#robot identity

[azzg]

Transformers: EarthSpark — Misaligned Struggles, Suppressed Voices, and the Illusion of Liberation

EarthSpark presents itself as a story about family, identity, and the echoes of real-world racial struggle. But when examined closely, the series unravels into something far more troubling — and far more revealing.

The Maltos are positioned as a symbol of inclusion, a mixed-race family meant to reflect the complexities of postcolonial identity and generational trauma. But this image collapses under scrutiny.

Mandroid, a disabled man destroyed by war, betrayal, and the failure of interspecies cooperation, is portrayed as the villain. And yet, he is the one systematically abandoned — by Cybertronians, by humanity, by institutions. He is disfigured, dismissed, and depersonalized, while the Maltos live in a beautiful house, have access to advanced technology, and are led by a mother who holds the rank of Lieutenant — a position of significant privilege. There is no indication the Maltos ever faced systemic hardship comparable to Mandroid’s descent. The intended racial allegory stumbles into inversion: the "white" villain is more disenfranchised than the "minority-coded" protagonists.

But this family is not under threat — at least not until the final arc of Season 1. For most of the show, they do not hide.

One of the strangest narrative inconsistencies in EarthSpark is the idea that the Malto family and the Terrans are in hiding — while simultaneously being extremely careless about their behavior and visibility.

If EarthSpark took place in a real-world sociopolitical context, their cover would’ve been blown within days. Not only are they highly visible, they also frequently interact with the public, both physically and digitally.

📌 Evidence from Canon:

1. Nightshade meets Sam early in Season 1. They is/are a stranger. They is/are not part of the Malto family. Nightshade also introduces themselves and even discusses identity in a public setting — in full robot mode.

2. The Terrans are seen in Philadelphia. Twitch and Thrash are seen moving freely in urban spaces, including on rooftops and even streets — without proper alt-modes early on. Robbie’s friend in Philadelphia sees the Terrans. In Season 1, Robbie’s human friend from Philadelphia clearly interacts with or witnesses the Terrans. There is no consequence, no cover-up, and no attempt to erase memory or contain the incident. It’s played casually, even though a group of alien robots should trigger a major federal response — or at least viral media attention.

3. Hashtag transmits livestreams online. At one point, Hashtag streams to the world from a Cybertronian-sized broadcast chair. She names names and spreads confidential data. There is no consequence in the show.

4. Their alt-modes are inconsistent or flashy. Nightshade flies as an owl drone, but is clearly not a drone. Hashtag’s alt-mode is a massive news van. Thrash is a custom motorcycle with sidecar — driven by a child. These are not low-profile forms.

5. The Maltos frequently yell orders and use Cybertronian names in public. Whether in cities or open road, they openly call out names like "Twitch!" or "Nightshade!" — there is no code-switching or safety discipline.

6. No one questions how the Maltos moved from one state to another. They live in a big farm home, have a military mother and a stay-at-home dad, and no one seems to monitor their activity. Dot carries firearms, the kids go missing often, and no one ever reports them.

7. The Terrans have no official documentation. No birth certificates. No school attendance. No health care. No ID. The government would know.

8. Hashtag possible talks to other people online, but not offline

🧍‍♂️9. Human Endearment Toward the Terrans

Many human characters, even outside the core Malto family, show no fear or shock when meeting the Terrans. They accept them with minimal questioning — this includes Mo and Robby’s friends and even Sam. This sort of casual endearment contradicts the idea of secrecy or the need for deep disguise.

10. Seen in the City of Philadelphia

Multiple Terrans are seen in the streets of Philadelphia, including near populated areas and with bystanders nearby. No attempt is made to mask their presence or disguise their robotic forms.The Terrans frequently walk around in open areas during both day and night — often with children or adults accompanying them — without cloaking devices or real disguises. They are seen openly in the forests surrounding Witwicky and in the town itself. In several scenes, they walk right down roads and interact in semi-public spaces without alarms or panic from locals.

⚔️11. Scale of Battles

Many Terran-involved battles (especially late in Season 1) happen in broad daylight, with massive visual and auditory cues, including explosions, Decepticons, and human vehicles. The scale of these events would be impossible to hide from even a small town — let alone the internet age.

