Editing Ask Vector Prime

{{quote|Was Primus Cool?}}
{{quote|Cool? As in cold to the touch?! Heaven's no! Primus is warm and full of life! Ha!|Vector Prime "answers" a fan's question.}}
[[File:Ask Vector Prime.jpg|right|upright=1.8|thumb|I will.]]

'''Ask Vector Prime''' is a recurring feature where [[Human|humans]] could submit questions about [[Transformer|Transformers]].  Based on unknown criteria, [[Vector Prime (Cybertron)|Vector Prime]] selected certain questions and answers them to the best of his ability. Vector Prime will sometimes 'misunderstand' a question he'd rather not answer.

Vector Prime is aware of ''Transformers'' as fiction and as a toy line such as in the Marvel UK letters pages, which were answered by Transformers who were even shown working in Marvel UK's office. Vector Prime explains this as being aware of which universes were manifested as fiction in the [[Quadwal]] cluster.

The column has occasionally provided important information not found anywhere else and, in the fan-run revivals, has clarified (and created) lots of obscure trivia. 

==Hasbro website==
"Ask Vector Prime" started as a feature on [[Hasbro]]'s official Transformers website, back during [[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|''Transformers: Cybertron'']]. The questions answered by Vector Prime varied widely in nature, but most concerned the [[Unicron Trilogy|universe]] where the [[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|search for the Cyber Planet Keys]] took place, the [[Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)|toyline]] and [[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|cartoon]] in Hasbro's own universe which parallel said search, or Vector Prime himself.  Unfortunately, updates were rare, and ceased entirely after Vector Prime became one with time itself.  Which is fair enough.

Through the site, Vector Prime had revealed the existence of two Transformers who have not been seen in any other form: a female [[Transformers: Alternators|Alternator]], apparently from his home universe, and [[disco ball|a Mini-Con with a disco ball alternate mode]].  He has also mentioned that he has met both [[Alpha Trion (Energon)|Alpha Trion]] and [[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]], that, "yes, [[Override (Cybertron)|she]] is a girl," that he considers [[Safeguard (Cybertron)|Safeguard]] his best friend, and that he is aware of (and impressed by) the story of [[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]].  Additionally, it was here that he stated that "I am not here to blend." However, when asked about his weight, he simply said it depended on what planet he was on, and made no further comment on the subject.

It was this column that confirmed the Cybertron cartoon took place ten years after the end of ''[[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|Energon]]'', and confirmed that ''Cybertron'' [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] was the same character as ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Armada]]'' Sideways. 

==''The AllSpark Almanac''==
Ask Vector Prime made a comeback in ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II]]'' in the form of [[easter egg]]s scattered throughout the book written in [[Cybertronix]] lettering. While questions were solicited on [[Jim Sorenson]]'s [http://boltax.blogspot.com/2010/04/ask-vector-prime.html blog] a few months before the book came out, the few responses to that request seem to indicate that most of the questions were written by the Almanac II's authors.

Later, more questions and answers appeared in ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac|The Complete AllSpark Almanac]]''.

==Facebook==
{{quote|You need to stop overthinking things.|Vector Prime's advice falls on [[Fandom|deaf ears]]...}}

[[File:Ask Vector Prime Facebook.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Now you too can pester the omniscient guardian of space-time with questions about nameless background characters!]]

From [[May 13]] to [[September 30]], [[2015]], Ask Vector Prime made yet another comeback in the form of a [https://www.facebook.com/AskVectorPrime Facebook page] created by the [[Transformers Collectors' Club]] as part of the Club's prelude material that led up to the [[BotCon 2015]] comic story "[[Cybertron's Most Wanted]]". Similar to the original version from Hasbro's website, this new installment enabled fans to once again post actual questions for Vector Prime to answer on his Facebook. 

Vector's answers continued to include a mix of jokes, evasions, and intentional misunderstandings. Many answers focused on Vector Prime's own history. A ''lot'' of [[universal stream]] designations were identified or introduced this time around, and many previously-unnamed individuals and teams would [[Lori Jiménez|receive]] [[Rainmaker|official]] [[Sentinel Minor (Armada)|names]]. A new type of answer, elaborate stories set in the distant futures or pasts of obscure universes, became a regular part of the feature.

On 5th June, he ended up in a crossover with sister Facebook page "[[Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist]]" when Rook started to ask why he sounded [[Richard Newman|like Rhinox]]. Prime trolled him for a while until Rook accused him of being a guardian of time and space ''pretending'' to be an old duffer, at which point Vector Prime complained to the journalist's editor.

