did he come from? How come his bio signature is so similar to his but he can't pinpoint from where, or what, the other part has come? How old is him? Depending of such, if Mayhem is still a newly forged mech then you can bet TFP Soundwave will guard him like a jealous mother (in that phase they aren't different from human babies), no one can look at such delicate little sparkle of joy, if Megatron asks nicely and is obviously in his right mind maybe he would consider it, if Mayhem was already an operative mech it would be so much difficult to hide him, and he has to drag him back more than once when he tries to reach the autobots, Mayhem has learned a lot from his sire back in his own reality, to this point everyone knows about him, the vehicons know better than stop him because he can only get so far before a pair of tentacles catch and drag him back again, no matter that his sharp digits claw at the ground, once back inside he is given a portion of energon to please be calm.

He would never let him interact with Starscream by obvious reasons, maybe Breakdown can talk more comfortable with him, but absolutely no permission to talk or interact or even be in the presence of Shockwave or Knockout, Soundwave doesn't like their look of "science" when they look at Mayhem.

Now with SG Soundwave, believe it or not, Mayhem feels even more horrified by different reasons, all his life his sire, his father, has always been taciturn, quiet, maybe a little gloomy, but overall he always thrived in his affection, while not so big like he has seen with other families, he knows his father loves him with little things.

SG Soundwave makes him sputter with his headband and overall colors, the way he talks and moves are so unnatural that make him feel itchy, but above all else what gets him totally out of his zone is that SG Soundwave makes a quick scanner at him, processes the data in two clicks, and soon tackles him down with a hug calling him "my baby".

In the SG universe they know of different realities thanks to Cliffjumper, and SG Soundwave has to recompose himself a moment and let go of the young mech, there is paint transfer in both of them due to the obvious crash.

If TFP Soundwave was creepy to Mayhem, he can't even start to describe SG Soundwave, but he does recognize him as creepy in his own way.

Obviously this is the most talkative Soundwave, "How many centuries are you? Have you been well from where you come from? Are you a medic? So proud! Do your do my young mech! Did you came from the hotspot in Kaon like me? If you didn't that's fine too!"

And obviously so, this Soundwave gets on the slightly different wavelength Mayhem does, "Do you have a sire? A carrier? Did I've you alone?" as he shows every other righteous decepticon the young mech, Mayhem has never seen other decepticons so fast and easy, they look happy to see him, totally different from his reality, "Such a handsome young lad!", somebot says, and SG Soundwave is quick to answer: "Sure is! Bet he got it from his other mentor!" as his visor shines green with absolute glee, the questions previously done return and Mayhem doesn't know if he should mangle this reality and tell him, he decided not to, because everything is backwards here, what if you are different too?

Mayhem doesn't want to answer, and he gets another cybertronian equivalent of aneurism when he meets the cassettes of this reality, at least he got to meet SG Ravage, because he never meet the one of his reality, never had the chance.

SG Soundwave is maybe the only one to help him return to his reality, retracting his battle mask to give a little peck on his helm, "Take care of you and the fam', Lil' doc".

Once Mayhem is safely returned, SG Soundwave makes a bee line to you, who seems to have a very bad day or your usual sour and tired expression is somehow worse, drinking some kind of human beverage to keep your sanity intact, but every ounce of sanity it's throw out of the window when he sits next to you, hands together as if he is begging or praying, your coffee is dripping from your mouth as he says "I wanna've your sparkling, my amor", because he recognized the wavelength of Mayhem's spark mimicking the one of a human, a human he knows very well.

Flatline has to come and help you as your coffee goes down the wrong way, Soundwave has this idea on his helm and nothing, nothing,will take it away.

Your destiny is sealed as Megatron looks at you helplessly, maybe you have a reason to date Soundwave now.

[snowiiarts]

Just curious, where is the starscream in the top right of your starscream collection art from? The blue one, he looks so cool

We call him" Starscream's true form", it's from the IDW comics(Till all are one)!

[revelboo]

Hey! Hi! Absolutely love your writing so much! I look forward to everything you post, and appreciate what you do a lot!! I’ve definitely come to appreciate and learn more about transformers cause of you!

