#cards against cybertron

[darkstarofchaos]

Having seen some frankly irritating opinions from both sides of the aisle, I think some of y'all need to chill about the way the Decepticons were handled in EarthSpark.

Decepticon fans are allowed to be upset that the faction's depth and potential for development was tossed aside in favor of "Decepticons are just evil".

However, depth and potential doesn't mean the Decepticons have to be buddy-buddy with the Autobots. Depth is amoral, you can be a villain who resists "redemption" and still be a well-rounded character.

My issues with S2 vs S1 are as follows:

The lack of good explanation for why the sides are fighting again. I am not upset that the Cons are villains again. They have no reason to like or trust any human or Autobot, and gratitude for having your life saved only goes so far. My issue is that S2 literally opens by saying the Cons started the fight again just because that's what Cons do. Obviously the story is from the perspective of the main cast, and there are hints that they could be intentionally unreliable narrators (Starscream refers to them as oppressors, Breakdown challenges Bumblebee about giving up on Cybertron), but we aren't given enough time with the Cons to draw a solid conclusion about the intentions here.

The way the heroes treat Spitfire, i.e. a literal newborn. She was 100% in the right when she said that she didn't know the moral rules she was being expected to follow. But because she wasn't born with morals and an understanding of mortality preinstalled, the heroes condemned her instead of trying to de-escalate and take responsibility for their part in the situation (granted, Megatron was the only flight-capable adult present and he argued against de-escalation. Which tracks because he's Megatron. But someone should have pushed for a peaceful resolution).

How much depth do individual Decepticons still have? Who knows, Starscream, Shockwave, and Breakdown are the only ones with any focus. The others are only seen fighting, causing trouble for fun, or just standing around growling. Twitch - i.e. one of our main characters - literally spends an entire episode in the Con camp and we still manage to see nothing of Decepticon life when they're just hanging out. And yes, I know that the more characters you have in a scene, the harder it is to show their personalities. You can still show them playing cards or arm-wrestling or something. Anything to show that they're actually people and not just a hive mind that exists to fight.

Starscream. Specifically the last 20 minutes of the S2 finale, because everything else in his characterization fit S1 until that point. He literally calls the Autobots oppressors, so of course he's going to fight them. He wants Aftermath kept out of the way (that's a child, so that's perfectly reasonable) and he's frankly patient with Twitch-as-Spitfire, in spite of Skywarp's incredulity that he lets her "get away" with causing trouble (again, that is a child. Patience is the correct response). He even seems to like Spitfire after meeting the real her. The only issue I had with Starscream leading up to the second half of the finale was that his motivations didn't seem to be much deeper than "I want power" (I could be misremembering that point - there may have been an "Earth is going to be our home, let's make it better to live on" when he and Shockwave discussed Cybertron). And then the last 20 minutes happened and I can't see any logical extrapolation from S1 to that. It was just a generic "Starscream goes mad with power", and it came completely out of left field. Not even any remorse about what he "needed" to do or any attempt to justify himself, it was just, "Yeah, I'm worse than the people I called out for being oppressors, isn't it great?"

If there is some big plot twist where it turns out the heroes were unreliable narrators all along, some of my issues will actually be fixed. However, I find that extremely unlikely, for one major reason: all of the non-Decepticon characters who disagree with the heroes are either villains or they "come around". The Quintessons felt betrayed by Quintus? Nah, Quintus was a great guy, you can tell because he tortured a kid for wishing she had never been chosen by him. Prowl doesn't like the Autobots' reliance on children? Silly Prowl, those kids are special, we want them to fight. The narrative never, at any point, entertains the idea that those dissenting voices might have a point. Which means we're probably meant to take the heroes at face value on most, if not all things.

TL;DR: the Decepticons being villains makes perfect sense, even with the context of S1; it's the heroes acting like they're only fighting for power after we had several episodes about second chances and not all Decepticons being the same that makes it feel like a cop-out. And Decepticon fans are allowed to be upset that some of their favorite characters had interesting stuff going on only to be functionally relegated to Voiceless Grunt Number 3 (and yes, several Autobots have also been relegated to Voiceless Grunts. If one of your favorite characters has fallen victim to this affliction, regardless of faction, you have my sympathies).

[whatwooshkai]

19!! 😁😁

Quickshadow does not like Blades.

It's usually small, annoying things: he gives her stupid, paranoid looks, he complains about her asking reasonable questions, he follows her around, and worst, he's taken to perching on Heatwave's shoulders to do all three of those things, just slightly more off the ground.

But this.

Heatwave grabs a chip and throws it at Blades' face, but the helicopter leans out of the way smoothly, the smug grin not leaving his face.

"You must be cheating," Quickshadow accuses, seething behind her cards. Blades' grin gets bigger.

"That's the worst part," Heatwave laments, slamming his head into the table, making his pitiful stack of chips shake. "He's not."

"I couldn't, even if I wanted to," Blades practically purrs, fanning himself with his cards, and Quickshadow wishes she still had her inset guns. "Chase is dealing. Nothing gets past him."

"Believe me, we've tried," Heatwave mumbles, face still smushed to the table. He ever so slightly turns his head towards her and flicks over one of Quickshadow's neatly stacked chips. "Quit while you're still ahead, Shad."

Oh, but she can't. Quickshadow has played cards against some of Cybertron's most corrupt- games of chance and skill- and she's won. But Blades. He's become totally different, melting into a personality she'd only seen snatches of between his bouts of anxiety.

"Who do you have to play against to get this good?" she asks aloud, and Blades expression drops from smug to somewhere between fondness and grief, but he doesn't answer.

She's about to ask more directly when Boulder reenters, brandishing bottles of high grade. "Heatwave, Blades, Quickshadow," they mumble as they pass them out, before dropping the rest to the floor. "Chase?" they ask, but the police bot shakes his head no.

"I cannot deal properly if I am inebriated," he says, and Heatwave parrots him mockingly under his breath, then swallows half his bottle in one swig.

"Alright!" Heatwave pushes his little stack of chips forward with one servo. "All in."

Blades' fanged smile grows wide once more.

[lovinglonerhybrid]

It’s game night at swerves and there’s a bunch of games to play! Brainstorm and Chromedome are playing darts with a picture of prowl. Rewind,tailgate,and, swerve are playing Mario kart. Ratchet,thunderclash,megatron,drift,and Rodimus are playing cards against cybertron. Blaster has just-dance set up. Cyclonus and whirl are playing air hockey. Ultra Magnus is running a game of DnD with skids,nautica,ten,and velocity. Rungs doing mad libs with ravage and nightbeat. Every one lives nobody dies and the lost light crew is one big happy family for the rest of time!

[unknown-goose]

Transformers One Main Cast As Fate/Grand Order Characters

This movie has given me such severe brain rot, I just had to write something for it. Once again this post DOES CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS so read at your own discretion.

Orion Pax/Optimus Prime

• This time around I imagine him being a Ruler

• Given how it is normally a class associated with saint-like characters and grail war observers, I think it fits him rather well

• Even his most reckless acts are always done with good intentions and out of the main 4 bots, I consider him to be the peace keeper

• I see him as being an Arts unit with an AOE support Noble Phantasm (provides various buffs to the party instead of dealing damage to the enemy)

• I consider The Matrix of Leadership to be a passive skill: I’m thinking it would give passive healing per turn or extra debuff resistance. Probably passive healing because it’s not something you really see in F/GO (in playable units anyway)

• I’m probably going to give him a buff somewhere that makes him and or the party deal extra damage against "Threat to Cybertron" units (more on that later)

D-16/Megatron

• Easily an Avenger class unit, no questions asked

• Once he and the rest of the group find out the truth about Sentinel, revenge is all he can think about. And by the end of the film its become his defining trait, consuming him till there's nothing left of his previous personality

• It may be a little cliche giving him an all Buster card deck, but it really does suit him well

• His physical prowess is so strong after gaining his t-cog I’m thinking of making the arm canon his Noble Phantasm, if the divorce scene is anything to go by he’s probably Single Target (that scene gave me unparalleled psychic damage, I am not ok)

• He is also one of two units I will be giving the new "Threat to Cybertron" trait, based on F/GO’s "Threat to Humanity" trait

• I imagine his kit being almost like Maou Nobu’s, except better in every way. As much as I love her, the developers really failed her with that kit.

