when the combaticons fought alongside/adjacent to the protectobots in one of their previous early-war contracts they had an ever-present tension where both parties were aware the combaticons were only in it for the money. post-megatron's death it becomes a lingering kind-of gag about payment because the protectobots and combaticons know that the combaticons don't really have anyone else willing to hire them/nowhere else to go (and even then whatever agreement they have with the Autobot is VERY fragile and disadvantages the combaticons) and therefore are taking much less pay than they might normally demand.
hot spot doesn't participate in the ribbing (and the rest of the protectobots don't tease about pay in front of onslaught) because it hits too close to... something for both of them (esp the 'their relationship was never genuine and always dictated by the money).
i have a question, did you look into my brain (/silly) or have i posted about this before bc this is exactly how i feel about it (maybe i've posted about it before, now that i think about it...?)
i think for onslaught and hot spot, the reason things are more complicated than just pure innate loathing is a matter of the qualities they see in each other.
when they work together, they perfectly balance each other out - hot spot who gets right into the thick of things versus onslaught who only gets his hands dirty when worst comes to worst. passionate and instinct-based hot spot who's cooled down by think-first, always-has-a-plan onslaught. if it weren't for their morals, i think they could do great things together (i'm a very gestalt-centric person as we all know, so i've always liked them as this kind of rival more than the ever-famous OP-megatron rivalry). but they don't really see it that way? not anymore at least.
like yeah, when they worked together early in the war, they knew from the start that the alliance was on a payment basis. but i've always had this idea where hot spot got a tiny dash of hope that he probably shouldn't have. whether it was from seeing the combaticons work together as a team (and though they wouldn't have been a gestalt at the time, it's one of those things that resonates with hot spot as a leader), or from just collaborating with onslaught and - between their disagreements - sensing some kind of camaraderie forming naturally. and though he was skeptical of the combaticons at first, he starts to loosen up on that...
juuust for his team's suspicions to be proven right in the end lol. (well, it isn't that the combaticons are incapable of emotion and camaraderie, but they are self-serving - that's just the reality of it.) and hot spot isn't eager to make that same mistake again.
so. polar opposites. the qualities that they once could have respected in one another are also among the reasons they don't like each other - hot spot's fiery dedication and energy equates to self-righteous recklessness (in onslaught's eyes), whilst onslaught's incredible foresight and diligence loops back around to arrogance and tunnel vision (in hot spot's eyes). the fact that there are any respectable qualities at all in the other person also is infuriating, because the nature of their two lines of work are complete opposites, and that is where a lot of the disagreements in general came from.
there's also the fact that the protectobots - as a rescue team - probably end up having to clean up the messes left by the combaticons after a battle, but. you know.
anyway! in general, i imagine most of the ribbing comes from streetwise and blades. groove and first aid would be the most hurt by a betrayal (due to their strong senses of empathy/compassion) but that's also probably why they're most open to the idea of giving the combaticons a chance, and that means not poking too hard at their buttons. maybe.
though, honestly - just bc of how decepticon and autobot soldier culture is - if we want to see history repeat itself... the rude jokes and teasing might become a form of respect/camaraderie over time, depending on how long the combaticons are stuck with the autobots. the leaders might be adamant about not getting too attached, but the other four protectobots are 75% naturally friendly people and the combaticons are good at detaching themselves, so they aren't really gonna listen anyway.
...
also. i know that the reason for brawl's character development in TAAO had a lot of prior conditions/context to it, but this is kind of what i meant about uncomfortable truths in a previous post i think. like, unwillingly learning something in a place where you never think you'd find it, and that affects how you want to go forward. idk food for thought bc im definitely not the only person who loves shoving the pbots and combaticons into one space and forcing them to work together
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i only have one (1) spaghetti noodle today and that is after the programming is out onslaught would probably plan to discreetly kill megatron and put the combaticons (+ constructicons? to some extent?) in a favorable position to either leave or take power themselves. it's more likely that they choose to leave. my read on onslaught's character is that he's a pragmatist. he has more political tact than to advertise his disinterest in factional rhetoric, but he truly does not care if he's fighting for the autobots or decepticons. The closest Onslaught will have to 'peace' (without SO much therapy) is fighting (and winning) alongside his combaticons on their own terms. political power allows him to accomplish the prior two goals easier and on a larger scale, with more pawns and resources to mobilize. the decepticon cause violates all of his 'wants': the decepticons often lose costly battles with the autobots due to leadership failures, he and his crew have their actions dictated to them by an outside force, and while onslaught managed some political leverage within the decepticons, he's severely limited by the loyalty programming and internal decepticon turbulence.
