#tachocracy

[soundwavereporting]

Drawing request: TFP Knock Out (bad lab practices optional)

Ratchet is lecturing him on bad lab practices.

[stynamo]

Souviens-toi de la première fois, où nos regards s'étaient croisés Même que ton œil disait merde à l'autre, surtout à moi Mais pourquoi moi, alors que les autres te trouvaient bien trop laide Peut-être que moi, je suis trop bête, mais je sais t'écouter Ave Cesaria - Stromae

My gift for @tachocracy for @secretsolenoid-revived this year! I hope you all love it as much as I loved drawing it. I've been wanting to do a zine about Knockout and his specific way of grieving in TFP so I was so excited to receive this prompt.

[libermachinae]

Tarantulas

Mad scientist can do as many atrocities as he wants, actually. I encourage it

[seeker-of-the-stars]

Knock Out, Breakdown, Starscream

Slow burn: Hmm, probably Knock Out, mostly because one of my favorite fics of all time is a slow burn with Knock Out. Also I think if any relationship with him was going to be possible he would need a lot of character development first, but he's pretty so it's worth it

Fake date: I'll go with Breakdown for this one. He's not really my type tbh, but he'd make a great buddy, and it would be fun to freak everybody else out

Enemies to lovers: If I was going to have an enemies to lovers romance with anyone, it would definitely be Starscream. It would take time for us to get used to each other and I'd get on his nerves a lot, but then again that's gonna be the case with any Starscream romance

[prowl-autism-extraordinaire]

TFP, Bulkjack, 6 and 29

6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

bulkhead adores wheeljacks lil crest- he makes fun of it a lot and jokes hes gotta be careful to not get headbutted when they kiss, but he thinks it makes wheeljack look bitchy (which he thinks is cute)

wheeljack loves just how BIG bulkhead is; absolutely perfect size for flopping on and taking a nap. he wont say it to bulkheads face but it really helps to know just how sturdy his boyfriend is

29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

okay not a hc but i want to mention that one like 70+ chapter fic where bulkhead died on the pier and wheeljack became mikos guardian? yeah that one makes me bawl everytime

OKAY SO THE HC is they both get bad times- where they cant sleep or stand to be still, showers arent safe bc tiny room w lots of background noise and one exit- and bulkhead gets snappy and irritable but wheeljack just straight up bails. they both try to pretend their mental health isnt going downhill bc they know thatll set the other off and overall its a bad time

[tachocracy]

Re: Knock Out’s medical credentials in TFP, he seems to be a fairly effective surgeon. Knock Out is never actually shown botching a surgery, even when he’s asked to do something as ridiculous as attaching a dead Prime’s arm to Megatron while Megatron’s conscious. He claims he’s “better at breaking ‘em than fixing ‘em,” but this isn’t really borne out by his onscreen performance.

(Compare Knock Out to Ratchet: one of Ratchet’s defining character moments is feeling that he “could have done better” by Bumblebee. Ratchet failed to fix Bumblebee.)

Neither the show nor Word of God nails down exactly what Knock Out’s formal qualifications are. The toy bios come closer, noting that he did some time as a weapons dealer and designer. This doesn’t seem to have been his pre-war occupation, and perhaps it’s not where his talents lie: as the toy bios note, he’s not all that great at weapons design, and he keeps anything that actually works for himself.

In other words, he’s a decent surgeon, but (unlike Shockwave, surgeon to the gladiatorial corps) not especially talented at making better soldiers.

It’s very easy for me to read him as a weight loss surgeon--perhaps even a medical student--on pre-war Cybertron. He has the surgical training, but in a decidedly fluffy specialty (perhaps a “lifestyle specialty,” with great pay, great hours, and no emergencies). TAAO-Knock Out implies that weight loss surgery and aerodynamics are overlapping specialties: taking a few kilos off a bot, even at the risk of a “rougher ride” (i.e., impaired performance), is worthwhile for an athlete or entertainer...but in wartime?

The clientele for something as frivolous as weight-loss surgery would have evaporated in the war--but Knock Out, always an opportunist, could have talked himself into a position in the Con military or scientific corps to save his own skidplate...

(Or he could’ve been forcibly recruited.)

[transform-or-treat]

Gift from @TurboFerret for @tachocracy

Sorry about the delay on this one, your gift was finished on time but Tumblr was apparently being difficult!

