#tf worldbuilding?

[transingthoseformers]

Speaking of energon, I wonder how often cybertronians need to fuel. It probably depends on how big their rations are at the time, how purified the fuel is, frame specificities such as size, how active they are, and continuity differences. Because I feel like it changes?

In mtmte, it seems like they need to fuel wayyyy more than in the other continuities, but this might be a matter of having more energon but in general more dilute energon or energon with more impurities (some of which being desired, such as in energon goodies or drinks that get them overcharged. And whatever the fuck is in nightmare fuel). And when these guys get hurt they bleed like absolute hell so that probably factors into it.

In TFA, we pretty much never if at all see them consume energon, but we do see them drinking types of oil so their systems might be adapted to deal with impurities, but I feel like they need to consume at least some energon? Because I know the energon shortages are a whole plot point thing, and they certainly bleed energon. But iicr from the initial Meltdown episode their energon is more goopy than you'd anticipate.

Do we see them consume anything in Bayverse? Ik they needed more energon specifically for the hatchlings, and iicr Megatron fed them... Something in DSOTM, so it might be requirements that change with age? Either energon is green in bayverse or they can bleed a wide variety of substances, and even then we don't see a lot of said substances in the gruesome fight scenes.

In g1 they seem to be less fuel efficient, but again energon is way easier to make and purify so y'know a game of checks and balances.

In Aligned I feel like they're sort of the middle ground when it comes to fuel efficiency, but methinks energon is a little more concentrate in it (but it seems to vary? Dark energon seems to be very dery powerful in general but also pretty toxic, Tox-En is just. Deadly as all hell and motherfucking useless as a fuel. Red energon seems to be harder to extract from the ore but when you do a little goes a long way. A major problem with the Synthe-en was how quickly it burned through their systems.). Chompazoids being an outlier as Underbite can fuel on metal, I feel like he can likely fuel on metal alone if need be, and the rest of the Pack gives him dirty looks for this.

In beast wars it seems like the Maximals and Predacons actually can fuel pretty well on the organic life (... And each other...) and significant amounts of actual energon can fuck them up pretty good (possibly a trait the autobots and decepticons before them didn't have that evolved in response to energon crises?)

In Earthspark yet again we see shortages and them needing quite an amount to fuel on (excluding the Terrans, they seem to be fueled by water????), especially considering the sizes of some of the cubes we see. We also see them bleed quite a fair amount in the later episodes of the second episode drop (I will never forget the absolute horror when Bumblebee and the Malto kiddos found Brawl's offlined corpse)

[absentlyabbie]

reading this book and it describes this fantasy tiered city built on the side of a mountain and it has one "impossibly long" stairway for traversing from one tier to another

and all i can think is "wow that is awful urban design."

without even getting into the inherent ableism (but hey! fantasy city with fantasy races which are naturally superior and therefore pretty much never experience disability, of course, because that's what superiority means) of the apparently sole system of traveling between levels of this city being stairs and only stairs, it's a freaking deathtrap.

one impossibly long unbroken stairway across the breadth of a tiered city built into the side of a mountain? no landings are described, even. without some kinda natural break, one moment of clumsiness or an unfriendly shove and someone is having a long, long tumble to a broken neck (and broken everything else.)

[sonicasura]

Like I mentioned in another post, I am currently working on a draft for a Transformers idea. It was originally a ramble talked about in a Discord server when it involved the media as a whole and sorta spitball from there. (Convo was originally about how there needed to be more shows with a PG-13 or Mature rating, exploration of relationships between both species i.e platonic/familial/romantic, and more worldbuilding such as cultural differences to ideas on different topics like religion.)

I haven't exactly come up with a good draft as of yet. So for now, enjoy these screenshots about it. I marked out the other people's names and icons in this discussion for privacy reasons. Please excuse the awful photoshop but there 24 screenshots in total while my Tumblr has a 10 photo limit.

If you can't read the text then check out the ALT Text on the pictures.

@witchofthesouls @lets-try-some-writing @justanotherperson1 @novafire-is-thinking

[thenamesblurrito]

Ngl, I don't like how the new movie is changing the backstory. I wanted miner Megatron, I wanted him writing his manifesto, becoming a gladiator, starting a revolution. No atlmodes takes out the whole funtionist society, are at least Megatron's big chunk in it. Also, Bee being the same age as them is a very weird take. I've always seen Bee as being 20 and Megs and OP being in their 50s.

