#caminus titan

[sorsabruh]

Papa Caminus reassuring his long lost son with memory issues..

He would give patpats, but that's kinda difficult 😔💔💔

[witchofthesouls]

I wish the Lost Colonies' cultures and biological quirkw had been delved deeper, especially how they would viciously clash with modern Cybertron, both pre- and post-War.

I mean, I think it's really interesting juxtaposition between the deep scars of Functionism versus the other worlds' sources of prejudice and discrimination. Camien devotion and deification of Solus versus a Cybertron with no femmes with Megatron's and Optimus' cult of personality as well as atheism and agnosticism, especially among their respective inner circles. Cybertron's complete desolation and Eukaris' lush and lively greenery. The meritocracy of racing-obsessed Velocitron. Prion had minicons with multiple alts, and Devisiun yielded split-spark twins. The people of Carcer are those of wardens living in a prison.

Do the Camiens think of their Titan's homeworld as cold and lonely? Would they think of those from Cybertron suffering from disorders from the lack of close, intimate connections and no true community?

Velocritron descended from the scientists of Navitas, and they utilized the scorching heat to derive alternative sources of fuel. Do they scorn the deprived worlds for not searching for solutions?

How do the Eukarians view the others that cyberformed their planets? Do they see Cybertron and the others as sterile and lifeless; their civility is a cheap, hollow mimicry that hides their teeth and claws?

The Carcerians developed an austere culture that prioritized keeping their Titan on complete lockdown to the point sacrificing themselves to achieve that goal. How do they view Caminus' offering to dismantle himself so his own children can thrive in such a harsh environment?

How do diplomacy and common courtesy differ from each planet? The language and food? The behaviors? The relations with nearby neighbors, both mechanical and organic?

[novafire-is-thinking]

And I love them both ✨

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, have you ever had a Headmaster partner?

Dear Aegis Agent,

I have indeed. Allow me to continue my tale of the ultimate Titan Masters, and I promise your curiosity will be satisfied.

While Arcee was tracking down the Titan Master hidden on Caminus, a separate mission was being carried out on the colony world of Biosfera—known to the locals as Eukaris. Grotusque, Twinferno and Repugnus journeyed there to find another Titan Master, this one believed to grant incredible fireblast. The Monsterbots were not Optimus Prime’s first choice for the mission, as he worried their bellicose disposition would create conflict with the native population—but with the so-called jungle planet having no roads to speak of, only Autobots with bestial alt-modes would be able to handle the terrain.

As Biosfera had been largely insulated from the Autobot-Decepticon conflict, the Monsterbots expected its inhabitants to be pushovers, who would do little to impede or expedite their search one way or the other. Instead, they arrived to find the planet on the brink of all-out war between the four major tribes. Something was terribly wrong: the kinds of weapons being amassed were beyond even those used by Cybertronians in their raw destructive potential. Still, the Monsterbots decided the brewing tensions were none of their business, and decided to focus on searching for the Titan Master.

It was at that point that I was forced to intervene. I materialized in their midst, which proved to be something of a miscalculation: they were taken by surprise, and turned on me immediately. Naturally, I am no lightweight, but I must admit the three of them had me on the ropes. I forced a time-out, separating us from physical spacetime, to allow us to communicate without violence. Once they were prepared to listen, I told them what I had seen.

In the future, Biosfera is an irradiated wasteland. Algorithmic engines crawl over the ash, feeding carbonized trees into immense furnaces, liquid metal pouring from foundries to coat the planet, constructing some kind of superstructure… to uncertain ends. The few survivors of the global devastation have shed the last vestiges of their organic biology, becoming purely robotic lifeforms in order to weather the potent radiation.

The Monsterbots refused to believe me without proof, and so I removed my head, Safeguard. Repugnus briefly swapped Dastard for Safeguard, and saw in his memory banks what we had witnessed of that apocalyptic future. Begrudgingly, the Monsterbots agreed to help us, and we separated, each to visit one of the four tribes.

High in the mountain eyries of the Cloud Walkers, Grotusque and Fengul discovered that they had forged a partnership with the Decepticon Fangry, who had given them a powerful attack jet. At the same time, Twinferno and Daburu found the Scale Walkers to be strategizing with Krok, who had armed them with an unstoppable armored tank. So too were the Wave Walkers consulting with the crab-like Squeezeplay, and as I discovered, the Fur Walkers had welcomed amongst them the ferocious Horri-Bull. It was obvious to us that the Decepticons had completely infiltrated the planet’s tribes, and were deliberately stirring conflict between them. Unfortunately, stirring conflict was the Monsterbots’ specialty, and they each started fights with the Decepticons on sight, leading to them quickly being ousted from the other tribes. Safeguard and I had the most luck, managing to convince the chieftain of the Fur Walkers that they were better off without the “guidance” of Cybertronians—though unfortunately, this included ourselves.

We regrouped, and the Monsterbots decided to resume their search for the mythical Titan Master hidden on the planet. I hoped that in the course of our hunt, we would stumble across a centralized base of operations for the Decepticons, which might produce the evidence we needed to sway the tribes. As it turned out, we were being followed: one of Twinferno’s heads spotted a bird flying overhead, and recognised it not as one of the Cloud Walkers, but as the Decepticon Wingspan. Twinferno almost flew up to take out the snooping Decepticon, but I was able to convince him to hold. We waited until nightfall, and when Wingspan left to make his report, we quietly followed.

