Jazzy’s Transformers

@ichbinmeltdown wrote a great analysis on Starscream that I want to share here:

"Megatron was abusive as hell to Starscream. He treated him horribly, and I legitimately almost cried a few times watching it. There's an episode called Starscream's Brigade that introduces the Combaticons, and I think that perfectly demonstrates the cycle of abuse. The entire world is against Starscream at pretty much every turn throughout the series, but none more so than Megatron. Every word out of his speech synthesizer to Starscream is to berate him, and he's constantly throwing him around, beating him, even ripping out his speech synthesizer in a scene from a previous episode (Hoist Goes Hollywood, IIRC). His own teammates don't like him, and even his brothers- Skywarp and Thundercracker, going off of the idea they're brothers- just... allow Megatron to abuse him. (Not to get into headcanons here, but I personally believe that Megatron's abuse fractured the Elite Trine's family dynamic. They are still brothers and love each other, but they're all too afraid of Megatron to really... stand up for each other as they did in the past.) And Starscream seemed to just snap in this episode. He treated the Combaticons poorly, and even when teaming up with Shockwave, he subjected him to a lot of the same ridicule and torment that Megatron put him through. He failed to realize Shockwave was the one of the only bots who would give him a chance- and unfortunately lashed out at him, which ruined his chances of Shockwave ever being a true friend and ally to him. Once Starscream had finally gotten a taste of power and not being under another bot's boot, he too became the very thing that he lived in fear of. And that really is how the cycle goes- when you're finally free from abuse, it can be tempting to overcompensate and take back all the power you were robbed of, at any cost whatsoever. Starscream, like D16 in Transformers One, snapped up this opportunity."

And the sad thing is, I've seen this in real life and I've internalised some of the abuse I've dealt with too. I'm not proud of it. Like the Seeker Trine, my own family dynamic has been fractured by similar abuse. I know there's traces of narcissism in my behaviour too, and I'm NOT proud of it. Maybe this is why I can forgive Starscream for being a narc, because I can see a little bit of my own personality/attitude/behaviour in him. Maybe it's because I know where it came from, I get why he acts that way and it's not just random and out of the blue. Maybe it's because--and I know this is a bold statement--I don't think he would do some of the stuff my own family did to me (blah blah blah he's a fictional character).

I didn't mean for this to turn into a long rant, so

TLDR: I finally figured out that part of the reason I love and relate to Starscream so much despite him internalising some of the abuse I went through, is because he was the victim of that same abuse.

Oh gosh, me too, I mean it's part of the reason my Arcane (my OC) exists. She's the one bot who's always stuck by his side and even then he doesn't treat her as well as he should ;_;

The "he deserves worse after everything that's happened to him/after everything he's done" arguments makes me so mad. It's like these people fail to see he's a victim. Mind you, I am NOT saying his actions or behaviours are justified, because they're not. But I don't think he would have been the bot he is if Megatron hadn't abused him so much.

The abuse cycle is real, and those who have been abused are more likely to abuse others because this behaviour was taught and modelled to them. You also have to realise that abuse victims are often isolated and thus either don't know any other way, or this is the right, normal way for them.

Another one I see a lot is "well why don't they just leave their abuser?" Because these people, from Cinderella to Starscream, have no way to leave, no one to turn to, because their abusive environment is their only home and the abusers often have control over things like finances, etc. I don't want to get too deep into this since this post is about analysing Starscream's abuse, but the point I'm trying to make is that their abusers--Megatron in this case--yield the high power, and when Starscream challenges him, disobeys, messes up, etc he gets beaten and reminded who is in charge. I mean, Megatron has straight up threatened to kill him in many episodes, and Starscream is pretty set on self-preservation (which again, I think all that abuse worsened).

Abusers also will do everything to get others to side with them and get friends and family to turn on the victim. Megatron does this, because in Starscream's Brigade we see him ranting to the other Decepticons about Starscream and convincing them that he is their enemy now. I imagine plenty of them probably didn't like Starscream to begin with, but I would argue that Megatron more or less "conditioned" them to hate Starscream and not put up with him. And the fact that Starscream internalises Megatron's abuse and lashes out at others certainly doesn't help his case.