Changing the backstory?? My dude there IS no one backstory in transformers. Megatron hasn’t always been a miner/gladiator/revolutionary leader against functionism. This is a brand new continuity, not IDW or Aligned. For gods sake have we forgotten the LITERAL EVIL BRAINWORMS he had in G1???

I super love new and weird takes on old stuff, in case you’ve forgotten the premise of this blog. I have some qualms maybe but overall I’m excited for this. Also you seem really quick to dismiss the lore and worldbuilding potential of not everyone having tcogs. Limiting tcog use so that “lowly worker bots” don’t have any, and apparently many don’t even have NAMES, sounds like it could absolutely be a dystopic regime, just with a different manner of oppression than functionism.

Basically: tf fans stop expecting new continuities to be exactly like old canons challenge (failed)

[riderkaitlyn5]

Okay, random worldbuilding/hc thing I have about Cybertronians reproducing since there are so many fanfics about mechs creating a sparkling even though in canon, they just cabbage patch it. Anyway, here we go

So there are two ways Cybertronians can reproduce: taking a spark from a hotspot or two mechs merging their sparks to create a sparkling, which is called kindling. Most Cybertronians prefer getting a sparkling from a hotspot because it's easier. Kindling isn't common because the toll the newspark takes on their carrier is seen as unnecessary and ultimately not worth it. Kindling is also uncommon because of how difficult it is to spark a newspark. Cybertronians aren't “fertile” like humans are; there's less than a 2% chance that a spark will be kindled. It’s like playing a game of chance with almost all the odds stacked against you

Another reason why kindling isn't considered an option is because the sparkling will take after its creators. Since the kindled sparkling will use their creator's coding as the structure for their personality and filling in their own coding over time, as opposed to a hotspot sparkling building their coding from scratch

(It's for that reason, kindled sparks are usually more developed, and their personality is more defined than hotspot sparks)

The kindled sparks taking after their creators in terms of personality isn't the issue—it's actually one of the biggest reasons that mechs will choose to kindle instead of taking in a hotspot spark. It's their frame that poses a problem. Similar to humans, cybertronian genetics when kindling gets a little... screwy. It's not an issue if the creators are the same frame types because then, the sparkling will share their creator's frame. But if say, a racer and an armored truck kindled… well, results may vary

Most of the time, the sparkling will take after one creator's frame type and their coloring, or their other creators coloring, or a combination of both. This is the best outcome and is typically acceptable. Other times, the sparking will have a combination of their creator's frames. Using the racer and armored truck example, the sparkling can be built like their racer creator but might have the same thicker plating from their other creator. Because of the racer “genes” the sparkling has, their plating won't be as thick as their creators. Which leaves them too slow for racer jobs and too light for armored trucks

The Senate did not like that at all since it went against the Functionalist society they created. To counter this “problem”, the Senate made kindling sparks illegal, their reasons being:

It was too dangerous on the carrier's frame and spark, which, to a small degree, it was but was blown extremely out of proportion and greatly exaggerated. Cybertronian pregnancy is pretty similar to humans in terms of danger. Yeah, it's there, but it's not a giant threat like the Senate claimed it was

The sparklings will come out “deformed” and won't be able to contribute to Cybertron because of their so-called deformities (they would more often than not be outcasted and left to suffer)

The senate put so much stigma on kindling that it was considered frowned upon and extremely taboo to kindle a sparkling, on top of it being a crime you can be imprisoned for (though if the kindling was an accident and the sparkling was terminated, there were no consequences)

During the war, the option of kindling to save their rapidly dwindling race was considered but since it was so unreliable and because of the senate, there was little no information about the process and medical procedures if something went wrong, it was quickly dismissed

I'd like to imagine when the war ended, kindling was a topic bots were exploring and soon enough, medics and scientists alike began to shine the truth on the lies the Senate spread and began educating the public on what kindling is and how it works. Slowly, mechs took an interest to kindling, and soon enough, there was research dedicated to coming up with actual medical procedures for kindling and accurate information on the process for anyone to read. Later down the line, there were even ways to increase the chances of kindling

Uh yeah. That's pretty much it. Do with that what you will

[razzberrypoprocks]

Methinks that transformers shouldn't speak perfect English immediately after waking up on Earth in g1..yknow for funsies

Ramblings under the cut

Okay so..learning a language is hard right, at least it seems to be for most people. And thats just learning a language that you would supposedly have some sort of idea of.

