#the autobot antagonists in mtmte are like that to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

transingthoseformers · 8 months

Note

I really like the idea of Drift and Minimus bonding because Drift is older and knows about reinventing himself and dealing with his own issues which may be different than Minimus's literally seeming to think he has to cosplay a dead guy to be valued and that could have been interesting especially as Magnus is one of the people who definitely know Drift was Deadlock specifically not just a former Con and who gives us an idea of just how deadly and dangerous Deadlock was with his risk assessment.

Rodimus may understand a lot about self worth issues but Drift also understands making a new persona to fit in and loses some of his defense mechanism +100 happy hippy not a threat around Magnus to be more sincere with him.

First Aid is so pissed because now he is conflating Rodimus's betrayal with his complicated feelings on Pharma as he went from one boss betraying them caught up with Decepticons to the next boss even though the situations are completely different. He is very angry and messed up about everything.

I like the idea of Tyrest slowly getting worse because we don't know how long his retirement was or he was planning the kill CC thing.

But he was also the guy who thought the Ultra Magnus Cosplay Lineage was a Sane and Measured decision and I feel like he may have preyed a bit on Minimus's on insecurities to encourage him to completely allow himself to be the Perfect Ultra Magnus. Or at least he did in this verse. Sometimes, I make him base nicer.

In this, though, he was not a great mentor to Minimus and definitely jumped to snap him up during a vulnerable time and encouraged his more negative thoughts to "remold him".

I like the wiggle room with characters.

Also I love Sunstreaker and liked his storyline in IDW but wished there was more of it. He was literally one of the five people who went with Rodimus on his becoming a Prime adventure and they had some siginifcant connections in Phase 1 with Rodimus being not a dick about the thing with Starscream and rescuing him. Rodimus literally helped Sunstreaker return tonthe Autobots. I feel like that left a significant impact.

I also think Cyclonus would be an interesting person to play off Sunstreaker since they are both very combat focused people woth unexpected softer side for those closer to them, have a lot of trauma they are working through, and enjoy quieter passtimes.

Drift meanwhile is really trying to be the best Captain he can but is very worried about his visions and missing Rodimus. Ratchet once he pauses starts reaching out and they have their silly not fights and stumble into romance on the Lost Light. Drift has his own character growth going on because he becomes very focused on finishing the quest, obsessively until Ratchet and Magnus remind him that they (and Rodimus) were also supposed to help people and he relaxes it making a choice to help some people nearby and rescue stranded Cons or Bots which leads to different new people joining the crew and Fort Max dealing with his All Cons Should Die trauma as well. I'm thinking maybe a pacifist like Glit getting taken on at Drift's discretion which leads to tension in the Medbay with First Aid.

Skids as well because in the scenes of Grindcore it shows what could be Glit there in the background and I headcanon he was forced there as punishment for helping injured Autobots too and saw Skids there. Skids's memories come back and he unpacks that trauma with Glit and Rung and we get talk about Tarn being a monster and personal accounting from Skids/Glit who both benefit from working through their trauma about it as Glit only got out of there because Ravage called in a favor to get him out and he never quite recovered.

I feel like a lot of dynamics would be different here, and strange or new friendships form while they have different adventures.

Exactly exactly, he's gonna try his damnest to help out Minimus and that requires he drops some of the mask he has built up

First Aid having some very strong feelings here, him associating Pharma with Rodimus won't end well.

In my opinion and considering my observations, I personally believe that no yeah it was Tyrest getting worse over time. I like to think his Killswitch idea was a tipping point mental health wise, I don't think it was Planned planned™️, this feels like a slap-dash plan. The plan with the Magnus Armor though that one is a longer term plan that most definitely had fucked up consequences, so methinks even before the Aequitas trials he had issues™️

Also mood on the "sometimes I make him base nicer" thing he's a fun character to play around with and I don't think about him enough, wiggle room is very fun with characters (after all look at the variety Megatron has between his many iterations)

oh mins.

Fr we do not think enough about IDW Sunstreaker, and you're entirely right about him and Cyc possibly getting along

awww yes Ratty cares about Drift and this time we get to see this front and center considering how Drift is being the captain of the LL

Oooo? New people joining the crew?? Cool?

medbay troublessssss

Oh shit Glit and Skids having connected trauma, shit. But cool that we're getting more info on Tarn based on the living accounts of mecha affected by him, especially so on the Grindcore situation which was so so fucked up

You're right on dynamics being different here as well as the adventures, and that's exactly why I suggested the idea!

#''well shit um is dead what do we do now'' ''but what if he wasn't'' ''? he's literally right there dead??'' ''hear me out real quick''#maccadam #transformers #tyrest is fascinating because clearly he works in levels of twisty logic that i want to pick apart and pull like a tangled yarn ball #the autobot antagonists in mtmte are like that to me #mtmte rodimus #mtmte tyrest #mtmte minimus ambus #mtmte drift #mtmte ravage #others #Rodimus's exile au #(hopefully that's a temporary name for tagging reasons)

5 notes · View notes

geek-antic · 2 years

Text

I’m so happy to see Skywarp and Novastorm in earthspark, their abilities are so cool and so tragically underutilized in most tf stuff they just show up and end up being either killed or conveniently cast aside. because their abilities would solve most problems far too quickly for there to be a story. Which is utter fucking nonsense because you should build the stories around the characters not see them as tools that can either further or prevent the plot. (Oh this is turning into a rant now you’ve been warned)

Like here’s a freakin example in IDW that kept grinding my gears at all the missed opportunities. I read the MTMTE comics and I read The Windblade comics. And I kept thinking “Man, I wonder what would happen if Soundwave was here.” Admittedly I do that to a lot of things, it helps me read through stuff I’m not a 100 percent fixated on. But I digress, so lemme give you some examples of moments that had me desperately wishing that Soundwave wasn’t in the hands of John Barber in RID.

