#especially for his Earthspark iteration

[transingthoseformers]

How do you feel about Earthspark adjacent jazzsound :D

[reader-from-nowhere]

Curious on your opinions of prowl

Hoo boy, this is gonna be a lot so don't mind my ramblings.

I'll say first that I've never really cared for Prowl, so I don't go out my way to read many of the comics that is centered around him, most of what I know about Prowl is in MTMTE Lost Light and G1 + Earthspark, so my general knowledge of Prowl comes from fan stuff!

So I'll talk about comic Prowl since I have the most to say. I'd say I enjoy Prowl less as an individual character and more of a mirror to Rodimus (my blorbo, I know I'm guilty of only reading comics about my favs).

In my opinion, Prowl is more of a foil to Rodimus than Getaway did, though I think both are great antagonists, I just feel like Prowl and Rodimus mirrors each other more than Getaway did. They are both assholes, to others around them and to themselves, and while their intentions are genuinely good, their actions are inherently extremely selfish and egotistical.

While I think Rodimus got better, I never really saw Prowl do the same.

Prowl's relationships are also very interesting. He is very VERY detached from reality, being able to burn almost every single bridge for the 'greater good'. He is so far sighted that he isn't able to see the ditch he is speeding towards.

He admired and looks up to Optimus the most out of everyone, and desperately wants validation from his leader. His need for appreciation I think shows really well with his relationship with the Constructicons and Tarantulas. They all view him very highly, but Prowl does not, and I think will never truly be able to be satisfied with that sort of affection. Prowl has shown to want to be appreciate for being good, and while the Constructicons and Tarantulas do validate Prowl's abilities and skill, they appreciate him for all the wrong reasons (Tarantulas, especially).

That's also why I don't think ships with any of them can work out for Prowl, at least not in anyway that can be healthy in the long run.

(Also side rant here if you don't wanna read feel free to skip: I hate how the fandom AND canon treats Tarantulas, he essentially gets reduce to 'crazy ex-boyfriend' status and I think he never really gets to leave that box. Earthspark is probably the iteration that did Tarantulas the most justice. Tarantulas' character is the personification of Prowl's actions coming back to bite him in the ass, but he's also more than that. He was a bad friend to Prowl when he pressured, ignored and went behind Prowl's back with the Noisemaker, but Prowl really wasn't innocent either. I really wished we got to spend more time with him and explore his other relationships like with Springer, god he ADORED his little pod baby, even if he's real fucked up about it.)

(Speaking of getting reduce to 'crazy ex-boyfriend' status, justice for my terrible wife Pharma.)

[oppysbabydoll]

NSFW ask game, 2 and 6(with a human for both questions), Bumblebee~

(nsfw ask game can be found here!)

2) what are their kinks?

hmm… depends on the adaption but i think in general he loves humans. platonic, romantically, sexually. i don’t know if that’s an actual kink but… humans (or organics) would probably be considered a kink in cybertronian society

something i’m sure of is that he has a size difference kink. you have to if you’re a transformer dating a human; they’re very small to transformers. and while earthspark bots are honestly much smaller than other iterations they’re still generally bigger. the ones born in cybertron at least.

for bumblebee, he’s typically always been a smaller bot, i know he gets a power trip seeing your tiny body shivering as he puts his spike in you. it makes him feel things he shouldn’t feel, as the autobots scout. but he doesn’t stop the feeling nonetheless. it’s too good.

he’d also rather die than admit it but lingerie makes him feel… something. he’s always been fascinated with human culture, and the sexual outfits for humans… makes him horny too. what’s better than you wearing it is him wearing it and you removing it off… you see his prefluids leaking out onto the lingerie from excitement…

i got this idea from another user but. it’s canon that bumblebee merch is a thing. so it wouldn’t be impossible for transformer inspired dildos to be a thing. seeing you use a bumblebee inspired dildo (the stinger) would make him feel a certain type of way and lose his shit

6) what was their first time having sex like?

i imagine that while wartime didn’t allow for anything as serious as conjunx enduras (basically cybertronian’s concept of marriage) bumblebee still messed around with other bots. he was especially eager to please others then. he remembers those times with embarrassment and cringes.

with humans… he’s never done it. sure, he’s imagined, but never actually do the deed. when you guys do have sex, it’s slow and careful. he’s ridiculously gentle because he’s that scared of hurting you. he gets more confident as you two frag more but… it takes time to get there.

[mistermalaprop]

I’ve talked about this just a smidge in the tags of a previous post BUT here is a main post. I’m in the car so I don’t have any art and this will probs come out weird.

