#autobot city help agency

[minimus-ambus]

he is

anyways the new autobot city help agency hurt me bad so i wrote something

credit to @bonnyearl for inspiring me with her wonderful wonderful fic!!!

do NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE NEW CHAPTER. GO READ IT NOW. 

And, that isn’t quite right.

It doesn’t click in his head – the pieces are suddenly wrong, so when he tries to force them together they just make an awkward thunk. Like jamming a key into a lock that doesn’t match.

His trial is- soon. He knows that to be a fact. A true statement. An absolute. It will be a fair trial, because Optimus has promised this, and Minimus will make sure of it. 

He hears it thunk at the back of his mind again.

Minimus is convicted of no crimes. Perhaps he has committed some, because really, who has ever come out of this war with no blood on their hands or weights on their shoulders. But he is a good person. He does good things. He cares about people. He will live a better life once Megatron is dead.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. 

That’s really quite an annoying sound. It’s making it hard to clean up. Minimus would have hated the mess. Would have. No. Would. Wrong tense. Minimus hates that. Right, yes. 

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. 

He stops at the bedroom. 

They had woken, one day, after they had taken away the book barrier that divided the berth space between them, close to each other. Too close. It happened to be Minimus who woke up first. He had stiffened, and grown hot with embarrassment, and attempted to stealthily slip out of Megatron’s arms. Standing up he had thanked primus Megatron was a deep sleeper. 

(Minimus knew that Megatron jolted awake at the slightest sound. Megatron, who had wisely kept his optics very dim and his engine low, tried not to confirm this fact. But he had laid there, after Minimus had left, staring at the far wall and imagining the faint warmth of the metal next to him. He had promised to himself he wouldn’t think about it again, and he hadn’t.)

He is breaking his promises. He sits on the edge on the berth and ghosts his hand over where Minimus had lay, just to see-… 

The one time he had ever been close to Megatron, and it was barely his choice – more the whims of a sleep-addled mind. Cybertronians are naturally social creatures. After millions of years they seek touch still.

He had kissed Minimus’s cheek that morning. It had started an ache in his chest, but- he had heard a faint sigh just as he left the room. It was a sweet sort of ache. 

He comes back and sees a spot of energon on the floor he had missed. And suddenly, the thunk, thunk, thunk echoes louder until it’s a hammer beating at the front of his skull, pressing up behind his eyes, a pounding headache that won’t- oh. Haha. A pounding headache. Like a hammer, pounding. He should remember that, for Minimus. 

Something tears itself from his throat like a fleeing animal as he throws the table against the wall and it splinters. For a second, in the crash of sound, he is the self he used to be – roaring at the world, waiting for it to tremble and fall like he knew it to. 

But he has given up his anger, and now there is nothing left. He folds down on himself. He doesn’t cry, but his vents wheeze, sharp and harsh and horrible like he has a hole in his chest. 

His trial is soon. It will be fair. Optimus promised. Minimus will ensure it. He’s going to die. He’s going to die soon, and it will be fair. Minimus will make sure. Minimus will move on. Minimus will be alright. The statements loop back on themselves. He’s boiling. He’s drowning again. He’s ready for this. He’s the one who’s supposed to die. He is. He is. 

He stays like that, crouched on the floor, for three minutes. 

Then, he stands and picks up the fragments of the table. He remembers to catch the spot of energon on the floor, too, and when he wipes it away it’s like it was never there.

[transformers-fan-continuities]

Spotlight: Ties That Bind

This one’s a doozy folks! If you missed the last spotlight you can go read it here, but strap in for The Ties That Bind, an absolutely brilliant take on humanformers. It’s hosted here at @tiesthatbind-tf​ created by @artsy-hobbitses​!

Q) Give us a run down of your cont! What's it about, what's it called, what's it like?

Ties That Bind is a humanformers-based original continuity which is part Science Fiction and part Alternate History where the invasion of Quintessons and introduction of their technology to Earth in 1920 sets the world and humankind on a completely different trajectory. The active narrative spans a period from 1920 to 2070, covering the First and Second Quintesson Wars, the interplanetary Antillan War (leading to the creation of Unicron on Mars) and the Great War which involves the Autobots, Decepticons and Functionist stalwarts, and how it affects the characters.

The cast is pretty sprawling and the narrative is mostly centred around human drama with bits of humor interspaced and a dash of horror (mostly centred around how the previous government often chose to utilize the technology left behind from the Quintesson Wars to create new systems of oppression, which affected many of the characters, in the name of worldwide rebuilding efforts).

Q) What characters take the lead here? Any personal favorites?

I will admit to this continuity being very much heavy on the relationship between Old Bastards  Optimus Prime and Megatron, which is given considerable weight as they were best friends who had known each other since childhood and were deeply intrinsic to each other’s growths as individuals, which makes it all the worse when guilt and betrayal enter the party. Despite being captains in two corners of this battle, there’s a part of them that just cannot let go of their pasts together and they need to reconcile with how this will affect their agenda (Megatron) and how they lead their team (Optimus) who don’t necessarily share their history.

Other characters with significant development include:

Starscream, a Cold Construct in a toxic working relationship with Megatron with whom he is hiding a dark secret, who struggles to balance the underhanded viciousness he believes he needs to gain power and his innate desire from his Senate days to make the world a better place. 

Windblade, a Camien native who fights her government’s apathy concerning the situation on Earth which they see as unsalvageable compared to their more Utopian society. 

Prowl, a Cold Construct raised from childhood to be a cop in a police state, who finds out that he was brainwashed several times  to ensure his obedience and efficacy as a government asset and is now working to reclaim some semblance of the humanity he was never allowed to feel and figure out how much of him is who he really is and how much is programming.

Hound, a sheltered Beastman who joined the fight to ensure that Beastmen the world over would have the same rights he did in his homeland of Shetland Isle, but is forcefully stripped of his humanity and faced with his animal side during the war and has to relearn what personhood means amid his trauma.