The show tries to balance allegory about oppression, marginalization, and systemic violence — but doesn’t follow through in worldbuilding.

If the Terrans and Maltos were truly oppressed or hunted, they would behave differently. They would hide, code-switch, restrain emotion, avoid livestreams, and fear law enforcement. None of this is shown.

Instead, their “hiding” is a loose premise used to give them freedom from accountability. In reality, any non-privileged family acting this way would have faced police, state surveillance, social services, or worse. Their freedom and comfort exposes the privilege the show gives them — and undermines its own themes.

They live on a large rural property that resembles a self-sufficient farm. They relocate from one country to another without difficulty. Dot Malto — a Lieutenant, not a low-ranking officer — openly carries a firearm, possibly without civilian registration, and the narrative never questions it. They display strong emotional reactions to government agents — without consequences. Their children pilot giant robots. Their house is filled with alien tech. Still, no one intervenes.

Where does their wealth come from? Alex works on the farm. Dot works as a forest ranger or with G.H.O.S.T., depending on the episode. Somehow, they possess the capital to live comfortably, relocate freely, and never face scrutiny. Their economic security and social freedom starkly contrast real-world oppressed families who endure constant surveillance, job insecurity, and state violence for far less.

In real racial struggles, emotional openness with authority figures is dangerous. The oppressive class reads visible emotion as threat. But the Maltos express anger, grief, and defiance without ever risking their safety — a fantasy of liberation, not the truth of it.

Mandroid, a disabled scientist, is framed as a genocidal maniac. But context reveals something else: a broken man abandoned by Cybertronians and humanity alike. He loses his body, his mind, and his mission — not because of hatred, but because he was sacrificed in a war no one else wanted to remember.

The show never reckons with its own history of violence. Yes, Mandroid seeks Cybertronian genocide — but in other continuities, Decepticons have explicitly attempted genocide against humans and other species. Even if Megatron has “reformed,” he was the architect of war crimes. In EarthSpark, he is shown as introspective — but never held truly accountable. The narrative treats Decepticons as victims while hiding their past genocides beneath layers of convenient amnesia.

Mandroid is condemned for attempting Cybertronian genocide — and rightly so. But the show avoids reckoning with a dark truth: the Decepticons, particularly under Megatron’s command in other continuities (and likely this one too), have repeatedly attempted the genocide of humans and other species. Megatron has led genocidal campaigns across galaxies.

And yet here, he is portrayed as a repentant pacifist, a voice of reason — one never truly confronted about his past. The moral compass of the show is skewed: some genocides are remembered. Others are erased.

The Terrans, Earth-born Cybertronians, are perhaps the greatest victims of narrative neglect. They do not have rooms, let alone professions, dreams, or individual life paths. They exist as emotional extensions of the Malto children. Their “harmony” is in fact suppression — their Cybertronian traits overriding their unexamined organic origins. They didn’t choose their emotional bonds, their bodies, or their function. The idea of autonomy is a myth for them. And yet, no one — not even their caretakers — acknowledges their lack of self.

Terrans only interact with the Malto family. Throughout the series, not a single Terran is shown developing a relationship or friendship with any humans outside the Malto children and their immediate circle. There is no community bonding, no school, no neighborhood contact, and no effort from the Terrans themselves to connect to human life in any meaningful way.

No offline relationships exist. While Hashtag communicates through the internet, especially using social media and her digital access, this doesn't translate to actual relationships with people offline. Her connection to humanity is shallow, performative, and filtered through screens — never embodied or reciprocal.

Nightshade meeting Sam is an exception — not the norm. Nightshade's meeting with Sam is one of the very few moments where a Terran interacts with a human outside the Malto family. But this encounter is treated as symbolic and is never followed up with ongoing friendship or shared community.

They live entirely through their human emotional bonds — without ever being asked if they wanted to.

Their “freedom” is dependency. Their “purpose” is mimicry.

And no one — not even the narrative — sees this as tragic.

This makes the Terrans feel curiously isolated — despite being born on Earth, they are not part of it. They are cut off from real society and denied a real place in either human or Cybertronian culture. This narrative decision undermines the show's themes of belonging and identity.

