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afterspark-podcast · 5 years

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G1 Episode 9: Transcript

Episode Show Notes

[This can also be found on AO3!]

[Stinger]

S: Feed me! Or you need to get on your bed and let me lie on you!.

[Intro Music Plays]

O: Hello and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast, and episode by episode recap of the generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I'm Owls!

S: And I’m Specs. [titters]

O: Do you want to try that again?

S: And I'm Specs.

O: Today we're gonna be talking about episode number 9, Fire on the Mountain! Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Yes.

O: So, if you remember last time we got Dinobots and sadly Dinobots will be Sirs Not-Appearing-in-this-Picture until the next episode, so I will, ah, kindly put my love for Grimlock away and we'll talk about it later, but just remember my cute Dino baby is coming back next episode.

S: Yeah.

O: Alright, so, um, today's episode opens with Brawn and Trailbreaker trailing- haha- Thundercracker and Starscream.

S: And they're totally driving on a road that looks like it's paved with giant metal bricks. That design choices for industrial areas this cartoon are really weird.

O: Especially because this is a human area. This is not, like, an Autobot area they're breaking into or-

S: or Cybertron.

O: Or Cybertron. This is a human area which seems mildly weird, um, but whatever. Uh, they arrive at a steel plant. Uh, Starscream running ahead of Thundercracker once they land, uh, with Starscream reminding Thundercracker of his superiority all of the way there.

S: Dot, dot, dot.

O: [Laughter]

S: Thundercracker is basically just trying to bring up that, hey, the steel from this plant might not be quite up to snuff for the project the Decepticons need it for and Starscream is completely ignoring him.

O: Because of course he is. Starscream is Starscream, and Starscream is gonna do what Starscream wants.

S: Yeah and they're stealing steel.

O: Oh my fucking pun! [Laughter] This is not even a good pun! Anyway throughout this we find out Starscream can apparently shoot missiles from his chest. Okay.

S: Titty guns. [Laughter]

O: [Sigh] We’re supposed to save all the innuendos till we get a Megatron gun. One psychedelic looking explosion later Thundercracker and Starscream fly off, leaving the Autobots buried under the wreckage.

S: There's some surprisingly nice background painting here, I really like it.

O: I believe you called it, “artfully destroyed,” while we were watching it.

S: Yeah, that sounds about right. And Starscream said we're bringing the house down.

O: Oh, you punny-punny bastard you. So the Autobots dig themselves out of all the wreckage, then they report back to the Ark.

S: Not helping any of these people. There's this entire crowd of people wearing welding masks-

O: That we saw running from from the Seekers.

S: Like, they- they're not helping any of these people that just got exploded or had stuff dropped on their heads. I mean, yeah, we totally- we totally saw this is entire crowd of people running away.

O: They’re fiiiiiine! So, uh, the Autobots get new toys today. Back to the Ark, they now have satellites or “sky spies.”

S: Honestly, I'm really wondering what diplomatic hoops had to be jumped through for this. I mean, the Cold War was presumably still going on or maybe the onset of the giant robot war put that on hold.

O: I mean, can you imagine Russia wouldn't have reacted very well to this. Like I-I imagine that like, Optimus would have had to do some serious smooth-talking. Like we, you know, we are neutral. We just want to keep the Decepticons in line. We're more than happy to help you guys, too. I don't know how that would have worked but he apparently did it so, ehh?

S: Like, I don't think I've ever read anything where anyone's tackled this but I kind of want them to.

O: Yeah, like, I know that a lot of more “edgy”, uh, recent stuff they- they tend to do focus on that kind of thing a lot more, and I'd like to see it but I'd like to see it a bit more positively than just the humans are going to kill the giant robots. It's a little depressing after a while, when they keep doing that.

S: Cuz they did this with Bumblebee, actually. Spoiler Alert!

O: Yeah, basically in Bumblebee they were, like, well we don't want the Russi- we don't want them to go to the Russians for help, so they end up helping, um helping, um, some of the robots that are not very nice robots if you catch my drift.

S: Mmhmm. And it's like, uh, eventually real- they eventually realized that these robots are the bad guys and John Cena’s character is the voice of reason, “They're called the Decepticons!”

