thepraxianweasleygeek replied to your post: New crackship fic idea I came up with earlier. AU…
Oh no is it bad that my immediate thought was what if Tarn and Starscream were /both/ trying to convert him at the same time and it became a competition. (obviously the timeline makes no sense but)
IT IS NOT BAD AT ALL I LOVE IT. 😀 I am just itching to see Tarn and Starscream compete in general, and the idea of them competing over Pharma is delicious. I think Tarn would get so frustrated, like, Starscream already has Lord Megatron’s attention and immunity from the List (NOT that he deserves either), and now he’s trying to take Tarn’s toys (and sources of nuke/t-cogs) away? And Starscream would probably be bewildered to start with – “Why does this single Autobot even matter to you, you cannot just swan around the galaxy collecting Autobots to have contentious flirtations with even if you did used to be one yourself, you pretentious badge-faced creep -” but then it would sink in how much he could use this to torment Tarn. Because if Pharma eventually switched allegiances because of Starscream, that would take him out of Tarn’s orbit and be a victory Starscream could rub in Tarn’s face in front of Megatron. And oh yes. Starscream would enjoy that. Starscream would enjoy that a LOT.
Now I’m sort of spinning this out further, like, what if this was a little ways further back during the war, and Starscream was stuck at/near Messatine as a punishment (the way he’s stuck on Earth at the beginning of Infiltration)? Starscream makes yet another power grab, and Megatron tells him to go take a unit and set up on Messatine. It’s nicely remote and freezing cold enough that delicate flyers are going to be miserable at least 80% of the time. Yes, it’s the DJD’s home turf, and Tarn will be pissed, but hey, Tarn’s getting too big for his britched anyway, this may be just what he needs. Starscream needs a win to get back in Megatron’s good graces and off this damned planet. Tarn needs a way of re-asserting control and showing off how much better a subordinate he is than Starscream. Their respective units are taking bets on who’s going to try to murder whom first.
And then Pharma’s brought in as the new head of the Delphi facility.
I think it would be fascinating. Especially since these are two mechs who are so, so good at manipulation. Seducing people to the Decepticon side was Starscream’s actual role before the war, and Tarn is no slouch at wrapping people around his finger, either. Pharma would definitely know something was weird, but it’d take a while to figure out exactly how and why each side was trying to use him.
And then Pharma would enter the fray, and he’s not exactly a newbie at manipulating people, either…