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I know this is real nitpick-y on my part, but here goes.

Everyone's been criticizing the cast bloat in EarthSpark, rightly so, there are way too many main characters, but what I haven't really seen people talk about is how simultaneously the world of EarthSpark feels really small?

The plot frequently introduces villains, conflicts and concepts that are supposedly world-spanning, like GHOST hunting down every Decepticon left on the planet, Mandroid wanting to wipe all Cybertronians off Earth and Transformers being either on the run or in the field world-wide. But the viewer is limited to one place most of the time with a few assorted characters.

This wouldn't be a problem if the plot was taking place solely in Witwicky, it's a small and isolated place, and if the conflicts were more small-scale and personal. But even here the show gets struck so often by what I like to call Empty World Syndrome. Everything just seems... deserted. There's like two or three people on the streets at any given time. You can easily tell some human models were re-used to add at least some life to the background. Mo and Robbie almost never meet or hang out with other kids. It's just them and their immediate family on a farm.

And that's just the humans. The Cybertronians in EarthSpark consist of two very small groups that even lose members as time goes on. It doesn't feel like those are the remnants of a people that used to populate an entire planet. EarthSpark establishes that most if not all Cybertronians emigrated to Earth with the Cybertronian civil war and that most of them were still on Eartth when the space bridge was destroyed. So where are they?

Other shows with a small Cybertronian cast like Prime and Animated found a way around this by confirming that there are more Cybertronians than we see, but our main groups are the only ones currently on Earth, either because the war left the factions scattered across the universe or because the Cybertronians being on our planet was an accident to begin with.

Prime even makes this a point of conflict several times, establishing that the Autobots being severely outnumbered is actually a problem and that they have to manage their resources with the outmost care because they cannot afford to lose even one soldier. I don't get that sense of urgency and dread in EarthSpark. The fact that there are seemingly so few Cybertronians left is never addressed in any way.

And the most frustrating thing about this is that it would be so easy to fix. Establish that there are more Autobot bases on Earth than the one in Witwicky. Show us Optimus and the others contacting them from time to time. Have there be more Decepticons who are on the run, but outside of the US. Heck, maybe a lot of Cybertronians are completely unaligned after the war and just live their best life in other countries. You could even sneak in some really cool cameos that way!

And as for the humans, let the Maltos have relationships outside their families. Have Dot and Alex mention or hang out with people from their old jobs. Have Dot speak about the members of her and Megatron's unit more. Have Alex talk with colleagues and fellow Transformers-enthusiasts. Let Mo and Robbie make friends in school.

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In utter disbelief

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Y'know? Hate Plague episode inspired me for writing a darker episode where everything said isn't forgotten and where everything said isn't forgotten and every words severely weighs down every one.

I'm interested in reading it when you're done!

The show definitely missed an opportunity not making the hate plague the focus of the entire season. I feel like Rescue Bots would've handled the idea better and that was for a younger audience that ES. Negative emotions are a thing no matter how badly the show and by extension the Maltos want to ignore them.

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It's the Anon with the long G1 ask. I didn't know if it reached you since I remembered that Tumblr site sometimes eats the asks, so I had sent it again in parts. You can ignore those since my original one managed to reach you. Thanks for answering it : ) . I will add to this that I saw the reblog that suggested killing Optimus (since the show won't let him DO anything), but honestly that's how I feel about Earthspark Megatron. Megatron's presence just ended up stripping the both the screen time and purpose of the other characters:

Wheeljack's relationship with Twitch got shafted to show Megatron being such a great uncle figure to her. Megatron's relationship with Dorothy quite literally shoved Alex into the third wheel category whenever the show focuses on them (which is a lot). Everything has already been said with Optimus by others because the show's team is so blatantly obvious with their hate for Optimus. Even Bumblebee's character suffers whenever the show needs to make Megatron look good!

The only time the characters are allow SOME level of breathing room to exist in the plot is when Megatron ISN'T THERE. And even then, the show acts like it doesn't want to deal with ANY of the characters outside of Megatron, the Decepticons, Hashtag, Mo, Dorothy, and Nightshade (to an extent). Everyone else is just dragged along for the right, not really being allowed to be explored more than what is deemed necessary and not allowed to contribute their skill sets to the plot.

Optimus is just as much as a skilled tactician and charismatic person as Megatron, Bumblebee scouting and reconnaissance abilities, Alex's abilities as a Cybertronian Historian, Wheeljack's science abilities, the lists goes on but the show doesn't want to truly use them. Thinking about it now, I believe the show didn't want to use ANY of the autobots outside of maybe Bumblebee. Not just Optimus. They just wanted the focus be on Megatron and the Decepticons, but Hasbro's insistence force their hand. I mean, look at how the show treats the Decepticons vs how it treats the Autobots. It's clear the Autobots were just slapped on because the executives told them to.

