#Cybertronian disability

[knight-says-rollout]

“how would it work if Cybertronians had disabilities” “What if there were disabled Cybertronians”

THERE ARE

THERE ARE

loosing my mind at how some things that are So good can be So niche why can’t we just be a hivemind

Just one example, my favorite example, is:

Shattered Glass Soundwave!!!

He’s gone through Multiple reformats varying between with his consent and,,, not. The latest of which took place when they didn’t have many materials

So they used half earth metals half Cybertronian ones

As it turns out? Those two things don’t mix very well. His joints are Horrible. They lock up randomly, the worst of which being the door to his tape deck.

He physically isn’t able to dock his cassettes reliably because they might get stuck in there.

What does he do to fix this? So glad you asked!! He has his own assistive aids, in this case: a portable external carrying case

It was made and personalized to work specifically for him and his situation

I love him

[kaontic]

Hear me out: He should stay blind AND without his arm. At least for a good long while. Just to prove that even without his iconic fusion cannon, he can still be a threat, and even more of a badass.

Let him figure everything out first, 'cause like, Megs is not out of the woods (or mountains) yet with Cobra literally right behind him. Let him go through the stages of grief and take their sweet time doing so.

(Yes, that may include going absolutely feral and deadlocked into a “hunt Starscream” mode for a bit)

Optimus and Cobra took away the ability for him to get a visual first impression of earth (in terms of the outside world). So that leaves his other (extra Cybertronian?) senses to get a feel of this new, strange, dangerous and even disgusting planet he fell down on. Would make for cool parallels to Optimus.

So besides the fact that he’s now disabled, he’s alone, probably near dead with no energon.

Maybe Megs will manage to scan and change into a gun (without the scope) to survive (pros include stealth and lower energy consumption), and wait to make a move.

Maybe other Deceptions loyal to him will save him, endlessly complain about his lieutenants, and then help him regain control (he still should not get fixed right away tho)

Maybe he even reconsiders the war and all that specific good stuff because he’s in such a poor emotional/physical state and he got stuck in his own head. Then he joins Optimus like IDW and Earthspark.

He’s got nothing but his smarts, rage, determination, voice, arm, legs and teeth to help him now.

Power flows to the one who knows how, after all.

P.S. If they do a time skip and if he’s fixed I’m rioting 'cause there’s SO MUCH interesting plot and character development potential here.

Also sorry for the messiness it’s 1:30 a.m. but I need to get this out of my chest faster than the Chestbuster.

Even completely blind and missing an arm Megatron is determined to NOT bend to the will of others, to be the master of his own fate. Jesus christ what a fucking introduction to this version of him, I love it

[earthstellar]

A lot of mini-bots (and quite a few other bots) have what might be considered neurodivergent traits (or have been confirmed as such), and I wonder if certain frame types or classes --or Cybertronians in general-- might have physically type-specific processor structures which allow for greater diversity of thought, and if some frame types or spark types might be more or less likely to have or develop neurodivergent traits

We know the Quintessons fucked with the Well of All Sparks in the Aligned Continuity which had unknown effects, and in IDW 1 given the spark as the core of a person's individual spirit (for lack of any better phrasing), it would make sense for Cybertronian sparks to imbue individual personality etc. while the processors are physical hardware with software flexibility to permit and adapt to those unique aspects of self

For example, in the continuities where spark development influences protoform development and therefore what type of frame a bot might ultimately have, it is still simultaneously possible to alter a frame to some degree with armour changes, mass manipulation, etc. (and in most continuities, alt-modes can be altered as well, to at least some degree within the range of someone's core specs)

But the processor and spark are the two things that generally (although we have seen some exceptions to this) cannot be physically altered without incurring significant damage-- Making them some of the few constant components in a species designed to physically change

Sparks have significant individual variation in terms of the personality etc. that evolves from each unique spark, so perhaps processors have some physical elements designed to best accommodate a certain frame type, while also allowing for individual experiences and perception etc. to form unique thought pathways for each individual -- This would allow for any Quintesson or Functionism-related frame alterations or requirements, while also still enabling a spark to produce a unique person as it forms and as experiences accumulate

Sort of like genetics vs epigenetics in human beings; Some things are physical and structural, but some things are informed by environment, experience, etc.