Main examples imma have are gonna include TFP, Armada, and a bit of Earthspark [so warning for prob spoilers]

In both Armada and TFP, you can see thru the seasons of Star being relatively loyal, to salty from the shit and thus lashes out, to coming back to the corrupted reliance/attachment to Megatron despite it all

In Transformers Prime, Starscream ended up leaving the decepticons and was rogue for a large chunk of the show. The lead up was: Megatron being off tryna find some space rock while star lead the cons on earth, and did a smooth ass job, but as /soon/ as Meg got back he immediately began his downplaying and backhanding of Starscream's rank and accomplishments. So it's like, when Meg nukes himself, why would Star give a damn. Buuut of course Megatron ends up being alive cuz of dark energon, and eventually gets rezzed thru a stream of shenanigans, to then /immediately/ beat the shit outta Starscream for tryna keep him dead. In summary, it's just Starscream constantly being belittled and beat up as usual, until Megatron then nearly off lines him in a cave. Then replaces him with some sus ass spider, who immediately betrays star and leaves him to the bots.

But I digress, the whole bs that goes down that relates to our primary topic, is the fact of how screwy their relationship is. How Star ends up rogue and scrounging on his own for a long ass time, before eventually not being able to take starving in a broken down ship anymore, and comes back to Megatron with bargaining chips. Meg almost murders him again, but instead kills dreadwing in a false show of faith (even tho meg was already sus of dreadwing and prob woulda done it anyway) so then Star gets some life debt mentality and heavy fear of leaving the decepticons given the poor states he experienced before. /Thus/ the being stuck in the situation and trying rlly gd hard to please the bitch that uses him as a constant scapegoat. Enter unhealthy attachment to where Star actually later is absolutely distraught at Megatron's death instead. Which seems absurd but it just goes to show how much Megatron fucked up his psyche.

Then a good example of TFP star mirroring Megatron is most clear involving the Predacons. Star is terrified of them, but constantly uses violence to belittlement to try and get them to listen. To feel some semblance of power/control. Even if it doesn't always work. And of course, that behavior is unfair towards the Predacons and they didn't deserve it either. Then it perpetuated the cycle with said Predacons mirroring the behavior themselves.

Megatron's projection of the violence he learned as a gladiator, or D-16's breakdown over sentinel, lead him to do fucked up things. The situation he endured was screwed up, but that doesn't excuse his actions. It can only explain them. And if people can be happy for redemption arc Meg, there's no Primus damned reason why anyone should be against a Starscream redemption.

In Armada, Starscream was sparked into the war, and knew jack shit else. Megatron and him had this fucked up father son relationship in my eyes, and I'm sure you can see how that could go. Star desperately wants to impress Meg and prove himself capable, and sometimes went out of line with the air of a teenager. And often due to Megatron being a selfish lying bich. There's a lot of star getting beat up for shit that isn't his fault but told it is, and people constantly manipulating and gaslighting him and he questions his whole ass life but then even after leaving after a particularly wack incident. Then he again gets roped back next to Meg by some other guy. And in the end, as he's pulling his kamakazi stunt to /show/ Megatron's stubborn ass Unicron is real; he expresses how he came to realize that nothing he ever did was ever enough.

Then in Earthspark, you have that iconic S1 line when Megatron asks star "what if you could go somewhere safe?" After Star had just escaped a prison and Meg had shot/tossed him around intent on being him back minutes ago; star responds with: "nowhere is safe if it's with /you/." And that shit hits hella hard to me, especially with just how Meg reacts with having like, subtle surprise. Cuz Meg doesn't fully understand his own actions.

Megatron in Earthspark is constantly held accountable. Dunked on my bots and cons alike, and he takes it like a champ all things considered. And the pain around S2/3 Earthspark is that it was set up so much for them to allow Starscream to have some positive influences and work thru stuff as well, but they just didn't commit to that angle of it, and instead made Star the villain again for barely a good reason and not touching the trauma lore after that. Which was so dumb.

