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[noxer]

I like Getaway And I don't want him to die. I want to break him. I want him to have no lies, no pretense, no excuses, only the painful truth that will destroy him. I want him to have to face the full consequences of his actions, without an easy way out. I want him to live in the ruins of his life, which he himself ruined, leaving him questioning whether it was worth it. I want any attempt he makes to feel better, instead of being better, to end in failure. I want his path to some semblance of normality to be difficult and long, so that he constantly has to take steps back and start over. I want his festering wounds to start bleeding so they can cleanse themselves. Oh yeah, I really like this guy

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Make some gardening

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«Welcome to the nightmare in my head Say hello to something scary»

Mz.Hyde - Halestorm

This song plays on repeat in my head every time I think about Getaway, i'm telling you, it's his villain song

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Parallax and Halo have known each other the longest. Parallax has a very laid-back personality, so they have little trouble putting up with Halo's... complex personality. They approach everything with a kind of relaxed laziness and little can excite them, although sometimes they like to tease others purely for the sake of entertainment. Halo are quite nasty at times. They are very noisy, and therefore it seems that there are too many of them. If they are happy, sad or angry (the latter most often), everyone immediately knows about it. Impact, on the other hand, are very soft, but they are that way by choice, so they are quite hard in that regard. They will not do anything that goes against their principles. In addition, they have better combat skills than others, so it’s understandable that they don’t like to get involved in problems, because they’ll have to deal with it later.

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Well, that's it, it's time to draw my own robots. Here they are from left to right, Parallax, Halo, Impact.

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Young as spring If I could sleep all winter like a lustrous, I would, like Phos, go to bed early and be the last to get up

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"Getaway - from hero to zero"

DISCLAIMER: Everything expressed is a subjective opinion that does not claim to be true or significant, I am not justifying anyone, and all this is necessary to simply examine one character under a magnifying glass.

I really love Getaway as a character because you can endlessly interpret him and his actions, even though he only appears in MTMTE and LL, which I remember were written by the same writing team. Getaway is interesting as an antagonist, especially since at first he is presented as a rather likeable character, and at the time of the events of MTMTE his motivation is still quite understandable. And the fact that it's getting such a negative reaction shows how well it's written (or how much people like Cygate). And he’s so pathetic that I want to tenderly bite his head off. So I want to put together what we have on this special agent and see what he’s like. After all, despite the fact that he is revealed to us in comics, we can only guess about many details, since the writers could not show everything as it is, so as not to disrupt the intrigue.

First steps

The only thing we know about Getaway's past is his telling Tailgate about his first battle, from which the newly activated Getaway escaped. I don’t want to analyze specifically the act itself, because it is quite difficult to judge whether this escape was justified or not (pro - what else did the Autobots expect from a newborn?; con - the other MTO, it seems, remained to fight). I want to talk more about the impact of this act on Getaway's personality. Because Getaway is definitely ashamed of what happened, since it doesn’t fit into the image he wants to create. The only reason he shares this story with Tailgate is to a) make Tailgate feel sorry for him; b) instill in Tailgate an even greater sense of hostility towards Decepticons; c) a kind of therapy - he needs to share this with someone, and he doesn’t feel an emotional attachment to Tailgate, that is, he doesn’t care what he thinks about him, plus, Tailgate still has to die according to the plan, which means he’s already won't tell anyone anything.

Shame in most cases leads to anger, either at oneself or at others. Getaway chooses the second, and begins to slowly accumulate resentment and anger towards both the Autobots and the Decepticons, that is, towards those who started this war and thus forced him to be born as a soldier. In addition, the feeling that he is now forever branded a coward lays the first bricks of Getaway's exorbitant ambitions, as a way to make amends for his initial transgression. Let's add to this the very status of Getaway as literally a consumable item - the fact that he could die in the first minutes of his life was quite expected. Then attempts to become something big become a matter not only of ambition, but also of banal survival, because a specialist is less likely to be sent directly under fire than an ordinary soldier.

