Fanfic / Riding a Sunset

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Riding A Sunset by QAtheAuthoress74 is a Transformers fanfiction set in the Bumblebee universe. Ten months after the movie, Bumblebee returns to Brighton Falls to see Charlie and bring her to meet the other Autobots. However, word of Bumblebee's fights against Blitzwing, Shatter and Dropkick have filtered back to Cybertron as rumors of a "Triple-Changer Terminator" among the Decepticons, leading to first Starscream, then Megatron issuing missions to destroy them. The Autobots ally with Sector 7 and the United States government to combat the threat.

Currently an on-going fic with over 150 chapters, organized into several multi-chapter arcs and "seasons". An excellent blend of drama and humor, abounding with references to the 80s and other Transformers continuities.

Contains examples of:

• The '80s: 1988 to be specific, 10 months after the events of Bumblebee. The author put a bit of effort into making the pop culture, slang, and music all sound authentic.
• A Form You Are Comfortable With: Much like when they encountered Optimus Primal, the Vok intend to do this, taking the form of a figure of authority Charlie will respond to, but fail to achieve one she will be comfortable with: Adolf Hitler
• Abandonment-Induced Animosity: Hot Rod, upon seeing Charlie and Bumblebee interact, believes that she's replaced him as 'Bee's best friend, causing him to act very cold towards both Bumblebee and her (calling her a "fleshie" when he complains about the situation to Bulkhead). After Ironhide and Optimus explain to Charlie why Hot Rod's acting the way he is, she confronts him, and they work out their differences, after which Hot Rod's behavior improves.
• Absurd Phobia: Ultra Magnus, who is almost as tall and powerful as Prime and has shown little to no fear throughout his time as second-in-command... is afraid of spiders. Made absurd because spiders are almost too small for him to see, and spider venom (since he's a giant robot) can't hurt him. Agent Burns lampshades this.
• Actor Allusion: Charlie's ARO form has enlarged servos that she immediately likens to boxing gloves with individual fingers, which the authors notes explicitly confirm as a homage to Hailee Steinfeld's Arcane character Vi.
• Adaptational Achilles' Heel:
  • The T-Cogs in Riding a Sunset has several limits that are not typically displayed by the franchise:
    • Firstly, a T-Cog is explicitly restricted to a particular vehicular type. Of particular note when Knock Out has Hot Rod's stolen cog implanted to replace his own destroyed one, he is reformated from a seeker to a car. This is not the case in other places, most notably in Transformers: Prime, Starscream's T-Cog is used for MECH's Project Chimera, which is ultimately transformed into Nemesis Prime, an exact copy of Optimus Prime, aside from colour.
    • Additionally, the T-Cogs are limited to bots of similar size. This is why Hot Rod is chosen instead of Bulkhead by Breakdown to steal a T-Cog from for Knock Out because the former is closer in size to him than the latter. Going back to Prime, Optimus is much more bulky than Starscream, while before Bumblebee retrieves his own Cog, the plan was for Ratchet, who is notably bulkier, to donate his for a transplant. Additionally in Transformers One the 4 miners were given cogs from Primes who were quite diverse in size, including the diminuitve Micronus, significantly smaller than the former cogless.
    • Finally chapter 46 has Silas note that Shatter's Cog is only compatible with a female frame. In One all four cogs given to the former cogless are Prima, Onyx, Alchemist and Micronus, all of whom are traditionally male, with no problems for the female Elita One.
• Adaptational Explanation:
  • The original cartoon often had the Autobots and Decepticons pulling items out of thin air (guns, tools, Prime's trailer, etc), without there being any explanation as to how the items they needed simply appeared. Other cartoons avoided this by having the Cybertronians transform their hands or shoulders into weapons (something that stayed in the movies and games). Here, while the Transformers do still transform their hands or shoulders into weapons (like with Bee's blade/stinger), they can pull items or tools (like Prime's trailer) out of a special device called a subspace, which converts the matter in an object into energy, and stores it until it's needed (explaining how certain items simply disappear and reappear when the Cybertronians need them).
  • In many cartoons, the Autobots are shown capable of buying/paying for various items despite none of them seeming to have jobs or a means of getting money (best shown in Transformers: Animated). Here, it's shown that the Autobots have been receiving money from the government in exchange for them sharing some of their technology (though not weapons) with them. At any given time, every Autobot is carrying around roughly three hundred dollars in cash in case of an emergency (or if one of their human friends needs a snack).
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • Hot Rod losing his T-Cog is loosely based on the Transformers Prime Episode "Operation Bumblebee". In that episode Bumblebee is without a cog for around an episode and a half, with the story making it clear that, had they been unable to retrieve his original cog, Ratchet would've donated his own. Hot Rod on the other hand is without his cog for several seasons, only regaining his ability to transform after Brawn's death in the Overlord arc, leaving his cog to Hot Rod in his will.
  • In War Dawn, the Aerialbots are sent back in time, breifly meet Orion Pax, Dion and Ariel and witness Megatron's murder of them. The Back In-Time Arc sees Bumblebee, Charlie and the Dinobots get sent back for 2 weeks, spending time to bond with the three of them as well as working alongside them before the attack.
• Adaptational Friendship: Because of how many characters in the fic are Canon Foreigners, there are several characters that become friends here despite never meeting/being close in their respective canons (i.e. Charlie and the rest of the Autobots, Chip and Memo, etc).
• Adaptational Gender Identity: Cosmos is established as a trans femme, rather than a cis mech, having elected to transition genders when she assumed the identity of Path Finder after Deadlock faked her death.
• Adaptational Name Change: Autobots in this universe have serial numbers that they use until they find a name that suits them.
  • As in the movie, Bumblebee used to be B-127 before Charlie gave him his name.
  • J-722 goes through Meister, Shaft and Blaster before finally settling on Jazz after Charlie introduces him to the music.
  • Hot Rod's designation was H-406.
  • The species to which the Autobots and Decepticons belong is dubbed Autonomous Robotic Organisms, taken from the 07 film, rather than Transformer or Cybertronian, owing to the presence of colonists who are not native to Cybertron, although the Transformer name later comes up as a press-given nickname when they are revealed to the world. Since this is a mouthful, they are also referred to by the acronym ARO.
  • Silas' terrorist group is dubbed M.A.C.H instead of M.E.C.H
  • Dark Energon is referred to as "Blood of the Unmaker" because, though the AROs know that it is the lifeblood of Primus arch enemt and dark opposite, they do not know who that is.
