Spoiler: mtmte 57 I would like to thank not only god but also jesus for the beautiful facial expressions goldmine of prowl in this issue. I have basically no idea what the fuck is even going on but I can't even say I mind because all of this is incredibly adorable and Red Alert is perfect and Fort Max is perfect and Cerebros is perfect and I ship Max/Cere and Prowl is finally taking a vacation and learning how to do a social I am so fucking glad.
Spoiler: taao 4 - I'll miss Chromia a lot, but I'm glad the blackmail plot isn't getting dragged out for another twenty issues. One thing the politics in this series has over exRID is that everything moves fast, like speed chess with explosions. Who's going to watch Windblade's back now? And did they just shiptease Chromia/Ironhide? - Wheeljack running from explosions because he knows what genre he's in = <3 - Okay, Wheeljack could also be running because he's a mad scientist who knows when to duck, and that is <3 <3 <3 - I also love that Windblade's determination that everybody lives keeps biting her in the ass. It's heartbreaking and a great reminder that her idealism wasn't as broken by the war, and that she'd probably be much happier if she could be on the Lost Light instead. She and Tailgate could bond over going "is this a war thing? what even? why do?" She could give Nautica hugs. - Despite going "oh Starscream no" a lot, I'm worried for him. The whole homeostasis where Windblade grudgingly tolerates his bullshit is going out of whack and he doesn't seem to know. This is going to explode in his face so hard. - The flashback panel where Starscream lurks in Swindle's apartment (ceiling!bot is watching you) was redrawn to better reflect the art style, and I am pleased. I'm also pleased that Starscream is still lounging on the sofa like "the camera turned on by itself, I'm not a model." You do you, Starscream, you terrible disaster child.
Spoiler: 57 text at the end i think it was random except for MTMTE 2012 - 2016! a little end card :')
ALSO ALSO Spoiler: 56 57 NEW SHIP NEW SHIP NEW SHIP HE'S SO DISTRAUGHT!! he wants max to like him!!!! AND THEN THIS???? WHAT THE FUCK?? THIS IS ABSURD!!! this is the cutest motherfucking thing i have ever seen in my life!!! gentle soap-bubble boop look how gentle max's expression is....... i cannot deal with this also prowl is a gift, i am super proud of red, and this whole plot seems to have been resolved way too easily so i am Suspicion ALSO ALSO PROWL HAS PUT HIMSELF IN TIME OUT!!!!! PROWL REDEMPTION ARC
edit: agghhh, delayed by forum outages and meetings, but I have been stewing in these emotions for a couple hours now, and everything is gr8 double edit: and I think the forum posted a duplicate of the first half of this in a separate post or something? not actually sure, hopefully fixed now Spoiler: mtmte 57 I am really enjoying this issue so far, but I have the giggles over Prowl, so I'm putting it down for a moment to savor the happy feels. I looooove the way they have the altered flashbacks for Red Alert. The Swerve one was in the preview, but I adore that the Rewind one is filling in a hole we knew was there, but we get to SEE it now! Showing Red Alert finding his stash of snuff films would have slowed things down too much at the time, but it's nice to SEE it. Also, awwwww, that Rewind is hella dead :C But it was also pretty nice seeing Red Alert being friendly and personable with someone! Usually we just see him stressed out and falling apart, or being gruff and cold while he's doing his job, and we got to see him making friendly conversation! Even if he was doing it while searching Rewind's room without a warrant. Plus, I'd like to know what's up with his history being spotty. It seems like an odd tidbit to slip in there if it doesn't serve a purpose. I continue to feel really bad for Blackrock/Sovereign. He was awkward in an endearing way as a human, and I just want to know What's Up With Him. I dunno, I was prepared to hate him when he originally popped up, but that awkwardlonelyfriendly combo attack hits me in my weak spot, and now Sentinel is just projectile shitting all over him. Cerebros is precious and I LOVE his puppy eyes and I adore every single thing I've seen about him. INCLUDING THE WAY HE YOINKED PROWL'S BODY! Good job, Cerebros, you are a clever, precious darling. And omggggggg, Prowl getting all pissy that someone would take over his body to solve a near-unsolvable problem and get everyone out of a life-threatening situation? U KNO WHAT, MR. POT? You did not even have a good reason for putting a back door into Kup's brain, and you did it anyways, and then you sent him off to rot in a zombie universe or