#carly is good with robotics

[just-absolutely-super]

i'm not really surprised given the plot of this franchise

but it's amazing how many of the Autobot allies are very proficient with tech

[saxandviolins77]

Transformers Skybound #19 and #20 spoilers below cut

ISSUE #19

I was going to talk about issue #19 last month, but what do you know? I had literally nothing of value to add, especially since I'm behind on Void Rivals (sorry, Kirkman) so I know shit about Quintessons in this continuity. Anyway, this story reads more like an intermission; not that this is bad, but there's nothing really meaty here. Well, I guess I have SOME thoughts, soooo.... Bullet point format...?

Ooooh yeah, the trait of Megatron having the need to have the upper hand even in situations where he is at another being's mercy is actually one of my favorite things about him (Movie.) I can't be the only person who thinks Megatron's autopreservation and fear (eh) of being controlled are actually important to his character, right? I'm a "Megatron was built by the Constructicons" believer, so take that as you will.

Evil Matrix of Control (that's the tyranny) AND good Matrix of Freedom ("freedom is the right of all YOU KNOW HOW THIS GOES).

Tank Megatron :(

Megatron loving his planet? Yessir!

Symbolic representation of forced suicide. Whatevs.

Isn't it ironic how Megatron gained his ability to control others through the loss of his own bodily autonomy and against his own volition? He's like, a tool, a tool you wieeeeld???? Yeah.

That was fun. (he says, with a blank look of indifference in his face.)

ISSUE #20

Ok, the one people are actually talking about.

You get your ass kicked for ten minutes and are already asking for him to kill you?? I could be charitable and pretend this is character writing, but like, no.

"WILL YOU PRAY FOR MEEEE WHEN I'M GOOOONE?? OR IS THIS THE ETERNAL DARK WITHOUT A DAAAAAWN?!"

Uh, I mean.

Wow, a Cybertronian getting captured by a human facility? Feeling bold today, aren't we?

Ok, jk jk, I really want to see Mags' PTSD explored. Hopefully.

JAZZ BACKSHOTS 🙌🙌🙌🙌

I liked this scene. I liked how DWJ didn't forget about the grief Spike must've been feeling. Or the grief he didn't have time to feel due to the... Giant robots.

I like Skybound Optimus. And I like how, despite being THAT guy, he still has moments of vulnerability and doubt (lots of it, actually).

Looks like someone was reading the tech specs/biographies before writing.

Brooooo, you can't just say that. Now we know they have a target on their backs.

Dada. Papa. Pops. Dad. Father.

Foreshadowing.... In the shadows! Wow.

Ohhh, we're gonna have an E.T. scene, right? Carly meets her old van, and Shredhead meets her. Bridge between Cybertronians and humans. (That's my pitch.)

Very convenient.

Did he bring Scavenger along too? Like, yk, Microbots. That's my HC.

SCRAPPER HAS A LINE OF DIALOGUE. WE WON. WE WON!!!

Foreshadowing or just a throwaway line? Place your bets.

Dude, you're adorable.

I haven't said this because I'm busy joshing around, but I really like this Megatron. He's very different from other incarnations of him, and I'm all for it. He's cold and calculating, but he clearly has a code of honor and actually cares for his subjects. I like him.

Also, one more Starscream abuse scene for the franchise.

they faces killing me why nobody gaf

Despite not being into this Starscream or his dynamic with Megatron. I can say that in the context of this universe and this issue, this scene was very well done and honestly kind of gut-wrenching.

I'm a little bit worried about Starscream's character from now on. Will he just dissipate into the background? 'Cause there's clearly no space for their common G1 Sunbow bickering.

Scrapper (thinking): "Fuck... Did I remember to turn the oven off back at the base?"

That's it?

DWJ has been building this shit up since issue fucking #8 for this cockblocking move? Not even a name drop? Like, I don't want to complain just so DWJ can pull the rug out from under my feet and make my chin DROP in the next few issues. But the only reaction I had from seeing this was a deeeeeep sigh of disappointment. Like, what a wet fart. I wouldn't mind it that much if he hadn't teased us for so long.

[emotionallyattachednerd]

Sweet Honey | G1 Bumblebee x f!robot reader | NSFW 18+

Word count: 1700+

Warnings: Smut ( spike in valve and first time ) and two inexperienced bugs. NSFW 18+.

Notes: Don't have enough G1 stories written, but slowly will build up over time I hope. Thanks anon for sending through this was rather cute and sweet to write. Enjoy. 🥰

☕ Coffee

Being the two youngest among the autobots it's no surprise from anyone that you both ended up together. You two were like teenage lovebirds, sweet to one another and always expressing your love. There is one thing though that hasn't quite happened yet, and that's interfacing.

There's no skill from either of you when it comes to interfacing, both completely new to it, virgins, and it's something you've both held out on for a long time, seeing no right moment for it to happen just yet. You did wonder why you haven't felt the need to do it with Bumblebee yet, though when you both talk to Ratchet about it he says it's normal to feel not ready, and that everyone feels different when it comes to something so intimate. He expressed that rushing or forcing it to happen won't help, and might cause either of you to express distress or regret.

So, you wait, and wait, until the moment happens.

On earth it's the new year, an event humans celebrated before the start of a new year. You and Bumblebee sat on top of the ark having the perfect view of where the fireworks were going to be set off. Everyone else was doing their own thing, even taking part of the celebration with Sparkplug, Spike and Carly among the other humans.

Bumblebee and you decided to have your time together, to spend time and share your love in your own privacy. Resting yourself against his chassis you gently trace your digit against his arm plating, optics looking over the spectacular view you both have, knowing you have the best seats in the house for the fireworks, which were to be set off within the next hour.

"Earth sure has its own beauty." You hear yourself whisper calmly.

"That it does, wish everyone sees it like we do." Bumblebee agrees through a tender hum. "Guess that's what makes us good together."

"Aye, very true." You snuggle into his side, nuzzling your face gently into the crook of his neck and let out a low purr. For a moment you continue to do this, before you feel his frame twitch slightly and hear his venting hitch. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing..."

"You're a terrible liar." You can't help but smirk faintly before lifting yourself to look at him better. "Bee, what's got you tense?" You then feel his frame more, noticing his heat increasing. "You're heating up..."

"Yeah, I know." He sounds nervous, unsure even. "I...it's fine, I'll be fine."

"Don't keep secrets from me. You never have before, don't start now." You touch his face plating, caressing the area and getting him to look at you. "You can tell me anything, always."

For a moment he's quiet, before finally confessing. "Remember what Ratchet said? The moment will happen when it happens..."

"Yeah?" Confused, you stare at him, than you slowly figure out what's wrong with him. "Bee, are you aroused?"

"I think so?"

"Oh..."

He's indeed warming up more as you continue to caress his cheek plating without even realising it, and by the time you do, his plating is so warm, pinkish hue appearing in his face as you feel yourself growing oddly warm too. The sight of him like this, it sends a strange warm buzz through you, and now it's your turn to crumble in nerves.

"I think I am too." You barely manage to say while fiddling with your servos.

"Alright. So...what now?" Bumblebee sounds embarrassed, but you feel it too. Neither of you had any experience, and you already guessed that when it did happen it was going to be a learning experience, it just so happened suddenly without warning.

"Maybe we could touch one another?" You've seen videos, you both have of course, so you still had an idea where to begin.

Bumblebee nods, going along with it, and you lay back down before shyly moving your servo between his thighs and across his heated panel. You hear him let out a hitched exhale at contact, the heat continues to boil, before his panel retreats and and you watch as his spike emerges out of its housing.

Your digits lightly ghost across the twitching length, before gently wrapping your servo around the base and giving him a slow pump, feeling some of the soft bumpy ridges as his spike throbs eagerly under your touch. This feels good, and you're making him feel good.

Bumblebee is unable to suppress his sounds as he feels himself heat up even more throughout his entire frame, his waist bucking slightly under your touches before realising he should be touching you.

Shifting closer, you shyly retract your panel and your untouched valve is exposed for him to explore. Moving his own servo between your legs, your optics flutter as you feel his digit skip against your valve, feeling the odd bundle of nerves and warmth settling within you and growing more velvet-like, smooth and tender.

Moving your legs more apart you give him better access, keeping your servo wrapped around his pulsing spike while still gentilly pumping him, letting out soft vents as you feel his digits play between your valve lips. It's all an exploring adventure between you two, and you still have time before the fireworks and new year start.

Bumblebee skips a digit across your node that causes your body to jolt from the contact, followed by a whimpered mewl, and this makes him stop.

"Did I hurt you?" He's worried he's done something wrong.

"N-no, no, you didn't. Just felt...surprised, but in a good way." That's the best way you can answer it. "How about me? Is this alright?"

