#silkling rambles

[silkling]

Real question folks.

We all know Optimus’s motto right? Right?

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.”

Yeah, that one. You know the one.

But. Like. Issue.

Animals are sentient. Animals like dogs, cats, wild animals, they all have sentience. So like, what do we think the Autobots think about that? How do they feel about the fact that humans (and probably every other species in the galaxy) regularly domesticate, tame, and use other sentient creatures for their own gain? For things like. Entertainment, agriculture, pet-keeping. All that stuff.

Do you think they’re bothered by it? Do yo7 think they look at humans, with our pet dogs, and think

“Wow, this situation is kinda fucked up.”

I mean. Personally , I don’t think they take much issue with it. (Especially cause like there’s instances of them in canon not giving a shit. Buster in IDW. Fluffy Ears in Earthspark. Etc.) I think they understand the difference between sentient and sapient. Like. Humans are sapient. Cybertronians are sapient. Animals are….not? At at least not really. If you want to classify animals as sapient I think you can make that argument but even then you have to agree that their sapience is severely limited compared to like. Human sapience.

So. I don’t know. Do you think the bots get wigged out but human pet ownership, I guess. Because I know what Optimus’s motto is. I know what he says. But like. Do you think maybe he means sapient where he says sentient? Cause I think that makes more sense.

Cause like. He’s advocating for total freedom, right? Equality under law, ability to self determine your own life and destiny. But. Uh. That wouldn’t really work for animals? They’re sentient, yah, but they operate on an instinct level. Not an intellect level. Not that they don’t deserve protections and shit. That’s not the point. The point is like. Do you think Optimus (and the other Bots I guess) differentiate between sentience and sapience when they apply their beliefs. Because if not then they’d have to also be advocating for total animal freedom.

I do not know where I am going with this. But. Do you all see my point???? Please tell me you do. This has been niggling at my brain for years and I just. I cannot stop thinking about it. I don’t know why.

Sentience is not sapience. But the Autobots fight for the freedom of “sentient beings”. This is driving me insane. Do you think they care about a difference? Or do they see humans as monsters for our dominion over animals? Someone help I’m thinking too much about something that doesn’t even matter.

[silkling]

So I wanna jump on this cause your little ramble dredged up memories. I remember when I first watched Prime, Miko frustrated me. But that was because I was the quiet, introverted child who related more to Raf than any of the other human characters. Jack came off as too much of a know it all who cared too much about what others thought of him, but Miko cared too little. At least, that’s what kid me thought. As an adult, my perceptions have changed a little.

But to start off, I think you’re absolutely right. Miko and Jack only become a problem when they’re compared to each other. However, I think there’s a reason so many fans tend to hate Miko more than they hate Jack. So let’s over analyze and deconstruct their characters a little, shall we? Bare in mind I haven’t fully rewatched Prime in a while, but I still think my point is valid.

So. Miko. The first time we meet her, she’s drawing Arcee, and she follows Jack when he and Arcee leave the school. Presumably because she wants to ask him about his bike, or because she wants to find out more about him and “it”. Instead, she stumbles across the Autobot secret. I think this for some fans planted the seeds. Her actions can be interpreted as nosy and not minding her own business, and not respecting the privacy of others. Personally I don’t see it that way, because I genuinely don’t think she was following Jack to be rude. I think she just thought the “bike” was cool and wanted to ask him about it. But after this interaction, her behavior doesn’t really get any more respectful. She’s constantly asking questions that make the Bots uncomfortable, tends to push for answers when they don’t want to give it, is very quick to be judgmental about issues related to the Bots or Cons or war, or even issues related to Cybertron itself, she has a blatant disregard for the rules, she’s very often going against what the Bots ask of her, and she repeatedly puts herself in danger, even when it mean pulling Jack and Raf along and putting them in danger too. All of this culminates in a character who, for many, is too nosy, too rude, too loud, too inconsiderate, and reckless to an extreme.