whatever for ten million years. I am all about those double standards and hypocrisy (classic Prowl), but work on the self-awareness a little (I love you) Also, oh my gosh. Best moment of the issue so far: Prowl's FACE when he's like 'he shot me! red alert! he shot me!' Like oh my god, come ON, I was already in way too deep with Prowl, but these last few issues have been dragging me down even deeper, my heart can't take this (and Fort Max being like 'living the dream....' I know I already wrote the hatesex, but I need more asap pls) But for real, these little flashes of human emotion and vulnerability we're getting from Prowl are doing Things to my heart OH MY FUCKING GOD THE TABLE FLIPPING If I was fretting before about the direction this series might be taking........ I am no longer worried. Awww, Sovereign, your wobbly speech bubble distresses me :C TRANSFORMERS JUST TURNED INTO TRANSFORMERS GUNDAM not gonnna lie I am pretty down with this Oh!!!!!! Red Alert and mnemosurgery! In the flashback issues we saw the puncture marks on the back of his neck. GodDAMN is this series tightly plotted also Red Alert/Rung shipping feels straight to the heart, wow Awwww, it was because he was that much of a dedicated lawkeeper that he got picked for reconditioning? That hurts me, in the way this series always likes to hurt me :( AAAA, ONE OF THE BEAST-MODE CYBERTRONIANS! Thematically nice. Also I like the low blow about Red Alert's attempted suicide. So good, I love how this writing always gets to me SABBATICAL! SABBATICAL FOR PROWL!!!!! YES! GOOD! @coldstars, omg, you CALLED it now we just need the ex-lost-lighters to adopt all four of these dorks (or at least prowl and cerebros. I need these two in my life. it is very important) "I miss him. I miss all of them. All the crew. Well most of them. At least half of them. A good ten, fifteen percent." Red Alert, oh my god, I love you. I changed my mind, all of you need to get outta here. You need fambly. Also, Fort Max already had one revelation about how the old methods of lawkeeping aren't working so much in this confusing post-war world. And the previous duly appointed enforcer of the tyrest accord was allowed to go on an epic, intergalactic road trip. Seriously, all of you get your asses out of there and go find your buddies. Oh, and you know what? Titans are spaceworthy. Rodimus and company need a ship. Red Alert misses Rung. Fort Max is lonely. Cerebros needs people around who he can joke with. And Prowl still has so much epic baggage with Chromedome and Rewind and also he needs to get on top of this making-out-with-Megatron business, chop chop, time's a-wasting THIS TEAM-UP NEEDS TO HAPPEN. And oh my god, they got the mystery signal that has to be the key to saving these guys. This... oh my goddddd, P L E A S E. I need this like burning. My throat's all closed up over how excited I am over this possibility. There are so many delightful character interactions that could result from this. OH! OHHHHH!!!!!! And if these crews team up, the only unattached protagonists we have left floating around are the Scavengers! With Grimlock! Guess who just successfully field-tested his super-fast new method of fixing borked Cybertronian brains (it cerebros) OH MY GOD, the delay between this comic and the next one. This hurts me. I am not okay with this situation, I need more comic right now.
Spoiler: exrid56 This wasn't what I planned to do with my morning but OH WELL ...I seriously thought that was Arcee on the cover, not... uh. Fuck. Is that Alpha Trion? Dai Atlas? Old Dude Who Is Not Arcee UH PRIME PRIME BUDDY WHAT THE FUCK I really should reread and catch up on exrid shouldn't I Who is that he's shooting even. Galvatron? if it's galvatron I'm gonna scream like what the fuck no don't worf-effect galvatron he deserves a better end than that I am oddly pleased to see Soundy labelled "peacemaker" in the rollcall. Okay it was Alpha Trion on the cover. [Achievement Get: correct impulsive ID of robot!] I. Guess it was Galvatron. [disgruntled noises] Maybe it's a better death in-context? But. Mmrrrrrgh. oh hey it's ray's favorite mischaracterized husbando. ...damn. Kup's fourteen billion? Damn. ...ramondelli I love your art but what did you do to poor Sky-Byte. That is not the same shark son. Kup is A Good. (Also when did he lose the. uh. psychotropic cigar?) oh piss off, Sentinel. ...then again, considering the Titan Masters' connections to Headmasters, and what theoretically sparked the First Civil War (if we take Aligned continuity as quasihistorical for IDW).... hm. hmmmmhmhm. I am kinda interested in this plot now, if it means we might get more story on the Thirteen. (Of course Liege