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thunderxino · 1 year

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do it, i dare you.

tap for better quality

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myladraws · 1 year

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It was supposed yo be an sketch but uh well... 👀💕

#maccadams #transformers #idw2 #idw1 #fanart #mtmte #barricade #prowl #robots in disguise

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arceespinkgun · 10 months

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Transformers and its cop history is so... I don't even have the words, the strangest thing to me is that initially Prowl is the Autobot military strategist. He's not a law enforcer or even has a role of security in the Autobots. His alt mode is a police car

With how many continuities Transformers and new designs for characters have had (most notable is Michael Bay live movies popularising Bumblebee as a sports car and making it more prevalent in Transformers media onwards, compared to his original Volkswagen Beetle alt mode), it surprises me that Prowl has remained with a police car alt mode or has been given roles more reminiscent— if not blatantly stated, to be a law enforcer

Why has this persisted? Especially when in recent years law enforcement has notably been under criticism (to put things lightly). There is no actual reason for why Prowl has to be a police officer or have an alt mode of a police vehicle. It's not really an integral aspect of the character's personality at all and yet that's how everyone characterises Prowl as, "The Cop." Which is through no fault of their own really because he's been a cop/cop vehicle in every appearance he's had from my knowledge. I have always been slightly uncomfortable with Prowl's (unnecessary, imo) connection to law enforcement, enjoying the character and his actual personality becomes difficult because he is so heavily associated with law enforcement/being a police officer

Well, I think it's pretty clear why this has persisted. And I was actually thinking about something similar recently, which is that the version of Barricade who has a police car alt-mode is a really, really strange character because he wasn't created or portrayed as an ACAB statement, but instead he was meant to subvert the idea that cops are safe people who should be respected. Like, we as an audience are expected to share a base assumption that cops are good guys, and it's frankly embarrassing and gross that this approach to the character has been featured as late as IDW2. Analysis of how Prowl has been utilized under the cut:

Of course, Prowl's original alt-mode was a Nissan Fairlady Z painted to be a specialized police pursuit vehicle as used in Japan, so basically a sports coupe repurposed into a cop car for police chases. And he had this design because he was pretty much just a reissue of the Diaclone police car toy. As you mentioned, the character himself wasn't a cop originally—instead, I would say his vehicle mode more metaphorically represented the characterization he had, in which he will stop at nothing to "pursue" his goals and will radio his leader constantly when he doesn't know what to do.

I also do remember one early comic in which Prowl uses his alt-mode to tell humans to evacuate a dangerous area, and I think there's something to be said for a cop car being a logical choice for a disguise because it can be utilized in ways like that.

Sometimes people say that the Prowl from TFA (who I do really like!) manages to escape problematic implications such as copaganda, but while I do really appreciate that reinvention of the character, he really doesn't. I mean, he still turns into a police vehicle in that series, and the show pushed for him to become friends with a cop who has bigoted beliefs.

What's at the heart of the complete disaster area Prowl became are writers and artists who have base assumptions that inform their work. Writers who are privileged and believe copaganda are just going to do things like this. That's why Prowl became more and more of a cop over time. When those writers and that artist working on IDW2 had a comic sign off on police brutality and showed the proto-Decepticons using an altered version of a real-world anti-racist slogan, that's why, and it's why in the creators' apologies they reveal they never even thought about what they were implying—probably because these issues don't really impact their lives. This is how copaganda even ends up in things like Rescue Bots.

Fandom is guilty here as well. Before Prowl as an angry controlling cop existed in canon media, fans were writing that in their fanfictions, and this portrayal became more and more popular and started to leak into canon over time. And then when it started to appear in canon media, people ate it up and didn't want this characterization to be reverted, and it still persists now. So no, there's no reason Prowl had to be this way, but he has been, it's a pattern, and it has to be addressed in official media at some point. And to be honest, I don't know how it could be... like reverting him to an earlier characterization and having him turn into something else would be nice, but then it's kind of sweeping the history under the rug. Deleting him from existence or having him be a villain wouldn't work because he's literally the Autobots' logo. Maybe it could be tackled by both reverting him to an earlier characterization and having him go through a character arc in which he learns to grow beyond black-and-white thinking or something? He's definitely always had major flaws even before this whole mess, so it could work.