O: [Laughter] Which is also kind of funny if you’ve read the comics, there's actually a legit reason they’re called that but more on that later. So meanwhile, in South America, the Decepticons are standing in front of an Incan pyramid and Soundwave is going on about some Incan legend being true.

S: How did he research this? Did he call a library? Did he go to the library?

O: I rather love the idea of a librarian just being like, “Well, technically we're open to everyone. This includes giant, evil 40-foot alien robots as long as they're not blowing up the building.”

S: I mean, they are- the libraries are public service.

O: Speaking as a former student librarian I can attest that, yes, I definitely would have helped him research history shit if asked. [Laughter] You're a librarian it's what you do! You do not discriminate! Like, yeah.

S: And we have yet another shaft leading down to the Earth's core.

O: Of course we do. The earth is just full of them and none of them are volcanoes.

S: It's leaking like a sieve. Sieve? [different pronunciation]

O: Sieve. Sieve. [Laughter]

S: I’ve never heard anyone say that word.

O: That is why I’m here.

S: Yeah, geeze, this cartoon.

O: They had a one plot idea and they said, “If we use it again a few episodes later no one will notice. The kids will not notice.”

S: Well, honestly probably no one did. I don't know. So Megatron blasts the pyramid and does some impromptu remodeling. I mean, we’re not sure how big this hole is. You can see all the robots through it but it doesn't look big enough for them-

O: They had to crawl through. But it is still a pretty big hole, they're pretty tall.

S: Yeah, and so he does this and it's pissing off anthropologists, archaeologists, and indigenous peoples.

O: And me! Stop destroying historical sites, you bastard! Trying to take over the world? Not a problem for Owls. Destroying history? Now that's a problem.

S: Yeah, yeah, and for some reason the tunnels and stairs in the pyramid happen to be perfectly sized for Megatron and Soundwave to walk down. It's like, okay.

O: Aliens. [Laughter]

S: And so we've got another freaking crystal! This one is called “The Crystal of Power.”

O: He’s really got a thing for crystals, doesn’t he? He even calls it magnificent.

S: Honestly, he should just get a pet rock.

O: Honestly? Optimus just needs to put a ring on it and maybe we wouldn’t be having this problem!

S: [Laughter] Oh my god.

O: Just get a giant ring with a giant rock, and I’m just saying maybe- maybe that’s all Megatron wants is for Optimus to recognize him and give him a giant fucking rock, ok?

S: Oh god, the diplomatic gift that is also a wedding present.

O: Oh boy.

S: Anyway, Megatron picks up the crystal, unleashing the fires of hell.

O: This does absolutely nothing.

S: They don’t even utilize this weird column of energy that comes out of the-

Both: -hole-

S: -that crystal was plugging for Energon cubes or anything. He apparently just wan- Meg’s just wants his bling.

O: Yeah, okay seriously so we give another Starscream, uh, Megatron tiff. Uh, Megatron insinuating that the steel Starscream stole had better be strong enough for their big-ass gun.

S: So, is he- is he gonna test his mettle?

O: [Sighs] I’m not talking to you. [Laughter]

S: Okay, and then Starscream shoves the crystal in their big damn gun thing and the column of energy underground, like, explodes or whatever? Or something.

O: So I guess we stand corrected? It seems to be- it seems to be related to what they're doing on the roof of the temple but I still don't understand how they’re affecting each other.

S: And Meg’s seems pretty happy?? With ‘Screamer right now????

O: Yeah, it is- it is a little strange, he does actually seem happy with him right now. Uh, elsewhere the Sky Spy picks up on this weird energy signal that's coming from the Decepticons and the ruins they’re in. Laserbeak spots this Sky Spy in orbit and Megatron shoots it with his big fucking gun.

S: And the thing is, Laserbeak isn't in orbit.

O: Yeah, he’s got good eyesight. He’s a good birb.

S: Yeah. Yeah, he really is.

O: And then some probably pretty terribly racist 80’s stereotypes of Peruvian people talk about ancient gods returning.

S: [Heavy sigh]

O: I would like to apologize. I don't really know how- it's like, it just- it doesn't seem very respectful. We're both white though so we don't really know, but it's that kind of stereotypical “We're gonna talk about people from a different country and they all have accents” and seem kind of dumb? It just doesn't seem very good.

