#Functionist Universe Arc

[tiesthatbind-tf]

Who got trapped in the functionalist world again?

- HotRod (Expedition leader/Frontliner)

- Brainstorm (Data collection)

- Whirl (Frontliner)

- Drift (Frontliner)

- First Aid (Medic)

- Nautica (Engineer)

- Rung (Overseer/tech specialist)

[transingthoseformers]

There's a certain brand of angst with the Megatron (war era / post war era) x Orion Pax (pre-war era) brand of megop

Crunchy stuff to me

[artsy-hobbitses]

First || Next

Cast:

Preston Wan Peirong (Prowl)

Roman Ulysses Nazarius Gaillard (Rung)

Hanley Riordan (HotRod)

Sun Byeong-Ho (Brainstorm)

Anita Carlos (Nautica)

Backed by demand, TTB will be experimenting with short comics, beginning with this test run of a set of pages featuring the end of the Functionist Universe Arc! These comics will take time however, and future works will be complemented with writing instead.

(Also no thoughts, only buff arms Nautica, baby)

Other artworks in this arc:

There can be only one

Worthy

[decepti-thots]

Character ask for Ratchet?

one aspect about them i love: I really enjoy the fact IDW Ratchet is genuinely quite... maybe outright calling him 'arrogant' is overstating it a little, but you know what I mean? He's presented as having that very particular kind of 'if I can't and don't do this, nobody can and nobody will' which is both a kind of generosity (he'll go above and beyond if he thinks it's the right thing to do, without questioning whether he has to) and also very much cocky and even self-centered at times. (See: him never quiiiite getting around to handing off being CMO to First Aid, despite swearing he will, no, really...) He's so up his own ass at times, but also in that way where you can see how it stems from a very specific desire to be able to fix something. Excellent combination of traits. In a very weird and indirect way, he has just slightly more in common with Rodimus than I think he'd like to admit, in this regard, TBH. one aspect i wish more people understood about them:

Ratchet's kind of a judgey asshole with huge blindspots. Like. It's a pretty core character trait IMO! Once he forms an opinion his confidence in his own rightness makes it hard to shake him from it, and he's prone to taking his own faulty premises for granted enough that this can amplify his worst tendencies. You see it in everything from the way his self-directed insecurity over his failing hands is also representative of the fact he casually assumes his own inherent superiority as a forged medic, to the way in the Shadowplay flashback we see him be very casually dismissive of the seriousness of Drift's situation (he's very encouraging; but also very naive). And I think eradicating that tendency to see things from his own perspective (and for that perspective to be one that comes from a very specific background and experiences) from his character is really just sanding off the most fun parts of his personality. one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character:

He has a minor habit of being very precise and slightly obsessive about his fuel intake, because part of being a medic during the war was a combination of having to ration it out (dying patients need it, after all, and there's not much to spare) and needing to nonetheless be strict about not under fuelling to the point it impacted his ability to work. He hasn't really managed to shake the now-unnecessary balancing act post-war (because god forbid Ratchet admit he might have a problem with something).

one character i love seeing them interact with: I really do love all the times we see Ratchet and Rodimus interacting. They're like- juuuust missing each other constantly, I feel, in terms of what they want from the other and expect of them. Moments like how clearly Rodimus puts a lot of stock in whether or not Ratchet voted to remove him as captain, and how despite voting 'no' there's almost a level of respect in saying as much when given the opportunity, rather than simply walking away. Or when Ratchet tries to guess what will motivate Rodimus in that one scene towards the end of the Mederi arc and he's just not… quite right in his assessment of Rodimus and what he's like. There's a surprising level of tension there but not necessarily an antagonistic one, per se, and the degree to which Rodimus especially really wants Ratchet's respect and values it is very interesting to me. one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more: I know there's realistically not really anywhere it could be bar possibly like. The Functionist Universe's second arc or something (which I'm not fond of on the whole admittedly) but gosh, I wish we'd had just a little more of an idea of what Ratchet and Pharma's dynamic was like pre-Delphi breakdown. We get hints- Pharma clearly put a lot of stock in their friendship that he felt Ratchet didn't return (the flashback in Our Steps Will Always Rhyme showing he sought Ratchet's input on his reassignment and Ratchet ghosted him, and it's clearly something that bothers him), and there's stuff like the background cameo they do indeed get in an FU scene showing them socializing outside of work. But ugggh I want more details on what their dynamic was actually like, because they're both these very big personalities with a strong arrogant streak and it makes a lot of sense to me this would be what Ratchet liked about him and vice versa, and it would be so fun to see what that dynamic looked like in better times!

Unfortunately finding fan content about those two that isn't extremely uhhh fanonized is. Also hard. Sighs sadly.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character:

Ratchet was the one who finally broached to Drift that they should do the rites, because he correctly intuited that Drift had convinced himself that if he asked he would be turned down and it was better to simply avoid the topic forever, and so despite Ratchet really not wanting to have to be the one to get all sappy, needs must and all that.