[EDIT: HERE IS FULL CONCEPT]

it makes sense that Knock Out in earthspark would be based off prime, like, we get that. every KO is prime KO. At the very least it’d be one of the comic iterations.

but I think it’d be so much cooler if an es KO was based more heavily on his actual g1 character. because think of it— most want an es KO for the KOBD ship. That’s very real, I get it… but Breakdown in es took the place that a prime KO would’ve. BD in es is already the fast racer with ambiguous ties to the Decepticon faction… and flirts with Autobots—

SO! Why don’t we just… flip-flop the dynamics? Prime KO’s character is put into es BD, and— hear me out— prime BD’s big brute yet genuine character is put to es KO. Breakdown in earthspark gets to race and be all cool and in the spotlight, while his doting yet aesthetically-minded, construction-framed partner Knockout follows him around! it’s not totally balls to the wall crazy to think of a design for a g1-inspired earthspark KO, especially when we have this guy to work with-

There was already an attempt (that I think is pretty cool) of a g1 inspired look for KO, while still keeping the idea of prime KO in mind!

anyway… I think it would make for some neat diversity for Knock Out’s character lineage. To me, he’s gotten pretty stale because every version of him is pretty much… prime… and while that version of him was revolutionary and amazing, I want different interpretations :( I wanna see him change and grow like other characters…

[dragqueenstarscream]

man what keys do I need to jingle in order to make Hasbro make a starscream, and seekers in general, centric series? one where we see star's backstory prior to becoming a decepticon, seeing his upbringing (scientist, air commander, former prince, anything really), how he met skywarp n thundercracker, seeing more of Vos and more of what the seekers are like and their culture.

i just really like seeing more of him and the seekers, esp since we've been getting more seeker rep in recent iterations. i wanna see more of these birds! and my star bird especially!!! 🥺

it's kinda shocking to me that we haven't gotten more seeker rep considering how damn popular they are. like yeah, i know starscream isn't as popular as optimus, megatron, bumblebee, etc, but come on! optimus has a shitton of content focused around him. bumblebee got a solo movie, along with him being THE child appeal character. don't get me started on megatron, especially with tfone.

so many other characters have taken the spotlight already. hell, fucking mirage got his own time in the limelight before starscream! starscream is one of the most popular characters for a reason, yet he's always either a side villain, killed off, both, or, in earthspark's case, straight up scrapped to repeat the status quo. it's about damn time we get some starscream/general seeker focused content!

[deadlysoupy]

if tf one did anything for me, it 1) made me really passionate about optimus and megatron's relationship and made me re-think the entirety of just how tragic the transformers civil war is

and 2) that i adore optimus and bumblebee's relationship even more now

the first one is pretty self-explanatory and i feel like everyone came out of that movie (who is a tf fan i mean) feeling absolutely baddy and insane

but the second one. my favourite iteration is earthspark, so my constant thought is now, compared to "oh my gosh orion and bee are adorable together i can totally see their dynamic" of tf one, is "holy shit tfe optimus and bumblebee are so dysfunctional why are they like this" and i'm just having so many thoughts about them right now

i would make a separate post but i kinda don't want to so here are my general thoughts (not very coherent i just need them out of me)

it feels very disjointed to be honest. it really seems like they wanted to give them a mentor/mentee dynamic but didn't go through with it

optimus keeps sort of kind of worrying about bumblebee without explicitly stating it, they have a lot of awkward moments (especially in early season 1 i noticed), but i can't tell if it's writers not wanting to commit or it's intentional

there are two episodes bothering me. one: episode 23, right in the beginning, when optimus sends bee to find the hidden ghost facility. they have this interesting almost silent communication, optimus only has to say "bumblebee, what's in that room?" and bee immediately knows what to do. the most important bit here, though, is where bee, after optimus warns him about potentially getting caught or killed, says very methodically "i must disavow any knowledge of your actions". and then he drives away, with optimus looking almost solemnly at him

a similar conversation already probably happened, since bee knew what to say to sort of calm optimus down, but at the same time... was optimus worried there? would he have said this had he NOT been worried?

and then there's season 3 (season 2b?). the hate plague. i'm not going to focus much on bee's perspective (that earns another post), but on optimus' instead. he tries to calm bee down, tries to reach him, tries to reason with him, and what gets me here is that he actually cares. remember, this is probably only a few days or so after the whole breakdown fiasco, and bumblebee is obviously still thinking about it. so optimus doesn't get him to track down the cybertronian ship - he's afraid bee might hurt even more. he says "i knew you would be emotionally compromised going into decepticon territory". which only leads me to the same thought: if you untangle all his diplomatic wording, he says he cares. he cares that bumblebee got hurt and that he didn't want him to relive that betrayal again

they are so awful at communicating with each other they can't even tell if they care about one another. which is odd, right? we can tell optimus can tell megatron his feelings, but he can't do that with bee

and i'm just. what happened between them? is optimus emotionally distant from bee or is bumblebee reluctant to include him? why are they like this??? they drive me crazy istg

[cosmics-beings]

Why do you like Skybound? From the little I’ve seen on tumblr, it looks like it’s made Starscream into a heartless, ruthless villain with no emotions and that doesn’t sound like something a Starscream fan would enjoy.

The thing about it is that, I like it because it is Starscream. Starscream is ruthless, he is heartless and he is a villain. Especially to humans. The only thing I don’t really like about Skybound is that, for two seconds, I was terrified he was killed off early but people are saying he might be alive?

I think the interesting thing about Starscream, depending on the iteration or what version of the character you absorb, is that he can be multifaceted. I think that the two Starscream’s we have now are Earthspark and Skybound Starscream. It’s fair to say that Earthspark Starscream is handled with a lot of nuance and respect for what happened to him, which is what I absolutely love and adore. But Starscream is still, at his core, before any form or redemption can ever take place, and awful person. Even Earthspark Starscream was not a good person until the episode dropped.