Really just wanted to show my gratitude :]]]

Oh, and look what I’ve done to poor Megs

Thank you! Honestly, giant Roddy is probably his worst fear, because he can be so much more annoying

Everything Is Alright Pt 89

IDW Starscream x Reader, Soundwave x Reader, Megatron x Reader

• Venting tiredly as he walks past Thundercracker in the hall, for a second Megatron can swear the other Seeker has the scent of human clinging to him, too. Must just be his imagination, though. Starscream? It’s not like he’d not realized the Seeker was a bit of a freak, but xenophilia? Fragging an organic alien? Maybe. Running a hand over his helm, he grimaces. Maybe it’s the size difference? The Seeker getting off on being bigger than a partner. But Soundwave? Both of them together when he’d been sure they hated each other? Surely, it’s not what it had looked like. Because seeing that interaction had left him with so many more questions. Two of his commanding officers can’t be deviants. Surely not. There’s a morbid sort of curiosity despite himself to figure it out, though.

• Trying to get yourself back in control as the panic attack shakes you, it’s their hands on you that ground you. Calm you. You’d known you’d been gone a long time, the guy who’d driven you home that night Star had tried to abandon you had said as much. Not realizing the actual time lost, but knowing it was long enough for everyone to have just assumed you were dead. Most of your family is on the other coast, you’d never been super close and it’s been a long time since you’d gone home to visit. Someone would have contacted them, though. Told them you were missing. Had that guy told the cops he’d taken you home? That you’d been found alive? Had they gone looking and found you gone again? Had your family been told, getting their hopes up only to have them dashed? Because you’ve been so wrapped up in yourself and Star and Soundwave that you’d barely thought of your family.

• Helm nudging the side of your head as you start to calm, Soundwave slides a hand under your shirt, surfing his palm against you to strengthen that connection. To try and understand what he’d done to hurt you. Feels that guilt twisting inside you, hurting. “I’m awful,” you whisper. “I didn’t really even think about them. At all.” Servos tightening on you, he retracts his mask and presses his mouth against your throat. Deepening that connection, but also because he needs to. Trying to comfort you with his touch.

• “Who?” Star growls, hands cupping your face, unsettled by those teary eyes as he runs a servo against your cheek. Are you talking about that other human? Grieving the stranger he’d seen in photos in your home? Whose belongings had been scattered among your own. Your breath mingles with his intakes as he tries to ignore Soundwave draped against your back. Hating the other mech still, wanting to lash out, but resisting so you don’t get more upset. Do you miss that other human? Regret bonding to him? Miss your freedom and that other life?

• Star’s lips brush yours, not a kiss just sharing the same breath. His tone was a demand, but his hands are gentle on you. Surprisingly patient when you know it’s not his strong suit. “I’ve been with you for months,” you say, not sure if he’ll understand. Or care. While he’s shown you time and again that he cares about you, you’re pretty sure it’s only you. Anything you adjacent, Soundwave, your family, he doesn’t seem to care about. He’s never even asked about your family, but you haven’t asked about his, either. You really are awful. Both of you. Wanting to ask if you can go home. Get your phone and at least call them to let them know you’re okay, but afraid that Star will refuse. “Everyone must think I’m dead.”

• Head lifting to glare at Star as the Seeker’s wings droop as if relieved that’s what’s wrong, Soundwave rumbles softly until the SIC looks at him. Sees Star curl a lip slightly, still furious with him and seeing him as a threat and a traitor. Surely, he’s not so dense as to not realize that he needs to say something. Even if it’s just to commiserate with your misery. Knowing the mech is selfish, but realizing how selfish is infuriating. Because anyone around you that’s not him is a threat, endangering you and his hold on you. That if not for Soundwave hearing you and finally investigating, the Seeker would have fully isolated you to ensure you can only look to him, only trust him. Only need him. “Can arrange for you to speak with them,” he says, watching Star tense at his words. He can arrange it so the communication can’t be traced back to their location. There’ll be no danger and you need this. Even if it’s saying goodbye, you need closure and he’s going to make sure you get anything you need. Despite Starscream.

Previous

Next

[ckret2]

Decided to shake up the constant Gravity Falls asks on the blog (even though I adore them). What is your favorite transformers continuity? And what's your favorite character from that continuity?

