#brakebolt

[thewiglesswonder]

love your humanformers designs and I saw this a moment ago which made my bad day a little bit better /gen. would it be too greedy of me to request more Team Phantos humanformers crumbs

Aw, I’m happy to hear that! Hope these will suffice:

Posthaste discovering the wonders of skating, what Mae’s actual job used to be, and finally, a team picture.

[thewiglesswonder]

the "if you sleek me at my slorse" post you reblogged but its maelstrom, viceglide, and the rest of team phantos

How does it feel to know that this ask is what made me finally draw Quarrel and Brakebolt

[thewiglesswonder]

I have what could be considered a very self-indulgent ask: what does Maelstrom think of Helix? do any other members of Team Phantos have an opinion of them? yes I might be writing something but I am also innately curious

Maelstrom considers Helix one of the more interesting cases she's come across over the years, and from her, that's a large compliment. She thinks the juxtaposition of a soldier that can adapt to anything yet is too frightened to do so fascinating. Beyond an experimental sense, she thinks they're rather good company, and it's been ages since she's seen a frametype so similar to hers (relatively speaking).

The rest of Phantos doesn't have this knowledge (aside from Viceglide). Fuselage would probably think it's funny to scare them, Quarrel doesn't really talk to people, she just glares, and Brakebolt would give them a slap on the back that was meant to be friendly, but probaby ended up bowling the poor thing over. Viceglide is a prickly bastard to basically everyone, and I'm afraid Helix isn't an exception.

[thewiglesswonder]

Three questions about Posthaste

has he ever interacted with the autobots?

what was he like when he was little?

what was everyone’s (including viceglide himself) reaction to finding out that viceglide was carrying?

thanks for putting up with my questions!

I will always welcome questions about my kids, no putting up here!

1. Haste was born at the tail end of the war, so interaction with Bots during his childhood was kept to a minimum, specifically because of safety concerns. He didn’t grow up around Autobots, but as steps were taken toward actual peace and sides started to mix a bit more, he’s definitely met his fair share. (This is discounting the time he got kidnapped/adopted by a well-intentioned Autobot team as a bitlet.)

2. Posthaste was super small as a sparkling, the fangs and claws he inherited from Maelstrom wouldn’t grow in until a little later in life, and he was very energetic as a whole. Precocious, curious, chatty before he could actually talk, that sort of thing. Of course, when you’re so small and can only hold so much energy at a time, he would conk out for naps on a pretty regular basis.

3. Here’s the thing: Post was an accident. To put it plainly, they were both extremely worried. Viceglide is a field operative, they’re in the middle of a war, this is dangerous. They didn’t even tell the rest of Team Phantos until they had successfully stolen Posthaste’s protoform. But to answer the pertinent question, Viceglide was verging on panic, Maelstrom has the coolness of a battlefield trauma surgeon on her side no matter how worried she is, and Quarrel, Brakebolt, and Fuselage were all varying shades of shocked.

[thewiglesswonder]

♡ ☮ for viceglide and brakebolt?

The boys of Team Phantos!

♡ - romantic headcanon

If he ever were to meet someone he was interested in, Brakebolt would be nothing but a gentleman. He might be the muscle of the Team, but he’s pretty well-spoken and considerate. He was also nominated for “Armada’s Most Eligible Bachelor” and made it into the top ten.

Viceglide took some sort of pride in actively avoiding any and all romance, then nearly gave himself a pining-induced spark attack when he fell for Maelstrom. Just because he is with her doesn’t mean he knows how.

☮ - friendship headcanon

Brakebolt likes to give his good friends things, it’s how he shows affection. Given the mobile nature of his Team and the Armada, they’re small, like cool rocks or a scanned picture, but they hold so much love.

Viceglide gives nicknames to people he likes, in any sense of the word, usually by chopping their designation down the middle and picking a half. “Bolt”, “Fuse”, and “Mae” are examples of this. Quarrel’s name doesn’t do that, so he calls her “Q”.

[thewiglesswonder]

🎫 for a Team Phantos member of your choice

Maelstrom can sing. Like, she doesn't do it around other people too often, but she likes singing to herself as she works. Viceglide doesn't mind it either, thinks it's one of the few things she does he'd describe solely as "adorable". Listen to Tim Curry's cover of "I Put A Spell On You" to get what I mean.

[thewiglesswonder]

Big Ol' PhantosFam Ask:

What kind of parents are Viceglide and Maelstrom?

Did Posthaste ever go to public school? If so, what was his first day like?

