#up there in trans arcee story titles with transformers

[quetzalpapalotl]

hey barbie will you tell me about arcee? i only know her from transformers prime and the occasional screencap <3 🌸🦋

Yes!!! I always want to talk about Arcee, and I mean IDW1 Arcee, which I assume is the one you’re talking about. She is great, she is the best character in IDW1. So since you know nothing about her, let me give you the rundown of her character. Keep in one that the stuff with her during phase 1 is, uh, not good, but as of phase 2 when she became a character in John Barber stories she was greatly expanded upon and recontextualized.

Ok so, she is old as dirt, like over 10 million years old. She was forged male in a time where Cybertron was a bunch of scattered tribes and her and her twin brother Galvatron where enslaved gladiators to a Prime (which seemed to just be a title for a tribal leader at this point) who had to play blood sports to eat. This is going to leave one with a lot fucking issues, but she was really good at it. But then Megatronus (later Prime) shows up and frees them and Arcee and Galvatron join the 13 Primes in uniting Cybertron.

Things seem like they’re going to be fine, but Arcee is not so sure. Then the 13 Primes decide to spread the Cybertronian civilization across the universe, which is called colonization, which is a bad thing. When Arcee realizes what she’s part of she feels like shit about it. Then the 13 Primes have drama and break up, some of them die, some of them fuck up, Cybertron falls into chaos in what’s called the First Civil War until Galvatron’s new bestie, Nova, shows up and unites Cybertron again.

While Arcee is trans we don’t know when exactly she started to realize that a male identity wasn’t how she felt on her spark, but we do know that is something she struggled with. I don’t think this is helped by the fact that at some point people Cybertron kinda… forgot about gender, so everyone was just male by default (not in the colonies, but by this point Cybertron had lost contact with them). So not only is she seen as something she isn’t, the thing that she is something people have lost any frame of reference for even though Arcee knew people like her before. This must be extremely alienating. Add to that that Arcee explains that she has always have trouble connecting with people (because Autism), so the poor girl must have felt very, very alone.

Arcee ends up volunteering to have some kind of gender affirming surgery with this mad scientist called Jhiaxus, who then just does malpractice on her, doesn’t provide proper aftercare and is seemingly disappointed that Arcee doesn’t fir his idea of what a female Cybertronian should be. This sort of breaks Arcee and turns the thing that she’s best at (murder) on Jhiaxus. But Jhiaxus leaves with Nova Prime and Galvatron in yet another expansionist mission and disappear, so Arcee is left trying to find traces of Galvatron across the galaxy and getting rid of his creations.

After the Autobot-Decepticon civil war broke out, Arcee seems to be allied with the Autobots (but we are later left to understand she never joined proper), which makes sense as the Decepticon ideology of mechanical superiority is a sore spot for her. But she’s mainly focused on tracking down Jhiaxus. At some point she meets fellow trans woman, Anode, who says she can help her, but Anode disappears before she can get any real support. Which also doesn’t help her mental state, but at least know she’s sure none of the stuff with Jhiaxus was her fault and is more eager than ever to kill him and will kill everyone that gets in her way.

I think that Arcee is justified in everything she’s ever done. But apparently the Autobots don’t agree with me, they see Arcee as some weirdo, blood thirsty murderer that went crazy because of Jhiaxus, so they put her in jail, and later free her because they need their help. She eventually manages to finally catch Jhiaxus and because of plot reasons, he’s in a state of undead where Arce gets to kill him over and over and over again. This was a very therapeutic experience that allowed her to think about stuff and clear her had.

So after the war ends and Bumblebee and co. are having trouble maintaining the harmony between the Autobots, Decepticons and neutrals on Cybertron, Arcee has now come to the conclusion that a better world must be possible, so she tries to work towards that even if the only thing she really understands is violence. Arcee seems to hate herself and her own race for being like this,  she thinks that whatever world they create won’t have a place for her, that her fate is to die in a battlefield, but still she tries, because it’s what must be done.