B-127/Bumblebee

• Not quite as obvious as my last choice, but he would make a good berserker

• Very low ranking "Madness Enhancement", probably somewhere in the low C/high to mid D range. Low C seems a little high for me but the change in stats is so minute it really doesn’t matter too much

• I have a feeling he would be a Quick unit, but I can’t make up my mind on whether he is Single Target or AOE. Maybe there is a gimmick in his kit somewhere that allows him to switch between the two like Melusine or Summer Barghest

• He seems like the kind of character I would throw all my prototype gimmicks at to see what sticks, just for the heck of it

Elita-1

• I headcanon her to be an Assassin class unit, more based on how she handles her opponents rather then her character

• High ranking "Independent Action" passive, but very low Luck. Poor girl can never catch a break. Her "Presence Concealment" would probably be about average, so somewhere in the B range

• I think she would have another Single-Target NP, and given her class’s knack for generating critical stars, she’s probably another Quick unit. Except I’d make her deck have three Quick cards instead of Bee’s two (double Quick, double Arts)

• Admittedly I was pretty stumped with this one, I think I ran out of brain juice while coming up with the others. Either that or the after work fatigue is kicking in again

Sentinel Prime (or as I like to call him Sentinel Douchebag)

• This is going to sound really wild, but hear me out: Moon Cancer

• Now I hear you saying "Goose, what does this motherfucker have to do with the moon? Or any moon?" And the truth is nothing at all. But he is to Cybertron what BB (the servant who made the class) is to the Moon Cell, a Cancer; an all encompassing evil that fundamentally changes the game. One that must be stopped at all costs, but unlike BB, his evil does not come from a place of care for the people.

• This class is the most objectively evil in its roots as even the Beasts have love in their hearts somewhere, so it makes perfect sense to throw this beautiful bastard in here. This class also has the smallest roster of characters in the game so there’s plenty of room for innovation.

• I see him having a double Arts, Double Buster deck with an Arts NP, probably AOE. He is also the second character to be receiving my new "Threat to Cybertron" trait, funnily enough I strictly had him in mind when coming up with it, and gave it to Megatron as an afterthought. That’s how much of a bitch he is in this movie.

• Him and Airachnid would be a dual package, just like Sakamoto Ryoma and his wife Oryou; with Airachnid appearing in his skill animations and NP, maybe having a couple voice lines of her own.

[medicdoodles]

A mashup of IDW and Seige canon of Ratchet and Deadlock, meet and run his underground asylum.

Based on Dialogue trees you get from Futomimi and Sakagahi, when you do the Aferlife Bell quest in SMT Nocturne.

For Ratchlock day.

(Next Chapter) || (Last Chapter)

There's a stain shaped like a human.

Work hard, do your best, and eventually you'll get somewhere.

When Ratchet transferred from the highest ranked schooling from Vaporex to the political charged state of Iacon, he expected pointed comments. He expected turned up faces. What he didn't know was how much he would be pushed into being an engineer.

Sure he has some skill in the field, many of his professors have left comments on it but never has he imagined being one. However, Ratchet found that his study to become a medic was going nowhere. Everywhere he went all of the classes would refuse his application, but he didn't give up.

If he wasn't going to be an official student he could still go to classes. When other mechs would sneak out or skip lectures he would slip in. Medic trainees would pay him to do their homework and he took it. All this hard work pays off, he gets the top scores, his engineering career is going well too. When his colleagues get hurt he can repair them better than the campus doctors. Then he graduated...

He gets hired to work on ground bridge operations. It doesn't excite him but it was honest work, and he could save enough money to carry equipment for a first aid kit. Once he was shipped off to the outskirts of the Dead End, that's where he finds his calling.

Since all fast travel in the area was decommissioned, Ratchet was forced to drive out to all locations. It wasn't too bad, but since he was the only one willing to do this job he was on his own. That's when he sees in person just how much Cybertron has abandon.

Streets filled with broken mechs and ruined buildings. There's no hope here, and his white paint lights up against the ash filled air, stains the vision of the city. It was silent until a siren went off in the distance. Despite him knowing the police's pensions for brutality, seeing it with his own eyes still frighten him.

"You're going to be okay." He hears a bot the panic in his voice. "Just hang in there, I'm going to get you help. Just hold on." Ratchet makes it to the voice. It was two bots in the middle of the road, both covered in blood. However, one person is down, closer to death.

"I don't think I can...", said bot also coughs up more blood. "Just wait for me to pass on. Then you can scavenge my parts."

"It's not fair." The mech brakes eye contact, looking to the sky. Then he looks towards the siren lights driving away. "They killed the wrong bot..."

"Let me try to help." Ratchet walks up to two mechs. The back mind is yelling at him, he's a ground bridge operator, an engineer, never even picked ot study medic. He can't do this, but he also can't stand here doing nothing. "I can't promise anything, but please I want to help."

They both look at him with a befuddled faces. He knows they shouldn't trust him but something must have broken because they allow him to help. They let him operate, and by the end of it all they thanked him, and for the first time since he left his home village, he felt proud of himself.

That's when Ratchet knew the direction of where is life is going. He would make money fixing and maintaining public works, taking other jobs, and making as much money as he could to build a clinc. He set it up in the center of Dead End, chosen it to give it resistance the fastest access to him. He worked himself tirelessly between these jobs and for the first time in his life. He managed to find success and happiness.

Do you think my life was a success?

Yes

>No

I see... yeah you might be right.

Just when I thought I achieved happiness, my fortune collapsed like a house of cards.

Then the outside world gotten word about it. The Senate at first only saw the healing of Dead End's bots. That they would start to walk around and they would fix the left over peices of the city. Had enough energy to walk around and wanted to start working.

However, Ratchet soon discovered that this was unwanted. That if Dead End successfully pulled itself together and made it possible to be something, then the fundamental ideology of Functionism would be thrown into question. If that where to happen, what other mechs would go against the class systems set forward by them.

It couldn't stand, so they made sure it didn't, and so they set off a bomb. Framed as an accident during transit from the military bases, they had approved of it being set off. Then they approved of some police officers to do a quick sweep of firing rounds to hit what remained. They're mission wasn't to kill anyone but if the managed too, it wasn't seen as a bad thing.

At the time Ratchet was sent off planet to see if he could assist in fixing a space bridge from Lunar-2 to Tyger Pax. Of course when it played on the news he tried to ground bridge there, but couldn't. His first transporters where destroyed, when he did get back, his clinc as well. Then when he made it home, his house was raided too.

Nothing made him feel so powerless than when he was stopped at the front door. A mech had pinned him against the wall of his assigned room and warned him away from returning to Dead End. That if they found out he went back he wouldn't be able to keep his face.

Worse was when the said mech had his hands wonder all over his body, and said next time he gets sent out he has permission to do as he pleases with him. Ratchet also finds all of his funds were frozen out, and when he does get access to them all of the money had disappeared.

You should be careful. You never know what tomorrow may bring...

After all of that, Ratchet still tries to help. He still returns to assist all the mechs of the city. They still look at him with hopefully eyes, but understanding that they could never crawl out by their own strength. Many where mad at him for even letting them entertain the idea. Others where mad for him, after all it was one thing to steal from bots with nothing on them. It was another to kick the bot who tries to give a hand to someone who needs it.

Most bots however, joined the Decepticons. They believed that if the government had been threatened by their peaceful solution then they would coware at their revolution. All of this would lead to their planet dying, not that the blame could be one sided. The Senate and later the Autobots would fight them to standstill.

Ratchet would find himself in the middle of it. At first he tried to stay neutral but the bots of Dead End where quick to bring up the attack. Then it was shaking down his person and finally braking into his home and ransacking his equipment.

Traitor was branded on his door, then on his frame. When Ratchet returned to work with a still orange smelter on his left hip, his friend Wheeljack, help him join the Autobots. For a time he was safe, the squad he joined even allowed him to repair any bot whom he wanted, even Decepticons were allowed to be fixed.

Do you think my life was a success?

>Yes

No

That's what everybody else thought, too.

...until that one day.

That was until a superior officer had came down for a vist. When they saw Ratchet repair two mechs with purple badges, they made it clear to him this would stop. If he gets caught again they would charge him with treason and he would be place on the enemy list. That's when he knew he had to go.

