Energon
Soup for the Soul
{Seawave’s Saga …}
It is a world Transformed, where things are not what
they seem. It is the world of the Transformers.
A world of Heroic Autobots and Evil Decepticons…
Sentient mechanical beings intrigued and enlightened me. I saw commercials for the toys, transforming icecream and crappy transparent pink water pistols, and
thought Transformers were cool, but it wasn’t until April 1986 I saw the first
episode – and never looked back, Baby!!
Never in my wildest imagination did I realise this half hour would be the dawn of
a whole new Universe, changing my life.
I’d love to describe what every TF means to me …
The Autobots and Decepticons each care about their
cause with a passion. It’s their
individual characteristics that make them so intriguing. Optimus Prime is the epitome of a hero, much
like Jedi Master Qui~Gon Jinn in Star Wars, he’s wise, passionate about his
beliefs, strong, gentle and can kick ass too!
Megatron too is passionate,
though won’t let personal feelings get in the way and that is an impressive
commitment.
Before the
third episode I was in love - Enthralled by sounds, images, stories unfolding,
characters developing. Who wasn’t
mesmerised by Soundwave’s lovely melodical voice, Starscream’s charisma? :) I
couldn’t wait for the next episode, each a new and exciting experience, despite
no prominent female presence and the animators drawing doubles. Patterns on Optimus kept disappearing… Oh
where oh where they went, nobody knows – in the subspace compartment with his
trailer?… ;) I
wonder if he had Desert Dog tyres in the show? ;) I can repeat MTMTE Part I word for word and surprised myself! “Many millions of years ago on the planet
Cybertron…” I transcribed the episodes.
Each took about 5 hours!! I
liked the look of the TF’s better in the cartoon than the toys. I was glad to feel a part of the phenomena
that had intrigued the world. I loved most characters and created Seawave, a Femme, who started as an
Autobot, but decided to become Neutral - I love both Autobots and
Decepticons! Seawave is compassionate,
gentle, patient, and can kick Cyber-Butt when she needs to :) She believes in harmony and gives her all to
bring peace to both factions and is trusted by Bot and Con alike. I wanted more than anything to BE
Seawave and leave my human life behind. I’ve since experienced other things I
wouldn’t’ve if I did become a Transformer, but it was a nice fantasy.
I took my
mother for moral support when I went to see Transformers
The Movie - I’d heard some horrendous
things that happened and hoped they were vicious rumors. What in Silicon Hades was Jay Bacal thinking??!! I
cried my optical sensors out when Optimus died… Starscream, Ironhide and the
others … I felt my world had been devoured by Unicron. Maybe I was in too deep, but I really cared
about TF’s. I love the cool Universal
Greeting though!! Since then I’ve seen
most characters come back. The others are alive within me. It made me stronger, though I still cry when
my favorite characters die in anything :(
I feel spiritually, emotionally bonded to them. I’ve learnt that death isn’t the end of
everything, but it’s still an enigma, hence my fascination with Hades,
Persephone and the Ancient Greek Underworld.
I got my first
toy, Tailgate for my Birthday that year from Magda,
Primus bless her Soul. I was scared to
collect, should I decide later I didn’t want them. Not so!
I bought Mini Cars with pocket money, about $5. I got money for Xmas and bought Oppy! $39.95 - still got ‘im! My first Decepticon, Soundwave, $3.50 at a
market stall, in battle damaged box! (Wouldn’t sell him for Cybertron!) And so my collection grew ... I loved my
TF’s. They were my babies
:( I went totally frekazoid when I lost
one. It became harder to get the older
toys and merchandise as most had been discontinued. :( Before the dawn of Ebay, I scoured TradingPost papers, markets, 2nd hand shops,
garage sales, asked friends if their siblings had any. It was a glorious victory when I got one, no
matter how battered! Some, real bargains – Grapple,
50 cents and all he needed was one screw!
Slowly, I got there. I was in
tears when I got G1 Megtaron. Only $15!
(He was baned in my State - people used him to
hold up banks…) And to find other TF
things, like books was equally cool.
