#tf idw meta

[novafire-is-thinking]

“We want to be on your side.”

This scene is meant to be funny, but I see something more that provides insight into Prowl’s character.

The Constructicons Know

There are two things that stand out to me: Hook’s choice of words, and the nature of Prowl’s reaction.

Seeing as “your side” can easily be misunderstood as referring to the Autobot side, Hook could have said something more obvious, like, “Hey. We want to hang with you, Prowl.”

But Hook didn’t do that. He chose the phrase, “We want to be on your side.”

Why?

Well, Hook and the rest of the Constructicons were inside Prowl’s head as much as he was in theirs. They didn’t just know his thoughts. They had access to Prowl’s deepest desires.

And what was it that Prowl said to Arcee in Issue #1?

“I learned that nobody is on my side.”

Yes, Prowl wants peace. He wants order.

But just as much, he wants to know that someone will have his back—that there will be someone competent to fall back on when the world is going up in flames.

In spite of all his scheming and pushing people away, Prowl desperately wants to know that there is someone he can trust to do what needs to be done to work toward his ideal: Lasting peace.

When the Constructicons were in his head, they saw that. These five “vile” Decepticons understood Prowl better than any Autobot ever did.

And that scares the hell out of Prowl.

How NOT to accept a compliment

He knows the implications of what the Constructicons are saying. They’re basically telling him that they want what he wants. They’re also telling him, “We’ve seen what others consider to be the worst of you, and we think you’re awesome—not in spite of it, but BECAUSE of it.”

These Decepticons want to help him bring about his ideal, and this goes against all the preconceived ideas Prowl has about Decepticons.

But notice how Prowl stops himself from telling them that their admiration is crazy. It’s obvious that the Constructicons are more likely to listen to Prowl than anyone else, so why tell ‘Bee to answer for him?

Personally, I think he’s torn between agreeing with the Constructicons and telling them to get lost. Prowl wholeheartedly believes the way he thinks is great, but if he tells that to them in this moment, that would mean he’s allowing them into his life in some way, which he doesn’t want.

However, there’s a part of him that can’t tell the Constructicons their admiration is crazy, because this is all he’s ever wanted—to know that someone sees things his way and is willing to go along with his methods.

So, while he’s trying to sort out all the conflicting information and feelings, Prowl outsources the question to someone who does think his way of doing things can be…problematic at times. This way, he’s not technically saying no to something he’s always wanted, and he’s avoiding encouraging the Constructicons.

It’s the only way he knows how to override his internal conflict.

[blighted-lights]

slaughterhouse posting part 2 that isn't going to be polished at all and has been sitting in my drafts for days, but this scene is so interesting to me because i genuinely have no idea what megatron wants from ravage in this interaction- and i don't know if megatron knows, either.

megatron starts out by saying that the decepticons' loyalty isn't to him- its to the cause. ignoring how this is immediately striking me as completely, blatently wrong due to the times we see megatron rallying the decepticons around himself when other leaders fail to do the same (nevermind the fact that he started the cause in the first place), he then gets angry with ravage when ravage confirms that- yeah, actually. you're not the cause anymore. we have moved on with someone new. megatron gets so angry he stands up, he looms over ravage, he raises is voice and balls his fist- and why else would he do this if he wasn't upset that they're moving on without him?

which would, of course, make megatron a hypocrite. he left the decepticons and refused to take any effort to rejoin them- he clearly doesn't actually want to return to the fold. but when the decepticons unite themselves and move on from him, it's different. i can abandon you, but you cannot abandon me.

i've always took this reaction as being an immediate, no thinking, gut reaction to finding out the decepticons are moving on without him. he's angry, potentially feeling betrayed by them, when he... doesn't have much of a right to feel that way. and it's not like megatron wasn't given an option to join the decepticons again if that's what he actually wanted.

he was given a choice. he turned it down. he could of turned it down for any number of reasons, but no matter the reason, the point remains that he turned it down.

going back to panel after megatron snaps, ravage clearly takes megatron's outburst as him being upset that they've moved on without him. despite the aggressive way this interaction started with ravage attacking megatron, ravage spends most of this conversation attempting to reassure megatron. megatron gets angry that galvatron took over and they're moving on without him? okay- so then he wants to come back, right? he's upset he's been replaced?

