#of course kup has no idea where deadend went when he went back to see the stunticons

[0wldn0]

I think we should start getting into the other stunticons on an individual level. Like, for instance, Deadend.

What's Deadend got going on in this au? How did he spend the groups time apart? How has he coped with his own issues? How do you see his personality and character playing out in the Earthspark setting?

And as a more fun ask, does he have a favorite thing about earth? Which terran would he get on with best?

I LOVE THIS ASK 💥 I have so much to say about every single one of them honestly!! They are so!! so!! amazing!! I love the Stunticons so much!!

The things I have planned for Deadend might be a bit surprising for people tbh... Because I actually included Kup into his backstory! Kup is one of my all time favourite characters so he was all I could think about when I wanted someone to help Deadend out a bit!

I was actually talking about this with a friend a while ago; while Wildrider and Dragstrip seem to cope with their situations in a more outwardly manner, Breakdown and Deadend struggle more quietly. Deadend, especially, I would say is a silent crier, both literally and figuratively. He doesn't talk much, not just about things that bother him but about anything at all. Whatever happens he just lets it happen, barely ever complains or struggles against it. He approaches things from a very pessimistic perspective. Overall he is a guy that's all worn out and tired from everything, thinking "it is what it is" while also still being full of anger about his situation. But he feels like there's nothing that can be done to change anything, so this anger never surfaces.

After the Stunticons split up and go on their own ways, they all end up in different places. Breakdown ends up in Gigantion, Wildrider and Dragstrip follow each other from city to city ((hating every second of being together but also not wanting to split apart)), Motormaster stays back at the Decepticon base under Megatron's command, while Deadend just... walks around? He doesn't go much far away from the Decepticons, but he still doesn't join any of the battles anymore. He spends his days out in the open, just staring at the rubbles left from yet another clash between the Cons and Bots. He doesn't do much of anything aside from sit around, eat energon, and sleep.

Kup finds him while he's out in patrol, and he doesn't even draw his weapon at the sight of Deadend, because honestly, the sight he sees is anything but threatening. Deadend is just laying on the floor, but he is clearly not low on energon due to how bright his lights are shining. Despite the visor hiding his eyes, Kup can see that he *is* awake. But he is just not reacting to Kup coming closer to him at all. This honestly intrigues Kup a bit. He wants to understand what's up with his guy before arresting him. He kneels near Deadend's head and asks him what he's doing out here, away from the Decepticon base, and thus starts a conversation with short and silent answers on Deadend's end.

When Kup asks him, why is he not fighting Kup and instead allowing him to come dangerously near, Deadend replies that he doesn't have it in him to fight anymore. He knows the Stunticons will come back together again, but until then, he can't bring himself to oppose anything that happens to him. Kup is curious about why Deadend is so sure that the Stunticons will be together again, and Deadend just replies, "Because it always ends the same. We repeat the same things. We try to run away but end up coming back to each other. Never do any progress, just run in circles."

It hits Kup then that this guy is a broken soldier carrying the weight of painful routines. The Stunticons wake up, they get thrown in the middle of another battle, they fight the enemy, and then they fight each other, they split apart for sometime, and then they come back together to repeat it all. They clash with the enemy everyday, and someone dies around them everyday. This time the Stunticons might have split for good, but in Deadend's eyes, the routine will never end. There's nothing that can be done to change the reality he's living in, he will always be in war, stuck with a dysfunctional team. Each time he had hope that things would get better, he was proven wrong. So why would this time be any different? Why would the routine break now? No matter what he does, or what he allows to happen to him, everything will end the same anyway.

While Kup was actually lowkey messing with Deadend since the start of their conversation, this realisation actually makes him feel sympathy for Deadend. He knows what it is like to be a soldier stuck in an endless war, trying to keep on living his life despite all the destruction around. He, in a way, sees himself in Deadend. While Kup managed to improve his situation and beat this way of thinking, managing to find hope even in the most dire situations, Deadend seems like he needs a push to start to change for the better. And Kup really couldn't bring himself to arrest Deadend then and there when everything Deadend said to him hit so close to home.

He offers Deadend a place to stay, gives Deadend his own secret hideout, away from both Cons and Bots. Talks with him almost daily. Tells him about his own experiences, helps Deadend find things that he likes to do, helps him find hobbies, helps him come up with ideas for what he can do after the war is over. And while Deadend isn't able to completely get rid of his pessimism, he starts to have more hope. Living in this safe place that Kup gave him makes it almost feel like there's no war outside, and that he's just living his life. It feels like the routine is broken. Now, everyday there's something new to think about instead.

When Wildrider and Dragstrip send all the Stunticons a mental ping to gather together, Deadend only goes because he's curious about how his old team is doing and he wants to see them again to perhaps develop better relationships with them, not because he feels like he has no other choice.

((OH ALSO I imagine he would get along well with Nightshade the most!! Not only do they have a calmer personality than the other Terrans, but also I can see Deadend be interested in their inventions!! He would definitely take some lessons from Nightshade!!))