#this is canon driftrod

[fucking-solar]

HIHIHI!! I draw valveplug, please send me asks!! Whether it’s about canon or AUs (I have my own that I would LOOOOVE to talk about, both revolve around Driftrod)

Please see my designs below <3

[transingthoseformers]

Thinking about my one SG au where:

Ultra Magnus is/was in charge

Optimus is/was aiming to dethrone Ultra Magnus

Megatron is an exminer (but no gladiator era) who gained a following through his writings and his eventual connections through other notable decepticons

Optimus does eventually overthrow Ultra Magnus after obtaining the Matrix

Sentinel Magnus was the Magnus before Ultra Magnus, he's in a situation like bayverse Sentinel (should I Shatter him too or make him worse? I'm tempted to make him worse) and I feel like he'll be found in stasis somewhere in a trashed ship. I feel like it won't go well, I want to make him v similar to bayverse Sentinel tbh and have him betray both the autobots and decepticons

Cybertron gets pretty trashed, but it'll be rebuilt eventually— bit by hit

Cybertron sucked ass before the war, as you might've guessed

MEGATRONUS PRIME BEING FOUND LIKE BAYVERSE BUT HE'S 100% SHATTERED AND HE'S A GUIDING FORCE FOR A WHILE!!

I feel like the decepticon base on earth in this au is either under the ocean like in g1 (iicr?) or in the middle of the fucking desert somewhere.

Groundbridges are a thing, as are spacebridges but those are generally massive and in space

Outliers aren't a thing. No Skywarp teleporting, no Sunstorm radiation, no immortal spark Starscream, no telepath Soundwave, nothing.

The decepticons existed for a short while before the war

Just about everyone has their canon colors / a mix of their canon colors

Starscream was ex-military before getting into the decepticons and being thrown into the war

Shockwave was a minor and obscure scientist before the war, gradually gaining skill and rank throughout it

I'm torn on Soundwave because on one hand I liked showhost!Soundwave in SG IDW, but I liked how Megatron just kinda found him in IDW, buuut I also really like the idea of going with a TFP influence in his backstory and making him a former gladiator.

At some point or another Bumblebee has an arc of his own, not sure how but I just think there should be

I think I mentioned it before but the constructicons are medics

VERY torn on whether Megatron should have a fusion cannon or no.

Energon is blue here

I'm torn on how to introduce the human buddies into this and how they'd act but I definitely want Mikaela and Sam in on this (I'd love to see how they're characterized in a more series like setting rather than a movie one)

Elita is a major general and I vaguely feel like she deserves her person chair like she gets in IDW.

Actually Rodimus gets his Lost Light colors because I say so. He's either one of the wreckers or Optimus's eventual successor (or both?) (I'm not sure where to place Rodimus during the war, but I like his SG personality)

Torn on Deadlock never defecting or him becoming an autobot wrecker somehow. Because on one hand, angst. On the other hand, I like his Deadlock design and the idea of him staying moderately loyal to a SG Megatron makes sense in SG. Hgghhh but SG driftrod. I don't know, I like both options.

Ratchet is still terrifying like he is in SG IDW

Most of the designs are like if you drew the IDW designs in the TFA style, in my mind

Mnemosurgery is a thing because it's so horrifying I love it I hate it I love it

Galvatron =/= Megatron and he's such an example of "but what if [character] was good but also still himself". He's still got Cyclonus and Scourge at his side.

The sg dinobots are terrifying

Shockwave makes the Predacons (Predaking, Skylynx, Darksteel, possibly a few more?) and they're almost a reflection to the dinobots. Because Predaking v Grimlock would be so fucking cool.

Wheeljack is terrifying this time

Jazz and Prowl are evil husbands

There's not as many characters on earth as in g1, but there's certainly more than in say tfp or tfa (... How many mecha are on earth in g1 again?)