S: And it's just like aliens? But the scale up those stairs it does kind of make you think, have transformers been here before?

O: BEAST WARS!!! So, yes- maybe, maybe. [Laughter] So, this crystal of power thing is apparently well known enough that a young Peruvian woman puts two and two together that someone's trying to use the damn thing.

S: I mean, if she knows about it- tons of other people in her- in her locale probably know about it so how did this thing not get looted?

O: Well, it does unleash the literal fires of hell once moved.

S: But that's true, but people get really dumb when giant rocks are involved. Especially giant shiny rocks. Anyway, I guess it's also completely fucking massive.

O: Yeah, they may not be able to lift that. Yeah, they may not be able to get a machine in there - one person probably couldn’t do it.

S: Oh yeah, considering it takes- Megatron can pick the thing up in two hands. That's like as big as my cat is to me.

O: Right, it's not small.

S: Compared to a human. A human would be like- I am NOT doing comparative math right now, I’m sorry.

O: Uh, I would say a human shorter than Megatron, for me.

S: Okay.

O: Probably.

S: So, if Megatron was, like, a six-foot human- it would be, you know [indistinct]. Let's go with, maybe, eight or nine inches?

O: Yeah. Basically, it's too big. Megatron espouses about having ultimate power and that it's all his. Starscream would like to cut in to remind him that communal property is a thing in a relationship and shit.

S: And Thundercracker just looks like he really, really doesn't want to be here.

O: [Huff of Laughter] He just- it just looks like, “Do you two ever bitch at each other in private? Where we don't have to deal with it?”

S: He kind of- yeah.

O: [Laughter] He’s just like, “If you two are gonna do this, please do it elsewhere. We're trying to work here.” Uh, so the steel frame for the BFG melted after Megatron, uh, fired it and Megatron rightfully blames Starscream.

S: His metal totally did not hold up, it seems.

O: So, Starscream blames Thundercracker despite it literally be all Starscream's fault.

S: And Thundercracker, poor scapegoat that he is, gets punched off the pyramid by Megatron. Who then leaves Skywarp in charge.

O: Skywarp is really happy about this.

S: Megatron is literally leaving the least mature bot in charge and, yeah, Skywarp’s just like, “Haha, you nerds.”

O: [Laughter] [Indistinct] Yeah, he's very happy to be in charge.

S: Megatron and Soundwave and Reflector fly off to get more metal from a nearby mining town. Which we had the discussion that it might not be very good quality?

O: Yeah, I am curious- like at the time if there was a metal refinery in Peru, like would the metal from the US have had been a higher quality? I don't really know, like my gut instinct is to say the US metal would have been better but that might just kind of be the bullshit we grew up with in the US, so I really don't know? So, uh, meanwhile- Wheeljack and Sideswipe are now in the Arctic-

S: Grave-robbing! Um, sort of.

O: So, remember Skyfire? Well, I'm convinced Wheeljack has only just now found out about the whole Skyfire thing from a few episodes ago and realized the poor guy's not dead he just needs dug out. So uh, Wheeljack’s got Sideswipe using his piledrivers to try and dig out Skyfire who's been stuck in an iceberg thing.

S: Like, Sideswipe breaks- breaks the ice and then Skyfire just, like, fucking bobs up out of the water like some sort of bobber that's been stuck under or something and then, um, I don't know? Wheeljack, like, shoots him with a gun that like partially melts him and he asks a question and Skyfire’s just awake, and he’s apparently been awake for this, like, the last few episodes?

O: Yeah, there's a reason I didn't try to write out how I was going to explain that. Because it was too much- it was too weird.

S: It-

O: It’s too nuts.

S: It’s too weird. It's weird and. Yeah, so Skyfire gets out and he, Wheeljack, and Sideswipe talk like they all know each other.

O: These three have literally never met until just this moment. Sideswipe nor Wheeljack were with the group that went to the Arctic a few episodes ago.

S: I mean, I suppose it's conceivable that Skyfire and Wheeljack knew each other prior to Skyfire’s, uh, icy entombment back on Cybertron.

