#typical idw op i love him

[quetzalpapalotl]

I love this page, it's literally just

[thenamesblurrito]

assorted Transformers fics to rec (part two!)

first list here! have more fics i missed the first time or discovered since then or were recommended to me by others! if you decide to read these, i recommend leaving a comment if you can to encourage the writers and show some love! 🥰 note: the ones marked with * were ones i read a long time ago and did not reread before adding them to this list, so i am going off the good vibes in my memory

An Act of Revenge for Crimes Uncommitted

canon soup, incomplete, AO3. young Orion Pax wakes up mutilated, empurata'd, and his assailants punished him for the crimes of one Optimus Prime. ooooo this is kind of heartwrenching, truly intriguing and unjust and mmmmm drama. time travel, gore, mind the tags here, a fascinating look at a bad timeline! some of the functionism stuff in here actually helped inspire my own functionist setup in SNAP

Blackout and Reboot

canon soup, complete multichap, AO3. amnesia was not on the table when Thundercracker agreed to go undercover as a human. giant robot aliens weren't on the table when Marissa took it upon herself to help the weirdest guy she'd ever met. it's a match made in heaven. i love this fic okay it's got some fantastic wth moments and TC being TC and Marissa being awesome and just. i like it. the writing could use some technical polish but the action and plot concept are good, and the fun alien/human interactions are my jam. has a sequel i haven't read

Canonfodder*

TFP, incomplete, Spacebattles. a series of harrowing updates from a poor hapless nobody isekai'd into the body of a Vehicon on dead Cybertron, and all the nonsense that spirals from there. i like this one, the pacing can get a lil jagged and the technical skill of the writing is a bit off but that's often the nature of these forum fics, i didn't mind it. definitely love the inclusion of Kup, and space video games, and the limited but interesting choices the protag can make when presented with such a dismal situation makes for a very compelling, journal-style story. if you don't know how to navigate forum fics like this, just use the links in the first post to skip to each snippet

Catching Feelings

TFA, oneshot with sequel, AO3. Bumblebee and Charlie are clearly a Thing, so what's Optimus doing thinking about her so much? honestly i just like this ship concept especially in a TFA context, it's very cute and awwwww poor Op, sorry you're experiencing emotions!

Commonality and Misunderstandings

canon soup, incomplete, AO3. a collection of scenes showing just how humans and mecha can figure each other out, no matter how wide the cross-cultural divide. this is cute! i like the human OCs and the shenanigans. talks about gender perceptions, has some mech-preg mentions, and hits some good emotional moments

the consequences of being a vehicle on Earth - even if only as a part-timer

TFA, oneshot, AO3. out of everyone who has to deal with the legality of autonomous sentient vehicles, it's Fanzone. dear god, save him. a very funny little read that honestly addresses some things i constantly wonder about re: driving laws and the bots. nothing more tortuous than the DMV!

Curious Thing, Isn't It?

vaguely G1, oneshot, AO3. the Ark crew, freshly crashed on Earth and uncomprehending of English, discover one of the tiny squishy native inhabitants. a very cute little scene, i love the variety of reactions and how they treat the kid they found

A Fourth to Remember

G1, oneshot, AO3. it's the 4th of July, and Wheeljack has taken it upon himself to make a fireworks show. lovely little story of his typical nonsense taken large-scale, and some interesting culture collision too!

The Great Space Opera

IDW/TFP crossover, incomplete, AO3. Brainstorm does a whoopsie and uh oh, is that Team Prime in the Lost Light? only a little bit written but VERY fun and i love the mindbending reactions of Ratchet meeting Ratchet. the whole premise is just. mwah

Introduction to Cybertronian Biomechanics

canon soup, incomplete, AO3. a small collection of medical essays and articles detailing a breakdown of anatomy. really fascinating, very coherent explanation that manages to condense canon and fanon into something understandable, perhaps even plausible!

Liberty Island's Decisive Battle: Godzilla vs Trypticon!

