Spoiler: MTMTE 53 I wonder what Megs is actually afraid of, though. We've all dissected how he's a hypocrite, and I don't think he's fully lying about his motives because lord knows people can be contradictory, but I think there's something very important he's not saying. But the thing is, I can't decide if he's afraid he'll enjoy the battle, or afraid he won't? Because what does either say about him, or about the Fool's Energon? EDIT: Basically, I don't think Megs is scared of anything physical. They're already going to get swarmed by a bunch of bloodthirsty warriors with a grudge. If he was scared of getting physically hurt or dying, fighting back is the logical action to take. So it's mental/emotional. And I think it all ties back to the Fool's Energon and Megatron's changes in stance. If he enjoys fighting, he could lose control. He likes self-control. Could he really lose control? Maybe, maybe not, but I could see the idea of that being unsettling. If he abstains, he's still in control of himself. If he fights and doesn't enjoy it, does that mean the Fool's Energon has been altering his emotional state? To Megatron, who is so, so terrified of being altered by outside sources, I think that confirmation is something he cannot handle at this point. He told Lottie he didn't care anymore, but frankly, that's a fucking load of horseshit. He enjoys who he is now, but he doesn't want that to be 'artificial'. He's wrapping this up in hypocritcal, moralistic arguments because either he doesn't want to admit to himself that the great Megatron of Tarn is scared, or he cannot show that to other people. Either is understandable given his character, but really fucking dumb circumstantially, because they need him to fight, his crew needs him, and if he was any sort of leader, he'd back that up over his own (understandable) angst.
Spoiler: MTMTE 53 I think it's the former, but who knows. He lived most of his life in personal combat, a lot of it of his own volition, and there was the whole claiming to hate who he became. In previous depictions he certainly seemed to relish fighting, both as a means to assert himself and for the act itself.
Somehow this tangentially reminds me of the whole omniglobe portion of the war, about which I have a lot of questions because ??? What kind of surveillance/awareness capability did these globe things have?! It's reminding me of To the Stars and humanity's developed ability to share conscious thought on a fleet-wide basis with both humans and AIs so the commanders can keep track of all the casualties and troop movements o_o
I interrupt your meta discussion with CD/RW feelings Spoiler: Wolke 4 original lyrics [Refrain] Lass uns die Wolke vier bitte nie mehr verlassen Weil wir auf Wolke sieben viel zu viel verpassen Ich war da schon ein Mal, bin zu tief gefallen Lieber Wolke vier mit Dir als unten wieder ganz allein [1. Strophe] Ziemlich gut, wie wir das so gemeistert haben Wie wir die großen Tage unter kleinen Dingen begraben Der Moment der die Wirklichkeit maskiert Es tut nur gut zu wissen, dass das wirklich funktioniert [Refrain] [2. Strophe] Hab nicht gesehen, was da vielleicht noch kommt Was am Ende dann mein Leben und mein kleines Herz zerbombt Denn der Moment ist das, was es dann zeigt, dass die Tage ziemlich dunkel sind Doch Dein Lächeln bleibt. Doch Dein Lächeln bleibt… [Refrain] [Outro] Lieber Wolke vier mit Dir als unten wieder ganz allein Lieber Wolke vier mit Dir als unten wieder ganz allein Spoiler: Translation [Chorus] Let us never leave cloud four again, please because up on cloud nine too much will pass us by I've been up there once, I fell too deep Prefer cloud four with you to being on the ground alone [1st stanza] Pretty great, how we managed to do this How we have the big days covered up with tiny things The moment that completely masks reality It's good to know, that all of this actually works [Chorus] [2nd stanza] I haven't seen what might come up from now What will, in the end, bomb my life and my little heart Because the moment is what shows to me, that our days remain pretty dark But your smile remains. But your smile remains… [Chorus] [Outro] Prefer cloud four with you to being on the ground alone Prefer cloud four with you to being on the ground alone
My main question about the omniglobe portion of the war is why did they stop. They devastated thousands of worlds, probably lost millions upon millions of soldiers due to this, but why did they stop? What profit did they gain by giving up that sort of information input? Or was it simply too much strain on them? Were they afraid of becoming like Prowl or Soundwave? What do they gain by giving up knowledge?