well, galvatron isn't permanent. say the word and you'll be back in charge. megatron says that the decepticons aren't loyal to him, ravage reaffirms that they were loyal to him but now they've chosen a new leader since he left, megatron gets angry that they're moving on without him, and then ravage reinforces their original loyalty to him by saying if he wants to come back, they'll follow him.

and then megatron turns it around; yes he was just angry that the decepticons were no longer loyal to him, but now that same loyalty is toxic, actually. and it is! it absolutely is toxic. but i think ravage backed him into a corner here, even unintentionally. he can't sit down and actually address why the decepticons moving on makes him angry without admitting some part of him wants to return to the cons. or at the very least he still feels possessive of them and doesn't want them to function outside of his influence. when given the option to rejoin, he responds by insulting the decepticon's (and ravage's!) sense of devotion/loyalty and then quickly changes the topic to seawing and the trial. he doesn't say a solid yes or no answer because he doesn't actually have one to give.

ravage nails it down anyways. megatron has no idea what he wants from ravage in this interaction because he doesn't know where he stands anymore, let alone what he wants for himself. before ravage was revealed to be on the lost light, megatron was captain. he even seems content to BE captain- but ravage makes it complicated. ravage is a direct reminder of who he used to be and the people he used to surround himself with. worse, people he's abandoned and hurt in order to get to where he is as captain now. megatron left the decepticons behind with no command structure, no guidance, no plan- and ravage's mere presence is a bitter reminder that even if he's run off to the autobots, he can't escape that.

he's settled into a state of stagmentation with the autobots. one he's content with, maybe- at the very least one he can live with where the guilt isn't as heavy. it is the easiest way out megatron saw for himself.

but if anyone can get him to doubt himself, well.

who else better than ravage to stir up the past?

[kell-eramis]

post onslaught/ajax analysis please

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG I wanted to do it justice so I reread the tragedy, but basically Ajax is a figure in Greek Mythology who is present in the Trojan War and Iliad, and his titular tragedy, Ajax, originally written by Sophocles. (He’s also in Odysseus’ katabasis in the Odyssey) He’s considered the second strongest (next to Achilles), and is an extremely competent soldier.

Ajax’s tragedy takes place after a contest of who should take Achilles’ armor after his death—Menelaus and Agamemnon give it to Odysseus, the only other candidate. Ajax is incredibly angry about this, and wishes to slaughter Menelaus, Agamemnon, and Odysseus in particular. Athena clouds his vision, and he instead kills animals taken from Troy to be divided up amongst the men. Upon finding out what he has done, the other Greeks see it as a transgressive crime, and upon returning to lucidity Ajax becomes despondent, not seeing a way to live in a peaceful world after this, and kills himself.

Ultimately, Ajax’s story, and other ancient works like The Iliad, The Odyssey, and the Oresteia, represent a shift in the Athenian conscious of constant war and battle, where a person’s strength is based on their glory, to one of sophistry and wisdom, of a democracy. Figures like Ajax and Achilles die because their characters are prominent heroes, claiming great glory for themselves and their men, but that is no longer what Athens is. They cannot survive in a “peaceful” world. Odysseus, on the other hand, who represents a more “rational” and moderate perspective, makes a journey to go from the Odysseus that fights in Troy, to the Odysseus that fights for his family upon his return to Ithaca.

Now, moving on to Onslaught: Onslaught in Phase 2 (especially Till All Are One), is someone who can’t move on from the war. Whose purpose for millions of years was to fight, and he did this well! What then, is there, as she transitions from someone incredibly respected in wartime, to someone who he and his comrades are barely scraping by? Megatron has left her and her cause, Galvatron was… Galvatron, and Starscream both betrayed them and killed Swindle! Unable to cope in a peaceful world, he strives for purpose—for another war, and sets her eyes on Starscream. Where he was an excellent fighter, she is now cast to the side by the old faction leaders and the new Cybertronian leaders.

In the beginning of Till All Are One, we see Onslaught decide to refuse to ingratiate himself into the new peaceful society, choosing instead to hunt down Swindle, not for justice, but to use her to get at Starscream. To bring her Cybertron crumbling down, and find purpose in a new fight. Those who Starscream refers to as "monsters"--those who find purpose in conflict and feel lost without it, Brawl and Vortex, go along with this, and Blast Off, whose purpose isn't to fight, who has been trying to help the others persist in this society without Swindle, is the only one reluctant to do so. He knows Onslaught 1. needs a purpose 2. gets fixated on a conflict/an enemy and 3. is lost during peace time.