[random-cockroach]

What’s your favorite thing about Rung?

Either design wise or character wise.

I think he’s delightful and very interesting and you are who got me into the character

Oh I need to slowly get back in shape, using Rung as a slow door lever ahah There are several types of characters that I like and Rung's type holds a special soft place in my heart, took some time for him to beat his way through to there Design-wise I actually prefer many other characters, Rung is very pleasant to draw but something in his design still seems strange and off to me, but orange color in him is what I would never change I am yapping under the cut, which I do very rarely and almost always I read characters wrong, so don't look at me and don't bite me XDD

Character wise ~ I have a clear pattern of choosing my one favourite character who gives me a peace of mind: "loser" who gets beaten up by life but they still love their life and little things in it and keep pushing for us to find out how many traumatic layers under their smile is. They act passive in this life and try to not get in problems but problems find them and they have to finally act to deal with it because it is on the way of their calm life or events go against their world view. (Counts on fingers favs: Rosemaine from Ascendance of a Bookworm, Xie Lian from Heaven's official blessing, Shen Qingqiu from the SVSSS, Charlie from comic "Humor me", Kim Dokja from Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Prince Myshkin from "The Idiot" by F.M. Dostoevsky, now Rung got added which I didn't expect XDD)

I've been scrolling some plots that are made with Rung, usually they orient around Rung's depression episode because he kept too much in himself, angst rotated around him getting forgotten which is very much yes. But he canonicaly is scared non the less and even more to forget someone. This is the most scariest thing for him - to forget someone like people always forget you. He never changed his look while others kept adding new kibbles and so on because he is fascinated by the nature of their creation. He can't appreciate enough how they were born with iridescent metal and moving gears that made them alive, with the spark beating where their heart is. I honestly can imagine him as a highly altruistic person once he went online who likes to create memorable things that he personally encountered with his hands. Not shutting up about that particular piece of the pillar and what a gorgeous angle it has, telling compliments every random transformer passing him by. He might have been a handicraft master before he got interested in psychiatry to make sense of himself. He had a patient he was very close with but he died and he kept the negligence a secret because otherwise he couldn't be a psychiatrist anymore. He loves people, he loves to help them, he grew up through many events we never saw for him to be able to forgive anything. Transformers are highly social beings and being left alone is almost identical to being dead. Rung is still alive because he found a place where he won't be left alone for plenty of time, just like Swerve dealt with his problem but Rung has a stronger character when it comes to this. *sigh* Rung has so many things in him that could be rotated more interestingly outside "forgotten" angst. He likes to pretend that he is a good character reader, beside the fact that he is a psychiatrist he could be tangled in some manipulation machinations. He could be a mysterious undercover revolutionary in the Functionists Universe if he wasn't trapped that time. He knows 70-80% of the Cybertronians and they don't even know he exists, most of them were his patients, imagine if he wasn't a good character, something happened, well congrats he can get half of the Cybertron into a trauma shutdown with his data, and he would have enough tools, he was making controlled flying prototypes of arcs, he clearly could do more advanced accurate little things. I don't even talk about his "advanced quirks" like immortality. If he could control it even if he is clumsy and losing a limb damn much hurts, he could get out of so many situations. Imagine escaping out of somewhere by relocating your body parts, or only the head to get out.

I dearly love him as a sweet and calm character, I need such characters more in my life when I need to calm down, at the same time I love when such characters do something that can lead to their death out of stupid (but important for them) purposes XDD

[lord-squiggletits]

An ask for hopefully fun distraction purposes: What are your favorite Megop dynamics to read about or play with when you write?

Since I'm an IDW MegOP enjoyer first and foremost, I really like fics that reverse the usual IDW MOP dynamic (Megatron goads, Optimus chases and reacts) and have Megatron be the one that has incredibly strong horny/obsessive feelings towards Optimus, while Optimus is the one that's more reserved and won't let Megatron get a taste of him until he feels the time is right aslkdlfjksd. I think, especially for IDW, it's easy to get caught up in how devoted Optimus is, in the way that Megatron is the center of Optimus' life both in terms of the war and in terms of making him the person he became, and that relentless belief in the best person Megatron can be. But I really, really like it when that dynamic is reversed: where Megatron is the one that's devoted to Optimus, seeks his attention, feels like he's an inseparable part of his life, etc. Compounded by the fact that the fandom as a whole tends to treat Optimus as a flat character and treats Megatron/whoever OP is being shipped with as more of an individual with depth, with OP just being a trophy husband basically

In general, it's really important for me to maintain their relationship with a push and pull dynamic and to be centered on mutual respect, whether that's through characterization, dialogue, or the usual PWP/kink dynamics. Especially when I get to play with it in the last case, fucking around with underappreciated things like dom bottom/submissive top, switching in general. I'm also a big fan (semi related to the first point) of emotionally constipated Optimus with Megatron being the emotional one trying to reach out. So like.... basically the opposite of what the most popular MOP dynamics are aksldfjlksdlkf