Maximo would hate Alpha Trion; accurate records make shitweaseling harder! Especially when the one making the records is biased against you!) ...huh. Soundwave working with Optimus Prime. Never thought I'd see the day, but then, again, I need to catch up on exrid. ...double huh. Sentinel/Infinitus working with a headless body is a lovely little nod to the Headmaster/Titanmaster divide. Titans are two miles tall! Look look look we have Reference!!!! Who was yelling about tf heights with me a few months back? I feel like if I'd paid any attention to exrid I'd know why I'm supposed to recognize this Colton dude. What happened to Skywarp? D8 Oh. Convenient explanation. I guess this is part of the crossover junk. Fuuuuuuuuck youuuuuu Sentineeeeeeel Your ideas are bad and you should feel bad WHOA HELLO UNEXPECTED BODY HORROR (also "complicated backstories nobody remembers" pbbbbbbbt I know they gotta keep things snappy bc Fighty Comic but. Let him exposit dammit I want more info about the Thirteen.) ...I know it's a silly thing to be salty about but they misspelled "gallivanting" and it's bothering me Prowl being useful for once! I wonder how much he actually knows about Sentinel... [And then MTMTE 56 happens] Spoiler: exRid 57 Waaaaaaaaaait wait wait wait. Wait. If Sentinel was around for the Thirteen-- he knew Optimus 1.0. Ooooh I am getting so hype. Come on, JRo, give us the sweet historical reference!! :'D ...Alpha Trion got his head ripped off earlier. Prime or not, I'm pretty sure he's not just "injured" anymore. "I'm getting to that, Sovereign." I can't help but hear this in whiny twelve-year-old voice "Mo-om, I was gonna, stop nagging!" PRION ...oh, wow, we know which Prime colonized here! WhoOPS part of DT is jossed now. Well we didn't need more proof that Nexus was a dick but here we are. (Dude, don't whomp on LM, Onyx, and Megatronus for making Headmasters in the first place and then take a 2.0 model for yourself.) ...Sentinel. Sentinel. Bro. If you know who Optimus is, and you know the Thirteen, you know this isn't gonna work. ...are humans still doing the unethical headmaster thing, or did they finally figure out their own mecha? TC is So Done. Someone give this man his dog and a nap. Casseeeeeettes!!!! 8D [chanting] HISTORY HISTORY HISTORY HISTORY ...at which point I started screaming into the DT Discord instead for a bit, so C/Ping: I Refuse. This didn't happen, he's not dead, you can't make me believe he's dead For Good [Two solid minutes of hysterics I shit you not] ...oh god the fuckign. giggles. are not helping but the "FREEDOM-- [sword through the gut]" cut was hilarious for some reason sorry blitzy Oooooooh Victorion is pretty! And has gravity powers! FUCK YOU SENTINEL ...well at least I called op not taking a single line of sentinel's bullshit like did you really think it would work sen did you OH THANK FUCK It honestly looked like his spark chamber had been bisected but I am Not Questioning this miraculous revival Soundwave being badass in his field of expertise gives me life okay good soundwave got repairs good (His Decepticon sigil is gone. I wonder what that says.) oh. oh closure on Ravage. oh no thank you based JRo oh oh I love Soundwave oh no my heart someone protect this darling robot just let him and his family live in peace Soundwave and Thundercracker Rural Hideaway 2k16 (okay no soundwave is not the guy to sit on his ass while there's still Things To Fix but. He needs a vacation. WELL I THINK I HAVE A NEW FAVORITE ISSUE NOW Even if it was very much a rollercoaster and I don't even go here still have no idea what's going on in exRiD time for. the one I actually planned on reading today. Even though apparently TAAO 5 and 6 were supposed to happen between them. Spoiler: MTMTE 57 I am so happy that it's Swerve of all people for the first 'switch'. You will pry Swerve<>Red from my cold dead hands. On my first readthrough (by which I mean the one I did before I realized the exRiD chapters were relevant) I noted down the titan visible in the rough center of the spread as "Lego Titan" I stand by this descriptor Sentinel still reads like a spoiled twelve-year-old "[blah blah drama blah]... is anyone listening? come on guys I worked hard on this" Iiiii still neither know nor care about this Cerebos dude. When someone makes Prowl look cautious and temperate... You and me both, Cere. If that was an intentional dig at the TAAO delays fucking up the print order I will be so happy. Reeeeewiiiiiiiiind <3 oh my god I don't like Prowl but. Protect Prowl from mind control goddamn. "Red Alert shot me!" "Living the dream." Pfffff Max no Oooo who is bird? stop making me feel bad for prowl dammit jro prowl's