#Ravage and Laserbeak are (as of this point of the story) Soundwave's only cassettes
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tyriq-edits · 3 days ago
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The Suitors’ Trials 4:
The Crown Prince’s Knight
Part 1 <<< Part 2 <<< Part 3 <<< here >>> Part 5
When someone attempts to poison Kaon's royal family, Hot Rod - the crown Prince - ventures out of the castle's safety to find both the culprit and a potential antidote.
Too bad a certain silent knight won't leave his side.
First things first: I apologise for the VERY messy time line of this AU, I tend to kinda post these things as the ideas come. Maybe someday I will make a post summarising ALL of this in chronological order. Maybe.
But yeah this specific post once again takes place before the actual Suitors’ Trials and focuses not on Bumblebee but on his oldest Brother: Crown Prince Hot Rod and his royal guard and future Conjunx: Soundwave.
Soundwave was hired by Megatron not too long ago for his efficiency and was instantly put to work as the royal family's head guard. Too the misery of Hot Rod and his brothers unfortunately. The silent and stoic bot just feels suspicious to all three of them. And the idea of him being the one in charge of their safety now? Bad vibes all around.
One day Megatron holds a grand banquette to improve Kaon's political and diplomatic relationships to other nations. So the banquette guests include members of the council of Velocitron, members the royal family of Vos (Capital of the Seekers and Fliers in general) and of course: Sentinel Prime and the 13 Primes of Iacon, as well as several smaller politicians and diplomats and their entourage.
All is going well and everyone is being merry until suddenly : Kaon's queen Optimus as well as several of the 13 Primes keel over in pain after having drunk from the energon they had been served.
Ratchet and Knockout - Megatron's court physicians- instantly recognise the symptoms: Poisoning. Someone had slipped poison in the Queen's and Primes' drinks.
Instantly the guests begin to scramble, chaos errupts and accusations get thrown around - including at the host Megatron himself. Sentinel accusing Megatron of wanting to see his own Conjunx and in-laws dead in an attempt to annex Iacon to his realm. Velocitron and Caminus accuse each other of wanting to spread chaos so they could 'steal' territory on Cybertron while no one is looking and so clearly they must be behind the poisoning.
The Crown prince however suspects someone specific. Soundwave. While everyone else was panicking, scrambling around the collapsed primes and yelling accusations, Soundwave had stood in the corner of the room, silently and calmily observing the situation in front of him as always.
So Hot Rod instantly corners Soundwave in one of the castle's many many hallways and gets in Soundwave's face about how he KNOWS he is the one who poisoned his carrier and grandfathers. He was far too calm to not be the one behind the crime. And now he is sneaking around the castle? Clearly he was looking for a way to quitly slip away into the night.
But Soundwave just grabs the crown prince's servo and begins to explain himself: He did not panic in the moment because remaining calm is the most important thing in any time of crisis. Remaining calm like that is something that Soundwave had been taught as a knight over the course of many many years. And as for why he was now 'sneaking around' the castle? To find the actual poisoner. While everyone else was still fretting and yelling inside the great hall, the real culprit might be currently trying to escape the royal palace.
Forced to trust the knight's word Hot Rod decides to temporarily ignore his inherent mistrust of the blue mech and instead teams up with him to look for clues that may show them who the real poisoner is.
The tracks eventually lead them to conclude that the one behind the poisoning is a certain duke from Iacon. A mech by the name of Getaway.
However all of their evidence is circumstancial at best and even when Hot Rod brings it up with his sire Megatron, he just tells him that this alone is not enough to demand Iacon arrests him. If anything it might make everything even worse. Hot Rod then suggests that 'if we storm Getaway's estate we will no doubt found evidence of his crime!" but Megatron shoots that down as well. He explains that as a foreign duke Getaway is under direct diplomatic protection of Sentinel. To storm Getaway's castle and accuse him of treason against Iacon's Primes and the Queen of Kaon could lead to an outright war. For now their biggest concern should not be to point fingers at anyone but to find an antidote for the ones who have been poisoned, as the poison works fast. They have barely 14 days before it can turn deadly without an antidote, Ratchet and Knockout had apperently concluded. But the plant required for the antidote for this particular poison is extremely rare and hard to aquire.
So Megatron, ever the overprotective sire, forbids Hot Rod, Bee and Cheetor from leaving the castle. He is already worried about loosing their carrier to the poisoner. He cannot risk to lose them as well.
But does Hot Rod listen? Nah. In the dead of night, the crown prince sneaks out of his bedroom window and attempts to leave the castle grounds to go to Getaway's castle and prove that he is the culprit and also find the plant to cure his family.
Unfortunately he is discovered and stopped by none other then Soundwave. Hot Rod even asks Soundwave what he thinks he's doing, why is he stopping him? They both know Getaway is the culprit. So why is he stopping him from getting to Getaway's castle?
The issue is that while Soundwave agrees that Getaway is the culprite and a single look inside the duke's estate might give them the evidence they need and by any chance perhaps even the antidote, but Soundwave's loyalties still lie with King Megatron first. And the princes second. So if Megatron says: “No Hot Rod you may not storm the castle of an iaconian diplomat with no solid evidence of him committing any crimes. Now go to your room” then he will follow the king’s orders and not let hot rod go and storm getaway’s castle.
So Soundwave tries to drag the prince back to his room but Hot Rod manages to wrestle himself out of Soundwave's grasp and jumps the castle walls and runs into the forest headed straight towards Iacon.
Sounwave knows he could very easily run after the prince and catch up with him. But result would be the same. The prince would keep escaping and run right back en route towards Iacon. And he sure as hell would not let Soundwave follow him. So instead Soundwave ejects his trusted cassette Laserbeak and orders the bird to secretely follow the prince. And if anything happens to him the bird should instantly sound the alarms and notify Soundwave.
So Hot Rod travels all alone (for the first time) through the forest not noticing the bird following him from above. All is going well until suddenly the prince gets ambushed and kidnapped by a bunch of bandits who can tell by the shiny polish of his frame that he is clearly rich (but fail to recognise he's the crown prince of Kaon). The bandits take a (probably knocked unconcious) Hot Rod to their hide out to decide how much ransom to ask for him. Laserbeak of course saw everything and instantly notifies Soundwave.
With the help of Ravage the knight can track down the location of both Laserbeak and the prince, he defeats the kidnappers and rescue Hot rod. Hot Rod thanks the knight but clarifies he still has no intentions of returning to the castle. But he will agree to let Soundwave travel with him to Getaway. So despite his reservations, Soundwave decides to go against king Megatron's orders and follow Hot Rod to Getaway's estate on the conclusion that keeping the prince safe is more important then trying repeatedly to drag him back to his father's court.
So they now journey together to Iacon (maybe with Soundwave even helping to change paint Hot Rod's frame to a darkened black so no one will recognise him as the prince of Kaon as they travel) and the two of them begin to grow closer. Soundwave recognises that Hot Rod is not just some huffy spoiled royal brat but in fact someone who deeply cares about justice and his family and Hot Rod finally comes to term with the fact that Soundwave is not some secret villain who is silently plotting his family's demise - he is just very autistic /hj.
