Echoes over Shadows

Official blog for the fic Echoes over Shadows: Stolen Peace. You can read it over on AO3

[echoesovershadows]

Echoes over Shadows: Stolen Peace

Welcome Ladies, Gentlemen, and Others! This is meant to be the official blog for the fic. If you're interested, you can find it through the link here: Echoes over Shadows: Stolen Peace

Updates every Friday at 3 pm EST

It's a multi-continuity Transformers fanfic, using Prime as the main framework but combining elements from TFOne, IDW comics, Animated, some G1-style levity, and some original ideas and headcanons. A fic that's primarily character-driven, heavy on the found-family vibes, not afraid to get emotional and tragic, and be occasionally unhinged.

I 100% do not expect this to reach a wide audience, or even to appeal to the majority. That is not the point here. I wrote this for me. Writing is an outlet for me, a way for me to work through my issues in a healthy way. And writing this particular fanfic has given me an excuse to play around with the 40+ year old franchise I've loved since I was a kid. An excuse to celebrate the parts I love, and fix the parts I kinda didn't.

But I chose to share this in case it resonates with someone else. Be it through the heavy moments, the silly ones, or somewhere in between.

So here you'll find:

-Meta, memes, and general chaos stuff

-Some of the probably unhinged thought processes that were behind certain decisions

-Deleted or cut scenes that didn't make it to the final draft.

-Backstory and interquill scenes. Things you know happened but don't have a place in the fic proper without bogging everything down, and are too short to really justify making them their own story on AO3.

-Artwork, if and when there is any

Ask box is open. Questions, theories, lore classifications - send whatever you want and if it's not too spoilery, I'll do my best to answer them.

Hope you all enjoy, from whenever it was you jumped in to however long you decide to stick around.

And mind the falling Prime-shaped trauma.

[echoesovershadows]

Like Father, Like Son

And of course it would be Nelly Cruz who’d notice the father-son resemblance between them.

So first and foremost, this is my first time drawing robots in earnest, let alone Transformers, and I am still learning. So issues with anatomy and design here are your standard growing pains. Not to mention I used my figurines as reference models. It did help some, but I’m still very much more used to drawing people than I am robots as evident with Nelly in the bottom panel.

Plus, just like the fic, I combined elements from across the franchise instead of replicating one specific version. Which probably didn’t help all that much in the actual drawing part. Maybe. I honestly don’t know.

I didn’t really put that much effort into the records in the crate. Kinda went a little ham with the different gradients I had saved. And I will admit to half-assing the background a little by just using an old clip studio asset I had for a rock wall and doing some rough shading with the airbrush.

It was still overall fun drawing this one though.

[echoesovershadows]

And the chapter this scene is from has been posted.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/70866966/chapters/220049936

[echoesovershadows]

I get what you're going for with that Cliffjumper post but I must correct you and point out that he has only died first twice in your examples and that's it. Your third example is a literal fantasy.

After Cliffjumper's two parter in the Galaxies mini series, Deathsaurus payed Swindle to hook him up to an immersion couch where he would fantasize about killing Cliffjumper in many, many different ways, which I find hilarious, until he was unceremoniously possessed by Exarchon.

Cliffjumper's actual fate is unknown, IDW2 didn't last as long as I wished, but at the end of his two parter he seemed content with his life and was moving forward.

IDW2's take on Cliffjumper is one of my favorites and I cannot recommend that run enough.

You’re right on that last one not being a ‘Cliffjumper dies first’. I will give you that one.

That said, I’d say that a simulation where he gets killed over and over again, at least to me, still counts as ‘Cliffjumper dies’. And at least that one made it onto the page.

If I recall correctly, he's an off-screen death during the Unicron arc, which I find to be even more pitiful. I will admit, it’s been a while since I read the comic so I may be misremembering.

Either way. Pattern’s still there. When the show or comic needs a ‘shit just got real’ tone setting death, the earlier the better, it’s a disproportionate number of times gonna be Cliffjumper.

And it stands out more because he hasn’t been used as much in recent media outside of ‘cute cameo’ or ‘red shirt’ in comparison to pretty much any other character in the franchise.

I wish I was joking. My dad knows next to nothing about this franchise, but the one time he walked by while I was watching and with him not even knowing who Cliffjumper was the minute he saw him on screen he called him a ‘red shirt’ as in ‘he’s just there to die isn’t he’ and yup Cliff was dead not a minute later.

I will admit I haven’t gotten around to reading IDW2 in earnest so I’m not familiar enough with the material to have any say on the matter. I really should get around to reading that one.😅

[echoesovershadows]

Cliffjumper Death Perception

I just have to ask, why is it always Cliffjumper who dies first?