I shed tears of joy when I saw Classic Transformers in
1991. Finally got an Ironhide!! (…So his toy looks bad, but
I love the guy!) They truly are
Legends. There were quite a few I
needed. I started collecting some of the
newer ones. I was heartened with the G2
range, but it couldn’t beat G1.
It was 1995 before I finally completed my collection of TF’s
I needed, thanks to Screamer, bless her Cyber-Soul :) The final ones
being Windcharger, Bluestreak, Carnivac, Spinister. I replaced the few who were beyond Ratchet’s
tender care :) Like Warpath who had been murdered by a
Decepticon known as ‘The Lawnmower Man” … I’d spent hours digging for his parts
in the grass heaps at the top of the garden… I have had to fix quite a few of
my TF’s. Since then, when I’ve had the
money I’ve scooped up the toys I need – though my G1 Oppy
and Soundy are my favorites. I love G1 pre Movie merchandise, it has a special magical
nostalgia, makng it stand out. At the Easter show, it was great to get the
TF showbags, costume ($5) and the way cool stationery
bag ($2) most of which I have to this day.
I love to snuggle up to my soft, cuddly Soundwave quilt. Among my weirder TF things is a tube of
Soundwave toothpaste, from
It was
saddening around 1987
- Transformers seemed to be losing their popularity among the
common folk. :) With the release of the
newer characters (TFTM, Head/Target/ Power/ Action/Micro Masters, Pretenders,
etc), the originals seemed to be all but forgotten. (Though I hate the concept of AM’s, the
figures are cool). I hated how they kept
changing Optimus – there have been more Prime’s than Starship Enterprises! I kept the Transformers flame alive, writing
stories, exploring avenues they never did in the cartoon or comic, developing
characters, hinting at peace between the factions and stretching the
imagination. I base some characteristics
on aspects of myself I would like to have or want to improve, letting fantasy free my
mind and Soul. I spent hours updating my
never ending Transformers character list, playing with toys, watching episodes,
reading comics, creating Transformer artwork, tapestries, painting symbols,
masks and playing my own fantasy Transformers games. It was a delightful treat to see someone
playing with Transformers or wearing TF clothing. I saw this kid in a gorgeous Optimus Prime
tracksuit and another kid with an Ultra Magnus towel at the pool! I have an Oppy
one! :)
It was cool to see TF names in other things like ‘Optumis
One Design’… And an extra treat to see them making guest appearneces in other shows and movies like The Professional with Natalie Portman. (So Queen Amidala is a
closet TF fan! ;)
Transformers, (She-Ra, Jem and Sailor Moon, :) are the only things that can get me
out of bed in the mornin’! Despite
Channel 10 playing episodes out of sequence and then putting it on the most
evil morning cartoon show ever – The Early Bird Show, (Now defunct, thank
Primus!) 5 hours of slag and they couldn’t play one episode without molest! They would’ve made Unicron and Darth
Sidious cringe!!! I wanted to borrow
Meggie’s fusion cannon to level the place!!
It was in
1988, 10 said they weren’t playing Transformers again. I cried, then set
out to save the Robots in Disguise. For
over six months I went around with a petition at school and anywhere else,
which grew until I had over 500 signatures and sent it. It was 1991 before Transformers would
finally come back to the Screens of OZ. I set my timer, but was paranoid it
mightn’t work so I ran home from school!. I saw episodes I missed and was in Silicon
Heaven!!! Though I need to replace most
of my tapes…
I loved the
comics, but preferred the animation in the cartoon, and you can’t hear the
comics! The newsagent didn’t always
have, so I got them from Marvel. By the
third time Prime died, I knew like Arnie, he’d be
back! :) I cried when the comic ceased
production in 1991 And
when Marvel
I was teased a
lot at school about TF’s :( No one
understood what they meant to me. They’d
ask why wasn’t I
into ‘normal’ things - (Make-up, fashion, Smash Hits, boys, teen soaps - blecch!), couldn’t understand simple Shockwave/Prowl logic
- different people liked different things. I could blast with Megs’ fusion
cannon anyone saying “Transformers are for little boys.” How can anyone be so archaically
sexist?! It boiled my lubricant! Despite the hurtful teasing from single
minded Earth germs, they couldn’t lessen my love for my mechanical heroes. Transformers made me a
better and stronger person, and is a large part of who I am today. I did see a girl with a TF pencil case and another, did a beautiful watercolor
painting of Metroplex. I made a friend
at school, Code Name: Equus, who got into Transformers and we created our own
characters, but unfortunately Hasbro doesn’t sanction fan creations, which is a
pity as there’s a lot great fan stuff.
