💖 Smokescreen Appreciation Blog 💖

General Tags

KD Speaks - me saying random things

KD Answers - answered asks

KD Reblogs - things that aren’t mine but I want to save

First Thoughts - first thought of a possible AU

Canon Dissections - where I take canon apart like a four year old being given a screwdriver, aka headcanons, theories and dissections

Sillies - shitposts, memes and the like

Insert Art Tag - because aparently fanart is a thing I have now and like HELL I’m gonna lose it

AUs

Ghost of Darkmount - Smokescreen was the last person in the base and uses the Phase Shifter to haunt the Decepticons

Early Crash - Smokescreen lands on Earth several years before the Autobots and accidentally jumpstarts some of the plot

Writing the Future - Smokescreen accidentally merges with a relic and gains future vision without realizing it

Cortical Unreality - when Smokescreen was captured after the fall of Iacon he was experimented on by Shockwave, specifically with the Cortical Psychic Patch, before he eventually escaped

Hapstance - Smokescreen isn’t Elite Guard and is Just Some Guy who Alpha Trion liked and just happened to be in the Archives when it was attacked

Out of Touch - I play around with the idea of Smokescreen being really behind on the tech aspect of Cybertronian technology because of how long he was asleep

The Archivist - after the war, Smokescreen takes up Alpha Trion’s mantel and becomes the new Archivist of Iacon

Jack Chooses Violence - AU where Jack killed Megatron in the mines

Smoke and Clay - when Smokescreen was on the Nemesis, his brain got messed with a bit and know he has no idea how to get back to the other Autobots, and along the way he meets Denny Clay

Dark Infection - when searching for the first Omega Key, Smokescreen ends up being infected with Dark Energon when Megatron hits him with the Dark Star Saber

Smokey Mirrors - Smokescreen is actually an Ex-Decepticon Spy and trying very hard to not blow his cover. His cover, unsurprisingly, gets blown

Unknown Rover - Smokescreen crashes on Mars instead of Earth, scans the Curiosity Rover as an alt mode, and fixes up the rest of the rovers he finds. NASA is very confused where this colorful other rover came from

Fifth Sigma - Smokescreen was training to be a Rescue Bot instead of Elite Guard and was supposed to be a member of Sigma-17

Initial Resident - Smokescreen’s pod laded on Earth a long time ago and is buried beneath Jasper. Because he was lonely, he decided to use his holoform to live amongst the humans

Guard Duty - Alpha Trion isn’t dead and managed to escape with Smokescreen to Earth

Universe Jump - Smokescreen gets dragged into the TFA Universe but nobody realises he’s crossed universes, including himself

Unlikely Partnership - Predaking is made during the earlier stages of the war, however defects after questioning the conflict. After accidentally ending up in the Archives, he befriends a certain guard

Squishy Inside - Smokescreen is actually a sparkling in a IDW Magnus-esque armor suit

I'm curious, ( i kinda wanma make fanart if its okay) how.. messed up did the crash make Smokescreen? I know you mentioned at the start that his frame was a lil damaged or something, and obviously not SO much he'd pass out before he could do any haunting- but just enough to look, ypu know, ghosty when he does show himself.

Also, has Smokescreen ever 'ghosted' himself up when he wants to make an apperance? E.g. coating himself in energon and letting it dry, using knock Outs paint to make fake cracks and wounds in his armour? Maybe focused on his shifting so it looks like he's missing a limb?

Also, if i do make fanart, i kind of have a plot bunny thats stuck in my head of your au, but doesnt really fit the timeline of the au. Is it cool if i make a lil comic of it and send it over? Sorry im kinda taking your idea and running with it

Best wishes!!

oh my gosh if you made fan art for this I think I was explode on the spot. And feel free to do stuff that breaks the time line! I ADORE seeing what you guys do with these random ideas I'm throwing out into the void of tumblr. Feel free to twist it and change it and do whatever you want!!! It's all part of the creative process and is something magical to both experience and witness, and I'm proud to see how far it can go

Now to answer your questions about his appearance >:D

after the initial collapse, his wounds were fairly minor but incredibly numerous. Bro is covered head to toe in dents, scratches and minor burns, and most of his paint was either scrapped off or is covered in ash.