Skybound Starscream to me at least, isn’t that shocking because that shows us one of the many facets of Starscream he can be. I think that, given the various iterations we’ve had of him, and the franchises lack of actually committing to a type of Starscream, it is easy to mix those versions + fandom interpretation (which imo , does tend to water him down and overly pacify him for many reasons), and in a way, think they should be canon.

But in reality, despite the iterations, Starscream is not supposed to be viewed as a good person. At least, not to begin with. Starscream has always been an extremely violent, ruthless, manipulative and abusive person. Even in Earthspark, or TFP, or Cyberverse, etc. He has always resorted to violence to get what he wants. He mistreats those around him, and those who try to help him whether it be his Trine, Knockout, etc. That’s why I don’t think that Skybound is inaccurate because that’s just who he is. I think as Starscream fans, it’s logical to want a version of Starscream that is nuance and more complex because we have gotten that in the past, even among the violence. And I mean, other characters are allowed to have that.

But I’m also okay accepting that Skybound isn’t that version, and that Skybound is also very canon, and often times forgotten version of Starscream that I think the fanbase sometimes needs to be reminded of. I’ve spoken about this before, but while I am heavily empathetic toward Starscream, especially in like TFP and Earthspark (and IDW), he is still an awful person, and he actually has to change to get sympathy points. And what Skybound is doing is in a way, reminding us of that or leaning into that side of Starscream that is either overlooked by the fandom, or a side we haven’t seen in years.

I am literally all for crazed, violent characters like Starscream, and I do like it. Because I also think that, with all the discourse surrounding his character, it is important to recognize that he isn’t this helpless person who has done no wrong. He is still, at his core until he changes, a violent person. And it is satisfying seeing him be violent but also seeing him be held accountable for it.

Skybound Starscream, like all depictions of him, is realistic. I just don’t think we get the nuance or the sympathetic nature of him, which again is okay. That’s not to say that in the future, we don’t see it. Because I believe we will.  

I am very curious to see how his relationship with Megatron is going to be, and in my mind I hope they have a good/better relationship but I hope they're good to each other, or at least can work together. I really don't want any of them to be redeemed I just want them to be terrible actually and just feed off of that.

[sonicasura]

Let's be honest with ourselves that Transformers Earthspark has its issues. It isn't uncommon for the series to have a few messy iterations throughout the years. However those at least have something going for them.

Bayverse is a junk pile yet there's a lot of material you can build off on and some pretty interesting concepts. RiD15 is an awful sequel to Prime but does decently well as a standalone although there are much needed changes to be had. Earthspark... Well, it's just there.

I can be lenient with the plot holes and poor pacing as Nickelodeon is notorious for interfering with any show that isn't SpongeBob to the point of cancellation. The issues truly land on the characters themselves. I'm gonna try to simplify it without devolving into a rant like the previous draft.

Edit: Gonna add some further edits as I wrote this in the middle of the night. Plus my simplified version skipped some key details.

Robby. Somehow they made a human character I actually dislike instead of be neutral about. In the official Transformers wiki, he's labeled as a big brother who cares for his siblings but his actions so far say otherwise. Robby literally ran away in the first episode because they moved then decided to try and hide the Terrans from his parents.

Yet he rarely gets enough consequences for his actions. I think we don't just need less Emberstone saves not just because of plot armor but force actual character growth on him. Like a life changing to one of his siblings as consequences for his actions and strained relationship until he gets his head outta his ass.

Edit: Yes, I know Robby is a teenager but that isn't a decent enough excuse for his behavior. Seen the trope about big brothers who do act closed off or at some points rude but they haven't done shit that put their family in serious danger. No, I didn't try to purposely forget the times he was injured badly.

There honestly needs to be less of those and his consequences be adjusted to it affects someone else badly. *

Next issue is lacking confrontation with Optimus choices alongside the obvious misplaced trust in the 13 Primes. Quintus Prime literally emotionally manipulated and scarred Mo through a fake bad ending reality because she doubted herself. No good person would do that, much less an actual ally. Even moreso on a child.

I seen this shit in Trollhunters but at least Jim, the main character, was a teenager. (It still was wrong though.) We also got remember that Liege Maximo and Megatronus/The Fallen are Primes. Yet somehow it is best to trust them.

Don't get me started with some of Optimus' choices when it comes to GHOST. He probably did it to protect his Autobots but what about the Decepticons who are locked away? Why are there so little of his companions with him especially since Bumblebee had fucking went into hiding before the show began.

There needs to be tension between Optimus with his Autobots. Someone is bound to snap and Bumblebee would have the biggest impact. The man clearly isn't okay as he's doing things that even Megatron admits ain't like him.

Mandroid needs to be written differently. He has the making of a sympathetic villain but oh boy. First off it is clear that his depiction is ableist aligned since the reason he doesn't like Cybertronians is because he lost his arm. Major thing to change right there.