However, all these things happen alongside the other humans. Miko only seems nosy because the other humans don’t want to probe, so she has to be the audience’s mouthpiece to pry important information out of the Bots. She’s just the one to do this the most, which is why it seems particularly egregious. She’s also a pre-teen girl, so of course she’s going to be asking questions about everything. She adores Bulkhead and the Bots, and just wants to learn more about them. When the “nosy” behavior isn’t being compared to the boys, then it’s not actually that bad. It just comes across as curious rather than insensitive or rude. And yes, sometimes she does say something judgmental, but again it only seems bad when Jack or Raf are there and they’re not making comments. If she’s saying like that when she’s with the Bots and the boys aren’t there, it sounds less harsh. It’s also understandable. She’s a human child trying to understand aspects of a culture and war that originated on an entirely different planet. Her comments may be a little tactless, but when not compared to Jack they aren’t mean or cruel or anything else like that. The final thing that people get annoyed about is her disregard for rules, orders, and safety, even when it puts the boys at risk. And I think that’s semi-valid. When she follows the Bots and the kids get stuck in the Shadow Zone, it’s made very clear she should have stayed behind. However, the boys did not have to follow her. She did not grab them and drag them along. She ran through to get cool pictures because she admires Bulkhead and the Bots and thought it would be a run of the mill mission. The boys chose to follow her. They did not have to. She did not put them in danger, even if she put herself in danger and made them feel pressured to follow. They did not have to give into that pressure. But people will point to this episode as an example of her stupidity and recklessness. Yet, in the episode with Hardshell, where she snuck out and endangered no one but perself, her behavior is no longer as bad. Yes, it is still reckless, but she is criticized less for this act of rebellion because she did not endanger others. Once again, her actions only make her dislikes when it involves the other two. When she’s exhibiting the same behavior without them there, no one seems to find the same faults.

Now Jack. Jack is…somewhat boring. And I think that’s by design. He’s supposed to be the human character that the audience can most put themselves in his place. He’s respectful, mostly calm, fairly mature, and just…a typical introverted teenage boy. I.e., what most of the target audience likely are. When we first meet him, he’s working his job at the burger place, and when he gets off work he stops to admire Arcee. He gets on her to temporarily fulfill a fantasy, as I think many boys his age would do, and then Arcee is spotted by Cons. She takes off with Jack in tow because she knows the Cons would assume he’s her ally. Eventually, her desperate escape leads her and Bee to stumble across Raf. That’s how the boys join the team. In all the interactions we see, he’s quiet, respectful of the Bots, doesn’t press for answers when they’re uncomfortable, and (almost) always willing to obey their rules for him by staying in the base when they go out. The only time we see him break rules is when someone he cares about is in danger (his mom, Arcee, one of the other kids). He does sneak out with Smokescreen in that one episode, but he generally speaking he does not follow the Bots on missions unless someone is in danger, or he’s told/invited to come along. Or instances where he’s on an outing with Arcee and she has to detour on a mission midway through the outing. That too. But to Miko haters, when she’s compared to a character who just…doesn’t cause problems for the Bots, she’s seen as the problem child instead. However, it is also because of Miko that some people hate Jack instead. Miko, for all her faults, is at least entertaining. She makes you feel things. Even if that thing is anger. Jack is a lot less entertaining by comparison, because his personality isn’t as loud.

However, just like Miko, this is only when he’s put next to her. On his own, he’s perfectly entertaining. The episode where he and Arcee meet Airaqunid is one I still remember very fondly. It’s a genuinely chilling episode, and he’s one of the best parts of it. Another episode where Jack just shines is the one where his mom his captured. And people still talk about the episode where he was in the mines with Megatron. That singular interaction was really good. Again, without Miko there to “dull him out”, he’s shown to have an actual, genuine personality. He’s loyal, brave, also reckless, and extremely intelligent. When he’s allowed to act on his own without Miko there, his character becomes one of the best parts of the episodes he stars in because we see genuine growth and development from “typical teenage boy” to “smart, brave, kind, loyal, and one of the better TF teenage boys”.

