#but combining in rid15 is weird??

[transingthoseformers]

See this? This is what brought me back to rid15! The cool worldbuilding and designs! I may not be the biggest fan of the plot but some of the implications here are so so so so so damn cool

[roseymoseyberry]

Samsara (3/?)

Heyo, time for chapter 3, aka a little bit more insight into how I had to fill in the gaps in Breakdown’s backstory and the Stunticons in general, lmao.

Thanks again y’all for reading this wild ride and I hope you enjoy! And for folks who may not watch RID15, the race mentioned in this chapter is from the episode Disordered Personalities. You don’t really need to know much beyond the stunticons joined it hoping to cement their title as Rulers of the Road (because they’re literally written dumb enough as to believe winning a race would do that) and the Autobots went to stop them from destroying the other racers. So they lost and it’s implied that Motormaster pulled a Megatron and physically punished them for it.

Title: Samsara

Series: RID15 and TFP (and some tidbits grabbed from Aligned wiki pages)

Ship(s): Wildbreak/Knockout, Breakdown/Knockout

Tags/warnings: Reincarnation AU, hurt/comfort, verbal/physical abuse (though the worst of the physical abuse is barely described or off screen), past character death, age difference (but still consenting adult alien robots), a lot of filling in worldbuilding gaps and making shit up, and a lot of Wildbreak being a sweet boy who just needs some love and affection.

Fic Summary:

From the day he was forged, Wildbreak had felt like there was something missing; some motivation or drive or desire that had been left behind in the Allspark.

Something he should know but didn’t.

|Chapter 1|Chapter 2|Chapter 3|

“About time you woke up.”

Bumblebee’s frame jolted online as he sat up, staring wide-opticked up at where Knockout was leaned against a shelf of scrap metal and watching him.

“Knockout?! What’re you--?”

“I have a favor to ask,” Knockout stated.

“And it couldn’t wait?” Bumblebee grumbled as he moved to stand. He was going to have to have a talk with his team about warning him when they had company.

Knockout gave him an unimpressed look.

“You want help with your Stunticon problem, don’t you?”

Bumblebee’s arms stilled where he had stretched them over his helm, blinking at Knockout. “You decided to join the team after all?”

“Of course not. I told you, I’m not much of a team player these days when I can help it,” Knockout replied.

“Then…?”

“I’ve been spending some time with one of them.”

“You—wait, you’ve been doing what?!” Panicked, Bumblebee continued, “You’re not gonna join them, are you?”

With a snort, Knockout shook his head. “As much as I don’t want you ordering me around, the idea of Motormaster trying it is even worse. He’s a brute and a moron who only knows how to motivate with his fists. It’s no coincidence he had to remake his team by snatching up a bunch of new forged.”

That was all news to Bumblebee. He didn’t know about any Motormaster, let alone-- “How new?”

“Post-war.”

Bumblebee winced.

But before he could comment, Knockout pushed off his perch and stalked towards him. “And that’s why, when I finally convince this kid to leave the Stunticons, you’re going to pardon him and accept him into the Autobot fold without any problems.”

Bumblebee sighed as he braced his servos on his hips.

“They’re criminals, Knockout. I can’t just waive that.”

“You did for that dinobot,” Knockout argued. He was nearly chest-to-chest with Bumblebee now, unwilling to give an inch.

“Grimlock is a special case. He proved himself to be trustworthy.”

“No. Grimlock is special because you like him.”

“He’s a good mech--”

“—And so is Wildbreak.”

With a huff, Bumblebee stepped back and paced away, and of course he heard Knockout’s pedesteps following behind. “Knockout--”

“You want to put an end to the Stunticons, don’t you?”

That brought Bumblebee up short. He stopped and looked over his shoulder, and Knockout lips barely curled enough to be called a smirk, but it was there. “If you really want to ruin their plans, I can’t think of a better way than getting one of them to defect and thus depriving them of two combiner forms.”

“Two? Can he combine with one of the other ones too?”

The smirk grew.

“I can’t believe the Autobots are still so behind when it comes to understanding combiners,” Knockout said, strolling closer, looking every part like the Con he once was. “You don’t honestly think that if your lot could fuse together by sheer accident that a team led by Motormaster, a mech who has been combining for millennia, would be limited to just combining in pairs, do you?” Genuine fear started to spark in Bumblebee’s processor as realization of what Knockout was suggesting settled.

“All of them?”

“Menasor was never as successful a combiner as Devastator, no doubt because Motormaster was never as good a leader as Scrapper, but you still wouldn’t want to meet him on a battlefield,” Knockout continued, examining his claws lazily, as if he wasn’t discussing the former army’s deadliest soldiers and weapons. “Motormaster has only had this team for a little over a decade, so I can’t imagine they’re as good as his previous teams, but that’s more than enough time for them to learn to form Menasor and control him. Certainly enough time to cause your team some serious problems.”

Bumblebee’s engine growled in his chest as he snapped, “Why the frag didn’t you tell me any of that before?!”

Knockout shrugged, looking victorious already. “You didn’t ask.”

“I asked for your help!”

“No. You ordered for it,” Knockout replied snidely. “If you wanted my advice, as one mech to another, you could have asked for it. Instead you got prissy because I didn’t want to play house with you and your little band of misfits.”

Bumblebee’s engine sputtered with indignation and some guilt.

“Fine,” Bumblebee finally agreed, unable to completely rid his voice of irritation. “I’ll figure something out if Wildbreak leaves the Stunticons.”

“Thank you.” It was more a declaration of victory than gratitude.

“Now uh, you have anything else you could tell me about the Stunticons?”

“Unfortunately, I’ve revealed all my cards,” Knockout admitted with a shrug, not sounding the least bit sorry. “But I’ll let you know if I learn anything juicy.”

With that, Knockout was gone again with barely a wave for the handful of team members even online this time of morning.

It wasn’t until later when Bumblebee had Fixit pull up any information he could find on Motormaster and Menasor, criminal or historical, that he finally got the answer to why Knockout had gotten himself so invested. For all that Bumblebee had known Knockout after the war, he had always looked to stay distanced from others, charming but not caring to get involved past pleasantries, never staying in one place for long. But this sparkling of a criminal had caught his full attention in ways no other mech had for over a decade.

The research also explained the almost personal distaste he had for Motormaster and the Stunticons as a team.

There was list of former Stunticon members from early in the war, before even Bumblebee had been forged, and standing out like a glaring neon sign was the name Breakdown.

“Do you believe in reincarnation?”

Dragstrip stared at him before asking, “What?”

“You know, like, where a spark that joins the Allspark comes back out to be forged again--”

“I know what it is. What I’m trying to figure out is why you’re even asking such a pointless question,” Dragstrip mocked. However, he still handed Wildbreak a cube of energon before sitting down to drink his own.

“I dunno. Just been thinking about it.” Because admitting that he was being plagued by thoughts of a mech he shouldn’t know would make Wildbreak sound insane. He wasn’t completely sure that he wasn’t. “Like, would he be the same, or would he be a different mech the second time around? Would he remember anything?”

Dragstrip stared at him out the corner of his optic as he took a long drink.

“When’d you decide to become some sorta religious type?”

Wildbreak just shrugged, muttering, “Doesn’t matter,” and busied himself with his drink.

“This ‘bout your spark thing? You think it’s ‘cause you’re a reincarnation or something?”

“Yeah. But that sounds pretty glitched, don’t it?”

“Eh, who knows how all that Allspark business works,” Dragstrip said with a lazy wave of his servo. “Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t. Would it make a difference to ya if you were?”

Knockout’s sad smile as he said Breakdown’s name flashed unbidden in Wildbreak’s processor.

“Depends on who I was.”

Dragstrip hummed noncommittally before finishing off his cube with a satisfied ex-vent.

“Ah well, no way of figuring that out anyway, so don’t worry that tiny little processor of yours over it, buddy ol’ pal,” Dragstrip said as he pushed up to his feet and chucked the cube carelessly. “We got more important stuff to focus on today. We got a big race to win for the Boss!”

“A race?” Wildbreak asked.

“Yeah! With that title, we’ll really be the rulers of the roads!”

Wildbreak’s sparkpulse barely quickened at all at the idea, but he forced a grin onto his face and followed after Dragstrip.

The third time they talked, it was over commlinks. It had only been the one day – Wildbreak hadn't even had a chance to recharge yet beyond the couple hours that morning – but already he missed Knockout something fierce.

::Tomorrow?::

::Yeah,:: Wildbreak said, aware of how hopeful his tone was. ::I’d like to see ya.::

::Unfortunately I'm leaving town tonight. I shouldn't be gone more than a day or two though.::

Wildbreak's spark sank.

::Oh. Ok. Well uh, let me know when you get back then?::

There was a pause, and Wildbreak worried that he had sounded too needy, that Knockout wouldn’t be interested anymore because he was so pathetic—

::You could come with if you wanted.::

Wildbreak's spark was caught between joy and the reality that was his frame. Losing the race had made Motormaster mad and he had taken it out on them all, leaving them battered and just this side of broken. Wildbreak's lines had only just finished closing up, so he wasn't leaking energon anymore, but it would take a couple hours at least to work out the dents. Even then though, Wildbreak knew he needed a long, deep recharge to let his frame heal enough that his injuries wouldn’t be obvious.