(during all this Megatron back at the court of Kaon has not even once left Optimus berth side, urging Knockout and Ratchet to hurry up and find the antidote, as he watches his conjunx's health wain with every passing day.)
Hot Rod and Soundwave eventually arrive at Getaway's castle and sneak in. As they explore the duke's estate they find proof of him having planned this poisining for several months already and luckily for them - He even has the plant needed for the antidote sitting neatly in a pot in his study.
But too bad for the both of them, they end up getting caught by Getaway before they can leave the castle with the evidence. This is when Hot Rod asks Getaway straight away why he would try and kill his carrier and the primes.
And that is when Getaway explains how his dearest sire is to blame. While Hot Rod and Kaon may view the king as a great revolutionary and someone who had liberated his people from oppression of Kaon's old leaders, Getaway had seen first hand the destruction and devastation Megatron and his Decepticons had left in the wake of their 'revolution'. A revolutionary? No. A warlord is what his sire was. A brutal and ruthless warlord who never had to face any consequences for his crimes. Instead he got to get married to a civilianframe Prime, got to raise a happy family together. In Getaway's eyes Megatron and all of the decepticons are sub-cybertronian, they are not worthy of this land and titles, nor their disgusting halfbreed offspring, etc. In fact during this entire exchange he only refers to Hot Rod as the "eldest of the royal half-breeds". And their carrier? A dirty traitor to Iacon who willingly married such a barbaric war criminal and carried his half breed offspring with a smile on his lips.
But Getaway then reveals that the poison had indeed been intended for the entire royal family. Not just the Queen and the primes. But unfortunately Megatron - like all Kaonites - is a warframe. Meaning it unfortunately takes 5 cannisters of poison to knock him out. And his kids, while not being exact warframes were lucky enough to have inherited their old man’s immune system and high tolerance to poisons (this however also comes with the downside tho that pain meds barely work on them). Their carrier Optimus on the other hand? 100% civilian frame. And so are MOST of the primes (except for Megatronus). In short Getway says: “It is really too bad you inherented the immune system of your barbaric sire. My plan kinda hang on the assumption that - given your size - you were closer to us civilian frames. Too bad I had guessed wrong."
TLDR; Hot Rod and Soundwave defeat and escape from Getaway (idk how so suggestions are welcome) and return to Kaon with the evidence and the antidote. Optimus and the Primes are saved, Getaway is expropiated of his title, wealth and lands and is banished from Iacon and everyone lives happily again.
But there is one issue remaining: Soundwave and Hot Rod having caught feelings for one another. But no matter how much they love each other there is still a significant distance in their social standings. A simple guard and a crown prince. Surely King Megatron would never let his heir marry below his status?
And so Soundwave one day kneels down in front of the king and queen of Kaon and proclaims that he has fallen in love with their eldest son. He knows it's an affront, apologising repeatedly for falling for the crown prince as someone of such low social standing, claiming he will willingly leave the court and even the kingdom of Kaon if they deem it necessary.
But Megatron just stares at him in utter confusion asking Soundwave whatever gave him the idea that he cared about something as trivial as that. "I have started out as a slave, fighting as a gladiator in the pits for the entertainment of the old bourgeoisie of Kaon. It was only by the accord of the people of Kaon that I was crowned King after the revolution. And yet you stand here believing I would care about the 'social rank' of whoever my sons fall in love with? All I care about is their character and capabilities. If they treat my sons well and can protect and support them through dark times. And you Soundwave have proven your capabilities more then enough by supporting Hot Rod on his journey to Getaway. You have my blessings."
And so Soundwave and Hot Rod get engaged. I am unsure yet if by the time of the 'suitors trials' Hot Rod and Soundwave are still only engaged or already married so let me know your opinion on that matter.
As always: If you have thoughts or ideas for this AU let me know. Or heck you can post your own version (and if you do please tag me in it, I would love to see more Transformers Fairy Tale AUs)
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immabebaby · 2 months ago
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Cassettes in Prime
So I was brainstorming with my brother earlier on how to input Soundwave's other cassettes into the pre-existing story/world and we came up with some pretty cool ideas, because it's too sad to think they all simply died (long post ahead)
First up, Ravage:
So MECH wants to re-create cybertronians right? What if they followed one around to see how they can make it, and that so happens to be Soundwave? Obviously he's fully aware of them and their plans, which is why he lets them. They create the " Robotic Assault Vehicle and Automated Ground Enforcer" with behaviors and patterns picked up from him. Once they're done, and it works, Soundwave can just swoop in and take it for himself probably blowing up MECH operations (whatever base they were using at the time). Megatron just let him keep it, bc if there's one bot he lets do whatever they want, it's Soundwave, just asks for a name, to which Soundwave plays back a clip of the scientists, "but for short, we call it R.A.V.A.G.E." "Well then, make sure you take Ravage to Knockout so he can give them a check-up,"
Cool, cassette count to 2, now for Rumble and Frenzy (it's a bit longer) :
What if, to better acclimate to Earth or something, the cons were trying to make cybertronians to fit in better with humans, maybe a decoy, infiltration, work as a spy, whatever. Point is, they're making smaller bots, two to start, to see how it goes. To test them out in battle, Soundwave takes them on a trial run against the bots. It probably goes well for the minis, since he would keep taking them out for 'testing' bc he's clearly not attached to them, no sir.
Now, as to their names? Well, y'know how the kids tend to tag along to fights? Miko saw them, and asked about the two new minis since they haven't showed up before, but the Autobots can't name them bc they didn't exist before Earth, (not that any of them knew that) so she just has to figure out their names, ("Calling them 'Thing 1 and Thing 2' is boring Jack" "So is calling them Aka and Ao!"). She tosses so many names back and forth with the other bots, even mid-battle ("What about Throwdown and Kickass?" "Not appropiate Miko") They started keeping a list to rank the best names, everyone expected to give at least one suggestion ("Raf you haven't said any names yet, c'mon just one?" "Jose y Maria?" "nevermind") Funniest thing is that once Miko finds the perfect names, ("Fisticuff and Hysteria are so cool, I have no idea what you guys are talking about") it turns out our minicons also chose. ("Hey, Rumble's a cool name!" "Yeah, Frenzy sounds awesome!")
Obviously, just like Ravage, Soundwave keeps these two for himself, and totally didn't help them pick names by replaying Miko's chatter among other internet searches. "Another one Soundwave? You're collecting extra bots like humans collect cassettes,"
For funzies, it's even better if Starscream had done one of his disappearing acts before Soundwave gets the twins, so when he comes back there's a mini hoard. "I swear when I left you only had two mini drone-" "Cassettes" "Right... Make sure your cassetticons are ready for the next mission,"
And that makes 4! Time for Buzzsaw :) :
Right, so typically Buzzsaw is counterpart to Laserbeak just like Rumble and Frenzy are to each other right? So what if Soundwave already had Buzzsaw, just how he already had Laserbeak, but during a mission they split up? Before they crashed on Earth, Soundwave had sent Buzzsaw on a scouting mission or something and wasn't able to get back to him before they left. So this whole time, he's been trying to find his way back to Soundwave, when he comes across, say, a Decepticon emergency shuttle that no bot was piloting and decides to take advantage of it, ignoring what looks like a bot in stasis. He pilots it to Earth, and when it crashed he flew out immediately, flying straight into the Nemesis, which he knows where it is bc if he can track Soundwave from lightyears away, he obviously can track him when they're on the same planet.