But the autobots and decepticons sure as hell dont. Unless at least one earth language is present elsewhere in the galaxy with them being our first alien contact, so probably not.

(Sure, they could just download every language ever directly to their brains, but wheres the fun in that)

Not only that, but they landed on earth before humans even existed, like human society (and human language) was built around them. Let them try the universal greeting and be dumbfounded that we still have no idea what they're saying. Let them learn little by little, be it through their peers or human media, let a handful of bots watch a few too many UK bakeoffs and get stuck with a british accent for a few weeks. Let them be fascinated by all the different ways to say 'I love you.'

Let Spike and the gang try and learn cybertronian too! Learning Chirolinguistics aswell!!

Yeah it might be a bit complex to put into media (Subtitles'd probably help a bit) but itd be a nice change yknow

Anyways just jotted the idea into my notes last week and thought id put into words

(I might try and implement this into my G1 au if I get any deeper down the rabbithole)

Feel free to add on to any points

[nighterrandt]

still as of yet unnamed spaceship pilot and space dragon queen ocs

queen met pilot when they were both children, though the queen didn't yet know how to take on a humanoid form. they became friends of a sort, until the queen had to take her leave. a few years later the queen snuck into the pilot's high school and befriended her again, the pilot feeling a strange sense of familiarity but being unable to place why.

their relationship deepened considerably, until the queen revealed she wasn't human and that she wanted the pilot to be her partner (in both the romantic and political senses)- at the same time giving the pilot a 'gift' in the form of a changed appearance and certain abilities unique to the queen's species. the pilot freaked out a little, and rebuffed the queen. the queen then took her leave from the pilot's life.

the pilot came to regret this over the rest of her school career, and decided to become a pilot with the [insert intergalactic space force name here]. she studied hard, honed her piloting skills, and a few years later with experience under her belt she met the queen again...

[fascinationex]

In the context of the cybertronian famine, it's interesting to think about the prospect of alien robots with dietary deficiencies—they, too, need certain minerals, and they're not well off if they don't get them! Good quality energon contains most of what they need, phew.

I think it would be fun if one of the kids had to take iron pills and the tfp autobots freaked out about it, though. Anaemia can be really bad! But if you have it because of a dietary deficiency, it is probably faster to fix for a human than it is for a really big robot made out of metal who starts seeing symptoms like... weak armour and bad fuel uptake. That sounds like it could be dire for the structural integrity of an autobot!

Anaemia being more common in women, and all other things being equal, it would probably be Miko. So, like, Bulkhead just takes it in stride at first! What does he know about this shit? The girl needs her pills, the girl takes her pills. Her armour isn't crumpling or anything? What would that even look like?

But he does begin to freak out when he mentions it in passing and Ratchet is like: SHE HAS WHAT? Ratchet... canonically knows little about human disorders and treatments, but a lot about what happens when Autobots don't have enough metals. :( Thus begins a conspiracy to not discuss this dire hush hush illness with the kids. (Miko gets free ice cream though. And she loves free stuff!)

Just like. Miko literally mainlining slash monkey 3 feet away while the Autobots discuss her funeral arrangements in hushed voices lmao

[visions--of--collisions]

For @anjimimimoo who requested 5 (E):

Nothing E-rated going on in this snippet, but cut for length! Please enjoy this ABO universe silliness feat. Beta!Hobie and Only Kind Of Omega!Miles, and a very concerned Pavitr and Gwen.

EXCERPT: let me ease your mind (Spiderverse, Hobie/Miles, Rated E, Post-Canon, ABO Dynamics)

‘Alright, then. What was the original plan, hole up in G’s dimension for a bit?’

‘Mm-hm.’ Miles took a shuddering breath; on his other side, Gwen had reached out to touch his arm gently. He lifted his head again and gave them a tight-lipped smile. ‘I was there - last time it happened. I didn’t know what was going on, but Miles did, only it kind of freaked him out, because it didn’t seem normal. After, he said he assumed it just worked different in my universe, so, I mean …’ Miles cleared his throat. ‘If he wasn’t confused already, he was when I had to ask what worked different.’