[artobotsrollout]

Soundwave the Artist Headcanon

So I had this thought.. And the thought decided to latch on and become a headcanon and now it refuses to leave but I friggin love the idea of Soundwave resisting the cybertronian caste system and the role he was told he had to play (I've heard murmurs that either its fanon or mentioned in the comics that Soundwave used to be a Gladiator with Megs?) through his music and tech art installations.

Light shows, videos, and uniquely programmed audience interaction based ones both in public areas and through hacking into systems to project his art over official stuff to get the message across like large advertisements spaces, sides of buildings, etc,etc on cybertron. Also he would show off his surveillance and hacking abilities by releasing top secret documents and interactions between the senate exposing their corruption all while remaining anonymous. Like the cybertronian version of a graffiti artist mixed with the hacker group anonymous.

Audience interactive stuff I mean like:

​Interactive installation "IRIS" by Hybe Studio

Interactive digital installation by teamLab

I'd love too if maybe when Megatron and Orion are still rebelling together they find Soundwave and impressed with both his hacking expertise and art they want to find him but, because of how Soundwave is, he already knows and finds them. A lot of his messages and exposing corruption having been based on Orion's uncovering work and Megatron's charismatic speeches and philosophy already he was pretty eager to make it official.

As for why he stuck it out with Megatron instead of Orion I bet comes from Megatron being a charismatic lying fecker who very subtly over time keeps minimizing Orion's work and making the amount of effort and work done around their rebellion seem to be all his own doing and Orion was just a 'naive optimistic sidekick'. He was conveniently hiding just how much of the knowledge gained and corruption exposed was all because of Orion's thorough research, dedication, and blatant refusal to take propaganda and lies at face value. Not so naive as the deceptions would come to call him but an easy twisting of the truth to quickly minimize Orion's compassion and stroke his own, and followers, egos while also making them feel better about their cruelty.

Soundwave, workaholic that he is, doesn't have time, the want, nor really any reason to really question and look into just how true his leader's passing comments are. Since they aren't an outright falsehood but a twisting of the truths, which would take a bit more of a pointed effort to disprove, and since Megatron was almost subconscious in his statements Soundwave doesn't even think to second guess them and if he does, his own desire to have a cause and person to wholly devote himself to may override any gut feelings or red flags.

Anywho I just love Music and Art Nerd Soundwave okay!?!

This may already be a canon thing and I'm still just a transformers noob but ~shrug~

EDIT:

Thank you @tachocracy for clearing up the Soundwave as a Gladiator thing as being in the books! Honestly this helps the HC IMO and would add reason for him to be interested in the cause and even more specifically following Megatron when the split happened.

[yesnomaybelobster33]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Transformers: Prime Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Breakdown/Knock Out (Transformers) Characters: Breakdown (Transformers), Megatron (Transformers), Soundwave Additional Tags: Horror, Body Horror Summary:

With Knock Out indisposed Breakdown takes the helm of sole medical officer on duty. With patients like these, he should have stayed in the mines.

Happy Christmas for Slyboots on AO3! I absolutely love your writing so I was happy to get you! I should have another story for you finished later but it needed more time so enjoy this gift for now!!

@secretsolenoid   @tachocracy

[slyboots-fic]

Ongoing Projects

Tachocracy Anticipated length: roughly 25k? Summary: In the last days of Velocitron’s isolationist policies, Knock Out investigates a string of political murders, nearly causes an international incident, and reckons with his attraction to Moonracer’s bodyguard. Tags/Tropes: KO/BD, political thriller, shiny biopunk dystopia Notes: Originally drafted for Nanowrimo 2019. Some influence from Exiles’s portrayal of the Velocitronian civil war--but not very much. Status: Working on outlining it.

Iddy Iddy Bang Bang fic Anticipated length: God only knows. Summary: On a devastated post-war Cybertron, Breakdown stumbles into the Velocitronian resettlement effort and grapples with the fallen tachocracy’s legacy and his own actions in the war. Tags/Tropes: KO/BD, canon divergence AU, mostly gen, dark, extremely self-indulgent Notes: I got nothin. Status: Outline.

Crash Site follow-ups Anticipated length: roughly 2-6k each? Summary: Holoform shenanigans. Tags/Tropes: KO/BD Status: Brainstorming.

Refugee Clinic fic Anticipated length: 8k? Summary: Ratchet and Knock Out run the only medical clinic on post-war Cybertron. Tags/Tropes: Ratchet-centric, KO/BD, canon divergence AU, dark Status: About half written.

