yippee

some snippets for preview of our 'season premier', Aggressive Negotiations. We're starting our rewrite right in the tail end of the season 1 finale, tweaking some details here and here about the final scene to lead more smoothly into OUR season 2 plot, which has basically nothing to do with the show's season 2 plot, tho we WILL still have Aftermath and Spitfire be introduced.

Actually let's unpack this because. This deleted scene storyboard is so load bearing. its so peak. we were so robbed. Sorry this is gonna be a Scroll. The things we were robbed of, in no particular or definitive order (spoilers for the scene if you haven't seen it, watch it first):

First of all, the plot of the episode hinges just slightly on this deleted scene-- instead we got two nearly identical flashbacks like they literally replay the same flashback again IN FULL so unnescessarily so you can't even say it needed to be cut for time. Also again, the plot-- without this scene Shockwave waking up out of the stasis pod makes no sense, it just happens randomly by complete coincidence? Like they add that crack to the glass to make it seem more plausible but it still has nothing to do with anything

Also without this scene there is never any followup on Ravage being loose in GHOST hq? And like Soundwaves ep 'Decoy' is one of my alltime favourites of the season because I love Soundwave. Motherwave. Divawave. 9.9 on the cunter scale who can challenge her NO ONE. let's kill megatron with mama. look what you fumbled megatron. a ten. THE ten. most divorced ass man on the planet i swear to god like. sorry went a bit off topic there. sleep deprived. anyways

actually as another brief aside I do think the strong parts of the episode (Warzone, ep 16 the ep this scene is from) ARE strong however the weak parts of it are the weakest of the season. Season 1 doesn't have BAD episodes per se esp bc the narrative concerning Thrash and his journey with the whole "what does this have to do with us" and arc in learning how to care about the past in order to care about the present and future is really good storytelling and sets up for a really satisfying resolution to his arc in the finale. However. We also having Megatron Suddenly Sucking For No Reason Other Than The Plot Demands It. Like I'm sorry but Megatron has been actively consistently training for the last 15 yrs and just IS a renowned formiddable warrior to boot which we HAVE SEEN EVIDENCE OF like I just do not believe he would struggle that much in a fight against Shockwave, NERD SHOCKWAVE OF ALL BOTS that much. And don't tell me he was distracted by being emotionally compromised bc its Shockwave he didn't even lose that hard to SOUNDWAVE and we ALL saw how divorced he was in that episode. AND We also have the loss of this load bearing deleted scene without which the episode would have been so much better for so many reasons, like if they kept this scene I think 'Disarmed' would have been my personal vote for weakest episode of the season.

(still not a BAD ep per se but not AS strong as the rest of the season)

Now. the deleted scene itself. wow you can fit so much joy and whimsy into just a couple of minutes. like. real quick--

Starscream and Soundwave banter. they're so bestie in this scene they're so funny and I love this dynamic for them. Someone in the comments points out that this is clearly a Soundwave who has had to hear all about a THOUSAND failed revenge plots before and that's true but also-

Starscream unleashed Shockwave on Megatron exclusively to fuck with him and ruin his day and what do you know it worked. W Starscream

but anyways like Soundwave is the Sober Friend TM and Starscream is the oh my god shes crazyyyy you cant take her anywhereeeee lolllll friend for sure

I NEED THEIR FRIENDSHIP TO LIVE ACTUALLY???

"seriously, this is me cheerful" "... Good! >:D"

also "yay."

Also. Kitty Cat Ravage. Moonwalk Ravage. Dancing on the haters Ravage.

SHE HER RAVAGE CONFIRMATION

Schloder-- sorry 'scholder' with THE #3 SON MUG??? HILARIOUS

Starscream complimenting Ravage-- "She's usually so good at avoiding the cameras!" Ravage is a good girl and gets a little treat confirmed. Ravage Starscream's fave cassette

"is it mail call already? smirk emoji." what r u calling males for starscream

RAVAGE SNUGGLED IN SOUNDWAVES ARMS LIKE A LITTLE BABY???? PLEASE. MY LIFE

ALSO. what's especially interesting to me about this scene is that Soundwave speaks "normally" ie without his usual speech quirk ("I am cheerful" / "seriously, this is me cheerful") which suggests his usual speech quirk like in 'Decoy' ("Soundwave: DESTROY") is circumstantial, and he speaks completely differently depending on the situation... Soundwave's speech is already a little deviated from The Soundwave Norm because of how he audibly expresses emotion, really strong emotion I might add, in Decoy. Ragewave. Mother. Yass. Slay. Anyways