It's interesting that we do seem to see a lot of mini-bots specifically who might fall into a neurodivergent category or exhibit behaviours or thought process that might reasonably fall under the category, but of course it's not universal so there is still greater variation

Although characterisation varies from series to series, here's a couple examples:

Cliffjumper tends to have impulse control problems that are sometimes similar to ADHD impulse control problems, and he sometimes has difficulty prioritising or hyperfixates on one aspect of a situation, leading him to reach the wrong conclusion or focusing on the slightly wrong thing; He also struggles to manage frustration. This could all be related to something similar to executive dysfunction, as it commonly manifests in humans with ADHD.

Bumblebee seems to be conflict-avoidant to some degree in most continuities, and aside from that being part of his friendly nature and kind disposition, it might also hint at something similar to rejection sensitive dysphoria, or a greater sensitivity and emotional response to perceived interpersonal conflict or perceived failure. Some versions of Bumblebee have particularly struggled when faced with high stakes/high risk of failure scenarios, and he has a tendency to internalise blame, directing it towards himself even when a failure is not necessarily his fault or even truly a failed mission. This is often comorbid with Autism and ADHD in humans, but it can also exist on its own.

It's not just mini-bots; Misfire canonically has ADHD in IDW 1, Geomotus in IDW 2 is Autistic and his neurodivergency is even highlighted by other characters, and so on.

So all of this (and how it might work) varies from continuity to continuity, but I just like thinking about how neurodivergent bots do exist, and how that happens and how it manifests and how it is perceived by others and by society at large is interesting

In IDW 2, neurodivergency seems to be viewed in a more understanding and positive light. But in IDW 1, neurodivergency may be viewed in a more ableist way under the Functionist system, and in the Aligned Continuity, perhaps neurodivergency is seen as a potential indication of Quintesson alteration of the Well or of the individual themselves (this would depend on a bot's age).

We don't have too many details on Cybertronian medicine in general, but it's interesting to think about!

It's 8 AM I'm gonna go have a tea now lol

[brobotsbro]

Ok so cabbage patch Cybertron. Robots grow in the planet crust, pop out, make their way into civilization. But HOW do they know where civilization is? Presumably this is how it works, right?

My theory is that, upon being newly animated, they have some kind of instinctual ability to locate other transformers. Idk maybe it's just a vibration that large groups (as in a city) of them give off when they're all together. Additionally I theorize that this ability must eventually taper off and vanish. They aren't homing pigeons, I don't believe they have this ability in "adulthood."

So this ties into Feral Child Orion in this way: if this signal is built in to every newly-forged Cybertronian, why and how are there bots that end up trapped in the wastes and never make it into town? Surely it's not that uncommon for bots to spawn quite a distance from a city.

Theory: in cases where bots are stranded out in the wilderness (no doubt rare, but I highly doubt Orion is the only one in Cybertronian history) there must be some physical handicap (blindness, ambulatory disability) preventing them from making it to civilization before this homing signal wears off. While I think physical disability upon spawning is not impossible in their society I do think it's probably pretty uncommon (just by virtue of their birth being less weird and chromosomy than human gestation). I further speculate that the odds of being both a) an unusually far distance from civilization and b) physically disabled is low and therefore why the Feral Cybertronian count is not very high.

And basically this is a long explanation for saying that I headcanon that Orion had, like, a club foot or something similar and that is why he was stuck surviving out in the wastes.

I spend too much time speculating on Cybertronian life cycle mechanics. I also like the idea that the eyes of Cybertronian youth glow like cartoon characters in a dark room. Evolutionary crutch to help the young navigate in their journey to civilization?? Idrk, I just think it's a cool idea lol.

[unkillablejazz]

𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄      [ … ]   𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄,

Jazz

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BOLD what applies - italicize sometimes.   repost, don’t reblog.

fights honourably / fights dirty

prefers close - quarters / prefers range

chats during / goes silent

low pain tolerance / high pain tolerance

attacks in bursts / attacks steadily

goes for the kill / aims to disarm / fights defensively / strikes first

is provoked easily / provokes their opponent / teases

gets visibly frustrated / shouts while attacking

uses strategy / focuses on the battle / experiences conflicting thoughts during battle / rushes in recklessly / tries to read their opponent before engaging

fights wildly / fights calmly / fights apathetically / fights with anger / fights with excitement

fights because they have to / fights because they want to

fights without regard to wounds / runs away when wounded / hides wounds / takes a blow to protect another

prefers a blade /  prefers a gun / prefers hand to hand combat / prefers a bow / prefers a shield / prefers a personalised weapon  / prefers magic, alchemy or spells