Q) Is there a bigger point to this, like a theme or some catharsis? Or is it just fluffy fun?

God with the amount of time I spent sleepless trying to figure out how the logistics of this or the semantics of that were supposed to work in universe, I cannot for the life of me say it’s fluffy fun, but I can’t exactly say it hasn’t been pretty engaging either!

There’s elements of war being messy for everyone involved where there doesn’t seem to be a clear line between friend and foe at times, but I think for most part it prescribes to  Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s belief that people are inherently good, but are corrupted by the evils of society. Despite its dark themes (Including but not limited to child abuse, torture, illegal experimenation  and brainwashing), love and friendships do prevail, kindness does beget kindness, found families are made, even the smallest actions matter, and things do get better because there are people on both sides who genuinely want to, and strive to make it better.

With Cold Constructs and Beastmen, it also delves heavily into what it means to be human; to have agency and personhood.

There’s also a strong undercurrent of taking responsibility for one’s actions, even if they were made with the best of intentions (Avoidance of this is what eats up Starscream and Megatron from the inside, and what Starscream eventually embraces).

Q) How long have you been working on it?

There’s two answers to this!

I’ve had a Humanformers-related universe going all the way back to 2007 around the time the first Bayformers came out---basically I had a choice between learning to draw cars or draw people (I was an anthro artist back then) and I immediately chose people.

The 2007 draft however had no worldbuilding or connective storylines and was mostly a fun little venture into character design and practice which were actually instrumental to me experimenting and learning how to draw humans properly.

I left the fandom for about a decade and when I came back to it in late 2020 around September via the War for Cybertron series on Netflix, I immediately got hooked on the 2005 IDW comics I missed out on and wanted to get around to updating my old designs as well find a way to translate several of the concepts I wanted to explore in a human sense, so the 2020 update became its own full-fledged original continuity with detailed worldbuilding and history.

You can see the artistic evolution of several characters from their original incarnation below!

Q) It’s incredible to see your artistic improvement too! Give us a behind-the-scenes look! Show us a secret ;))

Say hello to my workspace! I’ve been working exclusively on the Ipad Pro since late 2016, which is fantastic because I can basically whip up concepts and sketches on the go anywhere. Nowhere is too out of bounds to work on TTB!

Also, do enjoy this sneak peek at true!form Rung, whose synthezoid human body took years to perfect.

Q) YESSSSS alright I must admit this is one of my favorite Rungs, and certainly my fave within TTB. Amazing. Phew, anyway. Where did you draw inspiration from? What canons, what other fiction, what parts of real life?

TTB was initially conceived as a faithful retelling of the IDW 2005 narrative before it was transformed into its own continuity and as such, it borrows heavily from concepts and mirrored plot lines introduced in that run! I chose to have the series inspired off it specifically for the amount of history and worldbuilding it introduced to the franchise.

Anime like Gunslinger Girl and Beastars inspired the depictions of Cold Constructs, especially the more harrowing aspects of their upbringing as government assets instead of children, and Beastmen (Beastformers) in TTB.

I haven’t depicted the world itself in my art all too much, but the architecture from Tiger and Bunny, which has sort of a futuristic Art Deco feel to it, is what you’d usually see in major cities. There is an in-universe reason for that---with a Point Of Divergence set in 1920 followed by 25 years (an entire generation) of progress basically being kicked to the curb due to the Quintesson wars, mankind was basically in a time-locked bubble until the end of the wars, and by then their heroes were 1920s-style rebellion leaders, which lead to 1920s fashion (especially among the Manual Working Class---Megatron, Jazz and Optimus all rock 1920s fashion at some point of their lives) and architecture being celebrated and retained as sort of a reminder of how things were before The Invasion. This anime’s background design is also where I adopted the tiered system TTB’s major metropolises are often built on (with each tier being designated to a different working class) from.

The main artistic style itself is a love letter to 90s cartoons, in particular Gargoyles’ deep and drama-driven character narratives and designs as well as The Centurions’ take on body armor logistics.

I also take inspiration, especially armor-wise, from the characters’ given heritage and background. As an example, Hotrod who is depicted as Irish has the flames on his armor done up with Celtic knots. Welsh aristocrat Mirage’s armor bears olden knight-style filigree and has his Autobot logo designed as a coat of arms. Indonesian Soundwave’s armor and Decepticon logo takes cues from Batik and Wayang Kulit while their mask is based off the Barong.

Q) They are absolutely gorgeous! Show off something you're really proud of, a particular favorite part of your cont.

The worldbuilding in general! Most Humanformers I’ve seen tend to treat it like a fun exercise which it is and is definitely valid, but I found myself wanting a full-fledged world to lose myself in and I sought to try and make that world myself by drafting a detailed history and timeline of events which would affect ongoing narratives, having indepth worldbuilding to include almost all societal aspects of the universe and  expanding on the concept of Beastmen and Cold Constructs existing in a human setting.

I’m not so secretly proud of the research and diversity included to make the cast look like the multicultural, globally-based team that they were meant to be instead of being locked to a single region! My original draft from 2007 was, to put it simply, quite culturally monolithic and I wanted to improve on that aspect with TTB.

I’m also proud that I’ve kept to it this far! I’m a notoriously flaky person jumping from one idea/fandom to another and to have kept at this continuity for the better part of ten months is honestly a personal feat.

Art-wise, this scene depicting a young Megatron working alongside Terminus and Impactor (cameo by @weapon-up-wallflower​‘s OC Missit!)  is definitely one of my favorites since it helps build up the world they live in and plays to familial bonds and comfort found in one another despite their less than ideal circumstances.

Q) Everything has come together so beautifully, you absolutely should be proud. What other fan canons do you love and why? Would you like to see them interviewed?

I am dying to hear more from @iscaredspider​’s Sparkpulse continuity! Her designs are MIND-BLOWINGLY GORGEOUS and I want to hear more about what inspired her to work on it!

