#also yeah laserbeak uses she/her pronouns. that robot is a girl. what are u gonna do about it.

[blighted-lights]

i have to do every meme u rb bc friendship code. but tfp soundwave, my most jealous wife. gimme the hcs 🫵🌸

(TFP Soundwave, IDW Sunstreaker, IDW First Aid, and IDW Ravage have all been asked for! Feel free to send in an ask for any character that isn't one of these four 🌸❗️Not limited to followers or mutuals, so go wild!)

First Impression: Oh, this design FUCKS. My first watch-through of TFP happened when I was very young so I cannot remember much of my first impressions of each character, but I do remember really, really liking how Soundwave looks in TFP. More than that, I LOVED the idea of Soundwave being a stealth aircraft + his full-face glass visor. While Knockout was, and is, my favorite character in TFP, Soundwave was also very up there when I was first starting to watch the show. Keep in mind I was a kid so I wasn't having many mega-brained thoughts on him quite yet. I thought he looked sick as hell, he was cool when he fought, and I wanted his gender.

Impression Now: It's a mix of two things. One, not only does this design fuck, but given the chance I'd tap in a heartbeat, no one could pull me out. And two, he's um... well. He's not much of an actual character, is he? I believe he is one of the Decepticons we see the most, but it feels like he's in the background for most of his scenes. And aside from his loyalty to Megatron and his care for Laserbeak, we don't really know that much about him. He doesn't really have personal relationships with the other 'Cons outside of Megatron and Laserbeak, he doesn't have any hobbies from what we can tell, he's got a bit of a snide sense of humor sometimes but not often, and he's mostly shadowing other characters when he is on-screen. Plus, we never get to see extra moments with him like we'd get with the rest of the Decepticons. It's a bit of a shame. He's still one of my favorites of TFP, but his rank is a bit lower on the leaderboard now that I've watched the show a few times.

Favorite Moment: Very hard pick. There are a handful of scenes that I really, really like with TFP Soundwave, but I think the one that stands out to me the most is when Laserbeak is injured by Wheeljack and Ratchet, he abandons his fight with Wheeljack to go to her once he gets her signal. This is probably the most characterization we really get to see for this Soundwave. I go back and forth on this scene a bit because it feels icky that Ratchet and Wheeljack refer to Laserbeak as an it/a drone so often, so it's one of my least favorite scenes in general, BUT it's one of my favorite scenes for Soundwave because we get to see his care for Laserbeak.

Idea for a Story: I would LOVE to read/write a fic or see art of Soundwave returning to the Decepticons after being captured by the Autobots and learning that Megatron intentionally did not go to save him. Like I am sure this is something Soundwave understands already, but I want to see him realize that he was essentially abandoned and left in Autobot hands by the one person who he'd sworn loyalty to above all others. Soundwave was going to be tortured. He could of died. And Megatron wasn't even willing to go after him, despite everything Soundwave did for him. I would eat this UP.

Unpopular Opinion: Do I... do I have an unpopular TFP Soundwave opinion? Not sure. I'm not sure if I'd really call it unpopular, but it's an opinion I don't see very often. I wish we got to see Soundwave outside of Megatron's influence. And I don't mean having Soundwave while Megatron isn't in charge- we had that before. I want to see him act outside of Megatron's will. The leader/servant dynamic is one that is only interesting to me if there is conflict between the two parties, OR if there is an equal level of respect and care between the two. That is not the case with TFP Megatron and Soundwave. Sure, Megatron values Soundwave, as Soundwave is one of the only consistently competent people around, but he doesn't care enough about Soundwave to protect him. Value ≠ care or respect. It just means Soundwave is useful to Megatron.

Favorite Relationship: Soundwave and Laserbeak. Easily. She's the only person Soundwave seems to give a fuck about outside of Megatron, and it's very clear that this care is returned, as Laserbeak was the one who went after Soundwave when he was captured by the Autobots. I wish I had more to say here but Laserbeak is even less of a character than Soundwave, so there isn't much to go off of. I also like that this Soundwave actually has a gap in his armor that Laserbeak docks to, rather than just his usual tape-deck. It makes it obvious that the bond he has with Laserbeak is singular, as there are no other cassettes present in the TFP show, and it makes it feel more personal.

Favorite Headcanon: Soundwave does not have a conventional face under his mask. I might not know WHAT is under there, but I do know that I hope it is cool as fuck, and a face isn't going to cut it. Give me a mess of wires connected to his glass visor. Give me a single glowing optic and a fucked up mandible mouth. Give me anything that isn't two eyes and an average mouth. Make him fucked up!!