Like I know he doesn't die all the time, but there's a definite pattern.

Once it's just a thing.

And for the record with Prime, I went into that one still pretty new to the franchise so I did not know who Cliffjumper was. So I didn't get the 'oh the stakes are serious now' reaction, I was just pissed off because they just killed this guy off at the 4:10 mark. I triple checked, that's where the timestamp on mine has Screamer's servo go through Cliffjumper's chest, 4:20 he's on the floor dead.

And then he gets turned into a zombie.

I mean, I get wanting to set a tone and raise the stakes, but there are ways you could have had your cake and eaten it too here. Trust me I can get into a full rant about this one alone, but that is a topic for another day.

Second time it's a coincidence.

And honestly, his appearance in the Bumblebee movie felt like he was just there because 1) he and Bumblebee routinely share toy molds and 2) Prime already set a precedent for Cliffjumper to be the sacrificial lamb.

And by the third time it becomes a pattern.

I just... I don't even know...

Am I missing other deaths of his? Probably. And if there are then it just further proves my point of it being a pattern.

I know he was one of the few original characters to survive the massacre that was the '86 movie. Now he's one of the first to die, and usually quite horribly and with little dignity.

At least the Bumblebee movie gave him some. Prime? That was pitiful.

I mean I know Transformers as a franchise has a history of latching onto something small and making it a bigger thing going forward, but why is this one of those things?

And I think the reason we notice this one as much as we do is because of how few appearances he has as a whole when compared to other characters within the franchise. I personally can only think of 4 times he's existed in official media outside of the original G1 cartoon as a character in anything remotely a meaningful capacity, and he dies in 3 of them.

[snazzy-suit]

So I’ve noticed in a lot of fan fiction that people like to have the ‘bots get down on “eye level” but seeing how friggin’ huge these guys are that would be kinda…difficult?? 

Anyway this is what I always imagine it looks like

[echoesovershadows]

You say that as if that wasn’t what some of us meant it to be in the first place when we write stuff like that. Half the time at least.

[anartisticnerd]

Ive always imagined it as how TFP Optimus canonically crouched down and basically puts his faceplate to the floor to talk to the humans

[echoesovershadows]

And that would be the other half of the time. 😂

[echoesovershadows]

Like Father, Like Son

And of course it would be Nelly Cruz who’d notice the father-son resemblance between them.

So first and foremost, this is my first time drawing robots in earnest, let alone Transformers, and I am still learning. So issues with anatomy and design here are your standard growing pains. Not to mention I used my figurines as reference models. It did help some, but I’m still very much more used to drawing people than I am robots as evident with Nelly in the bottom panel.

Plus, just like the fic, I combined elements from across the franchise instead of replicating one specific version. Which probably didn’t help all that much in the actual drawing part. Maybe. I honestly don’t know.

I didn’t really put that much effort into the records in the crate. Kinda went a little ham with the different gradients I had saved. And I will admit to half-assing the background a little by just using an old clip studio asset I had for a rock wall and doing some rough shading with the airbrush.

It was still overall fun drawing this one though.

[echoesovershadows]

Autobot Music Taste Headcanons

So, given how much I've been using music in general as a thematic throughline and all that, I figured I might as well go over what kind of musical preferences I can seevall the bots, especially my versions of them, finding themselves having.

And also, since in the fic one of the humans, Nelly, has a vinyl collection, I also added what out of said collection would be each character's respective favorite.

Bumblebee

Big on the 80s and 90s sounds. Be they bands or movie soundtracks of the eras, he likes them

Probably not a surprise that Breakfast Club is his favorite movie, and as such also his favorite movie soundtrack with Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds easily his favorite song. No, I will not apologize for making that one his favorite.

More than likely has the radio station that's the local classic hits station as where he keeps his radio on as a default for personal enjoyment.

He also developed a taste for musicals. Big emotions condensed in lyrical form? And as someone who lost his voice box and can no longer fully articulate such big feelings? Yeah, they were like catnip to him, no wonder they appealed to him.

Out of Nelly's vinyl collection, aside from her copy of the Breakfast Club soundtrack he actually likes the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack a lot.

Bulkhead

Metal.

Loud. Distorted guitars. Singers screaming into the mic. Drummers going so hard you'd swear they're breaking their sets. He and Miko love it and love listening to it together.

That said he's not against other kinds of music, mostly what you'd find in action or kaiju movies.

Also, thanks to Miko, a lot of anime soundtracks.

Out of Nelly's vinyl collection, the one Metallica record she's got in there is a favorite. If that one is gonna be played, she'll give Ratchet forewarning before she does so.