How would Viceglide and Maelstrom react if Posthaste had a partner?

Have any of them been to Mac's?

Did Posthaste inherit any of Maelstrom's creepiness?

What was the team's reaction to seeing Posthaste for the first time?

Who is Posthaste's favorite parent?

Have fun!

Anon, I love you. I want you to know this. Ahem:

1. Viceglide and Maelstrom aren’t the most… orthodox of parents. Maelstrom would have baby Posthaste sit in her cockpit when she performed surgery, the bitlet was right by Viceglide’s side while he supervised weapons shipments, that sort of thing. They’re a strange little family, but Mae and Vice are very loving parents.

2. He did, and his first day was actually relatively uneventful. He was a little smaller than the other sparklings there, and Decepticon kids are scrappy, but Posthaste inherited his sire’s impressive teeth. Bit a couple other kids, then played with them happily through the rest of the day. Remarkably uneventful, for a kid who had been accidentally kidnapped before his second creation day.

3. They would react… well, let’s put it this way. Posthaste, handsome and charming young mech he is, brings home the nice mech that has caught his optic to meet his creators. Maelstrom is as genial and friendly as she usually is, but her words have a razor edge to them, her smile seems like that of a cat that’s about to eat a canary. Viceglide is less “serial killer” than his conjux, he’s more the standoffish dad we’re all familiar with. In short, they’re threatening, but not overt about it. At the end of the day, who he does or doesn’t see is Posthaste’s choice, but all the same, he’s their creation!

4. They have! The New Oil House on Earth became something of a Cybertronian oasis in the remote Milky Way sector, and Earth itself is a pretty important planet. They’re on friendly terms with Mac, she was actually the first human that Posthaste ever met.

5. Oh, absolutely. Posthaste got his looks from Viceglide (right down to their facial markings), but he got his demeanor from Maelstrom. His usual temperament is actually quite pleasant, he’s a regular little charmer. But there’s a switch he can flip at a moments’ notice, and boom. You know with one hundred percent certainty that he’s thinking of ways to disembowel you, all without so much as a cycle of the optics from him.

6. Phantos’ general reaction can best be imagined as “typical reactions to baby”. Brakebolt, big sap he is, actually shed a tear or two when he held Post for the first time (“he’s so SMALL—”), Quarrel essentially went “I’ve only known this kid for a minute and a half but if anything happened to him I’d kill everyone in this room and then myself”, and Fuselage’s firecracker spark went wild for him. He might be Mae and Vice’s sparkling, but he’s Team Phantos’ kid.

7. Posthaste does not have a favorite! He loves both of his creators equally. (…it’s his sire. She lets him stay out later and she pretends not to notice.)

[thewiglesswonder]

Here’s the breakdown of the most elusive band of Decepticons of the Great War, Team Phantos! Phantos is named for its loose structure, as the members tend to work solo unless called together for a specific mission.

[thewiglesswonder]

Alternate title: Viceglide Learns Some Things About Himself.

[thewiglesswonder]

☀️ Brakebolt!

☀️ What makes your OC genuinely happy? A person, an item, their hobby? Where is the place they’re happiest, or most at home? What is the happiest they’ve ever been?

I see we’re being nice with the asks to start off with! With Brakebolt, he’s a guy that doesn’t need a whole lot. Some energon in his tanks, a place to recharge, and Quarrel at his side. They’re best friends. I’m not sure if amica endurae are a thing in TFA’s continuity, but if they are, Quarrel and Brakebolt are well on their way to being them. It might not look it to an outsider, but they’re genuinely very close and have each other’s backs tightest out of all of Phantos. He and Quarrel travel a lot, as her skills as an interceptor are needed all around the galaxy, so “home” is a pretty nebulous thing for him. When he’s with her, it can’t be that bad. The happiest he’s ever been was at the Battle of Tetrahex, which secured a Decepticon stronghold early in the war, in no small part due to his and Quarrel’s efforts. The celebration lasted for days after.

[thewiglesswonder]

🌙 MOON - For Brakebolt!! :)

MOON - what is your oc’s greatest wish? how far are they willing to go to get it?

Brakebolt is far more of a follower than a leader, but he’s got dreams of his own! On a grand scale, he wants what all Decepticons want: his home back, Cybertron under the control of its rightful leaders, a permanent place to recharge. He’s steadfast and extremely loyal, but in truth, he values his friends and the connections he’s made over the abstract-ness of the Decepticon Cause. He’d choose them any day.

[thewiglesswonder]

In a list of your ocs, who would fall for updog and who would do the updogging

Mac: would not fall for updog, updogs people very sparingly.

