[FFR] Sky Shadow's "Best First"
Jackpot
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And now for a "Fight Club" moment, brought to you by Brad Pitt and Ed
Norton.
BRAD: It's very clever.
ED: Thank you.
BRAD: How's that working out for you?
ED: What?
BRAD: Being clever.
ED: ... Great.
BRAD: Keep it up, then. Keep it right up.
I originally read "Best First" chapter-by-chapter as Sky Shadow wrote
it. And in each delay between installments, I tended to forget all but
a few muddy impresions of what came before. Not being one for the
instant recap, Sky wrote a convoluted little tale that often left me
blind and rudderless. But it didn't matter. His obvious love of
language and writing generated the cleverest-ass fanfic you could ask
for. The characters' quirks and ideosyncrasies, told through playfully-
crafted words, were thoroughly enjoyable on their own terms - plot be
damned.
But then, reading it in full at http://www.lexicon.tf/subs.php?
op=visit&lid=2359 , I rediscovered the underlying events and suddenly
became thankful that there had been no "last time on Best First"
exposition. The chapters flow quite well unobstructed, and if you keep
can keep up with the story, you'll be rewarded.
What *is* the story? It's a rambling, self-referential story-in-a-story
as Thundercracker tries to bargain his way out from Optimus's grasp, the
price being the tale itself. (I have a feeling that Thundercracker's
unrevealed original name was Scheherazade.) The initial setting is, I
would guess, the present day, but the tale he tells is of the distant
past - specifically, the ascension of Megatron. However, this rise to
power is really just a backdrop that sets up the bulk of the story -
Thundercracker's mission to find a borderland communications outpost and
analyze a transmission it intercepted. Not the most engaging-sounding
plot... but then, the real fun is in the nutballs who play the parts.
Almost every main character is a contradiction. Spectro is the
rebellious Reflector-bot who wants independent fame so badly he'll
literally kill for it, yet who is impossible not to ignore. Overkill is
the imperious, brilliant outpost commander whose tyrannosaur-like body
is permanently microcassette-sized. Flywheels was constructed to be the
ultimate unifier, a leader who was both Autobot and Decepticon - yet,
having no knowledge of this, is an unassuming bureaucratic assistant
with a quiet dream to see the galaxy. And Thundercracker, Decepticon
Minister of Propaganda, is responsible for shaping the worldview of half
the populace, yet struggles to comprehend as his life is pushed about by
the plots and ploys of those in power.
As far as I can tell, "Best First" is strongly rooted in the UK comic
continuity. So this is NOT the Thundercracker I grew up with, the
gruff, slow-speaking thug who called Starscream "geeky." In the comics,
Thundercracker was basically no one at all, having never done or said
anything unique (besides cracking thunder). He hardly even spoke a
word. So Sky Shadow took the blank slate and ran with it, making him
the most contemplative, intelligent, erudite Decepticon you're likely to
see. In fact, he doesn't even seem particularly evil (well, no more
than your average ad exec); the most reprehensible trait that comes to
mind is his archaic belief in the inferiority of all Cybertronian
animals, including those whose brains have been enhanced to bring them
to full sapience. But even then, his experiences with a gaggle of
cassette-animals end up turning him around by the end.
In fact, that's quite a major theme; Megatron's rise to power isn't the
only big change driving the story. The slow acceptance of enhanced
animals (played out microcosmically in T-Cracker) is also a prominent
notion. Several TF oddities are attributed to a scientist called
Primaeval, including the elevated beasts and the strange phenomenon of
Powerdasher, who stores two extra bodies for himself in subspace. The
mystery of what happened to Primaeval is a subplot that... I'm not sure
I ever understood the resolution to, if there was one. For a while, T-
Cracker believed that he had transferred his consciousness to a new
body, but I got the impression that that idea may have been scrapped by
the end. Help, Sky?
But anyhow. I meander away from the soul of the story - its sense of
humor and wordplay. Sometimes the puns and "robotized" English
colloquialisms get too convoluted to sound natural or convincing as
ordinary conversation, but it's a fair price to pay for all the good
stuff. Like the running gag of Spectro beginning to talk, T-Cracker's
thoughts shooting off on a tangent, then a page later coming back to the
last few words of whatever Spectro was saying. And T-Cracker berating
himself for succumbing to Spectro's forgettability AGAIN. Perhaps
what's most amazing about it is how well it WORKS - I know *I* kept
forgetting about the little one-third-of-a-Microx-05-reconnaissance-
device. Then again, like I said, I tended to forget entire chapters, so
maybe I'm not the best judge.
