https://www.tumblr.com/transformersconfessions/802836207679700992/jro-isnt-a-good-writer-but-yall-arent-ready?source=share
I did not say he was a bad writer for any of those reasons. Am I glad for more female characters? Of course. But that was nothing crazy in IDW. There's lots of cool female characters outside of MTMTE. The production challenges he faced? A shame, but it's no excuse for his bad writing, only for the rushed aspect. Now, the reasons why I consider him a bad writer are:
- Infantilization: Tailgate is not only naive, missed millions of years of his life and small, but he has the holoform of a baby which is NOT a funny joke, and the term "grooming" is used for his character. How is this not intentional? The way he treats his character is gross. And yet, the fans are attacked for calling it out.
- Mockery/dismissal of sexual assault: As an asexual species, "sexual assault" may be loosely used, but the way Chromedome attacked Prowl in that one scene was very predatory, and it was an assault, regardless of it was sexual or not. Was this ever addressed? No, because Prowl sucks and so it's okay to treat him like less. The second case ALSO involves Chromedome, and this one is much more straightforward. Do we all remember that one scene with Roller, where Rewind and Chromedome were "canoodling" inside of him without his consent? And when he felt violated and tried to speak up about it, his concerns were dismissed because JRO felt like making it into a joke? Very funny.
- Mockery of religion/believers: Take a shot everytime a religious character is ridiculed, made extravagant or not taken seriously for their beliefs. JRO is not considerate of these themes. He thinks it's so funny to make the religious character look like a naive idiot when they're following their faith.
- Weak characterization: If he's not making everything into a joke, he's turning flashed out characters into yet another version of the same character with the same humour and same reactions. Why is every character sarcastic? Why is every character incredulous? Why is every character quippy? It just depends on the moment, but most of their dialogues sound the same without context. Every character is just an extension of himself and that makes his writing feel flat.
- Megatron: Yes, he gets his own section. I don't care if Megatron wasn't part of his plan, as a professional writer, you have no excuse to turn a deep, controversial and appealing character into a joke of himself. MTMTE Megatron has NOTHING in common with what was previously introduced in IDW. Should he act differently? Yes, this is the arc where Megatron makes the greatest turn in his life when he realises the error of his ways. But nothing about his redemption felt organic, and JRO didn't help once by making Megatron seem inoffensive so often. He acts like he was lobotomized (which is ironic within the story, but we're not here to talk about that), and I can barely get a sense of the old Megatron in IDW. And it's not just his characterization! JRO couldn't bother to make a redemption arc that had Megatron dealing with real consequences, and instead everything went pretty smoothly except for the Getaway arc where everyone suffered the consequences for him, and then ended the conflict with the DJD by glazing Megatron through a dying Ravage. A few other things happen in between, but here comes the cherry on top: the Functionist Universe. Now, how can you redeem a tyrant that has destroyed worlds, extinguishes species, tortured and experimented on his own kin, and groomed the now worst members of the Decepticons? Easy! OFF-PAGE you make him save a whole other universe, going through an eight hundred years "development" and coming back a hero that, when he dares doubt himself, is quickly reassured by randos that owe him his life. Awesome! What a great redemption! Brought me to tears. It's almost like it was yesterday when he was still just starting his redemption arc... Oh, wait.
JRO sucks at writing characters and he sucks at writing lasting and touching consequences. Is there anything good in his writing? Sure. But the bad outweighs the good for me, and I could never recognize JRO as a good writer. I don't care if there's anyone that's "worse", it does not make him better.
tumblr has decided I can't reblog responses for some reason. I am so sorry this has been attempted to be posted like 4 times. trying to figure it out </3