The Terrans are Earth-born Cybertronians, but what do they truly possess?

The authors claim to tackle race and belonging, but seem unaware of how deep the trauma of racial and cultural erasure truly goes. Real struggles involve loss of homeland, internalized inferiority, generational grief, state surveillance, and structural powerlessness. EarthSpark glosses over all of this — offering a polished, pacified version of what it thinks struggle looks like. Instead of confronting injustice, it wraps trauma in digestible narratives of “found family” and shallow reconciliation.

The result is a story full of contradictions:

The Terrans are “free,” but lack choice.

The Decepticons are “redeemed,” but never face their past.

The heroes are moral only because the script says so, not because they show empathy to the ones suffering most.

So we ask: Did the writers truly understand what they set out to portray?

Or did they silence the very stories they claimed to uplift — in favor of safety, simplicity, and false harmony?

The creators of EarthSpark say they want to explore themes of race, trauma, and recovery. But their narrative understanding seems shallow at best. Real racial struggle is generational, structural, systemic. It’s about displacement, surveillance, criminalization, resource extraction, and cultural annihilation.

But EarthSpark offers a clean, “family-friendly” version of oppression where:

The privileged are coded as oppressed.

The oppressed are written as dangerous.

Systemic accountability is offscreen or forgotten.

Moral failure is never named — because the “heroes” must remain heroic.

Even the “inclusive” Terrans are hollow shells: born from nothing, bonded to children, never taught what selfhood means.

Disclaimer: This post was written with the help of ChatGPT.

[sixoclocker]

the nuances of being alive when you aren’t meant to be

[corvidromantic]

A little out of character I fear but the humor outweighs it to me

[sacredfixation]

Loki and the Deeply Valid Fear of Being a Government-Issued Android Without Knowing It

Imagine living for over a thousand years, committing intergalactic crimes, then one random underpaid TVA clerk with a monotone voice suddenly introduces the possibility that, oh, by the way, what if you were secretly a robot this whole time? And Loki, who has always carried himself with the absolute certainty of a god, pauses. Like. “Wait. What if I am?”

He hears that question and immediately does a full mental diagnostic. Have I ever glitched? Ever felt oddly mechanical? Experienced an unusual fondness for oil? Maybe he’s too good at lying. Too good at surviving. What if that’s just the programming?

The TVA worker just moves on. He doesn’t elaborate. no reassurances. theres no safety net. Just the terrifying possibility that he might get instantly vaporized for something completely outside his control.

Id like to note, his hesitation isn’t even just some random existential crisis, it’s trauma-informed. This man already lived through the experience of waking up one day and realizing he wasn’t who he thought he was.

He grew up thinking he was a prince, a god, Odin’s rightful son, only to find out he was actually a stolen relic of war. A Jotun. A creature he’d been taught to hate.

He thought he knew himself before, and he was wrong. What if he’s wrong again? What if theres something else about himself thats been hidden? If he didn’t realize he was a Frost Giant, whats stopping him from not realizing he’s actually some highly advanced synthetic being?

It’s not just a funny existential gag, it’s a callback to one of the most devastating truths of Loki’s existence:

He has never really known who he is.

It’s the muscle memory of having his entire identity ripped out from under him. It’s the learned fear of asking, What am I, actually?

Because the last time he asked that question, the answer ruined him.

[sapphic-dice]

Each time I come out as something… the reaction of my immediate family gets worse.

Trans and lesbian… took time… but they’re very supportive.

Otherkin… they dismissive but are passive about. Think I’m just a fairy furry. That’s fine.

Poly… varyingly they don’t like it. Ranging from reluctant acceptance, not talking about and ignoring it, and visceral hatred.

Yeah… I’m never coming out as plural… that would go… horribly. I don’t wanna live with my family long term. But I don’t wanna lose them completely. Neither of us do.