By far my favorite Sky Shadow creation, though, is the tempest-in-a-
teacup Overkill. He would've been fun to listen to at any girth, but
the image of a hamster-sized t-rex calling his cyber-chess opponent
Flywheels a "poor deluded automaton" - all the while marching around the
board as one of his own pawns - is priceless. His "I am crushed. I
die" comeback to T-Cracker's initial insult still makes me chuckle.
And it's a damn shame this story will never be animated, since all these
characters need is voice-actors to make them truly live. I *especially*
need to get the G1 'toon T-Cracker out of my head, since he certainly
doesn't fit this bill. Just as BW Megatron's delicious machinations
surpassed his own namesake's attempted villainy, so your Thundercracker,
with lines like, "His greeting, ‘you’re not going anywhere,’ was the
slogan for the Polyhex anti-tourism campaign. A slogan that I myself
had coined," blows away any pretenders to his name.
Speaking of BW Megs, I found this story's Megatron to be much more
resonant with that big purple dinosaur than with even what I recall of
his comic portrayals. For instance, he wants to kill Flywheels because
of the Duocon's potential for greatness, so what does he do? He sends
him on a mission with Spectro, who grows more psychotic the longer he's
separated from the rest of Reflector. This seems a rather roundabout
and chancy way of dealing with things - not nearly as direct as the
speak-loudly-and-wear-a-big-fusion-cannon Megs I remember. And that's
only a fraction of the secret plotting that Megs invested into his coup.
Moreover, as a rogue leading a small band of troublemakers against his
own faction's bureaucratic regime, he shares another commonality with
his bestial counterpart. I don't see this disparity as a bad thing; I
think it's perfect for the plot, and I can easily believe that Megs
changed his tactics a bit over the millennia. I just thought it was
worth mentioning.
I could go on, but it's getting late, and I've rambled enough. I'll add
that, at the very end, I found it interesting that Prime apparently was
going to let T-Cracker go all along. After all, he would've wanted that
message delivered to Megs no matter what, story or no. But what
confuses me a bit is why the tale made Prime raise his extimation of T-
Cracker above his estimation of himself. "'No, after you,' Optimus
Prime replied. 'Best first.'" I mean, maybe he was being hyperbolic,
but Prime is the kind of guy I tend to take literally.
Anyhow. Great story, great lines. Fun read. If you like gettin' all
literary 'n' shit, this is the fanfic for you.
- Jackpot
--
| To contact me, please e-mail aquamandible [at] yahoo [dot] com.
|
| _ _ ______ http://spektakle.com ______ _ _
"The `k's are for the kwality!"
Sky Shadow
> "BEST FIRST" SPOILERS HEREIN:
<snip>
> I originally read "Best First" chapter-by-chapter as Sky Shadow wrote
> it. And in each delay between installments, I tended to forget all but
> a few muddy impresions of what came before.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one. ;)
> Almost every main character is a contradiction. Spectro is the
> rebellious Reflector-bot who wants independent fame so badly he'll
> literally kill for it, yet who is impossible not to ignore. Overkill is
> the imperious, brilliant outpost commander whose tyrannosaur-like body
> is permanently microcassette-sized. Flywheels was constructed to be the
> ultimate unifier, a leader who was both Autobot and Decepticon - yet,
> having no knowledge of this, is an unassuming bureaucratic assistant
> with a quiet dream to see the galaxy. And Thundercracker, Decepticon
> Minister of Propaganda, is responsible for shaping the worldview of half
> the populace, yet struggles to comprehend as his life is pushed about by
> the plots and ploys of those in power.
These are perfect descriptions, Jackpot, and I'm glad this quartet comes
across as the 'main characters,' since I see them that way too, in spite of
the fact they're all absent from the story until the chapters that bear
their name (chapters 4, 6, 3 and 1 respectively). Most of the other
characters, except maybe Prime, are plot devices or interchangeable or
stereotypes, but these four are the real heart of the story. I don't really
see Megatron as a main character any more than the great flood was a main
character of Noah's Ark or the meteorite was a main character of Deep
Impact. Megatron is a force of nature, and the real story is about the
characters who have to deal with it.