Give him a narrative where his interest been genuine but slowly declines as the Autobot/Decepticon war increases the number of destroyed lives. Let him become a victim to this than just 'I lost my arm so death alongside experimentation to all Cybertronians'. Also don't make Mandroid ignore the obvious fact that the Transformers parts he puts into his body is slowly poisoning and instead come up with ways to fight the infection. Kinda like in Ironman 2 where Tony's arc reactor began to do the same thing.

Edit: Mandroid's negative views on Cybertronians are about the war and he's aware of the Energon poisoning. It is just that it is poorly portrayed to the point you rarely see it over his Arachnamechs/his ruined life.

Have the man present various evidence of destruction the war caused by both sides at the Malto children or anonymously spread such info around town to sew discontent with the townsfolk. 'These are the people who you consider heroes. Who you see as family and friends. Or should these tragedies be forgotten?'

Do a Baxter Stockman where you frequently see him try to fix the Energon poisoning than just simple dialogue. Even have testing on organic subjects to see how they react and find ways to counter it. Don't keep these key points as simple dialogue. *

I don't think Karen needs much changes either. 'But her taking over Cybertron doesn't make sense!' It actually does for one reason: hubris. Have you ever seen what happens when you give a control freak power? Their behavior becomes more erratic as they begin to think they deserve more. She is xenophobic in nature so imprisoning Decepticons and ordering around the Autobots is a drug to her.

Karen wants to treat them like slaves so the next step in her mind is Cybertron. Her death is well deserved and well played. Just like Icarus, the bitch flew too close to the sun.

I think the last major issue, other than out of character racist Shockwave, is the Terrans. No offense but they need a bit less screentime so the rest of the cast can shine. We barely see Alex and there's unclarified issues involving Bumblebee with Arcee if he's uncomfortable around her.

I also want their flaws to be at the forefront. Thrash is the only one who gotten such character development from his encounter with Swindle. We need more of that! Like Hashtag's overreliance on the Internet biting her back as she is forced to use real world skills.

Edit: I accidentally put in Terrans when I really meant Twitch. The screentime for everyone needs to be balanced mainly for the Malto family. Alex alongside the three younger Terrans rarely get involved or their characters further build upon. Twitch needs to get benched more.

Also the Dad Number 2 should really be addressed. Wheeljack was clearly uncomfortable when it been brought up. Plus it is way too fast to even consider such ideas unless you plan to have it addressed properly. Like 'Kid. We barely know each other yet somehow I became a father figure in an instant? It's best not to do that until you truly certain "Dad Number 2" doesn't mean harm or feels comfortable with it.' *

Earthspark clearly has potential but these problems need to be handled better. Addong the deleted scenes help add some clarification but canon needs to present it. We are supposed to get a second season so hopefully some of these are addressed.

[elfdragon12]

Suggestion:

If you're tagging specific continuities on your Transformers, maybe only tag the relevant continuities? Especially when it comes to characters who are, at best, only superficially similar to previous iterations.

Examples:

G1 Rodimus Prime is going through a severe quarter life crisis and is kinda depressed, especially after being indirectly responsible for Optimus's death. IDW1/MTMTE Rodimus Prime needs ADHD medication and life direction.

Beast Wars and IDW1 Tarantulas is a mad scientist. Earthspark Tarantulas is a sad scientist.

Beast Wars Rattrap is crass and cunning but also loyal and has a strong sense of justice. TFA Rattletrap is a gross rat man (derogatory). IDW1 Rattrap is devious and weirdly loyal to Starscream.

G1 Prowl is helpful and smart. TFA Prowl is ninja Beachcomber. IDW1 is a cruel mastermind or traumatized with anger issues, depending on the writer. IDW2 Prowl is a bit like Gordon Ramsey, patient with newspark Rubble and short tempered with his subordinates.

G1, TFP and Cyberverse Bumblebee is The Youngest™️. TFA Bumblebee is a gremlin. IDW2 Bumblebee is a dad. RID15 and Earthspark Bumblebee is the mid-20s older brother.

Beast Wars Blackarachnia is a cunning scientist. TFA Blackarachnia is actually a renamed Elita-1 and can't succeed at any plans. IDW1 Blackarachnia is a seer??

Beast Wars Cheetor is reckless young adult wanting to prove himself. Cyberverse Cheetor is the goodest purest sunshine boy.

G1 Ultra Magnus is a straight-laced lieutenant. TFA Ultra Magnus is the tired and morally dubious leader of the Autobots. TFP Ultra Magnus is the stiff leader of the Wreckers. IDW1 Ultra Magnus is actually a little guy named Minimus Ambus. WFC Ultra Magnus was oldest friends with Optimus Prime and Megatron.

So pretty please keep your tags relevant! 🙏

[maplesamurai]

Soundwave for the character ask, and to be silly Dry Bones too

For Soundwave:

How I feel about this character

One of my favourite Decepticons and definitely one of the major legacy characters of the franchise for good reason.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Shockwave for our fic and just generally speaking, but as for specific continuities, I ship him with Cosmos in IDW1, Sideways in Cybertron, Hot Rod in Cyberverse, he and Megatron are definitely divorced in Earthspark, and this is going to sound like an odd choice, but in Animated I kind of ship him with Slipstream, since while they never met in canon, back when the series had just ended, I read a continuation fic that had them meeting after the series finale and forming their own team of Earthbound Decepticons before eventually forming a romance, which has since stuck in my brain when it comes to shipping those characters where Animated is concerned.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I've always seen Ravage as the cassette Soundwave gets along with the best, and I also loved his friendship with GI Joe's Mainframe in the IDW comics.

