#transformers: exiles

[dirtydragonthoughts]

I'm finally getting around to reading Transformers: Exiles and

omg. It is so bad. Like, bad on multiple levels.

I read Transformers: Exodus a few years ago. It was... OK. Definitely not a great work of literature, and there were some "huh" moments in it, but it was fine. But now I'm starting on the next book. I didn't look at the TFWiki entry for Exiles until last night, but just the Errors section is absolutely sending me. (The idea that the book was panic rewritten by Hasbro just before publication would explain a LOT of the issues I'm seeing.)

As someone who loves the franchise, it physically hurts that this guy was paid to write this. It is completely phoned in. Now, I'm sure he was writing on spec, and was probably handed an outline or specific plot points/characters that needed to be included, but even with that limitation it could have been a LOT better.

Anyway I'm going to jot down some of my impressions in this thread because I want to make sure I remember why I didn't like this book, years down the road when I see the book still sitting on my bookshelf. (If I even keep it, that is up for debate.) I'll even keep away from the things mentioned in the Error section of the wiki entry, since that's low-hanging fruit.

(If you enjoyed this book I'm glad for you, but I am down to just hate-reading it now. Sorry about that.)

Impressions will be behind cuts in case you don't want to spoil yourself for this masterpiece. XD

I've finished Part 1 and some of the things that stuck with me have been:

There's a thing in fiction writing that's often bandied about, how you should show and don't tell. It's hard to explain to new authors what this means, and why it's a bad thing. Well, this book has about a million examples. Instead of showing how a character is feeling, it just tells us. Optimus was stressed. Optimus was worried. Prowl was irritated.

Related to the showing/telling thing, this book loves just giving a laundry list of things that happen, regardless of how important it is. For example, we got a whole paragraph on what happened after a race on Velocitron. None of these details mattered to the story in any way, but we still got a whole half page of detail about it:

We got a multi-page scene of Prowl cultivating an informant. He gets named (Armco). A few chapters later Prowl brings him in saying "Here's someone who can keep his mouth shut" and then IMMEDIATELY someone tries to blow up the Ark, and Armco falls out of the plot, never to be seen again. RIP Armco, we never knew ya.

Weird character note: The Autobots show up on Velocitron and discover there's a schism in the leadership there, with factions forming on both sides. While the Autobots are preparing to leave the planet, the "bad" leader says something relatively innocuous to Optimus, who then punches the Velocitronian in the face. This sets off a giant battle between the two factions, whereupon the Autobots dip and go through the space bridge. Brilliant.

More when I finish part 2.

[keferon]

Head in hands. Guys. Book version of Tfp Blurr……..

[peace-hunter]

I wonder how the Primes feel about the fact that Megatron was the one who avenged them and Optimus was the one sacrificed his life to protect the guy who betrayed and murdered them.

uh. that is certainly a way to interpret what happened! incheresting.

from a personal perspective i guess i could see some of them getting a grim satisfaction from the fact sentinel died at the hands of one of the many people he hurt right after all his crimes were broadcasted for everyone to see. i don't think any of them would hold any love for him after he murdered them plus fifty cycles of betraying the world they died trying to protect and i do believe more than one grew bitter enough to enjoy the fact the bastard died like the coward he was.

on the other hand i also think they'd be mature and wise enough to understand their personal satisfaction cannot come before the good of cybertron. revenge, theirs or anyone else's, was not more important than the bigger picture, which in this case was the fact that cybertronian society was already about to go through an incredibly tumultuous time with lots of changes and like it or not, publicly executing someone without any sort of trial or accountability is Not A Good Idea when you're trying to begin a reform for an entire society.

i cannot stress this enough, as good as it may sound, murdering someone because you think they deserve it is not a good way to start a new government. i know it sucks, i know it's frustrating, i know we all cheer when a politician/ceo/guy-who-sucks gets murked, but it's still not a good basis for a society to (re)start with!

and from yet another more personal perspective, megatron's revenge, in their behalf or otherwise, was already tainted for them the moment it happened by orion's death. the fact an innocent, who only wanted to do the right thing (naively or self-righteously as it may look to some), died in the process automatically made it not worth it in their eyes.

they dearly wish orion hadn't died. much less for someone like sentinel. but they understand perfectly why he protested against megatron killing him like that. and him risking his life for what he thought was right for cybertron, even though it meant keeping the person who'd oppressed him his entire life alive, only makes him more worthy of the matrix and the responsibilities it carries as far as they're concerned.

they're... content knowing that the well-being of their people is in the hands of someone who can, has and will put the greater good above his own feelings of anger or desire of revenge.

tldr: megatron's revenge had too high a price to pay for it to be worth it in their eyes, no matter what personal satisfaction they could've gotten from it. and they understand that orion wasn't trying to protect sentinel because he cared for him, but because he was seeing the bigger picture and trying to do what was right for everyone and not just himself and d-16.

haunted au

[emperor-kumquat]