their greatest weakness is physical / their greatest weakness is mental / their greatest weakness is emotional

transforms for battle / fights as they appear

relies on strength / doubts their strength / relies on speed

uses everything they have / proceeds with caution / hides their full potential / exhausts quickly / has high stamina

behaves arrogantly / brags after landing a hit / belittles their abilities

uses psychological tactics / uses brute strength

avoids civilians / strikes down civilians

damages surroundings / avoids damaging surroundings

signature fighting style / makes it up as they go

mastered skill - set / learning their skill - set

fancy footwork / sloppy footwork

messy fighter / elegant fighter

accepts defeat / refuses defeat / begs for mercy

compliments their opponent / insults their opponent

uses unnecessary movements / moves efficiently / barely moves

prefers to dodge / prefers to block

defends their blindside / has no blindside / leaves blindsides vulnerable

uses all available advantages / strictly uses one main method

plays around / holds back / fights ruthlessly / shows mercy

waits for an opponent to be ready / strikes when opponent isn’t ready

fears death / fears pain / fears killing

has PTSD  / avoids fighting

has lost a fight / has won a fight

has killed / refuses to kill

wants to die standing / would succumb slowly

Tagged: Stole it from @spymeister

Tagging: everyone

[blade-liger-4ever]

Why Cody Burns succeeded where Rafael Esquivel failed

Honestly, Raf is one of those characters I never thought much of, in part because he was so forgettable. More often than not in Prime, Raf was just the sweet baby who everybody thought the world of and wanted to keep out of harm's way, even though the most he ever did in the show was provide technical help with Earth machinery or play the part of innocent child. This was not helped by the fact that he was buddy-ed up with the mute Bumblebee, who's sole contributions up until his two part arc and the series finale was additional man power and adorable mimic. While this was good for background humor, it ultimately did nothing to the overall storyline in the series, both for Raf and for Bee, and for the series itself.

By contrast, Cody Burns - the resident team baby, beloved by all and unwaveringly helpful in rescue missions - stood out far more than Raf. And what's more, is that he never had "his own" Autobot/Cybertronian partner, when literally his whole family had one of their own.

Allow me to delve into this, hopefully, final observatory post regarding the TFP kids.

Of all the humans, we quite frankly get the least out of Raf. We know he's a prodigy, given that he's twelve (and a quarter) and jumped straight into the same classes as Miko and Jack, the former of whom is no slouch as I've already covered. We're shown that his family allows him free reign of Jasper, as he's playing by himself near the road, although he's alone. That tells us that his family is either extremely lax in their attention for their youngest child, or that Jasper is an actually safe location for a kid who's barely filling out his shoes to be on his own. Whether or not either option is true, that's dangerous and shows that Raf goes unnoticed by his family. I'm not saying they're abusive or willfully neglectful of him, but this points us to the conclusion that Raf has a very lonely home life, and we already know that he's got zero friends until he meets the Autobots.

This could have been a great plot-point for the series: by giving Team Prime a small child with no one for company, the writers could have more clearly given the Autobots hope for the future of the War/after the War, while Raf could have gained confidence and security from having people who actually cared and listened to him. It could have been fun, having him be the human cycling through the Autobots for various needs. Imagine Raf going to Optimus for comfort after another day of feeling ignored, talking to Arcee for ideas on how to stand up to Vince (being the sole child in class makes you a target, after all), or coming to Bulkhead for how to struggle through the physical aspects of his school regimen (i.e. the time he brought up the rope climbing to Ratchet.) The possibilities were endless.

But instead, he's specifically handed over to Bee. Bee, who is the disabled child that is also largely forgotten, and who, while he does bond with Raf and provide him with much needed company, offers nothing else in the way of development or storylines. We got something marginally better when Raf started spending time with the grumpy grandpa that is Ratchet, which was great to highlight Ratchet's soft side that nurtures his own character progression, but it's not enough for Raf's development. I greatly prefer the company of the Autobots to the human characters in virtually every series, but there needs to be a noticable human presence to ground the Autobots' protective instincts toward Earth and to push along the story. Raf ended up being a token character not even halfway through the first season, which is a shame given his potential, especially since he and Bee ended up being background décor.

Now, as a counterpoint, we come to Cody Burns.

