#Magic of Cybertron

[asinine-nerd]

Chat… WHAT

[witchofthesouls]

I'm going to follow up on the fantasy-horror thoughts to be expanded Transformers, so-

Medical/Biological Horror

I haven't really seen takes about established Cybertronian medical biology and the complications with the "humans into Cybertronians" trope.

Like we see the heavy emphasis on T-cogs across the iterations and how it's deeply connected to independence, identity, and person-hood, so how about an ex-human that lacks a T-cog?

Ironically, T-cogs have a lot of emphasis on that particular organ is similar to human hearts in terms of emotional, cultural, spiritual, and physical capabilities and significance. Similar to how humans are capable of donating hearts to others, Cybertronians can perform an equivalent procedure with T-cogs. (On a related side note, the phenomenon of 'cellular memory' has to be extremely appalling to the mechanical species. Not in the sense of upcycling parts, but in the sense that the organs, frame, and equipment still retain the echos of the last person to the point that it influences the new body.)

Imagine that once human inside a medbay as the medics tutted and sadly inscribe their new medical file about their new monoformer status. What a shame, they said. They could have been an excellent addition to (insert whatever frame kibble visible that correlates to a function), they said. Poor thing! With that kind of extrasensory equipment, they'll be a walking target, they said.

So that monoformer with no kibble or those visible beastformer traits without the means to completely escape... What. A. Shame.

Until a random Cybertronian sees that monoformer casually wheeling around with heelies. It's easy to wave away as a reinvention of training wheels, but then they notice those heelies disappear back into the monoformer's frame. The ex-human still has no T-cog. Sweat breaks out because said ex-human had done the fucking impossible.

They're paying closer attention now. They're seeing little micro-transformations happening. The subtle signs of a frame shifting to accommodate an area or space, the way fingertips would sharpen too easily with a file or with a raw cut as a tip is used to scrape away at something, the seams expanding and contracting, so something is happening, they just can't tell...

While this can overlap with the body/psychological horror aspect, I say we should take it more extreme. There had been takes with dysphoria, particularly with the play between mechanical parts and human organs, the differences in senses, and if 'sticky sexual interfacing' is part of it, then sexual hardware of both sets.

However, what about acceptance? The exploration of feeling truly at home in your own new skin? Even if it's high-tech and something out of a sci-fi film/video game with a platform that's incomprehensible because you don't understand the language it uses, but guess what? You can download a packet to fully comprehend a new language. You may not be fluent or comfortably at ease with speaking, but you can read and understand what's being said. A possibility of delving into human disabilities that translate into something easily curable or nonexistent or have well-established accommodations in a Cybertronian framework. Something like hormonal disorders or gastrointestinal issues due to upset gut biome would be wiped clean. Poor/limited eyesight can be compensated with a visor that can't be easily removed or taken away or the additional sensors that provide environmental data. Cybertron has a form of sign language with chirolinguistics where communication is done "by stimulating the nervecircuits in the fingers, wrist and palm of their conversational partner. It seems to be fairly common to know at least a little hand." TFWiki page And it pairs well with internal comms that double as cell phones or an unique user on platform where a Cybertronian can live chat or text another.

A massive tradeoff for this kind of comfort? You now have a visible soul.

Think about it, your soul can be directly handled, as in someone can physically go mess with your most distilled sense of self.

Humanity had long debated the existence of it via philosophy, spiritually, scientifically as well. The heart is the most recent popular choice, but major historical contenders had been the stomach and the mind as well as arguments of the soul isn't found in one specific organ but rather the bridge between them.

People swear by souls and the afterlife. There are many myths and legends that involve souls. Even the most doubtful had been deeply raised in a cultural framework of the concept via media usage, figurative speech, religious imagery, and depictions in art.

That has to be the most mind-blowing and deeply unsettling reality a former human must accept.

I see the comparisons of sparkeaters to vampires as they both prey on the living, but the more apt description should be the product of Harry Potter with Dementors as those Dark creatures eat souls.