And before somebody comes at me with something like, "Okay but IDW Prowl isn't copaganda and is fine because the story is critical of his actions," I'll say this: okay, but if Nick Roche was going to create a character to explore that, why did he choose to make him a gay, mentally ill, disabled guy? Those are the traits of people who cops murder and oppress. It's like JRo with Chromedome—why would he choose to have one of the first prominent gay characters in his story not only be struggling with addiction, but be struggling with an addiction to violating people and causing them irreparable harm? It's just a different form of problematic.

#Prowl #Barricade #my analysis #transformers #also I feel like when it comes to the other roles Barricade fulfills Shadow Striker does it better

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pipermca · 6 months

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K-9: Part 1

For this year's TF Big Bang event, I originally started off with a different idea than the one I ended up running with. However, I did write about 7500 words of this idea before giving it up as far too long for me to finish in the time available.

That said, I'm still interested in working on this fic, but I don't know when I'll have the time or energy. So I'm working on cleaning up what I do have of this story, and I'll serialize it here. If I end up writing any more, I'll add it here. (This post will contain the first instalment, as well as act as the index/masterpost for the whole thing.) In later instalments there will be illustrations, since this story idea was partially based on a toy. (And man, if I had a IDW2 MP-scaled Barricade figure, I'd be able to do a LOT of illos. 😄).

Enjoy.

No content warnings. Relationships: Barricade & Prowl, Bluestreak & Prowl, Prowl & OC

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Part 1

"After we turn in our reports, did you want to come to the Rusty Strut with me and the others?" Barricade asked.

Prowl settled on his wheels. "No."

"Aww, come on." Barricade swerved slightly to chime his fender against Prowl's. "You never go out with us. I'm starting to think you don't like me."

As they reached the station, Prowl transformed and frowned at his partner. "The only time I went to the bar with you and the others, I somehow got stuck paying the entire tab," he said. He flicked his wings as he turned his back on Barricade. "I have no desire for a repeat of that situation."

Barricade caught up to Prowl at the curb. "That's because you were new! It's tradition!" He slung his arm around Prowl's shoulders. "I promise it won't happen again."

"Regardless, my answer is still no," Prowl said, shrugging out from under Barricade's arm. "It is simply an activity I have no interest in. I am only here to-"

With a scoff, Barricade threw up his hands. "I know, I know. I've heard you say it enough." He rolled his optics. "You're just here to do a job, not to make friends." He frowned at Prowl. "You know this isn't Praxus, right? There's more to life than just being a tool of the state. Things like making friends, or having fun." Marching ahead of Prowl, he glanced over his shoulder. "You should try it some time."

Prowl shook his head. It had been a big change for him, moving from Praxus to Iacon. He missed the order of Praxus, where everyone knew their role and rules were clearly defined and followed. But because of that order, being an Enforcer there was... Well, it was not very challenging. Iacon, on the other hand, was larger and more chaotic. Bots had much more freedom to do what they wanted, which also meant that the peace was harder to maintain. But it also meant that the work of keeping that peace was more interesting.

Moving from being a Praxus Enforcer to becoming a member of the Iacon Watch was a huge shift for Prowl, but he took his job seriously. And doing his job did not mean spending time with his fellow constables in bars or dancitrons.

As Prowl and Barricade walked into the precinct, the desk clerk held up a hand to the bot he was talking to. "Just a sec- Hey! Prowl! The Captain wants to see you in her office right away."

Barricade lifted a brow ridge at Prowl. "What did you do?"

"I did not do anything, except my job," Prowl said, mystified.