Also YOU. Yes YOU BLURRITO. LET ME HEAR MORE ABOUT SNAP.

Q) [wails and squirms away in the mortifying ordeal of being known but in a very flattered way] I WILL SOMEDAY I PROMISE aflghsdjg thank you QwQ

Well that was fantastic, Oni, thank you muchly! A magnificent continuity with so much to look forward to! Coming up next is another personal fave of mine, the first inspiration for SNAP, so stick around...

[artsy-hobbitses]

So is this like a Riot or a like a Civil War🤔 kinda thing that's happening

I mean riots definitely happened a lot during the Clampdown!

It was followed by a massive War after when the Decepticons became an independent entity from their alliance with the Autobots, and the main issue is that while on Cybertron, all the city states seemed to fall under a planetary government ie. a single Council or Senate with one generally overarching policy (excluding colonies), Earth comprises of 195 countries with their own styles of government and very different national policies influenced by history/culture/religion, which makes Megatron’s attempt at ‘streamlining’ them to fit how he believes the world should be run in TTB much more egregious. (TLDR this man had good intentions and genuinely sparked a great revolution millions of people benefited from. However, he comes from England and specifically has experience working in England’s environment/rule which colors his perspective of the world. He struggles with diplomacy and the notion that the good he did for England will not necessarily benefit every country in the world—some which don’t have the same issues—the same way, and him using an iron fist to try and enforce this only made matters worse/more people adversed to his agenda, hence him becoming more and more of a polarizing and feared figure. Think of it as somewhat the issue in MCU Avengers: Civil War where they straight up launch international operations in a country that never asked for it, was never informed of it, never had a say in it and people needlessly ended up as collateral damage. But worse, because Megs is no Captain America)

Of course, between him and Zeta Prime, it’s clear who’s the bigger problem in the long run, but it’s not to say that he doesn’t have massive issues, even if initially (and still to some extent) good-intentioned.

The Autobots don’t actually want any part of this power play which mainly concerns him and Zeta (Both are the ones interested in consolidating power for their own purposes—-one for what he believes is for the greater good and the other for personal benefit), but their interference whenever Megs or Zeta tries to bulldoze a country’s government/people into compliance with their plans means that they’re A Problem for both and thus unwillingly the third party in this war who try to resolve international issues diplomatically, help evacuate citizens/refugees out of warzones and help to uphold country freedoms and agency from the other two by beating Megs/Zeta back if necessary.

The Autobots have a no-contact policy with Zeta and will absolutely fight him on sight, but they do sometimes reach out to Megatron’s forces to convince them to leave X country/state alone. Sometimes it works! Sometimes, when Megatron is outright there for resources, it doesn’t, then they gotta throw hands.

[selanaris]

How about tfa/bnha combination au?? (It would be cool if the autobots met class 1-A)

I have thought about this a lot!!! 

Detroit has one minor agency, automatons lowered the crime rate until recently, yes there are quirks, Sumdac can look at any technology and perfectly reverse engineer it, Sari thinks she doesn’t have a quirk, everyone thinks the Autobots are humans with strange quirks, only Sumdac and Sari know otherwise, and the major Government is mad that they have no info on these heroes

this is a visiting thing, like a program for the class to experience hero laws outside of Japan, to spend a semester in another country, each class went to different places, but class 1-A got Detroit, Michigan, USA. All the students and some of their teachers, All Might and Aizawa, get to continue their lessons here with the help of Sumdac systems for some practice bots

an entire semester fighting robots, great. Detroit isn’t known for big villains and battles with their use of automaton in the police force, but it became a major player after an accident at Sumdac Systems which saw rise to Detroit major heroes which took notice to the world, especially with the mayor making no statement on their connection to any agency or even quirk specifics. 

Of course the visiting program is funded and supported by Sumdac they get their own building, a building reformatted like a dorm building with a common room and classroom, and Sari is designated to be their guide and helper, which they are confused on why she was assigned until they learn she’s Sumdac’s daughter... and later proved when they learn she’s connected to the Autobots

many of the students want to find the Autobots and meet them, and the minor agency that is suppose to be working with them gets upset that they are constantly overshadowed by these unregistered freelancers, right when the city gets action, new heroes get all the credit. 

The class’ ability to get in trouble eventually leads to them meeting the bots of course, quickly catching a minor villain and going straight to asking the bots questions where Sari comes to help them with a long distraction that gets the bots away, but now Sari is the target of the questions.

this is going to be a long semester 

(there is a lot more I can say for this, but I want to try and break it around for future asks and posts)

[seaquestions]

Do you have any longer fic recs to just vibe out to? Or like something that keeps you on the edge of your seat?

oh! hmmm lemme see what are some long fics ive read and enjoyed..

a wing and a prayer is the first that comes to mind. 173k words, complete. g1 skyfire/silverbolt, you get cute romance & family fluff w/ the aerialbots, character & relationship development with some drama. it’s got my favourite characterisation of skyfire in any fic tbh.

there’s autobot city help agency, which is basically required reading if youre into minimegs. 100k+, still ongoing but it’s really damn good. the romantic tension between megs & mims leaves me reeling with every chapter, as a minimegs stan i Must rec it. episodic lost light cast shenanigans is also very very fun.

i’ve recced following the tracks b4, it’s cos i love raoul/tracks. aligned cont, 70k+ ongoing.

also, champion! lost light titan au, with velotica. ongoing 50k+, havent caught up yet but it’s really good!

[thanksjro]

The Transformers, Issues #1-21: A Recap, For Research and Reference  Purposes, Because Otherwise it’s Just Going to Be Confusing

Before we begin, here’s a lightning round style recap on the 21 issues that took place prior to Roberts’ involvement:

Three years after the events of All Hail Megatron, the Autobots are in hiding, trapped on Earth with limited supplies, watching on as humanity attempts to rebuild itself. They don’t offer to help, because that would probably get them shot at- humans are still a little wary of the giant robots that friggin’ destroyed NYC, even if the Autobots are supposed to be the good guys. Sometimes the narration gets a little funny with words.

