Triggered
send me ‘ triggered ‘ and i will explain one of my muse’s triggers. what caused them to have it, how they react when triggered by it, how they try to avoid this trigger if possible.
tw for mentions of physical abuse
You wouldn’t expect this from a big and tough guy like Thundercracker, who almost put a guy in the hospital for hitting Rosanna, but he’s afraid of being beaten, especially by an authority figure. Not of physical fights, this mech is more than willing to get violent to protect himself or his loved ones. But you put him under someone who has a temper, and could overpower him, Thunder acts completely different.
It’s obvious Megatron has a lot to do with this. Deleted audio from the G1 cartoon featured a scene where TC and Skywarp were caught complaining and chastised, and presumably physically punished, by Megatron for it. Thunder’s voice trembles, saying he won’t do it again. Aside from that cocky moment TC had calling Megatron and Starscream geeks (a moment he soon regretted), he’s never stepped out of line since then. It’s not a problem with all authority, since he talks back to Starscream, who was also above him, and would probably fight back if Star attacked; it’s just Megatron, because TC knows he’s no match for the warlord.
It goes further than this, though. Thunder was ‘trained’ into obedience very early in his Decepticon career. Pre-war, he had more of his own voice and even broke the rules often to do what he wanted. But once he fell under the command of Steel Fist, everything changed. Steel Fist wasn’t as physically strong as Megatron, but his temper was the same, and to a newly recruited Seeker with little combat training, it was enough to turn him into the loyal soldier we see in the cartoon.
Thankfully, he’s rarely ever put in this position; all his bosses so far have been reasonable. But say TC does have to work under someone threatening and temperamental. Thunder completely shrinks and becomes as quiet and obedient as a trained dog. His wings stay low and he gets a little shakier/nervous as he works, which gets even worse the closer he works to his superior, even if this superior isn’t necessarily violent, just very angry and intimidating. TC lost his voice and can’t speak up, he can’t run because it’s official work, he feels trapped like during the war. All he can really do is avoid the mech as much as possible and keep his head down, hoping he can float under the radar again. If this authority change is permanent, he’ll look for another job.