cruelfeline:

Okay, first and foremost: there will be no addressing of show writing quality here. Partially because I’m not really qualified to talk about that, and partially because I tend to take everything as real-life-in-universe. 

Yus. So this is all blah-writing aside. I’m sure someone else will talk about that.

Second? Yeah, this is going to be mostly about Starscream. Shocker, right? Yeah, I thought so.

…also I don’t even know if this is rant or analysis I’m just gonna yell a lot, okay?

Read More

Thank you so much for trying this. The way Starscream was handled in today’s episode made me uncomfortable. The entire episode all around made be uncomfortable.

The Racist Origins of Modern Clown Makeup (or, just one more reason to hate clowns)

ianthe:

This post was asking about a potential link between the afro-style wigs and big, painted lips of the modern clown and racist caricatures, so I decided to do what any good theatre history student would do - I did some research.

SPOILER ALERT: YUP, IT’S RACIST AS FUCK

From Janet M. Davis, The Circus Age: Culture & Society Under the American Big Top:

Some circus programs contained portraits of clowns in literal blackface, with huge red mouths and bulging eyes, strumming energetically on a banjo, but often the auguste clown’s blackface was metaphorical. He created his racial identity through the act of ‘‘whitening up’’ with thick pancake.

His greasy whiteness and exaggerated bodily zones—huge red mouth, lolling, paint-encircled eyes, big fake nose, ears, and feet—made his look strikingly similar to blackface. Showmen played upon this visual connection by arguing that African American men literally were clowns because of their supposed affinity for clowning and the circus. The Ringling Bros.’ route book from 1895 and 1896 contained a section, ‘‘The Plantation Darkey at the Circus,’’ which imagined—in almost orgasmic language—black men as minstrel characters.

[…]

Proprietors further conflated the African American man and the clown by arguing that both were completely controlled by their emotions, not reason.

Superlative examples of white manhood—the big cat tamer, the wire walker, and so forth—demonstrated little emotion during life-threatening acts. The clown, by contrast, howled in mock fear when he saw a mouse, or shrieked in pain at a mosquito bite. Showmen characterized male African American spectators in a similar vein as giddy and superstitious. 

[…]

Actual big-top acts made this rhetorical relationship between the clown and the African American complete. In 1888 Eph Thompson trained the elephant John L. Sullivan at the Adam Forepaugh circus. Wearing a boxing glove at the end of his trunk, the elephant sparred with Thompson in the ring and frequently ‘‘punched’’ him so hard that Thompson went flying over the ring bank.

Unlike the white trainer who dominated powerful animals, Thompson played a clownish coward—constantly vanquished by the boxing pachyderm—and consequently remained unthreatening to Euroamerican audiences. Yet Thompson still had a difficult time finding employment with American shows. As a result, he moved to Europe where his career flourished.

In line with the tenets of nineteenth-century romantic racialism, show-men’s portrayals of black men and clowns reflected contemporary representations of white women: late-nineteenth-century scientists argued that ‘‘excessive’’ emotionalism defined women, racial ‘‘savages,’’ and children of all races. The German Darwinist Ernst Haeckel and the Americans Edward Drinker Cope and G. Stanley Hall were all proponents of recapitulation theory, positing that every organism repeats the life history of its ‘‘race’’ within its own lifetime, evolving through the less developed forms of its ancestors on its path to maturity. They contended that Euroamerican women and ‘‘primitives’’ remained mentally and emotionally fixed in lower ancestral stages of evolution. Accordingly, only white boys were physiologically and mentally capable of reaching the highest stages of racial and gender development as fully evolved men. This line of thought used pseudoempirical phrenological evidence to claim that African American men were perpetually emotional and juvenile, just like the clown.

The painted clown acted out childish behaviors and infantile pleasures. He reveled in dirt, cried freely, openly adored the serious ‘‘adult’’ acts, and played physical pranks on everybody, from ringmaster to the audience. If playing a hobo (popularized most fully by Emmett Kelly’s ‘‘Willie’’ tramp character during the Depression, when at times nearly one-quarter of the American workforce was unemployed), the auguste clown’s persona was defined by dirt. Laughing loudly at the clown’s antics perhaps transported audiences back to the unrestrained pleasures of their own collective infancy and childhood.

More than a ‘‘low Other’’ who simply represented a tantalizing version of what they were not, the unfettered clown symbolized what clock-bound, alienated adult Euroamerican men perhaps felt they had lost.

Even the red noses have their origins in racist stereotypes.

From Mikita Brottman, Funny Peculiar: Gershon Legman and the Psychopathology of Humor:

While the Native American plains tribes had their own various manifestations of the Trickster figure, the main clown type of non-Native Americans was not the August, as it was in Europe, but the character clown… After the [Civil War] ended, however, one particular style of character clown came into prominence: the Hobo.

Eric Lott describes how the Hobo figure was originally based on the blackface minstrel clowns (hence the exaggerated white mouths) who portrayed the figures of African Americans made homeless by the ravages of the Civil War.

Lott explains that the Hobo character clown is a distinctly American invention, with his tattered hat, huge white mouth, three days’ growth of beard, torn clothes, and cartoon alcoholic’s big red nose. […] It seems ironic that such mawkishly appealing personalities had their roots in the miseries of poverty and oppression and the disfigurements of alcoholism and venereal disease. 

image

 

(via andromedamedrexia)