So this touches on another genre-

Supernatural Horror

Human adaptability combined with the Earth transformation myths/magic would deeply terrify modern Cybertronians as those new cybered beings don't fit the established medical reality they function with.

This can easily tie very well with expanding Cybertronian folklore of otherworldly beings of their version of fae, demons, spirits, or yōkai. Beautiful, terrible beings that mimick Cybertronians too well... unless to look closer: the shadow missing or not matching (can be tied to Unicron), conflicting kibble, EM fields too wild with a chaotic rhythm no one else can match, colors that change to suddenly, a strange wardrobe (made of dead creatures) that ripples and warps without a breeze, an mechanimal with too much intelligence glittering in its optics...

I'm not even fully delving into the rampant chaos of ex-humans having a host of adaptations suited for tolerating far more ranges of environmental stress and disease-resistance due to the rapid evolution by organic life compared to Cybertronian fauna. Remember, humans are animals. Highly intelligent apex predators that specialize in endurance/persistent pursuit with strong social and communal behaviors, and the cleverness to suit the environment from aquatic to deserts to wetlands to forests to grasslands to tundra. Humanity found ways to not just survive but to thrive in those biomes.

This opens a potential storyline where cybered humans become Cybertron's extremophiles, so that can easily translate into those beings capable of manipulating their own selves to a multitude of frames and shapes.

The example above with the human to monoformer was a show in how transformation mechanisms could be different between the species. If T-cogs are an inherently modern Cybertronian biological trait, then cybered!Earth natives should be either throwbacks or have another approach to it.

And that's the more muted fuckery, but what about straight-up transformations that were deemed unthinkable? Where unnatural formations keep twisting upon themselves, collapsing just to rise higher and higher? The sudden appearance of not one or two extra limbs, but dozens, even hundreds without a sequence as they try to compute how the hell they pull all that mass from nowhere? Armor plating, sure and steady, then turning into a substance that swallows everything and anything as a solid becomes a liquid.

The repression technology may or may not even work as it targets the frame's T-cog. What can it do to a mecha that doesn't have one?

Another aspect overlooked is the animal-human relationship in domestication of wild animals or how communities form symbiotic relationships with different kinds of wild fauna. Combined humanity's collective love for highly dangerous creatures... Wouldn't it be absolutely sick as hell if cyber!human got a sparkeater as their companion? It's still a wild 'animal,' not a fully tame one like a domesticated animal, so they're trying to tedtalk on a human's approach to curating a stable relationship with a predatory species while the rest of the Cybertronians are basically dead-white from sheer fright.

Or on the opposite yet equally delightful spectrum of said exhuman caring for orphaned creatures that reminds them of human pets (like a bunny or a mouse), but those 'cute babies' usually cause massive structural damage to city-states and a known mech-killer. Something like a Scraplet (because, let's be real, deep in your heart, you know a person that would try to keep it as a pet and succeed at it), so their tedtalk about behavioral training, 'reasonable precautions,' and emotional/physical fulfillment is filled with scientists who's curiosity (slightly to completely) overtakes any sense of self-preservation.

[delicateartisantrash]

Elita-1 Fanart

I like her unusual helmet shape, it’s really growing on me.

Wish me luck! I added these to my contest entries. I couldn’t oick which version i liked best and we can submit more than once so weeeee I am indecision queen

@characterhub-com for the Transformer’s One contest!

[foundry-fabrications]

Hey folks! Been sitting on this one for two weeks, done and ready, not wanting to release so close to the Behemoths and just reveling in the fact that for once I have a small stockpile of brews that are done/close to done. It's nice to take a break and not worry about what's next.

Anyway, this is a complete rework of my Transformation Cog item I did a few years back. For those not familiar with the source material or just need a refresher, the Transformation Cog, or T-Cog, is from Transformers and is the organ that allows a Cybertronian to transform into (and scan in later continuities) an alternate mode.