Normally, after one of Motormaster’s beatings, Wildbreak would curl up and spend a couple days healing until someone finally dragged him out.

But now, Wildbreak wanted desperately to be up and running as soon as he could.

::I really wish I could, but I can’t do nothing tonight.::

::You can’t honestly tell me that little race was enough to tire you out,:: Knockout teased. Heat bloomed in Wildbreak’s frame with embarrassment.

::You saw that, huh?::

::No need to be embarrassed. We’ve all had Autobots ruin a race or two,:: Knockout said easily.

::Yeah? Tell me about yours?::

::I’m sure you can wait a couple days.::

Wildbreak curled up tighter, arms around his knees and back against a boulder, staring out across the terrain as the sun dipped closer to the horizon.

::Wildbreak?::

::Could you tell me about it now? I—I just really wanna hear you talk. If that isn’t weird. That’s weird, isn’t it?::

There was a moment of silence before Knockout asked, utterly serious, ::Is something wrong?::

::I’m fine,:: Wildbreak answered automatically.

::That’s a lie if ever I’ve heard one.:: And now Knockout sounded concerned.

::Uh, then, I’ll be fine, so it’s ok.::

::Wildbreak.::

Wildbreak squirmed, imaging the look that Knockout would give him.

::Motormaster got mad about the race and, well, you know.::

There was a tired ex-vent that carried across the line before Knockout replied knowingly, ::I do.:: The thought that Knockout had ever been punished when he was a Decepticon hadn’t ever crossed Wildbreak’s processor, but it was there now and it sparked something furious in his lines. He didn’t have time to do anything with that outrage though before Knockout said, ::I can wait until tomorrow morning if you still want to come with me. It won’t be fun, exactly, but I wouldn’t mind the company.::

Wildbreak blinked as he realized what Knockout was offering.

For the first time that day, a genuine grin split Wildbreak’s face.

::Yeah, that would be great! Where’re we going?::

::To visit my old friend.::

“Ey, Wildbreak!” Dragstrip called, and Wildbreak went stiff as a board as his partner continued, “Get over here!”

Wildbreak could also see the sudden fear in Dragstrip’s optics when Motormaster’s engine hummed loud enough to carry as their boss stepped closer to Wildbreak, making himself visible to the other mech.

“Oh, uh, sorry boss, didn’t see you there. I’ll come back later--”

“We’re almost done here,” Motormaster interrupted, deep rumbling voice sounding oddly pleased and all the more terrifying for it. It was rare that a smile on his face meant anything good. “Wildbreak was just telling me his ideas for the next couple days.”

A sinking feeling gripped Wildbreak as Dragstrip stared in confusion.

“Ideas?”

Wildbreak broke their optic contact and stared at the ground as Motormaster continued, “Yes. He’s going to drive out further than we’ve gone before, expanding our territory and proving who those roads belong to now.” His large servo landed on Wildbreak’s shoulder in what should have been a show of pride and affection, but Motormaster’s optics were trained on Dragstrip, mocking him. “If even Wildbreak can show some initiative for once to make up for his failure, then I don’t see what’s keeping the rest of you from doing the same.”

Nothing could have pulled Wildbreak’s stare from the ground, spark pounding because he knew the hateful look that Dragstrip must have been wearing, that all the Stunticons soon would. He had seen it time and again when Motormaster turned them against each other to motivate through spite. But Wildbreak had never been the cause of that; had never been used to shame the other Stunticons.

Wildbreak had never shown initiative before and his teammates were going to hate him for it.

But he did his best to focus on the fact that as soon as this was done, Wildbreak could grab some cubes of energon and escape into Knockout’s company for a while. It would be worth it.

Even knowing the vaguely macabre purpose of the roadtrip, there was nothing that could have kept Wildbreak’s excitement from bubbling over. He got to use his Earth alt-mode and spend hours upon hours driving with Knockout, listening to more of his stories and talking about Earth and Cybertron and politics with him. Knockout was far more knowledgeable about it all, but he wasn’t unkind about it, which in Wildbreak’s opinion was exceedingly kind. He would simply explain what Wildbreak didn’t understand and they would continue with their conversation.

And, despite his designation as an Autobot, Knockout was frank about the war and the aftermath and where the Autobots were succeeding and where they were failing. The more Wildbreak got to know him, the better he understood why Knockout left the Decepticons after spending millennia with them.

Wildbreak wasn’t sure it could really be considered a betrayal when Knockout hadn’t been particularly loyal to start with.

Knockout was a mech who looked out for himself first and foremost. For all his dramatics and charm, he was pragmatic, and Wildbreak might have thought him ultimately detached and cold if he wasn’t so drawn to him.

Not the mention the fact that Knockout had also looked out for at least one other mech.

As the sun started to sink low in the sky, Knockout mentioned Breakdown again. Maybe it was because they were growing ever closer to their destination, or maybe, as Wildbreak hoped, Knockout simply felt more comfortable opening up to him.

Knockout talked about how they had met.

Breakdown had been recovering from an upgrade which had left him larger and stronger, a little loopy as his processor was slowly booting up and accepting the changed frame. When Knockout had walked in as his assigned medic and introduced himself, saying “I’m Knockout,” Breakdown had given him a dopey smile and replied, “Yeah you are.”

It had been far from the first time that Knockout had heard the line, but there was an awe to it that had made Knockout laugh. It had been a good decade since he had last had a genuine laugh.

Knockout talked about how Breakdown would come back time and again, his frame broken and bleeding, but always so honest when he asked how Knockout had been. Once, his entire arm had been crushed into a mangle of twisted metal, limp and immobile and no doubt severely painful, and Breakdown had asked Knockout if he was getting enough recharge. “Your optics just seem dimmer than usual,” Knockout recounted Breakdown saying, not bothering with a funny voice or imitation like the other Cons in his stories received. There had been nothing but affection in Knockout’s tone.

Knockout talked about being reassigned to work in the field. How he had insisted he would need an assistant that could double as a bodyguard. And when he had managed to convince them, he demanded it be Breakdown.

Knockout talked about their resulting partnership.

For a brief moment, as Knockout was halfway through some exciting story about an adventure they had had on a planet Wildbreak had never even heard of, he wondered if he should be jealous.

But he wasn’t.

Not completely.

Wildbreak wasn’t jealous of the relationship that Breakdown had gotten to have with Knockout. It was sweet, and it warmed Wildbreak’s spark in a way that made his processor whirr with confusion, because it was that familiarity again, recognizing what he couldn’t possibly recognize. If anything, it just made Wildbreak feel as if he was truly going mad. Was he really a reincarnation of some big bruiser of a Decepticon soldier, or was he just so desperate for Knockout’s affection that he was fooling himself with wild ideas that those feelings and stories could somehow be about him?

The sun set and Knockout said they had a couple more hours before they would arrive.

And Wildbreak thought to himself that if he was jealous of anything, it was that he wanted to be rescued by Knockout too.

“Any updates, Fixit?”

“A couple, sir,” the minibot replied as he continued to tap away, bringing up a screen for Bumblebee. “I’ve managed to get all the information on Motormaster that’s on record. It’s like Knockout said – he led the Stunticon combiner team during the war, but rarely to any great success compared to the more infamous Constructicon team. It seems to be due to a lack of proper leadership kills – spills – skills!”

Bumblebee scanned the profile as he prompted, “How so?”

“Well, while it isn’t ever spelled out so obviously, the simple fact is that the Stunticon team had a shockingly high turnover rate. Some were deaths of course, but others seemed to find ways to quit the team, which is unprecedented in other Decepticon teams of the time.”

Near the end of the profile was a list of Stunticon members, and indeed there were more than a dozen names, many with (DECEASED) or (TRANSFERRED) by them.

It still seemed like some weird twist of fate to see Breakdown’s name among them.

“The Stunticon team was apprehended at the end of the war, but Motormaster managed to escape and has been on the run since, so Knockout is correct that the team he has now has likely only worked together since then.”

“Well, that’s good to know, at least,” Bumblebee said as he crossed his arms. He’d have to go through the whole profile a couple times to see if there was anything else helpful to be found there. “And did you find anything out about Breakdown?”

Fixit gave him the same bemused look he had when Bumblebee had first asked him, clearly not sure why he was interested in a former member. But still, his digits tapped away, but only to zoom in on where Breakdown was listed on Motormaster’s profile.

“Unfortunately sir, there isn’t much to be found. While he is listed in the Decepticon registry, he’s labeled as deceased, so like most Decepticons who died in the war, there hasn’t been any effort put into searching the former army’s archives for his files to transfer to the Autobot systems. The only information I have is what’s listed here.”

Which wasn’t much. Just a designation, a frame type (small four-wheeler, which had to be a mistake considering what Bumblebee remembered of the big brute), and (TRANSFERRED).

Still, it was a confirmation of Knockout’s connection to the Stunticons, as tenuous and outdated as it was.

“Don’t worry about it, Fixit. I was just curious. Tell me more about Motormaster.”