I know it has multiple meanings, but come on, who talks like this? I’ve always assumed Optimus Prime was the one narrating here, which is… well, IDW Prime has a very self-flagellating and elegant way of speaking. For better or for worse. God help you if Furman is at the wheel.

Of course, because the story needs conflict, Skywatch happens. Skywatch is a human agency whose job is to locate and eliminate all giant space robot threats. Prowl blows cover when the humans make it obvious that the kid gloves are off, ready to kill a Decepticon named Breakdown, and all hell breaks loose, as it is wont to do whenever the Transformers are involved.

Also, everyone looked like this, and it was bad for my eyeballs:

That night-demon is Ironhide. Don’t get too attached to him, he won’t be around for long. But then maybe also do, because he comes back, thanks to the power of comic books and being a giant robot. Do whatever you want, I’m not your mom.

Ironhide’s death leads Optimus to remove himself as leader of the Autobots, and he surrenders himself to Skywatch, because he hasn’t made a heroic sacrifice in the last twenty minutes.

By way of yet more property damage.

Optimus doesn’t name a successor, because he no longer feel fit to choose one. It’s probably actually so there’s plot tension over who the next Prime will be.

Also, Spike Witwicky fucks. He fucks and it’s awful.

With Optimus gone, Hot Rod- Rodimus now, though it’s never established when he decided to change his name or why- gets the hell out of dodge, having had his fill of Earth, and he takes a few friends along with him. Or, at least, he tries to. Decepticons kind of ruin that plan… and then they don’t, because they want in on some of that sweet, sweet getting the hell off of Earth. After all, the war’s over- no point in fighting anymore, right? Of course, Swindle is a part of the group, so take whatever that guy says with a grain of salt. A big grain, like the ones that come out of those fancy sea salt grinders.

Back with the guys who’ve decided to stick around for Optimus’ inevitable return, Bumblebee’s been nominated as the new leader of the Autobots. So much for being the kid appeal character- boy’s got responsibilities now.

Right after democracy happens, Ultra Magnus shows up looking for the boss.

He’s here to look into Ironhide’s death and Optimus’ defection/surrender to the humans. Dude must have booked it to get here, because that was like yesterday.

Any and all interactions between Spike Witwicky and Optimus go pretty much like this:

More people leave Bumblebee’s leadership. Rodimus is hunted down by Ultra Magnus for treason. Swindle channels his inner bisexual and starts dishing out some sweet finger guns.

He has excellent form.

Skywatch uses tech to lock the Autobots into their alt-modes, and starts targeting the defectors, in an attempt to get Optimus to talk to them.

Thundercracker watched TV for a year and a half, then had a midlife crisis, and now he’s following Swindle. Swindle starts asking Rodimus for more troops- er, friends to help them get off of Earth faster, trying to butter him up by calling him Rodimus Prime. I’d love to be able to tell you how that makes him feel, but you try parsing this friggin’ facial expression.

Magnus shows up, tries to arrest everyone, then leaves. Thundercracker has an epiphany about the nature of beauty he’s found in humanity, his soliloquy contrasted with the visual of a baby with a man’s head, and it’s genuinely upsetting to see.

All the faction insignias are photoshopped on, and it’s kind of distracting.

Swindle betrays Rodimus. Quelle surprise. Menasor shows up, and starts throwing robots around. Optimus Prime is released from prison and gets in touch with his inner monster truck. Rodimus steals Magnus’ ship and peaces out.

Over in space, the Decepticon forces have resorted to cannibalism to supplement rations, and Starscream has the Matrix of Leadership on a necklace.

The art switches over to something sort of like Hellboy, and that’s pretty cool. Too bad it only lasts for a single issue.

Skywatch and the Autobots form a tentative alliance. Megatron isn’t actually dead. Two guys in Skywatch throw themselves through a plate glass window for funsies. Spike commits a robot revenge killing. North Korea starts producing energon, and is working with the Decepticons.

Comic books are wild, y’all.

Spike doesn’t respect Bumblebee’s authority, going completely around him to talk to Prime while he’s having some alone time. The US President addresses the public in front of a hyperrealistic American flag.

The Autobots go covert in order to violate the UN sanctions. All the Transformers have vanity plates with their names on them. The Combaticons have a picnic on the lawn and show off their polyglotism. Optimus Prime gets in touch with his inner monster truck. The Autobot Naval forces get involved.

Bumblebee uses his pretty eyes on Thundercracker to try and convince him to help out, seeing as the Autobots don’t have any real air support at present, but it doesn’t work.

They’re very pretty. Thundercracker must have an iron will. Everyone gets weirdly handsome. The phrase “honked off” is used. Optimus Prime gets in touch with his inner monster truck.

I’m like 80% sure that license plate isn’t legal.

China gets involved, and it gets a little weird. Nuclear action is taken.

Cosmos will not be getting a lot more respect around here.

Thundercracker commits acts of terror to destroy the energon plants. Bumblebee addresses the rioting masses, and gets shot with a laser gun for his troubles.

Rodimus makes a pun and gets shot out of the sky. He survives by pulling a Indiana Jones fridge maneuver.

Starscream is turning into Gollum. The Cerebroshells are used with great flourish by Rodimus, who then holds Starscream at gunpoint. He shoots the Matrix.

Wow.

Rodimus attempts to sneak off of the asteroid, only to run into a rebuilt Megatron. Megatron proceeds to shoot him so hard in the chest he’s rocketed into orbit and is missing most of his torso.

The Don Figueroa cover of issue #14 seems to suggest that shooting Optimus Prime in the crotch is a valid plan of attack.