• Adaptational Wimp: The below instance of Can't Live Without You is not the case for Devisiens within the IDW continuity, notably much of the character of Slide's storyline in that continuity is the angst and struggles she suffers after the death of her combining parter Oiler.
• Affectionate Nickname: Jazz is good at these: Bumblebee is "Lil Bee", Charlie is "Lil Lady", Prowl is "Prowler", the list goes on. 'Bots have been trying to give Ratchet one for years, and he refuses every time (sometimes by throwing a wrench).
• Alien Arts Are Appreciated: Many Autobots develop a liking for Earth music, arts, and film (Bumblebee is said to watch movies in the Watsons' garage in his spare time (his favorite being The Breakfast Club), and Jazz picked his new designation after developing a love of Duke Ellington music.
• All for Nothing: Dr. Arkeville abused the Autobots' show of trust in Sector 7 to steal Wheeljack's inventions for a shady organization, and incriminated himself by injuring Wheeljack, damaging part of their base, and admitting to stealing the Autobot's projects before escaping with a cloaking device and several mystery items believed to be weapons... only they aren't weapons. They're the fireworks Wheeljack made for the 4th of July picnic.
• Amicable Exes: Hot Rod and Arcee, who officially bury the hatchet of their not-so-amicable breakup when Hot Rod arrives on Earth.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Otis is much better in the fic than in Bumblebee, but he still qualifies as this trope.
• Answer Cut: Happens a few times throughout the fic.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When talking with the Sparklings about the Seacons, Rumble earns a rebuke from the Sparklings for his racism against the humans, at which point Wildbreak mentions that his creators told him that the Decepticons used to be about fighting for an equal Cybertron, but Megatron forgot this, prompting Rumble to rebuke that Megatron still cares about making Cybertron great again, which in turn causes Bluestreak to ask a question which Rumble's internal narration actually describes as metephorically peircing his armour.
  Bluestreak: Did Cybertron become a great place after he took it over?
• Badass Boast: Anything said by Optimus Prime when he's mad will likely double as this. This line from when he and the Autobots saved Charlie from the Beastformers, however, counts as the first of the fic, and is delivered in such a way that all three Eukarians start shaking:
  Optimus Prime: Taking the young lady was a bad move.
• Bad Boss: Megatron. Starscream's complaints aside, he rips out Vos of the DJD's vocalizer because he kept speaking in Primal Vernacular.
• Bait-and-Switch: A Villain Chapter opens with Megatron and Shockwave going to see/interrogate a prisoner who's being tortured for information. The reader believes that a poor Autobot is being interrogated before they're killed (much like poor Cliffjumper in at least two continuities). But the chapter soon reveals that the prisoner is a Decepticon; specifically, Skywarp. Turns out Starscream's attempts at coups aren't as clever/unnoticeable as he thinks they are.
• Beach Episode: Charlie, her family, Memo, and Chip spend the afternoon of the 4th of July on the beach with most of the Autobots.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Charlie had hoped that she could spend more time with Bumblebee and the Autobots. She gets her wish... because it turns out that the En-Radiation from Cybertronians can be absorbed by humans, and Charlie has enough on her that she registers as Cybertronian on Decepticon scanners. Meaning that the Autobots will stay to protect the Earth, but she'll serve as a homing beacon for nearby Decepticons for the rest of her life.
• Because You Were Nice To Him: This is the main reason why all of the Autobots (including Ratchet and Ironhide) instantly trust/like Charlie, as she put her own safety at risk to help Bumblebee and save his life. Throughout the fic, she's the human they trust and open up to the most.
• Big Brother Instinct: The older Autobots are visibly protective of the younger members of their unit, often taking time to talk to them if they're having problems or willingly covering them in fights. Jazz is noticeably protective of/close with 'Bee (and quickly becomes as close with Charlie).
• Big Damn Heroes: Pulled several times by different characters.
• The Big Damn Kiss: Jazz gives one to Prowl when the latter arrives at base, to the shock (and minor embarrasment) of all the humans present.
• Big Damn Reunion: Jazz hasn't seen his Conjunx (husband), Prowl, in a long time. When he hears that Prowl is alive, on Earth and coming to see him, he's overjoyed. When Prowl finally shows up, Jazz glomps him. Prowl is much more reserved, but it's clear that he's equally happy to see his Conjunx.
• Big Good: Optimus Prime.
• Big "NO!": The Autobots when Ratchet, after teaching them all about the human digestive system, asks if they'd like an additional lecture on human reproduction.
• Bizarre Alien Biology:
  • Charlie, when she first helps Ratchet with an Autobot operation/repair, quickly realizes that Cybertronian techno-biology is nothing like working on a car, as there are multiple alien components. She's also taught about Energon and Sparks.
  • Ratchet had to adjust his scanners and acquire information on human biology so he could treat humans should the need arise. He even has the Autobots undergo an impromptu lecture about human biology when they meet Charlie. The Autobots are all left embarrassed and uncomfortable.
• Blackmail Backfire: After being captured by the Autobots Knock Out attempts to blackmail Prowl after figuring out that he is in a relationship with Jazz... which initially confuses Prowl until he figures out that the Deceptions have extremely strict anti fraternization rules which Knock Out assumes are the same for the Autobots, when in fact no such rules exist and his and Jazz's relationship is public knowledge,
• Blatant Lies: Steeljaw, when Optimus Prime and the Autobots capture him and his pack, lies and says that they are very important officers in the Decepticon army. Prime, who's met/fought most of the higher-ups in the Decepticon army, doesn't buy it for a second.
• Brain Bleach: Ratchet, after realizing that none of the Autobots (minus Ultra Magnus, who did his homework) know anything about human bodily functions, gives them all an impromptu lecture on the functions of the human body (including what Charlie meant by "going to the restroom"). When it's over, all of the Autobots have thousand-yard stares. Even Prime.
• Brooklyn Rage: Subverted; it's noted that Wheeljack speaks in a Brooklyn accent, yet he's fairly patient and doesn't snap very easily (which, due to his being a scientist, makes sense). Ratchet, Ironhide, and even Bumblebee usually lose their tempers before he does. Played straight with Thunderhoof, who has what Charlie calls a stereotypical mob boss accent. He's as aggressive and cruel as any of the Beastformers.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • If any 'bot is going to suffer from Wheeljack's experiments, it's Brawn.