He led us to a foreboding tower of steel, a weapons factory hidden in a barren valley. Inside, ensconced within the topmost chamber, we found the true mastermind behind the hostilities: the lost Titan Master, Scorponok. Once, he had commanded one of the Titans of myth, but he had been usurped by the alien Lord Zarak. Driven to madness by this defeat, he had begun traveling the galaxy in search of new evolutionary pathways. On this remote and primeval colony, he found them: and now, his machinations had brought him to the precipice of his return to power. In the fallout, once the biomechanical natives evolved into a purely mechanical existence to survive the nuclear winter that followed, he would use a planetwide relay to reach out and upload his consciousness simultaneously into thousands of bodies—becoming a gestalt lifeform on a scale that would surpass even the Titans.

Well, we certainly weren’t going to stand around and wait for that to happen! The Monsterbots made short work of Wingspan and Horri-Bull, but Scorponok was far from finished: he recalled the jet and the tank from the tribes, and they joined together to form the almighty Overlord. One Titan Master formed his head, while another plugged into his chest, right alongside Scorponok himself—giving the combined giant three times the power.

As it happened, deploying Overlord turned out to be a miscalculation: unbeknownst to us all, skillful trackers from the four tribes had followed us to Scorponok’s lair, and when they saw that the Cloud Walkers’ and Scale Walkers’ new weapons were in fact one and the same, they finally had proof that they’d been deceived. They raced back to their homes, to urge their leaders to begin peace talks. Unable to take down Overlord, we beat a hasty retreat, and he split into his individual components once more to menace the tribes.

Unfortunately, the nuclear submarine Scorponok had built for the Wave Walkers remained in play—and once he gave the command, it launched its payload, sending a dozen missiles up into the atmosphere. Converting to starship mode, I flew after them, and began an arduous process to disarm the bombs. First, I froze the missiles in time, halting their trajectories but maintaining their velocity relative to the planet’s rotation in space. Then, with a boost of power from Safeguard, I isolated each individual warhead, accelerating time to allow billions of years to pass in what was, from our perspective, mere cycles. During that time, the fissile material experienced many half-lives’ worth of radioactive decay… until finally, the payloads were rendered inert. Although I had saved the planet from nuclear fallout, the missiles still had enough raw explosive power to cause untold destruction—and I was powerless to stop them. The radiation from the warheads needed to go somewhere—and although spread over a short period, it was still a strong enough burst of gamma rays to cause a chain reaction, unleashing an electromagnetic pulse which knocked me offline and sent me plummeting into the ocean.

The rest, I heard after-the-fact, once the Wave Walkers dredged me up and brought me to shore. The Fur Walkers and Scale Walkers united, ambushing Overlord’s tank half, while the Monsterbots waylaid the jet—just long enough for the Cloud Walkers to intercept and destroy the missiles in midair, before they reached their targets.

As for Scorponok, he was able to slip away in the confusion. The Monsterbots were frustrated to have failed their mission, but after seeing the sheer destructive potential of his fireblast, they knew it was for the best that Cybertron would have to do without his power. They resolved that when Scorponok next appeared, they would be ready and waiting to settle the score.

Back on Cybertron, the situation had gone from bad to worse: Powerhouse’s seismic forces disturbed Trypticon from his hibernation, and he awoke very hungry indeed. After consuming several Titan Masters, including Powerhouse, and gaining their abilities, Trypticon lay waste to the Autobot defenses, felling Fortress Maximus. Just in time, Iron Apex arrived from Caminus, merging with Magnus Prime to form Omega Prime, who was able to drive the beast back to the Praetorus Wharf.

During the battle, I had been impressed by the bravery of Metalhawk, and so before returning to the Realm of the Primes, I entrusted with him the power of my spark—much as my father, Primus, had done long ago to create the Titan Masters in the first place.

[darthkvznblogs]

So if you don't mess with Cybertronians "without expecting some pretty damn steep resistance", what prompted Thanos (besides general insanity and arrogance) to invade Caminus?

I think what you have to understand is that Thanos hadn't even come close to being defeated since he fought Vilgax at the very start of his crusade; part of it is that the Black Order tackles worlds/species it knows it can defeat, but also part of it is that Thanos himself is so powerful that they can take on a lot.

He definitely expected Caminus to be a difficult challenge, and he faced them accordingly; the Black Order suffered heavy casualties, but the assault was going relatively well, and the defenders would've likely been overwhelmed eventually...until Caminus himself came into play.

Titan-class Cybertronians are extremely rare - so much so that they're considered a myth by most of their own people, let alone the rest of the galaxy. Obviously, they do exist, and the colony on Caminus was built upon (and named after) the dormant body of one such Titan. When it became clear that the fighting against the Black Order had become an existential threat, the colony's cityspeakers - a secretive order made up of a scant few Cybertronians who have learned to communicate with and sometimes even partially control the enormous synthetics - made the decision to wake up their home, despite the fact that simply asking him to assume his robot form would destroy most of the capital city. Nevertheless, Caminus rose, wrecked the Black Order's invasion force, and even came close to injuring Thanos, forcing him to retreat. While there were certainly enough forces left over in orbit to continue the battle, and probably eventually win, Thanos allowed them their pyrrhic victory - after all, it took them decades to rebuild their capital, a hefty price paid for their defiance.

Of course, the official story is that the regular Cybertronian forces alone were responsible for Thanos' defeat - a convenient lie that keeps other would-be conquerors away from Cybertronian territory and gives a false but valuable hope to the people of the Nova Empire that the Mad Titan can be defeated "conventionally".

[quetzalpapalotl]

Scott's tf comics have their flaws ofc, but they're fine. The thing that really throws me off is her interviews because it's that feeling of "did we read the same thing" you get from some analysis, except this is the author.