Hobie hummed, amused. ‘Makes sense. I’m guessin’ he was a bit preoccupied on his last visit to notice ‘1610 ain’t got … what was it Miguel was callin’ it, again?’

‘Um.’ Gwen glanced down at her newer, HQ-issued watch like she did sometimes, like she wasn’t sure how it had gotten there, sitting on the wrist opposite her bootlegged version. ‘Uhh. It’s … Alternate Dynamics, is what he called it.’

Hobie scoffed. ‘Alternate for who?’

Miles made a face. ‘For me, maybe,’ he allowed, grudgingly. ‘All I know for sure is if I hadn’t got bit by a spider from ‘42, I wouldn’t be dealing with this shit right now.’

‘Hmm. Reckon you wouldn’t, nah,’ Hobie conceded. He gave Miles a searching look. ‘But that can’t … You got bit years ago, man, so how come - when was it that it happened in ‘42; last year?’

‘Yeah, but … that was the first time it got, uh, real bad.’ Miles fidgeted with his fingers. ‘’Cause it happened every year after I got bit, around the same time, I don't know, I just figured it was a side effect of that, or maybe - maybe from the Collider? It wasn’t even until the year you guys showed up that I knew for sure it was happening - kept happening.’

Hobie rubbed at his chin. ‘Let me guess, ‘cause that was a bad year, too?’

‘Pretty much. And Aunt May had just moved so I - I didn’t, really …’ He looked even more uncomfortable, somehow, for a second.

‘ … There wasn’t anyone else around who you could’ve asked about it?’ Pavitr offered.

Miles nodded, carefully not looking directly at anyone. Gwen shifted and lowered her hand.

‘But … But when you say bad, here,’ she ventured, bravely. ‘Does that mean - did it hurt?’

Miles floundered, a little. ‘Well - yeah,’ he managed. ‘More than before.’

Hobie nodded, examining his untied shoes. ‘D’you bleed much?’

Miles stilled under Pavitr’s hand. ‘Like … two days,’ he mumbled. He sounded embarrassed, of all things.

Pavitr was still trying to close his open mouth when Gwen knelt abruptly, like it wasn’t entirely a conscious decision on her part. ‘Whuh-’ she stuttered. ‘W-what do you mean, you were bleeding?’

Miles cringed; Hobie waved her off. ‘Well, what’d you expect’s gonna happen, when bro’s body’s literally rearrangin’ itself? Growin’ whole new organs and shit.’

Pavitr and Gwen were still staring at each other in blind horror when Hobie inhaled and rocked back on his heels. ‘Alright, do me a massive favour, will you? Open up the front of your Suit.’

Miles’ eyebrows arched so high they almost touched his hairline. ‘Wha- huh?’

‘’Round your Gregory*,’ Hobie directed - which apparently meant around his neck, if the illustrative gesture was any indication. ‘I don’t … I dunno how much G told you, but I reckon I can help you fill in a couple blanks. If I told you I was a Beta, like, would you know what I was on about or would you need me to clarify?’

‘I don’t - think so? Uhh,’ Miles groped weakly for his zipper when Hobie waved him on. Jerkily, Pavitr removed his hand. ‘Betas are the folks that fall in the center of the spectrum, right? If you look at it like, say, Omegas are on one end and Alphas are on the opposite one.’

‘You mean like on a scale?’ Hobie pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘Alright, okay! S’not a bad way to look at it. Right, so, if you can picture that, you got yours truly sitting somewhere in the middle of two extremes, meanin’ I share traits in common with both, but like …’ He trailed off as he pulled his guitar strap over his head, searching for words. ‘In a more balanced way, innit? Less specialised.’

Gwen stared. ‘This is sounding a little like some gender binary stuff,’ she observed.

‘Pssh!’ Hobie shot her a dark look as he got his knees under him to better lean into Miles’ space. ‘I don’t know no bloody binary. ’

‘Wait, so -’ Miles groped at the loosened collar of his Suit; Pavitr thought he might be sweating harder despite the improved ventilation. ‘When you say “less specialised,” you mean, uh … ?’