"Yeah, I like it." He says through an aroused gentle smile. "I'll keep going?"

Nodding is your answer and he resumes his actions. The two of you touch one another, bringing your arousal levels up quickly much to your surprise, covering your mouth a little to muffle your increasingly desired whimpers as your optics flutter close due to the boiling heat rushing through you.

At some point, and somehow, you end up straddling his lap, sharing a heated kiss with him as you grind yourself along his length, you're soaking valve lubricating his spike like overcharged beasts craving a good rutt. But this isn't that, this is your first time, and you're both ready. The ridges stimulate against your node, adding to the growing arousal and building more fluids through your channel.

Your growing moans are faint against his inner neck, glossa darting out to lick along his neck cables, causing his frame to quiver along with his own increasing moans, his spike begging to be buried in your valve. Meeting his baby blue optics, you caress his warm cheek, as he does the same to you, sharing dainty smiles, young love blooming even more, before you grab hold of him and position yourself against his leaking tip, slowly sinking as you let out a shaky exhale.

Grabbing hold onto his shoulders you control yourself as his spike stretches your channel, letting out a soft hiss feeling the burning sensation snap through your valve, tearing your seal and your lover claiming your innocence. The pain does linger, but not for too long, and it's not long before you're fully seated in his lap with his pulsing spike stretching through you.

Bumblebee lets out a stuttered hiss between clenched dentas with his servos gripping at your waist, holding you still while his face tightens as if he was both in pain and feeling overpowering pleasure. Only a few drops of tears stream down your cheek plating, and than they cease. It's not until you move slightly that Bumblebee jolts and lets out a startled groan before there's another warmth filling you.

"W-what was that?" You can't help but ask, the small burning pain still surrounding your valve, his spike twitching along with the warm fluids that suddenly soaks your inner channel.

"I...I think I overloaded?" Bumblebee doesn't even sound sure. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen so fast, it just caught me off guard, and feels so good."

"Its alright. I mean, I'm more lubricated now, right? Can I move a little?" He nods and you slowly rock your hips. You're still unsure how to move, just that you try to stimulate yourself on him.

Even though he's already overloaded he feels the pleasure still against your rocking hips, moaning into your neck as he rests his servos against your hips, gently holding you against him while you slowly roll into his lap. The burning sensation slowly vanishes and the pleasure soon grows more fierce within you, grinding your node between your bodies in perfect sync as you keep his spike buried in your valve. It's all happening, and you want to finish it perfectly.

Your thoughts grow foggy as you continue to ride him while he bucks up slightly against your movements his spike twitching wilding even more much to your surprise, and hearing his startled venting hitching, you can only guess he's surprised himself that he's growing hard again, a second overload slowly building in him than.

No words are needed between you two and let the moment happen. His servos roam across your hips and waist, holding you close still as you start to bounce on his spike more, letting out moans and hitched vents while he thrusts up into your lightly, sounds increasing more vibrant from you, loving every second of it, silently questioning yourself why you never did this sooner.

"Bee, Bee..." His name moans from your lips, licking them eagerly as you feel yourself grow more hot and your thighs start shaking, servos resting closely against the back of his neck.

"Primus...oh Primus!" He stuttered loudly, arms clinging onto your quivering frame and jerks again deep in you.

In the exact moment, right at midnight, your overload erupts through your systems, your fluids flooding through, as you let out a high pitched moan mixing in with the fireworks setting off in the distance. You hold yourself against his chassis and nuzzle into his inner neck, purring gently between vented breaths, savouring the warm buzz still swimming.

"Oh Bee, that was wonderful." You say to him fondly. "Twice?"

"Yeah, twice." He chuckles lightly, sounding not fully convinced he was able to overload twice so fast. "Didn't think that was possible, yet it happened. Primus, I'll love you forever."

"As I will too." You share a tender kiss with him, caressing his warm cheek platings under your servos. "Happy new year, Bee."

"Happy new year, my love."

[cleverthylacine]

Japanese G1 continuity is absolutely not normal about girls but damned if they don't give us some of the best ones

There was a significant amount of Transformers continuity released between 1987 and around 2007 that was produced in Japanese and is really only known to most English-speaking fans through fansubs, dubs that were only released in Australia, and the like. Shows like Headmasters, Victory, and Zone. Manga like Victory and 15 Go Go Go Teletraan (which was really mostly Kiss Players). Radio shows like Kiss Players.

I'm gonna be super up front. Japanese G1 is not normal about femmes in any way, shape or form. At the same time, it gave us some of the BEST and most underused female characters in the Transformers universe.

Headmasters, which came out right after the US G1 show ended, is particularly egregious. In Headmasters, Arcee has been reduced to Fort Max's administrative assistant, uses ridiculously polite and subservient language, and is also the only medic. And being a medic would be kind of badass if they let her be as badass as Ratchet, you know? But they absolutely do not.

Also, in Headmasters, Carly (now married to Spike) allows her son--a freaking child, not even a teenager--to go on missions when Spike can't and a human is needed, because uh, for some reason it's better for a 12 year old boy to go, not an adult woman?

But most of the good femmes don't come from Headmasters. And some of the best femmes we have are from Japanese G1.

Super-God Masterforce made it up to us by giving gave us Minerva, a human girl who is a Headmaster with a robot body (transtector) making her basically a bad ass mecha pilot, and who actively does fight.

The Victory manga gives us Esmeral, Deathsaurus' incredibly classy wife, and Lyzack, Leozack's twin sister, who is in charge of defending the homefront but really does want to go out and fight. Illumina appears in both the Victory manga and the anime. She's a little human girl who has a crush on Jan Minakaze and is always trying to get people to choose nonviolence.

(Lyzack later appears in an English-language comic - the Wings Universe--wherein she's basically Deathsaurus' servant and Starscream hits on her. I don't like that.)

There are a number of great femmes who were only ever toys. The Cobalt Sentries set gave us Howlback, leader of the Decepticon military police (called the Cobalt Sentries). She is basically Ravage's twin sister but instead of being super stealthy she can turn your attacks right back on you.

(Later she appears in several English language comics and in at least one she is canonically trans. I'm not a fan of her depiction in the SG Recordicons Batman tribute arc, though.)

The Unite Warriors toyline - Takara's response to Combiner Wars, basically - gave us the combiner Megatronia, made up of Megaempress, and her four guards, Lunaclub (sometimes called Luna Clover or Luna Trefle), Flowspade, Moonheart, and Trickdiamond. They are incredibly awesome.

(IDW 2019 used Trickdiamond, but none of the others. Tricky was one of Swindle's contacts.)

Then there's the elephant in the room that everyone pretends isn't there...Kiss Players.

So, okay. There is nothing normal about Kiss Players whatsoever. On the other hand, I'd rather listen to KP than watch RID2015 which is just blatant copaganda from hell.

Kiss Players had an interesting plot involving little bits of Galvatron and Unicron getting into humans and creating the Kiss Players--humans who could give TFs a powerup by kissing them and then merging with their internals somehow. Then there are the Legions, the dick-tongued monsters that everyone who hasn't actually listend to the show or read the manga thinks are Megatron.

The dick-tongued monsters are gross. It is also gross that some of the Kiss Players are barely teenagers and definitely not adults and are constantly ending up in Situations.

But the plot centres around the apparent rise of Convoy, or Optimus, from the dead, and his transformation into a weird groomery dude, which many people don't understand there was an actual reason for, because it's not Optimus, it's someone else riding around in his body.

Melissa Faireborn is like if you chopped Marissa Faireborn's IQ in half, dyed her hair blond and threw out any pants or skirts that covered her knees. She is nothing like Marissa and I treat them as cousins, but Xiaoxiao Li is amazing and her real lover.

Anyhow, this female scientist (Dr Amaou) lost her mind over the loss of her daughter during the events of the 1986 movie et sequelae, and she's got to be stopped from turning Atari and her Autorooper robot pal into a permanent fusion to reincarnate her daughter Shizuku (whom for some reason I always want to call Setsuna instead).

It's a little confusing because most of the really good parts of the plot got jammed into a few episodes near the end of the season, although once you know what it is, it's clear that it's being set up. That artist just likes borderline lolicon way too much.

The second season of KP is very squeaky clean and sends the girls out to collect what they think are Allspark fragments, and they are very annoyed because Ravage, whom they call "black panther man" keeps getting in their way and fucking with them, only to later find out that the bots who gave them this task are Unicronian heralds and Ravage is trying to stop them from helping Unicron do what Unicron does.

Rosanna, everyone's favourite robot pop idol, comes from the second season of KP, although you don't see very much of her or her companions Glit and Sundor.

Incidentally KP sets up the Unicron Trilogy and some of its characters end up in the UT--which did come to the US, and gave us Alexis Thi Dang.