This leads me to believe, based on my knowledge/experience of variated verbal levels, that Soundwave probably speaks with his signature subject-colon-adjective/verb/noun quirk when he is either stressed, around more people, around others he is not close to, or uncomfortable for some other reason. or if he's really, really, really pissed. And he probably speaks in more full sentences when he is relaxed/around people he trusts. IE.... Starscream.

@pirates-and-ninja-lover HONESTLY that feeling when you hate your bestie's aint-shit boyfriend and you've been telling them forever to dump him and they finally do. NIRVANA dude. Starscream will be chasing that high for the rest of his life

But I actually do think their friendship would have been slowly unexpectedly building through the later years of the war through The Hardships and when Megatron goes to the store for the allspark and doesnt come back-- i mean abandons the decepticons in the pit he dug for them-- i mean joins Optimus to end the war he probably asked Soundwave, his most loyal Decepticon, to come with him. But Soundwave is loyal to the Decepticon Cause more than he is to Megatron individually and was like no also im divorcing you. and that was when Soundwave was like holy shit starscream WAS right....

YOU GET IT OP!!!!! I feel so understood.

I love the idea of soundwave and starscream going from coworkers to besties cus of shared trauma. Megatron fumbled them both. The divorce was NASTY. Soundwave took the kids <///3 Can't raise them as autobots ofc he ain't doing shared custody. Now they both sit around drinking wine and gossiping about what megs is doing as Ghost's new show poodle while the kids are blowing shit up for fun (Ravage is just laying in their laps cus she's better than that)

I personally don't see ES Megatron and Starscream as ever having been in a relationship other than platonic/professional at any point bc I think Megatron was just Too Monogamous with Soundwave and didn't see Starscream that way and Starscream is too much of a prude and would be genuinely disgusted to see Megatron that way. However Megatron could still fumble him platonically that's just how good he is at fumbling baddies

Starscream and Soundwave though.... UGH I love thinking about them like the ARC that I imagine between them is CRAZYYYY... like at the start of the war they kind of don't really know each other but acknowledge and respect and trust each other at least as comrades even if they're not particularly close. But then things eventually start getting worse the worse Megatron gets with Starscream and now there's the spectre of Megatron between them-- Soundwave hates and distrusts Starscream because Starscream is so disloyal to Megatron, Starscream hates and distrusts Soundwave because he is TOO loyal to Megatron, he's his conjunx for crying out loud, his accomplice. Starscream is irrational, a traitor, a coward, Soundwave is blind, a dogmatic worshipper...

But then things change again. Perhaps as things escalate further Soundwave begins to feel sympathy for Starscream. Maybe he knows some of the things Starscream says and criticizes Megatron for are true. Maybe he sees the downward spiral that they're in for what it is. Maybe he sees Megatron losing his way, and feels powerless to bring him back to the right path, if that's even possible for any of them anymore. And maybe with the war in its twilight years things are worse than they've ever been. There's a catastrophic fuel shortage. Rumble fucking dies-- Soundwave's CHILD dies. And in both their grief Megatron doesn't know how to be there for Soundwave through it. Maybe he takes it out on Starscream. Maybe Starscream calls him a coward. Maybe Soundwave and Megatron's relationship suffers for it. Maybe, against all odds, Starscream and Soundwave grow closer. They start to form an actual bond of friendship and camaraderie, finally, after literally millenia fighting side by side they're no longer also fighting each other. They begin to understand each other. Starscream realizes where Soundwave's loyalty comes from and that it's not blind faith. Soundwave realizes that Starscream does what he does because he's just trying to fucking keep everyone alive and free.

