With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Billions of people on earth, I'm sure one of them is willing to be Shockwave's conscience.

 

I was thinking xenophiles and technophiles but yeah, moral people would probably work too…

 

Being the head of not only a huge robot but one that is also a genius scientist and inventor? Sign me up.

What's the nickname of this variant again? Anyway, seems like things are really working out for him here. But couldn't they build him a Transformer body with no consciousness (Transtector) like it's mentioned in the Headmaster page? Or do they not have the capabilities right now?

Not saying getting Slipstream a human-like body isn't a worthwhile endeavor, but I think I would be looking into upscaling myself as well rather than just downscaling her. They could even get him a Seeker-like body (weren't those a dime a dozen?) so they could fly together and stuff, you know.

 

Unfortunately, given what I know of Shockwave's need for a Jiminy Cricket...

It would probably turn out something like:


The bot even had a role causing their crossover with MLP, then did Mad Science to the data they got to cause the second.

 

Oh, that's interesting. Either they've been working together so long that she can tell what he's thinking just from body language, or... It seems they're becoming far closer than they ever intended to.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Well, some forms of Binary-Bonding do result in near-telepathic connections. Or far more so. Looking at you, Marvel Comics Hi-Q.

Far too many joints up there to risk it. Imagine how many crush injuries you could suffer.

Sure it's merely sympathy, Paul?

Or investigated the possibility of upgrading to a Transtector system.

And Nebulan power armour, with a little cybernetic modification of the wearer, can adopt all manner of alternate physical configurations...

'Skin' being a bit of a misnomer, but the various materials and mechanics of Transformer faces are a strange rabbit hole. Never mind why some have armoured faceplates and/or visors, retractable or not...

Sometimes, being able to share thoughts and emotions can be an experience for Cybertronians...

Ah, 'Bonding'. A concept played so much with by the fandom. Often as 'spark-bonds' that work like telepathic romantic connections. And not always with someone you like.

Shockwave at this point has been pardoned, right? Wonder if he's remodelled his head or not...

Because being all lovey-dovey is fine in private, but imagine the embarrassment of being caught at it...

Heh. The true love of a scientist: His laboratory.

Ooh, there's a classic figure from the early comics continuities. And it looks like the old factionalism is still going to affect things going forwards.

Ah, a rare absence from TF: Prime and its sequels. Closest he got to an appearance were toys that were repaints of Smokescreen. So going back to the G1 well works...

Eh, good luck keeping big bot dead for long. He'll be back sooner or later. For good or ill...

I mean... Consider Shockwave's history, Paul. Amongst the Decepticons, he's basically a war criminal that other war criminals are envious of. I imagine the new leadership is just a bit nervous about him.

Yes, having the old guard back in charge is not going to reassure some people at all...

And is that some Tox-En I see? Evidently he's still doing some unconventional research.

So, a sort of miniature pretender? Though I doubt it'd be nearly as advanced as the Japanese g1 continuity version.

Oh, god no. No budding, please! Let's leave that in the 90's...

Heh. Nice callback to G1 Optimus Prime.

Remember what I said about transtectors? That could be workable with 'Prime's' modern human cutting edge tech.

Let's go that route. I remember the first time a human paired with an opposite-gender transformer. It was... Squicky, to put it mildly.

Now, in a human woman, that'd be sending all kinds of 'marriage' messages. I doubt Slipstream would be much of a bridezilla, though.

Ooh, there's a term I'd not heard before, at least by that name. The fanfics that used it tended to call it a 'Sparkmate'... Though said fics usually had cybertronian sex in the forms of spark-deep 'interfacing'. ...The fandom is Diverse.
"You mean 'fucking weird'."
It's a matter of perspective, really.

Especially since in most cases of bonding like that, each partner tends to take on traits of the other. And I don't she's ready to be with Shockwave-lite.

Ah, Empurata. Possibly the most monstrous punishment applicable to a Cybertronian, even beyond simple termination.

Ah. Looks like he's not in as good shape as was first thought, eh?

So, basically installing a human as a conscience? Your very own Jiminy Cricketron?

Man, imagine the online response to an offer like that. Plenty of 'are you fucking joking?' responses, but you know there'd be takers.

I can't imagine there'd be a shortage of people eager to experience a form of transhumanism.

Ah, one of my favourite alternates returns. And with some super-serious matters under discussion. At least they have a way to undo the necessary modifications to the human form afterwards. And honestly, I'm surprised that no micromaster or minicon types have shown up yet. Japanese G1 had an entire planet of them out there, after all.

 

the -> to

I am be -> I may be

 

Thank you, corrected.

Tox-en? You wish that was tox-en. That's greenergon.

No. It's a little irritating. I wanted to link to another Transformers fanfic there, one where the main character was one of Jhiaxus sexual experiments (not like that) and one of the others was a sort of spark-split mini-combiner who refused to transform because they became two separate people when they did. Alas, I couldn't find it.

