Moar bunnies
1. Optimus and Megatron hang around after their deaths in ghost form, feeling like they can’t pass on until they see what becomes of their factions and their life’s work.
2. Movieverse. Instead of being the only Cybertronian casualty of the battle with Megatron, Jazz was the only Cybertronian survivor.
3. Movieverse. The media finds out what really happened with the Mission City attack, and all the humans involved (Sector Seven, the soldiers, and the civilians) are condemned for negligently bringing such a target inside a populated city. The adults lose their jobs; Sam & Mikaela can’t return to their normal lives because some of their classmates (Trent? Miles?) had family who died in the attack. All of their peers and former friends despise them for being murderers.
4. The famous ‘mass-shifting’ goes horribly wrong somehow. Soundwave now transforms from a tiny mech into a huge tapedeck, Megatron transforms from a human-sized gun into a gestalt-sized mech, etc.
5. There’ve been enough fics about Sam becoming the Allspark and/or turning into a Cybertronian to wallpaper my room. How ‘bout a fic where Sam becomes the Prime?
6. (Any ‘verse with the Allspark/Matrix/Ightymay Otplay Eviceday). What if when the abovementioned artifact is destroyed and scatters across the city/world/galaxy, it doesn’t just animate machinery but actually creates magical artifacts?
7. Speaking of magic artifacts: What if a Cybertronian stumbled upon a (re-sized) Mirror of Erised (which shows “the deepest, most desperate desire of one’s heart”, even if it’s impossible)? I could see Starscream as one of those who can’t stop looking into it and is eventually driven mad.
8. Megatron: In the end, Starscream, I will always be greater than you. I want power, but you need it.
9. Unicron explodes! Over time, the shattered pieces are drawn to Cybertron (or Earth).
10. What if Megatron lost patience with his Air Commander more quickly, and his immortal spark was discovered earlier?
11. Cyclonus gets sent back in time, to when Megatron still led the Decepticons on Earth. At that time, the Decepticons have been losing nearly every battle (as always), and are reasonably willing to accept a random Decepticon who shows up out of nowhere. Of course, not knowing any better, Cyclonus would act the same way toward Megatron as he did to Galvatron back in his own time. And Starscream probably isn’t happen with Cyclonus’ belief that he is the true Second-In-Command.
A. Starscream’s scientific abilities are possibly the only way for Cyclonus to return to his own time, but Cyclonus can’t just stand by and watch this unworthy traitor plotting against Mighty Galva Megatron.
B. Pleased with the idea of having a loyal, competent SIC for once, Megatron is determined to demote Starscream and replace him with Cyclonus as soon as he can determine what exactly it is that Cyclonus is hiding from him…
C. During a battle, Cyclonus comes face-to-face with Optimus Prime for the first time. Recognizing that he’s outclassed, he inadvertently warps in order to escape. Skywarp sees or senses this, and latches on to what he thinks is the only other warping Cybertronian in the universe; but Cyclonus knows that the only reason he has the ability is because Skywarp’s warp drive survived Unicron’s rebuilding.
D. Cyclonus is struck by the difference in the Decepticons without Galvatron’s insane bungling, and is tempted to stay in that time rather than return to his own.
12. Due to a curse/a promise made under different circumstances/a fail-safe line of coding Starscream placed in Megatron’s processor, Megatron is forced to grant Starscream his life if he asks for mercy. Why else would Galvatron kill Starscream right away instead of gloating for a while?
13. Trapped in the Decepticon base, the Seekers go insane and try to exit while the base is still in underwater mode - seeing the blue water and fish, and thinking them to be sky and birds.
14. One of the flying mechs has a phobia of clouds, birds, or kites.
15. After the war, the Protectobots are surprised to find that of all the mechs built during the Earth campaigns, they are the ones least able to accept peace.
16. Movieverse. The Autobots can’t help but be amused/bewildered when an innocent inquiry about how humans maintain their health leads to the discovery of Judy Witwicky’s old “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” tapes and a comparison between the program’s Richard Simmons and a certain other R. Simmons they all know.
Sam: So that’s why you’re so mad when someone calls you Reggie? Because it almost-sort-of sounds like ‘Richie’?
Simmons: You don’t have a monopoly on miserable high school experiences, kid.
17. ?: The two of them..? No way. You’re telling me he… and…
??: *chuckle* Like metal to a magnet. Poor mech never had a chance.
18. AUish. Carly is actually an Autobot-created holoform. (They thought Spike was getting a little lonely.) Not having a deep understanding of human culture, they didn’t realize that Spike might want more than just a temporary friend.
19. Hound doesn’t just create holograms (or holoforms): he IS a holoform…
A. …created by _________. He doesn’t actually exist.
B. …or at least his appearance is a holoform. His actual form is smaller and hidden by the image of the green Jeep-former.