Aligned/Godzilla crossover, oneshot, AO3. when Trypticon is resurrected by dark energon and heads towards New York, Fowler remembers a certain other giant lizard monster that might be able to help. Rescue Bots cameo, Miko gets to speak Japanese, Godzilla is awesome, this is just the fic ever

Malto Family Search & Rescue

ES, oneshot, AO3. a Decepticon named Thundercracker shows up at the Malto home in the middle of the night to beg a vital favor: help find his lost dog! SUCH a cute and good and wonderful little fic that fits right in to canon!! i love TC and i love the Malto family interactions and just. oogh lovely little fic. has sequels that i am saving for a rainy day pick me up

marriages of convenience (and the inconvenience of explaining them)

IDW, oneshot, AO3. Minimus is a widower. this fun fact is dropped rather unceremoniously. the painful awkwardness is marvelously in character, there are feelings and funnies and an uncomfortably heartfelt discussion about this matter-of-fact revelation that manages to characterize each of them so well, especially Minimus

Murder Mystery Night

IDW, oneshot, AO3. it's NIGHTBEAT'S NIGHT, BABY! lovely little mystery following around the Lost Light's greatest detective when a fun game night is abruptly shut down by a real actual murder! can Nightbeat find the killer in time?

nothing is more sacred than any other thing

vaguely G1, oneshot, AO3. Skyfire is a nerdy scientist with nerdy friends, which means most shenanigans surrounding him are nerdy. very cute and fun little fic about friends and mushrooms and Starscream being duped! first in a series of oneshots that i haven't gotten around to reading yet but look equally lovely

Objectification

G1, oneshot, AO3. a human and a Cybertronian have very different opinions on who exactly the victim is in an oversexualized music video. stupid funny and good, just the way i like it! last line kills me

Optimus Prime is Destined to Die!!

canon soup AU, incomplete, AO3. poor little Orion is isekai'd into a Cybertronian fantasy light novel as one of the soon-to-die forgettable side characters: the cold prince Optimus Prime. supposed to be MegOp but that hasn't really shown up yet. fantastic premise i leapt at immediately, with interesting royal politics and classic isekai tropey vibes. it's a little slow in places from a lot of (warranted!) purple prose introspection, but i find it cool enough to read through and follow poor Orion adjusting to his new existence!

Return Me to the Stars

TFA AU, incomplete, AO3. when a near-dead little Prime is picked up by the Nemesis, it sparks a lot of shenanigans, mysteries, and interesting political developments, all thanks to Optimus being Optimus. i really love the way this fic is developing, with a terrified Autobot in enemy territory doing the best he can, an expanded cast of Decepticons, a lot of fun worldbuilding, and very engaging and dynamic interactions. features a good bit of whump for our tough lil Prime. tagged as MegOP which is still slowly developing, pretty realistically taking their time to find some kind of even footing without breaking their characterization which i greatly appreciate! the writing itself could use some spellchecking but the plot and pacing are very engaging nonetheless

Scaredy-Car

G1, oneshot, AO3. i love a good comedic misunderstanding and boy the assumptions people are making about Breakdown are WHOOF. kinda cracky, a smidgeon dirty, and just the right amount of loserness that is the entirety of the Decepticon army

The Season of the Smallest Stars

sorta IDW/Stardew Valley crossover?, incomplete, AO3. you weren't expecting a small troop of adorable little robots to help you with your farmwork. a very soft cute little fic, i love it!!! never played SV but it's easy enough to follow along anyway, and i love the cute beeping Lost Light bots helping out our farmer

Second Star From Morning

technically IDW, incomplete, AO3. only a little bit written but SELF INSERT BABYYYYYYYYY gotta love it when your protagonists are aware that this is in fact a fictional character! the panic, the questions, the wahuh?? captivating premise, i hope the author comes back to it someday

Skywarp And The Wonders Of The Unnatural World

G1, oneshot, AO3. their summary sums it up best: "The Elite Trine have a very serious and mature debate on the existence of mythical creatures." extremely funny to me, i LOVE when they're stupid and petty and catty and silly!! Skywarp is so dumb i love him so much