Miko and Jack, on their own, are individually great. Without the other there to highlight their faults, each of them are genuinely good characters. It’s only when they’re made to be in an episode together that they make each others worst traits all the more apparent. When Miko is with Jack, she comes across as rude, selfish, and immature. Likewise, and Jack is with Miko, he seems stuffy, boring, and like way too much of a know it all and a stickler. Quite honestly, I like them both. They’re both good characters. On their own. But when they’re together, it’s really hard not to hate one of them. Who you hate just depends on who you relate to the most.

So yeah. That was my deep dive into a pair of characters that probably wasn’t necessary but I made anyway. These are just my takes and impressions. Also, if I got any facts or episode details wrong, just let me know. Like I said, it’s been a while since I rewatched the full series.

Until next time, folks!

Fully of the belief that Miko is only seen as an annoying character because of the dynamic between her and Jack.

Miko in isolation isn’t an annoying character. She’s reckless, and unwise, and has to be bailed out of trouble every five seconds, but this isn’t really an issue for any of the bots because as far as they’re concerned, this is Normal Human Behaviour™. They are constantly having to work with and around humans or bail them out of trouble.

Bulkhead adores Miko. He is exasperated by her like a parent is of their toddler, sure, but I wouldn’t say he is annoyed by her in any way. Her interaction with wheeljack is another example. When she exists with the bots by herself, she doesn’t come across as burdensome. She’s just limited, as every human is, by the curse of being small.

It’s only through her interactions with Jack, and his continuous challenging and calling out on her behaviour, that Miko becomes an annoying character. Frankly, it’s the tension between them which annoys the audience. We can only watch the same cyclical bickering between children before it gets old.

I have noticed that there actually are a lot of people who do like Miko, and find Jack super annoying instead. It seems like people pick one or the other depending on how you interpret which one is causing the tension. When I watched tfp as a kid, I loved Miko and hated Jack. Like, hated hated him. Because I saw Miko as a fun punk rock kid and Jack as the one needlessly calling her out. Upon rewatching tfp as an adult (who works with kids a lot) I related far more to Jack, and so the situation flipped; I saw Miko’s actions as more frustrating to watch.

The writers did eventually try to fix this, with the one heart-to-heart scene between Miko and Jack. But it was kind of rushed, and didn’t leave any lasting change to their dynamic. They went right back to arguing.

Tldr: Miko and Jack are annoying together. Fans usually pick one of em as the cause to be annoyed at but honestly, they are both fine on their own. Children bickering is annoying even in a fictional cartoon lmao

[silkling]

Not to be that person, but you've been quiet and haven't posted anything here or ao3 for some time now, is everything alright?

Hi! Don't worry, you're not being "that person"! I'm sorry to have worried you! I've just been really busy with university! This semester has been especially busy for me! But the good news is that I am working on some updates! "Of Finding Family" is my current project, and I'm struggling with how to make the thing I want to happen actually happen. But! I have the outline of the rest of the story mapped out, it's just figuring out the fiddly bits of how to get from point A to point B, so to speak. After "Of Finding Family", I'm hoping that the inspiration from that will carry me to "Watermarked by Your Ancestry"! I hit a major roadblock with that project just after I last updated and have been struggling since, but my hope is that the success of finishing "Of Finding Family" will give me the boost I need to get over that particular hurdle.

As for Tumblr....yeah. I stopped posting my fics here because they never get much engagement. Now don't get me wrong, I don't write just for the engagement of the audience, but that interaction with readers is what motivates me to actually post, y'know? Sure, I daydream the ideas and write them for fun mostly for myself, but when I post them it's a lot of work to take it from messy daydream brain-vomited onto a page, to the actual finished product. And the interaction and feedback from my audience is what makes me want to put in that extra effort. I get a lot more of that on Ao3 (And I promise, even if I don't respond to most comments out of me just straight up overthinking myself into stress, every single one makes me super happy)

To that effect, I've honestly been considering just. Shifting the focus of my Tumblr. Maybe using it to post general TF thoughts, headcanons, blot bunnies, theories, fic updates....that sort of thing. But idk. Just a thing for me to consider.