Ratchet

A lot calmer selection.

Much prefers full instrumentals and orchestrals over anything with lyrics

Tends to gravitate towards the odd classical but mostly movie soundtracks. Though not heavy action movies with their much louder and faster-paced soundtracks.

Nelly, probably unsurprisingly, has a few Ghibli movie soundtracks on vinyl. He will grudgingly admit those are pretty good.

Wheeljack

Autoshop playlist

Basically, if you've ever walked into an autoshop and heard the mechanics playing their own music, that is basically his thing.

AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Daft Punk; he and Dante essentially share a shop playlist and they make it everyone else's problem when working in the workshop at the base.

Nelly owns the Interstella 5555 and a couple of the Tron soundtracks; those are his go-tos out of her vinyl collection.

Arcee

Initially trickier for me to pin this down, but I think I got a good feel for what her tastes would look like.

Basically, stuff that's fast-paced and gets you moving. The kind of sound that gets the spark rate up but still lets her stay in control.

Mostly the fast alt-rock and post-grunge stuff

Nelly's angry, angsty teen years comes in clutch here, because thanks to that she has MCR's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and Black Parade in her collection, both of which Arcee turns towards for a musical catharsis she desperately needs but refuses to admit to.

Optimus

Didn't go out of his way to find stuff. His exposure was mostly whatever Bee, and later the humans, brought into the base.

Similar tastes with Bee since this was the main initial exposure.

Found himself enjoying bands like Journey, the Beatles, and Queen.

Thanks to the humans, he gets exposed to more early 2000s stuff, and gravitated to the alt/indi that's emotional without being messy.

With Nelly, that means listening to a lot of Hozier and Florence + The Machine

[snazzy-suit]

So I’ve noticed in a lot of fan fiction that people like to have the ‘bots get down on “eye level” but seeing how friggin’ huge these guys are that would be kinda…difficult?? 

Anyway this is what I always imagine it looks like

[echoesovershadows]

You say that as if that wasn't what some of us meant it to be in the first place when we write stuff like that. Half the time at least.

[echoesovershadows]

EOS Bonus/Deleted Scene: Fowler’s Worst Form This Month

So here's a scene that should be taking place after the last chapter, link to it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/70866966/chapters/220042296 I couldn't really find where to put this in without making everything feel clunky or grind everything to a halt. But at the same time, I thought this was funny and had some good character work involved I didn't want it to just disappear in the ether so I gave it an extra little polish and here it is.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

The email hit Agent Fowler’s inbox at 06:14, right in that narrow stretch of morning where the coffee was hot, the building was quiet, and he could still pretend the day might behave itself. Knowing the direction his life had taken, that was a long shot even at the best of times, but he could still hope.

He barely even looked at the subject line.

REQUISITION REQUEST - FOR REVIEW

Which, in fairness, was normal. Annoying, but normal.

At this point, a ‘Requisition Request’ from the Autobots usually meant something irritating but predictable. Another bulk order of replacement window glass for vehicle modes, since apparently fighting Decepticons came with a truly absurd windshield casualty rate. Specialized sealants or industrial-grade cleaners that wouldn’t be available at your standard autoshop. Once, bafflingly, six different types of adhesive because Wheeljack, for some reason, needed the strongest thing he could find, and none of their packaging was clear about how strong they were.

So Fowler took a sip of his coffee, clicked the email open, and started reading without much concern.

Then he choked.

Actually choked.

Coffee hit the wrong pipe hard enough that he had to slap a hand to his chest a couple of times to help clear his airway while his eyes watered.

Because sitting there, in calm black text on a government requisition form, was:

Requested Item: One (1) analogue audio playback device, human-use, non-networked.

Fowler stared at it.

Then leaned in and read it again.

Then sat back slowly in his chair and said, to absolutely no one, “Is Optimus Prime trying to expense a record player?”

The empty office offered no answer.

He scrolled to read the rest of the email.

And somehow it only got worse.

Purpose: Replacement of civilian morale-support equipment destroyed during hostile base incident. Justification: Previous unit lost during Scraplet infestation while supporting continued Autobot operations and civilian stabilization efforts. Secondary Benefits: Positive effect on base atmosphere and Human-Autobot morale observed over repeated use.

Fowler leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for one long moment.

There it was. That particular brand of Prime logic. Calm. Measured. Impossible to argue with without sounding like a complete asshole.

Because, technically?

Technically, he’s not wrong.