 

Are there Battle beasts in that continuity? Some of them had powered armor and they are roughly humanoid. I know they had a tie crossover in with transformers headmasters series as beastformers from planet beast.

 

Huh. I think I used to own one of those.

I'm going to say 'yes, but they'll never appear in this story'.

 

Too Bad TF!Paul can’t use/recharge the Forge of Solus prime to upgrade or make a techno organic body. The Emberstone would also work, but that’s been lost for centuries. Also the Allspark probably won’t help him, so he’s out of luck with mystical Cybertronian artifacts.

 

Why couldn't they have made cybertronian reproduction the same as human? It wouldn't even be that far of a stretch. Just replace the ovum with a self-replicating nanobot, the semen with grey goo, the female gives birth to a blank protoform, then just stick it in a stasis pod until Vector Sigma gives it a spark (or have the spark bud off of the parents' sparks).

"No, baby cybertronians pop out of holes in the ground like dwarves!"

"No, they grow like tumors on another cybertronian's back until they pop off like mogwai!"

 

Nice to see Transformers Paul, or rather Pull again. What have he and Slipstream been up to since they discovered the Last Autobot? Your take on post war Cybertron is very interesting and Shockwave having the beginnings of a redemption arc is very interesting and the way you handle it is rather realistic in my opinion. Wonder what Slipstream's human form will look like and as for Shockwave's head... I like to think that it's not just because Paul is a suitable candidate but also just a hint of gratitude that he was Shockwave's first choice.
Do you have any ideas for other Transformer universes with a version of Paul?

 

No.

I don't remember G1 well enough and I don't like Armada enough.

 

Well alright then. Is there anything from the Unicron Trilogy (Armada, Energon and Cybertron) that you did enjoy?

 

I don't know about Zoat, but I was always rather fond of Armada Starscream.

 

Oh. Ohhh… So Sportsmaster is… was? In Task Force X. Earth is safe, so I guess criminals habe been freed from that Hell-Soul contract.

Given how the Sheeda were connected to that god-ritual… I suspect the upcoming plot with Themyscira will trail off into a few new investigations. One of which will involve Sportsmaster, some scavenged Sheeda tech, and perhaps a few magicians if he believes magic is the best way to kill Paul. And magic would give him a chance to hide from Paul’s allies afterwards.

 

"pictures"

So Cybertronians would be fine with polygamous relationships?

Phrasing!

"chance"

That or some strong liquor.

"let alone"

There are humans that are okay with polygamous relationships.

"forward"

 

That should say 'scientist'.

Now I hope we'll get to see June or Jack's POV when they have that awkward conversation.

 

I mean, he was working with a single team of 4-6 Autobots at the start. And they had human partners to coordinate with. I don't think it's really sunk in what being the effective ambassador to a whole planet of alien robots really entails.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Bet he was enjoying a night off. Hopefully he doesn't have company.

Bit of a stretch, but I can see the logic. Someone who's basically dying, which Cybertronian tech could probably fix even without cybernetics, and thus isn't going to turn down something life-saving, even if it involves aliens.

I suspect such things would be a bit esoteric in the late-war era anyway. Certainly, most kinds of combination tech like that would have fallen out of favour.

True, not something you want to talk about without being fully awake. Although I suspect some mini-bots could also do the same job.

Shopping for a physical configuration, eh? And checking that they're acceptable to her partner's tastes too? That's a good relationship.

I mean, as long as it's a socially acceptable configuration... Anything's good?

Impressively sensitive phone mic on Fowler's end. (To be fair, I barely use mobile phones...) And I love the description of the typical 'attempting telepathy' face.

And I doubt they can afford to have multiple skins for it. Or that changing the 'finish' is like putting on a different jumpsuit.

Ah, yes. The joy of modern 'Transformers' stories: They learn about humans from the internet. I'm amazed they don't think humans spend 90% of their day engaged in mating.

In other words, a Transformer gijinka? Honestly, the second the internet found out about Autobots, you know they'd have fanart... And shipping fics.

Ah, yes, that thing humans call 'monogamy'.

Well, time for a chat about cybertronian sociology and relationship composition.

Except in very interesting fan stories. or porn comics. (Fred Perry. Autobutts. Look it up. )

Like Starscream and his two right-hand-guys, Thundercracker and Skywarp. What some fanfiction calls a Trine. Five to eight is more like a Combiner team...

Actual female gender identity optional. Because there are plenty of twinky 'bots.

So, opening up to being around other 'bots now. How far she's come...

And that's lowballing it, given that some Unicorn incarnations are as large as Cybertron. Imagine a robot fifteen thousand kilometres tall!

And given the nature of robot forms, that just means you're seeing a layer of armour over her torso's internal systems.

