#then please take the exit.

[artificial-absinthe]

Although I disagree with the body type thing in tfp. I don't think sharp and more slender shapes are unique of the "female' like bots, because then Starscream and Soundwave and the Vehicons would be perceived as such, even Optimus. And they would, if their voices were like that. But I believe that the fact that the bots perceived as male by humans have these kind of shapes (airachnid has a flat chest plate on the other hand), is yet another implied proof that they are not supposed to be tied to any human gender convention. They're aliens, and sexeless. This notion was mostly introduced since tfp. So, while I mostly agree with Chaos and understand where the very insightful defense of non stereotypical definition of femininity comes from, I don't think it applies to them.

But yes, it is very true that none of the female characters are there only to be a cliché or the girlfriend, and thinking that a female-character should serve as an accessory to the male like alone, or depend on them to their ends, is quiet the opposite of "having agency. "

Transformers One and the Butchering of Femininity

If you're surprised that I'm still worked up about this film, you're following the wrong blog. I'll say this once, and I won't repeat myself:

If you won't take criticism for this movie, keep scrolling. Otherwise, you'll just bring this on yourself.

Now, about the above women.

Transformers as a franchise has had female characters long before Arcee ever showed her face onscreen. Debuting roughly in the middle of the second season of Transformers G1, we are introduced to six female Autobots still living - or rather, surviving - on Cybertron. Of those six, four are named and have speaking roles: Elita One, Chromia, Firestar, and Moonracer. They are quickly shown to have distinct personalities that, while rough (Chromia) or seasoned (Firestar), are still recognizably feminine in how they regret a mistake and nurture the ones under their care (Moonracer and Elita respectively.) Additionally, their appearance is notably feminine too, and while it may be "exaggerated" for a robot lady, it's not done with malice. Rather, it's done to show that while these women are tough and have fought for millions of years, they are still women. They are not women in male bodies, like Strongarm from RID 2015 (and who had the gall to take her name from a preexisting male character), but they are fighting to take back their home, and are patiently waiting for the time they can lay down their weapons and return to the life they naturally desire - primarily, that of caretakers and mothers.

In other words, they fight because they want to have families in a safe home and will do so to achieve this dream alongside the men.

Elita One is a spectacular example of this line of thought. Take a look below for roughly five minutes to see her original characterization.

Elita is an Autobot commander who has shouldered the responsibility of fighting for her homeworld in the absence of her leader and man for four million years.

Yet, it did not make her cold and aloof.

Rather, it only made her natural maternal side and kindness grow. She knew that she had to fight Shockwave and his forces on Cybertron and that it would be difficult, but she was not going to let them break her spirit. She would and did not let them take her femininity from her, for that would be just as much of a win for them as killing her and the others. The Decepticons want a new world order, which would also entail destroying the old order of society. Elita, as a woman, will not let that happen, for then not only is there no more safety and social order on Cybertron that would put any family she could have at risk, it is also denying her her right to be a woman who is as capable on the battlefield as she is tending house (which, let me tell you, takes the same grit and determination as a man going to work to support the family.)

Elita wants to have a family, as do her fellow female Autobots (Chromia hugging Ironhide should tell you how much that iron lady missed her man), and if that means taking up arms until they can return to a normal society, then by golly she will do so. She fights to protect and defend; it is not in her nature to fight anymore than it is in Optimus' nature. It is simply what she must do until the war is over, and when it ends, she will leave the battlefield behind her as Optimus will.

Elita is a kind, warm, motherly woman. She will help pull you out of the darkness of despair and will hug the pain away. She is a mother, and deep down she will fight if she has to, but she will only do so if all else fails.

Yet what does Transformers One do to her?

If the title of that first clip alone doesn't show you what Elita was reduced to, then maybe the clip of her childish scream will.

Instead of a motherly, feminine woman, Elita is gutted all the way to her marrow and filled with the poisonous traits of all modern "strong female characters" - namely that she is a career focused woman who needs no man unless it's to belittle him for his imperfections/limitations/perceived idiocy. The only difference is that Elita is somehow written to seemingly develop feelings for her male subordinate Orion Pax, though the story takes great pains to show that she "dominates" the partnership with Orion/Optimus, something that is a gross disservice to her and Optimus.