Also, more good news I've joined this year's Reverse Mini Bang, and if this year is anything like last year's Big Bang, I'll probably overshoot the minimun word requirement again. So, that's one more big(ish) project you can look forward to! (Even if the posting period is a bit of a ways off)

All in all, I have a handful of projects planned! I will do my best to update "Of Finding Family" soon, but I can't promise anything. At the very least, I'll have a lot more free time as summer hits, so at least there's that.

And finally...I want to say thank you. Real life's been keeping me busy, but I felt like I had to respond to your message. It's honestly super touching to know that people like me and what I do enough to notice that I disappeared for a little. So...thank you. :D

[silkling]

Thinking of signing up for the reverse mini-bang this year. Should be fun! I enjoyed the Big Bang last year so it could be worth it. And this year I have more free time too… hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Ah well. I’ll make up my mind eventually.

[silkling]

Hey ya’ll! I know it’s been a while! But I have something exciting to announce!

I am writing a fic for this years Big Bang!

I won’t give anything away, but I’ll really looking forward to sharing it with all of you! So keep an eye out for updates and news in the coming weeks. You can find out more about what I’m working on when the BB’s preview period drops, and then you’ll be able to read the thing next month when all the fics drop!

I hope y’all are excited, cause this is going to be my biggest project yet!

[silkling]

So this is gonna come off as kinda rambley but I want to talk about something that's been bugging me for a while now. In the past decade or so, there's been this really weird shift of teens/adults who watch kids shows (think My Little Pony, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, etc.) and will, for some reason insist that "No, this show isn't for kids! It's too dark! See? It has like, colonialism/death/murder/slavery/genocide! It can't be for kids! That sort of thing is too mature for kids!" And idk, maybe its cause I grew up in the 2000's when kids cartoons were dark and weird and creepy, but hat sentiment always rubbed me the wrong way. (Courage the Cowardly dog comes to mind. That shit was bizarre and freaky and baby me absolutely ate it up).

Anyway, I just want to point out that that attitude is actually like, really dangerous? Kids aren't stupid. They aren't incapable of understanding delicate or sensitive issues like slavery and genocide. The insistence that a kids show is only a kids show if its sanitized as hell and has nothing serious is super problematic. Like, think for a second. I grew up watching Courage, which was very often visually terrifying but taught kids that its okay to be scared, because true courage is being scared but facing your fears anyway. I also watched a lot of Avatar, which had topics like genocide and war and death and even concentration camps (remember the episode where the earth benders were being taken to a prison in the middle of the ocean? Or the episode where Hama revealed water benders were kept in tiny cells and barely given enough water to survive, let alone bend?)

My point is, me, and my generation, grew up with cartoons that were for children, because the topics were simplified and the comedy was childish, but that also treated kids seriously, and didn't assume that their audience were too dumb or immature to pick up on subtlety.

But in recent years that's...less and less the case. When cartoons are made, the creators seem, very often, scared to go back to the old ways and add childish elements because then any potential adult fans will throw a tantrum. And when they're made more "mature", they often forget that their target audience are children. (Steven Universe was guilty of this, in later seasons.)

So now you have an issue where fewer and fewer animated shows are genuinely made for kids, because they pander to their older audience, and the kids shows that do exist are increasingly juvenile, to the point that shows are being made for 10 year-olds that I would only have watched at like, 5 or 6. Which basically means that most modern shows aimed only at kids prioritize bright colors and funny/entertaining animation over anything complex that could actually make their younger audience genuinely think and learn. And for the occasional show, this isn't a problem. (I watched a lot of Tom and Jerry as a kid, and Looney Toons, and neither of those have a lot of thought-provoking substance. But I also watched shows that did make me learn and think, like the ones I mentioned before.). The problem comes when those shows are the only ones that are actually made for kids, and the only ones that networks put out because now they have to pander to an older audience when they should be concerned with their original audience: the children. (Though I will say, there's some good modern shows that are explicitly for children and still thought provoking. Craig of the Creek comes to mind.)

