#aligned arcee

[pluralsword]

just noticed Prime Arcee's optics are literally cyan, pink, and white. no words. if we can figure out how to paint RED Arcee's optics like this we'd be so happy. outside of the lovely coincidence with the trans flag we wonder if this was meant to homage her g1 frame's deco

[askarcanamagnus]

the arcee singularity is happening again & its happening in the fucking mainline

film rotb arcee is trans by Arcee Singularity logic end of discussion lol (also sincere on the trans iterations of Arcees character &/or physical aesthetic stuff are across Arcees now, starting w/ TR & comic crossovers)

[steakcreature]

Creatures. I hope nothing bad happens to one of them.

[autism-autobot]

How I think each autobot would react to seeing rain for the first time:

Optimus Prime: Just stares in awestruck wonder.

Ratchet: Is interested but keeps a good distance since it is a falling substance that he doesn't know the affects of.

Bumblebee: Immediately tries to run into it to play, but gets stopped by a very cautious Ratchet.

Bulkhead: Thinks to himself "Hi, what the f*ck is this?" but doesn't say it out loud to save Bumblebee's small audio receptors.

Arcee: Same as Bulkhead but blurts the above phrase out loud for all to hear.

Smokescreen: Same as Bumblebee, but is too fast for Ratchet to catch.

Wheeljack: Puts an empty bucket out to catch some rain water to run some experiments with.

Ultra Magnus: Forces everyone else to remain inside until he can make sure it poses no threat to them.

Heatwave: Just says "What the scrap?" before Blades promptly shushes him to save Cody's ears.

Blades: Gets scared because surely Dani will make him fly in it.

Boulder: Same as Optimus and then goes to make a bot-sized umbrella so he and Graham can go for walks in the rain.

Chase: Looks up safety regulations for rainy weather and does research on the cause of rain.

Blurr: Goes out racing only for him to spin out on a turn with a big puddle.

Salvage: Puts out all of the empty containers he can find and watches them all fill up.

Quickshadow: Just rolls her optics and goes about her own business.

Hightide: Says "OH GREAT SO THERE'S WATER UP THERE NOW TOO!"

Sideswipe: Same as Quickshadow but might stomp around in puddles to piss off Strongarm.

Strongarm: Same as Chase but ask Bumblebee how and why it is raining.

Grimlock: Tries punching raindrops falling from the sky and later stomps in puddles with Sideswipe but only because he thinks it's fun.

Drift: Same as Quickshadow and finds rain to be a general nuisance.

Fixit: Does tons of research on rain and it's potential affects on both bots and humans.

Jetstorm: Wants to play in the rain but listens to Drift and seeks shelter.

Slipstream: Same as Optimus but also follows Drift to seek shelter.

[transingthoseformers]

Okay, cause see, now I have QUESTIONS.

Does Cybertron have schools, or high schools? Do they have societal norms? Do they have popular kids, bigoted people? Does homophobia even exist there? Do they think there's Cybertron versions of traditional people that would probably call Mirage or Bumblebee their own version of slurs for having human partners??

And while we're on this topic, does anyone ever question if Cybertron has their own versions of mental health disorders we have on Earth? How do they treat them?? Do they even treat them????? Or is it just non-existent because they're robots? But they have the compacity to feel love and shit like that, but there's no such thing as Depression, Anxiety or BPD over there?

Like what are the societal norms over there? What are the class types over there? Because we all know Mirage was definitely some rich kid but what about Bumblebee?? And Optimus? And my girl Arcee?? Like what were their lives before all of this??

LIKE THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED.

