Wow. I rarely stray from the fluffy friendship/romantic coupling based fics. Now, however, I’ll be making an effort to view your Profile. I think it is amazing that, in four chapters, you managed to show how one character’s (bad) decision affected all - the Autobots, the Decepticons, and the humans. In my opinion, the finale is perfection itself. The only spelling mistake I noticed was t-i-r-e-s labeled as t-y-r-e-s.

Obviously, a strong but varying rise has been drawn out of your readers. The reactions are diverse; jumbled with displays of resentment, surprise, and praise. As I’ve stated before, I’m with the faction that bestows praise. This stance, however, is under the assumption that the title of choice, genre preferences, and various warnings were present while you posted the opening chapter. Otherwise, I’d probably feel rather cross. I just do not think it’s proper or okay for writers’ to lull their readers into a false sense of security.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not accusing you of anything. I only feel defensive because I’ve come across too many author(esses)’ who upset their readers by omitting the standard warnings. Not everyone is comfortable reading slash, violence, torture, etc.

Gah…this isn’t one of my better reviews. So, I’ll add that; in conclusion, Thing With No Talent, tomorrow4eva, and herongale have already mirrored my thoughts the best.

Woah… that was… heavy! This is one of those fanfictions, which stay in mind, burned in your memories. Which is no bad thing, I mean, there so much fics, which are just so ordinary, that you forget them easily. (And I don’t just talk about TF fanfics) And I like those fanfics, where the atmosphere stays even days after reading. And the atmo of this fic was just so dense…I don’t really find words to describe it.

At the beginning I really thought, it would be some kind of comedy story, but… well. Wow!
I like Jazz and his easy going character and that he made such a mistake really gets to me. Gosh, honestly, it hurts like burning to read and to imagine how he must feel at the end of the story. I read it last night and even when I think about it now, my heart’s beating and my hands are shivering. I feel so sorry for him. *sigh*

Okay, despite all this drama and sad feelings, I really loved how you wrote Bluestreak and Sunstreaker. ^^
I can’t exactly say why though.

Yeah, well, okay… I could say so much more, for example about my satisfied grin, when I read what Starscream did to Megatron. Or how – besides all the murder and destruction – Starscream acts kinda “cool”, but I don’t want to annoy you. ^^°

I hope you know, what I’m trying to say, ‘cause sometimes my comments aren’t so… useful/understandable, above all when I have to write them in English. ^^°
Anyway, thank you so much for writing and sharing this story. I really enjoyed reading it.

nabo ^^

I won't lie: this story hurt me. The ending broke me like a kick to the gut; I was so moved that for a few days I keep obsessively thinking about it, feeling so bad for Jazz, wanting Starscream to die (and Starscream is my favourite!), and generally hating myself for being so evil.

Because, see, the thing that makes this story so hard to bear is how it indites the reader. I laughed at the silly woman from the woman's shelter, just like most people. Her idea seemed so flaky and lame, typical for a tenderhearted idiot who is so eager to reach out to victims that she was blind to how lethal and cruel this particular "victim" obviously was. I mean, she had to see the Decepticons on the news. What did she think they were, fluffy bunnies?

The problem is that it's so easy to hold up people like that as sources of ridicule, and to use them as the brunt of some cosmic joke, without them ever knowing that they are mocked and scorned for being what they are.

But the point is that even when people like that are so misguided as to be dangerous in their error, it is IMPORTANT for more levelheaded people to step back and stop laughing, and to recognize the goodhearted intentions for what they are. A little pity never hurt anyone. A little compassion and respect, even for someone who seems profoundly silly-- that's all it would have taken for Jazz to realize that what he was doing was wrong.

Obviously, the consequences were extreme. Too extreme: this fic is not trying to be like real life. But the hook you put in my heart was well placed; it needed to be there, I needed to read this. Not because your story was meant to be a fable from which lessons were meant to be taken: I can tell that first and foremost you wrote this as a STORY, a story of profound horror and depth. It reminded me of old-style American short stories from Poe and Hawthorne; taking the guise of morality tales in order to twist the reader and make him or her feel shaken. Alive.

