#dreadwing tfp

hello this ask is from march lmao

sorry for the wait but im happy to say yes i finally do!

Ok ok here’s the cast of sparks for the Yet-To-Be-Named post-Predacons Rising AU :] Bit of info on what they get up to under the cut

(edit, I’ve been suggested the name Counting Stars, Sparking Hope by two friends and I love it, will be tagging this au with that :])

Decided to make two ref posts for myself of the pics I compiled for…well, myself. If anyone else finds these useful then I’m glad they do.

(Part I: Detonator, hands, sword, proximity bomb. I like Dreads a normal amount)

Part II

('Cons.)

Just wanted to say, some of this is based off canon behaviors, actions, and personality while others I haven't looked into enough to have any supporting evidence to my claim and is purely my opinion. Also this is just how I'm viewing this while LOOKING to see what there sexualities could be, again I wanted to clarify I do not believe (in canon) that any of the cybertronians have gender or sexuality and instead only romantic preference.

KNOCKOUT:

🕰️ T I M E : 9:10PM (04/11/2026)

📖 S Y N O P S I S : Pearl meets the Autobots (Optimus/Ratchet-centric). WC is around 15k so grab a snack and get comfy. The sections are separated based on the dates they were written. Literally just me in my notes app going insane and ranting.

W A R N I N G : There's a lot of angst, if you count that. Pearl seeing the Crystal Gems, Steven, Rose and White Diamond in the Autobots/kids/Megatron. Pearl is still grieving Rose but it's like in the backseat of everything. Unedited for the most part so there's a lot of grammar mistakes, and things MIGHT be confusing.

🌷NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

I wrote most of this almost exactly a year ago. Lowkey forgot about it until like a fucking sleeper agent, my annual TFP and Steven Universe hyperfixations collided with each other again.

04/22/2025

- AU takes place before the events of Steven Universe and the beginning of Transformers Prime.

- Pearl has been on the earth for far longer than the Cybertronians, but the Cybertronians have deeply intertwined themselves into earth's history before even arriving.

- Unicron not waking up could be a) the planet wasn't aligned b) the gems weren't digging deep enough c) might've only woken up if and when the cluster would begin incubating in the Earth's core. At this point though, Pearl has absolutely no idea of the cluster, and the bots don't have any incentive yet to go down to the Earth's core, so it's just slowly been incubating in there. Don't know how it'd affect Unicron, but they'd probably be cramped for space.

- Pearl would probably meet the Autobots on one of her own missions ; tracking down a gem monster, relocating lost artifacts, or coming into contact with a Decepticon.

- From there, she basically drops every so often on base, doing what she can. Shes naturally curious and a self taught engineer, so I feel she'd get along best with Ratchet. If he can get over his reluctance.

- They'd probably spend a lot of time working on different technology, switching info about their respective races, and overall it is a spirited, intelligent time. She gets excited over sharing tidbits of gem history, and he readily welcomes the info.

- I don't really see her forming a closer relationship with the other bots. Not that it cant happen, js havent thought about it yet. Arcee is the best, like maybe some tension?? With arcees personality and sort of lone wolf style, Pearl might be reminded of Amethyst.

- In this au, it might be implied something happened to the crystal gems. Or Pearl's ability to reunite with them.

- The human characters, I can see Pearl fussing over. Miko might actually be the one to give her grey hairs because of her impulse, and yet another reminder of Amethyst. Jack and Raf are basically her stand-in for Steven, though Raf more than Jack. She treats them well, checks up on them, and is basically their mother with the way she coddles and fusses over them.

- Pearl meeting June, I can sort of see them at first being a little testy (i.e. Arcee and June), but like Arcee and June, all bond over the kids, Jack specifically. June feels better soon enough knowing that Pearl is always watching over Jack and the others.

- Agent Fowler is a bit more complicated. I can see him at first being cordial, thinking another human had been wrapped up in the mess, but then back pedals when he realizes she's another, different alien. She might be pressed for info or debriefing, but there's not much success. Pearl can be pretty stubborn, and so can Fowler, but only one of the two has lived for thousands of years.

- (finally actually getting into things lmao)

- Optimus reminds our Pearl of both Garnet and Rose. It's at first, far too much so she does her best to avoid him. Kind of like when the Rose Quartzes drop by Earth, and one looks a tad too similar to Rose. It's almost annoying for her, how similar they are lmao.

- These feelings only grow a little more complicated when she finds out after everyone else about Orion Pax. It's deja vu all over again for her, the two identities, the war it had caused, and over all it's a bad time for her lmao. Made worse when Megatron gets his bottom (Optimus) back.