The column took a hiatus between [[June 27]], 2015 and [[July 8]], 2015 before coming back, to facilitate...
{{--}}

===Ask Sideways===
[[File:Ask Sideways.jpg|right|upright=0.9|thumb|He has many insightful comments about your mother.]]

On June 27, 2015, [[Axiom Nexus News]] journalist [[Andromeda (TransTech)|Andromeda]] reported that Vector Prime had been kidnapped by [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. {{storylink|Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter}} Shortly following this announcement, the Ask Vector Prime Facebook and Twitter feeds were taken over by Sideways. His tone was decidedly unhelpful, and he promised to "lie like a girder", as he gleefully made his way through Vector Prime's outstanding questions and answered questions directed at him. A lot of questions about obscure Transformers trivia got the answer of "sure, why not?", and invariably answers about who did any kind of atrocity were some variation of "me!" 

After a few days, Sideways started to employ heavy sexual innuendo, which was initially well-regarded by the fan community. <ref>http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/116666-3-new-botcon-facebook-character-pages-rook-andromeda-and-axiom-nexus-news-editor/?p=2956638</ref> Unfortunately, it led to an answer about [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] that, although unintentional in wording and overtones, the creators agreed was badly phrased, and thankfully edited out within an hour, immediately followed by an apology from the creators.<ref>http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/116666-3-new-botcon-facebook-character-pages-rook-andromeda-and-axiom-nexus-news-editor/page-72#entry2963353</ref> Further questions that would have had such elements were toned down or cut out completely. (But the wiki remembers, Sideways). 

When people replied to his answers, they could sometimes end up in a comment discussion with Sideways. <ref>http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/116666-3-new-botcon-facebook-character-pages-rook-andromeda-and-axiom-nexus-news-editor/?p=2962394</ref>

On July 8, Ask Sideways ended with the conceit that the [[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTech]] had found him by tracking our questions to him. A question from [[David Willis|one such audience member]] blew his head up! (But Sideways Headmaster-linked with [[Rook (Armada)|Rook]] and escaped Nexus 208.0 Epsilon.) {{storylink|Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist}}
{{--}}

===Grim Grams===
[[File:GrimGramsFacebook.jpg|left|thumb]]
On September 30, Vector Prime secretly departed Axiom Nexus on the behest of his brother [[Nexus Prime (Classics)|Nexus Prime]], much to the chagrin of the overworked Rook. After putting out a request on [[Cragun's List]], [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] eagerly took the job, and celebrated by renaming the column [[Letters page (Marvel UK)#Grim Grams|Grim Grams]]. The Dinobot... did his best to work through the backlog of questions intended for Vector Prime while answering new questions about himself and his adventures. Ratings swiftly plummeted, prompting Rook—who was more concerned with the potential destruction of the [[multiverse]]—to fire the Dinobot and replace him with "someone clever"...
{{-}}

===Swindle's Spiel===
[[File:Swindleswindleandswindle.jpg|right|thumb]]
On October 3rd, [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] - to be more precise, one of the three Swindles running [[Swindle, Swindle & Swindle]]- took the job, renaming the column "Swindle's Spiel". Although decidedly more coherent than his immediate predecessor, Swindle tended to turn potential answers into platforms to shill his various products.  Swindle was fired on October 6th for subverting the terms of his contract. At the behest of his editor, Rook put out a call for someone "straightforward" and "earnest", which couldn't possibly bite him in the afterburner, could it?

===Sentinel Shouting=== 
[[File:Ask Vector Prime Sentinel Prime.jpg|thumb|left|NO! NO! WE ARE NOT DOING THE BLOODY ''GOOD LIFE''! I BLOODY HATE ''THE GOOD LIFE''! BLOODY, BLOODY, '''BLOODY!''']]
On October 7, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Minor]] took over the column, this time renaming it "Sentinel Shouting". Unsurprisingly, Sentinel was rather confrontational and aggressive with his readers. 

(Rook is a pretty bad judge of character.)

During his brief tenure, Sentinel talked about how he'd handle things if he ever became Magnus: heavy 'law and order' policies, cutting all money from civil society and moving it all to warships, and squeezing the Decepticon lemon until the pips squeaked. 

By October 9, Sentinel realized that he was corresponding with a bunch of organics. He didn't take the news well and abdicated the position. After Sentinel left, the editor tasked Andromeda with finding yet another replacement, as he had sent Rook to the [[Primax 1015.06 Kappa]] discovery party to help ease him of his stress. Due to Sentinel's abrasiveness turning away younger viewers, the editor pushed her to find someone [[kid-appeal character|popular with the younger crowd]], to which Andromeda immediately knew of a bot for the job...
{{--}}

===Bee's Backtalk===
[[File:Ask Vector Prime Bumblebee.jpg|thumb|right|Kid-appeal is good for attracting viewers.]]
Later on October 9, [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] became the fourth successor to Vector Prime for the column, renaming the column to "Bee's Backtalk". As expected, Bumblebee answered questions with audio clips put together, given his inability to speak.