Source: ianthe

angelfire93: Alright, if you’re a consumer and you’re considering picking up the new Xbox One console, then please, take a moment to listen to me. Before we begin, no, I am not a fanboy or a hater. I have no console Bias. I have a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and a Gaming PC. Each has their pros and cons but now onto business.DO NOT BUY AN XBOX ONE. Why? See the reasons below:Xbox Requires an internet connection. Here’s how it works: Every 24 hours your Xbox will try to connect to Microsoft’s servers for verification. If it is unable to connect, sucks to be you. You’re blocked from playing even single player games until it can connect.Source: http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-509164109Do you like renting games, lending them to a friend, or even borrowing them from a friend? No longer possible. Every Xbox One game you get must be registered to your Xbox live account to be played. After that point it will only work for you. No one else can use it unless they pay a fee. Essentially it works like this. You pick up a used Xbox One game from somewhere or someone, pop it into your console. The system verifies it’s been registered to your account. Uh-oh, it isn’t! In order to play it, you have to pay Microsoft a fee, which is currently slated to be full retail price. Doesn’t matter how scratched up it is or how cheap you got it at gamestop or from a friend. You aren’t just buying the physical copies anymore. You’re paying Microsoft for a LICENSE to be allowed to play that game.It is worth mentioning Microsoft is exploring ways for you to trade in and resell your used games. This is rumored to mean that you can sell your digital license to play the game (registration) back to microsoft, likely for microsoft points. You can then trade in the game at gamespot for some cash if you like. Either way, as it currently stands, the new owner would still have to pay a fee on top of the price of actually buying the physical copy.Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-fee-for-buying-used-games-full-retail-price/Is it worth mentioning that Microsoft if shafting Indie Developers as well? Where as on Playstation Network or (whatever the Wii has) Indie Developers can self publish their content easily. Playstation even encourages this. Microsoft however forces these Indie Devs to enter publishing deals with them to be allowed to market their content. You don’t go through them, you don’t get to sell what you developed.Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/22/indie-devs-cant-self-publish-on-xbox-oneI’m not quite done yet! Now, I’m sure you heard a lot about “TV TV TV TV SPORTS TV TV SPORTS SPORTS TV.” Yes, the Xbox is slated to be able to stream live tv, live sports, etc. So let me ask you this. You obviously already have something like cable or DirecTV. Do you really want to shell out hundreds of dollars more and pay a monthly subscription fee to have another television provider? Yes, I said hundreds of dollars, and I don’t mean the cost of the console. To view live TV from the Xbox you are required to purchase ANOTHER separate device for it to work. Why would you even consider shelling out more money for something you already have anyway? Even if you didn’t, DirecTV is cheaper. Or you could even subscribe you Hulu.com and watch live tv on your computer. FOR MUCH CHEAPER. You essentially have to buy another cable box if you don’t have one. And if you do… what do you need the Xbox One for?Source: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-live-tv-available-in-us-only-at-launch-requires-separate-device/So far we’ve discovered that the Xbox One is not really a gaming console, at least… not a consumer friendly gaming console. It’s being marketed as an all-in-one home entertainment system. Something to replace all of the other devices in your house. But there are drawbacks even to that. Put on your tin foil hats for this part folks. Take from it what you will, all I’ll say is… possibilities…The Xbox One’s features will not function unless the Kinect is plugged in and active. This is not an optional piece anymore.Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/21/xbox-one-will-not-function-without-kinect-attachedSo imagine your Kinect piece breaks? Tough luck, no more Xbox for you. But you know what’s worse?Pay attention, because this is important. The Kinect is always watching. Always listening. Even when the system is off.Yes. One of the ways to turn the system on is to audibly say: “Xbox On” while the system is off. The Kinect, which is always on, hears you and turns it on. Now this might seem like a cool feature, but did you know Microsoft patented a feature that would allow the Kinect’s camera (It’s no longer just a sensor, but a camera) to spy on you for the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America?) While they may not actually do this, it is actually possible for them to do this now. It has a camera, and a microphone. The Kinect is always on. It is ALWAYS listening, ALWAYS watching.An idea has been tossed around that by using this feature, it will allows game developers and movie produces to set a limited amount of how many people can be allowed to view the entertainment. So as a hypothetical example, you and three friends are watching a movie, which is the maximum allowed. A fourth friend enters the room and the Kinect’s sensor registers the fourth individual. The movie stops and you a prompted to pay a fee so that the extra individual may also view the film. Again, that is NOT currently the case, but these are the ideas currently being tossed around with the system’s current capabilities.Source for listening: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4352596/the-xbox-one-is-always-listeningSource of spying: http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/139706-microsofts-new-kinect-patent-goes-big-brother-will-spy-on-you-for-the-mpaaNow, just two more things and I’ll be done here!This isn’t really a good or bad thing, but it’s annoying. It also explains how they can prevent you from playing a used game if you didn’t pay their fee. Xbox one no longer plays games off the discs, you HAVE to install them to the hard-drive in order to play them. I believe PS3 also has you do this (on a number of games but not always it seems), except that PS3 isn’t trying to Nickle and Dime you at every corner. It also seems according to this article there is something related to the Online portion at the beginning of this post. The option is there for Developers to require the Xbox to always be online to play their particular game. Well, it seems PC gamers and console gamers have one thing in common now… DRM.(At least pirates on PC can bypass DRM easily. Not an option for Consoles.)Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4352314/xbox-one-hard-drive-game-installsAnd last but not least, another annoyance… Xbox One will not be compatible with any and all current headsets. Nope, companies will either have to make new headsets altogether specifically for the Xbox One, and they have to adhere to what Microsoft wants. Look forward to price gouging.Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/22/xbox-one-incompatible-with-current-gaming-headsetsOh, one more thing… If you have an Xbox 360, don’t get rid of it. Why? Well if you want to keep playing your old 360 games you’ll need it. The Xbox One isn’t backwards compatible. At all. Not only that, but President of Microsoft’s Xbox Division Don Mattrick insults the very notion of backwards compatibility! He calls it: “Backwards thinking.”Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4350662/new-xbox-has-no-backwards-compatibiltySource of insult: http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/22/4355984/xbox-one-backward-compatibility-backwards-thinking-don-mattrickThat is all I have to say currently folks, and I hope you took the time to read this far. I’ll conclude with the following… please… PLEASE do not buy this console. Paying for this supports greedy and anti-consumer business practices. Speak with your wallet, and pass up the Xbox One. No matter what games it might have that you want, even if they are exclusive. Do the right thing and make a statement. Refuse to be nickle and dimed like this. Refuse to be seen as a mindless consumer who will buy anything tossed to them.We won’t know much else until after E3, but as it stands now, the PS4 or a decent gaming PC is the best way to go.If you are willing to do so, please spread this post around. Liking is not even remotely necessary, but do please share it if you agree with and acknowledge what you’ve read here. The more people know, the fewer of them waste their money.Thank you, kindly.~Dylan Jordan   (Originally posted on Facebook by one of my friends. He brings up many valid points. Mind you, I haven’t been a fan of Xbox in a long time and I will most likely get a PS4. But this confirms further for me that I won’t be getting an Xbox one any time in the foreseeable future.) 
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angelfire93:

Alright, if you’re a consumer and you’re considering picking up the new Xbox One console, then please, take a moment to listen to me. Before we begin, no, I am not a fanboy or a hater. I have no console Bias. I have a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and a Gaming PC. Each has their pros and cons but now onto business.

DO NOT BUY AN XBOX ONE. Why? See the reasons below:

Xbox Requires an internet connection. Here’s how it works: Every 24 hours your Xbox will try to connect to Microsoft’s servers for verification. If it is unable to connect, sucks to be you. You’re blocked from playing even single player games until it can connect.

Source: http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-509164109

Do you like renting games, lending them to a friend, or even borrowing them from a friend? No longer possible. Every Xbox One game you get must be registered to your Xbox live account to be played. After that point it will only work for you. No one else can use it unless they pay a fee. Essentially it works like this. You pick up a used Xbox One game from somewhere or someone, pop it into your console. The system verifies it’s been registered to your account. Uh-oh, it isn’t! In order to play it, you have to pay Microsoft a fee, which is currently slated to be full retail price. Doesn’t matter how scratched up it is or how cheap you got it at gamestop or from a friend. You aren’t just buying the physical copies anymore. You’re paying Microsoft for a LICENSE to be allowed to play that game.

It is worth mentioning Microsoft is exploring ways for you to trade in and resell your used games. This is rumored to mean that you can sell your digital license to play the game (registration) back to microsoft, likely for microsoft points. You can then trade in the game at gamespot for some cash if you like. Either way, as it currently stands, the new owner would still have to pay a fee on top of the price of actually buying the physical copy.

Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-fee-for-buying-used-games-full-retail-price/

Is it worth mentioning that Microsoft if shafting Indie Developers as well? Where as on Playstation Network or (whatever the Wii has) Indie Developers can self publish their content easily. Playstation even encourages this. Microsoft however forces these Indie Devs to enter publishing deals with them to be allowed to market their content. You don’t go through them, you don’t get to sell what you developed.

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/22/indie-devs-cant-self-publish-on-xbox-one

I’m not quite done yet! Now, I’m sure you heard a lot about “TV TV TV TV SPORTS TV TV SPORTS SPORTS TV.” Yes, the Xbox is slated to be able to stream live tv, live sports, etc. So let me ask you this. You obviously already have something like cable or DirecTV. Do you really want to shell out hundreds of dollars more and pay a monthly subscription fee to have another television provider? Yes, I said hundreds of dollars, and I don’t mean the cost of the console. To view live TV from the Xbox you are required to purchase ANOTHER separate device for it to work. Why would you even consider shelling out more money for something you already have anyway? Even if you didn’t, DirecTV is cheaper. Or you could even subscribe you Hulu.com and watch live tv on your computer. FOR MUCH CHEAPER. You essentially have to buy another cable box if you don’t have one. And if you do… what do you need the Xbox One for?