My unpopular opinion about this character

As much as I like the Megatron loyalist characterization from the cartoon that's become the definitive personality for Soundwave, I wish we'd see more iterations that drew from other versions of the character, like the self-serving blackmailer he was described as in the original G1 toy bio.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I want to see him interact with more of his classic cassette companions than just Ravage, Laserbeak/Buzzsaw and Rumble/Frenzy. It'd especially be fun to see a traditionally loyal Soundwave bouncing off a Marvel/IDW style self-serving would-be Deception leader version of Ratbat.

For Dry Bones:

How I feel about this character

I really like playing him in Mario spin-offs for the aesthetic, and I like the "like other easily defeated grunts except it won't stay dead" gimmick as a Mario enemy.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Can't actually think of any for this one. Probably doesn't help that I see Dry Bones more as a species than as an individual character.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

For this one, I can actually say I've always seen Dry Bones and Boo as a de facto duo in games where they're both playable, and think they should be treated as an official pair the way Peach and Daisy or Wario and Waluigi are.

My unpopular opinion about this character

...Got to be real with you here, I don't think there's that many unpopular opinions one can have about Dry Bones of all characters.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

If we ever get an all-new classic style Paper Mario game (fingers crossed that the Thousand-Year Door remake's success leads to one), I hope we get a Dry Bones as one of the partner characters.

[brandwhorestarscream]

Armada x tfp

The encounter between them and the tfp autobots is… interesting, as starscream's first reaction is to point at arcee and say "who is that woman?!"

After all, tfp arcee is very different from its counterparts. This does not prevent the widespread shock.

( for some unknown reason, probably misogynistic writing, arcee doesn't seem to like this color, find out by looking at the posts that talk about the differences between the prime and earthspark series )

Oh god do not get me started on old transformers misogyny. Do not. I will never shut up. That's a big part of why I personally can't watch G1, because the femmes (and all woman characters in general, honestly) are so badly written. I know it was the 80s and I know that was standard but I don't care. It makes the whole show entirely unappetizing to me, unfortunately. I'm really glad more recent iterations have given Arcee, Elira, Windblade, and everyone else concrete personalities that aren't a bad damsel stereotype, while also not villainizing or infantilizing the color pink. I wear pink literally every day, it's always been a huge pet peeve of mine when "pink = woman = weak" appears anywhere in media but especially transformers

Rant over. Sorry. I told you I wouldn't shut up

That aside 👀 Starscream being very surprised about Arcee is kinda funny. I don't remember much of Armada but I'm giggling about it now, so ty for that 💖 what happens next? OP is probably at least semi recognizable (big beefy truck with a red and blue color scheme), so 👀👀 what's his reaction to being approached by the enemy leader from this dimension?

[transingthoseformers]

Level of difficulty for 'So you Autobots adopted a kid' scenarios in continuities (spoiler, none will be easy)

G1: Moderate, the Autobots are so lucky they got Sparkplug around to assist. Ideally would work out better before the movie as the goofier tone will bring more heartfelt bonding and if the kid ever gets kidnapped they'll be saved by the end of the episode.

Prime: Difficult, not because of the Deceptions but because Team Prime's direct connection to the US Government would not be so approving of them being actual Guardians for a minor because that ain't legal!!! Maybe if Ultra Magnus is around he and Optimus can work together on the legalities here.

Animated: Not Ideal But Doable, having another kid around would be good for Sari to not only have a sibling but also to learn to be responsible and Dr. Sumdac can cover all the expenses as he would warm up to this easily. Plus, it's a good deterrent to keeping Sentinel away if it's especially young. Just saying 'diapers' will have him run away from the base.

Bayverse: THE MOST DIFFICULT ITERATION TO TRY THIS IN you're better off adopting those sparklings in Africa instead than a human baby in this series of movies in which the director has a hard on for the Military. Plus, poor Optimus has enough stress, he doesn't need a fragile fledgling human added to his responsibilities!

Earthspark: The closest you'll get to an easy level of difficulty, say thank you to Dorothy and Alex. Also the most wholesome as one can easily imagine this as a 'MegOpLita become parents' situation.

Exactly!!!!!

Exactly

I've definitely considered it for bayverse before—

[cloud-navi]

So I finally finished Transformers EarthSpark, lowkey love it. (Plot and human Malto’s)

⚠️ SPOILERS ⚠️

Overall Plot

- I think they did pretty good with the plot overall, I think the biggest plot hole is what happened to Ravage when Soundwave let them out in the cell block. I think it would have been interesting and explained better if they kept what they had planned from the story board instead of cutting it.

I like that they moved the antagonist from the Decepticons themselves to GHOST but I still feel like that left loose ends after the show. Like what happened to the Decepticons vs Autobots war or how did they’re treatment change after defeating Mandriod.