‘What, you mean like - for me personally?’ Miles nodded, and Hobie tilted his head at him, considering. ‘I mean that I do alright, I suppose. I’ve got some vestigial stuff, physically … a bit of the vocal complement. Like - here, yeah, gimme your hand.’ He gestured for Miles’ free hand, and when he let him have it, Hobie splayed Miles’ gloved palm against his own chest and held it there. Miles looked confused for a moment, his gaze flitting between Hobie’s features and their hands before his eyes widened, suddenly. A minute later, Pavitr became aware of a low rumbling - not quite like a hum, but more …

Hobie laughed, sleepily, and it stopped. ‘S’a bit shit, really,’ he drawled, smiling at Miles’ thwarted expression; Pavitr hadn’t noticed him moving, but both of his hands were on Hobie’s chest now, trying to chase the vibrations. ‘I can growl like that, too, but it don’t exactly come natural, either one.’ Hobie hummed, thoughtfully. ‘An’ well, besides that, I reckon my nose ain’t as sharp as your average Hold ‘n’ Beg Ya’s* -’ He gave Miles a significant look. ‘- But it should be sharp enough to work out where you’re at, if you let me try. Plus, me bein’ a Seeya Later* - added bonus of it not bein’ wired directly to my cock!’

Miles pulled his hands away; the ‘Wow,’ that burst out of him made Hobie crow with laughter. Pavitr screened his eyes  and pointedly refrained from intervening when Gwen started swinging. Hobie fended her off with his guitar, still wheezing. ‘Nah, I’m serious, though - ow!’ he insisted, shoving the other Spider away with his foot only to get his ankle twisted in retaliation. Hobie grunted and rolled out of her grip, ducking out of arm's reach where he popped up again in the space between Miles and Pavitr. He crouched and got an arm around Miles’ waist, pointing his guitar at Gwen with the other. ‘D’you mind? I’m tryin’ to help your boy, here!’

‘Helping him how, by being a pain in the ass?’

‘Did you miss the part where I said I ain’t no knothead? Tsk!’ He turned back to Miles, leaning back on his heels. ‘G told you about scent glands and shit, right?’

‘I guess … ? Kinda.’ Miles scrubbed at his face, like thinking was taking him some effort. ‘Like pheromones and bonding and stuff.’

‘Sure,’ Hobie agreed, eyeing him carefully. ‘Obviously, there’s more to it than that. Like - look.’ He reached around Miles’ legs to set his guitar down, grunting in thanks when he caught the fretboard and steadied it against his thigh. ‘Cheers. Alright, see, the glands you’ve got around here, yeah?’ Hobie made a gesture that seemed to encompass not just his neck and his collar, but his nape and shoulders, too. ‘Some of ‘em are minor. Most of ‘em are major. It’s the biggest concentration of scent glands on you, above the waist, like. And it’s generally the bit that gets you clocked out in public, unless you’re walking around in the nip.’ He glanced down and flashed his palms with a rueful smile. ‘These’ll catch you out, too, ‘specially if there’s little kids runnin’ ‘round. But if you’re grown it’s that decolletage that’s gonna be in closer range to other people’s noses, you get me?’ 

Miles fiddled with his collar. ‘I guess that makes sense.’

‘I’m not just talkin’ about heats and ruts and shit, obviously, yeah? Like, picture when you were small, and you weren’t feelin’ so hot - what’d you do? Prolly run to your Mum or Dad, ask to be picked up - then they’d get one whiff and know straight off somethin’ weren’t right. And, like, growin’ up, you’d always know your siblings or your friends were presentin’ practically before they did, if you was horsin’ around and that.’ He fisted his hand in Miles’ neckline and shook him gently to illustrate, grinning shamelessly at the answering splutter.

Pavitr held up a finger to get their attention, feeling weirdly awkward about the interruption. ‘I’m - I’m sorry, but, I’m not sure I understood that last part?’

‘How’d you mean, bro?’ Hobie questioned, casually trying to disengage Miles’ fingers from where they were attempting to make a corkscrew of his helix piercing.

Miles spoke up before he could answer: ‘Puberty, Pav. He’s talking about puberty,’ he said, flatly. He twisted awkwardly as Hobie aimed his fingers at his ribs. ‘Ugh. Or, like, coming of age or whatever. Miles told me kids start showing signs of their, uh, Alternate Dynamics or whatever, when they’re about twelve or thirteen. Usually.’

Pavitr blinked. ‘ … Huh.’

Gwen looked genuinely pained. ‘God. Like puberty isn’t rough enough without all of … this?’