And then Starscream starts saying that Megatron is losing faith in his own cause. That something happened and he's faltering. He says he's going to leave them. He doesn't care about them, about the Decepticons. That he dragged them into this deep, dark pit and now he's going to leave them there once they no longer serve him. And maybe at first Soundwave doesn't believe him. Doesn't want to. But then Megatron does. And maybe when Megatron announces his decision to his officers Starscream tries to kill him, takes him by surprise, almost succeeds, would have had Soundwave not saved Megatron's life. And maybe Megatron thought this meant Soundwave would come with him to the autobots. But he's wrong. Soundwave is a Decepticon and always will be. He is loyal to the cause. And it's too late to 'do the right thing' in his view-- turning their backs on everything they once believed in won't bring Rumble back, nothing will. And Soundwave severs their sparkbond. And divorces his ass.

And now Soundwave and Starscream are recreating the music video for Telephone by Lady Gaga and Beyonce in GHOST's prison which Starscream somehow perfectly knows all the words and choreo to despite having been in prison already when it came out until Croft gets sick of them and tells them to shut the hell up.

Soundwave losing Rumble was not given enough attention. Bee LAUGHED ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!! That was his BABY. And Megatron is siding with these mechs??? Who mock the death of his loved one???

Starscream and Soundwave are both single moms who work two jobs and love their kids and never stop except that soundwaves kids are the cassettes and the deception cause and starscreams kids are all the fools who keep getting caught my ghost and almost dying and hes trying to kEEP IT TOGETHER.

All the decepticons are mad at Megs for betraying the decepticon cause, for leaving them behind. But for Soundwave its extra personal.

But at least now they can vibe to Gaga (Screamer absolutely adores her music ofc you're so right). He also sings Cannibal by Kesha <3 They knew they couldn't keep that scene in cus everyone would stop caring for the plot of the show and immediately demand a full spin off series of just those guys being divas, I'm right btw it's true they told me.

Actually let's unpack this because. This deleted scene storyboard is so load bearing. its so peak. we were so robbed. Sorry this is gonna be a Scroll. The things we were robbed of, in no particular or definitive order (spoilers for the scene if you haven't seen it, watch it first):

First of all, the plot of the episode hinges just slightly on this deleted scene-- instead we got two nearly identical flashbacks like they literally replay the same flashback again IN FULL so unnescessarily so you can't even say it needed to be cut for time. Also again, the plot-- without this scene Shockwave waking up out of the stasis pod makes no sense, it just happens randomly by complete coincidence? Like they add that crack to the glass to make it seem more plausible but it still has nothing to do with anything

Also without this scene there is never any followup on Ravage being loose in GHOST hq? And like Soundwaves ep 'Decoy' is one of my alltime favourites of the season because I love Soundwave. Motherwave. Divawave. 9.9 on the cunter scale who can challenge her NO ONE. let's kill megatron with mama. look what you fumbled megatron. a ten. THE ten. most divorced ass man on the planet i swear to god like. sorry went a bit off topic there. sleep deprived. anyways

actually as another brief aside I do think the strong parts of the episode (Warzone, ep 16 the ep this scene is from) ARE strong however the weak parts of it are the weakest of the season. Season 1 doesn't have BAD episodes per se esp bc the narrative concerning Thrash and his journey with the whole "what does this have to do with us" and arc in learning how to care about the past in order to care about the present and future is really good storytelling and sets up for a really satisfying resolution to his arc in the finale. However. We also having Megatron Suddenly Sucking For No Reason Other Than The Plot Demands It. Like I'm sorry but Megatron has been actively consistently training for the last 15 yrs and just IS a renowned formiddable warrior to boot which we HAVE SEEN EVIDENCE OF like I just do not believe he would struggle that much in a fight against Shockwave, NERD SHOCKWAVE OF ALL BOTS that much. And don't tell me he was distracted by being emotionally compromised bc its Shockwave he didn't even lose that hard to SOUNDWAVE and we ALL saw how divorced he was in that episode. AND We also have the loss of this load bearing deleted scene without which the episode would have been so much better for so many reasons, like if they kept this scene I think 'Disarmed' would have been my personal vote for weakest episode of the season.