O: I mean, he was a scientist but I kinda doubt it?

S: Maybe they knew each other by reputation, I don't know.

O: Who knows? It still seems like a kind of weird conversation.

S: Yeah, and he's instantly made into the Autobot taxi, being sent back to the base to transport some Autobots. You know, to Peru.

O: [Laughter] Welp, glad you’re awake! Get to work.

S: Pretty much.

O: Next we see him, Skyfire is chauffeuring Brawn and Windcharger down to South America.

S: And Brawn thinks he and Windcharger can totally take on Megatron, Soundwave, and Reflector, you know, by themselves. Like idiots. He turns down Skyfires offer to the help with this confrontation.

O: I've decided Brawn is definitely an idiot.

S: He's- he's just hard-headed. Like, yeah, just hard headed. And Brawn and Windcharger just, you know, totally bail out of Skyfire. They jump. Without parachutes. There’s none of those-

O: Handy parachute.

S: And Brawn lands on Soundwave, calling him a “dipstick tape deck.”

O: Now, listen here, you ass! In this house we respect Soundwave. [Laughter] Um, and then Windcharger lands on Reflector.

S: It's-It’s really like a Decepticon rodeo.

O: Nobody lands on Megatron, though.

S: Yeah, he, um, he gives terrible piggyback rides. Once you're done he shoots you.

O: [Laughter] Yeah, he would.

S: And Brawn rides?? Soundwave face-first into a mountain.

O: Brawn’s officially on my shit list now. Yep, definitely on my fucking shit list.

S: Megatron proceeds to shoot Brawn who basically goes flying backwards knocking down poor Soundwave who was just getting back up. Like, again.

O: Yeah, yeah. I feel bad for Soundwave.

S: It's just a Soundwave gets beaten up episode.

O: Seriously, fuck you Brawn! Anyway, Windcharger calls Skyfire for a retreat because he's not a complete fucking moron.

S: He's being chased by Laserbeak or someone?

O: Uh, yeah, I think so.

S: Laserbeak is chasing Windcharger. That's what's happening.

O: And Soundwave finally gets a shot in, repaying Braun for his shenanigans.

S: Yep, and Meg’s transforms into his alt-mode and Soundwave fires him off.

O: To Soundwave’s credit he at least actually looks like he aims with Megatron's scope but he still manages to miss every damn shot. So, Skyfire eventually evacuates these two idiots midair when Windcharger, in car mode, runs into Brawn who's in robot mode and then ramps off a cliff with Brawn clinging to his windshield.

S: It looks silly, but when doesn't it?

O: We know what we're talking about.

S: And it's the dreaded return of Astroseconds.

O: Which just makes me hate Brawn even more.

S: So much groaning.

O: So back at the Ark, everybody's loading up into Skyfire after finding out there's a bunch of fucking Decepticons in Peru and one of them is Megatron.

S: And Skyfire is just totally huge here. I mean, he's massive. He looks like, comparatively, he's- like all the Autobots are human sized whereas he's Autobot sized.

O: Yeah, the scale looks kind of off. Optimus, especially, is super tiny and I don’t think he's quite that tiny.

S: It's just really off. It’s so off.

O: Regardless, once they’re in Peru, Optimus pats Skyfire on the nose-cone, kind of like a horse? As a thank you?

S: Well, Skyfire is friend-shaped, so...

O: He is friend-shaped. Skyfire drops everyone off and then flies off by himself to investigate the ruins that, uh, the Decepticons have been creating shenanigans in.

S: Well, he hasn't had an opportunity to do science or whatever in forever. He just wants to do some hands-on anthropology.

O: At least it's more in vein [than] with the fighting, I can't really blame him.

S: Yeah.

O: So, Decepticons are attacking some sort of metal refinery, stealing additional, well, steel.

S: The Autobots show up and then Optimus fucking Prime rams into Megatron. As a semi, throwing him through a wall. That was pretty great, actually.

O: It was- it was a very entertaining scene. Brawn proceeds to steal Megatron's fusion cannon.

S: And then does this great magical girl-esque transformation, twirling around and ending up with the fusion cannon on his shoulder.