Sparkling!Breakdown fic Anticipated length: 4k Summary: Velocitron is no place for a military-caste sparkling. Tags/Tropes: background KO/BD, fantastic racism, Velocitron worldbuilding Status: Drafting now.

Gestalt Anticipated length: 25k? Summary: After a brutal defeat, the Stunticons cling to life in the Skyquake Pre-Memorial Hospital. Status: Rewriting after substantial plot changes.

Squaddies: Anticipated length: 10k Summary: The Stunticons are not model soldiers. Status: Half done.

[tf-bigbang]

Day Ten:

@desdemonafictional and jabberish (ao3) 's fic, I Came Not to Praise Caesar, illustrated by @hapships and @cissyswonderland (hapship's art and medou6a's art)

@dramamelon 's fic, Never Boring With You, illustrated by lohikaar (twitter) here

@libermachinae 's fic, Leaks, illustrated by @tjdrewthis (illustration within fic)

@tachocracy 's fic, Mutineers, illustrated by @blak-pawed-stuffed-lion here

Day One:

@bairdcrevan 's fic, Two Cigarettes in the Dark, illustrated by eucacici (twitter) and @akapen011 (euca's art and akapen's art)

goreygooey's (twitter) fic, Wild Things, illustrated by @dataglitch here

@cao-the-dreamer 's fic, Belt of Orion, illustrated by 5101min (twitter) here

gemmarose's (ao3) fic, Kesson Sparkling Agency, illustrated by @ballpitbee here

@soundwavereporting 's fic, webs, lies, and email, illustrated by @madness-to-my-method here

[soundwavereporting]

Character ask meme: 16, Soundwave

character asks!

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves

Ough.............ironically, I think that while Soundwave is the one obsessed with blackmail/secrets (at least by reputation), there isn't a lot that he'd hide from himself, at least when the war ends in idw. He's very open about being torn (at least to himself).

In TFP though, I think admitting that Megatron is.........no longer the best choice for being a leader........would be it, in the angsty, faith crisis, paradigm shifting way, and I could see it ending in either murder or existential depression.

[seeker-of-the-stars]

🍓

Your writing skills are amazing! Seriously, I'm kinda jealous lol.

But yeah, basically every story I've read from you has been fantastic. You know the characters very well and you know how to express what they're feeling in a way that seems very realistic to who they are, especially Knock Out and Breakdown. You're one of my favorite Transformers writers!

[prowl-autism-extraordinaire]

TFP Shattered Glass, Bulkhead and Wheeljack

send an au + i’ll give you five headcanons

YEAH BOI LETS GO i adore shattered glass

a)bulkhead isnt aggressive; he doesnt need to be. he snaps his fingers and wheeljack is there, flinching away as much as he leans in. nobody goes near wheeljack; here, he is avoided because everyone knows bulkhead is the one calling the shots and doesnt like sharing his attention

b) wheeljack is known for just following people around, quietly. he likes to watch what they do when they think tgeyre alone, what they laugh at or when they dont. the rumor is that he wants to know what its like to be completely alone, but the last mech to ask him directly was found crushed after a battle, with scuffs of green paint deep in the injuries

c) wheeljack is often sent as an ‘escort’ for new recuits or recent defectors, though the better term for those he escorts is ‘bait’- at least, he was at tge beginning of the war. it only takes a few times for the decepticons to figure out a small group of autobots- especially kind or honorable autobots- means death

d) bulkhead is often held back near the medics- anybody stupid enough to go for them gets whats coming in his opinion. by the time anyone breaks through, though, hes pissed off enough they dont last long

e) wheeljack still runs. he says later its because the wreckers were losing their touch- theyd been pulled into the group sometime after iacon fell, to help hunt down traitors- butthe way bulkhead simultaneously eases off and doubles down when he comes back- well, no one believes him.

[tachocracy]

6, 23 for KOBD!

Novel under the cut. Lot of this comes from some fic WIPs. Prime/IDW fusion.

6. Who would have really deep emotional thoughts at the middle of the night/ Who would have them in the middle of the day? 