This story contains truth. The characterizations ring true to me. You are writing as if G1 had not been the children's cartoon that we all saw, as if the characters were allowed to be taken off their leashes to act as they really are. Even though the Autobots are good, this fic does a good job of showing how they are also alien: to Autobots, the Decepticons ARE amusing, and Starscream's rampage would have been hilarious if it hadn't happened to involve a whole bunch of random flesh creatures not as hearty and laser-resistant and Autobots. I think this story does a good job of showing how the Autobots underestimated the Decepticons, and how this kind of tragedy was bound to happen: inevitable. Although all the Autobots are blaming Jazz at the moment, I think they are just making him a convenient scapegoat, because I truly think you've done a good job of showing how ALL of them had been underestimating the Decepticons up to that point.

They had forgotten. They needed to be reminded.

Obviously this story made me think a lot. It gave me that same sick feeling I got reading Poe's Cask of Amantadillo (sp?) with the man being bricked up in his own wine cellars at the end. That story was a punch to the gut too. An inditement, because it is easy to identify with the petty irritations and complaints of the narrator up to the point he starts burying his rival alive. These kind of stories are important precisely because they touch a nerve and make readers fell uncomfortable.

This kind of story is not for everyone. But it's the kind of story I really cherish because it made me think a lot, and helped me to see the world just a little more clearly. Thank you.

...
WOW.
Just...
WOW.
Starscream is PISSED.
No, he's beyond pissed.
Beyond furious, even.
That Seeker is flat out LIVID.
VEHEMENT.
Madder that a nest full of agitated hornets.

I think the ending works, but only if you were deliberately satirising the Autobots and their fetish for guilt trips. It's completely in character for them to take the blame for what was essentialy the fault of some misguided humans and a psychopathic Decepticon's murderous overreaction. After all, these are the guys who, in other continuities, have committed suicide over killing characters in a virtual reality game. If that wasn't your intention, then I've got to agree with those reviewers who say the ending is a nonsensical U-turn. Jazz isn't responsible for the carnage caused by Starscream any more than if he'd provoked it by insulting him in some other way - y'know, like the rest of the Autobots do all the time.

Wow, This is one of the best fics i have ever read on fanfiction. I LOVED it. It had all the best elements of a really really good story. But what i really LOVED about it was how dark it ended. I truly believe that the Decepticons are that evil. You don't really see it until the first movie.

I can see why everyone was so pissed at Jazz. You wrote it how it was and made a perfect image in my head. Jazz thought it would be funny, probably though 'Screamer would throw a hissy-fit and go home or something. If i was in screamers place, I'd get pretty pissed off too.

Overall, i have never come across a fic like this. It made me feel sorry for Jazz and his error. Made me think of how many people died. Not many people can do that.

This a really really really good fic. I completely disagree with skywarped and her/his comment. It is a wonderful fic and you are a FREAKEN AMAZING writer. I read your works all the time.

You should write books!

Love this story. I laughed my ass off, and considering that I'm more of a Decepticon fan than Autobot, I really found the end quite awesome too. Great job of working in the good intentions paving the road to hell theme.

Not to be too superlative-happy, this has got to be one of the greatest fics I have ever read. So subversive on both a fanon level as well as a cultural one. We see "Starscream the abuse victim" trotted out so regularly, but I've never even conceived of that notion dealt with in such a clever manner, especially in regard to it being from an outsider perception rather than an internal one (making it all the more mortifying for poor Starscream). Bra-fricken-vi!