They could clearly do a good redemption lore bs with Megs, so they should have been able to equally with Star. They've both done shit things. To each other and others. Many people can debate on who did worse things (even if imo Star gets fucked up objectively more), but the fact in my mind is that the most important part is how a person/character can recognize their own behavior, and correct it and heal to be able to become a better person for themself and others. And be allowed to have moments of weakness and be met with understanding and soft correction from their peers.

Like, it's stupid to blame Starscream for Megatron beating the shit out of him. oOh bUt StArScReAm TrIeD tO kILl MeG oMG-- like bitch it's 99.9 percent of the time a behavior on Star's part born /from/ the abuse. Starscream wouldn't have even started following Megatron in the beginning if he didn't have some sort of respect for the guy! It's just all so insanely wack to me, and it's so /hard/ to clearly articulate my mental process about the whole thing.

Star lashes out as a defensive measure, as a learned means of "yeah this is totally how you are supposed to interact with people", and just out of straight warped perception based on the fact that he was so heavily shaped by his environment to the point that people being chill or nice or something feels uncomfortable.

Thank you for taking the time to write that! I'm not familiar with any of the continuities outside of G1 and TFOne but I'll try to follow along.

So for TFP, I do know that Starscream went rogue because he hated the Autobots but also Megatron. And the fact that the first thing Megatron did after coming back from the dead was beat up Starscream....I say this about every continuity but it's obvious that Starscream is his favourite punching bag. I can see why Megs gets frustrated with him, but it does NOT excuse him abusing Starscream. Although, to be totally fair here, it's not just Starscream. Megatron abuses the hell out of everyone (at least from what I've seen in G1). I mean, he's yelled at Soundwave for being a fool because his plan got foiled, and Soundwave has NEVER talked back to Megatron and is his most loyal comrade who does things without question or comment.

I've always wondered if Starscream would have a hard time actually trying to be a leader/function by himself considering Megatron basically controls everything, hence why he gets upset over Megatron's demise later on. It's complicated and I'd need to actually sit and watch the series to get a better idea but abusive relationships 100% screw you up like that. And I think the reason Starscream resorts to violence is because it makes him feel powerful. Because he always feels powerless under Megatron and he hates that feeling.

"And if people can be happy for redemption arc Meg, there's no Primus damned reason why anyone should be against a Starscream redemption."

THIS! And honestly, I think Starscream actually has a much better chance at being redeemed than Megatron, because regardless of what anyone else might say, I still say Megatron was much more evil than Starscream. And I'm dying on that hill!

I know Megatron got a redemption arc in IDW when he became an Autobot, and while I'd need to find and read the comic for context, it just felt....weird? like they were trying to appease the Meg fans who wanted a redemption arc for him? Granted, I know that all boiled down to Megatron hating what he had become, but still....

I heard Armada Starscream was probably the most complex and fleshed out version of the character in any continuity. I haven't watched Armada, but I heard that he used to be Megatron's most loyal warrior, then got betrayed by him and left for dead, and only turned on Megatron because he caught him admitting it.

"There's a lot of star getting beat up for shit that isn't his fault but told it is, and people constantly manipulating and gaslighting him and he questions his whole ass life but then even after leaving after a particularly wack incident....he expresses how he came to realize that nothing he ever did was ever enough."

Oh my gosh....THIS is what I'm talking about. Armada Starscream was dished out narcissistic abuse because Megs saw him as a scapegoat. No wonder the poor baby has a fractured psyche. And while I totally acknowledge that Starscream had it much, MUCH worse than me, as someone who's been gaslit and blamed for everything under the sun, I just get this!

Earthspark I haven't seen and I've honestly heard really mixed things about it. Starscream saying to Megatron, "Nowhere is safe if it's with YOU" is one of the most brutally honest lines I've heard. I haven't watched it, but there is a video on YT that breaks down Earthspark Starscream and talks about the PTSD symptoms he displays in the series. I hate that they made Star a villain for no good reason and threw away his trauma lore ugh. Give my baby a redemption arc already or something! And not a "bam bam he's okay now" make him work for it!

