#oh and idw2 too

[lord-squiggletits]

Even though Pharma got a random cameo in one of the TFA side books (which means nothing to me because I don't care about supplementary material and anything that isn't shown in the main canon material, aka the show, is basically just paying for useless trivia that has no bearing on the main story), I kind of doubt he'll ever show up for any other stories in the future, and even if he does I'm not sure exactly how they'll play him.

I mean, Pharma in MTMTE got the reputation of "token evil Autobot" + "mad doctor who's a crazy murderer", and the general trend of TF media is that the character's first appearance in the franchise informs the way they're characterized in future continuities (for the most part). So I imagine that any future appearances of Pharma would just stick with the "mad doctor" characterization, and whether that characterization is interesting or not depends on the rest of the continuity's story. IDW1 had Pharma as a tertiary character whose days of being a normal good guy were shown in flashbacks, and his descent into madness was mainly offscreen/implied in exposition dumps, which was pretty good because it allows for a lot of theorizing and interpretations of his character. But considering how Pharma is otherwise a pretty obscure character, I think the odds are low that he 1. ever shows up in a meaningful story capacity again, and even if he does, 2. he'll probably inherit the "evil Autobot" characterization and not much else precisely BECAUSE that's the main standout feature of his character, and as an obscure character he would need to be "branded" in a way that puts his most stand-out features first.

[optimistpax]

Finished transformers (2019) vol. 6 last night and honestly?? I’m really impressed. They did a really good job wrapping things up with only 12 months notice. It’s really clear that before that announcement they were trying to set up a story that would run way longer than the 4 years they got.

[kaontic]

*SKYBOUND DUMP INCOMING*

Oh look, it’s Megs’ little show ponies

Update: And Powerglide and Kickback

(Disclaimer: Or at least I think these Cybertronians are them, but we’ll see if that’s true in time)

. I mean that’s Nova Storm for sure you guys (with Kickback nearby)

. Acid Storm

. Glad they (probably) didn’t forget about Ion Storm too this time yes yes very good Skybound 👏

. They also look like Misfire in jet mode so that's cool

. I didn’t recognize Powerglide at first since I haven’t gotten to season 2 of G1 yet

. They could all just be a reference tho and I'm lookin' too deep into this, but IF NOT-

. Skybound, please. PLLLLLLLLLEEEEAAAAAASSSE. If ANY of them show up later-PLEASE do not write them off as soon as they do. I'm seeing potential here, especially in terms of, um, "visuals", if you know what I mean, for the Rainmakers specifically

. Take the Rainmakers' powers to the next level and let them literally rain hell down on their enemies. Idc if they only do it once in the entirety of the run I just wanna see how it looks

. Let them remain strictly loyal to Megs to add extra drama (esp. with Astrotrain) and raise the stakes

. If you need to write some of them off, my first choice for who gets to live is Misfire (idk to provide some comic relief plus he’s a fan fav)

. Second choice is Nova, fr. What a badass. In IDW2 they were canonically indestructible and sliced Sentinel Prime in half

. Like think of how much of a problem Nova could be in particular for the Autobots (cuz I haven't seen Windcharger yet lol)

. Imagine if they suddenly sprung out of lava to grab someone and drag them down

. Or took a fusion cannon blast to the face like it was a nice breeze

. I'm biased ok they're literally my profile (Nova does not smile often, but Reflector says thanks g for the geunine effort)

. There, I fixed it:

. But hey, those were just some ideas

[onewingedsparrow]

18, 29, 33, and 40 for the ask game!

Hi Nova! Thanks for the ask! ✨ 18: Least favorite human character(s): The Witwicky family from the Bayverse. My goodness. They're super cringey and I had to fast forward a lot of their scenes; I just couldn't take it! Sam yells way too much and is kinda a jerk and I don't understand why Optimus trusts him / why 'Bee is fine with being his friend. Three movies in and I still never understood why Sam was a main character. He brought no unique value to the plot. Side note: And no, if you're wondering, I don't hate every human in the Bayverse. I actually have a soft spot for "Military Guy" (Idek his name, good job movies) from the first three, and for Cade Yaeger from AoE (but NOT Cursed Cade from TLK, he is NOT the same person). But the Witwicky's are just the worst. *shudders 29: A bot you could consider a mortal enemy: Heh, my gut said Starscream. 😆 I had to think about this one for a while though because I didn't want to go with just the first obvious answer. Hmm. Well, I don't call someone a "mortal enemy" lightly. They have to truly deserve that status. Sentinel Prime might be one of them? I only know of him from Bayverse (hate him) and what little I've read of him in IDW2 though, so Idk if that's enough to get "mortal enemy" status. Airachnid or Black Arachnia could be, just because I hate spiders. I don't really know. Starscream for sure takes the cake, but I'm sure I'll run into another mortal enemy somewhere in my Transformers adventures. 33: What your alt mode would be if you were a Cybertronian: I'd be a two-wheeler! This isn't because of the fact I love TFP Arcee, but because she is literally me in Cybertronian form. (Motorcycle fits my personality so well.) Were it not for that, though, I'd love to be a Nighthawk or a bot secretly blending in with the Blue Angels ;) 40: What would you do if the Autobots landed on Earth right now and asked for your help? Oh my goodness I would basically turn into Alex Malto in Earthspark when Bumblebee showed up. I'd be like :O FINALLY!!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT! Is this a dream??? No, it's not? Holy cow?! I knew Cybertron was real! I didn't think they'd find it in my lifetime though but wow! What can I help you with? I'm honored! ...that would all be going on internally, at least. I genuinely don't know what would come out. 😅 I'd either be extra giddy and enthusiastic, or awestruck and incredibly polite, no in between. I guess it would depend on if Optimus Prime was among this group or not. I feel like I'd be really shy around Optimus.

