I’m a new member of this site, and I’d like to give a new concept I posted to Reddit. First, I’m one of the fans who prefer everyone’s favourite fembot as a motorbike, but this does make her rather thin as a robot. So, taking inspiration from her ROTF toy combining feature, how about making her alt mode three motorcycles at once that combine to form her robot mode? It would give her a PTSD angle of being experimented on similar to IDW but without transphobic undertones.
IDW Arcee isn't transgender, so any transphobia you're seeing is due to a false interpretation of the story in question. The only interpretation that really matters is the authors (Simon Furman) and as far as I know he didn't intend to make some statement on transitioning or gender identity, he was simply trying to come up with an origin for why a sexless species of machines would have 'fembots' and 'malebots'. Misguided? Perhaps, I'm generally of the opinion that there doesn't need to be an explanation why some are 'she' and others are 'he'. To call it 'transphobic' would be to assume the authors mindset, which none of us can do because none of us here are him so we can't possibly know what his true intentions were. Me saying I don't believe it was due to some -phobia isn't me assuming his intentions either, I'm simply giving him the benefit of the doubt. I'm aware later on the authors (that weren't Furman) went along with that flawed interpretation but that still doesn't change that the original story itself wasn't made by them. I simply don't believe an author should be held accountable for someone seeing something in their stories that wasn't intended and use it as an excuse to criticize their work or them as a person.
I'd love to see more TFs who split when transforming (RiD Chop Shop was a great idea sadly overlooked after his debut). I don't think Arcee is the right fit for this, though, especially if the idea is to give her PTSD for the sake of "characterisation"
Arcee is legit one of my favorite characters, on paper. Sadly, the times that she's written well are absolutely dwarfed by the times that she hasn't, or simply at all. I will say that I wasn't a fan of her getting together with Aileron in IDW1 as it kinda felt out of nowhere, though I also wasn't a fan of the Optimus Prime comic in general, so... That said, I'm not here to whinge about that stuff. Instead, he's what I want for her going forward. For starters, female transformers exist. No explanations needed. If they do, have it be the "they took inspiration from organic races for personal identity" from... I think, Lost Light? or maybe Primus just wanted to make robotic women. Who knows. Second, we need more warrior Arcee. She doesn't need to be a crazy psychotic murderer (I'll admit that her design was badass and it was fun to see exactly how lethal she could be). Instead, take her Earthrise quote (which I positively love) to heart, "Ferocity without compassion is brutality." Beautiful. She fights for those she cares most and will do so to her last drop of fuel. Have her be competent, but don't dumb down or worf anyone else to do it. She should succeed and be victorious through her own merits and skill, as anyone else. PTSD is an option, and has been done both before Prime and IDW1 in the form of the 3H comics when Daniel and Wheelie sacrificed themselves. But it shouldn't be a mandatory fixture. We don't want another "Bumblebee isn't allowed to speak" situation, now, do we? Car > Bike. Bikes are certainly more agile and arguably better in some situations, but I personally feel that cars have the advantage in terrain scaling and speed. You also can't ram things as effectively with a small vehicle like that. While I liked the TF V. Terminator design, a Mustang is a poor fit, imo.
I’m not a fan of combiners to begin with, so the idea of an Arcee that divides into multiple vehicles doesn’t appeal to me. I would prefer she remain an automobile of some sort (preferably a more realistic one). I personally liked the Foxbody Mustang concept, and wouldn’t mind that general idea being used with a smaller, newer car. Arcee suffering from PTSD doesn’t really align with my idea of the character. Bluestreak? Absolutely. He’s overdue for some backstory elaboration, and that’s a perfect fit for him. To each their own, really— I respect everyone’s creative ideas and head canon. But Arcee seems like one of those characters on which people try to force-fit various concepts just to make her more interesting, when I see her as a much more straightforward personality. She’s just a fierce warrior with a big heart.