Being a deserter was a lighter charge than being a traitor. With his life on the line again, Ratchet has to go, because he could never leave a bot to die. In his spark he could never leave a mech to die without trying. He gives Wheeljack his coordinates, he trust that mech to only uses it when absolutely necessary.

Or at least he did.

The next time he sees his former colleague the bot had brought in toe a former bailiff turned Assassin. They force Ratchet to hand over everything on his person. The bots he was traveling with where tied down and put into custody of the Prime.

For the first time in my life, I had the urge to kill.

He was left on the ground, one push away from the cliffside. Wheeljack had saved his life but at the freedom of others. That's when he tells him to never find him again. That if he truly is sorry, he would only give that location to mechs who need it. They both promised something that day and that would be the last time he would speak to him, or it seemed.

So much anger,

As the war went on, Ratchet would travel. He would make a portable ground bridge went to the next battlefields and collect both parts and bots left behind to die. Like a Grim Reaper, he walks the path of death. However, he wouldn't take life he would do his best to keep it.

Rumor about his presence as a super natural entity made it easier to avoid authority. Many bots who believed in apparitions would come with him quietly. When he repaired them all of them would stay by him. When two bots of different factions would meet, it was almost always up to him to keep them civil.

Then he ran into Deadlock. The bot he gained feelings for. At first he didn't recognize him, but in private the mech tells him about the time they first met. That he was standing in the middle of the road in his friend's arm about to die. Then he adimts about the time he almost turned him to Megatron.

But the only way he could place Deadlock to the incidents is when he spoke those words to him. "Come on Doc, don't think like that. Everyone has kindness in their hearts."

That's when Ratchet's spark drops. This was the mech who was sent to capture him. Who knew of his habit of helping injured bots and almost trapped him into the Decepticons. Whenever he looks at Deadlock now, all he sees is a bot who has changed course, and doesn't he deserve a chance at it.

Ratchet of course also has a bad habit of letting mechs who hurt him do it again. So they both come to an agreement, he repairs Deadlock and takes him to back. The mech agrees to help him out with his operations.

So that's what they did. Ratchet would travel around and Deadlock would follow in tow. Keeping him safe and holding down bots when their reflexes kicked in. Later when their party had gotten too big to travel around and the building became to full. Deadlock drove off without a word.

Weeks became months and when two years passed by the mech came back. He tells Ratchet that he managed to find a bombed down theater that still had functional power. It was large enough for housing and medical care. When he shows him Ratchet is so relieved that he kisses him on the spot.

Deadlock field goes haywire but he doesn't reject it. Instead he grabs Ratchet's frame and frags him hard and wild, places him on the stage. With his groveling voice yells into Ratchet's microphone pick ups that he can't wait when the crew comes in. That after a long shift of picking up bots and patching up frames they would do this again, and next time they will have an audience to perform for.

That was the only time they had. As most of it was being too exhausted with fixing the building. Making sure that it look destroyed from the outside, having to only fix the bottom floors without collapsing the building from the top proved to be difficult. Even with the mechs he saved helping out, many issuses of resources and planning was still too much to worry about.

So Deadlock planned to search again. He spends his last night just sitting next to Ratchet. Telling him not worry, and he will comm every day just to reassure him of his safety. Ratchet gives him his ground bridge. Tells him to come back immediately after he finds something he thinks will help and that he will pick up his calls even if he can't talk back.

That was the last time they speak together, because once Ratchet was properly situated he update Wheeljack of his location.

There's a stain shaped like a human.

That's when he finds Impactor and things spirals out of control. Between Wheeljack taking Optimus Prime here, their entourage raising tempers and talks about Megatron abuse of the Matrix. Ratchet has to leave.

Many of his mechs encourage him to stay. Prime has no power here and if they want his help he should force the Autobots to promise to leave them alone. He doesn't answer them, he knows Wheeljack has betrayed him before. That the army has force his hands, but something tells him complying is the best option.

He turns to Impactor, tells him to tell the bigger bots to take care of the sick. Ratchet knows that mech has turned himself around and regained his spark. So it comes to a surprise that the mech follows behind him. Defending him from Elita-One and even sacrificing his own frame by pulling his comm out.

They violated him and still Impactor smiles at him, stays with him and gives his life for him. He sees his spark give out, but never sees his new found love of life leave his body.

That mankin died. He died the instant he became human. You see humans cannot exist in the vortex world...

As he boards the Arc, Ratchet gets a call from Deadlock. When he reached to answer the distance is to far.

[torpedopickle]

Review of Transformers Rise of the Beasts (no spoilers until the end):

This movie was super fun. It really managed to get me pumped by the end and it had a strong sense of momentum front to back, slowing down in the right places, but not to a halt. It could be considered a tad too fast paced for some, but i thought it was just right. It was a really great cinema experience, the music, visual effects, and direction was super strong all around. Steven Caple Jr. has never helmed a project this big, and I was pleasantly surprised by how confident the direction in this movie feels. Along with a simple but effective plot and strong performances all around, and a script which gives a lot of humanity to each character, it turned out to be a very fun movie. I rate it about a 7.6/10, it might get a little higher once I marinate on it more, but thats where it sits for now. I'll be going more in depth below on things I liked if you would like to continue reading.

I actually really like this movie's plot. I see a lot of critics claim it's "incoherent", but it's actually a very simple story, and it manages to find a lot of strength in this simplicity. People might be put off upon hearing that this is yet another "find the mcguffin" plot like past transformers movies. However this time it's actually executed very effectively. The mcguffin of this movie, the Transwarp Key isn't just a thing the bad guys want because then they can make bad things happen so the heroes want it just for the sake of stopping the bad thing. They nanage to weave some strong character work into this plot. Particularly with Noah and Optimus Prime.

Both of them have highly personal stakes motivating them to find the Key. Optimus wanting to use it to return to Cybertron to retake it after having to flee the war, feeling immense responsibility and guilt over stranding the Autobots on earth. He wants nothing more than to go home. While Noah wants to destroy the Key to make sure that the antagonists can't use it to destroy earth, as we're shown quite early on that he has a lot to protect at home, along with a strong sense of responsibility to take care of his struggling family. This conflict of interest over the mcguffin creates a solid dynamic between the two characters, putting them at odds, and confirming their biases against the other at first. Optimus not trusting humans, and Noah not trusting optimus to keep the key away from the Terrorcons after seeing him just barely survive an encounter with them. It's so simple but they managed to tie the personal motivations of two of our leads into the mcguffin of the movie, which has the continued effect of tying their motivations into the plot, thus driving the plot forward through their personal goals. It's very well done. On a sidenote about Prime and Noah, Peter Cullen and Anthony Ramos both give very fun performances, Cullen getting to add in some dry wit to prime really helps make him feel like the big brother character he should be, and Ramos sells the resourceful brooklyn street kid really well.

As for the other characters, Mirage is another standout. A lot of his lines were genuinely very charming even if some were misses, he definitively has some of the dorkiest lines. For better or worse. His relationship to Noah felt very genuine and they bounce off eachother well. Elena didn't have quite as strong of a motivation as Noah, but her inquisitiveness and infectious energy brought by the stellar Dominique fishback made up for the lacking drive of her character, although her character did do a good job of giving drive to the plot. Which would overall be one of my biggest praises for this movie, being that the human characters, which are usually sidelined and dragged along, actually have a ton of agency. Elena really determines where the movie goes, and Noah really holds a lot of the cards in the conflict as he wants to get rid of the Transwarp Key. As for the minor characters, the other autobots all got to shine, except for Wheeljack, he was mostly just there. And Stratosphere was just an uber. But thats all those characters needed to be so why complain.

On the maximal side, Primal and Airazor get some minimal, but still well done substance to them. Their philosophy of honoring the dead by preserving what lives, even at great personal cost came through really well.

On the villain side, it was servicable. The Terrorcons are very much antagonists in the most rudamentary form, being there to set the plot in motion and to provide motivation for our heroes. Peter Dinklage brought a nicely spiteful energy to Scourge, who albeit light on characterization outside of being a cruel, mocking bastard, has some decent context behind who he is, just enough for him to feel like he actually has a history behind him.