I haven't really written this outside of AEFMB (the BATB AU), but I think interactions between miner!Megatron and Prime!Optimus are suuuuper underrated. I know IDW MOP got canon Autobot Megatron + prewar Orion thanks to the Functionist Universe, but how come no one writes the other way around? It's so cool to imagine, especially since IDW is one of the rare continuities where Megatron began as the shy/unimposing/humble one and Orion/Optimus is a confident jock superhero who already has his own squad of outlaws (and, in the case of prewar M + wartime OP, a literal fucking army). Enough casting Megatron as the hardened/jaded veteran fighter with OP as the sheltered nerd. Give me some shit with OP being the more experienced one and M being the one who needs to come into his own to match him. (And yeah, TF One helped satisfy this urge lol)

Megatron being the Optimus apologist/going "I can fix him," whether it's good guy Megatron (a la MTMTE, Earthspark) supporting Optimus/not wanting him to go down a dark path, or whether it's evil Megatron going "I can corrupt him." Actually, MOP has WAY too little corruption arc action going on. I mean, I understand why, but what the hell is a hero/villain ETL ship without at least one moment where the villain goes "Join me, we would be unstoppable together, please we could basically be married and rule the universe." IDW MOP in particular doesn't have that pre-war friendship dynamic that would tempt M into giving such an offer to OP, but I like the idea of some scenario where M wants to offer anyways. Like I said in the first point, literally just give me a MOP story where Megatron is the one who's horny/desperate/longing for Optimus and Optimus is the skeptical, tsundere one that needs to be persuaded into it.

[edgymegatronus]

Ok megatron crash out.

Been more active in fandom space lately and I have seen some fucking terrible takes on MTMTE/Megatron/morality. BRACE BECAUSE I AM BIASED.

“Megatron didn’t deserve his redemption arc.”

“Starscream deserved it more.”

“I hate Megatron’s redemption arc, it was so unrealistic.”

DID WE READ THE SAME COMIC???????

This isn’t a “Megatron redemption arc” HE DOESN’T GET REDEEMED. HE FACES TRIAL. HE GETS EXECUTED OR PLACED IN A SOLITARY, INFINITE HELL FOR ETERNITY HOOKED UP TO A MACHINE.

Megatron does not get a happy ending. He never should have. He got a limited time where he was ‘the happiest’ he’d ever been. He did not deserve that.

The characters around him come to tolerate, if not like him. They are biased because they spent time with him on the Lost Light, a place considered home. His ‘redemption’ if you call it that lives only TRULY in their minds and experiences. He gets his 819 years in the functionist universe. That does not redeem him. All that went down with the Knights of Cybertron arc at the end does not redeem him.

To the rest of the universe his legacy is ONLY that of the worst Cybertronian to ever live. HIS REDEMPTION WAS NOT THE POINT. THATS NOT WHAT IT WAS. I can’t put this isn’t words without feeling like I’m crazy oversimplifying it.

Like any good, complex-ish media so many of the characters are morally grey. YOU AS THE READER get to decide. We are biased because we saw Megatron. Inside his head and how he treated others. That does not redeem him. I don’t like to think it was ever ABOUT his redemption!!! It never was to him! We don’t want the story to end.

I’d like to think there was an exploration on how a character LIKE THAT can be changed. If they can be changed at all. His second life was confined to a very small portion at the end of his time. His legacy will ALWAYS be one of desolate, brutal, unforgivable horror. I think reducing / brushing away Megatron/Cyclonus/Whirl/Starscream whoever else has a shaded past to just ‘a bad redemption arc’ is crazy. It is NOT black and white like that. And we get to decide!!

Engage ur thoughts about the media you enjoy !!! It’s so fun

[misqnon]

What’s your opinion on redemption arc/Autobot Megatron? (MTMTE/Lost Light or Earthspark or both)

oooooh that's a Good one

now see. the thing is. i can't really give an Informed answer.

i'm not very far into earthspark, but he does begin that series as an "autobot" so its not like i missed any buildup. i like his attitude in that series (unrelated but also his scottish accent...i adore his voice and it fits him really well actually) it's nice that (from what i've seen) he still disagrees with optimus quite a lot but they're more willing to talk things out, which is the perfect situation of a redeemed megs imo. like when he stands up for imprisoned decepticons now that the war is over and optimus is like "hmmm i suppose you have a point." im glad switching sides didn't make him automatically throw away all his previous ideals.

now mtmte/LL megs? here's the thing. i Love mtmte/ll megs. probably my favorite incarnation of him so far. i'm a sucker for villains and an even bigger sucker for villains with redemption arcs, so no surprise there. but. i read mtmte/ll without reading any of the prior idw comics except last stand of the wreckers. so i cant really say if his character in mtmte does his redemption Well Enough to make up for whatever he did in the rest of the idw continuity bc i havent seen it! i dont know how bad the bad gets! it's entirely possible (and in fact i'm getting the idea that this is the case) that idw megs feels like a completely different character (i.e. far more ruthless and mindlessly violent) than the thoughtful, if not stern, co captain we see in mtmte megs. and in that case, maybe it spoils mtmte megs a little bit bc it wont feel realistic.