On October 13, as Bumblebee was about to answer why things in the [[Tyran]] cluster are prone to exploding, he suddenly found himself in the middle of a battleground as everything around him exploded, the Axiom Nexus News team losing contact with him (disappointing the editor, who was pleased that Bumblebee was able to stabilize ratings). As Andromeda was the one who found Bumblebee, she was tasked with finding his replacement, someone who, in contrast to Bumblebee's cryptic radio answers, could speak their mind in a straightforward manner.
{{--}}

===Renegade Rhetoric===
[[File:Ask Cy-Kill.jpg|thumb|left|This screencap from ''Challenge of the Go-Bots'' lasted as long as it took for someone to realize Time-Warner still held the rights.]]
[[File:Renegade Rhetoric Cy-Kill minus lawsuit.jpg|thumb|right|It was subsequently replaced by this original piece.]]
And she thought it'd be a good idea to hire [[Cy-Kill (GoBots)|Cy-Kill]]. Okay, Beavis.

Cy-Kill hoped to use the page to convince us of the rightness of the [[Renegade]] cause and how cool they were. Thanks to leading questions from fans, the wiki got a whole lot of GoBots pages while it was running! Attempts at getting universe names [[Aurex something something|went less well]]. Renegade Rhetoric also got to lampoon parts of Transformers, with Cy-Kill taking a dim view of certain tropes ("it's not as if I call my faction "Untrustworthy-cons" or some such rubbish").
{{--}}

==Notes==

{{quote|I just read the answers and slap some sense into you if you go '''Full Sorenson'''.|[[Jesse Wittenrich]], [[Fun Publications]] editor.}}

*The Facebook version of Ask Vector Prime is written by [[Jim Sorenson]] and edited by [[Jesse Wittenrich]]. Additional contributors<ref>https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153272529184902&set=a.53930589901.64442.584094901&type=1&theater</ref> include: 
**[[Chris McFeely]]
**[[User:Escargon|Alexis Carlo]]
**[[Hirofumi Ichikawa]]
**[[User:Monzo|Matthew Karpowich]]
**Brandy Dixon
**Betsy Blackie
**[[Bill Forster]]
**[[James Roberts]]
**[[Simon Furman]]
**[[Glen Hallit]]
**[[Matt Kuphaldt]]
**[[User:S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 47|Louis Sun]]<ref>http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/116666-ask-vector-prime-axiom-nexus-news-on-facebook/?p=3041854</ref>
**[[Andrew Hall]]
**[http://www.allspark.com/forums Allspark forum] user [http://www.allspark.com/forums/user/14624-gearshift/ Gearshift] <ref>https://www.facebook.com/AskVectorPrime/posts/727800610685245?comment_id=731054300359876&offset=0&total_comments=6&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D</ref>
**[[Peter Spellos]]
**[[Matthew Reinhart]]
**[[Kellen Goff]]
**[[Abby Collins]]
**[[Daniel Ross]]

*As of [[July 16]], Ask Vector Prime had a total readership of 7,263 people.<ref>https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153272529184902&set=a.53930589901.64442.584094901&type=1&theater</ref>

* Notably, Ask Vector Prime:
** Provided English translations for the entire cast of ''[[Transformers Online]]''
** Invented names for pretty much every frigging Mini-Con team in existence
** Established the Thirteen as having visited Earth during the time of ancient [[Greece]] and inspiring/coopting the legends of the {{w|Twelve Olympians}}, along with providing [[holomatter]] avatars for each of them
** Established the first female [[Optimus Prime (RID)#Spy Changer continuity|Optimus Prime]]
** Published [[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]-style biocards for every toy-original character from [[Human Alliance]]
** Revealed the universe of origin of every character to participate in the [[Universe War]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
*[[Ask Vector Prime/src|Ask Vector Prime archive at the Transformers Wiki]]
*[[Ask_Vector_Prime/Facebook_src|Ask Vector Prime Facebook archive at the Transformers Wiki]]
*[[Ask_Vector_Prime/Sideways_src|Ask Sideways Facebook archive at the Transformers Wiki]]
*[[Ask Vector Prime/Guest column src|Grim Grams, Swindle's Spiel, Sentinel Shouting, Bee's Backtalk, and Renegade Rhetoric Facebook archive at the Transformers Wiki]]

==External links==
*[https://www.facebook.com/AskVectorPrime Ask Vector Prime on Facebook]

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