The visual effects in this movie were pretty top notch, it's got a couple shakier sequences, but overall it's a very solidly produced film, with Caple's directing really managing to pull through. The action flows really nicely in this film, doing a good job of making you understand where each character is at any given time, even during the big battles, keeping it from feeling incoherent despite the large amount of moving parts. I do think some of the action screentime could have been a little better utilized, particularly in showing the minor antagonists getting some more up close clashes with the heroes.

The score by Jongnic Bontemps sounded amazing in the theatre. Strong percussion with memorable and versatile reoccurring melodies, with some really sweet integrations of hip hop into orchestral tracks that manage to really emphasize and earn the intended emotions of each scene.

Overall it's a super solid movie. It doesn't really excel at that much, but it does very little to dock points, and manages to find strength in the simplicity of its components. This is a must watch if you can see it in theatres.

Spoiler thoughts from here on out!!!

I thought Airazor's death was handled very poignantly. It pressed the right emotional buttons, it felt intimate and merciful. I'm so glad he didn't like break her neck or something. The fact that you mostly just hear her spark fade instead of seeing it improved it a lot. It was a great mercy kill scene. Thematically, it was also quite strong. It underlines the maximals' determination to preserve life at the cost of their own if necessary. A tragedy which is compounded by how few maximals are left. As well as primal's fortitude to do what was necessary even tho it pains him. I overall liked primal in the few small scenes we got with him. Like how humble he is and how much he seems to admire humans. "We can't take credit for humankind's ingenuity" was a nice line.

Bee's "death" was handled very well too. Although i could do without the mi capitan line. Bee's condition also pushing prime's desire to take down scourge was a nice bit of story. Scourge being so slimy and spiteful, constantly mocking made him very hateable. I think Prime beat him too easily tho. Like he pretty much beat him one on one, despite failing at that earlier because of scourge's dark energy making him super powered or whatever. I thought the bit with prime and noah fighting together was really nice, putting forward the theme of finding common ground and facing hardship together. Although i really wanted primal to get a piece of the scourge cake too. He also had beef with him after all. And it would also help strengthen the unity team even further as well as even the odds with scourge's super powers, which would have been more natural than just prime fighting him better than he did earlier. Nightbird and battletrap also could have used some more love. Like battletrap was straight up one of the first casualties in the climax lol. He died SO fast. We never even get to see him really directly fight someone other than when he crashes into primal. Same with nightbird only getting to really fight bee in the air and then dying literally the instant she takes damage from him. Bee's return was really cool and a satisfying way to turn the tide, but damn he turned the tide a little too much lol. I would have liked to see some more one on one tightly choreographed matchups with the two goons like we got in bumblebee. Noah's exosuit was really cool, but mirage basically melting onto him was kinda silly lol. Bee's offroad alt mode was aquired in the climax which felt a bit dumb

[sonicasura]

Was there suggestions that Optimus should have go be the one to eat the Sala-Sala Fruit? It could have applied a great advantage to have a leader and Prime that could heal quickly , though who would be vulnerable to water and the ocean.

(Considering 'No beta we die like Optimus Prime' is a tag or Optimus dying in any iteration is considered tradition...)

Prime was literally tied with Ratchet on who should eat the Sala Sala Fruit Model Axolotl. The man nearly got himself killed multiple times and his martyr type mindset doesn't help either. Optimus learn just how distraught everyone would've been if he died right there.

Compromises were also stacked on to this. No more being reckless, don't try to donate parts without Ratchet's permission, and things like that. A shit ton of trust is going into this as well.

Here is how I see things would go if Optimus ate the fruit.

Animal: 42 ft, Hybrid: 45 ft

Optimus would be quite a bulky axolotl with his truck alt mode becoming armor. Tires go down both sides of the tail, finials/antennas split into four that frame his cheek plates, truck grill becomes part of his helm and frames it sorta like a samurai helmet.

His hybrid form also resembles an actual hybrid version of his bot than a pseudo-costume like other Zoans. Face more narrow, Optimus' legs are bulkier while his arms are longer alongside wider, and smaller/thinner sections of his frame become thicker.

Man gotten so many questions from everyone especially Ratchet. The medic put Optimus throw multiple tests even with Chopper's reassurance whose an actual Zoan. Miko recorded the whole thing, took a lot of pictures and began calling OP 'Axolotl Prime' whenever he shift into either Devil Fruit form.

It was quite an experience for Optimus to say the least. He had a pretty good handle on moving in both forms since the bot once lived in the wilderness as a bitlet. It felt like a crash course for his more primal instincts.

You can bet the Team Rescue Bots were thrown through a loop when they got the news. They been given an simple explanation on Devil Fruits so to learn Optimus eaten one guaranteed some shock. Even more when he puts the Rescue Bots through water rescue.

Axolotls are aquatic and spend their time in water. Optimus practically becomes a speed demon from how fast he can now swim. High Tide had a bit of difficulty matching the Autobot Leader's newfound agility.

Optimus does use his Devil Fruit ability against the Decepticons. Megatron experienced it firsthand when Prime quickly shifts to slaps him in the face with his tail. Although the more harsher brawls were against the Predacons. You can say these bots brought out some animalistic behavior in Zoan!Optimus.

It's not uncommon to find the Autobot Leader lounging around in animal form. Axolotls are relaxed animals so it might've rubbed off a bit on the bot. The kids, Bumblebee, Corazón or both usually nap next to him.

Now Optimus does survive the events of Predacon Rising with a very risky move. He dug out the matrix from his chest and regenerate his old Spark Chamber. Albeit separating his own spark nearly been fatal if Corazón didn't bring that special Vivre Card in time. The scolding from the blonde and Ratchet was legendary.

Post War, Optimus lies about being a Multi Changer since Devil Fruits were something no one should know. He does donate a few parts to clinics, with Ratchet's obvious permission. Both versions of Optimus' Devil Fruit forms became popular charms sold across various shops on Cybertron.

Corazón has two in his room much to Prime's embarrassment. As for the Matrix of Leadership, Optimus decided to live without it. He'll learn to lead by his own experience.

[sphnyspinspin]

Lost And Found

Chapter One: Summer

“Summer vacation, is now in session everybody!” Hotshot enthusiastically shouted after charging into the lounge area and flopping onto the couch. Stretching his limbs across the cushions and ex-venting from a tiring graduation ceremony. Which they finished surprisingly early.

“Hey, move over a bit would ya.” Using his servo to nudge Hotshot’s pedes away, Wedge sat down next to him and proceeded to turn on the T.V. “The best course of action right now is for us to relax for a little bit, then to go pack up our stuff and be ready in time for departure.” Wedge stretched his arm behind his head while watching the T.V. He kept switching channels until Hotshot tapped his pede against his side, signaling to stop at the soccer play-offs.

“A very good point Wedge. I, however, will be in the lab if anyone needs me. I’ll be doing a last recount of all the supplies there.” Medix responded as he headed off down the hallway, towards the lab. He just didn’t want his bandages to think he would forget about them.

“I-am-beat. I’ll be meditating over here, so just give a tap on my shoulder when it’s time to pack please. I’ll be in my happy place from here on out.” Hoist strolled over to sit on the tire-chair and listened to some white noise to meditate.

At first, Whirl just couldn’t decide what to do with her free time. Play the arcade game? Nope, already beaten it twice. Clean the lounge area? Wait-they all cleaned it before they left. Go through the wind tunnel? Yeah! She can definitely go for a last round in the tunnel. “You guys can come get me from the wind tunnel when it’s time to pack. I’m going to treasure my last few moments at the academy doing loopty-loops!” She waved excitedly to her friends while heading out.

“Have fun!” Hotshot exclaimed, sitting up to wave back, but he went to laying back down when Whirl exited the door.

She kept humming a random tune and kept skipping down the corridor. Having a big grin spread across her face, she was so excited to go back to Cybertron. Everybody was excited to go back to Cybertron.

Wedge would be training a lot, to one day be a part of the Bee team. He’s been ecstatic about spending more time with Bumblebee outside of the academy. He even got a job as freelance engineer to continue his scale-model crafting hobby. And he might even get a couple of his Heroes if Cybertron cards signed if he keeps hanging out with Bumblebee.