The idw windblade comics literally has bumblebee stuck in starscreams head. now imagine how fucking interesting it would be if Soundwave showed up and was like “when the fuck did bumblebee get back” because soundwave can literally read minds. and since it turns out bumblebee is actually just some form of transmission from that weird little black hole thing shockwave created during dark cybertron. Suddenly starscream is not so crazy. Suddenly there’s hope for bumblebee. Suddenly soundwave has a far more interesting role than he did in RID. I also desperately and I do mean DESPERATELY want soundwave and windblade to interact because they’re both supposed to be telepaths but so far each continuity they’ve been in has had only one of them have the ability, or neither of them have had it, which is just SO frustrating to me. I wanna see Soundwave try and take over a titan. and wanna see him duke it out with Windblade telepathically.

I also really wanted to see sanctuary station have a bigger role, it felt so isolated and inconsequential because we never even really saw any of the decepticons just hang out in it or how their life was like on the station. It just felt like a from point A to point B plot location which is such a missed opportunity because it would’ve been a big fucking thing after the war. To have a place just full of Decepticon war veterans.

I really just wanted to see Soundwave actually still have a link to cybertron instead of being carded off as the token decepticon in Optimus prime’s story with the GI joes on earth. I fucking wish I was kidding but that is literally what he turned into. There’s so much stuff related to the decepticons happening on cybertron during the Windblade comics and I can’t help but feel like I’ve been robbed of seeing Soundwave actually play a vital role in how decepticon are treated after the war with the autobots. I’m just lamenting at this point so, moving on.

Imagining Soundwave in MTMTE is less about loss of potential and more about satiating my curiosity frankly, because the crew on the lost light end up dealing with A: charisma eating robots, B: a giant robot named Sunder who can fuck with peoples minds and eat their thoughts. And C: a whole freakin planet powered by telepaths. And don’t even get me started on Tarns abilities.

I see you James Roberts and I see your previous fan favorite UK soundwave as clear as day in the pattern of antagonists. Ok so maybe it’s just because I’m fixated on Soundwave but istg reading MTMTE feels like an exploration of some thoughts that have been cooked up for a while by someone who have been wondering about Soundwaves abilities. A: soundwave has been notoriously established as uncharismatic simply because of the first transformers movie. B: soundwave actually has a cassette called Sundor, but that’s more of a fun fact of sounding close to Sunder because what really caught my attention was Sunders way of describing how he felt thoughts which reminded me of how Soundwave describes his telepathy. And C: a whole god damn planet fueled by telepaths creating your dream destination idk that’s just fun to imagine what that’d do to soundwave. Would he be able to call bullshit of would it be like a feedback loop of telepathy?

Okay so let’s get started on Tarn, who I can best describe as a combination of all of decepticon high command but mostly he resembles Soundwave. and for good reason because it seems to me that James Robert tried to make something resembling a UK Soundwave who unlike the G1 cartoon Soundwave was more of a charismatic sweet talker villain type. When I first saw Tarn in my early days of transformers I couldn’t help but think “that’s literally just soundwave wtf” I know better now, but I’m still a bit sour over not getting to see Soundwave get the MTMTE makeover (idk what sorta magic they used to create such god tier robot designs but I want some) but regardless Tarn is a damn good villain who draws in the audience and then makes them boo at him as he has his kick the dog moment or in this case rip the cat, that makes him completely irredeemable. And makes the audience cheer for megatron as he kills Tarn.

A few thoughts on this Tarn guy and the bullet that soundwave managed to dodge by having a healthy support system in idw and not being solely loyal to Megatron.

Soundwave in the war for cybertron game was put in charge of almost the exact same type of prison as Tarn was in IDW. They would capture autobots, kill them, and recycle their parts. Tarn would melt them alive. Soundwave would gun them down. One is considered an agonizing death the other is considered quick. I just find it interesting how they’ve essentially been put in the exact same role of being the guy who takes care of the dirty work, yet they have such a different approach to it. But those are two separate continuities so let’s go back to the IDW one, where they seem to have worked together alongside megatron during the war. Idk if tarn was a part of high command but he was definitely standing at the side usually reserved for second in command at the end of the transformers vs ROM comic. Talk about missed opportunities, I would have loved to see how Soundwave and tarn interacted during the war.

Ah well, I really love IDW for what they gave us with transformers even if there is a bunch of missed potential and opportunities. That just means other tf stories and continuities can pick up on it and do something with it.

Oh god this rant went places, I’m too tired to edit structure into it now though so peace out

#geek rantics #idw1 #Soundwave #Tarn #Megatron #Windblade #idk how to tie this back to earthspark sorry folks #character study #I guess?#starscream #Damus #I’d apologize for rambling but I remember how much I love reading other tf blogs rambling so I won’t #also it’s my blog and I get to make the unstructured rants late at night on a phone #rly wanna add pictures tho I love seeing panels from idw #transformers

85 notes · View notes

symphonicdemise · 27 days

Text

//I'm frothing at the mouth over this piece by Alex Milne

I'm gonna write some thoughts out here cause if I don't they're just gonna rattle around in my little brain. Throwing in a cut here cause this might get long.