Source: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-live-tv-available-in-us-only-at-launch-requires-separate-device/

So far we’ve discovered that the Xbox One is not really a gaming console, at least… not a consumer friendly gaming console. It’s being marketed as an all-in-one home entertainment system. Something to replace all of the other devices in your house. But there are drawbacks even to that. Put on your tin foil hats for this part folks. Take from it what you will, all I’ll say is… possibilities…

The Xbox One’s features will not function unless the Kinect is plugged in and active. This is not an optional piece anymore.

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/21/xbox-one-will-not-function-without-kinect-attached

So imagine your Kinect piece breaks? Tough luck, no more Xbox for you. But you know what’s worse?

Pay attention, because this is important. The Kinect is always watching. Always listening. Even when the system is off.

Yes. One of the ways to turn the system on is to audibly say: “Xbox On” while the system is off. The Kinect, which is always on, hears you and turns it on. Now this might seem like a cool feature, but did you know Microsoft patented a feature that would allow the Kinect’s camera (It’s no longer just a sensor, but a camera) to spy on you for the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America?) While they may not actually do this, it is actually possible for them to do this now. It has a camera, and a microphone. The Kinect is always on. It is ALWAYS listening, ALWAYS watching.

An idea has been tossed around that by using this feature, it will allows game developers and movie produces to set a limited amount of how many people can be allowed to view the entertainment. So as a hypothetical example, you and three friends are watching a movie, which is the maximum allowed. A fourth friend enters the room and the Kinect’s sensor registers the fourth individual. The movie stops and you a prompted to pay a fee so that the extra individual may also view the film. Again, that is NOT currently the case, but these are the ideas currently being tossed around with the system’s current capabilities.

Source for listening: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4352596/the-xbox-one-is-always-listening

Source of spying: http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/139706-microsofts-new-kinect-patent-goes-big-brother-will-spy-on-you-for-the-mpaa

Now, just two more things and I’ll be done here!

This isn’t really a good or bad thing, but it’s annoying. It also explains how they can prevent you from playing a used game if you didn’t pay their fee. Xbox one no longer plays games off the discs, you HAVE to install them to the hard-drive in order to play them. I believe PS3 also has you do this (on a number of games but not always it seems), except that PS3 isn’t trying to Nickle and Dime you at every corner. It also seems according to this article there is something related to the Online portion at the beginning of this post. The option is there for Developers to require the Xbox to always be online to play their particular game. Well, it seems PC gamers and console gamers have one thing in common now… DRM.

(At least pirates on PC can bypass DRM easily. Not an option for Consoles.)

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4352314/xbox-one-hard-drive-game-installs

And last but not least, another annoyance… Xbox One will not be compatible with any and all current headsets. Nope, companies will either have to make new headsets altogether specifically for the Xbox One, and they have to adhere to what Microsoft wants. Look forward to price gouging.

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/22/xbox-one-incompatible-with-current-gaming-headsets

Oh, one more thing… If you have an Xbox 360, don’t get rid of it. Why? Well if you want to keep playing your old 360 games you’ll need it. The Xbox One isn’t backwards compatible. At all. Not only that, but President of Microsoft’s Xbox Division Don Mattrick insults the very notion of backwards compatibility! He calls it: “Backwards thinking.”

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4350662/new-xbox-has-no-backwards-compatibilty

Source of insult: http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/22/4355984/xbox-one-backward-compatibility-backwards-thinking-don-mattrick


That is all I have to say currently folks, and I hope you took the time to read this far. I’ll conclude with the following… please… PLEASE do not buy this console. Paying for this supports greedy and anti-consumer business practices. Speak with your wallet, and pass up the Xbox One. No matter what games it might have that you want, even if they are exclusive. Do the right thing and make a statement. Refuse to be nickle and dimed like this. Refuse to be seen as a mindless consumer who will buy anything tossed to them.

We won’t know much else until after E3, but as it stands now, the PS4 or a decent gaming PC is the best way to go.

If you are willing to do so, please spread this post around. Liking is not even remotely necessary, but do please share it if you agree with and acknowledge what you’ve read here. The more people know, the fewer of them waste their money.

Thank you, kindly.

~Dylan Jordan

 

(Originally posted on Facebook by one of my friends. He brings up many valid points. Mind you, I haven’t been a fan of Xbox in a long time and I will most likely get a PS4. But this confirms further for me that I won’t be getting an Xbox one any time in the foreseeable future.) 

(via reka1207)

Source: angelfire93

cruelfeline:

blue-and-black-hero:

ratchethatesyou:

newvagabond:

starrywish:

cruelfeline:

Can we all just also remember that Wheeljack nearly killed Miko last episode?

Like, not in battle, not in any understandable way, but just because he’s a reckless idiot?

And that he carted Miko away on a revenge-quest that nearly got both him and her killed.

Also that he and other Wreckers apparently make a habit out of putting bombs in living things.

Let’s all just

remember

those moments.

Believe it or not, but one of the reasons why I actually like Wheeljack.

Same. 

I like that he is sort of the wild dog that refuses to be put on a leash and that it’s bad and dangerous and kind of morally ambiguous. 

While we’re at it let’s remember all the terrible things all the other bots have done that include but are not limited to:

-Drug use

-Revenge killing spree

-Taking the children on dangerous missions

-Drag racing

-Allowing the kids to come into contact with the cons and go onto their ship

-Do I need to go on?

The point is all the Autobots have fucked up in numerous ways and while I agree Wheeljack has screwed up, don’t just point him out when everyone has done bad.

And for the record, Miko snuck onto his ship and he had it programmed for her to get back safely. Also this is war, and bombing the enemy isn’t exactly unheard of on either side.

image

“ Also this is war, and bombing the enemy isn’t exactly unheard of on either side.”

This.  I wish people would stop treating the bomb thing like it’s some horrific crime.  Also, the bomb was a decoy for the virus they were going to use to get access to the Iacon database.  They knew the bomb wasn’t going to actually work, it was a distraction.

Yeah, hi, we’re not treating the bomb as if it was some horrific crime.

This wasn’t “bombing the enemy.”

This was “putting a live bomb into a creature that was still alive.”

There is a difference between “hurling bombs at your enemy” and “putting an actual live bomb inside a living thing that then attaches to another living thing.”

Are y’all trying to treat these two as equivalent?

Because they are not equivalent.

Like.

At all.

Wow.

Also, yeah, the bomb did still work. Did we conveniently forget the sound of the explosion coming from the hallway after Knock Out took it away?

And yeah, Wheeljack specifically told Miko if things went south, she was to get the hell out of Dodge.  She didn’t, she chose to stick around and take out Hardshell (And thank god she did too).  Yes, I won’t deny he’s a reckless sonuvabitch with a tendency to act like a loose cannon, but again, is the blatant demonization and taking things way out of context absolutely necessary?

I don’t care what he told her to do.

The fact that he took her along is enough for me.

Especially considering the fact that, for all they knew, Bulk could have died.

Can you imagine how crushed she would have been if Bulkhead had died while she hadn’t been there?

Good grief.

It floors me that people try to minimize these things.

