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I realized that we rarely got screen time of each Terran with some of the  other Terrans and their human families and what is their dynamic like.

What is Nightshade’s relationship like with Hashtag? Jawbreaker and Mo or Thrash? Alex and Hashtag? Twitch and JB? Nonexistent or hardly for all I remember!

I'm going to focus on the Terrans for this.

I made a post a while ago wondering the same thing. TBH, I find it highly unrealistic that there's no conflict among the Maltos with all the different personalities. IMO, if they weren't family, I don't think most of the Terrans would socialize with each other. Twitch is definitely the glue holding them together.

IIRC, the ES guidebook mentioned Nightshade and Hashtag bonding over a show called Changling. Other than that, I feel like the two would butt heads most of the time due to the whole introvert (Nightshade) vs extrovert(Hashtag) thing. It wouldn't surprise me if Hashtag altered one of Nightshade's inventions without permission because she had an idea.

I have no idea what Nightshade, JB, and Thrash could possibly talk about. I guess Nightshade and JB could talk about their journeys finding an altmode? Other than that, I think it's safe to assume that Nightshade has already told JB to stay out of their lab. Nightshade and Thrash interacting for long periods of time would probably just end with the crickets sound effect playing.

In the Production Bible, JB's bio mentions that he has tension with Nightshade and Hashtag due to them not caring about anything Cybertron related while he's very intense about it.

I can see Thrash and Hashtag getting along because they both want to have a good time.

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I suddenly remembered that one J Jonah Jameson meme and this was the result:

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For the longest time, I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with JB in my Lotus AU. I don't hate the character, but considering that the AU's focus is Mandroid, I just don't really see them interacting much. I've had a few ideas for JB, but after S3 continuing with the whole 'Maltos treat JB like shit' thing, I've decided that he's going to eventually develop the confidence to actually call out/confront his family for the way they treat him.

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Think about what ES could have been. The premise was the Terrans must hide from the world. It should be emphasized that it is TOP SECRET kind of secret. It would have made the show way more tense because humanity will be conflicted with a lot of feelings and the Deceptions will try to find the source of the Terrans’ birth and restart the war, dooming Cybertron (if they had a truce) and Earth once more. In fact, if they hid the Terrans, that begs the question: what if Earth is better off keeping the Terrans a secret? For how long?

I think about the wasted potential of ES all the time. It had all the right ingredients, but the execution was sloppy. Hiding the Terrans should've gone very much the way you're saying because in an ideal world, ES actually would've explored the rest of Earth post War instead of confining itself to the Malto family bubble.

IMO, revealing the Terrans existence to the world wouldn't be a smart idea unless it was done with someone else in charge of GHOST like Schloder. That's what actually happens in my Lotus AU, except that they purposely omit the existence of the Emberstone and instead focus on the fact the Terrans are kids. The idea is to make the Transformer race seem more relatable and the Terrans are much more personable than OP and Megatron.

As for how long to keep the Terrans a secret... It wouldn't be feasible to do it long term between the kids and Terrans getting restless, Mandroid knowing about them, as well as GHOST always looking for more TFs.

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Do you think anyone ever connects the dots that 'Izzy' only appeared after Mo sent that Quintesson Executioner to space?

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I understand what you're saying now. Sorry if I came across a intense in my first reblog. I also would like to know more about them, but I'll be shocked if the show ever references him again. I'm still surprised we got his FF tail in S2A.

It's interesting that Mandroid heavily draws inspiration for his tech from nature, specifically insects. I made a post a while ago detailing possible reasons why he'd choose spiders so I'm just going to paste it here:

In general, spiders serve an important function in most ecosystems by consuming pests and keeping a balance so to speak. The Arachnamechs are a blend of robotics and organic ideas which is pretty fitting considering the Terrans are also the same blend.

Mandroid clearly made the Arachnamechs with the intent of being a threat to Transformers, to be their natural predators. We’ve seen multiple times how a few of them can easily subdue a Transformer.

From a functional standpoint, a spider body has a lot of benefits: Well balanced, a bigger abdomen allows for storage of tech such as the ‘webs’ they use to take down Transformers, the eyes allow for greater field of vision/scanning, they’re not that big so it would be relatively easy to mass produce them and make changes depending on the situation, and they look kind of scary.

Also, Mandroid just really seems to like the aesthetic:

I've been thinking about Mandroid and the arachnamechs, especially considering how he suggested they predate the Battle of the Bay

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Both the show and supplemental material (Production Bible and guidebook) stress the fact that Mandroid is 100% responsible for the Arachnamechs. This is the same guy that only lost multiple times because of a magic space rock. -Alex mentions in the S1 episode Traditions that he had a colleague with similar tech after he, Robby, and Bumblebee fight the Arachnamechs.

-Mandroid says that he Arachnamechs saved him during the Battle of the Bay.

-Look at the other tech Mandroid made. It's not a stretch that he created the Arachnamechs

Here's his bio from the guidebook:

I've been thinking about Mandroid and the arachnamechs, especially considering how he suggested they predate the Battle of the Bay

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On Writing Mandroid

So an actual in depth explanation about this meme I made summing up my feelings when looking at most fanfics Mandroid is in. When I read fanfics for any piece of media, I want the characters to be IN CHARACTER. Yes, I understand the concept of headcanons, but it's another thing to blatantly ignore the character's actual behavior/mindset unless there's an AU involved where you specifically want it to be a different take. "Just don't read it then!" some of you may say. Trust me, as soon as Mandroid starts acting OOC, I immediately abandon the fic. I just want to address common misconceptions about his character.