Seriously, information is the lifeblood of a campaign. Especially one spread out across so much space, but I think you already noted one reason why they had to stop - "millions upon millions" of mechs died, and eventually they started running out of sparks and probably all the other raw materials needed to keep generating that scale of war. Depending on how Cybertronian brains work, stretching their consciousness that much for however long the omniglobe era lasted probably wasn't doing Megatron or Optimus' health any favors - unless they were swapping out to take the occasional break, maintaining that level of awareness of such minute details at all times might have just sapped them down to nothing. Once the population dwindled enough and the fronts fragmented and people started to go missing or just drop off the radar, omniglobes probably got shelved. Strain + the war couldn't be sustained at the intensity that the omniglobes were designed to accommodate But the fact that they existed at all? Damn, son
Like, micromanaging the war like that is just unsustainable. How was OP making decisions? How did delegating work? Was he taking into account advice from other Autobots in command like Prowl, or making each and every call on each and every battle field personally? Was he aware of any war crimes being committed during that period? Was he just feeding that vast influx of information to people like Prowl to make decisions, like a filter for all the raw data? How much autonomy did the people whose energon levels were being monitored have in this scenario? Any of these scenarios seems exhausting even in the short term, and nigh-immortal alien robots don't really do short-term. OP probably took a massive, permanent mental health/spoons hit after going through it, because holy hell. Makes me wonder who went into an omniglobe first, OP or Megatron - and who got out first /slams fists against the table/ Dark IDW show me the forbidden complete timeline of the four million years of civil war down to the exact date of major developments like this I thirst
Triple post, time for a quality shitpost Prowl: /slams open omniglobe door/ Optimus we have word Megatron left his giant bouncy ball to take a bath for the first time in three hundred years. Come out, we have food. OP: I stopped being able to feel my face fifty years ago.
Oh, this is interesting. I'm at a panel on utopias and dystopias, and the speaker is talking about marxism and the ways the state treats the individual under that system of government (particularly when it's a forced social shift instead of something slow and natural) and why it tends to foster unrest. I don't know enough politics to repeat this very well, but it sounds a LOT like applying functionist philosophy to human beings
@IvyLB made me post it, i just wanted to make them laugh (during translation, i noticed how its kinda a dominus ambus song as well) Spoiler: Accingite Vos: Lyrics Tradidit in mortem animam suam et inter sceleratos reputatus est. Accingite vos sacerdotes, et plangite ministri altaris aspergite vos cinere. Spoiler: translation [He] delivered his soul to Death and was counted among the heinous Prepare yourself, you sacrificers, and weep servans of the altar cover yourself with ashes
please imagine a skids/getaway video set this song Spoiler about their infiltration tyrest's base Temperature is dropping, temperature is dropping, I'm not sure if I can see this ever stopping, Shaking hands with the dark parts of my thoughts, no, You are all that I've got, no. Don't forget about me, Don't forget about me, Even when I doubt you, I'm no good without you, no, no, no, no, no Gnawing on the bishops, claw our way up their system, Repeating simple phrases, someone holy insisted, I want the markings made on my skin, To mean something to me again, Hope you haven't left without me. Hope you haven't left without me, please.
I am pretty sure it wasn't Ultra Magnus or Prowl. UM was a field commander, and maybe also a slightly independent agent as the DAEotTA. Prowl was an intelligence officer and strategist. Ironhide makes sense as 2IC. Maybe Bumblebee toward the end of the war.
I think there's some stuff said in phase one about how Ironhide should have had a command, and he was senior enough and experienced enough and had the right connections, but he preferred to stay on a similar level with the soldiers. I may be remembering that wrong, though.
important question: would whirl have a doduo or a dodrio in his pokemon team imagine a pissed off dodrio with an eyepatch on each head
Given how power passed to Bumblebee whenever OP was off someplace else (missing, presumed dead, or otherwise) I'd assume that made him OP's second in command. It also reflects better thematically against Satrscream in exRID.
Ultra Magnus Arrests Himself: the IRC crack ft. @IvyLB and @Petra Spoiler loq: I think technically [OC] has broken the tyrest accord, specifically the bit about not giving cybertronian tech to other species :P Petra: ultra magnus arrests her Petra: the end Petra: rp is over IvyLB: i love how easy it is to break the tyrest accord in that corner IvyLB: are you kinda lowkey friends with an organic and give them a trinket? loq: this is why ultra magnus doesn't get to sleep ever Petra: 'I HAVE FINALLY CAUGHT THE DREADED PINWHEEL PROCURER' IvyLB: WEE-OOO-WEEE-OOO hot cop is coming for your ass Petra: ...wait Petra: does that mean Petra: ultra magnus broke it Petra: with verity probably IvyLB: YES IvyLB: PROBABLY Petra: ultra magnus arrests himself Petra: everyone is very confused IvyLB: okay but IvyLB: but /how/ does he arrest himself IvyLB: how uncomfortably kinky does it suddenly get Petra: he gets out of the armor Petra: and cuffs it IvyLB: OMFG Petra: then runs IvyLB: "ULTRA MAGNUS COMMITTED THE CRIME BUT MINIMUS AMBUS IS FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" Petra: for the crime of giving verity like Petra: a cybertronian brainteaser Petra: for educational purposes Petra: a rubik's cube the size of her head
More notes on the Autobot chain of command: there doesn't seem to be a clear 2IC, at least not in issue #2 of the original ongoing when Optimus stepped down (the first time) to surrender himself to Skywatch. The other Autobots elect a new leader, who ends up being Bumblebee, but there wasn't someone who would naturally step into place. I'm not entirely sure who Autobot High Command was in the time of the war; when Optimus stepped down again at the end of the war, leadership lay with Prowl, Rodimus and Bumblebee, but of the three both Bumblebee and Rodimus only got authority during the latter part of the war on Earth.
