Transformers.G/t

Sometimes I wish I was a human, says the cybertronian. I would fit in tighter spaces, and be better at climbing, and I could smell all the smells and taste all the varieties of foods. I would see the world from a different view.

Maybe it's a good thing we're different, says the human. Maybe our differences make us stronger.

Maybe it's good that you're big and I'm small, so we can reach places the other can't. Maybe it's good that we have different senses, so we can teach each other new things about the world around us.

Maybe it's good that we found each other, says the cybertronian.

I was thinking about how I care so much more about Raf and Ratchet's dynamic than Raf and Bumblebee's, and I realised that it's because neither Raf nor Bumblebee go through character development.

The first part that goes into understanding this is that Ratchet goes through a LOT of character development over the show's 3 seasons, and Raf is pivotal to it. This also contributes to why Ratchet became my favourite in general and this incarnation of him is so popular to begin with, it's established early on that there's more to his cranky demeanour than "haha crotchety old man". It stems from overbearing crushing grief at the loss of his homeworld and lightly hinted-at disappointment in himself for failing to save Bumblebee's voice box. Throughout all of his arc, Raf gives him encouragement and reassurance. Raf and Bee are there for him at his absolute worst breaking point to get him to keep going. I started to like Raf as a character when Ratchet began to like him, because Ratchet's development happened because Raf gave him the time of day to listen to him and make him feel heard. Bumblebee doesn't develop and therefore he and Raf don't actually really need each other narratively beyond just having a friendship.

If I were to give Bumblebee something to develop for, it would probably be more overt insecurity or low self-esteem. When he loses his T-cog, he beeps something to which Raf responds (iirc) "you're not useless, Bee!" which would imply that, having already lost his voice, losing even more of himself is a thousand times more devastating. He feels like without a voice he's already less than his teammates. But hey! Look! Raf listened to him and reassured him! And this is going to feed into point #3

Now Raf, he mentions in the Out Of His Head episode that he feels ignored at home because his family is so big, and he loves being friends with Bumblebee because Bumblebee listens to him. And it is very much vice versa as he is the only human that understands Bee.

My weird and strange menagerie of unposted tfp doodles but they all have raf in them for some reason

Thundercracker keeps their picture tucked safely inside his cockpit in a similar way that pilots in war keep photos of their partners.

You could say that they’re a little shy…

I imagine him practicing his gentle touch on a doll or a puppet he had made from frail materials because he needs a lot of finesse and motor control if he wants to come in contact with his favorite space oddity without tearing his skin off like the foil off a sandwitch.

Grace constantly covered in deep angry bruises because Rocky bumped into him too hard or reached to hold his hand too excitedly. Grace never telling Rocky because he was trying so hard to be controlled already.

Rocky deciding to keep himself as still as possible when Grace hugs him because a single wrong move could end up with Grace's delicate limbs under +300 kgs of solid mineral.

G/T July 2026 day 9: Nightmare

I think it would be much harder to lie with EM fields because while their words say one thing, they can't control their EM fields. The other bot can feel the guards kept in by the other's EM field. They also have body language to worry about it. I saw some posts talking about humans who are really guarded but good at putting on a show and how some of the friendlier bots don't understand why their field is pushing them back. Now, if humans didn't have EM fields, the bots would be so much more weary of humans because they can't rely on EM fields and no EM fields is what happens when a bot dies.

For masterclass cybertronian liars, they have to learn how to contain their EM field which is already a challenge and trying to manipulate it too?!? Then body language later and tone.