This focus, exacerbated by anti Starscream protests and Rattrap's leaks, culminates in Onslaught and the other Combaticons combining into Bruticus, with one goal: to burn everything. This is seen as a transgressive act of violence, to figures such as Blast Off's peers from Ironhide's new security program, and to colonists, who've for the most part only known peace. This is a similar act to Ajax's slaughter of the animal trophies from Troy. Both Iacon and the animals are the results of the fighting both Ajax and Onslaught did, and excelled in, but as a transition to peace occurs in both settings, Ajax and Onslaught, unable to cope with being left behind by it, destroy those results, or try to. Everyone is horrified by it, further pushing these characters away, so they can't adjust to peacetime.

Afterwards, Starscream, who also can't adjust to peace time and is looking for any form of power to hold onto in case war happens once again (whether it be with one of the colonies, or Optimus, or Decepticons, or Sentinel Prime, or Unicron), (remind me to talk about this also at some point) convinces Blast Off to help deceive the other Combaticons to be loyal to her. Blast Off does this to help Onslaught not destroy himself in pursuit of conflict and vengeance, but Starscream is once more using Onslaught as a soldier. And ultimately, at the end of Till All Are One, once Starscream confesses to his crimes, Onslaught and the other Combaticons are also sent to jail, and aren't mentioned again, left behind because they no longer served as soldiers.

I personally like to think that 1. they survive through Unicron 2. they are able to live better lives post Unicron, and 3. Blast Off and the other Combaticons (including Onslaught) do make up (I still need to read Escape Velocity...). I don't think any of this is easy, but to me phase 2 is about hope, about being able to embrace the peace they were all fighting for, and find their place in and with each other, especially as Onslaught and the others have their gestalt bond. This doesn't take away from the fact that Onslaught, to me, is very Ajax-coded, but rather that he, through people like Blast Off and the other Combaticons, are able to be given the chances and the love that someone like Ajax didn't have, having dishonored himself in a world that he saw as still prioritizing honor and glory above everything.

[lord-squiggletits]

Starting to realize that the reason I beef with Transformers canon and fanon is because it feels as if a lot of people involved either haven't read war stories as a genre or they haven't paid attention to real-life wars so their takes on "necessary evils" or "hypocrisy" or "pacifism" come off as overly simplistic

[mrfandomwars]

Reasons Why I Think IDW2 Sentinel Prime Was A Still Technically A Young Prime/New First Senator By The Time We Meet Him - a mini meta

We are told that Nominus not only oversaw the final push against Exarchon - which happened like, 2000 years Before canon events - but also that he was the one who was in charge when Bumblebee and Cliffjumper were built - and Iacon was already rebuilt by that point, or at least mostly rebuilt from what we could see

2000 years to a species who can live up to millions, at very least, is like. Not a lot. At most a month or a year, something like that; Meaning that Sentinel could have only become a Prime at least 500 years after the War of the Threefold Spark ended, and that is if we are being generous with how quickly the Constructicon's finished Iacon and of Bumblebee and Cliffjumper's age.

So like. Sentinel, although he probably had been trained to take up the mantel of Prime by Nominus, was probably a young Prime by the time we met him

At most, he was like. A newly elected president who may not have yet fully completed a year on the job (maybe even less, enough to settle in with a new president but to still be considered a New President), because even though a lot of time passed to us for Transformers, it isn't, again, a lot comparatively to their life spans.

Also also: what better time to try and start a revolution/civil unrest? with a new leader that people are getting used to and is currently away.

[cleverthylacine]

Would it be possible for Glit to act as a mental health therapist (like Rung), in addition to being a trauma surgeon?

I don't know. Glit is not exactly a shining example of mental health. I know some therapists aren't, but he is a very poor example for a mental patient. Honestly nobody that was in KP is in good mental health or even would recognise what that is, even in the actually good and plotty parts of the series.

If you're talking about Tumblr RPs and my @doctor-glitterbomb account or the @doccat DW account, I'd be willing to do it for shiggles (that account also has a Glit in it who is a cityspeaker and conjunx to/speaker for Fort Max) but I wouldn't write Glit into a fic as a therapist--particularly not in my Voice of Stanix series. It's definitely in the category of "things I'd be willing to let slide to help an RP move along but things that could throw me right out of a fic unless it's AU or Shattered Glass."