There are characters who are on other planets fighting the war

[autobot-ratchet]

Lost Light 1-3

Lost Light 1

I remember this also being an exodus point for a lot of people, if the Dying of the Light didn't piss them off enough to make them leave, the art style and name change did, even if it wasn't immediate lmAO like I pretty clearly remember a lot of people stopped reading a few issues in. I will admit, I was thiiiiiiiis 🤏 close to being one of them because I let people get in my head and convince me the comic was bad now because they said so (and also because of issue 9 but I'll get to that when we get there). When I really think about it, this was just another instance of people not having faith in the comic, that's what really made them leave, it was things changing too much and Certain Plot Elements occurring that people were convinced were never gonna be resolved, they decided to bail before they could be “proven right” and experience the disappointment they were bracing for, but they never were because the comic is fucking good lmAO anyway let's actually start the shit

eeeyyyy it's Anode and Lug

ooohh yeah I forgot that Lug starts off dead lmAO it was wild seeing that theory gain traction and then actually turn out to be the truth

I'm already dreading the Cygate drama lmAOghjdfks the seeds have already been sown...

love how Anode immediately shoves her foot in her mouth upon meeting Swerve. Also mildly off topic but I notice Swerve's badge is back on his crotch. I dunno man, if I had gotten shot in the shoulder and later learned it was because an Autobot secret agent sent hidden messages through bullets shot into the right eye of any random soldier's Autobot badge, I would not put that shit on my crotch lmFAO I don't care if Dominus is dead I ain't taking that risk

it was also wild seeing a bunch of fanart of Drift painting Rodimus up in his new blue color scheme and that also turning out to be canon lmAO they're so cute

oh right the fucking geobomb lmfAOgfdsajk I already forgot I was like “what's making the fortress shake??? oh right”

aww, Rung... oh right he starts coughing shit up, I can't remember exactly what they are though. Like, spark crystals??? something matrixy if I remember correctly

“Takes two, does it?” she really said “gayass” lmFAO

speaking of gayass, love this panel of Ratchet and Drift whispering to each other. “It's me you're speaking to. Don't lie.” that's married couple shit

Interesting how Rodimus puts Cyclonus in charge when all the command staff are otherwise occupied. Does that make him fourth in command

damn we really do just accidentally poof ourselves into the functionist universe huh

Lost Light 2

“Be careful. When you lie to me, you lie to God.” world's longest fart noise.mp3 can't wait for you to get owned too lmAO

“you made the pretty one with the sword collapse in front of his conjunx endura.” A. love that Drift is canonically considered pretty and B. oh my fucking god is THIS why the Driftrods kept saying that Driftrod was “set up to be canon” and that they got baited lmfAO because Lug mistook them for dating??? I'm gonna go back in time and smack the shit out of all of you shut the FUCK up lmfAO actually no I'll talk about this here so I can get all this out and have all my happy thoughts once I get to the part when Dratchet is confirmed canon, god the Driftrods were so fucking petty and nasty while this comic was still ongoing. And it's a shame because I love Driftrod even now, it's an excellent ship that I totally get the appeal of, I love Drift, I love Rodimus, I love their dynamic, but GOD were the big shippers fucking annoying lmfAO they were so convinced Driftrod was endgame (despite James Roberts being explicitly asked about it back in 2017 and saying that they'd only be good for the first two months) and they were so LOUD about it, they could not leave well enough alone when Dratchet was confirmed canon and would not stop flooding the tags with their bitching, they could not let the Dratchets be happy for even one second

“I want to make enough money to retire. You and me. No more scraping together a living, No more hand-to-mouth.” god fucking same lmAO

fdsjks poor Roller, he just woke up he's not prepared to deal with all this alternate universe shit

poor Minimus trying to let Rodimus know he understands how he feels but it just ends up making him feel worse

there it is again, “prepare, confront, repel,” that's gotta be the mantra of whichever god took over Pharma's body, fuck I only barely remember the details of the whole final battle, this just makes me wanna zoom to the end so I can remember properly

man, I know this is the whole point but it is agonizing knowing what the deal is with Cyclonus and Tailgate, just sAY SOMETHING CYCLONUS........ TALK IT OUT PLEASE I BEG

oUGUFDHGshjdf okay I gotta admit, Megatron ripping those handcuffs off like they were made of tissue paper activated my neurons lmfAO whoo *fans self*

HSFDJA I FORGOT TAILGATE CANONICALLY SAYS HE “OWNED” THAT DECEPTICON HE KILLED, I HATE HOW EASY IT IS TO IMAGINE HIM USING STUPID INTERNET LINGO

god. I remember the absolute roller coaster that was trying to figure out what the fuck Rung's alt mode is lmAO