The twins had been through hell recently. The base had gone quieter after the old player got scrapped. Nelly’s music had become part of the place, whether anyone wanted to admit it or not. Even Ratchet, for all his grumpiness, had tolerated it because it meant the humans were calmer and Bumblebee was easier to read when he had something playing in the background.

That did not change the fact that Fowler was currently being asked to explain to the U.S. government why a secret desert installation needed a turntable.

He scrolled down to the bottom of the email.

There, neatly appended beneath the request, was a short personal note.

Because of course there was…

Agent Fowler, Penelope Cruz’s music has proven to be a stabilizing presence not only for herself, but for the team as a whole. In light of recent events, restoring that outlet would be beneficial. I understand if this request falls outside standard parameters. -Optimus Prime

Fowler stared at the signature.

“...You knew exactly what you were doing, big guy…”

He hated that the note made it worse.

Because it was polite.

If Optimus had been pushy about it, Fowler could’ve pushed back. If he’d made it sound noble and dramatic, Fowler could have rolled his eyes and told him ‘no’ on principle. But no. The giant alien war hero had to word it like a thoughtful, perfectly reasonable appeal on behalf of an emotionally rattled civilian and a home base that had, in fact, become noticeably less lively without her music.

It was impossible.

And, somehow, completely fair.

Fowler took another sip of coffee, grimaced when he realized it had already gone lukewarm, and pulled up the official requisition form on his computer. He hovered over the classification field for a moment, then snorted to himself.

“Alright,” he muttered. “Let’s see if I can make this still sound true without also sounding stupid…”

He typed:

Civilian Psychological Support Equipment - Non-Digital One-time replacement expense

Then, after a moment’s thought, added a note beneath it:

Destroyed during confirmed hostile incident at Autobot facility. Replacement approved under morale and recovery support.

He looked at that. Then added one more line.

If anyone asks, this is absolutely not a jukebox. And does anyone know what’s even a good pick-up to get?

Fowler stared at the sentence for a beat.

“I mean, if I’m already getting one, I shouldn’t half-ass it, right?”

Before common sense could catch up and stop him, he hit send.

The confirmation ping landed almost immediately.

Five seconds later, his phone buzzed on the desk.

One message.

No greeting. No fanfare.

|Prime: Thank you, Agent Fowler.

Fowler leaned back in his chair, laughed once, dy and disbelieving, and scrubbed a hand over his mouth.

“I just bought a giant alien robot’s teacher friend a record player,” he informed the empty office.

Silence.

Then he took another sip of his coffee and added, “You know what? Not even the weirdest thing this month.”

He moved to check the rest of the emails in his inbox.

Under his breath, still faintly offended by the whole thing, he muttered, “You manipulative blue son of a…”

And because the universe hated him, he was smiling when he said it.

[echoesovershadows]

There’s something that’s been nagging at the back of my mind, and I figured I’d put it out there and ask if it’s just me here:

I wish the transformers characters got the chance to have more down time in canon.

I mean I get it, Transformers is a franchise is an action series and end of the day is meant to sell toys. But then writers put all this effort into making amazing characters and 95% of the time we only ever see them in the middle of a fight or emergency while beating the snot out of each other.

I dunno I just find myself remembering more some of the domestic scenes more than I remember fights from the episodes or heck even the rest of the episode itself.

You say Fire in the Sky and my brain instantly cues up the fact the episode opens with everyone having a snowball fight.

The original movie made a point of showing Hot Rod liked to go fishing with Daniel.

There’s an episode of Armada that has the minicons and later Hot Shot sneak out and have fun at a local carnival. I also remember that we got a lot of scenes over with the Decepticons and what they’re dealing with, and I remember half the time they were entertainingly dysfunctional.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee in Animated are quick to spend time with Sari, from watching TV to playing video games. Sari suggests for Bulkhead to try art and encourages him to pick up painting. And before shit went down the first proper episode after the premiere was just everyone having a slumber party as a way to help them settle in.

Over in Prime I remember more the scene where the bots were helping the kids with their science fair projects or when the kids were racing with the rc toy cars and the bots were all around cheering them on more so the rest of the episodes those scene came from. I also quite vividly remember the episode where Starscream and Knockout accidentally caused a zombie infestation on the nemesis because we got to see more of how they function as a group, albeit still quite dysfunctionally.

At least half of all that is Rescue Bots.

I dunno, and it’s probably just a ‘me’ thing on this front, but down time-for both factions on that matter-gives a chance for the audience to see who the characters are when they’re not in an active firefight. And it’s those kinds of scenes that make the more intense action scenes more fun, at least for me, because you go into them knowing and caring more about the characters involved.

[echoesovershadows]

Holy shit the fic reached its first 100 kudos today!