Tough call, but probably IDW1. The comics had room to get expansive in ways the show-based continuities couldn't, and I like that feeling of bigness to the universe. It introduced a lot of my favorite Transformers lore: forged vs cold constructed bots, Functionism (especially as a critique of marrying religion to conservative politics), empurata, really creative uses of holoforms, conjunx endura & amica endura (and queer bots, let's give it up for queer bots!!), the complex network of lost colonies, the idea that the gods definitely officially existed BUT they were just guys, the DJD...

All the work that went into immediate pre-war culture with the turbulent corrupt senate and the corrupt Primes was terrific. LSOTW and SOTW are just so damn good, MTMTE up through Remain In Light was brilliant, and Getaway's coup was great. I'm thrilled we got a look at Cybertron's relationships with the rest of the galaxy and it turns out they're hated, because that makes perfect sense but we never really see that. The post-war politics on Cybertron were really fun. I was skeptical IDW could pull off writing about a post-war Cybertron—I assumed within a year they'd default back to restarting the war—and then that ended up being when the whole series really started to shine.

Introduced some characters I love—Drift, Tarn, Stardrive, Windblade, and Pharma stand out off the top of my head. Amazing artwork, especially whenever Milne had the pen. ABSOLUTELY LOVED seeing Starscream get to rule Cybertron. Even though they had trouble committing to it, I appreciate that they had the balls to make Optimus morph into a well-intentioned villain. Love the tragic former senator Shockwave characterization. Love the lonely logical Prowl who can see the Autobots' flaws too clearly for his own good and in his desperation to compensate for the rest of the army morally compromised his way into becoming the villain. Love horrible amoral Tarantulas with his small shining moments of love and tenderness.

Although by the end it was getting really bloated with other Hasbro property crossovers, I did like some of the crossovers they introduced: GI Joe slid in pretty seamlessly—probably helps that TF & GI Joe crossovers have an established history—and I was surprised a how much I liked Rom. And even though the sheer quantity of crossovers got tedious, the concept of going "they've all been dragged into this story because they were all affected by Cybertron's past colonialism" is GREAT.

Love that they ended the story by swinging from "yay look at all these fun new colonies for us to play with!" to "oh my god the Autobots are colonizers." LOVE that they ended with Unicron—every longform Transformers series could end with Unicron and I probably wouldn't complain—and that they let him eat some planets, let him eat half the cast, LET HIM EAT CYBERTRON... and characterized him not as some random bogeyman but specifically as the karmic vengeance for Cybertron's past colonial crimes. Love that the only way to stop him was not by killing him, but by acknowledging that Cybertron was wrong and showing him compassion.

IDW didn't always get things right with their attempted grand messages about politics and injustice and oppression and colonization—but, hell, even when they didn't quite hit the bullseye I love that they were playing with that dartboard.

Favorite character from IDW is Prowl (albeit not without stiff competition). I'm a gleeful Prowl apologist. Yeah he did those terrible things but he was right tho. I started picking up RID & MTMTE right when Prowl got Devastatored, and that was both the thing that made me go "oh hold on the comics are doing something interesting" and the thing that made me take notice of Prowl as a character for the first time in my life lmao. BIG fan of his messy lovelife. (Personally I go "he's too good for Chromedome" and then ship him with the Constructicons and Tarantulas, who are objectively far worse than Chromedome.) He's endlessly fascinating to me, one of my favorite characters to read and one of my favorite characters to write.

Right up there is Starscream—averaged out across all continuities, Starscream's probably my #1 favorite Transformers character, and IDW Starscream is my favorite Starscream, a perfect blend of the bombastic G1 campy villain and the wary, competent, resilient TFP schemer. And Tarantulas rounds out my top 3, I loved him in Beast Wars and then SOTW 3 happened and I had to stop at nearly every panel Tarantulas was in to go "oh my god, this is canon? They got away with that??" Read like a fanfic in the best possible way. "We were each the muse to the other" still has an iron grip on my heart. "I want YOU. I want US." God. SOTW 3 is a masterpiece of literature. Here, do you want a 130k no-war AU where Prowl and Tarantulas are paranormal investigators together? You can have it. For free.