  • Poor Sheriff Lock can't catch a break.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Charlie has expressed interest in going to trade school to become a mechanic (a desire that grows stronger after she starts regularly helping Ratchet). However, Sally shuts her down every time and insists that she go to college. Ratchet, when Sally visits the base, absolutely lets her have it about putting her own wants over Charlie's, stating that Charlie is a gifted mechanic (claiming that she's a prodigy by Cybertronian standards) who shouldn't waste her talents, and that while Sally has good intentions, her efforts are hurting Charlie far more than they're helping. To Sally's credit, she takes these words to heart and starts easing up on Charlie (allowing her to take up the apprenticeship Ratchet offers her).
• Camping Episode: The Watson family has a tradition of camping in Yosemite each year. This year, Brawn Got Volunteered to accompany them.
• Canon Immigrant / Continuity Cameo: Enough it might as well warrant its own page. Justified, given the movie's small cast and the author's statement about not wanting to create human OCs when a character from another series could fill the role.
• Can't Live Without You: This is the case for the citizens of the Cybertronian colony of Divisiun, in which two Aros combine into a singular vehicle mode. The story establishes that these pairs possess a split spark, which means that if one dies, the other does as well, as established during the scraplet infestation of the Ark, in which M1N-R-V4 is consumed by the horde, and her sister Ruby Alert dies simultaniously.
• Caught in Embarrassing Act: During the Hard-Work Montage to start building the Autobots' Earth base, Ratchet (thinking he's alone) starts dancing to the music Bumblebee is playing over the speakers. Brawn and Wheeljack catch him. He's angry and embarrassed, chasing them out with a wrench.
• Celebrity Paradox: The Hard-Work Montage of chapter 11 is set to "Back to Life (80s Remix)" by Hailee Steinfeld, and Bumblebee is stated to be a big fan of her music. Hailee was Charlie's actress in the movie.
• Chekhov's Gun: When Charlie leaves with 'Bee to meet the Autobots, her mother makes her several sandwiches to eat while she's gone (leading to Charlie explaining to her friend what sandwiches (and food) are). Later, it's the sandwiches (specifically Ultra Magnus stepping on one) that lead the Autobots to Steeljaw's gang.
• The Chosen One: The Mistress of the Flame is of the belief that Optimus Prime is the Arisen, the reincarnation of the 13th Prime, though he and many others do not believe it. While they don't see it, when Windblade and Pyra go over the prophecy, it appears to the reader that it might actually refer to Bumblebee.
• Composite Character: In the War Dawn arc, the Dinobots take the place of the Aerialbots as the Autobots who are naive enough to be convinced that the Decepticons aren't so bad, only to be conviced when they see Megatron murder innocent civilians they had bonded to, while Swoop, Charlie and Bumblebee adopt the role fo Silverbolt as the Only Sane Man.
  • Breakdown is an interesting version. For the most part he is inspired by his Transformers: Prime counterpart, a large bruiser and partner of Knock Out, while flashbacks reveal that he used to be a smaller speedster type closer to his G1 counterpart. However, Transformers: War for Cybertron features Breakdown more in line with the G1 Depiction meaning that to this extent his Riding A Sunset version is simply accurate to his Aligned universe counterpart on a wider scope. On the other hand in those same flashbacks Breakdown is established to be a part of Menasor, in line with his G1 self, which his aligned counterpart was never depicted as, with Menasor appearing in the fourth season of Prime's sequel series Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015) with only Drag Strip and Motormaster being part of the combiner, while Canon Foriegners Slashmark, Heatseeker and Wildbreak replace Breakdown, Dead End and Wildrider.
  • The Origins of Optimus and Elita manage to composite their War Dawn depiction, of being simple laborours gunned down by Megatron and saved by Alpha Trion aided by time travellers, with Optimus' Aligned continuity origin of being a data clerk and former freind of Megatron and Elita's IDW 2.0 as part of the Ascenticons; Orion was indeed a data clerk inspired by Megatron in his earlier, more idealistic days while Airel was an Ascenticon who Megatron assigned to guard him. When Megatron learned that Alpha Trion was a mentor to Orion and their meeting with the council resulting in them angling to make Orion the new Prime, which Orion recognised as them intending to make him a puppet, he and Ariel went into hiding, becoming Rigel and Leona. When Megatron found them he attacked them, fataly wounding them, only for Bumblebee, Charlie and the Dinobots to get them to Alpha Trion, who rebuilt Elita with Charlie's aid while guiding Bumblebee and the Dinobots to escort Orion to the core, where Primus gives him the Matrix, remaking him as Optimus Prime.
  • Blitzwing is technically an example, being classified alongside Dropkick and Shatter as Triple Changers. While the G1, Shattered Glass and Animated versions of Blitzwing are Triple Changers and the IDW comic ostentiably intended as a prequel to Bumblebee (though completely incomaptible with the canon of the film) does depict this version of Blitzwing as one, his depiction in the film itself is merely as a seeker ^note It is worth noting that within the film, Dropkick and Shatter are depicted as functioning as conventional 2 form Transformers, with distinct robot modes seperate to the ones they assume after scanning their aircraft alternate modes, meaning that it is possible that Blitzwing is a triple changer in the film's continuity and had merely not taken the time to scan a tank mode before attacking Bumblebee and being killed.
• Conflict Killer: Thanks to a case of Poor Communication Kills (see below) Charlie accidentally reveals to the Torchbearers that, rather than being on a mission from Optimus, she stole the Ark from the Autobots to save the colonists. However immediately prior to the Mistress confronting Elita, the Vok ship attacks and infects the Ark with Scraplets, killing many passengers, including most of the Torchbearers. In the immediate aftermath Optimus arrives on the Ark, clearly forgiving her, preventing the Mistress from confronting her.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: After their experience in the MACH bunker, Deadlock reveals that, rather than their confrontation when he tried to convince Ratchet to join the Decepticons as Ratchet sees it, his friendship with Ratchet ended the day he walked in on Ratchet making out with a Seeker, bitterly expecting him to not remember the incident, only for Ratchet to reveal that he does remember that incident... as the time his Abhorrent Admirer Pharma forced himself on Ratchet. Not only, had Deadlock, then Drift, confronted Ratchet after the incident, could this have been cleared up back then, but had he merely stuck around a little longer, he'd have witnessed Ratchet throwing Pharma off of him and knocking him out with his EMP. Perhaps one of the most extreme examples on record since it takes 8 million years to clear up the misunderstanding, during which Drift became Deadlock, joined the Decepticons and killed many Autobots prior to his Heel–Face Turn.
• Declaration of Protection: The Autobots (namely Prime) does this for the Watson family, and Bumblebee does it for Charlie in particular. Optimus claims during their first meeting with the Army that, as long as the Autobots remain on Earth, they will protect it from the Decepticons.