O: Megatron gets beaned in the chest by his own fusion cannon and Brawn gets knocked on his ass from the kickback.

S: Yeah, and Laserbeak is a good birb and he takes this opportunity to return the fusion cannon to Megatron. Megatron tries to blast Brawn but, you know, he misses.

O: You realize Brawn is one of the only ones who's actually hit another bot with a gunshot in this goddamn episode.

S: Yeah, yeah.

O: Fuck that shit. The shot hits something else and explodes. The young woman we saw earlier is here for some reason and Spike pulls her into Bumblebee to get her away from the explosion. They drive off.

S: And the falling debris because he's- I don't know, the shot, like, took out this radio tower thing?

O: It caused this big explosion, so there was stuff coming down from the sky, too-

S: Yeah.

O: So, note: The young woman's name is Louisa. We don't ever actually hear it in the episode but I kind of tired of calling her young Peruvian woman.

S: And we'll never see her in another episode, so.

Both: [groans]

O: Sorry, Louisa, you deserve better.

S: Yeah.

O: And time number 55 that poor Bumblebee’s being chased by Laserbeak.

S: Yeah, Bluestreak’s apparently allowed to hit someone today - as he blasts Laserbeak.

O: I would like to officially request that Soundwave and his cassettes gets a vacation after this debacle.

S: And Megatron calls Skyfor- blagh.

O: Skyfor-? My name is Skyforge!

S: [Laughter] It’s not actually a bad name.

O: It isn’t, actually!

S: Megatron calls in Skywarp as a backup. Starscream is livid at being left to nursemaid the big glowy crystal and the gun.

O: The humans and Bumblebee enter, uh, the temple as Soundwave sends Ravage in after them.

S: Skyfire continues to investigate the ruins, being captured by the two remaining seekers. So, Thundercracker and Starscream.

O: And poor Skyfire. Poor dude just woke up, again and gets blasted in the chest and knocked out.

S: And dragged into the temple like such a large sack of flour.

O: Yeah, cause he's so much bigger than them. So the Cons retreat, having gotten all the steel they need. Megatron causes a rockslide on the nearby village.

S: The Autobots blast all the rock, saving the village.

O: You’d still think the village would have gotten hit by some of the rocks or debris or something but apparently shooting in the general direction of something destroys all momentum.

S: I guess? And Louisa and Spike are just riding in Bumblebee down an ancient Inca tunnel that- that seems-

O: That's perfectly scaled for Cybertronians!

S: That seems like a really good way to damage a historical site and in any case they're apparently really unconcerned while being chased by a giant metal cat.

O: I'm just going to assume they don't notice Ravage here for sanity’s sake.

S: He is a stealthy dude.

O: He is, but he wasn't being very stealthy here.

S: And the two Seekers carry Skyfire into the temple. Megatron apparently plans to rewire Skyfire’s brain so he’ll be a Decepticon. Okay.

O: Can he do that? If he can do that, why doesn’t he do that more?

S: Well, apparently, that's one of the possible, uh, origins for- uh-

O: The Constructicons, right?

S: Yes, the Constructicons, yeah.

O: So, meanwhile, Megatron levels a nearby mountain with the BFG.

S: The Decepticons just absolutely fucking love ecological disruption apparently.

O: Specs, Specs- the gun is fucking purple! [Laughter]

S: It is his favorite color! Yeah, and Bumblebee and the crew have found the hole into hell.

O: Ravage attacks as Spike attempts to fix an offline Skyfire because there- he's in the same room as the hole from hell, apparently.

S: You know, the Decepticons just wanted to consolidate things, I guess. I don't know. And Megs is super super super duper stoked about his gun firing on the Autobots.

O: With Laserbeak on his shoulder again.

S: Honestly, the gun placement doesn't make any sense. I'm not going to talk about that.

O: But just know that this spatial stuff, it's- it's not rooted in logic. Then we'll just go from there.

S: Yeah. No one can hit shit today, though. like we've only got two confirmed-

O: No, three, cuz technically Soundwave hit Brawn. Thank god. Yeah well I'm glad somebody fucking did. Anyway, Skyfire wakes up in time to catch Ravage midair and toss him away from his pals.

S: Like, he can hold Ravage in one hand.