All of this is a destruction of Elita's characterization. They ripped her feminine qualities for a modern misconception of what women must be in order to "make her relevant".

And it's not just Elita. It's also another, though newer, female Transformer.

Airachnid, though absolutely sadistic and a cold-blooded killer who revels in murder and carnage, is still feminine. In fact, she perfectly embodies warped femininity used to allure, entice, and bend men to her whim. She has a certain "dark charm" that even Breakdown finds attractive for a short while. This is a natural feminine wile that Airachnid uses to her advantage whenever she gets the chance, or to simply flaunt her attractiveness for kicks. This is what most evil women in fiction and real life do, because why lift a finger when you can charm a man into doing the heavy lifting?

Now, we come to her in Transformers One.

Ignoring for a moment that she looks like every post 2015 cartoon's cut and dry "non-binary" character, the writers completely drained Airachnid of her agency. She's supposed to be the femme fatale that uses her femininity to get what she wants and remains on no side but her own. But instead of keeping that, instead of having a dangerous third party who could even be a chessmaster playing both sides for grins and giggles, her femininity is sucked out of her and she's given the role of bodyguard who does nothing but follow Sentinel's orders and fight in a very bland way that is the most gender-neutral I've ever seen in a character.

What happened to the female psychopath who fought like a woman? I hated her, but in the sense of "I hope she dies", not "gets neutered like a dog".

All of this is a travesty and a slap in the face. This movie is telling us that female Transformers, or even females in general, must be cold, snappish women focused on only the work and never once consider having a family that women naturally yearn for. This is a toxic notion that has obviously permeated the fictional world for a little over ten years, and this movie shows that it's not slowing down.

I don't care that all the fans are going gaga over the plot or whatever they're talking about nowadays with this flick. All I care about is that we got female characters stripped of their femininity in Transformers. It should never have happened, here and in other stories.

Get offended, incensed, and screamy all you want over my post. I'm beyond the point of giving an English damn about what you think and say of this film.

It's an insult to me and to the women of this franchise. They're independent without having to put down the men, memorable without having romantic or with romantic connection to their male allies, and fun without being "haha, strong girl go brr". The fact that you all feel the need to shove this poison down our throats tells me how insecure the lot of you are, and I'd pity you if my veins didn't burn like Hades' rivers right now.

Don't bother speaking to me of this ever again. I'm done. Yes there was good in it, but it came too little, too late. And frankly, it came in the wrong packaging - heh, pardon the pun.

I refuse to engage with anything Hasbro churns out until another five, maybe ten years from now. Perhaps by then it'll have collapsed in on itself and a brighter future for it risen from the ashes, I don't know.

So long - and enjoy these fan produced songs that grant the Transformers' ladies more honor, dignity, and respect than Hasbro could ever dare dream of matching.

[couch-house]

more of this little freak also. i like him.

[skeletonstarz]

This is just me sounding like a toxic fan about scream but holy moly I need to get it off my mind and out onto my blog nobody will see.......

I'm not excited for the 7th scream movie and I hope it has a dreadful end with the 7th adaptation. I'm tired of the reboots/ remakes/ continuation of a franchise that is getting to the point of not needing it any more, as the 7th movie is getting closer with its release date I just have a small thing I need to say about it in general.

Bringing back Stu matcher as Ghostface (you can't even say Matthew Lillard isn't going to play Stu cause cmon....why would they bring him back if not for Stu.) is going to...idk be bleak most likely?? I don't understand why in the hell they thought bringing him back would be good?? It's fucking idiotic the 3rd and 6th movie confirmed he is DEAD NOT ALIVE HIDING SOMEWHERE. I'm sorry am I the only one who wants Stu to be dead??? I want HIM DEAD

Okay okay to make it clearerrrrr

WHY BRING STU BACK IF BILLY LOOMIS'S DAUGHTER ISN'T EVEN IN THE FUCKING MOVIE. WASTE OF POTENTIAL IN AN ASTRONOMICAL WAY. Yes I know Melissa Barrera was unfairly fired, that's another reason the movie is being produced by a different group I don't know what they are called tho..and from what I heard they are very racist, and I don't care what anyone says firing her just because she said the Israeli government is committing war crimes and a genocide on Gaza and Palestinians is DUMB DUMB DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM.