[beemochi-art]

I know that S2 sucked but... we have a new Titan that is a beeg W O M A N! She's already my glup shitto and she's not talked about much. (I love Titans in TF lore, I was shocked to even see one in this show)

Yeah having Titana certainly add some intesting prospect. I fing city speakers so interesting too, and they aren’t talked about much (earthspark windblade wink wink.) I love caminus and it’s culture (I love cybertron culture in general.) but could you image the two girls training to better communicate and help Titana like a city speaker would!

I can’t help put point out a similarity in tfp and es. So remember when Optimus threw himself in the allspark to revive the planet. I can’t help but think about how similar that was when Quintus prime merged with the ember stone, both primes made a sacrifice to create new life!

[lillified]

On Twt you had mentioned dead colonies, could you talk a bit about it? I'm curious to learn more 👀

I absolutely can!

Dead Colonies

At the tail end of the Quintesson reign and well into the Zeta era, the Cybertronian project began to expand into space, looking to establish itself as a galactic empire (similar to the Quintessons they were following). The new regime's optimism made promising projections about the affair, anticipating the colonies they established would become vital trade hubs, resource hotspots, societies, and even tourist destinations (though some of Cybertron's ultra-wealthy indulged, space travel was far too expensive for this to ever become viable). Although the industry boom following the socio-economic institution of the Caste system gave this ambitious promise legitimacy, it was, in hindsight, completely doomed from the start.

In their heyday, however, it was easy to ignore the warning signs. These colonies stretched from nearby satellites to planets in neighboring solar systems, and they were established to varying degrees of complexity. Some stations were only ever meant to be extraction ports for valuable natural resources. The most famous of these colonies, however, were the settled territories, where groups of Cybertronians were planted and expected to live indefinitely.

Once established, these territories developed independently of Cybertron's culture and society, similar to how the flying polity of Vos maintained its own social identity. In many ways, they were like miniature civilizations of their own, only sponsored and supplied by the Cybertronian government. One example of where their societies differed from the start was in the practice of mooring Titans.

Titans are a subclass of life on Cybertron. They are theorized to be the missing link between Cybertronians and the Primus Superorganism, though that theory is highly controversial. Many Titans are dormant now, existing in a state of extended stasis, but many Polities on Cybertron were established around or even on these Titans, although the full extent of their symbiotic link has been lost to time. Unlike Cybertronians, Titans exist throughout the observed galaxy, likely supplanted by space debris. Though it served no immediate practical purpose, several of these colonies sought out these space Titans to cohabitate with. The most infamous colony to adhere to this practice was Caminus.

Caminus was an extremely ambitious project. It was the farthest of the Cybertronian colonies, whose "bridge" (a series of space stations facilitating navigation to the planet, without which many outgoing ships were lost) was considered a revolutionary innovation in space travel. For a long time it was a shining example of what interstellar expansion should be. A lush natural ecosystem native to the planet, constant technological innovation, a rich independent culture, and a general appearance of abundance made it exotic and attractive to the citizens back on Cybertron.

The colonies existed in excess for a while. Soon, though, the explosion of prosperity and industry from Zeta's widespread mechanization started to trail off, and the Energon crisis was almost inevitable on the horizon. The long-term goal that underscored the effort of space expansion was to eventually find another source of Energon, but that goal was never achieved; by consequence, the endeavor of supporting these colonies became expensive and unwieldly. There was no real end benefit besides maintaining an illusion of abundance.

One by one, the central Cybertronian government slowed down, and eventually cut off, support to these Colonies, markedly including the shipment of Energon. Some of these stations were evacuated with the hopes of reintegrating their residents on Cybertron, but many others, especially the manned trade outposts and extraction points, were simply abandoned. Rescuing everyone was just too expensive.

Of the residential colonies, only one escaped evacuation, though the story is still shrouded in mystery. Before the total cutoff, Energon shipments became increasingly more expensive, dwindling for decades. Caminus felt this bleeding and diplomatic tensions between itself and Cybertron became strained. During one shipment, with no forewarning, an outgoing cargo ship discovered that the final point of the Caminus bridge had completely disappeared, defying reason. All other communications with the colony were also completely shut off. With no way to reach them, and no way to guarantee a safe travel, the ship returned to Cybertron, and the colony essentially disappeared. The story of Caminus would become a longstanding source of mystery and intrigue back on Cybertron, though any tragedy is more a result of bureaucratic negligence than horror.

The rest of the colonies died out much less spectacularly. Now, throughout the galaxy, only old abandoned outposts remain, the skeletons of lives lived there. Like the Quintessons before them, Cybertronian expansion was destined to fail. In the end it only marked another nail in the coffin for the energy crisis, and the inevitability of domestic tensions coming to a fiery head.

[lets-try-some-writing]

Blinded By The Light

Moon was not always by Earth's side. Before he found her, he was once mighty. Born of another powerful Titan, he was prideful and content.

That security led to his and his citizens downfall.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

Fengari was forged under the stars. He woke in a pool of protomatter, weak, cold, and yet not afraid. The stars comforted him, and the light of Luna 1 and 2 calmed his anxious spark as he pulled himself free of wires and the remnants of his birthplace. Many cycles were spent watching the celestial bodies above, observing their rotations before a call in his spark urged him to stand and wander.

He remembered it clearly, walking alone on the surface of Cybertron without so much as an inkling as to where he was or where he was meant to go. He was smaller then, and for a time he had been petite enough to be cared for by a small clan of grounders who he instinctively knew were not like him. They taught him to write and speak in their language. Then they showed him how to avoid the things which they called Predacons. The mighty beasts of the skies were of Primus, that much he knew. But they were deadly things that hunted others for fuel. It was strange to him considering his guardians foraged for their energon. 