See, I still think Megatron is the more evil one who's done worse things than Starscream. I may be biased as a Starscream fangirl, but from what I've seen, 99.9% of the time Megatron (or another Decepticon) started it, and at least 50% of that time it was done to push Starscream's buttons and make him angry. Oh my gosh, I was about to mention that...."oOh bUt StArScReAm TrIeD tO kILl MeGaTrOn!" And look, I don't condone murder obviously, but considering Megatron has tried to kill Starscream before.....I understand why he snapped, like in that G1 episode where he blasted Megatron and, thinking he was dead, declared himself the new leader. Which then lead to him being thrown out of the Decepticons and enter the Combaticons, whom he treated like dirt. I have always wondered why Starscream allowed himself to follow Megatron (I assumed it was for power) but him having some form of respect for Megs is interesting....oh boy I need to do some deep diving on this.

But yes! Megatron's abuse likely created the part in Star that makes him lash out. And like I said I imagine he was always hot tempered (like Starscream, I get angry/irritated easily and I lash out. I'm not proud of it) but what Megatron did to him drove him over the edge. This behaviour was modelled to him, not just by Megs but by the other Decepticons. Also, they are in a war. Kill or be killed. Sympathy is dangerous and makes you weak. This is what's drilled into their brainboxes. And I imagine Starscream probably doesn't know/doesn't get the chance to let out his anger in a non-violent way.

"Star has done questionable things, and can be a jerk, but that doesn't mean it's his fault he endured what he did. It's only his fault for his /own/ actions of hurting someone else as a result. And that doesn't exempt someone from being able to become better and deserve better."

This! 👏He deserves another chance, he deserves happiness and a redemption. And if I have to write that for him myself, I'll damn well do it!

All very good points! The IDW Meg redemption aaaaaannnd it /definitely/ feels weird to me where I /really/ need to read it to try and understand. Because of this video that talks about the most brutal ass fucking scene of Megatron being just nonsensical and just purely wanting to hurt Starscream for personal catharsis when Star had already been pushed to the point of /wanting/ to die. The whole things rlly screwed up.

And yeah, the cons are all kinda not great to one another. And it's war. There's just so many factors.

Poor shockwave definitely gets his share of being thrown around for things that aren't rlly his fault. And honestly I wish star and him could be friends tbh- which a little bit happens in the Prime movie Predacons rising but like y'know as much as those two /can/

Also! The tag with ur OC with:

"I mean she just...loves him for no reason and he can't understand that"

Is SO real dude istg. I definitely like your direction with a dynamic where star is still how he is with struggling with vulnerability and not liking to be questioned and being a bit snippy. Writing a slow burn sort of thing where he can learn with someone who is patient enough, and he being more of the type of person to /appreciate that/ has the potential to be very wholesome imo. And I def think you'd enjoy Armada with Starscream and Alexis' relationship, regardless of how regrettably short it is--

It's always fascinating to me when writing Star calculating how he'll behave with different ppl in what situation. Because so many things can impact/trigger stuff.

Oh....my....gosh....I can't....Megatron going crazy and hurting Starscream (who wants to die at this point) because he enjoys it and is basically a psycho. If Starscream turns into an actual serial killer it's all gonna be Megatron's fault....

I've always wondered what the Seeker Trine family dynamic was like before Megatron took over, a friend and I have been tossing around some ideas but I definitely think Megatron fractured the siblings' relationship, mainly thanks to Starscream internalising that abusive behaviour.

Yeah, Shockwave and Soundwave kinda get tossed around a lot too. What's really sad is that in one G1 episode Starscream had the chance to ally with Shockwave, but then he subjected him to the same ridicule Megs did to him, and he basically ruined their chance to become allies. Poor Starscream can't have relationships with anybody.

Ahhh oh my gosh thanks 😭It's complicated and something I'm still developing but basically I want Starscream to not just experience love, but learn to give it too. He doesn't treat Arcane as well as he should and sometimes he kinda takes advantage of her/dishes out his anger on her, but he also like that she cares for him so much even though he's stumped at the idea of unconditional love. That and he's afraid she'll hurt him like everyone else has, and he just can't take that. I love thoughts of Starscream limping into the medic bay and Arcane hurries over to him and starts fixing him up and talking to him and he just feels....heard? Appreciated? Like whenever he gets hurt....she comes and heals him.