TLDR; How close were OP and Glitch before he got "turned"? and mostly theorizing.

Just look at how Megatron is looking at him. You know how Ravage said "Megatron is always ten steps ahead in every direction."? This picture embodies that so well. He sees this little orange nerd with a gift for destruction, who is also friends with Orion, and goes "You can fit so many war crimes in this bad boy."

It sort of leads me to my next point. Just how close were "Glitch" and Orion before the former was pulled in by Megatron? Logically they had to be close right?

"I saw an opportunity to hurt someone. I saw a chance to prove a point."

Hurting Optimus by turning a friend against him. Possibly a close friend? They protected that hotspot together after all. They stole the fucking matrix together. They'd have to be pretty close, I would think anyway. This also brings me to my second point:

Does Optimus know Tarn's true identity? He'd have to? The only way it would hurt him would be to know exactly who he is and what exactly he's become. How often would Optimus hear about the DJD? They seemed to be pretty major players from my understanding of it, especially if Autobot High Command went so far as to put a mole inside.

Would he have had any notion of convincing "Glitch" to step away from the Cause? He must have tried very early on. How long did they stay in contact with each other? I don't imagine it was very long if Megatron was feeding him propaganda. Just how hurt was Optimus when he learned of Glitch's new affiliation?

I'm just gonna wrap up by saying: I wish we would have seen more of Glitch in the comics. Hell! A "Spotlight: Tarn" after the reveal would have been my DREAM. Who exactly was Damus? I wish we would have gotten to learn why Glitch was an empurata victim other than a blanket "he crossed the senate" explanation. We got to learn why Whirl and Shockwave were! He replaced his hands at some point, but not his helm? Why? We know that reconstructing a helm is possible (ex. Rung, Tarn later on although that was an entire frame replacement). How closely did they come to replicating his old helm's features, if at all?

We see snippets of memories from him while he's in the fueling chamber in MTMTE #39. Expand on those!

I wish we'd gotten to see more of exactly who Tarn was, and not the... mmmm "cringe" that was #39. I felt like that issue took these really bad ass antagonists, and really the integral antagonists of MTMTE season 2, and turned them into... whatever that was. The DJD could have been really great antagonists, but because the end of the series was so rushed, it felt like they really phoned it in on their dynamic.

Anyway, I'm rambling at this point. If you made it this far: Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.

#;; ooc post #long-ish post

4 notes · View notes

scalproie · 11 months

Note

Uhhh for the Transformers asks..... ALL OF THEM >:)

🥹👍

• Decepticon, Autobot or Neutral

I like a very specific flavor of neutral which is "picked one side at the beginning of the war but eventually left/deserted/defected" and it often happens to cons so... and also one of my favorite tf trope is when the war is just a part of their history and they end the story united as they once were anyway

• Optimus or Megatron

Megatron lol Optimus may be Dadimus but I'm driving my friend on the autobahn

• Favorite Autobot(s)

Hot Rod, Whirl, Jetfire, Grimlock, Nightbeat, Atomizer, Perceptor by association, Ambulon, Thunderhowl, Wheeljack, Chromedome, Brainstorm, Skids...

• Favorite Decepticon(s)

Soundwave, Shockwave, Tarantulas, Cyclonus, Flatline, Starscream, Waspinator, Skybyte, Thundercracker, Ravage, the Scavengers as a whole...

• Favorite Neutral(s)

Censere🖤 and Quintus Prime💚

• Favorite femme bot(s)

Velocity, Nautica, Firestar, Moonracer, Shadowstriker, Flamewar, Arcee, Swoop

• Favorite show(s)

#CYBERVERSESWEEP BABEYYYYYY

• Favorite comic series

THE WRECKER TRILOGY with mtmte behind having nostalgia points

• Favorite comic company for TF comics (Dreamwave, IDW, Marvel, etc.)

IDW1 wins with nostalgia points

• Favorite human character(s)

Verity, Daniel and The Maltos are my least disliked human characters so they win, one could say I actually like them in fact

• Favorite ship(s)

Soundrod Warrior reporting for duty🫡, Shockwheel, Windstream, Jetbyte, some good ol Megop, cyberverse was the king of good ships actually, then Cywhirl, (poking with a 10ft pole) Taraprowl, Crankcase and his alien bf, also not proud of this one but I saw that one tfp ep like everyone else so KOSS I fucking guess.

• Least favorite ship(s)

Every other soundwave ships, every other hot rod/rodimus ships, you need to understand cyberverse did a miracle with me here, other than that, well ofc most drift ships, some other VERY POPULAR TF SHIPS that I shant name here, uuuh honestly? I enjoy a ship more when its a crossfaction one so if theyre in the same team theres a huge chance that I wont care.

• Least favorite Decepticon(s)

Drift, Starscream, the DJD💜

• Least favorite Autobot(s)

Drift

• Least favorite Neutral(s)

Drift

• Least favorite show(s)

I won't say anything in this one bc I dont want my friends to feel bad

• Least favorite comic series

Dark Cyberton but only the ramondelli sections like please for the love of GOD whats going on

• Least favorite human character(s)

tranformers has yet to introduce a human character that I actually like and love. I do not like almost all human characters other than the ones mentionned above.