The gun Bumblebee was shot with looks an awful lot like Megatron’s alt-mode. Optimus isn’t mad, just disappointed. Ultra Magnus rejoins the narrative. Not a single human being in the military has a haircut that would pass regulation. The anti-robot cult is introduced. A sign that says “Fuck Robits” is seen in a protest. Soundwave shows up with his awful gremlin children and busts all the captured Decepticons out.

This guy needs to learn to double-knot his laces.

Megatron takes a little vacation in South America.

The gunman who shot Bumblebee was hearing voices from his electronics.

Megatron now comes in grape flavor and the Decepticons have a space bridge.

Megatron has a phone in his hand, and it’s very silly looking. As in, he makes a phone shape with his hand and that just works. I can’t take him seriously. The Megatron guns are actually part of Megatron, and were used to make the gunman shoot Bumblebee. Speaking of Bumblebee, he’s got one doctor keeping him alive at present, and it ain’t Ratchet. It’s some little old man.

Thundercracker comes home to find Starscream has broken in. Starscream has the Decepticon insignia on eight different parts of his body, including the crotchal region.

They show a woman get crushed to death on the news.

Brawn is given a solo mission, finds Starscream, and kicks his ass.

Megatron shows up on Earth. Ultra Magnus transforms to confront him, but he was carrying Bumblebee in his alt-mode and I’m not sure where he went when that happened. Megatron and Magnus have a little banter, then Megatron is shot, where it’s revealed that he’s actually running around in leather chaps and hot pants.

What a fashion icon.

Optimus and his team emerge from the depths of the ocean, having had their plane crash about three issues back. Everyone looks very put-out by the situation.

Brawn helps Thundercracker get to the doctor’s office.

Optimus Prime and Megatron finally have their little reunion. Turns out Megatron dumped all the Autobots with Ultra Magnus inside the city limits, where a bunch of hooligans with Megatron guns live. No word as to where Bumblebee went when Magnus transformed, but he’s here now. Jazz takes Spike and his coworker to save the day.

Megatron is having a moment.

Optimus fucking shoots Soundwave in the face, thus making himself just as bad as Megatron…? Not really how war works, but okay! Crisis averted.

Just kidding, because Jazz shoots a cop so hard he vaporizes. Good work, buddy.

Optimus goes on a solo mission to go kick Megatron’s ass, and jumps out of a plane, punching through the Decepticon’s ceiling. Megatron invites everyone to come out and watch him and Optimus beat the shit out of each other. Cosmos and Jetfire throw a satellite at Megatron from orbit.

An excellent question.

Megatron brings Optimus over to Omega Supreme’s digs and surrenders himself, then is promptly placed in the full-body harness. It’s… it’s something. Megatron reveals that it was Spike who murdered Scrapper the Constructicon like fourteen issues ago. Optimus is all “no waaaay, he’d never do that, I’d trust Spike with my life and also my wallet.”

Optimus immediately puts Prowl on the case though.

Rodimus falls down onto a planet, the Matrix having superglued itself to his chest to keep him from bleeding out. He looked pretty dead the last time we saw him, but he’s doing loads better now. He’s captured and made to be the power source of a large ship, so those who inhabit said ship can get off of the doomed planet they’ve been trapped on for ages. Rodimus ain’t cool with that, so he blows up his restraints with his flame-out ability and runs off. He hides in a cave, only to be attacked by a massive monster. Don’t worry though, because he’s saved by the mysterious Jangle Man.

The Jangle Man is Wheelie, who’s gone full Castaway.

Rodimus gets patched up and then watches Wheelie get high off music.

One of the lackys that brought Rodimus aboard the first ship shows up and attacks, only to be subdued and immediately spills all the beans he has. Rodimus channels his inner anime character.

Rodimus cooks up a plan to get everyone home, and it involves trickery, lies, and the power of music to tame the savage beast. He straps his chest into the power cables and, with only an addled Wheelie to watch over him, does the thing.

Rodimus wakes up to the Matrix having been removed from his chest. Problem: Wheelie piloted them to Cybertron, which is currently a gigantic, uninhabitable mess at the moment. Rodimus tries to get them pointed in the direction of Earth, but that doesn’t work out so hot.

Someone breaks into the ship. It’s Ironhide and Sunstreaker. Rodimus declares himself dead. He’s not, but he might end up that way if he lets the scout that just saw them loitering around outside the ship get back to his boss.

Galvatron comes into the picture, and Rodimus books it. They use their rations- because energon is blood, food, fuel, get well soon card, birthday present, and everything else for the Cybertronians- to power the ship and head back to Earth.

Speaking of Earth, Bumblebee’s not dead. He’s got a cane now. Rodimus shows up, gets some weird Bible-like captioning, and Bumblebee about has a conniption over the Matrix. Rodimus is all ‘whatever, little yellow dude’, and so is everyone else, as Rodders goes up to Optimus, hands him the Matrix, and then is officially named Rodimus by the space pope.

Optimus decides he needs to go to Cybertron to kick Galvatron’s ass, and invites anyone who wants to come with.

Bumblebee’s mad that no one’s listening to him anymore, not that they were really doing that anyway.

Optimus and his team fuck off into space, beginning their journey back to Cybertron.

Prowl gets a few minutes alone with Megatron prior to that, though. He’s well on his way to cracking the case of Scrapper’s murder.

Thundercracker fucks off into the sky, surely heading back to his bachelor pad to catch up on his stories.

And THAT, dear children, is the entirety of The Transformers, up to issue #22. We’re all caught up and ready for what’s to come. 

[ofauroradreams]

VERSES

MAIN: Somewhere I Belong.

Born and raised in New York, Liana’s a city girl through and through. Having moved away eight years ago, she’s back to build a new life for herself. It won’t be easy, moving on from the bad memories of her past, but there’s just something about this city that Liana’s determined to call HOME.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

TMNT: A Teenage Ninja.

There’s something happening to New York. With mutants running around the city, alien tentacle brains in robot suits trying to invade, and color-coded ninja turtle vigilantes, Liana’s home is threatened. Prepared to keep her city safe, Liana steps up as ’the phoenix’, and decides to fight back.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

VOLTRON: Legendary Defenders.

