#implied dad Unicron

[raileurta]

I have daydreamed about this kind of edit for MONTHS but only now could I actually do it. It just fits so perfectly!!

I'm pretty proud of this and it took me 5:24 hrs to make. There were a few things I had to redo because of glitches/low quality but other than that this was a joy to make!

[tea-mew96]

I remember being wary about how Optimus Primal was going to be portrayed in ROTB. My main concern was that he was going to be a boring cutout, but I'm happy to say that I was proven wrong. Spoilers and analysis below cut

What makes ROTB Optimus Primal work for me is that he still possesses many of the traits I associate with the munky queen.

It's very easy to see with how he introduces Amaru and explains his history with the tribe that he is a caring and loving. You also see this in how much he tries to prevent killing Airazor, but makes the decision that it has to be done. He definitely doesn't appear happy about the decision either, which makes sense considering how many Maximals are implied to have already perished.

It's fascinating how he's the one having to tell Optimus Prime about allying with humans. Despite the fact that I'm sure the two Optimi have had about the same quality/length of leadership experience, Optimus Primal seems wiser beyond his years than Optimus Prime is. This could be partially explained by Apelinq having to quickly relinquish the title of Maximal leader to Primal in order to get the Transwarp Key away from Unicron and his minions, but I'm sure there's other factors at play.

Despite this gentle nature and wisdom, Optimus Primal is willing to go apeshit on the battlefield if need be (pun intended). That scene in the final fight where he uses the wrecking ball to bash Battletrap's head in is such a perfect moment of seeing Primal unleash his inner ferocity and I love it.

I know many were disappointed that Garry Chalk didn't get the role. While I would've liked that too, I'm equally as happy to see Ron Perlman get a second chance at voicing Optimus Primal because he nailed it this time. It seems to prove my hypothesis that his mid performance as Optimus Primal in POTP was less an actor problem and more a voice direction/writing problem.

TL;DR My munky queen/ape dad was done justice in ROTB and I couldn't be more relieved and happy about it.

[autobots-and-their-crazy-kids]

Reviewing Autobot Humans:

⭐ = Full Star 

✨ = Half Star 

Spike Witwicky, Carly Spencer and Chip Chase from The Transformers;

Each of these humans may have simple personalities (which is fair, since this cartoon was made in the 1980s), but each of them are smart and talented in their own fields. 

Spike and his dad are great at building things, while Carly specializes in electronics as well as chemistry and Chip is a computer genius. 

The original Autobot human allies were awesome and yet they’re sadly underrated and sometimes even forgotten. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for all of them! 

*

T-AI and Koji Onishi from Robots In Disguise;

T-AI was basically the human-looking robotic girl of Transformers before Sari from TFA made it cool. 

She’s a helpful hologram with a heart full of hope.

But she does have her sassy and snarky moments too. 

*Meanwhile, Koji is a bright and brave boy who teams up with the Autobots to get his genius dad back from Megatron, but his personality isn’t as memorable compared to Autobot humans from other Transformers media. 

He’s also able to see the good in Skybyte before the Autobots did and asks Skybyte to give his dad a present for his birthday. 

His love for his kidnapped parent convinced Skybyte to free Koji’s father from Megatron’s grasp. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ for T-AI 

⭐⭐⭐✨ for Koji 

*

The Children from Unicron Trilogy’s Armada; 

The personalities of the Armada kids are pretty generic and kinda boring, but it’s pretty badass that Alexis managed to help Starscream to change for the better. 

Alexis is the only human so far to convince a Decepticon to become an Autobot. 

And it makes sense that Starscream and Alexis get along considering that they both can be control freaks sometimes! XD 

⭐⭐ for Rad

⭐⭐⭐✨ for Alexis

⭐⭐ for Carlos 

⭐ for Billy

⭐ for Fred

*

Sari Sumdac from Transformers Animated;

Sari is a unique as well as interesting character with a quirky personality and plays a special role in the world of TFA. 

Sari spend most of her life isolated from the rest of the world in her dad’s building where he creates his inventions. Although her father loved her more then anything, he usually too busy to spend time with her, so he created non-sentient robots to educate, entertain and comfort her. Most kids around her age think she’s too weird and avoid her as well, so the Autobots basically became her first and only friends. 

Sari is also a cyborg. (However, TFA prefers to use the term ‘techno-organic’.) 

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨, I’d give her five, but her origins are never properly explained and I’m not a big fan of how her upgraded form looks... (Love her battle armor though...) 