[baebeyza]

Rating the Transformers human kids

Worst to best, GO! (Also: characters under 18 only!)*

 18. Spike (G1) 

Nothing really against him, he’s just kinda lame and doesn’t have much going for him 18. Jan (Victory) 

Oh my gosh, this kid was annoying as hell. Not a cute boy, a rude boy through and through! He’d be last place if he didn’t contribute to my pain when Ginrai died and with Victory Leo’s character development. Everything else about this boy was just an exercise in misery.  You’d think a bot like Star Saber would raise a child to be more humble and polite! Such a downgrade from Shuta, that teen had a lot of respect in him at least. 17. Koji (RiD01) 

Best quality of this young man is how most episodes only let him have like 3 minutes of screentime, that way he didn’t annoy :D 16. Jack Darby (TFP) 

Important to the plot and had good moments, but he has no business making me watch teenage romance angst with my own two eyes!

15. Russell (RiD15) 

Cute boy, nice father-son dynamic with Denny, I felt for him when Sideswipe killed his TV.

14. Buster (Masterforce) 

Buster gets plus points for being really pretty and having a really nice hair colour ~ And for being german :D

13. Wilder (Masterforce) 

A Sasuke, got that decepticon spirit and the nice outcast background, nice hair cut, kills a puppy but saves a child. Gives mixed messages man 

12. Chip Chase (G1) 

Spike exists, but Chip exists with a BRAIN! And we all gotta appreciate a character with working braincells, especially in a show like G1 :D Too bad he didn’t really have that much of a presence (apparently he was suppoused to show up in Headmasters, too bad that didn’t happen. Instead we got Spike again)

11. Cab (Masterforce) 

Good boy, builds his own home, can talk to animals, will defend his country’s honour, is a fucking prince! He owns himself, I respect that ~

10. Shuta (Masterforce)

One of those shonen protagonist who starts immature and annoying but gets better as the show progresses. I guess. I actually just like him because he beat up Clouder. Also seeing Jan makes me appreciate him more

9. Carly (G1) 

Fierce, unafraid, motivated, determined! Broke into decepticon headquarters and placed a bomb there! Where she even got the bomb from? Who knows, but she had one, and she will forever be cherished for being more interesting than Spike!

8. Cancer (Masterforce) 

A cutie martial artist who really knows what’s important in life! Redemption I say! 7. Raf (TFP) 

Adorable boi, cutie, sweetheart, will do anything to help out, just loveable. I wanna poke his cheek

6. Lightfoot (Masterforce) 

What a good looking british rich boy! Humble and sweet, eager to sacrifise himself to save his commander as the loyal second in command! Love him <3

5. Una (Beast Wars) 

This little lady deserves a spot high up for the incredible ability to frustrate Megatron and foil his plans, and she didn’t even try! Wonderful! :D

4. Miko (TFP) 

Annoying as shit initially, but has the most promising arc out of the three Prime kids. Goes from “Aw so cool!” to “I wont hesitate, bitch!” Takes matters into her own hands, nothing but respect for this girl. 3. Daniel (G1, Headmasters) 

LISTEN, I am biased on this boy. He’s just a cute little kid, okay? Adorable child. But unlike kids like Koji or Russell, he managed to be 1/2 reasons for my man Sixshot to redeem himself and save earth! Just by being a cute boy! He’s the kid who looks at this giant killing machine and thinks “He’s like my mother”, you gotta love him and Sixshot man! Best boi, period, just has some really nice interactions with robots.

2. Minerva (Masterforce) 

What a sweetheart with the biggest heart and the most compassion of any human character! Will save anyone, treats everyone with respect and kindness without being a push-over. She doesn’t take shit from anyone and will stand up for herself. She made Ginrai take character development pills, by showing what an asshat he was to Cancer. Doesn’t go against her compassion and what she stands for even when betrayed and used, what a wonderful and inspiring character! <3

1. Sari (TFA) 

When it comes to being part of the plot, she has the most going for it by being a techno-organic. But what made me put her on no.1 is her relationship with the bots. We see how much other human kids find her weird and dont wanna associate with her and that makes the fact that the autobots become her friends more precious <3 Like she’s half cybertronian and has no friends on earth, than actual cybertronians show up and she finally has people who are like her and understand her, even if she initially doesn’t know why. It’s just really cute, okay?

*About age - you will never convince me that Bullhorn and Ranger from Masterforce are fucking 17 year old! Fuck whoever wrote their bio cards! And Road King is said to be 19 in the show anyway and Ginrai must be an adult because he has a friggin job as a truck driver.  Only Lightfoot is underage and the show says he’s 17 by making us combine the numbers 2 and 15.  Oh and Clouder has no given age anywhere, and I’ll go with adult

[blueikeproductions]

Cyberverse remains a fascinating little isolation to me. It doesn't appear to be that popular at all, outside of its budding fan base, heck it seems to be outright failing in Japan, and yet I see people parading it around as if it's the next Beast Wars. I don't particularly understand why. I can see it was a show made with love, but the story telling is all over the place. Character motivations don't make sense, pacing is all off, the weird obsession with trying (and failing) to make Megatron a hero fallen from grace like IDW? It all feels very amateurish, but devoid of the charm of a fan made product.

I do kinda feel bad for the staff as they tried their best, but were saddled with half of a half of a shoestring budget. On top of being way too ambitious, Cyberverse feels bloated with big ideas that barely go anywhere but horribly rushed to fit the 10 minute mark.

To their credit I think they did manage to tell a decent story with the Quintesson arc, as it feels like that's what they wanted to do in the first place. The lack of interest in the usual Autobot/Decepticon conflict is apparent up until now, as they clearly wanted an IDW style Anti-Vocationist League vs Functionists thing instead. It works, but it feels a bit clunky. Hot Rod and Soundwave as the Bot/Con leaders during the conflict was neat though and refreshing.

On top of a lot of post war stuff that just... kind of happens rather than feeling meaningful.

Cyberverse feels like yet another kids show trying desperately to appeal to adults despite saying for its for kids and it shows. Kids largely want nothing to do with. I see more kids look at Studio Series or Bakugan instead. Toys are constantly on clearance or are peg warming. Even discount stores like TJ Max couldn't get rid of them. The Alpha Trions had a sizable layer of dust on them! Despite Hasbro trying to capitalize on the apparent adult audience CV cultivated with the BAF line, general reports I get point to it shelf warming hard too. Those weird sets with the Quintessons and Monsterbots at Target we're whittled down to three bucks! No one is buying the toys, I'm sorry. Despite trying to trick kids by making Bumblebee the focus in the third phase, it's laughable because the yellow guy isn't even in the show much by that point. It's like Beast Hunters and Combiner Force all over again. And I imagine that will repeat itself in the next thing since it appears to be a trend now.

The only people I saw actively buying them were the show creators, and the same staff had to practically BEG the fans to support the show leagally back when people were pirating the final season. I don't think many listened and most who loved or hated it pirated the show and moved on to Siege, barely looking back.

while I do appreciate the show for trying some new spins here and there, (I rather liked how Maccadam/Alchemist Prime was a fun character, and Quintesson Starscream was neat to name a few) I think the cons outweigh the pros, and I think the fan base is slowly starting to forget about CV now that Netflix WFC is underway (mind you the general attitude is mixed to negative there too, but people seem much more happy with it than CV by leaps and bounds).

I can only hope for the moving forward, but despite the show/toys' reception being Meh to lukewarm at best, there's a rumor the next show is going to still be helmed by largely the same crew. I hope you like losing money, HasTak, because you're gonna be strapped for it if you keep going this route. (And I say this about Netflix WFC too).

with tighter writing, a better end goal, and giving the staff an ACTUAL BUDGET, Cyberverse really could've been great and worthy of its praise. Same with the toyline.

So I can only hope the toy quality improves for the next kid show thing, and offers a plot and characters kids actually WANT. Kids are sticking to the movies and RiD15 from what I saw when it comes to Transformers, so maybe combine aspects of those two if you want your target audience back.

[antagonistchan]

i’ve been thinking a lot in the past few days about my ideal Content Distribution for Transformers.

in my ideal world, Transformers would be divided thusly:

25% G1 nostalgia

25% live-action movies (both the new ones and nostalgia for the old ones)

25% assorted other nostalgia (Beast Wars, Unicron Trilogy, Animated, Aligned, etc.)