You also have to account for the war and how badly that's fucked everything up

Because

From everything I've seen in various continuities:

There are academies and stuff

Bigoted people do seem to exist on Cybertron, though often in unfamiliar ways

Homophobia does not seem to exist in say IDW, (iicr), can't say much for other continuities but I personally like to think homophobia would be rare to nonexistent on Cybertron

(though, in IDW it seems to be rare to marry and considering idw Sentinel there might be a Thing against other bots having life partners in general. Or sentinel might just be the dick in the room and it's rare rare to hate on others having romantic relationships on Cybertron)

I don't think they'd have existing slurs for organic x mech relationships as it's just That Plain Old Unfamiliar, but I can see mecha getting nasty about it. Especially given how common anti organic sentiments are in various continuities

Cybertronians 200% have mental health conditions, we see it in a decent amount of continuities (whether it's meant to be a ✨character quirk✨ or they actually want to talk about mental health or if it's The Latest Haha Joke; Please Laugh™️ /s)

How they treat them seems to vary across continuity because I think they just... Don't in some continuities, and that never goes down well. At least in IDW we can tell there's a focus in psychology and these guys have at least one competent therapist. But in IDW there are Many Horrors and it's very willing to show us them.

We know in Aligned there was a caste system before the war, which went not well. We see in IDW there's Functionism which dictates social class by altmode. In tfa there's Whatever The Fuck Is Going On with civilian frames v Warframes. The role of Prime is usually a big deal (though it's superseded by Magnus in tfa) (the matrix of leadership is often involved, but not always). Though everything usually goes to shit once the war starts

We don't know enough about Knightverse to fully place Optimus's origins (iicr), but he just seems a lot younger and less big of a deal than some other iterations of him so I have a few ideas what he Wasn't

I can definitely consult tfwiki for more specifics on Knightverse lore

[healix17]

Choose wisely

[melishade]

Attack on Prime Chapter 90: The Big Twist

Spoilers ahead if you haven't read the chapter. I recommend that you do if you haven't.

So.....

let’s talk about Primus. Eh?

So looking back on the Transformers franchise as a whole, Primus himself isn't really capitalized on. In a few of the shows, he’s only name-dropped or doesn’t even exist like TFA. In shows like TFP and the book the Covenant of Primus, he is alluded to and even given a brief backstory of his and Unicron’s origins before shifting gears to the Primes and their dynamics, but never makes an on screen appearance. He’s shown as the core and that’s it. We don’t know what he looks like in the Aligned Continuity. I think there is a toy out for him, but it was never said to be official. The only Transformers content that really explores on Primus is the IDW comics. Where Primus has aligned himself with three other transformer deities, but one of them got really angry with him for some reason and as punishment, got rid of his god powers, made everyone forget ever knowing him after he so much as left the room. (Look my info on IDW is spotty. I never got the chance to read the comics in full. Although god being a therapist is hilarious).

Besides IDW, there aren’t many interpretations or characterizations of Primus, which is a damn shame, considering we’ve always seen Unicron in almost all Transformers iterations. So it was something that I’ve always wanted to take a crack at: putting my own spin on the creator of the Transformers. I wanted to bring him into Attack on Prime, but before the AOT story was completed, I had no clue how to bring Primus into the story without it sounding so contrived and out of nowhere. I couldn’t have him pop out in the sky, tell everyone to stop fighting, and then have him leave, confusing everyone. It wouldn’t have made sense. In fact, I was all but ready to scrap the idea for AOP…until the Paths chapters dropped in the AOT manga, and I realized:

And I immediately got to work on how to incorporate Primus into the story while also making it make sense. Which took a while. I’ve worked on multiple rewrites of Primus’ character and his interactions with Eren and Zeke before creating the final draft for the chapter. I started my brainstorming of my characterization of Primus in late 2019 with the document titled RELGN 132 (which was the title of a religion course I took at UCLA, so fairly on the nose). So yeah, I’ve been working on it for 4+ years.

But first let’s talk about the multiple lead up I’ve had up until this point, because again, I’m meticulous with my foreshadowing. Chapter of foreshadowing include:

Chapter 45 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 72 Chapter 77 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 86

(And a bunch of other additional chapter do have foreshadowing and there is a small inkling of Primus' presence, and I might explain that later, but I want to see if people can piece it together by re-reading the chapter. If not, then I'll probably just say it outright, IDK.)

But, some moments might’ve been noticeable, some not so much. I knew that I didn’t want Primus’ introduction in the Paths to feel out of nowhere. Eren and Zeke are talking and suddenly this guy just pops out of nowhere. I needed him to be alluded to, which is where the 4th notebook and Pieck come in, oh and also Unicron. Well, at least Unicron's powerset.

