I had a late-night conversation with my friend who's also my fan artist. We started off talking about our favorite ship from Inuyasha! But then she started talking about this movie from 2014, Transformers: Age of Extinction, you know, the one directed by Michael Bay and written by Ehren Kruger. She was a little hesitant, but she ended up asking anyway:
Friend: Do you think it's weird if I ship Optimus Prime with someone from Earth?
Me: You mean, you ship Optimus with a human girl?
Friend: Yeah, I’ve watched this one Transformers movie countless times. I never get tired of watching it. Though Optimus in that film has no romantic interest in a girl named Tessa Yeager, I can’t help but secretly ship these two. I’ve never seen any fanfics of them since the movie came out.
I think for people who believe shipping a human to a sentient alien metal (Transformers) is not normal, they would probably say it’s weird. But for someone like me who's open-minded and up for exploring different ships, I gotta say it's not all that weird. Shipping a massive robot and a human girl is interesting! Well obviously at first, the whole idea seemed fresh and different to me because I usually only ship anime or 2D characters. Though it's still within fictional world, I’ve never involved real-life people in my stories. But after my friend told me to watch this movie, I got curious about those two. I decided to write this "slow burn" fanfic between an Autobot leader and this gorgeous human girl.
So in this series, the interaction between Optimus Prime and Tessa doesn’t always have to be romantic. The main focus of this collection is Tessa Yeager having a secret crush on Optimus Prime. I loved scrolling through TikTok and checking out all the comments. There were so many girls who were big fans of Transformers - like, seriously obsessed with those alien robots! It was pretty cool to see how unapologetic they were about having crushes on them. I don't think it's weird at all, to be honest. I actually find Optimus to be a handsome Autobot Transformer. I just applied to the series my observations from these girls who are crushing on Optimus.
Going back to Tessa and Prime, I like to focus mostly on how they emotionally support each other—how Optimus shares his point of view on life, making Tessa feel she’s worthy of love. There’s mutual respect between the two, and they share wholesome conversations.
I really love the scene where Cade Yeager brings Optimus Prime (in his dusty truck form) to the barn and fixes him until Cade discovers who he really is. Tessa Yeager, a typical teenage girl living with her overprotective father Cade. She hates the barn, and her father has a rule that no boys are allowed. I also found Lucas hilarious in the film, especially when he freaks out after realizing Optimus Prime is an alien killing machine. This part of the movie is my favorite, where Cade Yeager, Tessa, and Lucas meet Optimus Prime for the first time: BEST VIDEO SCENE
I know you might be wondering why, out of all the scenes in the movie, I focus on the barn in my one-shot collection about Optimus and Tessa. The reason is... I’m not great at writing about wars, government plots, or lab scenes. I know it might sound boring to some, but I find the barn setting peaceful—a space free from war or complicated human-robot political issues. I don’t feel pressured when I write about the barn. It makes me feel more productive and creative. It allows me to build interesting scenarios in that setting alone. That's how I came up with The Barn Series.
Since writing this type of ship was new for me, I started searching for fanfics involving romantic or platonic relationships between humans and Transformers. I learned more about the Autobots, their lives on Cybertron, and even the Decepticons. Sometimes, I also ended up researching technical information of classic Peterbilt 379 truck while looking up details about Optimus Prime.
Writing from Optimus Prime’s point of view has been a big challenge for me. He’s a character who demands respect due to his leadership and kindness, especially towards humanity. I’ve had to search for videos and information to understand how someone like Optimus Prime would carefully respond in different situations. As a massive alien robot that transforms into a truck, how Optimus still manages to convey empathy and exhibit ‘human’ emotions despite his true nature. What about his philosophy and wisdom? How can I add layers to his character that will provide little valuable lessons to the readers of my fanfic? I’m not perfect, so I’m still learning how to capture his perspective. It’s an ongoing journey of growth as I dive deeper into his character.
When it comes to making an erotic fanfiction for this series, I would say I'm not going to write it. Yes, I have created erotic fanfic in some of my other works, but this series is different, and I’m not comfortable including that kind of content here. I honestly can’t imagine how Optimus Prime and Tessa would even “you know” do that. We know how huge Optimus is, right? Even if he were... transform into a human size... nope, I’m not going to write it.
I think that’s all. I have honestly enjoyed working on the Barn Series: Optimus Prime x Tessa Yeager. I’m writing one-shots for them that I hope won’t come across as cringy to readers. The collection is also a gift for my friend, who has been actively looking for fanfics about these characters. I’d be more than happy to keep writing this series as long as the ideas keep coming. Thanks for reading!