They’re terrible things. And we should treat them as terrible.

Jiminy Christmas.

Thank you cruelfeline. I am amazed that people are still trying to minimize these things as well. Terrible things should be treated as terrible even with the so called protagonists. The bomb thing was terrible and the fact that Wheeljack took Miko on a revenge quest with him was terrible. Not to mention that he almost squashed Miko and messed up a part of the new base with that silly lobbing ball of his. A ball that is a lot bigger than her.

amielleon:

harblkun:

catherinearbour:

See that changes things.

No I guess Robin isn’t that much smarter xD …But actually on the subject of sniper axes… Why didn’t Virion just peg the guy off? I mean they had the archest of archers with them after all… Betcha he was insulted after that one.

Nobody is perfect? …Okay that’s not an excuse xD

I’m way ahead of you on THAT front. xD;

FE13 poorly handled the characters that they put in our pockets. FE7, 8, and 9, I remember, all referenced at least someone they had recruited previously, which is quite contradictory to Chrom’s “I must befriend everyone” speech or whatever he gives to M!Avatar in their supports. (7 is pretty special in that it gives extremely minor character LEGAULT a chance to speak later because the lords remember he’s from the Black Fang. LEGAULT)

Virion is actually probably one of THE most useful people he could have asked advice from, and he never does. (and for a host of reasons I won’t go into, he’s a pretty fantastic foil to the Ylissean family on a number of levels, to boot)

Not even in the entire gorram second campaign which only starts because Virion told him in the first place. No, Chrom decides to only talk to the random chick he picks up off the beach the second he arrives. Rude. (no really, it’s really stinking rude. Eccentric or not, Virion is a gorram noble who runs his own country even though his parents are alive and well. It doesn’t matter that his title isn’t as high—it’s still a country. And Chrom does not seem to show him an iota of respect. It’s pretty shameful that, for all Chrom idolized Emmeryn, he was really really bad at learning things like peace and respect from her.)  Chrom could have asked him, or Cherche, or even GREGOR about the Valmese continent. But NO. Not one. And he doesn’t bother helping Virion’s country either, he just beelines for the ‘final boss.’

SORRY, I’M GOING OFF ON A TANGENT. /COUGHS

Anyway, even if you make an argument based on maybe Chrom just not liking him/getting along with him, remember that Ephraim accepted some of Innes’ advice and they hated each other. Chrom is guilty of only talking to his major fanclub for advice. Everyone else excluded. (Which is a little extra strange, since FE has a history of noble-child hoedowns running around together. Maybe Frederick has monopolized the attention somehow, he does dislike Virion after all)

I also really liked how FE10 managed its cast. It had one of its most gigantic, at 72 playables I believe, and it also didn’t have the benefit of supports, yet there was a tremendous amount of interaction between them that had some kind of bearing on the plot. Edward and Leonardo, though underdeveloped, were *part of* the Dawn Brigade and you definitely felt like they belonged there. Nobody laymen Nephenee and Brom serve the plot-important purpose of informing the queen. And so on. There are still a few random nobodies (cough vika cough) but for the most part, all the characters really have a sense of place.

Meanwhile, the Ylisseans let some random bloodthirsty Plegian join up, and all they want to talk to him about is training and the weather. So many wasted opportunities with the Plegians, man.

I agree with all of this. I never played Radiant Dawn yet, but from what I have seen the characters including the nobodies seem a lot more fleshed out than Awakening’s characters. There are so many wasted opportunities with the Plegians that it’s not even funny. With the Plegians the Ylisseans could have asked them about what living in Plegia was like, how the politics were, and/or how the culture was there. Instead they want to talk to them about training, death, animals, the weather, etc.

Awakening has a ton of script, but the writers decided to waste it on bad storytelling, poor characterization, and support conversations that have little or nothing to do with the plot except for a few. There is nothing that makes me care about the world because I barely know a thing about it and I know nothing about the politics except that Plegia is forced to worship Grima while Ylisse worships Naga. I can careless about most of the characters except for a couple of them because a lot of them are so shallow.

For someone who says that he is trying to live up to Emmeryn’s legacy Chrom sure seems to have a hard time learning peace and respect. Chrom also seems to have a hard time learning lessons in general. For a good chunk of the game Chrom seems to dislike everything Plegia except for Robin, he barely learns a thing from Gaius in their supports, and he barely has anything to counter Walhart’s beliefs. Chrom seems to take advice and respect only people who are in the shepherd’s circle and not anybody else outside of it.

I found Chrom’s treatment of Virion to be rude as well. Weird or not Virion’s title is pretty high up and he could be one of the more useful people in the cast advice and plot wise. Instead Chrom becomes Robin’s yes man especially in the second half of the game and takes his/her advice no matter how silly some of it is. Chrom also had a lot of opportunities to ask Virion or even Cherche about Valm. Instead he decides to only talk to Say’ri about Valm. He doesn’t even bother to help Virion’s country at any point in the story. Rude. Chrom is going to have the title of dumbest lord in the series for a long time. If Anri and Marth knew about Chrom and his father I am sure they would be rolling in their graves.

Source: harblkun

draqua: razorsaw: You know, this is a song as old as the series itself, but let’s talk about how completely and utterly wrong people get Ruki from Digimon Tamers’ character. Ruki is, quite frank, one of the best written female characters in the franchise. But when people praise her, they talk about how she’s tough as nails and doesn’t do girly things. How she’s a quintessential tomboy, and an utter defiance of “girly stereotypes”. Now, I think that there’s some issues with this way of thinking. Yes, early on, Ruki is presented as a tomboy-through-and-through, and sharply contrasted with characters like her mother, Rumiko, the famous model. She thinks primarily about fighting and asserting herself as the toughest Tamer around. Now, none of these traits are necessarily negative. Rumiko is not portrayed as neccessarily in the right in the right in her attempts to make Ruki act more girly, and Ruki never truly stops being a tomboy either. But what people do miss is that many of Ruki’s traits early on where harmful to her relationship with Renamon, her family, and her eventual comrades. What’s more, they ignore how she changed by the end of the series. When we’re first getting to know Ruki, she shows lack of concern for Renamon and acknowledgement of Digimon as individuals. Several reality checks later, she becomes aware of the severity of the situation she’s in and nearly abandons Renamon. Her emotional distance nearly leads to Renamon’s defeat at Harpymon’s hands, and only when Ruki starts showing her concern and getting over her fear do they start really working as partners. This is a turning point for Ruki, because it marks the beginning of her not simply being more honest with Renamon, but honest with her fellow Tamers. She doesn’t fully grow out of it, but by the end of the series, she’s become a much more balanced person. She acts friendly and even cares for Juri after her significant loss, and her relationship with her mother starts to change - and in doing so, she doesn’t sacrifice her own self-image, but rather, accepts her mother’s and even allows herself to share experiences with her. This is even reflected in her and Renamon’s final form, Sakuyamon. Sakuyamon is by no means less powerful than the other Ultimate/Mega level digimon. However, she’s also allowed to be a powerful and capable fighter that doesn’t rely purely on brute force. In a way, Sakuyamon is symbolic of Ruki’s growth as a person; while Sakuyamon is athletic and clad in what is essentially armor, her abilities also involve singing, waves of cherry blossoms, and techniques that both defend and empower her allies. In other words, Ruki’s journey is about becoming a more balanced person. Of course, if her character were to ultimately decide to eschew what society traditionally calls “femininity”, that would not necessarily be a mistake either. But in her case, as she decides to open up, she grows into these traits without caving to societal pressure. In other words, she grows into the kind of person she’s comfortable with being, without letting herself be hindered by the emotional barriers that she put in place herself. And that’s why I think Ruki is such a positive, well written character. Too often, stories and even fandom itself send the message that characters have to fit into small boxes of characterization. Ruki doesn’t ultimately become one or the other, she becomes something somewhere in the middle, and it’s the result of her own choice and evolution as a person. She can be stern and tough as nails, but she can also appreciate beauty, learn to be more caring and loving to her mother, and smile and show love to her partner and family. Despite all this, fandom continues to forget all the growth Ruki went through, and decides that she either needs to “have her icy heart melted”, or follow the other extreme and have her deny all traits that could be seen as “girly” entirely. In doing so, they forget the path Ruki took in Tamers itself. One of Digimon Tamers’ greatest strengths was its character writing, unfortunately this also served to make it stand as an extreme outlier in the field of shonen anime. Unlike its genre brethren, Tamers always treated its cast like real people who had multiple layers, and couldn’t be neatly slotted into any sort of “type”. While tempting, it would be grossly incorrect to write of Takato as “The Leader”, Li as “The Smart One”, and Ruki as “The Cool One” because all of them were infinitely more complicated than that. Even jokey side characters like Hirokazu and Kenta had families, quirks, and depth which kept them from being purely comic relief. Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02 stayed fairly close to formula. They wrote their cast as easily identifiable tropes and let the long run times of their seasons give them time to explore and develop the characters in a natural way. Tamers, taking place in the “real world” as opposed to the anime world Adventure and 02 operate within in the context of Tamers’ narrative, writes its characters as equally realistic to further highlight the difference between the two continuities. They were human beings, not anime characters. An interesting example of establishing a distinct voice of a season as well as highlighting  themes via the crucial building block of character writing. Of course, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with writing characters as archetypes. Often, this is the only way to tell a story effectively and serious issues can arise when the aspects of characterization aren’t conveyed to the audience quickly enough. But in shonen anime, of which Tamers technically falls into, viewers are so used to protagonists running on the basis of archetypes that more nuanced writing becomes difficult to fully appreciate.
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draqua:

razorsaw:

You know, this is a song as old as the series itself, but let’s talk about how completely and utterly wrong people get Ruki from Digimon Tamers’ character.

Ruki is, quite frank, one of the best written female characters in the franchise. But when people praise her, they talk about how she’s tough as nails and doesn’t do girly things. How she’s a quintessential tomboy, and an utter defiance of “girly stereotypes”.

Now, I think that there’s some issues with this way of thinking. Yes, early on, Ruki is presented as a tomboy-through-and-through, and sharply contrasted with characters like her mother, Rumiko, the famous model. She thinks primarily about fighting and asserting herself as the toughest Tamer around.

Now, none of these traits are necessarily negative. Rumiko is not portrayed as neccessarily in the right in the right in her attempts to make Ruki act more girly, and Ruki never truly stops being a tomboy either. But what people do miss is that many of Ruki’s traits early on where harmful to her relationship with Renamon, her family, and her eventual comrades. What’s more, they ignore how she changed by the end of the series.

When we’re first getting to know Ruki, she shows lack of concern for Renamon and acknowledgement of Digimon as individuals. Several reality checks later, she becomes aware of the severity of the situation she’s in and nearly abandons Renamon. Her emotional distance nearly leads to Renamon’s defeat at Harpymon’s hands, and only when Ruki starts showing her concern and getting over her fear do they start really working as partners.

This is a turning point for Ruki, because it marks the beginning of her not simply being more honest with Renamon, but honest with her fellow Tamers. She doesn’t fully grow out of it, but by the end of the series, she’s become a much more balanced person. She acts friendly and even cares for Juri after her significant loss, and her relationship with her mother starts to change - and in doing so, she doesn’t sacrifice her own self-image, but rather, accepts her mother’s and even allows herself to share experiences with her.

This is even reflected in her and Renamon’s final form, Sakuyamon. Sakuyamon is by no means less powerful than the other Ultimate/Mega level digimon. However, she’s also allowed to be a powerful and capable fighter that doesn’t rely purely on brute force. In a way, Sakuyamon is symbolic of Ruki’s growth as a person; while Sakuyamon is athletic and clad in what is essentially armor, her abilities also involve singing, waves of cherry blossoms, and techniques that both defend and empower her allies.

In other words, Ruki’s journey is about becoming a more balanced person. Of course, if her character were to ultimately decide to eschew what society traditionally calls “femininity”, that would not necessarily be a mistake either. But in her case, as she decides to open up, she grows into these traits without caving to societal pressure. In other words, she grows into the kind of person she’s comfortable with being, without letting herself be hindered by the emotional barriers that she put in place herself.

And that’s why I think Ruki is such a positive, well written character. Too often, stories and even fandom itself send the message that characters have to fit into small boxes of characterization. Ruki doesn’t ultimately become one or the other, she becomes something somewhere in the middle, and it’s the result of her own choice and evolution as a person. She can be stern and tough as nails, but she can also appreciate beauty, learn to be more caring and loving to her mother, and smile and show love to her partner and family.

Despite all this, fandom continues to forget all the growth Ruki went through, and decides that she either needs to “have her icy heart melted”, or follow the other extreme and have her deny all traits that could be seen as “girly” entirely. In doing so, they forget the path Ruki took in Tamers itself.

One of Digimon Tamers’ greatest strengths was its character writing, unfortunately this also served to make it stand as an extreme outlier in the field of shonen anime. Unlike its genre brethren, Tamers always treated its cast like real people who had multiple layers, and couldn’t be neatly slotted into any sort of “type”. While tempting, it would be grossly incorrect to write of Takato as “The Leader”, Li as “The Smart One”, and Ruki as “The Cool One” because all of them were infinitely more complicated than that. Even jokey side characters like Hirokazu and Kenta had families, quirks, and depth which kept them from being purely comic relief.

Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02 stayed fairly close to formula. They wrote their cast as easily identifiable tropes and let the long run times of their seasons give them time to explore and develop the characters in a natural way. Tamers, taking place in the “real world” as opposed to the anime world Adventure and 02 operate within in the context of Tamers’ narrative, writes its characters as equally realistic to further highlight the difference between the two continuities. They were human beings, not anime characters. An interesting example of establishing a distinct voice of a season as well as highlighting  themes via the crucial building block of character writing.

Of course, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with writing characters as archetypes. Often, this is the only way to tell a story effectively and serious issues can arise when the aspects of characterization aren’t conveyed to the audience quickly enough. But in shonen anime, of which Tamers technically falls into, viewers are so used to protagonists running on the basis of archetypes that more nuanced writing becomes difficult to fully appreciate.

Source: razorsaw

http://rorby.tumblr.com/post/50732372252 for screenshot source

crospeaks:

Looking at some screenshots from this last episode, since we finally got some good close-ups in good lighting…

There is an actual, workable reason he can become Twigplane.

He’s not triangle-shaped.  Soundwave is in reality a skinny rectangle with push-out shoulders that compress into his torso thanks to foldable joints.  They likely do that after the chest plating pulls apart and gets ready to move around and stuff.

image

He also wears armor that does not even fit him and is in fact a fair distance away from his body on almost all sides.  If you look, you can see the lines of where he doesn’t meet it at his shoulders and sides; now think about how puffed out in front it is too to admit those feelers of his and get Laserbeak folded up on there.

image

He’s basically pretending to be built like his chest armor would suggest.

Like, he’s just one long stick with the absolute minimum of plating required to shift around and make into his predator-drone covering.

And yet he’s strong as hell.  This makes him scarier.

I’m not even going to get into what was said in Skype about what the insides of his arms probably look like and/or why they might be that way and/or maybe why he uses his feelers all the time.

Precious pretending beanpole.

(via reka1207)

Source: crospeaks

draqua: scribbles-and-slash: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly: I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me… Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing. Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed. Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error….. Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly.  Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite?  Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in. What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice” ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME? BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT. I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance.  The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.   Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”?  And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all. And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper! Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w; I must say I agree with all of this. TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.
Zoom Info
draqua: scribbles-and-slash: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly: I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me… Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing. Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed. Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error….. Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly.  Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite?  Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in. What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice” ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME? BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT. I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance.  The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.   Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”?  And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all. And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper! Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w; I must say I agree with all of this. TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.
Zoom Info
draqua: scribbles-and-slash: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly: I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me… Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing. Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed. Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error….. Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly.  Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite?  Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in. What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice” ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME? BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT. I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance.  The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.   Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”?  And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all. And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper! Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w; I must say I agree with all of this. TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.
Zoom Info
draqua: scribbles-and-slash: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly: I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me… Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing. Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed. Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error….. Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly.  Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite?  Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in. What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice” ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME? BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT. I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance.  The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.   Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”?  And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all. And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper! Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w; I must say I agree with all of this. TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.
Zoom Info
draqua: scribbles-and-slash: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly: I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me… Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing. Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed. Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error….. Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly.  Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite?  Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in. What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice” ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME? BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT. I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance.  The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.   Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”?  And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all. And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper! Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w; I must say I agree with all of this. TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.
Zoom Info
draqua: scribbles-and-slash: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly: I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me… Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing. Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed. Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error….. Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly.  Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite?  Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in. What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice” ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME? BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT. I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance.  The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.   Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”?  And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all. And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper! Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w; I must say I agree with all of this. TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.
Zoom Info
draqua: scribbles-and-slash: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly: I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me… Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing. Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed. Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error….. Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly.  Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite?  Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in. What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice” ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME? BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT. I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance.  The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.   Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”?  And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all. And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper! Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w; I must say I agree with all of this. TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.
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draqua: scribbles-and-slash: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly: I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me… Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing. Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed. Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error….. Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly.  Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite?  Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in. What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice” ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME? BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT. I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance.  The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.   Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”?  And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all. And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper! Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w; I must say I agree with all of this. TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.
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draqua:

scribbles-and-slash:

jm347-class-03-k64-firefly:

I just made another gifset from this episode, but I couldn’t resist making one for this scene, too.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fucking NICE the Constructibots are? And how god damn misunderstood? I apologize for this wall of text but please, give it a quick read because as much as I love this episode, it really bothered me…

Bulkhead says they’re no good and they’ll never be good, but they rescued Bulkhead and Blitzwing.

Not because they’re Autobots or Decepticons….just because they’re bros with no biases who just don’t want anyone to get squashed.

Then they go and lug all the supplies back to the Decepticon’s base, get materials and try and fix Megatron’s bridge, try and peacefully take the Allspark fragments from Bulkhead and only resort to violence when Optimus threatens them (as opposed to, ya’know, explaining the situation and how they’re being tricked in more detail than Bulkhead’s half-assed rambling earlier), try and keep their friendship with Bulkhead up until he literally tries to smash their amnesia-sticken heads in with a wrecking ball….hell, even AFTER that, Scrap still goes with Sari to save the Autobots who tried to kill him in Human Error…..

Their only “flaw” was that they drank a lot of oil and were slightly obnoxious…but think about it for a moment. Did you notice how FUCKING HUGE they are? They’re bigger than Bulkhead! Almost as big as Lugnut! Not to mention, cement trucks and power shovels are notorious gass guzzlers…all bots are shown to drink oil as a fuel source, so it makes sense why they’d knock back a few dozen oil barrels. It’s literally their first day alive and they’re probably not used to the sudden drain of energy that comes out of all the work they do normally (building stuff), PLUS walking, talking, transforming, and driving.  They’re not doing it because they’re alcoholics…they’re doing it because they literally need that much oil to run properly. 


Even their obnoxious behavior can be explained. If the Wreck-Gar episode proved anything, it’s that when a machine comes to life for the first time, they’re pretty much a blank slate, aside from the interactions their vehicle had with humans in the past. Mix and Scrap were always surrounded by construction workers, men who are known for cat calling and having frat-boy mentalities. Again, it makes perfect sense for them to act this way if that’s all they really know. Not to mention, Blitzwing abuses their innocence, calling a police siren a “quitting bell” and Megatron telling them the TRUTH that the Autobots kicked them out of Cybertron, a statement which, without the proper context that these two clearly would not have had, could easily make anyone believe the Autobots are just as bad as the Decepticons. They go with the bots who were nicer to them and gave them better oil because…well did you see how the rest of the Autobot gang treated them? Imagine you just meet someone really nice, they take you to meet their friends, and all their friends do is glare at you and judge you and talk behind your back? Obviously you’re not going to like them! And as much as I love Ratchet, how dare he make the comment that they’re not charming. They’re not, not by any means…but Ratchet…seriously? YOU’RE judging someone for not being polite? 

Again, remember that this is literally their first week (at most) of existing. One side is telling them one thing, the other side is telling them the other, one’s mistreating them, but they’re still nice and friendly with Bulkhead and consider him a friend. If the Autobots took five minutes to put aside their judgements and calmly explain the entire situation, these two would have surely changed sides again! They’re not the hardest to convince, guys. As nice as they are, they’re pretty damn stupid too. Tell them they’re made of peanuts, they’ll probably believe you! But no. Optimus jumps to fisticuffs and Bulkhead BLOWS THEM THE FUCK UP! And even when they get amnesia and DO have the chance to be befriended again, what does Bulky do? He totally ruins it by trying to bash their brains in.

What the hell?! Bulkhead, what are you thinking?! You bots destroy building on a regular basis! Don’t chase away the guys who would willingly repair ALL your shit without a question! Oh, and if that’s not bad enough…Optimus says they have a second chance now AFTER Bulkhead chases them away. A chance to “make the right choice”

ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME?

BULKHEAD JUST TRIED MURDERING THEM AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA SIDE WITH YOU GUYS? What, are you high!? Of course they’re not going to side with you!! No bot in their right mind would side with a team that stood back and let a team mate attack them! The Constructibots weren’t the ones who needed the second chance to make the right decision, YOU WERE AND YOU TOTALLY BLEW IT.

I guess what bothers me the most about this episode is how, a few episodes ago, Wreck-Gar’s episode had the strong message of “Don’t Let People Tell You Who You Are, You Can Be Anything You Want To Be.” Hell, the entire theme of the SHOW is “There’s More To Someone Than You Think”. Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl…they ALL have a story arc where they show that there’s more to their personality they even they didn’t know about…they’re more than they’re stereotypical character traits and they CAN change (pun not intended) and better themselves if given the chance. 

The Constructibots were never given that chance. They’re written off as bad guys or immature fuck ups and never get any recognition from the other bots as to how NICE they actually are. Not only that, but between Mix’s technical jargon and Scrap’s kindly nature towards Snarl…the creators have actually shown that these two are both intelligent and warm individuals who just wanna help out, but can get a little immature at times. But again, Bumblebee’s immature, Ratchet is cranky, even PROWL was a jerk at first and all the bots seemed to be okay with that.  