In the Covenant of Primus, Primus and Unicron are said to come from the same being: The One, who split apart due to its own internal conflict regarding the state of the universe. If Primus and Unicron come from the same being, they must have the same abilities. Or similar abilities at least. One of the abilities should include: using their blood to communicate with others who carry their blood. Dark energon flows through Unicron while energon flows through Primus. Through energon, all Cybertronians are connected and return to the place they spawned from after their death, regardless of how good or bad their intentions were. If this concept can apply to Cybertronian, surely it could apply to titan shifters, who’s powers even defy death itself on some level. Once all the titan shifters, or at least the Founder, had access to energon, Primus had access to them, and would have found a way to enter the Paths, either through his own power or Vector’s help, since the Paths operate outside of space time. (Primus himself will provide a brief explanation in the Paths II. And the In Between OVA that I keep bringing up, is simply AOP from Primus' perspective. God I am so happy I can say that now!)

But because the Paths operate outside of space and time and the fact that the full powers of the Founder hadn't been utilized on the flow of time, Primus lacked the tools he needs to figure out what the hell was going on or even eliminate the power of the titans. He is flung through the memories and lives of each titan shifter; however, some memories are blocked from him and he doesn’t know why. And because of Primus lack of control, he can’t properly interact with the world around him. He can only interact with other titan shifters as a distorted image. A shadow. He can’t give so much information to Kruger and Pieck. He can only provide images, hidden clues because of the barrier between them. And Primus wants to learn about the truth of the AOT world, so he sees through their eyes and listens to their stories. Even when Kruger and Pieck interact with Primus and even touch him, they are met with a warm, gentle, touch of comfort. Something to show that he is other worldly. In addition to that, the allusion to the overlap of voices, how Primus knows about even that happened thousands of years into the past, his glowing blue eyes, how he forces Kruger to feel the pain and suffering of the people he turned into titans, how Primus had called Megatron and Arcee by name before asking Pieck to believe in Optimus, proclaiming he would be the one to end the power of the titans. The longer Primus is on screen as the shadow, the more ‘in your face’ the information becomes. If you haven’t pieced together the shadow is Primus, then at the very least, you know that the shadow is Cybertronian.

Other pieces of information that are not so subtle, is actually the local therapist Rung in the Cybertron OVA. If you know your transformers lore, then you should know that Rung is Primus. That was one of the obvious bits of information that I was incorporating here. Some of the interactions that Rung has includes him not batting an eye when Starscream lashes out at him and catches the energon cube with such ease that he completely forgets to react the way a normal person would. The scene that Rung had alone where he looks at the Jackhammer in a remorse manner, almost as if he knows what’s going to happen but can’t do anything about it. Finally, when Rung places a comforting hand on Arcee, Arcee notes that the hand feels warm and comforting, and she feels a swell of emotions. Ya know, like every other interaction he’s had with humans on screen. Not to mention that Rung recommended that Arcee leave the planet on purpose because of prior knowledge of the AOT world because I’ve hinted at the fact that Primus in the story right now is from a time where the events of AOT haven’t happened yet. Right before he sends Optimus (Of course, this will be explain more cohesively within the In between OVA, which is going to focus on Primus and what’s he’s been doing throughout the AOP story).

More subtle bits of information when foreshadowing Primus’ role in the story is the drawing of Optimus Prime’s holoform, or rather Primus, from the 4th notebook. The drawing is led to believe and cement the fact that the Attack Titan can see into the future. Which is true, Primus’ appearance in the story is a future event, however, I have to make a note that what they are looking at is not Optimus. It’s Primus wearing Optimus’ face. So I had to have someone who would take notice of the way that Primus is wearing Optimus’ face. Erwin had to be the observation because he’s the only human that has been known to notice those subtle details and connections. He of course brought this up with Megatron and Megatron does notice the difference. But the drawing is not Megatron’s concern, assuming that someone trying to interpret someone from memory is going to get a few details wrong. Also, they have other priorities to take care of besides a drawing from the past. Megatron and ultimately Erwin let it go, but I’m letting the audience know, something is clearly up. Adding on top of that, Kruger has never met Optimus, but he had seen the shadow’s face before dying. That should be another indicator that it’s not Optimus. It’s the shadow. It’s Primus.