Hoist is going to go back to doing cool sigma-ship repairs with his cousins. They’ve been bugging him non-stop, asking him all about the academy and what his new altmode is. He’s planning on surprising them by showing up in his dino-mode.

Hotshot would be touring with the Cyberbalzers and probably go to Caminus. Since he was, practically, the main reason the Cyberblazers have become one of the best cube teams ever. Who knew that when he showed them how to work as a team, that they would become twice as popular.

Medix is going to be interning with his uncle Ratchet at his clinic. His uncle even let him bring in a singular specimen from Earth for him to study and take care of. Ratchet doesn’t know what it is yet and Medix said it would be a surprise. He just promised it wouldn’t be like that bat incident again.

Oh, and Brushfire might come and visit her from Earth and tell her all about her adventures. Whirl is definitely excited to start hanging out with Brushfire again. Brushfire said that she might start going to the academy after this summer, which excited Whirl the most. Slash and Laserbeak would probably be starting the same year at the academy as Brushfire. So she’s going to have her hands full with her future team.

Whirl being Whirl, she took up a job of being a crossing guard for the local police station in her hometown. It’s not the flashiest of jobs, but she isn’t really experienced enough in the field to become full-time police officer. But she’ll do her part, and bring justice to jade-walkers everywhere.

Getting back on track, Whirl spent the majority of her free time doing a couple small tricks and stunts in the wind tunnel. A couple big loopty-loops, some relaxing gliding, and just to top it off with some ridiculous sideways and upside down flying. When it was time for them to pack up, Whirl got a call on her comm from Wedge about heading to the lockers.

:Hey Whirl. We’re heading to go pack up now. Time to wrap it up.:

:Okie dokie artichokie! Be there in a second!:

:…Artichokie?:

Whirl hung up and switched off the wind tunnel. She continued down the hall, through the academy. Just as she was minding her own business, a familiar, “Caw!” was sounded behind her. It was Laserbeak flying towards her, so Whirl lifted her elbow to let Laserbeak land on her forearm. As he perched on her arm, and he made another short but softer, “Caw.”

“Hi Laserbeak.” Whirl greeted with an excitable tone, while still being exhausted from her recent work-out. “Did you see some of my sick moves earlier?” She went and gave his little helm an itch with her digit. Which he kindly enjoyed. Until he bit her finger for her to stop.

“Ack! If you wanted me to stop you could’ve just asked…Ow.”

“Caw.”

“Heh…No matter how much of a jerk you can be, I’m really going to miss you Laserbeak.” Whirl said with a smile, still having the tiniest scar on her digit.

Laserbeak responded with a solemn, “Caw...” as he hung his helm a little lower than before.

“Aw…You’re going to miss me too? That’s okay. I’ll make sure to try to visit you when I get the chance. Or-you visit me.”

“Caw!” Laserbeak cawed in approval.

—-

Whirl and Laserbeak made it to the locker room where everybody was just beginning to open their lockers. Laserbeak flew down from Whirl’s shoulder and began to peck at one of the crates on the floor. Whirl went over to her locker, and began to pack. Pulling out her duffel bag that she shoved in her locker from her first day. Technically, it was her second first day, but the first day back nonetheless. Everybody began to chat, talking about what they were doing over the summer.

“I can’t wait to start training with Bumblebee! The-Bumblebee! Can you guys believe it?”

Hotshot sarcastically responded “Yeah, it’s not like you kept telling us that, after Professor Bumblebee offered to you to train under him. And-help me remember this correctly, Bumblebee said-“

“He said-‘And who knows? Maybe you’ll be a part of my team someday,’ Oh man! I’m so ready to get back home and start training.” Wedge said with a look of excitement on his faceplates.

“Well one thing’s for sure, I’m seriously stoked to go to Caminus with the Cyberblazers. Some say, that the city we’re playing at-is where Windblade lives! She might see our game! Maybe she’ll ask for my autograph?”

“That would be so cool. Honestly, I-I’m kinda nervous about going back home. I have no i-idea how my family will react to my new alt-mode. W-What if they don’t like it?” Hoist said, as he wasn’t the best at hiding his anxiousness about it.

Medix turned to him and said, “Hoist, it’s very unlikely for your own family to not like you for choosing an alt-mode you specifically picked for good reason. What makes you think that they won’t like your dinosaur alt-mode? Do they also have a fear of Dinobots?”

“Oh no, I just thought they would think i-it would be too...destructive. But now that you mention it, i-it does sound a little bit silly. They really aren’t the k-kind of bots that would do that. Thanks Medix.”

“You’re welcome.”

Medix continued to pack up his stuff after making Hoist feel better. He looked down to see Laserbeak pecking at one of his boxes and it began to shake from the inside. So Medix immediately, but carefully, set it into his bag. He then began to talk about his future occupation for their upcoming vacation.

“I’m excited to help my uncle Ratchet at his clinic again. I wonder if I’ll see any of the other patients I saw the last time I visited? Or maybe I’ll see some new ones with absolutely new injuries for me to study-I mean-to help with. To help with and study.” Medix continued, with a short and slightly awkward silence.

“Wow. Good for you Medix. It really sounds like a win-win situation for you.” Whirl agreed to with a reassuring smile, and a complimentary tone in her voice.

“Phew…I appreciate your input Whirl. I thought it sounded like I was a little bit-overly…enthusiastic about wanting to see patients for the wrong reasons. Not that I like seeing others in pain, but I do like it when they visit my uncle’s clinic for help. That’s what I meant.”

Whirl gave a muffled chuckle to Medix’s response, and they both returned to packing their things.

—-

After the hallways began filling up with sounds of a few bad puns, giggling, shuffling luggage, a couple caws being followed by screams of shocking terror, they were finally done packing. Well, almost all of their things. Whirl quickly closed her empty locker and hastily stepped out the room, following Wedge, Hotshot, and Medix. While Hoist was the last one out of the room, he spotted a drawing on Whirl’s locker that she forgot to pack. Hoist, being the fantastic friend he is, carefully took the drawing off of her locker, so that it wouldn’t be ripped by the tape. Then he soon caught up to the others, and to Whirl, so he could return her drawing.

“Hey Whirl, you f-forgot this.” Hoist waved the picture, so it would catch Whirl’s eye.

“Oh scrap! I can’t believe I almost forgot this. Thank you Hoist.”

“Oh, it’s no biggie. A-Anyways, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Go ahead.” Whirl gesturing with her empty servo.

“Who’s the bot in the picture? Are they a f-friend of yours? Family, maybe?” Hoist pointed to the large bot that was drawn next to Whirl. The bot had one optic, two big claws, and had abnormally skinny pedes.

“What? Pfft-Ha! What-Um…ha ha. Uh-what-uh…wha-what makes you say that?” Whirl darted her optics from side to side. And tried to shove her picture into her bag. Her smile looked uncomfortable. It’s like she was caught in a lie that she never told.

“W-Well, for one , you two l-look pretty close. And your b-both blue, and you both have yellow optics. Maybe you c-copied them, I assumed. Or that c-could just be me, but despite a couple d-differences, you guys do look a lot alike. I-I mean, like on p-paper-look-alikes. Uh, maybe not t-this paper, but uh….” Hoist after struggling for a bit to explain, gave a low sigh and began to apologize to Whirl. Because he probably felt that he made her feel embarrassed in some way. He felt embarrassed for sure. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Whirl slowly relaxed her face into a neutral frown. But she did still feel the tiniest bit upset. She wasn’t upset at Hoist or his question at all. She was just caught a little off-guard, that’s all. Whirl then un-crumpled her drawing and looked at it, without turning her head away from Hoist. “It’s my….imag…ry….fri…n..” Whirl mumbled, but it was too hard to decipher.

“Uh, s-sorry. What did you say?”

Clearing her intake this time, Whirl said, “It’s my-They’re my…..imaginary…friend.” Whirl took a minute to look up, before she darted her optics to look up at Hoist with her helm directing to the floor.

“Oh. Y-You had an imaginary friend? That’s k-kinda cool. They look cool too.”

“Heh. To be honest…I actually didn’t know what an imaginary friend was until Cody asked me about the drawing a while ago.”

“O-Okay. So what were they to you, before t-they were your imaginary friend?”

“I honestly have no idea. When I started drawing this, Cody asked me who they were, so then I said-“

—-

“Oh I don’t know. They’re probably just someone I’ve met before but I don’t remember.”