I’m so glad all of you who read liked this enough to leave them. Those kudos and legit comments really encourage me to keep posting chapters. Thank you all so much.

[echoesovershadows]

Starscream's Characterization over the Years

So as I've been writing and have reached the point of posting this specific stretch of chapters I've been excited about sharing for a while, there's something I've noticed that I just have to ask if this is just me seeing something that might not be there or if anyone else has noticed it too:

Has Starscream overall lost character over the years? And for the most part, now has less than he did in the original G1 cartoon?

I mean it's not just me who's noticed this, right? And it's not like other characters haven't grown and changed across the 40+ year old franchise, so why is it just Starscream being the one who's gone backwards on that?

I dunno, I just felt like I had to get this off my chest before I started posting those chapters, since Starcsream does play a large part in them.

Now, before I get into the evidence, I'm gonna preface this by saying that I have not seen or read every entry in the franchise and I am well aware that there are holes in my timeline.

Generation 1

Starting right at the beginning. The power-hungry backstabbing scheemer Screamer himself that we all know and love. Over the top and hammy with Chris Latta screaming like a banshee and the odd line where he sounded less like Starscream and more like Cobra Comander. Megatron's Second-in-Command and favorite punching bag. Megatron just has to stub his toe and there he is shouting 'Megatron has fallen I'm the leader now'.

There is a reason there's a tv tropes named after him.

This version is from a 80s cartoon meant to sell toys, he didn't need to be more complicated than 'the backstabbing number 2'. It worked and that was all there was to him.

But then Fire in the Sky aired. And we got to see more of him than we initially thought he had.

We get a backstory, a history, a snapshot of a time when he wasn't just a soldier and a Decepticon and instead was a scientist. The way he was when they found Skyfire in the ice and the way he talked about and to him was I think the softest his voice ever got during the entire show. He was just happy to have his best friend back. He even made a point of saying when he finally usurps Megatron, he wants Skyfire by his side as his second.

And when Skyfire rejects both him and the Decepticons as a whole, Starscream's pissed and heartbroken at the same time. Which, to be fair, understandible reactions from both characters in this situation.

But here's the thing. This is character development that sticks. Which is a rarity for a syndicated cartoon of that era. The whole point of syndication was that episodes could air whenever and no one would be alienated from the story because every episode resets the status quo by the time the credits rolled. Characters going through an arc or gaining any form of long-term development? Unheard of.

And yet every episode where Starscream and Skyfire shared the screen afterwards had Starscream particularly vindictive towards Skyfire and expressing a level of animosity he usually saves for Megatron. Even when there are other Autobots that have done things much worse and much more recently to him than Skyfire's rejection was.

So, yeah, safe to say he didn't take the break-up well in the slightest...

Beast Wars

He showed up here, so it still counts. Plus the episode he was in was genuinely a good one and this is my post so I'm gonna talk about it whether you like it or not.

And yeah he's his usual self and understandably not happy about being a ghost. But during the episode, you can see better why he's the Cons' number 2 guy because despite everything he does seem to know what he's doing for the most part.

Although that episode did more for BW!Megatron and some of the other characters there with how they interacted with him then it did for Starscream's character. BW!Megatron showed he had a much lower tolerance for Starscream's BS than his G1 namesake ever did, and honestly that kinda made me appreciate both a lot more.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention how sexy David Kaye's performance was.

Armada/Unicron Trilogy

And we all knew a Starscream character dissection wouldn't be complete if it didn't hit this point. He's a fan favorite to many for a reason and I am no exception. I do need to point out although Armada was not my introduction to the character, that doesn't change the fact I like this one and he's tied for my favorite version of him.

And I can see the whiplash fans who had this version be their intro to the character and then see how he is everywhere else. I had the same thing happen to me with Wheeljack.

But Armada's version? I think the reason I like him so much is the fact they were able to keep a lot of his core elements of being a scheemer and a traitor while also turning him into a Noble Demon character archetype... which I will admit to having a bit of a bias towards since that is easily one of my favorite types of characters.

Look there are dozens of video essays on Youtube that go in depth on why this version works that can articulate it better than I could ever. This one is easily my favorite: The Anime That Made Starscream A Tragic Autobot and Decepticon by Comodin Cam

Just know that this version was interesting, fun, the bond he formed with Alexis especially was adorable and heartwarming, and I was crying my eyes out when he made that final sacrifice to stop Unicron. This was perfect.

And then Energon ruined him.

Now I know how everyone feels about Energon. And I agree that this one is bad.