If someone had told Liana that she’d one day be out in space, fighting the good fight against an alien tyrant, while befriending five giant color-coded alien lions and their respectively color-coded pilots; well, she might just have been inclined to believe them. After all, anything’s possible… right?

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

HTTYD: The Dragon Guardian.

In her dreams at night, Liana finds herself connectiong with a long past ancester in the time of dragons. An ex-Dragon Hunter, Freyja lives on alone on an island outside the Archipelago, caring for the dragons she once used to hunt. It’s a quiet life, atoning for her mistakes; but for how much longer?

httyd bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

FALLOUT 3: The Lone Wanderer.

Liana was nineteen years old when she forced out of the Vault in pursuit of her father; ten years later, she ends up in Boston, wandering her way through the ruins of the city. It’s a dangerous life out here but there’s something about the Commonwealth she might be able to call HOME.

wanderer bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

FALLOUT 4: The Sole Survivor.

Liana’s life was perfect: she had a loving husband, a beautiful son and a nice house. And then the bombs fell. Now, 210 years later, she wakes up in the wasteland, widowed and missing a child. The world isn’t what she knew it to be, but nothing will stop her from finding her son.

survivor bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

MARVEL: Superheroes in NYC.

Aliens, mutants and New York sounds like a familiar story. Liana hasn’t used her powers in a few years but maybe with some fine tuning and a little help from the resident superheroes, she might be exactly what this city needs to save it from itself. As long as she doesn’t end up destroying it first.

marvel bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

TRANSFORMERS: Autobots in Disguise.

During the battle of Chicago, the last thing Liana expects is to befriend one of the Autobots. When they’re later forced on the run, Liana chooses to flee with them, joining Bumblebee on a cross-country roadtrip. The Government is hot on their trail; but Liana just wants to escape the loss of her family.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

TEEN WOLF: Witch Of The Wolves

When her best friends are murdered by witch-hunters, Liana packs up and leaves New York, swearing off magic. But Beacon Hills is a town of power and some things can’t be ignored: like Scott McCall and his pack of werewolves. Fate is ephemeral but maybe Liana was destined to end up here.

main bio ::  headcanons :: face claim

🌹

OVERWATCH: Fractured Minds.

The sole survivor of a Talon experiment, Liana’s conditioning failed during her first field mission and she instead escaped the evil organization. With her mind in pieces, Liana is forced to evade Talon forces attempting to recapture her; and in the process, finds herself drawn to Overwatch.

overwatch bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

SUPERNATURAL: A Hunter’s Life.

After cleansing a hotel of its homicidal ghost, Liana’s eyes are opened to the world of the paranormal; and in the process, she finds herself a new purpose in life. Setting out on the road, she takes up the mantle of hunter and seeks to save innocents from the monters that lurk in the shadows.

After cleansing a hotel of its homicidal ghost, Liana’s eyes are opened to the world of the paranormal; and in the process, finds herself a new purpose in life.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

CURSED: 20/20 Magic

Having been born with sight, Liana was cursed by a vengeful sorceress when she was a teenager that caused her to go blind. With help from her sensei, she learned to adapt to her new situation; lucky for her, she is able to use her own internal magic to navigate the every day world… mostly.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

FANTASY: One Of A Kind

Things you think you see are not what they appear to be. In between the lines, more than meets the eye; take another look and see what’s there. What is truly real is sometimes concealed. Beauty underneath is everywhere, beyond compare. Look closer: nothing’s the way it seems.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

APOCALYPSE: Of Ash And Dust

The world has fallen into chaos, the human race dwindling down to mere thousands. Liana survived the apocalypse, only to watch the rest of humanity crumble to ashes in the fallout. Now she spends her days on the road; trying to live, hoping to die and helping other survivors along the way.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

MUTANT: Girl On Fire.

The result of some kind of mutation, Liana ended up with the scales of a dragon and the ability to control fire. She doesn’t know who did this to her or why, but she’s too busy trying to live a normal life to really find out. Besides, she’s probably the only mutant out there anyway… right?

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

PARENT: A Mother’s Love.

Liana never expected to be raising a child on her own but then, life’s funny like that. It’s a brand new chapter of her journey and she’s determined to do it right; to give them the childhood she never had. It’s hard work, learning on the job, but she wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

INVESTIGATOR: TBA.

tba: Liana runs a private eye agency, takes on cases, sometimes normal, sometimes occult, possible former LEO.

main bio :: headcanons :: face claim

🌹

[wits-writing]

Bumblebee (Movie Review)

Last night I managed to get into a preview screening for Bumblebee, a spinoff for one of the main robots from the Transformers franchise. Knowing this movie is directed by Travis Knight, who previously directed Kubo and the Two Strings, got my curiosity up despite the overall lackluster quality from the movies in the series that preceded it. Knight and screenwriter Christina Hodson deliver a soft-reboot for the live action Transformers movies more in line with the “Generation One” (or G1) aesthetic. The movie focuses on Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), a young mechanic in 1987 who gets caught up in the prelude to the Autobot and Decepticon’s conflict on Earth when she unknowingly comes in possession of the car serving as the alternate form of the Autobot soldier Bumblebee.

An important thing I want to lay down at the start of this review is that comparisons to the Michael Bay directed Transformers movies will be kept to a minimum. Everything that can be said about them has been and by smarter film analysts than me (I highly recommend Lindsay Ellis’s “The Whole Plate” video series.) It’s also important to not sell short what Knight, Hodson and the assembled cast and crew have accomplished with Bumblebee. Saying something is “better than one of the worst review film series of all time” is a low bar and this charming adventure deserves more credit than that.