• Decomposite Character:
  • While both are Wreckers, Prime Bulkhead's fued with Breakdown is transferred to Brawn.
  • Hot Rod is the Autobot who gets his T-Cog stolen, which happened to Bumblebee in Transformers Prime.
• Defiant Captive: Shortly after meeting the Autobots, Charlie is kidnapped by Steeljaw, Thunderhoof, and Underbite. They try to interrogate her and find out where the Triple-Changer-Terminator is. She gives them nothing, and leads the Autobots to her by crushing up the sandwiches her mother gave her and leaving a trail (while berating herself for using Hansel and Gretel as an example).
• Dirty Coward: After the Vok's defeat, Megatron shoots Ratchet in the back to cover his escape, taking a shuttle that could have taken at least a dozen of his allies, who he left to the mercy of the Autobots.
• Disappointed in You: After Jazz catches Charlie and 'Bee street racing, he takes them back to the base and makes them explain to the other 'bots what happened. Optimus says he isn't mad at them, just disappointed. The two react how you'd expect.
• "Do Not Fear the Unknown" Speech: Optimus and Ratchet give Charlie's mother one each about how her trying to control Charlie's future due to her fears of losing her is hurting Charlie, and that she needs to accept that Charlie's at her happiest when she's helping/working with the Autobots. It might worry her mother, but the 'bots, strange as they are, will never willingly hurt humans.
• Doorstopper: As of 2025, the fic has over 1 million words. And it's still going.
• Dramatic Irony: After dismissing Astrotrain's assertion that they had come to Earth to destroy the Triple-Changer-Terminator, Shadow Striker claims her enemy is B-127, prompting mocking from Astrotrain, with both Decepticons unaware that they are talking about the same Autobot.
  • While trapped in the past Bumblebee and Charlie suspect Dion as the most likely to be able to get them to the Autobots of the past out of the three workers they befriended. Unbenkownst to them not only are Rigel and Leona in fact Orion Pax and Ariel, but the Autobots are not formed until after they become Optimus and Elita, and Dion is the one to remain dead.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: Of a somewhat self imposed variety While trapped in the past, Bumblebee advises Charlie to only employ one of her alternate modes, since Elita was the first Triple-Changer and they are at a point in time before she appeared. Charlie intended to make this one form her more useful car mode, but Snarl is knocked into the Rust Sea and Charlie is forced to assume her boat mode to save him, all in view of Rigel and Dion, whom the time travellers remain in the company of until the Massacre of Storage Yard 67, which forces her to limit herself to that alternate form for the duration of her time in the past.
• Eaten Alive: While parachuting out of his ship to avoid capture after being defeated by Polar Claw, Bludgeon ends up drifting uncontrollably into the maw of a Dweller, which is swiftly shruken and eaten itself by Swoop. To add insult to injury, the Autobots don't even realise what happened, mistaking him for equipment that fell from the ship.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Once he learns about it, Bumblebee quickly comes to view the Triple-Changer-Terminator as this.
  • After they are revealled to Humanity, Bumblebee also considers the name the press have given them, Transformers, this.
• Emergency Transformation: After discovering that an injured Knock Out's T-Cog is damaged, Breakdown steals Hot Rod's and installs it as a replacement, resulting in Knock Out being reformatted from a Seeker to a Grounder.
• Enemy Mine: Once the Vok threaten to destroy all life on Earth to spite the ARO, Megatron begrudgingly agrees to a truce with the Autobots until their mutual enemy is defeated.
• Engineered Public Confession: The Autobots, after catching Josie Beller attempting to steal a generator built by Wheeljack, broadcast her interrogation, where she confirms that she and STEAM were responsible for stealing the previous generator at Founders day, and overcharging Swoop as a distraction on the entertainment screen nearby for the party they put on as a sting to catch the theif. In an interesting variation, rather than a reveal at the end, it is established before the interrogation begins that the Autobots are broadcasting, this is actually how Beller is revealed as the theif to the audience, and it is only she who doesn't realise this until she has already confessed.
• Equalizing the Interspecies Romance: After some time of being in a relationship with Bumblebee, Charlie is transformed into an ARO by MACH.
• Establishing Character Moment: When Bee takes Charlie to the Autobot camp to meet the Autobots, Jazz acts as an escort and thus is the second Autobot Charlie officially meets. He loudly introduces himself, playfully chides Bumblebee for not telling her that the other Autobots could talk, promises that he's got the duo's backs, and then spends the rest of the ride listening to Duke Ellington.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Soundwave is among Megatron's most dangerous and loyal soldiers... and he will do anything for his Cassettes, who he treats less like servants and more like his pets/children. Shockwave implying that a sick Ravage could simply be replaced earns Soundwave's rage.
  • Knock Out and Breakdown may be Decepticons, but there's no denying the love they have for one another (as they playfully flirt with one another while picking alt modes after crashing on Earth).
  • Even the Decepticons agree that Medics are not to be harmed. Megatron decides differently.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • For most of the fic, Starscream is... well, Starscream. However, when Thundercracker and Skywarp joke about how run-down the once beautiful Vos is (calling it a dump), he tells them to show some respect, as many of their fellow Seekers perished in battle there.
  • Even when being interrogated and threatened with some of the worst punishments the Decepticons can think of (which is really saying something), Skywarp doesn't rat out Starscream or Thundercracker. Though he didn't really have to, given how Shockwave just busted into his memory files anyway. It says a lot about his character when he likely knows that 'Scream wouldn't do the same for him.
• Face Death with Dignity: After being fatally wounded by Overlord, the Mistress of the Flame calmly accepts that her wounds are fatal and instructs Knock Out to turn his focus to Ultra Magnus, whose injuries are not so dire, and lingers only long enough to declare to Pyra that she is to be the Camien's new spiritural leader. Aditionally she left a recording firmly forbidding using the Forge to restore her to life, knowing that it only has a few charges left.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Megatron is stated to hate Eukarians (beastformers) and intends to wipe them out once he has defeated the Autobots. Starscream, while not as extreme, openly expresses distaste for any Cybertronian who is not a flier or Seeker.
    • Beyond this, flashbacks and Bumblebee, Charlie and the Dinobot's visit to the past confirms Functionism was very much a major pre-war issue, with it implied that Starscream's hatred of non fliers is in part the result of discrimination against him and fellow seekers.
  • Ironhide eventually explains to Bumblebee that some 'bots, while not caring if two mechs or two fems love each other, think it's unseemly for two different types of Cybertronian to be in a relationship (citing a Seeker and a Grounder as an example). Unit Prime holds no such stigma, but Ironhide implies that such attitudes aren't limited to the Decepticons.