BUT

I personally see this one as not pure bad as some others would say, but more like wasted potential. There was a solid foundation here, just ruined by exceptionally bad writing and execution. A 'good blueprints, bad builders' situation if that makes sense.

With better writing we could have gotten something good out of Starscream here. But as is we just got a zombie essentially, and coming off the heels of Armada that was just pitiful.

And Cybertron basically had him back to G1 scheeming backstabber normal.

Which, at least in English, they made a point of establishing that this is the same Starscream as the one from Armada...? Yeah that's one case of any character he had or gained being tossed in the trash...

Bayverse

Like many my age, these movies were my initial introduction to the franchise. Although I think it's safe to say that while everyone else walked in through the front door, I dove in through a side window.

But that is a potential topic for a later date. We are talking about Starscream here.

What do I even say about this guy.

I think the most memorable thing about him characterwise is the fact he gets killed by Sam. At least that's all I can remember about him And that's not a good sign.

And while yes he looks like ass, pretty much everyone in these movies does, a little behind-the-scenes info I heard makes it not better but I can see what they were trying to do here. Apparently, when designing everyone for these movies what they tried to with the character designs was have all the bots be eye-level with one another. But when it came to Starscream the jet-wings introduced a lot of extra mass they had to figure out where to put when he was in root-mode. And since they couldn't put it in his height they had to put it into his width, resulting in him looking like a silver dorito.

At least to me, Starscream looked better than Ratchet did. The neon green ambulance was not a good look on him. Ratch looked like he wanted to throw up every time he was on screen.

Animated

Now we're getting into my actual childhood.

Yes the first bay movie introduced me, but Animated got me hooked. And this demon-possessed SpongeBob was my proper introduction to the character.

And he is a coniving egotistical backstabber who unapologetically relishes in his villainy. Honestly he was entertaining. And season 1 finale, that scene between him and Bumblebee? I was genuinely terrified that he was going to rip out Bee's voicebox and make him mute like in the movie.

And then first chance Megatron got he did not hesitate to obliterate Screamer. Honestly, I respect this version of Megatron.

Seasons 2 and 3? That immortality provided for some creative Starscream abuse and the clones were interesting in concept but I feel it didn't go far enough in execution. They're all apparently individual facets of his personality, but outside of jokes and added cannon fodder I don't recall the show really doing anything with that. So we were left with a fun, but ultimately flat character.

Prime/Aligned continuity

So before we get into this section, there will be holes. I do not have the time nor money to hunt down supplemental material that might paint a fuller picture, especially when certain things like the books and games are out of print.

So this guy is the other favorite. Yeah I'm basic like that, but I'm not gonna lie about liking what I do. Probably helps that thanks to Steve Blum this is also easily the sexiest he's ever sounded too...

And for once, he was pretty consistently intimidating. And thanks to the performance he can get slimy too there's actually some teeth to the mech when he's scheeming about getting rid of Megatron.

But, as much as I love this show, I will not hesitate to point out the flaws in the writing and Starscream is no exception on that front. Because the show makes him, consistently, and idiot. Sure this one can hold his own in a fight and can actually pull one over on others, but at the same time there I was sitting at home watching and thinking 'you clearly didn't think that through, did you'.

Credit where credit is due, at least he was smarter than Megatron was in this show, but that is a low bar.

And to be honest I barely watched any of RID, just know he showed up in that at some point and Bee got to channel his inner Terry McGinnis for once instead of season 1 Ron Stoppable.

Yeah... when even the evil sword says you're pathetic that does not speak well of you...

IDW 2005

This was a huge step in the right direction.

I will admit I have not finished reading all of IDW. Honestly when phase 2 did the split I kinda neglected their RID side of it and was more interested in MTMTE/LL overall, but I've read enough to get a picture here.

And not a surprise we start with the usual. The scheemer trying to take the Decepticon throne from Megatron.

But then we get the Spotlight: Megatron issue. At this point, Starscream actually has taken control of the Decepticons and has realized it is not all it was cracked up to be. He's seriously rattled and at his wits end and nothing he's doing it working and it all has been getting worse and worse around him. That's how Megatron finds him: already pushed past his limits and very much welcoming death. I know this issue is focusing on Megatron - hence the name of the issue - and his side of the relationship he has with Starscream, but it also does a lot of character work for Screamer too.

And that carries over into Phase 2 as well. Dude actually winds up running the planet. And he for the most part actually does a fairly decent job. But it's not all smooth sailing and he's dealing with a lot of PTSD at the same time.

Honestly, from what I read a lot of the phase 2 characterization felt like a retread of Armada, or at least gave the impression of the writers trying to get the usual Starscream we all know to a similar point.

Still, a much-needed step in the right direction.