(still not a BAD ep per se but not AS strong as the rest of the season)

Now. the deleted scene itself. wow you can fit so much joy and whimsy into just a couple of minutes. like. real quick--

Starscream and Soundwave banter. they're so bestie in this scene they're so funny and I love this dynamic for them. Someone in the comments points out that this is clearly a Soundwave who has had to hear all about a THOUSAND failed revenge plots before and that's true but also-

Starscream unleashed Shockwave on Megatron exclusively to fuck with him and ruin his day and what do you know it worked. W Starscream

but anyways like Soundwave is the Sober Friend TM and Starscream is the oh my god shes crazyyyy you cant take her anywhereeeee lolllll friend for sure

I NEED THEIR FRIENDSHIP TO LIVE ACTUALLY???

"seriously, this is me cheerful" "... Good! >:D"

also "yay."

Also. Kitty Cat Ravage. Moonwalk Ravage. Dancing on the haters Ravage.

SHE HER RAVAGE CONFIRMATION

Schloder-- sorry 'scholder' with THE #3 SON MUG??? HILARIOUS

Starscream complimenting Ravage-- "She's usually so good at avoiding the cameras!" Ravage is a good girl and gets a little treat confirmed. Ravage Starscream's fave cassette

"is it mail call already? smirk emoji." what r u calling males for starscream

RAVAGE SNUGGLED IN SOUNDWAVES ARMS LIKE A LITTLE BABY???? PLEASE. MY LIFE

ALSO. what's especially interesting to me about this scene is that Soundwave speaks "normally" ie without his usual speech quirk ("I am cheerful" / "seriously, this is me cheerful") which suggests his usual speech quirk like in 'Decoy' ("Soundwave: DESTROY") is circumstantial, and he speaks completely differently depending on the situation... Soundwave's speech is already a little deviated from The Soundwave Norm because of how he audibly expresses emotion, really strong emotion I might add, in Decoy. Ragewave. Mother. Yass. Slay. Anyways

This leads me to believe, based on my knowledge/experience of variated verbal levels, that Soundwave probably speaks with his signature subject-colon-adjective/verb/noun quirk when he is either stressed, around more people, around others he is not close to, or uncomfortable for some other reason. or if he's really, really, really pissed. And he probably speaks in more full sentences when he is relaxed/around people he trusts. IE.... Starscream.

@pirates-and-ninja-lover HONESTLY that feeling when you hate your bestie's aint-shit boyfriend and you've been telling them forever to dump him and they finally do. NIRVANA dude. Starscream will be chasing that high for the rest of his life

But I actually do think their friendship would have been slowly unexpectedly building through the later years of the war through The Hardships and when Megatron goes to the store for the allspark and doesnt come back-- i mean abandons the decepticons in the pit he dug for them-- i mean joins Optimus to end the war he probably asked Soundwave, his most loyal Decepticon, to come with him. But Soundwave is loyal to the Decepticon Cause more than he is to Megatron individually and was like no also im divorcing you. and that was when Soundwave was like holy shit starscream WAS right....

YOU GET IT OP!!!!! I feel so understood.

I love the idea of soundwave and starscream going from coworkers to besties cus of shared trauma. Megatron fumbled them both. The divorce was NASTY. Soundwave took the kids <///3 Can't raise them as autobots ofc he ain't doing shared custody. Now they both sit around drinking wine and gossiping about what megs is doing as Ghost's new show poodle while the kids are blowing shit up for fun (Ravage is just laying in their laps cus she's better than that)

I personally don't see ES Megatron and Starscream as ever having been in a relationship other than platonic/professional at any point bc I think Megatron was just Too Monogamous with Soundwave and didn't see Starscream that way and Starscream is too much of a prude and would be genuinely disgusted to see Megatron that way. However Megatron could still fumble him platonically that's just how good he is at fumbling baddies

Starscream and Soundwave though.... UGH I love thinking about them like the ARC that I imagine between them is CRAZYYYY... like at the start of the war they kind of don't really know each other but acknowledge and respect and trust each other at least as comrades even if they're not particularly close. But then things eventually start getting worse the worse Megatron gets with Starscream and now there's the spectre of Megatron between them-- Soundwave hates and distrusts Starscream because Starscream is so disloyal to Megatron, Starscream hates and distrusts Soundwave because he is TOO loyal to Megatron, he's his conjunx for crying out loud, his accomplice. Starscream is irrational, a traitor, a coward, Soundwave is blind, a dogmatic worshipper...