His guardians often told him that he would not have to fear them once he grew mightier, but while he was still small, they taught him to take care. He respected the Predacons and kept away from them. In turn, whenever they saw him bow his helm in light of their passing, took care to leave him be. Looking back, it may have been that they sensed what he was. But it was difficult for him to tell.

His guardians were good to him, although he could not remember their names. Eventually, once he began to tower over the oldest of his guardians, they took him toward the mountains. He did not understand. But the oldest of the clan, when asked how he knew where to go, told Fengari all he needed to know.

“You have your progenitor’s optics.”

Fengari was not made without reason. He was forged by another one of his kind, one who called himself Caminus. The specifics were difficult for him to discern, but Caminus was ancient enough to have seen the thirteen when they still walked the surface of Cybertron. Why he chose to create life was unknown to Fengari when he was still young, but Caminus was old enough to break away a piece of his own spark and send it forth like a seedling. The spark shard was not guaranteed to take root, but from one of Caminus’s shards, Fengari had come into being.

He was, according to Caminus’s citizens, a miracle. Few shards ever became anything of note. Most turned into plant life or fostered new hotspots. Rarely did any develop into a young Titan.

Yes, that was what he was. He was a Titan, and he was not alone.

“What is your name?” His Progenitor spoke to him in soft tones, for at the time, Fengari was still very small. He sat in the core room of Caminus’s frame alongside the Speaker, listening intently to every uttered glyph with complete and total awe. His Progenitor was massive, and the city that he formed when he remained in alt-mode was both sizable and impressive in the extreme. The elder Titan’s citizens were well-educated and kind, each welcoming Fengari with cheer when he entered their sanctuary. All of it spoke to Caminus’s age and wisdom. 

“Fengari, Titan of Cybertron, forged of Caminus.” He felt his Progenitor’s joy at his words, and in that moment, all was right with the world. He was a true son of Caminus, and he was proud of his heritage. His Progenitor’s love for him caused his loyalty to grow. All was well within Caminus’s walls, for there he knew he was cared for.

For many long vorns, he remained within the confines of Caminus’s walls, learning both the ways of the smaller children of Primus and the customs of the Titans. Caminus’s wards were difficult to understand at times, but it was for that reason that Caminus often took care to encourage Fengari to interact with them. They certainly adored Fengari whenever he asked questions and reached out to interact with their little ones.

The sparklings were so very sweet. Fengari personally found they were his favorite since he could show them the stars with his height.

“Pick us up Fengari! Pick us up!” The little ones swarmed around him with gifts and paints, eager to cover him in swirling patterns and designs that were common amongst Caminus’s kin. They wore their paint to honor their Titan, and while Fengari walked among them, he was happy to bear the red face paint that Caminus and his citizens were known for.

“Calm yourselves little ones. I do not wish to drop you. I am no longer as small as I used to be.” He laughed as the little ones sat on his opened servos, quickly clambering onto his shoulders and back to begin painting him and putting stickers in places they knew he could never reach on his own. He settled on the ground with a smile and let them giggle and play.

“You are very good with sparklings, Fengari. If you keep growing at this rate, you will likely be ready to set off and begin welcoming citizens of your own.” A caretaker commented merrily as he held a servo out to catch one of the floundering fliers trying to reach his optics. He smiled at their words, his spark flaring in excitement at the prospect of having citizens of his own.

He learned and walked among them until he grew as large as a combiner team of six. Only then did Caminus truly begin offering his insight.

“You are a Titan, Fengari. We protect our citizens until our very sparks go out. That is our design.” Caminus’s glyphs were heavy and grim. Fengari tilted his helm in concern and confusion as he stood before the core of his Progenitor with the Speaker.

“That much I know. It is ingrained in my very spark… Why do you sound so sullen?” Cables emerged from the walls and slithered along his limbs as Caminus’s way of offering comfort. Fengari found himself at a loss as his Progenitor shattered his world.

“Our citizens come before all else, and that includes our connections.” Caminus sighed, and while Fengari did not fully understand, he could glean the grief in Caminus’s words. He was going to do something to separate them. He could feel it in his spark.

“I cannot remain here, Fengari. I must leave this world with my people. We must spread to the stars before I can no longer wake and become naught but a relic of an age gone by.” Fengari had never once cried up until that moment. But as Caminus basked him in grief-addled love, he wept. Tears fell from his optics as he cried at the loss that he had not yet sustained.

Caminus wept with him, although his Progenitor shed no tears.

“Preparations are being made, but until the time comes that I must leave, I will teach you all I can and connect you to the rest of our kin. You will not be alone.” He could do nothing but nod at the time. However, he relished every interaction he had with Caminus as the city slowly began to change. Citizens adjusted their lifestyles as walls retracted and Caminus’s sprawling frame began to compound into something different, something space-worthy.

Predacons took the chance to attack on occasion, and that was where Fengari learned to fight. He could not yet transform, but he used his fists to wrangle Predacons to the ground and keep them away from his Progenitor’s precious people. Of course that was not all he did. Throughout the preparations, Fengari learned and was given knowledge of Cybertron’s surface and the best places to go to care for citizens. Caminus was thorough, and even when his Progenitor was ready to leave the planet, he took the time to move for the first time in millennia in order to watch as Fengari settled on the place he wanted to establish himself in.

It was bittersweet selecting his home ground with his Progenitor high in the skies above him, mere moments away from leaving. However, Caminus left him with one final gift before parting.