O: That is is how much bigger he is!

S: That's honestly kind of amazing and terrifying.

O: Like, don’t get me wrong, Ravage is just considerably smaller than everybody else but still!

S: Yeah, just, like Ravage can stand on top of Bumblebee and hold him down so like yeah.

O: His hand is bigger. Er, it's smaller than a Volkswagen Bug for Christ's sakes.

S: Yeah, lots of fighting happens outside, the majority of which involves Megatron and Starscream shooting as Autobots as they attempt to climb the temple. The Autobots don't make a ton of headway but Starscream does end up with Brawn in his face.

O: Of course, he fucking does! Fuck Brawn!

S: And Megatron tosses Ironhide down the pyramid. Optimus makes a surprisingly graceful catch. It's really graceful.

O: So Skyfire shoots the, like, shoots the BFG destroying it and unleashing the literal fires of hell.

S: Skyfire, actually, for whatever reason like, well, Spike fixes him, he throws the cat, and then transforms and flies out of the temple.

O: Yeah, I'm like- I don't even remotely know how he would fit.

S: So, yeah, after he flies out of the temple, he shoots the big fucking gun destroying it and unleashing the fires of hell.

O: Optimus tackles Megatron and tosses Megs off the ruins. Megs lands headfirst on the ground.

S: And the Decepticons retreat.

O: Thundercracker proceeds to have no sense of self-preservation what-so-fucking-ever and, to be entirely done with today, he starts sassing the hell out of Megatron and Starscream for basically everything that has just happened. Wheeljack has apparently invented a high-tech manhole to plug the hell hole.

S: But they put it on top of the temple instead of, you know, in the temple where the crystal was originally plugging it so…

O: I don't know. I just don't know. The cartoon clearly doesn't know, either.

S: Yeah.

O: Anyway, so Spike and Bumblebee are taking Luisa home and she apparently plans to introduce Bumblebee to her brother's convertible- whose name is Juanita.

S: And cars emote-ing! Bumblebee is super cute here.

O: He is! He does like this squash and stretch thing.

S: That make him smile with his bumper and that is adorable. Oh, one of the things the Autobots do is that they all like lean themself up against the sides of the temple-

O: Oh, god, I forgot about this.

S: To be like? Skylights? Or something?

O: I don't know if it's like a celebration because it doesn't seem like they're helping light where they’re putting the manhole down or what. It's just, it just it is pretty funny when you see like cars on their backs like 180 degrees vertical, like their skylights or their headlights to the sky. It’s just like, what are you doing?

S: I don’t know, they're doing something but I don't know.

O: Anyway, that's where the episode cuts- is on cute Bumblebee. So I join us next time for episode 10: War of the Dinobots, in which the Autobots will learn the perils of leaving their big, young, dumb Dino-babies unattended for more than five fucking minutes.

S: And introducing two new Dino-babies.

O: Yes! Two new Dino-babies! One of which is Swoop, who is also very cute!

S: Yes.

O: Alright, my dear Specs, what is our fanfic for today?

S: Alright, so today we have a selection. Well, smaller selection than yesterday or the- the last two episodes but still a nice little selection. We've got three fanfics today.

S: “Like a Sinking Star” by Katharos, which is G1. It's not really specified if it’s cartoon or comic. It's rated K, its Gen, there's no pairings. Our main characters here are Starscream and Skyfire though there are original characters, and so in summary: “Pre-war, the Academy is a hotbed of political dissent, protests, and factions. Skyfire is a struggling grad student, desperately chasing grants with his partner Starscream.”

S: And it just. but it's- it's enjoyable and it shows Skyfire making difficult ethical decisions and Starscream being a political- maybe doing political machinations, which is entertaining and so our theme or character base for today for that rec is Skyfire and it's a one shot.

O: As he makes his glorious return on this episode and I think… Does he survive till the end of the series? [Indistinct]

S: Yeah, you never really see.. I don't think you see him in season 3, so I think it’s assumed that he survived but I don't know.

O: Yeah, it gets kind of weird. So, in the Transformers movie they don't actually- you don't actually see everyone who dies.

S: Yeah.