> In the comics,
> Thundercracker was basically no one at all, having never done or said
> anything unique (besides cracking thunder). He hardly even spoke a
> word. So Sky Shadow took the blank slate and ran with it, making him
> the most contemplative, intelligent, erudite Decepticon you're likely to
> see. In fact, he doesn't even seem particularly evil (well, no more
> than your average ad exec)
I think this is a crucial part of the story, perhaps best outlined by
Thundercracker's definition of the visual light spectrum being pure Autobot
red at one end wicked Decepticon violet at the other. I don't believe it's
particularly responsible of Hasbro to shape the world's youth by telling
them that all Autobots are heroic and all Decepticons are evil, since it's
that sort of thought that's responsible for every racial and religious
conflict on the planet. Sure, there *are* very good people and very bad
people in the world, but most of us are average, hovering somewhere around
the middle. In 'Best First,' Flywheels falls smack bang in the middle of
the spectrum, in the green bit, while most of the other Decepticons hover
nearby; just ordinary, flawed robots, shaped by events that are
predominantly beyond their control and understanding.
> Several TF oddities are attributed to a scientist called
> Primaeval, including the elevated beasts and the strange phenomenon of
> Powerdasher, who stores two extra bodies for himself in subspace. The
> mystery of what happened to Primaeval is a subplot that... I'm not sure
> I ever understood the resolution to, if there was one. For a while, T-
> Cracker believed that he had transferred his consciousness to a new
> body, but I got the impression that that idea may have been scrapped by
> the end. Help, Sky?
The plotline *is* resolved, but it's subtle, since it goes over
Thundercracker's head, and he's the narrator. It's in here:
**********
I made my way back into the Cavern. The crowd had dispersed and its
individual components had recommenced their everyday lives.
"Minister!" Sparkstalker called once he spotted me, and I made my way to
where he was standing outside Mixer's laboratory. Overkill was beside him,
sitting on Beastbox's head while Squawktalk hovered overhead. "I was just
introducing these three to the movers and shakers of the Cavernous world,"
Sparky continued.
"*And* Mixer?" I suggested, caustically.
"Ignore the vitriolic Skyraider," Sparky advised.
"We do," Overkill rumbled.
Sparkstalker lead us into Mixer's lab. "This is Mixer," he announced,
gesturing towards the mad scientist.
Overkill looked him up and down. "I see you've changed again," he declared.
Mixer replied with a polite nod. "Overkill."
Sparkstalker pulled me aside. "How does your friend know Mixmaster?"
"Oh, Overkill's not my. . . Hold on, did you say Mix*master*? I asked,
disoriented.
Sparky nodded. "That's Mixer's full name."
I considered this new information.
"How pretentious," I concluded.
"Oh, is that right, *Minister*?" Sparky commented, sardonically.
"Very funny," I replied. "Anyway, I suspect there's no room for ministers in
Megatron's empire, so you can call me by my old name again."
Sparkstalker nodded. "Or you could choose a new one," he said.
I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around, but there was nobody
there.
"Ahem!" Overkill coughed. I turned my head to see him sitting on my scapula.
"We're going home," he said.
"Already?" I asked, realising I was genuinely discouraged by the news. "Hold
on a few breems while I sort myself out and I'll give you a lift," I
suggested.
"It won't be necessary," Overkill replied, hovering up off my shoulder.
"Squawktalk can fly us back, and if the melting pots give us any trouble, I
can take care of Sinnertwin."
"I'm sure you can," I said, earnestly. "I hope Mixer didn't put you off."
Overkill shook his toothy head. "Not directly," he said. "He served as a
final reminder that some robots just aren't the robots I thought they were.
We need to get home to Slugfest, to where we belong."
"I understand," I said, "but do look me up next time you're in Polyhex."
"And if you ever find yourself in Valvolux, remember that our door is always
locked," Overkill rejoined.
"I shall," I said with a smile. "You're a good robot, Overkill."
"For a beast?" he asked, flying in front of my face.