that being said...even if that's true...i probably won't care lmao. i haven't read a comic series in a WHILE (not since i was into xmen in like 2017 and even then i wasn't very into the comics themselves) but i know that comics get handed off to various writers through their run that makes them often retcon or not follow well between one another. i've quickly learned that everyone pretty much hails james roberts as king while the rest of the writers are more hit or miss (and i think i agree) so even if idw megs was totally irredeemable and james roberts did it anyway i would not care. because in his story? in mtmte? it Works. it works really well.

from mtmte i went in still having knowledge overall of what megatron is like (i'd seen the 86 movie, clips of g1, tfone, and all of transformers prime at that point) so i still had a guage of what redeeming megatron meant. and it still hit really well for me. particularly the fact that he was still Kind Of feeling out being good or not after his trial, along with how he visibly had to grow into being good. it took a WHILE for him to get to a point where i was like "okay NOW he's actually finally redeemed." by the time they ended up in the functionist universe and i believed with 100% certainty megs would never betray them or try to run. but earlier on? like when the getaway/tailgate thing happened? i was a bit worried lol. but that scene was handled well too! he did lash out, but he also apologized and didnt intend such harm. growth

and i think this scene alone. this arc. just really made mtmte/ll megs Work.

(ouch)

[mtmte-bracket]

[FINAL ROUND] Shadowplay vs Elegant Chaos

A quick summary/refresher for each storyline is under the cut including TFWiki links:

Shadowplay: an arc giving pre-canon backstory for a bunch of the cast, except instead of direct flashbacks our protagonists are trading off on relating bits of a story they were personally around for, because they think this will probably fix Rung’s brain damage. Shockwave gets his backstory for IDW and there’s a heist. Drift and Ratchet bicker a lot. Optimus is here and jumps off plenty of buildings. Backstory is had, basically. TFWiki link.

Elegant Chaos: the time travel one. The one where Brainstorm invents time travel because he had a crush on a boy, and then nearly eradicates the entire Cybertronian timeline because Chromedome is bad at coping with loss. We see the first glimpses of the Functionist Universe, and Rewind shoots a baby. And the whole thing turns out to be a closed time loop in the end anyway, going right back to Chaos Theory. (Sidenote: the Megatron flashback issue gets to be here too.) TFWiki link.

[singingcicadas]

This scene where Rewind shoots Megatron in the time-traveling arc. I don't understand his logic.

The shooting Megatron part I can get behind. If the price for avoiding 4 million years of war and everything that came with it is wiping the current timeline out of existence, then so be it; it's a defensible argument on both sides, and Rewind picked the one he's on. But his reasoning's ridiculous? "Killing Megatron's dooming the Cybertronians but saving the universe." He thinks that having Megatron start the war is better for Cybertronians than letting the Functionist council take over. wtf why, he's lived through both universes! He's seen what the war did and what they got out of the end of it. In what way could he possibly think that 4 million years of this,

quoting his own history lesson, is more preferable to the functionalists for Cybertron? The planet's trashed, their race is nearly extinct, Starscream's in charge and everyone's still miserable.

From what we got in the functionalist timeline flashbacks yeah the functionalists were awful. They were genociding people based on alts and forcibly recycling people into new bodies. But Megatron also did pretty much the same thing? Except instead of genociding based on alts he just went and killed half the population. The functionalists had cameras installed in people's optics for spying but Megatron had Soundwave do omnipresent surveillence with his mindreading. The functionalists were legitimizing everything they do as the Will of God and anyone who disputed that should die, but Megatron did one better and skipped straight to the Will of Megatron. he didn't even need the god part. There's no freedom, no choice, no equality in Functionalist Cybertron. well guess what there's none of that under Megatron either. The functionalists killed lots of people. Well Megatron killed more! In terms of absolute control, the Functionalists' version of Cybertron was nearly the same as Megatron's vision of the ideal future, the only difference being that he was stopped before he was able to get to that point.

When it comes down to the lesser of two evils shouldn't it be obvious that the Functionalists are better for Cybertron's future, at least comparatively? The planet and infrastructure are all intact. The population's still full. Yes the people are living in constant fear and misery but at least they'll still have a life, which is more than what most can say once the war starts. No matter how many people died under the Functionalists it's never going to compare to the amount of people who died in the war.