Even before the war Breakdown was an uneasy sleeper: a radiation surge or a frigid breeze through Delta's hull would jar him awake, ready to fire on threats. (He can't sleep without background noise: the roar of the moving cities will do, or the clamor of a mineshaft, or the yawn of the Nemesis's engine. Knock Out's incoherent sleep-mumbling will do too.) Unless he's worked himself into exhaustion, he'll lie awake, unable to power down and too weary to suppress the subroutines clogging his processor. It's then that he thinks. 

Breakdown's thoughts are concrete, more intent and emotion than words. He lies very still, letting Knock Out doze sprawled against him, and thinks: Let him sleep. He's lucky, he thinks, in a way he can't quite put into words. There's bitterness and frustration in it, but affection, too: he's chosen this mech. He could walk away at any time, but he thinks he probably never will. That's love, he guesses. 

Whatever he insists (at length and profanely), Knock Out can grumpily power down anywhere: a reeking alleyway; a med-school break room (a converted closet, really); the Nemesis's cramped berth, draped over Breakdown's comfortable bulk. The steady rumble of Breakdown's engine puts him out immediately most nights. 

On the rare occasions Breakdown powers down first, Knock Out watches him sleep as he pages idly through a datapad. Breakdown overheats easily, his engine warming up the whole berth, and his cooling fans whir as he dreams. Unselfconsciously he stretches out, letting Knock Out admire the curve of his strong calf, the set of his jaw. What a mech, thinks Knock Out. Prettiest thing in the galaxy. This is the highest compliment Knock Out knows. 

 Awake, they're too busy living in the moment (and taking real joy in each other) to get sappy.

23. Who asks who out on the first date?

The Velocitronian political scene is a high-speed car crusher, and Knock Out's a shady upstart with more than a few rumors swirling about his past and his predilections. He might survive being seen with a heavyweight military-class, even thrive on the attention-- 

--but Breakdown has no intention of making himself a target. Especially not (he tells himself) for a racer with a carnivorous smile and emotions as shallow as his perfect paint job. He knows better. (He doesn't know better.) 

So they get to know each other casually, in the course of their work. 

Knock Out's as red-hot as his paint job. He's plain about his intentions from the first cycle: if Breakdown wants discretion and plausible deniability, well, Knock Out knows more than a few quiet out-of-the-way maintenance tunnels and soundproofed storage lockers. No strings attached. What's the point of investing centuries and a small ill-gotten fortune into making yourself the most beautiful bot on Velocitron if you can't use those looks? 

Breakdown's not known for his common sense or his caution. A cautious mech would've told Knock Out firmly to back off. Breakdown's gruff and wary, but too intrigued for his own good. He laughs at Knock Out's jokes, relieved to find that they've got a sense of humor in common (if nothing else). He can't work with someone he can't talk to (if not quite relax around). Maybe he'll go along with Knock Out--just once, to convince himself it really is a bad idea, and to blow off the building pressure in his system.

It's a terrible idea for them to interface; it's a worse idea for them to talk. It's easy to discard a berthwarmer. It's harder to discard the mech who sets up half your punchlines and seizes on your setups. 

(Knock Out has no idea he's lonely, having nothing else to compare it to. Breakdown's almost smothered his fear and self-loathing under reckless swagger--and for all his self-consciousness, he has no idea that his voice rises when he's nervous.)

Their first real date comes later, after they're bound together: Conjugated after a whirlwind romance, accused of treason, and exiled together to Cybertron. They could turn on each other, or else drift apart without Velocitron's pressure-cooker holding them together. No one would blame them. Marriages have fallen apart for less. 

Knock Out finds a cheap second-run theater in Iacon's slums. No one will look twice at a battered warframe and a slick racer slinking hand-in-hand into the back rows of a Z-movie. (No one else wanted to see Scraplet 7: Spawn of Scraplet anyway.) Breakdown shows up on time, his armor worn but freshly washed, smuggling a flask of bootlegged Engex in his subspace. They watch avidly, nudging each other at the death scenes. Knock Out laughs first, then Breakdown: after that they're guffawing for half the movie, feeding off each other's joy, pointing and snickering at the worst acting and the dippiest dialogue. Knock Out slides an arm around Breakdown's waist, nuzzling his pauldrons, as the credits roll. 

They're kicked out several cycles later by the fed-up usher. They're back for the next movie three solar cycles later.

[soundwavereporting]

☔

WIP Ask Game

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?

I have every intention of writing this one day, but 0 motivation at the moment so 5+1 fic where Nightshade is looking for Tarantulas and has some interesting conversations with the other Decepticons in the process.