Maybe this show was TRYING to give a PSA-like message about not hanging out with the wrong crowd, stay away from drinkers and all that…but is that really a good message? “Don’t judge. Always give people a chance…unless they drink then fuck those guys because they’re no good and will never be good”? 

And even if they were trying to make Bulkhead the “bad guy” in this episode, trying to say something like “even the sweetest of people can make mistakes once they’ve been hurt”…that heroic ending undermined it all.

And even in their episodes after Rise of the Constructicons, they’re not “bad” guys. Sure they’re written “badder” than they were in the first episode, (personally I think it’s because they were too NICE in the first episode for anyone to believe they would bully a little girl unless they changed their personalities slightly), but they’re still the lovable doofuses who could still be persuaded over to the opposite side if someone put an effort into it….Sari practically DID just that with Scrapper!

Alright….I think that’s all the rant I have in me right now. I apologize for this HUGE FUCKING TEXT POST but I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a VERY long time. Thanks for listening ;w;

I must say I agree with all of this.

TFA is very odd when it comes to the morality and ethical treatment of “Allspark Energy” birthed characters. So much so that it basically boils down to a case by case basis with no consistency or accountability held to the protagonists. Speaking of which, we here see yet another example of TFA!Bulkhead doing something violent, dangerous, and ill-informed towards another person with absolutely no consequences visited upon him.

Source: jm347-class-03-k64-firefly

draqua: I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before all that much, but I really like the character of Special Agent William Fowler. Here’s a man who once had a proud history with the US military, but upon entering his twilight years and starting to soften up around the edges, he gets saddled with a group of monstrous, mechanical aliens. These beings, with the exception of Optimus, are hostile and condescending to him initially. Bulkhead even physically threatens Fowler, who has no means of defending himself against such force, at some points and Fowler’s still expected to independently keep them out of the public eye all while wrangling their very open conflicts with the Decepticons. Yet in spite of all this… Fowler never gives up the location of the Autobot base, even when under extremely painful torture via Starscream. He slowly builds a greater level of trust and friendship with Optimus Prime over the first half of S1. In S2, he bonds with Bulkhead (remember, the ‘Bot who initially wanted to leave Fowler for dead) through their shared past of being soldiers and inspires Bulkhead to come home even after extensive injury and poisoning. Though vocal in his complaints, he never stops trying to protect the Autobots from retaliation or eviction by the US government. He never lets his size, age, or limited abilities prevent him from doing his job and helping his comrades (see him standing up to Wheeljack and confronting Silas). And even when it seems like Optimus Prime is dead, an entire city has been leveled by the Decepticons, and Megatron has other major American cities in his cross-hairs; Fowler keeps a firm upper lip and does his best to verbally negotiate with the mad king Megatron has become. I find William Fowler to be a really great, interesting, and inspiring character. There is infinitely more to him than a great celebrity voice and random jokes. He is strong, he is loyal, he is dynamic, and by god is he brave. He is the human ally the Autobots both deserve and need.
Zoom Info
draqua: I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before all that much, but I really like the character of Special Agent William Fowler. Here’s a man who once had a proud history with the US military, but upon entering his twilight years and starting to soften up around the edges, he gets saddled with a group of monstrous, mechanical aliens. These beings, with the exception of Optimus, are hostile and condescending to him initially. Bulkhead even physically threatens Fowler, who has no means of defending himself against such force, at some points and Fowler’s still expected to independently keep them out of the public eye all while wrangling their very open conflicts with the Decepticons. Yet in spite of all this… Fowler never gives up the location of the Autobot base, even when under extremely painful torture via Starscream. He slowly builds a greater level of trust and friendship with Optimus Prime over the first half of S1. In S2, he bonds with Bulkhead (remember, the ‘Bot who initially wanted to leave Fowler for dead) through their shared past of being soldiers and inspires Bulkhead to come home even after extensive injury and poisoning. Though vocal in his complaints, he never stops trying to protect the Autobots from retaliation or eviction by the US government. He never lets his size, age, or limited abilities prevent him from doing his job and helping his comrades (see him standing up to Wheeljack and confronting Silas). And even when it seems like Optimus Prime is dead, an entire city has been leveled by the Decepticons, and Megatron has other major American cities in his cross-hairs; Fowler keeps a firm upper lip and does his best to verbally negotiate with the mad king Megatron has become. I find William Fowler to be a really great, interesting, and inspiring character. There is infinitely more to him than a great celebrity voice and random jokes. He is strong, he is loyal, he is dynamic, and by god is he brave. He is the human ally the Autobots both deserve and need.
Zoom Info
draqua: I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before all that much, but I really like the character of Special Agent William Fowler. Here’s a man who once had a proud history with the US military, but upon entering his twilight years and starting to soften up around the edges, he gets saddled with a group of monstrous, mechanical aliens. These beings, with the exception of Optimus, are hostile and condescending to him initially. Bulkhead even physically threatens Fowler, who has no means of defending himself against such force, at some points and Fowler’s still expected to independently keep them out of the public eye all while wrangling their very open conflicts with the Decepticons. Yet in spite of all this… Fowler never gives up the location of the Autobot base, even when under extremely painful torture via Starscream. He slowly builds a greater level of trust and friendship with Optimus Prime over the first half of S1. In S2, he bonds with Bulkhead (remember, the ‘Bot who initially wanted to leave Fowler for dead) through their shared past of being soldiers and inspires Bulkhead to come home even after extensive injury and poisoning. Though vocal in his complaints, he never stops trying to protect the Autobots from retaliation or eviction by the US government. He never lets his size, age, or limited abilities prevent him from doing his job and helping his comrades (see him standing up to Wheeljack and confronting Silas). And even when it seems like Optimus Prime is dead, an entire city has been leveled by the Decepticons, and Megatron has other major American cities in his cross-hairs; Fowler keeps a firm upper lip and does his best to verbally negotiate with the mad king Megatron has become. I find William Fowler to be a really great, interesting, and inspiring character. There is infinitely more to him than a great celebrity voice and random jokes. He is strong, he is loyal, he is dynamic, and by god is he brave. He is the human ally the Autobots both deserve and need.
Zoom Info
draqua: I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before all that much, but I really like the character of Special Agent William Fowler. Here’s a man who once had a proud history with the US military, but upon entering his twilight years and starting to soften up around the edges, he gets saddled with a group of monstrous, mechanical aliens. These beings, with the exception of Optimus, are hostile and condescending to him initially. Bulkhead even physically threatens Fowler, who has no means of defending himself against such force, at some points and Fowler’s still expected to independently keep them out of the public eye all while wrangling their very open conflicts with the Decepticons. Yet in spite of all this… Fowler never gives up the location of the Autobot base, even when under extremely painful torture via Starscream. He slowly builds a greater level of trust and friendship with Optimus Prime over the first half of S1. In S2, he bonds with Bulkhead (remember, the ‘Bot who initially wanted to leave Fowler for dead) through their shared past of being soldiers and inspires Bulkhead to come home even after extensive injury and poisoning. Though vocal in his complaints, he never stops trying to protect the Autobots from retaliation or eviction by the US government. He never lets his size, age, or limited abilities prevent him from doing his job and helping his comrades (see him standing up to Wheeljack and confronting Silas). And even when it seems like Optimus Prime is dead, an entire city has been leveled by the Decepticons, and Megatron has other major American cities in his cross-hairs; Fowler keeps a firm upper lip and does his best to verbally negotiate with the mad king Megatron has become. I find William Fowler to be a really great, interesting, and inspiring character. There is infinitely more to him than a great celebrity voice and random jokes. He is strong, he is loyal, he is dynamic, and by god is he brave. He is the human ally the Autobots both deserve and need.
Zoom Info
draqua: I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before all that much, but I really like the character of Special Agent William Fowler. Here’s a man who once had a proud history with the US military, but upon entering his twilight years and starting to soften up around the edges, he gets saddled with a group of monstrous, mechanical aliens. These beings, with the exception of Optimus, are hostile and condescending to him initially. Bulkhead even physically threatens Fowler, who has no means of defending himself against such force, at some points and Fowler’s still expected to independently keep them out of the public eye all while wrangling their very open conflicts with the Decepticons. Yet in spite of all this… Fowler never gives up the location of the Autobot base, even when under extremely painful torture via Starscream. He slowly builds a greater level of trust and friendship with Optimus Prime over the first half of S1. In S2, he bonds with Bulkhead (remember, the ‘Bot who initially wanted to leave Fowler for dead) through their shared past of being soldiers and inspires Bulkhead to come home even after extensive injury and poisoning. Though vocal in his complaints, he never stops trying to protect the Autobots from retaliation or eviction by the US government. He never lets his size, age, or limited abilities prevent him from doing his job and helping his comrades (see him standing up to Wheeljack and confronting Silas). And even when it seems like Optimus Prime is dead, an entire city has been leveled by the Decepticons, and Megatron has other major American cities in his cross-hairs; Fowler keeps a firm upper lip and does his best to verbally negotiate with the mad king Megatron has become. I find William Fowler to be a really great, interesting, and inspiring character. There is infinitely more to him than a great celebrity voice and random jokes. He is strong, he is loyal, he is dynamic, and by god is he brave. He is the human ally the Autobots both deserve and need.
Zoom Info
draqua: I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before all that much, but I really like the character of Special Agent William Fowler. Here’s a man who once had a proud history with the US military, but upon entering his twilight years and starting to soften up around the edges, he gets saddled with a group of monstrous, mechanical aliens. These beings, with the exception of Optimus, are hostile and condescending to him initially. Bulkhead even physically threatens Fowler, who has no means of defending himself against such force, at some points and Fowler’s still expected to independently keep them out of the public eye all while wrangling their very open conflicts with the Decepticons. Yet in spite of all this… Fowler never gives up the location of the Autobot base, even when under extremely painful torture via Starscream. He slowly builds a greater level of trust and friendship with Optimus Prime over the first half of S1. In S2, he bonds with Bulkhead (remember, the ‘Bot who initially wanted to leave Fowler for dead) through their shared past of being soldiers and inspires Bulkhead to come home even after extensive injury and poisoning. Though vocal in his complaints, he never stops trying to protect the Autobots from retaliation or eviction by the US government. He never lets his size, age, or limited abilities prevent him from doing his job and helping his comrades (see him standing up to Wheeljack and confronting Silas). And even when it seems like Optimus Prime is dead, an entire city has been leveled by the Decepticons, and Megatron has other major American cities in his cross-hairs; Fowler keeps a firm upper lip and does his best to verbally negotiate with the mad king Megatron has become. I find William Fowler to be a really great, interesting, and inspiring character. There is infinitely more to him than a great celebrity voice and random jokes. He is strong, he is loyal, he is dynamic, and by god is he brave. He is the human ally the Autobots both deserve and need.
Zoom Info
draqua: I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before all that much, but I really like the character of Special Agent William Fowler. Here’s a man who once had a proud history with the US military, but upon entering his twilight years and starting to soften up around the edges, he gets saddled with a group of monstrous, mechanical aliens. These beings, with the exception of Optimus, are hostile and condescending to him initially. Bulkhead even physically threatens Fowler, who has no means of defending himself against such force, at some points and Fowler’s still expected to independently keep them out of the public eye all while wrangling their very open conflicts with the Decepticons. Yet in spite of all this… Fowler never gives up the location of the Autobot base, even when under extremely painful torture via Starscream. He slowly builds a greater level of trust and friendship with Optimus Prime over the first half of S1. In S2, he bonds with Bulkhead (remember, the ‘Bot who initially wanted to leave Fowler for dead) through their shared past of being soldiers and inspires Bulkhead to come home even after extensive injury and poisoning. Though vocal in his complaints, he never stops trying to protect the Autobots from retaliation or eviction by the US government. He never lets his size, age, or limited abilities prevent him from doing his job and helping his comrades (see him standing up to Wheeljack and confronting Silas). And even when it seems like Optimus Prime is dead, an entire city has been leveled by the Decepticons, and Megatron has other major American cities in his cross-hairs; Fowler keeps a firm upper lip and does his best to verbally negotiate with the mad king Megatron has become. I find William Fowler to be a really great, interesting, and inspiring character. There is infinitely more to him than a great celebrity voice and random jokes. He is strong, he is loyal, he is dynamic, and by god is he brave. He is the human ally the Autobots both deserve and need.
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draqua:

I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before all that much, but I really like the character of Special Agent William Fowler.

Here’s a man who once had a proud history with the US military, but upon entering his twilight years and starting to soften up around the edges, he gets saddled with a group of monstrous, mechanical aliens. These beings, with the exception of Optimus, are hostile and condescending to him initially. Bulkhead even physically threatens Fowler, who has no means of defending himself against such force, at some points and Fowler’s still expected to independently keep them out of the public eye all while wrangling their very open conflicts with the Decepticons.

Yet in spite of all this… Fowler never gives up the location of the Autobot base, even when under extremely painful torture via Starscream. He slowly builds a greater level of trust and friendship with Optimus Prime over the first half of S1. In S2, he bonds with Bulkhead (remember, the ‘Bot who initially wanted to leave Fowler for dead) through their shared past of being soldiers and inspires Bulkhead to come home even after extensive injury and poisoning. Though vocal in his complaints, he never stops trying to protect the Autobots from retaliation or eviction by the US government. He never lets his size, age, or limited abilities prevent him from doing his job and helping his comrades (see him standing up to Wheeljack and confronting Silas). And even when it seems like Optimus Prime is dead, an entire city has been leveled by the Decepticons, and Megatron has other major American cities in his cross-hairs; Fowler keeps a firm upper lip and does his best to verbally negotiate with the mad king Megatron has become.

I find William Fowler to be a really great, interesting, and inspiring character. There is infinitely more to him than a great celebrity voice and random jokes. He is strong, he is loyal, he is dynamic, and by god is he brave. He is the human ally the Autobots both deserve and need.

Part III - Power over others is weakness disguised as strength.

ghostanswers:

The following is PART THREE, the third and final part (barring the finale of Beast Hunters or however long Starscream survives, I will probably write more later), of an extensive review of the interactions between Starscream and Megatron from Transformers Prime.

(Here are parts One and Two)

As always, this is not a shipping manifesto, it is an analysis of a codependent/narcissistic relationship with highly toxic elements. It will not be positive or supportive of “MegaStar” as consensual. Fair warning.

Content/Trigger Warnings- for physical, mental, emotional, domestic and sexual abuse.

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Thank you for writing the final part of this. All three parts explained exactly how and why Megatron’s treatment of Starscream is messed up. These parts also did a good job of explaining how and why the Autobots and the other Decepticon’s actions effected Starscream and some of his actions as well.