[Full Review Under the Cut]

Bumblebee himself is introduced in an extended prologue sequence that’s as loving a tribute to Transformers G1 as possible. A good dozen recognizable Autobots and Decepticons cameo in a brief battle and escape sequence that gets described as the “Fall of Cybertron.” The part that takes place on Cybertron is brief but establishes a few things about who Bumblebee is before he gets launched to Earth for the remainder of the movie. While he does appear to have a rapport with Optimus Prime, voiced once again by Peter Cullen, it’s mostly as soldier and commanding officer rather than friends. At the start he doesn’t even have a proper title, as the others Cybertronians only ever call him “B127.” The movie uses his actions on Cybertron and in his arrival on Earth to establish his nobility as an Autobot soldier before a lot of who he was on Cybertron gets stripped away from him. In the first major Earth-based sequence of the movie, Bumblebee needs to fight off the Decepticon Blitzwing. While he’s able to defeat the other Transformer, it ends up damaging his memory circuits and costing him his voice putting him in the state he’ll be in for most of the movie afterwards.

It’s from that point on that the story’s focus shifts from Bumblebee to Charlie as the center of the movie. Her life and attitude get established quickly before her first encounter with Bumblebee, in his VW Beetle form. She’s kept herself at a distance from the rest of her family, particularly her mom and stepdad, since the sudden death of her father a few years ago. When she’s not working her menial job at a local pier amusement park, one of the ways she tries to keep her connection to her father alive within her is by throwing herself deeply into restoring a car they were working on together before his passing. Before any of her involvement with the Transformers story begins, Charlie’s relatable dilemmas and realistic depiction as a someone struggling to deal with trauma makes her a compelling character on her own.

The real heart of the movie finally comes in when Charlie, as an eighteenth birthday present to herself, manages to get the VW Beetle as her first car. The amnesiac, mute Bumblebee reveals himself to her quickly after she brings him home and the beginnings of their bond are immediate. Over the course of the movie, Charlie manages to give Bee his name, interest in music and the radio he ends up using to communicate as the story goes along. Most of the movie consists of Charlie and Bee hanging out, eventually alongside Charlie’s neighbor Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.), and it’s some very endearing material. Bumblebee’s amnesia reflects on Charlie own loss of self in the wake of losing her dad and their shared arc shows how their friendship manages to help them both rediscover their identities. Seeing Charlie slowly come more alive as she gets out there and does more with her life after getting Bumblebee, from cruising down the highway to getting revenge on some of her bullies, adds to the overall lighthearted tone of this movie.

An overriding aspect of the aesthetics of this movie are how drenched it is in 80s nostalgia, thanks to the time period it’s set in. Musical cues, pop cultural references people make in dialogue and the band shirts Charlie wears for most of the movie are all appropriate and work to invoke the era of pop culture that gave the world Transformers in the first place. There are also points where, like other recent works banking on 80s-nostalgia, it feels like the movie almost leans a little too hard into reminding you of the time period. Even with the occasional problems involved with that aspect, it fits the kind of story Bumblebee is paying homage. It’s a movie in line with the aesthetic and tone of the family adventure movies of the 80s, the most obvious reference point being E.T. and all the movies that have tried to replicate it. Which is a strong point to hang everything else on and keeps things light.

There are two main antagonistic forces at play against Bumblebee and Charlie as the movie goes along. Introduced early on is Agent Burns (John Cena) from the top-secret agency Sector 7, one of the few explicit references to the other Transformers movies in Bumblebee. His interest in the Transformers comes from surviving after witnessing Bumblebee’s fight with a Decepticon right after Bee’s arrival on Earth. Burns’ motives are understandable in light of witnessing something he doesn’t understand and he gets to have an arc in terms of how he perceives Bumblebee as the movie goes on. On the Transformers side of the antagonists in this movie there are two main Decepticon villains, Shatter (voiced by Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (voiced by Justin Theroux). They arrive on Earth after detecting Bumblebee’s signal and hope to pry the location of Optimus Prime out of him by any means necessary. These two antagonists’ paths cross quickly as the Decepticons appeal to Sector 7 to allow them to use their technology to track the fugitive Autobot. Though Cena as Burns sees through their motive, getting to be the one in the movie to point out “They’re called Decepticons”, but his superiors end up going along with it on the assumption that eventually they’ll get the chance to destroy all the aliens.

Actions scenes in Bumblebee aren’t the focus of the movie’s priorities, but they are the one place where explicit comparisons between this movie and the Bay directed Transformers are the most unavoidable. The character designs for the Transformers present in the movie focus on communicating character, through movement, distinct silhouettes and color choice, so once the action kicks in everything’s easy to follow. The combat between the robots is mainly hand-to-hand grappling with the occasional use of a blade or blaster. Transforming mid-combat happens more often here than it ever did in the past movies and gets used in strategic ways to allow for certain movements or to build up momentum before coming in for the striking blow. Clarity of stakes and geography are kept throughout the movie, since these are close quarters combat encounters rather than massive, city wrecking shoot outs. None of these action beats outstay their welcome either, which can be a problem with modern blockbusters in general and not just the previous Transformers movies.

What mainly sells Bumblebee as a charming sci-fi blockbuster is the Charlie and Bumblebee dynamic. Running at under two hours and keenly focused about where to keep its priorities, this is a simple, fun movie for older G1 fans and potential newcomers to the franchise alike. If you were at all iffy on this one, know that it pulls off what it sets out to do in giving Bumblebee a compelling origin in the form of a soft reboot of the film series.

If you like what you’ve read here, please consider throwing some support my way at either Patreon or Ko-Fi at the extension “/witswriting”

[idw-tf-library]

Fic Rec - Autobot City Help Agency by bennybonny

Autobot City Help Agency by bennybonny​, recommended by @daisyachain

Status: Incomplete / Length: 63443 Words / Location: AO3

Focal Characters: Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus, Megatron

Focal Relationships: Ultra Magnus/Megatron

Matching Categories: character introspective, humour, AU

Review/Recommendation: Episodic AU story that takes cues from Brooklyn 99, focuses on the growing friendship/??? between Megs and Mags after Megs is placed both in charge of Mags and under Mags’ protection/supervision, quite similar to canon! A crime-fighting dramedy that pays attention to the characters and relationships in the broader cast and features a slow, slow, slow burn romance between two characters who, against all odds, genuinely like and respect each other. Great, show-like pacing, interesting subplots, great balance between the main relationship and the day-to-day lives of the character, and a overall a really funny and incredibly touching read.