Lost Light 3

omg Cyclonus gave Whirl his number... I'm laughing at how often I'm noticing the exchanging of phone numbers between these characters lmAO but it is a form of intimacy! Especially to me, I do not just give that shit out, I have to either trust you first or have literally no choice but to give you my number for work's sake or something, and I'd assume Cyclonus is the same way so this is absolutely an indicator of trust

“Rodders...” awwwwwuh <3 <3 <3

ohhh so the geobomb is why we got transported to the functionist universe, and we're ALL here including the necrobot planet itself, not just the squad that touched down on Cybertron, got it. Also “I haven't been this ramped since Perceptor asked me to be his lab partner,” shut up gayass omg

aww omg Ten being brave and deciding to stand up to Killmaster... granted it immediately goes bad for him but still that's sweet lmAO

lmAO I forgot there was a functionist universe version of Anode omg

“We owe it to Skids to tackle the sadness head on. Avoidance is addictive.” erghgfhRHGHGSDJ

the concept of blacksmiths is really cool, I love Cybertronian lore and how expansive it is

“I was... indisposed.” *Monty Python voice* YOUR ARM'S OFF

much like with Tyrest, there's. Something about a fascist leader who thinks himself a prophet whose nemesis is the exact god he claims to act in the name of, but neither of them know it

Six-of-Twelve really tried to be like “he's a tank lol trust me” like he was just hiding the treads and the drill bit up his ass or something

[dramamelon]

DriftRod Week Day 4! And still one behind. 🤣💖

🔥⚔🔥 Soft Sparks Day 4: laughter Pairing: DriftRod Rating: T Tags: Romance, Idiots in Love, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Minimal Editing Summary: Contained within: tender moments of the some of the softest DriftRod available.

[softybutanxious]

Remembered how I struggle with either DriftRod or Dratchet?

Well then, I’ve decided to pick... BOTH!!! Dratchimus should be canon!!!!!!

[arturer]

i'm surprised i don't see more fanon combiner designs, did we all get turned off by gemonsona fusions or something

[wingwaver]

God Rodimus was so in love with Drift

[choomchoom]

Driftrod Day! Gideon the Ninth AU

This is a snippet of an AU in the world of the Locked Tomb books. There are major spoilers for Gideon the Ninth and minor spoilers for Harrow the Ninth in this; feel free to revisit this ficlet after you’ve read the books which are super good. 

I’ve taken some heavy liberties with the setting for cavalier/necromancer driftrod reasons. 

“We’ve found you a partner,” Springer says as Hot Rod walks into his office. 

Hot Rod isn’t surprised. No one’s supposed to know that a Second House cav, a Sixth House cav, and a Third House dignitary with no battle skills to speak of were, more or less willingly, recovered from Canaan House and supposedly recruited, but everyone knows anyway. Most of the base doesn’t like this plan - of course survivors of whatever Lyctor-murderfest was going on there would join up when they don’t have anywhere else to go, and of course they’re going to ditch BoE the second they see a way home. 

BoE needs them, though. Or at least, Hot Rod does. Everyone knows that he wouldn’t last ten minutes on a battlefield without someone watching his back, and no one trains for that job in BoE. House necromancers, the only necromancers out here, have to be paired with House cavaliers. 

He’d assumed that Arcee would be his cavalier forever when they’d first been matched after Hot Rod arrived, but she and her wife have a baby now and Hot Rod’s been all but grounded ever since she quit going out in the field. They would send him out alone if there was an emergency, of course. Hot Rod suspects he’s only alive because there hasn’t been an emergency. 

Arcee had been hoping he’d quit too, he thinks. She’d understood his drive to fight, but she’d also seen the way they look at him - like he’s a weapon, like he’s a thing. She’d probably thought that if he walked away, he could find family again like she had.

But he’s still alive for one reason only, and that’s to fight back. His only skill to speak of is destruction, and even though it makes him monstrous in BoE’s eyes, they’re willing to send him on missions because no one else here can do what he does. He could do without them being just as willing to laugh at him for the way he passes out if he doesn’t have dirt to siphon thanergy from as they leave a planet and the disciplinary marks he gets for having to sleep through most of his first forty-eight hours on any space station, but none of that is enough to make him give up. 