[mawvax]

You should watch transformers prime and the trilogy as well it really good

oh my days more transformers content i haven't watched??

god i love this franchise there's so much (i've only consumed prime, animated, cyberverse, idw2 comics, earthspark, g1, bayverse,,) armada is still on my to-watch and now prime wars trilogy too!!

[dustbunny105]

Title: Bodyguard Moment Fandom: Transformers IDW2 Ship: Road Rage/Nautica, Crosscut/Nautica, others/Nautica (all one-sided) Word Count: 1500 Rating: PG Summary: Pre-series. Road Rage wakes up in a medical bay after saving Nautica but what is she forgetting... A/N: For Femslash February and for the @fembot-prompts prompt “Yours is a body I'd like to guard.”

.

Road Rage came sluggishly online, processor seeming to creep closer to redline the closer she crept to consciousness. She activated her audial suite first and found herself relaxing at the reassuring sound of a medical bay. Next came motor control and her body eased as her mind had-- which brought her nervecircuits screaming awake in response to new wires and fresh welds being pulled in ways they shouldn't so suddenly be. Her optics flickered on and her processor really did feel ready to overheat as she tried to interpret all of the input at once, at the same time as she tried to process the alerts popping up on her HUD and to realign her frame too. When she was finally able to make sense of what she was seeing, she recognized Crosscut peering down at her, exasperated but not unkind.

"Do I not pay you enough?" asked Crosscut.

"You're asking me that now?" Road Rage grunted and grit her dentae at the grinding noises that accompanied her attempt to sit up.

Crosscut put a staying hand on her shoulder. Then, sounding far more amused than seemed appropriate in the moment, at least in Road Rage's opinion, he said, "I don't see how you can blame me for that when you're the one who ran off looking for new job opportunities in the middle of a fire fight."

Road Rage squinted at him and kept squinting at him while he did her the courtesy of adjusting the medical slab so she wasn't flat on her back. Her processor hadn't actually redlined, had it? She'd have gotten an alert first, probably, and she was awake and aware enough to have recognized one…

"What are you talking about?" she asked, half her attention on him and half on acknowledging and dismissing the slew of popups still blinking for attention on her HUD. Some of her short-term memory was corrupted and she winced as her processor warmed yet again at her attempts to sift through what remained. "When the summit was attacked-- yes, when the summit was attacked, I did my bodyguard thing and got you to safety. I was right behind you. Then…"

Then what? With another grunt, Road Rage poked more insistently at her memory banks. Crosscut was saying something, probably telling her to take it easy, but a new fragment of a memory file finally came up clear. It was a sudden, striking fear and she had to flex one hand, feel the pull of fresh welds, to remind herself that whatever had caused the feeling was done and over with. Then her overtaxed processor recovered another piece of the same memory-- the cause of the fear. Road Rage almost didn't realize what it was, it was in such a tangle with the feeling itself.

It was a scream.

She was doubled over before she realized she'd tried to move, before she'd even realized where she knew that voice from. Crosscut was speaking again, rapid and insistent, but he was drowned out this time by a flood of feedback she only slowly realized was coming out of her. Warnings flashed, so many and so insistent, that she couldn't make sense of her visual input past them. There was a second set of hands on her, unfamiliar, and she would've fought back if she could've remembered how. This was no time to be still. She had to get to-- to--

"Oh, thank goodness," she could hear Crosscut saying. "Just-- talk to her, would you? Tell her you're alright. Let her hear your voice."

"She wasn't supposed to be trying to recover short-term memory yet," said an unfamiliar voice to match the unfamiliar hands.

"Um," said a third voice, one that dismissed a solid third of the warnings and let Road Rage start to relax again. "Hello again, Road Rage. I'm okay, we're okay. We're in medical now. Here--"

Another hand, more familiar than Road Rage thought it should be, wrapped around one of her own and squeezed. The rest of the warnings were dismissed one by one from her HUD and this time it was Nautica's uncertain smile she found waiting for her.

"Hi," said Nautica. Her antenna was twitching with her nerves but she followed when Road Rage was eased back against the slab and then still when the attending medic readjusted it so that she was lying down flat again. Her fingers twitched, too, against Road Rage's, like she wanted to offer comfort but wasn't sure. "Are you alright now?"

"Are you? Really?" asked Road Rage. She cast a critical look over Nautica and didn't see any damage but an impression left on her spark, the ghost of a corrupted memory, made her doubt it. "We were… I…"

She pressed her free hand to her forehead as her processor protested. The medic, not someone she recognized right away, said, "Stop before you burn out your entire brain module. You need to give your processor a chance to do its own maintenance before you go picking at traumatizing memories."

"You did take a lot of damage," said Nautica. Her fingers twitched again, this time in small circles, and her optics took on a pale cast. "I'm pretty sure you took all of it, actually. Thanks for that, by the way." She quirked another smile, more certain but still awkward. "It looks good on your resume, if that helps."

Road Rage had barely begun trying to process that when the medic scolded, "Stop that."

Nautica squeezed her hand and pulled away, leaving Road Rage feeling cold. She shuffled a moment in place, then said, "Well! I'll let you rest up and recover what you can. Thank you again, for what you did for me. If--" she shot a glance at the medic, "I don't want to stress you out too much with reminders but you'll know what I mean when, if, it comes back to you. If you really meant it, consider the position yours." She cut a look at Crosscut this time. "I guess you'll need to discuss--" the medic synthesized a cough-- "right. Well. I'm glad you're alright."