At first she works under Prowl because he makes sense for her, until she realizes he sucks. She also tries to connect with Sideswipe because she thinks they’re similar, but Sideswipe keeps denying any closeness because he wants to consider himself better than her. Arcee has internalized the idea that things like friendship are just nor for her, but the truth is that she does crave connection to people, but she struggles with it because she’s socially awkward, doesn’t really get how socialization works and everyone is stuck with the idea of her as a crazy murder lady and keep denying her any interiority.

The only person that seems to get her is Galvatron, who is causing trouble again after coming back and almost ending the universe twice. Like a good brother who was with you during your formative years he does understand Arcee but that doesn’t mean he sympathizes with her and uses his knowledge to ger under her skin and manipulate her. Imagine only being understood by the worst person alive, that sucks. She will later let Optimus kill him and have conflicted feelings over it.

Optimus, at least, does give Arcee a chance and seems to like her. Arcee is not impressed by him because again, she’s old as fuck, she knew the original Primes, but OP seems to appreciate this. Arcee ends up becoming sort of his right hand woman and seems to stick with him both because she’s still trying to help create a better world and also to keep an eye on him since OP is doing a lot of questionable stuff that rings a bell on her head. Which includes using his Prime clout to get a bunch of wide-eyed colonists (by this point, they have made contact with the old colonies again btw) to join him.

One of those people being Aileron, a very sweet girl who grew up with idealized stories about the Primes and has no context of what war is actually like and will have to face reality. Despite everything Aileron matures a lot and is able to keep her head and see things from a different perspective. She doesn’t see Arcee as a crazy murder lady because to Aileron all the veterans are messed up, and honestly Arcee probably looks better than average since she has been putting a lot of work in changing her ways and her straightforwardness allows her to not get caught up in the same things other people do.

So Aileron and Arcee bond, Aileron shows Arcee a lot of sympathy when Arcee is upset because Sideswipe is in critical condition, and she’s not intimidated by Arcee or the idea that she’s crazy. Eventually Sideswipe dies but before that he does apologize to Arcee and thanks her for being there for him. Arcee is sad but also happy that he could make peace before the end, which allows her to get more at peace with herself. Aileron is there to help her and she will keep insisting she’s there to catch Arcee. When Arcee finally internalizes the idea that she’s not alone, she kisses Aileron and they become a couple.

Then Unicron shows up, who turns out to be a creation of a scientist from the planet in that first colonization expedition Arcee took place in. He’s here to eat all Cybertronian colonies. It seems that maybe is better if he kills them all, after all Cybertronians seems to be stuck on a never-ending cycle of violence and they’re all here because of it. Arcee thinks that she herself does deserve to die.

When it comes to either Optimus or Arcee to sacrifice themselves to activate the thing they need to stop Unicron, Optimus tells Arcee to go, while he’s stuck as a symbol of war, Arcee has managed to move past that and she has someone to return to. Optimus dies to bury the legacy of Primes with him so the Transformers can move on. Arcee, who has been there since the beginning and spent most of her life knowing nothing but violence, proves that change is possible and ends the continuity teaching about new generations about the importance of trying and having hope in the future. She is happy.

I love her, she’s better than everyone else. I would die for her. Do you understand me now, Leo?

#quetzal rambles tf

[earthstellar]

INTERVIEW: Transformers lore and characters as discussed with my 74 year old mother

Backstory: I talk about fandom stuff a lot with my mom (she’s one of the original Star Trek fangirls so she knows her fandom shit lmao) and recently I’ve been discussing Transformers with her. 

Me and my mom are very open with each other, and we have some interesting fandom conversations. 

Here are some lines from a recent call with her that I thought might be interesting, regarding Transformers stuff and especially some interesting elderly person perspective on Ratchet. There’s also some talk of the theology in Transformers lore, including Drift and Spectralism, and a bunch of other stuff too.

All conversations transcribed from a recent Skype call, with my mom’s permission.

M is my mom, Me is just me-- So that you can tell who’s talking, lol. When other real people are mentioned, their names are redacted and replaced with an X for privacy. 

Getting Started:

Me: Okay, there are a lot of younger fans for Transformers who might be interested in this kind of discussion, but I don’t see a lot of these conversations saved and shared anywhere, so if you don't mind I want to share some of your reactions to learning about Transformers stuff. 

M: That’s okay, very professional of you to ask! The internet is a job now, I guess. I’m being interviewed, fancy. 