The show's insistence with focusing on Megatron makes me believe that he's going to be the reason the Maltos go to Cybertron if/when we get the last batch of episodes. Seriously, if it doesn't involve FAMILY or Earth, the Maltos don't care.

What's interesting is that no individual Decepticons are mentioned in the ES Production Bible. The faction as a whole is mentioned and it's stressed that they're dangerous

I really want to know why so many great ideas were discarded and instead we got a questionable quality IDW-lite fanfic. TBH, I don't think it was solely Hasbro's doing. Paramount/Nickelodeon also have a reputation for executive meddling and let's be real, the writing quality in S1 wasn't that great in terms of executing ideas.

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Despite becoming friends with my OC Tara in my Lotus AU, Mandroid would 100% deal with her just like he the Maltos if she tried getting in his way. Her kindness and living with her early in the AU isn't enough for him to give up his crusade against TFs, but it does help him start getting in touch with his humanity again.

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If Prowl was in S1 I'm convinced he'd be the one to tell the Terrans about the darker aspects of the War. I can see him being annoyed with the Terrans ignorance about TF history. In his mind, if they're supposed to be the future of the TF race, then they should know about the past.

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Thinking about how the Terrans hybrid nature could've been explored more if the human family they were paired with was the Greene family from Rescue Bots (CeCe is missing from the pic though).

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i love my cat but he is very fond of trickery

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What is Tara and Stephen's favorite things about each other?

Anon, I literally made a high pitched noise after seeing someone sent me an ask about my Lotus AU so thank you! Stephen's favorite things about Tara: -I headcanon that he grew up in a family that didn't talk about feelings so he likes how Tara is upfront about her emotions. -That she enjoys teasing as much as he does -Her smile -Her desire to protect what's important to her -Her intelligence, namely her observational skills Tara's favorite things about Stephen: -His smile and laugh -How thoughtful and gentle he is -His sense of commitment provided it's to something healthy/good -His voice -His teasing -She always finds him handsome, but she really like the stubble

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when you get an idea for a fic but you know you’re going to have to really take your time with it in order to properly capture all the little details and plot points and themes you want to convey, but also you’re an impatient bitch who wants to write out and read that fun story in your head right fuckin’ now

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@violet-2084-turkish-warrior wanted to know my thoughts on ES Prowl so I made a separate post since the ES rewrite got too long. Anyway, this is the text from the ask:

Opinions on Earthspark! Prowl? (When he first appeared,he was right shitting on and acting antagonistic to Megatron inho. I'd like to hear your opinion about him and his attitude?)

Let's be real, most people wouldn't have cared about S3 if Prowl wasn't in it. Hasbro/Paramount seemed to be aware of this fact since the S3 trailer (which was only 30 seconds long) mostly focused on him.

Personally, I feel like Prowl was justified in a lot of his concerns, especially about Megatron and the fact the Autobots rely too much on human children. Of course the show frames Prowl as being wrong so my interest in him fizzled out pretty quickly. I think he would've been a better fit for S1 provided that the writing quality was better. He could've provided some gray morality and I feel like the show missed an opportunity to have him and Schloder team up.

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1-How would you rewrite Earthspark?

2- Opinions on Earthspark! Prowl? (When he first appeared,he was right shitting on and acting antagonistic to Megatron inho. I'd like to hear your opinion about him and his attitude?)

I'd stretch out the S1 content to at least 2-3 seasons. I'll make a separate post talking about Prowl since the rewrite stuff is going to get kinda long. My ideas for the rewrite aren't set in stone so the following is more like highlights. In the rewrite:

Season 1 -Twitch and Thrash would be the only Terrans and stand in as audiences surrogates for world building purposes. -Dot and Alex's backgrounds would actually be used for flashbacks and to teach the Terrans about the War. Dot wouldn't want to tell the Terrans anything since they'd start asking questions about Megatron so they learn from Alex and the Autobots. -Dot and Alex would make more of a fuss about the cyber sleeves -The Maltos toxic positivity would still be a thing, but cracks would start showing since Dot is low key bitter about her dream job being a lie and Robby and Mo forcing the Terrans on her. -OP wouldn't be an idiot and instead his shady qualities would be expanded on. He knows that Megatron may be tempted by the Emberstone so he keeps the ex warlord in the dark as much as possible. -Slice of life episodes about characters that aren't the Maltos -The Age of Evolution arc would be the S1 finale