*

Jack Darby, Raf Esquivel and Miko Nakadai from Transformers Prime; 

Jack is the one with the most common sense of the three and he is sometimes shown to act like a leader to them. But unfortunately most of it is wasted potential. His personality is pretty generic as well and all we know about his interests is that he likes motorcycles and girls. There was one episode where it’s implied that he likes camping and nature too, but it’s never brought up again. His single nurse mom has more personality then him. 

Raf is a genius yet a sweetheart. While Jack has little personality and Miko has way too much personality, Raf has the perfect amount of personality. He’s like a younger version of Chip from G1. I feel he should’ve been the one Optimus chose as an honorary Prime instead of Jack, cause Raf’s personality is quite similar to Orion’s. However, it does drive me crazy how he can understand Bumblebee and we never get a proper explanation... (It’s like Sari’s origins all over again!)

Miko is very different from Jack, but they share one thing in common: they both have wasted potential and lack proper character development. She keeps making reckless, irresponsible decisions that sometimes cause life-threatening problems and never gets properly scolded or punished by the Autobots for it. (Though to be fair, the Autobots should’ve made sure that she doesn’t keep sneaking through the groundbridge.) However, I will give her credit for her loyalty to her friends and taking responsibility for her actions. I honestly think she would’ve benefited more if she got Arcee for a partner instead of Bulkhead, cause Arcee is less of a pushover and might’ve helped Miko mature better. 

⭐⭐⭐ for Jack

⭐⭐⭐⭐ for Raf

⭐⭐✨ for Miko 

*

Russell Clay from Robots In Disguise (2015); 

He’s a nice kid, but unfortunately he suffers the same problem Jack Darby had: his single parent having a more interesting personality then him. 

⭐⭐

*

The Burns Family from Rescue Bots; 

Charlie is truly a legend with the patience of a saint, having to raise four kids. (Even though three of them are older, they still act like kids sometimes...) 

I don’t hate Kade, but he’s kind of a egotistic jerk sometimes and his appearance looks a bit off compared the character designs of the other main characters. 

Graham is a chill, mellow guy and a little less crazy then his siblings, but he doesn’t have a lot of personality compared to the rest of his family or his alien robot partner. 

Dani is pretty cool and is basically a more mature version of Miko, though she can also be hotheaded. 

Cody is basically the ‘Sari Sumdac’ of the Aligned Continuity. He’s a brave, kind and sometimes sassy kid that teaches giant alien robots about the human world and gets neglected by his busy family to do important things even though they love him. Without the cyborg plot twist. But Cody is also his own character. From the start of the show, he wished to be a hero just like the rest like his courageous family, so he could spend more time with them. 

⭐⭐⭐✨ for Charlie

⭐⭐ for Kade

⭐⭐ for Graham

⭐⭐✨ for Dani

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ for Cody

[deceitfulcharmer]

solivigante: *realizes that blurr was alive when sari used his body for parts*

deceitfulcharmer: D: you're right

solivigante: and like

solivigante: he wasn't greying or anything

solivigante: and saris seen a dead cybertronian, so she has to have known he was alive

solivigante: and yet

deceitfulcharmer: you can also see his spark when he's a cube

solivigante: mHM

solivigante: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/1e/d4/bc/1ed4bc455da4b77c529e31cbc27d0dcd.jpg

solivigante: LIKE)

solivigante: HES STILL ALIVE

solivigante: TALKING TO HER

deceitfulcharmer: damn it Sari, don't you know it's polite to wait until they're dead before scavenging someone for their parts

vxtum: She gets it from her dad :3c

deceitfulcharmer: I'M

solivigante: blocked

deceitfulcharmer: Megatron is convinced they're a family of uncivilised barbarians now.

vxtum: I enjoy that dark aspect of Isaac, man. That he stripped Megatron of his parts and 'organs' for reverse engineering

solivigante: they certainly dont help their own image

deceitfulcharmer: I also like the fact it's implied that most of his face went into Isaac's robotic experiments

vxtum: /Yes/

solivigante: that's where most of the uh, technology is

vxtum: Fuck's sake, he encounters an /alien/ robot, and what does he do? He starts opening Megatron's body up and exploring, experimenting, excavating.

solivigante: thats the scientist way though

vxtum: yeah, but more along the lines of /Scalpel/ xD

deceitfulcharmer: I have to wonder if he was in pain too, like, parts of his face that should not have been exposed were exposed

vxtum: I really, really want to push this headcanon that while Isaac has morality.. they get /blurred/ a lot when he's presented with the opportunity to learn something new; to create something new.