Star can be a bit tricky to write for XD I need to see him interacting with more people. And thank youuuuuu! I really want to write it and I'm tossing around some ideas with a friend, but it's gotta be slow burn (I know the IDW version will be slow burn and really messed up, but even with my G1 version I don't want to be instant).

I too wish that the Elite Trine's dynamic was explored more. I hardly see any canon content with em all rlly like, interacting beyond off-handedly. There was a bit of Skywarp in Earthspark, but neither warp or thunder were in TFP or Armada, which is wack. I've kinda mainly absorbed Trine lore from fic content tbh. And my fave artist with the squad is zeropro, and I base their personalities and stuff off that in my brain XD. Warp being the prankster and tryna cope by maybe not taking shit as seriously as they should, and avoidance. Thunder who is also avoidant and quiet type, that is like the rock and isn't thrilled about war. With Star being the ambitious and spicy boio that he is, uses to have more passionate fire before it got corrupted. And the squad rlly has the brother energy of where they pick on each other and all that, where "no one can mess with them like that but me" mood. But then as the fear sunk in, they couldn't stand up for each other anymore, and some level of trust was broken where in the war it became everyone for themselves. Tho I imagine they did still have bias for one another where they /would/ break protocol to help, but might not if Meg drilled into em hard enough.

That's my headcanons at least

Legit, all the higher position opps (star and the waves) really go thru it with being round Megs the most. And seriously- Star sabotaging his relationships constantly pains me so much, like, I jus wanna give him pats. He needs to know that he can let himself give a shit bout ppl- and /not/ mirror Megatron's bs

Yesssss that was so the angle I was thinking with you picking them to be a Medic fr dude^ star so often gets at least a little close with the medics. Kinda like how ppl ship him with knockout in TFP. And I agree, a slow burn instead of an instant thing is the only way for star imo

I know....I think the problem is, aside from the fact that Starscream is hard-wired to lash out (thanks Megs you SOB) is that he's hungry for power and control and when the others don't blindly go along or take his beatings, he gets angry. Even he and Arcane have their shouting matches. Oh gosh, and later on when they have sparklings.....there's a couple of times where he gets mad at his son or yells at his daughter.

Hey, the nice thing about dating a medic is that she can fix you up! Have you seen that fanmade Starscream OVA? Poor Star got REALLY brutally beaten up at the end of it. So I like to imagine Arcane sitting next to him and bandaging him up or fixing his dents, and helping him walk back to the base so she can further care for him.....after all the hell he's gone through he deserves some fluff <3

Yes, growing past trauma! I wouldn't be surprised if Star did develop some mental issues like PTSD (I don't doubt he's got it). I want to headcanon him as being a little ADHD but I'm not sure if that really applies to him? But then again as an Aspie/ADHD person I might be projecting too much onto him again....but yeah I just REALLY want him to get a happy ending and maybe for Arcane, Sky and Thunder to break every circuit in Megs' body, lol!

Its kinda funny to me thinking of Star as the youngest, tho I can see how it makes sense. And yeeeaaaah that def makes it feel worse ;-;

Ooooh yeah, bringing sparkling into it would very much complicate things. I'd think he'd avoid it like the plague- (although that's prob again my own projection where I like to have him more aroace, but of course there's not rlly any canon confirmation on what flavor he is in that regard)

Them kids would definitely be spicy

I think I did see that one^ star would definitely need some fluff after that shit. He'd prob rant to her bout it the entire repair session 👏

And oh yeah, the boi absolutely has some PTSD shite goin on. It's definitely hard to say on the Tism or ADHD spectrum, tho I too def don't think him to be neurotypical lolz

I didn't intend to give Starscream and Arcane sparklings (I'm thinking they were a surprise) but maybe I just want to write about Starscream TRYING to be a better father figure than Megatron but his PTSD and damaged psyche really make it hard. Or maybe he's jealous because the kids got a better upbringing even though deep inside he doesn't want them to endure what he did.

Haha oh gosh yes, and she just listens. Sad thing is Megatron is always trying to make advances towards her. Arcane will take his beatings. She even got electroshocked one time for something Starscream did. Poor femme is always trying to protect him.