I just spent a lot of time singing the praises of IDW but shoutout to Armada and Energon/Super Link (I preferred the fansub over the dub) for getting me into Transformers, wouldn't be in this fandom today if not for Starscream's beautifully melodramatic redemption arc in Armada. I'm not saying they're good. I'm saying I love them. Totally different thing.

[wishingstarinajar]

I have a peculiar question as someone new to transformers and autobots.

How do they reproduce? Are they manufactured in a factory? Is it simply a robotic appliance/vehicle gaining sentience like Tsukumogami? Mitosis? Coitus????

If there isn't a canonical answer, what'd be your headcanon for where new autobots are created? Regardless love your art and hope you had a lovely birthday.

Thank you, I had a pretty nice birthday~

It's not a peculiar question at all. It's discussed quite often, and many fans have their own thoughts on it. But there are several canon answers. It just depends on the series you want to pick from.

Most canon reproduction methods don't go down the "pregnancy" and "baby" route. A spark (a Cybertronian's soul/heart/being/lifeforce) either shapes or is placed into a body that can walk, talk, learn, and transform within two weeks (or even less!). Where the spark comes from usually diverts between series.

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There is the Allspark or the Well of All Sparks, a sacred place at the center of Cybertron where sparks are created or return to after death. These sparks usually inhabit a body protoform the Allspark created for them but other variations exist. Transformers Prime uses the Well of All Sparks as a reproduction method.

Then there are the "hot spots", which are like a cabbage field of sparks. Hot spots are rare and haven't been activated or found for a long time in the series that go with this reproduction route, like the IDW comics. The sparks were created by Primus (he is, in simple terms, Transformers "God" but there is a whole lot more to it than that) and activated by Vector Sigma, a supercomputer connected to Primus after he either became Cybertron or disappeared. These sparks use the metal "soil" they appeared in to assist in shaping a protoform body for themselves. This method is called "forging".

After hot spots no longer appeared, experimentation on the Matrix of Leadership (a powerful artifact) became a new method of creating more Cybertronians. These sparks were mass-produced and placed into pre-made, and at times mass-produced, bodies. This method is called "cold construction".

Cloning is another method in which the Decepticon Starscream dabbles at times in a few series like Prime and Transformers Animated. This is simply cloning an already existing spark, or splitting it.

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These are the canon ways (that I know of!) of reproduction in various Transformers series. Now as for fanon ways........... xDD

There are plenty of headcanons where Transformers reproduce as we humans do with humanoid genitals, a womb (gestation chamber), and a baby robot (either called a sparkling or a protoform) or just a spark that will be placed in a body after "birth". Gender doesn't matter here because any gender can be a "carrier" for the sparkling or spark.

There are plenty of fans who don't care much for the "human way" and prefer to go with either "plug and play" or "hardlining" which involves cables and plugs to establish more intimate links between the two Transformers, or the merging or bonding of their sparks which is even more intimate than hardlining. A new spark is created from these methods, and because these are asexual methods of reproduction, gender doesn't matter once again. It is up to whoever goes with these headcanons whether there is or isn't a "gestation chamber" involved.

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So all in all, there are plenty of choices you can go with; it simply depends on what you would like to consider, or what best suits the series you want to delve into.

Hope that answered your question!

[somerandomcockroach]

Okay-okay-okay, I really need to put out some silly thoughts from "Autocracy" IDW and sleep peacefully Of course I liked it ha-ha, it is filled with revolution, double revolution, triple revolution Autocracy spoilers, I guess?

