One of my favorite parts of phase 2 (and indeed one of the few moments I resonated with IDW Prowl) was when the neutrals were coming back to Cybertron and Prowl said that he refused to let Autobots be pushed aside and overruled after they were the ones who fought for freedom for 4 million years (the exact wording escapes me atm).
And I mean, that resentment still holds true even once the colonists come on bc like. As much as it's true that Cybertron's culture is fucked up, and as funny as it can be to paint Cybertronians as a bunch of weirdos who consider trying to kill someone as a common greeting not important enough to hold a grudge over.... The colonists POV kind of pissed me off a lot of times, as did the narrative tone/implications that Cybertronians are forever warlike and doomed to die by their own hands bc it just strikes me as an extremely judgemental and unsympathetic way to deal with a huge group of people with massive war PTSD and political/social tensions that were rampant even before the war?
Like, imagine living in a society rife with bigotry and discrimination where you get locked into certain occupations and social strata based on how you were born. The political tension is so bad there's a string of assassinations of politicians and leaders. The whole planet erupts into an outright war that leads (even unintentionally) to famine and chemical/biological warfare that destroys your planet. Both sides of the war are so entrenched in their pre-war sides and resentment for each other that this war lasts 4 million years and you don't even have a home planet any more. Then your home planet gets restored and a bunch of sheltered fucks come home and go "ewww why are you so violent?? You're a bunch of freaks just go live in the wilderness so that our home can belong to The Pure People Who Weren't Stupid And Evil Enough To Be Trapped In War" and then a bunch of colonists from places that know nothing about your history go "lol you people are so weird?? 🤣🤣 I don't get why y'all are fighting can't you just like, stop??? Oh okay you people are just fucked up and evil and stupid then" ((their planets are based on colonialism where their Primes wiped out the native populations btw whereas the Autobots and OP in particular fought to save organics. But that never gets brought up as a point in their favor)) as if the damage of a lifetime of war and a society that was broken even before the war can just magically go away now that the war is over.
Prowl fucking sucks but he was basically the only person that pointed out the injustice of that.
And then from then on out most of the characters from other colonies like Caminus and wherever else are going "i fucking hate you and your conflicts" w/ people like literal-nobody Slide and various Camiens getting to just sit there lecturing Optimus about how Cybertronians are too violent for their own good and how their conflicts are stupid, with only brief sympathetic moments where the Cybertronians get to be recognized as their own ppl who deserve sympathy before going right back to being lambasted.
Like I literally struggled to enjoy the story at multiple points because there was only so much I could take of the characters I knew and loved being raked over coals constantly while barely getting to defend themselves or be defended by the narrative so like. It was just fucking depressing and a little infuriating to read exRID/OP
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Also Brennan Lee Mulligan is obviously wonderful at voice acting - the range of accents and tones he can do is stunning. But also I just want to point out how amazing his expressions are too. He really knows how to do these very subtle acting choices within his facial expressions that convey really an immense amount of characterization/character context. And I just think that's kind of amazing. Really truly talented person
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im so salty that willel has been barely explored because there must be so many complicated feelings on wills end that id love to see more explicitly played out
like theres this girl who saved your life that you saw in the void once in a daze, then she vanished and is presumed dead. and all your friends talk about her and she seemed so cool and youre so grateful for what she did. then she shows up again a year later and saves your lives again and you get to meet her for real this time, under non life threatening circumstances, and you feel so thankful for what shes done for all of you.
but then your best friend, who youre in love with, starts dating her. and you know shes saved your lives and she seems to make him so happy, but hes spending all his time with her now and, whether you like it or not, that leads to so much bitterness and resent and you wish more than anything that you were her. and you hate yourself for feeling that way because shes done so much for all of you, she doesnt deserve your resentment, she has every right to be with him. but you cant help but look at them and feel a painful, burning jealousy.
and then more things happen. she saves your lives for a third time now, losing her powers and father in the process, and now shes joining you as your sister moving all the way to california. and shes still dating your best friend. she sends him letters and he sends more back, she smiles as she updates you and your family on his life in hawkins. and your heart hurts realizing that you and him never talk anymore, that you have to be told by someone else what hes up to, that you used to be the one to tell your family at dinner what he was doing lately.
you feel like youve lost him to this girl, to this wonderful girl who smiles and waves at people in the hallways despite their glares, who risked her life so many times over to save them, who lost her dad not even three months ago and grew up in a lab and has been hurt by the world so many times over. and you still manage to feel resent towards this amazing, beautiful person. and you feel so, so guilty.
you feel so selfish for feeling this way, for feeling so bitter towards her, when shes helped you so much. when your disappearance is partially what caused a lot of her problems in the first place. and you love her, you really do, and you appreciate every last thing shes done. and yet despite this, the jealousy stays. she deserves all the good things that come to her and yet you cant help but feel bitter over it. youre such a horrible person for feeling this way about her.
you hate these things you feel, and you do everything you can to make up for them. youre as nice as you can be to her, because she deserves it and you love her, and she should have the good things that come to her. you shouldnt be taking that away from her just because of your stupid, selfish jealously. you repay as much of the limitless debt you can to her, for saving your lives and doing so much for them. you do everything you can to show your love and appreciation, and bury the jealously that burns in your heart, but still lay awake at night wracked with guilt. because youll never be her, and you hate that. and a part of you hates her for that. and all you can do about it is cry into your pillow.
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Shinjiham is cute when it’s romantic but tbh I think i vastly prefer the idea of them being best friends instead. Like, neither of them really saw it coming and weren’t really looking to get another best friend (Shinji has Akihiko, Kotone has Junpei and Yukari respectively) but it happens anyway. Kotone takes a liking to Shinji much faster than she does anyone else and I’d say a big reason is just the fact that he’s so reserved that it allows Kotone to do most of the talking while he just listens and they love this arrangement cuz Kotone doesn’t get to talk about her own interests very much. Though I think some of her needs to talk to Shinji stems from this insecurity that he isn’t happy in the group and she has this people pleasing problem and wants everyone to be happy so she makes a much bigger effort to talk to Shinji. And it’s very unfortunate because Shinji intentionally acts cold and distant because he doesn’t want to form any attachments because he wants to die soon, but aaaaaaaagh dammit this girl just keeps talking to him and being sweet and encouraging him to engage in his interests and share them with the others and he just can’t seem to say no when she’s got those damn puppy eyes. And Kotone is just able to get him out of his shell by being persistent but not in an overwhelming way, she’s very cheerful and supportive of him. And Shinji is able to offer her support by encouraging her to talk about herself and by making sure she’s taking care of herself. They just click really well and make such a positive dent in each other’s lives and it’s all about basic acts of kindness going a long way you know?
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