And Rewind's well aware of all this; he's well aware that Megatron's a mass murderer but somehow only cares when he's murdering other species? I can't remember anything before this issue that indicates he cares that much about other species. What do you mean Rodimus you can't argue with that, weren't you the one who made your opposition against staying on earth to protect humans so vociferously clear to the point that it caused your faction to fall to pieces? The value implications behind the whole thing is so strange. Unless Rewind is an admant believer of the "better to die standing up than live kneeling down" mindset and wants it forcibly imposed on everyone on the grounds of "anyone who doesn't want that doesn't deserve to live", then I really don't see how he would think that Megatron, and by extension the war, would be a better outcome for Cybertron than the functionalists.

[allsoundwavesarebeautiful]

i posted the fifth chapter of my main Galvatron on the Lost Light AU fic yesterday (after an almost 3 year hiatus) and i'm finally at the part that consumes my brain when i think about it.

one of the several reasons i wanted to write something like this was frustration over Megatron's MTMTE arc. his adventures in the Functionist Universe suggest he's at the center of everything that has ever happened or will happen. his arc gives Great Man theory of history (theory of cosmology at this point) and i'm not a fan of that tbh!

so i tried rlly hard to make an arc for Galvatron that made him smaller and less cosmically important while not taking away his agency/responsibility in committing the atrocities. he very specifically does Not defeat any big villains or solve huge sweeping societal issues. his actions have impact, but mostly on himself and the people directly around him. some of that ripples out and leaves an effect that is more lasting, a much tinier and less damaging legacy, but he doesn't change the world just because he's Galvatron

[autobot-ratchet]

MTMTE 37-40

MTMTE 37

I forgot about Roddy's built-in shades lmAO lookin slick hon

aww, Cyclonus getting overwhelmed with emotion at seeing his old home again... I also like him apologizing for kicking the shit out of Tailgate way back near the beginning of the comic when he got upset at him for making him want to be a Decepticon. All he says is “I'm sorry,” does Tailgate even actually know what for lmAO

so fucked up that the little bit of the Shadowplay arc where Rung was fiddling around with a model ship in the background for two seconds was future Rung the whole time. It was even clearly a model of the Lost Light too

love that Cyclonus allows Tailgate to ride in his cockpit. Something something gay joke

poor Rodimus is so over this time travel shit lmAO

ghsfadjks Chromedome and Rewind are having this heart to heart while Whirl is standing like five feet away

ah yes. The curly straw that marked the fall of Cybertron lmAO

I like how Cyclonus agrees that Tailgate's face is punchable lmfAO

interesting that Rewind and Whirl are on the same page about preventing events in the past to change the future

honestly love the reveal that Brainstorm isn't going back in time to kill Orion Pax and win the war for the Decepticons, he's going back to kill Megatron and prevent the war from ever happening in the first place. It's the kind of thing you could pick up on yourself if you're paying attention but still comes as a shock because we don't understand why just yet

MTMTE 38

hell yeah, I love both Percy and Magnus putting Megatron in his place, fuckin tell him

“God, now I'm starting to sound like him” ha ha he's taking up your brain space idiot, get owned

aww, Brainstorm is good... he was just trying to fix things, for everyone...

god damn, Rewind lmAO you got Megatron so shocked he's speaking in lower case

“Megatron dies and we lose: but the universe wins.” man... truly there was no universe where things worked out for everyone, it was always either Cybertron suffers or everyone suffers and I can't blame Rewind for making that call

the way Chromedome is so gentle with him... yOUR HONOR........

I also cannot blame Whirl for saying “fuck the functionists,” like. He's right lmAO

and there it is, the message at the end of the very first issue. Man, it's already been such a journey and I'm only halfway through the story. I do like Cyclonus pointing out that everything they told Rodimus not to do has a net positive outcome, we've been doing so much good even if we've gotten nowhere with our original objective lmAO

BRAINSTORM IS GOOD... still wild that his thing for Quark was explicitly a crush, even if it was only one-way. But the more that the people he loved suffered, the more he wanted to go back and prevent, he just wanted to stop the suffering...

rip to that dude who became the sparkeater. Absolutely hilarious that it's their own fault that was ever there

aww Brainstorm, you do wanna go back to the present, you just don't know it yet, you're gonna be fine

and everyone rejoiced except for Brainstorm and Megatron, it's fine, they'll get over it

and now we've solidified the functionist universe as a thing that exists. So Brainstorm's actions are technically what brought about our final boss, huh? Not purposefully, but you know. It's wild how integral the functionist universe is to the quest lmAO

MTMTE 39

ah right time to check back in on team cringelord

this fuckin panel of Helex using his hand to take Blip's brain out of his mouth and put it back on his head may as well not exist, all I can think of is the scrapped version of this panel where he takes it out with his own mouth lmfAO

shout out to this page where Tarn explains why he wears the mask for tricking so many people into believing that he didn't actually enjoy torturing people to death and was just misunderstood lmfAO like straight up I saw so many people like “oh he doesn't want anyone to notice him closing his eyes and not watching the murder it must mean he secretly doesn't want to do it and is actually a good guy deep down!!!” and like. I'm gonna be real I don't know what the fuck Tarn meant by all that but I can pick up enough context clues from everything else he's ever said and done to figure out that he Did Not Mean That lmfAO

ah yes, the only member of the DJD who matters, get their asses, Nickel

I do have to say, Tarn running the DJD like a regular-ass office is extremely funny lmfAO “I'm largely happy with your performance, love the dismemberment, but there is room for improvement”

at least alternate Brainstorm tried to keep the rest of the crew safe. It wasn't his fault the DJD are a bunch of fuckin animals lmAO also oouughfhg that panel of Drift trying to protect Ratchet from Tarn still kicks my ass, he'll beg for Ratchet to put him out of his misery when it's his own life in danger but he'll jump in front of the DJD's ringleader to keep him away from Ratchet...