25% new ideas (i don’t just want Transformers to get nostalgic for the weird places they used to take the brand from the mid-90s to the mid-2010s, i want them to keep taking the brand to NEW weird places, which they haven’t really done since RiD15)

the closest we got to this was 2014. in 2014, it was about 33% G1 nostalgia (with quite a bit of IDW influence as well which was nice), 33% live-action movies (no nostalgia yet because they hadn’t realized that market existed, just the newest one at the time), 33% new ideas (this was back when they were still hardcore pushing Aligned), and 1% assorted other nostalgia (like, you had Waspinator and Tankor and Armada Starscream all getting new toys...).

and like......... they do actually seem to be moving in the right direction

for the past several years, the brand has felt kinda stuck. we’ve been getting EXTREMELY GOOD G1 nostalgia and live-action movie content (especially since the live-action movies finally started being actually good movies), but that was kinda all we’d been getting. the new ideas dried up (Cyberverse was kinda a new idea, but it was so soaked in its evergreen styles that it definitely didn’t feel like one), and more and more people started seriously aching for other nostalgia.

and now?

we’re actually starting to get the other nostalgia. Kingdom had just as much Beast Wars focus as it did G1 (and like, i’ve seen people complain ‘man, even when Beast Wars finally gets a break, it has to share with G1′ but i really don’t mind because like, i don’t ever want G1 nostalgia to go away, i just want it to move over and make room), and i saw a leak a few hours ago suggesting that in 2022-2023 we’re not only gonna be getting more Beast Wars stuff, but we’re also gonna start seeing Prime and Unicron Trilogy stuff, and that they’re trying to return to the pre-Combiner Wars (AKA 2014) mindset.

so like. now all that’s left is seeing them revive the “new idea” engine. and like, that’s not a given (the cool thing they’re doing now is still nostalgia-powered, just different nostalgia), but it’s still looking more hopeful now (the new nostalgia is so different and unique that it might create more space in the market for creating new different and unique things, yknow?)

[ratchetsboyfriend]

Mobile Masterlist

Desktop version

Tfp Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee meeting government agent S/O for the first time

Tfp Ratchet, Optimus, Rid15 Slipstream, and Jetstorm human’s first words are about how attractive the ‘Bot is 

Tfp Ratchet, Wheeljack, Knockout, Predaking, and Rid15 Fixit take care of S/O for the day

Tfp Soundwave “Do you think we’re bad people?” prompt 

Tfp Shockwave with shy, smart, awkward, Autobot human love interest

Tfp Optimus, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, and Tfa Blitzwing sweet affection with S/O

Tfp Arcee “I tried my best to not feel anything for you. Guess what? I failed.” + “You don’t get to pick and choose. You’re stuck with me.” prompt

Tfp Ratchet “You may be an idiot, but you’re my idiot.” prompt

Tfa Jazz, Prowl, and Tfp Wheeljack sleeping with human S/O

Tfa Optimus “Keep your eyes on me.” prompt

Tfp Ratchet “That’s not what I meant and you know it!” prompt

Tfp Orion Pax “If you don’t like this world then change it.” prompt

Tfp Ratchet, Ultra Magnus, and Soundwave “If you had asked me to stay, I would’ve.” prompt

Tfp Ratchet, Wheeljack, Tfa Jazz, and Rid15 Grimlock reacting to S/O’s weird human things

Tfa Bumblebee, Blitzwing, Prowl, Jazz, and Jettwins with S/O who’s insecure about their freckles

Rb Heatwave “Angry kiss” prompt+superhero S/O

Rb Chase “Caught off guard kiss” prompt+superhero S/O

Rb Blades “Top of head kiss”+superhero S/O

Rb Boulder “Height difference kiss” prompt+superhero S/O

Tfa Bumblebee “I’m sorry kiss” prompt

Tfp Ratchet with S/O who’s interested in Cybertronian biology/culture

Tfp Optimus  “You may be an idiot, but you’re my idiot.” prompt

Tfp Arcee “I almost lost you kiss” prompt

Tfp Megatron, Starscream, Knockout, Breakdown, Soundwave falling for the leader of MECH’s rival organization

Tfa Bumblebee “Giggly kiss” prompt

Tfp Ratchet being guardian to a shy, calm, older charge

Tfp Arcee “I’ve missed you kiss” prompt

Rb Blades and Boulder dating headcanons

Rid15 Bumblebee relaxing with S/O

Tfp Optimus “Needing to kiss to hide from the bad guys” prompt

Poly KOBD with the leader of MECH’s rival organization

Tfa Jazz, Prowl, and Rb Heatwave hearing S/O sing for the first time

Rid15 Soundwave “Returned from the dead kiss” prompt

Tfp Ratchet, Breakdown, and Knockout sleeping with human S/O

Rb Boulder, Heatwave, and Tfp Wheeljack reacting to S/O being pregnant

Tfp Wheeljack “Needing to kiss to hide from the bad guys” prompt

Poly Tfp Optimus/Ratchet “When one stops the kiss to whisper ‘I’m sorry, are you sure you-’ and they answer by kissing them more” prompt

Rb Chase, Heatwave, Boulder, and Blades seeing crush dressed up for the first time

Tfa Optimus, Bumblebee, Wreck-Gar, Blurr, and Blitzwing reacting to a S/O whose nose always bleeds

Rb Heatwave “I’ve missed you kiss” prompt

Tfa Blitzwing cuddling with a stressed out S/O

Tfp Breakdown POV for poly KOBD with rival MECH leader

Tfp Starscream meeting and falling for a Cybertronian who wasn’t involved with the war

Tfp Knockout, Breakdown, and Soundwave having a S/O who goes rock climbing, spelunking, and skydiving

Tfa Swindle with a love interest who can steal anything but only does it to take care of their siblings

Tfa Prowl, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Optimus meeting and falling for a photographer

Tfa Prowl “True love’s kiss” prompt  

Tfp Knockout having a secret relationship with a thrill seeking autobot human

Tfa Waspinator pining for a human who is nice to him

Tfp Breakdown is rescued by rival MECH leader

Tfp Ratchet being assigned to a charge who acts like him

Tfa Jetfire “Kiss on a dare” prompt

Tfp Optimus, Smokescreen, and Ratchet with a S/O who’s afraid to express affection at first

Tfa Ratchet “Shy kiss” prompt

Tfp Optimus, Ratchet, Knockout, and Megatron falling for a human who wants to combine human and Cybertronian medical science

Tfa Jetstorm “Spin the bottle kiss” prompt

MtMtE Whirl headcanons for having a human S/O

Tfp Megatron, Starscream, Predaking, Optimus, and Ratchet reacting to a human charge finally snapping

MtMtE Trailcutter headcanons for having a crush on a human

Tfp Ratchet, Wheeljack, and  Soundwave reassuring a S/O who misunderstood a conversation

MtMtE Riptide at the beach with S/O

MtMtE Rung realizing he’s fallen for a human

Tfp Optimus’ S/O falling asleep on his shoulder

MtMtE Riptide and Fort Max dating headcanons

Tfp Knockout, Breakdown, and Soundwave taking care of a drunk S/O

Tfp Ratchet “One small kiss, pulling away for an instant, then devouring each other” + “Staring at the other’s lips, trying not to kiss them, before giving in” prompts

Tfp Arcee “You’re essentially immortal until you meet your soulmate” prompt

MtMtE Overlord “You can see the red string of fate that connects you to your soulmate but only when you close your eyes” prompt

MtMtE Fulcrum “Your soulmates first impression/thought about you is written on your body” prompt

Tfa Megatron “You have a name on each wrist, your soulmate’s name and your enemy’s name and you don’t know which is which” prompt with enemy Lugnut

MtMtE Tarn “When your soulmate listens to music you can hear it too” prompt

Rb Blades “You only see in black and white until you touch your soulmate for the first time” prompt

Bw Dinobot “Only certain people can see the red string of fate that connects soulmates and you’re one of them” prompt

Rid15  Sideswipe “Surprised kiss” prompt

MtMtE Rung being in love with a human

MtMtE Rung “Only certain people can see the red string of fate that connects soulmates and you’re one of them” prompt

Tfa Ratchet “Instead of their first words to you, you have a random phrase that your soulmate will say one day so you could know them for years before realizing that they’re your soulmate” prompt

Tfp Ratchet getting his S/O out of a sticky situation

Tfa Ultra Magnus, Ratchet, Blurr, Tfp Ratchet, and Bumblebee reacting to finding S/O with sparklings

Tfa Blitzwing “Kiss at dawn” + “Quick kiss” prompts

Mtmte Ratchet taking care of and reassuring a human who fainted after overworking themself

Tfa Prowl “Kiss under a full moon” prompt

Tfp Shockwave and Soundwave reacting to a S/O who has insomnia/sleep related anxiety

Tfp Optimus “You may be an idiot, but you’re my idiot.” prompt with S/O calling Optimus an idiot

Rid15 Fixit “Surprised kiss” prompt

Mtmte Swerve, Rodimus, and Megatron reacting to receiving art from S/O

Mtmte Fulcrum, Krok, and Grimlock  cuddling headcanons

Tfp Ratchet “The day when you’re supposed to meet your soulmate will continually loop for the both of you until you finally find each other” prompt

Mtmte Bluestreak falling for a human and pining for them before finally asking them out

Tfa Blitzwing “Your soulmate’s name is somewhere on your body” prompt

Mtmte Poly Dratchet “Anything you draw or write on yourself shows up on your soulmate and vice versa” prompt

The sequel to the poly Dratchet soulmate prompt

Mtmte Whirl, Tfp Ratchet, and Bulkhead “Anything you draw or write on yourself shows up on your soulmate and vice versa” prompt

Mtmte Rung feeling overwhelmed by how much his S/O loves him

Tfp Soundwave reacting to the human bringing a cat on board

Mtmte Megatron “Your soulmate’s name is somewhere on your body” prompt

Tfp Ratchet, Soundwave, and Bumblebee bonding with a human S/O over something silly

