skidblast

[skidblast]

We also have a transformer named Steve.

Two of them, in fact.

This is how it seems to work:

Transformers Cartoon: this is Firetruck Steve he turns into a Firetruck wee woo wee woo

Transformers Comics: Firetruck Steve struggles with drug addiction due to his crushing guilt at not having saved more people from the flames

Transformers Fandom: Firetruck Steve must be held accountable for his war crimes

[skidblast]

you just know at the end of the movie both megatron and optimus were thinking “this is what happens when i leave your dumb ass alone”

[skidblast]

Transformers One spoilers, some observations about flora

This post contains SPOILERS for the movie! I highly suggest watching the movie before reading this.

So I read a great Tumblr post, that I unfortunately can't find anymore, that looked at the trailers and pointed out that the organic plants on Cybertron look . . . kinda wrong. More like an infection than plants living in symbiotic harmony with a mechanical planet. So today on my third watch of the movie (*sweats*) I paid closer attention to the flora.

When our gang first get to the surface, there's a montage of them traveling across Cybertron, and there's actually no plant life at all in those scenes.

When they first see plants, they are confused about what they are. One of them (I think it was Elita or Bee) points them out and Orion uncertainly describes them as "weird not-metal nature stuff."

The movie's novelization describes the robot deer grazing on plants but I didn't catch that; when energon flows across the planet we see the deer eagerly running to it. So perhaps they are capable of digesting plants, but it's not their preference.

The plant life appears to be thickest at the cave where the Primes fell. Vines cover their corpses like spiderwebs. Alpha Trion, when he revives, is partially coated in moss. There are other plants in and around the cave, generally looking prickly and unpleasant. (One in particular reminds me of both a Piranha Plant and of the shape of the gangplank of the Quintesson mothership--like a toothy maw.)

Anyway, aside from the cave, here's where I noticed plants:

the ruin of a Cybertronian city is covered in vegetation

lots of vegetation as the gang flees while trying to transform. (This is right outside the cave.)

they hide in vegetation as they observe the Quintessons

Starscream's base, which is inside a ruined (possibly Quintesson?) ship has a lot of scraggly moss.

Basically, on Cybertron organic plants mark places of calamity, invasion, and decay.

The Quintessons themselves are very organic looking, so my guess is they are the source of the vegetation. They don't seem to actively be growing it or terraforming, though. My impression is they only value Cybertron as a planet to exploit for resources, rather than a place to live.

IMO the vegetation isn't purposeful, it is a byproduct of their presence, just as a trail of slime is the byproduct of a slug. Perhaps spores pour off the Quintessons' organic-looking ships.

[skidblast]

Honestly the whole “Megatron and Optimus used to have a deep and intimate friendship that was tragically torn apart by their inability to reconcile their differences in their responses to injustice” thing that’s become common in Transformers media is really good and adds a lot of needed nuance...

but honestly, you’ll never top G1 where Megatron simply said fuck this one dock worker in particular and then they didn’t stop punching each other for 4 million years

[skidblast]

For the Transformers 40th anniversary, have a collab with studio TRIGGER and Bump of Chicken

[skidblast]

Advertising your movie on antihomeless architecture with a character who is working class and actively working against his caste system is so insane to me. Like do you even know who D-16 & Megatron are, this is literally against his whole character

[skidblast]

The Dunce Squad, full cast, radio play. I just want the in-character silliness between all the "government agents in the know, and this mall night security guard".

The Dunce Squad was inspired by @thenamesblurrito, who did a great series of drawings with all those hapless idiots.

A Monday question for fic writers:

If someone was going to podfic one of your stories (single narrator or full voice cast, your choice), which would you pick and why? And if given an opportunity to do a voice cameo in the podfic, would you?

For me: I think my DJD-on-the-LL comedy misadventure Chance would be a lot of fun out loud. And I'd opt for a cameo as Nickel, just so I can call someone an unlubed gearstick. 🤣

[skidblast]

The reason why the Autobots (and Decepticons) watch As The Kitchen Sinks is because 1) they don't got their own entertainment industry, and 2) it's a simulation of heavy complex social interactions, something they don't have good access to in their day-to-day life due to the war. They crave what's impossible for them to get, it like we crave our impossible goals the simulation of mysteries like cop shows, and simulation of triumph like video games where you shoot demons on Mars.

I need everyone to see this

[skidblast]

Unfortunately the coca-cola licensed bottler in Iceland does not carry Moxie, and I don't have plans to visit North America anytime soon, so if I'm to consume it in its birth region, the time will not be in the immediate future.

Maybe in two years, if you all come over here for the eclipse.

[skidblast]

Here we go again.

Image Comics, under the imprint Skybound Entertainment, now has the mantle which the IDW Publishing had for thirteen years. Which means it is time for new stories.

Or a reboot that feels rather familiar.

The thing is, Transformers has a very rich history. While the premise itself can be summarized in 1-2 sentences, there is still nearly forty years of media to draw from.

So, why do we always end up in 1984?

Because it is familiar. It is what we are used to. It is the simpler time where we know what happens, where we are in the familiarity of the franchise and we can call it our comfort. While there is certainly transformers stories that took the big leap, such as Beast Wars and Transformers Animated, those still took their cue from the original cartoon.

So what can we expect from this new comic series?