  • Hot Rod doesn't seem too fond of humans at first, referring to them as "squishies". However, this isn't so much out of a hatred for humans as it is jealousy over his belief that Charlie has replaced him as 'Bee's best friend. He abandons this attitude once he and Charlie make up.
  • The Eukarians are divided into tribes based on their beast modes, and while they don't seem to particularly discriminate against one and other, their culture is directly opposed to a relationship between members of different tribes, with Tigatron and Airrazor being exiled from their tribes when their relationship is exposed. Polar Claw reveals he has shed this perspective after experiencing discrimination from the other side on Cybertron.
• Faking the Dead: This is how Deadlock was able to pose as Megatron's most effective assassin despite truly being an Autobot spy; when given a target, Deadlock would inform Optimus, who would inform the target, who Deadlock would knock out using stun rounds, after which they would go into hiding under a new identity, while an artificial frame would be planted. Two such targets, Cosmos and Clampdown, are revealed to have been present on earth under the identites of Path Finder and Deep Cover to prove this.
• A Father to His Men: How Charlie describes Optimus Prime. We all know she's right.
• Foil: Prowl/Ultra Magnus to Starscream. The two Autobots (first Magnus, then Prowl) are loyal to Optimus Prime, kind to their fellow soldiers, and don't let their emotions interfere with their jobs. Starscream is... well Starscream. He constantly plots behind Megatron's back, talks down to and mistreats his soldiers constantly, and is very emotional (often letting petty grudges drive his decision-making).
• Forgiveness: Agent Burns was pretty terrible to Bumblebee for most of the movie, and at the beginning of the story knows that neither the Autobot nor Charlie has any good reason to trust him. However, he makes it clear that he wants to make up for his actions, and throughout the story stands up for the Autobots. After the first meeting with the heads of the Army, Charlie finally, officially forgives him.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In part 1 of "Weird Science" Bumblebee is watching RoboCop (1987), with Charlie noting how disturbing the scene of Alex Murphy being turned into the titular cyborg was to her, directly noting that the idea of cold metal replacing flesh made her uncomfortable. The "Weird Science" 2-parter sees M.A.C.H abduct Charlie and transform her into an ARO, initially intending to make her a cyborg much like Murphy, before the Key to Vector Sigma steps in to make a full transformation.
  • It is noted that the parts M.A.C.H use to create Charlie's robot body is taken from the remains of Dropkick and Shatter, several chapters later it is revealled that like them, she is a triple changer.
• Friendship Bribe: Much like in a deleted scene from the movie, it's shown that two of the members of Tina's Girl Posse used to be Charlie's best friends and worked at the same hot dog stand as her. When Charlie's father passed and she started becoming more distant, they bought Tina's friendship by giving her free hot dogs whenever she wanted. When they lost their jobs due to the stand closing down, Tina cruelly cast them out of her friend group.
• Friendship Moment: Bumblebee, once the Autobots realize that they need to protect Charlie and her family, becomes the Watsons' official guardian. He's with them as often as he can be, often recharging in their garage and going everywhere that Charlie goes (usually because he's the one who has to drive her there).
• Gentle Giant: Bulkhead is The Big Guy in every meaning of the word, with Prime being the only 'bot bigger than him. He's also one of the nicest, gentlest 'bots who wants nothing more than to protect his friends, and remains optimistic even when his friends are going through something. He's constantly expressing his fear of hurting/killing a human by accidentally stepping on them.
• Good All Along: During the Mercenary arc it is revealled that Deadlock comitted a Heel–Face Turn a long time ago, and was in fact Agent Dion, Optimus' spy in the Decepticons.
• Good Cop, Bad Cop, Neutral Cop: When the Eukarians are captured after kidnapping Charlie, the Autobots interrogate them. Ironhide (the bad cop) wants to treat them the way they treated Charlie... which is why he isn't allowed to interrogate them. Jazz (the neutral cop) isn't nice, but he recognizes that their prisoners are simply punks who were won over by the Decepticons and got in over their heads. Optimus Prime (the good cop) is actually nice, and is able to get information out of Steeljaw.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Vok, who have been performing an unknown experiment with Earth, and will do anything to prevent the AROs interfering in this experiment; among other things they cause Jetfire to be trapped in ice, attack the Ark with missles full of Scraplets and wipe Charlie's memories of the Autobots.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Downplayed with Ron during the camping chapter. He wanted to go on the camping trip with Charlie and Otis because he wanted to bond with them, and feels like he's being overshadowed by Brawn, who came as their bodyguard/transport. He admits though that he doesn't blame the kids for wanting to spend time with Brawn, nor does he blame Brawn for getting the attention (as he admits that the Autobots are really cool and he likes spending time with them).
  • Sally eventually admits that part of the reason why she doesn't like to spend much time with the Autobots is because, despite Sally trying to help Charlie when she was grieving (and making no progress), Bumblebee was the one to get Charlie to open up about her pain and move on, and she's now spending every day with the Autobots. She eventually admits to 'Bee that she's jealous that the Autobots (specifically Bumblebee) make Charlie happy in a way Sally never could.
  • Bumblebee becomes this briefly when he thinks Bulkhead and Charlie want to spend time with Hot Rod over him, oddly right after Hod Rod was this trope due to believing that 'Bee replaced him and Bulkhead with Charlie.
• Happily Married: Jazz and Prowl, along with Knockout and Breakdown (although the latter couple has to keep their marriage secret). Ron and Sally, despite having less screen time in the fic, clearly have this, too.
• Hard-Work Montage: Chapter 9 is effectively one set to "Back to Life (80s Version)" by Hailee Steinfeld, as the Autobots, Charlie and some Sector Seven agents work on building up the Autobot base.
• Heel–Face Turn: Breakdown, Knock Out, Sparkstalker and Starscream all end up changing sides.
• He's Back!: Following Brawn's death in the Mercenary Arc, he leaves his T-Cog to Hot Rod in his will, finally restoring his ability to transform after Breakdown stole his own Cog several arcs earlier.
• Hidden Depths: As shown during the Hard-Work Montage, one of the Autobots is shown to be a surprisingly capable dancer. It's Optimus Prime.
• Hold Your Hippogriffs: Discussed. Charlie, Bee, Memo, Hot Rod, Chip, and Bulkhead have a conversation about Cybertronian and English swears ^note  Such as how "slag" basically means whatever curse you want it to, "pit" means hell, etc. As the story progresses the narrative often uses the Cybertronian equivilent to earth phrases, such as Everybot instead of Everybody, with Charlie at one point catching herself using such a phrase and realising she is spending too much time with the bots.