You can trust me when I say I'd pick a Bluestreak story over an Arcee story any day of the year but IMO I don't think PTSD stories should be limited to characters who had them in their original bios. IMO Arcee's character has mostly missed the mark at having any honest meaning across all of her iterations that I've seen though, so if a writer can actually make it work I say go for it. This right here, this characterization of her does nothing for me. It's not exactly the core of why I'm not a fan of any Arcee, but it is the core of what many people feel is G1 Arcee, and what many writers base later versions of her off. And it's just such a depthless characterization to me. "Fierce and compassionate" is just so dull. It feels like a canned charicature bad writers use for their token female support character. Some other Arcees take her in the exact opposite direction, seemingly aware of how bland that is, but those have their own issues in stumbling through their direction, as if they only took it to be contrary to the original. Maybe if they ever explored why "fierce and compassionate" Arcee is how she is with real nuance, I'd actually like her character.
I actually agree with most of what you’re saying here. The PTSD characterization shouldn’t be limited to Bluestreak, but if someone’s going to explore it, Bluestreak definitely deserves to get first dibs. As for G1 Arcee having a bio that’s rather trite and generically typecast… yes, absolutely. She’s boring as hell, has been so from the start, and Hasbro has never really pushed for her to be more than that. I’m not a fan of the character at all, but all of the inventive recreations of her seem either overwrought or else just forced and artificial. I’m satisfied not enjoying a very simple, straightforward, and dull Arcee. I’d rather more imaginative and complex personalities be attached to new characters that don’t have her G1 baggage.
Same here, absolutely. There are dozens more interesting female TFs I'd rather see and if she can't become truly better I'd honestly leave her behind in TF history and move on to other characters. I simply left that out because, of course, Arcee has a lot of fans and this thread is about reimagining her, and I don't get kicks out of hating on what others like, so when I do, I do my best to come at it from a critical angle.
I agree 100%. Also would point out that Female transformers did exist on Cybertron at some point (in character so to speak) and Jiaxus was trying to recreate them using Arcee, not create something new. Out
So a "trio-bot" if you will like Tidalwave and Magmatron etc. Eh sure, I'd have to see it though. I'd maybe and this is just throwing out ideas, I'd have Arcee as a single bike and give her some drones or Mini-cons that'll boost her size if just her being smaller without mass shifting is a problem for people.
She’d be like Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon for the TF Universe…an unholy experiment that escaped the lab and dedicated herself to destroying those who forced her painfully into an unwelcome existence.
I hear you, but consider this. That's just a baseline trait. Like, integral to the character, sure, but you can do so much more with it. On top of that, if it's your only set of 'character' for your character, then yeah, it's absolutely bad and it shows that you put in next to no effort, especially if it's your "token female support character" For some very broad, generic examples, "Fierce but Compassionate" can be "I'm a ________ who won't take shit from anyone, but when it matters, I'll give my 110% for _______." Or, "Kindness is weakness where I come from, so I refuse to show it unless I feel it is safe to do so." "This is New Friend. If anything happens to New Friend, I will kill everyone in this room and then myself." Depth and Nuance can come out of anything or be put into anything if you try. True subversion comes from thinking outside the box, and when properly developed, even an initially basic idea can turn into something with a genuine WOW! factor.
I will say that you're definitely not wrong. A decent Arcee might come out of that core characterization someday and I honestly hope it does. It just hasn't happened yet IMO.
Personally I didn't like any version before Prime. I did like her more fun loving portrayal in Cyberverse especially the scene where she's blasting away with the big cannons.
Are you seriously saying that we can't call out transphobic narratives untile we develop telepathy, Nova?
Whoo boy, first transphobia, then Bluestreak, and back to transphobia? This Simon guy seems like a real fan of logistics, even if he doesn’t realize what his attempt at explanations may imply. Also, wasn’t he already called out before? Whatever led to that? Best to leave the topic before the thread shuts down.