[TO BE CONTINUED]

GLOSSARY:

*Gregory (Gregory Peck): Cockney Rhyming Slang term for neck

*Hold 'N' Beg Ya: Earth 138-native Rhyming Slang term for Omega, cribbed from the wonderful like facing the sun with closed eyes, red by 2by4, which partially inspired this fic - in particular, the concept of Miles developing A/B/O traits because they exist in the dimension where his spider came from

*Seeya Later: Earth 138-native Rhyming Slang term for for Beta

[transingthoseformers]

You know the psychological thing called baby schema?

What would be the cybertronian equivalent of that? Whatever it is, it's propably different in bayverse than other continuities because it depends on how their babies look like.

(My take is that transformer babies are big-eyed round colorful blobs, maybe tsum tsum-like or not, and are born tiny. Now that i think about it, TFP scraplets look disturbingly similiar to that)

I had known of it but not under that name!

I like a variety of takes (again for me it depends on what situation/rules I'm working with), and it's always kinda funny to see how it applies to what cybertronians find "cute". I've seen posts about how in certain aus humans ding that "oh, it's like a baby!" button in mecha's brains, but I also find it insanely funny when cybertronians call things cute and humans are completely confused about it. My current favorite is certain devices emitting a similar EM range as sparklings, or just in general inanimate devices mimicking cybertronian EM fields.

[sirveltic]

Territory disputes on Predonia often happen between a group's strongest fighters- often times, those are the leaders

FEROS faces off against Canimus leader TAR while their families watch, to make sure the fight is fair.

[lord-squiggletits]

Salty Ask List: 1, 5, 14, 22 ?

1.What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

Dr/atc/het 100000%... I just don't understand what their chemistry is supposed to be together. It's partially ruined for me by Drift in MTMTE being an absolute mess of a character who got most of his planned plotlines cut or changed, and partially ruined by the fact Drift spends most of MTMTE straight up absent from the story, and then he and Ratchet meet up in Empire of Stone and come back during Dying of the Light and are just...together romantically now? I don't understand how they have any chemistry at all much less romantic lskdjflkds

I know a big one people talk about is "Ratchet saved Drift's life and then told him he believed in him" but... the way their meeting was written didn't come off as particularly romantic to me? Ratchet saved Drift the same way he's saved countless other addicts in the Dead End and then his parting words to Drift were to tell him to go to the Functionists so they could get him a job. Very "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" kind of advice that clearly didn't work since Drift stayed impoverished, his friend got killed by police brutality, he went into the underworld to be a hitman, etc etc. Like yeah in theory it's very romantic for an OTP's first meeting to be one of them saving the other's life and treating the impoverished person kindly for possibly the first time in their life. It's just that that moment in canon doesn't have romantic vibes to me at all, it's just a doctor-patient encounter in which Ratchet is nice to Drift like he's nice to everyone, except it's also kind of condescending/ignorant bc Ratchet basically tells Drift "oh just get a job and get clean and you'll be fine" as if it's that easy to stop being a homeless/jobless drug addict?? If an ER doctor did that shit to me I'd be more likely to see him as an asshole than to admire or like him at all sdklfjsd.

Then Drift was a Decepticon for millions of years, then he joined the Autobots on Earth and like... he and Ratchet sure existed on the same team together dlkfjldsjlkds there were zero interactions of worth b/t them in phase 1, their ship dynamic came entirely from JRO's writing and even then I feel like it's an informed romance more than an organic and believable one.

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

I actually used to like O/Pli/ta when I first came here, but as I stayed longer it became evident that the overwhelming majority of the fan content of it reeks of "we are very sorry for having a heterosexual ship, let us compensate for it by making the woman a Girlboss Xtreme and the man a weak simp so that you can be sure the woman isn't being Oppressed and Stereotyped by being in a heterosexual romantic relationship" which is one of my most detested types of fan content, so now I have the ship tag blocked sldkfjlsdkdskl. Literally it's just the same "the woman is a TOTALLY COMPETENT AND COOL ACTION HERO and her man is a TOTAL SIMP FOR HER" that's interchangeable with most het ships in other fandoms, where there's no actual personality or chemistry for them and instead it's just the same Fandom Approved Heterosexual Relationship Dynamic.