Glit is a serious alcoholic (except it's not alcohol, it's engex--but you know what I mean). In Kiss Players he was drunk almost every time we saw him.

In IDW verse he was forced to serve at Grindcore where they did all the really bad war crimes and that provides an explanation for his fucked up mental health that is even more compelling than just 'had issues with Megatron and got beat up a lot'.

Now, in the thing @bitegore started on AO3 that I added more to about the RavWaves in Rodion, Glit could be a therapist, but that's an extreme AU in which Glit is the natural offspring of Ravage and Soundwave and was born in Rodion. Ravage and Soundwave had no idea that spark merging causes babies and Ravi was concerned that she was getting a tumour or something. Soundwave told her there was another mind in there and she didn't know what to think because point: SW doesn't lie to her but counterpart: that is so fucking crazy! Which is how he ended up getting born on a worksite and then Shenanigans Ensued.

There is no cougaraider/Predacon hybrid breeding project in that AU and as a result of it, all of the cougaraiders are 80000% less mentally damaged. Glit in particular was raised by Ravage as his carrier and encouraged to defend himself but also to pursue his interests, meaning that he was around Ratchet practically since emergence. And as they were never slaves--not to Ratbat, not to Pharma--Glit grew up with his mama encouraging him to bite when necessary and also has much better self-preservation instincts.

[allseeinganalyst]

I’ve been avoiding the spoilers by and large but Rise of the Beasts being described as “fun” and “cheesy” is an incredibly good thing, and realistically the best outcome I could have hoped for in terms of live action transformers

(Here’s a GIF of me dealing with “serious, ultra realistic themes”)

Transformers should be cheesy. It originates from, and remains to this day, an elaborate toy commercial. That’s why all fiction for Transformers exists. Yes even the super compelling comics.

And even then, even the IDW Comics, the best fiction in Transformers (IMO) had lashings of goofiness and cheesiness to go along with its deconstructions and reconstructions and themes of finding purpose after being defined by War and—

Look. The same comic that has Megatron grappling with the notion of “redemption” after perpetuating four million years of GENOCIDE, is still the same comic that has 10,000 Back to the Future references and did a whole issue that was both a meta commentary of the comic and a send up of Friends.

Cheese is natural to Transformers and if a piece of TF media only has time to choose between “gritty, serious action drama” or “Goofy cheese-feat with over the top action” I’m gonna need you to chose the second.

Looking forward to Rise of the Beasts!

(Here’s the obligatory “let them come”)

[lillified]

Hi I just found your blog (I'm new in the transformers fandom) and I love it! May I ask about the story of she/her Starscream? Because I LOVE the idea!

thank you!! <3

there are plenty of reasons, and I’ve been building them up since I was young and first engaging with transformers—i was always interested in Starscream as a character that clearly pushed gender boundaries, and was frustrated that that element of their character always seemed reserved for jokes and, often, justification for how horribly they were treated by other characters. that made me latch onto the character’s history of being portrayed as a girl in different international dubs, and also made me really interested in That Scene with slipstream in Animated. I thought Starscream’s relationship with gender was really fascinating and their femininity ought to be treated more seriously, instead of being a throwaway joke.

Realizing I was a lesbian and developing my taste also gave me personal reasons for pursuing a different spin on the character, since Starscream was one of the things that first revealed to me that I had a strong affinity for the bitchy, hateable “henchwench” archetype, and I thought pushing that to a potentially tropey (but character relevant) extreme might be fun!

As I became more concrete about portraying a girl Starscream I leaned into the potential thematic weight of it, and her character ended up becoming a bit of a meta commentary, reflecting on how Starscream as a character is treated, both by the narrative and fans, and how gender (specifically misogyny and transphobia) often play into it. (that all probably sounds kind of extreme for a robot property, and I completely agree, but in my defense, I think it can be really fun to write about real world issues and philosophical/social themes from an abstract lens lol). from there her identity, specifically as femme, became important.