When he makes in on, he probably runs into everyone but Soundwave first, ("Oh... you're back," "Wow you really do look like Laserbeak" "It's good to have you back in our ranks,") Before he finally reunited with Soundwave, "Buzzsaw- you're back- Welcome"
Bringing it up to 5, let's move on with Ratbat! :
So when Shockwave's recreating the predacons, he doesn't go big or go home, it's only logical to start with a smaller creature to hammer out every detail before he makes the full scale ones. Soundwave is checking in on him for reasons when he sees the small prototype, and considering habit of collecting small bots it shouldn't come as a surprise when he pointed at the creature and asked "Oh shiny~ It's mine now, right?" in Knockout's voice. Shockwave just waved him off with a "It's merely a prototype that has outlived it's usefulness. If you deem it logical to keep, do with it what you will"
When he introduced it to the others, there was a it of mixed reactions, ("Wow, that looks just like that earth creature, a-" "Bat" "Rat" ... "Bat!" "Rat!" "Well I think it's small" "That's because you're huge Rav," "It has wings, that means it can fly right? Does that mean less shifts for me?") "Prototype- designation... 'Rat' 'Bat'? - is our new- cassettes" "You really just named it Ratbat? That's so uncreative, boss"
And then there were 6, as a little bonus, Wingthing! :
Y'all remember when they used a bit of Laserbeak to track down the Nemesis? Yeah so what if the bots designed a proper drone, building around the wing or whatever it was, making it as close to a real bot as they could to encourage it to return to Soundwave.
("We gotta name it!" "Miko no," "But why not, the last time I didn't get to name a bot so I wanna actually do it now! Let's see... it's a thing with wings...")
Obviously it made it's way to Laserbeak and Soundwave, who welcomed in the weird new drone bot. ("Does- creature has a- designation?") "Cassettes- welcome- Wingthing"
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transformersvn · 1 year ago
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It's been a while, but I'm finally working on a visual novel again!
Years ago, I mentioned running a Transformers horror ttrpg one-shot (using modified 5e since this was a couple of years before the official Transformers ttrpg came). I figured it might make a good premise for a visual novel and so far it seems to fit pretty well.
I'm currently putting together the game structure, pretty bare bones, just making sure places and items and such are working. It's feeling pretty achievable.
After that it'll be moving on to artwork and padding the narrative to make it feel more like a story instead of a checklist, but that's a little while off yet. (And is probably the point to send out a call to see if anyone's interested in collaborating on this).
The premise: The player is a human trapped in a supermarket overnight. They have to try and successfully complete their goal (dependent on their backstory) while also remaining alive because they aren't the only ones there...
The Decepticons: Soundwave crash-landed nearby and is out of commission. His cassettes (Laserbeak, Ravage, Frenzy, and Rumble) have managed to install him as the security system in the supermarket and are hunting around during the night to try and find a way to repair him. They aren't super happy about a human poking around, but they're not in the best of repair themselves and don't want to start a fight if they can help it.
(It's been a lot of fun so far, I'm really liking naming my variables):
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sparklesdogs · 8 months ago
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Hello hello :))
I really appreciate that you answer my questions about your au :D with allergies and anxiety here are some more questions about things I am curious about your au
Will the dinobots appear again sometime in the story and if they do I have this stupid silly idea of letting First Aid being the only one who the dinobots listen too (maybe prowl later at some point in time) and him being like their caretaker in a way.
(First Aid my goat I will always stan you)
With the jettwins do you have anything planned with them?
With soundwave will he have more of his funky cassette children with him when he is fully recovered?
I love the idea of some of the Allspark fragments causing soundwave’s future cassette children to appear :)) (and causing problems for everyone especially the autobots)
What causes blurr to become a decepticon sympathizer in this au?
And will there be more Autobot deserters?
★彡
Howdy howdy!
Yes! I do plan to include the Dinobots at some point in the story. Like I've said previously, I'm kinda flip-flopping around the episodes to change the timeframe. Since I've stated that First Aid was the one who freed them in this AU, he would definitely be a part of that chapter/episode.
Honestly, I haven't planned out far into season 3 yet, since I just hit season 2. So while I know that I'm going to include the twins, I don't quite know what I'll change about them just yet.
Oh lovely Soundwave. Wasn't in TFA nearly as much as he should have been! In the show, he does get a couple of his cassettes. I believe he gets Ratbat and Laserbeak? I'd love to include Ravage, Rumble, and Frenzy as well! He definitely gets his "adopting" personality from Orion xD.
In this AU in particular, Blurr's Decepticon sympathies comes from very careful manipulation from Shockwave. Shockwave recognized that a courier model who could literally speed through solar systems might be useful. Or, at least, that's how it started. As the two have gotten closer ('cause Longarm is his boss, so they talk frequently), it turned into a real friendship and possibly more, but I haven't discussed them too much in my story yet. I will say that Shockwave has thought multiple times about revealing himself to Blurr in the future and that Blurr's confrontation with him may go differently in the season 2 finale...
At the moment, I'm not planning for anyone else to become an Autobot deserter. Right now, it's more like.. they'll be Decepticon sympathizers to the point of helping them with data or plans. I've hinted a few times about why Autobots may be more inclined to helping Decepticons right now, but I'm not going to straight up say it juuuuust yet.
Thanks for another ask lol!
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yes-i-write-fanfiction · 5 years ago
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May I ask for some Fatherly Soundwave and his cassettes taking care of a young sick sparkling? 
A virus had been going around the Nemesis, affecting most cons at some point. It was a mild virus, simply caused some sluggishness and processor ache but after a few days it would go away on its own. Well, it would if you were a fully grown bot at least. For a sparkling however, the virus would be much worse, something Soundwave’s sparkling sadly enough found out firsthand.
Soundwave tucked his sparkling into their berth, spark aching as they whimpered while clutching their helmet. Ever since the day before they had been suffering from an intense processor ache that made them feel absolutely horrible. They were also in a constant state of exhaustion, too tired to run around and play like they would usually do. The moment Soundwave saw them like this he had immediately brought them to Hook who had diagnosed them with the virus and strictly ordered him to keep his sparkling in berth until they got better. This was easier said than done because despite their processor ache and exhaustion they were still a playful lil sparkling and wanted to play. Soundwave had lost count how many times he had momentarily looked away only to find his sparkling halfway out of berth. Luckily, he wasn’t alone keeping watch over them.
The cassettes had proved to be excellent sparkling-sitters while Soundwave had to be somewhere else, each in their own way. Rumble and Frenzy would play console games with his little one, deliberately letting them win every once in a while to make them happy. Buzzsaw and Laserbeak would tell them stories (more like gossip) to entertain, often exaggerating or censoring certain parts to make them more child friendly. Ratbat would help them lay puzzles and tell them riddles and Ravage was the unofficial snuggle buddy. The sparkling couldn’t get out of berth when Ravage was draped over them after all. One cannot move the kitty.
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optimusphillip · 6 years ago
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OptimusPhillip Reviews 16-A: Transformers: Generations Soundwave Spy Patrol (WFC: Siege)
So like I did with Firedrive, I decided to cover the first (and currently only) pack of Siege cassettes in a sort of mini follow-up to my Soundwave review. This set consists of Laserbeak and Ravage, who are sold together at the Micromaster price point.