She scurried out looking like she was on the last bar of her social battery. The medic, after a curt instruction to rest, went out after her. Road Rage, lost, looked over at Crosscut. She opened her mouth to ask for even a hint as to what was going on but cut herself off with a hiss as another memory file fragment, this one fuzzy with corruption, played out in her processor.

A cramped, closed space, a chorus of explosions right outside the door. A puddle of energon growing beneath her, sparking wires that really should've been inside her helm and her chassis and the right arm that was missing. A gun clutched tight in her other hand, override after override keeping her conscious.

Nautica's terrified face. Nautica's lips moving but all Road Rage could hear was static-- until one little snippet got through, or maybe that was all that was left in Road Rage's memory banks.

"-- Road Rage, right? Crosscut's bodyguard?"

Of all the memories that could've escaped corruption was the memory of what Road Rage had said in return. In her mind's eye, Nautica's face came into stark focus. Then came the words, rough with static but still, somehow, so very clear, "Yours is a body I'd like to guard."

Road Rage blinked back to the present with her fans running on a high setting and her poor processor still struggling on the edge of overheating.

"Came back to you, did it?" Crosscut asked.

She turned to look at him, engine letting out a sputter and then a long whine. She wished what he'd said earlier-- what Nautica had said earlier-- didn't make so much sense when she factored in the possibility that Nautica had told him about that conversation-- or at least how Nautica had interpreted it. Any hope she might have had, though, that he didn't know or at least didn't understand what she had meant in the moment was vanquished by the look he was giving her.

Part amusement, part pity, all understanding.

They were silent for a long moment. Road Rage's sincere desire to fall suddenly, tragically offline did not come to pass, which seemed more unfair the more she thought about how touchy her condition obviously was.

"Well," said Crosscut, "I don't imagine it will be too much trouble to have you transferred, if that's what you really want."

A moment passed before Road Rage realized the way his optical ridges rose was because she was nodding. He huffed another laugh at her, still not unkind. Then he patted her on the shoulder and repeated the medic's instruction to rest.

"I'll get it taken care of," he assured her on his way out. He paused at the door and gave her that same understanding look over his shoulder. "For what it's worth-- I wish you better luck than the rest of us have had."

[dramamelon]

Constructicon Week is here! @constructiconweek

I'll be posting them here as well as reblogging with an AO3 link because they're all short pieces. :)

What Once Was

Day 6: Mixmaster | Welding Rating: T Tags: Minimal Editing, Canon Blender of IDW1 & IDW2, Snippets of Larger Story, Abandoned & Destroyed City, Haunted Houses, Whump, Blood and Injury, updated as necessary Fic Summary: In a moment of peace that was either the End of the War or a Temporary Truce (no one was quite sure where they stood yet), the Constructicons claimed the shattered remains of Crystal City as their own. So far, no one else had raised a fuss, leaving them free to rebuild as they wished. Chapter Summary: When things got ignored, someone was going to bear the brunt when it escalated. Poor Mixmaster had never even noticed anything unusual. Note: Tags have been updated!

He was sure it hadn't been his fault. There was no way Mixmaster tripped over his own pedes and fell down a flight of sharp-edged stairs to land at the bottom, dented everywhere, cracked open in several places, and laying in a growing pool of energon. A large spike of a shattered support truss hit on the way down left him with a large puncture in one side, the source of most of his vital fluid loss. An attempt to cycle the irises of his optics resulted in a disturbing grinding sound that had Mixmaster pausing the attempt mere moments after beginning. Instead, he slowly blinked his optical shutters, holding them closed long enough to let the flowing stream of cleansing fluid give the cracked lenses a good wash. Hook would appreciate him doing at least that much.

This was very not good.

His armor creaked as he tried to roll into a position he could more easily stand from, pain flaring from the wounds stressed by the action. He pushed a bit harder, hoping he might be able to get himself to help under his own power, but it quickly became apparent that wasn't going to happen. Giving up with a sigh, Mixmaster eased his frame back down against the ground and opened the team bond. The likelihood of the others laughing at his predicament was incredibly high, simply because all of them were Like That, but he knew they'd come around to help him before he completely bled out.

::If there's a chance someone's not busy right now, I would appreciate if I could get a little help?::

As the bond crackled with a swirl of curiosity, annoyance, and long-suffering knowing, Mixmaster could only cringe and hope he hadn't misjudged them. Really, of all the ways to go, deactivating in a broken heap at the bottom of a grand staircase in a ruined city had never crossed his mind. And oh, how very big the puddle of his living energon was becoming, stretching across at least half the length of the lobby. He touched his flagging consciousness against the bond again. With luck, he didn't sound like too much of a loser as he added a little extra plea to his request.

::Please?::

It all turned into a bit of a blur after that point. He didn't feel quite so bad about it, though, when what little his optics could decipher through the static haze was familiar green and purple. Might have been nice to be able to hear whatever Bones was saying, but Mixmaster knew one couldn't have everything.

He felt the rumble of the rest of his team as they rushed into the lobby of the medical facility they were searching, felt the heady and worried crush of their erupting EM fields. Maybe a snicker slipped from his intake when one of them slipped in the slick spill of his energon on the old and cracked tiles of the floor. He couldn't have said who it was. Or if it actually happened.