20. Skyfire and Starscream had always been Shockwave’s favorite students.
21. AU. After being woken, Skyfire stayed with the Decepticons…
A. …to act as an independent saboteur.
B. …in order to start his own attempt at overthrowing him.
C. …because unlike in canon, Starscream actually remembered the secret language that the two of them had invented when they were sparklings, and used it to both warn Skyfire that not all was as it appeared, and reassure him that Starscream hadn’t entirely changed.
D. …because Starscream reminded Skyfire that he possessed a piece of blackmail which, if made public knowledge, would keep the Autobots from accepting him.
E. …because in his brief encounter with the Autobots, they said or did something which convinced him that each side was as bad as the other. At least the Decepticons would let him fully indulge his scientific curiosity regarding the humans.
F. …because despite his principles, he still feels that he owes Megatron/the Decepticons a debt of honor for finding and reviving him. He thinks he’s obliged to save Megatron’s life, or do another service of equal value, before his honor will allow him to leave.
G. …because long ago, he and Starscream had had a discussion about the impending conflict. Since Skyfire was neutral and - by his own choice - ignorant of politics, Starscream made Skyfire swear that he would follow the Seeker’s lead in dangerous situations pertaining to the war.
22. If the factions were divided differently… All the older Cybertronians, vs. all the younger ones.
23. The Decepticons’ equivalent of the Autobots’ “make Prowl crash” game: the “make Soundwave either slip out of monotone or say something hilarious in it” game.
24. Jazz, Soundwave, Blaster, or someone else discovers Animusic. Those three in particular, with Jazz’s light show ability and the cassette decks’ audio abilities, could really bring it to life. If they wanted to build real versions, they might even have to get help from the Constructicons, or Grapple and Hoist. (Warning: These YouTube videos may include that rapid light flashing that might cause some people to have seizures.)
25. Elita-1 is actually a mech. Optimus discovers this at the must unexpected of times and freaks out.
Megatron: *smirks* You Autobots may claim to be in favor of ‘equality’ but you’re just as chauvinistic. Or havn’t you noticed that all of your top officers are mechs?
Optimus: That’s not true, Megatron, and you know it.
Megatron: Oh? *smirk widens*
26. Megatron’s latest plot for ULTIMATE VICTORYTM involves breaking (or at least severely cracking) the fourth wall.
27. An Autobot and a Decepticon get trapped in a Cybertronian-size elevator together without their weapons. (Or they could have their weapons with them, but the elevator they’re trapped in is indestructible for some reason.)
28. (For the short version, just read the bolded part.)
Before the crash-landing on Earth, both Optimus and Megatron stayed very distant from their soldiers. Neither was openly disdainful; they just didn’t have much contact with them, and there were so many troops that it would be impossible to strike up some kind of rapport with all of them anyway. Most of the soldiers in the two armies had never even met their commander-in-chief; both sides blindly followed (and near-worshipped, in some cases) leaders which they never saw. Getting stranded with a small squad of troops and forced to operate from a fairly cramped base caused the faction leaders to come face-to-face with individual grunt soldiers on a day-to-day basis for the first time.
A. Of course, Optimus grew very fond of the Autobots stuck on Earth with him, and command decisions became much harder to make when he knew exactly whose lives he was risking. Those particular Autobots, in turn, grew to respect him even more as a leader - and love him as a friend.
B. Megatron, as well, had to adjust to being around the rank-and-file all the time (when on Cybertron, his interactions had been limited to giving orders to his top officers and showing up for the actual battles). Although Megatron’s relationships with his soldiers certainly couldn’t be called close friendships, they learned more of his personality, and he of theirs. Some soldiers lost respect for Megatron because of this; but there was a surprising number which actually gained respect for him after they knew more about him. And many of them hadn’t actually witnessed one of Megatron and Starscream’s little quarrels - the number of times the two actually came to blows was a real optic-opener for some.
Needless to say, when both groups finally returned to Cybertron, the other Autobots and Decepticons were shocked to see how their previously-Earth-bound comrades spoke of and acted around their leaders. Optimus’ “Earth crew” was heard (off-duty) laughing and talking with/in front of their leader like he was just another drinking buddy. The Decepticon “Earth crew” shared what they knew of Megatron, joking about how he and Starscream (forced into close proximity) fought like ‘cats and dogs’ - whatever THAT meant - and warning their comrades that if anyone ever sent them to wake Megatron up in the early hours with a message, it would be safest for them to find someone else and trick him into actually doing the waking because their Mighty Leader was always grumpier in the morning, etc.
29. Optimus receives word from Cybertron that Elita-1 has died.
30. After returning to Cybertron, some mechs get depressed without the sun.
31. Prowl is surprised to find out exactly which Decepticon is his opposite number in battlefield strategy and the one he’s been matching wits with all this time.
32. ?: “Megatron looks sad.”
33. Taps, n.: a signal by bugle or drum, sounded at night as an order to extinguish all lights, and sometimes performed as a postlude to a military funeral.
34. ?: Don’t mess around when he’s nearby. He’s got optics in the back of his head.