First of all, there is the obvious. Art references and references to old plots that were once seen Saturday mornings in front of the TV. While building on the true and trusted bare-bones of the cartoon series that started it all.

And secondly, we know there is going to be GI Joe comics, with the main cover of the upcoming "Duke" comic showing a fighter jet that is very familiar. And as the "Energon Universe" is its own imprint, and we have "Void Rivals", four issues already out with four characters in them from the original G1 transformers cartoon. All before this comic issue came out. So it is not only Transformers, but they are going to be alongside Duke, Marissa and Cobra Commander and with few original characters and concept in as well.

And despite all the familiarity, there is a deviation. A significant one but familiar. Grim? Mature? For grownups? No matter what, it is a deviation that's very familiar to everyone. That this medium to tell the story is not aimed at the age group that was the target audience for the cartoon, but for the same kids that watched the cartoon in its infancy, now all grown up and there is no need to sugarcoat anything. Gone are the days of thinly sanitised references to bleaker things which are expanded upon in a PSA before the credits roll. Here they are, out in the open for dissemination or to really hammer home that this is something that can't be seen on the TV during your Saturday mornings.

It's going to be interesting to see how this develops. Is this just going to be a dark adult version of the old G1 cartoon? Are they going to go for the "realism" excuse as of why such a dark turn was taken? Or will there be growth to the more hopeful and peppy? Will this comic have the space for the Optimus Prime that is "strong enough to be gentle"?

[skidblast]

Transformers Earthspark is doing something new when it comes to starting off a story.

I've been seeing some complaints that the Earthspark series, while sticking to established lore and characterisation, they are not showing anything. The biggest complaint is about Starscream's ark in episode 21, where Starscream's fear of Megatron is simply alluded to, once in a short exchange between Optimus Prime and Megatron, and when Hashtag confronts Starscream about it.

The thing is, Earthspark doesn't need to say anything. It's already there. The only thing that's in the way is that it is not in the Earthspark series.

Back in 2005-2006, where the news of a new Transformers movie in the works was about to happen, but now it was life action! Despite my ignorance of the franchise, I could name most of the characters. I knew that the blue blocky guy was Soundwave, I recognized Optimus Prime, Megatron and Starscream by sight, I knew that Starscream was a treacherous idiot.

I have no idea where that knowledge came from. I never consumed any other Transformers media, my brother had a total of four transformers, tiny microchangers none of which are any common guys, and we didn't know the names of, it was just a car that if standing up and pushing the hood over, it was a guy now. I have to reiterate, I have no idea how I came by that knowledge. Was it somehow absorbed through the various websites and media I saw online? I still remember having to download actual .avi files in order to watch videos from the internet, and with a limited connection anything I did online had to be measured carefully, so I had to tread on known grounds since it was highly risky seeing anything unknown because it took time and bandwidth away from the internet.

But still I knew it. And then Transformers Animated was released, where the opening scene even referenced the cartoon that came out before I was born, and then zoomed out to show that this new cartoon would be far different than its predecessor, even introducing a new main character while heavily rewamping an old one. That's where I started really consuming Transformers media, but still with the knowledge from unknown sources that it was drawing from a history older than I was.

And that is what Earthspark is relying on. It is using the fact that Transformers has become a very recognized brand where the knowledge of it passes easily. You don't need to watch any Transformers media to somehow know, that Starscream is a bumbling fool that tries to take over the Decepticons. And even if there is some unknown, the series makes it very clear that you can learn more about the Transformers, just read the comics! Or watch the old cartoon! I as a european can watch The G1 cartoon, Beast Wars and TFP for free on the official transformers channel on youtube even.

And that's how they rope you in. Earthspark is doing something new in how to reach audience, alluding to the bigger picture that's already there, waiting to be bought and consumed, while the older generation can enjoy a new storyline and little easter eggs without having to go through all the slog of reintroducing every single character that they already know.

[skidblast]

Just saw Rise of the Beasts. Fun movie. Arrival to Earth hit at the right time in the movie.

I admit, despite the movie clearly advertising itself as a Unicron movie, I hadn't expected Kicker at all.

[skidblast]

Yep! Dart just reminded me so much of Surveyor, and not just the paint job!

The artwork is by @cavalierconvoy, I forgot to add that to my ask.

Meet Surveyor! He and Dart are practically twins, and Surveyor transforms into a Formula Offroader, similar to a dune buggy!

I need to change Dart’s appearance to look more like a dune buggy but they do look alike. 😲😲

[skidblast]

I did a thing with the Dunce Squad.

OH MY GOD

[skidblast]

still thinking about this btw

Simmons, Dave, Fanzone, Fowler, and Schloder. the dunce squad. the pentagoon. who let them loose in the multiverse. someone IS going to die

[skidblast]

so everyone loves this last dunce squad post apparently

i saw some tags on it today that made me boot up my old computer to draw this because i think it's VITAL that you understand that Dave WILL win in a fight. this is a group that operates on Murphy's Law to function and Dave is the most Murphy of them all. i don't know what enemy they had to face down, idk Terrorcons or something? scraplets? Megatron himself? it doesn't matter, because none of the three government agents nor the police captain who canonically carries a bazooka were the ones to claim victory in this fight

it was the wet sock of a mall cop

thank you for listening to my TEDtalk i will continue going insane over them