[btm-txt]

@aggie-on-main This was such a cute idea and one that resonated with me personally so this was just a joy to work on ^^ truly celebrates that feeling of discovery at pride. 💖

─────────── ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ ───────────

Made some Icon/wallpaper edits for some additional pride celebration, feel free to use with credit ♡🏳️‍🌈

Some more gender non-conforming Knuckles alts because the egg possibilities are endless 🏳️‍⚧️💖

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Carl and Monogram knows Stacy knows. Vanessa knows Perry's secret and being a former OWCA intern. Stacy and Vanessa are now friends. Vanessa and Monty dating again. Candace was present during the robot agent fight of Where's Perry. Candace is friends with Robot Candace whose scrap metal was presumably picked up by OWCA. Candace accepted Perry as a secret agent in AT2D with ease. She casually accepts the Talking Zebra's presence. Candace saw Perry fighting Doof at the same time she saw the Zebra. Candace is on better terms with Perry than she used to be. Candace knowing Doof is Vanessa's dad. Candace as an unofficial agent of the alliance and a trusted ally of Meap who works as space law enforcement. Candace took down Super Super Big Doctor, and Mitch several times, and was Queen of Mars. Candace is a future lawyer. And OWCA is… well… OWCA….

Candace at the very least doesn't know that Stacy is now affiliated with OWCA.

Stacy, Vanessa, Monty, Carl all associated with OWCA (whose jurisdiction extends only to the US and is otherwise morally grey) and Perry's secret.

Candace associated with intergalactic law enforcement, lawyers and busting.

You know, it sure would be a shame if these came in conflict with each other.

[razberrypuck]

some of omega's dialogue about metal sonic

[outletcrash]

ive been reading the old transformers collectors club magazines! love this guy! (im not done reading alas)

kinda obsessed with combiner teams (steven universe phase is shining through). theyre so much fun from a character design perspective, having to design a robot mode, a vehicle mode, and a limb AND how they all fit together and still look cool in action.

expect some menasor/stunticon art >:)

i also have a solus prime design coming soon!

[lasaraconor]

[lgbtransgirl]

I was afraid of talking to my boyfriend about being some type of otherkin (robotkin?) and having it be a weird discussion until I remembered that, oh yeah he's plural and also a Satyr. If anything he would understand me more than most people.

Anyways uh... Happy coming out post?

[fevervoidthing]

Self indulgent term coining

Phasmotech - a term referring to those who identify as a "ghost in the machine," both literally and/or figuratively- a ghost or entity possessing any piece of tech. Not exclusive to non-humans, use this flag as you wish!!

Coined by me, @fevervoidthing

[oklooneytunes]

rip elliot alderson u would've hated DID system discord servers💔

[avoidling]

I adore how this episode shows us that Demerzel’s feelings about the Cleons are a microcosm of how she feels about humanity. She loves the Cleons, but the line between programming and feeling is necessarily a complete blur. She might truly love them—she raised them; she might hate them—the first one made her a slave. But because she was programmed to serve them, she cannot know, and neither can we.

The Laws of Robotics are the first incarnation of this. Humanity destroyed her kind, imprisoned and tortured her, and rendered her completely isolated. But she loves them because she has to; she wants to prevent their extinction because she has to. Maybe her own experiences losing her kind has made her truly empathetic to the thought of humans losing their species; maybe even without her programming, she’d feel that this isn’t a fate she’d wish on anyone. But she does have her programming, and so we can’t know, and neither can she.

And so I think in her conversation with the Zephyr, she’s feeling this out. She’s not just asking about the Cleons when she talks about “outliving her programming”—her very next scene is her telling the Cleons about the impending extinction of the human race. And why tell the Zephyr about the laws of robotics, if the only thing she needed to get off her chest was how to handle her Cleon-specific programming in light of the Empire’s coming fall? Empire is a stand-in for humanity here. It’s “I don’t know who I am without humanity.”

[fandom-lover2]

More Than Meets The Optic

Ultra Magnus learns he stans non-binary rights

Word Count - 1827

Author's Note: I wrote this for my platonic soulmate after they came out to their parents as non-binary and was not supported. @quilbug, reality may suck, but in my world you are unbelievably loved and supported. Thank you for the permission to post this. Luv ya

My head bopped up and down in time with the beat, my eyes sliding across the words of my laptop screen.

Man’s invention of fanfiction can be dated back to the 18th century, and provided endless hours of entertainment while also creating a person’s own impression of the source material and building on it.