(This post is brought to you because I just wrote an Esmeral thing and someone was musing separately about Megaempress as a parent and I almost ended up writing this post while reblogging them, because I'm a nerd with a hyperfixation).

[tigirl-and-co]

Chapter two is ready! I don't like to start with introductions, since I've always found them to be a little boring, but more importantly I usually hate writing them. BUT I had a pretty clear vision this time around, so I went for it. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 1

When I Think About Rain

Ch 2. The Beginning

At this point, sneaking through the spacebridge may as well have been a beloved autobot-and-friends hobby instead of the harrowing stealth mission it was supposed to be.

Of course, sneaking through Shockwave's lab was still a frightening experience, especially for a human, but you had volunteered this time anyway. Sparkplug, Spike, Carly, and Chip were all more use helping the Autobots back at base, and you figured that since most of them had made the trip at least once, that it was your turn. You were sneaky. It would be fine.

Not as aware of your surroundings as you could be, though. As you were slowly picking your way to your destination, in awe of the endless mechanical city, you failed to notice the aerial pursuit. Which was on you, considering they were the most eye-catching shades of lime green, highlighter yellow, and play-dough blue you'd ever borne witness to.

As they landed with Cybertron-shaking thuds all around you, you stumbled and fell over. Like an idiot.

The blue one looked annoyed as the green one scooped you up faster than you could get away. Bluey huffed. "Really? This is what Shockwave wanted us to grab? Doesn't seem like a threat to me."

Frightened for your life, you weren't thinking clearly. Apparently, your adrenaline-soaked brain defaulted to 'snarking with the Autobots' mode to give itself more time to process the situation.

"Okay but it still took three of you to catch me, so maybe he just thinks you're incompetent."

Blue and Green looked gobsmacked. Like if a mouse had just told them where they could shove it. Yellow, however, chuckled. It was kind of a pleasant sound, and helped your brain get itself under control.

"Shockwave thinks everyone's incompetent."

If you could be funny enough for long enough, you might have a chance to escape.

Green looked away from you, still held in his palm, to chastise Yellow. "Nova, don't agree with the enemy!" he admonished, inadvertently giving away the name of Mr. Sunshine.

Blue was trying to get a good look at you, his expression still undecided as to whether he thought you were funny or annoying. Yellow- Nova, you knew his name now, was smiling pretty good-naturedly and trying to defend himself. Big Green just looked tired.

Looking between his two trine-mates, he sighed. "Let's just bring it back to Shockwave."