• A character you love that no one else seems to

I finally feel normal about Getaway. He was a great autobot antagonist like come on we barely get those. Also Froid is fun.

• A character you hate that no one else seems to

DRIFT

• A pairing you love that no one else seems to

Bro most of my fav ships are from a continuity that most people either havent seen or dont care about. Im not getting anything

• A pairing you hate that no one else seems to

Most confirmed canon ships in mtmte/ll💖 and also arguably the biggest ship in tf period that I shant name here but if you know you know

• Favorite underrated character(s)

Atomizer, Makeshift, Krok, Fulcrum, Spinister, Crankcase, Flatline, Vortex, Chop Shop, Fracture, Terrorsaur, Javelin, Venom

• Favorite class/group(s) (i.e. Seekers, Scavengers, Constructicons, Aerialbots, DJD, etc)

VEHICONS/ERADICONS

• Favorite combiner(s)

My own OC Cannon Fodder, Bruticus, Devastator when Prowl was at the head of the polycule bc it was really funny, Victorion, Volcanicus

• Least favorite combiner(s)

OPTIMUS MAXIMUS

• A bot you want to be best friends with

The frat sons of Optimus

• A bot you’d want as a mentor

Put all the mad scientists in a pit I wanna see who'd get custody of me

• A bot you could consider a mortal enemy

I think If I were a bot or con and Drift was joining our ranks I'd defect to the other side so I could be the one to beat him in battle

• Favorite fandom sparklings (if you know of any)

Not a huge fan of the concept of sparklings in the first place. Not a huge fan of trying to push the human concept of (technically) blood family onto the transformers where the appeal is (to me) how socially similar yet biologically different they are from us

• Favorite siblings

Not a big fan of the confirmed ones so I guess I'll go with the unofficial frat sons of Optimus

• Favorite alt mode(s)

I love unusual flying modes like tfp soundwave's drone one

• What your alt mode would be if you were a Cybertronian

• Favorite toy(s)

I probably have an actual one but Im gonna go with this one bc I got to recently torture my friend with it💖

• Favorite game(s)

WAR FOR CYBERTRON WINS BY DOING NOTHING

• Favorite TF universe(s)

#CYBERVERSESWEEP BABEYYYYYY

• Least favorite TF universe(s)

Forever feeling betrayed by shattered glass bc on concept alone if it were simpler in execution I would love that shit but noOO we cant that it has to be a convoluted mess, so I hate it.

• How did you get into transformers

Saw the first bay movie on tv and was too young to realize it was bad, then saw one or two episodes of animated, then nothing until prime which I saw from ep1 as a wee teen and then it was over for me.

• Would you recommend it to others

Yesn't💖

• What would you do if the Autobots landed on Earth right now and asked for your help

Wouldnt even be bothered by it with the type of shit I got going on. Hell yeah I'll play ambassador and unlike most humans in these shows I'd be good at it.

#*covered in blood and sweat* there you go thank you for asking me!!!#tagging later #tf #ask meme

12 notes · View notes

cerkowah · 3 years

Text

OK SO ABOUT MY LAST REBLOG,

I want a transformers series centered around the decepticons so baddddd no more of the "Megatron was right about the rebellion but uh oh! He became a genocidal war criminal so the Decepticons are bad guys still :("

I think IDW came close with the moral ambiguity of the Autobots (especially Optimus himself) but it still falls into the "the Autobots weren't perfect but the Decepticons were worse" trap which is so!! Frustrating!! Especially with how AWFUL the comics make pre-war cybertron, like Megatron is such a sympathetic character in nearly every way except the xenophobia and mass murder (which honestly!!! Optimus okayed mass murder too and very few of the Autobots are actually not xenophobic so it just feels tacked on to make the Decepticons the bad guys). Even Prowl, who is by all accounts an antagonist, still gets portrayed as 'a good guy' SOLELY because of the Autobot symbol on his chest!!

I love IDWs (specifically MTMTEs and RIDs) portrayal of the Autobots but I want it to go one step further so bad!!! Give me the rise of the Decepticons from Megatron's perspective, where Optimus is defending the mechs and senators who performed empurata on hundreds of innocent cybertronians NOT because "murder is wrong :(" but because he still supports the broken system and thinks it can be repaired/fixed, VS Megatron who KNOWS the whole thing needs to be torn down and rebuilt. Give me Megatron whose hunt for Energon doesn't actually put other planets at risk (atleast not intentionally) because he's doing it out of necessity, to save their species, and an Optimus who wants to stop him because he thinks Cybertron has had its time in the sun and they shouldn't burden the rest of the universe with their fight to survive

Just!!! Give me Decepticons who don't have cheesy, over the top badness slapped onto them because "they're the bad guys" I want Decepticons who are freedom fighters and heroes, and who actually LIVE UP TO those expectations instead of turning around on them in 2 seconds

#I WANT HEROIC MEGATRON SO BADDD #and shattered glass doesnt count!#cause theyre basically different characters just with the same names #i want the same story as canon presents but from the perspective of the decepticons #cerk.txt #transformers

15 notes · View notes

thanksjro · 4 years

Text

The Transformers #26- Chaos Part 2: A for Effort, Trailbreaker

Issue #25 isn’t relevant, either to this project or to the Chaos storyline. Prowl investigates Scrapper’s murder, and things get messy in terms of connecting the dots, he’s attacked, it’s all very dramatic, we get that one panel where Prowl ruins a man’s barbecue.