I like the idea of Star being on the spectrum, I don't know why XD He's quirky and I'd like to think he'd be nerdy too. Like he won't admit but he enjoys anime despite not liking Earth things XD That's my silly headcanon.

Oh geez, I think that's a blessing and a curse....all the more reason why I want to give him a happy ending and not deal with Megatron abusing him forever and ever like some sick time loop....

And I can def see the appeal of exploring those dynamics. It's certainly interesting. I know with one of my own OC's for my brother and I's own story, he was the victim of a good bit of abuse, and years later when he ends up being the caretaker of three kids he is SO anxious about it. He does end up mirroring some of his mother's behaviors still, and gets very frustrated trying to navigate the emotional states of kids when he doesn't have a good framework on how to approach it. But he do be trying--

The jealousy thing is certainly precarious, and I can see how it could come about. Jus gotta trump the internalized salt with a sprinkle of dread of becoming who you hate-

Arcane tanking shots and dealing with Meg being sus could totally help them bond even more ngl, hell maybe star could get his own medic moments and frame it as getting back at her lmao

Yesssss Star is definitely the nerd that denies being a nerd. There are iterations where he has a science background with skyfire after all like in I think skybound

Also the anime thing is SO funny to me and he would definitely either try to recreate fight scenes training by himself or just dunk on it for being unrealistic. And if he's asked why he watches it he claims to be a hate watcher of human trash XD [becomes tsundere-]

And seriously dude, the immortality thing rlly could only pan to the infinite loop thing they got going on, and that is very much not great

Starscream as "my dumpster fire son" is so gd accurate-

Thus 🫴

Yeah, and especially as a father now he demands the respect. I think the poor boi doesn't know how to handle his emotions. Like a teenager, he experiences such intense emotions he doesn't know how to express them in a less intense way and lets them override him.

"Arcane tanking shots and dealing with Meg being sus could totally help them bond even more ngl, hell maybe star could get his own medic moments and frame it as getting back at her lmao"

I LOVE this! Yes, omg Starscream being like "I will deal with that medic!" and he actually takes care of her in secret. I mean in one G1 episode he was doctoring Megatron so i think he knows some medic stuff thanks to Arcane <3 But yeah, Arcane gets beaten up for calling out Megs on his bullying.

Oooh yes! There's a G1 episode where it's revealed he was a scientist before becoming a warrior, because Skyfire asked him if he was happier being a warrior than a scientist (judging from what I've seen in G1 I want to say he was probably a geologist/meteorologist, because warned Megs several times that what they were doing could destroy the planet). Although I'll confess, I have my days where I get so fed up with people (I work retail/customer service) that I'm like "once I get off work I'm gonna find Star and help him throw the Earth into the sun" lol

Ooooh yes and funny you mentioned tsundere, because I totally thought he was one! Like he's a big softie underneath all that <3

Starscream being pushed to the point of wanting to die because Megatron beats him for his own sick pleasure rips my heart out 😭LEAVE HIM ALONE MEGASKUNK *gets blasted*

Starscream is a dumpster fire baby and I love him <3 The funny thing is for years I was like "I will never simp for a villain" and Starscream was like "hold my energon, I'm about to end this woman's whole career!"

(Ironically, the episode where I realised there was no going back was G1's "Countdown to Extinction" AKA the one where the mad scientist gets turned into a half-cyborg....)

Also heavy on Star demanding respect thing-- he'd prob be the parent to pull out the "because I said so" line when he's pissed off. And I a hundred percent channel teenager energy with him sometimes lmao, it totally goes with the difficulty at regulating emotions for sure.

An interesting thing in Earthspark season two tho, is when Star surprises Warp and Nova by being actually very patient with Spitfire when she was being insubordinate. The lil drone was being disruptive and questioning shit and he just knelt down to her level instead of being aggressive. Tho when it hit a point he did very sternly tell her to leave. Earthspark lore def has a lot of opportunities for dad Star with either Spitfire or Hashtag, and ppl grab onto that so much

I am also people- but it became more complicated to make work after season 3 lol

And I absolutely adore the taking care of his girlie in secret after she stands up to Megatron. He could even encourage her to rant about it too like she does with him

The G1 skyfire episode def was an intriguing lil bit of lore amidst the crazy. The idea of him being a meteor/geologist is very fascinating and I can see that! I haven't seen G1 since I was a kid admittedly, although I remember even back then I would always be rooting for Star to destroy everyone lmao.