You ever want to read the Covenant of Primus or the other Transformers Prime novels or the Art of Prime? Magic link, boom

[transingthoseformers]

I understand that Bumblebee never wanted to be a prime, but have you considered:

That makes it better

[luigra]

1 microsecond of an animatic. Based on the Exiled AU again that I& mentioned in the previous post

Also this little doodle

(She/her only for Starscream/Exiled)

[crispy-art-on-fire]

This has been on my head for a bit but what exactly is Dubstep's opinion of the 'Bots/'Cons and is her viewpoint of Sari influenced by Bumblebee and Soundwave or is she just on good terms with Sari

Dubstep lives in the far future where officially there is no Decepticon/Autobot divide so her view of them come from hindsight looking at "why would anyone want war" and "why wouldn't they fix that mess millions of years earlier". Being the daughter of a Decepticon and Autobot she doesn't have a bias of one or the other.

As for her relationship with Sari: It's good! She's honorary big sister who is obligated to tell her what's been going on with Earth since last she visited while Dubstep shows her what she's found in the galaxy. Sari was included in the baby sitter rotation so Dubstep has known her since she was a little sparkling and Sari could actually fly with her.

Dubstep has grown too big since then </3

[scribescrawls]

"How much longer must we suffer now? (Reconsider) How much longer must we push through doubt? (We can get home) How much longer must we go about (Eurylochus) Our lives like this when people die like this?"

(The quotes in the sketch and above are from the song "Mutiny" from EPIC: The Musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans)

I heard Starscream had another friend in a different continuity, what if TFOne Starscream also had his own Genvo too, but he died during those 50 cycles when they were being hunted down. I like to headcanon TFOne Starscream used to be a scientist before but decided to join the High Guard when the war with the Quintessons got more serious. Imagine Starscream decided to join the High Guard first and his friend decided to follow him when he heard Star was enlisting, but only one of them makes it back alive.

I think about how hopeless and desperate the High Guard's situation was throughout the 50 cycles with no end in sight as energon stopped flowing probably going hungry, they were being hunted down by Quintessons/Sentinel, their strongest leaders/comrades in arms were killed in front of them, betrayed, and trying to survive on the surface's dangerous landscape. I think as time passed many gave up hope or resigned themselves that they would never see home again giving into despair after cycles of suffering. Starscream probably feels the same way and feels pretty hopeless about their situation too. But as the leader Starscream probably knows he does not get the luxury of expressing those doubts without sending everyone else spiraling so even if he feels hopelessness about their situation he has to pretend he is okay and put on a front that he knows what he is doing and that they will succeed in taking down Sentinel one day to get them to survive another day.

There's a line in one of my favorite book series (Animorphs) where one of the characters reflects that "A leader has to give people hope. Even when he doesn't have much himself" and I think Starscream knew this. But it is a very lonely way of living being leader in such a hopeless situation as others can at least potentially express doubts about things or commiserate with each other, but as leader you cannot do that without affecting those under your command. I think some part of him subconsciously adopts the mindset that to an extent, on an emotional level, to be a leader is to be alone. And every decision you make holds the burden of potentially getting your troops/friends killed, but someone has to make the hard decisions even if some decisions are ruthless as you weigh the lives of those you may consider friends to keep as many people alive.

I was inspired to sketch this when I was listening to the song lol, I linked it down below in case anyone wants to hear it :D

[ask-the-neo-stunticons]

Megatron was getting too fragging big to sneak around the base before waiting in the corner were motormaster stayed.... He stayed in the dark

"the war is over... And...I....I have learnt were I lost my light and I'm truly truly terribley apologetic for dragging you and your stunticons into this pointless war.."

@exiled-megs

He'd been drinking.

Again.

He always did when the memories came back. Of the times before. Of the old gang. Of her.

He'd remember it all and then remember how he'd lost it. And then the emotions would start up. They'd get overwhelming and he have no idea how to handle them. So he'd find the strongest engex he could and chug it all down.

It didn't erase the memories. He'd need special equipment and a doctor for that. Not that he thought full on erasing the memories would do him any good because the... the spaces where they used to be would still be in his head. It was like forever having four empty rooms in his house. He could lock the doors and never go in, but they were forever there. And for some reason he couldn't just demolish the whole thing or move away because then he wouldn't be him anymore.

Dragstrip.

This was all Dragstrips fault.

Him and his stupid schemes. He half expected him of doing this to him on purpose. Making him remember so he could derive some sick pleasure from it.

He'd chugged down a solid four servings of the stronger stuff and was working his way through the fifth when the voice came over his shoulder.

A voice out of the addled histories of his mind. One that had swayed him in a way nothing else had ever done. But it's words didn't match the memories.

Motormaster half turned, squinting through the dark and the haze the strong drink had cast over his mind.

For a split second he was sure he was hallucinating.

"Lord... Megatron...?"

[keferon]

……….deep sigh

[rescuebabiesau]

"Anything from Crown City, Chase?"

"Negative. The signal's not even going through."

"Well, that's not a good sign..."