O: As terrible as that sounds, so it's sort of like, unless, if you don't see them- you kind of, maybe, should assume they're dead? Because we didn't, like, in a few of them- you see their bodies in the movie but you like to see them for like two seconds. It's actually why I don't like the Transformers movie. It’s because it gets very depressing and I don't know, they didn't even give screen time to everybody who died. Like, I want to say we did not see Wheeljack's body?

S: We do see Wheeljack's body, he's one of the people that- or one of the bots that Arcee is pulling-

O: Ah, that's right.

S: Like Windcharger’s body is also there in that scene. It's before, like, it's when Springer is trying to push like the... catapult thing? He's calling Arcee over to help him push it and she's been pulling Wheeljack's- Wheeljack and Windcharger’s corpses, uh, I guess to safety.

O: It's really depressing. I was like, we didn't even see- didn't even see Wheeljack die and then, like, Ratchet dies in a very horrifying way. Honestly.

S: And Prowl.

O: And Prowl.

S: Like you see him vomiting up smoke.

O: Yeah,it’s pretty horrifying. It's one of the few times where Megatron is legitimately threatening, actually.

S: Like this movie scarred a generation of children.

O: And I, like, I as an adult am looking at this, going, “Okay, guys, that seems like a bit fucking much, don't you think?” And also it just seems really disrespectful because like a lot of them died off-screen and then we're following characters we don't even know through the entire movie, who weren't really that bad but I was bored. That's my biggest complaint is I get bored when I watch this movie.

S: Yeah, it was a movie, they decided they wanted to get rid of the old cast to sell toys and so they were just like, “Kill everyone!” Or at least that was the production mandate by whoever was in charge.

O: It was really depressing, though, because I'm like, so Skyfire could be alive and somewhere else or he could have been one of the casualties.

S: There-

O: In the movie.

S: Like, there are numerous pieces of fanfiction that treat it like Skyfire’s gone off into the universe to do more science stuff and that's what he's doing in season 3-

O: I hope so.

S: Or post season 3. But yeah, let's let's move on. Yeah, okay so our next rec is “Hunted” by WaywardInsecticon. It's G1 cartoon based, rated K plus and it's Gen. Pairings: none. So, our main characters here are Skywarp and Thundercracker, though there are original characters and Megatron, Starscream, and other Decepticons also show up. “Skywarp and Thundercracker come across a plot by a disgruntled Monitor to take over Cybertron - in the most literal sense possible. Now they're being chased by some very dangerous people, and the Seekers are outnumbered, outgunned, and running low on power.” Our theme here was Seekers! with an exclamation point and this is actually the third in a series.

S: It's so Wayward- well it's part of Waywards first venture into writing Transformers fanfiction, which I think she's mentioned she's not especially fond of but I really enjoy a lot of the ideas that she had. And so to touch on Monitors: a monitor in this particular fanfiction universe that Wayward created is essentially what Shockwave is and so there are like Monitors for each section of Cybertron but Shockwave is sort of the overarching one. Basically they're the sort of the general managers of each- it's like city-state to make sure that, uh, make sure that everything is running smoothly and this one’s decided that it wants to take over Cybertron and basically usurp Megatron's authority and power.

O: A mistake, clearly.

S: Yeah, but like I enjoyed Skywarp and Thundercrackers characterization and there's some pretty neat- just there's something. I enjoyed it. It's also- it's quite old, it's something that I first read quite a long time ago, definitely over te- 15 years ago now, I think. Maybe. Yeah but it's- it's fun, I enjoyed it and definitely recommending it to you, dear listeners.

S: Our last recommendation is “Ali Versus The Giant Robot Shoplifters from Space” by Misya. Misya? The author's name is spelled Misya and I’m just unsure of how the author prefers the pronunciation and please correct me, I suppose. Thank you. Continuity is Animated, this one is rated M, which is our first M-rated recommendation and it's for cursing. So there is- unless you object to cursing, there is- there isn't really any objectionable, like, adult content in here. It’s just cursing. It’s rated M, it's Gen, there's no pairings and our characters here are original characters, uh, the aforementioned Ally. There's also Lugnut and Blitzwing.

O: Again, all from the Transformers Animated continuity.

