User blog:Spikewitwicky/November 14th, 2016 - Spike's Journal Entry



This is a journal, obviously, so I can't do a link, but this sentiment stems from a segment by HBO host John Oliver: "Fuck you, 2016."

As an ambassador, I'm supposed to be neutral, so I'll just say this, I'm supposed to be neutral. And I will be neutral. The new president will be welcome at Autobot City. All of the resources that the Autobots can offer will be extended to him.

But I still get to have my own private opinions. And I'll start by saying I know I'm getting old when I felt myself 'kidsplaining' to Daniel why his candidate was not going to work. The candidate Carly and I chose, though throughly flawed, was going to get stuff done. I told Daniel that his choice was just going to be the left's version of a trouble-maker, and he would have to spend four years battling an immobile, lazy Congress who had no interest in cooperation. But at least "our" candidate was going to get stuff done. But, now that all of this has settled, and things are genuinely looking dark, this is the time when Daniel was right. My ideas are getting old, and dated. Maybe with Daniel's generation, maybe voting with your heart was actually the more logical way to go. It doesn't help that I heard somewhere that after 40, your brain cells start dying. I'm slower than I was a decade ago. The beatings I took at the hands of the Decepticons have now resulted in some arthritis in my back and my knees. Still, dad 's still kicking in the repair bay. But I'm beginning to at least grasp what he's going through now. When we first met the Autobots, I definitely took a backseat to him. Then, I tried to go out on my own. That didn't exactly work out. So, I came back to the Autobots, but as time went on, and dad got sicker, I eventually took over his roles. And now - well, to be sure, I don't know if Daniel or Megan even WANT to go down our path, but if they do, at least in Daniel's case, I'll be moving out of his way sooner than later, I'm guessing.

If anything that has shown that this past year, it's been living with the Joes. I'm seeing these freakish figures of health literally run circles around me. And I'll admit, since its construction, this is one of the first times that it FELT like 'Autobot City.' Yes, it's Autobot City to AUTOBOTS, but over the past year and half, it was also home to hundreds of Joes. And you bring a cast of a few hundred together, they're going to make an impression. They're going to create a sort of 'culture.' I saw some start to set up 'shops' around Autobot City to make a bit of extra cash. I saw the tech nerds go their own way. I saw the jocks go their own way. And Autobot City was this sort of great vessel. And now, it's like a ghost town. They're gone - moved into their new PITT.

Sure, we still have humans here. Every day, I'm guessing we have about two dozen. Some ambassadors. Some who have won promotions. Others are people who are on the 'Make-A-Wish' list, or refugees who have endured a horrible hardship. But for these people, it's pretty much like a hotel. They will be gone in a few days. The Joes literally made it FEEL like a city.

That said, I think dad's kind of glad they're gone. They were family to him, given his army background, but like extended family, they tend to grate on you after an extended stay. I think there was one time when dad wasn't feeling like himself, he was in "OUR" special area (the diplomatic lounge - it wasn't 'off limits' to the Joes, but it was just a given that Sparkplug and others could go there and not be bothered) - and a Joe came in and got something out of the fridge that he put in a few nights earlier. He saw Sparkplug and innocently said "'sup?" Before Sparkplug could respond, that Joe was gone, but if that Joe were to have looked at Sparkplug, he would have seen a look that could have bored through Omega Supreme's leg.

So, the "Joe Experiement" has ended. And despite a few hiccups, I'm comfortable calling it a "resounding success." I'm afraid of saying "the Joes and the bots have formed an unbreakable alliance" - because, let's face it, anything can happen. This shitty year has taught us that. It wasn't so long ago where we regarded each other with skepticism. Prime partnered with Cobra briefly, and that tanked our relations. I think if you just say 'we're good, we're always going to be good' isn't the best way to forge this alliance. After all, in the '90s, we were supposed to have been BFFs with Russia. And now look at us. This who 'live-in' experiement has done wonders for EDC, but I think we still need to continuously work on solidfying our relationship.

Okay, I've gone on longer than I expected. I hear dad calling me from the repair bay. Should be a good day to just focus on what we can do to help the Autobots today. Yes, diplomacy helps, but in the repair bay, this is where I can come home after work and say "I genuinely helped the Autobots today."