“Some of my citizens could not bear to be parted from you. They have decided to stay and ensure you grow strong. Take care of them, Fengari. They will serve you well.” Caminus bid him a final farewell, and as he did so, a small armada of fliers descended from the skies like angels. They came singing and settled upon his now mighty shoulders with smiles.

His very first citizens and his final gift from his Progenitor, his father.

“Why did you decide to stay with me?” He questioned as the last inkling of his father faded into the dark skies.

“Because you are of Caminus, and we wish to ensure that his legacy goes on.” One of the fliers replied fondly. They all smiled at him then, and in that moment, Fengari’s grief was largely forgotten.

He never saw Caminus again, and he never found out what happened to his father while he remained on Cybertron. But with his newfound citizens, he had responsibilities. There was little time to reminisce with Predacons around. He settled quickly, and with the guidance of his wards, he transformed for the first time and learned to morph himself into a home for his beloved citizens. 

He modeled himself after his father, forging towering structures that were both works of art and practical defenses. He did not glitter gold or red like his Progenitor, instead he glimmered like crystal. He was proud to be a son of Caminus, and he was glad to foster his citizens as they grew, changed, and evolved. His presence allowed a hotspot to form around his frame, and from that hotspot, little ones emerged.

He loved them all. He loved his citizens so much that as he spread his roots, he grew walls and warded away Predacons with guns and blasters. Youth faded away into maturity, and as it did so, he finally found himself able to connect to others of his kind.

“You are Fengari, right?” Bellum was his name. He was another shard of Caminus, one who never found his way to their Progenitor before their father left. He too loved his citizens above all else. They spoke through their roots and shared their experiences. Bellum was red and rustic, preferring a more openly mechanical nature to his city and citizens. However, despite having never met Caminus in person as Fengari had, Bellum maintained the custom of having painted marks on his frame. All his citizens bore the marks, and for that reason, Fengari and his brother mingled, their citizens passing between their cities. The Predacons lurked, but they were not an issue for being as mighty as them, especially not when one of the older Titans wandered and made a habit of protecting Titans like Fengari and Bellum who were immobile.

“I am Mortis. Fear not, for I will guard you and the little ones from the beasts of the skies.” He was bright and highly mobile. Mortis was not a large Titan by any standard, but his strength was in his swiftness and the sheer amount of weaponry he was adorned in. He did not have citizens, instead opting to have a small squadron of fliers hailing from other Titans willing to offer up aid. Mortis guarded them against the worst of the Predacons and often wandered Cybertron’s surface to help protect the clans of wandering mecha who either could not reach the cities of Titans or had no interest in giving their allegiance to one who could house them.

Mortis, Bellum, and others. They were together, and despite the threat that loomed above them all, they were content. They grew, and their citizens prospered. Bellum was filled with nothing but mirth, Mortis was aggressive but stalwart, and the other Titans scattered across the surface who bothered to communicate were kind in their own ways. Nothing worried Fengari. He trusted his citizens and his kin enough to allow himself to fall into a well-deserved recharge as all elder Titans eventually did. 

That was his first and final mistake.

He was stirred from his slumber by his Speaker who bowed before him in tears. He felt fire upon his surface and worried that perhaps Predacons were attacking and damaging him. The pain was manageable, but he felt the heat continue to increase. It was wrong, something was horribly wrong.

“Great Titan, please help us! Fire scorches Cybertron and we cannot endure!” He listened and observed in terror as great swathes of fire came from the nearest star, whipping across Cybertron and cutting down Predacon and Cybertronian alike in equal measure. The fires turned his shining city a startling black, and he could sense his citizens huddling as far in his frame as they were able.

It would not be enough. The fires were only getting hotter and Fengari did not have the time or the resources to take to the stars with any of the security of Caminus and his citizens. He would have to take drastic measures to save as many of his citizens as possible.

It was agony tearing himself up from his rooted position after so long remaining immobile. Citizens were crushed in the transition, some falling prey to shattering streets and falling towers while others succumbed to the heat as their frames failed to endure. Fengari lamented every loss, but he could not stop. If he was to save any of them, he had to transform. He had to become mobile, even if that meant the deaths of a few.

He screamed as cables tore and his frame forced itself to reconfigure. His Speaker cried as more and more were lost, but those who he could save were ushered into his core to hopefully be kept safe. Fire ran along his frame as his limbs reformed and he pulled himself from ash and dust. He screamed and his voice rang out for the first time in almost an entire age. He hardly paid any mind to the pain of his fellow Titans as they too frantically scrambled to escape the fires.

He wasn’t ready to move. It had been too long and his frame was too rigid. He hadn’t had time to prepare, and already he was going to have to transform again. The screams of his fellow Titans told him that the fires were everywhere. He had to abandon the surface, he had to somehow get to the skies. That would be his only salvation. 

“I’m so sorry. I must get us free. We must escape.” He tried to soothe his citizens, but his core temperature was rising as he tried to fight off the fires. Parts of his plating melted as he hobbled and forced himself to walk for the first time since Caminus left. He prayed to Primus, he cried out to his Progenitor, his brothers, and anyone who would listen. It did nothing as he tried to run and force his battered body to become loose enough to facilitate yet another rushed transformation.

Parts of his former city were digging into his frame. The things built by his citizens that had once been so beautiful now tore into him like daggers which he could do nothing to remove as he ran with all the might in his body. He felt his citizens screaming. He heard them in his very spark. He had to run, he had to begin the transformation needed to take him up and away. He had never left the ground before, but he had seen fliers. There had to be a way.

