Spoiler: spoilers for 51 I want Velocity and Ratchet to compare Cyclonus waiting at Tailgate's 'death' berth stories.
Spoiler: spoilers Rodimus' is never going to think he's not a giant disappoint to Optimus. And Optimus has no idea how badly Rodimus wants him to be proud or give him a bit of praise. and optimus may never understand how much his semi praise to Hot Rod/Rodimus about his actions in Nyon fucked the kid up for millions of years. I really hope Roberts brings Nyon up again or the stuff with Dealer.
OKAY OKAY ALRIGHT the cat has decided that my chest is no longer the Best Place Ever so i got THINGS TO SAY Spoiler: 47 first of all AHHHHH hahahaha this is the issue that made me read mtmte, T B H. the way getaway speaks to tailgate is just. the skin-crawliest. "You like them. You don't like them." subtly pushy: give me a reaction and make it a good one fake nervousness, getting impatient when tailgate starts to ramble, directing the conversation so that tailgate is filling in the gaps with what he wants to believe, never asking tailgate if he wants to be getaway's conjunx, but leading him to the conclusion so that tailgate is the one to ask: what do you want me to do? EUUHRGH :( and then with the plan: he explains it all in a rush, makes it overwhelming and convincing, appealing to tailgate's idealistic morals, and once again not giving tailgate room to ask questions or object -- and when he expresses hesitation he even says, "there's no way i could do what you're about to do!" so 1) it would be a brave, admirable thing for you to do, and 2) you are going to do it, tailgate. "no shame in surrendering to your limitations" "if you don't feel brave enough" "just say 'i'm not the bot you thought i was'" "we'd have to do it all over, if we still wanted to do that." if i still admire you enough, if you even care about me enough, if you cared about me you'd prove it and then the big one: it would impress cyclonus, cyclonus who finds you so embarrassing, tailgate, cyclonus the warrior who has disdain for cowardice - you whimpering coward i LOVE THIS FUCKING ISSUE I LOVE GETAWAY, he's so awful and. this is getting really long and i literally havent even mentioned whirl yet. fffffffff. WHIRL!!!!!! whirl who was trying to get megatron to kill him in #28, whirl who respects cyclonus more than he'll admit, whirl who cares about tailgate even though tailgate still thinks his name is fucking nutjob, whirl who is slowly becoming happier and trying to be a better person..... whirl........ whirl who realizes what'll happen the instant getaway says the plan's already in motion, and who is already preparing for the inevitable betrayal from getaway and atomizer.... whirl who uses his last bit of energy to find cyclonus and help him................ cyclonus things: violin music in background as he wakes up to an empty room, lingering glare at the resident couple's handholding, going to WHIRL for help, trusting him to be truthful and also, implicitly, to not use cyclonus's weakness against him........... and then: the overkill to end all overkill. i have said it before and i will say it again: *BREAKS INTO UR ROOM, IMPALES U WITH SWORD, KICKS UR CAT IN THE FACE, BEATS U INTO UNCONSCIOUSNESS WITH A SLAB OF METAL* i love mtmte #47
Spoiler: 47 That Whirl/Cyclonus scene really got to me. "I knew you'd tell me the truth--even if the truth hurt." Also the whole "He's better off with the other guy." And Cyclonus acknowledging that and accepting that and then still going off later to save Tailgate anyway. They're both so self-sacrificing and nobody ever believes anything good about either of them.
Spoiler: Whirl in general I just think of Whirl as a suicidal god-tier who everyone, including him, believes can't die a Heroic death. So he's trying to make it Just. And he's trying so hard to get someone to give him a Just death, which is why he goes out of his way to antagonize people rather than just giving up and deliberately screwing up during a firefight. But he's been denied a heroic death because of Megatron's order, not because of his pre-war actions. He's going to die a hero, and nobody will know.