Barricade rolled his optics again. "Yeah, I know," he said. "I hope you're not getting canned. I really don't want to break in another partner."

"I will come back as soon as possible to finish filing our report," Prowl said as he turned towards the Captain's office.

"You better!" Barricade called after him. "You know I hate doing reports!"

Prowl wracked his processor for any clues as to why the Captain of the Inner Watch would want to see him. Discipline was usually left up to the sergeants, but Streetwise had not mentioned any shortcomings in Prowl's performance to him. As far as Prowl knew, he had done everything expected and to the required parameters. His regular reviews had always been glowing. He had no idea what the Captain could want with him.

Prowl paused just outside the Captain's office and knocked on the open door. "You asked to see me, sir?"

Captain Overdrive looked up from her work and waved him in. "Prowl! Yes, come in. Close the door, please." She gestured at the chair in front of him and watched as Prowl took a seat. "You've been with the Iacon Watch for quite a while, yes? Are you enjoying the work?"

From his seat, Prowl could plainly see his personnel file open on the Chief's desk. He suppressed a nervous flick of his sensor wings. "I have been with the Iacon Watch for a year. And I am enjoying the work, yes," he said. "It is more of a challenge for me than what I found in the Praxus Enforcers."

Overdrive made a thoughtful noise and flipped through a few screens in Prowl's file. "You've had nothing but commendations. Not a single complaint so far. That's surprising, considering your partner." She flashed Prowl a knowing smile, then leaned back in her chair. "And you said you enjoy the challenge?"

"Yes, sir."

"In what way?"

"The work is varied. On patrol, we see something different every day. Analyzing each situation and determining the best course of action possible within the confines of our mandate is appealing to me." Prowl lifted his sensor wings. "It is very different than the work I was doing in Praxus."

"I can understand that." The Captain nodded thoughtfully. "I know the crime rate in Praxus is very low. The Enforcers there seem mostly for show, honestly."

Prowl did not think that was a completely honest assessment of the work the Enforcers did there, but he did not see the point in arguing with the Captain. "Yes, sir," he said instead.

"Your record from Praxus is impressive. Wanting a new challenge does explain why you wanted to make the move to Iacon," Overdrive said. "But I can't help feeling that we aren't utilizing you in the best possible way."

"Sir?"

"Would you be interested in something a bit more challenging? Perhaps in one of our special units?"

Special units! If Prowl could possibly have sat up even straighter in his chair, he would have. "I would be interested, yes, depending on the unit. Some of them do extremely important, very interesting work."

Overdrive nodded and glanced back down at Prowl's file, tabbing through a few more screens. "Do you consider yourself a mechanimal bot?"

Prowl cycled his optics. "A... I am sorry, a what?"

"Someone who likes mechanimals. You know, felinoids, zap ponies, wirehounds, whatever." Overdrive waved her hand at Prowl's file. "It says here you had an organic for a pet when you lived in Praxus."

"Yes... I did." Prowl's wings twitched as his processor churned through scenarios trying to figure out what his personal life had to do with being transferred to a special unit. "I had a flyt."

"Did you train it yourself?"

When Prowl's processor came up empty on a rational explanation for the Captain's line of questioning, he decided that the only thing to be done was answer the questions as best he could. "Yes, sir. I got her when she was just a hatchling and started training her right away. I needed to make sure she could be left alone in my flat without causing a disturbance." He dipped his wings when he realized why the fact that he had a pet flyt was in his file. "Keeping organics in your living quarters was considered irregular in Praxus, so I wanted to make certain there was no reason for anyone to file a complaint with the Garaging Authority."

"What sorts of things did you train it to do?"

"I trained her to come when she was called and to stay on her perch when commanded. Additionally, I trained her to sit on my shoulder, and to fly through a hoop that I had made for her. She could also do loops in midair, although she needed enough space to perform one." Prowl thought back to the tiny flyt, and how she would chirp and tilt her head when she wanted a little bit of extra skitter. Then he suppressed the emotional subroutines that always inserted themselves into his processor threads when he thought about Green. That wasn't useful right now. "And of course, to eliminate her waste in the proper receptacle."