“Forgive me.” He begged his citizens as he screamed. Fires grew, and scorching whips assaulted his face as he tried to look up to the stars and find a place to break through the atmosphere where the flame was not as brutal. His very fuel lines seemed to bubble and boil alongside his optics. Tears of energon fell from every orifice, but he could do nothing but force himself onward as thrusters tore their way out from under his armor, and city structures fell away in favor of the streamlined form of a space cruiser. 

His vision fizzled and turned into a mess of pixels and colors as he finally leaped and pushed his broken body to function. The screams of his fellow Titans fell silent, and along with them, he felt the sickening cracks of hundreds of frames shattering within his own. 

His thrusters roared as he tore through Cybertron’s skies and far away from the burning world he once called home. Primus would endure. He was safe from the fires far below the surface. But everything else was burned and black. Nothing remained, and most importantly, his citizens were no more.

The transformation had been too harsh. Those who had not fallen to the heat of his core or the flames outside had been crushed to death as he tried in vain to save them. He should have gone slower, but panic fueled his desperate flight. He was alone.

He watched for a time with increasingly failing vision as he wept over the loss of his citizens. But he saw no other Titans flee to the stars. He could no longer feel them, although that was to be expected without roots. There were no others, and for all he knew, he was the last of the Titans that lingered upon Cybertron after Caminus left.

The world around him became a mess of color that only came into focus when he drew near. He could no longer see as he used to. The fires had taken his home, his family, his citizens, and his sight. Everything, gone in an instant.

He had thought himself safe. He had basked in the rays of peace and brilliance. But now? His arrogance and pride had brought him low.

He was blinded by the very same light he once adored.

[cityzenshark]

Firsts to Grow Up AU - The connections between the cybersleeves, the Emberstone, Quintus Prime and Terratronus.

Terratronus makes a deal with Quintus Prime to only let the Terrans be born when the first human(s) who touches the Emberstone have good intentions and good heart.

Quintus enforces the cybersleeves' existence; Terratronus can manipulate it slightly (granting healing, force fields & changing its size).

Terratronus doesn't know that a shared emotional hivemind amongst organics is extremely overwhelming, invasive, and uncomfortable. When she hears Mo's desperation in wanting the cybersleeves gone when Robby falls deathly ill, Terratronus is ready to heed her wishes.

However, Quintus prevents her.

Like most metallic creatures, Quintus is indifferent at most in regards to organic creatures. Being techno-organic and a Titan, Terratronus cares for humanity regardless of the atrocities they had done to themselves and nature.

[I took the above bit from the comics where Titans hold no grudges against their citizens even after they repeatedly bombed them (Metroplex), left them to loneliness (Navitas), or become the only place where newsparks are born (Caminus).]

Mandroid and Croft knows about Terratronus. They experimented the mind control devices on Cybertronians -- those working with them and those they've cpatured -- in hopes it would work with Terratronus.

They plan to use Terratronus to invade Cybertron to "avenge humanity".

[zephyrrhiesfyrian]

Okay so I'm a biology nerd so I like alien physiology and shit, and Transformers as a franchise has a lot of that, but I'm also a recovering ex-CoC member so the notion that Cybertronians were "designed" by Primus (or in IDW1, just some unknown designer since Primus is literally just a dude) rubs me the wrong way XD

All that to say that generally whenever I write TF stuff, I do so under the headcanon that they evolved just the same as any other race. This is the framework I'm working with for my IDW/TFP longfic, if anyone was curious :D!

I also have a lot of thoughts about the way that Cybertronians work in IDW1, specifically around how their reproduction works! Since they don't reproduce individually (sexually or asexually), they don't really seem to fit into what we'd generally define as a lifeform.

HOWEVER

Cybertron itself is what creates sparks! Meaning that the start of a Cybertronian's life cycle begins with the planet, and that posits the fascinating concept of Cybertron being alive. If this is the case, that makes the Cybertronian race somewhat similar to social animals like ants, bees, and wasps; Cybertron itself is the "queen", which gives birth to all subsequent members of the "colony", which in turn then care for and protect the "queen".

We also see in IDW1 that Titans innately have the ability to cyberform and ignite other planets, which is (at least I believe) how Caminus and similar exoworlds became populated by Cybertronians. This would make Titans the equivalent of young "queens"; parts of the colony or hive that leave to start new ones!

This might also be how Cybertron itself is able to send that "come home" message to all Cybertronians, even those who aren't nearby.

anyway thx for comin to my TED talk, I'll probably do more later ASDFGHJ

(also did you know (i think at least, you're welcome to fact check me >v>;;) almost all ants are female? the males only exist to carry the queen's genes to another colony to reproduce!)

[earthstellar]

Transformers Posts for Disability Pride Month 2023

Since I’m disabled and obviously love Transformers lmao, I’m probably going to be talking a lot about disabled bots and disability in various Transformers continuities etc. a bit more than usual this month! 

So, this is going to be my compilation post, to gather up everything in one spot. (Plus I’m linking some of my older posts which touch on the theme of Cybertronians and disability.) 

New Posts for 2023: 

TFP - Cane User Ratchet 

IDW 1 - Caminus: The Disabled Titan 

IDW 1 / Various - Headcanon: Hearing Disabled Megatron 

Old Posts: 

Various - Cybertonian Sign Language and Chirolinguistics 

TFP - Soundwave and Multimodal Communication (Including Non-Verbal)

More will almost certainly be added as the month goes on! 

[witchofthesouls]

IDW/MTMTE fic idea,

A cultural exchange is proposed in the Council of Worlds to show a little bit of each other in good faith:

Cancer shows its deep militaristic culture in its oldest tradition: a dance competition. A no-contact sport where partners' tests constantly test each other’s skills: flexibility, speed, reaction time, strength, and coordination. A violent, vicious whirling to the rhythm that's both entertainment and discipline.

