Our Last Dance- B-Day present for Rebecca

When I asked foxyturttle.deviantart.com/?rn… what she'd like for her birthday, she asked me to draw Strika and Obsidian from Beast Machines dancing together, with Cybertron in the background. At first, I was just going to draw them doing the waltz ON Cybertron because it seemed so funny and.. well, kinda cute when I visualized Obsidian hovering while doing so (he doesn't have legs... well, at least not below the knees).

When I looked up some shots where you see the two together, that changed. I saw the show years ago, and for some reason, I've had this impression since then that Obsidian was a bit smaller than Strika... turns out, my usually near-photographic memory totally failed me this time. Turns out they're actually around the same size. In fact, Obsidian even seems a tad BIGGER than Strika at times because he's always airborne, so when you don't see their feet, he looks taller... and his head is much larger than hers, and his rotors just add even more to his shape. In fact, he's not even big, just really spindly and lanky and... wiry. His mass is more "spread out," like flowery petals, while Strika is more rugid and compact. She's still very BIG. Regardless, suddenly the idea of them waltzing didn't seem to work so well.

Then I caught wind of a tidbit that... well, it was originally planned for these two to appear on the new, reformatted Cybertron at the end of the series, being the only two "pure" cybertronians left, and still very much at large, for better or worse. They didn't make it into the final cut... still, I like these two, so I decided to give them one last "dance" of sorts, clamoring at each other in Cybertron's orbit as the planet changes forever.



For the record, I really like Beast Machines. After being spoiled by Beast Wars and hearing how much so many other people hated the sequel series, I wasn't expecting much from it. However, aside from the opening theme being piss, I was pleasantly surprised by how COOL Beast Machines was. We finally got to see a series that was COMPLETELY focused on the Transformers themselves (as opposed to Beast Wars, which was like... 99% focused on them... heh, I kid)  on their OWN planet, and it was awesome. It was alien and gloomy and disturbing, from the character designs to the world around them... and I loved it. It was really philosophical, not focusing on how "technology is evil" or whatever people say it's about, but rather being about individuality, a sense of oneself, what it really means to be alive, what leads to peace or conflict, all sorts of stuff like that. And as for whatever techno-organic hoopla there is, well, as a Bionicle fan, that sort of shit is right up my alley. I'd say it was worth the watch.


So... Now, I wanna talk about about these two, for those who don't know them very well. Strika and Obsidian are two of the most interesting Transformers ever thought up. First, let's talk about their introduction. In Beast Machines, Megatron (the 2nd) goes insane and gains a God complex. He sees individuality itself as the source of all conflict in the universe, and that as long as there are people with differing points of view, there can never be true peace or harmony. So, because he just can't handle anyone disagreeing with him over anything, he intends to absorb the sparks of all Transformers (essentially their souls) into his own, so that he can become the definitive, singular core consciousness of all that exists, for he believes he alone has a perfect mind, and that he alone deserves to... be.

His armies are not Decepticon soldiers or Predacon warriors, but drones called Vehicons. Transformers without sparks, having no mind of their own. All are extensions of him, not unlike puppets on strings, unable to make their own decisions, and simply enforcing his will. However, there are exceptions. There are two instances where, out of desperation to stop the Maximals who continue to frustrate him, Megatron releases the sparks of a select few warriors, reborn as Vehicon generals, the only ones of their kind lucky enough to not be totally mindless constructs. Two of the first wave end up betraying him, and the other, while loyal, ultimately proves ineffective. In Megatron's eyes, this only validates his cause to destroy individuality. However, in the second half of the series, he does release two more sparks, those among Cybertron's oldest and best warriors, who are totally devoted to whomever rules Cybertron, regardless of who that may be, which in this case, happens to be him. Pleased by their fealty, he allows Obsidian and Strika to act on their own, which they oblige.


So, now let's talk about the actual characters and why I like them. For one thing, their appearance betrays them. In almost every possible way I can think of, from their shapes to their faces to their color schemes, these two are butt ugly. Anything I've picked up over the years about design sensibilities an' whatnot is completely thrown out the window by their designers. However, they do it in a very good way. There's no shortage of bizarre looking characters on this show, however for these two, it feels so... meticulous. Intentional. It feels like a lot of thought went into making these designs as alien and bonkers as possible, and they certainly leave an impression, being among the most memorable Transformers out there. Even people who hate Beast Machines still find these two pretty cool. They've become kind of iconic, that way.

Believe it or not, Strika (the bulky one) is a female. Overall, she's anything but feminine, yet there are some small subtle things sprinkled here and there that make it feel right. She is also deceptively soft-spoken. In fact, I really like the way they both talk. They're pragmatic and eloquent, and they just have really pleasant, easy to listen to voices. They don't have the GROWLY, obnoxious generic bad guy voices you'd hear in the Bayformer movies. They talk like normal people, creating a unique contrast to their whole anything-but-normal visual style.

They're military geniuses, famous for winning countless battles that few others could've, and together, are said to be unstoppable. Their main defining trait, and the whole reason Megatron unleashes them in the first place, seems to be their sheer brilliance, which they demonstrate on more than one occasion. Then, there's the way they act around each other.

In this journal entry, foxyturttle.deviantart.com/jou… Foxy breaks down how Beast Wars is one of the least misogynistic shows... well, ever. I think Beast Machines stays pretty true to this, at least most of the time. The way these two are together is really interesting. They are, in many ways, a couple. They aren't romantic with each other, we don't see them call each other pet names or tease each other or whatever, but you get this feeling that they respect and trust each other SOOOO deeply... like they understand one another on a level that nobody else ever could, being on a level of their own. You get the sense that, as cold and manipulative as they are to everyone else, they are FRIENDS. Their genders hardly seem to influence any of their actions or effect their decisions, or even the way they talk to each other. I mean, Obsidian is more talkative and often seems to speak for both of them, but I think it's just that they know each other so well and they're so in tune, in synch, that they don't even need to ask for each other's consent when they take action. It's redundant and a waste of time because they're always on the same wave-length, anyway. They just KNOW when they have it, it goes without saying. They do disagree on occasion, but they usually work out a compromise remarkably quickly. They are each their own person, but they act as one, and that's what makes them so efficient. They're just a really cool, iconic pair of really cool, iconic Transformers.



Anyway... I hope you like this, Rebecca. Happy Birthday.


As for everyone else... new pages coming up tomorrow.