Tormentor - Tumblr Posts
((I have waited all year to reblog this again - many thanks Dataglitch!~ Thank you so much!)) ;;u;;
Here’s my secret valentine’s present for vividambrosia's TF Valentine's exchange!
This is for kinesisboomer, who wanted their two OC’s: Tormentor and Lieutenant!
They were very fun to draw, but I really hope you like it. Happy Valentine’s day!:”D
A sweet lil’ commission for @kinesisboomer of their OC’s Lieutenant and Tormentor! Beautiful babies. Sweet babies. I want to know everything about them.
That moment when your newly appointed Commander remembers your name is Lieutenant
Lieutenant Lieutenant is born
Tormentor lost his thumb that day.
Mostly because his thumb was burning Lieutenant’s tongue and Lieu is not having any of that.
Lieutenant is already a tall mech, rivaling Ultra Magnus and Fort Max’s heights. Even then, the universe [me] partnered him up with someone even BIGGER, to torment that difference in height. Tormentor can’t laugh too hard because he can’t fit through many doorways.
Just because your partner is part of the enemy faction doesn’t mean the war stops between you two.
It’s unclear who is winning.
Tormentor hates the cold/snow, even though it tends to melt around him in seconds. Although Lieutenant is known to be stoic, if he sees anything resembling snow it must be thrown at his Commander.
It’s a high price to pay, but it’s worth it.
commission for @kinesisboomer
I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD
Tormentor picking up Lieutenant is a timeless gesture.
@heligooddeals proceeds to hang up the call.
(Just something I forgot to post here. Happy belated Valentine's day)
Fika
“Do you remember a time when, as a race, we were not constantly killing others?” Lieutenant asks, rarely ever breaking the air of silence during their fika. It’s a surprise to the Commander as he looks over to the avian. It’s the most ‘relaxed’ he’s seen him. By that, it’s not a glaring or narrowing his gaze. It’s thoughtful, and given the degrees of his fins, almost sorrowful.
Tormentor shook his head, “Nope. You forget I was forged into murder. Molded by it.”
And, the narrowing gaze returned as his fins perks up once more. Irritation, but not enough to want to strangle the tank, as usual. The ‘I’m trying here and you’re not helping’ kind of irritation. “I did not forget,” Lieutenant reminds in a flat tone, “I do not have such luxury. The point is, you knew at one point it was wrong.”
Tormentor rolls his shoulders back, his treads dragging along the floor as he tries to get comfortable. This was about to be one of those long, serious talks. One needs to get into a more comfortable position for those. “Yeah, before the Senate locked me up I kinda yanno, figured. I didn’t ever see anyone die before I got to torturing.”
It’s said with a weight to his words, just to hit it home that he did not grow up normally like most before the war. He’s grown past it, but his venom towards the Senate will never be sedated. "Why are you bringing this up?”
Lieutenant placed his cube down, “I was just thinking about how most of our crew: Disaster, Mixer, Launcher, Gigatech, Kameel, and Glare are Made to Orders. Specifically of different campaigns during the Shimazi Massacre. They did not realize that it is wrong to kill others. That there was ever a point in time when we were not out destroying others.”
Tormentor tilts his head, waiting to see the point as the his wondering lieutenant watches the ripples in his cube as he taps the edge of it. He’s troubled, pondering the words he’s about to say next. The torturer remains silent, already guessing what direction this will take but still listening to see what will be said, exactly.
“Do they know that this is not supposed to be normal?”
A heavy sigh follows, as the Commander shifts his weight in order to sit forward. If they were going to have this conversation, so be it. “Lieutenant.” It’s rare Tormentor’s tone becomes serious when he mentions the name without shouting. It gets the fliers attention to focus on him.
“I can’t speak for them entirely, but they’re each different.” Tormentor explains, gesturing out his hands, “Some enjoy it and some do it because that’s our life. Someone like you, who knew a time when mercy was an option, think twice about it. Staying up at night wondering how to clean-off all the blood on your hands. Whereas, just about everyone else, never thinks about the body count they’ve accumulated.