You only managed a little "Do you have to?" before Greenie transformed around you and sped away.

~~~

And that's how you ended up in a glorified birdcage. Apparently you were a valuable bargaining chip or something, which is why Shockwave didn't immediately squash you, dissect you, or use you for target practice.

And while Nova and the blue one seemed really interested in you, Green seemed... apathetic. Bored, almost. Watching him ennui around listlessly like an understimulated zoo animal in a cement box, you could almost feel bad for him.

Y'know. If it weren't for the kidnapping.

While Blue had been openly staring at you like a middle schooler seeing his friend's pet betta fish, Nova seemed more interested in you from a scientific perspective. And trying to seem genial, or at least polite, he finally introduced himself and the rest of his trine.

"I'm Nova Storm, and these are Ion Storm," he gestured to Bluey, "and Acid Storm!" and he glanced back at Big Green, who was lounging disinterestedly on what was probably the giant evil alien robot equivalent of a couch, considering it was in front of some sort of screen.

Acid Storm tilted his head back to look at you and the mechs. "You don't have to introduce us. It's probably not gonna live long enough to care."

You wrinkled your nose at that, and tried to keep anxiety from clawing at you. "Hey man, he's just being polite! Not that you'd know anything about that."

Ion Storm snorted at that and jeered at his trine-mate. "Yeah, Acid! What's the deal with kidnapping a poor, defenseless little organic like that? You didn't even ask it its name!" He leaned in close to your cage and whispered "Hey. What's your name?"

When you told him, he gave you kind of a side-eye and muttered something about organics under his breath.

While he kept riling up his unamused trine leader, Nova Storm took the opportunity to start asking you questions about your homeworld and your species. After all, who knew when he was gonna get another chance to ask a native?

"What's the atmosphere made of?" Mostly oxygen, with some CO2. "What do humans eat?" Mostly organic material. "So do you eat each other?" No, that's usually considered pretty horrific, with exceptions across cultures. "So humans aren't a monolithic culture?" Good God, no. We've had more wars than you about way smaller differences. "Why don't your wars last as long?" Dunno, guess because we don't live as long?

You didn't notice the other two moving closer.

"How long do humans live?" Nintey-ish years, I think. "How long is a year?" Twelve months. "And a month?" About thirty days, give or take. "...And a day?" Twenty-four hours, and since I know you're gonna ask, an hour is sixty minutes, and a minute is twenty astro-seconds, and that is the only Cybertronian measure of time I know. Otherwise I would have saved us a lot of time.

Nova looked... fraught. Almost upset.

"If my math is right... that's just barely over a vorn."

Acid had apparently decided this was more interesting than staring at a blank screen and getting mocked by Ion Storm.

He looked at you in quiet disbelief.

"That's kind of... sad. I'm sorry."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. He had kidnapped you, prevented you from saving your friends' lives, said out loud that you probably didn't have much longer to live, and now he had the gall to be sorry because biology said you had a finite lifespan?

"Motherfucker, if you were sorry, you'd let me out of this goddamn cage!"

Ah. You hadn't meant to be so aggressive. You let both fear and anger eat at you, and now you were probably going to die for it. Good job.

But when you took a chance and looked at him, he didn't seem angry. His face was furrowed, like he was thinking hard. Seeing Ion and Nova both staring at him with a small amount of concern, you added that together with his melancholic behaviour, and you sort of wondered when the last time he actually got to lead his trine was. Was it before the Cybertronians crashed on earth? More than four million years ago? You couldn't wrap your head around-

"Convince me."

You blinked up at Acid Storm. "Huh?"

Ion Storm leaned in and poked you, gently but still hard enough to push you back. "You heard him, fleshy." He grinned. "Impress Acid Storm and you go free."

It felt too good to be true, and it probably was. But you had to take the chance. "Okay first, you know my name, Ion. Second, the hell do you want me to do? I could, like, badly recite the plot of a movie or something, maybe tell you about what I've got waiting at home for me."

Nova looked a bit intrigued at that one, but Ion did not. "Boring, try again."

Okay. Great. Your life is on the line and you're too stupid to save it. "I, um-" Stifling under the gaze of three giant guys who were NOT concerned about your inevitable demise twenty minutes ago, you rummaged around in your pockets. You had a dollar bill and some loose change, and you pulled it out and showed it off.

"I have one dollar and thirty-nine cents. Final offer."

All three of them leaned in to see your strange, alien money.

Nova spoke up first. "Is that... a lot?"

You could've lied. You could've told them you were rich beyond measure.

"Oh, absolutely not. It's enough for like, one candy bar. One of the shitty ones."

But you didn't.

Ion storm chuckled a little bit, but before he could open his mouth to speak, Acid started howling with laughter, nearly doubling over. Pretty soon the other two joined in, and you yourself couldn't help the grin on your face.

Once he had himself under control, Acid unlocked the cage. "You've got a deal. Your life for the price of one shitty candy bar."

You went to set your money on the floor of the cage before you had a terrible idea. Just a real dogshit idea. Maybe even the worst idea you'd ever had. You pulled out a sharpie from a pocket and wrote your phone number down on the dollar.

You stepped onto Acid's outstretched hand and he lowered you to the floor. As you started booking it across the room, you turned and flashed the global signal for 'call me,' knowing they probably didn't know what it meant.

Once you were out of sight, hidden behind some random Cybertronian junk, you remembered a question you had wanted to ask back when Nova had first introduced everybody.

"Hey, are you guys theme-named coincidentally, or did you change your names when you joined up?"

You heard Acid Storm's quiet groan.

"Primusdammit, just go!"

[kaontic]

Sir, we have some questions for you, but first—

(I’m so sorry, you two—)

YAS BITCH RAINBOW WIRES SLAAAAAAAY— 💅

NO NOT LIKE THAT—! (　〇□〇)

*Facepalm* Okay.

(It’s time for more thoughts that are all over the place)

So you were just, sittin' on your aft in a cave, in presumably, the American Southwest (are those saguaros? Interesante… 😶🌵), with exposed wires that I just realized share the same colors as the Well of Sparks—

When you broke outta CC’s crib, in the North???

Now it’s just funny thinkin’ about how Megs made his way down there without, ya know, 6 star wanted level antics.

I mean, there’s def gotta be more to this, even if Megs really was just “wandering” around lol.

(Hehe, robots in disguise~🎶😉)

Like think of how embarrassing that must be for Cobra(-La), if they couldn’t locate + recapture a giant blind robot.

Unless…this is what CC actually wants, so that when Megs finally reunites with everyone else, Cobra will make their move.

Gotta catch ‘em all, I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Still doesn’t explain how the actual frag Laserbeak seemingly found him so goddamn fast (unless there was a timeskip), so—

Soundwave, you’ve got some explainin’ to do too boo. 😗

Yeah, especially to Thundercracker. 😑

(Side note: he looked extra despondent these past two issues. Prob cuz of him losin’ Shockwave, but also it’s like findin’ Megs was the last thing he wanted to do lmao

Well, that’s what happens when you can’t find your backbone

*Lower voice* Furthermore, you’re one to call others “brutes” when you send out these cassettes you call “family” to do your dirty work

Just somethin’ to think about in the flood of shame you find yourself in)

(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

(Damn, Star! Save the punches for Megs! 😨)

Some extra questions (cuz what can possibly go wrong with askin’ ‘em, right? *Laughs nervously*):

. Y’all worryin’ about Ultra Magnus, but not Jetfire???

Is he dead for good?

(Please don’t let that be the case. He deserves more attention, and he’s got character potential, I promise

If it is what it is tho, can we at least confirm it, instead of makin’ Optimus look genuinely bad rn for this? Otherwise, it’s just a repeat of G1 writing at this point)

. I’m just gonna assume for now that Star had left the cat and the Cobra M.A.R.S. guy behind for (wow, if he even “cares” in that way) their safety, which would be one of the smarter decisions he’s made

Especially since he’s likely stuck until Astrotrain proves that, once again, he’s an MVP

. *Gasp* And Astrotrain has a love that Megs ended????????????? 😱

Oh, you just keep gettin’ better and better— 🩶💜💛

(And frag Megs for makin’ my train man upset like this! 😤)

. Wait Cliffjumper doesn’t wanna go back—?

(Well, I guess this at least means he could run into Springer and Hot Rod in the future)

Update: Oh, he does wanna go back after all…to Carly.

Oops.

(God there’s so much happenin’—)

. So the relationship between Cybertronians and the majority of humanity is officially cooked, right?

And every time Optimus is experiencin’ a crisis there’s gonna be a white background?

I like that. I like white backgrounds :3

. Do you think Roller and the Combat Deck are also experiencin’ the visions and the corruption stuff?

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh to the actual no—

[blueikeproductions]

SkyBound recently had a little surprise, albeit one we saw coming.

Carly’s van becoming an Autobot.

…Sorta.

What actually happens is Cliffjumper leading the Autobots on Cybertron to the Well of Allsparks, and using a Spark Canister left over from his Clan, and the remains of Carly’s van for the new robot to Scan a Vehicle Mode: Shread-Head.

People are pretty much on board with Skybound’s first proper OC, perhaps more so than any of the (non Tarn) IDW specific ones.

Sure there was Genvo.

But he existed to get shot and give Starscream a dramatic backstory.

So he didn’t leave much of an impression.

Kinda like Rubble in IDW, only you at least got to know Bumblebee’s adopted son better before Quake crumpled him like a pop can.

What’s also surprising is Shredhead joins Nightshade in being nonbinary.

Hmm there is a catch though.

While Nightshade is Enby by human definition vs the more robotic Terran definition they originally wanted, Shredhead is more of a collective sharing a single body.

The Spark Canister used in their creation was the remains of the Sparks of Cliff’s Clan, which apparently was enough fragments to make a whole Spark. It’s similar to BW Tigerhawk having Tigatron and Airrazor’s Sparks, and (dub wise) Energon Alpha Q’s ramshackle body housing the surviving Sparks of Planet Q. (Tigerhawk and Alpha Q are still considered male characters however, though I suspect if they were revisited in modern stories they’d be Nonbinary.)

Either way, Shreadhead used They/Them, but refers to themselves as “We” occasionally over “I” to reference their being a collective of Sparks than a human defined Enby entity.