[minimus-ambus]

no one look at me for the next 14 hours unless it’s to scream about the new autobot city help agency chapter. don’t even TOUCH me

[dizzydiodes]

@theyoungerwitwicky

Bumblebee isn’t one to ask for help unless he truly needs it. And, truthfully, he had been putting off this call for a while now. But any attempt at rectifying the situation on his own had gone less than swimmingly. 

Chloe had mentioned the humans being a little hostile towards robots. Bumblebee had assumed that meant giving them a hard time with parking tickets. He had not anticipated open fire. 

Luckily, the humans had apparently not anticipated anything about Bumblebee. But who would have expected an extra-friendly Autobot knocking -- literally knocking -- on the door of a local government agency? Not the humans, that’s for sure.

The minibot was driving rather frantically through the city, looking incredibly suspicious but not particularly caring. This is probably a good time to call for help. Mostly because he’s pretty sure he’s still being followed.

Hopefully Chloe picks up. He hates leaving voicemails!

[pleasantcreationwolf-blog]

Word Game Review And Discussion

Best fiends feature for free. Generate as many diamonds as you need.

Summary: The tournament has begun. Stop waiting for your buildings to finish. It'ss time to start battling. Fates Forever is a free action game where you team up with your friends in epic player vs. player battles. Students who had been playing the racing game waited an average of almost 12 seconds to hit the stop button compared to 10 seconds for the solitaire group. The participants' experience playing these types of games outside of the study did not seem to make a difference. TRANSFORMERS: Battle Tactics hit Google Play some time on January 30th, and by now it sports nearly five thousand downloads with a good 4 star rating. This means people love it, and what's not to love? Featuring 75 autobots and decepticons, the game lets you create teams consisting of both and battle your online opponents. You will craft your team, create powerful combos and deal critical damage to your rivals in real time, online PvPs, collecting rare characters and form leagues with your friends. On the flip side, the connectivity has issues; the IAPs are mad expensive; the transformers are egg-headed. It is up to you to decide whether it is your cup of tea, or not, but the game is a significant release since it deals with such a sensitive franchise. The game has three ships which can be earned by completing all the missions with the previous ship or by purchasing them via an IAP. Unfortunately only one of the ship's allows three people whilst the other two are affairs strictly for dynamic duos. The fact that the three player ship is one of the ones behind the £1.80/$2.13 paywall feels a little manipulative, but the flip-side is that only one person needs to own the ship for all three of you to play. You'll notice that ships also have more stations than there are people - four on a two-person ship, six on a three person. Simply put, staying at one station for the duration of a run can be rather boring so being able to switch between all of the stations helps alleviate that. Velodyne, a big name in subwoofers, has just introduced a sharp looking in-ear headphone called the vPulse. It is the first model of the company when venturing into the headphone market. The vPulse's 43.5-inch-long cable is remarkably resistant, featuring convenient control of tracks, volume, playback, and even a button to enable users to answer their vPulse is available for $89, and comes in Black or Electric Blue. Board games can be really therapeutic. They can help build relationships between groups of friends and rebuild relationships between family members. Games that make you laugh and socially interact can be great to help get rid of any tension with teens and can be bonding too. Board games can also be educational too.

20 more things that best fiends cheat give to your gameplay.

I see that Michael Peiffert has borrowed a tie-died skeletal astronaut from the Grateful Dead Space Agency to announce Out There: Omega Edition, an expanded re-mastered edition of the space exploration adventure that I loved so much earlier this year. I have several friends now who were my best friends 50 years ago and am still very close to several others, though we don't see each other as often. Growing up in a small community probably helped. There were about nine families, all with parents in the same age group, and they all had kids about the same time. We lived in the suburbs, far enough from the city to be dependent on each other for entertainment and companionship. Our parents were of modest incomes too so we weren't spoiled with a lot of gadgets to entertain us. It was a good life that forced us to form solid foundations under our friendships. I think that is why they have lasted so long. In Christa Parravani's debut memoir Her, she tells the harrowing story of a brutal sexual assault suffered by her identical twin sister Cara and Cara's subsequent heroin addiction and death by accidental overdose. In unflinching language, Parravani writes about the ensuing years of unimaginable grief when she teetered on the edge of following her sister to the grave, and then about the long and worthwhile road back from devastation. Her is a masterfully written and compelling tale of survival about the ways that art and love help us to overcome. best fiends tutorial, , will anyone ever forget the first time they saw Halle Berry pop out of the water in that orange bikini? The entrance may have been inspired by Ursula Andress (the first Bond Girl), but Berry's beachfront saunter created a legend of its own. Halle's sexiness lies in the balance of her frame,” personal trainer Ashley Borden says. Her shoulder width is perfectly proportioned to the sweep of her quadriceps, emphasizing her muscular legs and small waist.” Die Another Day” received mixed reviews and marked Pierce Brosnan's last movie as James Bond, but Berry made Jinx Johnson the most memorable Bond girl of her generation. The app also supports fingerprint authentication for devices with Nexus Imprint or Android Marshmallow, bundles various themes and it's free with no ads. On top of that, it lets you manage your Twitter account so you can use just one app for two social networks. I'd call that a win-win. The experiment showed that, initially, the children developed a bias for blue: when in doubt, the children started to give the answer that was rewarded more often during the first part of the game. However, when the rewarding system switched to red, differences began to emerge among the children. Typically developing children started showing a clear bias for red, while children with ADHD shifted only slightly their answers towards red.