“Disaster’s not going to mourn over the loss of someone he never knew. Mixer isn’t going to stop cracking jokes just because he shot someone through the spark. Launcher isn’t going to take the moment to pray when he could take out another ‘Bot before they take one of our’s. Gigatech doesn’t care there’s someone else’s blood on his Cybernought’s boot, just that it better come off. Kameel doesn’t care who get’s effected by the explosives he plants, so long as it isn’t one of us. And Glare, well, she’d prefer a gladiator pit than a battlefield, but you get my point about our crew.”
Lieutenant’s optics drop back down.
“Unfortunately,” Tormentor continues, a bit more gently, “Your age is gone. Those days are forgotten to everyone but the neutrals. This war is to make sure everyone forgets that time.”
Silence befalls the room, allowing the last statement to linger. Made to Orders -specifically on the Decepticon side- don’t understand about preserving life. The few that do is only because they were more emotional when coming to life. They experienced fear. The fear of dying is what made some realize it was kill or be killed. The thoughts bothered Lieutenant, who seems despondent over the realization.
“It was your age too.” he whispers quietly.
Tormentor chuckles with a pitying smile, almost apologetic towards his partner. “Oh Lieutenant, I never fitted in your age.”
“You’re back.” Tormentor comments with relief, as he steps into the wash racks to greet his right-hand mech. (Who is actually left-handed but Lieutenant won’t let him mix up the term.) The avian doesn’t spare a glance at his Commander, opting to finish scrubbing off the layer of paint that hides his freckled frame.
Lieutenant tries to open up, but all he can do is reset his vocals to try to keep to his monotone. He can’t manage it. Optics avoid Tormentor every move he makes, which means something went south.
The grounder looked over at the smaller mech, he knows him well enough to know something is off. The question is, whether or not he’ll open up about it. Tormentor hates that the moment something goes south, Lieutenant withdraws into himself. He doesn’t allow himself to express and deal with any hurt. He slaps that façade on and pretends nothing phases him.
“It’s okay,” Tormentor rests hand on the avian’s helm, gently petting it, “I’m sure you did everything you could.”
“No.” Lieutenant answers, his voice straining not to crack, “I am not enough.”
He shuts off the wash and steps around his Commander to flap his wings free of the water before heading out. Tormentor reaches out to grab him, but pauses before he can lay another hand on him. Does he really keep pushing this? Perhaps he should let this one go. It’s going to be swept under the rug, just like every other incident that happens until it eats the mech alive and he’s on the floor, passed out from stress or grief.
No, no he can’t let it get that far.
“Lieutenant, please,” Tormentor urges, worry clearly carrying through his tone, “At least just stay with me, even if you don’t want to talk. I just want to be here for you like you are for me.”
Lieutenant does pause, his frame beginning to tremble when he does. It reminds him of what he was saying to the spark, how he pleaded. That feeling when they slipped away from him, when the bond broke. He couldn’t turn around and admit to what happened, he rashly bonded and lost a connection with a spark he didn’t even know.
He stood there, shaking, trying to collect himself, trying to keep things together until Tormentor came up beside him, offering out his hand. Lieutenant didn’t take it, he thrust himself against his Commander’s burying his face into him. He refuses to cry, but he doubts he’ll be able to hold back for much longer.
“It’s okay to let it out however you want,” Tormentor assures as he embraces him, rubbing his back to help sooth him, “I’m here. I’ll be with you as long as you need.”
Headcanon
I gotta write more on it but I like the idea that there's unspoken tension between Turmoil/Deadlock and Tormentor/Lieutenant as Commanders and their SiC
Turmoil is much more level-headed, by the book, cruel, but efficient in all that he does, whereas Deadlock is one of the deadliest Decepticons who does as he pleases and only obeys Turmoil when it suits him. And Turmoil can only put up for it for so long (before Drift's miniseries takes place)
Turmoil doesn't like Tormentor or his style of leadership (bc it promotes free thinking and that is risky) but kind of likes Lieutenant because he's much more behaved and strict.
Deadlock likes Tormentor because of his reputation and personality and wouldn't mind being a part of his crew, but hates everything about Lieutenant simply because Turmoil has compared them once.
Tormentor equally dislikes Turmoil simply because he’s sure Turmoil thinks he’s better than him. And in various areas, he actually is which only pisses him off more. He does like and admire Deadlock. He’s a tiny demon who has an unquenchable bloodlust and that’s precious to Torms. (Deadlock is v cute to him)
Lieutenant is incredibly wary of both. Turmoil unsettles him, like he’s plotting something or he knows things about Lieutenant he shouldn’t know. On the other hand, he never wants to be in a room alone with Deadlock. He’s sure the mech will blow his head clean off if ever given the chance. (Also he feels like Deadlock is far more competent than him, which he is)
When you change your identity, but you didn’t know it changed your age too. So on paper you are way younger than you actually are, but everyone thinks you’re a kid.
And on top of that, your name is Lieutenant Lieutenant.
Tormentor is more of a "Act before thinking" guy
In comparison to him, most might think Lieutenant is a "think before acting" guy. Depends on how much time you give him, because if he has little time to find a solution, it's going to be a very bad outcome for someone.
Tormentor is much better at calling the shots in a pinch.
Lieutenant is better at calling the long term shots.
Tormentor loves Disaster very much!
He’s the baby MTO of the crew and needs lots of love in order to grow. If he doesn’t get enough kisses he doesn’t grow.
It's as rare as surviving an encounter with a black hole because you made a deal with deity living inside of it. (Which is another story.) Tormentor never has reason to be scared, he's openly nervous about things on occasion but genuinely terrified? Lieutenant hasn't witnessed it until now. The tension tight through his frame, his leg shaking in his seat causing small tremors through the floor which clashed with Lieu's senses. There was just enough composure about the Commander to keep from telegraphing it too obviously to the more important mech on the screen in front of them. Nevermore.
This wasn't someone Lieutenant was really aware of though he had seen his file. Leader of a Decepticon space station, The Lament, that's out in the Consulate somewhere. Not much is known about that place, just that it helps in fueling and housing the World Sweepers.
"You've been avoiding us." The mech on the other end disappointedly states. He's horned over his helm, cold blue optics (a rarity amoung Decepticons), and wings that have layers that fell down his back to add to his dramatic, imposing look. "So, where are my reports? Do I have to keep sending someone to fetch them for me?"
Tormentor opened his mouth but Nevermore cut him off with a snap, "I refuse to hear your excuses! You have lost nearly the entire crew we gave you, and added more to it, including that one." Lieutenant's wings flicked with an offended vent puff.
"Any additions are to come to me first for approval," Nevermore continued sharply, "any deaths are to come back to me in detail, any progress, evolutions, devolutions, malfunctions, are to come straight to me. I should not have to continue sending the Subjects out the pull this information out of you."
Lieutenant blinked. Is that why they keep getting infiltrated and attacked by small groups of Decepticons? Ghoul was the most recent attack -a mech who can float and shift his density walk through anything- with a few others which was brutal. They've had to update their security again because of it, not that there's much they can do against a mech like that. He wonders, are both sides of this being tested for their outlier abilities? But why would a mech in charge of the World Sweepers care?
Nevermore had a glint in his optic and his demeanor changed with an eerie grin to Tormentor, "What about a family reunion to motivate you? Will you return if we let you see him again? He misses you, you know."
"Return?" Tormentor repeats, hoping he heard that wrong, "But we're more useful out in the field!"
"AND NO REPORTS TO SHOW FOR IT!" Nevermore roars back, "I have given you more chances than you deserve. I want you and your stowaway Second-in-command back at the Consulate in the next couple of months. Fail that, and I will have them drag everyone back in pieces.
"Turn your ship around. NOW."
The call hangs up and Tormentor removes his visor to rub his face.
"Colossal," he says forlornly, "Head to the Lament. We're going back."
“There’s something that hasn’t happened in a few months.”
Lieutenant might’ve sassed Tormentor too much this time and well, he’s in for it when he gets caught.
Shame it happened to be raining outside
We now return to local Decepticon activity