like. This moment where Tarn attacks Tesarus for the crime of daring to question his decision (in this case, his decision to leave Vos and Kaon to die) makes it pretty clear that Tarn is not secretly good lmfAO like straight up I saw so much bitching when Tarn killed Kaon in the Dying of the Light arc because “Tarn would never! This is OOC, the DJD loves each other, they're like a family!!!” and like... *gestures at this entire issue* *gestures at everything Tarn has ever done* This comic spends every moment that Tarn is on screen making it abundantly clear that his whole entire thing is killing his fellow Decepticons for literally any stupid fuckin reason and Tarn stans could not fucking take it when he killed his fellow Decepticon Kaon for a stupid fuckin reason lmfAO smh my head

it's so tragic because I don't even actually hate the DJD as characters, I think they're great villains. When Tarn showed his ass up in Cyberverse I nearly shit my pants with fear, and that's great! That's the mark of a good fuckin villain character! And even him being so pretentious is great because it makes you REALLY wanna see him get defeated! He's an excellent heel! But MAN were Tarn stans the most obnoxious people alive lmFAO they absolutely tainted him for me which is a shame

lol look at this idiot sulking in the snow because his idol denounced his cause ha ha get rendered obsolete, stupid

honestly Deathsaurus is so valid, get his ass

I cannot wait for Megatron to kill all their asses lmfAO god I cannot wait to get to the Dying of the Light, it's my absolute favorite arc and I'll talk about exactly why once we get there

MTMTE 40

and this one's my favorite individual issue, this is the issue that encapsulates everything I love about this comic, this is what it's all about

urhgjdf Pharma was so close to avoiding Delphi... just the nearest miss........

love the setup of Swerve arranging all these glasses for Tailgate to comically crash into and then he just crashes into Ratchet instead, get wrecked grandpa

aww Swerve don't be mean to Ten, it ain' t his fault your bar's empty

Love Chromedome being Brainstorm's defense lawyer in this trial. Also love Brainstorm immediately throwing Rewind under the bus lmAO I mean he's right but also, hilarious thing to try to pull, all things considered

ooh Nautica's so mad

hell yeah Brainstorm, you're right and you should say it, it's not fair to try to pin the actions of alternate Brainstorm on this Brainstorm, and good for Percy for standing up for him too

loooooooove Ratchet glaring while Brainstorm tells Rodimus he doesn't want to be kicked off the ship because it's his home. It was Drift's home too...

oouufgjd love Getaway feeding Tailgate bullshit significantly less, it's so agonizing watching him slowly manipulate him over the course of the comic

love Ratchet lowkey inviting all his closest friends for a final chat under the guise of checking for “super scraplets,” just stupid enough of a thing to be possible

“The only time people really talk to him is when they're sick- and I know how that feels.” RatcheeEEEETTT........🥺

ghsdfjk Ratchet setting Megatron up for failure in Mirage's bar is so mean lmAO but I mean. All he did was suggest Megatron do a poetry reading, it's Megatron's self-made reputation that's gonna make it a failure, so...

also love how First Aid is immediately onto Ratchet, “You know you can just. Ask to talk to your friends like a normal person right”

Ratchet is so sweet with Ten I'm gonna fuckin cry lmfAO

Magnus is Ten's favorite I'm gonna rip the arms of my chair clean oFF

and there he goes, off to find his man... I like. Still can't believe this happened lmfAO when Drift got exiled, I was fully prepared to never see his ass ever again, I figured his relevance was over and if we ever do see him again it'll be a bit part in a different series written by someone else, I can't believe that he was allowed to be cared about enough for someone to want him back, and especially for that someone to be Ratchet. Being a long-time Dratchet shipper while this comic was still going was just a constant stream of Ws and it was wild to experience lmFAO I had never won that hard in my life, I didn't know what to do with myself

also I just remembered, didn't Empire of Stone come out before this issue? So we already knew Ratchet went to go find Drift, we just didn't know when or why, or if it even actually was Ratchet lmfAO I definitely remember a theory floating around that the Ratchet in EOS was a hallucination or something. I also remember thinking, “Oh god, what horrible thing happened that made Ratchet have to leave the Lost Light,” and being floored when the answer was just that he personally wanted Drift back, there was no emergency, he just missed him. Like. What the fuck that's gay........