Starscream is /absolutely/ tsundere flavored-

And Primus ikr that IDW scene destroyed me ;-;

Starscream strolling up with the "hold my Energon" thing is so funny in my brain XD I forgot one have always been quite fond of villains, and would get bored of a show quick if the villain wasn't interesting honestly. And shows like ATLA were what I injected in my veins bro. Starscream needs his Zuko arc

This is on loop in my mind alongside this vid-

Oh my gosh YES! He would totally get mad and tell the sparklings "no" and when they ask "why?" he says "because I said so!" Also would get irritated if they made too much noise haha! "Will you two just BE QUIET?!"

Wow, so Earthspark Starscream had some potential? I haven't seen it myself and heard very mixed to negative things about it. But it sounds like there was potential.

Awww yes! And she totally does, she hates Megatron's guts as much as Starscream does. She has tried to help him overthrow Megs before!

I really loved that G1 lore and wish they would have explored it further! I feel bad for Skyfire though, he didn't deserve to have Starscream turn on him like that. And honestly I have days where I want to Starscream to destroy the entire planet like a Doctor Who villain haha.

Starscream saying "BAKA!" XD And definately something along the lines of "I'm NOT doing this for you or anything! I-I don't even like you-"

I hear IDW gets REALLY dark and messed up and it both morbidly fascinates and repulses me at the same time 😭

It's like Starscream found my mind and went "free real estate!" and now he lives rent free there. I can't get him out XD

And yeah! Earthspark hac /hella/ potential and that's rlly what sparked all the mixed/negative things to begin with as far as I can tell (aside from terfs bitching about an nby bot). That's def what got me so intent on wanting to continue the canon and make sense of it, because poor star had so much potential to have his arc and they trolled him

The mutual Megatron salt is perfect XD

And seriously I SO wish G1 went more into things outside the more episodic flavor I know it for. Continued Skyfire and Star drama would have been so delicious

And the feral urge to blow things up with your mind or home run the earth into the sun is so based lmao

Starscream's "baka" is "YOU FOOLS!-" ddjhdjddd

No eviction notice will save us--

The Zuko and Star abuse parallels are so real in my brain, especially Armada coded

We need more dancing starscreams frfr

Nobody likes Megatron except maybe for Soundwave and Shockwave....though "tolerate" might be a better world lol

I think G1 could have easily gone on for 10 years! There are sooooo many things you could do with it! They could make an episode about a typical day at the Ark or the Decepticon base and I'd be all over it! Plus all the inside drama, mainly on the Decepticons' end lol

Imagine Starscream trying to blow up Megatron's head the vulcan way....

I don't know anything about any continuities besides G1 and TFOne so I can't really give any opinions on that but this has definitely cemented my order of media after G1! I'm gonna watch Armada next, unless there's something else I need to watch first to understand it. I'm thinking maybe Earthspark after that but idk

I absolutely love Arcane, she's exactly what Starscream needs and I really can't wait to read it if you ever do a full fic about them In my fan continuity/universe for RPs, Meltdown even has a similar role to play. While Soundwave might be the object of his affection, when he and Aniline join the Decepticons they're both disgusted by the way Starscream is treated, and the complete lack of togetherness amongst the team. The Autobots aren't just teammates, but friends too- while the Decepticons are so prone to infighting with it being an "every bot for himself" sort of thing- and of course, everything incites Megatron's ire so it's practically impossible for them to have any real camaraderie. So far I'm thinking that he ends up sort of somehow inspiring them to finally start a mutiny and rise up against Megatron and start healing from all the abuse he put them all through. Either Soundwave or Shockwave replaces Megatron as leader, and I'm not sure what would happen next

I've been meaning to post more but I've been so busy ;-;

other friend made roblox avatar on slutwave

I spent so long on it I can't believe I almost forgot to post it 😭

some close ups: