#cybertronian history

[autoacafiles]

The Tale of the Dark Ages

"It has been twenty stellarcycles. More than two vorns since the Thirteen Primes, the Firstforged, turned arms against each other. Nobody has seen the Primes in years, and there has been a generation or two who earnestly believe them to be figures of myth. The realm of Iacon, the great towers, has become naught but a ruin, covered in ash and snow, roads that once led across the world now cracked and broken due to lack of maintenance, towers collapsing under the weight of our sins. We have ruined Cybertron, our home, for the sake of personal glory. Though we, the people of Iacon, persist and maintain our cultural balance, there's not much for us to claim as home but a broken temple and cracked ground. And every day, we get reports of Darklanders encroaching on our territory, Flockers stalking in the shadows of our city, and the Demons have claimed most of the ruin for their own barbarism.

If the rumors are true, an order of knights led by a Darklander, claiming to be the granddaughter of two of the Firstforged, have taken to fighting against the darkness. They shed the icons of their gods, coat their armors in sheens of silver and gold, and strike back with weapons glowing with power none have seen before... power erupting from their very sparks. Desperate measures have been taken by those that follow this so-called Septimus Prime, and other warlords have been waiting for them to slip up.

We cannot wait long enough. So we have taken desperate measures of our own. Young sparklings who have yet to truly live have been kidnapped in the night, lowborn kindlings sold so their scions can afford more energon for themselves, and drifters in need of purpose coerced into our service. And when the time comes and Septimus asks for our cooperation against the demon hordes, we will stand against them with our own knights. No need for glowing weaponry. No need for spark energy. They will stand with their old allegiances stamped boldly on their armor, their eyes aglow with the energy they need, and they will bring this world to order... Our warriors. The Primal Guardians. Our heroes." - Reforgis of Iacon, text recovered from an ancient ruin found in the depths of Lower Iacon.

What the people of Cybertron know of the Dark Ages that followed the Age of the Firstforged is a shadowy picture that you'd have to squint at to make anything out. A lot of old stories distorted by myth and legend, some artifacts that remain intact only by sheer luck, and very rarely a body that hadn't been eaten from the inside out by desperate scavengers or rusted to dust by the ages. As a result, the exact series of events that led to the fall of the Firstforged are not well known, nor anything from between their fall and the rise of modern Iacon and the establishment of the Age calendar. The cynical might say that the Iaconian government at the time would likely have either neglected to fully preserve the history of the Firstforged and Dark Ages from then due to personal ambitions, with some even going so far as to claim that they opted to bury the information outright in hopes to legitimize their perceived legacy as the stewards of the new world. As a result, scholars had to piece together what information they have or are able to glean from what few accounts remain. 

The most commonly accepted idea is that Megatronus, Prime of Destruction, struck down fellow Firstforged member Solus, Prime of Technology, and caused the rift between all the different members of the Firstforged, and thus the Schism is all Megatronus's fault. However, if you look closely at the details of this, then the chronology starts to look a little janky. Many accounts paint Solus and Megatronus as being close allies prior to this event and some even claim that the two often got intimately personal, so the change that would lead to Solus's death is kinda hard to track down. There are even some accounts of members of the Radiant Forges, Solus's tribesmen, fighting alongside the Darklanders against troops from the House of Light, even though most historical records recount them either allying with the House of Light or outright abandoning Cybertron. Some even say that while Solus is confirmed to have died before the Schism happened, the two events might not even be remotely connected.

Even more radical historians like to point out this discrepancy and claim that the Schism might've marked an end to the Age of the Firstforged, no event like it legitimately occurred that would justify calling something a new Age - not even the passing of the Matrix of Light, which these historians claim was never a legitimate claim to the seat of power that Prima himself once held. These historians boldly claim that the age of darkness that followed the Schism never truly ended, and it'd only be a matter of time before one of them revealed themselves to the population of Cybertron and usher in a new Golden Age for the commonwealth.

But this is considered naught but the ramblings of madmen who fail to recognize progress. Aside from Amalgus's involvement with the Combatron War, there has not been any evidence to suggest that any member of the Firstforged would make any return...

[thenamesblurrito]

Sorry if this is a dumb ask, but for SNAP, who do all of the Relics originally belong to? I know somw, like Requiem Blaster belonged to Megatronus, and Star Saber belonged to Prima, but I don't know all of them. I'd like to know you're full Thirteen/whatever amount there are.

this is the OPPOSITE of a dumb ask, this is a very good and important ask that i don't think i've gotten before! i've sort of mentally charted out the important stuff but never written it down so thanks for kicking me into gear on that. some of this info you can find here btw, as well as other info on how relics work

this is a long list of Primal relics and previously unmentioned historical figures so buckle up!

CURRENTLY IN USE (MULTIPLE WIELDERS): (note, an acolyte is a relic user who has been delegated power from the primary relic user and has essentially a copied piece of the relic)

Allspark: a source of life fragmented into many pieces. made by no one, with many previous users. bonded to the hero Hellscream. corrupted victims include Waspinator and Goldbug

Cyber Caliber: the sword of swords. made by Solus, Vector, and Nexus Primes, out of the Chaos Edge, the Energon Saber, the Omni Saber, Rhisling, and the Vorpal Saber. currently hidden within the Enigma of Combination

Enigma of Combination: a question of personhood and singularity given form, the Infinite Combinatoric. made from Nexus Prime, with few previous users. bonded to the heroes Elita 1 and acolytes Elitas 2, 3, 4, and 5. corrupted victims include Overlord, the Beast, Bruticus, Superion, Menasor, Megatronia, Devastator, Defensor, and Safeguard

Lenses: clarity and perception, a distillery of reality. made from Alchemist Prime, previously in the care of Maccadam. bonded to the hero Soundwave and acolytes Jaguar, Cobalt, Slazer, Buzzclaw, and Squawkbox. corrupted victims include Shockblast, Toxitron, and Tarn

Matrix of Leadership: the first and best Matrix. made from Prima, with multiple previous Prime users. bonded to the heroes Optimus Prime and acolyte Rodimus Prime. corrupted victims include Sentinel Zeta Prime, Thunderwing, and Shokaract

CURRENTLY IN USE (SINGLE WIELDERS):

Amalgamate Scythe: an anything blade. made from Amalgamous Prime, with many previous users. bonded to the hero Sixshot

Apex Armor: unstoppable force and immovable object. made by Solus Prime for Apex Ginrai, derived from Solduron, with few previous users. bonded to the hero Abominus

Blades of Time: a stitch in spacetime. made from Vector Prime with Mortilus’s help, with one previous user. bonded to the hero Cyclonus

Chimera Stone: enough energy to be anything. made from Micronus Prime, with multiple previous users. bonded to the hero Thunderblast

Creation Lathe: blueprints and creativity. originally part of the Forge, split by Solus Prime to gift to Pyra, with many previous users. bonded to the hero the Mistress of Flame

Emberstone: a wellspring of energy. made from Quintus Prime with Epistemus’s help, with few previous users. bonded to the hero Cheetor

Forge: to make anew. made from Solus Prime, with multiple previous users. bonded to the hero Scourge

Liegian Darts: tactical insults and stinging barbs. made from Liege Maximo, with few previous users. bonded to the hero Airachnid, with a secret inside

Magnus Hammer: all the authority of the heavens brought to bear. made for Magnum with Solomus’s help, with multiple previous Magnus users. bonded to the hero Ultra Magnus

Onyx Triptych: masks of Mournsong, Predator, and Farsight. made from Onyx Prime, with few previous users. bonded to the hero Triptych

Requiem Blaster: the ultimate eraser. made by Solus Prime from Megatronus Prime, with few previous users. bonded to the hero Galvatron

Star Saber: the sharpened edge of sunlight. made by Solus Prime from Prima, with many previous users. bonded to the hero Drift

Terminus Blade: entropy and fire with a bite. made from Megatronus Prime, with multiple previous users before being stolen by a great evil. permanently corrupted to produce Trypticon

ACTIVE AND AT LARGE:

Covenant: reality writ large. made by Alpha Prime. currently in safe hands

Cerebro Shell: a crown of cooperation, or of control. made by Solomus. briefly bonded to Meister/Soundblaster. corrupted victims include Bombshell, Minitron, Sunder, Mindwipe, and Trepan

Quill: an ink-wet lance into the pages of the universe. made from Alpha Prime. currently in safe hands

DORMANT:

Arsenal Force: all the potential methods of murder in one place. made by Adaptus. currently in safe hands

Creation Matrix: the solution to all problems. made by Primus. current location unknown

Pathblaster: where there’s a will, there’s a way. made by Epistemus. stolen by a great evil

Phase Shifter: a door in realspace. made by Mortilus from an instance of Physis. stolen by a great evil

Polarity Gauntlets: a helping hand of fundamental force. made by Solus Prime. currently in safe hands

Primax Blade: a very loyal sword. made by Prima for Delta Prime. current location unknown

Skyboom Shield: protection in a match set. made by Magnum for Pyra. currently in safe hands

Stormfall Sword: violence in a match set. made by Magnum for Pyra. currently in safe hands

Sword of Balance: twinned bodies, twinned blades. made for Sentius Nobilius. stolen by a great evil

Zeonomicon: a key, a diary, a puzzle. made by Solus and Vector Primes from Logos Prime. currently in safe hands

ACTIVE MINOR RELICS:

Chaos Edge: an impossibility sharpened to a point. made by Nexus Prime, put into the Cyber Caliber. bonded to the hero Elita 4

Energon Saber: deadly lifeblood. made by Necro, put into the Cyber Caliber. bonded to the hero Elita 2

Omni Saber: a blade of expanses. made by Nexus Prime, put into the Cyber Caliber. bonded to the hero Elita 5

Rhisling: a sharp singularity. made by Solus Prime from Logos Prime for Vector Prime. bonded to the hero Elita 1

Vorpal Saber: twisty turny stabby. made by Amalgamous Prime, put into the Cyber Caliber. bonded to the hero Elita 3

DORMANT MINOR RELICS:

Corona Glaive: heavy metal punishment. made by Ultra Mammoth. currently in safe hands

Cosmotector: the lifesaver’s tool. made by Flashpoint. current location unknown

Gaia Armor: a survivor’s gambit. made by Lio Prime. stolen by a great evil

Galaxy Launcher: bursting the sky open. made by Tamayatron. stolen by a great evil

Hydrafire Blaster: a double heaping of trouble. made by Heatwave for Snapdragon. stolen by a great evil

Immobilizer: caught in the moment. made for Infinitus. current location unknown

Infernum Blade: ancient fire and brimstone. made by Magmatron. stolen by a great evil

Legendiscs: a collection of powers. made by Dragotron. currently in safe hands

Matrix Blade: the traditional weapon of the Keeper. made by Lord High Protector Autonomous Maximus. current location unknown

Nemesis Shield: made to survive the end of days. made by Imperius Argus. current location unknown

Planet Bowgun: a world-breaker. made for Torox. stolen by a great evil

Rainbow Shield: a coat of many colors. made by Prima for Primon. stolen by a great evil

Resonance Blaster: the frequency of concussive force. made from Soundblaster with Logos Prime’s help. currently in safe hands

Talisman: a diviner, a databank, a patch. made for Dragonstorm. current location unknown

Transwarp Blaster: a quick getaway. made by Vector Prime for Scorpia. currently in safe hands

OTHER:

Heart of Cyberton: an Allspark regrown, the clotted hearts of Vector Sigma

Origin Matrix: not a relic at all. the arteries of Vector Sigma

Star Power: the warmth of the Warriors of the Seven Lights, hosted in Matrix vessels

[highglossfinish]

Did Cybertronians ever have anything like color therapy, that old bit of quackery where humans thought shining a colored light on someone for a bit would cure their ailments?

Interesting fact, we actually do have color therapy. You bathe a patient in a rotating assortment of specifically colored lights, and for some reason it's extremely successful when it comes to treating complex PTSD.

My favorite bit of Cybertronian quackery comes from the Silver Age, when the cure-all of choice for a while was organic skeletons. Didn't matter what species, just as long as it had one that you could rub into your wounds.

[tyrantofthefirmament]

Did you ever meet another mech named Starscream?

No, my name is unusual, you might even say old-fashioned. It is a traditional Vosnian name dating back to even before Vos was officially founded as a city-state. It's a reference to the Great Cataclysm, specifically the radio frequencies of the solar storms that scoured the surface of Cybertron. It is said it sounded like the sky was howling and screaming.

They could have named me anything related to solar flares or auroras, but I'm honored they chose such an ancient and powerful name. They must have known my career would be closely wrapped up in Vos's people and politics, because if you pronounce it without its honorific turbine noise it's also a reference to our unofficial anthem, The Wind in the Spires. I couldn't have asked for a better name.

[chef-alta]

The Duolingo Sentry Owls stand guard and hunts down those who forget their Spanish lessons

Nightshade just wants to gently remind you to keep up with your studies

[witchofthesouls]

Human eating something spicy: Good food

Cybertronian: You're actively burning and poisoning yourself. Stop eating that

Human: Mmm capsaicin

Cybertronian: I said stop eating that!

Chilis are too obvious and kind to them. Of course, the space aliens are highly concerned by spice challenges, especially with humans attempting to breed hotter, spicier peppers... as a fun hobby.

("Isn't capsaicin the active ingredient in pepper spray?" "Yes. But people enjoy eating spicy food.")

Cybertronians would be blown away by how much agriculture transformed human civilizations... as well as be boggled between humans' ability to endure extreme conditions, yet be so damn bodily fragile and inefficient.

Genetics have never looked so wild in the botanical community. Like yes, space alien, many vegetables are related. It's dependent on the area of concentration to painfully cultivate it for hundreds to thousands of years because some regions wanted something more leafy, while others focused on the pods or roots.

And yes, space alien, many cultivated foods had derived from poisonous origins. Animals (including humans) figured to circumvent it through evolutionary adaptations or utilizing methods to draw out the toxins.

Cybertronians can be impressed by how humans managed to figure that out in the countless preparation and cooking processes in different cuisines across various cultures... yet slap their helms because their funky, little squishy is having so many health issues because of the lack of Vitamin D or a Candida infection, so Cybertronians will unironically go "touch grass" with their assigned/favorite human.

(Cue confused Cybertronian noises when their human explains sunscreen and cancer.)

And fungi, like mushrooms, are a mindfuck within itself as a kingdom to both Cybertronians and humans.

This isn't delving into how other Earth organic species can't consume certain human foods due to toxicity, like dogs and chocolate.

[noodleblade]

Do you have any favorite headcanon about cybertronians culture or "biology" you like or would want to use in your writing?

HMMMMMMMMM Interesting questions. Sorry for the ramble, I hope it makes sense but it really got me thinking. This became less headcanons and more just a rant fdkjvbefjvskndjnfjfdknvkjasvfn

As far as culture, I like leaning into what's been established a little.

Example: I like the fraught nature of Velocitron prioritizing speed and creating a system that revolves around it. I'm pretty sure the extent of it discussed is political, but I think it would also stem culturally (and maybe it is in the comics but I haven't gotten there yet).

Music having faster rhythms and beats, childhood games centered around racing, courting rituals based on showing off your speed or racing together.

And on the flip side, Velocitron does devalue slower, bulkier bots which creates this caste-type system. I like the idea of those mechs having their own culture, which is stemmed from their physicality but also their political situation of being outcasted.

Like, since Velocitron is all about who is the fastest, I think an interesting cultural attitude is created where you are constantly trying to be better than others, but if you are already limited being able to go fast, proving you are better isn't as important when society tells you differently. It shifts the value of the Importance of Self to the Importance of Community. That in itself creates a shift in culture.

Not to mention the ADA Compliance angle of there are areas of Velocitron that just have structures that allow for bigger, slower bots. I think I wrote something along the lines of Breakdown complaining that going to a convention medic on Velocitron as a bigger bot often ends up with misdiagnosed problems because they are so focused on the idea that you must be fast and smaller that they offer reformatting without looking at what the root of the problem is. (I know many fat people have this issue of doctors suggesting "losing weight" when addressing medical concerns without digging in deeper which is bullshit but aside from the point).

A SIDE THOUGHT: I would love to read (or maybe write???) Cybertronian folk stories/myths. I think that would be a fun avenue of culture to explore. It would be a way to delve into multiple aspects of culture and each city and colony would naturally have different ones or even rival ones. For example, taking the Velocitron culture into consideration, there could be conflicting folk stories alla a tortoise and hare situation. Speedy, conventional mechs would have a story framed around the "hare" being the winner where a slowly, bulkier mechs would have it framed around the "tortoise" being the winner. Idk i think that is so cool and interesting and gahhh.

BIOLOGY THOUGH x---x science was my worst subject in school already and i struggle with anything related to it. Writing such topics is a fun challenge but very difficult for me to broach, especially when we add mechanical components into it. I am writing a fic with the basis of scavenging the parts of deceased/offlined mechs and using them to rebuild another.

[mann-walter]

I want to start this off by saying that I’m a big fan of Optimus Prime and Transformers; Prime as a whole. I loved them then, I love them now. But there is something that tickles me until today about the two. Yes, this is where I’ll be discussing what I hate most about the series in general and Optimus in particular: his lack of action against Megatron.

For all of us that have watched Prime in its entirety or majority, it became clear rather quickly that Optimus was cast as this saintly model all creatures should be striving for and should admire. He was wise and refrained from frivolity, calm even in the toughest of times, brave, selfless, strong, gentle, and forgiving. On the surface, one might conclude that his only fault was mortality.

But what if I tell you that all of these qualities, in certain times, can turn into deadly vices?

Now, after you’ve accustomed yourself to the show, I think you’d notice another thing about Optimus: why hasn’t he tried to kill Megatron?

We know that most of his decisions were built upon ideals: that violent resolutions should be a last resort, that death is unconscionable, that every being deserves a second chance, and that everyone has the capability to change. But, apparently Optimus had never heard that there is a season for everything. There’s a time to kill and a time not to. With Megatron, it certainly was a time to kill. Not out of revenge, but in order to prevent more destruction, to protect those that can’t fight for themselves.

It is darkly funny actually that after eons of war, after Megatron had made a living hell for so many Cybertronians (the only group of people Optimus is legally obligated to protect), committed so many crimes, he’d be swinging so many times if he were a human, Optimus decided he had had enough and was now out for blood because Megatron unintentionally (although he was all jolly about it) hurt a human boy. It’s actually a very interesting aspect of his character, how he held on to his ideals so tightly that he’d sacrifice so many lives for it. Alas, it was never acknowledged as such by the writers. There actually were dissenting opinions in-universe, usually coming from Ratchet—and weren’t they very valid points—but at the end Optimus was always portrayed as the correct one, that his decisions were all good.

Speaking of Optimus and his ideals, I now really wish they had ventured into those darker implications of Optimus stubbornly, even fanatically, holding on to them. It could’ve been a really great nuance to his character: sometimes, a hero’s sins can have roots in his own goodness.

[transingthoseformers]

Just imagine tfp Megs waking up in the body of G1 Megatron. I think he'd be horrified! But I also think he'd eventually kick a lot of aft. In tfp after all, pretty much only Optimus can take him on. It can't only be his size.

Also consider: just tfp Megs dealing with the g1 decepticons and autobots

It's been a while since he's dealt with an army THIS unruly, varied, and unpredictable— nevermind the autobots seemingly increasing out of nowhere

[whatudottu]

The inner struggles of a worldbuilding nerd: “Just because an alien species looks similar to an Earth animal doesn’t mean they’ll function the exact same as them, especially if said species is sapient, and assuming such is pretty biased and Earth-centric” vs. “Haha giving alien species based on Earth animals biology and behaviors similar to their respective animal and exploring how said biology and behaviors might influence their society and culture go brrr”

That's why you go to a mental randomiser and pick the weirdest shit you can and pair it with your selected species; case in point, my talpaedans = armadillos + ants headcanons!

I have certainly fallen into the pitfall of 'base a series of headcanons of alien that resembles an Earth animal USING the animal as a guide' but I am no stranger to making things alien (another I have are orishan = clam + cockroach headcanons). Heck, if I either can't think of an animal or an idea I had for a more animalistic alien may end up treading on bad ground, I pull out a random sociological thing humans have done. I mean I can't think about vulpimancers without thinking about politics, both on Vulpin and outside of it, discussing local matters to international matters to straight up intergalactic matters and the ethics of Null Void imprisonment (you cannot tell me all the vulpimancers in there were even given a trial let alone a fair one).

It's good to start with a base that has happened before - convergent evolution and everything, very good template to work from - and you can pick and mix whatever the heck you want to make your alien, well... alien-! Either you randomise the heck out of it, you have a very specific idea that would help expand the worldbuilding, or you just want to orchestrate how you can logic something out and connect the dots later, it's really fun to just ramble the shit out of alien biology.

[lord-squiggletits]

Onyx Prime = Shockwave time travel plot is such shitty writing I could and WILL (eventually) write multiple essays about it it's so fucking bad.

[plokoonsdisapprovingeyebrows]

📂

Cybertronian religions (they're related, but not the same thing) don't center around Primus so much as they're built on top of the concept. Primus is a primordial point of origin, who created Cybertron (or, in some belief systems, became Cybertron) and then... more or less vanished from the record. The Thirteen, and the various figures of the Dynasty, are the active 'gods' of the Cybertronian pantheon, the ones who receive most prayers and offerings and worship. Primus is sort of worshipped, but the form of worship is more like that of a distant ancestor, rather than an active god with the power to intercede in life. The Thirteen derive their power from Primus, and the rest of the Dynastic saints derive their power from the Thirteen, but inherently so, as the creations of Primus (and then of the Thirteen). Primus is the ultimate foundation upon which they stand.

Primus worship, therefore, is mostly done by ascetics - people who aren't really worrying about the things that ur average Cybertronian has to care about. That can dedicate themselves to worship of a god with no presence in the world (or who is present in everything in the world, depending on ur beliefs, but not really doing anything with it) and which has no power to change things (bc change as a whole is the domain of the Thirteen). People who want to meditate on beginnings and origins, and who aren't bothered particularly by what those beginnings grow into - or if they do even grow.

(Overall, Primus-centered worship just isn't considered particularly practical by most belief systems.)

With that said - a whole lot of the language of Cybertronian worship is pinned on words that ultimately derive from the name Primus, and from the symbology that represents Primus - the title of Prime, for example, and a whole lot of talk of foundations, roots, and strata and caverns and things that form underground in general. If you want to stand on stable ground, you're probably thinking of Primus - at least a little bit.

[thenamesblurrito]

eleven whole ask dumps

that’s a LOT! topics this time are: survivalists, cavemen, survival tv shows, Bloodron, plantformers, food storage, eating underwater, beast mode mouths, Rodimus and Abominus and flammability, and Rock Lords

as a matter of fact yes! it’s sort of difficult, because it’s a labor intensive process to mine, purify, distill, and store enough energon and other foodstuffs all by yourself unless your alt mode is like an energon refinery or something. so it isn’t a quick and easy solution for just anybody who has issues with the current regime. as it stands, it’s genuinely easier and safer for many junkers to hang around in the city than it is to rough it in the wilds, otherwise they’d be gone in a heartbeat.

but!

there’s certainly been folks who prefer roughing it to living in civilization. this has been true throughout history and isn’t specifically driven by the corruption of the Stratocracy. a popular counterculture in Kup’s youth was spelunkers/squatters who would specifically seek out old buried ruins and underground places to live in, like cavemen if you will, just because they could. there are antisocial folks and hermits and extreme introverts who would rather homestead than deal with anyone in their vicinity. there’s one crazy kook of a dedicated scientist in particular that i am still waffling about actually showing in SNAP’s storyline, but old gramma Glyph is definitely still kicking somewhere in the Forbidden Zone and has been since before size classes became a thing! she would absolutely fill the role this ask describes (not the same Glyph as the JAAT student, mind you, it’s just another common name)

there are still people who live in caves. no, not the folks i mentioned in the above answer, i mean like there are entire underground cities and everything. there’s a lot of stuff down there anyway! living underground is not unusual on Cybertron and a good percentage of infrastructure and industry isn’t even visible from the surface in some places

that said, there is archaeological evidence that the original Cybertronian civilizations actually developed below ground and migrated upward/outward! First City, a set of ruins swallowed by the Rust Sea, is the aptly named earliest appearance of a proper settlement aboveground, but it shows evidence of being a base camp before a proper city, and contains artifacts and materials thought to have been taken from belowground before being put in the city. the entire concept of Simfur was of a holy temple city that was already supposed to be underground before some great cataclysm sundered it so far beneath the surface that not even its original inhabitants could find it. so “cavepeople” were, in a way, the default from which mecha have branched out from to live on the surface

and re: eating mechanimals, that’s definitely a (relatively) recent cultural value, and it isn’t even universal. there’s been people eating mechanimals throughout history, and likewise there have been people squeamish and disapproving about it for just as long. the current social climate is disapproving, but that’s variable depending on when and where you look into history

fsdfhgljfsdghfk yknow what sure. on Carcer and Eukaris specifically because these are the cultures i think would be into that. the more widespread popular version of this is probably space travel survival instead of on-planet wilderness. like can you pilot a ship for a vorn with limited supplies out into the black and make it to your destination with minimal contact kind of challenge. not unlike those solo sailing challenges i suppose

okay so this was a joke ask from Jensen that has now fleshed out a piece of SNAP history thanks

Bloodron was a tyrant of Caminus during the Prime Wars who took over after the murder of the previous de facto Camien leaders, Solus Prime’s children Magnum and Pyra (the original Magnus and Mistress of Flame, respectively). he was successful where other conquerors had not been in part because of his ruthless execution of the original usurpers who murdered the twins, instead of trying to pander and please. while his methods were cruel, he was debatably the safest option for leadership at the time and was instrumental in putting down further unrest on the colony as even Cybertron was swallowed by chaos. he and his enemy/conjunx/??? Convoy (a name at this point, not yet a fancy title) worked together to thwart scheming insurrectionists vying for power amongst their familial and political blocs, which resulted in a mostly unified culture for Caminus many centuries later and gave them a legacy of being a very strong, put-together colony. the academic community remembers him and his period of history with mixed feelings. while what he did for Caminus was pretty good, all things considered, he was not exactly a good person himself

excellent questions!! i think the only plantformer i’ve got in my cast list atm is Botanica so i won’t have a lot of examples here. unlike beastformers looking like mechanimals, not a lot of plantformers actually take after a specific species of cyberflora. most seem to generate their own unique specimen, although in root mode many of them are quintoid frametypes

since cyberflora grow out of/need to be rooted to some kind of hotspots, plantformers often have very strong sparks, or at least a very high degree of energy cycling, and act as their own personalized hotspot. this gives them quicker and better than average healing, but it does mean they have a higher metabolism. some of them have alt modes that can process energon and/or package it. these are considered “fruit bearing” cyberflora alt modes, and are often given fuel processing functions much like vending machine, distillery, or refinery alt mode. this is really the only kind of food you’ll get from a plantformer, even though actual cyberflora are used for food in many many more ways than just energon fruit. most plantformer alt mode products won’t be eaten and are instead used in their function’s industry, or perhaps as a rare and expensive knick-knack in the same vein as some kind of handmade collector’s item

their mobility isn’t usually very high, in keeping with how most cyberflora function. filling a niche in the ecosystem may look like sifting metal, crystallizing minerals, conducting and rerouting electricity, or another small but significant part of planetary upkeep. as such, the majority of plantformers have alt modes designed to slot into a given environment where they can participate in the ecosystem, often moving only at the whims of their environment. a heavily cabled transmission tower tree meant to fit in amongst buzzing mangroves will have flexible bases and strong grounding roots as it connects to other trees with its cables. a lone lightning rod pine out on the prairie will have similar grounding roots that go even deeper and broader, meant to conduct lightning all the way to a planetary leyline, and windmill sequoias have perhaps the sturdiest, broadest trunks to brace their height against the movement of their milling boughs. on the opposite end of the spectrum, tangled cable tumbleweeds can unplug at any moment and be set adrift to seek out any new crevice or cranny to worm its wires into. it really depends on the plantformer’s individual alt mode. Botanica has root cabling to keep her steady when in alt mode, but her leaves and boughs are still mobile

this actually has less to do with stuff like mold or sour milk and more to do with expiring chemicals, decaying materials, and loss of charge. the point of energon is how it inherently carries a charge instead of just being burnt for power, but if you leave energon or batteries or what have you for too long, it’ll lose that charge. maybe it can be recharged, but you’ve lost an important part of your fuel just from waiting too long. undercharged energon is better than nothing, but it won’t fix your lethargy. expired chemicals can either be inert and useless or highly flammable/explosive/dangerous in some way depending on what it is and what kind of reaction it had over time. you don’t really wanna raid the pantry and pick up something that explodes in your hand because it expired a month ago. and decay isn’t always bad, with stuff like steel woolies turning into rust bunnies, but if you’re need an iron meal and instead find just a hunk of corroded rusty junk, that’s not gonna meet your nutritional needs. proper food storage is about minimizing corrosion and decay, preserving or restoring charge, and preventing adverse chemical reactions when possible, as well as keeping out pests like scraplets