I’ve become
good at picking voices and love to see pictures of voice actors, and to see
them in other things, be it cartoon or live action. I get very sad when I hear of the death of a
Transformer voice over, even if I didn’t like the character. It feels like a very important part of
history is gone, like the fall of a beautiful ancient temple, but they will be
in our hearts for eternity.
I always
wanted to work with Transformers, either for Hasbro or on the cartoon. By The Matrix, wouldn’t everyone!!! It would be a so Wizard to give a voice to a
TF character, write an episode!! I
always hoped Seawave would be mentioned in a comic or cartoon, like some fans
have been -- It would be an honor.
And then came
the Glorious Internet … the Cybertronian Wide Web … E-mail… siiiigh
;) I made lots of friends, whom much to my delight, were as much into
Transformers as I! Enlightened that
others enjoyed reading my stories, I had previously written for my own enjoyment
as I had no one to share them with. Well
my mum read and helped edit, but she’s not into TF’s. She thinks Starscream and Skyfire are cute
though!! It’s
wicked cool to have people tell me they like my stories! I found others who had written fic and loved
to read them. A pity I didn’t know about this at school! Beat some of the smeg novels we had to
read!! Although in A Wrinkle in Time, the main character, Meg’s
nickname is Megatron! I laughed out loud
in class! Gods, I couldn’t believe
it!! And of course I just had to
read Drag Strip and The Towering Inferno… And there was a school mag called Tracks … :)
It’s great to
have friends to talk to and ramble on about TF’s ‘till the Cyber cows came home
– and not have them say they’re sick of Transformers! I’m that way about Star Wars too!!! I have others to share my parody drawings
with and have a lot of fun creating new ones!
A pity fanfic/fanart doesn’t pay bills!!!
I’m on
Transformers mailing lists and have joined an Aussie club, up to date with
happenings and ideas. I’m eternally
grateful for my friends and being able to bring joy with my writings, laughter
with my parody art and know that people are interested in my views. I was heartened to discover I wasn’t the only
one who found certain characters sexy! I
am not alone! Although I couldn’t keep Oppy to myself anymore!!
;)
The latter
half of 1996, Raggletag told me Peter Cullen and Stan Bush were appearing at BotCon
’97!!! Gods above and below, I started
saving every Energon chip! I just had
to go!!! It wasn’t like Peter was going
to come to
First on my
trip, I went to
(A theory I have is - Teletraan I was awoken by the
blast on May 18, 1980 at 8.32am – [hope
he’s not a night computer ;) … but since he was damaged, it took a further four
years to complete scanning Earth, gathering information, including new modes
for the Transformers to assume)
On day two, I
went on a helicopter flight right into her crater and pardon the pun, but was totally blown
away -- to see the mountain up close and personal. She really is much bigger than she seems. Her
crater is over two miles wide. I felt a
real connection with her, and not just for the Volcano being the inspiration
for Autobot Headquarters. I was
fascinated by her when I saw a movie, and did some research, before I was into
TF’s! I didn’t see a yellow space ship
… but then we didn’t exactly fly around the South side, so maybe, somewhere
hidden amongst all those fir trees…:) I took many, many photos!!!! I can’t describe how awesome it was, like
being inside a real dream. Never
regretted a single credit I spent and still treasure my keepsakes and
unforgettable experience.
On to
And now On To
BotCon … An experience, as Talon said, was like being inside the Nexus. (Star
Trek: Generations) As far as I know
I was the first Australian to attend BotCon.
I met friends I’d known from e-mail, snail mail, telephone and fanfic…
Screamer, Zoi, Raggle, Kynight, Talon, Raksha, Tut … And I felt like I had come home. Gods, I never wanted it to end! Why did it only have to be 3 days!!! It was such a blast meeting Stan Bush, so
personable and sweet! I even got to
carry his guitar!!!!! He’s had it since
1976! … The Concert … Awesome! I cried when Vince played The Death of Optimus Prime, so moving. To see Stan actually sing my favorite songs, The Touch and Dare… in a
word, wowsers!