That last part specifically is what gave the illusion of him being dead. Smokescreen was already mostly whites and greys with only a few pops of color. Now those whites are dull and dirty, and his colors are barely present at all. The only immediately noticeable bit of color is his optics, but even then they're dim and hazy

after the first few patrols he scares, you're right in that Smokescreen does end up... well, making himself more spooky :) The energon he applies is mostly around his hands and on his feet with a bit seeping out between the cracks in his armor. He intentionally starts roughing up his armor a bit more, and tends to drag his leg to mimic a limp. And of course, you can't forget the low, broken voice that's a hallmark of any scary ghost. It's very glitchy and he's careful to rarely say any actual words

He's taking a lot of notes from his brief encounter with Silas, and further emphasizing the creepiness, which is uh. Well it's a bit awkward when he finds the guy in one of Knockout's back rooms on a dissection table

Anyway, gotta ask about the Early Crash AU; does Cliffjumper live here, or does he still die like in canon?

I say this 'cause, you'd think with the guy who knows Earth like the back of his hand (servo?), who has explored and mapped out every place of interest, would warn them about potential danger spots, I guess?

Like, you said Smokescreen has a good stockpile of Energon back at the silo to live fairly comfortably. So he has visited alot of mines and deposits over the years. Perchance one of those was the place where Cliffjumper got- well, jumped, for the lack of a better word?

What if that place was one of the mines he pointed to Knockout and Breakdown when they asked for info (this was in one of your posts IIRC?). So maybe when Cliffjumper reported about the deposit, Smokescreen jumps in and goes,

"Actually, you might wanna bail or call for backup since that's probably under Decepticon hands now. Just sayin'."

"How do you know this?"

"Uhh, stupidpersonsayswhat-"

"What?"

Anyway, soooo.... whatcha think? Sorry if I'm asking at a bad time, or something of the like

honestly I hadn't put much thought into Cliff :0

For one, like you mentioned with Smokescreen's energon stockpile, the Autobots are going to be doing WAY less scouting for energon that they do in canon. Most of the time they're out in the field it's at the sites he already found to mine as much as possible before the Decepticons find it

so honestly it wouldn't be out of the question for Cliff to not get attacked at all and keep on surviving.

technically the Cons never actually find out. Knockout does end up connecting the dots accidentally and completely coincidentally later on, probably sometime in S3 if I had to guess, but that never becomes wider known to anybody else among the Cons

but if theoretically they did...

honestly? yeah most likely they keep him under in the Patch

this would be an absolutely vital piece for the war effort. They would be able to stop the Autobots at every point, always staying ten steps ahead because they would know what their enemies would do before they would even decide it themselves

Well, it's more of a crack "AU" idea I have, which can be simplified as, "TFP Smokescreen meeting either his G1 or IDW counterpart (IDK how different those two are, I haven't gotten myself into those yet and I usually see them being 2 differenct categories).

Like- imagine you, meeting a version of yourself who's younger- like probably WAY younger, so exhibits more childlike behaviours and actions than what you would do. Also he's part of the Elite Guard somehow, is the personal Guard of Alpha Trion, and was once offered to become Prime after Optimus?? Like damn kid, what kinda life have you led.

Also hey isn't this technically Hot Rod's role-

Meanwhile here you are, face to face to a version of you from another universe, who's way older--probably as old as Bulkhead or Arcee--so he's like a more mature version of you. Apparrently he's not a Guard, which is weird but whatever. And he's part of some intelligence unit in the army (I'm not sure if this is canon or fanon)--actually nevermind that, he's part of the army. That means he's fought in the war until it's end. That means he hadn't gone to stasis for most of the war.

As the resident Smokescreen expert, I'm curious on how you think about this little idea. Don't gotta think on how they even managed to meet eachother, just- imagine. :)

A U G H

god how do I absolutely love how much of a tragedy TFP Smokescreen's life is. I admit I don't know as much about his IDW or G1 counterparts beside a few clips and looking over the wiki page, but I still Love him <3

I will admit my brain is RAPIDLY bouncing back and forth between the angst and crack options because just. THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO HERE!!!!!

because on one hand, there's the absolute havoc I know these two will wreck if left unsupervised for any allotment of time. There is going to be a lot of racing around, and gambling, and probably several laws being unintentionally and intentionally broken

but on the other hand, the way these two look at the other as some twisted, warped mirror.