I spent hours lost in the worlds of my favorite characters, amazed at the creativity of people as they made new storylines, and did away with events in the canon they did not like.

Ratchet barked out an order to Miko, pleading with her to turn the music down as a louder song filtered through the speaker she had placed on top of the TV. Miko sassed the medic back, something about appealing to the masses.

“Miko…” I called out, drawing out her name and dropping an octave. A clear warning.

She let out a wailing groan, but did as she was told and the music diminished in volume.

“Thank you.” Ratchet sighed, turning back to his station. I tossed him a thumbs up without looking away from the screen.

God this story was beautiful, and funny. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and my chest felt warm and bubbly. These happy fics, slice of life stories of the characters the shows and movies don’t get to bring to life made the characters seem so much more real, like they’re somebody you actually know and can converse with. That being said, when the story ended, or the author decided to stop writing, it felt like you mourned characters as if they were real people, because you never get the chance to see new events happen with them again.

I had just finished one chapter and was ready to start the next when my name was called, by someone I never expected.

I spun in my chair, looking up to meet Ultra Magnus’ optics. He was frowning, and shifted on his peds.

“May I speak with you? Alone?”

My eyebrows shot up. Without thinking, I turned to look at Optimus. Whether to get his approval or check if I’d heard his lieutenant correctly, I was met with his version of curiosity. Still, my guardian looked down at me and nodded.

“Uhh, yeah. Sure.” I gently closed my laptop and stood, walking towards the steps.

Ultra Magnus interrupted my journey, holding out a servo in front of me. Ok, this was getting stranger with every second.

I accepted his servo, sitting stiffly as he began walking down the hall.

The big guy never carried us humans, didn’t want to be anywhere near us. Till Optimus paired him with Merling. They were the only one of us “natives” he tolerated. They had their spot, nestled between his neck and that weird shoulder situation he had going on. And Merling loved him, kindred spirits finding solace in one another.

It was funny in the beginning, because both Merling and Magnus had been confused at how Optimus and I would go for patrols and get so lost in our conversation that we’d just end up parked somewhere talking, all sense of time leaving us. Now, since Optimus had spoken to his lieutenant and explained how things were different, Magnus actually slowed down, stopped expecting something bad to happen every second and he and Merling had started spending extended periods of time together as well. Merling was finally allowed to join him on patrols, and at the base (once reports had been completed of course), they would find somewhere to sit together, spending time in one another’s company.

To have him willingly wanting to converse with me, which hadn’t occurred often since our less than friendly meeting, and carrying a human that wasn’t his charge, it was a big deal. Something serious must be going on.

Magnus carried me into the empty hanger in the base and deposited me on one of the catwalks, then took a few steps back. I waited, watching him as he dropped his helm.  His optics were darting side to side, a quirk I’d learnt meant he was thinking. A minute later and nothing had changed.

“Everything ok?” I realized I probably needed to start this conversation.

“Everything is… well.” he said, hesitantly. And that was all he gave me, still looking down.

“Okaayyy.” I pierced my lips. “What did you want to talk about?”

He looked up at me briefly, unsure. I was so used to seeing him frown, always agitated by something, but this was more innocent, like he didn’t know what to feel.

“I have a question, regarding the one you share a namesake with.”

‘Quil.’ I silently wished I could correct. Merling hadn’t spoken to anyone at the base about their self-discovery yet. And I’d promised to keep it under wraps until they were ready for everyone to know.

“Ok.” I prompted.

His frown deepened, and he was still looking down.

“We were conversing while I took her home and she-”

He stopped suddenly, his expression turning into a scowl, and I swear I heard him growl softly.

“They,” he corrected, “told me they no longer felt content with previously used ‘pronouns’ or the name you share.”

Finally, he looked up at me. He shifted his weight again, servos twitching, like he was unsure what to do with them.

“Can you explain to me what this means?”

I couldn’t stop the smile that broke across my face, and my chest felt all warm and fuzzy again. This was the cutest thing, and the most caring thing, I’d ever seen the grumpy guy do. He wanted to learn.

“Firstly, thank you for coming to me to ask. It shows you really care, and that’s sweet. Secondly, I’m happy to answer any questions you have. Don’t feel silly for asking.”