It was magical
to be up all night talking with friends, sharing ideas, characters, stories and putting on our best Starscream voices!! “No, Megatron, pleeeeeeease!!!”
;)
Frank Welker’s
tape was really cool. No, I didn’t eat
too much bacon ;) A pity he couldn’t make it to the Convention
... Peter Cullen … Totally Wizard! A big
cuddly cowboy! :) Hearing
him speak, another dream come true.
Ever since I saw my first Transformer episode when I was 13, I had
dreamed of meeting him. At this time I
was 24, dressed as Carly, a costume I had compiled myself, it looked quite
good! I asked Peter to sing in Optimus’
voice… I can’t remember what he sang, but for eleven years I wondered what Oppy would sound like!
I was surprised to hear that he did so many trailers and voices. As I stood, I still couldn’t believe I was
actually there. I couldn’t wait to meet
him in person, and got my chance. I
brought him a souvenir from
The dealers’
tables, although expensive, were awesome.
Never before had I seen so much Transformer stuff in one room!! Zoi was really sweet and bought me lots of
things as we looked around together and my friends gave me discounts at their
tables! :) I wanted to cry at all the way cool G1 stuff
I saw and wished I had more money – and wished I ‘d
bought more in 1985!!! :) (Ditto for She-Ra &
Golden Girl dolls!!!)
A bunch of us
saw the ‘make fun of’ TFTM, and it
was the first time I saw the movie where I actually had a good time. Me wailed loudly when Oppy
died and screamed for mercy in Starscream’s voice when Galvers was about to
kill him.
Galvatron:
“Unicron … Why do you torture me…?”
‘Unicron’: “BECAUSE I AM A
SADISTIC EVIL BASTARD!!!”
It was fun
listening to the other panels and to actually meet Simon Furman
, Andy Wildman and Vince DiCola, all very
personable. David Kaye said he loved my accent!
Yeeeees! :) Hats off to the Hartmans!!
In our rooms,
we saw a trailer for Air Force One
and immediately knew it was Peter!!
Since then I’ve heard many others and get quite excited when I pick up
his voice! Like The Perfect Storm … Hey! I met that
guy!!! :) …And as for that incident with
the cherry bomb, evacuating us from our rooms … At times I wish my Megatron
really worked! :)
And of course
we talked about Transformers, Transformers, Transformers!!! I hope to go again, to relive the beautiful Nexian experience and hug all my friends!! :)
Beast Wars is
cool, love the animation and dialog - it’s great to see Transformers back in
again, to see kiddies staging mock battles.
I was heartened to see mechanical Transformers back with the birth of
Machine Wars, and now with Rid, Armada and Energon, the Transformers’ flame is
eternal, though I prefer the original series.
Rob Jung asked
Femmes Unite to host the Trannies in 1999 which was a major blast! Hehe!!!
I had a few
articles on Transformers, (and one on
Loving
Transformers is loving the characters and the memories
they gave us, exploring new avenues, like ‘what if Thundercracker/Breakdown
left the Decepticons?’ It doesn’t matter
how you spell Elita, wether Frenzy is red or blue or wether Soundwave and
Megatron are true friends or if Transformers can have intimate relationships. Everyone has their own beliefs and
ideas. What matters is what the chatacters mean to us, and how they have influenced and
improved our lives.
My friends and
Transformers give me strength and courage.
The Robots in Disguise were always there in Cyber~Spirit. They gave me something to believe in, to love
and cherish. They nurtured me, helped
improve my writing, express and unlock my creativity, freeing my inner child -
and my inner Warrior …
I discovered my compassionate, spiritual nature and open mindedness. Transformers are not the only things in my
life, but played an enormous role in the person I am today and the creative
Soul I aspire to be. They are truly More
Than Meets The Eye.
Cyber~Hugs to
all!! :)
Till All Are
One
Love
Seawave xoxoxooxoxox
*