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Ascension Essay: Angelli, 3rd Wave
Aug. 10th, 2016 09:37 pmDead End's path in Nautilus has been complex, to say the least. He was an angelli once before, bound to the Ashura of the West, Lord Megatron. For a long time, he considered himself the last representative of Megatron in Nautilus. That is no longer the case--now, he's the representative of himself, and what Dead End represents is 'relatively sane Decepticon leadership'.
He changed a great deal during his first stay in Nautilus, learning the possibility of hope, and learning to act on his own to set aright things he felt were wrong. He also learned to stand up to his teammates and be himself (literally). Then he fell Asleep for a time, and that wrought other changes.
What came back from Sleep was more than the Stunticon Dead End had been, though he had not yet grasped that fact. For over a decade, at the behest of various Decepticon leaders, the Stunticon team had been repeatedly merged to form Menasor, for prolonged periods. Separations had been come more and more problematic; echoes of each one's personality bled over into his teammates. Eventually, all five Stunticons would have (and eventually did) blended permanently to become one of the legendary "Demon Generals" of the Decepticons: Menasor [loosely based on Transformers:Victory and wild extrapolation].
In Nautilus, Dead End had those personality echoes as well, but was gradually assimilating them rather than being submerged by them. His consciousness was still his, but his personality--was becoming a variant of Menasor. He was well on the way towards fully integrating Wildrider and Drag Strip, a change most obvious when in his human form as Mori Finite. Breakdown and Motormaster's integration were progressing, though it was more subtle. Breakdown's paranoia surfaced whenever Dead End felt vulnerable, such as when a reality storm stripped him of his powers. He began to acquire Breakdown's dislike of being watched by Nautilus' ever-present cameras, as well. Motormaster's integration was... less subtle, as Motormaster's nature dominated Dead End's personality, rather than being subsumed by it. Dead End still sometimes switched to Motormaster's voice when he was channeling the Stunticon leader's brutal rage, malice and power--but Motormaster's lust for dominance was being modified into a more Megatron-like desire to command and lead through power as Dead End more fully became Menasor.
In the end, though, Menasor wasn't the person Nautilus Called, or apparently wanted--Menasor, in the form of Dead End, returned to Sleep. Years later, Nautilus time, and decades later, Earth time, Dead End Woke again. Back home, he had completely merged with Menasor, and there was no 'Dead End' left, as such--but Nautilus Called Dead End, ripping his submerged personality out of the collective that was Menasor, and depositing him in Nautilus as himself. As a result, Dead End was a mess on first arrival, his memory of Nautilus random broken shards unrelated to each other, and his memories of his existence for the last few decades back home mostly non-existent, as they weren't experienced by Dead End as such.
Still, Dead End managed to pull himself together, and his biggest change this time around? He's Dead End. Just Dead End, no other voices in his head, and no miserable longing to be with his teammates. He's had quite enough of that. Nautilus is his home now, and he's going to make the best of it. Nobody ever got the fatalistic pessimism out of his system, but he's fine with that--it's part of who he is. Dead End has finally realized he doesn't have to be the follower in a team, or just another cog in the Decepticon war machine--he can make choices for himself, take action, and take the lead if necessary. The first manifestation of Dead End's evolution was his unilateral decision to try to head off a potential Jedi-Sith war before it got started. The second, was stepping up and claiming the leadership of the Decepticons--disguised as a joke, because he's the last remaining Decepticon in Nautilus, but the responsibility is real. Dead End knows there will be more Decepticons coming to Nautilus in the future, and he'll have to deal with them.
It's about time the Last Decepticon got his Angelli wings back...
He changed a great deal during his first stay in Nautilus, learning the possibility of hope, and learning to act on his own to set aright things he felt were wrong. He also learned to stand up to his teammates and be himself (literally). Then he fell Asleep for a time, and that wrought other changes.
What came back from Sleep was more than the Stunticon Dead End had been, though he had not yet grasped that fact. For over a decade, at the behest of various Decepticon leaders, the Stunticon team had been repeatedly merged to form Menasor, for prolonged periods. Separations had been come more and more problematic; echoes of each one's personality bled over into his teammates. Eventually, all five Stunticons would have (and eventually did) blended permanently to become one of the legendary "Demon Generals" of the Decepticons: Menasor [loosely based on Transformers:Victory and wild extrapolation].
In Nautilus, Dead End had those personality echoes as well, but was gradually assimilating them rather than being submerged by them. His consciousness was still his, but his personality--was becoming a variant of Menasor. He was well on the way towards fully integrating Wildrider and Drag Strip, a change most obvious when in his human form as Mori Finite. Breakdown and Motormaster's integration were progressing, though it was more subtle. Breakdown's paranoia surfaced whenever Dead End felt vulnerable, such as when a reality storm stripped him of his powers. He began to acquire Breakdown's dislike of being watched by Nautilus' ever-present cameras, as well. Motormaster's integration was... less subtle, as Motormaster's nature dominated Dead End's personality, rather than being subsumed by it. Dead End still sometimes switched to Motormaster's voice when he was channeling the Stunticon leader's brutal rage, malice and power--but Motormaster's lust for dominance was being modified into a more Megatron-like desire to command and lead through power as Dead End more fully became Menasor.
In the end, though, Menasor wasn't the person Nautilus Called, or apparently wanted--Menasor, in the form of Dead End, returned to Sleep. Years later, Nautilus time, and decades later, Earth time, Dead End Woke again. Back home, he had completely merged with Menasor, and there was no 'Dead End' left, as such--but Nautilus Called Dead End, ripping his submerged personality out of the collective that was Menasor, and depositing him in Nautilus as himself. As a result, Dead End was a mess on first arrival, his memory of Nautilus random broken shards unrelated to each other, and his memories of his existence for the last few decades back home mostly non-existent, as they weren't experienced by Dead End as such.
Still, Dead End managed to pull himself together, and his biggest change this time around? He's Dead End. Just Dead End, no other voices in his head, and no miserable longing to be with his teammates. He's had quite enough of that. Nautilus is his home now, and he's going to make the best of it. Nobody ever got the fatalistic pessimism out of his system, but he's fine with that--it's part of who he is. Dead End has finally realized he doesn't have to be the follower in a team, or just another cog in the Decepticon war machine--he can make choices for himself, take action, and take the lead if necessary. The first manifestation of Dead End's evolution was his unilateral decision to try to head off a potential Jedi-Sith war before it got started. The second, was stepping up and claiming the leadership of the Decepticons--disguised as a joke, because he's the last remaining Decepticon in Nautilus, but the responsibility is real. Dead End knows there will be more Decepticons coming to Nautilus in the future, and he'll have to deal with them.
It's about time the Last Decepticon got his Angelli wings back...