Small Problems*

G1, ongoing series, AO3. average human Crystal finds some shrunken Autobots lost in the big city, and her life only gets weirder from there. an OC-centric series that--spoilers for later in the series--may have been one of the original "human turned into Transformer" fics! the whole series goes from sweet and funny to heartwrenching and angsty, with a lot of in between. i love the OC and sympathize with the horrible things she ends up going through, and also the heights to which she rises! slowburn Prowl/OC, with a bit of love triangle with Jazz in there too (funfact this was the second ever piece of media in which i encountered Blurr)

Sparkless

TFP, incomplete, AO3. a Vehicon left behind finds itself fixed up by a human, and might just gain some personhood along the way. a VERY sweet little story oogh i love this Vehicon!! poor thing i want to give them hot chocolate and a blankie. it's a lovely story with an intriguing premise

Stop Me*

TFP, incomplete (but with over 200 chapters), FFN. Starscream nearly dies at the claws of the Predacons... and then he's alive again, in the past, as if none of that ever happened. a rather (in?)famous fic in the fandom, i've found, although when i first read it i didn't know that. a very interesting take on a Starscream redemption AU, paired with some fascinating outlier power moments! a little bit wooby about Screamer (maybe a lot wooby?), a lot of whump, a lot of emotion, maybe some hints of StarOP idk if that's become an actual ship since i last checked. ymmv on this one depending on your Starscream opinions but i was hooked for the whole time for sure! i need to catch up, it's technically still updating. also the author has another, shorter, complete Starscream redemption fic which i also enjoyed, check that out too

A Streetcar Named Traitor

G1, oneshot, AO3. Megatron doesn't take Starscream's defection well and Optimus has had enough. very stupid, very funny, makes me cackle as Megsy gets dunked on

Sudden Active Development... I certainly feel SAD at the moment*

TFP, incomplete, Spacebattles. another isekai forum fic, this time somebody gets dropped into the body of Nemesis Prime and has to deal with running around as an Optimus lookalike! i like the misunderstandings and the process of adapting to a strange new body. some stilted dialogue, and it gets a little weird about gender perception but i can gloss over that. ramps up with more canon characters, a sprinkling of OCs, and completely taking canon off the rails within the last few posts! this one has threadmarks for easy navigation

Turning Points*

vaguely G1 AU, incomplete, FFN. Prowl was one of the most brilliant tacticians among the Decepticons, and then they destroyed his home. it's gonna be a long climb into the good graces of the Autobots for this defector. an absolutely fantastic character driven piece with a brilliant premise, i love how Prowl is written. and the politics of defecting and dealing with a security hazard, mmmmm good!

An Uneasy Partnership*

sorta G1/Armada/canon soup?, ongoing series, FFN. Alexis keeps an unruly Starscream in her barn. this can only go well. this series is WILD, it escalates and gets worse and then better and then worse again, you root for Screamer and then you hate him, poor Alexis is on a constant horrid rollercoaster but hey, (spoilers), she gets a cool robot body and also a tyrant king boyfriend out of it??? but man is it a long, manipulative, whumpy road to get there. the powerplays and emotional turmoil in their dynamic just keep going and it's fascinating, although probably not for you if you don't like bad power imbalances. it's the end of the world as we know it and whatever comes on the other end is going to be only as good as you make of it. i think this series may also be sort of (in)famous in the fandom? idk i don't pay attention that well

Untitled

IDW, drabble, tumblr. in an unexpected meetcute, Minimus finds himself rescuing Rung. honestly it's just a quick little concept of a conversation but it has captivated me and i'm obsessed with it

[transingthoseformers]

I love your idea of Tarn being sick with a realy nasty bug so he and Nickel stayed on the ship when Pharma snapped.

I imaygine Tarn's converted his arm cannon to be slung over his back.

Optimus meanwhile has been read the log and is kinda torn between horror at what the DJD did and oh good somebot has planted himself on the path of Redemption™️. On the otherhand he has to find these cybertronians.

Do you think Megatron goes looking right away or does OP manage to get him to read the log of the Peaceful Tyranny first?