• They call each other old-timers if they are older pffht • Firstly, help, Soundwave's kids are CRAZY, I mean I saw them fighting good against autobots but when Soundwave was running away, he was just "Go, my pokemon", and his kids were absolutely destroying everyone on his tail • OH I ABSOLUTELY LOVED all dialogues between Megatron and Orion Pax, from future I got that they were friends, so they know each other, but somehow Megatron is much better at guessing how Orion will act. Megatron thinks as a real tactician, using bots as his weapon, having a backup plan even if it required lifes of other bots. Orion, even from his origin, never seemed a person of "plan b", he improvise but he relies a lot on his comrades, they are a strong team, they are his plan b, and while this whole corruption situation was irritating him more and more, he became more violent and less considerable about proper plans, it goes as it goes. I guess that's why Megatron was underestimating him plus added the fact of how much power he got. Yeeeet~ Orion is using what Megatron did write, quotes it, and I'm sure he meant it in the right way, while Megatron's way is violent. "Criminal posing as a revolutionary and revolutionary posing as a cop" is my fav ship. He is using Orion in his plans in pretty curly and good ways ○ OKAY, a little note, but Megatron finds Starscream as very useful and trustful liege, it started amazing me from Megatron's origin where they were coming up with plans on spot without discussing. Then Sterscream really is good with his talking, responsible for many-many things and achieves them successfully. It is so surprising for me after all the jokes about them pfffht

(Megatron in his happy dreams happily holding hands with Orion and destroying autocracy together, but then he wakes up because remembers he will have to kill him then)

I'm cackling again. "Protect autobots at all cost!". Decepticons "Huh, how worthy these bots must b- "*sees Orion* "Ah, no more questions"

When you want to get your beloved you must push to the very end pfffffht

• I KNOW RODIMUS. I know him from future series and AHAHHAH OH MY EMOTIONS WHEN I SAW THAT HE WAS THE BOMBER, and played a big part in this story, the absolute opposite side of his character! I remember reading fic by @/lush-specimen where Hot Rod was helping EVERY bot in need, decepticons or autobots, taking everyone in need. AND NOW I SO MUCH SEE IT. He was another kind of revolutionary, he was the middle, oppressed kind of bots. He is a pretty young one, he lived in golden era, in alive city, now bots are dying on his eyes yet he protects and stands for them. He DIDN'T join decepticons yet he was fighting against cops. BUT he saw that maybe Orion can help since he was against government. He helped decepticons to show the truth to the ones who could change something, because he saw that it can help them, not decepticons. He isn't that funny ha-ha boy I saw in mtmte and ll. He had to burst his own "family" so that they will not become the fuel for Zeta Prime's destruction tools. Their deaths were on him. He became the leader to get out his people and did bear their deaths on his shoulders. No wonder he became a good even if silly leader in the future, he knows the price of life.

Writers: "Let's leave a hint about him being the new ruler. BUT LITTLE DID THEY KNOW WHAT HIS CHARAcTER WILL BE AHAHHAHA"

• "Till all are one". The matrix. THIS IS WHAT KEPT ME IN CHOKEHOLD AHAH. This phrase come from here, the change of Orion come from here, it all is in here. LISTEN. THA MATRIX LET THE HOLDER FEEL SPARKS. HE FELT SPARKS OUTSIDE THE PLANET. I wonder if he feels when someone's spark fades/dies, does he feel something about it or he got so used to it. I was wondering how exactly and from what point Orion changed to his serious Prime. He could NOT NOT change. The matrix gave him an ability to feel everyone, gave him an understanding of the concept of what unity of bots is. He could never become his past again because he bears this burden of lifes that he will never be able to get rid of now. But what made me sad is that Metroplex recognised him as his "old friend". He didn't call him by name of that friend. I guess it is because he had decades of such friends. They all have pretty similar ideas and characters. They get matrix and the same idea gets in their head. They become someone who already was there, real side of you erasers even if not completely. PFhegfheg. Even the name he got. He himself can't get used to it, meaning he has to get used to it like he is forced to his new self

• Prowl ~ There are earlier times and I don't see that great tactician that I used to read about him. He is a good soldier, who follows orders, he trusts Orion, he follows his orders, he isn't the one coming up with plans. He still is more groundly on the "rule" side, but he understands what is bad for bots, he listens to Orion more, he is the one who gives final orders. He ends up going against government, siding with these dissidents, even siding with decepticons to get rid of what could have destroyed them all. It's just a bit unusual for me to see him be "in team", follow, don't have his own side plan, don't be beaten up wheeeeze

• That's a bit.... sad to see them like this, knowing who Shockwave was before. And now it is this.

• Oh, they yap at each other, shipped

• Don't look, kid, parents are fighting

Okay, ahaha, I feel like I've wrote something too messy to understand or too silly to be real, my only thoughts left are described by tsche-chu-chu-che-tsche