From what I know theres not much information about why the war in this iteration really started except that its tied to G1 through comics and ‘history’. Regardless of how it started I feel like Transformers as a whole is kind if an allegory for real life in many ways, example: Decepticon movement and revolution was (at least that I know in prime) was because the Council forced them as slaves and entertainment which makes their struggle a fictional parallel to events like the Civil Rights movement and revolutionary wars (happened/happening/might happen sometime in many countries).

I just find the idea that I’m supposed to root for the Autobots that want to protect humans after bringing their war to our planet over the Decepticons and their very understandable movement regardless of what their leader is doing at the moment is just kind of weird. Megatron, while is their leader has on multiple occasions changed what the movement has been kinda been about like in TFP he shifted focus from equal rights and changing out of a caste system to wanting to Offline Optimus Prime.

A leader can start a movement but its the people that drive it, if the leader is tainted and no one can/chooses to stand up for the actual cause then the cause is doomed. At the same time the people may not see the change in corse or understand the difference how it isn’t what they were fighting for if the leader words it in ways that makes it sound like the opponent is standing in the way of their success.

In TFP Megatron really wants to offline Optimus Prime, besides the fact that most of the crew on the nemesis is currently drones, the crew that the drones were clones of actively chose to follow him regardless. The crew, regardless if any spoke out, believed that Optimus Prime would be an obstacle in their way of creating a ‘better’ world. So at the end its mostly just manipulation from Megatron to get what he wants and the crew can’t really tell or are not strong enough to do anything about it.

ANYWAY, Characters,

Malto Family (human)

- Robby

I like Robbie, I think he has good character, especially growth. That being said I hate how he acted in the first episode. As a kid that was moved around a lot I understand its hard when you move away from some where that you grew up and know a lot of people to a new place, except the way he handled it was completely just no. He was 13 and came from a big city, understandable that he would miss home and the country would be a big change. But the selfishness in the idea that the only reason he stopped trying to run away from Witwicky wasn’t for his sister, but for giant robots. Just the way he treated Mo in the first episode is un called for and he should have had a sit down talk with their parents about how he felt and what comprises could be made for him to like it out there too. Like idk plan days to go hangout with friends in the city? Clearly you live close enough to bike there if you thought your friends parents wouldn’t send you back home if you actually managed to abandon Mo and get to the city.

- Mo

I love Mo and as a younger sibling completely understands how she sees things throughout the show. Episode one is like a double ended blade, Robby has no obligation to put other peoples feelings above his own about any situation <within reason of topic> however if you’re that close to your younger sibling its not only rude but concerning to push your family away over a move. Yes its a big move but Robby chose not to lean on family. Also the fact that he was so willing to run away and abandon his sister and yell at her for following him is disgusting. I’m sorry, yes a big move sucks, not being with all your friends sucks, but its not like he was too far to visit them and the way he treated Mo was unacceptable. Mo is his younger sister and is not the reason for the move, as an older sibling it shouldn’t have taken a cybersleeve for Robby to understand that Mo was affected by the move too. As a younger sibling, we see it all, we hear it all, we internalize everything. Robby leaving would have left Mo with the mentality that she was easy to leave behind because her own brother valued city life and his friends more then her being there. Theres no way in reality that she would have forgive him so easily for trying to leave after the Terrans were born. The only reason Robby didn’t keep running away was because something ‘interesting’ happened (the Terrans), the idea that two new friends/family members being the largest reason for him deciding to stay wouldn’t impact her mental is crazy.

- Dorothy and Alex

Cute couple, love their love and support for each other. Alex is a silly guy but clearly is a great sad just like Dot is a great mom.

The whole issue of moving to Witwicky was blamed on Dot which isn’t completely wrong but its not like they moved out of state or too far away for the kids to visit the city every so often. Yes its important to want your kids to want/like the move but sometimes its better that you do or theres outside factors that play in it and you have to move regardless. Dorothy didn’t have to have them move but she (very reasonably) wanted a change of pace and scene, they stayed within reasonable range of the city (clearly) so its not a giant problem especially if half the 2/3 other family members think its fair to let her finally have something she’s wanted for a while, a change of scene. Dorothy does so much for her kids and the lack of empathy from Robby to think he can’t possibly live without texting or seeing his friends 24/7 is crazy. Oh you have friends? Okay cool, maybe work on your communication skills with mom and find a schedule that lets you sit in the dining room and talk to your friends and make plans to visit every so often. Also clearly thats a fucking lie because instead of doing his family tradition with dad he stayed home and entered a game tournament IN HIS ROOM, so OBVIOUSLY HE HAS WIFI or connection to the internet and is able to play/connect with friends.

I feel very strongly on how Robby acted in the first episode and can’t see anyway for Mo to not be affected.