Megatron's conversation with Damus is interesting. Because Megatron lands and before he can get a word in edgewise, Damus is demanding answers and point blank threatening Megatron if he harms or corrupts the newsparks. Megatron's not expecting to be grilled by Damnus, Fusion Rifle slung on his back, on why he let the cause go so wrong, and why he abandoned it instead of trying to fix it from the inside?

Honestly makes sense he'd choose to modify his cannon to be like that instead, I bet it was trippy at first because he had gotten used to the weight on his arm.

Optimus is having so many feels about this

Especially since compared to IDW Oppy, earthspark Oppy just has a more lighthearted tone to him so methinks the war didn't get as directly intense (and, plus, I typically run on the the assumption that the autobots don't have as much knowledge on the DJD as say the higher ranking decepticons do. Idk how right or wrong I am but it makes sense in this case)

Hmm, I feel like it'd make sense that Megatron wanted to immediately go looking, but Oppy who had been drawn to the log first managed to drag him back in time.

Okay makes perfect sense Damus would resort to verbal violence first, because he has grown Attached™️™️, and well in his self rediscovery process he's become more skeptical of Megatron and the Cause which let's be real is merely embers of what was once a raging inferno

Commence Megatron bluescreening because of all the mecha he expected this chat from it wasn't Damus

[lord-squiggletits]

Mmm I think part of the reason I have such exacting standards for fic depiction of OP is because I’m more of a canon-typical writer than a continuity soup writer (and also because I love IDW Optimus specifically not necessarily just any version of him).... but also

The thing is that there’s something about the average fandom depiction of Optimus that... it’s not BAD or poorly written per se, but fanon OP often feels...less nuanced? Than he is in canon? I’m going to make a comparison between canon IDW OP and fanon OP not to say that people need to be canon compliant/write specifically IDW, but for the sake of having a canon version that I know a lot about to contrast with the general fanon of the character.

For example, the most immediate one that comes to mind is that “Optimus is stupid/a himbo” is a pretty common fanon take that isn’t technically wrong, you know? Many Optimi have himbo moments or make bad decisions, but like... there’s a difference between being a stupid himbo versus just making bad choices or having questionable beliefs. Again using IDW OP as an example, him putting blind faith in questionable people (Shockwave and Zeta) doesn’t mean that he has low intelligence, it just means that his faith/emotions/what have you can blind him to more objective evaluations of a situation. IDW OP wasn’t stupid, he knew that the government sucked and he wasn’t ‘a good guy,’ but he was also trying to balance between what seemed like the slightly less bad of two options. To call (IDW) OP stupid, as I see many people in fandom do, would be to imply an ignorance or lack of intelligence that simply isn’t there. There’s a difference between making bad decisions versus actually being stupid versus making a stupid decision in a sea of a bunch of really bad decisions.

And what about the points where Optimus isn’t stupid? For example, IDW Optimus is actually shown to be outright cunning in a few instances, such as when he makes Trypticon the embassy for Earth on Cybertron so that it will be considered politically neutral ground and Starscream (the then-ruler of Cybertron) would be unable to swoop in and claim the sparklings inside of Trypticon to use for his own ends. That’s savvy political thinking. That’s manipulation of a situation to make sure no one can interfere with what Optimus believes is the right course of action. An idiot wouldn’t be able to consider the political situation of two different planets and come up with a solution that continues Earth-Cybertronian diplomacy while also using legal precedent to keep a known power-hungry tyrant from abusing force/subterfuge to get what he wants.

So getting back to fanon, what I’m trying to get at is that few to no fandom depictions of Optimus give him as much nuance as canon versions like IDW do. Like, I’m sorry, but canon Optimus is just so much more interesting? I don’t want a boiled down version of Optimus that’s just “he’s dumb but nice and he’s a good person” or “he’s depressed but he’s nice and a good person.”

I want the Optimus who’s a good person that sometimes does good things, sometimes does bad things in pursuit of good ends, and sometimes even does bad things because he doesn’t know what else he can do. I want the Optimus who prefers peaceful solutions and stops other people from vengeful, punitive justice while also struggling with his own anger issues. I want the Optimus who might not be socio-politically savvy but knows that he just wants to help as many people as he can. I want the Optimus who sucks at picking the right people to trust but is also a tactical and political powerhouse. I want the Optimus who regrets the things he’s done but keeps doing things anyways (good, bad, or somewhere in between) because it’s simply what he has to do.