“Which one is it?” Hot Rod asks. Surely Springer knows that he knows about the recruits - he’s at least as tapped into the gossip as Hot Rod. 

“His name is Deadlock,” says Springer. 

That’s quite possibly the least Sixth House name Hot Rod has ever heard, so Second House it is. Dread curdles in his gut. He’d heard that the Second House cav had only stopped fighting back when he’d been stabbed and nearly killed. He’s probably a soldier, and more likely than the rest to still be loyal to the Houses. How is he going to react to Hot Rod, who betrayed them so explosively?

But he can’t say any of that to Springer. Whatever goes wrong is certainly no more than he deserves. “Understood.” 

**

“I’m Rodimus. It looks like we’re going to be working together,” Rodimus says, forcing a smile. He’d been considering the switch for years, with the way his old name sometimes feels like a secure thread connecting him to his past but more and more often like the weight of it yoked over his shoulders. He’d submitted the official name change request as soon as he’d left Springer’s office and sent a memo to his closest associates, of which there aren’t many. The name change isn’t guaranteed to keep Deadlock from figuring out who he is, but it’s certainly worth trying. 

Deadlock looks like he’s around Rodimus’s age, wary and obviously still injured as he looks at him from across the table. There’s a stretch of silence before he speaks, and Rodimus braces himself for Deadlock to have figured out his secret already. 

“I’m Drift,” he says, finally. Rodimus takes note of the change, hopes it was the reason for the pause instead of anything to do with Rodimus. 

It feels like it means something, that he’s chosen to change his name now. It feels like it means he won’t kill Rodimus in his sleep, at least.

**

Rodimus and Drift are largely left alone to train together; no one in BoE wants to supervise a partnership that goes against everything they stand for, even though they’re willing to keep whatever necros and cavs they get their hands on for their undeniable effectiveness. Springer is the closest thing to a real supporter, but even he insists on just letting them train how they like, with the polite excuse that he has nothing to contribute. Rodimus tries to keep himself from feeling slighted or abandoned and it never really works. 

It slips his mind easily enough when his and Drift’s shuttle lands on a quiet corner of one of BoE’s sanctuary planets, and he has thanergy at his fingertips for the first time in months. 

There are no humans buried nearby, so Rodimus is limited to the corpses of small animals. It’s plenty of thanergy to channel into a region far from the shuttle and free of live animals and tweak it into a massive fireball that sends flames and smoke high into the air. 

Drift steps up beside him, one hand on his sheathed rapier. “Wow. That was just...wow.”

Rodimus glances at him, looking for irony or a flat-out lie, but he’s still staring at the blacked dirt where the fireball was, eyes wide in seemingly genuine awe. “You were Cohort, right? Haven’t you seen a Fourth House necro work before?”

Drift looks at Rodimus, in that intense way he has that makes Rodimus want to take a step back. “I only joined a few years ago,” he says. What he doesn’t say, after all the Fourth House necromancers died, sits thick in the air between them. 

“Right.” It makes sense, now that Rodimus thinks about it. Most houses don’t start shipping adepts into the field until they’ve turned 18. And after...well, after Rodimus, technically, the Fourth House hadn't had anyone left to spare. 

He wonders who Fourth House sent to the First at the Emperor’s call. He hopes it wasn’t Flamewar, but he doesn’t bother to hope very hard. 

Drift is still looking at him, and when he notices again he does take a step away, shaking his head and clapping his hands. “Okay. Training. I have complete control over the blast radius, but that only helps me avoid hitting you if I know where you are,” he says. “My last cav and I worked a lot on positioning for different types of fights. I can walk you through what we did, and we’ll adapt what we need to.” 

“Your last cav...” Drift trails off instead of finishing his question, but it’s obvious what he wants to ask. 

“She’s alive! She’s fine, she just has a family now and wanted to retire from active duty.” 

“Oh.” Drift tries to smile, but it’s thin and troubled. 

“You were paired with a necro before you were picked up, right?” 

Drift’s smile disappears. He nods. 

Rodimus waits. They’re going to have to talk about it if they’re going to work together at all, so it might as well be now, when the loss isn’t a schism between them yet. 