That and a significant amount of content I see for it is just like blatantly ripped off from Me/go/p dslkfjsdfsjl or like, taking the main MOP dynamic and just swapping OP and Elita's places so now Elita is the cool action hero who's rival to Megatron and OP just Exists as an emotional support husband I guess. Or like Elita is made into a daring action hero while Optimus is reduced to a meek little wallflower who's no one of any real importance and just follows in her wake. It reeks of insecurity and unoriginality, as if the fanbase is cripplingly aware that Elita was made to be the Token Girlfriend and instead of just making her a better character and making the romance she's a part of more equal and compelling for both characters, they have to violently overcompensate by having Elita steal OP's role and everything interesting about him. 😂Like I'm begging people to just be normal about hetero ships. You can ship a man and a woman together without having to diminish the man and girlbossify the woman to prove you're a Real Feminist.

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

Continuity soup is boring and for the most parts creates purely fanon plots/ideas/characterizations that have tenuous relationships to actual canon. It's nice that people have the creativity to make their own AUs, but I also want to read about the actual continuity in question and not someone's mishmash of it.

Like UGH when I read a fic tagged IDW1 I want to see cop Orion not archivist or dockworker Orion. When I read a fic tagged IDW1 I want to read about the Senate led by Proteus and the reigns of Nova/Nominus/Sentinel/Zeta, not about the Council from TFP. When I read a fic tagged IDW1 MegOP I want Orion being a simp for Megatron after reading his stuff/meeting him one (1) time sdkflsdkf not yet another iteration of the tired "one day an archivist and a gladiator became great friends! then they broke up."

It's not hate for other continuities, I'm just tired of the fact that continuity soup is so prevalent that even when I'm specifically filtering for content of the one continuity I want to read about, the fics I find keep having random shit from other continuities interjected into it. I think each continuity has really interesting takes on lore that have potential to be wholly unique for each one, so it's really frustrating when the average fic I can find is just a random mishmash of continuity elements, or more often than not just an IDW knockoff taking place in a separate continuity. Like guys, I'm an IDW stan myself, but wouldn't it be cool if we got more fics that explored ideas that only happen in G1, or only happen in Animated, or Aligned, etc?

Doesn't help that when I AM looking specifically for IDW stuff, most of the content I look at (MOP) does continuity soup for the sake of replacing IDW OP with some sort of aligned/g1 lite OP which makes me salty as hell

22. Popular character you hate?

Drift for sure sdklfsdlk. I mean when I first read about him in the comics (the Drift miniseries) I was like, he's fine I guess he's an action hero whatever. But then literally the more of the comics I read the more his personality and story were just incredibly corny, stereotypical, or boring as hell no matter what writer was controlling him. And he got bounced around between writers a lot, and then even the "main author" people know Drift from (JRO) kept changing his plans for what Drift was supposed to be (and cutting plots related to him) so any hints towards a storyline went nowhere. And then Drift spent basically all of MTMTE gone elsewhere on some exile-adventure, and then during LL he just kind of. Is there, existing.

So like, honestly Drift is a victim of getting bounced back and forth and having his writing changed so often he doesn't reach his full potential, which isn't really "his fault" as a character. It just so happens that I also think the bits of his character that exist are either boring or overhyped or in one case (portrayal of his religion/religious worldbuilding in general) outright offensive. He's basically written like some hippie stereotype with vaguely Asian/Japanese flavoring (the extent of which is basically his name + fighting style) and then he barely like... does anything in the plot? I think he's supposed to be like, ~mysterious and shifty~ but then all of the plotlines that involved him being a secret traitor got cut, so Drift basically just became Weirdly Suspicious For No Reason and his genuine personality/motivations felt indistinguishable from what he was faking and what plots got cut from him. Absolute mess of a character that got almost no payoff for any of the things planned for him, and all that's left is some kooky hippie personality of "hee hoo I believe in auras and mystical vibes and magical colors, also I'm dating an atheist who's openly dismissive of most of my religious beliefs (that I do or don't actually believe in depending on what part of the story I'm in) and this somehow doesn't get in the way of our personal/romantic chemistry

But then the fanbase are basically making him some kind of Gary Stue, obsessed with making headcanons like "Deadlock wrote/edited Megatron's speeches for him too!" and "Drift defected from the Decepticons to try and make a point to Megatron!" and generally trying to make him the Decepticons' Specialest Boy Ever and it's just. Ugh I get that he was under-written in canon, but every bit of fanon I've encountered doesn't make him interesting either. They just kind of make Drift the center of the world where he's actually the coolest, most talented and interesting person ever where other characters owe their accomplishments partially to his influence and I'm just. I don't get it, I don't understand the appeal of fanon and I don't even understand the appeal of canon either. I think part of it is for representation reasons (e.g. Asian, lower class, former drug addict) and it's nice that people can pull something meaningful out of the mess that is canon. It's just for me, canon Drift is so mediocre I don't get why anyone would even WANT him as representation sdlkfjsdlkf. I guess fixing what the writers failed to explore the potential of is an understandable motivation though.