And I just don’t feel like I get that from any fandom depictions of Optimus I’ve read in this fandom. It feels to me as if the most popular takes on Optimus are the ones that simplify him rather than making him more complex. Or they try to erase his flaws and ugly sides, not realizing that those things are what make him a good character.

[decepti-thots]

Hmmm were there any character designs that took a while to grow on you? Or any specific continuity designs for certain characters that you prefer the most?

Ooooh. That first question, HM. It took me a while to come around to TFP Arcee, not so much because she's a bad design in herself, but because she doesn't scream 'Arcee' to me; I look at a smaller female blue autobot and my brain says "CHROMIA!!!", haha. (I... am still not 100% convinced they wouldn't have called her that if Hasbro wasn't typically big on 'if there's A Girl, call her Arcee please' for brand recognition reasons, tbh.) I got used to it though, eventually. (I also like the actual design of her as a bike now I own her toy, because it's extremely nice in the hand, especially given how awkward a lot of TFP toys wind up feeling.)

Oh! It also took me a while to appreciate basically any of the War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron designs (that is, the Aligned-continuity games), but especially the seekers. Starscream looks sort of weird and janky in that game, tbh. And I do really wish they had let those games have more colour. HOWEVER, again, I got the FoC Starscream toy a few years back and it immediately was like. Oh! No, I get it now. They designed him so the TOY was good. He's a delight and I want the full set of SS/TC/SW very much one day. (Still think the FoC Soundwave, Blaster and "cassettes" are pathetic though. That game had some very hit and miss character design.)

As for the second question, lots! My fave design for OP is TFA's re-imagining, for example. (This is true for multiple characters, honestly, I grew up on TFA, I'm biased and I don't care. That show had BANGING character design and we all know it.) My fave Rodimus is MTMTE Roddy; I really love Roche's design and how Milne expanded on it, it's kind of weird now looking at evergreen-G1 style Roddy designs tbh. TFP gets a nod for designing a Soundwave that simultaneously takes ZERO cues from G1 but also 100% hits in terms of the right vibe and Feels Right, which is extremely impressive IMO. I also have a real fondness for Armada Starscream, I love the use of mostly red with white highlights (seeing Saren Stone draw that design in IDW was a TREAT for me, specifically).

[brandxspandex]

What did not you like Unicron # 6? I loved the issue. I agree that they treated the relationship of Bumblebee and Starscream horribly, but I did not see any regression in Starcream at the end of Optimus Prime and Unicron.

I would think that it’s reasonably uncontroversial to saythat in the grand finale of a story one expects to receive some sort ofemotional payoff and closure regarding the major emotional and thematic arcsexplored throughout the narrative. The story’s climax is where the major themesof both its plot and character arcs get reiterated in a way that sort of sumsup everything that’s come before and provides a tremendous emotional punch.It’s where the main points the story has been building up to get made in a waythat evokes the most powerful emotions.

Over the 13 years IDW Starscream was developed as acharacter he became fascinatingly multi-faceted; his morality, his motivations,his personality and his relationships were all shown to have multiple layersthat could be explored. When it was announced that the IDW continuity was comingto an end the opportunity to fully explore all those layers was lost becausethere was so little time left, which made that little remaining time all themore precious. Not everything could be explored, but there was still some timeleft to develop Starscream a little further along the trajectory he was alreadyon, or at the very least reiterate the most important things about hischaracter that had already been established.

Instead most of that time was just wasted. I don’t think theway that Starscream was written after TAAO ended was necessarily out ofcharacter; he’s undergone a lot of character growth, but said character growth didn’terase 4 million years of being a dick, so it isn’t out of character for him tobehave in dickish ways. However, there is a difference between being written incharacter and written well. Being written well is a subset of being written in-character;at any point in a story there may be a number of things a character could dothat would be consistent with what’s been established about them up to thatpoint. However, not every one of those options is going to be emotionallysatisfying or progress the story in an interesting way; a good writer should beable pick the in-character behaviours that doadd to the story in this way.