"Oh, right. I guess that's something you have to think about with an organic." Overdrive laughed. "Mechanimals don't have that issue."

"No, sir."

"This flyt, did it obey your commands?"

"Yes, sir. She obeyed them very well, sir."

"How do you feel about wirehounds?"

Prowl felt off-balance. He could not figure out where the Captain's questions were leading to. "I do not know that I feel anything about them in particular."

"You're not afraid of them or anything like that, are you?"

"No, sir."

"Does your residence building have any rules about pets?"

"No, sir, except to ensure that they are well-behaved and do not cause a disturbance."

"Good." Overdrive blanked the datapad with Prowl's file on it and leaned forward, tenting her fingers together. "Prowl, I've been asked to find someone to head up Unit K-9, and I think you are the right bot for the job."

Part 2.

Part 3.

Part 4.

#my writing #maccadam #tf prowl #tf barricade #k9

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lord-squiggletits · 9 months

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Are there any background/side characters you really like but don’t talk about much?

Impactor! He was pretty much my second/third favorite blorbo before Optimus and Megatron, but got eclipsed by other characters. I really need to reread his stuff in the Wreckers trilogy bc I feel like I only have the vaguest grasp on his character mostly informed by one reading of IDW1 + friend meta posts.

Pyra Magna! Most of what I have to say about her is bitching about how she should've been better written in IDW1 LMAO, but like. She's so fucking hot (no pun intended), like the sexiest woman in Transformers and this is not a contest to me. I like her role in the story as Optimus' rival/critic/competitor(? ish) and wish that the two of them had interacted more besides. The clusterfuck that was Onyx Prime. And her randomly declaring Optimus "unteachable" even though she literally hadn't taught him anything and they barely interacted. Basically hhhh, so much missed potential with her. I know she's in IDW2 but I didn't get to that part of the story, and I'm not interested/motivated enough to catch back up with that continuity, so RIP I guess.

Arcee! Mostly because of @quetzalpapalotl and I think her posts say basically everything that needs to be said about why she's cool.

Pyro! He's my sweet son. :( And we all know how that turned out.

Skids! I just think he's really neat, I couldn't tell you any particular trait of his or give some detailed analysis of him, I just like him a lot. I ship him with Nautica lol.

Other characters I liked while reading IDW1: Windblade, Barricade, Censere, Aileron, Stardrive, Cyclonus, Whirl, Ten, Nickel.

#squiggle answers #pharma is a side character but everyone knows how much i like him and talk about him lol #g1 idw

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korloniumcrystals · 1 year

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Elita One for the character meme!

First impression: After watching G1, I was like..why isn't there more of this?? Elita and her team of women staying behind on Cybertron and fighting is such an underrated part of TF. I'd watch an entire series about that.

Impression now: I love her.

Favorite moment: Elita vs Ravage and Barricade in IDW2

Idea for a story: Something about WFC Elita and her friendship with Megatron pre-war. Or something about Aligned Elita because it's really interesting how she was part of Sentinel Zeta's council (according to the Covenant of Primus).

Unpopular opinion: Not sure if it's unpopular, but I think Elita should get the Matrix one day.

Favorite relationship: Elita and her relationship with her team in G1. And also Optimus (I really like Oplita).

Favorite headcanon: Can't think of any sorry.

#thanks for the ask!

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dustbunny105 · 3 years

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How is this minimum provocation? And how are Charger and Fire Beast getting away with this without killing anyone when they’re Decepticons themselves??

#transformers #idw2 #charger #firebeast #barricade #jolt #ravage

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eggsnatcheskneecaps · 3 years

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B-boobiecade

#barricade #idw2 #bayverse #transformers #maccadam #tf barricade #my post #short post #text post #shitpost

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schiste-argileux · 4 years

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