• I Have Your Wife: The Beastformers try to lure out the Triple-Changer Terminator (aka Bumblebee) by kidnapping Charlie. It works... they just didn't expect him to have backup.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each chapter is named after a song, from which a few lines will be posted at the top of the chapter. The song, or at least the title will have some connection to the plot of the chapter.
• Innocent Innuendo: After meeting Prowl, Charlie and her family are asked numerous questions about Earth by the police officer. At one point, he asks why humans, despite being organic, don't live in "organically based erections". Ron and Otis react exactly how you'd expect. The Autobots, of course, don't understand what Prowl accidentally said.
• Instantly Proven Wrong:
  • The moment Charlie learns why most 'bots fear Wheeljack's experiments:
  "That’s practically in the bag," Wheeljack waved off 'Bee's apprehensions. "I mean what could we possibly do ta make the humans not like us?" Immediately after he said that the solar panels caught on fire and were ablaze. "HOLY PRIMUS! Somebot call the Rescue Bots!"
  • When Bulkhead and Hot Rod have to have a medical exam from Ratchet, 'Bee and Charlie are trying to convince Bulk that Ratchet will be gentle and that there's nothing to worry about. Cue Brawn running out of the clinic at top speed with Ratchet throwing a wrench at his head and yelling at him.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Any long-time fan of the Transformers franchise (or even anyone who watched Bumblebee) knows that the Autobots are basically refugees who are trying to regroup so they can take back Cybertron. The human characters, however, don't know this, and it has to be explained a few times.
  • Prowl, Bulkhead, and Hot Rod have to break the news to the Autobots that Cliffjumper is dead (as he was killed on Saturn in the first half of Bumblebee's movie).
• Interspecies Romance: Primarily Bumblebee/Charlie (initially), but also Powerglide/Astoria and Tracks/Raoul are all examples of ARO/Human relationships.
• Ironic Echo: When Bumblebee is telling Steeljaw to let Charlie go, he tells the 'bot that he's in no position to make demands. Seconds later, when he's captured by Optimus and trying to bluff his way out, Prime tells him the exact same thing. The Autobots know he's using this trope, and they all laugh.
• Irony: Bumblebee has, back on Cybertron, developed somewhat of a reputation for killing Triple Changers after his victory over Blitzwing, Dropkick and Shatter. His lover is transformed into a Triple Changer.
• Jekyll & Hyde: Prowl, who was captured by Shockwave and implanted with a personality chip that turns them into the ruthless Barricade.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ratchet isn't so much a jerk as he is a Grumpy Old Man. Still, he obviously cares about the health and safety of his fellow Autobots, learned about human biology simply so he could treat any injured humans they encountered, and quickly becomes fond of Charlie (though it takes a lot of effort to get him to admit it).
• Kidnapped by the Call: While Charlie had already been involved in an Autobot adventure, the story's plot really kicks off (and allows Ratchet to discover the En-Radiation) when the Beastformers kidnap her.
• Killed Off for Real: Poor Cliffjumper...
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Subverted. While the Vok state that they intend to remove Charlie's memories of the Autobots, they actually simply wipe all her memories from the day before her 18th birthday.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Tina Lark has not given up her bullying ways since Bee first left Brighton Falls, and takes any opportunity she can to make Charlie's life miserable. So it's more than a little cathartic to see her get repeatedly put down by Charlie, her followers, and Tripp (who dumps her after he hears her and her friends making homophobic jokes).
  • After everything he's done, ending in shooting a medic and abandoning his men, Megatron meets his end when Starscream fire's Metroplex's cannon to wipe out the shuttle Megatron was using to flee Earth.
• The Lost Lenore: Arcee with Cliffjumper, and Optimus with Elita-1. Cliffjumper was killed by Shatter and Dropkick, while Elita-1 disappeared shortly before the war.
• Love Redeems: Starscream ends up defecting because of his feelings for Windblade.
  • Of a different form, Knock Out and Breakdown defect because they realise that their son, Wildbreak, will be better off with the Autobots.
• Mad Scientist:
  • Dr Arkeville, a (former) Sector Seven scientist of their Research, Experimentation and Development Department who replaces Dr Powell as S7's lead scientist. Becomes "former" after stealing Autobot tech and escaping with several gadgets (which turn out to be the fireworks Wheeljack made for the Watson/Autobot beach party).
  • Wheeljack is considered this among the Autobots. While some of his inventions are incredibly helpful or useful (such as the Energon-making machines and Charlie's Angry Bee taser-charm), the rest of them result in a minor/major explosion. At one point, his attempt to make Synthetic Energon results in creating radioactive waste (and no one knows how).
• Make Some Noise: During his conversation with Prowl, it's revealed that Jazz has this ability (much like he did in the G1 cartoon). He once used it to get away from Shockwave.
• Meaningful Rename:
  • Upon revealling his true allegiances as an Autobot Spy, Deadlock abandons his name, retaking his original name, Drift.
  • Averted Unlike many Transformers fanfics with similar plots Charlie does not take on a new name after being transformed into an ARO, she does go by Rivet while trapped in the past, inspired by Ron calling her Ruby Rivet when some civillians see her before what happened to her is made public, but this is merely an alias, with Bumblebee and the Dinobots also adopting Aliases, and she is still referred to primarily as Charlie.
• Missing Parents' Best Friend: A few chapters after his introduction, Charlie learns that Hot Rod lost his parents in a fire back on Cybertron before the war started. She sympathizes with him, and reveals to him that she learned about this because Ironhide knew Hot Rod's parents before they died. Hot Rod ends up spending a lot of time with Ironhide after this, trying to learn more about his parents.
• Mistaken for Flirting: When discussing his payment for going to earth to hunt the Triple Changer Terminator, Steeljaw places a claw on Starscream's wing. When the seeker takes this as Steeljaw trying to demand Sex for Services, the Eukarian has to hastily clarify that he was pointing at the Decepticon insignia on Starscream's wing, as his actual desire is for the act to be his pack's way into the Decepticons.
• Mister Seahorse: Jazz and Knock Out both fall pregnant around the time that Jetfire is discovered in the ice, giving birth to Bluestreak and Wildbreak respectively. Notably this is not usually an ability AROs have, being an unexpected effect of being on Earth.
• Mole in Charge: The true leader of Starscream's team for the mission to Earth is Dreadlock, who, unbeknownst to Megatron, had long undergone a Heel–Face Turn and was a spy for Optimus.
• Mythology Gag: Too many to count, many are noted in the author's notes after the fact.