Let’s move on, shall we?

The entire Chaos storyline is co-authored by Roberts and Costa, so I won’t be mentioning it further. It’s not like this is an especially long storyline anyway.

Getting back to where we left off, that big nasty Kimia laser is coming down, but it’s not targeting the Autobots. It’s hitting another part of the planet, and Optimus thinks it’s high time they found out just what’s going on here. He orders Silverbolt to follow the laser, and the entirety of their aerial division shoots up into the sky, including Cosmos. I guess all these guys have been here this whole time. News to me, but okay.

Sunstreaker and Drift get put in charge of finding a base of operations, while Cliffjumper gets paired off with Wheelie for a scouting mission. Once they’re done unloading all the crap they packed in Omega Supreme, Rodimus will fly him back up into orbit to try and deal with the threat in the air while everyone else is on the ground.

Trailbreaker, you do one fucking thing. What is this confusion about your role in any of this?

Rodimus and Trailbreaker get up into orbit without much fuss, guiding the aerial team.

Yeah, I could see them needing some extra eyes here.

Down on the surface of the planet, Wheelie is dragging Cliffjumper around, much to his chagrin. Also Wheelie’s got a gun. I don’t know where he got the gun from, considering he’s been running around with nothing but a slingshot and a synth for the last several issues, but he’s got a fucking rifle now, and he’s pointing it straight at Galvatron. He misses, but not by much. Pretty impressive for a guy who’s not seen a gun in a few million years and went full Castaway.

Of course, with that shot, their cover is blown, and Galvatron sends his troops in the direction that the gunfire came from. Cliffjumper calls Optimus to tattle on Wheelie, and Optimus’ team heads their way.

Meanwhile, up in space, the aerial forces are making short work of the Sweeps. The hard part is going to be getting into Kimia so they can turn off that laser.

Speaking of Kimia, let’s check in on some of the guys who work there, why don’t we? Lightspeed and Nosecone take stock of their current situation, and it’s pretty darn grim, to put it lightly. They’re stuck in the same room as a power generator for the particle cannon, with only a few blasters and some experimental bomb nonsense between them. The room around them lights up, signaling the power-up sequence for the cannon. That’s no good!

Good thing Trailbreaker’s here! Surely his forcefield-creating abilities will save the day!

Oof. That’s rough, buddy.

The damage to the planet can be seen from space. Cybertron’s got maybe enough fortitude to take a couple more hits like that before it either crumbles or going hurtling off into deep space. Since they can’t contain the particle cannon blasts, they’re going to have to destroy Kimia.

Rodimus isn’t really a huge fan of this plan, seeing as there are probably still folks alive inside the facility, and he can’t stand to sacrifice others, even if it is for the greater good. Gee, I wonder why.

That was sarcasm, by the way. I know it does’t translate well in writing. The reaction we’re getting from Rodimus here is probably due to him having had to blow up his home town to keep his fellow citizens from being used as ammunition and batteries in weapons of mass destruction, so that others might live. That kind of thing tends to sit pretty heavy on one’s soul. We’ll see more of the complex that event gave him in MTMTE.

Back on Kimia, the cannon’s warming up for another shot, and communication breaks down, as Lightspeed and Nosecone pack on the explosive charges and get ready to blow Kimia up themselves, and Rodimus prepares to slam into the facility with Omega Supreme. Optimus just kind of sits back and listens to this whole thing go down. Kimia explodes, as everyone down on the planet watches in awe.

Ironhide, people are dead.

This pisses Galvatron off pretty severely, and he pulls Jhiaxus- yeah, he’s in this story, don’t worry about it- away for further nefariousness.

Rodimus lands/crashes Omega back onto the planet, with a wounded Trailbreaker. He asks where Optimus has gotten off to, and Sunstreaker tells him he and Ironhide fucked off somewhere, which causes Rodimus and Drift to share a look. And what a look it is.

Optimus is running around in his semi-truck mode, and apparently he and the Matrix are on speaking terms again, as he lets Ironhide know that he’s got a feeling in his jimmies that some serious stuff is about to go down, and the Matrix is going to be integral to things going in a way that’s beneficial to the Autobots.

Meanwhile, Megatron is attempting to figure out what the hell’s going on outside by talking to Omega Supreme, but Supreme just grayrocks him. We get a positively horrid view of Megatron’s chicklet teeth as he says he’s about to head out.

Now, you may be thinking, surely Megatron couldn’t escape from his full-body harness with the built in shock collar attachment, to which I say: He’s the main antagonist. Give it a minute.

Garnak is trying to keep Trailbreaker comfortable, chatting all the while, until Sunstreaker hears something he can’t seem to identify.

Good lord, they’re like spiders. Everything’s on fire, everything is trying to kill you, and there are giant-ass spiders. Cybertron is Space Australia.

Turns out these awful little things are cutting Megatron out of his bonds, as he laughs maniacally. Outside, Cliffjumper and Wheelie are getting shot at, like, a LOT. Cliffjumper is less calling and more begging and pleading for backup at this point. Help does come, but not from a source he’d like.

I guess the spiders snuck him a little protein powder while they were springing him loose.