On Ratchet’s Age/Health and older people in media:

Me: Ratchet’s the medic, he’s an old guy. Older than a lot of the other bots. In the comics (MTMTE/LL) he has a chronic illness and he eventually passes away from either that or complications related to it, although we don’t see it happen on the page. It made everyone sad; He’s a fan favourite. 

M: I know how that feels, getting old and dying! I had years of thyroid symptoms before they had to take it out, I had endometriosis and they told me I couldn't have you, it’s an unsure thing. Now I’ve had skin cancers removed, I have too much potassium in my blood, I have fibromyalgia. I never expected to live this long. 

Everyone is really just guessing at health stuff. It’s ironic that the doctor couldn’t diagnose himself, but I think he probably knew what was wrong and couldn't bring himself to accept it. Old people might accept that we can’t do some things any more but we tend to be depressed about it. Nobody really copes with it very well, you know X had a stroke and now she’s aphasic, can’t speak anymore, can’t read anymore, and she used to be a nurse. She’s older than I am, but it’s sad. She’s so smart and clever, and we’re just old. It’s what happens. 

I bet Ratchet was scared. As a doctor, he’d know what can happen when you get old and decrepit. I think he was in denial, a lot of old guys seem to be like that. 

Me: He was the medical lead on their ship, the Lost Light. I think you’re right and he wanted to be functional for as long as possible; He wants to be helpful and his job is his life. It would be hard for him; He struggles with retirement in the comics. 

M: Sounds about right. I’m old as hell and I still work! Although that’s mostly because we all need money to live, and not so much because anybody wants to have a job at this age, but still. If he liked his job, he wouldn’t want to be pushed out. I loved working at the park; When I had to quit, it was devastating, but I didn’t really have a choice. 

By the way, the audiobooks you sent me for X have really made her happy, she can read again, sort of! So thanks for that.

Me: I’m glad the audiobooks I sent you helped!

M: They have, you’re a life saver! 

Me: I’m just glad they’re useful for her! 

I think it’s interesting that his age is a part of his character in terms of personality and story arc; Do you enjoy seeing older characters in media that reflect the realities of age and being old, even when it’s difficult or possibly depressing? 

M: Yes! There aren’t a lot of old characters, and the ones that are out there are mostly just joke characters or you never see them too often. I think the creators must think that old people don’t watch TV or anything, but the reason we don’t tune in is because everything is all about young people, and that can be hard. Watching people run around when you can’t anymore can be painful for those of us who have lost that ability now that we’re elderly, or watching kid-focused stuff can make us miss our families. 

It would be nice to see old characters that are included and are competent. 

Me: Representation is important. 

M: Yes. 

On Religion in Transformers: 

Me: So, you work in a church. Just pointing it out so readers know where we’re coming from on this. 

M: Yep, Episcopalian on the beach here, a small church. Services are mostly online due to COVID so I’ve lost hours on Friday, unfortunately... But I’m not complaining. 

Me: And we both like the more spiritual lore type of content, it’s some good shit. 

M: Always love seeing ancient Gods in space! 

Me: So, there’s another old guy character, Alpha Trion, who’s a kind of sage-like mentor to Optimus Prime. 

M: Optimus! He’s the truck! Everyone knows him, he’s the main guy. 

Me: Yep! So Alpha Trion is an archivist, and when Optimus Prime was younger, depending on what version of the story we look at, he also used to be an archivist. 

M: Librarian truck! 

Me: Yes! 

M: I love it. You worked at a library for a little bit. 

Me: That work placement was the best, loved it. But Alpha Trion, depending on which version of the lore we look at, is hinted to be one of the formative deity-entities on their home planet, Cybertron. 

M: Cybertroooooon. Haha! Good robot planet name. I’m into this so far, very cool.

Me: It is! And Alpha Trion is sort of the living memory of the early days of their planet and civilisation, but nobody knows. Everyone just thinks he’s a kind of cryptic weird old guy. 

M: Relatable. I like this concept.

Me: It’s pretty good. So generally, things vary a lot from version to version of the story, but there are usually a handful of beings, early Transformers, who make up the character of their ancient lore. These are called the Primes, named after Primus, who pretty much always is depicted as their main God. Like Zeus, or Odin. 