  • Starscream's second vehicle mode is a jet called the Armada Archer A-02, a refernce to Transformers: Armada and Hasbro designer Aaron Archer. The jet itself is based on the Starscream of that series, with Starscream's reformatted robot mode being based on him. As Starscream adopts this form in the midst of his Heel–Face Turn, and Armada Starscream is known for being one of the more noble versions of the character, this can be taken as a Meaningful Name, indicative of the turn Starscream's character is taking.
  • When trapped in the past, Bumblebee uses the name Goldbug as an alias.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Rumors of Bumblebee's defeats of Blitzwing, Dropkick, and Shatter have spread back to Cybertron, calling him the "Triple-Changer Terminator". The Seekers are on the edge of mutiny out of fear of him.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!:
  • While "hero" may be a streach, Bishop sending a nuke at the arriving Decepticon ship definitely qualifies; not only are the occupants able to survive the detonation, but in contrast to the ship, which the Autobots were tracking and knew where it would land, the escape pods are scattered far and wide.
  • Bumblebee looking around for traces of the not yet established Autobots while trapped in the past results in Swindle reporting him to Soundwave, which reveals the Orion and Ariel are in Staniz, resulting in the massacre of Storage Yard 67.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Wheeljack has involved poor Brawn in a lot of experiments in the past. While we never learn what 'Jack was trying to do, Brawn suffered every time, having been set on fire, gone blind in one optic for a week, had half of his chassis melted, etc.
  • The story of how Hot Rod got his name. Apparently, it involved him shooting himself out of a cannon like a circus stuntman. The story was so funny that Charlie and 'Bee had tears of laughter by the time it was done.
  • Jazz once made Soundwave laugh.
• Not So Above It All: While the 'bots, Charlie, and the soldiers are working to "Back To Life" by Hailee Steinfeld, Ratchet (thinking he's alone) starts dancing and singing along to the music. He is caught in the act by Brawn and Wheeljack, who think it's hilarious. They get chased out with a wrench.
• Oh, Crap!: The Eukarians when they realize that they just ticked off Optimus Prime.
  • Bumblebee has one while he, Charlie and the Dinobots are trapped in the past, when their new friend Dion reveals that they are at Storage Yard 67, which Bumblebee knows is the site of a massacre that starts the war.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: In his first appearance in the fic, Megatron makes it very clear that he wants the Decepticons to wipe out every Autobot in existence... except Optimus Prime. He wants to kill the Autobot leader himself, and any Decepticon who tries to do it instead will be faced with a VERY ticked off Megatron.
  • Megatron has one of his own in Overlord, who has slaughtered several would be usurpers because in his eyes only he is allowed to defeat Megatron.
• Organ Theft: After Knock Out's is damaged, Breakdown steals Hot Rod's T-Cog to replace it. This results in Knock Out being reformatted into a grounder and Hot Rod being stuck in robot mode until Brawn leaves his cog in his will after his death in the Mercenary invasion.
• Parents as People: While Sally and Charlie's relationship is in a better place now than it was in the movie, they still have plenty of disagreements, especially when it comes to the Autobots. While Charlie is right that the Autobots would never hurt her and are trying to protect Earth, Sally is justified in her fears, as her daughter is spending time with a group of transforming space robots who are at war with another group of much more malicious transforming space robots. When the story is told from her point of view, her fears of losing her daughter like she lost her first husband are revealed, as well as her jealousy that the Autobots (specifically Bumblebee) were able to do more to help Charlie through her grief than she could.
• Papa Wolf:
  • The older Autobots (most notably Ironhide, Ratchet, and Optimus) are very protective of the younger Autobots. Charlie quickly learns that this extends to her, too, with Prime and Ratchet becoming fond of her.
  • Ron isn't a giant, transforming robot, but he's willing and ready to defend his step-kids from anything that may hurt them, even if it means facing a Beastformer.
• Pint-Size Powerhouse: Bumblebee is the smallest Autobot on Earth. He's also capable of taking out two Triple-Changers... by himself. The Decepticons' nickname for him is very fitting.
• Poor Communication Kills: As it never comes up when she meets them, Charlie doesn't mention that Optimus told her about the argument he had with Elita that resulted in her stealing the Ark to save the colonists. As a result she and Chromia don't tell her that she told the colonists, most specifically the Prime-worshiping Camiens, that she was sent on a mission by Optimus, which in turn results in Charlie telling Pyra. If not for the scraplet invasion immediately after, this would likely have resulted in a schism on the Ark.
• Race Lift: A fantastic variety; Knock Out, who is usually a performance car in most depictions, is instead presented as a Seeker until Breakdown replace's his damaged T-Cog with Hot Rod's, resulting in him being reformatted into an Aston Martin.
• A Rare Sentence: In-universe; this is Charlie's reaction to when Sally describes their current situation.
  Charlie: Otis, this isn't like a comic book or a cartoon. We're in serious danger.
  Sally: Of course we are! My baby girl was kidnapped by robotic animals and now this dictator from another planet might come after us just because you drove a beetle bug a couple of times.
  Charlie: That sounds ridiculous when you say it like that.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Applies to most of the government officials in the fic. While a few (namely Colonel Bishop) are suspicious of/aggressive towards the Autobots, most of them (including General Bryce and Agent Fowler) realize that they are telling the truth about their reasons for being on Earth, and (with some precautions) are willing to let them stay.
• Recruit the Loser: After saving Bumblebee and Charlie from angry street racers, Jazz tells the two the story of how he used to be a street racer on Cybertron. He was pursued for a long time by a police bot (all but stated to be Prowl). Jazz managed to evade him for a while but was eventually caught in one of Prowl's traps. Rather than turn him in, Prowl was impressed by Jazz's ability to outwit the law, and recruited him into the Autobots.
• Redemption Earns Life: Of the villainous Eukarians, Decepticons and Mercenaries who come to Earth over the course of the story, Thundercracker, Shadow Striker and the mini-cassetes are the only ones who have (at time of writing) not pulled a Heel–Face Turn who also have not been killed.
• Red Herring: While investigating who overcharged Swoop and sent him on a rampage as a distraction to steal Wheeljack's generator, Charlie suspects G.B Blackrock as the culprit. In actuality it is revealled to be Josie Beller, working with her niece Tina Lark, while Blackrock is innocent.
• Relationship Upgrade: Jazz and Prowl (whenever they appear together) are typically soldiers fighting together. Here, they are Conjunxes (in other words, husbands). The first thing Jazz does when he sees his Conjunx is give him a flying tackle/hug, followed by a huge kiss in front of the Autobots and a battalion of (mildly embarrassed) human soldiers.