[dragqueenstarscream]

as a starscream fan, what are ur thoughts on megatron? i know their relationship is. complicated so whatever ur opinions may be id love to hear

long ramble incoming. this isn't directed at you anon; i just have a lot of thoughts about megatron that i've kept bottled up for a while

my view on megatron is... complicated.

on the one hand, he's an incredibly iconic villain, and you could argue that without megatron, transformers as a property wouldn't be much of a thing. every iconic hero needs a villain. every optimus needs his megatron.

and he's a great villain! he's iconic for a reason. frank welker is my favorite voice for him, though i will say, my favorite megatron is tfa megs for how clever he is. it's refreshing to see when a lot of megatrons will brute force and anger their way through things.

but this is where my own personal biases color how i see him, because, i'm gonna be honest... for the most part, i really don't like him.

it's not because he's a poorly written character. i've spoken about this before, but i'm an abuse survivor who's still going through it, and megatron reminds me WAY too much of my abuser for me to really like him rather than just to appreciate him as a character. it's the big reason why starscream is my favorite. i see my tendencies in him, and i see megatron as my abuser, especially tfp and armada.

i think this is the big reason why i despise megastar as a ship. if you or anyone else likes it, that's fine! more power to you. i'm not gonna knock you as a person for it. but it makes me feel really gross whenever people draw/write it as "uwu toxic yaoi" or make them seem really in love with each other. to me, all i see is someone trapped in a cycle he can't escape from.

and i think my bias is why i pretty much refuse to read mtmte/lost light, because from what i know about it, megatron is given a chance at redemption. and... i just can't. i understand that a lot of people love these comics, and hey, they're probably really good! but i can't read something where i can so easily imagine this happening with my own abuser, and i put myself in starscream's shoes, wondering if anyone will actually take what i went through seriously.

it's one of the big reasons why the first season of earthspark was so good for me. finally, at last, starscream's abuse was taken seriously! he had someone who was willing to listen! even when people like optimus and dot were willing to get along with megatron, starscream was still going through emotional hell, and no one was willing to listen to him because, hey, megatron's good now! and starscream was a backstabbing traitor, who would listen to a guy like him? and when someone did, he started to change for the better.

but then the writing team got scrapped and his arc was flushed down the toilet. boo hiss.

either way, i can't read mtmte/lost light because i hate the idea of an abuser getting a second chance like that. i know that this is for character development/exploration, and i won't knock anyone who likes those comics. i just won't read them myself.

tl;dr, i recognize that megatron is an iconic character and i like some iterations of him, but for the most part, megatron reminds me of my abuser, which makes me really dislike him.

[pluralsword]

Xenogender and Ao3 and Art

Hi xenogender and xenoaesthetic folks, entities, and realms and all and none,

it has occurred to us that we um, have written the majority of works on Archive of Our Own that have the xenogender tag. And we’re asking ourselves, we can’t be the only [(alien) robot] persons that plays around with this stuff right? (we’re plural btw)

When we talk to trans folks whether plural or nonhuman or no a bunch of folks relate to our terminologies we’ve come up with and sometimes giving people a look at the worldbuilding doc we’re not quite ready to post yet helps especially if they aren’t going to read fics generally, but also we know that our own experience with aesthetics that our oldest headmate struggled with for more than two decades to put words to and we helped her grasp she pronouns for, for herself in non-human history and assemblage terms, is just one small part of the vast xeno aesthetic spectrum. We’re just one system, and we want to know... what stories have you written, or are writing or making? We thought it might be cool if people reblogged around with their own stuff so their could be a post where all our stuff is together. More than anything- we feel a bit lonely sometimes, because being both on a xeno aesthetic spectrum and by and large a bunch of robots- we are beloved by our community and friends and loved ones, for which we are very thankful, and know a folks who can relate, but we wanna know what people are up to, or just thoughts.

So for those unfamiliar with us, our fanfic (we will eventually do original fiction) is about (Trans)formers and navigates hopepunk stuff regarding autonomy and aesthetic iteration with sparring, family, war, subaltern and community, love, diplomacy, gestalt consciousness, and so forth, drawing in part on the beautiful lore from seven different gender expansive canonical transforming robots in particular before Transformers Earthspark hit and introduced Nightshade (aside from how their whole choosing alt mode thing very much feels like choosing aesthetic expression and in Twitch’s case came before her pronouns were used but anyway) but specifically Arcee(s), Anode, and Lug. Our pg-13 or g-rated works thus far are mostly in the Autosignet Cycle aside from a few shipping fics. The Autosignet Cycle, mostly set in an original continuity, is probably going to continue for years with more fics to come, we started planning out very early versions of this in 2020 but tfwiki’s discord is what jumpstarted our first fic for the series, Day of Multiflame:

1. Day of Multiflame (complete)

A day of mirth, of memory, of rejoicing, of flames dancing together. On this ancient Camien holiday, some plucky heroes young and old across assemblage including two organics come together to celebrate, and to face the struggles ahead, of transformer majority worlds approaching outright conflict over rejoining the largest treaty organization of the galaxy… All the while ancient conflicts and motives beyond their current understanding overshadow everything, rolled up in the origins of these transforming robots. Between intergenerational family, swords, gifts, and I love yous and more, the steadying of each other is enough, to have a little bit of joy and wisdom on this Day of Multiflame. 

2. Wheels of Mutuality and Symbiosis (complete)

Glyph tries to lucid dream to solve the puzzle of her sleep issues, not all is as it seems- but her love of Tap-Out and what informs her aesthetic experience runs strong, helping her through to some long awaited elucidations that are big if true.