it also shaped the development of other characters and their interactions with her a LOT. even before I decided on this I wanted to alleviate a lot of the mean-spirited pain-wagoning Starscream tends to be the butt of, since I think at best it’s a joke that doesn’t really go anywhere and at worst it can be very gratuitous and uncomfortable, but committing to her being more openly femme—ESPECIALLY transfemme, regardless of how different the implications/logistics are in a sexless robot society—made that extra bad, for obvious reasons (not to say abuse is ever good, obviously, but there are very different connotations there, and that’s not something I in my experience feel comfortable attempting to portray or exploit).

that’s especially influenced her relationship with Megatron. I think at the core of it Starscream and Megatron have always had a very interesting dynamic, which often takes a backseat to their independent horribleness, constrained by their kneejerk villainy. I believe that’s a shame, because they actually have a really rich relationship history that has a lot to say about the decepticons as a whole, and they work together very well. More “serious” tf media never really gets to properly explore this without it becoming tasteless and horrible, so it tends to avoid this entirely (see the idw comics where it manages to flanderize megatron in both ways, making him horribly brutal and abusive to Starscream and others during the war, but turns around and makes him a weepy wet blanket after, all while conveniently preventing him and Starscream from ever having a genuine conversation). again, I think this is very unfortunate, because Megatron and Starscream’s relationship is very important to the functioning of the decepticons, and is loaded with thematic implications! sorry, that’s a little bit of a tangent—I brought it up because Starscream’s treatment and portrayal is often colored a certain way, due in no small part to how they’re often emasculated, and take on a negatively stereotyped archetypal role in relation to the very Stereotypically Male Megatron.

as well as being thematic, I’ve gotten feedback over the years that a lot of transfemme individuals have identified with Starscream as a character. While I think seeing Starscream presented as a femme in any way in the future would be great, i wanted to specifically canonize in her backstory that she’s transfemme because a) I have that authority and b) I think it’s cool that, in a society where gender is less strictly enforced and you can modify yourself at will, there are all flavors of unique identities and stories behind them, transfemme, transmasc, agender, and more!

anyway. sorry for the very long answer for your question!! it was a very good question and I’m glad I got to share! I hope you found some of this interesting :))

[novafire-is-thinking]

Rodimus is a blorbo I enjoy dunking on a lot, but I still love him. He’s a mess, but he’s not a total fool.

As seen in the pages above, he has a knack for understanding people. This sets him apart from every other Prime in IDW.

In Lost Light #7, Drift tells Rodimus:

“You know, when it comes to other people you can be so insightful… And yet you don’t really know yourself. You’re your own blind spot.”

Is Rodimus a little self-obsessed? Yes.

Does Rodimus struggle with self-awareness? Yes.

But is Rodimus a total idiot when it comes to people? Absolutely not.

I love how JRo took this one trait Barber alluded to in exRiD and emphasized it in Lost Light. It really adds to Rodimus as a character.

[blighted-lights]

having to restrain myself from making a ridiculously long meta analysis of mtmte ravage and why there was so much potential lost for him + why narritvely his character works but the narrative doesn't work for his character. i have no idea how if word any of it but. i am so so tempted.

ravage does what the narrative needs him to do very well! but in order to do that, it fucks up some important key points of his characterization. plot points are picked up and then dropped, his abilities are forgotten about frequently, and he's passively treated as an animal despite the original emphasis that ravage isn't a pet. he's such a weird character in mtmte. wish i could word what i wanna say about him in a way that i like.

[decepti-thots]

Do you have any transformers blogs you would recommend following?

It's tough to recommend without knowing what you're looking for, anon, since TF is such an expansive fandom with so many facets and so many people have their own little niches! Also, I don't really follow people, I check blogs manually a lot, so...

But if you are following me and like the vibes we have going on here, and are looking for people who Make Cool Stuff, hmm...

For just a few cool people you might wanna check out if you like this blog: @gunupwallflower does great IDW meta, especially for Drift lovers, @quetzalpapalotl knows more about IDW than I think should be possible and writes the good shit if like me you want that exRiD/Barber meta especially (arcee <3), @arturer both makes and reblogs awesome art, @trinarysuns is re-upping loads of cool stuff right now. There's four people who both create and reblog a pretty wide swathe of stuff similar to what you might find here, I think!

[istadris]

I have a love-hate relationship with Transformers Animated and its fandom.

Some context : I first discovered the show through fanfics during my first foray in TF fandom. Granted, it may have coloured my expectations of that show, but still.