ideally, onslaught would have megatron's death look like a 'mistake', a lucky shot mid-battle, and leave with the combaticons in the resulting chaos to return to being mercenaries. onslaught can pretend the loyalty programming broke with megatron's death and spin their leaving as a mistrust of starscream/unease with the internal conflict, not any grudge against the decepticon cause itself. that way he still has connections within the faction that are willing to hire/fight alongside the combaticons. he might possibly plan to reach out to the autobots through swindle and pretend the decepticon civil war + control programming has made the combaticons willing to turn against the decepticons, playing both sides for jobs/resources/intel.
but the plan goes awry (starscream displaying a surprising measure of comptence/soundwave catching the combaticons' new freedom/etc.) so onslaught has to step in and clean up the mess himself. which results in him publicly killing megatron in a clearly intentional manner and burns any bridge he could possibly have with the decepticon faction. (even if some decepticons believe that megatron is an incompetent leader that should have been killed, they wouldn't publicly announce it by aligning with onslaught.)
Directly after killing megatron, though, onslaught is put on the spot. He can either lean into the ‘killing megatron’ bit and claim power (which he’ll have to maintain by violence and fear, not true loyalty) or flee the decepticons altogether. either way, the combaticons will constantly be at odds against the decepticon faction. again, neither onslaught nor the combaticons have no real personal investment in the decepticon faction (except for scrapper + constructions… kind of…), so they’ll probably leave. It’ll chafe that they’re ‘fleeing’ from a fight, but the combaticons are smart enough to pick their battles. With the right messaging emphasizing the loyalty programming, onslaught could even leverage the entire debacle and prep a smooth transition into fighting alongside the autobots as mercenaries/joining the faction altogether, though that won’t happen immediately.
Initial decepticon reaction will be unfavorable to the combaticons but will probably dismiss them as a symptom of a different problem. the decepticons that DON'T know about the loyalty programming believe onslaught had been paid off by the autobots. most of the decepticons that DO know about the loyalty programming believe either starscream managed to override megatron's control and set onslaught on megatron. what i'm trying to say is the combaticons have spent so long under megatron/starscream's boot, being used in very limited ways that don’t take advantage of their strengths as a unit/individuals, that the other decepticons underestimate the autonomy and lethality of the combaticons. The decepticon high command will probably catch on pretty quickly that the combaticons have broken loose of the code, though. The constructicons have the clearest view on what happened (having been the ones to cut the programming out + onslaught might have filled them in/recruited them for the plan) but they’re unlikely to throw their lot in with the combaticons. I remember u said somewhere that they’re passive opportunists (100% agree), and onslaught’s current position is Not Good.
Ultimately, though, onslaught’s end goal had been to regain his and the combaticons’ freedom, which he did accomplish. Cheers?
(i was wrong about the spaghetti quantity + hope ur doing well.)
sorry i haven't had the spoons today to give this as thoughtful of a response as i'd like but AS ALWAYS i really liked all of it. and absolutely agree!!! and i have a few small things i'd like to add myself :0
With the right messaging emphasizing the loyalty programming, onslaught could even leverage the entire debacle and prep a smooth transition into fighting alongside the autobots as mercenaries/joining the faction altogether, though that won’t happen immediately.
see i think this could be really interesting. i'm not really a big fan of the whole "autobots 'fixing' former decepticons" mindset that a lot of fics with this premise seem to take, but i like the idea of both sides (reluctantly) learning from each other. anyway what i mean to say is, it would be REALLY interesting to see both the combaticons and the autobots work this into their respective codes of conduct/moralities. generally speaking, in terms of what they've done and the very nature of their work, by this point they're the gestalt the autobots (or at least the vast majority of them) are the most likely to reject. and even if they killed megatron, that doesn't really do them much extra favor - who's to say they won't one day repeat that, once people have gotten over it and let down their guard?