This has some big zoomdare energy but I think that is what I often will end up writing.

3. Hold on to Your Dancing (complete)

In honor of xenogender visibility day (May 15th)- I resolved to write two poems, one about my own experience remains unfinished, but one in honor of robot aesthetics via fanfiction was something I was able to finish.

Here you'll find some hints about my plot - some of what this story is on about - with a visiting of the past: the beginning of the last territorial campaign of the Anti-Functionist War, from two war veterans you'll meet later.

4. Honey I’m Cheering For You But No (complete)

A blast to the past before the Anti-Functionist War- archivist Prowl is trying to sort out his life, hasn't been so easy for him after an awful job that has left him very sensitive to the disquiet of society as the very subtly not so Golden Age reaches an end. His old friends Arcee and Aileron who unintentionally helped spark his journey are visiting- and he is beside himself. What does it all mean to him, to them, to carry on as they do, to transform?

In short, we the author finally give some answers with words to the slice of life actions you saw play out in Day of Multiflame- answers very much in context with Sparkflung Trust.

5. Rekindling Flight (incomplete, 7/13 chapters)

At long last, The vast majority of transformers, residing in the Planetwell Polity Alliance, are about to rejoin the largest galactic alliance, which the PPA originally helped create and was expelled from after the Unicron invasion and the subsequent thousands year long war with Functionist usurpers. But, all is not well- threats loom from all corners upon the Autobot revolution: Decepticons, Unicronists, Functionists, and deep existential problems with past, present, and future will try people from all walks of life fighting for intergenerational hope and love.

Nonetheless, something new and wonderful yet old and familiar is afoot- efforts by trillions and their many subalterns are not vain: the power and practice of iterative story.

6. Addendum (incomplete, estimated 10/30 chapters)

7 million years ago, the latest blow to gender on Cybertron is dealt by the rising Functionist tide, stirring an Arcee struggling with loneliness and aesthetic dysphoria into enraged action to help bots in the Hadean System across the aesthetic spectrum save their transformative glory and stories… in the process, she finds aid from the scientist Jhiaxus, who also offers her a new reformatting surgery to let her spark do shaping with CNA editing help. Thus begins a new chapter in her life as a founding member of the expansion of what would later be called the Anti-Vocation League alongside her beloved partner and fellow old person Codexa, while grappling with her own growing pile of pains and traumas. As the millennia carry on and she heads to space, she eventually meets Anode and Lug in the stars, and some dear moments near the present all the way through to events after Transformers: Optimus Prime #25: Post… where she helps some gender expansive bots, and with help from Aileron and her pals she finally gets some answers and closure to her own self, and has a reckoning with forces pitted against her for millions of years. The years after are not what she expected during most of her life prior, and she is glad for them…

This is a fanfic revolving around IDW1, that seeks to add to her already detailed and beautiful arc of a trans woman errant warrior sage coming to terms with herself and deciding to trust people and herself. We love her transformations very dearly, and wanted to attempt to reconcile her appearance in Spotlight: Arcee with her later writing, drawing on wisdom gathered through study and experience, and imagination to connect the dots. As you can tell just from the mention of Codexa in the tags above, this revisiting of IDW1 Arcee’s tale is in part made possible by later writing of gal transformers who we adore, and we will note we draw from ones from all across the decades of fiction of Transformers. What can we say, we love them, and know so much more about ourselves than we ever would have because of them.

For this post, we will note: though it is an IDW1 fic with m-spec and f-spec bots, we build quite a bit of gender variety and relation into it that makes it readily apparent that Cybertron of old is even more different from human histories of such in that regard, we will spoil a little and say that we intend to show how of then aesthetics is remembered and remade into something new and old in the years after the end of the official story...

7. Sparkflung Trust (complete)

Written for a Transformers "fanthology" and also is a tie-in to the Autosignet Cycle original continuity we have been writing - along with a bit of IDW1, Cyberverse, and Alternity. A story about transformation in many senses (surprise), including a quest for the Transformation Matrix … inside of one of the most powerful creatures transformers have ever encountered. What will the errant people on the journey realize, and will it be enough to put into practice to succeed?

If you want to see the other standalone fics we’ve done, including ones about beloved Acid Storm and Overlord, go take a look at our Ao3 page! :3

[cutekittenlady]

@peak-dumbass (doing full reblog because you've fed me so well XD)

I love Jetfire to death and would very much prefer to see him show up in Earthspark alive, but it can't be denied that Jetfire as a casuality in the war can cause just as much drama as Jetfire alive can. Especially when it comes to kind of regrets Megatron has and his abusive history with Starscream.

I mean Jetfires probably one of the more memorable defectors from the Decepticons over the years especially given his past friendship with Starscream, and depending on what source material and background the writers could come up with in this iteration there's a lot of ground for him to be one of the emotional centers of a lot of the grudges between the remaining Autobots and decepticons.

I woke up today and decided to choose violence which is why I am going to ask everyone eagerly waiting for Earthspark season 2 not which transformers are going to show up, but rather which ones you think are canonically dead in this canon.

I mean it was made clear that a lot of autobots and decepticons straight up died during the war sooooo which ones do you guys think didn't make it out?