“Shield” Modes
Yes, because children today are uncultured swines, Laserbeak and Ravage can’t be sold as cassettes. As a result, they officially transform into shields designed to work with the COMBAT system. That said, it’s still a flat rectangle, so it comes off more like Shockwave’s “spaceship mode” than any actual rebranding.
In his shield mode, Laserbeak is, of course, black, red and silver. Sadly, however, it’s pretty sparse in terms of unique detail. Most everything is intended for bird mode. Still, it manages to make for a passable Laserbeak alt mode.
Ravage is a similar story, though he’s a bit less clean in comparison. Everything fits within the same rectangular volume, but it’s less of a uniform shape here. In particular, there are large triangular gaps on the sides, with the only thing filling them out being the exposed jaguar feet, but even then they don’t fill it completely.
In terms of function, Laserbeak fits snugly into Soundwave’s chest, but the door still opens smoothly. Ravage, however, fits a little more snugly, and can sometimes impede it. Both also feature a flip-out COMBAT peg on the back of the “shield” mode, allowing them to peg into place on a figure’s arms, or anywhere else with a corresponding port. It works. It’s not the most visually interesting shield, but it still looks like it could deflect damage. My only real nitpick is that Ravage’s peg is off-center from Laserbeak’s, so trying to have a figure dual-wield them can look a little unbalanced.
Conversion
Laserbeak’s conversion process is pretty similar to his G1 self. The wings have only one joint, and the jetpack is a built-in, non-removable part, but aside from that nothing much is changed. Ravage, on the other hand, does a lot of cool things to make a more three-dimensional jaguar mode, essentially unfolding himself and refolding into a different shape. It’s really fun to mess around with, though it can be finnicky the first time.
“Robot” Modes
Lot of air quotes on the mode titles here, huh? Oh well, Laserbeak and Ravage both look really nice in robot mode, though Ravage is a bit more of a chonk in this version... did I seriously just say “chonk”? He’s more bulky than I’m used to, is what I’m saying. At the very least, both are well detailed. Ravage has a lot of silver on his shoulders, hips, and back, to help break up the black. He even has little blasters molded into his hips, replicating his classic weapons. Laserbeak, meanwhile, seems to favor sculpted detail, with lots of exposed circuitry in his wings. That’s not to say he’s lacking in paint, however. That circuitry detail is picked out in silver and red, and his orange visor, lifted straight from his appearance in the pilot, is hard to miss. The backpack is also fully painted: it even has a tiny Decepticon symbol.
In terms of posability, Laserbeak is the more limited of the two. He has a double jointed neck, and some play in the wings from transformation, but nothing else. Ravage, on the other hand, has several points of articulation: up and down neck, forward and back shoulders and hips, and hinges at the elbow and knee, though the latter can be loose at times. He’s not super posable, but you do get a good bit of play.
One last little thing: Soundwave has grooves in his arms, which are designed to fit Laserbeak’s talons, so he can perch. But unless my copy of Laserbeak is mismolded, it provides no grip at all, and almost makes me question the point of including them. Fortunately, Laserbeak’s shield mode peg is still accessible, and you can actually peg him into the COMBAT port on his forearm. You need to fold up the legs, but I think it still works way better.
Final Thoughts
If you have Siege Soundwave, you definitely need these two to round out the set. But even without that nagging completionism, they’re still fun little toys considering how inexpensive they are. That said, they really are meant as partner figures, and there’s nothing really wrong with that. Overall, I’d give this set and Soundwave a strong recommendation.
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afterspark-podcast · 7 years ago
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G1 Episode 1: Transcript
Episode Show Notes
[This can also be found on AO3!]
Stinger:
O: So, why don’t you tell me the worst possible thing the Bay movies did?
S: Basically, everything everything about them.
[Intro music plays]
O: Welcome back to [the] After Spark Podcast! I’m Owls!
S: And I’m Specs!
O: And today we’re here to talk to you about More than Meets the Eye Part One!
S: Oh, and part one is part one of three.
O: Yes. So basically let’s sit down and talk about giant robots, shall we? SO! This is the very beginning of the Transformers cartoon, so we get an opening in space. Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away… On Cybertron! There was WAR. [quietly] I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about the environment. [laughing]
S: [laughing] Oh, yes, there’s some lovely environments paintings here. They’re just, they’re really nice. And then we get to the giant robots.
O: And then we get to the giant robots! But I do want to pause, you actually found some, like, concept art-
S: Oh.
O: -Of the original.
S: Yeah, it’s, uh… I forgot the artist, I’d have to look him up. They’re very, very pretty! We’ll,  uh, we’ll find the post and link to it.
O: Sure! Uh, they’re a little bit more watercolor than you normally expect considering the, the color scheme on the show, but they are very pretty.
S: They’re very rainbowy- lot’s of yellows and pinks and golds and yes.
O: Anyway! So we start out on the planet Cybertron, which is the Transformers, ah, home planet, in the middle of WAR.
S: [laughing]
O: With the Autobots vs the Decepticons. And by Decepticons, I mean, Pure Evil (TM). [laughing]
S: That’s what they’re driven by. It’s-it’s their life goal.
O: It’s not that- because they were created to do war entirely and they really didn’t have anything else to do with their lives.
S: It gets weird depending on-
O: what continuity
S: -which continuity you’re in, or creation story. Because I think it’s implied later in the series that the quintessons built them and the Decepticons are warbuilds and the Autobots are like, the consumer-
O: Yeah-
S: -products.
O: -Something like that. Basically, what we’re getting at it. Is when you build someone only to fight, what options do they really have? But that’s not the point here, the point here is the Decepticons are the bad guys and run on PURE EVIL.
S: Yeah.
O: [clears throat] Anyway, so we open up and see two Autobots, which is Wheeljack and Bumblebee and, unlike Bumblebee from the movies, this Bumblebee can talk just fine. If you’re only familiar with the, uh, Bay-verse-
S: Mh-hmm.
O: -That does come around some of the animated ones later, but not here.
S: Yeah.
O: So they’re both snaggin’ some energy to take back to their base, which is based out of Iacon, which is an Autobot city-
S: Mm-hmm.
O: -Where they are jumped by the Seekers. Why don’t you give us a summary of the Seekers and then I’ll go into this stupid continuity shit because Oh My God.
S: Yeah, ok, so there’s Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker, They’re the main Seeker, ah, Trio, Trine? That we see in the series, except that basically Starscream is Megatron’s second in command and then the other two just sort of hang around for shits and giggles. [laughter]
O: They’re also all jets .
S: Yes, and on Cybertron they’re pyramid jets instead of being... F-15’s? Or whatever the heck they are on earth. I forget.
O: A few- A few characters, like during this part where they’re on Cybertron, have their own cybertronian designs. Not very many, most of them don’t transform, and the ones that even though they do transform still have the elements of their designs from earth, so like Wheeljack still looks like a lamborghini, which is pretty-
S: -Actually, he’s a Lancia Stratos.