(which like. is a fair assumption because the combaticons really aren't siding with the autobots for a genuine agreement in belief. even if they had worked together in the past, it was always on a payment basis, and that was a looong time ago. not that onslaught would be stupid enough as to make it obvious that another self-serving goal is on his mind, but he's just trying to be prepared. i think working with the autobots and getting a steady supply of resources is a good strategic choice for the long-term, but whether the effort they have to put in and the guise of a moral commitment is worth it...? well i guess it depends.)
so the process going into whatever arrangement this is would be slow.
uhhhh my entire blog is themed around protectobots so i will say, i think the idea of the combaticons working with their rivals is something i'm rolling around in my head rn for this specific scenario. doesn't even matter if the combaticons are or aren't permanent members of the faction by this point. the combaticons and pbots are even more ideologically opposed than the combaticons are to the autobots as a whole, so i can imagine that while the pbots try to keep an open mind in terms of accepting the combaticons as allies (emphasis on try), it's especially rough going for them.
ironically i feel the person who would understand the combaticons best in this scenario is blades, even though i'm pretty sure he hates decepticons with a bloody passion. they're not really on the same level, but i feel like vortex could tug at something gnawing away at blades. that little voice inside of him asking what's in it for him when he could just cut loose and tear everything apart while he's in battle, the part of him that isn't going to be able to adjust to peacetime. sure, hot spot is a damn good fighter and he doesn't shy away from combat, but he's different from blades and very different from the combaticons in that he's absolutely passionate about protecting others. or else he wouldn't be leader.
idk. all that to say i'd like to see both the combaticons and the protectobots have to come to some uncomfortable realizations as a consequence of the combaticons (temporarily?) throwing their lot in with the autobots. i think i've digressed a lot from the main topic but you know... (i could totally also find a way to link this back to the constructicons but that would have to happen later when i'm feeling more creative)
also. i know i've mentioned i'm not a fan of when writers make it so that all decepticons are inherently self-serving or cowards. but that's really on a case-by-case basis, and in this case, if the combaticons stuck with the autobots only to eventually leave ... it's not at all the same as swindle leaving onslaught for dead. iykyk.
The constructicons have the clearest view on what happened (having been the ones to cut the programming out + onslaught might have filled them in/recruited them for the plan) but they’re unlikely to throw their lot in with the combaticons. I remember u said somewhere that they’re passive opportunists (100% agree), and onslaught’s current position is Not Good.
oh yeah for sure. especially if onslaught has to cut ties with the decepticons ... is it really smart for the constructicons to abandon a faction where - through all the turbulence - their standing is actually going to be relatively stable? compared to giving up everything and going with the combaticons. in fact i would argue that the cons having some internal divisions is the perfect time for the structies to deepen their influence and keep themselves safe, so long as they're mindful of how they go about it.
the constructicons are pretty autonomous in nature, so it's not like they're dependent on the decepticons and their resources, but again - passive opportunists. i think they're more likely to try and remold the Cause to their agenda (or something like that) than to call it quits.
Ultimately, though, onslaught’s end goal had been to regain his and the combaticons’ freedom, which he did accomplish. Cheers?
cheers!!!! (and maybe he'll be able to turn the tables? who knows)
Surely the autobots combiners and OmegaSupreme, because of their height and strength, were more that useful when assembling Metroplex. It's possible thst during the construction of the Autobot city those three had to spent more time that they are used to with each other....
Maybe, it was then that Defensor found out he could function without one of his limbs, since FirstAid would be needed in other areas because of his expertise...
The ability to interchange limbs would also have to be discovered at some point too (considering the event of Scramble City)
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HotSpot believing that since Silverbolt is a leader of a c0mbiner team too, could understand his predicament and asks the aerialb0t leader if he has to deal with a combiner unusual proclivities (Defensor's "INTEREST" in humans) or at least how to go about it.
Silverbolt is suprised that HotSpot could possibly have a problem with something; the protectobots leader is so naturally talented. it's flattering that he comes to him for advice. Unfortunatelty, Silverbolt has nothing to offer as a proper response.
It's not a problem!!! it turns out that HotSpot is ok with just having him there to listen, and comes to a solution while he's at it!! HotSpot thanks Silverbolt in an exaggerated but sincere gesture for his time (even if Silverbolt considers he hasn't done anything to help) and leaves; without knowing that he just left Silverbolt with a new cursed knowledge about combiners that he had NEVER even considered.