G1/IDW Smokescreen looks at this kid. Sees all of his accomplishments, all of his history, but also sees how lonely he is. He's undoubtedly skilled as a warrior, but he lacks the experienced edge every other veteran of the great war has. He sticks out, shiny in a way that almost seems new. He's accomplished so much in so little time and he doesn't even know where to start. Is this what he could've been like? In another world, in another life, could he have kept this innocence and naivety and joy? But at the same time, he can't help but question how? How has he stayed so unstained by everything they've been through? How has this other version of himself come out so- so clean? Was it a moral failing on his own part, or is he missing something here?

and TFP Smokescreen looks up at this other version. Sees his clever words and friendly smile, how everyone seems to love him. How he has the same stride, the same weight as Bulkhead and Arcee and Bumblebee, the weight of a warrior. A real one, one who's fought in the war. He was there for it, and Smokescreen can't help but wonder how many people he's saved, how much of a difference he made to those around him. He's undoubtedly lost people, but he was able to actually do something about it instead of sleeping the war away. He was there to experience terrible, awful, scarring things, but he experienced them yes? He was able to live a life, no matter how difficult, and he was able to bond and grow because of it. Step in step with the people at his side, carving out a place for himself in the world that nobody else could fill

boi picks up the huge spiky frag-off sword on the way to getting the phase shifter after they destroyed the omega lock and for the rest of the series Optimus has to train him in actually using something that heavy and mystical.

(bonus:

Ultra Magnus: why does this child have two relics?

Bulkhead: well, one's because he's the only one who can wield it.

Ultra Magnus: and the other?

Bulkhead: he called dibs.)

DSJRBVJSDFBVKJDFBKJVD

oh my god I love that actually that is some fucking certified Smokescreen Gremlin Behavior shit and I am 100% here for it

Ultra Magnus is going to be. SO fucking lost with everything that's going on with this weird fucked up kiddo. Wheeljack too now that I'm thinking about it, but he's got more of It Is What It Is vibe going on so he's less hung up about it

like. Yeah okay, an Elite Guardsman is here and alive, and also he's infused with the blood of the antichrist and he managed to steal a sword made out of the crystalized stuff to wield. Easy enough to understand

and then there's Magnus in the corner on the verge of a conniption because I'm Sorry The FUCK??? What do you MEAN he's regularly being given T W O RELICS????

And.

EXCUSE ME?? EXCUSE ME SMOKEY WHAt???

LIGHTLY GRABBING ON THEIR INTERNALS?? WHAT THE FRAG?????

that is horrifying. Horrific to think about. Would. Would some bots have to go to the medbay because smokescreen GRABBED THEIR INTERNAL ORGANS??

That

That is genuinely scary.

Smokescreen my guy are you OK???

sometimes you just gotta poke the organs of the guys who are making you upset <3

I like to think it mostly started as an experiment, ie "How close can I get to bots before they REALLY start to freak out"

the answer to that, boringly enough, was barely close at all. Just appearing as a flicker at the end of the hallway was enough to send the vehicons into a tizzy

so THEN it became a game of "how close can I get to bots before they notice me"

the rules were simple. He could stay invisible, but he had to stay in the same plane of reality, aka bots could still hear him and theoretically figure out where he is

he loses if they notice him before he gets close enough. He wins if he manages to touch them

.....and sure sometimes that means a little booper snooper in their internal organs <3

So it’s been said that smokescreen has satan in his basement and he’s desensitized

What if when he’s annoyed enough he just starts telling Unicron to shut up

Now imagine. Smokescreen Talking to someone(Bee or ratchet or prowl, anyone), and then suddenly the VOICE OF THE CYBERTRONIAN ANTICHRIST starts screaming at you both and the librarian, silly social man who’s chill, just SCREAMS at unicron to shut up.

Some autobot with high clearance : Ok so we need to talk about these robberies

Smokescreen: Alr! What do you need to talk about?

Unicron: *Insert screams of the damned here as he swears at smokescreen*

Autobot: *Horrified*

Smokescreen: One second, one second. *turns*

SHUT THE FRAG UP UNICRON

Stunned silence from both Unicron and whoever smokescreen was talking to.

AALLSO! Would being nearby the antichrist on basically a daily basis have effects on smokescreen? If so what kinds of effects?

EXACTLY

THIS IS MY EXACT THOUGHT PROCESS FOR HOW IT GOES!!! YOU GET MY VISION!!!!!!