O: OH, thank you! Wheeljack still looks like a Stratos, even though he turns into this weird hover car later. So-
S: And Bumblebee just. I don’t know what the heck his altmode is, but somehow [laughter continuing through rest of line] he has teeny, tiny wheels.
O: Somehow he, in fact, has teeny, tiny wheels. We’ll get to that in a moment. Anyway! So,they’re jumped by the Seekers, right.
S: Yes
O: Which-which seems pretty reasonable, but then the voice that come out of Starscreams’ mouth is not his. It’s definitely not his. It’s this really deep voice that’s going, “Get them,” or something. Along those lines.
S: Yep.
O: And so! I, because I was- I-I was curious what was going on here and I actually went and looked it up, because I had assumed that either Skywarp or Thundercracker’s voice was coming out of his mouth there. And then I just sort of, it just kept getting dumber the [laughter] more I looked. So, apparently, that’s actually Bumblebee’s voice actor. It’s not either of the other two jets, because it was probably supposed to just be a generic Decepticon but the animators stuck the Seekers here.
S: Mm-hmm.
O: Which doesn’t make a lot of sense [clears throat] for a variety of reasons. Mainly because Starscream we’ll see back in a couple minutes, is back in the base with Megatron, so uh, but then it got better, because when they cut, they turn into three completely different Seekers and one of them has a flamethrower. [laughter]
S: Yes, [laughter] That throws out perfectly spherical, well, no it’s not spherical, a perfect circle of fire just around the Autobots.
O: Yes! At which they promptly ignore and drive through anyway so you have to ask yourself, “What was the point?”
S: Yeah, Wheeljack has these stupid little, twirly spinny things? [The word I wanted was propeller] That he deploys before they drive through the fire and it’s like, “UM?”
O: I don’t know how it worked, but it did apparently? Um, so they manage to escape after Bumblebee gets hurt.
S: It’s, apparently, his rear axle or something, and you see him lose a [laughter] teeny, tiny wheel.
O: Which makes no sense because they’re both hover cars.
S: They look like hover cars except I don’t what the heck Bumblebee’s supposed to be because he’s sort of a weirdly-
O: He’s very weirdly shaped. Anyway, so Bumblebee [clears throat] hops on into Wheeljack and they, ah, drive off and escape the Decepticons.
S: Oh, and Wheeljack deploys, like, a shield or something which I don’t think we ever see again.
O: Get used to that!
S: It really weirds me out. It’s like Wheeljack, what’s the point? Why don’t you use this again? Does it go away when you’re on earth?
O: We then cut back to the Autobot base, which is strangely… booby shaped.
S: [Laughter]
O: I’m not sure why, but whatever. Anyway, outside the base you see Soundwave is spying on the Autobots and is just chilling out there. Now the fun part about this is, um, Soundwave, when they get to earth, will turn into a cassette player and right now he turns into a street lamp. [Laughter]
S: [Laughter] Apparently a street lamp. He could also be, y’know, like some sort of weird phone thing, except I don’t think the street would need like eight of those.
O: I’m pretty sure it’s a street lamp, but what kills me is that you see him turn back into robot mode and deploy Laserbeak, which is one of his cassette robots, but he still has a cassette deck despite turning into a, um, street lamp.
S: Yeah.
O: Which Ijust find kind of hilarious. We-we see Jazz drive by and somehow completely miss Soundwave who, I swear to god, turned back into a street lamp within the line of sight.
S: Yes, yes, he pretty much did, and I mean, why don’t the Autobots have a camera monitoring their front door?
O: Cause Laserbeak just, y’know, is gonna fly in there and what kills me is, they never have a Laserbeak detector? Laserbeak, on earth, enters their base multiple times, you’d think there would be something but no. I-Soundwave’s just like, yeah, I know what’s going on in the Autobot base at any given point.
S: Yeah, I mean, I’m sure at some point they end up with like, pressure sensors on the floor.
O: That doesn’t help with the bird. [Laughter]
S: [Laughter] I know!
O: Maybe it helps with Ravage?
S: It doesn’t help with ninjas.
O: [Snorts] Yeah, that’s coming, [Laughter] thank you for reminding me.
S: [Laughter]
O: We see Jazz drive back into the base and we’re introduced to the leader of the Autobots, which is Optimus Prime. Who, even if you know nothing about Transformers, you probably know who Optimus Prime is, because he’s one of the most recognizable ones. I would argue his design is a lot more recognizable than Megatron’s-
S: Yeah.
O: -especially G1.
S: Mm-hmm, he’s big, he’s red and blue and he turns into a Mack truck.
O: So, you know, he feels very burly and American-y, I guess. Because he turns into a freaking semi. Ah, so after we get our introduction to Optimus, we basically cut back to the Decepticon base because this show can’t focus too long on anything. But we’re finally introduced to the Decepticons and their leader, Megatron, who is going to be delightfully campy, and his posse.
S: [Laughter] And then Shockwave, he kind of ends up being the elevator guy later in the series. But he’s purple, he turns into a gun that can fly, and apparently he just likes chilling in his altmode.
O: Yeah, like, it cuts to the base and he just in gun mode and Megatron’s like, “Shockwave!” So I don’t know how that works.
S: Starscream, as I said earlier, is Megatron’s second in command and he really doesn’t hide his ambitions well. He doesn’t. At ALL.
O: So, again, depending on the continuity, but the general gist of Starscream, every Starscream, is that he wants to lead the Decepticons and doing so means basically he needs to kill Megatron because Megatron would probably rip him to pieces otherwise. [Laughter]
S: Except that he keeps telling Megatron, to his face, that he [Starscream] should be the leader of the Decepticons.
O: YES, and I can only assume that Megatron at this point and later only keeps him around for shits and giggles.
S: [Laughter]
O: That’s all I got. [Laughter]
S: Either that or, y’know, your own personal theory on that.
O: UH.
S: I don’t know if you want to share.
O: Personally, I think they’re in some sort of relationship and it is not a good relationship, and they should really not be in a relationship, but I feel like that makes the most sense for why Megatron just doesn’t rip the guys head off. BUT moving on, so after Starscream is Starscream for several minutes.
S: Mm-hmm.
O: Basically, the gist of it is, they find the Autobots are gonna leave Cybertron and Megatron’s like, “Well, clearly they’ve gotta be looking for something, we’d better follow them.” Because of course you are.
S: Gotta get that energy!
O: Gotta get that energon! Because energy shortage. Cut back to the Autobots who are now getting ready to blast off in their spaceship.
S: So basically, the cover on top of the city just sort of peels back and then-then the ship. There’s like nothing around the ship holding it up. It’s just hovering there and it’s like [bad sound effect] basically they fire up the engines and they blast off and it’s like ok, there’s nothing.
O: There’s no supports, so this thing goes straight up.
S: And you don’t see anything else in the city so, what, did they cannibalize entire the city for this thing? Or is it mostly underground and was- this was just their, “this is our spaceship hanger.”
O: Yeah.
S: That makes no frigging sense.
O: So, uh, they blast off. They clearly don’t know what the hell seatbelts are. [Laughter]
S: Yeah
O: Because, no one’s wearing them.
S: Yeah, they-they also don’t know what a rear view camera is. [Laughter]
O: As we’ll see! In just a moment! So the Decepticons follow them up into space.
S: In their really, really depressing purple spaceship. It looks so sad.