• The Reveal: Chapter 174 reveals that the Titan that has been hidden on earth the entire time is Metroplex.
• Rule of Three: A recording of Prowl using his sirens and yelling at someone to "Put their servos up!" is used three times: once by 'Bee to scare away some would-be thieves, a second time by Jazz to scare off some criminals who were about to attack 'Bee and Charlie, and a third time to save Ron, Charlie, Otis, Conan, and Brawn from Polar Claw. The final time, it wasn't a recording; Prowl had actually just arrived on Earth with Bulkhead and Hot Rod.
• Running Gag:
  • When he gets annoyed/mad, Ratchet throws wrenches at Autobots (usually Brawn or Wheeljack).
  • Transformers being confused by Earth terms or misusing them.
  • The Autobots get very uncomfortable when discussing human bodily functions.
• Say My Name: Bee does this when he comes to save Charlie from the Eukarians.
• Secret Relationship: Knockout and Breakdown are Conjunx Endurae (husbands), but have to hide it due to the Decepticons' anti-fraternization rules.
• Ship Tease: The author clearly loves the Charlbee ship, and includes a lot of fluff scenes between the two.
• Shock and Awe: The Autobot necklace Charlie is given for protection acts as a Cybertronian-scaled taser. Its drawback is that it has one shot before needing to recharge. And also that, originally, Wheeljack hadn't designed it for human use, meaning that the kickback whenever it was fired was strong enough to send a human flying backwards.
• Shout-Out:
  • While racing, Bumblebee says that he'll be the Mach 5 to Charlie's Street Racer. Charlie says she's not letting him watch cartoons anymore.
  • A notable one in chapter 14, Jazz and Prowl are looking for a suitable alt mode for the latter, and Jazz recounts an incident where he was cornered by Shockwave, who would not stop monologuing.
• Stable Time Loop: When sent back to the past Bumblebee shares with Rigel some wisdom taught to him by Optimus, unaware that Rigel, true name Orion Pax, would become Optimus, teaching Bumblebee this very wisdom that he learnt from "Goldbug". Meanwhile, prior to being sent back in time Elita taught Charlie about the T-Cog of Amalgamous Prime, including giving her schematics for it, which she gave to Alpha Trion to use to transform Ariel into Elita one, the first triple changer and forbearer to all the subsequent Triple Changers, including Dropkick and Shatter, whose components were used to make Charlie's ARO form, making her a Triple Changer.
  • Somewhat deconstruted in that multiple characters, particularly Bee and Charlie themselves question exactly how much of their interactions with Optimus and Elita were motivated by setting up this time loop, and what they allowed to happen particularly Charlie's transformation into an ARO. To their credit Optimus and Elita insist that they weren't sure until after the previous incident, and that their actions weren't motivated by Because Destiny Says So, though Optimus putting Bumblebee in charge of the Dinobots and Elita showing Charlie the T-Cog schematics clearly were.
• The Starscream: You get three guesses who this trope applies to.
• Synchronization: The people of Devisiun share a split spark, resulting in them being connected, to the point that if one dies, the other does as well. Shown during the Scraplet massacre, when M1N-R-V4 is consumed and Ruby Alert dies too.
• Take That!: When Charlie is trying to show 'Bee the steps to a dance, he accidentally starts "flossing" thirty years early. Charlie tells him to never do it in the presence of a sentient being ever again.
• Team Member in the Adaptation:
  • An interesting variation in regards to Dr. Arkeville who after the 4th of July arc surfaces working for MACH, the story's counterpart to MECH from Transformers: Prime. The interesting variation comes from the fact that Arkville is generally exclusive to the G1 continuity, specifically the G1 Cartoon and parts of the Japanese cartoon continuity, while MECH is exclusive to the Aligned continuity.
  • In a similar vein, Josie Beller, the character known as Circuit Breaker who is absolutely exclusive to the G1 Marvel Continuity ^note  Marvel arranged for the character to appear in a different comic before debuting in the Transformers books, ensuring that they owned the legal rights to her and Hasbro cannot use her. Marvel have since done nothing with her., is included as the leader of STEAM an Anti-Transformers activist group taken from the plans for the fourth season of Transformers: Animated that never happened.
  • Inverted for Steeljaw and his pack; in Robots in Disguise, they are all presented as Decepticons, while in Riding a Sunset the Decepticons' Fantastic Racism means that Eukarians like the Pack cannot join the Decepticons, indeed Steeljaw's driving motivation throughout the fic is to gain admission into the Decepticons.
• Throwback Threads: After a fashion; after the AROs are revealed to the world Bumblebee discards his Camaro form in favor of his previous, Beetle alternate form.
• Toilet Humor: While Ron, Charlie, Otis, and Conan are hitching a ride with Brawn, Ron suggests that they stop for a snack at the next exit. This prompts Otis to say that they need to let Conan go to the bathroom before he has an accident in the car. Brawn, who is the car, is understandably concerned.
• Tranquil Fury: One of the main reasons Prime brings Ultra Magnus along to the meeting with the U.S. Army is because, out of everyone in Unit Prime, he's the one least likely to lose his temper (at least visibly).
• Trauma Button: Hot Rod doesn't like the sound of explosions.
• Victory by Endurance: The leader of the Cloud-Walker Eukarian tribe, Waspinator ultimately won his position because no matter how many times he was defeated when he tried to challenge for the role, he would get back up and try again.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Agents Burns and Fowler. It's easy to get under Burns' skin, something that Fowler clearly likes to do just to mess with him.
• The Unmasqued World: With the Mercenaries under Overlord coming, Deadlock attacking Berlin to draw Optimus out results in humanity as a whole becoming aware of the Transformers.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: After being kidnapped by M.A.C.H Charlie is transformed into an ARO; while Silas and Arkeville intend to make her a cyborg, the Key to Vector Sigma and Primus result in a full transformation.
• Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: A variation, after Optimus relays to him what Steeljaw told him about why he and his pack came to earth to hunt the "Triple Changer Terminator", one of the arguments Ironhide has to refute Steeljaw's words are that the plan sounds like scrap, asking who would come up with something so stupid. Optimus then reveals that it was Starscream's plan, causing Ironhide to protest that Prime should've opened with that, causing both mechs to laugh.
• You Are Too Late: Twice Charlie is kidnapped by a villain and the Autobots are unable to rescue her before the villain is able to complete their intention; first with the Vok, who wipes her memories of the Autobots, and then with M.A.C.H who transform her into an ARO.