Maelstrom: would not fall for updog, watches in silent amusement.

Viceglide: falls for updog multiple times.

Fuselage: updogs people multiple times.

Brakebolt: would fall for updog, but tries to updog people himself.

Quarrel: would not fall for updog.

Rak: would pretend to fall for updog for the sake of the teller.

Aln: would fall for updog.

The Obscuracle: would fall for updog, then mercilessly updog people upon understanding it.

Ariadne: would not fall for updog.

Iapyx: would fall for updog.

[thewiglesswonder]

I'm curious to know how they came to be 'The Most Elusive' strike force. Are they that good at what they do?

Yes and no. Put together, they do run as a well-oiled machine, and have a tendency to do their assigned missions extremely quickly. In and out, and by the time Autobot reinforcements showed up, all that was left was the destruction they left behind, but that certainly wasn’t the case every time. Beyond that, they’re a little more unconventional than your average Decepticon team. By and large, teams tend to work together, stay together, and inhabit the same ship or live in relatively close quarters with each other. Phantos, however, splits up whenever they aren’t actively working on a mission. Maelstrom interrogates/operates on prisoners on the Kalis’ Lament, Fuselage causes chaos in the outskirts of the galaxy, Viceglide gathers intel, and Brakebolt and Quarrel travel together running interference on transmissions. During the war, this made any attempt to trace the team and their movements utterly impossible. “Phantos” is evocative of ghosts and spirits, intangible things that disappear if you try to grasp them, and that’s exactly what they do.

[thewiglesswonder]

What does Team Phantos think of organics? Do they still regard them with disgust like the rest of cybertronians?

Phantos as a whole has been around the block, and like a lot of Decepticons, don’t have a huge problem with organics (like Blitzwing, Swindle, even Starscream).

Maelstrom finds humans a bit amusing for how fragile and spunky they are, but greatly appreciates their collective research on “nonphysical processor damage”. She’d get along well with Headmaster, too. After all, all she needs is the head to do her work, so he can keep the body.

Viceglide thinks they’re all a bit dull, and they never move as fast as he’d like them to.

Fuselage thinks it’s so cute that they’ve managed to do so much with their combustible elements! They rate human fireworks a 8.6 out of 10.

Quarrel doesn’t think too much of them. They’ve got a lot of gabble going through on the radio waves, but it’s nothing that can’t be tuned out.

Brakebolt thinks they look weird, and is actually kind of creeped out by them in the way a human is creeped out by bugs.

[thewiglesswonder]

apologies if this is a lot but 💥 🕷 🙉 for Fuselage, Quarrel, Maelstrom

COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Fuselage: They’re the wild card of Team Phantos, and they tend to deal with a lot of emotions by blowing something up. However, they’re very sensitive to the feelings of their team, the only mechs that have consistently stuck with them over the stellar cycles. Fuselage takes their disappointment or legitimate hurt to spark.

Quarrel: Quarrel is more of a… silent type. Not as prone to outward existentialism as Dead End, but a fair bit more morose than the average bot. She’s not super accustomed to feeling very joyous about anything, it’s really a wonder Brakebolt ever sees her smile.

Maelstrom: She will not accept that she has failed at something. She will pick anything out of a situation, anything that was gained at all, and latch onto it in an attempt to stop herself from feeling like a failure.

SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

Fuselage: This pyrotechnics expert is actually severely claustrophobic, more so than is typical with the vast majority of Seekers. The fear stems from an early stint in the Stockades, in which they went through an acute case of flight withdrawal.

Quarrel: Her fears are along the lines of that of a typical soldier, like getting shot to bits or captured in combat. But one that’s specific to her, that eats at her sometimes, is the thought that maybe one day, she’ll hear a plan that spells certain doom over the radio waves.

Maelstrom: Before the war went hot, Maelstrom was a battlefield trauma surgeon/airlifter, and now she spends a lot of her time with her hands buried in someone else’s processor. She’s not squeamish. But her biggest fear lies in doubting herself, namely, doubting her sanity. She’s so invested in what makes other bots tick, what breaks their processors beyond repair, and she’s afraid that one day, it’ll happen to her.

HEAR-NO-EVIL - what is the worst thing your oc could hear from someone?

Fuselage: “No matter where you go, who you meet, what you do, that doesn’t change what you are. Worthless.”

Quarrel: “They hate you. They always have. They just needed an excuse, and you gave it to them.

Maelstrom: “You won’t make a difference. None of this, none of your work, will ever matter.”