Then, hands were on him, pulling and shoving him onto his back—or as well as could be obtained with his barrel in the way. Whatever sound might have escaped him, Mixmaster kind of found himself grateful he was blissfully unaware of it over the raging agony that swept over his frame from the top of his helm to the tips of his pedes. When the severed lines were tied off he wept. When a piece of scrap metal was slapped against the gaping hole in his side and the heat of Hook's torch touched the edge, welding the panel to his torn plating, Mixmaster remembered no more.

[pluralsword]

Your take on the gender disparity in Aligned is so true! Hopefully my post didn't imply that I dont like IDW or think Aligned is perfect (far from it), more that I just see that a lot of people often import comic elements into the Aligned Continuity or Prime and its usually things that feel at home in IDW but not so much in Aligned and it feels very icly and in bad faith like somehow its not 'spicy' enough. The treatment of Solus Prime and how her death creates a literal birthing pool for Cybertronians is a really sore point honestly, as is the lack of many female characters at all! Thanks for your comments, I'll be reading and thinking about them :)

Hey there, we didn't think you implied either thing, we just thought that you were saying that Aligned is something that can be understood without trying to port in early IDW1 or tumblrsexyman stuff to be honest. We agree and wanted to build on that by showing that there are similarities between the two and other parts of the comics and new show that are good, and how that has something to do with Transformers as a whole. In our excitement we may have just forgotten to say at the beginning that we agree that such imports don't work the same way as say, importing trans narratives in a new way (that's all we'll say for the moment hehe), navigating justice, and so forth. We are glad you found our thoughts of interest, we liked yours too! :3 We'll go ahead and edit our thing so that way it's more clear that we wanted to add on to what you were saying :3

Also we totally forgot that Solus's death was framed that way ;-; we are glad that in IDW2 she got to presumably die peacefully of old age after overseeing the beginning of transformers society (also she got buff which was cool) and theoretically in fanfic terms given Dai Atlas's dialogue in the Escape miniseries about how sparks come and go from the collective gestalt AllSpark/Primus with life and death she could have re-emerged in a new form... (oh no now we have to ask ourselves who in the IDW2 cast could have the spark of Solus Prime)

[tshortik]

I have been following you because of Essek and I just found out that you've drawn Starscream in the past! I didn't know you were into the IDW Transformers comics. A little shook that we share more than one interest and favourite character (is he your favourite?) lol 😂

Oh Starscream has been blorbo since I watched Armada as a 11 year old. I read the IDW comics much later and really enjoyed them. Loved MTME the most! Not into any of the new animations cuz they are too childish for me (that's fine though, I'm just not the target audience), although I enjoyed Animated as a kid. I think I had a crush on Blackarachnia in Animated, but I wasn't aware of my homosexual tendencies yet back then lmAO.... I think Starscream's femme clone (was it Slipstream??) also made me feel things... 😳.

My fav bots are probably uuuuh Starscream, Whirl, Cyclonus, Thundercracker, Chromia, Rodimus, Tarn and uuuuh probably a bunch of others that I can't think of at the moment. I hope the new reboot will be good cuz I really really really couldn't get into IDW2... It felt so odd lore-wise and unemotional... 🫣 The art was pretty tho!

[eldritch-araneae]

I'm very bad at English. When I first time read transformers 2019 IDW comic,I thought Rubble is like Bumblebee's friend or student and when Rubble dies, I was like "oh,a new friend dies trope". But when I read about Mentor concept,I finally realized that Rubble is actually more like Bumblebee's son and I feel sorry for Bee for losing his newforge son😢 (I mean, losing son is traumatizing than losing new friend)

I think your English is pretty good actually, its my second language too and I have no issues understanding you ~

One thing I wanna point out, bc yeah in first glance it may look like losing a child is harder than losing a friend, and I would agree with several years ago.

Let me tell you - death in close proximity like in your family or your friend circle will mess you up. And it not JUST about the grief from losing someone. But trauma is there and it appear in little things.

Like becoming paranoid and develop fears, like being afraid of your home burning down bc that what happened to a relative, or when someone getting ill makes you anxious bc someone you knew died of covid. Even stuff like checking if you family members and friends are still breathing when asleep. Little things like these that ppl usually don't talk about.

And if you like me stuck in the country that has no concept of mental health and therapy and support group, that's gonna tough.

Which is why I dislike IDW2 ( still blow my mind how writers absolutely failed to write Bumblebee in BOTH IDW continuities). Not only Rubble's death was just for shock value and forced Bee's...."development" but they also handled the aftermath poorly.

Like his friendship with Windblade was written badly, as if they didn't know who writer friendships bc from moments I saw she felt pretty dismissive towards Bee. And when he was grieving she only placed a hand on his shoulder and told him it wasn't his fault. Not hug, not a follow up after bc you know, it would be nice to check on your grieving friend. But nope, she just disappears until very end.

So Bumblebee was left alone with his head, with no friends and no support, and only vengeance burning in his spark which was absolutely justified. Then it was turned into bs how Bee must be a better person and revenge is bad(tm). Disgusting.

So yeah, I wonder if whoever will take the comic license will make more compelling stories that isn't just grimdark misery porn, but I have little faith tbh.

[decepti-thots]

☕: got any thoughts on recent toys?

Stuff I recently bought or stuff that's recently come out? Eh, why not both.