“His name was Wing,” Drift says, sounding...unlike himself. Angry, bitter. More like Rodimus had expected Deadlock to sound, before they’d actually been introduced. “He died at Canaan House.” 

“I’m sorry,” Rodimus said. 

Drift smiles at him, softer and more real this time, then looks off into the distance. “I know who you are, you know,” he says. “There’s only been one Fourth House defector in decades.”

Rodimus’s whole body tenses. “Who am I, then?” he asks. 

Drift smiles again. “You’re Rodimus. My necromancer.”

[liaswritesrobots]

Today's is fingers in the hair which I'm not sure how I'm gonna go about that unless I chose a pairing with holoforms

[histskins]

very excited for jimothy to straight up kill me

[rockaberryx]

It’s sad that driftrod is basically klance except without the insane fans that are always out for blood

[fucking-solar]

Favorite angst/comfort thought of driftrod?

Crosses my legs and intertwines my fingers. I’m so glad you asked.

I’m guessing you mean canon so I’ll go with that! I like to imagine Rodimus has body pains due to the whole matrix thing and him being shot by Megatron. Feels like his frame is being ripped apart, you know? I think Drift would help him understand that he’s still alive and whole, whether it’s just talking to him or holding him tight so he feels more put together.

[maxwants2fragrobos]

I'm so disconnected to the discourse in fandom to notice that there were people hating on dratchet. Okay, cool story bro but stay off my lawn? I like Dratchet, and I like DriftRod. I also love the unfortunately almost unspoken of DRatchRod. (And RatchRod, chaos and I dig it.) So, this is just me saying as a consumer and (slow af) creator of this kind of comtent, @ y'all who are upset, please chill.

Chill because I have some random plot buns on the brain.

Them legit cuddling after a long day. Happy, warm cuddles.

Them being a support system for each other. Drift had a bad day? Rodi and Ratch comfort him. Rodi has a bad day? Drift drapes him in fluffy blankets. And Ratch? They sit together but give him space cuz grumpy boi does not make for good convos.

DriftRod doing dumb things and then having to explain to First Aide to not tell Ratchet why they're glued together. Too bad Ratch was behind them while they were making this elaborate story.

Ratchet having stamina that outmatches Rodi, and the first time they do the-do, he learns why he was nicknamed the Party Ambulance.

Drift liking soft intercourse but never mentioning it, finding himself being worshiped and ravished by these two lovely mechs.

Is Ratchet having a medical kink too on the nose?

Rodi and Drift having a feeding kink? Since they were broke and living in slums of Cybertron. And they found comfort,,, in feeding one another.

[idw-tf-library]

Fic Rec - Summit by choomchoom

Summit by @choomchoom, recommended by @squireofgeekdom

Status: Complete / Length: 7916 Words / Location: AO3

Focal Characters: Drift, Rodimus

Focal Relationships: Drift/Rodimus

Matching Tags: romance, hurt-comfort, action-adventure, character introspective, post war, canon-compliant

Review/Recommendation:

And here’s another one where I thought there was already a rec, which is the only reason I haven’t recced it before because AHHH I HAVE. FEELINGS. 

This is set during Lost Light 8-9, with Drift and Rodimus having their own adventure on the other side of the planet, and it’s very much dealing with Drift’s return to the Lost Light in a way that’s really compelling. The character voices are both spot-on, the adventure itself is very well written, and the character and relationship arc of this fic is absolutely beautiful. and just. AHHH FEELS. 

If you like Driftrod, if you want more content dealing with Drift’s return to the Lost Light, if you like adventure and feels… definitely give this a shot! 

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

runningwolf62 replied to your post “dukebee replied to your post “sometimes I just get greatly...”

At least you fill someone with unnecessary feelings and they keep giving you trips to Europe

god yknow Rodimus and Phoenix even have that in common, rich boyfriends, because Phoenix has Edgeworth dragging him out to Europe on a whim and Drift once bought Rodimus an entire fucking spaceship for like....no reason, just because he’s That Bitch With Too Much Money

[softybutanxious]

C’mon James Robert! Can’t you make Drift have two Conjunx Endura?! We all agreed that Drift has two hands which means... DRATCHIMUS SHOULD’VE BEEN CANON!!!!