But then things change again. Perhaps as things escalate further Soundwave begins to feel sympathy for Starscream. Maybe he knows some of the things Starscream says and criticizes Megatron for are true. Maybe he sees the downward spiral that they're in for what it is. Maybe he sees Megatron losing his way, and feels powerless to bring him back to the right path, if that's even possible for any of them anymore. And maybe with the war in its twilight years things are worse than they've ever been. There's a catastrophic fuel shortage. Rumble fucking dies-- Soundwave's CHILD dies. And in both their grief Megatron doesn't know how to be there for Soundwave through it. Maybe he takes it out on Starscream. Maybe Starscream calls him a coward. Maybe Soundwave and Megatron's relationship suffers for it. Maybe, against all odds, Starscream and Soundwave grow closer. They start to form an actual bond of friendship and camaraderie, finally, after literally millenia fighting side by side they're no longer also fighting each other. They begin to understand each other. Starscream realizes where Soundwave's loyalty comes from and that it's not blind faith. Soundwave realizes that Starscream does what he does because he's just trying to fucking keep everyone alive and free.

And then Starscream starts saying that Megatron is losing faith in his own cause. That something happened and he's faltering. He says he's going to leave them. He doesn't care about them, about the Decepticons. That he dragged them into this deep, dark pit and now he's going to leave them there once they no longer serve him. And maybe at first Soundwave doesn't believe him. Doesn't want to. But then Megatron does. And maybe when Megatron announces his decision to his officers Starscream tries to kill him, takes him by surprise, almost succeeds, would have had Soundwave not saved Megatron's life. And maybe Megatron thought this meant Soundwave would come with him to the autobots. But he's wrong. Soundwave is a Decepticon and always will be. He is loyal to the cause. And it's too late to 'do the right thing' in his view-- turning their backs on everything they once believed in won't bring Rumble back, nothing will. And Soundwave severs their sparkbond. And divorces his ass.

And now Soundwave and Starscream are recreating the music video for Telephone by Lady Gaga and Beyonce in GHOST's prison which Starscream somehow perfectly knows all the words and choreo to despite having been in prison already when it came out until Croft gets sick of them and tells them to shut the hell up.

Actually let's unpack this because. This deleted scene storyboard is so load bearing. its so peak. we were so robbed. Sorry this is gonna be a Scroll. The things we were robbed of, in no particular or definitive order (spoilers for the scene if you haven't seen it, watch it first):

First of all, the plot of the episode hinges just slightly on this deleted scene-- instead we got two nearly identical flashbacks like they literally replay the same flashback again IN FULL so unnescessarily so you can't even say it needed to be cut for time. Also again, the plot-- without this scene Shockwave waking up out of the stasis pod makes no sense, it just happens randomly by complete coincidence? Like they add that crack to the glass to make it seem more plausible but it still has nothing to do with anything

Also without this scene there is never any followup on Ravage being loose in GHOST hq? And like Soundwaves ep 'Decoy' is one of my alltime favourites of the season because I love Soundwave. Motherwave. Divawave. 9.9 on the cunter scale who can challenge her NO ONE. let's kill megatron with mama. look what you fumbled megatron. a ten. THE ten. most divorced ass man on the planet i swear to god like. sorry went a bit off topic there. sleep deprived. anyways

actually as another brief aside I do think the strong parts of the episode (Warzone, ep 16 the ep this scene is from) ARE strong however the weak parts of it are the weakest of the season. Season 1 doesn't have BAD episodes per se esp bc the narrative concerning Thrash and his journey with the whole "what does this have to do with us" and arc in learning how to care about the past in order to care about the present and future is really good storytelling and sets up for a really satisfying resolution to his arc in the finale. However. We also having Megatron Suddenly Sucking For No Reason Other Than The Plot Demands It. Like I'm sorry but Megatron has been actively consistently training for the last 15 yrs and just IS a renowned formiddable warrior to boot which we HAVE SEEN EVIDENCE OF like I just do not believe he would struggle that much in a fight against Shockwave, NERD SHOCKWAVE OF ALL BOTS that much. And don't tell me he was distracted by being emotionally compromised bc its Shockwave he didn't even lose that hard to SOUNDWAVE and we ALL saw how divorced he was in that episode. AND We also have the loss of this load bearing deleted scene without which the episode would have been so much better for so many reasons, like if they kept this scene I think 'Disarmed' would have been my personal vote for weakest episode of the season.