Stuff I recently got: well this is going back to TFN since I have been broke since then, haha. (Not got that TR Arcee yet.) I am still in love with all my KP cassettes. I just. I fuckin LOVE G1 cassettes, they are so fun and charming and playful. I cannot believe I have these still. Glit is obviously an old grail for me so I adore him. Rosanna is gorgeous, she's SO pink and SO cute, plus I love the Eject/Rewind mold. The head pops up! God I want a G1 Rewind. And Sundor is so shiny and lovely, the whole set is just perfect.

I also picked up a Cybertron Vector Prime there, which is a toy I kept putting off because I was like uggggh I'll get the Takara version one day! But I wound up getting him complete and very cheap in the end because god knows WHEN that will happen, and honestly, I'm so glad. He's really one of the standouts of the Unicron Trilogy lines. His alt is so fun, he looks amazing in both modes, his minicon Safeguard is great. One day I'll get that gorgeous Takara deco, but for now I'm just glad to have him.

God I bought too many toys. Uhhh I got Thrilling 30 stealth bomber Megs, who is a beautiful little lad. He's so small but so well articulated! And that design is a fave. I got Thrilling 30 Brainstorm too for nearly nothing. He's HUGE. And so close to the IDW design! His transformation is so neat as well, it's very simple and elegantly done. Legacy Tarantulas, that was the one brand new toy I got, and he's just perfect, the ultimate version of the original pre-redesign BW version.

Stuff recently announced/out: I still want that Override, she looks amaaazing, even with the limited hip articulation. I will 100% pick up the Tarn at some point, especially now we know there's gonna be more DJD mainline stuff down the line. That IDW2 Flamewar will be mine at some point, I'll pay jacked up aftermarket prices for her, sure. I'm really not a Shattered Glass person but I want the SG Ravage to repurpose as Glit. lmao. The Needlenose looks nice enough if a little clunky and I really want a Needlenose, so he's on my list. The Earthspark stuff, I'm waiting to see in-hand pictures for them, but I for sure want that Twitch. Oh, here's a less positive one to end off on: man that fucking G1 Sunbow exclusive two-pack of Orion and Trion was overpriced, I mean I'd like a G1 Orion as a neat little novelty but they wanted HOW much? The AT isn't even great looking IMO. Nah. Pass.

[thestitchesart-chive]

Some spoiler-ish things about IDW2 ahead, but I try and keep them vague. This is a late night rant about IDW2 Cyclonus and his dead friends (again, hooray!!!)

—

Sure, the “Cyclonus’s friends are all dead and so is his beloved wife” plot point certainly exists, and it’s kind of interesting with the ghosts and all I guess, but I don’t think it’s a very strong point- it gives him motivation to fight the Big Bad but that’s all there is to it- I mean, his friends are literally just there to see him kill his main villain and then peace out. All his psychiatric problems? Solved by killing this one guy who just so happened to be not dead. Definitely no trauma left from seeing his friends die in horrible gruesome ways. Wow. And Paragon is kind of just the Dead Wife trope. Great.

But wouldn’t it just be more interesting if they were alive? They were fun as a group dynamic as ghosts and I think they would be even more fun as living people, and that’s not just because I want Cyc to be happy (okay maybe it is just a little shup up). But as ex-warriors of a long-past war and how the Ascenticons/RISE affect the group dynamic, I think some interesting things could be said about there…

This next part is sketchy because my understanding of IDW2 is pretty foggy and because I’m just making everything up as I go.

Throwing canon right out the window, and following some of my previous ramblings- we put Paragon in as a senator of one of Cybertron’s polities with the rest of his team backing him as bodyguards/advisors or whatnot.

Paragon is sensible and also a neutral, quick to talk through problems before suggesting drastic action. But he’s also torn, with both Decepticon/Ascenticon sentiments growing at home and pressure from both Decepticon and Autobot leaders in the Senate, wrestling for control and support of his state- his own friends are kind of splitting too, with some leaning towards the Decepticon movement and making it hard for him to make impartial decisions.

Ultimately, he ends up leaning Decepticon and his team becomes more of a strike team/espionage that the Autobots have to get through to try and convince him otherwise. Cyclonus is his representative and his blade, serving pretty much as his second-in-command and liaison between Paragon and Autobot forces as the former locks himself away and tries to regain control of a rioting city-state. Meanwhile, you have folks like Provoke serving as spies and messengers, watching over RISE and the like…

Oh, and there might be a B-plot where one of the friend group joins RISE and subsequently gets themselves killed for it. Cue the revenge arc from the group. … though I’m not so sure about this one because it just seems too close to the original plot and also because I don’t like killing off Cyclonus’s already-dead-in-canon friends. Might be fun if executed right though.

Anyways, I haven’t made up the end but Exarchon, I guess, does come back… as overcomplicated as that whole side-plot kind of felt. Maybe let the gang get back and kill him one last time and get their focus off of the decepticon-Autobot strife before something else happens. I don’t know.

But I do know that I’m keeping the sappy tender relationship between Cyclonus and Paragon, and anybody who crosses either of them knows that if they mess with one, there will be hell raised by the other. It’s powercouple hours dammit. I need them to girlboss ridiculously hard both together and as individuals on the job.