"For a Cybertronian," I said, reaching up to shake his tiny hand.
**********
(End of excerpt.)
Although it happens off-screen, Overkill's brief reunion with Mixer makes
him realise that "some robots just aren't the robots I thought they were."
In all his descriptions of the Master, Overkill (through his typical
overkill) seemed to remember Primaeval as almost the pinnacle of robot
beings. On the other hand, from what we've seen of Mixer, he's far from
that, in fact he's possibly the most horrible Cybertronian in the story
(which is interesting, since he's genetically an Autobot). It's not really
relevant, but I get the impression that Overkill was disappointed with
Megatron too, since OK had believed him to be a robot of peace, when he was
probably the opposite (the thin line between "peace through tyranny" and
"everything is fodder.")
Other than the 'Master' / 'Mixmaster' thing, there are several other clues
in the story to Primaeval's identity. We're initially told that Primaeval's
name "probably derived from his vehicular form's resemblance to that of
Prima," and Mixmaster's vehicle form is in fact quite Prime-like (a truck
cab with a bit on the end). Primaeval and Mixer both have a penchant for
the same drink, and Mixer has a dozen cans of "'33 Valvolux Gold," from the
vorn before Primaeval was supposed to be executed. Mixer also has an
Autobrand, about which he says, "These days it is unutilised by me,"
implying, perhaps, that there were days when he actually did use it. Mixer
and Ravage "had quite a strong rapport," which would be understandable if
Mixer were Ravage's 'creator,' plus we also know that Primaeval lived for a
long time with only beasts for company. Thundercracker deeply suspects that
Mixer wants to perform strange experiments on Ruckus, much as Primaeval did
with Nightstalker, Ravage, Squawktalk, Beastbox, Overkill, Slugfest,
Powerdasher and Flywheels. If you notice the point at which Overkill
hyperventilates in chapter seven, it's immediately after Flywheels and
Thundercracker are talking about Mixer, so while Overkill may just have been
unable to cope with the concept of his base being messy, he may also have
inferred that his hero was still alive and that he might see that Master
again. There are some other bits here and there. Basically I wanted a few
mysteries to run through the story, and this was one of them, as was,
obviously, the whole Flywheels 'thing.' There's an unresolved mystery
running through the bit with Prime and Thundercracker, which I might discuss
a bit later if nobody else mentions it.
> By far my favorite Sky Shadow creation, though, is the tempest-in-a-
> teacup Overkill. He would've been fun to listen to at any girth, but
> the image of a hamster-sized t-rex calling his cyber-chess opponent
> Flywheels a "poor deluded automaton" - all the while marching around the
> board as one of his own pawns - is priceless. His "I am crushed. I
> die" comeback to T-Cracker's initial insult still makes me chuckle.
Before I'd written much of part six at all, I brainstormed Overkill out as a
slightly different character who very much lived in his brother's shadow.
This is one of the little bits that never made it into the final cut, but I
thought you might find it interesting nonetheless:
**********
"Oh, of *course*." Overkill was off again. "*Everybody* remembers
*Trypticon*. When *Trypsy* graduated from Beast Training, Guardian showed
up with plenty of time to spare. Trypticon was *never* left standing on his
own while all the other beasts' owners gave their pets congratulatory
energon treats. *Trypsy* didn't have to wait countless breems after all the
other beasts had gone home until the Beast Trainer contacted our Guardian to
remind him that his pet needed to be retrieved. Yes, you'd *certainly*
remember Trypticon. Who wouldn't?"
**********
(End of excerpt.)
> Speaking of BW Megs, I found this story's Megatron to be much more
> resonant with that big purple dinosaur than with even what I recall of
> his comic portrayals.
I think that's true, and I'm sure it stems from my familiarity with Beast
Wars and the comics, coupled with my unfamiliarity with the G1 cartoon,
making my Megatron into more of a blend of the first pairing than of the
latter two.
For instance, he wants to kill Flywheels because
> of the Duocon's potential for greatness, so what does he do? He sends
> him on a mission with Spectro, who grows more psychotic the longer he's
> separated from the rest of Reflector. This seems a rather roundabout
> and chancy way of dealing with things - not nearly as direct as the
> speak-loudly-and-wear-a-big-fusion-cannon Megs I remember.