#transformers #jro #the transformers 2009 #issue 26 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #story plotting

19 notes · View notes

authorticity · 5 years

Note

For the transformers ask meme you reblogged several days ago: 3, 4, 13, 14, 23, 27, 32, 38, 40

Eyy!

3: Favorite Autobot?

All? Of them??? I really like Optimus, Magnus and Ratchet; but the more I write them, the larger a soft spot I have for Bulkhead, Arcee and Rodimus. And Whirl and Swerve. This is about as ‘favorite’ as I’m going to get here, unfortunately; whichever one’s at the top of the list varies from hour to hour. It’s a big cast, can you blame me?

4: Favorite Decepticon?

Probably either Soundwave, Starscream, or Knock Out, although for very different reasons. Soundwave is surprisingly unassuming for an antagonist; whereas Knock Out just had nerve for days. He has absolutely no social fear whatsoever; which is a very entertaining trait to have in a workplace environment that encourages stabbing as a form of conflict resolution.

And Starscream’s just fun. Screechy, murderous fun. I make no excuses.

As I was writing this, it made me remember how much fun Shockwave is, too. It’s a big cast I’m sorry

13: Least favorite Decepticon?

There was this weird little mind-control-y Insecticon in the IDW comics. Bumbshell? Him. He’s creepy and I don’t care for him.

Also, screw Airachnid. She’s so much fun to dislike.

14: Least favorite Autobot?

Would it be cheating to say Getaway?

Would it be cheating to say Sentinel?

Trash boys. Bastards. So awful you love them.

Picking out favorites was tough because I couldn’t choose. Picking out least favorites is tough because I like most of the characters at least a little.

23: Favorite underrated character?

to be fair, I haven’t gotten far enough into the comics to meet her, but I always felt like there was a lot of wasted potential with Elita One.

Also, Ten. He’s a sweetheart who deserves much love and also a class in goddamn sign language.

27: A bot you’d want to be best friends with?

I am also a literary nerd with a flair for the dramatic and limited social ability, so I feel like I’d enjoy being friends with Orion Pax.

I am also a melodramatic weirdo with an irritating voice, so I will also say Starscream. Having a front row seat to him and his aura of nonsense would be the most entertaining thing ever; and I’m very easy to manipulate, so i think he’d be open to the idea.

32: Favorite altmode?

Wheeljack turns into a racecar that is certainly not street legal. I love the fact that he went out and found the most noticeable car possible, and came back and unironically went “Yup, found the perfect camouflage, sir. No trouble here.”

38: How did you get into Transformers?

I was aware of it from a young age; in that I would be fascinated by the toys and enjoyed the cartoons when they were on; but I paid way too much attention to gender norms as a small child. This wasn’t enforced or encouraged by my parents or anything; i just picked up weird ideas on what I was ‘allowed’ to like, and what was for ‘little kids’ or ‘boys’ or what have you.

Years later, I stumbled on a meme about MTMTE and did some researching; and was charmed by the amount of care and skill someone had put into something that I had so easily dismissed as a kid. The lesson that you should enjoy or dislike something on its own merits rather than how it relates to your perception of yourself is one I wish I had learned a lot sooner.

40: What would you do if the Autobots landed on Earth right now and asked for your help?

Contact Amnesty International for them???

Well, honestly, first impressions would probably involve a lot or suppressed terror. but if they were adamant they really need my, personal help, I guess I’d do my best. That’s not really a situation you just walk away from, even if it’s not giant robot aliens. When people who’ve been through as much as the Autobots say, “We need you to do this thing for us,” there’s really only one moral thing to do, isn’t there?

1 note · View note

transformers-art-showcase · 6 years

Text

P.A.T.C.H. #06: "Life After the Big Bang"

There’s a common rule of thumb when it comes to comics: you can jump in when you see a new #1 on the cover. If not, be wary –you’re not gonna get it, you’ve skipped episodes, you’re missing out. Well, you know what? Nuts to that! We here at P.A.T.C.H. like to stick it to common sense and provide a halfway decent explanation for it! So here we are, presenting a story from possibly the most popular “Transformers” comics title ever that is not a number 1 and provides a satisfying, complete story with connections to more! Enjoy! ... No, seriously, did it take us that long to talk MTMTE?!

“LIFE AFTER THE BIG BANG”

“The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye” #4-5 (2012)/ “Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye” Volume 2

Written by James Roberts, pencils by Alex Milne, colors by Josh Burcham, letters by Shawn Lee The amazing sogn for this wondrous edition of P.A.T.C.H.: https://youtu.be/tvqlt7OWTOk https://open.spotify.com/track/4p82pfEa4cayPqXLN6Rhzm