vxtum: He can easily trip and fall onto the dark side

deceitfulcharmer: yeeeess, and also how was he to know that head he found had been sentient beforehand? as far as he was concerned, it could have simply been a mindless machine

vxtum: And that Sari is possibly the only aspect of his life that keeps him humane

vxtum: Exactly! -grins-

vxtum: Oh man, all the things I'm sure Megatron doesn't want to explore too deep on

vxtum: All the things that /Isaac/ doesn't want him exploring too deeply on xD

vxtum: Fearing he'll be killed in response

deceitfulcharmer: If he ever found video logs of exactly what Isaac had done, though, he would be a whole new level of angry

vxtum: lmao EXACTLY

vxtum: Isaac frantically scrubbing his databases

deceitfulcharmer: I don't even think he knows what he looked like when he was in there

he could see his hand, but I'm not sure he could see a reflection of what was left of his face

vxtum: Worst part is that if he did see his reflection, he'd probably have to figure out how much was damage from his earth entry and impact.. and what was damage from Isaac's scientific cannibalism

vxtum: Fuck. I remembered that we wanted to give him a holoavatar so he could move around and manipulate his surroundings

vxtum: And now I'm remembering some of the fanart I found

deceitfulcharmer: yeees, god, that was the coolest plot idea

solivigante: that would have been cool holy shit

solivigante: just looming over sumdacs shoulder

vxtum: http://reverseengiineer-archived.tumblr.com/post/126500703750/

vxtum: Honestly, it's so.. frightening. That the entire city's technology are pieces from Megatron

solivigante: He's like AM

solivigante: Bits of technology surrounding the planet

deceitfulcharmer: imagine if he was able to gain control over them all, since they're pieces of him

vxtum: YES

vxtum: That's the frightening part about it

vxtum: Like, going TFP Unicron or something

vxtum: just on a smaller scale

deceitfulcharmer: I mean he was already able to project images of himself into TVs and an ATM at one point, so he's no stranger to this kinda stuff. It'd just be on a way larger scale than before

deceitfulcharmer: he has so many cool abilities I never get the chance to use ;-;

vxtum: -grins!- Man, I want him to do this. I want him to be this evil that rigs elections, plants false e-mails, cause mass confusion and restlessness in the cities, and no one can find him ('cause he's just a head hidden in Isaac's lab). Talk to world leaders and shit under his ailas

vxtum: When this gives him the fantastic new war strategy against the Autobots

vxtum: jacking him into the system, like a virus

deceitfulcharmer: Could be like that episode where he took over the factory except worse, so they'd have nowhere to hide

[knockout-starscream]

TFP Challenge Day 5.

As a writer of fan fiction I’ve made up a few Transformers OCs It actually hit me awhile back that all my Cybertronian OCs are femmes. Well mainly because most of them are love interests for Starscream or Knock Out depending on the story because not all but most of my fanfics are stand alone and have nothing to do with each other. And I’ve never RPed with any of them.

My first OC is call Failsafe she’s a seeker who came from the future back to the present to stop Unicron from being released in my story Transformers Failsafe and as you can guess from that title she’s the main character of the story. Her father was a Deceptacon but she became an Autobot after they took her in when her Dad Starscream went offline in the bad future. And she and Knock Out become close when she meets him after coming to the present.

I made up two OCs in my story Uprising the first one was Stargazer she was an Auralbot (hope I spelled that right.) during the war. Until the Deceptacon Axer ripped her wings off and shot her in the back twice before letting a building fall of her. Where she remained in stasis lock till after Cybertron was revived when Knock Out stumbled upon her by chance and he and Ratchet fixed her but do to the damage on her back couldn’t give her back her wings. So she transformers in to a lime green and yellow convertible. And she and Knock Out have romantic feelings for each other.

My other OC from Uprising is Battle Cry a Deceptacon seeker who has a quick temper and will hit first and ask questions later. She was captured, tortured and held prisoner by the Star Seekers right after the fall of Voss. But was set free when the prison ship she was on crashed on to Cybertron after the planet had been revived. And soon after she was captured by the Autobots but she and Starscream both formed a truce with them to help stop the Star Seekers. She and Starscream go from not liking each other to a classic love hate relationship to a full blown romance as the story goes on.