On one hand, I genuinely love the intent of TFA. They clearly tried to go in a different direction. Making Optimus a young, PTSD-ridden underdog whose character arc is about gaining confidence and becoming the OP we know and love; expanding the lore of Cybertronian society; themes like the consequences of war, socio-political stakes, dubious scientific research, propaganda, espionage, militarized society, and so and so; character arcs and subplots spanning throughout the seasons...

They really tried something.

On the other hand, I can't think about all of these very good things without being frustrated, notably because this complexity doesn't go as deep as it should have been.

We scratch the surface of Cybertron without getting on it (granted, the show being interrupted plays in it, so I'm not holding that against them), and most importantly, while we are shown again and again that Autobot society is flawed, we never see the Decepticons as anything else than the assholes they are.

Maybe it's a pet peeve of mine, but in my opinion, if you are okay with giving shades of grey to the good guys, you should do the same with the bad guys. Because otherwise it sends that message that no matter how low your good guys stoop, they were right to do so. And when the context of your story is a heavily militarized state bolstered by fear, propaganda and racism/specism, that's...that's not a very good look on you.

(And this time you can't blame the show being cancelled, the script for season 4 seemed to go in that same direction)

It's all the more frustrating that the fandom is convinced that there are more nuances in TFA than there actually were. It makes for very good fics; it makes for frustrating meta, when everyone insists on woobifying the Decepticons.

(For the love of everything: TFA!Megatron is not IDW!Megatron)

To be fair a good chunk of my frustration also comes from Sentinel and his treatment; it illustrates what I dislike about this show. Yes, he used to be a friend of Optimus, let the propaganda turn him into a fanatical jerk, and there are several hints of him feeling guilt under the resentment concerning the Elita incident. But then we are also shown a completely incompetent dumbass who somehow manages to keep an important rank despite being just...stupid. For real, I could get behind Sentinel having a high rank if he was shown as competent ("he's an asshole but an efficient one, we need him"), a plant/puppet for the Decepticons, or at least that more characters gave him what he deserves ? Granted, it's very satisfying to see him fail, but it's also frustrating when you think of his potential.

So yeah, this is what TFA leaves me with : good idea, good execution, half-assed philosophy

[captainseamech]

💕💕💕💕💕

Positivity hearts!

//one of them is definitely going @/you because I love you sm and I really love your writing <33 but I will take the opportunity to spread the word through a few of my TF mutuals!

First things first, @thesoundlessvoid / @pacis-quod-alcedonia / @nocte-venator (dunno where else u at ahdnksmsms) ! I really really really really love the design you have Blackout and the hcs and uniqueness towards him and it clearly shows 💙 AND THE CORRUPT COP AS WELL

@ask-smokescreen comes next with their smokescreen! I may be slow as a turtle to come towards your asks but I DO LOVE YOUR PORTRAYAL I'D MUNCH IT ALL BITES BITES BITES MUNCHES MUNCHES

@photobombingcryptid with Meme! The mun themselves are an amazing artist, funny person to have around and I absolutely LOVE their OC and writing! Grasshopper legs gremlin my beloved...

..... you have quite a lot of accs Bunny but I'm casually picking on @ofvaporex because this is where you're mostly active JDBFNELSLSK BUT I LOVE YOUR WRITING IN ANY OF YOUR ACCS, the metas/headcanons are very interesting and I think it fits with your muses!

Speaking of Ratchet, there's @autobotmedic which I always cackle up when I see this old grump in my dash ANFNSNMAS but in all seriousness! Blue is an amazing writer and artists, their headcanons gives me so much joy and I really really love to see their writing in my dash 🥺

@mastermegatron you and your Rainbowtron. No I don't have anything else to say, I LOVE HIM AND I LOVE YOU AND YOUR PORTRAYAL OF HIM MUAH MUAH MUAH can't wait to see more content of him!

Last but definitely not least, @martyrix QUINN COME HERE BEFORE I BITE YOUR ANKLES— your Opie is DEFINITELY unique to look at, I don't see much people writing with IDW Optimus and it's always a treat to have some content of this version around 💙💕

[lord-squiggletits]

Very important advice for anyone who’s trying to get into Transformers IDW: the fandom makes the story sound much more coherent than it actually is.