Of all the things Barber could have done with Starscream atthe end of the story, it seems that the point about his character he was mostinterested in making in the precious little time that was left was: he’s stilla bit of a dick. I have no idea what emotional reaction he was going for withthat. In an ongoing story, repeatedly reminding readers that Starscream isstill a bit of a dick is certainly worthwhile, but this was the end. As I’ve said, at the end of astory you typically want to evoke deep and powerful emotions, and there were so many ways that could have been donewith everything that had been established about Starscream up to that point.Petty scenes of pointless bickering do not make deep, emotionally affectingstatements about a character.

I think the most glaringly obvious instance of this is inissues #3 and #4 of the Unicron series; issue #3 ends on a promising note with Starscreamdeciding to put his faith in Windblade because she’s believed in him in thepast. That builds nicely on the character and relationship developmentestablished in TAAO, and could have been built upon further in the subsequentissues of Unicron to showcase how his character had grown. After all, the firstcouple of issues of the mini-series had already established that he’s still adick, so surely the rest of the time could be spent exploring the ways he’dchanged. But no, the most significant Starscream scene in the following issueinvolves him just whinging about some petty bullshit, with the closest peoplehe has to friends then getting pissed at him, before he gets clocked in theface.

I’m not saying that Starscream whinging about petty bullshitwas necessarily out of character, but out of all the possible in-characterthings Barber could have had him doing in that moment, why the ever-loving helldid he decide to go with that? What kind of emotion was he trying to evoke inhis emotionally climatic grand finale with that moment? It wasn’t just wastefulfor Starscream’s character arc, it was wasteful for the book itself. Cybertronwas just destroyed; surely thatshould have been a sombre moment. That scene could have been used to underline asense of sadness and hopelessness felt by billions of beings at the loss oftheir home, and then maybe establish a sense of defiance in the face of thathopelessness. Instead the time was used for…that. What the hell was that? What werewe as readers meant to be feeling in that moment exactly?

In the following issues we had Starscream agreeing to ferryOptimus to Unicron, and then deciding to sacrifice himself to help stop Unicron.That’s good right? Isn’t that showing his character has developed? But by thatpoint it all felt lacking in any emotional substance because hardly any ofStarscream’s scenes in the lead up explored why he’d be willing to do thesethings. Instead most of his scenes involved him getting alienated from the characterswho helped him change into the kinda person who would be willing make suchsacrifices. The emotional build up was completely off; because Barber spentmost the mini ignoring that aspect of Starscream’s character growth, the way hetacked it back on at the end made it feel as though it came out of nowhere. It basicallyfelt like he was only acknowledging Starscream’s character development in themoments it was convenient for the story, but ignoring it otherwise. Also, whileTAAO established that Starscream is capable of sacrifice (which I think madehim sacrificing himself in the Unicron mini pretty redundant by the way), I don’tbelieve he would sacrifice himself that easily. He didn’t even take a moment toconsider alternative options; Arcee and Optimus ran up against an obstacle andsuddenly he was like “guess I’ll die”. As I’ve said, it honestly read more likea suicide than an act of heroic self-sacrifice.

And then yes, Starscream and Bumblebee’s relationship wastreated horribly, and that’s not someminor point I can overlook. Their relationship arc has been developing for years, and involved some veryemotionally significant moments, interspersed with some funny, sweet andcharming scenes. It was given many moments of significance and felt reallyimportant to the development of both characters. Then the only acknowledgement wegot of their relationship after Bee returns to life was Bee saying “Well…”after watching Starscream die. That’s just…unspeakably horrendous writing. Idon’t understand how it’s even possible to write that badly.