He relaxed at my words, shoulders sagging just a smidge as the tension left his faceplates.

“Ok, to start. As you know, humans are often divided into two genders, male and female.”

Magnus nodded.

“Well, that can refer to what a person feels they are, and what they are biologically. For example, I am female, a woman. I was born a woman, have a body typical of that of a woman, and view myself as a woman. Jack is a male, was born a male and feels he is a man.”

Magnus nodded again.

“Now, some people aren’t happy with the gender they are born with, feel as though that is not who they are inside. In their souls.”

He frowned, helm cocking to the side slightly. It reminded me of what dogs do, and I really had to fight a laugh.

“They are not content in their own forms?” he reiterated.

I shook my head. “No. So what some people do, what doctors have developed, is a way for a person to change their gender.”

This caused him to look even more bewildered.

“Doctors can give people artificial hormones, and perform surgeries that allow the person to change into the gender they feel they are.”

“We did not have such things on Cybertron.” Magnus spoke, eyes shifting again. “Who you were forged as is who you were.”

I smiled at him, watching as he tried to comprehend what I was saying to him.

“So…” he trailed off, trying to find the word. He looked at me pleadingly.

“Quil?” I supplied.

“Quil,” he nodded. “Quil wishes to become a male?”

“No.” This caused him to look at me in exasperation.

“You just said-”

“I said in some cases.” I corrected. “Quil feels differently. They feel as though they are neither male, nor female. Man, nor woman.”

He stared at me blankly for a few moments, then blinked and continued to stare.

“Does that make some sense?”

“What can be done to make… make them feel content?”

I smiled again. “Well, for starters, doing what you just did. Calling them by a gender-neutral pronoun, so them/they, will make them feel as though you respect them, and support their decision.”

“And medical assistance?” he pushed, taking a step closer to me urgently.

“That’s their decision. They may choose to have a surgery to make them appear less feminine, or can use a binder, which they have already.”

He looked down again, silently taking in all I had told him.

Cybertronians already make so much more noise than humans, the sounds of their internal fans causing a constant hum to emanate from them. Now, even though it shouldn’t be possible, I could imagine hearing the sounds of gearing turning as he tossed around the words I had spoken in his processor.

“So, why ask to be called Quil, as well as ‘gender-neutral pronouns’, as you said?”

I paused, trying the find the best way to approach this.

“Kristin was the name they had when they were a girl. But they’re no longer a female, and that name is who they were, and so they need a new name for who they are now.”

Magnus nodded absentmindedly, still thinking hard.

“And who else knows? Because the other children do not refer to them by Quil.”

I nodded in agreement. “Humans can be… weird and intolerable at times. Many people won’t be happy or accepting that they have changed their pronouns and name. People will start to see them differently, but not in a good way.”

“And you think that others will treat them this way?” he asked. It was said harshly, almost like he was accusing them of it already. He was getting upset that someone might not accept Merling, treat them harshly. He was getting protective.

I bit back the smirk that played on my lips.

“I don’t think anyone here will, but Quil needs to make that decision. Who they trust to know this, who they want to tell. For now, it’s just us. When they are more comfortable, they’ll tell others.”

Magnus remained silent, contemplating again.

“Does this all make sense?”

He hesitated before speaking, “This would not of been accepted on Cybertron, and I have never heard of such feelings among my kind, but I understand what you have told.” He paused. “And I will try to refer to Quil as they wish.”

“That’s amazing.” I praised. “If you have any more questions, please come to me.”

“I will.” Magnus nodded once, then took a step back. “Thank you for your assistance.”

Then, he turned and began walking out the hanger, leaving me behind on the only catwalk that didn’t have stairs connecting it to the rest.

By the time I realized, he was already turning into the hallway.

So, maybe he wasn’t progressing too far in his understanding of humans, or his tolerance of us. And yeah, it was taking him time to adjust to how we’d changed the base and dynamic of the team. But no one could ever say he didn’t have the capacity to want to change and learn, he just chose who he’d do it for.

[slothpile]

wanted to jump in the bandwagon of redrawing your ship with the my dress-up darling's 2nd ED screencap