(still not a BAD ep per se but not AS strong as the rest of the season)

Now. the deleted scene itself. wow you can fit so much joy and whimsy into just a couple of minutes. like. real quick--

Starscream and Soundwave banter. they're so bestie in this scene they're so funny and I love this dynamic for them. Someone in the comments points out that this is clearly a Soundwave who has had to hear all about a THOUSAND failed revenge plots before and that's true but also-

Starscream unleashed Shockwave on Megatron exclusively to fuck with him and ruin his day and what do you know it worked. W Starscream

but anyways like Soundwave is the Sober Friend TM and Starscream is the oh my god shes crazyyyy you cant take her anywhereeeee lolllll friend for sure

I NEED THEIR FRIENDSHIP TO LIVE ACTUALLY???

"seriously, this is me cheerful" "... Good! >:D"

also "yay."

Also. Kitty Cat Ravage. Moonwalk Ravage. Dancing on the haters Ravage.

SHE HER RAVAGE CONFIRMATION

Schloder-- sorry 'scholder' with THE #3 SON MUG??? HILARIOUS

Starscream complimenting Ravage-- "She's usually so good at avoiding the cameras!" Ravage is a good girl and gets a little treat confirmed. Ravage Starscream's fave cassette

"is it mail call already? smirk emoji." what r u calling males for starscream

RAVAGE SNUGGLED IN SOUNDWAVES ARMS LIKE A LITTLE BABY???? PLEASE. MY LIFE

ALSO. what's especially interesting to me about this scene is that Soundwave speaks "normally" ie without his usual speech quirk ("I am cheerful" / "seriously, this is me cheerful") which suggests his usual speech quirk like in 'Decoy' ("Soundwave: DESTROY") is circumstantial, and he speaks completely differently depending on the situation... Soundwave's speech is already a little deviated from The Soundwave Norm because of how he audibly expresses emotion, really strong emotion I might add, in Decoy. Ragewave. Mother. Yass. Slay. Anyways

This leads me to believe, based on my knowledge/experience of variated verbal levels, that Soundwave probably speaks with his signature subject-colon-adjective/verb/noun quirk when he is either stressed, around more people, around others he is not close to, or uncomfortable for some other reason. or if he's really, really, really pissed. And he probably speaks in more full sentences when he is relaxed/around people he trusts. IE.... Starscream.

@pirates-and-ninja-lover HONESTLY that feeling when you hate your bestie's aint-shit boyfriend and you've been telling them forever to dump him and they finally do. NIRVANA dude. Starscream will be chasing that high for the rest of his life

But I actually do think their friendship would have been slowly unexpectedly building through the later years of the war through The Hardships and when Megatron goes to the store for the allspark and doesnt come back-- i mean abandons the decepticons in the pit he dug for them-- i mean joins Optimus to end the war he probably asked Soundwave, his most loyal Decepticon, to come with him. But Soundwave is loyal to the Decepticon Cause more than he is to Megatron individually and was like no also im divorcing you. and that was when Soundwave was like holy shit starscream WAS right....

Like his main songs on his playlist are Brightside and Redemption by Halestorm but there is also a looooooootttttttttt of Mitski. ES Starscream is a MitskiScream for sure. I think that after escaping from prison Frenzy would present him with Mitski Be The Cowboy and Laurel Hell vinyls as offerings and they would make him have to lie down. Black Me Out by Against Me.... need I say more.

@pirates-and-ninja-lover See that's also what I believe it is referencing in a meta sense but it doesn't change the fact that the line as a whole still makes NO sense in context sobbing emoji... like first of all he's speaking to Soundwave. between them are no secrets. just to begin with. but also he then goes on to talk about the fact that Megatron always visits the Space Bridge Memorial on the anniversary of that battle. "to gloat," supposedly. this. is also not a secret. certainly not a secret to soundwave. and whether he says 'cult' or 'court' (I always hear the former but youtube subtitles, famously unreliable, usually say the latter) still doesn't clarify what this line actually means. but like I said he still ate he can speak gibberish and I'd say yes queen like idc