Anyways, this also becomes a problem when any new shows are introduced. This year, we're getting two new Transformers shows: BotBots and Earthspark. And already, when all we've seen is a short trailer for each, there're fans throwing fits because they look childish, and where's the maturity, and every time I see that I want to scream. Because. Listen. Transformers...is for children. Sure, the IDW comics and Bayverse movies were less child friendly, but literally everything else in the franchise was made with children in mind. I remember this same argument around TFA, and now it's one of the most beloved shows in the franchise. Hell, even Rescue Bots got this treatment, and everyone I've talked to who watched it actually really enjoy it. And neither of those shows pander to a more mature audience. Both of them handle serious topics without dumbing them down too much.

Also, this argument hinges a lot on the idea that children can’t handle “dark” shows or movies. I can guarantee you that is not the case. Children can handle blood and violence and complex themes, especially if they’re delivered in a simpler format. (Some kids will even eat that shit up. Seriously. As much as people like to joke about the Warriors books as a series, they also have a lot of violence for books about talking cats. Im not even kidding. In the first series the main villain is killed rather graphically by having his belly cut open. And kids love that shit.) When I was little I watched Watership Down, and the Animals of Farthing Wood. Both of those are notorious for violence and blood, but they are for children.

Will some children be afraid of violence and serious themes? Sure. But kids will also be freaked out over inane things too. I used to be terrified of both The Polar Express and A Neverending Story. It’s true that some younger audiences won’t be able to handle scarier themes, but not every kids show has to have death or violence or frightening things to challenge the way kids think. At the end of the day, it just comes down to understanding that children are able to handle and understanding way for than modern media gives them credit for. Kids aren’t stupid. They shouldn’t be treated like they are.

And just...yeah. I don't know to end this off, but that's all I really had to say. Also, even if a show is for children...that doesn't mean an adult can't enjoy it. Rescue Bots and Craig of the Creek are both for young children, and they're both two of my favorite modern shows. I'm an adult, in case that wasn't clear.

So I guess I'll end it off with this.

EVEN IF YOU ARE AN ADULT, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH LIKING SHOWS MADE FOR KIDS. NOT EVERY KID'S SHOW HAS TO HAVE "MATURE" THEMES FOR IT TO BE OKAY FO AN ADULT TO WATCH IT. IF YOU'RE 20+ AND WANT TO WATCH A SHOW FOR 10 YEAR OLDS, DO IT. JUST DON'T INSIST THAT IT'S ACTUALLY FOR ADULTS TO SOOTHE YOUR OWN EGO.

That is all.

Goodbye.

[silkling]

Smokescreen is one of the most interesting characters in Prime, and one of the greatest sins of the show is how little he was actually developed and utilized. Smokescreen was the perfect character to use for expanding on the war and acting as a bridge between the human and Cybertronian characters, as he’s more divorced from the war than others which means his view on the whole thing is less colored by bitterness and resentment, and he simultaneously is portrayed as younger than the rest of Team Prime which means he’d be the best one to connect to the kids and share about Cybertronian culture. Beyond that, the true potential of Smokescreen’s character lay in the fact that, because of how he never really fought in the war, he’s in a unique position to provide an alternative perspective to the audience on the present state of affairs that would differ from Team Prime’s tired/bitter/angry outlooks. It was also grossly unfair how the rest of Team Prime treated him, as it was established that all his “screw-ups” were simply due to lack of experience and knowledge and not stupidly and malice, and responding to that with hostility and scolding was a horrible way to go about it. In this essay I will—

[silkling]

Psst. Hey, everyone. PSA.

Clobber from Cyberverse is the the love child of TFA Lugnut and Strika.

That is all.

[silkling]

Today in “Transformers lines that have no right to be as good as they are”, I present to you this page from the IDW Spotlight: Blaster issue. (Which, but the way, is a good issue.)

This one reminds me a little of that one line people quote from the Megatron origin comics. A lot of lines in the comics are just, like, fine. They serve their purpose. Every once in a while though, you get one like the aforementioned Megatron quote, and like this one. A line that just makes you stop and take it in.