This isn’t me saying “fandom is wrong and makes up headcanons,” this is me saying that IDW1 spans like 13 years with a shitton of different writers, and a lot of lore that it’s most well known for (e.g. Functionism) didn’t exist until the latter half of the continuity’s run time. Most, hell almost all of the pre-war lore wasn’t covered until phase 2, with rare exceptions like Megatron Origin and maybe a couple of the spotlight issues?

But what you need to know is that when you see fanon posts about IDW1, these are made by dedicated fans who are looking at the entire series in retrospect and applying the lore from the later phases to the entire timeline. These meta posts make the story really fun, but if you read the actual comics themselves (for example, most phase 1 stuff), the material won’t actually reference any of this neat lore because it literally didn’t exist. So I think a lot of TF fans are misled when they get into IDW1, thinking the entire continuity will be lore-rich and one coherent story, when in reality a lot of the famous lore wasn’t introduced until later so earlier phases of the story did not take this lore into account (because it literally didn’t exist when the earlier series were written).

This is also why I’m begging people who are just getting into IDW1 to try reading at least some of the phase 1 (aka during the war) comics. A lot of people say these series are “boring” but I have to disagree. I don’t think people should fault phase 1 for not including lore that literally wasn’t even invented yet, and imo there’s a lot of interesting material that you can pull from phase 1. At the very least, you need to read a few series of phase 1 to have context for why certain things are happening in phase 2.

[quetzalpapalotl]

Hello, I come beseeching more answers! Do you have specific tags for discussing IDW canon? Or references you can recommend, on Cybertronian tech pertaining to communications or travel. Anything about energy consumption (e.g. what are the costs associated with using space bridges?) would be super helpful.

Eh, I tag everything I say about TF as #quetzal rambles transformers to not spam the maintags (but not all of those are serious posts and while most are IDW not all of them are), sometimes I tag what other people say as #meta but most of the time I forget and I don't tag for continuity at all. I'm not sure what references regarding technology as it's portrayed in canon would entail, except the wiki??? Sorry, I can't be of much help here.

But if you have specific questions, I can always try to remember what the canon says and see if someone remembers something else. I'm always up for digging through issues to get exact pieces of info. So regarding the energy costs on space bridges, I'm pretty sure that's never brought up as a logistic issue for plot's sake, even when dealing with Caminus which is so starved of resources that Prowl severing their link to get help from Cybertron is condemning them to death, you'd think a space brigde's energy cost to be astronomical (tho you could say Cybertron's side is taking the brunt of the cost whenever they open it).

When Metroplex is damaged and Chromia onlines the space bridge, it's mentioned that the effort it requires it's killing Metroplex, but that's it. Even after Megatron's insides become a mess of portals seemingly always active, it's not said where the energy for that comes from. Certainly doesn't seem to be taking a toll of Megatron (this IMO at least made more sense when his body was made of Ore-13).

Maybe someone else remembers something different, but it seems like you could come up with whatever you want and it's hardly going to contradict canon.

[belovecore]

5, 9, 13 for the meta questions (w/ whoever u feel an answer for) :3c

!!!

5. if your f/o is from a series, were you into the source content from the start or did you come in later? if you came in later, what was the most recent release when you got into it?

i'll be doing transformers for this again ofc lmao

so anyways, like i've mentioned prior on this blog i mostly got into tf via rid 2015, mostly because that's what was on at the time on television and with my roleplaying giving buzz to get more into the franchise i watched that!

9. if your f/o has been represented in more than one way (i.e. in a book AND a movie, in a movie and then recasted for a reboot later, etc.), which version of them is your favorite?

using Prowl for this one since he has a notable complete character reboot in tfa that was a one-off

my favorite version of original prowl, basically g1 being the original idea around him would be the idw comics, i have yet to read a bunch on them but i've seen bits and pieces of him during the devastator arc and that's actually what got me into him as a character

before that, i was very much into tfa prowl, he just seemed like he'd be a nice friend to connect with and be calm and quiet. it's difficult sometimes to be around cybertronians who are all yelling and speeding, y'know?

either way, idw is a big fav, especially in appearance

13. do you have a favorite line your f/o has ever said?

for prowl i have yet to consume much stuff of him, that's a true statement in general for transformers lol since it's hard for me to sit and watch something

though i really just have a happy stim moment where he compliments this kid in g1 saying 'you're thinking like a regular mainframe' cause gosh i could imagine him saying that about me??