In another story I did call Meanwhile on Cybertron I gave Starscream another love interest a female seeker named Rocketgale who he met after changing sides. She came to his aid when he was being attacked by some bots he’d wronged as a Deceptacon and they ended up saving each other till the Autobots came to both their rescue. And the two seekers developed strong romantic feelings for each other.

In yet another Transformers fanfic I wrote Transformers Ultimate I made up my first human OC Shayna who joins the Autobot’s team when she witnessed a fight between a now defected Starscream and Six Shot and took pictures of the battle before fleeing for her life and is attacked and chased by Cons the next day only to be saved by the Autobots and then gives the photos to Agent Fowler and joins the team and becomes Knock Out’s human partner and makes friends with Starscream as well.

Also in Transformers Ultimate I mad up my second human OC and first and so far only male OC Spencer he’s actually one of the bad guys in the story he restarted Mech under the name New Mech and is actually Cylus’s bother. He worked with Sental, Lockdown and Arachnid. (Hope I spelled Sental right.) To get revenge on the other transformers for what happened to his bother. And is actually implied to be meaner then Cylus because this guy in one part almost kills Knock Out by trying to take him apart in a similar way to what his bother did to Breakdown only unlike what Cylus did with Breakdown he tell his men not to touch Knock Out optics but to leave his pain receptors on. Say “Why see what you can feel?” And the kicker is he already has all the information he needs about cybertronians and was only doing this to hurt Knock Out as revenge for Cylus.

My last OC so far is called Fire Wing and she is the main character in the sequel to Transformers Ultimate Fire Wing Rising. She’s a Predacon who Shockwave made using part of Starscream’s abnormal spark she escaped for his lab after he brought her online. Her beast mode is a Phoenix with awesome fire powers that she couldn’t control at first. Then joined the Autobots and she and Starscream fell in love after he helped her lean to fight in her bot mode and helped her figure out how to control her fire in her beast mode. Fire Wing doesn’t like violence and has a kind natcher. And she and Starscream from a very close and unbreakable bond.

And that’s all my OCs so far that I can think of and there will be many more to come.

[raileurta]

I just have this visceral image of Unicron carrying a half dead quintesson going over to a group of thousands of half-starved humans dropping it and saying "feast my children." Then they just eat that sucker alive like some pack of organic scraplets as the Decepticons and Autobots alike watch on in horror.

[raileurta]

I know your working on a lot of other stuff right now so feel free to take your time but I had to share this idea with you

In the fake dad au imagine if they explained the whole human thing as miko taking after her "mother"

And who are they saying that is?

Why the "mother" of all humanity of course.

after all with the fact a lifetime to a human is only a year to a cybertron mikos practically an infant and it only makes sense for her to blend in with the rest of "mothers" creations during such a vulnerable stage of life.

And of course megatron is absolutely crazy enough to claim the God of chaos as his baby mama just for bragging points.

It's good. 👋

This is just such a funny idea. Tfp Megs would low-key be crazy enough to do this.

I'm also just picturing Megatron and Miko snorting a line of human safe dark energon for a "family meeting" then just pleading their case for Unicron to go along with the bit.

--------------------------------------------------

Miko: Okay but like here me out, it would be really really funny?

Unicron: ...

Unicron: Valid argument parisite but the answer is still no.

Megatron: Huh.

Unicron: What you thought it would be that easy to convince me?

Megatron: After knowing this feral insect-

Miko: Not an insect!

Megatron: For a couple cycles now I truly did think it was going to be that easy.

Unicron:

Unicron: What's she done to you?

Megatron: Too much. Too much.

--------------------------------------------------

[raileurta]

Not a request but imagine an au where Tox-en has opposite effects on humans. They feel great, stronger, and healthier and it's not addictive. Fowler could have picked up that big tox-en stash himself and chuck it in the volcano himself, without any problems and without Bulkhead having to go through All That (the only downside is Miko wont get to kill someone in the next episode but it's ok, we can arrange something else for her)

Hmmm I wonder why? *looks at Unicron*

Yeah Miko won't get her infamous kill but with the power of drugs- I mean tox-en she will destroy the insecticon fleet!

[tea-mew96]

An Analysis of Armada Starscream’s Character Arc

So after reading @baebeyza‘s answer to an ask here, I decided I wanted to make a separate post sharing my view on some of the points made there, mainly the ones taking about Starscream’s character arc. Make sure to read that original post before going through this in order for this anything below to make sense. This is all my personal interpretation btw, so feel free to agree or disagree as much as you want. Also, spoilers for Transformers Armada.