SO WHAT’S IT ABOUT? After receiving a cryptic, worrisome message, Autobot medic Ratchet, turncoat Autobot Drift and bad luck magnet Pipes land on the medical outpost of Delphi on the planet Messatine to investigate. Faced with a motley crew of doctors and patients and a deadly epidemic, our heroes have to rush both against unexpected enemies and their own worsening health... Oh, and Tailgate and Red Alert aren’t doing so hot on the ship, either. WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW? The opening blurbs mostly fill you in on everything: the recent end of the Autobot-Decepticon War, the proposal to search for the fabled Knights of Cybertron (“Death of Optimus Prime” one-shot), the open invitation by captain Rodimus into the starship “Lost Light” and its disastrous launch (“More Than Meets the Eye” #1). Other than that, the rest are character threads picked up from previous issues of the series and can be ignored for now, to focus on the stand-alone nature of the thing. Still, let’s go over some major ones. In terms of pre-existing character development, the most pressing issue would be Drift’s dramatic arc(s). Although he first appeared in “All Hail Megatron” #5, he already had a pretty long history behind him, mostly outlined in the first “Drift” mini-series. In those four issues (written by Shane McCarthy, penciled by Alex Milne, colored by Josh Perez and lettered by Chris Mowry), it was revealed that Drift started out as destitute and homeless before the War, and so the Decepticon vision of equality appealed to him greatly. (Not to mention giving him an outlet for his pent-up rage.) He was renamed “Deadlock” and garnered a reputation of cruelty and efficiency. That is, until a disobedience episode, an escape attempt and a brief stint with the Circle of Light, a group of pacifist warrior-scholars, changed that. Following that, he bumped into the Wreckers (“Spotlight: Drift”, written by Shane McCarthy, penciled by Casey Coller, colored by Joana Lafuente and lettered by Chris Mowry) and started associating with the Autobots, with whom he stayed for the next few years, up to the second confrontation with the Dead Universe forces (“Chaos”, written by Mike Costa and James Roberts, with art by Livio Ramondelli and letters by Chris Mowry, which we’ve briefly talked about here). One near-death experience later, he emerged as a cheerful spiritualist, much to one famous medic’s annoyance. Just this once, Ratchet’s wrong –this latest rendition of the character is one of his most popular ones, and even if you’re not interested in his pre-history, you can go by what is said about him easily. Though Tailgate is (rather famously) one of the breakout stars of the series, it’s not he who has the more extensive history, but his roomie Cyclonus. An ancient warrior and comrade of deranged megalomaniac Nem-, excuse me, completely stable individual Nova Prime’s, he was an undead creature under the sway of the Dead Universe for a long time (“Revelation”, written by Simon Furman and drawn by various artists). He later joined fellow Golden Age survivor Galvatron and his reformed army against Cybertron (“Chaos” and “Heart of Darkness”... I think so, at least). Following the betrayal of his commander for the love of his home planet, he joined the “Lost Light” after a misunderstanding (and beating up Whirl, but that’s perfectly normal). He’s been warned at least one on his violent tendencies by Rodimus and has expressed his doubts over the entire War; can he really make a fresh start with these people? Finally, and although that could be considered a bit of a spoiler, certain details –locations, characters, even phrases– first appeared or were mentioned in “Last Stand of the Wreckers”, and specifically its trade paperback editions. Click here to get there immediately and (hopefully) get a few good reasons to check out the book yourselves! WHERE DO I GO FROM THERE? To all of “More Than Meets the Eye”, obviously! These two issues, apart from being stand-alone, plant the seeds for so much more down the road, it’s dizzying! Keep up with the series, where all the characters mentioned here receive further development, and when you’re done, be sure to jump in on “Lost Light”, its continuation. If, however, you want to go to specific arcs from the first season of the series based on individual elements (most by the same team as this issue), I’d suggest “Shadowplay” (issues #7-9 or Volume 3) for Ratchet’s past with Drift (and Red Alert’s troubles), “Remain in Light” (#17-21 or Volume 5) for the comeback of Ratchet’s antagonist, “Before and After” and “Cybertronian Homesick Blues” (#12 and #13, both in Volume 4) for Cyclonus and Tailgate’s continuing development and “Under Cold Blue Stars” (issue #15 or Volume 4) for Pipes’ shining moment. Reader discretion is advised: at least one of these stories is known to cause intense pain in the feels. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Finally, make sure to pick up the dual 2012 Annuals for “More Than Meets The Eye” and “Robots in Disguise” (both contained in Volume 3 of their respective trade collections). Both are split in two. One half of their stories are the adventures of the present cast interacting with a Titan, a huge Transformer from the distant past. The other half, drawn by artist Guido Guidi (who also colors his work) in the style of the old Marvel “Transformers” series (as well as various “cosmic”, high sci-fi titles of the publisher), provides added world-building and backstory for the entire universe. While seemingly unrelated, the origin stories explain a few holes in the pasts of key characters (Cyclonus was young once?! And he knew Dai Atlas, too?!) and become vital later on, especially in the finale of “Lost Light”. IS IT ANY GOOD? It was a satisfying mystery that showcased how unique this world and its characters are. It featured the evolution of a true master artist. It introduced about a trillion things in 44 pages. It provided us with proof that Ratchet is, and shall forever be, one of the greatest things we have ever produced in this miserable world. WAIT, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT DRIFT?! Oh yeah, he’s there, too! Did I forget that? Never mind, song, playlist, go!