Tfa Waspinator "Routine kisses where the other person presents their cheek/forehead for the hello/goodbye kiss without even looking up from what they’re doing” prompt

Rb Heatwave comforting the human after the loss of a loved one

Mtmte Megatron and Ultra Magnus reacting to being called dad

Mtmte Ultra Magnus reacting to the human calling the baby ‘our kid’ (Ultra Dad au)

Rb Chase affection headcanons

Tfp Smokescreen, Arcee, and Wheeljack with a S/O who lost their memory

Mtmte Rung sequel to him being in love with a human

Mtmte Rodimus, Megatron, and Dratchet being cheered up by their human S/O

Mtmte Cygate “Only certain people can see the red string of fate that connects soulmates and you’re one of them” prompt

Wreckers Springer affection headcanons 

Bw Inferno relationship headcanons 

Wreckers Springer relationship headcanons

Tfp Starscream, Knockout, and Soundwave dealing with a human who screams every time they try to talk

Mtmte Whirl reacting to a heartfelt confession from a human

Rid15 Steeljaw, Thunderhoof, Fracture, and Saberhorn realizing that they’ve fallen for their human ally

Tfa Prowl “The day when you’re supposed to meet your soulmate will continually loop for the both of you until you finally find each other” prompt

Mtmte Fulcrum realizing he has feelings for a human after Misfire gets close with them

Mtmte Atomizer relationship headcanons

Tfa Blitzwing cuddling headcanons 

Bw Rattrap “Somewhere on your body is the first words your soulmate will ever say to you” prompt

Tfp Ratchet being forced to take breaks and recharge by a bigger bot S/O

Tfp Smokescreen and Mtmtme Swerve confessing to someone who shares their feelings

Mtmte Rodimus, Trailcutter, and Bluestreak at the beach with a human S/O

Tfa Optimus "Once a year, you and your soulmate swap bodies until you find each other." prompt

Mtmte First Aid trying to figure out who his friend's crush is and it's Ratchet

Mtmte Ultra Magnus how he and the human found their adopted child (Ultra Dad au)

Tfa Jet twins, Prowl, Ratchet, and Blitzwing with a S/O who chews on things to cope

Mtmte Rodimus cuddling with S/O after they both have a bad day

Ratchet, Optimus, Bulkhead, and Knockout whose charge is graduating from college

Rb Blades movie marathon date

Rb Heatwave, Tfa Prowl, Tfp Optimus, and Rid15 Steeljaw with a druid companion

Tfp Arachnid “You and your soulmate can feel each other’s pain” prompt

Mtmte Trailcutter trying to flirt

Bw Terrorsaur, Rattrap, and Waspinator’s S/O makes them flower crowns

Wreckers Springer cuddling headcanons

Mtmte Whirl napping headcanons

Mtmte Whirl “Somewhere on your body is the first words your soulmate will ever say to you” prompt

Rid15 Fracture dating an Autobot human

Tfp Arcee, Wheeljack, Arachnid, and Dreadwing’s S/O serenading them

Tfp KOBD/Mech leader reunion

Tfp Ratchet’s bot S/O hiding their injuries

Tfa Longarm, Sentinel, Megatron, and Jet twins reacting to a S/O whose nose always bleeds

Tfp Ratchet with a minibot S/O

Bw Waspinator “Anything you draw or write on yourself shows up on your soulmate and vice versa” prompt

Mtmte Scavengers with a minicon S/O

Mtmte Drift and Rodimus couples’ costume for Halloween

Mtmte Roddratchet ghosthunting with S/O

Mtmte Scavengers celebrating Halloween

Tfp Ratchet S/O dressing up as a doctor to get a rise out of him

Tfp Megatron “Your soulmates first impression/thought about you is written on your body” prompt

Tfp Starscream, Megatron, Knockout, Ratchet, and Optimus reacting to being turned temporarily human and being taken care of by their S/O

Tfp Ratchet and Wheeljack pining for a human

Tfa Ratchet, Tfp Ratchet, Mtmte Ratchet, and CDRW reacting to reserved S/O going all out in a fight

Tfa Prowl, Optimus, and Bulkhead helping a S/O afraid of storms

[baebeyza]

Robots in Disguise 2015 and the villain problem

The ironic thing about RID15 is that, in my opinion, the greatest flaw is the lack of one big bad to act as a great villain.

Steeljaw started out good, but he never even got close to his own end goal and only ever really got used as a pawn by other villains.

Cyclonus and his four possies were the true puppet masters of the show and to the shows credit, were foreshadowed right from the start. But they had like 10 minutes of screentime in total, at the end of the show, and three of them weren’t even called by name.

Starscream’s little sub-plot was kinda lame and he himself was more ridiculed than taken seriously as a threat. 

Megatronus was great, but was only in the first season and had nothing to do with the rest of the plot.

Soundwave was the dude closest to true big boss-ness, but he was in only two episodes.

And the rest of decepticons were barely worth remembering. (Except a few like Thunderhoof and Fracture)

How is it ironic?

Because the endgame plan of Cyclonus and Soundwave was to bring back Megatron! The big bad boss of the previous show!

It’s like the decepticons were self-aware of the show not having a true big bad boss villain and tried to bring back the old one!

EXCEPT that I, as the audience, felt absolutely no dread about that big plan of theirs, simply because we all know that Megatron wouldn’t come back as the decepticon leader, because he’s a pussy ass bitch.

Mate, if Cyclonus just said “the end goal is to control Cybertron and wreck earth simply because it’s fun and we can” I would have been happier and it all would have made more sense.

Like what would have happened if they had managed to contact Megatron?

Cyclonus: “Lord Megatron! We humbly request your return as our leader!”

Megatron: “I am retired for fucks sake, the only thing I do now is lying awake at night and tending to my pet.”

Cyclonus: “That’s a rock.”

Megatron: “I know, he’s got nerves of steel.”

If the Predacon Rising movie never happened, and the endgoal of Cyclonus and Soundwave would have been reviving Megatron, now that would have been dreading! 

Then I would have accepted the lack of a true big bad villain in the show and the desperate need of the other decepticons to bring back the old one.

But it doesnt work with this equivelent of trying to get your grumpy, senile grandpa to find a hobby. Forget it Cyc, he won’t even try.

Hell, reviving Megatron could have made for a really nice plot. Say they managed, but they fucked up and Megatron didn’t return as who he was before he was killed. He could have been revived as Galvatron, a madman like his G1 version, who doesn’t care about the decepticon cause or his fellow decepticons.

RID15 wanted to end on this “maybe one day autobots and decepticons can live together in peace” note with Cyberwarp (which didn’t do shit btw), and they could have done this really well! With the decepticons realising that Galvatron is not the leader they wanted and that he is more dangerous to them than the autobots ever were. They could have united with the autobots for the first time to defeat a greater threat!

Wouldn’t that have been a better plot???

What’s up with RID15 and Predacon Rising and their really weird last-minute attempt at “redemption” and “maybe we can live peaceful someday” bullshit??? That’s not the kind of thing you can just pull out of your asses in the last minutes of the show and expect anyone to think it makes sense.

You either write a story with pure evil villains who wanna wreck shit, or write a story about two factions figuring out their differences and sympathising with each other. Why the hell would you wanna try to combine those two??? Because you don’t know how to write, that’s why!

You expect me to believe that one decepticon being like “maybe we can live in peace on day” will make the autobots think any differently about the decepticons? When all they did was trying to arrest them, all decepticons being written like criminals? Which they ARE?

What’s the damn moral??? 

“Maybe one day civilians and criminals can live in peace together.”  what the fuck mates. 

PS: I didn’t mention the Stunticons, because this was a rant about villain problems. I have no problems with Stunticons, they were perfect and lovely and I love them <3

They had no need for old senile pussy ass bitch Megatron, they just did their own dumb thing and it was perfect :D

[baebeyza]

1 am in the morning and done with the Prime Wars Trilogy!