For starters, I’m of the belief that Armada is a mess in regards to writing up until the Unicron Battles act of the show, but Starscream’s arc was arguably one of the better parts of Armada IMO. Plus he’s one of my fave characters in the show. Thus, I’m going to analyze and provide my perspective on some of the things mentioned in the original post. 

1.) The fight between Megatron and Starscream in “Rebellion”. If you thought the fight between these two in this episode felt contrived, that’s because in-universe it kinda was. Remember Sideways? He was manipulating both Megatron and Starscream throughout that entire episode in order to get those two to fight to the death. He was successful in getting the fight to happen, but there was no death of one of the bots like he had hoped would happen.

2.) Thrust and Megatron’s plan in “Sacrifice”. It’s true that Starscream had ownership of the Star Saber when the Decepticons finally got it their hands on it. That is, until Megatron had his Minicon Leader-1 trick him into attacking Demolisher with the sword in “Conspiracy”. The end-result was everyone agreeing that only Megatron should be allowed to wield the Star Saber, questioning Starscream’s competence. Ever since then, Megatron was the one in charge of the sword.

So why didn’t he want Starscream to have the sword? Simple: Megatron is an arrogant dick who is afraid of Starscream. Megatron sees Starscream’s confidence as a threat to his status as supreme Decepticon leader, and Starscream challenging him to that fight in “Rebellion” (despite his emotions being manipulated by Sideways in order to do it) is evidence of that fear being somewhat founded in Megatron’s eyes.

As for Thrust, he’s also quite arrogant, thinking of himself as the “best tactician”. Because of his perceived high-intelligence and ability to think of “great strategies”, Thrust believes that he’s better than any other Decepticon…including Starscream. The fact that someone so “below him” has the title of “second in command” doesn’t sit well with Thrust.

Basically, what you end up with are two arrogant people who either don’t like and/or fear Starscream.

The plan that Thrust makes is aimed to retrieve the Requiem Blaster, a powerful weapon which is currently back at the Autobot base. If they want a chance of breaking in, they’re going to have to lure as many Autobots as they can out of the base. In other words, they need a distraction. And because of their combined distaste for Starscream, Megatron and Thrust decide that he is the one that should be the distraction. I’m also guessing another reason to keep him in the dark was to keep the reaction as convincing to the Autobots as possible; sometimes being informed on the twist causes a less-convincing performance, and a convincing disguise was an important thing the plan needed in order for it to work. Thrust does imply that Megatron would have to give up the Star Saber for a time in order to ensure the retrival of the Requiem Blaster, which Megatron agrees to. Starscream only got the Star Saber in this situation because of that little tradeoff to make the plan work: distract the Autobots with the opportunity of getting the Star Saber back while the Decepticons invaded their base and grabbed the Requiem Blaster. And the mission does end up being a success.

This plan was definitely a gamble, as they could’ve easily lost the Star Saber and the chance to grab the Requiem Blaster, but it was one that worked in their favor, so all’s well that ends well. Who cares how Starscream feels about not being informed? Megatron and Thrust sure didn’t.

3.) Starscream, Alexis, and Sympathy

I’m also going to argue that while the messy writing can make it difficult to feel bad for Starscream, that doesn’t mean the potential to isn’t there. I personally have a lot of sympathy for him, even if his story wasn’t executed as well as it could’ve.

“Rebellion” and Thrust’s plan in “Sacrifice” are both driving forces for Starscream to join the Autobots, and a justifiable one IMO.

In “Rebellion”, Starscream gets beaten by Megatron for…no reason. Starscream followed Megatron’s orders exactly as he wanted. But because they lost the previous battle and Megatron can’t admit to being wrong, he blames the loss on Starscream anyway. Sideways says in-show that Megatron beating up Starscream for his own loss was absurd. And the abuse only stops when Demolisher blasts his way in and intervenes.

“Sacrifice” only furthers this mistreatment of Starscream, being used as a punching bag for the plan and getting abandoned without being informed about what was going to happen. This combined with the multiple times he’s been belittled by both Megatron and Thrust sends him over the edge, attacking everyone in the base when he gets back and eventually going to the Autobots for refuge and help to get revenge.

When Starscream arrives, the Autobots-especially Hot Shot-are reluctant to have a Decepticon join the folds so little after their dear friend Smokescreen almost dying by their hand. Hot Shot in particular is still hurt over Sideways’ betrayal. I’d argue those facts make for valid and understandable concerns, even if it results in some drama.