Cody was looking at Whirl’s drawing of her beside this tall guy, and he was asking who they were. Wondering wether or not they were a Rescue Bot or not, cause he definitely hasn’t seen them before.

“Well, they look interesting. What’s their name?”

“Whirl.”

“Their name is Whirl too?”

“No. Just Whirl.”

Cody looked confused for a second. But then it became a little bit clearer when he connected a few dots he thought were obvious. And it wouldn’t be that surprising for someone her age to have had.

“So, you both have the same unique name, you recognize them enough to draw them, but you’ve never actually met before?”

“I know right? It’s like they’re a cool ghost with mind erasing powers, that has a mysterious past. Pretty cool right?”

“I see. So they’re your imaginary friend?”

“A what?”

“An imaginary friend.”

Cody then sat up on the table and he began to explain the concept of an imaginary friend. It’s someone who a kid, or someone young creates, in order to feel less lonely, or to just have interesting company. But the catch is, they aren’t real, and the whole point of creating an imaginary friend was to imagine they’re features to your liking. Even if what you find comfort in is a one-eyed, blue, string-bean with servos that looked like they were stolen from a claw machine.

“Huh. I guess that makes sense.”

“I didn’t mean to diminish your friend. If I’ve offended you in any way-“

“Oh no no no-I just I didn’t know what they were to me at first. But it does make more sense to call them an imaginary friend. I really don’t mind.”

“Okay then. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt your feelings. Or, your friend, Whirl’s feeling either.”

“Its okay Cody. It’s not like, they can hear you if they’re imaginary, am I right?”

—-

“And let me guess. Y-You did mind?” Hoist asked, feeling bad for bringing it up in the first place.

“Well…not at first. But this was during the middle of our first year here. I’ve pretty much forgotten about it already. I just hung the drawing back up, because I liked what I did with the, uh…-line art! Yeah, it’s one of the neatest drawings I’ve ever done with the line art like that.” Whirl stated with full confidence.

Pointing to the piece of art she was holding up. Emphasizing how willing she is to prove that it didn’t have too much of a personal meaning to it. Nothing below the surface whatsoever within Whirl’s subconscious along with her self-doubt and anxieties. Nope. Nada.

“The..line art is r-really pretty…Now that you mention it.” Hoist said as he turned to give crinkled piece of paper Whirl’s digit was set upon his full attention.

“See. Nothing to worry about.”

“I-I see that, but why were you so g-guarded about it in the first place?”

“No….reason?” Whirl shrugged her shoulders and gritted her dente as her response left her voice box. Her insides felt twisted, her faceplates were hurting from pseudo-smiling, and her grip on the picture looked like she was hanging onto it for dear life. It really sucked that Hoist knew about how awkward the situation must’ve been. It was supposed to be just a simple answer, until Whirl’s big mouth just couldn’t keep shut. She thought she could try to convince herself and Hoist that the situation was fine. But, deep down she knew for a fact that she just couldn’t lie to friend. Especially Hoist, now that she knew he was worried about her. “Listen Hoist, I know, that you know, my feelings are a bit complicated at the moment, but i really just can’t talk about it right now. You’re a great friend, it’s just that-”

“Hey! Are you two coming with us or not?” Wedge yelled from down the hallway. Where everyone else were already at the groundbridge and waiting for them. Cutting off Whirl from explaining the rest to Hoist.

“Sorry Hoist, I really am. Maybe we can talk about this later?”

“Yeah. I understand. Take a-all the time you need.”

“Thanks buddy.”

And with that, they both met up with the others. The groundbridge flared a great big green and blue light. Electricity softly crackling, symbolizing their return home, and onto the train station back on Cybertron.

—-

The beginning of summer vacation has now become just little bit more complicated for Whirl, but she plans on talking it out with Hoist once she gets the chance. But for now, she just wants to go home, take a stasis nap on her berth-slab, and sleep in.

Maybe then she wouldn’t have to worry so much about the other Whirl. She’s just so conflicted. Every part of her is conflicted. Her thoughts, her emotions, her…memories are all so confusing-

*blank*

It’s the feeling she would always get from thinking too much about it. About…about….who was she thinking about? Oh yeah, her imaginary friend. She still had to apologize to Hoist about getting so worked up about it. It was like she was in a different dimension for a moment there.

Crazy right?

—————

Commentary:

Short chapter, I know. I already posted it on ao3, but I’m not sure if want to keep posting it on there. So I’m just gonna switch it over to tumblr. Cause I can. It’s also slightly easier for me. I wanted it to start off slow, and just inevitably build up to the climax to the beginning of the story. If you look hard enough, there’s a teeny bit of foreshadowing. Ooooooh.

[novafire-is-thinking]

Character Bingo Polls (a game)

As an anon so graciously reminded me, I should be doing a better job of making sure this stays fun for me. So with that in mind, I’m going to act on one of the ideas I presented in my Round Three update post and play an ask game with you all.

How to play:

Send me ONE character from any of the series I’ve listed near the bottom of this post. Specify which continuity, please.

I will answer using BOTH bingo cards below.

If you get a bingo (on either card), I will let you choose ANY TWO characters of YOUR CHOICE to be pitted against each other in a poll of their own. Any continuity (pls specify).

Anonymous asks will be turned off for the duration of the game because guessing who’s who is too much work.

I will answer on a first come, first served basis. Once a character has been sent, that’s it. They cannot be sent in again (unless it’s a different continuity). I’ll list them on each new ask I answer to help you keep track of which ones have already been sent in.

You may send me more than one character (separately), but if you get a bingo, that’s it. You are victorious and shall be forbidden to return with another name.

I expect answering each ask to take a bit of time, so please be patient with me. If I get a lot of asks or need a break, I will close my ask box until I can catch up.

My master list of TF media I’ve consumed (alphabetical):

Animated

BotBots

Cyberverse

EarthSpark (what’s out so far, anyway)

IDW 1 series (SotW, a few spotlights, and a crap ton of wiki pages)

MTMTE/Lost Light

Prime (+ all Aligned novels. Yes, that means you can ask about any of the Thirteen Primes.)

Rescue Bots

Robots in Disguise 2015

War For Cybertron Trilogy

Current running polls:

Who handled sudden leadership better? (RiD 2015 Bumblebee vs. TFA Optimus)

Who is your favorite “evil” Optimus? (Shattered Glass Optimus vs. Nemesis Prime)

Who would win in a duel? (Cyclonus vs. Drift)

Who would be a better roommate? (Tarantulas vs. Starscream)

Who would you rather be stuck in lockdown with? (Ultra Magnus vs. Whirl)

[melishade]

Attack on Prime Autobot Anthology: Wheeljack’s perspective

New Arrivals

Introductions

Optimus’ perspective

Mikasa Ackerman

(I realize that for right now and for my future chapters, I haven’t had a focus on Wheeljack’s perspective/mindset in all of this. Arcee is more of a focus simply because I’ve known her longer. And I should focus more on Wheeljack. So here we are.)

Wheeljack was keeping his cards close to his chest, as Miko would put it.

He wasn’t going to lie: he was enjoying this place. Far more than he ever thought he would. I mean, Megatron was practically listening to humans and was a human’s escort, two of the humans could turn into ‘titans’, one that was arguably bigger that Optimus. The humans were actual fun, especially Hanji. The Commander was an absolute riot. They stayed up all night to discuss future plans and ideas, and the fact that Hanji put energon in human weapons was impressive. And then, all the Survey Corp members chewed out Optimus for keeping the fact that he used to be able to fly away from them for over two years! He got about half of the yelling on video!

But still, he was cautious about Optimus. Arcee was more visibly cautious, but Wheeljack was...pretending that he wasn’t. He didn’t know Optimus as long as Arcee did, but Wheeljack did respect him. Chief was able to prove his metal when the time called for it, and he was extremely loyal to his comrades. But having to fight a double of himself left him cautious. 

As far as they know, Megatron did nothing. Optimus arrived on this world a month before Megatron did, with multiple eyewitnesses and newspapers backing up the claim. And Optimus was fiercely loyal and protective of the humans on the island, but also cared about the humans off the island. So much so he was willing to give up Cybertronian information to prevent an apocalyptic plan from being used. 