Before watching them I always got the impression from the fandom that the shows are bad and I don’t get why? I loved it! Combiner Wars was a little wacky because it didn’t really explain much but was still good given how short it was, Titans Return was really gearing the plot up and was captivating with it’s immidiate threat from Tripticon and Power of the Primes was EPIC! Was at the edge of my seat for the whole ride! I saw some youtuber making videos on why at least Combiner Wars and Titans Return are supposedly bad and I’d be willing to watch them to see what critique points he has, but I didn’t really like his RiD15 video really much either, so...gotta see. And if the negative points are: 1. Voice acting quality 2. cinematography 3. The lack of natural facial expressions 4. Whyever the fuck everyone’s head always bobbed when talking Like all these non-plot-related reasons I see and agree with. While the animation style was pretty and some shots and fights were quite neat, the overall animation was kinda lame and didn’t really give you much feeling. Same goes with the facial expressions - a lot of times, especially with Megatron, the characters have a model expression that gets moved, and at times it slips back to that model expression that is mostly a smile. And characters smiling when the situation doesn’t call for it is jarring. And while the voice actors were able to give characters life, most of them failed to be truly expressive. Like the flashback scene where Megatronus mourns Solus’ death, the voice actor for Megatronus really failed to give it a good performance worthy of such a tragic scene. And at times I didn’t truly understand what the characters were even saying, because they didn’t speak clear enough. That was the most annoying with Hot Rod. And they all spoke really slow for some reason.  And I give it that, the pacing was weird a lot of times, especially during fights scenes. When you’d think everything should go really fast, there were always pauses for certain characters to do plot-stuff that needs to be done, or to have a lil chit-chat. Like that is one point that the people could have done a better job. But everything else...I dunno, I kinda forgive it.  I don’t know much about Machinima to judge it based on who did the show, how much budget and resources the shows even had. Might be because I usually don’t judge shows much for their animation, I am far more interesting in the plot and characters to really care about the technical things. And while good animation and voice acting and so on does get a plus point from me, bad animation doesn’t bother me much. Like come on, G1 is still my favourite, okay, and we all know what an animation mess that is. Voice work is a little different, I do care when it’s bad because the quality of the acting really influences the emotional impact of the character. But it wasn’t too bad in the Prime Wars, and some were really good, like Windblade. Talking of Windblade, this is the first show were I really, really liked her! Cyberverse didn’t warm me up to her and neither did RiD15 really. And I can say the same for a lot of characters here, Megatron was DREAMY! Gosh I loved him so much here! <3<3<3 Hot Rod gave me too many feels, Victorian was awesome, Percy a cutie pie and damn, Overlord was a treat! And Primal was a really nice addition, I really digged the cast here! It might not have been as deep as it could have been, but the show was short and so were the episodes, I can forgive that. And as a show with just 18 episodes in total, it gave me a better experience than other TF shows! But damn, if you have any idea why the show doesnt seem to be good, let me know, I’ wanna know what others think!

[roseymoseyberry]

Samsara (4/?)

I’m gonna be v busy for the next few days so I’m posting a little earlier than I had planned to.

ALSO!!! It’s less relevant here than on ao3 but uhhhh while writing this chapter I accidentally wrote an interfacing scene. Oops. It was a surprise to me but here we are. So just know that if you weren’t expecting that to pop up in this fic, well. It’s here. But it’s p vaguely described with a much stronger focus on the emotions involved.

Anyway, hope you enjoy! Though this chapter is a rollercoaster of emotions haha.

Title: Samsara

Series: RID15 and TFP (and some tidbits grabbed from Aligned wiki pages)

Ship(s): Wildbreak/Knockout, Breakdown/Knockout

Tags/warnings: Reincarnation AU, hurt/comfort, verbal/physical abuse (though the worst of the physical abuse is barely described or off screen), past character death, age difference (but still consenting adult alien robots), a lot of filling in worldbuilding gaps and making shit up, and a lot of Wildbreak being a sweet boy who just needs some love and affection. NEW TAGS/WARNINGS: Very vaguely described sticky interfacing

Fic Summary:

From the day he was forged, Wildbreak had felt like there was something missing; some motivation or drive or desire that had been left behind in the Allspark.

Something he should know but didn’t.

|Chapter 1|Chapter 2|Chapter 3|Chapter 4|

Wildbreak wasn’t really sure what he expected at the end of the journey.

It was dark out, and made all the darker as they stood under the heavy boughs of the forest, but their combined headlights made it easy enough to make their way through the foliage. It took nearly an hour of stomping around before Knockout slowed and Wildbreak asked, “Why’re we stopping?”

Knockout gestured in front of him.

“We’re here.”

It was just a small grassy clearing. Large enough to allow a couple cybertronians at most to walk around, but still small enough that there was only the slightest spacing between leaves that allowed moonlight to fall on the center of the space. Truthfully, it looked like any other clearing in any other forest. Wildbreak wouldn’t have been able to differentiate it from anywhere else in the woods they had trekked through.

However, his spark fluttered sickly.

“At least, this is most likely the place,” Knockout continued as he took slow steps out into the clearing. “Dreadwing was polite enough to give me the coordinates, and while Breakdown’s frame was already long gone by the time I came to check, there had been enough evidence to suggest this is where it happened.”

Wildbreak stayed on the periphery, his joints locking up with an odd dread.

It was shockingly easy to imagine the spilled energon across the ground that Knockout now stood on.

“Autobots?” Wildbreak asked as carefully as he could.

Knockout’s back was to him.

“Decepticon,” Knockout corrected, his tone almost indifferent sounding. “Instead of simply doing the job himself, Megatron sent Dreadwing and Breakdown to offline her, coming up with some fake cover story. She realized, of course. Not everyone is as oblivious as that egomaniac.”

Wildbreak felt his spark twist. It occurred to him that he could ask about it, about who ‘she’ was, all the circumstances that led up to it, but the very idea only made him feel more ill. Wildbreak desperately didn’t want to know.

He didn’t want to have this horrid tale sound familiar.

“I’m sorry.”

Knockout didn’t respond right away. Instead he gracefully knelt to the ground, his digits gentle as they brushed along the fragile grass of the forest floor. A moment went by, and then another.

Wildbreak was about to ask if Knockout wanted some time alone, to have his space while he mourned Breakdown, when finally Knockout spoke.

“It’s my fault, you know.”

“What?” Wildbreak blurted, his ridges furrowing with confusion. “But you weren’t even here, right?”

“No, but I’m the reason he was here in the first place,” Knockout insisted. The cold detachment of his voice was starting to get to Wildbreak. His vents huffed. “But you don’t want to hear about that. Just go back to the road and I’ll find you in the morning.”

Wildbreak’s spark quickened its pulsing as he took one step into the clearing.

“Do you want to be alone?” Knockout didn’t respond to that, so after a moment Wildbreak gathered his courage and said, “Th-then I’ll stay. And you can talk, if you want to. Or not. I don’t mind either way.”

A small bunch of grass was plucked, ripped away from the ground strand by strand.

“It’s not a happy story.”

Wildbreak’s chest grew tight with knowledge his spark couldn’t share with him.

“I kinda figured that much out.”

After a long moment, Knockout dropped the grass in a pile.

“I had done so well to keep him from becoming cannon fodder. Once I had him as my assistant, I could keep him from the worst battlefields and out of the general command line of unfeeling generals. Sure, it became harder once we arrived here and had high command ordering us around directly, but I was so sure we could make it. The war had to be almost over. I saw the finish line and ignored all the signs.”

“Signs?”

“Megatron didn’t care about Breakdown,” Knockout stated, and while his tone was still cold, there was a fury beneath it making itself known.

Wildbreak’s spark clenched painfully. “But he was a part of the team here on Earth, so Megatron had to care at least a little, didn’t he?”

Knockout snorted dismissively and bitterly.

“When Breakdown got captured by some filthy humans, Megatron did nothing about it. Starscream of all mecha was the one who finally went to get him, and he had to do it behind Megatron’s back, lest he anger our leader by saving his own soldier. And by the time he did, the Autobots had already gotten there and done the job for him. The Autobots rescued him before his own faction bothered to!”

Clawed digits dipped into the dirt, dragging shallow gouges into the patches of green.

“And the worst part was that Breakdown wouldn’t let himself be angry. He wouldn’t even let me replace his optic, insisting it was a reminder of his failure, as if it was all his fault and he deserved what happened. As if somehow through apologies he could convince Megatron to care!”

Knockout’s frame shook as his voice grew.  

“And I let him. I knew that Megatron didn’t and wouldn’t ever care, but I let him keep that despicable patch and we stayed with that despicable mech because I was so sure we were on the winning team, and Breakdown paid the price for it!”

He grew silent then, for just a moment, crouched and trembling with emotions that Wildbreak couldn’t name from where he stood. Wildbreak was caught between wanting to say something and dreading that saying anything at all would cause Knockout to realize what he was admitting and clam up. Knockout was always so swift to change topics when his own emotions slipped through.

When Knockout finally spoke, it wasn’t as cold as before, couldn’t detach itself from emotion, but it was softer again.

“And then that horrid human took his frame from me. Took it and corrupted it to house his weak fleshy body, and he walked right into the Nemesis like he deserved a place with us, and Megatron let him. He let that – that abomination in Breakdown’s offlined frame try to earn his way into the Decepticons.”

Wildbreak’s optics went wide, shocked when his spark didn’t pulse with familiarity in response. For the first time that night, it didn’t know what Knockout was talking about at all, though his spark still twisted tight enough to make him nauseous at the thought.

“And I still stayed. After it all, I still stayed.”

Wildbreak wasn’t sure when he had started moving, but soon enough he was kneeling in front of Knockout. The mech was so hunched over that Wildbreak couldn’t make out his face in the shadows, but there were drops of cleanser dripping to the ground and Knockout’s vents hitched with every ventilation. His servos were caked with dirt where he was crushing the ground beneath them.

“I made that abomination scream for weeks,” Knockout confessed, sounding bitter and ashamed. “I called what I was doing experimentation, but it was torture and we all knew it.”