M: Very cool. Optimus is a Prime! 

Me: Right! In a few versions of the story, he is the final Prime essentially reincarnated. The Thirteenth Prime. 

M: That’s very cool. 

Me: And in some other stories, Prime is mostly purely a title that has political connotations as well; It gets into a sort of weird Divine Right kind of area to help underscore some of the problems in their planetary political structure that led to the conflict that eventually became their civil war. 

M: That sucks, but unfortunately, also relatable. It’s very real world, especially right now. It’s interesting how Transformers is so incredibly in depth; I never would have guessed from the cartoon ads that were on TV when you were little. 

Me: Yeah, they seem to hide a lot of the lore, which is a shame. The comics are more adult than most of the TV shows, I think you’d like them. 

M: Sounds like it. I love the spiritual robot stuff. 

Me: In the comics, there is a religious practice called Spectralism that you might really like. They see auras by filtering different light wave bandwidths through their optics in order to detect mood, and all the colours have meanings assigned to them. They change their paint colours in accordance with those colour meanings as well, on some occasions. Meditation is part of the practice. One of the transformers, Drift, had at least one vision; It’s hinted there might be more to Spectralism, but we don’t see all that much of it in any further detail, unfortunately. They also believe in Primus as a deity. 

M: It’s a shame they don’t elaborate more on it. It sounds very cool, like the stuff we were doing in the sixties and seventies. I bet Drift has some black light posters in his room, we had tons of them. Loved the velvet ones. 

Me: He does have an altar, I think. Or a least a prayer area, it’s mentioned he meditates fairly frequently, from what I remember. 

M: (Starts singing Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple) That was the best, put some tunes on... Good driving music, too! 

On Femme Transformers and Sexism in Sci-Fi: 

Me: So there are some lady Transformers, too! 

M: Ooh! 

Me: There’s Arcee, who is the pink one you probably remember from the ads or the cartoons, and in the comics she’s officially transgender. 

M: Excellent! Trans-formers. Good. 

Me: Yes! And there’s not just her, there’s Nautica and Velocity in the comics as well, plus Elita-One... (I showed her pictures of each.) 

M: I like Velocity. I love the teal, the Thunderbird on the back is excellent. 

Me: I like Velocity, too. 

M: Elita has the head cones, not sure how I feel about that. She’s also pink, it’s hard to keep track of them all. I like Arcee, she has the Princess Leia hair helmet! 

Me: I figured you’d like that. It’s pretty good. 

M: I like Arcee and Velocity the best so far. 

Me: There’s quite a few female or femme transformers now. There didn't used to be, and there were some mistakes made here and there, but nowadays there’s a much wider cast. 

M: That’s good, I’m surprised, but in a good way. There were never women main characters in sci-fi stuff when I was a kid, it’s why Star Trek was such a big deal, and even then, it wasn’t all that great. There was Uhura, Nurse Chapel, but there were a lot of weird episodes...

Me: I love the Romulan Commander, though. 

M: She was the best! Wished we got to see her more. 

Me: Me too. But in Transformers, they’re doing a good job with the female coded characters, as least as far as I’ve seen.

M: That’s good to know. I’m glad that exists for girls who want to play Transformers, too. It always seemed like such a macho thing, the way they advertised it. 

Me: Yeah, that’s still a problem to some degree, but I remember it being way more aggressively worse in the 80s/90s. 

M: It was worse in the 50s when I was a kid! Cooking sets were the girl toy. They made Star Trek for boys, but when all the girls ended up being the main demographic that watched it, they cancelled it. It was Lucy from I Love Lucy who brought it back, I remember you told me that! 

Me: Yep!

M: I’m glad little girls have Arcee. And little boys. They’re robots, they don’t have gender! 

Me: Exactly! 

--

If this kind of interview/conversation excerpt type thing is interesting to anyone, we’re happy to keep doing it! 

Give me questions or things to ask my mom, she’s happy to give you some “old lady perspective”, lmao. ❤️ 

#Transformers #Transformers Prime #TFP #interview #fandom #MTMTE #LL #Maccadam #Maccadams #tf ratchet #tf drift #spectralism #transformers lore