Anyways, that’s all for my rant. I one day hope I can write a fic about this but I am NOT at that writing level nor understanding-of-idw2 level so this is as good as it gets. Yippee

[optimistpax]

[ID: a reply from @pluralsword​​ saying “Please. Books are fine too. Doesn’t have to be transformers but hopefully something queer and/or robots. Arcee, Anode, Lug. If you want to, Greenlight, Lander, Aileron, Windblade, Nautica, Chromia, Velocity, Guage, and Sideswipe (the younger, you know the one that came out of a Trypticon hot spot) but the first three we named are the ones we’d be most curious about/most wanting to read something that appeals to them (we’re plural) end ID]

hmm I’m not sure I’m familiar with the Trypticon Sideswipe and I have to admit I don’t remember Lancer from idw2 (I started writing recs for her before realizing I’d confused her with Javelin), but I’m happy to give the rest of them a go! I love oversharing about book recommendations haha

gonna throw them under the cut bc there are SO MANY

For Arcee

I think Arcee would vibe with the Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo! The Worldbuilding and intrigue and characters are all SO interesting. I don’t have words for how very cool it is.

For You

hmmmm I think this rec might depend a little more on which version(s) of Arcee are your favourite and why, but I think Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag is always a solid choice to recommend! It’s a really fun fantasy/mystery that is very affirming and gender

For Anode

I will take any excuse to recommend Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey. It’s a post-apoc western about queer librarians. It’s a fun time. Very good read for an adventurous soul.

For You

If you’re a fan of Anode, I think you’ll like The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson! I don’t want to say too much bc I don’t want to spoil it, but I absolutely stayed up till 3am to finish this book in one sitting bc I couldn’t put it down. Really cool concept, excellent execution and commentary, fantastic characters. GOOD BOOK.

For Lug

Ok so this isn’t technically queer or have robots, but it’s still firmly cemented in scifi and I can’t NOT recommend for the geologist character a book I recommended to a real life geologist who is dear to me. So! For Lug I recommend Red Shirts by John Scalzi. It’s a GREAT time tbh. It’s a parody of shows like star trek where the “red shirt” character becomes genre aware and attempts to escape his (and his friends) fate. It’s very well written and I was especially tickled by the three epilogues (first person, second person, and third person) each following a different character with loose ends.... and written in the pov of the epilogue title.

For You

Hmmmmmm if I hadn’t already recommended across a field of starlight I would recommend that one here... but since I have, I will instead recommend Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. Also queer, also deals with death, and I cried through the entire thing (in a good way.)

For Greenlight

I think she’d like The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’neill. Very chill comics exploring different kinds of dragons has gotta be a little like xenobiology, right???

For You

Rock and Riot by Chelsea Furedi! I feel like some parallels could be found between some of the relationships in Rock and Riot and Arcee and Greenlight, and since Greenlight is rarely found without her partner it makes for good reading for a fan of her!

For Aileron

Ok so again this isn’t a queer/robot book, but oh MAN is it gorgeous. Human Target by Tom King and Greg Smallwood is a noir style mystery with gorgeous art and really excellent lettering. Aileron (in idw2 at least) to me feels like the kind of person that would vibe with a good mystery book (with all the mystery in her FICTION where it BELONGS instead of in her LIFE where it does NOT)

For You

Hmm Perhaps try Rockstar and Softboy by Sina Grace! Aileron seems like the level headed one of this group of wreckers and Softboy is a little like that as well... but even when your friends cause problems with their good intentions at the end of the day you still gotta love em.

For Nautica

I can’t not recommend The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells for Nautica. It’s got weird science and weird alien planets and murder mysteries, what’s not to love for a nerd like her?

For You

Hmmmm if you’re a fan of Nautica you may like The Last Human by Zack Jordan. It’s a lot of fun, but the second half of the book does get a little weird in a “you’ll love it or you’ll hate it” sort of way. But honestly with some books that’s part of the fun! Especially when you share them with friends :)

For Chromia

Another book that does not hit the “queer or robots” requirement, but Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido absolutely seems like a book that Chromia would like. A noir comic about anthropomorphic animals with absolutely stunning art. The details in the backgrounds and scenery are especially well thought out, you could look at them and find new things for days, which is smth I think she’d appreciate.

For You

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey. This book just about single-handedly got me out of a uhhhhhh seven year reading slump so I cannot actually tell you if it was good but I can tell you I had an absolute blast reading it. Very noir detective mystery... but modern day with a fantastical twist. I could see where the mystery was going, but honestly that just made me enjoy it more because I love seeing the inner workings of how fiction is set up so yes. Fun Book. Chromia fans check it out.

For Velocity

I think that Velocity would like Boys Run the Riot by Keito Gaku! The characters are high school students struggling to break into fashion after being told repeatedly that it’s not something they can achieve. I think that she could relate to that with her own struggle with getting into the medical field.

For You

hmm I think fans of Velocity would also Like Snapdragon by Kat Leyh! Another story about an underdog with stunning visuals and snappy writing.

For Guage

I think Guage would really like Sleepless Domain by Mary Cagle! It’s a cute magical girl comic about finding your footing and your people after the rug has been pulled out from under you.

For You

Deviating from the goal topics one more time bc I can’t not recommend Talking to Strangers: a Memoir of My Escape from a Cult by Marianne Boucher for fans of Guage. It’s what it says on the tin: a memoir of escaping a cult.