No one was surprised by Velocitronians setting up a race track in the city, but this particular style emphasizes acrobatics, flair, and efficiency as speedsters parkour through the infrastructure. This kind of race allows teams who will be judged on collaboration and creativity as many utilize immense drops to act out iconic or playful scenes. One pair had a full gamestation set up in freefall.

The Devisen showed off their food culture, which is dominated by molecular gastronomy. They enjoy playing with properties and compositions of ingredients. Thermal sense is a very popular technique among the locals.

The Eukarian tribes had settled with an art exhibition. The Scale Walkers shown off pottery with fascinating grooves and whorls with patterns of their planet. The Fur Walkers had submitted bone carvings ranging from delicate jewelry of native fauna to intricate designs recreating battles. Guests were able to interact with Cloud Walker furniture: elaborate hanging seats embedded with different textures, designs, and compartments. The Fateweavers sent beautifully woven, silky smooth fabric, each one with its own specific geometric design. The Wave Walkers' exhibit was done in a dark room where visitors watched a reconstruction of how marine life reacts to their sonata. Twinkling jellies, haunting kelp forests, the wild explosion of color from massive reefs, dancing phantomish creatures, and synchronized schools of fish.

Earth demonstrated a surrealistic fashion show based on Marissa Faireborn's observations on what Cybertronians focused on.

The Camiens had invited everyone to come enjoy a sacred rite that embraced all aspects of Solus: a widespread, drug-enhanced sex festival and revel at a monstrous bon fire.

[yonker-tonker]

I was looking through Nightbird's page on TFWiki and noticed that in the IDW comics, there was a mention of a Nightbird cityspeaker. I didn't know such a version of the character existed and I'm curious what you think of the concept.

Oh yeah! Her name drop cameo (plus the name is a space ship; cameo x2). Neat that she was from caminus, though. Wish she actually showed up in idw! She could've shined or at least had more eyes on her.

I haven't put much thought into it tbh (since I dont think of city speaking very often), but city speaker nightbird is interesting! It'll be fun to see her clash with titans and how her relationships will get formed/impacted and her ties with the government. I think it would showcase a lot of her personality!

[askvectorprime]

We heard of several significant exploits regarding the return of the titanmasters - namely, a siege on Cybertron and of chaos reigning on Velocitron. Can you tell us anything about the missions Arcee and Grotusque went on to acquire Ultra Magnus and Scorponok?

Dear Adventurous Asker,

When last we spoke, I told you of four legendary Titan Masters, two of whom were involved in the conflicts you mention. The other two you speak of, however, were well-guarded secrets indeed.

While these events were taking place, Arcee and her Titan Master partner Leinad took a ship with Cloudraker to the planet Caminus, in search of the Titan Master fabled to confer the ultimate intelligence boost. Relations with the colony world had been strained following the theft of space bridge codes by Galvatron’s infiltration cell, so they were forced to carry out the mission undercover. Scanning from the air, Cloudraker was able to track the Titan Master to one of Caminus’ universities. To gather information, Arcee ended up posing as a student, joining a sorority. It turned out that there was an urban myth amongst the student body: supposedly, a bot known as the Headmaster roamed the building after dark. He would punish lazy students for engaging in plagiarism or cheating in exams, but would sometimes reward a hard-working student by giving them a flash of inspiration, if he came across them staying up all night to meet a challenging deadline.

In her inexperience as a spy, Arcee struggled with the stress of feeling like an imposter, and came close to abandoning the ruse—but the students welcomed her warmly, and Leinad was able to convince her to persevere. Never in Arcee’s life had she been surrounded by so many other female Transformers, and she was surprised at how much of an impact this had on her. They attended classes together during working hours, searching the basements and closets during free periods for any sign of the Headmaster. She came to learn that many of her classmates had their own issues with feelings of inadequacy, whether in their academic ability, or in struggling to find an Amica Endura, or in having the wrong alt-mode.

They tried a number of schemes to flush out the Headmaster: designing fiendish puzzles which he wouldn’t be able to resist solving; deliberately putting off revision in order to allow for desperate last-minute cramming; Velocity even offered to try sneaking notes into one of her medical exams. In the end, they were truly stumped—but as Arcee looked at her friends, racking their brain modules to try and help her, she had a sudden realization: what if the Headmaster had never existed, and the urban legend was just a product of the imposter syndrome endemic amongst the students, a way for them to offload onto someone else the credit for their own achievements and breakthroughs? They didn’t need a legendary Titan Master to pass their final examinations—each and every one of them was smart and talented enough to succeed!

At that point, Proxima shrieked and pointed at the ceiling. A tiny robot was hiding in the roof, having just given Arcee her supernatural flash of insight! Everyone scrambled after him, chasing him through the halls, thrilled that all their hard work was about to pay off.

Unfortunately for them, Megatron had decided to take a more direct approach. He carpet-bombed the university, taking them completely by surprise thanks to his new camouflage and the radiation-dampening powers of his latest Titan Master partner, Kiloton. As Arcee scrambled to pull her classmates from the rubble, Megatron scooped up the Headmaster and placed him on his shoulders. His new face shifted to a smirk of triumph… then, to a snarl of disgust. For his plans of universal domination to come to fruition, he needed raw power—this new Titan Master, however, gave him nothing but a head full of trivia and factoids! With the Headmaster being of no use to him, he ripped his new head off and prepared to obliterate it, to prevent any Autobot from using the knowledge to their benefit.