Imagine being this random ass detective or enforcer or whoever is investigating the various attempted robberies on the newly rebuilt Archives. There was a bit of background done on the head Archivist, at least as much as was available. There wasn't too much to be found, so they assume he was probably one of the millions of bots who was scattered to the stars. Rumors say he's a friendly, chatty bot. Few, if any, enemies. Young. Agreeable, if a bit reckless at times.

And when they get to the Archives? All of that holds water and then some. He's perfectly welcoming and transparent with the investigation, doesn't take offense to them pointing out holes in the admittedly very well organized security, and was even thorough in checking their clearance before taking them to the more... sensitive and secretive parts. He makes small talk as they move, outlines everything cleanly and concisely with the practice of someone used to giving official reports, and it seems like nothing of note will happen

but then just as they start wrapping up, one of the relic rooms starts shrieking bloody murder.

The Autobot stops and jolts, a raw primal feral sort of fear being launched straight through their spark. Because that was a noise no living thing could make, was a noise that boomed and demanded respect, that made them so painfully aware of the fact that there were things much larger and much stronger than they were in this world. They wanted to run away to transform to put as much distance between them and that door as physically possible

And Smokescreen, who was supposed to be nothing more than a friendly archivist, showed barely any sign of being affected by it aside from his smile tightening and his doorwings flaring out.

"Excuse me a second," he says

And then he walks toward the door.

The Autobot is too frozen in fear to stop him despite the roaring urge that that is what they should do before this silly, chatty, foolish archivist gets himself killed

He opens the door anyways and the noise impossibly manages to get louder. Only now the shrieking has meaning, words, attached to it. The shrieks are curses and promises of death, of lost ones being ripped away and crushed beneath its heel

It is threats, and every single one is being directed at Smokescreen

who still shows no sign of being affected

who looks positively annoyed by the glowing, swirling jar in the center of the room holding Unicron Himself

who opens his mouth and yells back and threatens the jar into silence

then he walks out

closes the door

apologizes for the interruption

and keeps fragging walking

like. Hear me out: he's been missing and off the grid for MILLIONS of years, and his disappearance would've almost certainly been noticed. He originally disappeared in the middle of a crisis as a guard for an important figure.

Said figure ended up ultimately dying in the chaos, and since Optimus asks Smokescreen when he last saw Alpha Trion, it's implied that his body was never actually found by anybody

it's also entirely possible that Smokescreen wasn't even added to any Decepticon prisoner manifests given how quickly he escaped!!! Best case scenario, they might've snapped a photo or written down a physical description. Worst case, they didn't even notice a prisoner was missing

I was thinking about ways wearing the phase shifter may have affected Smokey. If the phase shifter was damaged when he was buried maybe its affects are kind of permanent on his body.

Even when he’s not wearing it, or has had it removed surgically, powers of a damaged relic mixing with a normal bot’s frame must be dangerous when its integrated into his system for its own safe-keeping and even Smokescreen’s protection.

And at random times it just kicks in and he’ll randomly drop through floors, or disappear from sight. Try and speak or touch someone but he realises he’s back to being a ghost for the timebeing, Its quite worrying since nothing that’s been tried works in fixing it. And when it suddenly stops, alot of the time gravity gets a bit confusing, or smokey gets stuck in walls, ends up injured or knocking himself out because he’s gone from weighing little to nothing to having a war-built frame.

He cant control it ofcourse, its tiring enough that the phase shifter is using his energy to push him between the realm of the living, and the inbetween, no doubt it randomly hits when he’s picking stuff up, and he cant grab it.

Im definitely gonna be commenting on more if i get the time, so i’ll try to mark anything i send with 🎀 if possible

Ooooooooooooo

maybe this could be a side effect of Smokescreen attempting to wire the Shifter directly into his systems

after all, the ruse would probably be up pretty quick if everyone saw the supposed ghost grab at its arm before disappearing. It would be easy to connect the dots about him just being a living bot using the Phase Shifter

so in an attempt to cut off those assumptions before they started, what if he connected himself To the Phase Shifter

it did it's job, and gave him an easy way to phase in and out of reality without issue

....only for the issues to arise after the removal

DHFJBVDHJFBVFJD oh christ that would be chaotic as shit-

maybe it was some sort of Pre-Iacon invasion spy, potentially a shapeshifter who was looking to replace Smokescreen, but obviously that didn't turn out well