As for the design, it’s pretty cool. It’s clearly going to be a Trailbreaker or Skids retool if they get a toy in the future. The sword gives the design a Conan/He-Man vibe that fits the character, though as of typing they were just introduced so we don’t have a clear idea on personality yet. My main complaint with it is that the design isn’t what I expected from Cliff’s Clan. Without much to go on, I had assumed Cliff’s in particular would reference TFA, where Bumblebee’s body type was very common.

So Shreadhead instead being a stocky Trailbreaker type with an Optimus like head was far removed from what I was expecting.

I’m also not crazy about the name. It feels like it’s supposed to evoke the 80’s vibe, but it comes off as a clunky repurposing of a TMNT concept. It just seems a little odd Cliff’s family decided Shredhead was the best name for their new body. Makes me think a metal head type among the Clan commandeered the naming process lol.

Still if you’re going to make a Transformer out of a 70’s-90’s painted mural van/truck, I’d say Skybound did a good job!

Now we just need Shreadhead to do the Brave Perspective/Obari Pose.

[mortalscience]

imagine u have a shitty old car that doesn’t have Bluetooth so pick 7 albums u play on CD!! (Or tape!!!)

tagged by @mowowow thank you!!! :D :D

this is a fun challenge. i further challenged myself by not allowing myself to pick 'best of' type albums. a lot of these ended up being albums i often listen to when i'm driving already so, this list is pretty accurate for what i would pick in this scenario!

The Midnight - Monsters

All my other choices are pretty much fully high energy sing along albums, but this one I chose because it's got a lot of good kind of introspective, chilling music perfect for the twilight hours driving across the desert, that sort of vibe. It does still have some good singalong songs but they still match that energy. Standout songs:

Monsters, Dream Away, The Search for Ecco

Bastille - Wild World

Every single song on this album is an insane banger. Bastille's first album was good, but this one was GREAT. Bastille is so good at the catchy pop rock song, and every song on this ablum is so solid. I love singing along to these songs! Standouts:

Warmth, Way Beyond, Campus

Cartel - Chroma

One of my Pop Punk Obsession holdovers, but honestly, this is one of the most perfect pop punk albums ever created. It does NOT get enough nostalgic love in the genre. EVERY SONG IS SO GOOD!!! I have a whole car concert every time I listen to this!! Standouts (HARD TO PICK):

Burn this City, If I Fail, Honestly

Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion

It was a difficult choice between Emotion and Dedicated, but Emotion won in the end because of the sheer number of insanely catchy sing-a-long-able tunes. Carly Rae is the queen of girlpop imo (Swifties don't come for me lol) and Emotion is sort of the Magnum Opus of that. This is the album that made me take a second look at Carly Rae as more than just the 'call me maybe' girl btw. This album CHANGED LIVES (mine). Standouts:

Emotion, Making the Most of the Night, Run Away With Me (btw side story, I heard this song for the first time on Mr Robot and it was incredible, I got chills during the scene it was used, it made me seek out the rest of the album because when I looked it up I was like THAT WAS CARLY FUCKING RAE JEPSEN??!!! then I listened to all of Emotion and I was like OHH MY GOD THIS IS INCREDIBLE. and i became a diehard fan after that moment. thank you Mr Robot.)

The 1975 - self-titled

Early The 1975 was pretty goated. I first heard about them like many people once I Like it when you sleep.. hit the airwaves, and I loved that album, but when I went back and listened to their debut album I was captivated by it. A bit sweeter, more earnest, less polished. I just love this album! Standouts:

Heart Out, Talk!, Settle Down

Emarosa - Sting

I love Emarosa, they're putting out 80s style songs but with modern sensibilities. Sooo many catchy high energy songs, they are my jammmm, and they get stuck in my head for days. A frequent car concert choice for me! Standouts:

Woman, Stay, Again

Silversun Pickups - Physical Thrills

This album was the first time I ever seriously sat down and considered Silversun Pickups. Of course I'd heard Lazy Eye before, and I liked it, but that song never inspired me to seek out more from them. But then I heard Scared Together and I was stunnnneeeddd by how much I loved it. I listened to the whole album and became OBSESSED, and from there I listened to their back catalog and realized there's so much more to this band than Lazy Eye (which doesn't even make it onto my list of top 10 favorite SSPU songs). I LOVE THEM. Physical Thrills has a slightly creepy/off-kilter vibe to it which I love, and the songs go hard when you listen to them at full blast in the car hahaha. Standouts:

Scared Together, System Error, Stillness (Way Beyond)

my brain is currently not working well so I'm tagging anyone who wants to do this!

[ometochtli2rabbit]

MAYA:

13.0.12.11.18

kalajun [12] ETZNAB'[flint]|TIJAAX[obsidian] - waklajun[16] ZOTZ

galactic tone: understanding| complex stability

sun sign: FLINT| fish/white/north

spend some time in reflection and introspection

NAHUA:

mahtlactli-omome[12] - TECPATL [flint knife]

Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli | Chalchihuihtotolin

quetzaltotolin [quetzal]

lord of the night: Itztli

trecena [12]: Tepeyollotl

x: caxtolli [15] teotleco

"Character", Remedios Varo, 20th C.

"Character", Joan Miro, 1934.

Day Tecpatl (Stone Knife, known as Etznab in Maya) is governed by Chalchihuihtotolin, the Jewelled Fowl, as its provider of tonalli (Shadow Soul) life energy. Tecpatl is a day of grave ordeals, a day of trials and tribulations. It is a good day to test one's character, a bad day to rest on one's past accomplishments or reputation. Tecpatl warns that the mind, the spirit, must be sharpened like the glass blade which cuts to the marrow of truth.

-www.azteccalendar.com

As this is a good day to test oneself, these are songs that contain the word CHARACTER:

Garnett Silk: Kingly Character

Alanis Morissette: Sympathetic Character

Magnetic Fields: Two Characters in a Country Song

Sleater-Kinney: Complex Female Characters

FKA Twigs: Drums of Death

Wolf Saga: Main Character

Mumford and Sons: Roll Away Your Stone

Kali Uchis: Territorial

Morris Day: The Character

Charlotte Cardin: Like it Doesn't Hurt

Neil Young: My New Robot

Gang Starr: You Know My Steez

Carly Simon: We have No Secrets

Chaka Demus & Pliers: Murder She Wrote

Emily Kinney: The Supporting Character

Nas: Superhero Status

Christina Aguilera: Not Myself Tonight

The Killers: Be Still

Merle Haggard: Love Somebody to Death

Belle & Sebastian: Storytelling

Lionel Richie: Into You Deep

The Who: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

boygenius: Anti-Curse

Rancid: Sidekick

SZA: Go Gina

Jason Isbell: How to Forget

Black Uhuru: Sponji Reggae

U2: Book of Your Heart

Bette Midler: Billy-A-Dick

Lou Reed: Growing Up in Public

Arctic Monkeys: The Ultracheese

R.E.M.: Star 69

N.W.A.: A B*tch iz a B*itch

Cher: Behind the Door

Toots and the Maytals: Beautiful Woman

Talib Kweli: Heads Up Eyes Open

Kacey Musgraves: Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers: Dust

Elton John: Roy Rogers

Peter Gabriel: Slowburn

Elvis Costello: Shabby Doll & National Ransom

The Rolling Stones: She Saw Me Coming

A Tribe Called Quest: Electric Relaxation

Bauhaus: Mask

Janet Jackson: Looking for Love

Iggy Pop: Character

Stevie Nicks: Street Angel

Adam and the Ants: Making History

Bill Withers: Dreams

Pink Floyd: Ibiza Bar

The Kinks: Muswell Hillbilly & Cricket

Sarah Vaughan: Fabulous Character

[kaycode1999]

Headcanons for all da Bumblebee x reader headcanons separately (like tfa, tfp, bay, 2018, rotb, rid, g1, Earthspark, cyberverse, rescue bots. How they each would be in a relationship and all that please ((So sorry I didn’t specify before pal 😅🥲))

Ok I hope I got this right😂. And no worries, and let me know if I missed anything or if there is something more specific you want to get my thoughts on

So there are a few things I think all Bee's have in common and that's being kind and a great boyfriend. Optimus raised a gentleman (bot) that's for sure. He's very much the opposite of " Oh I hate my significant other', " My significant other is my ball and chain", etc.

G1 Bumblebee: Definitely a clumsy blushing mess (if robots can blush) around his crush before they get together. He may or may not have used the same line he'd given to Spike to ask Carly out. I feel like he would also be the kind to brag to everyone about his SO and how amazing they are. Seriously, he introduces them to everyone as his SO especially at the beginning. I can see him at the very beginning having to run tell EVERY SINGLE AUTOBOT THAT WILL LISTEN THAT HE IS NOW WITH THIS PERSON. Very sweet boyfriend, and if he isn't cuddling with them he always has to be touching his SO in some way. I.E hand holding, having them in his arms or on his shoulder. The kind of relationship that it can be years down the line and they never run out of things to talk about and still learning new things about each other

TFA Bumblebee: If you got together too close to them making a home in Detroit he would have gotten in trouble for either stealing or messing up some flowers because he either wanted to get something for you and he didn't know the concept of paying for things or he was trying to pick flowers for you and he didn't realize he couldn't just pick some out of a public garden. He can be a little 💩 sometimes like you would probably expect, but he's actually a very sweet boyfriend. Always doing things like when he sees his SO carrying or trying to carry something heavy he has to rush over and carrys it for them while saying something like " Don't worry, Your boyfriend is here to help". Basically any reason to call himself your boyfriend. When Wasp did the electronic paint job with their helmets it affected him more then he let on, and once the others went to bed he asked you to stay with him. He can handle you being gone for a few days but if you're gone for more than a few days he starts becoming very sad because he misses you and the other bots don't know how to handle it. When you get back he nearly crushes you in a tight hug and he will definitely run over anyone who tries to get in the way, and don't expect for him to let you out of his arms for several hours. The other bots adore your relationship and see that you are a good influence on him. I definitely get the vibe that he would be the kind of boyfriend to do something like this

I can see it being the kind of relationship where sometimes you don't even need to talk you can just be around each other in comfortable silence and enjoy each others company

TFP/ Rescue Bots/ RID/ Rescue Bots Academy (I'm combining because these are supposed to be the same bot): He is very sweet with his SO when they are alone but he is somewhat less comfortable with PDA. He's ok with holding hands and a few little things like that but for the most part he won't be the one instigating anything beyond hand holding ( though it also depends on who is around- if you're only around people you know well and are comfortable with he's much more open about PDA). It takes him a little while to get out of the habit of feeling like he has always be taking care of you and protecting you, you definitely make him see this is a partnership and he doesn't have to put everything on himself.

