Ask-Smokescreen Relevant Headcanons

You can hover over the navigation for a link to the main blog, or click here This blog is mostly filled with drabbles, headcanons and writing memes. You're welcome to use any headcanons that aren't like, specific to my smokey as inspiration! I would love to hear everyone's ideas!

[asksmokescreen]

smokescreen scanned a mclaren f1 when he got to earth, not knowing about literally ANY of its hype (he probably thought it was low-key since it was a car from the 90s. it is not.)

but there are a few differences between his scan and the real thing

He does NOT get to have the gold plated engine bay, he doesn't have that gold. i think if he saw that in a real mclaren he would be SO jealous and would want to get it immediately

he has a radio, thanks to his comms letting him pick up radio waves. a real mclaren f1 doesn't have a radio

he might be able to go faster than one? which is a bit of a scary thing as their max speed is like. 243 mph. his scan basically put a Safe Sounding number to try to ease suspicions but he can go higher than 170 mph

he's slightly heavier than a real mclaren, since they're pretty lightweight in terms of cars. still easy for most bots to pick up though, at around 1.5 tons

he set up a more standard 2 seat layout instead of the 3 seat layout a real McLaren has, mainly because he thought it would make him blend in more (notice the pattern of him changing his interior to try to be low key. while his exterior makes him extremely NOT low key)

And things that are similar

loud as fuck engine

Similar storage situation

Engine probably runs hot

he probably would get carjacked if he spent any significant amount of time parked on a busy street

[asksmokescreen]

radio exists on cybertron, but is setup a bit differently compared to our own radio stations. Given the use of comms, and how any bot can be contacted from anywhere on Cybertron extremely easily, that same technology is no-doubt used for amateur and public radio!

Given the fact everyone has the technology, the limiting factor is probably the actual discovery of these independent stations. The senate likely had a set list of “approved” stations, and maybe bots broadcasting stuff that was unapproved (and discovered) could lead to serious issues for the bot.

Most likely, a station that was going against senate laws would have to be constantly moving, maybe connected using a proxy, and encrypted in a way that the senate couldn’t understand what is said without access to a decryption program that is handed out selectively. There would still be risk of getting caught if this algorithm was obtained, but it would be a way to protect oneself (especially if you use something like a proxy to show your radio location as elsewhere)

There are likely personal radios as well, stations shared between friends that goes through a playlist, or where friends can go live and talk, basically like a discord voice channel with a music bot

The actual radio is probably pretty similar to what we have, with different stations with different music, podcasts, discussions, etc, but I feel like it would have wide appeal given that all these bots have alt modes and likely have to take pretty long trips every so often.

[asksmokescreen]

headcanon: smokey can speak like he’s in a ytp, similar to this (timestamp at 54:10)

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a few fun facts about the plant planet’s plant language!

Their word for “I” and “we” are basically the same

They don’t have a distinction between singular and plural

If they need to count multiples of something, they list a specific number, or add “many”

“Good vibes” or “Feels good” is very similar to saying that something looks good, sounds good, and basically all mean the same thing to them

There are a TON of words to distinguish the depth of something, even more then there are to designate if something is to the left or to the right

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there’s a cybertronian soda that’s called coal-a

It actually tastes a bit like a coffee flavored coke!

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As a decoration, energon can be let on fire in very low quantities for a nice decorative blue fire

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I just noticed while watching inside job again that while he’s remembering talking about the omega key with optimus smokey is wiggling his hips ever so slightly

he just needs to move most of the time! staying still is not for him

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mnemosurgery vs the cortical psychic patch is kinda like assembly vs python

that is, mnemosurgeons typically work in the actual systems of a mech, and need lots of training to be able to read memories, but can change the system in a way that the patch can't, and have fewer limitations overall

But the patch is meant for a different purpose, and provides a safe way to read the mind of another bot. it's generally harder to write to a bot's mind, and their personalitities can't be changed via patch, and implanted memories may be rejected. in addition, the other bot tends to be aware when another bot is in their mind.