I think that's right, although if you recall Furman's first plot on the U.S.
Transformers comic, it involved Megatron sending his Air Strike Patrol to
ally themselves with Scorponok, who is unaware of their true affiliation.
The Air Strike Patrol then start wiping out aeroplanes at an airport to get
media coverage so the Autobots will leave the Ark with a skeleton crew of
Ratchet. Megatron then disguises the Decepticon Sports Car Patrol as
Autobots, who then used a trans-dimensional time portal to get onto the Ark
solely in order to scare Ratchet by making the robots in his repair bay into
walking zombies, in the hope that Ratchet would destroy them himself. The
patrol then introduced themselves as Autobots sent by Optimus Prime to help
him heal his comrades who then teleported Ratchet to Megatron. Megatron
coerces Ratchet into turning Starscream into a Pretender, a tool for
Megatron to eliminate all the Autobots (attracted to the airport by
Megatron's Air Strike Patrol) and Scorponok's Decepticons (whom the ASP have
called as reinforcements). Compared to these complex machinations, I think
my Megatron is a blunt instrument.
Also, keep in mind that my Megatron is not yet above the law, and that he
has to be a bit more subtle than just shooting everyone. Of course, the
reason that Flywheels can no longer remain on Cybertron, is because the days
of "death threats and decapitating other Decepticons" are inevitable by that
point.
> I could go on, but it's getting late, and I've rambled enough. I'll add
> that, at the very end, I found it interesting that Prime apparently was
> going to let T-Cracker go all along. After all, he would've wanted that
> message delivered to Megs no matter what, story or no. But what
> confuses me a bit is why the tale made Prime raise his extimation of T-
> Cracker above his estimation of himself. "'No, after you,' Optimus
> Prime replied. 'Best first.'" I mean, maybe he was being hyperbolic,
> but Prime is the kind of guy I tend to take literally.
Ignoring the fact that I wanted the story to end that way from the
beginning, I had a couple of reasons behind this. The first is despite
everyone else's opinions on Prime, he always comes across in the comics as a
brooding robot who blames everything bad that has ever happened (Megatron,
the Ark crashing on Earth, the destruction of the ozone layer etc.) on
himself, so it's not surprising that he should think TC (who comes across as
a pretty good robot in his story) is better than himself. The second reason
is that, as anyone who's read any of Countdown's books on Autobot strategy
(ghost written by Skystalker) knows, one should never turn one's back on a
Decepticon. ;)
> Anyhow. Great story, great lines. Fun read. If you like gettin' all
> literary 'n' shit, this is the fanfic for you.
And thank you, Jackpot, for the getting all reviewy 'n' shit. :)
Sky Shadow.
--
'"They've immobilised him somehow," said Cambo, Hosehead's small Nebulan
partner, who had been silent so far.'
From *Autobot Hostage* by John Grant, Ladybird Books.
Merytneith
> "Jackpot" wrote:
>>Several TF oddities are attributed to a scientist called
>>Primaeval, including the elevated beasts and the strange phenomenon of
>>Powerdasher, who stores two extra bodies for himself in subspace. The
>>mystery of what happened to Primaeval is a subplot that... I'm not sure
>>I ever understood the resolution to, if there was one. For a while, T-
>>Cracker believed that he had transferred his consciousness to a new
>>body, but I got the impression that that idea may have been scrapped by
>>the end. Help, Sky?
>
>
> The plotline *is* resolved, but it's subtle, since it goes over
> Thundercracker's head, and he's the narrator. It's in here:
<snip>
Wooo hooooo! I was right, I was riiiiight! Yay! Dance of
victory time! You can dance... you can dance... everybody
look at your pants!
Oops, that's the Homer Simpson Safety Dance. Oh well.
> There's an unresolved mystery
> running through the bit with Prime and Thundercracker, which I might discuss
> a bit later if nobody else mentions it.
You mean, other than the how the slag did Thundercracker get
himself captured face to face with Prime in the first place
mystery?
I'm thinking traitorousness, personally, but that's probably
just Jackpot's art coloring my perceptions or something.
Darn it Jackpot, is there *anything* you can't color?
>>I mean, maybe he was being hyperbolic,
>>but Prime is the kind of guy I tend to take literally.