[sonicasura]

Transformers: Village

An idea that has been brewing in my head for quite awhile now. When you consider how long the Autobot/Decepticon War, Functionalist system that led to it, or similar detrimental events, there are plenty of Cybertronians who probably hightailed it outta there. Civilians and neutral bots that wanted nothing to do with either circumstances at the time.

What if a good majority ended up on Earth before both factions did? First contact being made between these groups of the respective species than someone Autobot or Decepticon affiliated. Well, here is one such outcome.

A village being formed between both civilizations in secret from the outside. Humans, Cybertronians and a few other species live together under various rules that is fair for all. Everyone sharing their culture, history, architecture, games or stories from time to time.

The next door neighbor invited to this week's barbecue could be a regular civilian, brilliant scientist, philosopher to even ex soldier. A human trading Energon they found to their Combiner companion in exchange for help with farmwork. Or a Minicon teaching a mixed species class.

These being some of the possible interactions between villagers. It is normal for a small community to become so tight knit that everyone is quick to be on the same page with certain information. Most common news can be about Cybertron and world events or the rare interspecies couple announcement.

A hidden cultural hotpot where Cybertronians can live peacefully away from the troubles they left behind. That is until the war or high profile individuals(Animated/Earthspark) are roaming around Earth. Both sides would be treated with sheer distaste to even hatred depending on the residents in question.

A revelation that will hit very hard for the Autobot/Decepticon that accidentally stumbled upon this hidden village. Even moreso if one resident was someone close to the bot in particular. Nothing says the worse reunion than your sibling aiming their cannon at your helm.

A hidden village could open up a lot of avenues upon closer inspection. Home vs Heritage elements between residents and outsiders. A deeper dive into worldbuilding between two or more different species. Plus the fact it's a possibility in almost any Transformers continuity.

I have a few ideas about this but what do you guys think?

@witchofthesouls @lets-try-some-writing @justanotherperson1

[screamn-robo-drawin]

All those big shipbots need a drink too.

Good that there are various fuel providers that have a place big enough for their customers to transform and enjoy a bonus stretch while at it. The crew can still hang out on a balcony/platform if they wish but have to be carefull not to fall over the fence and accidently become an addition to their friends drink.

Fliers are required to register if they want to fly in these zones due to some customers complaining (the flies got in their drink)

[braceletofteeth]

I think for this one I'm gonna skip the usual tumblr tag deep dive and hit AO3 right away lol bye

[magpiecrust]

Cybertronian language hcs

Some of my ideas. I think their communication is a constant mix of vocal, sign, and body language at the same time.

Written language

Old Cybertronian was written in runes that were clawed or carved (handy before the invention of paints and brushes)

Modern and semi-modern Cybertronian can be painted with a brush, similiar to how Asian languages traditionally were (Transformers Prime episode "T.M.I" had Bulkhead paint sigils with a mop as a brush)

Cybertronian has alphabet like in cyrillic, as opposed to symbols being words like in japanese (makes more sense at least for modern Cybertronian as it's mostly typed on devices)

Vocalized language

Cybertronians all have some sort of engines, and aside from running their internal organs, the engine is also used for vocal communication

They can growl and purr like canines and felines, and might also be able to screech

Might also be able to make more mechanical noises, like whirring wheels and grinding gears?

Sign language/body language

I think most of them had four or five fingers, so humanlike sign language is possible. It's much more widespread among abled Cybertronians than sign language is among abled humans.

Wings, doorwings, and winglets are used to emote; for example they stand up, droop, flutter, and spread in threat display (there's one problem with this hc; many of them don't have any of these)

Finials express similiarly to cat and dog ears (again a problem with the hc; many Cybertronians do not have finials)

They also have more human-like body language signals because they're bipedal and have two arms and legs