Finally, the more subtle indication of Primus’ presence in the story is the conversation that Eren and Kenshin had about the existence of gods in general. While Kenshin believes that god exists, Eren does not. He critiques god and believe god to be hypocritical while Kenshin believes that god cares and wants the creation to live freely. It’s supposed to be an engaging conversation while also hinting at the fact that Eren’s definitely going to talk to a deity with his mentality and future visions and get the crap kicked out of him.

I’m certain that I missed something but what I’ve wanted to say but the foreshadowing of Primus is there, and I wanted it to be clear. However, Primus’ characterization is something I wanted to discuss for a long time too. Again, we don’t know much about Primus’ character besides Rung, and I didn’t want him to be a stoic deity. That’s boring. I wanted to have some fun. I wanted Primus to be the complete opposite of Unicron. While Unicron is haughty and prideful, Primus is kind and humble. While Unicron loathes the idea of existence and wants death and destruction, Primus believes in life and creation. Unicron believes that everything is beneath him while Primus sees the value of even the smallest living thing. Unicron believes in working alone, and that he is the most powerful being. No one else should have his power. Primus believes in cooperation, unity, and sharing his power. Unicron wants to destroy the universe, Primus wants to be a part of it.

With that in mind, I was able to write a characterization of Primus: a gentle, kind being that cares deeply for the lives of others that may or may not even be his own. Someone who gets excited at the prospect of learning new things about new beings, someone who mourns the loss of life, and someone who gets angry at the prospect of someone wanting to take that life away. Someone who genuinely tries to understand the individual and their experiences in order to truly understand the meaning of life.

However, there is a fatal flaw to Primus. People I've talked with in the transformers fandom, myself included, have criticized Primus for his own inaction during the war. He gave the Matrix to Optimus, sure, but he did nothing to stop the War in its tracks or even stop the caste system from taking place. Why didn’t he help out Megatron and his people? Why didn’t he stop Megatron when he had gone insane? Why did he make Optimus shoulder all his responsibilities twice? Why does Primus not step in when there are life-threatening events that could destroy the universe? The very thing he values and wants to be part of? It’s very simple: Primus is an immortal deity, with powers to see beyond the veil of time and defy reality if he wanted to but chooses not to based on the safety of the whole universe and every living creature. A personal theory I've come up with is the Unicron prophecy in TFP. Unicron was set to reawaken on Earth, but Cybertron doesn’t know about Earth until the war happens. Sure, if the war didn’t happen, the caste system could have been fixed and Cybertron could have been a better place to live, but Unicron would have awakened with no one to stop him and would have destroyed the whole universe, Cybertron included. It’s an example of Primus trying to see the bigger picture and that’s where his flaw lies. When seeing the bigger picture, he ignores the sufferings of mortals who lead very limited lives compared to him. Primus has all the time in the universe to figure everything out, but not Cybertron, and not everyone else. His purpose even if Cybertron is destroyed is to battle Unicron once more. It’s an endless cycle. But Primus ends up missing the point that he wants to understand. There’s a quote from Steven Universe’s character Sapphire that encapsulates this perfectly:

“I keep looking into the future when all of this has already been solved, as if it doesn’t matter how you feel in the present. No wonder you think I don’t care.”

The meaning of life to a mortal is vastly different to that of an immortal. As a result, Primus will never fully understand them and can’t be part of the universe like he wants to. He cannot live and die like they can. But even so, he still tries to, and that’s what makes him all the more understanding. This is what I want to encapsulate for my characterization of Primus in AOP. Now he has to confront two titan shifters with their own flaws and failings: one that wishes to die, and one that wishes to destroy. And he is not happy with either of them trying to play god out of selfishness.

(There's other things that I want to discuss, like Primus' design and other actions within the story, but I think I'll take care of that tomorrow. Still if you haven't, please leave a comment. That would be greatly appreciated. And I encourage you to read back through AOP to find those clues of Primus' presence.

Not to mention, chapter 45 isn't Primus' first appearance.)