- Back track a little bit to expand on their relationship. To be clear, Pearl doesn't exactly love or hold Optimus in the same regard she held Rose/Pink. She was Rose's servant, not Optimus'. It's more of a relapse for her ; finding a situation (or person) so similar to the love (however one-sided) she had before. She's sort of awkward around him, though is cordial and civil. It's similar to her relationship with Greg at the beginning of the show.

- (4pm) TO BE EVEN CLEARER - none of this is to say Pearl hates or resents Optimus in any way. For as much as he reminds her of stuff she'd rather not be, she genuinely likes him. He's a leader, the first bot she ever meets from Team Prime. She respects him.

- On the Garnet aspect of the reminders, Optimus reminds Pearl of Garnet for a lot of reasons : his leadership, his calm stoicism, and the way he always seems to know what to do, when and how to do it. It's the stability she craves for herself, the yearn that made her selfish enough to manipulate Garnet into forming Sardonyx. Though that doesn't exactly happen in this AU, the feelings are still there.

- On the flipside, the Garnet aspect is what makes Pearl so willing to join Team Prime. It's sort of the reverse of her first meeting with Garnet ; Pearl is the confused, scared wanderer, and Optimus is the sure, strong one in the interaction. There's still a bit of Rose in the whole equation too.

- (04/11/2026) Suddenly remembered her heart shattering line "I'm just a Pearl, I need to be told what to do" EUHUGHEUHE

- (04/11/2026) I COMPLETELY FORGOT MEGATRON STAYS FOR A BIT AT THE AUTOBOT BASE BEFORE THE ORION PAX ARC AGHH

- If we're comparing diamonds to warlords, Megatron is very different. Before the Rebellion and coming to Earth, I imagine Pearl would've met White Diamond a handful of times.

- Megatron has an overwhelming presence, and Pearl can't help but remember White. Vividly.

- White is dismissive, cutting in when others try speaking, judgemental and almost unfeeling to the point Pearl always wondered if she truly saw Pink as her own entity. The emphasis on how she (White) was a reflection of every single color of the light, and in turn, a part of every gem, Pearl always had a sinking feeling she could never be safe in her own thoughts around her.

- Megatron retains that haughtiness and self-grandiose aesthetic. He commands the attention of the room on his size alone, his voice booming and demanding that you listen to every malicious word.

- Yet where they differ is from how they carry themselves. White is imposing, yet unmoving. She doesn't acknowledge you, doesn't care for your thoughts and opinions, she disregards feelings and gaslights, and Megatron is sort of the same. But Megatron acknowledges you, your presence, abilities, past events. He bows to Arcee (although mockingly), he gives a remark about Raf, he singles Jack out when given the chance. He sees Pearl and deems her below him. Below his race.

- Where White will tear your mind with curt words and a patronizing voice, and will barely give you a glance, Megatron will get all up in your face, locking eyes and make sure you feel every word and venom that leaves him and every blow he gives.

- Even w/ the horrible flashback to White though, Pearl doesn't take any of Megatron's shit. She's on someone's shoulder or just on the ground, spear raised, eyes narrowed and her arms one little threatening twitch away from sending her weapon into Megatron's chassis.

- HE'S NOT EVEN THERE FOR MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES AND PEARL IS JUST CONSTANTLY GLARING 😭

- Pearl does come with them to the Earth's core, albeit with some snide remarks from Megatron. To her utter shock and horror though, not only are there the flying monsters Unicron sends to get rid of them, but different parts of the Cluster. In fact there's a lot of different things : Unicron's chamber is littered with different gem shards and fragments, growing out from different places. Along with them are disfigured or conjoined limbs, torsos that don't have any limbs, or only one limb. They all just keep moving, without thought or order. While some go for the Autobots and Megatron, most of them follow after her, the only gem.

- Luckily (or unluckily) the former gladiator is quick at extinguishing both threats. Though the way he goes about dealing with the Cluster remnants is less than. . . humane. It's not like he knows how gems are incapacitated or even that the things crawling are gems so half the time he's blasting them to smithereens and the other time he's stomping them. The ones that are shot get poofed, the ones he kickstomps to death are shattered.

- SHE BASICALLY HAS A VERY ROUGH TIME OKAY. LIKE SHE KNOWS THE THINGS ARE TRYING TO COME FOR HER BUT THE FACT MEGATRON IS SO BLASE ABOUT SHATTERING HER FELLOW GEMS SENDS HER INTO A SPIN.

- When Megatron gets his boyfriend back and she has to go back with the rest of the team without Optimus, she doesn't look Ratchet in the face for a while.