??: Oh, that’s one of those Earth ‘metaphors’, right?
?: I wish.
35. What if Unicron chose to reformat a different ‘Con - or a 'Bot - into Galvatron?
36. Many years later, he would wish with all his spark that he had not smiled.
37. Despite his later reputation, the first time he ever saw that other mech was when he found him quietly bleeding to death in a dark alley.
38. Galvatron wasn’t the first Transformer to be subjected to treatment on Torkulon (or whatever that intergalactic therapy planet was called).
39. One of the TFs gets a glitch that makes him speak in similes and metaphors all the time.
40. Someone tries to categorize the different types of glitches and treatment methods.
41. Primus didn’t choose to take planet form… he was cursed, to remain like that for ‘x’ amount of time or until a certain event happened.
A. After the time is up, he transforms back to his normal form immediately… regardless of those living on him at the time.
B. He was cursed to remain as a planet until he learned how to love, a la Beauty and the Beast.
C. He and Unicron were both cursed at the same time, and after the curse unravels Unicron seeks him out, and is surprised to find that
1) Primus died while in planet form
2) Primus is refusing to change back, because he doesn’t want to harm the Cybertronians living on him and/or deprive them of the only home they’ve ever known
3) Primus can’t remember how to transform back
D. Remaining in planet form, Primus watches with sorrow as the rest of his kind dies out; eventually only he and Unicron remain, the last of a once-great race. The Cybertronians were intended to be simple memorials of Primus’ species; he didn’t expect them to become sentient.
42. The universe can change a lot in four million years. When the Cybertronians finally get off of Earth, they discover that the thriving interplanetary trade which had existed in their time collapsed soon after Cybertron’s economy did, in a catastrophic domino effect. Other planets also fell to civil war. Cybertron, once one of the smaller and less significant planets in its galaxy, is now one of the few which even has a sentient population, let alone super-advanced technology… and the Cybertronians realize that compared to the state that the rest of the galaxy is in, the humans aren’t really so primitive.
43. ? [a Prime]: Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
Optimus: What about that shadowy place?
?: That’s beyond our borders. You must never go there, Optimus.
44. A Cybertron divided into two hemispheres (north-south or east-west or some undefined diagonal division), each with separate governments, laws, types of wild creatures, customs, cultures, maybe dialects or religions…
45. Who else, besides Starscream, mourned when Skyfire didn’t come back?
46. Perceptor as Persephone.
47. Potter Transformer Puppet Pals.
48. Optimus and Megatron (or Blaster and Soundwave?) are technically the legal guardians of all the youngest mechs in their faction, since they were orphaned by the war and came to the army not only because they believed in the cause, but also because they needed energy & protection.
49. (Movieverse) Autobot intelligence indicated that the Decepticon Barricade had once been Autobot Prowl. However, after landing on Earth, all evidence suggested that Barricade was in fact a different mech entirely. Jazz’s suicidal confrontation of Megatron results from the sudden revelation that his friend/bondmate is not merely a traitor, but probably dead.
50. “You dissected the Matrix?!”
51. The real reason that Shockwave can’t seem to hit any of the Autobot femmes, despite being a giant gun: About half a million years after the Ark and the Nemesis disappeared, the ‘Bots and ‘Cons on Cybertron made a truce. Now, whenever the 'Bots and 'Cons on Earth contact their home planet, Shockwave and the femmes pretend to still be fighting - but the rest of the time, they're trying to find a way to break the news to their superiors.
52. Soundwave captures Blaster and makes him into a cassette.
53. Blaster captures Soundwave and makes him into a cassette.
54. Can one mech ‘subspace’ another mech of the same size or larger?
Rumble: *snatch*
Omega Supreme: O_O *disappears*
55. Primus, like Unicron, has a big scary munching mouth. He just doesn’t use it as often.
56. (Movieverse) Instead of being grateful to Sam for destroying Megatron, the Autobots get really, really mad. Optimus knew that the All-Spark would only actually destroy a mech’s spark if the mech tried to forcefully drain it of power (which Megatron had done once he realized that the All-Spark had been shoved into him).
The risk Optimus was planning on taking (and that the others were worried about) was losing his conscious self and becoming simply a vessel for the Allspark. Allspark!Optimus could then have easily taken out all of the Decepticons, and probably healed some of the damage caused by the battle. Sam’s action caused the Allspark to self-destruct, and only killed one Decepticon; the others could still continue the war under new leadership.
57. (Movieverse) What if Megatron had faster reflexes, and just snatched the Allspark when Sam shoved it at him?
58. Which Decepticons can’t fly (in mech form, at least)? Since Starscream’s official title is Air Commander, would those few non-flight-capable ‘Cons technically not have to answer to him?
59. The Seekers see some of those little mini spy-planes and think they’re just adorable.
60. (Movieverse) Isn’t ‘Simmons’ the name of a character in Red vs. Blue?
61. ?: "I'm not your creator. Clean up after yourselves!"
62. A Transformers Thanksgiving!