The original version was a reworked version of the Druid's Wildshape feature, with a focus on beast forms rather than vehicular ones. This time, I've gone the other direction and made various types of vehicular alt mode, each for a different purpose and giving you related benefits. A focus of this new version was, as with most of my reworks, refinement of the old idea and simplifying its mechanics to be easier to use. I think I've accomplished that goal, but we'll see how she plays.

I pulled a lot from the Shifter race from Ebberon, as well as the official Transformers RPG by Renegade Games, which is a pretty robust RPG in its own right, though a touch complicated for my tastes (maybe worth a System Spotlight in the future). Eventually, I would love to use this new version as a base for a beast mode T-Cog, and make a Cybertronian lineage that incorporates perhaps an even more simplified version of what I have now. Something to think about.

Anyway, that's it from me, hope y'all like the update! Stay safe, don't forget to love each other, and I'll see you next time.

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[hercarisntyours]

he gained enchantix (optimus prime)

[wonderwomanpleasesteponme]

Coswave shippers i feel y'all are sleeping on this pic of Cosmos carrying Soundwave in boombox form in the official my little pony crossover comic.

[cosmicourple]

the Transfuckmers have taken over my thinker so my first decree as their new host iiiiiiis: T.F.A A.U where Primus n The Thirteen Primes did exist a long, long, long, LONG time ago n war + corruption twisted & wiped away their story in place for a ver that is so heavily altered that it’s basically its own new set of events now 👍 (thru tomfuckerey and other Cosmic Shite, The Thirteen are revived & are jst a lil’ teeny tiny bit ŁÎVĮÐ mad at the current state of Cybertron + the Factions :DDD

[toq1gou2003]

[epiclinksam]

Doesn't post anything for a while.

Posts this and leaves again for a while.

[reviews-by-raven]

Transformers & My Little Pony: The Magic of Cybertron (Graphic Novel)

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[pocoslip]

I Love any White Ultra Magnus Repaints with his own Unique Blaster

(And Not those Lazy White Magnus Repaints that came with Optimus Prime's Gun)

[sonicasura]

Whenever I think about Transformers' holoforms, I can't help but imagine a scenario where they bump into someone also disguising as a human. Like other extraterrestrials who have alternate ways to hide their true nature and magic folk such as yokai who use a glamour spell.

Out of everyone bot in the cast, I see Optimus Prime being the most likely victim to such shenanigans. Even the somber iteration as a practical demigod can't avoid getting dragged into something whacky. Plus boss bot might not really notice it sooner like Soundwave. He'd also have issues adjusting since this would happen to someone like Bumblebee or Bulkhead, not him.

It's hard to expect the unexpected when you aren't the universe's favorite target for otherworldly insanity. Funnily enough, I got a few ideas how this would happen and a few OCs to provide such examples. Those will be for a different post since I want to go over some shared headcanons from a conversation with @cf8wrk4u-us about the thing.

It involves around glamour and Cybertronian scans. For those who don't know, glamour is a type of magical shapeshifting. It's usually used to hide one's true appearance so they can blend in with others like humans. Although some use glamour for more predatory means since human flesh is often on the table.

Huge example being Journey To The West as various yaoguai (Chinese Spirits/Demons) disguise themselves as people in distress or wandering folk to eat the Tang Monk Tripitaka. (It doesn't work on everyone in the group since the Monkey King Sun Wukong can see through such illusions with his magical all seeing eyes or "Eyes of Truth".)

To the normal eye and physical touch, no one would think the person running a bakery is actually a demon or their office coworker being a dragon. Some glamour spells allow the individual to use their physical strength and even powers while some restrictions. Fewer can conceal their true size since some mythological beings are much bigger.

If I have to give an example, the closet would be Saiyuki Journey West's iteration of Sun Wukong. The trickster god's true form here being a giant Great Ape probably around 20 ft in size. The Monkey King is capable of disguising himself as a human although some features are notable like his monkey ears.