Now they think making a 7th with no contribution to the last two scream movies is gonna be good?? What are these people cooking meth?? Black tar meth?? Because I'm sorry if I were to bring in the fact Billy loomis had a daughter (that of course, he didn't know about..I think?) I would think "Hell wow this will be great for Stu to interact with when he appears in the 7th fucking scream movie!...oh we fired the biological daughter and the supporting actress dropped out as well?? Oh boy...guess we will still have Stu come in to go terrorize.....married mother Sydney...wow because that's so much better." PLUS SYDNEY WASNT EVEN IN THE 6TH?? KIRBY WAS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON OF THOSE TWO DUMBASS GHOSTFACE FROM THE FOU-oekwke I'm getting angry HULKING OUT

FOOLS YOU FOOLS holy hell just because Stu is one of THE MOST POPULAR GHOSTFACES DOESNT MEAN HE SHOULD BE COMING BACK. it's gonna ruin the charm of his character. Oh my gee oh my gee I just don't get it?? Maybe cause I'm not coked out of my fucking mind in Hollywood and think bringing back the good ol days will help with views ....maybe I'm just not that guy...maybe I'm the only one freaking out about this. 😧

I wasn't even planning on watching the movie since the 6th one came out yadda yadda yadda then when they accounted Radio silence isn't making the 7th movie yadda yadda yadda Melissa got fired and then Jenna Ortega dropped out. That's when i finally realized the scream franchise is getting plunged into the ground 6 feet under with a shitty mold infested plumber and when i thought it wasn't gonna get worse...they announce Matthew Lillard is coming back...and they end up using screams grave as a bathroom instead.

Yeah this is just me being a crybaby because I can be and when "creators" create out of their asses and not their brains or hearts I get pissed. Obviously I don't know these strangers making the movie but holy fuck after 2020 Hollywood really just said it's nothing BUT FUCKING REBOOTS AND REMAKES AND OHH LOOKIE OLD CHARACTERS EVERYONE LOVED NOW THEIR BACK EVEN IF THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD. See I could've MAYBE gotten with Stu coming back.....if he was interacting with Melissa's character!!. But no it's not gonna happen but I'm very happy melissa is having a good career in general with her acting! So that's a positive note.

It just feels like nobody really gives a shit about these characters and I sadly got cursed with the spectrum of autism were I am absurdly attached to ficonal stories so when is see them being tossed in doodoo butt water I get a little mad 😡. You can like scream just for the ghostface s that's totally fine no one should dawg you on that but you literally cannot forget why the ghostfaces are there for....the other characters to react and build off of vice versa etc etc UGHH yeah yeah throw the tomatoes before I eat them.

I just pray to whatever stupid ass being is out there watching us & hope they never ask behavior for the rights to their ghostface PLEASE NEVER MAKE MY WIFE DANNY JOHNSON A CINEMATIC UNIVERSE LET HIM BE MY LIL BOOMER STUCK IN A VIDEO GAME PLEASE 😭😩 because people already...don't do him justice...

Yeah that's all I have Stu coming back isn't really doing it for me...you can kill off dewy bring back Stu and think I will be okay.....

I'd rather have Stu die ten trillion times then dewy, any day with ease.

[starppleb]

So ghosts can insert themselves into digital spaces. And be trapped there...

Did we already think about Danny getting stuck in the Digital Circus? (A fast sketch for fun)

What if Danny was exploring some weird places online and kinda got sucked into a circus and now is struggling?

[gettingmylobotomy]

i love jacaerys like how i loved robb and thats how i know hes gonna die a painful death that will leave me in sorrow.. jace please be safe diva we love you💕💕

[whimsiquix]

Varadha: you know how sometimes you feel like life is overwhelming and your family is intolerable and everything hurts and you just can’t take it anymore?

Deva: …yes?

Varadha: Well that’s me everyday.

Deva: …do you need my help?

Varadha: No, I’ll stick to suffering in silence.