AND YOU THINK YOU'VE FIGURED OUT EVERYTHING | PLOT AND DIALOGUE While the format of this story isn’t unfamiliar, even for this feature (this is our third mystery, after “Windblade” and “Punishment”), what separates this one is how dense it is. Within the first three pages of the story, we’re introduced to three characters, one location and an impending threat, all unrelated to the main cast so far. Various techniques –unreliable journal narration, dialogue insertion, two-page spread– are mixed to give everyone as much character as possible and make everyone suspect for what’s going on. And the onslaught of detail doesn’t stop there. This is the kind of story that would’ve been impossible with any other type of property, even a sci-fi one: the very idea of transformation is integral to how it works. Alt-mode details, in-universe cultural views, even having the ability to change shape are used both as world-building and clues for the mystery. This is the kind of story that makes the casual, vaguely interested reader into a devotee and forces them to go back and reread it to get all the foreshadowing. This applies to the dialogue, too. Roberts’ language, which we’ve seen before here, has been praised as snappy and quotable (Ratchet and Drift here, full stop), but it also shows a deep appreciation for all “Transformers” lore. The famous joke on the best names being taken, for example? Done at the expense of an obscure character from a previous generation reusing the name “Prowl”. If there’s one downside to all that, it’s that some scene transitions can be a little clumsy (Red Alert’s scenes, though important for later, come a bit out of left field), but it’s a small price to pay for the excellence on display.

Hark! What is that I see? A vessel is leaving the port! The sirens of the “S. S. Dratchet” are blaring! All aboard! FEELING SPACED BREATHING OUT LISTERINE | ART And speaking of excellence, the team of Alex Milne and Josh Burcham are on fire here. The amount of detail, fluidity and expressiveness on all pre-existing characters is incredible, but the new designs are a triumph on their own. Most will be distracted by Pharma (I know I was!), but it’s Ambulon’s story-important form that’s the real star here. In general, however, there’s incredible synergy between the art and the story. Background details (First Aid’s badge collection) and actions (again, First Aid’s fiddling in the second issue) are as important as anything else to solve the mystery, so make sure you read slowly and pay attention. In general, Milne’s able to pack an incredible amount of information into very tight pages. The best example is probably Drift attacking another character and transforming in a single, enlarged panel and a few mini, inserted ones. Lastly, the backgrounds need to be highlighted. The arrival to the outpost and the climax excluded, all scenes are set indoors, but the art doesn’t feel constrained by them. Instead, it has two different approaches to interior spaces. Everything in Delphi looks used, dented, past its prime –even the very walls feel grimy. This makes it the polar opposite to the brightly lit, spacey rooms of the “Lost Light”, full of inviting light blues and pinks (the violent outburst in Cyclonus’ room is the exception). Burcham’s richly textured work favors faded browns, sickly greens and rusted reds –the liquid of the mysterious disease looks eerily much like blood. Two flashback-montage sequences (Tailgate’s narration and the final explanation for the outbreak of the epidemic) are much freer in panel construction and dreamier in color pallet, but are once again tight and informative. Add to this some splashes of robo-gore and the unobtrusive lettering (Pharma’s silent speech bubble and use of a laser scalpel is another small miracle) and this is an artistic five-course meal.

Pssst. Nobody tell Pipes “corpse-pile” isn’t an actual game. Let him figure it out on his own. YOU'D KILLED THE BETTER PART OF ME | CHARACTERS AND THEMES But, if you’ll let me get personal for a moment, despite all the above gushing, my favorite element in this story is still its protagonist. Ratchet’s arc in IDW has been one defined by his old age, not a unique element in the franchise –same goes for his “Animated” and “Prime” incarnations, after all. Where this medic separates himself, however, is how he’s tied to the larger themes of reconstruction and moral grayness. The characters of this universe are no strangers to morally questionable actions –we have already seen one such early demonstration from the Autobots on this feature–, but the culprit behind the Delphi disease really takes the cake. He claims all sorts of survivalist justifications for his criminal actions, but the one that rubs the worst are his similarities to Ratchet –he calls attention to them to buy time and out of a need to show off, in traditional “baddie” fashion. And that hurts. After all the effort to end the war, there’s still rot, (literal and figurative) disease and evil. How long can anyone hold onto their ideals in such a world? Won’t these ideals be corrupted, sooner or later? Why not just copy the bad guy’s tactics? If such violence is justified, why not snap and kill the bastard already? Why remain selfless and sacrificial –isn’t it tiring? The villain’s charm and Ratchet’s moral dilemma play off of each other wonderfully through Roberts’ snarky dialogue, and the final stinger remains uncomfortable. In the b-plot, this theme is further emphasized with Tailgate and Cyclonus’ scenes, where the senior bot berates the younger one on choosing a faction knowing little of their world. The younger characters introduced do offer another view –that there can be hope for the future-, so there really is no final closure offered. Instead, I wish to end this paragraph with the words of another great author: “Life persists”.

Even beaten down, rusting from the inside out and minutes before death, Ratchet is still cooler and more presentable than all of us at our best. BUT I CAN'T STILL FOCUS ON ANYTHING | FINAL THOUGHTS While reading this story again for this feature, I had flashes of my first time reading it a few years back. At that point, I hadn’t been completely sold on “Transformers”, but processing the facts and the details and the character beats here, I started seeing that there was something great about them. “More Than Meets the Eye” is a special book, the perfect gateway to a rich, complex, beautiful universe and introduced me to one of my faves. This wasn’t the story that blew me away (that might come up later), but it definitely was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

#maccaddams #tf comics #IDW #MTMTE #james roberts #alex milne #josh burcham #Shawn Lee #P.A.T.C.H.#p.a.t.c.h. 06 #all aboard the dratchet #all the best names are taken #first aid mah man!#hey guys remember pipes??#might solve a mystery #problematic faves #the medic of our hearts #the precious weeb babe #the transformers are all dead

6 notes · View notes