I yap a bit about the datsun bros and a lot about smokescreen
This is gonna be kinda long, so im gonna put a cut after the first paragraph LMAO
*breathes in deep* SO I dunno where the idea of specifically prowl, blue n smokey being brothers came from, seeing as barricade shares a frametype i believe (and im sure theres other similar (praxian?) characters), but boy am i glad it exists. I love how all their personalities interact. My favourite dynamic is prowl being the oldest, followed by smokey, followed by blue as the youngest. I love seeing how they all care for each other (and express that care) in different ways.
My favourite tropes are seeing prowl overwork himself and having his brothers notice and help, seeing the ways smokey becomes more genuine when he deals with his family, and seeing blue get fussed over and his brothers getting proud (and protective) when his scary sniper side shows.
For smokey specifically, i love seeing how he wrangles his brothers to do less ..savoury things (but never crossing the line for their moral compasses), and i love seeing how he might deal with his own decisions knowing his family wouldnt agree with them. Would he hide it from them? Would he hint at them but never fully disclose his shady side? Does prowl know the specifics of his deal seeing as he's often portrayed to be close with jazz, another shady bastard? Does blue know??
In one of the idw comics, the first thing he says in his intro scene is (upon being questioned where he'd been) was smth along the lines of 'haha id tell you but then id have to kill you. Lol' leaving the rest to be like ??? In another instance I think he also mentions he was working for someone at a certain point in time, and when another character interrupts, because wasn't he supposed to be doing this other job at that time? he's like really? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ anyway... and then he moves on. THIS GUYYYY *grabs him by the throat and shakes
What i also like is that he feel like a more low-key jazz. Jazz is the literal head of sec ops, he's the spyiest spy of the autobots, and others might feel disarmed by his charm and playfulness but you know he's still incredibly dangerous. Smokey on the other hand is about as threatening as that one coworker who spends too much on blind boxes and will haggle with you on who buys everyone bubble tea for that day. You've exchanged instagrams and you don't realise it but he's noticed that one post you made seven months ago saying things you maybe shouldn't have against your old coworker. He won't ever mention it but it's part of your character profile now. Do you get me
He's not one for close combat, something his job title (diversionary tactician) and smoke ability support. Maybe you could call him a coward. Maybe you could say he's got a healthy understanding of his limits. But, if we're adding a bit of tfp characterisation, maybe he gets a bit reckless and daring when enshrouded in his smoke. Maybe his bright colours aren't all natural but something he chose for himself because he likes them. Maybe he used to be more naive and honest but experiences (TM) have changed him.
In his tfwiki, his photo description reads: 'Liar. Cheater. Compulsive gambler. Meet Heroic Autobot Smokescreen, kids!' And ik it could be going for a sort of irony that this kids show character, who's supposedly a good guy, is so dubious, but i loooove this description. I feel like it showcases such a fun dichotomy where even though smokey really is all those negative things, he's also a decent person, who's good in his own right. AHHHHHHHHHHGk
Man. I just love it when characters are pretty normal when you first look at them, and then you realise that half the things they say wouldn't hold up to deeper scrutiny, but other characters just let it slide cos that's just how this guy works, yknow. He can't control his gambling habits and you see him like twice every orn, so overall he's chill. But then you go on his tfwiki and he discreetly reports the status of the army to optimus prime himself. AHHHHHGGHHH???
This is why I love fics that explore this idea. Like in MoMU, smokey is the head of...internal affairs, I believe? And in Third Wheel and Playing the Long Odds, he's actually good friends with OP, and his reports sometimes feel more like gossip sessions. I love the idea that despite appearing as a regular soldier, he holds hidden responsibilities that he's specially suited to uphold. I also love how he gets adopted into the spec ops fold in Third Wheel but the others don't even know that he's been a proper spy long before that. I love that smokey clearly thinks it's fun, because spying is something close to gambling, except it's his life on the line. Wow, is that healthy? Well compared to some other characters he's the sterling standard of mental health, so. it's fiiiiiine
ok to end off this post because holy yap, i have things to do. i also just really like smokey's design. i feel like if you looked at bluestreak and smokescreen without knowing who they are, you would guess that they're the opposite. not just because of their names (bluestreak: he's blue cos it's literally in his name, smokescreen: smoke is grey, he should be grey too) but cos of their personality. smokey has an arguably decepticon-like morality with a suave personality, and the elegant grey and red colour scheme along with the red optics could help accentuate that. bluestreak is bright and talkative, and a loud and I'd say heroic colour scheme (matching optimus) would showcase that well. BUT NO they're SWAPPED which is so interesting,,,,, ough
HASBRO‼️‼️ USE SMOKESCREEN AS THE AUTOBOTS INTERNAL SPY AND I'LL GIVE YOU MY SOUL‼️ PLEASE ITS SUCH AN INTERESTING PART OF HIS CHARACTER AND ITS LITERALLY NEVER BEEN USED BEFORE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE‼️
killing optimus for real and letting hot rod become the next prime for real could set up suchhhhhhh an interesting dynamic between elita and rodimus. elita’s husband(?) just died and now, while she’s still grieving, this young punk has replaced him and taken the mantle of prime. does she hate him for it? does she sympathize? does she pity him because he’s clearly struggling with a leadership role that was pushed onto him? all of the above? hot rod looked up to optimus, does he look up to elita in optimus’s absence? does he seek her guidance? does he feel guilty for doing so, knowing that shes grieving? it could be sooooo interesting if hasbro wasnt lame and boring
::Something close,:: Soundwave agrees, curling close, tucking Blaster under his chin. If he could, he thinks he would slot the box right into his dock. That if he could fit him in there, and keep him in the safest spot that exists, Soundwave would.
I just had a dream about your spec ops, specifically that you had made a trailer animation of them with their voice claims and dropping the name of your AU.
Things I remember:
Mirage wielding a sword.
Mirage falling in water and Hound jumping in to pull him back up. (My brain helpfully provided that he’s an “ALL terrain” vehicle and he swam in the G1 cartoon so it makes sense.)
Hound absentmindedly fixing Mirages cloak (which he has?) for him as they’re talking afterwards and Mirage looks like an extremely pissed off wet cat. Doesn’t even acknowledge Hound helping him they just keep talking about what they’re talking about as he does it.
Hound talking to a bunch of human kids and they use horrible slang, and Hound responds perfectly normally like he understands as Mirage looks in horror and Jazz stares, both of theme standing a little ways away.
Bee and Mirage having a brief super cool fight scene.
Mirage speaking Japanese for like 2 seconds.
genuinely this is how that interaction would have gone