The only way I can wrap my head around what’s been presentedis if emotionally significant scenes involving Starscream and his relationshipswere left out of the Unicron mini because they’re all being saved up for thelast issue of OP. If that’s the case then I still don’t think it’s very goodwriting because by failing to have those scenes in Unicron it severelysubtracted from the emotional impact of that series. Also there’s more thanenough interesting things that could have been done with Starscream to fill outimpactful scenes in both the Unicron series and the OP epilogue. But at leastif we get something worthwhile in thelast issue of OP it won’t be atrociouswriting anymore. The only way I can see it being anything vaguely approaching good writing is if the last issue recontextualizeswhat we got in Unicron to show it was all building up to something emotionallymeaningful in the last issue. Also, there will have to be something at least somewhat decent between Starscreamand Bumblebee for me not to write it off whatever happens; after everythingthat’s happened between them they deserve that.

The fact that Starscream didn’t appear in the montage of thedead might mean that he’s still notdead so there might still be somehope on this front, but otherwise it means that not only were his character andrelationship arcs butchered before he was predictably and needlessly killed,but they even failed to acknowledge him after his death, and I am…revolted.

[matrixbearer]

How would you compare bayverse!Optimus to his other versions? While I love bayverse!Optimus (his rages are a thrill for me) I don't feel as if the portrayal is fair to his character.

♞ ┊ ( ooc. )

i delayed addressing this ask because i knew it would be very long and very intense.

before i proceed i need to warn that this is MY opinion and MY assessment based on what is rather intensive research into the character across the continuities. i do feel as though i am right, but i will not deny that i may be in error. in the end this is my analysis, and i ask that it be respected as limited to myself.

I will include IDW’s Optimus very little in my response, for reasons that should become apparent as my reply is read further. (Mostly because he is not a variation most are comparing Tyran OP to)

PS: ❛ Tyran ❜ = Bayverse

Tyran (erroneously referred to as Bayverse) Optimus, in full true capacity a True Optimus Prime. I believe he is a fair and accurate portrayal of the character within the narrative he exists.

Over the years I have seen many discussions and even some condemnations of Tyran Optimus as being “too violent” and “too angry,” stating that he is excessive. When taken into consideration the enemies he has faced, the losses he has endured, and all the harm inflicted on him I do not feel hs is excessive.

To explain him and compare him to other iterations of Optimus cannot be done without comparing among the versions of the stories. In comparison to all the other continuities, including IDW, Tyran is the most violent and visceral version of the stories. Optimus is more violent than other versions of his character because he has an equal portion of excessive violence inflicted upon him.

Decepticons in his world do not just putz around trying to steal energon; they attempt to blow up our sun.

They do not just look for fragments of the AllSpark to fuel a sequel to their war, they tear apart cities.

The Decepticons do not just laugh and form unhealthy friendships with humans; they manipulate and terrorize an entire family for generation shut down the space program and do their bidding.

Decepticons in Tyran do not just want to repair a device that will regenerate their dead Cybertron, they wish to bring an entire planet into our orbit (which would have devastating consequences to our world based on the shift in the gravitational field alone) hold the entirety of Earth hostage and use the human race for slave labor.

THE HUMANS of Tyran are more likely to betray the Cybertronians. Those humans who hate the Transformers hate them with a vitriol that is far more realistic than would be shown in any of the animated series. The humans HUNT Transformers, melt them for scrap metal, try to reprogram their DNA. Anyone known to be a friend of the Transformers live with the constant threat of being killed. This threat is not a bluff: based off TLK we can safely assume that Sam Witwicky is dead.

The Transformers, as a species, in Tyran are not warm and cuddly. They joke around, but it is not kid-friendly. They are all violent—all of them. It is in their nature, and that is part of their culture and their very nature.

Where do i get this claim from? Please refer to the instances we see hatchlings that are not the Dinobots. The AllSpark is not inherently evil, but anything brought to life by its power immediately fights and begin destruction. It could be argued that this is because our modern day technology is based off the study of Megatron, but I would not agree that dismisses my assertion. In addition to the hatchlings and new sparks we see in the movies, the comics depict the hatchlings little else. There is a scene in the comics where Megatron lays a trap to kill Optimus by leading him to a nest of hatchlings—the hatchlings act pretty much like TFP’s scraplets. There is also the consistency of each and every Transformer reacts quickly with more with more aggressive than we could typically tolerate.