I think one of my odd comparisons (and I am good at those) with this story that immediately springs to mind is "Shawn of the Dead", and how effortlessly well that movie balanced frivolous, amusing content with genuinely dramatic, sometimes even painful content. The shift towards the middle is unexpected, but due to the realism of the writing in the first half it works amazingly well. The first part is as amusing as Jazz makes it out to be, and the second half is just heart-breaking. Strange, the ultimate conclusion that the story draws on behalf of the real victims, is that *truly* no good deed goes unpunished!

whoa, what a dark ending there! i seriously didn't expect that. i thought that this would be a humour fic, but i guess it's my fault for not noticing the genre title. but still, the first two chapters made it to look like a humour fic to begin with, and so i thought that it'll be funny (not to pun on the title) just looking at what antics Starscream and others will be doing and what they will be put through trying to solve the "domestic abuse" between him and Megatron. maybe you should've changed the plot a little to suit the tragic-ness, or at least have given Jazz's role to someone more serious cos he pretty much gave me the impression that this was going somewhere in a more innocent way.
i've read other people's reviews and i agree that Starscream's reaction was exaggerated. i would think that he would more likely sit and sulk about it, maybe express his anger at an object, than destroy a large part of the country mindlessly. i think that he's a lot more rational in thought than that.
one thing amongst a few that i can understand is Jazz's simple excuse for what had happened, since the extremity of it would be enough to make anyone speechless or say very little. especially also since he was the one who had caused such damage (or partly) and everyone blames him for it. but i feel maybe that was exaggerated too, how everyone blames him i mean. they could've thought of how bad the actions of Starscream was too instead of soley looking at Jazz's actions.
but that's just what i think really.

WOW! 0_0 that was really... unexpected I mean I knew Screamer would have been angry, but that... wow. Although I couldn't help but laugh when I read the condition Megatron was in afterword, who knew Starscream had it in him. Poor Jazz though having the knowlege of knowing that he was responcible for all of it wow... just... wow

This is the most disturbing fanfic I think I've ever read. I felt so badly for Jazz that I felt a bit sick for the rest of the day. The sheer guilt and remorse for an error in judgment!

I wasn't going to read the other reviews, but I did, so here are my two cents:

The ladies asked Jazz to reach out, its true, but Jazz should have known better, and that's why Optimus is so disappointed in him, and that's why the other Autobots are less than happy with him. And I think that's why he's so upset with himself.

After all, while the humans just know the Decepticons raid power plants (and occasionally reinvent New York), the Autobots (and Jazz) know that they are evil, evil people. And G1 did sort of lull us all into that 'the Decepticons aren't really that bad' frame of thinking, since it's a Saturday morning cartoon and nobody actually got killed. You started there, and then reminded us all that the G rating was very unrealistic.

Jazz should have known better. That said, I love him and wish he wasn't suffering, and hope to God I never make a mistake of that magnitude (or even the magnitude of one other life).

I do LIKE that you've shown that Starscream is not incompetent nor misunderstood. Starscream doesn't need or want help. Starscream chose to be exactly where Starscream is. The fact that he stays when Megatron is physically violent is not because he's locked in a cycle of abuse. It's because he's trying to murder his leader and usurp his power, and sees the injuries as a minor setback. As much as we all like him for keeping us entertained, this fic vapourizes those 'Win Starscream To The Side of Good With Love' fics. Thank you for that.

People either hate or love your fic, which I think means that it's good. I think it's very good (even though it's got such a bad ending).

damn, not the outcome that I was expecting; congradulations on a brilliant read; I feel so sorry for poor jazz.
any more of this calibre?

You, are a... a... twisted individual. Now please, don't take that the wrong way. I mean no disrespect. You've made me think, which can be a good thing, and you also made me laugh, albeit a laugh that went kinda horrified at the end there. You are unique, and as such, continue to write as you feel. It's always good to read the work of someone who doesn't compress themselves into the little boxes others try to shape for us. Keep up being twisted, I know what it's like. You inspire.

See, this is precisely why it's a bad idea to play a joke on Starscream. He just doesn't have a sense of humor when it comes to his personal being.

Whoa, that was intense. Thank you.