The main things I see pop up in fics that make no damn sense for Mandroid are:

-Him acting like a pervert just because he uses mind control and the tentacle draining device

-Him attacking/targeting random humans

-His speech patterns

There's NOTHING in the show that indicates he'd act like #1. He's a scientist specializing in robotics that wants to rid the world of Transformers aka machines that run on fuel. If anything, he'd find the idea that TFs are capable of sex interesting in a "I just discovered the beings I'm studying have this attribute" kind of way. He views them as monsters and machine parts so the idea of him having his way with one makes no damn sense not even with the intent of torturing/dominating. He prefers making them suffer in other ways like taking them apart while they're still functioning.

As for #2: Mandroid only targets humans that interfere with his plans or treat him like shit (which Croft found out the hard way). He didn't have a problem with Dot until she fucked with the laser while he was removing Megatron's arm. He also ignored the Maltos in Prime Time until Mo got up in his face. Yet, I see the same thing multiple times where a fanfic author has him kidnap/target a random person that didn't do anything. His mindset/viewpoint on how he interacts with other humans is summed up in this line in Age of Evolution:

"If you Maltos side with my Cybertronian enemies, then I'll destroy you like my enemies."

So he's not an asshole 24/7.

As for #3, this is a huge one. Mandroid has a sophisticated way of speaking with the occasional pun thrown in when he's doing something villainous. I could post multiple examples from fics I've read where if I didn't know it was Mandroid speaking I'd have no idea it was him. This man isn't going to talk like a thug or casually swear. The most I can see him swearing is using 'hell' or 'damn'. That obviously falls into headcanon territory, but it's in line with what the show has given us.

Just listen to the way Mandroid speaks in this scene from the very 1st episode of the series:

Look at his mannerisms as well. For the most part, he's calm and reserved until the Mandroid bit. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that he's the kuudere personality type.

Thankfully, I've also read fics where the author nails his characterization but those seem to be few and far in between.

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I've been seeing people on other sites suggesting bringing Mandroid back and I still can't believe I'm saying this, but NO. I don't want the current writing quality anywhere near him. His characterization would get butchered especially because of how intelligent he is.

"But he's dead!" some of you may say. ES doesn't have a good track record of paying attention to logic to begin with.

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When I first got into the show, I was surprised at how fit Mandroid looked. After thinking about it though, it would make sense that he exercised to reduce the strain the TF arms had on his body.

His arms look pretty muscular under his clothing. You also don't really see any evidence of a gut though he was probably slightly soft in the midsection.

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Mandroid Relationship Headcanons

Keep in mind this when he isn't a vindictive ball of hatred/rage. These are all based on his behavior during the course of the show.

-He has the time of his life when he's fucking with somebody so he'd definitely be teasing his SO outside and inside the bedroom. I feel like he'd enjoy his SO teasing him back.

-He's probably a very tactile person considering how expressive he is with his hands. Also with how often he runs a hand through his hair

-His work a holic tendencies might become an issue. If his SO brought it up in a diplomatic way, he'd adjust his habits

-In general, he seems very observant/thorough so he'd make it a point to learn the things his SO likes/enjoys

-He'd be protective considering how he reacted to anyone insulting/harming the Arachnamechs

-He's not going to stand for being treated like shit

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One of the show's biggest problems is that most of the interesting/juicy stuff happens off screen. Off the top of my head:

-The Battle of the Bay -Megatron switching sides -OP ordering Bumblebee to go into hiding -What Bee was up to while he was hiding (yeah I know he talks about racing) -Starscream's time in GHOST jail -What Mandroid was up to while at GHOST -Mandroid's space bridge journey -The freaking time skip before S2A

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I can't really take the Quintessons seriously as a threat between the Executioner designs and especially the fact that Mandroid beat them over the course of a year without magic space rock powers.

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I'm still working on my Lotus AU, but after talking with @toxxicpill my brain is now thinking of Yandere Mandroid or as I call him Yandroid. Think about it, Mandroid has yandere potential considering the lengths he went to in order to achieve his goal. He'd be the manipulative type though and not the standard "If I can't have you...".

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Headcanon that Starscream somehow hears about Robby's fanfic (everything in the show post S1) and is furious about the bit where fic!Starscream takes being called worse than Megatron as a compliment.

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I still believe that Mandroid getting in touch with his humanity again is the key to him having some sort of redemption or at least changing his mindset. It's heavily implied he purposely cut himself off from the rest of humanity after being treated like shit because of being an amputee. Yes, his actions were fucked up, but what he needs is someone to acknowledge his anger/pain without getting sanctimonious about it.

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It's heavily implied that Croft/GHOST knew about Terratronus or at.

-Starscream wanted her hard drive because he knew there was important info on there

-There's hardly any info online about the history of Witwicky, implying that GHOST purposely hid said info

-In S1, Croft forbids anyone from going in the tunnels underneath GHOST

earthspark season two establishes that starscream’s entire plan was to wake terratronus, but how does he even know that she’s there? he’s been in jail the whole time he’s been in witwicky, and somehow knows about terratronus, and yet the autobots (have been in witwicky for the exact amount of time, not in jail, plentiful resources) somehow don’t? did the writers just not think about if the villain’s primary goal and therefore the main plot of the season made sense?