(If you wanna know what this comic is about, that’s below the cut to avoid spoilers)

Also, spoilers warning, but for those have read the comic in question or don’t mind being spoiled: this is the one where it’s revealed that Blaster was “The Voice” of the Autobots, and basically the one who helped motivate the forces on the battlefield by rallying them. Around the time of the “Thunderwing debacle” (long story short, Decepticon scientist notices Cybertron is dying. No one listens, so he tries an experimental technology that changes his body to resist the death of the planet but it destroys his mind in the process. He becomes consumed with the need to devastate everything in his path, and it takes the Cons and Bots working together to finally defeat him. But not before doing irreparable damage to Cybertron), Blaster is rallying the troops for one final push. Then he’s attacked and goes silent. Years past, and he’s drifting in space, in stasis. When he’s finally back with the Autobots, it’s eventually discovered that Beabcomber was the one who attacked him, and he did so because Soundwave mind controlled him cause the Cons believed taking out “The Voice” would demoralize the Autobots enough for them to have the advantage. This line is taken from the part of the issue where Blaster confronts Beachcomber.

Personally, it’s one of my favorite Transformers lines so far. I can’t even explain why.

But hey. That’s all I have to say for now. Until next time, folks.

[silkling]

Hi! I’m Silkling.

I write fanfics, come up with AUs and headcanons, and do analysis for various pieces of Transformers media. If you want to send me an ask about any of that, whether it’s just a comment or a question or something you’d like my take on, please do!

To that effect, my Ask Box is now OPEN!

[silkling]

Am I the only one who feels like Cheetor deserved better in Cyberverse? I wanted to bring this up with the movies dropping soon, but it’s been on my mind for a while now.

So I want to preface this whole thing by saying that Cheetor is one of my favorite characters of the show. I unashamedly adore him. He’s so cute and pure and watching how he handles all the things that are thrown at him is just…it’s the Good Stuff, guys. It’s so good. Like, seriously remember that episode where he was made an Autobot scout cause he’s really good at being a sneaky little spy-cat? I do.

Like seriously. He’s genuinely good at. Its shown that Cheetor is a very fast learner, and very intuitive. He’s smart, very much so. There’s so many instances of this but really two come to mind.

The first is the episode where Bumblebee is training him. At the end, we see him use all the things he sneakily stole one by one, very ingeniously. He finished by catching one of the scraplets with Wheeljack’s device. And Bumblebee didn’t tell him how to do any of that. He did it all on his own.

And then the space surfing episode. Like, it took him literally seconds to figure out how to do it. Cheetor is a genuinely clever character, and it makes him so fun to watch. Especially cause he’s not smug about it. He’s just…smart, and he casually shows that with clever problem solving, but it’s never made into a thing.

But that all aside, there’s one other thing I want to being up. Cheetor is implied to be a lot younger than the rest of the Autobots. Why do I say this? Well, let’s look at a few things.

1. We know the others were all adults before the war started. We can see this in Bumblebee’s memories. The earliest memory we see is Megatron in the arena, and shortly after we see Bee meeting Windblade for the first time.

2. We know that there were a few years in between those early memories and the war starting. We don’t know exactly how long, but some time definitely passed.

3. We know that the war spent many years on Cybertron, enough that the planet got wrecked, before Optimus threw the All Spark off world and then subsequently took the Autobots to find it in the Ark.

4. We know the Ark crashed during the era of the dinosaurs and the Bots on board spent that time in stasis.

5. We know the All Spark created Cheetor after it arrived on earth.

What he don’t know is whether that was before or after the Ark crash. However, for the purposes of this argument, let’s just say it was before. Even with that, it means that all the Autobots are much, much older than Cheetor, having spent millions of years fighting a war, and then having spent millions of years just living normally before the war started, all before Cheetor came into being. So even if the All Spark gave him the body and mind of an adult, he is still very young. We can see that in the way he acts. Everything that isn’t from Earth is new to him. He’s very naive. He doesn’t fully grasp the full weight of the war until after the All Spark is stolen from him. Like, seriously people. His first thought when trying to decide what to do with the All Spark was to basically play a game of Final Jeopardy with Megatron and Optimus. Look at this little wholesome idiot. Look at him.