>
>
> Ignoring the fact that I wanted the story to end that way from the
> beginning, I had a couple of reasons behind this.
Yeah, Jackpot, stop trying to destroy the pretty metaphors!
METAPHOR HATER!
> The second reason
> is that, as anyone who's read any of Countdown's books on Autobot strategy
> (ghost written by Skystalker) knows, one should never turn one's back on a
> Decepticon. ;)
Bwahahaha! :D
--Mery
(Prime's new motto: "For a world without Decepticons, you
need a universe without Decepticons.")
==================================================
Harvey Birdman: What is your super power?
Black Vulcan: Pure electricity.... in my *pants*.
Harvey Birdman: What would happen if you *lost*
your super power?
Black Vulcan: You know how if a lightning bolt
hits your house and all the lights
go out? It would be like that.
Only.... in my *pants*.
==================================================
Sky Shadow
> > The plotline *is* resolved, but it's subtle, since it goes over
> > Thundercracker's head, and he's the narrator. It's in here:
>
> <snip>
>
> Wooo hooooo! I was right, I was riiiiight! Yay!
I'm glad someone 'got it,' since I obviously already knew, so it was hard
for me to tell if it was 'gettable' or not. Plus I had to make it so the
reader had the opportunity for enlightenment without TC himself working it
out.
> > There's an unresolved mystery
> > running through the bit with Prime and Thundercracker, which I might
discuss
> > a bit later if nobody else mentions it.
>
> You mean, other than the how the slag did Thundercracker get
> himself captured face to face with Prime in the first place
> mystery?
Actually, the thing I was thinking of was just a safety net I began to set
up at the beginning, since I had assumed that some of the more puritanical
Transfans were going to protest this story with something along the lines of
"Thundercracker couldn't possibly tell that story, he was barely even
capable of telling the time." Or something. Consequently, I had a plotline
going on behind the scenes where we knew Thundercracker had a new search
engine (sold to him by Swindle as mentioned in part 1), that he knew it was
ridiculous to risk his life for "the sake of storytelling, but for some
reason, I couldn't compromise on this issue. I kept searching for different
options, but the result was always the same: /never let chronology get in
the way of a good story/" (part 4), that something inside TC couldn't argue
with Prime's statement that "Kup could tell a story that would put even
*yours* to shame" (part 6) and that Kup was dead. Also, from the classic
Sky Shadow fanfic, 'Elephant and DVD,' we know that Swindle would gladly
even steal the tusks from a sleeping elephant. Erm... ignore that last one.
:)
Anyway, from the points above, you may be able to see where my safety net
was to be positioned, but in the end I decided to perform the trick without
the net, since I thought TC managed to sell himself as a talented
storyteller on his own.
> > The second reason
> > is that, as anyone who's read any of Countdown's books on Autobot
strategy
> > (ghost written by Skystalker) knows, one should never turn one's back on
a
> > Decepticon. ;)
>
> Bwahahaha! :D
I forgot to mention it, but there were a couple of other reasons why Prime
might consider Thundercracker as being better than himself.
1). Prime knew he was manipulating TC, which might make him feel less noble
his Decepticon 'captive'.
2). While Prime merely covered up Sentinel's death, Thundercracker
'cremated' the body. This may not seem like much, or perhaps it might even
seem evil, but it ensured that Sentinel's body was not desecrated or turned
into a ridiculous effigy etc. by the Decepticons who would no doubt have
found him and it also secured SP a place alongside Elvis as a 'living'
legend.
Jackpot
>
> Sparkstalker lead us into Mixer's lab. "This is Mixer," he announced,
> gesturing towards the mad scientist.
>
> Overkill looked him up and down. "I see you've changed again," he
> declared.
<snip>
> "Oh, Overkill's not my. . . Hold on, did you say Mix*master*? I asked,
> disoriented.
<snip>
> "I'm sure you can," I said, earnestly. "I hope Mixer didn't put you
> off."
>
> Overkill shook his toothy head. "Not directly," he said. "He served as
> a final reminder that some robots just aren't the robots I thought
> they were. We need to get home to Slugfest, to where we belong."
Ah ha.............