..........................................

"Huh... huh... Hang in there, Sideswipe...! Just hang in there...!"

Bumblebee had carried many a bot off of the battlefield and into a safer location for the medic to tend to, but this time, there was no medic, and the bot in his arms was no soldier. He was just a kid, a kid that had no business being in the condition he was in right now.

The attack had happened quickly— rifle fire raining down from the cliffs above and onto the lieutenant and his team. The humans had gotten away, as did Strongarm, Fixit, and Grimlock, but in the midst of the two final team members making a run for the groundbridge, a shot from their enemy sent a cataclysmic failure that led to the portal exploding.

Bumblebee had been flung into the cliff, and with a stray shot having disabled his comm link, he couldn't call for Sideswipe to locate him amongst the collapsing stacks of vintage collectibles that made up the scrapyard. By the time he found the young autobot, Sideswipe's frame was spotted with blast marks and his lower half was partially crushed under a fallen crane arm.

Bumblebee had hauled him from the wreckage and managed to break free of the Scrapyard's walls, but he couldn't race down the road with Sideswipe like this. He'd need to find somewhere to hide until their attackers stopped their rain of death and weren't looking for a yellow and red bot escaping down the road... If Sideswipe was even in the condition to travel by then.

Fortunately, Bumblebee was a war veteran, and he'd learned a few tricks— both from his own experiences and that of his comrades.

Tip number one, save the special toys for emergencies.

The cliffs held some small caverns under them, the exit typically inaccessible by bots or humans, but not if you had a Phase-Shifter stuffed in your subspace for such a time.

He carried the young bot into these caverns, ducking under low ceilings and feeling the squeeze of the tight tunnels, but it would be enough for a little while until it was safe.

"Buh...Bee..."

Sideswipe's voice crackled in his throat, his audio receptor twitching just a bit but really being the only thing moving.

"Just take it easy, Sideswipe... Just take it easy..."

Bumblebee's lights were the only thing lighting up the cavern, but for now, they would rest... Strongarm would be panicking, probably trying to come back to the Scrapyard to search for them.

"Bee... You... Thank you..."

"Shh..." Bumblebee soothed like a parent trying to comfort their child, "...Just get some rest, okay? I'll keep watch..."

What he wouldn't give for Blades' medical expertise right now...

[void-lingerer]

Unlikely meeting

call me cringe if you must but I've taken Zoe's words to heart and began adding my persona's lore to Omen bc it applies quite well , what with her species being unknown and I've been thinking about it

I made this back on the 9th of the month but I forgot to post it lmfao

[cablestwisted]

Transformers Aligned Novels - Shockwave's obsession with the Thirteen Primes

So I've been doing some digging on my various readthroughs of the novels and Covenant of Primus, and I've stumbled across something very interesting.

Many of Shockwave's experiments directly mirror the Thirteen Primes. He tries to imbue attributes of the primes into his victims. Notably Amalgamous, Nexus, and Onyx - triple changers, combiners, predacons, and dinobots. Similarly with Quintus Prime, how he created life by creating Trypticon - and with Solus Prime, all of his devices and weaponry mimicking her talents.

We also see how he works with memory and knowledge with the Cortical Psychic Patch. It's my belief that he intended to use it on Alpha Trion, in order to attempt to access the memories of Cybertron.

I propose that he was attempting to mimic the powers of the Primes in order to mitigate their abilities, and perhaps to experiment with the fabric of reality itself. He knew that one he had their power he could start looking into the metaphysical and warp reality itself to his whims.

Gives Alpha Trion's quote a hell of a lot of weight;

"You would bring down all of creation just to satisfy your own ambition."

[i-dont-even-know-by-this-point]

Idk guys something about a Beauty and the Beast Helnik AU is really tickling my brainworms (spoilers ahead for CK)

Not a 1-for-1 adaptation — I think it’d be interesting if, like in SoC, they both got stranded together somewhere rather than Matthias holding her hostage for the whole thing… or at least, it’s got something to do with the drüskelle & Nina getting captured, and then they end up stranded somewhere afterwards, like in the book.

Anyway, it could work quite well with Matthias (beast) learning from Nina (Belle) and changing his views about Grisha and stuff. Maybe he got cursed by a Grisha or something? Maybe Nina has something to do with why he’s in whatever beasty situation he’s in?

It might also be interesting if Nina is actively being pursued by drüskelle, and that’s what drives her into staying with Matthias — a lesser of two evils kind of thing? Maybe?

And then the parallels with ahem… the Beast getting killed at the end… BUT! The Beast survives so Matthias can too. He will. He must. He— [machine gun fire]

[transingthoseformers]

I still think, in a other timeline, the interactions between Bumble Prime and Longarm Prime could be golden. Tense and go— aaand now my thoughts have devolved into shockbee in a situation like this

[luigra]

if you knew who I am you would hate me

This is based on my& and my& friend's AU where TFA!Starscream joins the Autobots as a spy under the name Exiled! (she/her for Exiled only please!)