But anyway. I’m getting distracted. The point is, he’s young. He’s not stupid, and he knows how to fight and handle himself, but he’s still young. And all he wants is to make friends and find a home. Remember the episode where Bee and Hot Rod were telling him about Cybertron? He got so excited. He finally had his home in reach and he’s get to see and learn everything about it that he hadn’t been able to. He’d get to return the All Spark to its proper place and could leave behind much of the weight that came with being its Guardian.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, Shockwave tried to corrupt it, and he was forced to give his own spark to fix it. He died, and he didn’t even get to experience all the things about this joke he’d been so excited for.

And then after his death, he wasn’t ever mentioned. Not once. Not by Bee, or Hot Rod, or literally anyone. He sacrificed himself for everyone, and then they all just…forgot about him.

Just…god.

I don’t know people. I love Cheetor. I love him lots and lots, and he’s a genuinely good character, and he deserved so much better.

[silkling]

Supplemental materials in fandom are….very interesting to me. I don’t know how to quite express my thoughts on the matter, so please bear with me, but I want to say something on the issue.

So, first off, what do I mean by “supplemental materials”? In simplest terms, supplemental materials are materials of a franchise, or piece of media, that are not the actual main source.

An example of this is art/concept books. These types of books often have concepts from a show or movie that didn’t make the final cut, or things that are expanded upon within the book because there wasn’t time to include it in the final show or movie. Most of the time, these types of books don’t add or subtract too much from the show. They might add neat little tidbits, but the things they include are so minor that they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. They’re fun, but not very significant. Think, Studio Ghibli art books. They add little pieces to the movie but don’t change the greater understanding or enjoyment of it.

Another example of supplemental materials are novels that are written after a movie/series is released to tell a part of the story that wasn’t told by the movie/series in question. One example of this that comes to mind are the novels that act as prequels to the Transformers: Prime series. They’re called Exodus and Exile, and they were written to tell fans the story of what happened to the characters before the show started. These are a lot more significant than the Transformers: Prime art or concept books, because they have a substantial impact on how certain characters within the Transformers universe might be seen, and they also tell fans a little bit about the fates and stories of other characters from the franchise who didn’t make it into the series. These types of supplemental materials are…interesting. In my experience, most fans generally agree that they aren’t “true canon”, which basically means that if you have read and enjoyed them, you can use concepts of them in your own fa works and discussions, but it’s also understood that most fans of a given media piece may not have read these additional novels.

Of course, book series can also have supplemental materials. These can come in the form of character guides, concept books, even stand alone character novels. One example of a series that does this is the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. Aside from the “main” series, there’s also several dozen field guides, manga, short novellas, and super editions that expand on characters or stories or concepts that weren’t able to be explored in the main series. These types of supplemental materials are super interesting, but they also come with one, fatal flaw: they are canon. So if a super edition or novella is disliked, it doesn’t matter because it is still considered canon by the larger story and plot of the series. So these supplemental materials tend to be very much a hit or miss.

Then, you have what I consider to be the worst kind of supplemental materials. Interviews and social media posts by the authors/creators. Think, a twitter post retroactively declaring a character is LGBT after the series is over, or an interview in which a character who was single in the original series is given a tragic romance by the author. Personally, I don’t like that form is extra material very much. To me, it feels a bit…cheap.

Granted, it also depends on the “severity” of detail being revealed in this type of material. Something that is a core character trait or foundational aspect of story setting are bad details to reveal this way. An author stating that a main character is a pacifist after they’ve written the book is always a bad idea, because that sort of character trait would influence how that character views and reacts to the world around them, and adding that retroactively can very often sour the way a character was written in the original material. On the other hand, if all the author reveals in that tweet is that a main character really hates spicy food, that doesn’t matter as much because it’s less of a core character/personality trait and more of just a minor quirk.

So. We established all the main types of supplemental materials and their strengths or drawbacks. But what is the point of this? What really makes or breaks a piece of supplemental material?