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

Oh my god Dandies in Danger just hit me in the heart again- and no I'm not gonna stop posting about it because the audience is so small and I want to take a megaphone and just scream out to the entire world about how good this is-

There's a scene in Episode 14 of Arc 4 that I just finished that genuinely made me emotional in a very personal way. It's a scene between Liam and Adrian, who have been friends for a long time, where Liam apologizes to Adrian for taking him on a 5 hour shopping spree. Now, Liam is a very kindhearted, enthusiastic, social butterfly type, who was very excited to go get some nice clothes and even more excited to hang out with Adrian. Adrian is a very moody poet who (I don't know if this is intended, but still) comes off as probably being autistic. He's very blunt, he's hyper-aware of how other people are perceiving him and his actions, he tends to directly describe his feelings when he pushes himself to be vulnerable with his friends, he's prone to sensory overwhelm, and ect. Some of these traits probably overlap with his clear depression and anxiety as well. He likes Liam a lot, he's definitely his best friend, and he chooses to go shopping because he wants to go hang out with Liam. But the streets are very busy and loud and there are a lot of people, and by the end of the outing he's utterly exhausted. Unfortunately they end up getting swept into an adventure the same day, which involves so much socializing and dancing and investigating and it's a lot.

In the middle of this adventure, Liam and Adrian find some time alone, and Liam stops to check in on him. And he says that he's sorry for not considering Adrian's feelings during the shopping trip. He got caught up in the excitement of it and forgot that this is very overwhelming for Adrian, and he wanted to make sure Adrian knew that it wasn't on purpose and that he didn't want it to happen again. And Adrian says

"It's fine. I know most people can do this every day of the week. Well- maybe not the- the adventure thing- but-"

"I understand. But perhaps next time, if you do want to go with me again on a shopping trip, we spread it out a bit."

And like. Y'all. I damn near teared up. I'm a person with an incredibly low social bandwidth. I have very few friends that I keep very close. And this reminded me so much of how of my own friends have reacted to me when I expressed my own struggles. Or more accurately in some cases, when they noticed the struggles I was failing to express. Especially when I was worried that they would be offended or put off by those things. Things like a friend guiding me by the hand in a crowd because I was so overwhelmed by it all that I was literally shaking and could barely move. Or a friend readily accepting my rejection of a hug and instead thinking up a silly handshake we could do with our jacket sleeves on the spot so that I would feel included without being uncomfortable. And just- jesus christ. It's one of the single nicest feelings I've ever had, and it was deeply cathartic to see that kind of relationship in this show. These characters have become very important to me in such a short amount of time, and I really think that's a testament to the ability of their players. So, thank you Dandies Team. You made me feel very seen :)

[fisheito]

What is this weirdly feelyweely status exclusive to yakumo

[zo1nkss]

referencing my last tags but actually I'm gonna say it, if you weren't around when people got regularly called slurs and sent death threats for having gay ships you literally do not get to judge what the worst fandom ever is, thanks :)

[sunshine-and-her-ikevil-stuff]

After Liam's route, now whenever I see him in William's route I feel really concerned for him.

[swag-system]

i wish there was like. a trading community. for stupid limited edition collectables. ive literally missed so many things either from just not having the money at the timwe or being too STUPID to buy it when it was out.

[yotsubafan2000]

maszoi ko chelen (she/her)

once part of a high chapel family, was casted out due to be framed for her twin brothers murder after she fell from grace. she becomes a blade (college of swords), drinks way too much alcohol, hates sleep, is riddled with guilt and religious trauma (she can be fixed </3)

[milesworld96]

YALL…..WE GOT NEWS☹️

[ratatatastic]

cats are gonna make an appearance in downtown miami tonight at E11even... oh start praying for the folks deciding to club on a wednesday in fuckass downtown

[bon2bonn]

Ok , we're starting 1,2 with Danny 4Th

[softtopxpressions]

Sometimes I wonder if I am “living my best life” and tbh honest one of my besties put it into perspective awhile back (didn’t click til just now with my slow ass😅). But frfr I am…I love waking to a new adventure, solo trips allow me to venture off and talk to strangers I never would have if with the gang. I try new foods, shops, styles, and more. Plus I get to turn my brain OFF and just chill with my inner monologue (she/we/I’m lit idfk 🤷🏾‍♀️). Needless to say I had a great mini vacay and to spin this back to my self care and my healing journey…real talk Being alone does not equate to loneliness. I’m learning and liking siting with myself an it’s really nice 🧘🏾‍♀️🍃.