[paradimeart]

Hi, can you draw Callisto in your style please?

Oh, I'm curious too. Do you take shipping requests? Well, not this character I'm requesting for a ship...

funny enough i have an oc named callisto too! (not tf related though). its a good name hehe also no i do not take ship requests

[favesgrave]

this is my real tfp tier list, i was lying before

[fembot-prompts]

Prompt III

Prime;

Arcee and Airachnid;

invitation

[wipbigbang]

WIP BIG BANG SIGN-UPS ARE LIVE!

The 2024 round of WIP Big Bang is now open for sign-ups! Any fandom is welcome, as long as the fic is 500 completed so far and will be at least 7,500 words upon its finishing. Signing up is easy: just fill out the form linked below after you read the FAQ and take a look at the schedule.

[pluralsword]

[askvectorprime]

What are your favorite MacGuffins to use, if any?

Dear MacGuffin Monitor,

The Magnetically Confined Gravitational Fuzzball Network, or MacGuffin, was a hybrid of Cybertronian and Earth technology. An artificially produced micro-singularity, the MacGuffin would have revolutionized energy generation, particle research, and—unfortunately—weapons technology.

It was that last use case which attracted the attention of Silas and MECH, who stole it from the facility it was stored in. Agent Fowler requested the aid of the Autobots in getting it back. The mission was especially taxing for Ratchet, as he had originally helped develop the MacGuffin alongside Huffer and Fallback, who had both perished not long after—he was plagued throughout with flashbacks to their time together, usually at the worst possible moments. He almost broke down completely when a stray blast of gunfire sent the MacGuffin into meltdown, forcing him into a dilemma: destroy the MacGuffin and lose the last remnants of his friends, or let it unravel into a miniature black hole.

He only recovered with the aid of Jack, Miko, and Raf, who reminded him (over the radio, from the Autobot base, I hasten to add; the children had fortunately not stowed away on this mission) that even if Ratchet's friends were gone, his memories of them kept their sparks alive.

Ratchet managed to destroy the MacGuffin at just the last second, and although Silas got away, many MECH soldiers were arrested. The mission, although not completely successful, was still complete. And Ratchet reluctantly agreed with Arcee and Bumblebee that he had a new family, and a new home to protect.

[inksmellsnice]

Title: Answers in the Aftermath Rating: Teens and Up Audiences Words: 1591 Pairings: Bulkhead/Arcee Summary: “How are you handling this so well?” Arcee’s voice was trembling, her form slumping further and her arms shaking. Even with her back turned to him, it was obvious she was trying not to break down, and physical exhaustion had little to do with it. “Does it start to numb after a while? Do you lose a few dozen loved ones and then you can handle it?”

Author's Note: oh yeah i never posted my transformers rarepair fanzine contribution did i woops

Read it @ AO3

[autism-autobot]

Bumblebee: *gets voicebox back*

Bumblebee: *say an entire paragraph to Megatron's face about how he'll pay for what he's done*

Also Bumblebee: *doesn't figure out he got his voice back until Arcee and Ratchet point it out*

[transingthoseformers]

I kinda realized one of the asthetic choices in prime, by making the energon blue in aligned continuities vs pink in G1 is that Arcee is always blood colored. And in Prime the Autobots, especially OP have blood colored eyes. The human's miss it but Arcee is threat colored to other cybertronians.

Which gives me the vibe of why Megatron uses red paint for the arena. One cultural significance to the Kaonian arena gladiatorial culture and two blood/energon won't obscure the designs. The red will in fact contrast nicely.

But when he's out of the arena in the actual revolution? He paints the designs in the ancient Kaonian Warlord way, using the blood of his enemies. Soundwave is quietly amused.

YEP😁, Arcee's always been cool and tfp solidifies this

I adore how tfp has accidentally given the autobots and energon cool associations, and this is why it's fun to see the autobots through the eyes of Decepticons and Neutrals. Energon has so much fun symbolism with life and death, and Arcee is an amazing example.

The reasoning behind the red paint makes sense, and god him painting intricate designs in actual lifeblood energon has gotta be beautiful and is a lovely inversion of his past colors (esp if this is after his optics have been changed out for red)