S: Mm-hmm-hmm. But in summary “TFA. Ever wondered how the Decepticons find food for Professor Sumdac?”

O: So, some- some background as we haven't been talking about Animated. There is a character in Transformers Animated that gets kidnapped by the Decepticons at some point and is with them with- for an extended length of time.

S: Yes.

O: Um, so it's basically, well, they had to have been feeding him, so how were they doing that?

S: Mm-hmm and so our theme for this was Decepticons and acquiring things. Cuz, we see them stealing steel in this episode and they're always trying to-

O: -Steal energy or Energon or something.

S: Or materials and in this piece of fanfiction, they're stealing food, which, god, hearing a robot, a giant robot, that's just ripped the roof off of your place of work asking, “Where do you keep your flesh?”

O: Oh, dear [Laughter] I haven’t read this one yet, but clearly I need to?

S: “Where do you keep your flesh?” is a trip and Ali is definitely very done with the day.

O: [Laughter] I don’t think I blame her!

S: Mm-hmm, so that one is a one shot and I definitely recommend it, as I recommend all of these- so thank you and on to our art recommendations by Owls.

O: Our fan art recommendation for the day- I'm going to go with I think her name is STF or S-TF, I couldn't actually find their name. Their tumblr name is S-TF.tumblr.com. Uh, so and then their Twitter is named, like, I think-

S: BBBTF. [They’ve changed this a couple of times since we recorded the episode, at the time of posting this transcript their Twitter is S_TFCM. ~Owls]

O: So I wasn't really sure to call this one, uh, but that- but that's their user account or that's their I can't- different accounts that we have will have their Tumblr and their Twitter. Unfortunately, we can't read most of their comics because I believe it's in Chinese or Korean but their art is really pretty. There's this one series they did, in particular, that I really like- with characters from the IDW comics accompanied by quotes they said and, uh, we will be reblogging a post that has a bunch of those and that is what we will be linking to.

S: Mm-hmm.

O: My favorite ones in particular out of the set, were the Shockwave one. As we had mentioned earlier, Shockwave was very, very different originally in the IDW comics and then was kind of made into this emotionless shell of himself and so it's rather fascinating because the art involves, you know, kind of both sides of that which I thought was very interesting. There's one for Cyclonus and Tailgate and then there's also one for Megatron and Terminus. And Terminus is Megatron's mentor because then the IDW comics he was originally a miner. Like, not as in young, but somebody who works underground-

S: In a mine.

O: -In a mine. And it kind of shows, like, his own guilt because he thought he had left Terminus to die, um, and so they're very- they're very interest- I think they're very well done and they work very well with the quotes from the comics.

S: Yeah, I'm especially fond of the First Aid and Ambulon one.

O: And I will tell you that there probably isn't enough Ambulon fanart to satisfy Specs.

S: Yeah, I want a toy and it's not going to happen.

O: I’m still confused how we don't have a freaking Rung, honestly.

S: I want a Rung, too, yeah.

O: Yeah, I don't understand how there hasn't been a Rung made.

S: Even a third party Rung. Maybe it's just that he doesn't have, like, a cool alt-mode.

O: He doesn't have a cool alt-mode but, I mean, come on! I don't even think I necessarily want a Rung if you get a Rung, but I want to take pictures of your Rung.

S: Well I mean we were already planning on doing the thing where when you get your Wheeljack I bring my Ratchet down-

O: Oh yeah we're gonna make robots kiss.

[Laughter]

S: Well, maybe in the future. There's always new third party toys coming out.

O: Don't I know it!

S: And that just about wraps it up for us today! Remember to check out our tumblr at Afterspark-podcast.tumblr.com for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter @AftersparkPod (all one word) and SoundCloud and Youtube at Afterspark Podcast. you can also find us on Pillowfort as Afterspark-podcast and on AO3 by searching for Afterspark Podcast or by checking the Transformers All Series, um, things and searching for it in the search.

O: We also do have links to the specific series page on our Tumblr and Pillowfort and Facebook. It should be on both our Tumblr and PIllowfort.

S: Yes. Till next time, I'm Specs!

O: And I'm Owls!

S: Toodles!

[Outro Music Plays]

#transcript #afterspark podcast #g1 episode 9

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