[transingthoseformers]

oughhh thinking about pre-war / no war dratchet but for hurt/low comfort

[artsy-hobbitses]

First || Previous || Next

Cast:

Preston Wan Peirong (Prowl)

Jace Zayden (Jazz - Functionist Universe)

Omar Parvez (Optimus Prime - Functionist Universe)

In which the Matrix is a burden, a weapon, and sometimes the best person to hand a sword to is someone who thinks twice about the power it gives them, because what matters is who that power protects.

Also across all universes, some things never change: death, taxes, and Omar/Optimus quoting LOTR at any given opportunity, though Functionist!Universe Jazz holds this one close to him from here on.

Other artworks in this arc:

There can be only one

Worthy

[decepti-thots]

What I can't get my head around is, why didn't Dominus Ambus tell Rewind that he was secretly a turbofox? Like, that's your conjunx, presumably the person you trust most in the whole universe, and you won't even share your secret with him? IDK if you've already done an analysis post on this but if you haven't I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Okay, so. Putting aside any non-diagetic explanations entirely for a moment (that is, my suspicion that the concept was conceived of some way into the comic's run and just proved a really good way to explain Rewind not recognising the Pet once it was settled on)… in-universe explanations, let's go.

Something I do wanna point out here is a thing I rarely see mentioned: in my opinion, Minimus does not act as though Rewind doesn't know. I think he expects that Rewind does, which is honestly sort of wild? In DotL, Minimus isn't like 'oh shit, now you know I guess' when he's making remarks about Dominus being even more insecure about his height than Minimus is (irreducible style), or whatever. I… guess you could argue he thinks Rewind has inferred it logically (Minimus has revealed he was wearing an armour > Minimus and Dominus are spark twins > therefore…) but tbh, he's just. SO casual about it. I absolutely feel like Minimus assumed Dominus had told Rewind! Which. THEY WERE MARRIED LMAO. IT'S A REASONABLE… ASSUMPTION……..

Which definitely suggests there's no reason externally that is all that compelling for Dominus to not have done so. If there was, presumably Minimus would have anticipated it! Realistically, if Dominus couldn't trust Rewind to keep it secret for the sake of public access and ease, why the hell were they married. (Anyway, Rewind is in a far more precarious situation than Dominus is, when they meet; Rewind isn't able to hide and is formally subject to being classified as 'disposable'. I mean!) That's definitely not compelling.

Personally I think the easiest way to reconcile it is to think that Dominus had a personal hangup around his alt, and genuinely wanted people not to know this about him- because he himself was personally ashamed of it, no matter how much effort he put into public work that seems to contradict that. This actually reconciles something else, I think. Why would the sentience test Dominus seemingly designed in part or full be so biased against beastformers? He is one! What! But if that's something he was unable to get over the way he e.g. was able to overcome prejudice of the kind Rewind was facing, it perhaps makes sense to think of it as a kind of 'harder when it's personal' thing. Right? Internal feelings of self-loathing are sometimes paradoxically the more difficult kind to unlearn, compared to changing how you think about other people. Hell, maybe Dominus convinced himself wearing an armour 24/7 meant he wasn't one any more. Maybe he didn't tell Rewind because as far as he was concerned, that was no longer true.

I think this would potentially be interesting in terms of adding actual characterization to Dominus against which you can a) effectively compare and contrast Minimus (since a looot of what we know about Dominus is more or less 'he was made in a lab to induce an inferority complex in Minimus', lmao) and b) open up avenues to question the very idealized view Rewind has of their marriage that don't necessarily require leaning into the trope of 'he was an Evil Liar All Along on purpose!!!', which adds a lot of interesting stuff to that element of Rewind's arc that I'm sad canon never really managed to deliver completely, IMO.

I have actually thought about Dominus in relation to both Minimus and Rewind a LOOOOOT haha. He's such a cipher in the comic; a huge motivating character for two otherwise-unconnected leads AND a cornerstone of our introduction to the Functionist Universe… and yet a character we know very little about the thought processes or feelings of. He's like a void of a character you can reconstruct by looking at what surrounds him. It's very fun to me.

[tarnishedspark]

Just going through the list and spotting how many of these occurred in mtmte / lost light. (definitely spoilers ahead)

unlikely hero - so many small times, but probably mostly Rewind saving everyone from Overlord

the double agent - Brainstorm was literally a double agent, but then there's the whole Getaway thing

long lost sibling - suddenly Minimus Ambus

time travel paradox - functionist universe arc

The Mastermind - Grand Architect

Supernatural Twist - first there was sparkeaters, then there was the fake afterlife with the Guiding Hand, and then there was those beings outside the universe who wanted to be let in to consume it

The Doppelganger - kind of that bit where the Grand Architect turns up looking like Pharma. Not exactly tho. But close.

