#every time i see clear idw1 fics give OP a different background it just kind of loses my interest immediately because it's like

[lord-squiggletits]

Speaking of stupid reasons to criticize the Autobots (or rather, the opposite), I actually find the ““““problematic”““““ nature of Cop IDW Optimus and other elements of the plot to be quite essential to enjoying the story and seeing it as a balanced, nuanced story.

Because like... in other continuities, the story of revolution seems to be very much “there were good revolutionaries and there were bad ones, and then the bad ones wanted to be in charge and then they fought about it for 4 million years.” Which seems very weak to me not just in the “revolution bad” sense, but it makes me wonder how the war could go on for millions of years when the Autobots and Decepticons literally had the same goal and achieved it, now they’re just fighting over who gets to be in charge.

But like, in IDW1, the Autobot insignia and stuff already existed as a badge for the previous regime of the Prime/Senate. Orion Pax (now Optimus Prime) was a lackey of Zeta Prime who was either his loyal puppet at best or being groomed for the position of Prime at worst. Most of the people Optimus Prime recruited to help him fight were other police officers and military members he was affiliated with, who were already cracking down on the Decepticon movement as it became more and more violent.

With that base of Optimus/the Autobots being actually ~problematic~, I can absolutely see why the Decepticons wouldn’t consider the war over and would continue fighting. I mean, why the hell would they trust a police enforcer/military officer who was lackeys with the PRIME? Why would they think Optimus actually believes in peace and equality?

Of course, the Decepticons have their own problems as well. What was once a universal political movement (because remember, the Decepticon movement began with Megatron’s writings but he was NOT the leader of a militarized faction until Megatron Origins) was taken over by essentially an underground criminal gladiator organization that began engaging in weapon trafficking, crime, and terrorism. From the Autobot perspective, the Decepticons are allies for equality gone bad due to Megatron’s violent influences and the gladiator/criminal aspects overtaking the actual social equality vibes.

I just think that the premise of IDW1′s Autobot-Decepticon war is so good because like, the Autobots and Decepticons existed in a way BEFORE either Megatron or Optimus became the official leaders of those two specific, organized, militarized factions. But the society that created them and the two different social classes they came from doomed them to distrust each other. It wasn’t ever a fight about who got to be in charge, it was a war between two different factions of people who had every reason to distrust each other and think that the other faction would subjugate them if they allowed them to gain power.

#squiggposting #meta #anyways that's another reason why the aversion to cop optimus kind of bores/annoys me #like yeah he's a cop for an evil regime and you know what? #that adds momentum and stakes to the narrative that clearly explains why he would be distrusted (or trusted) by so many #every time i see clear idw1 fics give OP a different background it just kind of loses my interest immediately because it's like #oh okay this is just good revolutionaries and bad revolutionaries and a friendship gone bad #anyways this post isn't about OP or MOP alone #what i treasure in canon is like... the fact that it's so REAL #unfortunately canon doesn't really give it nuance the way i'm making it out to be #but like in my imagination i can SEE the mutually earned distrust #i can SEE how the war isn't just a fight for power or resources but a fundamental fear of each other based on historic wrongdoings #and if you look at it from a pure autobot or pure decepticon perspective #you can see both sides of why they would hate/distrust each other #'turning and turning in the widening gyre/things fall apart the center cannot hold' as they say #like MMMMMMMMM it's history it's social issues it's politics #it's about a small selection of highly charismatic figures and their allies/mentors who form the perfect storm of hatred and chaos