Cyberverse Bumblebee: He's probably not the kind to flirt BEFORE you get together but oh man. Once you do get together he flirts relentlessly, and with the cheesiest pick up lines. For example, if you trip or fall or something and he catches you he will without a doubt say something very cheesy like " I guess you really did fall for me."

Earthspark Bumblebee: I can see this going two ways. Either 1- he accidentally makes it seem like he hates you because it's noticeable to you that he avoids you and that you're the only one he seems to have a problem with. He's forced to admit his feelings when you confront him about his behavior. Or 2- he got close to you but didn't believe it could work between you two. He resigned himself to only being your friend until he couldn't take it anymore and he finally admitted it to you . (Everyone around you wanted you two to get together). An extremely loving boyfriend. He's not bothered at all by PDA, he'll give you a kiss, hug, hold your hand or whatever (SFW obviously) regardless of if anyone is around or not. Loves to call you pet names like; my love, sweetheart, baby (he uses a lot of pet names)

Bayverse Bumblebee: You two are so alike you can almost already tell what the other is thinking without needing to hear it. Seriously like some kind of weird mind meld/soulmate thing going on. Crosshairs once made the mistake of mocking you standing up for Bee when he was giving him a hard time, let's just say he now fears being on the receiving end of your wrath. You two have your own code for when a mission goes wrong, how bad, and where to meet after if you get separated. Also, this bots memory is very good. When you find Wheelie, he remembers what he did to Mikayla and he definitely threatened to blast him back to Cybertron if he ever tried that with you

ROTB/Knightverse Bumblebee: no surprise but he loves going to the drive in with you. Takes you to meet Charlie so that you two can be friends. He loves carrying you around in his arms because of the size difference between you two (he thinks you're so cute and small). He just wants to spend quality time with you whenever he can. Always running a finger through your hair and playing with your hair in some way it just fascinates him

[quetzalpapalotl]

I just want to clarify, again, for those that may still be ambivalent about picking DWJ's Transformers that despite the deaths or whatever the comic is not edgy.

If I had to describe them one way, I'd say it's doing Sunbow G1 based on the vibes it gave one as a child adapted so it retains that gradiose feeling on a "grown-up" story. Character death is a part of that, but I've always hated the idea that killing a character equals shock value or edginess.

This is a very well-crafted comic, there is a clear purpose to everything it does. Characters dying is a natural result of this type of conflict, it makes the stakes feel real. On top of that, Bumblebee dying, for example, creates a connection between Optimus and the Witwicky. And really death is not foreign to Transformers comics so.

"Decepticons will kill alien life for resources while the Autobots will defend all sentient life" has always being the very basic premise of Transformers and this series wants to reflect that. There's a reason why the villians are the villians and the series focuses on contrasting them with the heroes, but they're not all the same. Starscream kills humans for funs because he's petty (and honestly, he's sucha fun villian, I love him going off) and he has a complex about being better than Megatron bc he's Starscream. Soundwave is practical, he cares for his casettes and his fellow Decepticons, he doesn't care for human for good or bad, but he's also ruthless. They currently have the advantage. The more dire the situation looks, the more exciting it is when the heroes manage to make it through. I was vey excited when [spoiler] showed up to save the day in issue 4.

Despite all the bad stuff happening, the emotional core of the series remains kind and hopeful. Optimus keeps himself compassionate no matter what, Cliffjumper does his best to relate to Carly. The pain the characters feel is treated seriously. The human character are well utilized to put the Transformers into perspective both as a race and as characters. I would consider a fairer criticism of this series to say that it's trying too hard to pull at your heartstrings than it being edgy.

Taking G1 seriously doesn't just mean killing characters off, it shows in other aspects, like the energy crisis that's often a feature of Transformers media, here we really get to see how impacts both Autobots and Decepticons making it feel more than just an empty plot point.

Also it has action still because this is an action comic and they're cool, this is still a Transformers comic trying to apeal to your inner child that thinks giant robot fights are cool.

As for the Energon Universe thing, so far, the series is perfectly serviceable without reading the rest of it, it's suposed to stay that way, but you know, I can't guarantee anything on someone else's word, so here's to hoping.

I understand some of you may just be tired of G1 and want something new and won't pick it up that's fair, or some stories just won't attract certain people, but trust me when I say that it's a story made with a lot of heart.

[tossawary]

Needing something to play in the background during the day, I have started watching Transformers G1 and have now finished the first season. It is very funny to visit the original after getting most of my information through Fandom Osmosis and passing acquaintanceship with more recent Transformers media. I decided to start at the beginning (terrible decision, I know, I will not be changing it) because I have like 40+ hours per week that need background sound and I like studying adaptational choices over time, so I intend to progress through a bunch of Transformers shows in chronological order.

It's kind of like Star Trek: TOS (Star Trek is better) in that I find parts of it very charming, there are plenty of aspects that are even compelling in their potential, but it's also... bad. A lot of it is Very Bad, sometimes in a very funny way and sometimes in a way that is just Not Good and even Problematic. I cannot possibly recommend it.

The animation quality is understandably very low due to the context of its creation (television show from the 80s made to sell toys). I like a few of the Cybertron background paintings, but it still takes me a second to tell a lot of the characters apart, partially because there is a revolving door for supporting characters. The writing quality is even worse. The physics is all over the place. The powers and abilities are completely arbitrary. None of the science works. No one can decide what body parts the Cybertronians actually have. There is way more mind control in this show than I ever expected there to be. This is apparently an alternate universe where the Earth has various types of energy crystals. The Idiot Ball trope is flying all over the place like dodgeballs and the characters are repeatedly hitting themselves with it constantly. Some of the accents are quite silly, yeah, but it still doesn't justify how some people type them out in fanfiction.

And yet I am still mildly entertained, probably because I am already partial to both animation and space opera with robots. And I recognize enough of the characters to find these early versions of them very funny. And some parts of this extended toy commercial were very clearly Done With Love.

Megatron and Starscream are like two halves of a whole idiot. The Decepticons are incapable of not betraying each other for more than a few episodes. Except for Soundwave, who is the MVP of the Decepticons, and yet also does nothing to stop any of the drama. Both sides can just Make New Guys at any time apparently and the Dinobots should unionize. I think Optimus Prime essentially "ok boomer"ed Megatron in the second episode and it was justified. I can't believe that Shockwave didn't just straight up stage a coup or otherwise move on in 4 million years, like, man, DUMP HIS ASS already. Bumblebee has apparently always been Very Smol and Just A Little Guy. Because this is a kids show, all these giant robots are constantly calling the Mortal Enemies They Want Dead "dweebs" and "nerds" and "twerps" and it's Very Funny. And I'm just going to assume that Sparkplug is a nickname and not an adult human man's legal name.

Also, I know the reason that the human kids are in the show is so that the show can go, "Look! This could be you! Being friends with all your favorite giant robots!" But it very much comes off as the Autobots having no real context for Spike's age or squishiness, probably because their own newborns are already able to fight. And Carly's introduction involving renting scuba gear and breaking into the Decepticon base makes her look (and I mean this with bewildered affection) fucking nuts, girl.

[marsnolias]

Thinking about My Ideal Continuity…. Mostly G1 marvel but with other stuff thrown in. @arceespinkgun I thought you might be interested

-Primus (in the form of Cybertron) and Unicorn (in the form of his G1 movie self) kind of. Come into being at the same time as the big bang.

-Eons later, Primus creates the thirteen Primes (Optimus isn't among them, though) Quintus Prime spreads life throughout the universe, like in Earthspark, with his most powerful creations being the Quintessons

-The Quintessons become powerful conquerors, enslaving species throughout the galaxy to do their bidding

-In the meantime, the other primes have also seeded life on Cybertron, each with their unique traits. Onyx makes beastformers, Solus makes feminine Cybertronians, Micronus makes minibots, Amalgamous makes triple changers, etc

-The Quintessons make it to Cybertron and attempt to bend Cybertronians to their will, but they fight back

-Two of the leaders of the anti-Quintesson movement are Orion Pax and Megatron

-During this time, many Cybertronians flee from the planet, not wanting to get caught up in the war. One of the escape shuttles is Skyfire, who carries scientists like Perceptor, Beachcomber, and Nightshade (who is in the continuity because I said so)

-After a million years of fighting the Quintessons, they're finally beaten back and Orion Pax is gifted the Matrix of Leadership by Primus himself, becoming Optimus Prime

-Now this is the beginning of the MegOP divorce arc

-The split is based on the fact Megatron feels like Cybertronians should expand to other planets and conquer them, while Optimus is of the opinion they should stay on Cybertron

-This leads to the split between Autobots and Decepticons, with Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave (along with a bunch of other cons) setting off to conquer nearby planets

-Optimus, who's tired of war after fighting the Quintessons for so long, takes off after the cons in order to prevent them from destroying another planet

-They land on some alien planet, with the cons getting there before the bots. The war then recommences, with the cons wanting to drain the planet of resources and the bots wanting to defend the native creatures

-After a couple million years, both sides forget what they even started fighting about and it turns more personal, with each factions goal being to wipe the other out

-Also at this time, Optimus is gravely injured and passes the Matrix of Leadership to Hot Rod, who becomes Rodimus Prime (and proceeds to make some. Bad decisions)