Diplomatic corps

We know almost nothing about Getaway’s work in the special unit. What I want to highlight here is Getaway's attitude towards Prowl. He clearly has a certain respect for him, and we have no reason to believe that this respect is feigned, if only because Getaway's behavior is in many ways a copy of Prowl's, only a little more inept. Getaway tries to manipulate like Prowl, tries to scheme like Prowl, but since he has less experience being the one who plans the operations rather than the one who executes them, things do not go entirely smoothly. Honestly, I can't get out of my head the image of Prowl berating Getaway not for attempted mutiny, but for how clumsy it was.

I mean, his entire plan rested on one Tailgate, and if something happened (and it did), all, literally all the threads would lead to Getaway. Getaway tries to be smart and accurate, but in the end his actions still amount to brutal blows to the head (sometimes literally), simply because that's how Getaway is used to acting. He is an operative, not a tactician or strategist. He acts here and now, with small goals like “kill X”, “successfully escape”, “survive”, and when fate confronts him with the need for long-term planning, Getaway simply cannot cope. No matter how manipulative the scriptwriters make him out to be, for the most part Getaway behaves almost instinctively. I highlight this this way because a similar pattern of “a small person (bot) trying to seem like something big” is clearly visible in Getaway’s behavior almost always. He tries to be an Autobot, but escapes from his first battle. He tries to be an "evil genius", but in the end, all his plans fail and he gets through only through luck and evil chaotic throwing, in the hope that something will work. He wants to become Prime, but does everything to ensure that his name is associated with this title as little as possible. Getaway may be a villain, but he's primarily a failed villain, not a villain with a plan.

"Primus apotheosis" - or similar symptoms?

I'm actually very wary of the whole "primus apotheosis" situation, because it was only added in LL, and therefore there are some doubts and inconsistencies with MTMTE, but more on that a little later. What do we know at all: there are certain signs that distinguish Prime from among ordinary bots, and Getaway, having discovered them in himself, becomes fixated on this. Why is that? Back to the “I’m-more-than-I-seem” pattern. For Getaway, it is important to be more significant than he is, so much so that he is ready to cling to semi-mythical descriptions just to feel better. In fact, these signs are no better than some “aryan standards” - they are just an easy way to gain superiority over others. For Getaway, “primus apotheosis” is only a consequence of his ambitions and inferiority complex, which took this form due to the war surrounding him and a certain “cult of Prime” that reigned among the Autobots. Since 1) i am a doctor not in the field of psychology, 2) we have no information about the Cybertronian psyche, 3) Freud’s diagnoses is not the most reliable, in principle, it is difficult to say whether Getaway actually has such a disorder, but if yes, it fits perfectly into his image.

Also, the “primus apotheosis” fits into another aspect of Getaway’s personality – his rather contradictory relationship with their god. The Autobots, unlike the Decepticons, in some places still retain a somewhat functional attitude, as well as faith in Primus. From this point of view, Getaway is in a rather unenviable position - he is a MTO who ran away from his battle, that is, in some sense, did not fulfill his function, he is constructed cold, that have long been considered second-class, he is a murderer, no matter what he said. And Getaway simultaneously hates Primus for who he created him, who he forced him to be, and longs for recognition and forgiveness from him. Becoming a Prime was about affirming that he was worthy, that he was forgiven, that everything he had done was right. Because if sinners like Optimus and Rodimus could become Primes, then so could Getaway.

Mutiny

We already know that Getaway hates his origins, and this anger is constantly projected onto others, but especially Megatron. The logical chain is as follows: “if you had not started the war, I would not have been created as MTO, I would not have had to become what I became, I would not have had to prove my right to life, I could have been like others.” For Getaway, Megatron is another obstacle to being as valuable as the others. He dared to start this war, and made Getaway's life like this. I also wonder if Getaway might see killing Megatron as some kind of “redemption”? "I killed the greatest monster in our history, something previous Primes couldn't do, I'm not that hopeless, right?" However, even if you remove the specific reasons, Getaway will still have the motivation to get rid of Megatron, because of whom many, many cybertronians died. Removing the one who started and supported the most destructive war of your species away sounds like a good reason. And Getaway does everything for this purpose, at least until the ill-fated events of LL.