One reason for making the patch definitely would have to do with safety and ease of use. mnemosurgery can cause people who study it to eventually die due to it, which would definitely he a waste of resources to constantly have to re-train bots, but also, the patch is usable by most bots. it's (literally) a plug and play interface, and doesn't require specialized hands

that would explain why shockwave in particular invented it, considering his hand situation

[asksmokescreen]

One of the things that surprises and delights Smokescreen every time he’s on Earth is how bright the cities are at night.

After all, he grew up on a Cybertron that had instated curfews and other means of trying to keep non-upper society from completely revolting against the upper class, and later was on Cybertron when the only other living bots on it were really himself, Alpha Trion, and Shockwave. Even now, Cybertron isn’t lit up at night like it would be if it were fully populated.

But then, cities on Earth look like they mirror the night sky to Smokescreen, and the amount of noise that comes from them is kind of stunning.

[asksmokescreen]

Simfur is a little bit like Cybertronian Florida

mainly in the headlines that would come from Simfur

they’d be exactly like so:

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smokey probably loves astrology and would read daily fortunes and stuff

also if he knew more about organic astrology i can see him talking with someone and being like “you’re a scorpio aren’t you”

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Shattered Smokey gets overwhelmed by large amounts of kindness

if someone were to spoil him, he would probably cry and/or think they were trying to use him for something

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Okay so you know pop toobs?

What if some valves stretched lengthwise how pop toobs do, and kinda folded in the interior like that?

and what of the ones of worse quality also made the sound they do

A bot has a larger partner and even as the other bots going slow as possible, they just hear a pbbpbpbpbpbbb sound as the valve stretches

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so you know how on trucks towing multiple cars they put bands on the tires so they won't move? imagine that being used in root mode (or in alt mode still) as bondage like. binding that follows the bots tires so their tires don't move at all nylon is probably used a lot in bondage with Cybertronians I feel?

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smokey wants attention and to be cared about but as soon as bots start showing concern he tries to backtrack because he feels bad about getting attention when other bots need/deserve it more

he can be selfish sometimes, but is almost overly eager to self-sacrifice

he wants to prove that maybe optimus wasn’t wrong in offering him the matrix, and that he could’ve been a good prime- but at the same time, the idea of being a prime? terrifies him more than anything

most of his nightmares involve being prime

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I've thought about it for a while, but I think smokescreen would, in human terms, have adhd. it probably is a completely different deal in Cybertronian culture, though, though I'll get to that sometime when it's not almost 3am I imagine that neurodiversity is pretty ordinary to Cybertronians. since there's so many wildly different frames, it's no surprise that bots processors will work and develop completely differently. besides the fact that I'm playing him and probably unintentionally projected my own adhd on him, he's got a lot of the different qualities. He can be fairly restless, and standing still just... doesn't happen. He does feel the need to always be doing something, which did prove to be a challenge while he was guarding alpha Trion, struggling to have enough to do. at the same time, he can have many issues with his own organization, and with taking care of himself at times. the thought of some of these things can be pretty exhausting in itself I imagine with some tasks, Smokescreen feels pretty overwhelmed with it, such as just cleaning his quarters. He really does need to ask someone for assistance with that, but he feels some shame at himself, like he fragged up, but it's something he's never been really good at. He also tends to have issues focusing on particular tasks. his mind will wander, and if the task is mainly watching or reading something, he might miss large chunks just like that. with that, he can be pretty impulsive, and doesn't always think through what he does. smokescreen is also pretty sensitive to rejection, particularly in regards to friendship but in other cases as well. He really needs people's approval, and will try everything in order to get it. He tends to do really well with more physical activities though, such as patrolling or some kind of physical training, whether dance or combat. he's a quick thinker, too, and can come up with ideas and solutions on the spot, which is shown in the show pretty well!

[asksmokescreen]

Smokescreen is starting to kinda look up to his Megatron as a mentor figure, like Alpha Trion or Optimus He is NEVER going to admit this and would be insulted if anyone said he respected Megatron like he does Alpha Trion or Optimus. Really, he'd feel guilty about feeling that way, that he isn't allowed to view Megatron as a positive influence he'll probably want to protect Megatron in a similar way, though hopefully more successfully It gets to him that both Optimus and Alpha Trion died while he was trying to protect them, makes him feel like he's bad at the thing he was training to do