-At some point, the Autobots decide to retreat and attempt to return to Cybertron, and the cons follow them

-They get knocked off course, and the Ark and Nemesis (which are also sentient Transformers) crash into earth, with both ending up in Oregon, USA for a few million years

-Later, Skyfire picks up on a distress signal from the Ark and heads to earth

-In the human year 1985, an earthquake knocks both the Ark and Nemesis back online. The bots and cons wake up, and go to war again with their new alt modes

-Skyfire also ends up crash landing on earth, but they end up befriending Spike and Carly

-As I see it, there are kind of four factions

The Decepticons (Meg, Starscream, Slipstream, Soundwave and cassettes, Blitzwing, Tarantulas) who want to drain the planet's resources and also destroy their long-time enemies

The Autobots (Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Arcee, Jazz, probably some others), who want to destroy the Decepticons but aren't above also stealing earth's resources

Skyfire and crew (namely Beachcomber, Perceptor, Nightshade, Bulkhead) who want to protect the planet's inhabitants from the war brought to their planet, and the “good” humans (Josie Beller, Sparkplug, Spike, Carly) that help Skyfire's crew stay undercover

The evil humans (probably ocs) from the US military that launch a counterattack to try and destroy the giant alien robots that suddenly came out of nowhere (kind of like in bayverse)

Additional notes:

Josie Beller (aka Circuit Breaker from the Marvel comics) isn't a villain in this. She has multiple sclerosis and has used her incredible technical ingenuity to make robotic mobility aids

She's also a single mom to Carly. Sparkplug is a single dad to Spike

Josie and Sparkplug are really close in a platonic way, and Carly and Spike pretty much grew up together and are like cousins (There's no romantic stuff going on between Spike and Carly, of course)

Beachcomber is a master of camouflage, diversion, and guerilla tactics. He's tiny for a Cybertronian (only 10 feet tall) but he uses his ingenuity to make traps for his enemies. He's still a pacifist, though, with all of his traps being non-lethal

[arceespinkgun]

ironhide for character bingo!

I love Ironhide!!! He was one of my favorite characters in the Sunbow cartoon! But while I don't like reducing characters to their relationships, it really is mainly because of how awesome his dynamic with Optimus Prime was. He's so devoted and protective, but also so vocal about his disagreeing with Prime's opinions sometimes. I love how intimate and tender they are with each other, too. I also maybe surprisingly really liked Ironhide's bond with Sunstreaker in IDW, I wish it had remained a major aspect of their characterizations. I like Ironhide's and Chromia's relationship as well, and his friendship with Carly. He has so many great relationships. Ironhide is such a fun character, I miss him and feel like many of his traits get taken and given to other characters in both canon and fanon, and that makes me sad! I feel this is the case with Optimus ships especially. I also like that Ironhide is so flawed. He can be a violent asshole sometimes, but it's a good balance to other Autobots, and not even that deep down he's actually a huge softy who loves all life, robotic and organic! It's tragic how often Ironhide gets some sad ending... but that just shows how noble he is I guess.

Also, how is IronOp still such a rare pairing when it's one of the most blatantly obvious things people could possibly ship? He literally said he loves Optimus in IDW, I'll always mention that detail lol

[themattress]

Danganronpa Voice Compare

Monokuma is voiced by Brian Beacock in the games and Greg Ayres in the anime. In the first game, Beacock's performance was kind of all over the place, but he settled on a character voice by the last trial and stuck with it for the rest of the series (discounting that misguided attempt at sounding "warmer and friendlier" in the first half of V3 due to the character now being a parent with cubs, which only ended up being ear-splittingly annoying). Ayres, meanwhile, maintained a consistent voice from start to finish: high-pitched and whimsical yet also sardonic and cruel, with a pronounced growly quality as befitting of a bear. So I'm giving this one to Greg Ayres. I love Beacock's voice for him too, but Ayres' take is just more fun.

Both Junko Enoshima and her twin sister Mukuro Ikusaba were voiced by the same person: Bennett Abara in the games and Jamie Marchi in the anime (in the first two games, Erin Fitzgerald also voiced Junko's "cool", "professor", and "Monokuma" personas). Both give highly committed performances, but my preference comes down to one major difference: Abara makes the Japanese-accurate choice of making Junko sound different than Mukuro impersonating her, with Mukuro sounding more aggressive and Valley Girl-y whereas Junko is smooth and sinister. Marchi, meanwhile, bafflingly has Junko sounding exactly like her phony counterpart, Valley Girl-isms and everything, which undercuts the menace she's supposed to have. Similarly, her Mukuro keeps the voice on even as she's dying, whereas Abara makes her voice drop in pitch and sound more natural. So Bennett Abara wins here.

Kyoko Kirigiri is voiced by Erika Harlacher in the games and Caitlin Glass in the anime. Both sound pretty similar, but Glass nails it right out of the gate, whereas during the first two trials of the first game Harlacher seems to swing back and forth between a natural sounding tone and a more forced, stilted, almost robotic tone, which makes several lines sound weird and accidentally funny. That's why I'd say that Caitlin Glass edges out for me, if only slightly.

Byakuya Togami is voiced by Jason Wishnov in the games and Jessie James Grelle in the anime. If he had kept sounding like he did up until the second trial, I would have given this to Wishnov. He has the cold, intellectual and smug tone down perfectly. But then starting early into the second trial, his vocal pitch suddenly rises and he starts using strange inflections or some sort of faint accent that makes Byakuya sound like a total dweeb! There are times where he still does a good job, mainly when Byakuya has to emote strongly, but beyond that he sounds like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory! Grelle may be a little hammier in the role than is necessary, but their voice is charismatic and consistent, and I can take him seriously as essentially a modern day prince, so Jessie James Grelle is the superior VA.

Toko Fukawa is voiced by Bennett Abara in the games and Carli Mosier in the anime. Both do a great job, but I'm once again going with Bennett Abara here, since Mosier tends to be "on" at all times in terms of making Toko sound extremely neurotic, while Abara, in addition to giving her a more endearing stuttering quirk, can play her more subtly when needed, which especially helps in Ultra Despair Girls where the character has a lot more serious moments.

Toko's split personality of Genocide Jack, however, is voiced by Erin Fitzgerald rather than Bennett Abara, while the anime retains Carli Mosier as her VA. On the one hand, Mosier sounds more like what you'd expect a crazed serial killer whose tongue is constantly flopping out of their mouth to sound like. But on the other hand, the energy and distinctive cackle that Fitzgerald provides is iconic, and while her initial performance is a little too high-pitched, she evens it out in Ultra Despair Girls. Tough call, but I ultimately have to go with Erin Fitzgerald.

Yasuhiro Hagakure is voiced by Kaiji Tang in the games and Christopher Bevins in the anime. Let's get this one out of the way quickly - I think Bevins is the weakest link of the original anime dub cast by far. He's doing this stereotypical stoner / surfer dude voice and it just sounds annoying, which makes it frustrating that Hiro ends up surviving to the very end and you have to put up with that voice. Tang not only sounds more natural, but his line readings are legitimately hilarious, making Hiro more likely to amuse you even as he annoys the other characters, so you don't mind being saddled with him the whole game. Kaiji Tang wins.

Aoi Asahina is voiced by Cassandra Lee Morris in the games and Felicia Angelle in the anime. Their voices are eerily similar, to the point of being practically identical. That means the decisive factor comes down to performance, and the fourth chapter is where that really comes into play due to the emotional material the character has. And even though the anime version of it sucks compared to the game, Angelle has the stronger performance. With Morris there's too much of a sense that she's acting and is following a voice director's instructions, whereas Angelle legitimately sounds like a broken girl. Not to mention that because it transpires after the gameplay portion of the trial much of the most emotional material isn't fully voice acted in the game, whereas it is in the anime. So Felicia Angelle is my choice.

Sayaka Maizono is voiced by Dorothy Fahn in the games and Monica Rial in the anime. It's funny...Fahn is great in Danganronpa except for this role. Her voice for Sayaka sounds too plain and doesn't match up to the allure that Makoto is constantly describing, nor can you really picture her as a confident idol on stage. The worst part is her breakdown after seeing Monokuma's motive video: Fahn's acting is way too subdued and so I don't buy into it like I should, which harms the effectiveness of the events that follow. Rial sounds a lot cuter and more energetic, plus she absolutely nails the breakdown, thus Monica Rial easily wins here.

Leon Kuwata is voiced by Grant George in the games and Justin Cook in the anime. I'm sorry, but George kind of sucks as Leon. He sounds too much like a doofus to believe that this guy has even remotely a shot at being seen as a cool superstar, and aside from a few moments here and there his performance is the first class trial is just awful. It feels like he wasn't shown how his character was supposed to look when saying these lines, turning his breakdown into a silly, underwhelming occurance. Justin Cook is thus the better Leon.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru is voiced by Sean Chiplock in the games and Austin Tindle in the anime. Both give similar performances and both are very good, especially in the genuinely emotional moments they have in the second trial. However, I feel like Tindle's voice sounds a little more believable as a high schooler despite being older than Chiplock. So Austin Tindle wins.

Mondo Owada is voiced by Keith Silverstein in the games and Chris Sabat in the anime. This is a weird one because Silverstein has by far the better voice while Sabat has by far the better performance. Silverstein is able to sound believable as a teenager whereas Sabat sounds like a grown man. I get why they wanted him to provide his Kazuma Kuwabara voice for the character given the similarities, but it's highly distracting. On the flip side, Silverstein suffers from the same wonky voice direction that has plagued other VAs in the first game, sounding irate when he should sound furious and calmly solemn when he should sound on the verge of tears, which is an issue Sabat doesn't have. Therefore, it's a difficult choice for me to make. I'd ultimately say for voice alone Keith Silverstein edges out, but only a little.

