screamposting on main

No, starscream is not an innocent saint. Yes, he's just as abusive as megatron. Yes, he's a victim. No, he doesnt need a redemption arc because half of the people don't even know what type of redemption act would work for him. Yes, he's just as bad as megatron. Just because megatron hits and abuses him doesnt mean starscream isnt guilty of doing the same things. I mean hello? Multiple assassination attempts and we're supposed to go "haha good old starscream" ? Are we expecting megatron not to retaliate? The media literacy in this fandom is piss poor. Just because starscream is a victim it doesnt mean he cant become an abuser.

Yes, idw prowl is an asshole. Yes, his actions are really bad. No, his idw self isnt a bad take on a character, the writers knew what they were doing. His story is meant to represent the moral grayness of war, an opposite to Optimus' beliefs. It's meant to gray the line between autobots and decepticons. Neither factions are saints. Idw prowl is neither corruption or redemption. Stop woobifying him to make jazz into his savior. Prowl is a grown ass man he can take care of himself. The fact that he's morally grey doesnt mean he hates his faction.

I could go on but those are two examples in my opinion. Fanon and canon in this fandom is so intertwined that some people get mad if you dont follow the popular fanon. Or if you interpret a character as different.

AND MAKING HIM GO CRAZY DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!! the terrans can just go on their merry way into terratronus but he can't find his way out?? i don't buy that for a second.

also this is fucking starscream we're talking about. cunning, ambitious starscream, who would have absolutely 0 reason to keep hanging out up there. he could have left at any point. he clearly knew his way around if he was able to find terratronus' spark chamber even after she'd been in stasis and underground for millions and millions of years. starscream, who was the decepticon second in command. a member of the elite trine. starscream, who is far more intelligent than anyone really gives him credit for because he's always seen as too weak/pitiful to be any sort of threat.

i don't even necessarily mind this trend with megatron, where they're rebranding him into an anti-hero/protagonist. as long as they acknowledge the bad things that he did during the war, and show that he's still struggling to leave behind his old ways, i really don't mind it.

i'm just so tired of every piece of transformers media giving starscream this treatment. the idw comics did GREAT with giving him character development and something of a redemption arc, only for him to (as always) get the short end of the stick. you know what happens to him in those comics? he loses his title as ruler of cybertron to windblade after confessing that he'd been plotting shit from the start, gets imprisoned for life, and then ends up sacrificing himself to save everyone. they developed him into something beyond the usual villain that we know starscream to be and they still couldn't help but kill him off and make him a ghost or ghost-adjacent.

hi i'm reblogging this with your additions from the tags bc they pass peer review

I genuinely believe that if some fans feel have to modify him and beg for redemption from official TF plots/creators so they can feel they are justified in liking him- especially considering most of the time he doesn't deserve redemption let alone seek it- they don't really like him at all.

I get liking characters based largely off of hcs and such because they're largely one sided (g1 Unicronians fan, nice to meet you) but with Starscream I feel like if some fans want to change him this much to make him likeable to them they're missing the point of his purpose as a character. I'm not suggesting anyone supports Starscream's actions but in the case of most Starscreams (especially TFP Starscream who I've see this fandom treatment occurr the most dramatically to in the past) he is a coward, selfish and a tremendous wanker. He's not normally flirty or even particularly sneaky. Again these portrayals have a place and are often enjoyable but some of them seem almost accepted as canon and it's just...not the case.

i'm gonna be so real, i didn't much care for the chaos terrans. imo they don't feel like they really added much to the story aside from being like. a foil to the malto gang. and even then they came up so little after their Important Introductory Episode(s) that it feels like a waste of potential. who knows. maybe there's something planned for them later, even though starscream axed them.

the episodes with twitch and spitfire specifically didn't really vibe with me for a couple of reasons. first being that the whole "twin/copy that's just a Bitchier Version Of The Character" is not. great? to me? and the whole "I'M BETTER THAN YOU BECAUSE MY ALT MODE IS DRONE 2.0" just feels very. meh. they second reason is much more personal so i won't get into it but it definitely left a weird feeling in my chest.

also i'm sure people are going to be all up in arms about starscream being A Villain(tm) but honestly? i'm here for it. s2 starscream is exactly what i want out of a starscream. the loop back around to the "remember to take care of yourself" is VERY on-brand for him, because he's a selfish motherfucker. and the fact that he threw his Bonding Moment with hashtag back in her face? it hurts in the best way possible.

i'm sure i'll have more thoughts on a rewatch but these are fresh from my brain so take them as you will.

edit: i just remembered something in regards to hashtag.