- During the Orion Pax arc, I can see Pearl behaving, at first, pretty similarly to how she reacted when Rose first announced her pregnancy, and when Garnet split : fucking ugly crying. Or at least privately. Not only is the Earth under another active threat again, but she has lost a friend and another leader. It's another ugly flashback for her.

- For the most part, she really just stays on base, doing whatever she can. Sometimes she'll join missions on energon refuels and exploration duty, but with Optimus gone, neither really come to anything.

- She and Ratchet bond a little bit more during this. Pearl might end up saying a couple things about her own past. In this AU, Steven has already been born and Rose is gone. So Pearl has gone a few years without her at this point.

(04/10/2026)

- On the Ratchet and Pearl side of things, I very much see them bonding over their respective relationships to their special someone's.

- Opening up about her past makes Ratchet more sympathetic towards her as well, and puts into perspective just how long she's fought for not only herself, but the Earth. That beauty Rose saw, that motivated her to fight against the Diamonds, the one that Pearl could never truly see until Steven was born. Now Ratchet slowly but surely begins to see it as well. Starting with the human children.

- When they hijack the Decepticon spacebridge and try to get Optimus back, she very much insists on being there. If not for Jack, then to clear the way and help get him to the spacebridge.

- I like to think the Autobots + Pearl incorporate each other's fighting styles as best as they can, or rather adapt to each other.

- Someone's hurling Pearl into the air and she's landing with a spear into a Vehicon's optic or using their own tech against them. She's the height of a human but she damn sure doesn't fight like one.

- Fast foward to after the Orion Pax arc because I don't have any more ideas. Might get some after my rewatch.

- Pearl also gets to go on some of the missions, and I see it turning out amazing. Like the Decepticons think the Autobots just brought another petite, thin, unarmored human to battle and then get staff-whipped and stabbed once they send Pearl flying.

- Home girl fought a thousand year war and has been grieving a thousands of years long situationship AND had to raise the situationship's son, she needed to let off STEAM!!

- The first time she poofs though, the Autobots all just begin freaking out. The subject didn't exactly come up organically after all, and it happens during battle. For all they know, Pearl could be dead, so one of them (Probably Optimus) very carefully retrieves her gem and they bridge back to base.

- Once they're back, Ratchet is the one to very irately assuage their worries of Pearl's demise, having been told by Pearl herself when they were yapping about each other's species. She'll just need a bit of time to recover, and she'll be good as new.

- He does take her gem for safekeeping though. He doesn't want someone's grubby hands/servos accidentally cracking or shattering her. - She takes her sweet time though, and when she does emerge from her gem, they're all the happier for it.

- During the Relic Hunt in season 2, I can see her accompanying Optimus. From what I remember, gems aren't vulnerable to the Arctic so she's the perfect companion.

(04/11/2026)

- Naturally this means they bump into Dreadwing, and while she doesn't immediately draw similarities between him and any of her loved ones, she becomes very curious about Cybertronian dynamics after that meeting.

- This is also her first meeting with Starscream, which I can see going as well as you'd imagine. Pearl hasn't yet met Peridot in this universe, but I can see their interactions going similarly. While Pearl is (most of the time) level headed, she's petty to a fault, and push the right buttons, will respond.

- Meanwhile Starscream, even with him being cuffed by Optimus at the time, isn't one to hold his mouth (even when it'd benefit him). So after enough comments about her stature, the peculiarities of her race and thinly veiled accusations of her being nothing more than an Autobot pet and home girl will not hesitate to charge up her spear. Only stopped by Optimus, of course.

- Anyway, back to Dreadwing. Since Gems don't really have siblings or a similar equivalent, she'd be very curious on how Cybertronian split-sparks differ from human siblings.

- I was thinking of who else Pearl might be missing then it hit me: BISMUTH!

- In this AU, Pearl still has yet to know of Bismuth's true fate, so in her mind she's basically dead. Pearl might see Bismuth in Miko at times. With the way Miko is more brazen and a go-getter, preferring to do her own thing and her blunt ways of speaking and interacting with the others.

- On a side note, both the kids and the Autobots are very surprised when they see Pearl crying for the first time. They didn't exactly think Gems could cry, or at least cry actual tears, so when she's an incoherent sobbing mess, they stare at her for a good second before actually doing anything.

🌷(MORE) NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

I ran out of steam. This has been sitting on my phone for a year so I'd love to hear people's thoughts. Whether or not you agree or think I'm wrong and stupid, whatever!! I adore both of these characters so much aghhh (some of my childhood heroes).