O: It-it has this really droopy nose and it looks like saddest spaceship in the entire universe. Anyway, basically, the Decepticons are following them, the Autobots don’t know this because aforementioned, they have no rear cameras. [Laughter]
S: Yeah
O: Suddenly, there are asteroids!
S: Yeah.
O: And-and then the Decepticons board the Autobot ship.
S: Yeah, there’s like some steam and stuff coming from where the hook-in is and then there’s just fighting. And-and Soundwave takes out three or four Autobots at once and then you see him, like, [laughter] face-down over a console.
O: Yes, he takes out three or four guys. He’s there being a badass because Soundwave is a badass, and then, like, the next shot, he’s like flat, he’s like face-down over a panel or something and your like, “What happened in those interim three seconds?”
S: Yeah, like, some of the guys that he was, that he was fighting and beating up last time are fighting someone else. Ok.
O: Yeah.
S: Ok
O: You have no idea what happened. SO While they’re fighting, with apparently no time in between, suddenly earth is there and they crash land on it.
S: How did these weirdos miss eight to nine planets and, I mean, and a sun, and how was this a surprise? Even if they were fighting. Shouldn’t there have been some sort of warning system or something?
O: You would think! This is a spaceship you’d think not running into asteroids or planets would be a bit of a concern.
S: And, I mean, how long has this been happening cuz, I mean, what? It took, like, thirty years for one of our spaceships [a probe, actually] to get, basically, from earth to the outer edge of our solar system.
O: I mean, I would assume they’re-they’re faster than what our spaceships could do definitely, but it does beg the question, “How long was that fight going on?”
S: Were they just beating each other up like Rock-Em, Sock-Em Robots-
O: -For like a hundred years? [Laughter]
S: I mean, considering their lifespans that’s not improbable but, uh, still really weird to think about.
O: Yes. So! They all crashland on earth and fall asleep for four million years, and four million years later they wake up from the world’s weirdest giant robot slumber party with the universe's worst hangovers.
S: Yeah.
O: Of course, they don’t wake up until the volcano they’ve apparently crash landed into-
S: Mt St. Hillary!
O: Mt St. Hillary erupts and jostles Skywarp into the ‘repair zone?’ [Laughter]
S: [Laughter] So it turns- Apparently the volcano blowing up, like, wakes up Teletraan-1 and then it knocks Skywarp into Teletraan-1’s weird repair beam and the ship! How does the ship not know who it’s crew is?
O: You-you would think, cause, like, I know we kind of mentioned earlier, but Skywarp is a Decepticon, he’s one of the Seekers. How would this thing not have, like, oh, a Decepticon signal is-is, y’know, detected- don’t repair this one, you’d think? But clearly they don’t! So, Skywarp gets- So, Skywarp wakes up, we see Teletraan-1 flying around earth, scanning earth vehicles so that’s gonna be the alt modes everyone gets.
S: I think it’s probably a Sky-Spy that’s doing the scanning.
O: Fair point.
S: But I don’t remember if it’s a Sky-Spy or if Sky-Spy’s were only invented later, by Wheeljack. I don’t remember…
O: Anyway, we-we see some sort of little device running around earth, scanning alt earth modes for bots. So Skywarp woke up first- he, basically, drags Megatron over to the Heal Zone. [Laughter]
S: [Laughter] Yeah, the Heal Zone!
O: The Heal Zone!  And Megatron wakes up and, thus, they heal the rest of the Decepticons and instead of doing the smart thing.
S: Like, y’know, killing your-
O: Mortal enemy.
S: -Yes. That are, y’know, incapable of fighting back.
O: They’re like, we’re just gonna olly out of here, because this is a waste of energon.
S: Pretty much, gotta go find some cool energon, gotta go fuel up. [Laughter]
O: ‘Cause it’s the Eighties, so it’s ener-GON! [Laughter]
S: [Laughter]
O: While they all, like, sort of group up on a cliff-
S: -outcropping? [muffled]
O: I don’t know.
S: Villainously, maybe?
O: Villainously. Basically, the question of, “Hey, why don’t we kill the Autobots?” sort of comes up and Megatron’s like, “That’s a waste of energy, they’re asleep. Come on, let’s do our shit,” And Starscream, being Starscream, shoots at the, uh, shoots at the Ark, the Autobot spaceship. And-which jostles Optimus into the heal zone. [Laughter]
S: Well, he [Starscream] actually shoots, like, an overhang of rock that fall- that collapses and then that jostles Optimus into the heal zone.
O: Right! But what I’m getting at here, is it’s all Starscream’s fault!
S: Pretty much, pretty much.
O: [Laughter] And again, second in command of the Autobo-, er, the Decepticons, here, folks. Cut to the Decepticons who are now setting up a new base, which is also purple!
S: Yep, like, it’s obviously Megatron’s favorite color- I guess Skywarp is Megatron’s favorite Decepticon, since he’s the most purple one that we see right now, except for Shockwave. And he’s also the one that, like, Megatron was the first dude he went to help. So, it’s like, A) his boss, B) the dude that is, like, his favorite person. [Laughter] Or something.
O: Basically, what we’re getting at, is Megatron’s favorite color is purple, and I have comic panels that prove this. [Laughter]
S: Mm-hmm, yep. Lost Light, I think? Probably.
O: Probably, ‘cause I think it’s, like, he painted this entire ship purple or something. [Laughter]
S: Yeah, yeah, that’s it.
O: Anyway, Decepticons are setting up their new base. Starscream, Soundwave, and Rumble, which is another one of, ah, Soundwave’s cassette bots-
S: -Cassette- cassetticons.
O: -Cassetticons, ok, thank you.
S: You’re welcome.
O: Basically, see a human powerplant in the distance and are like, “Yo, we need energy!” So they fly off to go do that. All of them fly, yes. You, too, will believe a cassette- [laughter] -a cassette player can fly. [laughter]
S: Oh-ok, so, the reason they’re going over there is a, a little less energy, and more, “Let’s get materials to build this stupid base!”
O: Right. But they’re like, “Let’s go over there! [Laughter] Let’s do this.”
S: Mm-hmm.
O: Ah, Soundwave is not allowed to come up with, like, operation names, I forgot what this one was, but y- later he just says some really generic ones. I’m like, “Buddy, buddy, noooo.”
S: Yeah, they’re kind of… “Operation: Devastation.” Or something.
O: Operation: Tidal Wave-
S: Yep.
O: -was my personal favorite, because it was just like, no they’re just trying to make a tidal wave. There’s nothing else going on here right now.
S: Except that’s not how tidal waves work!
O: I know! I know! So, the Autobots have woken up and they’re taking stock of their surroundings and they’re determined to find and stop the Decepticons, so Cliffjumper and Hound are sent off to scout.
S: Yep. OK, so we see Optimus, like, give-so, the Autobots are taking stock of what’s going on, that they’re on a new world, and that they need to go, go out and scout and do things! And so we’ve got Hound, who is A) our scout, B) he’s got hologram powers and other things, and he’s a pretty neat dude. And then there’s Cliffjumper, who’s Mr. Triggerhappy [but not Triggerhappy]. Don’t send the triggerhappy one, Optimus, just don’t.