...he supposed he could understand why Optimus would be willing to give that up. Wouldn’t want a repeat of Cybertron again. And there was no Omega Lock or Allspark to fix the damage.

Wheeljack continued downloading the schematics from the neutral ship while Optimus continued collecting metal that was no longer useful or vital to the ship. Wheeljack spared a glance every so often to the Prime, but Optimus continued working as if nothing was wrong.

This was the plan Arcee and Wheeljack had decided for the most part. Arcee knew that she could fight Optimus in one-on-one combat, so she thought that she would fair better with the humans. Meanwhile, Wheeljack was the one who would keep an optic on Optimus while working on communications. Optimus even offered to help while doing tasks for the humans. Sometimes Hanji would be with him. Sometimes she would be on his shoulder. Well...at least this Optimus didn’t hate the humans. Not like Buckethead. Though he still didn’t understand why he was willing to guard a human on a diplomatic mission.

Wheeljack finished downloading the information before unplugging the datapad from the console. He walked out of the main deck, passing Optimus in the process. As he reached the door, he paused in his step. If this was really Optimus, then he would have a problem if he stepped outside of protocol. Not like Magnus, but...to a degree.

“Hey, Chief, can I fight the kid?” Wheeljack asked.

Optimus paused his work and turned to Wheeljack.

“The kid, Eren,” Wheeljack clarified, “You’ve been training him and I want to see how well he handles under pressure.”

Optimus thought it over. “Eren still has much to learn, and while what I have been teaching him would help him fair on this world, it would still take some time for him to reach our capabilities.”

“Kid seems pretty capable of holding his own against you,” Wheeljack reasoned as he leaned against the wall.

“That may be true, but I have had to hold back during training so that I wouldn’t harm him,” Optimus explained.

“...sounds like you’re slowing down his progress,” Wheeljack pressed.

“I am trying not to,” Optimus proclaimed, “I want him to be ready for this war, even though part of me hope he does not have to fight...but I know that one day it might come to that.”

Wheeljack couldn’t help but notice the sorrow in Optimus’ optics before that same stoic expression returned. “When I believe Eren has made enough progress, would you be willing to test what he has learned?”

Wheeljack smirked at that. “I hope that day comes sooner than later.”

Wheeljack waved goodbye to the Prime before heading back to the Jackhammer. That definitely sounded and acted like Optimus, but something about that seemed...different. More...emotional for the Prime. He...really did care for the humans.

Wheeljack chuckled to himself. Only on this world.

(I might do more of these snippets of Wheeljack’s perspective for the Autobot Anthology. They seem fun.)

[patchthemedic]

thinking abt the convo when the “fingering Tyrest’s forehead hole” card was played at cards against Cybertron this past Saturday

just. u know. that mental image of a little tongue encountering the finger like schlp schlp schlp HAHAHA

[kytherion]

I just found out that the Autobot edition of Cards against Cybertron has a white card that says:

"Soundwave fendered on circuit boosters."

I can't stop laughing.

Before I got The Trinket, I used circuit boosters on prescription. (Or not.) To stabilise.

(You try being a passive telepath with terrible shields and a stupidly enormous range on the bridge of the Nemesis. Just being in the same room with both Starscream and Megatron was enough to give me a migraine sometimes.)

[drsmokescreen]

thebestdecepticonleader 3h ago "The only thing he asks for every time, is a formal ceasefire agreement, a written agreement which says we won't shoot each other. That I am happy to agree to. That, by itself, wouldn't change anything we are currently doing or experiencing. He also usually asks for trade agreements, offering various minerals, energon and sometimes weapons, in return for medical resources. Again, I'm not necessarily opposed to trade, as long as they don't start asking for weapons. If it was just that, I could agree without being too concerned that it would destroy the Autobots, or put Unity in too powerful a position. It's the ideas he's brought up once or twice that concern me. He's brought up the idea of attacking targets together, and most worryingly, he's asked for pardons for all members of Unity, in return for not pursuing any legal actions against us after the war."

Smokescreen almost laughed at 'legal action' but then realised that that is something new. Either it's a bluff or he's found something. 'He's trying to secure his political position before he even has one. He talked about how he wanted to take over and end the war but now we see just how he very favourably for himself he wants to end the war. He's not only challenging Megatron, he's challenging you for control of Cybertron.'

Smokescreen started to walk forward to sit in one of the chairs—with Prime's permission—in front of his desk, but the guards were quick to hold him back. He accepted it. 'To acquiesce is to submit to his power. To ignore him and let him make the first strike is to make him a hero to Unity's members. The answer is the answer to why Unity is growing so strong. What power is attracting so many people, because Starscream doesn't have a flask of energon to give. He needs the Autobots to deliver his promises. He didn't plan this out. And it might be tied to this "legal action". We need to find out what that card is. Finding out the truth about Vos is why the Vosians split off to begin with. It has become a war of exposing truths. Unity must see the Bearer of the Matrix as the bearer of the truth.'

[lord-squiggletits]

The thing about Elegant Chaos being an “anti It’s a Wonderful Life” for Megatron per JRO’s words makes sense. Because Megatron spent most of his life as an imperialist warmonger whose death toll is in the millions to billions, he eradicated and cyberformed multiple planets, it’s an objective fact that a universe without him existing would be a better place. That’s a really good thing for someone as egocentric as Megatron to learn.

Except then JRO wrote in the Functionist Universe almost immediately after, a universe in which Megatron not existing directly leads to a theocracy of monstrous proportions, in which literally insane shit happens like “people’s heads get blown up in the street if their alt mode is declared defunct” and “there are cameras implanted in people’s eyes so that they become part of the surveillance state without even realizing it” happens. So this completely destroys the (rightful and justified) idea that Megatron made the world worse, and instead makes LITERALLY AN ENTIRE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE REVOLVE AROUND MEGATRON’S (NON)EXISTENCE, completely undoing whatever criticism of Megatron was present in the narrative of Elegant Chaos.

And then, JRO also proceeds to make the Functionist Council racist xenophobe colonizers as well with the whole “they decided organics have no function therefore need to be exterminated,” which further destroys the idea of “the universe is better without Megatron existing” by basically saying, well if Megatron hadn’t decided to go out genociding organics, the Functionist Council would have just done it instead.

So the equation we’re left with is “Megatron exists = free Cybertron, organic genocide” and “Megatron doesn’t exist = enslaved Cybertron, organic genocide.” Making it so that all of the sudden, Megatron and all his shittiness is some sort of necessary evil that has to exist because without him Cybertron would’ve been so much worse of a place. Like, Megatron colonizing organics was the ONE THING that couldn’t be justified and JRO still managed to fuck it up by giving the Functionist Council the same evil trait. So now even Megatron’s unjustifiable evil doesn’t belong to him, it’s diluted by the Functionist Council who’s worse in every way, and Megatron gets to play the hero by fighting against them instead of you know, doing anything for the people in THIS universe which HE helped mess up.

And then of course Megatron gets to go to the Functionist Universe and LARP being a revolutionary again, getting a free do-over card, an entire planet that sees him as a hero, and people praising him for “saving billions of lives” in a so-called heroic action that ONLY EXISTS because JRO wrote the entire universe to revolve around Megatron. Autobot Megatron made almost zero positive impact on THIS universe and was completely detached from all the messes he left in the wake of his defection to the Autobots (Galvatron, Earth, the plight of the Decepticons left on Cybertron, etc etc).

Like I’m sorry but for all the hype that people gave MTMTE Megatron, for all the fact that I appreciate a more humanized Megatron who gets a more detailed backstory.... his redemption arc is nowhere NEAR as good as people say it is. As soon as I stop taking the plot at face value and scrutinize it further, all I see is an incredibly flimsy narrative that does a lot of last minute presentations of villains who are even worse than Megatron in order to make Megatron seem heroic in comparison. And of course this comes at the cost of a ton of other characters in the narrative as well, which just makes Megatron’s placement in MTMTE/LL even more glaring and unsuitable.

[brandwhorestarscream]

Taking a look here, we have a greater amount of options for the sires of the twins in IDW than in the other series(If I remember):

Wheeljack, windblade, bumblebee, the rest of the elite Trine and even skyfire

It could also be a one night stand (I remember him being quite popular in that industry) or even a donor.