Honestly, I think it comes down to fandom reaction. At the end of the day, supplemental material is just that. It’s extra, and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. The problem comes when some fans will, occasionally, take these minor scraps of extra material, declare it canon, and then proceed to harass fans who haven’t consumed that material, or who just plain don’t agree or like the material. It’s fine to not consume the extra media that was created for a show or movie or book, and for the fans who don’t, they aren’t going to know those extra details or lore pieces. And that shouldn’t be an issue. Unfortunately, a lot of modern fandom spaces do have this as an issue, and it’s something that makes me pretty uncomfortable whenever I see it.

Fandom is, at its core, supposed to be a space for enjoyment. It’s supposed to be a space where different people with different views and tastes can come to together and share things they love. Of course, with that, you always have people who enjoy their media content in different ways. You have the people who make fan art, those who write fanfics, and those who just like to sit back and make headcanons and theories. There’s no right or wrong way to enjoy a given thing. That also means that if you don’t want to consume a media’s supplemental materials for whatever reason, that’s shouldn’t be held against you. If you don’t get enjoyment from those extra details,it’s not a bad thing, and I think more people need to understand that while a piece of supplemental material might technically be considered canon, it isn’t necessarily going to be part of the popular fandom canon.

[silkling]

EVEN MORE IDEAS!!!!!!

TFA AU where Prowl is a Seeker!

And maybe his trine are Smokey and Blue! (Except no one knows cause he was separated from them as a youngling, maybe even stolen away from them, and brought to Cybertron where his wings were clipped and he escaped before worse could happen. Which is why he looks Praxian and not like a Seeker.) how would this work? I have thoughts!

Timeline would be shifted a bit. Prowl wouldn’t do that 1 million year meditation thing he was doing when the bridge repair crew found him. He would also have been found earlier by Yoketron himself, not caught by warpath.

Megatron would suspect right off the bat cause he leads every seeker that didn’t go neutral, since they were all chased off Cybertron.

Maybe Prowl or one of his trine would be the kid of Starscream or his trinemates?

Prowl would love being high up. Like, it’s the one thing that reliably calms or soothes him no matter what.

He also has a vicious streak when he’s pushed far enough.

Prowl has a sort of chronic pain from his clipped wings because the process wasn’t done properly and there are days where the pain is bad enough it makes him feel sick.

He gets his wings back eventually. Maybe something to do with Sari’s key?

Alternatively, he never joins the bridge crew at all. After Yoketron’s death he wanders the galaxy until he stumbles across the conflict on Earth and the Cons realize what he is real quick.

Or, another alternative, after Yoketron’s death he ends up in Decepticon hands and has to keep his existence a secret because he’s scared of what would happen. Maybe he’s brought to the Decepticon home world and keeps scuttling around, trying not to draw attention to himself? But since he looks like he’s a civilian frame grounder all the Cons focus on him anyway.

He reunites with Smokey and Blue eventually, of course.

What do y’all think? Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

[silkling]

Soooooo. Idea! For TFP. An AU, obviously. Cause that’s what I do.

BUT! BUT!

Host Prowl, with Smokescreen and Bluestreak as his cassettes.

What do y’all think? Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

Should I even bother writing anything for this?

[silkling]

Aw, thank you! I’m glad you like my stuff! It’s always good to know that people are actually enjoying the stuff I put out, makes he effort and time of writing it worth it!

And your little creature! He’s so cute! I love him! He’s just a little guy. Or she? They? Idk, I just really like it. :D

... 🙄😊☺🤗

That feeling you get when that content creator you like so much starts following you!

Thank you @silkling I really love your fics!!!!

[silkling]

Alright folks. So, small announcement. I haven’t been able to write one of my request fics in a while, so I think I’ll be putting a bit of a hiatus on those until I can drum up the motivation for them again.

In the meantime, I WILL be opening my ask box for general submissions.

So questions about my fics or AUs, about my headcanons, about something you’d like be to analyze, literally anything I’ll be taking. Just general comments too. Basically, anything that isn’t a fic request, I’ll answer.