Now normal technology can't see through such a facade. Cybertronians are a bit different. If they do a scan such as heat or X-Ray on a glamour disguised individual there's gonna be...errors. Some would be blurry, some too bright and even things out of place like missing bones to extra limbs. Basically a scrambled mess that is guarantee to make your eyes' sore.

Every scan will be different with each retake so it's never the same. Medical oriented bots such as Ratchet or Seekers like Starscream have a better time at seeing through some of the glamour. Since Energon is Primus' life blood, whose a god, it felt natural that a Cybertronian can see through a magical disguise since the substance would have some magic properties.

What do you guys think? I can see all sorts of shenanigans occurring when two disguised parties bump into each other. Can't forget the worldbuilding either!

[breakdowns-spare-tire]

Expect this to become my entire personality form now on

This unholy crossover nr 2 is now in my possession, I have read 5 pages and there are tears in my eyes

[clown-machine]

only in TFA? and some of the movies I think? most of the time they run on Energon, which changes forms in different continuities and media.

Most of the other tf fans in the notes are just saying 'no they run on energon, duh', but I think that only answers one of the questions here. Would Captain Planet think they're friends just because the fuel they use isn't a fossil fuel from earth? Sometimes energon is just a magical/scifi physical manifestation of electrical power and can be harvested from renewable resources(like g1 where they got it from dams and power plants and such). Other times it is a finite resource of magical crystals or glowing liquid that needs to be mined (series in the Aligned continuity and a lot of assorted media use energon as a source of the Autobot/Decepticon war in the first place, it's finite and Cybertron is DYING from energon harvesting). Also there might be some continuities where energon itself is a renewable resource or has sustainable alternatives? (synth en in TFP and some post-war comics touch on this, as well as Earthspark's Terrans running from a new fuel that seems to be generated by Earth through magic.)

Energon is usually shown to be clean-burning or at least have less exhaust than is typical of gasoline irl (That is probably mainly due to animation simplification, but optimus will usually have one or two moments spitting smoke from his exhaust pipes per series, as if he runs diesel like a real semi truck.) Energon seems to usually work as a combustible fuel (it explodes), but then again its not really clear how much of transformer physiology is electronic and how much is mechanical, but I don't think any series have stated transformers have a separate battery like cars do so I think it all is supposed to be powered by energon? Sure a transformer can scan and change vehicle mode to an electric model, but they would still be taking in energon and utilizing that resource the same as someone with a diesel or even coal-burning alt mode! (I dont know all that much about cars and i dont know every tf series feel free to correct me.)

Captain Planet would probably have a different opinion series to series, but for the most part he would have to contend with the fact that the Transformers are sentient alien lifeforms without the ability to change fuel source; their carbon emissions are a necessity of life like animal methane production. So unless energon in that context is clean and sustainable/has clean and sustainable alternatives, they could very well be enemies that Captain Planet feels the need to destroy.

[g4zdtechtv]

THE PILE PRESENTS: Cheat! - Touch Blackjack, Get Lucky | 12/15/06

Bursting with know-how and can-do.

(4GTV - STREAM WHAT YOU PLAY! WATCH NOW!)

[umaia3aurart]

Have y'all read the TF/MLP crossover comic yet? If not, YOU SHOULD!

This is fan art of "the Magic of Cybertron," with Rarity and Fluttershy inviting KOBD over for a tea party afterward!

In this comic, Knock Out expresses his feelings of friendship to Breakdown to help remove his brainwashing. My headcanon is that it was the first time he opened up about his feelings toward Breakdown and called him "My better half," not just a partner! So he asks Rarity for love advice on how he should approach BD next (They become "girl-talk friends" lol) I'd say she would definitely be their matchmaker!

And also, somehow I felt BD and Fluttershy would get along well when I saw them chatting on the last page of the comic! 🦋