I don't think they were a planned pregnancy, not by any means, so a donor is out. Stars wouldn't put himself in a position where the public would have any leverage against him, and sparklings are needy, expensive, and time consuming. He needs to focus on Cybertron; children just were not anywhere in the cards for him. The twins were a huge surprise, and by the time he figured out that he was expecting it was too late to safely terminate the carrying cycle.

The number of sires is gonna be really narrow; I can count on one hand the number of bots Starscream would trust and feel safe enough to be intimate with. So like. His trine, maybe Wheeljack or Windblade depending on when in the timeline this happens

[jimclassicstoycollection]

Transformers

War For Cybertron

Kingdom

Rodimus Prime

by Hasbro (2021)

Part of my Big Bad Toy Store pre-order which arrived on 08-26-21

As excited as I was once I learned we were getting Rodimus Prime for the Kingdom line, I was perplexed as to why he was going to be a commander class figure instead of being a leader class one. 

Rodimus Prime is the successor to Optimus Prime. He's the reluctant leader. No longer the carefree Hotrod, he is burdened to abandon his cavalier ways and to take up leadership the Autobots against the Decepticons.

For the Kingdom line Hasbro came to the decision to make Rodimus a Commander class instead of a leader, and I have to admit I have no idea why...

Opening up the box you see the rare sight of Rodimus being packaged in vehicle instead of robot as is the new standard. 

I much prefer the figure being packaged in vehicle mode, so I wasn’t complaining.

Collector’s Card:

It’s Dinobot. I have several of them at this point.

I have a cray idea, how about include a collector’s card of RODIMUS PRIME?! For the amount of money I’m paying for a commander class I’d like that extra bit of consideration.

Vehicle Mode:

Getting Rodimus Prime’s vehicle mode out and into the open we can quickly see just how big this guy is.

Rodimus Prime's vehicle is, well...a space Winnebago for lack of a better description. Maybe a Cybertronian truck, MAYBE. But it’s huge.

Unlike Optimus Prime, Rodimus' mode is bright red with flame decals on the sides, and large up exhaust pipes.

 This is one BIG space Winnebago. 

The vehicle mode rolls pretty well and it definitely looks like an updated Hotrod. 

Rodimus Prime is a matured Hotrod, who was a red future sports car, and Rodimus Prime's alt mode keeps much of Hotrod's aesthetic, just amped up to the extreme.

It's an impressive vehicle mode but I do have some issues with it. For starters you can barely see Rodimus' spoiler in vehicle mode, with in the G1 toy it was front and center directly above the wind screen, nor a fan how the spoiler breaks up the exhaust pipes which is running up the side of the trailer. If it wasn't pushed so far back into the vehicle mode it might not have cut into the exhaust pipes. 

The spoiler on the Winnebago is a part of the look of the vehicle mode; it’s a carry over of Hotrod, and I think it should be more visible. 

Hotrod was a flashy, young bot with a devil may care attitude. Rodimus Prime, though is more mature; he’s a Prime for the Pepsi generation and his ridiculously deco-ed future camper reflects that.

Is the spoiler superfluous? Yes, but so is much of Rodimus Prime's design. Hasbro shouldn't be shying away from it, but leaning into it.

#FreeTheSpoiler

The rear hatch opens up and it’s got some cool pistons holding it up. You can’t store much in the trailer as long as the large cannon is in there.

I always forget about this, but there’s a drawer underneath the trailer section for additional storeage, though it’s mostly good for the blast effects.

However my biggest issue with the Winnebago mode is an open split at the roof doesn’t connect properly. There’s ghastly open seem running throughout the entire lateral section of truck and there’s nothing I can do about it. No way to tab it or force is to close. Hasbro for a figure of this size and you skipped out on the quality control? That’s disappointing.

By separating the trailer section from the front you basically get a beefed up hotrod mode. I actually kind like this for how strange it is.

Rodimus Prime basically has a roided up sports car which the size of a truck. I mean hell, it worked for Cybertron Megatron.

Comparing G1 Rodimus Prime to the Kingdom version.

As you can see the G1 Rodimus Prime’s yellow spoiler is directly above the windscreen, and it doesn’t affect the exhaust pipes. It’s part of the look, Hasbro!!!!!

Comparing Kingdom Rodimus to Earthrise Optimus, and holy crap, Roddy dwarfs Optimus.

The Juxtaposition between these two is ridiculous. This goes towards what I saying earlier; Optimus Prime is basically every 80s kid's robo-dad, and his truck mode is sort of conveys that; it's big and powerful, a workin' man...maybe, dare I say, a little conservative in appearance. Suddenly here comes Rodimus Prime in his party wagon mode with flames, huge pipes, and wicked spoiler, and on top of all that he's so much larger than Optimus.

I had a funny thought to compare Kingdom Rodimus to G2 Laser Optimus Prime, and I have to say these two vehicle modes scale in pretty well with each other.

Transformation:

I’m sure that after a couple of more time I’ll get used to it, but this was a bit of a tricky transformation. His transformation is some complex masterpiece level of engineering. It does get easier as time goes by, but I have to day I’m not a fan of some of the plastic material. Much of the plastic feels pretty solid, however some of is a bit too flexible for my comfort.

Robot Mode:

Once you get Rodimus Prime into robot mode, holy cow!!!

This is one hefty toy, and I got to say I’m a little impressed.

Hasbro definitely had a big budget set aside for this toy. Between the transformation and robot mode this is masterpiece levels of engineering.

Rodmus Prime poses well beyond that of a normal retail figure. He even has butterfly joints in the shoulders.

His face looks chiseled and very defined, and has that expression of a man who’s burdened with responsibility. 

Rodimus Prime’s long gun looks really good, and he holds it well.

Rodimus comes with a sword. It’s well sculpted with a lot mechanical lines and details, but overall I think it’s pretty bland in my opinion and doesn’t look very special. It has a 5mm peg for weapons storage.

The exhaust flames can be attached not only to the Winnebago’s pipes but also Rodimus’ arm pipes too.

His hands are masterpiece levels of articulation. Rodimus has a jointed pointer finger and the other three fingers are hinges at the appropriate areas; it’s fantastic!

Rodimus can do the one-legged balance.

Comparing Kingdom Rodimus Prime to the Studio Series 86 Hotrod.

Even in robot mode Rodimus Prime is slightly bigger than Optimus. Maybe not as tall, but bulkier. That Matrix juice really amps up those chosen ones...

Accessories:

Rodimus Prime comes with several accessories some consider to be...unnatural...No, but seriously he’s got a lot of stuff.

A lot of Rodimus’ accessories are blest effects cast in blue plastic, and the same effects original packaged with Siege Omega Supreme and commander class Skylynx, so we’ve seen them before. I do like them in blue.

When you open up Rodimus Prime’s chest you see he has a Matrix of leadership. Unfortunately some of the gold paint has spilt over the transparent blue plastic of the centerpiece.

-Trailer

This thing is such a gigantic piece of real estate. The majority of the trailer’s interior are dedicated to 5mm ports and the the double-barreled cannon.

Unfolding the cannon allows Rodimus Prime man the gun, and use several of those blast effects he comes with.

Once removing the cannon (which is attached by a 5mm port, naturally) the open trailer is a pretty bland, open space...

I suppose Rodimus can use part of the trailer as a throne, or command chair...

The large cannon is well...large. It separates from the trailer, and has sculpted treads, and I guess is portable.

Final Thoughts:

Kingdom Rodimus Prime is a bit of a mixed bag for me. Yes, I like the toy a lot but I can’t ignore its flaws. Rodimus Prime has a complex but mostly fun transformation, the robot mode is great, he stands well, and the toy definitely has presence.

However considering the issue with the trailer not closing all the way, the paint splotch on the Matrix, and vast desert of nothingness that's the trailer, and the no original collector’s card; why is this guy worth about $80? Why is this guy a Commander class when being a leader class would have worked just fine? I'm so perplexed by this. Granted the transformation and articulation is where most of the budget went towards.

Eventually Hasbro will be producing a Studio Series 86 Rodimus Prime, and they'll be forced to have to play within the boundaries of the movie animation aesthetic. Perhaps that's why Kingdom Roddy looks the way he does.

“Light our darkest hour!”