[transphormers]

as I remember Senator Shockwave I’m also thinking of Sunstreaker, they have nothing in common, but both made me so hyper they gave me an honest to god headache so in my mind they are linked forever

[gayseyjones]

knockouttt :]

WHERE TO FUCKING START WITH HIM GOOD LORD. HES MY EVERYTHING. I WANT TO FUCKING PUT HHIM DOWN A GARBAGR DISPOSAL AND LOVINGLY PEACE HIM BACK TOGETHER I WAJT TO TRAP HIM IN YHE DESERT AND MAKE HIM FORGET HOW TO EAT AND I NEED TO GIVE HIM 538372937 NEW MENTAL ILLNESSES I CAN FIX HIM I CAJ MAKE HIM WORSE. he has so much potential as a character WHY does he act the way he does WHAT are his motivations ETC in tfp those are all brushed off as "oh he only cares about himself" but something else interesting about his tfp iteration is how he yells and screams at anyone who smacks him either on purpose or on accident because "his finish" and yet he never yells at breakdown. ever. not once. he never even lifts a finger to breakdown. even when he fucking smacks him in the face with a hammer on accident. He didn't get enough screentime but at the same time he got too much screentime because so much of it was dedicated to the homophobic jokes. people are so fucking weird about him because he's a borderline gay caricature (see: everyone tripping over themselves to characterize him as a sex pest who "has no self respect" and will sleep with anyone and sexually harasses people despite the fact that they're FUCKING ROBOTS THEY DONT EVEN HAVE SEX) and in my mind as a character he is so deeply embedded with breakdown they complete eachother they need eachother they fulfil eachother's arcs they're essential for eachother. But also he's overrated in the sense that people act like he's a huge well rounded character when in reality he... Isn't. which might've been something we saw in idw2 if SOMEONE didn't pull the fucking tf license. I hate him. I love him. As we speak I'm smashing his head into the wall repeatedly

[thanksjro]

Zero Point, a Last Stand of the Wreckers prose story- I Sure Hope You Like Eye Imagery

Ooh, an artsy start to our prose this go around.

This story takes place after the events of Last Stand of the Wreckers, with our dear friend Springer well into his Overlord-induced coma.

Roadbuster is a gentle soul, when he’s not busy ripping people’s spines out.

Roadbuster’s been put in charge of the Debris station since Springer’s out of commission. It’s boring. He’s bored. He has a routine he follows, but there’s only so much grave-visiting/security-checking/weapon-building/eyeball-cleaning a guy can do within a 120 hour day before it becomes less of a routine and more of a compulsive habit.

Springer’s eyes are a specific shade of blue known as Matrix Blue- supposedly a marker for being Matrix Compatible. Considering that Senator Shockwave had to go and get multiple guys some nonconsensual plastic surgery to make sure they could actually fit the Matrix, I’m going to go ahead and say that that’s some bunk someone made up to hype up the mysticism of Primehood.

Springer’s obviously in a bad way, and it’s not looking like things are going to get any better. You can tell, because this is the point where his internal monologue kicks in, reflecting on just what it’s like to die, and his past. Sure hope they don’t have any vats filled with corrodia gravis on this space station.

Back before the war was The War, Springer was young and naive, but his boobs were just as awesome as they are now.

Springer became slightly disenchanted as his time on the front lines went on, thinking that he needed to do more to help the Autobot Cause. He decided he wanted to join the Wreckers, though he knew next to nothing about them at the time, and everything that he’d heard probably should have sent him running in the opposite direction. Decepticons caught by Impactor and friends would kill themselves in the middle of the street if they managed to escape.

But we’re dealing with a mind that’s been shaped by a civil war, now aren’t we? Impressions are warped for Autobots, because Decepticons are evil, and therefore they deserve that sort of thing, now don’t they? Nobody is immune to propaganda.

Springer first met Impactor at Sherma Bridge, where he saw him punch through a ship’s windshield, spear the driver’s head with his drill-hand, and then land the thing in front of a memorial statue. Gee, what a guy.

Springer, even though he’d seen all this and was feeling a little wary about this whole situation- which is a very valid reaction to witnessing a murder, no matter who’s been killed- decides to get put on the list of reservists for the Wreckers.

It’s amazing they even bother with Rung at all, isn’t it?

Springer’s interview is a violent one, because this is the Wreckers, and we don’t ever go half-mast on anything- Impactor falls out of the fucking sky in the middle of a huge battle and tells Springer that he’ll be coming with him. And that was that.

Oh hey, it’s the IDW2 eating chairs. And hello, Kaput, it’s nice to see you again.

Kaput’s diagnosis is as bleak as it is cryptic- Springer’s probably for sure going to die. Kaput seems to only exist to tell people they’re dying or dead, unless they’re the once and future Optimus Prime.

Kup’s pretty bummed out about this whole thing, pacing like a 1950’s father in the birth and delivery waiting room. Kaput doesn’t seem to notice, or is too lost the the medical sauce to realize that him going on about how they fixed that weird humming noise Springer’s legs used to make is making folks anxious.

Roadbuster asks just what exactly’s wrong, if they fixed everything from his ripped-off face to his weird humming legs. Kaput doesn’t like confrontation, so he blathers on for a bit before admitting that they haven’t found the zero point.

Roberts, how many times are you going to do this to Kup? First Rodimus, now Springer- did Kup bully you in primary school? I’m starting to get concerned.

That was six months ago, and while Roadbuster had been polite about it at the time, all the nothing that’s happened since has made him feel a little less kindly toward Kaput.

Okay, who’s ready to find out why doctors and mechanics aren’t the same thing on Cybertron? Because I sure am!

So they have to account for the soul, is what you’re saying. Is this about having some sort of bedside manner, because the mental aspect of healing has to be taken into account? Or is it more to do with the bizarre implications of the soul being physical as opposed to metaphysical, and therefore capable of being destroyed? The ethical conundrum that the spark presents is fascinating.

If a break happens between these two nerves, it can cause the energy of the spark to be redirected away from the points it’s meant to go, like a heart with a hole in it. Yes, the blood is still inside the body, but it’s not inside the veins and is therefore useless, and in fact is directly harming the body.