Crucial moment

The difference between Getaway MTMTE and Getaway LL is quite noticeable. In MTMTE, Getaway is motivated precisely by his hatred of Megatron as a military leader; his “primus apotheosis” was only added into LL. In MTMTE, Getaway really was a mini-Prowl - he had a completely understandable and even justified motivation - to get rid of an objectively dangerous crew member - which he solves in a not the most humane way, using Tailgate. Getaway in MTMTE has a lot of likeable traits until we are gradually introduced to his slightly less pleasant sides, making it difficult for us to know how to feel about him. Yes, he put one of the beloved characters in danger, but he did it for a reason we can understand. We get asked a pretty tough question, which is great, right?

Now forget all this. Because in LL, Getaway does terrible things for terrible reasons, and his “primus apotheosis” is revealed, and it just becomes difficult for us to respect him at least as a villain.

But why is this even the case?

Doylist explanation

It was vital to the writers that the core cast was Always Right™. In MTMTE, it was quite easy to sympathize with Getaway (unless you are a fierce fan of Tailgate and Cygate). And since the main goal was the redemption of Megatron, Getaway had to be removed. Because Getaway's character asked this question: "Maybe Megatron can redeem himself. Maybe he deserves it. But what if we, who suffered from his decisions, are physically unable to forgive him after all? Don't we deserve our good ending?" And the writers didn't have an answer to that question (because there's no right answer). And they had to make Getaway much worse so that readers would not have the slightest desire to understand and and accept his ideas.

Watsonian explanation

Getaway has really, truly gone crazy. He has currently spent some time in a cell, unable to move or speak, having previously been held captive by Tyrest for an undetermined amount of time. Yes, Getaway is an operative, his psyche must be prepared, but everyone has their own limit of strength. Getaway later leaves the team at the mercy of DJD because they were the ones who threw him into the cell, even though he was doing them a favor by getting rid of Megatron. Thus, he allows his partner and friend to die, which is also unlikely to contribute to mental health. And as time goes on, Getaway's actions become increasingly desperate and insane in an attempt to survive and reach Cyberutopia, where he hopes he can find forgiveness for all the terrible things he has done. In the end, his last actions are, in order, 1) an attempt to blow up the ship along with himself; 2) unsuccessful suicide attempt; 3) an absolutely senseless attack on Cyclonus, either out of desperation or in the hope that he would kill him; 4) he lost his sense of reality so much that he believed the illusion created by the scraplet colony. By the end of LL, Getaway is more of a hunted animal than the calculating saboteur he was in MTMTE.

Bottom line

So what do we get in the bottom line? Getaway was destined from birth to become a bargaining chip in a conflict to which he had nothing to do. His unsuccessful "debut" began his quest to become something significant, in the hopes that others would forget who he was. Prowl gives him this opportunity, which is why Getaway begins to see him as a role model, adopting his worldview, ways of acting and attitude towards others. At the same time, Getaway “grows up” in an environment where some stereotypes and prejudices, including religious ones, still persist, and there is also an idealized figure of Prime. Since his promotion to special agent has hardly changed anything for Getaway about himself, he becomes fixated on the supposed signs (perhaps with the occasional intervention from Skids), although most of the time he "keeps it under control" until something serious happens. Getaway has loyalties and principles, he can have feelings towards others, and I don't believe his attempts to kill Megatron were always purely selfish. But Getaway puts these feelings aside in favor of “more important things,” because the fear of being a nobody again, of being just MTO running away from battle, is stronger than all his attachments. Getaway is a terrible (and rather unhappy) bot, not because he has always been like this, as they tried to present it in LL, but because between real significance - being important to someone - he chooses false significance - being important to everyone, which the same as being important to no one. It is still easier for Getaway to run away, chasing something illusory, than to fight for something important. And no one is to blame for this but him.