Celestia Ludenberg is voiced by Marieve Herington in the games and Lindsay Seidel in the anime. This is yet another extremely hard choice to make, because both of them are really, really good. Herington gives a stoic, intentionally stilted performance with a French accent, which pays off in the third trial when she begins hamming it up like crazy with a sharp-voiced Texan accent that gives way to her struggling to regain the French accent and sounding psychotically high-pitched and emotional when attempting it. Seidel, meanwhile, has no accent and speaks in a charismatic, refined tone of voice, then goes equally sharp and bombastic when breaking down during the third trial. Both performances fit the character like a glove, so it's going to take something very small to push one over the other for me. And that small thing is Celeste's last words, which are delivered calmly yet with clearly suppressed emotion in the natural Texan accent by Herington, while Seidel sticks with her usual voice which isn't as effective. So for that, Marieve Herington wins, even if, again, just barely.

Hifumi Yamada is voiced by Lucien Dodge in the games and Tyson Rinehart in the anime. We're yet again facing another dilemma, since Dodge's performance in the original game is wildly inconsistent due to the voice direction problems. Sometimes he gets it down and has the piggish rasp in his voice that the character is supposed to have, but other times he just sounds like an ordinary nerd which doesn't fit the character design. Rinehart is a lot more consistent, but the voice he uses which seems to be channeling Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons only works for Hifumi's comical moments, meaning the few times you're meant to take him seriously or feel for him go right out the window (Felicia Angelle even made fun of this fact when talking about Hifumi's death scene). But then, Hifumi is kind of hard to ever take seriously in the anime as is; the design looks even goofier translated to animation and is chronically off model in terms of both height and weight. So I'm going with Tyson Rinehart.

Sakura Oogami is voiced by Jessica Gee George in the games and Rachel Robinson in the anime. Finally, an easy choice! George's voice is on point, but her line delivery sounds way too aggressive at almost all times, which goes against the Zen-style calm that's supposed to be the character's default. In V3, her performance is better, but the voice has deteriorated and sounds too macho, which again goes against the character who is supposed to be quite feminine despite her outward appearance. Rachel Robinson carries this one pretty easily.

Chihiro Fujisaki (and Alter Ego) is voiced by Dorothy Fahn in the games and Kara Edwards in the anime. While both do a fine job, the fact of the matter is that whatever you think of Chihiro, the character is meant to be biologically male. I don't hear that in Edwards' voice, while I do in Fahn's, which is fittingly androgynous. Dorothy Fahn is thus my preference.

Jin Kirigiri is voiced by Keith Silverstein in the games and J Michael Tatum in the anime. Silverstein does fine; the problem is that his voice is way too distinct, so all you can think when hearing him is "that's Mondo!" and it's really distracting. J Michael Tatum is the winner.

While voiced in one line by Cassandra Lee Morris when she was a brief, nameless cameo in the first game, Komaru Naegi is voiced by Cherami Leigh in Ultra Despair Girls and Alexis Tipton in the anime. Tipton is a great VA and does a fine job, but Leigh is naturally the one who gets all of the good material. So Cherami Leigh wins, and it's not especially close.

For all the rest, it's the game VAs who win over the anime VAs, and here's why:

Aaron Dismuke sounds like a generic, thuggish young gangster, whereas Derek Stephen Prince imbues Fuyuhiko with all of the proper temper, snark, emotion and vulnerability. In fact, I'd argue that Fuyuhiko is one of Prince's best roles ever; that is how good he is.

Similarly, Clarine Harp's Peko is standard warrior woman fare, lacking the cuteness and emotion that Janice Kawaye provides which matches up with Kotono Mitsuishi's take.

No matter what you think of Wendee Lee, her voice is way more fitting for Akane and less annoying than Garrett's, and while Brina Palencia is an excellent VA, her voice for Ibuki isn't as appealing as Julie Ann Taylor's who has way more of an off-the-wall energy to her.

Scott Frerichs is clearly just doing an imitation of Chris Tergliafera, whose bombastic, iconic, hold-nothing-back performance as Gundham single-handedly made his whole career.

Finally, WTF is up with Munoz's voice for Usami / Monomi!? It's as if she was just told that the character is a teacher so she gives her a cartoonish "teacher" voice, which not only sounds irritating but it's also all wrong. Being a teacher is just the role Usami / Monomi has accepted, her base character is that of a Magical Girl. Rebecca Forstadt nails that voice, sounding almost identical to Takako Sasuga, meaning she wins the biggest curb stomp victory here.

[blueikeproductions]

Sometimes it seems to me that the problem with female characters in the transformers franchise is that in the end, few people need them? Sometimes, here and there on social media, you can see the dissatisfaction of individual fans who do not like the current or past state of things with regard to female characters, but there is very little response from the audience. Fans have little support for existing female characters or new ones. Fans don't actively rebel when Hasbro once again makes a bad toy of a female character. And a personal observation in a familiar to me, but not the smallest part of the fandom - many female fans are more interested in male characters anyway. And of course there is a part of the fans who want to change the gender of previously existing male characters. And again, it seems to me that there is more love for the characters here, rather than a desire to add a female character.

What should we do about it? Probably nothing, the audience of this franchise is quite established for any changes, so we can only be happy when one of the authors really tries to make a high-quality female character, namely, to make a character and personality first of all.

P.S. A separate camp of fans are those who argue about how to explain the presence of females among transformers and whether it is necessary in principle. Why didn't anyone figure out that you can just explain it through the main origin? There was a Primus - he created Cybertronians in the image and likeness of the alien races he liked, which would explain all the strange appearance in general. If we take the origin of the Quintessons, then it's even easier, they created a product that was convenient for them / customers wanted / in the image of some race that they had previously enslaved.

Yeah it’s a weird circle jerk. Theres nothing wrong with having gals like Elita, Carly, Botanica, Glowstrike, and Hashtag, but writers and fans have a bad habit of needing female bots explained leading to Shockwave’s back handed comment about thinking female Autobots were extinct and IDW’s own confusing over corrections “We never had gender until Jhiaxus rebuilt Arcee for sick kicks, no wait wait, lady bots were a thing, they’re just maybe extinct on Cybertron for some reason, no no wait we still had lady bots all along, they’re just trans women on Cybertron while biological (technological?) women exist on colony planets!” Good grief pick a lane and stick with it.

Not helped is Hasbro’s own stance now that female robots exist only because of Solus Prime, which itself is a little insulting from a “diversity” standpoint because she’s the only lady among the Primes. One could make the argument Amalgamus is gender fluid because of his (their?) ability to Transform into anything, so in a roundabout way there’s two women among the Primes if one wanted to look at it that way, with Adaptus in a similar position (as the Guiding Hand in IDW are all men otherwise).

It’s the same problem I have with modern “diversity” initiatives because all they keep doing is drawing attention to people who are female, ethnic races, or LGBT, but never organically making them actual characters people can relate to and enjoy.

Sari might’ve had Indian roots, but they never drew attention to it instead focusing on making a fun little girl character who was best buds with the Autobots. Sort of the Gosalyn to their Darkwing. They did however draw attention to her (still unresolved) Cybertronian heritage but only because it was important to her backstory and character development. I guarantee if Sari were made today, she’d be a surface level checkbox brat akin to Ironheart who waxes about her people’s hardships and her own perceived problems despite not having any because of her father’s successful company. She forces herself on the Autobots to prove a point that didn’t need to be made, creating an old Stockholm Syndrome where the Autobots love her despite not offering any reason for them to. (It’s worth noting Ironheart’s comics are at least self aware she’s kind of a dipstick because her classmates and her black teacher she goaded into treating her “poorly” were visibly confused at her behavior and hesitantly indulged her whims.)

Cyberverse and EarthSpark are also horrible about this because they feel the need to gender bend most characters like Skywarp & Frenzy, rather than just use Slipstream (which CV did to be fair), create a brand NEW female jet, or in Frenzy’s case, just use Flip Sides.

Interestingly I’ve heard that Hasbro has limits on this, as the CV and ES teams wanted to make Thundercracker into a woman, but Hasbro said no, he’s a legacy player and has to remain a boy. (Or something to that extent.) Why Skywarp gets hit with the gender stick, I don’t know, but Skybound keeps the character male anyway, despite also being a legacy character. I imagine there’s more leeway with the Rainmakers because they were one off generics, and only recently-ish got names and expanded relevancy so it didn’t really matter if they were men or women. (That said, they appear to be still all male in IDW, with only Cyberverse and Earthspark making Nova Storm into a lady bot. Acid Storm was clearly meant to be male in CV, but an animation error and Catt speaking up led to the character being gender fluid unintentionally… who then died horribly. Organic representation, my actuator…) It’s nevertheless created an odd expectation perhaps, as the Seeker trio fluctuates in cartoons now, leading to the idea it’s now two ladies & a dude, with Nova Storm a permanent member in this idea. I don’t mind this in principle since Screamer, Cracker & Warpster were never really a cohesive trio anyway. Starscream was the star, the other two were just there and forgotten in most media. That Starscream/Slipstream, Thundercracker/Skywarp, & Nova Storm came about in modern stories as a group because of modern “diversity” soap boxing and muddled storytelling doesn’t help though.

There’s no real need to explain lady bots, they’re just there and if handled correctly you get awesome ones like BlackArachnia or memorable ones like Strika. Handle them poorly and you get Eren Jaeger Windblade, RiD Ultra Magnus wannabe Pyra Magna, and Primus forbid IDW Slide.

Primus and/or the Quintessons including ladies just because is acceptable because there’s no need to dwell on it, anymore than they decided to make LGBT bots. Live and let live, don’t dwell on it is my feeling. Just have said Transformers be cool and memorable and they happen to be this or that, I don’t know why that’s such a lost art anymore.