Thankfully, the students had backup: Iron Apex, a massive suit of experimental drone armor piloted by Optimus Prime’s former Titan Master partner, the product of an entire semester’s work on a group project. Unprepared, Megatron was no match for the artificial warrior, and chose to retreat rather than prolong the fight.

The Headmaster thanked the students for protecting him, and offered to give one of them the ultimate intelligence boost to help pass their final exam. As Arcee had been on the brink of failing her classes, they all looked to her… and at last, she decided to come clean, explaining that she wasn’t a student, but rather a Cybertronian spy. To her surprise, it turned out they’d known all along, having worked it out almost immediately! She asked the Headmaster to accompany her back to Cybertron, to lend his knowledge to Optimus Prime, in the hopes that it would let the Autobot leader think of a way to end their war. Reluctantly, he agreed. Meanwhile, with Iron Apex having passed his first real test with flying colors, he too decided it was time to join the fight on Cybertron. Though Arcee’s new friends were sorry to see her go, they promised she’d always be welcome to return to her studies in the future.

As Cloudraker took them out of atmosphere, Arcee remarked to the Headmaster that he reminded her of a close friend of hers: Ultra Magnus. He was taken aback. Long ago, during Magnus’ days as a galactic peacekeeper, he’d met the Autobot by chance. Ultra Magnus left a strong impression on the Titan Master, and he decided he too wanted to become an agent for truth and justice in the world. Forced as he was to live in secrecy, the Headmaster admitted that he felt like a fraud, only meddling with students, not evildoers, and failing to accomplish any real good. He was just one tiny ‘bot, playing the role of Ultra Magnus, and trying his best to be worthy of the name. Arcee promised that, once all was said and done, she would set up a meeting between him and Ultra Magnus—as she knew they’d have more in common than he thought.

Now then, I still have yet to tell you about the last of these ultimate Titan Masters. I beg your patience—tomorrow, I will finish my recounting of events!

[skelemoonz]

Have you ever wondered when you are drawing transformers or the artists drawing transformers do you have to draw the inside of a transformer's body?

This's such a stupid question I'm so sorry- 🤧🤧⁉️⁉️

This is one I had to think about for a moment lol but if I’m understanding right you are wondering if I ever thought about how the transformers are internally built?

If so, yes absolutely I have, I frequently think about it actually, trying to figure out how they transform, how their body structure can change so drastically (more specifically talking about the live action movies tbh, like Kightverse) it has always fascinated me

To put it simply, I imagine they are built very similar to that of animatronics, if you want to get a visual. The frame/skeleton, the wire’s surrounding it, the plating put above that to act as a base for the shell or muscles of sorts.

More explanation, specifically for my personal au, under the cut. Warning there will be images of animatronics without their..skin? Ig? It can be freaky looking

So, for Cybertronians I imagine that their internal structure is incredibly complex, with their ability to transform an all, but in my au Cyebrtronians have the most complex transformation out of any of the other colonies in turn giving them the most complex internal structure. This isn’t even talking about if a bot has an experimental T-cog lol

While yes the general structure would be the same as I explained before, similar to this, the wires, the plastic plating acting as muscles or as an extra skeleton of sorts

I also imagine that the skeletal structure looks as if it can just be taken apart with ease, because it can.

A Cybertronians skeleton in their transformation will end up forming the skeleton of the vehicle they turn into.

To try giving a visual, ROTB Jackie turns into a VW Van with the back seats taken out, or in other words, hollow inside. Now all that robot jazz gotta go somewhere right? So his skeleton would transform out, pushing the armor out at well to make the shape of the van

to get a good idea of what pose he would be doing for this transformation, look at the ss and mainline figurine, kinda a mix between those. Transformation can be changed with Cybertronains though.

Now, all of this compared to say, Eukarians in my au is very complex. With Eukarians being half organic an all, they have the simplest transformation out of any colony. If they tried transforming like a Cybertronian does, their bones would shatter and they would most definitely die, it’d be like you getting folded and squished into a ball shape, very bad.

While Cybertronians are close to animatronics, I’d say that Eukarians would be more like crustaceans, or actually..maybe like a Pangolin, hard shell outside, organs an all that soft stuff inside (including the half metal half bone skeleton in their case). While a Cybertronians skeleton can come apart, a Eukarians cannot..

Picture of Pangolin to show what it is, show it has armor, this is like a Eukarian, and just look at them I love them

Other colonies tend to be more similar to Cybertron, like Velocitron and Gigantion. Generally speaking these two can transform in the same way that Cyebrtronians can, the only difference is their sizes, Velocitronians are fairly small, not tiny but…lets say (these are not the real heights) that Cybertronains are 20-50ft tall, Velocitronians would be 20-30ft tall, then you got the Titans, they can turn into cities 👍

Ofc this height difference and what they do in day to day life will change their internal and external body structure, Velocitronians are built for speed, their cooling system, sharp points and light frames are meant to make them easily fly and cut through the air while they drive like its nothing. Hell even their transformation is quicker than usual. They’re like land jets

Then theres Caminus and Junkion, these two don’t transform, they have T-cogs but they rarely ever use them to do big transformations, for Camians it was to reserve energy (they are also the smallest colony in size) and Junkonians found no use for it. So yes over the centuries these colonies have lost their ability to do complex transformations, meaning their skeleton is similar to Eukarians, can’t come apart, but it’s very flexible.

I imagine they’re more similar to this underneath all that armor. At least Camian’s..Junkonians are very messy tbh

Anywho, man I rambled…a lot..yeesh..my bad lol, I don’t get to talk about this stuff a lot