“I mean, that’s not that weird,” Wildbreak tried to reason. Wildbreak wasn’t good at comforting, had so rarely been shown that sort of affection and his team would have never accepted it, thinking it made them look weak. So he just followed the prompting of his spark and placed his servo on top of Knockout’s where it was piercing the ground. “You had to get it out of you, and it’s not like you coulda done it to Megatron or something.”

A wretched chuckle escaped Knockout.

“Spoken like a true Decepticon.”

Wildbreak didn’t understand – he had seen time and again that mecha lashed out at weaker ones when they couldn’t fight the cause of their frustration. His teammates certainly always did. That was normal, wasn’t it?

Were – were Autobots not like that?

Knockout’s digits finally unearthed themselves and Wildbreak further wrapped his servo around Knockout’s, squeezing it. He wasn’t sure if it was for Knockout or himself anymore.

“It still doesn’t sound like it was your fault.”

That surprised Knockout enough that he looked up, and Wildbreak’s spark ached at the thick lines of cleanser streaking down his face and how his features were tight and twisted with grief and hatred.

“Breakdown died because I didn’t want to defect. How is that not my fault?!” Knockout hissed.

“I mean, you can’t control everything,” Wildbreak said, aware that his voice was strained around the tightness of his intake. “Maybe he wouldn’t have wanted to. Or even if you convinced him and had defected, you can’t know for sure something bad wouldn’t have still happened, right? He coulda died anyway.”

“But if I had just--!”

“You don’t know that!” Wildbreak insisted, his hold on Knockout’s servo tightening. “And thinking ‘bout it isn’t gonna change nothing.”

“But—!”

“Breakdown wouldn’t’ve wanted you to blame yourself.” Wildbreak had meant it to come out as a question, to end it with ‘would he?’, but his spark roared that it was a fact.

Knockout looked stricken. His optics were wide and his jaw was slack and his cheeks were still wet with tears. Then, slowly, his face crumpled.

When Knockout’s free servo reached up to grasp Wildbreak’s arm as he ducked his helm, frame rattling with a sob, Wildbreak let himself be pulled forward. Knockout’s tears felt as if they were burning against his neck.

Wildbreak held him tight and let him cry.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

“It’s ok,” Wildbreak said, shuffling closer when Knockout tried to pull away. He had long lost track of time, not sure when they had arrived so he had no beginning marker, but it had been a while. The heavy wailing had tapered off soon enough, but it was the lingering hiccups and relapses that took time for Knockout to work through. And even once it was finally over, Knockout had kept himself curled against Wildbreak, helm ducked, until his ventilations had finally slowed to normal.

Now, after it all, Knockout lifted his chin, and it was only because Wildbreak was looking for them that he noticed the dried residue on his cheeks.

Wildbreak’s digits itched to rub the lines away.

“Are you ok now?”

“Was I ever?” Knockout asked sarcastically, the smirk that came with it weak. He shifted, accepting the closeness that Wildbreak was trying to maintain by simply settling onto his hip instead of his knees, his frame still leaning against Wildbreak but now against his side. Knockout’s helm flopped against Wildbreak’s shoulder. “But yes, I am better now. Thank you.”

“Oh, uh, it’s no problem,” Wildbreak said, unsure what else he could possibly say. The physical closeness he could at least handle, keeping his servo on Knockout’s shoulder, doing his best to comfort. Wildbreak was still uncomfortable being in the clearing in a way he couldn’t describe, but it was obvious that Knockout needed to stay a while longer, and Wildbreak could live with the discomfort.

“You know, I can’t even remember the last time I said his name out loud before meeting you.”

“Really?” Wildbreak asked, optics widening as a flustered heat started to build around his spark.

Knockout nodded, his helm rasping against the armor of Wildbreak’s arm as he hummed, “Mm-hm.”

“Didn’t you talk to anyone after it happened?”

“Who would I have talked to?” Knockout asked. “I was barely a step above Breakdown and only because I had medical skills. And, frankly, that never kept them from treating me like a punching bag when they needed one.”

Wildbreak couldn’t imagine a mech as handsome and charming as Knockout being so alone and abused, but the evidence was there clear as day in the bitter curl to Knockout’s lips.

“But uh, Dreadwing, right? He was the guy who told you the coordinates?”

“Because he was the only one amongst them who had a shred of decency, but he was blindly loyal until the day Megatron shot a hole through his spark.”

Wildbreak winced.

“One of the vehicons?”

That got an amused huff out of Knockout.

“You sound just like him sometimes.”

With a throbbing pulse of his spark, Wildbreak turned to look at Knockout fully. Knockout seemed just as surprised at the words that came out of his mouth, his optics staring straight ahead as he lifted his helm off Wildbreak’s shoulder, not daring to meet Wildbreak’s optics.

“What I mean is Breakdown got along with the vehicons,” Knockout said, clearly trying to hide how his plating heated where it met Wildbreak’s, “and he always wanted me to get to know them better. They honestly would have been my best choice. I think they missed him too.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

Knockout shrugged.

“It took years before I let Breakdown in past my charming exterior. How could I have possibly let myself appear weak in front of some mecha I had only known for a few months?”

“You let me.”

It was hard to tell who was burning hotter where their plating met.

“Yes, well,” Knockout stammered, looking down to pick dirt from between the plates of his digits. “You’re easy to trust, I suppose. You don’t have a dishonest strut in your frame.”

“I lied to Motormaster to come with you,” Wildbreak admitted, and that just made Knockout smile.

“I’m honored to see I’m such a good influence on you.”

“That’s not what I meant--”

“I know, I know,” Knockout said as he peeked at Wildbreak out of the corner of his optic before returning to his digits. “It’s been a while since I’ve done this so you’ll have to forgive me.”

“What d’you mean ‘this’?”

“Being honest, opening up, all that nonsense,” Knockout said. He flicked his servo to scatter some of the dirt and debris that had come loose. “It just doesn’t come naturally to me.”

Wildbreak’s ridges knitted together as he replied, “But you’re – you’re good at talking.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Wildbreak. I am well aware of that.” Knockout finally looked at him again, flashing him a gorgeous grin, and it was only because of the circumstances that Wildbreak realized it was completely fake. “I know how to charm mecha. I just never got the hang of actually connecting with them.”

With a frown, Wildbreak asked, “You haven’t made any friends with the Autobots?”

“Oh, they’re fine. Bumblebee’s old teammates are shockingly lovely,” Knockout admitted as the exaggerated smile started to fade a bit. “And I’m sure they would love to hear all about the trauma I have from having spent most of my life as a Decepticon, and that’s why I’ll never tell them. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction. Not when they don’t understand what it was like.”

Wildbreak remembered the anxiety he had felt when telling Knockout about his life with the Stunticons, the fear of judgment that ultimately never came.

“So you told me ‘cause I’m a Con.”

Finally the smile faded to a small, gentle curl of Knockout’s mouth.

“That’s a part of it, I suppose.”

Wildbreak’s spark raced in his chest, anxious and hopeful at once.

“And?”

Knockout’s ex-vent was amused sounding as he teased, “Greedy for compliments?”

“Is that bad?”

“Quite the opposite. Which means I’ll have to reward you with an actual answer, won’t I?” Despite his tone, Knockout’s optics returned to his digits, oddly shy as he looked for any dirt left to be picked out. Wildbreak waited as Knockout cycled a ventilation. “You really do remind me of him sometimes.”

And just like that, the racing of Wildbreak’s spark shifted from what his processor could understand to something that just resulted in errors.

“You mean Breakdown?”

Knockout nodded. “Sometimes you say things, or smile a certain way, or laugh just right, and it’s uncanny.”

TELL HIM.

“Am I that much like him?”

“No. I mean, you’re sweet and too honest, and the paintjob similarity is almost scary,” Knockout replied as he flicked a few strands of grass from between his joints. “But you’re also like me in that you’re a coward. And I mean that as a compliment – I wish Breakdown hadn’t been so eager to run helm-first into a fight. Though you are even more trusting than he was which is honestly shocking and something I’m going to try to get you to break the habit of.”

TELL HIM. TELL HIM.

“Besides, most importantly, Breakdown’s offline. I’d say that’s a rather important detail.”

TELL HIM. TELL HIM. TELL HIM. TELL—

“Well, maybe I’m like, a reincarnation, or something weird like that,” Wildbreak stammered, anxious and hoping against hope that it would make his spark stop threatening to break out of its casing.

Knockout stilled. Even his ventilations stalled.

And then air whooshed from his vents.

“You’re giving Primus far too much credit,” Knockout insisted as he turned to look at Wildbreak. There was something almost comforting in the way his servo grasped Wildbreak’s arm. “Coincidences are just that.”

Coincidences didn’t explain the way Wildbreak’s spark ached.

Coincidences didn’t explain the way Knockout had hesitated.

But then Knockout reached his servo out to cup Wildbreak’s face.

“And I like you just the way you are.”

The ache of Wildbreak’s spark was, within seconds, utterly overwhelmed by the rush of flustered glee. Wildbreak could feel a smile tugging at his lips as he said, “Aww, shucks, Knockout. You mean it?”

Knockout snickered at him, but there was with nothing but warmth and a fondness in the way he looked at Wildbreak.