tableflipping is now plot-relevant and I think that's beautiful (we're up to 6 instances on-screen in MTMTE!) six robots in a trenchcoat Rung's faces are beautiful I was disgruntled about the oil leak the first time through and I'm still disgruntled about it. Up til now tears have been represented as spark/energy flares in this continuity, and if it were meant to be an "eyes bleeding" thing it should be energon-pink, not black. Come on, artists, get your shit together :T who is this bird is it another cassette. are we getting the other cassette darlings. please. Okay I'm starting to like this Cerebos kid. He's cute. Prowl's all shiny and repaired! Yay? "Beak asked Outrigger to go with him." As in Laserbeak? 8D Awwwwww lookit Red making progress! (...I am scared that the message actually will mean something in-universe and set him back :c)
Spoiler: mtmte 57 I'm so glad for all this Red Alert focus, he is my darling bab, I missed him more than I missed Drift, even plus I need like 100x more cute domestic shit with Red, Max, Prowl, and the cutie that I haven't seen enough of to remember his name but nonetheless still ship him with Max. they're cleaning ahhhhh
Spoiler: exrid 57 Hahhhhh, wow, okay, I was PRETTY DISTRESSED there for a little while over Soundwave. That looked like it was right through the spark, and I was really, really, really worried they were going to have him follow Ravage to the grave. I was NOT OKAY WITH THAT, especially with Frenzy and Rumble getting some screen time. I may still be a little distressed over the whole scare. Of course, the subsequent Soundwave badassery did a lot to make me feel better. MORE OF THIS SORT OF THING. Very important. And the family emotions. I think we need an entire issue of just Soundwave+cassettes and family bonding and closeness. Also very important. Also, Ramondelli is really, really improving! Good for him. (and yessssss, more of Sentinel's freaky extra eye things. I wish we could see them outside of Ramondelli's art, because he tends to wash out the eyes, and I can't tell if they're eyes, or just biolights. But lack of clarification means I get to call them whatever I want, and I want the dude to have extra rows of eyes all down his face :3c) And! Soundwave called Optimus his friend!!! I am... not actually that on board with this, because I like a slower burn. But still. I mean...... OPTIMUS/SOUNDWAVE, IT SHOULD REALLY TRULY BE A THING
I took some screenshots for all your reaction image needs bc there were some beautiful expressions in mtmte 57 part uno: Red Alert Spoiler: he is so done
Spoiler: mtmte 57 Not laserbeak, unfortunately, and probably not a cassette either! As far as we're tollllld (though some of it is implied), Soundwave's cassettes were all physically modified to be his cassettes, it wasn't naturally occurring. Beak is the domesticated bird-mode Cybertronian who was chilling with Outrigger last issue while he went scaling titans! Beak was the one who brought the datapad home when Sentinel attacked them all. (I am glad they get to be friends. Outrigger might be gone, but I enjoyed him a lot, and now he has a friend to go on adventures with him)
bonus round: "i can't believe this comic is so gay and I ship it so hard" a top three selection Spoiler: mtmte 57 (i didn't white out text bubbles here)
Massive Soundwave + Thundercracker + Prowl + Red Alert + Fort Max + Cerberus trip to a cabin by a lake/ocean somewhere. They argue a lot. There are no world-changing decisions to be made, and no tables. Everyone cleans. Whales are involved. And possibly horses, and gratuitous amounts of dogs. Soundwave tames a mountain lion because he has issues. Fort Max seriously questions the ethics of keeping squishy organic pets Also on another note I wrote a NSFW Windblade ♤ Starscream abomination for Spock despite being completely out of my element and it got entirely out of hand, if that's up anyone's alley ;-;
I won't have time read it until I get home from work this afternoon, but since I saw the notification email, I've been so excited!
Rung's big character motivation in MTMTE is to be remembered, but Spoiler: MTMTE 56-57 Now that he's consider 'dead' along with quite a few others, his name is the one I'm seeing namedropped the most by people unaware he's alive. Rung helped me get through this, Rung talked to me about that, I don't know what I would have done without Rung, I miss Rung. And they never get his name wrong.
FWOO, home from work, smut is consumed, and... guys, oh my gosh. SERIOUSLY check this out. This is some FINELY CRAFTED SMUT, right here. I just finished typing a ridiculous essay in the comments, but I love absolutely everything about this
