Primal and AirRazor- love in the air ;)

[Mako Crab]

I was looking for pics of Primal and came across this cute little Valentine's pic involving AirRazor and NOT Tigatron.

Stidepwine's V-day card
http://stripedwine.deviantart.com/galle ... 2#/d19e2ai

So adorable!
But it got me to thinking about it, and you know. . . I can see Primal and AirRazor working better as a pairing than her and Tigatron. I was never a big fan of AirRazor, but the few times that I did like her was usually when she was with Primal. There's just something about being in his proximity that makes her shine as a character more. For instance, whenever she and Primal fought in the air together like during "Before the Storm" when they teamed up against Inferno to prank him, it just seemed a natural fit. And of course the big heroic group pose from "The Low Road" when she's hanging off of Primal's leg, NOT Tigatron's, who's right behind her in the shot! And you know, Tigatron was always too busy being a loner and ditching AirRazor, even when she asked him to stay (Spider's Game), whereas Primal enjoyed having her around and giving her a personal tour of the Axalon (The Spark). The more I think about it, the more I like this idea and kind of wish the show had gone in that direction. What do you think?


Hail to the king, baby

[Dominic]

I think there is a "stuffing the bird" joke here somewhere.

[Gomess]

Uh... I think you just told it, Dom. Hurrah?

I can't ship Airazor with anyone because she's *profoundly* boring. She was only there to demonstrate to the audience what protoforms are, and, y'know, be the Maximal Girl?

Similarly, I never saw Primal as having any capacity for romance, and if he DID fall in love, it'd be obsessive and squicky. Like with the Oracle. Hah!

[Onslaught Six]

I don't mean to offend anybody but shit like this is why I fucking hate Beast Wars.

[Gomess]

I don't mean to offend anybody but shit like this is why I fucking hate Beast Wars.

For once I agree with your sweary assertion, my friend.

...Really, I only ship in franchises where romance is *meant* to be an element. Did Beast Wars everrrrr give the impression, outside of Blackarachnia and Silverbolt, that these prehistoric alien robots feel the same emotions as the cast of Friends?

Maybe it's just the characters. Like I said, 'love' was a big thing for Blackarachnia and Silverbolt, but man... Optimus Primal and Airazor were about the flattest personalities in that show, and you wanna stick them together?? =p

...That is, assuming O6's problem is with the shipping of prehistoric alien robots. But hey, I hate the idea of female Transformers and I'm a feminist, so go figure.

[Dominic]

It is the fact that BW lends itself to this, and brought a certain element into the fandom.

And, there are even more extreme examples. (NSFW)


Dom
-stuffing the bird is still too funny a pun to give up though.

[Onslaught Six]

...That is, assuming O6's problem is with the shipping of prehistoric alien robots. But hey, I hate the idea of female Transformers and I'm a feminist, so go figure.

Yeah, basically. I mean...I just don't see the reason for it. People don't do this with, say, the movie universe. People don't write fanfics about Energon Arcee makin' robot whoopie with Ironhide. (I dunno, maybe they do. I would hope that they didn't.) It's always with Beast Wars.

Also: Airrazor is curled around Primal's leg because it's a ha-ha-this-looks-like-a-Conan-the-Barbarian-poster moment. Primal is Conan and Airrazor is A Girl, that's why. For a further example, look at the original Star Wars poster.

[Gomess]

Good ol' Synjo.

Honestly, I think it's just because BW was better written than any other TF series at the time, and (here at least) was shown on a channel and at a time when a.. certain audience would watch it. That is, romantic weenies like myself, boys and girls alike, mostly quite liberal and into shipping in general. They just got lucky.

And by "well written", I really mean it had the deepest characters in a TF cartoon to that date... So naturally people are gonna look into their personalities a little deeper. And that way, romance lies! Even if it seems incredibly forced.

Agreed on the Conan poster thing. That was just... ech. I don't care how funny a reference you think that sort of thing is, creators, leave it out of kids' shows. All we need is another generation raised on the styles and values of that crap.

Let's face it, though; BW was a sci-fi action show. Occasional comedy. Romance? Not its strong point. And where there's no precedent for something, I'm not tempted to force it. No matter how much Synjo commissions me for! =p

[Dominic]

I do agree that "clever" references need to be left out of shows, (for kids or adults). I should not have to filter for easter eggs, especially when those easter eggs could end up defining something about the show.


That said, I think the problem with "Beast Wars" is much like the problem with G1. (Some GeeWunners are plenty happy to 'ship characters, even if we discount WWFF style parody.) For one reason or another, those sub-lines attracted some of the most stereotypically obnoxious and obsessive fans. These are the types of fans that were commonly associated with Trek-dom and gaming in the 1980s.

In the case of G1, I would put it down to the long dry-spells that the franchise had at various points. Fans went looking for content when the cartoon went into re-runs in '87, (hence the unwarranted praise for the lack-luster Japanese cartoons of the time). The comics ended, leaving people to pour over old back-issues....and write fanfic.

The same happened with the beast era, though to a less extreme degree. (RiD was something, but enough of a deviation that many fans may not have 'counted" it as content.)

At this point, nearly 10 years later, we can safely assume that the late beast years, (RiD), and the UT did not draw that sort of fan in. Part of me wonders if the reason for this is, (if only partially), due to Hasbro's conciously downplaying story for a time. (After "Beast Machines", Hasbro was very gun-shy about cultivating too much lore.)


Aside from the property owner (Hasbro) avoiding lore, the development of Transfans parallels the development of Trekkies. The original series pulled in a large number of fans. When the original series ended, the property devolved into a hobby with no official guidance, leading to fanfic. Then, there was a relaunch ("Beast Wars" or "Next Generation") that divided the fandom more than it probably should have.


Dom
-not even goingo to get into "GI Joe" fans.

[Sparky Prime]

Yeah, basically. I mean...I just don't see the reason for it. People don't do this with, say, the movie universe. People don't write fanfics about Energon Arcee makin' robot whoopie with Ironhide. (I dunno, maybe they do. I would hope that they didn't.) It's always with Beast Wars.

And what would you call Kiss Players? If something like that can exist officially... I'm sure you can find fanfiction for every Transformers franchise, its not always with Beast Wars.