that said, i think edible-grade energon can retain its charge for... at least a good while? it’ll longer than a month and still be a full meal, i’d say, if it’s just straight liquid energon on a regular charge. that’s why it’s kept in glass despite its delicacy, since glass isn’t a good conductor. so community pantries, dead drops, hideyholes and such are all fairly effective as long as everyone remembers to keep the spaces pretty clean and make sure nothing gets left too long, which is never a problem

ummmm.... hm. this is an off the wall question. i guess i think it would be weird and difficult. like, could you eat underwater?? could you take a bite of like i dunno what’s something that doesn’t instantly fall apart in water..... a candy cane? could you safely eat a candy cane underwater? probably yes if you were very careful to keep your throat closed and also try to force out all the water in your mouth before chewing and swallowing, but it would be hard. mecha aren’t in danger of choking/drowning like humans, and it’s safe to assume that if they’re already underwater then they probably have the seals for it, but still consuming a lot of water isn’t great for a mechanical species, and it’s not easy to make sure you’re not swallowing that along with your food

oh sure, like they’re perfectly functional mouths and all, the issue is just the connection to the fuel systems. no throat, as it were. whereas the folks who can eat in beast modes essentially have two esophagi that rearrange depending on what mode they’re in. for folks like Strafe who have intact beast heads in root mode, it’s possible they can use their jaw? like she in particular uses them as a second set of unwieldy hands, but a pocket is a good idea too, or a can opener, etc etc. chewing food just to spit it back out is probably something only a very determined person with a specific food craving is going to do, because most folks who aren’t able to chew would just get silted shakes to sip with a straw

oh all the time. Rodimus’s whole THING is setting himself on fire and just throwing himself into the fray. like that one Denethor scene in LOTR but madly cackling. he only bothers showing some finesse when around Drift who he wants to impress clearly requires more careful application of skill to beat. Abominus can’t set himself on fire like Rodimus can, but he can shoot flames from his beast head and will fan them higher with his wings, which means he can essentially generate a firestorm to stand in if necessary that will drive everyone else away. Elita 5 has some immunity to flame too as a pyrokinetic hero, but is in fact still vulnerable to heat unlike the other two. she won’t get scorched, but she does need to watch her temperature

in general mecha aren’t like extremely flammable, they have much much higher heat contact tolerance than humans, but ironically have lower atmospheric heat tolerance, because the majority of them use air cycling for cooling systems and so hot weather makes them overheat easily. buncha pansy computers. but they’ll think nothing of holding an open flame, picking up embers right from a fire, ducking through a burning doorway, setting off firecrackers in their hands, etc. their caution is more about smoke and soot clogging vents, or discolored paint, or getting dents from small explosions than actually burning. they start endangering themselves when the heat gets high enough to overtake their cooling systems or melt their kibble, or has enough force to punch like in an explosion, but even then they can struggle through until actual vital internal components are compromised, at which point they’re in danger of catching fire themselves. energon isn’t super flammable when in a controlled environment like their insides, and a liquid trail can catch fire, but it’ll take a mortal wound to really get someone burning up inside

hhhmmmmmmmmm i... don’t think i’m going to use them in SNAP, or at least this storyline. i’d probably make them extraterrestrial creatures sort of like what they were in TFA. they’d fit in with stories of demons and invaders for sure

[highglossfinish]

Is it true that the reason Cybertronians hate the Quintessons so much is that you lost an epic war of "got your nose" way back in the mists of time, and they still have your noses?

This is a true and certifiable historical fact that I entered into the archives just now via my invisible datapad.

[fawningoveradream]

one feeling I wish I could re-live over again? Relearning and processing transfromers lore and character backstories, per every series/continuity. Also Transformers Wiki is the best, hands down. Never ever ever been on a more helpful information site before. Its clearly made with love and passion for everything transformers related. And the distinct lack of ads blocking your view from deep dive reading also are huge pointers. 

[blustering-old-fool]

😚

With the kids successfully asleep in the room next over, Kup turned to their chambers smiling softly seeing Heatwave happily resting on the berth covered up… a little grimace from Kup at all the fire gear laying on the floor, Kup picked it up and put it all in its designated spot before walking over to Heatwave and caressing his cheek, “Sleep well mech.” The old mech leaned down kissing his partners temple before walking over to his chair and opened up a video on his hud to watch things about human history.