Regardless of their hesitance, almost everyone knows and agrees that having Starscream go back to the Decepticon base after attacking everyone there wasn’t going to end well for him. Thus, Optimus orders that they will let Starscream join their ranks (he’s a good dad).

Alexis was one of the first to suggest that Starscream join, and one of the first to attempt to get him to open up to cooperation with the team, probably because she saw potential in having him as an ally like Optimus did. Towards the end of the episode “Mars”, Alexis congratulates Starscream on a job well-done with getting the Minicon Firebot to join their side (praise ain’t something Starscream receives a lot of). Starscream scoffs and says he’s only on their side to defeat Megatron, but he leaves behind a moon rock, something that the kids had asked Jetfire and Starscream for earlier before going on a mission to Mars. I agree with Alexis in her conclusion that this is evidence of Starscream starting to change for the better. In the next episode “Crack”, the kids award Starscream for his nice gift by throwing him a surprise party and gifting him a chamois. What stands out to me about this scene is that Starscream has no idea how to react. He’s confused because he’s not used to receiving many positive words of praise from his former Decepticon peers, much less a present. 

He does push away help and positivity from the Autobots and the kids (to unintentionally hilarious degrees at times), but I think that’s partly due to the kind of impact his experiences with Megatron have had on his mind. He wants approval and acceptance, but once he starts getting it he rejects it. This is merely speculation from a psychological perspective, but I think Starscream has a hard time getting used to receiving kindness because whether consciously or subconsciously, he doesn’t believe he deserves it. The belittlement and mistreatment by Megatron has made him believe otherwise, and/or that every positive acknowledgement received always comes with a catch later on.

Yes, Starscream does return to the Decepticon fold later in “Crack” when Thrust convinces him that he has a better chance to get revenge on Megatron by coming back and conspiring with Thrust. But his short time with the Autobots and kids did impact him. He was extremely hesitant to fire the Hydra Cannon at Earth in “Threaten” and “Crisis” (even though he fires the cannon anyway after said hesitation), regretted the death of Optimus in “Remorse”, saved the kids from being killed by the Requiem Blaster (now in the hands of Thrust) in “Drift”,  and stays behind to help Alexis retrieve her necklace safely (made from the moon rock Starscream gave the kids) in “Portent”. Starscream shows even after leaving that he has started to learn a little bit about compassion.

During the show, Starscream becomes a person who isn’t quite sure whom he should side with, as his personal goals contradict the overall goals of both sides. And how does his story end? He gets killed by Unicron, trying to convince Megatron (technically Galvatron now, but whatever) that Unicron is a real threat and that he needs to ally with Optimus and his team to defeat him. And his final words? Telling Megatron that he was a dick to him and that Optimus treated him better in that short time period than Megatron ever did.

Look, I get it. Armada’s a mess of storytelling. I wish there was more build up to Starscream defecting to the Autobots and coming back to the Decepticon fold. But we still got a pretty descent arc in the end, even if it could’ve been done better. I can’t make anyone feel sympathy for Starscream, but I refuse to deny that his story didn’t impact me or many others.

Starscream’s arc to me is the story of an abused bot trying to find his place in the world and not truly finding it in the end. It’s the story of a bot who dedicated every fiber of his being to serving his leader and getting nothing but shit in return. I feel bad for Starscream; he deserved so, so much better than what he got.

The thing about that chamois scene is that it had a longer impact on Starscream than the episode initially implied, as I mentioned in the examples above. I’m sure exchanging of gifts probably won’t mean much to someone who is used to getting and giving them. But to a bot who’s been abused by Megatron like Starscream was? That’s a fucking revelation. That’s new. That challenges his viewpoint of the world around him. If it didn’t, he wouldn’t have had second thoughts about firing the Hydra Cannon. He wouldn’t of saved the kids, he wouldn’t have helped Alexis with the necklace. He wouldn’t of helped Optimus convince Megatron to join forces and defeat Unicron.

Alexis was a firm believer that Starscream could be a better person and by extension get onto a path of recovery by showing him small acts of compassion and kindness at a time and celebrating those small victories of improvement. She wanted to be his friend because she recognized the potential he had. She recognized that Starscream needed support, needed a friend, deserved respect. That’s something he never got much of if any during his times as a Decepticon. 

TL;DR Starscream’s character arc in Armada ain’t perfect but it’s still one of the best stories in the show that can impact you and I will forever stan him.