It would also limit her to alt-mode only, unless she's learned how to triple-change into a Gerwalk form.

...Somehow, I don't think Fowler has enough coffee for that to make sense yet.

Which does sweeten the idea just a little bit. But he's still gonna take some serious convincing.

Be sure to add some detail lines that resemble seam-line tattoos. For that little bit extra 'robot girl' aesthetics. And a faction badge somewhere like the junction of her collarbones. That glows.

Unless they're very unusual sparks.

Well, Paul counts for one, at least. So they only need to find someone acceptable to both of you...

If Cliffjumper gets revived, you know they're going to end up in a love triangle. As for June, I like to imagine she's still pining for Optimus. Would be interesting if she met Elita-One...

Well, it's all in his hands now.

Let's hope whoever they find to serve as Shockwave's partner appreciates the sheer breadth of scientific knowledge they'll be getting to experience. Though... Talk about having to divide your attention. A perfectly serious chat with Agent Fowler about smoothing Cybertronian relations, mixed with the gorgeous fembot partner picking human body shapes like she's shopping online.

 

With Prowl getting name dropped as Shockwave's minder, and this whole connection with humans thing coming up, I'm reminded of the G1 stuff with Chip Chase.

In the old G1 cartoon there was an episode where Prowl was damaged in a brawl with the Starscream and company, having his 'battle computer' go down (what ever that means in the grand scheme of Transformers anatomy is left to nerds bigger then I). Anyway, Prowl pops some Antenna out and hooks into the fantastic world of the Internet...well the Proto-internet of the 80's cartoon world, and hooks up with a friend of Spike, Chip. He 'takes over' for Prowl's motor functions and beats the snot out of the evil jets, and they have a nice little heart to heart.

Chip comes up a few more times in the cartoon as another human buddy, usually used as part of the moral of the story moments. He gets some references in other G1 media along the way here and there. And that was about it.

Buuuuut fans being fans, and when they start running the show you get stuff like 'Prowl-2'. Long story short there was a new toy line with 'modern' vehicle modes base off licensed cars and trucks and such, with a story line mostly told in the boxes tech specs about how this was part of G1 (or a version of G1) where they were making updated bodies for everyone, but Prowl's Spark got lost in the process, and Chip, being part of the team developing the tech thought back to their first encounter, and decided to fill in again, putting his mind and soul into the waiting body, along with a backup of Prowl's memories.

No headmaster, targetmaster or powermaster stuff, just "Here's My Soul" and they put the meat suit on ice. I guess it's a bit like the Brain Upload thing they did for 'Autobot X' when they made Spike Robo-Frankenstein.

You know G1 gets more horrifying every time I go look back at it.

 

Thank you, corrected.

No, I think that's correct.

Difficult to say. Conjunx endura is a one to one thing, but that's for a species that doesn't have a concept of sex withing their own culture. It would be like your significant other complaining that you blinked at a cat for too long, or spent an inappropriate amount of time putting up a scratching post for a herd of cows.

Fowler is slumped next to the microwave wondering how this became his life. The beeper is quite close to the handset.

Basically, yes. I did not know that those had a specific name.

Spoiler: Thank you, Japan.

Yes. Because I have never tainted my innocent eyes with such things.

Transformers wouldn't make a distinction. You can actually use the word 'gender' because for them it is pure aesthetics.

"Most human females seem to have these at the base of their spinal linkage. Is that correct?"

If you remember Arcee's segment, she never went that far with anyone during the war, believing that the chance of either party dying was too high for it to be worth it.

 

There isn't enough coffee in the world to help Fowler cope with this.
Anyway, I love the explorations of how cybertronian relationships work. Most others try and "humanize" them too much.

I might have mentioned this before, but in one transformers fanfic I read, they justified having the kids around as a gambit by the government to get the autobots personally invested in humanity by playing on the mentoring instincts of cybertronians to teach the younger bots. Cybertronians are basically "born" as teenagers so teaching and mentoring is the closest thing they have to parenthood. With the Well of Allsparks inactive during the series, none of them would have had anyone to mentor in a long time.
A bit of a dirty trick, but it was done to make sure the Autobots wouldn't be inclined to just bail if things on Earth became untenable.

 

Can someone explain who Jack and June are, and why they should be informed? I haven't watched more than an episode or two of any Transformers cartoon since Beast Wars.

 

Jack is a human teenager and one of the main characters of Transformers Prime; June is Jack's mother. Jack is interested in Arcee, so Agent Fowler thinks June should probably know that her son might get into some kind of polyamorous relationship with giant alien robots.

 

aaaaaaand that's where you lost me

 

What were you hoping for?

June was last seen here: Plus Two (part 1)
Jack, here: Transformed (part 6)

 

Definite shades of some memorable fics on ATTFA here. Just with less Minicon docking. Nice.