Roadbuster, after reflecting on the grim reality Springer is currently living, breaks out Wreckers: Declassified. This isn’t reading for personal enjoyment or ego-stroking however- Roadbuster actually greatly dislikes reading about himself in Fisitron’s datalogs. No, this is more of a last-ditch effort to save Springer’s life.

Roadbuster learned to read to act on a theory brought up by Rung- he and Kup are friends, on account of both of them being very old- that the spark is psychosomatic in nature. It can be influenced by intense emotional responses to potentially heal the physical self. They’re willing to try this, because nobody really knows how exactly a spark works, so Rung’s guess is as good as any.

Story time for the evening picks up on a chapter in a story called “The Wreckers’ Air Attack”, getting right into where Megatron’s about to shoot Impactor in the back of the head. But not without pontificating first.

This is so over the top, so romantic- and I’m talking Romantic as in the literary style. I don’t even know what to say here. Luckily Impactor does.

Fisitron may not know what this whole scene is about, but we as the reader do. The hardcover trade edition of Last Stand was published roughly a six months after “Chaos Theory”, where we got THIS exchange:

If this is what Megatron’s poetry is like, it’s no wonder Impactor isn’t a fan. Purple prose out the wazoo, incredibly flowery imagery- I’m sure there’s an audience for all that, but I doubt Impactor’s a part of that crowd.

Megatron is distracted just long enough for Springer to descend upon him on the sky sled, like a murderous Santa Claus, jumping off so the sled can slam into Megatron and send him careening down the side of the mountain.

That’s taken care of. What next?

It’s at this point that Roadbuster checks what chapter they’re on, because he’s really not the biggest fan of Fisitron’s writing style. Guess he isn’t one for fanfiction, or adverbs. Turns out, each of these datalogs are less blog posts and more fully-fledged books. Every single one of them.

Roadbuster’s feeling kind of hopeless at this point, and it’s not hard to understand why; there hasn’t been any sort of response from Springer at all in all the months he’s been reading to him.

He considers the contents of the only datalog he hasn’t cracked open yet, outright skipping over it every time- #113, the one about Pova. He doesn’t ever read it because it’s full of false information, as was made very clear in Last Stand #5.

Springer joined the 17th iteration of the Wreckers, after a hazing ritual so brutal, it required the addition of an amendment to the Misuse of Weapons Act. Horrifying. None of the original members of the Wreckers had survived the war by the point Springer had been brought on- except for Valve, who does not count because he left the Autobots to go be a Decepticon, a fact which will never be expanded upon, much like Eugenesis Skywarp having been an Autobot for some friggin’ reason.

Springer, once on the inside, realizes that maybe the Wreckers are a little too dark a shade of gray for him to be able to sit comfortably with- the battering of POWs just a little too enthusiastically, the bending of the rules a little too sharply, the blatant disregard for the Tyrest Accord being smoothed over with an “oopsie doodle!” It’s looking like the Wreckers aren’t completely on the straight and narrow; shocking, I know.

Still, he doesn’t really see the point in arguing with it, instead just trying to make sure that he’s not the one doing the maiming and such. Complicity is not the answer to this sort of behavior, Springer.

When Squadron X came onto the scene, Impactor was so upset at the perceived slight- because obviously if Squadron X was the Decepticons answer to the Wreckers, and they were a bunch of murderous assholes, what did that make the Wreckers?- that he made it everyone else’s problem. The Wreckers WOULD destroy Squadron X. It was his new goal in life.

This went exactly where you’d expect such a singleminded hate-boner to go.

After the execution of eight POWs who should have been let go due to being on sovereign territory, Springer decided that enough was enough and called the cops on Impactor. High Command had been itching to get this guy back under control, so things moved pretty quickly after that.

Springer resigned from the group afterwords, but then everyone started coming out of the woodwork, pestering him to come back and LEAD them, because they were worried about being shut down. The likes of Roadbuster and Whirl don’t exactly make for good executives. After thinking about it, and after the trial, of course, he agrees to come back on as the leader of the Wreckers. So began a new era.

Back in the real world, Roadbuster’s trying to read the falsified account of Pova, but just can’t go through with it. He decides to tell Springer the truth, if only so he won’t die with a bunch of bullshit bouncing around in his brain.

Springer did so many drugs in Eugenesis, he BECAME drugs in Last Stand.

So Springer is apparently the greatest hype man to ever live, as he pumped everyone up so much about getting Squadron X, they just went completely feral the moment they saw their ship. Squadron X wasn’t even doing anything, and the Wreckers were frothing at the mouth.

When this lead to the inevitable, and Springer was trying to break down the door to prevent Impactor from racking up eight war crimes in under two minutes, Roadbuster and Whirl had a little moment. They knew what had happened, they knew that they couldn’t stop it, they knew that Springer couldn’t stop it, and they were pleased as punch about it.

Once Impactor had been arrested, the other Wreckers were worried that they’d be the next to get ratted out. To try and prevent this, they created a false narrative to lure Springer back into the group, placing him in a position of leadership to soothe his worries about the others having been complacent in the murder of Squadron X.

Roadbuster finishes off this horrifying admission with a non-apology, complimenting Springer on being a good leader. Then he notices that Springer’s got a tear in his eye.

That’s a [ tair ] , not a [ teer ]. It took me a second, too. English is a nightmare of a language.

He tries to buff the tear out, manually peeling back Springer’s eyelid to do it, only to find that maybe Rung wasn’t completely full of shit after all.