Actually, that was a sequence that I was going to ask about when I first
read it, but then I forgot when I wrote the review. As for whether it's
"gettable"... well, the clues *are* pretty prominent there, once you see
them. I imagine another reading or two might've made things click.
After all, the question still stuck out clearly enough in my mind; I
certainly would've continued searching for an answer, were I to have
gone back in for a re-read.
Plus it explains another, unmentioned mystery: Why in the world you
abbreviated the Constructicons' names. (Somehow the "U-Haul" pun didn't
seem like cause enough...)
> Before I'd written much of part six at all, I brainstormed Overkill
> out as a slightly different character who very much lived in his
> brother's shadow. This is one of the little bits that never made it
> into the final cut, but I thought you might find it interesting
> nonetheless:
I don't think that paragraph makes him a different character, really.
It just gives him one more reason to be the way he is. Plus it's an
interesting reminder that, not only was Overkill once an animal, but he
*remembers* being an animal the way we remember being children.
> I think that's right, although if you recall Furman's first plot on
> the U.S. Transformers comic, it involved Megatron sending his Air
> Strike Patrol to ally themselves with Scorponok, who is unaware of
> their true affiliation. The Air Strike Patrol then start wiping out
> aeroplanes at an airport to get media coverage so the Autobots will
> leave the Ark with a skeleton crew of Ratchet. Megatron then
> disguises the Decepticon Sports Car Patrol as Autobots, who then used
> a trans-dimensional time portal to get onto the Ark solely in order to
> scare Ratchet by making the robots in his repair bay into walking
> zombies, in the hope that Ratchet would destroy them himself. The
> patrol then introduced themselves as Autobots sent by Optimus Prime to
> help him heal his comrades who then teleported Ratchet to Megatron.
> Megatron coerces Ratchet into turning Starscream into a Pretender, a
> tool for Megatron to eliminate all the Autobots (attracted to the
> airport by Megatron's Air Strike Patrol) and Scorponok's Decepticons
> (whom the ASP have called as reinforcements). Compared to these
> complex machinations, I think my Megatron is a blunt instrument.
I would give your Megatron more credit than that, but you do have a
point. Maybe Megs only truly shines that way when he's forced to work
behind the scenes.
> The first is
> despite everyone else's opinions on Prime, he always comes across in
> the comics as a brooding robot who blames everything bad that has ever
> happened (Megatron, the Ark crashing on Earth, the destruction of the
> ozone layer etc.) on himself, so it's not surprising that he should
> think TC (who comes across as a pretty good robot in his story) is
> better than himself.
Another good point.
> The second reason is that, as anyone who's read
> any of Countdown's books on Autobot strategy (ghost written by
> Skystalker) knows, one should never turn one's back on a Decepticon.
> ;)
Heh. I wondered if that had something to do with it....
Oh yeah, I completely forgot something. Greasepit: What's he doing
prophesying about the future of Cybertron?
Zobovor the Invisible Man
>The plotline *is* resolved, but it's subtle, since it goes over
>Thundercracker's head, and he's the narrator. It's in here:
<snip>
Well, it's good to know that Thundercracker and I were at least on the same
page, then. :)
Sky Shadow
> Oh yeah, I completely forgot something. Greasepit: What's he doing
> prophesying about the future of Cybertron?
Oh that. :) Well I was teaching a class about Arthurian legend at the
time, and I though it would be cool if Greasepit was a cross between the
Lady of the Lake and a sort of creature from the pit. There's that bit in
the legend where the Lady rises from the lake and tells Merlin where he can
find the saviour of Camelot, and Merlin thinks she's talking about Lancelot
when she actually meant Galahad, resulting in the fall of Camelot.
In *Best First* Greasepit tells Thundercracker that "Sometimes it's better
to stand behind a great robot than to be great yourself." Thundercracker
took it as his cue to follow Megatron, but was he right or wrong to do so?
And since I already had Greasepit acting in the role of a kind of clumsy
mystic, I thought it would be fun and practical to use him that way again in
the Customs scene.
Jackpot
>
> Well I was teaching a class about Arthurian legend at
> the time, and I though it would be cool if Greasepit was a cross
> between the Lady of the Lake and a sort of creature from the pit.
Heh heh heh heh heh. I never even thought of that. But I feel like
smacking myself for missing it.