Season 2 -The season opens with a flashback to the Battle of the Bay since it's criminal the show never did one. -Episodes focusing on Nightshade, Hashtag, and JB's development -The Terrans want to learn and be apart of their new world so the Maltos isolation becomes a problem. -Mandroid and Alex's reunion happens much differently like in my Lotus AU. The Terrans and Maltos are aware of Meridian's existence since Alex talks about his friendship with him. Obviously no one knows that Meridian and Mandroid are the same person until Alex meets him. -The Bot Brawl would take up a chunk of the season for world building purposes and to introduce more Legacy characters

Season 3 -Hashtag's mind controlled rampage in Philadelphia is all over social media. Dot and Alex find out about the kids visit to the city via a family member reaching out. The Maltos still handle negative emotions terribly so Hashtag struggles with her trauma. -Episodes focusing on what Mandroid and Croft are doing at GHOST which some Con centric stuff thrown in -Prime Time still happens but Dot is the one to fight Mandroid. Alex and Dot become rightfully concerned about Quintus Prime's shady nature -Robby dying is treated with the seriousness it deserves which means that the kids and Terrans aren't wandering around the woods. -Feeling alone at the Maltos, Hashtag starts disappearing for lengths of time which is how she encounters Starscream. She only knows him as Megatron's scheming subordinate so she's surprised when he starts talking about how awful Megatron was. She feels comfortable enough to share her trauma about what happened in Philadelphia which Starscream is sympathetic to. Despite having sympathetic qualities, Starscream is still a schemer so he attempts to recruit Hashtag both to give her a place to feel like she belongs and to stick it to Megatron. Hashtag declines and goes back to the Maltos, but doesn't tell them about Starscream. She starts looking into Megatron's past herself. -The Maltos toxic positivity and how they handle negative emotions is stressed as something that isn't healthy instead of them being framed as always in the right. -FF Mandroid is still a thing because that's peak Nightmare Fuel Beauty and would be a waste to throw away

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What kind of slice of life episodes do you like to see in Earthspark (if it had been well-written)? What wacky adventures? I’m thinking of fetching a bird’s feather, cooking a healthy meal for a sick human (using the kitchen without permission), playing Dungeons & Dragons, playing in the snow, hunting for ghosts/monsters, finding a hobby.

Ideally, I'd have episodes focusing on characters that weren't the Maltos. A few ideas: -A day in the life of Mandroid featuring things like showing his living space, more interaction with the Arachnamechs, and just doing mundane things. -Schloder focused episode where he's on the hunt for a good hotdog, but keeps getting interrupted by GHOST issues. Also throw in some more details about his relationship with Croft. -Actually show some people in Witwicky going about their business so the audience can see how Earth has been affected by the War.

I'd also have episodes that focus on the Terrans (emphasis on just the Terrans) interacting with each other. We know that Twitch and Thrash get along, but what are the dynamics like between Thrash and Nightshade for instance? The majority of them don't have platonic chemistry with each other.

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I think Meridian should've tried avoiding harming Robby and Mo (when they're involved) as much as possible until they resisted his final warning and he'll do whatever it takes to save the majority of humanity. In the show, he has no hesitation about endangering kids!

The ES Production Bible describes Mandroid as having a twisted code of morality and that's definitely on display in the show. His line in Age of Evolution: "If you Maltos side with my Cybertronian enemies, then I'll destroy you like my enemies." perfectly summarizes his thinking. It's why he had no issues with sending the Seekers to attack that press conference in Age of Evolution. GHOST are just as much his enemies as the TFs are.

Something that I see a lot of fics get wrong is having Mandroid going after random humans that don't interfere with his plans. He was perfectly fine with Dot until she screwed with the laser when he was trying to cut Megatron's arm off. The only bit of consistent writing in Prime Time was him ignoring the Maltos until Mo got in his face.

Fact of the matter is, as long as a human doesn't try to screw with his plans, he'll leave them alone. Unless they treat him like garbage the way Croft did.

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Something that just occurred to me is that Mandroid probably has a lot of experience detecting bullshit from being a professor. He pretty much instantly knew that Hashtag was lying, but he enjoys fucking with people so he let the Terrans keep going. I 100% believe he did this with students, too.

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It's still mind blowing to me how badly Prime Time executed the test of character trope by presenting it as "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Quintus Prime straight up physically/psychologically tortures Mo because how dare she be upset Robby is dying. Not only that, the show frames Quintus as being in the right and has Mo apologize for feeling that way.

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regular cat activities