O: But he does! So, I’m sure you can guess what happens next! The show is not that creative.
S: It-it isn’t. It isn’t.
O: So Cliffjumper and Hound find the Decepticon base and a basically listening in to Megatron as he is monologuing, ah, to, I think, Soundwave. But, because of how it’s shot, it just kind of feels like Hound is jacking into Megatron’s brain-waves with the satellite and I don’t know that’s so funny to me but it is. [Laughter]
S: It is pretty funny. [Laughter]
O: Only ‘cause you don’t, you don’t, like, a lot of it is shown from, like, Hounds perspective with his like satellite thing listening. [indistinct, we talked over each other]
S: His little radar dish.
O: Yeah, so it’s just sort of like, are they just jacking into Megatron’s head? Cause that’s kind of what that looks like. So then, Cliffjumper gets the brilliant idea to shoot Megatron.
S: Like, he says he’s in his-
O: Crosshairs?
S: No, it’s not crosshairs, it’s like, “In his viewfinder.” I think viewfinder’s the word that he used.
O: He had one job, which was to go scout and he couldn’t do that but, what made it worse is, HE ALSO FUCKING MISSED! [Laughter]
S: [Laughter] That wasn’t in your line of sight, or your crosshairs, or whatever! You triggerhappy little, red lunatic.
O: Red lunatic, yup, yup yup. Anyway! So, after Megatron almost gets shot, Soundwave’s like, “Laserbeak, go get them,” and ejects him again.
S: Mm-hmm.
O: So then, one of my favorite things in this episode happens, which Hound and Cliffjumper are like, “ Oh no, if we split up, they can’t get us.” So they’re like, this is a great idea. And Laserbeak, not being a fucking moron, shoots a missile that’s gonna follow...Hound? [indistinct]
S: The missile follows Cliffjumper.
O: The missile follows Cliffjumper and it’s hilarious because it keeps cutting between Hound and Cliffjumper, and the missile is, like, strangely sentient? [Laughter] And it’s dodging?
S: It’s really good at following Cliffjumper, really good!
O: It just sort of feels like Laserbeak popped out a baby that is sentient and is following Cliffjumper.
S: And then dies.
O: [Laughter] And then dies. Um, so it misses, so Cliffjumper’s okay, but Hound gets hit to we can get introduced to the ambulance bot, Ratchet.
S: Mm-hmm. [indistinct] Ratchet, Ratchet’s portable medibay that I think we only see this one time.
O: Keep remembering this is a pilot and they did some weird things that don’t show up at any point later.
S: Yep, and we also meet a dude named Hauler, who I think we never see again. We might see him once, I don’t think we ever… Maybe once more, I don’t think we ever see him talk. But yeah, Hauler does not equal, equal Grapple. And-
O: Very similar looking, I assume? [Transcription note: yes, they are very similar looking]
S: Well, I think Grapple only shows up in Season two,
O: Hrm.
S: So, yeah. And so this dude may be more elusive than cartoon Skids, who I think shows up, like, twice. And may or may not ever talk.
O: After all that junk happens, we cut to Thundercracker and three, I know they’re not mini-cons but they’re really small?
S: They’re closer to being minibots, I guess.
O: Ok-
[talking over each other]
S: Mini-cons are basically the tiny little dudes that in, that showed up in Armada that basically, basically they, uh, like tie in and provide power boosts to other Transformers and so minicon, like, specifically means… that. Unless we’re talking about 2005, 2015 Robots in Disguise, in which case, they’re just tiny dudes. [Transcription note: … I was wrong about that, 2015 RiD mini-cons do provide power-ups.]
O: Ok, which is kind of what I’m operating [under]. But anyway, you’ve got three smaller robots who can turn into a polaroid camera. [Reflector]
S: Yeah, they- they’re a weird little combiner dude.
O: They are. Anyway, so Thundercracker picks them up takes- snaps a picture of a truck and mistakes it for an Autobot. I don’t know why he needed a polaroid camera- [clears throat]
S: To identify an Autobot.
O: That wasn’t! That’s- I think the best part here is he’s wrong, so of course they send somebody out to investigate and, oh no, it’s actually humans, who are then attacked by one of Soundwave’s other cassettes, which is Ravage who turns into a giant panther.
S: Mm-hmm.
O: By giant, I mean he’s, aah, about as tall as a person probably.
S: He’s, uh, he’s a cassette, a cassetticon.
O: Cassetticon.
S: Yeah, his shoulder goes up to, like, human shoulders? Or something?
O: Probably. Something along those lines. The Autobots mobilize after being warned by Cliffjumper and Hound of the Decepticon plan. Why Cliffjumper wasn’t punished for just not fucking scouting I’ll never understand, but whatever.
S: They then make a joke about it, about, “Oh, you shouldn’t have missed!” and it’s sort of weirdly lighthearted. Being in a military unit. [talking over each other]
O: Oh, that scamp! [Laughter]
S: Kind of. And I mean, the humans that Ravage attacks are the honestly most sensible people in this whole cartoon, ‘cause they get the hell out.  
O: Yeah!
S: [talking over each other] They olly on out!
O: When the giant panther attacks attacks you get the hell out. Anyway, so the Autobots mobilize and do what I can only describe as toy roll call because they are introduced by name one at a time, except for like two characters who aren’t on the screen at the same time, b-but mostly it’s a toy roll call, y’know, for the kids so y’know what- what toys to buy the kids. Remember the toys, kids? The toys.
S: Pretty much and it’s Majordomo Jazz leading the roll call, so we’re not quite sure what the Autobot, like, hierarchy here is, ‘cause I think, Prowl’s generally the second but I don’t think he’s introduced as the second and Jazz, like, is the one who leads most of the, like, troop actions, apparently.
O: I’m going to go with Jazz is just more of a people person [laughter] ‘cause Prowl is kind of… He’s the one who’s, like, gotta keep discipline.
S: Pretty much, yeah.
O: So, the Decepticons! Land on an oil rig because they want to get power to make energon.
S: Oh-oh, and apparently energon cubes aren’t really a thing for Autobots, like, it’s specified that they’re gonna put energon in a cube when Hound reports back.
O: Yeah, they’re like some kind of cube things, so clearly what we’re saying here is Energon Cubes has been trademarked by, ah, Soundwave.
S: Mm-hmm.
O: Ah, obviously, and now I just want to imagine him in like, y’know, an actual trademark office [Specs laughs] and trying to fill this stuff out and, like, maybe Perceptor’s in there doing the same thing for some sciency thing and they’re just kind of like, “Hey.” “Hey.” [Then they] get back to doing paperwork.
S: Yeah, like, he’s [Perceptor] trademarking his anti-cosmic rust thing.
O: [Laughter] Yeah, something like that.
S: Um, so the first time we see Sparkplug and Spike, they’re on this oil rig and, what is it? Is it take your child to work day? Even if it’s an oil rig?
O: Yeah, ‘cause Spike’s, like, what? Fourteen? Sixteen? Something like that.
S: I feel like he’s supposed to be sixteen though in the original comics he’s older than Buster, who’s the the main human that hangs out with the Autobots, so he was like eighteen or twenty one in that, so I don’t know what to expect. [Talking over each other]
O: You-We don’t know what’s going on there and why a chi- a fourteen year old- sixteen year old, whatever, would be on an oil rig with his dad.