Transformers are exponentially harder to kill than a human; they have an exoskeleton made of regenerative metal and built in weaponry, they can shift and adjust themselves to survive in situations that would leave humans critically injured or even killed. To the Tyran Transformers a greater degree of violence than we consider acceptable appears to be nothing but rough housing for them. Thus, when they do fight—it will be far more aggressive.

It is my opinion that segments of the fandom are unfairly harsh on Tyran Optimus, criticizing him for fitting into the story he is written into. Their fast-past conflicts are resolved with brutality unmatched by their previous versions. They make TFP && TFA look like child’s play, but that is because IT IS child’s play; those shows are written for younger audiences. As the movies progress they get more mature, until we get the last two movies which are removed almost all jokes geared towards teenage boys, less women are objected for hormone rampaged teenagers, and the jokes are more cerebral. The story is the same way; it has progressed in its severity.

Optimus Prime has also endured tragedy in Tyran than the other versions come little  close to experiencing—the only one would be TFP, and arguably IDW who is written exclusively for adults. G1 and TFA cannot hold a candle to the beastial cruelty in Tyran; they are just too immature when compared. He has been hunted, TRULY hunted, treated like an animal to slaughter. The human population supports the extermination of the Transformer species on their planet. They do so with their benefit, stripping them of their LIVING metal, disregarding the sentience, and retrofitting their biology into our technology.

To me there is nothing thrilling about Tyran Optimus’ rage; he is SUFFERING from the betrayal and loss inflicted upon him. His reactions to Cade in the start of AOE are clear indicators of PTSD. He is on the defense from insurmountable forces—a species he && his Autobots gave his life for to protect!! Of course he is filled with rage—because he has been hurt so excessively by everyone.

Optimus Prime is my favorite character, no one would be surprised by that. I have dedicated the four years since I’ve become an invested fan in this franchise to studying him, to learning about him, to put myself in his situations and try to feel empathy for what Optimus is written in.

Tyran Optimus is, out of all the rest, the most brutalized and tortured of all the Optimi. I do not feel he deserves the accusations he is somehow less than. In AOE he once swore, in a fit of anger, that he would kill all those who were involved in the death of the Autobots. This was such a disturbing dichotomy to how he felt when he arrived on Earth; in the beginning he was so concerned with protecting humans he did not fight them when Bumblebee was captured. This declaration disturbed many, including his voice actor who struggled to perform the line, and I can understand why—it startled me when I first saw the movie. HOWEVER, in AOE when he was given his chance to fulfill his swore—he didn’t, not even when Joshua Joyce DARED him to do it. Optimus had every opportunity and he STILL did not keep his word and kill the humans that were responsible for Ratchet’s death. Why did he not? Because it was just something he said in distress; he was angry, he was hurting, he was overwhelmed by what was done to his people after all they sacrificed for the human race. He still did not go on a rampage and kill. THAT is what measures him as an equal in comparison to the other versions of the character.

Cade Yeager barely had to try to inspire forgiveness in Optimus. With all done to him, Optimus had every right to be frustrated, hurt, and angry at the human race. OK, Megatron had done the same. But the humans?  He loved us how he loves Bumblebee. Imagine if you will how Optimus would react if Bumblebee betrayed him so. It wasn’t until Agent Savoy became a clear and present threat to Cade that Optimus stepped in.

The measure of him comes out when consequences is put into action. Tyran Optimus is a product of his story, of his universe, of the dynamics between him and the other characters. He has been traumatized repeatedly, devastatingly, and seemingly unrelentlessly.

In the end, I cannot force anyone to consider my points of defense for Tyran Optimus, other than to lay out what I know and how I feel about the assessment. Take of it what you may, but Optimus from the movies will remain one of my most beloved versions of the character. He is visceral, victimized, battered, and still brave, kind, and forgiving. He just isn’t with a laugh or perfect composure. He is just as much Optimus Prime as any of the others, he just the Optimus Prime of a world gone wrong.

Optimus Prime in the movies is a messiah carrying a cross through a mob, he wears his crown of thorns and there is blood in his eyes. He is still carrying that cross, he is still marching up towards that hill. He is STILL a savior.

I will also defend him because he is a victim of PTSD.