#lost light tailgate

[nonamefvckers]

I forgot

[axolartandfics]

I’m not the first person to say this, but mischaracterization of Bumblebee in the TFONE fandom is honestly kind of crazy.

The infantilization aspect of it is really problematic, because it treats a full-grown man like the “kid” of the group. Bumblebee’s been slotted into this role because he’s often depicted as playing a son-like role to Optimus, which I of course *love,* generally speaking, but that’s not the role they went with in this movie, and B is still getting slotted into this role.

But in TFONE, B is actually quite possibly older than Orion Pax and D-16. We don’t know, but he’s been in Sublevel 50 for so long, he very well could be, and there’s nothing at all suggesting he’s younger than them.

Unlike in other iterations, B isn’t an “apprentice” to Optimus, either. He’s been at his side since *before* the Autobots were founded, which, since the Autobots will no doubt continue for millions of years, establishes him as a senior Autobot, not the “new kid” role he usually plays, either.

Then there’s B’s personality. B is talkative and energetic and eager to make new friends. He’s the comic relief character, which casts him in a less serious tone, but certainly not that he’s a kid. Orion doesn’t play a mentoring role to him throughout the movie, nor do any of them try to manage or babysit him. He’s an equal part of the group, even if he feels less “mature” because of his talkative personality.

B can also be read as neurodivergent, which makes the infantilisation of him in the fandom more problematic, since it treats hyperactivity and other traits found in neurodivergent *adults* as “kid” traits.

Like, why is B interpreted as the kid of the dynamic? He’s the weird uncle they found in the basement, obviously.

Not to mention, B’s primary trait as the movie goes on is his violent tendencies. Based on the fandom, you’d guess he was the most innocent lil guy, when in the movie, he actively takes joy in creating chaos and going on violent outbursts.

While his violence is made out to be a joke in the movie, in a potential sequel I would *love* to see it taken seriously as a character flaw. B is unpredictable and chaotic, and this could make him hard to work with in the Autobot cause.

B’s violent tendencies are genuinely concerning; the amount of joy he gets from slicing drones in half and holding the security team at knife point is uncharacteristic of your usual Autobot hero, and I wish people would talk about that aspect of his character instead of downplaying it when he gets turned into a lil baby in the fandom.

It reminds me of the infantilization of Tailgate in the MTMTE fandom. He’s treated like a lil baby because he’s small and emotional. This sucks because

1) I’m short and I *hate* seeing physically small characters babified to an extent I know they never would be if they were the same height as the rest of the cast around them

2) it treats being emotionally vulnerable as “child-like,” when MTMTE literally makes a point about the fact that Tailgate is one of the only people who can healthily process his feelings, since he doesn’t have war PTSD, and crying and having other big shows of emotion aren’t childlike, it’s healthy.

3) not to mention that Tailgate was a victim of emotional manipulation. Infantilizing him treats him like he was “gullible” for being tricked when Getaway was literally painstakingly planning a longterm relationship to groom him. Don’t infantilize victims, it’s treats it was their fault for being manipulated and not the abuser… you know, manipulating them.

Tailgate also is powerful/violent like Bumblebee, and this similarity gets downplayed. I haven’t been in as much of the MTMTE fandom (I’m still reading Lost Light, and I’m trying to avoid spoilers) but I have seen the Tailgate infantilization to an extent, and the B infantilization is literally the only way I ever see B being treated by the fandom.

STOP TREATING GROWN MEN LIKE KIDS PLEEASSSEEE

[lxmbzksysha]

ayo chill

collab

[sad-in-nature]

Tailgate witnesses Ripple being thrown in the air after agreeing to brainstorms latest contraption.

(Stormy wanted to help ripple by making them a jet pack but it obviously failed and resulted in it shooting them in the air and then flying off of them. No ripple wasn’t badly hurt- no brain storm is not allowed to make any more jet packs until perceptor checks for faulty components)

No ripple can’t fly- let alone transform

Even tho ripple ain’t human anymore it won’t stop them from slipping into their Mexican roots lmao.

Tailgate learns some choice words from ripple.

[michaela-o]

How do you think Cybertronians would react to human fights like these?

Bloody, bruised, scratched, bitten, battered etc.

I like to think that most Cybertronians will always see humans as animals with their animalictic instincs hidden deep inside only coming out when really needed. Cause you see when Cybertronians fight they usually just use their guns or fists or any tactical fight but that’s it from what i saw in comics and here you have humans who fight with everything they have , no tactic at all just using their natural weapons (teeth, nails) to inflict as much damage as possible until the other gives up or worse. Ends up fatal.

Overall i think Cybertronians would find this type of human fights very bizzare, unsettling and animalistic. The wild look in their eyes is what would usually get them to stop and think how can something so small and soft yet be so wild and violent. Maybe it would even make some bots understand why ,whatever god, made them small. Maybe after a bot witnessed such fight they would be glad humans aren’t as big as Cybertronians. Maybe it would change a bot’s whole mindset about humans being just cute little pets and that they are actualy very dangerous beings. And they don't even know about the adrenaline in humans.

Oh god and don’t get me even started about a mother bear protecting her child.

Ah it feels so good letting my thoughts free :3❤️❤️ please if you have anything to say feel free to reply to this post because i would love to hear your thoughts about this <3

Also this drawing was just me practicing dynamics when this came to my head😭❤️

[absolxguardian]

The first piece of earth media Tailgate saw was Boss Baby. That's why his holomatter form is a talking baby.

[sashasdoodles]

Transformers: More Than Meets The Orbs

[kriss1048293]

“I'm a master at bombs” - Tailgate