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Birdies

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A picture with stunticons, similar to last year. In general, I wanted to draw just aerialbots to pair with them, but the skill has changed, so I’m redrawing stanticons (+Nightbird now) first. Maybe later I’ll throw headcanons at everyone.

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What hits my heart every time is that Clu, no matter what, never stopped considering Flynn to be The Very User, his God. And that's why he couldn't forgive him. Sam loves his father – but he also knows that he has completely failed at being a father, a friend, a user. But Sam still forgives him because he understands that his father is just a man who can and will make mistakes. He doesn't see God in him, he doesn't put him on a pedestal. Kevin screwed up just like anyone else, and Sam understands that and forgives him. But Clu sees God in him to the last, and God cannot, does not dare, has no right to make mistakes. And when Flynn tells him that he was wrong to create him this way, giving him his current purpose, Clu simply can't forgive him. Because his God is better off dead than if he never really existed.

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What's sadder: a child who still wants to please their parent, no matter what they has to do, or a parent who still loves their child, no matter how low they has fallen?

This is inspired by (though not illustrated by) The Five Stages of Rectification. You should read this, seriously.

Original of the idea

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Red, Purple, Blue

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Why does Silverbolt even have to be a jet?

Sometimes I wonder why autobots didn't bring Silverbolt back to a more familiar altmode. Yes, at first they just had to defeat Megatron, but then what? They know he doesn't feel comfortable like this, if his acrophobia is any indication. What difference does it really make what kind of airplane, Silverbolt should be if he still fights? How does Silverbolt feel at all? Does he feel like he's missing something, like there's something wrong with him? Or is he just brushing these feelings aside? One could say that the lack of resources is to blame, but Ratchet and Wheeljack literally created dinobots just because they could. I don’t know, maybe Silverbolt really doesn’t feel anything like that, or he doesn’t want to bother the older Autobots with this, or he doesn’t even understand what exactly he feels. I just… think about it sometimes.

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Let's just agree that the version "Soundwave and Blaster are siblings" may be the most unrealistic, but it is also the most hilarious. They're the type of siblings who tell each other "don't talk to me when we get to school," even though they're probably the only deck mechs there and it's hard not to guess the connection between them. Optimus Prime says, "I won't force you to fight against your own sibling," and Blaster just, "Nah, it's okay. I tried to drown Soundwave when we were five."

I'm just curious. I most often see the first, although in the IDW canon it seems to be the second version, and I have almost never seen the third.

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I'm just curious. I most often see the first, although in the IDW canon it seems to be the second version, and I have almost never seen the third.

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Almost a year has passed and I'm ready to reconsider my opinion about IDW!Shockwave

Ok, I guess my problem isn't with him, but with larger part of the fandom. Almost everyone thinks of Senator Shockwave as "real Shockwave" and sometimes that would be…wrong? Like, yeah, the Senate corrupted Shockwave, but how can we say that he became a different person because of it? Only because his beliefes have changed? But this happens with litarally everyone! Do you remember this perfect phrase? "Despite everything, it's still you".

Shadow Play is a cybertronian punishment… and perhaps a metaphor for trauma? Shockwave was broken in every way, he had experienced terrible things and, of course, he had changed. But it's still him. To say that Senator Shockwave is "real Shockwave" is to ignore that experience. As if who Shockwave had become is unworthy of being saved and healed. As if, if he was worth fighting for, it would be for the return of "real Shockwave", and not for the sake of the current one. Yes, trauma needs to be healed, but the person will not just return to who they were before. There is a very fine line between the desire to help and the selfish desire to bring back a more comfortable and pleasant version of a person, regardless of their experience and feelings, is what I want to say.

The real Shockwave is the current Shockwave.

P.S. And even if we consider the current Shockwave as a different person, who is to say that this person is less worthy of life than Senator Shockwave?

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Does anyone know how to organize a character week? I think there should be a vote, right? And i've seen people using Google Forms for this. But even if it's a vote, do you still need to select enough prompts to choose from or what?