S: I feel like he’s supposed to be sixteen but… Y’never. It’s never clarified.
O: Pretty much. Anyway! So, Decepticons attack an oil rig and humans freak out about the forty foot robots that have suddenly landed. And by freak out, I mean, humans are territorial and will attack anything and are throwing all this shit at Megatron and like, ah, what like, tools and a crowbar and like all these other various things. They’re just like, “Oh my god! There’s this giant thing, throw shit at it!” [Laughter]
S: Pretty much let’s make it go away by assaulting it with-with tools.
O: Yes! Then Soundwave makes Energon cubes which the Decepticons promptly fill with oil and then squish, and somehow that turns into energon?
S: Yeah.
O: I don’t know.
S: It’s weird, it’s- oh god it’s like those- So you know there are those, uh, plastic bag things that you can like vacuum se- you put clothes in-
O: {Laughter] Oh god. You vacuum seal.
S: - With a vacuum in order to condense it, and for y’know storage, and that’s all this reminds me of, except somehow that’s how they process your oil into energon.
O: Vacuum sealed energon, got it, cool, cool. So Decepticons are creating mass chaos as you do and the Autobots arrive. By flying… Remember that later!
S: Mm-hmm.
O: Because they’re FLYING!
S: Yeah.
O: And it doesn’t look assisted.
S: Yeah.
O: Uh, so all out fighting breaks out. Megatron does what I can only describe as a trust fall, by alting into his gun and being caught by Starscream-
S: Yeah.
O: -Um, who’s firing him. Insert joke here, something. Anyway, there’s laserfire everywhere, on an oil rig. Good thing there’s not anything combustible here, right?
S: Except the oil is running free.
O: Yeah. So, that’s happening and then Megatron and Optimus are trying to fight, and then Laserbeak tries to attack Optimus Prime.
S: And ok, he’s probably trying to, like, rip his optics out or something, but all-all we get is bonk! [Laughter]
O: They use a bonk sound effect, so you just, it kind of feels like it was something running into a glass window or something. *clnk* *clnk* *clnk* *clnk*
S: [Laughing] Basically- He’s basically just bonking him on the head.
O: [Laughing] And which, I’m sure is annoying, but probably isn’t going to do any damage to Optimus Prime. So then the Deceptions escape and only now are there explosions. But only when Megatron wants explosions.
S: And he’s laughing alone with fire.
O: He’s laughing alone with fire! See the true power of the leader of the Decepticons!
S: [Laughing]
O: Cause then we gotta save them humans, uh, and that’s basically where the episode cuts.
S: More or less. Yeah, like Sparkplug and Spike are trapped under some weirdly unsinkable metal bits that they apparently can’t dive out from under and there’s some weird stuff going on with Sparkplug’s arm where you can just see his forearm and it doesn’t look like it’s connected to his shoulder at all.
O: Animation errors. So we cut to it and it’s like, “Next episode: Dams! Arch enemies! And,” my own personal favorite, “how rubies are a warlords best friend! So stay tuned!”
S: [Laughing] Yeah! I’m looking forward to the rubies.
O: So this episode of More than Meets the Eye part one is a- part one of a three parter so, y’know [indistinct], but that is where the episode ends is, “The oil rig is exploding!” and “Oh no, save the humans!” So! That’s the end of our first episode and we’ll have the next one up soon if it’s not already up. Something we wanted to bring up here is that originally, it would have been kind of fun we could of gone over some of the more memorable animation or continuity errors while we were doing this…
But holy fucking Primus, there are so many! Literally, it is six and a half pages single spaced. If you take all of the sections off of, like, the TFWiki for just this site, which is, I think, animation and technical errors, continuity errors, and trivia, which I know isn’t errors but, still, fun information. SO, ah, I think it’s safe to say we’ll call ‘em when we sees ‘em, but only if they’re going to be particularly amusing for us because, oooh, we’re not going to go over six and a half pages of animation errors. If that’s your thing, though, the TFWiki is a fantastic resource, definitely go over there, get your fill of trivia, ‘cause they’ve got it all!
S: Yeah, I’ll note animation errors if they particularly annoy me.
O: So! Specs, what is our fanfic recommendations for the week!
S: Well, I’ve got two recommendations, both of which are complete. There’s Transformers: Juxtaposition by Vaeru, which I may or may not be pronouncing their name correctly, um, yeah. So, rating- it’s rated T, it’s gen, there aren’t really any pairings. The main character is an OC [Evelyn], an original character, but everyone else is the G1 cast with a few other OC’s, original characters, that show up. So, in summary, “A car wreck on a rainy night leads to the oddest partnership imaginable. A disembodied voice, possessed cars, alien robots, kidnapping, rescue, abduction, sparks, keys, and tomato sandwiches... Read if you dare.”
S: So, part of why I chose this is that it’s a first contact story, it’s just. Evelyn is a really fun human character, she’s very entertaining, she’s a linguistics professor, and [spoiler alert!] basically her first contact with alien robots ends up in, basically, with one of the alien robots stuck in her head. And she thinks she’s going kind of batty but then he bodynaps her onto an alien spaceship and the other alien robots are very nonplussed by this.
O: [Snorts laughter]
S: So, and then, ah, our second, ah, recommen- well, my second recommendation, our second? Let’s go with ‘our’ second recommendation is-
O: [laughing] I’ve actually read this one!
S: I’ve recommended that you read Juxtaposition, but it’s like forty chapters long, and I should probably mention that. So, yeah, forty chapters long. It’s really long and it’s only the first part.
S: But, yeah, the second recommendation that we have is, “Why the Ark has no Doors” by Princess Artemis. So, continuity is G1, it’s rated K, it’s gen, no pairings, and the characters are the G1 cast, focusing mainly on Wheeljack and Wheeljack’s inventions. So-
O: And the shenanigans, therefore.
S: Mm-hmm, so in summary, “It has been asked why the Autobots never tried to make the Ark more secure. Well...they did. It just didn't work out as planned. G1.” So the theme or basically the reason why I put this in is, Ark security or surveillance and/or the lack thereof, like my comment, uh, earlier in our, uh, conversation today.
O: So, ah, our fanart recommendation for the week is Taiyari and I’m so sorry if I’m not saying that right, you can find them at taiyari.tumblr.com,  we will have a link. I’ve included some examples of the art that I’ve personally really liked, uh, they tend to do a lot of Megatron and Optimus stuff, but I actually came across them ‘cuz Specs had reblogged a kickstarter they were doing for pins of Soundwave and his cassettes that were super adorable! I may have ordered one. But their other stuff is great, too, and you should check them out!
O: So, thanks for listening to us today! Uh, just to kind of give a rundown of our social media, you can find us mostly on Tumblr at Afterspark-Podcast.tumblr.com. We are on Twitter and Facebook at AftersparkPod, all one word, and you can reach us via email, at Aftersparkpodcast [at] outlook [.] com. All this information can be found through our Tumblr as well.
O: Anyway, that’s it from us today! Please join us next time for More than Meets the Eye, Part two of the original three part pilot of Transformers!
O: This has been Owls!
S: And I’m Specs!
O: And thanks for listening to us, we’ll see you next time!
S: Toodles!
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