Reversal of Roles - the whole entire Megatron. Optimus' descent into antagonism of course not reatured here

Untouchable Hero - there's not so much of this, but one could argue that we are seeing Thunderclash at the end of his arc of having gone through this before the series

Forgotten Past - poor Skids. You forgot Grindcore for a reason, buddy. Chromedome too, but there was no exploring what he forgot it just stayed forgotten.

Betrayal Within - now which angle are we going to look at this because we have a few to choose from. Could be the Getaway arc. Could be the alternate Lost Light's Brainstorm. Could be the fallout from the whole Overlord thing. Could be Tarn looking at Megatron dismantling the Decepticons and leaving him with no purpose. Could be the entire thing at Delphi. Probably more things I haven't listed.

Hidden Identity - my main thought for this is Agent 113 / the pet / Dominus Ambus, though it did not so much influence events as wrap some character arcs and plot points.

The Inception Twist - this might be the first not in here. Unless we are counting the abrupt start of the functionist universe arc before they explain what's going on

Time Loop - it was a memory loop, but that is what the Protectobots got stuck in while trying to fight back against Getaway.

The Shapeshifter - stares at Transformers. Yeah I don't think this one is really applicable right here.

The Truth About The Mentor - I don't remember this one coming up. Another for the no pile.

The Lost Artifact - Cyberutopia turning out to be a euthenasia clinic sure was something.

Pseudo-Death - Definitely Pharma turning up again. Where does actually dying but also still being alive elsewhere in the universe as a quantum duplicate sit on the pseudo death scale because we also have a Rewind.

The Prophesy Reversed - Rodimus has stubbornness issues

Unreliable Narrator - there's probably something here about how many of the crew thought mutiny was a good idea (though made to forget it). There may have been a lot less good times on the adventure cruise for the rest of the crew.

20 Plot Twist Ideas That Will Shock Your Audience

One of the most effective tools in a storyteller's arsenal is the plot twist. A well-executed plot twist can leave your audience reeling, questioning everything they thought they knew about your story. It can turn a good story into a great one, leaving a lasting impact on your readers or viewers. In this post, we'll explore 20 plot twist ideas that will shock your audience and elevate your storytelling game to new heights.

1. The Unlikely Hero:

Turn the tables by revealing an unexpected character as the true hero. This can be someone seemingly insignificant or even an antagonist who redeems themselves at a crucial moment.

2. The Double Agent:

Introduce a character who initially appears loyal to the protagonist but is secretly working against them, only to later reveal their true intentions.

3. The Long-Lost Sibling:

Uncover a secret sibling, separated from the main character in their early years, and use their sudden appearance to shift the narrative.

4. Time Travel Paradox:

Play with time travel to create a paradox that forces the characters to confront alternate timelines or unforeseen consequences of their actions.

5. The Mastermind:

The story's villain is revealed to be a puppet in a larger scheme, controlled by a mastermind who has been operating behind the scenes.

6. The Supernatural Twist:

Introduce a supernatural element, like ghosts or mythical creatures, that the characters and audience believed were mere myths.

7. The Doppelgänger:

A character's doppelgänger appears, causing confusion and chaos as they try to determine who is the real one.

8. The Reversal of Roles:

Switch the roles of the protagonist and antagonist halfway through the story, making the audience question their allegiances.

9. The Untouchable Hero:

Create a seemingly invincible hero who unexpectedly meets their match, forcing them to reevaluate their abilities and tactics.

10. The Forgotten Past:

Unearth a character's forgotten or repressed memories, leading to a shocking revelation about their true identity or past actions.

11. The Betrayal Within:

One of the protagonist's closest allies betrays them, throwing their entire mission into disarray.

12. The Hidden Identity:

A character is not who they claim to be, and their true identity is revealed, impacting the story's direction.

13. The Inception Twist:

Blur the lines between reality and illusion, leaving the audience guessing what's real and what's a dream or illusion.

14. The Time Loop:

Trap your characters in a time loop where they're forced to relive the same events repeatedly until they can break free.

15. The Shapeshifter:

Introduce a character with the ability to change their appearance, creating doubt and suspicion within the group.

16. The Truth About the Mentor:

The mentor figure, who initially seems wise and benevolent, is unveiled as the story's true antagonist.

17. The Lost Artifact:

The much sought-after artifact or treasure turns out to be a fake, and the real item is something entirely unexpected.

18. The Pseudo-Death:

Fake a character's death to shock the audience and later reveal they were alive all along.

19. The Prophecy Reversed:

Subvert the traditional hero's journey by defying a prophesized destiny and taking the story in a different direction.

20. The Unreliable Narrator:

Reveal that the narrator has been lying or misrepresenting events, casting doubt on the entire story's accuracy.

Conclusion:

These 20 plot twist ideas are just the beginning, and by incorporating them into your narratives, you can leave your audience stunned, shocked, and eager for more. Remember that the key to a successful plot twist lies in its execution, so take your time and craft a twist that seamlessly integrates into your story, making it an unforgettable experience for your readers or viewers.