Spoiler: Mtmte 34/35 Trepan, you beautifully awful fucker. Also that cover... My giant Ultra Magnus crush is like "SURPRISE, BITCH." And baby Megatron! He even looks like he has a baby face, compared to the 'world weary craggy old soldier' Daniel Craig-ish look he has in the present. And, uh. "Never back down. Never compromise. Never bend." Terminus it is neat to meet you and I want to know more about you, but I feel like you and the law of unintended consequences need to get acquainted, because I've got a hunch that Megatron put way, way too much stock in that. (Now I really want a fic where babyface Megatron and Daniel Craig Megatron switch places; if time travel and universe hopping are possible then that is too, and it would be fucking great to see what babyface Megatron thinks of the current state of Cybertron, and how Daniel Craig Megatron would try to change what he did... or if being in the past with all the horrible shit that he's now millions of years away from will let him lapse into old bad habits. Someone please tell me this exists.) Also Trailcutter that was so upsetting ;______; why did you have to be such a sweetie. Fuck you DJD, I have a feeling I will love hating you. Brainstorm's collection of briefcases should not surprise me, and yet it does. And, like - on the one hand I'm glad I don't have to worry about the parallel universe where everything is awful, but on the other, I am disappoint that parallel universes aren't a Thing. Also, I guess it's easier to create a horrifying cyberpunk dystopia when you are cyber. Why is Rewind getting memories from what I assume is the changed past though? And I'm a little doubtful that Orion's death would have this specific impact, but I guess I'll see. I'm definitely going to read the issue 35 fic that was linked earlier now, though, because that shit is right up my alley. People have linked some good shit in here! If anyone gets an ao3 comment from pixieface, that's me - my old Yuletide pen name got put in when Yuletide was imported, and I haven't gotten around to changing it yet, if you even can. Edit: I forgot to talk about how attractive Ultra Magnus is in this issue for some reason. What did the artists do, something with lighting? Because his face looks the same but he is like twice as pretty as normal, and big beefy dudes and ladies are my Thing, so I thought he was pretty already.
It's the joy of a living canon that's really plotty and continuitous. Shut up, Chrome, those are real words.
(also 34 doesn't use the usual artist! so that's why everyone looks a weeee bit different) edit: actually, going through 35, you are absolutely right: his already impressive Babe levels are somehow through the roof this issue, and 35 is drawn by milne, so
(also also: this comic has uh. altered my Babe Criteria. i never thought i would see a drawing of a character without any real facial features and think, with utter sincerity, 'oh he looks super hot in this panel'.)
I'm still halfway through 36, but I had to stop and comment. Spoiler Is Megatron... talking about his feelings.. like a real adult... to someone four million years ago who will probably not remember this well if at all. Two steps forward, one step back, but this is the most relationshippy thing they have done so far and I don't even know what to do. Also Rodimus you giant dork, buy some chill. (Also tailgate is super cute here.) Quick question: is Rung orange now? I thought he was red. I'm so confused. I think I figured out why Ultra Magnus is so attractive in 35 - he spends most of it standing next to Rodimus, and it highlights how beefcakey he is. That size difference though.
Rung seems to change color depending on lighting, he's red again a few chapters later. Maybe he just wanted to experiment, paint jobs are apparently a thing :p Derail: is Prowl supposed to be sympathetic at all? Because all through MTMtE and now six chapters into RiD, I just kinda want to see him get punched in the face.
rung has always been orange! Spoiler: 36 and yes the megOp is very very real in 36. also "Hey, best friend! Miss you!!
You know what sucks? Going from drawing exclusively naked (i.e. uncomplicated) humans to these horrible children with their spoilers and vents and flash and UGH. On the bright side, I can very nearly do passable Rodimus pinups. I figure if I get him, Drift, Chromedome, Cy, and Whirl down, everyone else is just boxes and I'll have enough base to work around for the complicated ones.
Give it until RID issue 14. Hindsight is killer 8( He may or may not be sympathetic depending on how you feel about it, but...there's a reason he's a major asshole (more than usual) for a while there