Earthspark

Which was then promptly ruined.

I will be honest, when they dropped the ball in season 2 onwards, I dropped the show too. Life is too short to watch something bad.

Which is a shame because season 1, despite it's flaws, started so strong. The addressing of how unhealthy the relationship between him and Megatron was and the PTSD it's left in him. The relationship he formed with Hashtag. The fact that he rallied the other Decepticons to rescue the Terrans in the season finale when they were all in danger. Hell getting Steve Blum back in the booth counts as a win for me.

He's not a good person, but he has standards and lines he wouldn't cross. And with the relationship he formed with Hashtag, I dunno that to me looked like the opening of a potential redemption arc for him.

And then season 2 onwards just threw everything in the trash once again and this time he didn't even feel like Starscream anymore, more like any old generic villain. In short: bad. Just like the rest of the show.

Seriously Earthspark, you are the only show - period, not just Transformers - that managed to get your hands on Keith David and waste him.

TFOne

I mean he was there. Steve Buscemi was picture-perfect casting.

But I got the impression he was only there to get his butt whooped by D-16 and only because Starscream is a recognizable character. The role he fills, narratively speaking, could easily have been given to any other character or to a new one made up just for the movie and I don't think it would have made any difference to the story.

It's just Starscream because by this point he is just as much a face of the franchise as Optimus and Megatron and Bumblebee are, and we expect if Megatron is going to be beating anyone up for it to be Starscream.

Cyberworld

I mean credit where credit is due, I like that they gave him his crown from the first movie. But if it weren't for the ego and the design I would have barely recognized him as Starscream at first. That's how little character he had.

He got a little better in later episodes, but to me half the time Mirage felt more like classic Starscream than Starscream did.

So overall where do we stand. Are the noticeable holes? Yes, I will not deny that. But is there still a noticeable trend? I certainly see one.

Anyone else?

[echoesovershadows]

In Defence of Miko Nakadai

So, given the fact that it's Prime's 15th anniversary, some of the old discourse has decided to resurface. And one of the big ones I've been seeing lately has been about this girl here.

Yup, everyone's going off about how annoying and an irresponsible brat she was and how much they hate her and...

I don't blame anyone for hating her.

She was a brat. She was irresponsible and constantly running headlong into danger. She was causing more problems than she solved. She had a stable home life, and she went out of her way to ignore her parents, both birth and host. She was clearly privileged and well off and was easily the biggest pain in the neck of the humans in Prime.

And yet the title of this post is in defence of her.

Because something I've not seen in any of the recent discourse, though I could be wrong about this since I've not seen everyone's hat that had been thrown into the ring, is the fact that they are forgetting about one little detail that reframes all of Miko's behavior.

She's from Japan. Tokyo specifically, if I'm not mistaken.

A country whose culture is particularly strict in terms of academics and limiting of self-expression and discovery.

Back home, she would have been living with heavy pressures to perform with academic excellence, shoved into a school system with infamously strict regulations on appearance and conduct, and little if any free time outside of school to even try and figure herself out in a safe environment. Add to the fact that she described herself as having gone to an elite school and taking piano lessons? Yeah, this is a very restricted and repressed teen we have here.

I'm not even kidding about how strict the schools can be over there. Some high schools will even make naturally brown-haired students dye their hair black just for the sake of uniformity among all students.

So her coming to the US as an exchange student is probably the first time in her 15 years of life where she had the freedom to express herself and experiment with her interests.

She's finally allowed to be loud and not have someone tell her off for it. She's finally allowed to take up space and not be punished for it. She has the freedom to wear whatever she wants to school. She's allowed to dye her hair crazy colors and put it up in crazy styles.

She swapped out playing piano for a guitar. She developed a taste for metal music, something that is a niche over in Japan, shriek metal even more so. And the fact her favorite band in the show is Slash Monkey, a Bulgarian shriek metal band? Yeah she 100% discovered their music after coming to the US.

And here's another thing everyone has been doing when calling Miko a brat. They're comparing her to Jack and Raf and pointing out how they're much calmer and less rebellious by comparison. Which on one hand, fair. But on the other, Jack and Raf grew up in the US. They'd've already had a chance to experiment with self-expression, faced consequences for bad decisions, and learned boundaries long before the show ever started. Meanwhile, Miko is learning all of this for the first time at 15.

Is she going crazy? Hell yes. But is this also the first time she's had the freedom to go crazy? Also yes. And as her first time going crazy, she doesn't know where the line is or even how to judge where it. That's more of a learned skill, one she clearly never had a chance to develop until now.

She’s not an irresponsible brat because she’s spoiled or privileged.