“Primus, you’re adorable,” Knockout murmured, and Wildbreak’s temperature skyrocketed, no doubt hot against Knockout’s servo and wherever their plating met. “Of course I mean it.”

“I-I like you too,” Wildbreak blurted. It felt like his spark was pulsating out of control, and it felt like it was all his, no weirdness he couldn’t understand, no mystery. Just Wildbreak and his feelings and Knockout’s ever growing smile. “I mean, that was probably pretty obvious, but I figured I should say it.”

Knockout’s thumb stroking along Wildbreak’s cheek had his vents hitching.

“I had figured that one out, but it’s still nice to hear. Though,” Knockout drawled as he leaned that much closer, “I haven’t been able to quite put my digit on the way you like me. Are you looking for a guardian? A friend? Perhaps even a lover?”

Wildbreak’s cooling fans whirled to life as his frame finally burned too hot, and his face twisted with shame.

“Oh, n-no, I would never – I don’t expect you to like me that way, ‘cause I know you loved Breakdown, so you don’t have to worry about any of that. I’m happy with what we got.”

Knockout’s optics were wide with surprise. Slowly though the surprise faded to leave him with the small, sad smile that always came with talking about Breakdown.

“I hadn’t realized I was that transparent. But you’re right,” Knockout admitted softly. His servo was still cupping Wildbreak’s face, keeping him from looking away. “I did love him. I still do, and unfortunately it seems that I’ll never be able to stop. I--” Knockout trailed off, optics flickering down for a moment, the corners of his lips tensing as he ex-vented heavily. “I miss him so much.”

“Knockout--”

“But he’s dead,” Knockout interrupted definitively, optics finding Wildbreak’s again. “I can love and miss him all I want, but he’s still dead and I’m still alive and so fragging lonely.”

Wildbreak’s spark ached with a regret that wasn’t his. And this time, the pushing of his spark was softer. Quieter. Begging instead of demanding.

Tell him. Miss him.

“You shouldn’t be lonely,” Wildbreak murmured honestly. Knockout huffed and his digits stroked the side of his helm.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not when I’m with you.”

Kiss him.

Wildbreak’s spark was finally in complete agreement with his processor for the first time that he could remember.

It was only when his mouth met Knockout’s a little too hard that Wildbreak realized what he was doing, and the muffled noise of surprise from Knockout mixed with the sting of impact caused embarrassment to race down Wildbreak’s lines as he jerked back.

“S-sorry, I’ve never – I don’t really know how to--”

Knockout chuckled.

“Hush,” Knockout murmured as his servo slipped behind Wildbreak’s helm. “You just surprised me.”

“But I really don’t know how to do this good.”

“That’s alright. I’ll teach you.”

When Knockout leaned in it was softly and gently, lips warm against Wildbreak’s. He couldn’t help gasping quietly because it was so nice, so unlike anything Wildbreak had ever felt, but also familiar in a way that had his spark pulsing with warmth.

Knockout’s digits trembled against the back of his neck.

Wildbreak pulled away again, concerned as he asked, “Knockout?”

Knockout’s digits tightened, though there was still a subtle quiver to his grasp.

“I haven’t done this since Breakdown,” Knockout confessed.

“Oh.” Realization of where they were and just what they were doing hit Wildbreak and he felt guilt bubbling in his tanks. “Y-you don’t have to do this then.”

“Of course I don’t. But I--” Knockout glanced away then, abashed as he pulled further back. “But it’s hardly fair that you need put up with my—well, all of this.”

“I don’t mind.” Knockout’s gaze met Wildbreak’s again, surprised, and Wildbreak shrugged weakly. “I mean it. I really don’t mind. I just want to make sure you’re ok with this.”

Crimson optics flickered and for a moment Wildbreak swore he saw cleanser welling up in them.

And then Knockout was suddenly pushing up to his pedes, tugging at Wildbreak’s servos, insisting, “Come on, let’s get out of here. I’m sure I can find a better place to show you a proper first time.”

Wildbreak easily let himself be pulled since he was eager to leave the clearing behind. Every step away left his spark lighter.

And then when Knockout finally stopped, whirling around, Wildbreak had only barely managed to keep from barreling into him. An apology was already on its way out of Wildbreak’s voicebox when Knockout’s servos braced against his shoulder, helping him find his balance.

As soon as Wildbreak had his footing, though, Knockout slid his arms around his neck and leaned in.

And Knockout was kissing him again. This time it was more insistent, desperate and passionate. Wildbreak’s processor stalled so he followed his first instincts as he embraced Knockout and tried to keep up, to kiss back even if it was clumsy.

And his spark finally settled in quiet contentment.

Wildbreak didn’t question how his digits knew where to slip past Knockout’s plating and stroke sensitive receptors that had Knockout gasping against his lips.

“Beginner’s luck,” Knockout had teased as he shuddered, plating flaring to give Wildbreak room to sink in further for deeper nodes. “But Primus, don’t stop.”

Wildbreak didn’t question that with the awe that came from staring up at Knockout in pleasure – handsome face all the more beautiful for it and his frame so gorgeous and tempting that Wildbreak’s engine purred without his permission –there was also a moment of déjà vu.

And Wildbreak didn’t dare question the flicker of confusion when Knockout was knelt between his thighs and could still reach his lips for a kiss.

“How do you want me?” Knockout murmured against his neck, nipping a fuel line that had Wildbreak gasping as his back arched.

“I-inside me. I don’t think I’d – hahh – be good at spiking.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll learn,” Knockout insisted as he pushed up to his elbows, bracketing Wildbreak’s helm, and watching with bright, eager optics as he rolled his hips. With another gasp and tremble, Wildbreak’s panels shifted away, desperate and unable to control himself, weak against the pleasure. “I’ll show you by example.”

It was teasing, Wildbreak knew that, and he should have tried to tease back, or laugh, or anything to maintain that lighter mood – but instead his servos clung as he turned his helm, trying to find Knockout’s lips to kiss again as he whined, barely louder than an ex-vent, “Please--!”

Wildbreak didn’t question any of it because he desperately didn’t want to think anymore. About spark troubles or reincarnation or who he might have been; about his team or lingering injuries or the boss who gave them to him; about the terrible intersection that begged the question if Wildbreak was just going to live through the same mistakes and someday offline like Breakdown had – at the hands of a leader who would never truly care about him no matter how hard he tried.

He didn’t want to think about any of it.

Wildbreak just wanted to be here, now, with Knockout.

Thankfully, Knockout didn’t deny him. Knockout kissed him, and Wildbreak didn’t even know how many times they had kissed, or if he was any good at it now, but it was still soothing. When Knockout was kissing him, everything felt like it would be alright.

Knockout kissed Wildbreak as he slowly pushed inside him. And Knockout kissed him until Wildbreak’s frame was ready for him to move. And still Knockout kissed him while Wildbreak shuddered and bucked and clung to him as they fragged, choked by the overwhelming affection of his spark.

Until the wet drops hit Wildbreak’s face.

His optics onlined slowly, confused in the haze of pleasure, and that’s when Wildbreak saw the source. He pulled away from the kiss, panting against Knockout’s lips, managing, “K-Knockout?”

Knockout immediately jerked to a halt, his optics onlining quickly as shame crossed his handsome face. There was no mistaking the tears that were escaping or how the way his cooling systems heaved wasn’t just from their interfacing. He pushed up onto his servos, stammering, “Scrap, I’m sorry--”

“No, no, it’s ok! You don’t have to say sorry,” Wildbreak protested, reaching out to keep Knockout from retreating further and trying to tug him back in. “Should we stop? I didn’t mean to push you if you didn’t want to--”

“It’s not that,” Knockout insisted, scrubbing at his face with one servo, clearly embarrassed. “I do, and you’re fine, you’re so good – Primus, I--”

“You what?”

A fresh wave of cleanser spilled down Knockout’s cheeks as he murmured, “I didn’t think I’d get a chance to feel like this again.”

Wildbreak would swear his spark was swelling, filling his chest until it was choking him, and still pushing harder as if trying to reach further. It couldn’t reach though, not the way his servos could, pulling Knockout close while he pushed himself away from the ground, moving to hold Knockout as close as their frames could allow.

“I love you,” escaped Wildbreak, spark and processor in agreement, and he felt the way that Knockout shuddered and his hips rocked.

“Don’t say that.” Knockout’s optics were wide and wet but his servos grasped Wildbreak tight, like he never wanted to let go, and his spark was pulsing so hard that Wildbreak felt the vibrations of Knockout’s chest against his own.

Wildbreak kissed Knockout, shifting so he straddled Knockout’s lap, took Knockout inside again as they both gasped at the pleasure.

“I love you, Knockout.”

Knockout kissed Wildbreak, picking up their rhythm again while clutching at each other.

Knockout still had tears streaming down his face and Wildbreak was desperately ignoring the the déjà vu that came with telling Knockout he loved him. But he wouldn’t have asked to be anywhere else doing anything else with anyone else.

So Wildbreak let himself drown in Knockout’s kisses and the sound of his name – “Wildbreak, frag, Wildbreak” – on Knockout’s lips.