She’s irresponsible because she has had zero practice navigating freedom compared to the others.

She’s a teenager doing a crash course in autonomy after being bottled up for 15 years.

Do not get me wrong, I found her to be grating and annoying in the show proper too, especially in the earlier episodes, and I’m someone who liked her. But context does reframe her behavior in a way that I can look back and appreciate her a bit more now than I did as a teenager myself.

[echoesovershadows]

So, rewatching and through others also doing so alongside me trying to write for her in the fic proper, I've been reminded that a common issue is that Miko doesn't grow and learn from her own actions, and if she does it's negligible at best.

When she does gain some development, it's after a good season and a half and after Bulkhead gets badly injured. But what growth she does gain gets reset after a couple of episodes and she's more or less back where she started(similar thing with Bulkhead's recovery, but that's it's own can of worms in and of itself).

The biggest issue, at least to me, is the one time she actually gains any growth is not by learning from her own actions.

And it could be because the writers relied too much on making her get into trouble for plot. And yeah, I'll admit to being guilty of that myself. How she is in canon makes her way too easy a target and a 'reliable' of a writing tool to create conflict.

But that's the beauty of us fanfic writers. We can take the parts we like and fix the parts we don't. So that's what I've done with Miko here. She's still recognizably Miko, but I'm making sure she learns from her own actions, suffers consequences from them, and the lessons stick.

And those are coming right up. If you haven't already, now's the time to catch up before those chapters drop on Friday.

[echoesovershadows]

In Defence of Miko Nakadai

So, given the fact that it's Prime's 15th anniversary, some of the old discourse has decided to resurface. And one of the big ones I've been seeing lately has been about this girl here.

Yup, everyone's going off about how annoying and an irresponsible brat she was and how much they hate her and...

I don't blame anyone for hating her.

She was a brat. She was irresponsible and constantly running headlong into danger. She was causing more problems than she solved. She had a stable home life, and she went out of her way to ignore her parents, both birth and host. She was clearly privileged and well off and was easily the biggest pain in the neck of the humans in Prime.

And yet the title of this post is in defence of her.

Because something I've not seen in any of the recent discourse, though I could be wrong about this since I've not seen everyone's hat that had been thrown into the ring, is the fact that they are forgetting about one little detail that reframes all of Miko's behavior.

She's from Japan. Tokyo specifically, if I'm not mistaken.

A country whose culture is particularly strict in terms of academics and limiting of self-expression and discovery.

Back home, she would have been living with heavy pressures to perform with academic excellence, shoved into a school system with infamously strict regulations on appearance and conduct, and little if any free time outside of school to even try and figure herself out in a safe environment. Add to the fact that she described herself as having gone to an elite school and taking piano lessons? Yeah, this is a very restricted and repressed teen we have here.

I'm not even kidding about how strict the schools can be over there. Some high schools will even make naturally brown-haired students dye their hair black just for the sake of uniformity among all students.

So her coming to the US as an exchange student is probably the first time in her 15 years of life where she had the freedom to express herself and experiment with her interests.

She's finally allowed to be loud and not have someone tell her off for it. She's finally allowed to take up space and not be punished for it. She has the freedom to wear whatever she wants to school. She's allowed to dye her hair crazy colors and put it up in crazy styles.

She swapped out playing piano for a guitar. She developed a taste for metal music, something that is a niche over in Japan, shriek metal even more so. And the fact her favorite band in the show is Slash Monkey, a Bulgarian shriek metal band? Yeah she 100% discovered their music after coming to the US.

And here's another thing everyone has been doing when calling Miko a brat. They're comparing her to Jack and Raf and pointing out how they're much calmer and less rebellious by comparison. Which on one hand, fair. But on the other, Jack and Raf grew up in the US. They'd've already had a chance to experiment with self-expression, faced consequences for bad decisions, and learned boundaries long before the show ever started. Meanwhile, Miko is learning all of this for the first time at 15.

Is she going crazy? Hell yes. But is this also the first time she's had the freedom to go crazy? Also yes. And as her first time going crazy, she doesn't know where the line is or even how to judge where it. That's more of a learned skill, one she clearly never had a chance to develop until now.

She’s not an irresponsible brat because she’s spoiled or privileged.

She’s irresponsible because she has had zero practice navigating freedom compared to the others.

She’s a teenager doing a crash course in autonomy after being bottled up for 15 years.

Do not get me wrong, I found her to be grating and annoying in the show proper too, especially in the earlier episodes, and I’m someone who liked her. But context does reframe her behavior in a way that I can look back and appreciate her a bit more now than I did as a teenager myself.