Like Raf, Cody is the youngest child of the Burns clan - and I say clan because his family has been the one providing Griffin Rock's safety and protection for about...roughly three hundred years? (Correct me if I'm wrong, but his family were the ones in-universe to discover the island. Thus, there's a large claim and respect to his family's name.) His father Charlie is the chief of police; his oldest brother Kade is the chief firefighter; his older sister Dani is the helicopter pilot and primary search and rescue operator; and his brother Graham, who's about eight years older than ten year old Cody, is already a chief engineer and inventor himself. Clearly, Cody has an impressive family. Clearly, they're the best of the best, and he couldn't be prouder of them.

And clearly, Cody feels the need to earn his stripes given their talents and the family's reputation.

A recurring subplot in Rescue Bots is how Cody is insecure about his role on the team, and that often leads him to attempt to provide help and find his place in life in the family. Sometimes, this works; although he's often left monitoring the situations across the island at home through the cameras, Cody finds ways of giving advice or pointing out a hazard that the others are oblivious to that would have likely killed them. And this is a noble occupation his fills, with his aid saving many lives and much trouble.

However, sitting around and merely being an observer wears on him. It makes him restless, and he often seeks aid from the 'Bots to figure out his problems before typical shenanigans ensue that rectify the current episode's dilemma.

This is an important part of Cody's characterization because while he does occasionally feel left out/ignored by his family, he understands it is because of their duties. Charlie has to daily wrangle different criminals and legal offenses while Graham is eagerly going to town on his latest project. Kade and Dani each have their own lives that are beginning and that they're pursuing, but additionally maintain an intense sibling rivalry due to them being not even three years apart. Thus, while they're seeing they're respective girlfriend and boyfriend, they're also competing in various childish ways that, sometimes, result in massive fights. It's no small wonder Cody rarely goes to them for advice.

For this, he's left with the 'Bots, and because they view him as their darling little brother who inspires them every day to give the humans of Griffin Rock and Earth a chance, they listen and advise him. Heatwave is the oldest of the 'Bots, and thus more experienced; additionally, Heatwave more than once nearly threw in the towel in the early days, but only relented due to Cody's convictions and virtues. Therefore, while they have a special bond without it being the sole focus, Cody tends to run to Heatwave the most when emotionally unwell and Charlie is unavailable. Heatwave in turn gives him comfort and advice, and backs him up in most situations. Chase is one he less often seeks help from, mostly due to Chase's nature of being a rigid rulebook. Most times Cody helps Chase understand human expressions and terms when Charlie is busy or otherwise engaged, with both their efforts helping the police 'Bot to loosen up. There are times when he needs Chase's input, as strange as that aid might be, and Cody doesn't hesitate to seek it.

Boulder he goes to almost as regularly as Heatwave, and the two get along fantastically. Boulder provides him with loving company he's hungry for, and sound advice without being overbearing. Blades sometimes needs more encouragement than anything, and thus Cody plays the rare part of helping guide someone through their numerous fears. Because of that, the 'copter 'Bot is extremely loyal and protective of Cody, and when Cody does ask for his help or companionship, Blades readily gives it. Sometimes, Blades will even go above and beyond what is asked, and never asks for anything in return.

These are healthy, constantly growing relationships that Cody develops with the 'Bots, as well as magnificent characterizations that are always expanding. While the focus tends to be shown through Cody's eyes or centered around him, it never fixates on him more than is necessary. Rather, by setting him up as the show's heart, the writing team is able to stretch out towards arcs related to other characters, both the 'Bots and their specific partners, and the other human cast members who interact with the 'Bots on a less frequent basis.

This is how Cody takes the potential of Raf from Prime and not only runs with it, but builds up countless heartwarming moments and strong characterizations over the course of Rescue Bots' run. Cody is positively and rightly shown as the glue of the family element of the show, and is given the autonomy to maintain his own personality and growth without being forgotten like Raf consistently was. That's why Cody stands out, and poor Raf is left hanging.

Well, that's my thoughts on the matter. I felt I should tackle Raf, given I covered his two peers, and Cody is a cute, fun, and constantly evolving counterpart to Raf that explains much of why I feel the poor baby of Team Prime was ultimately misused and unnecessary. I hope you enjoyed this, and that it got some gears turning in your heads.

I'll be seeing you guys!

"Rescue Bots, roll to the rescue!"

[tinydefector]

Hey Tiny!I dont know if youve been asked this before but how do you think cybertronians feel about humans,a fleshy organic species, on earth that is lightyears away from their home planet looking and acting suspiciosly(if i dont spell something right sorry) alot like them?

Since in some of the continuitys the allspark ends up on earth, do you thinks some transformers might think we were made by primus to?

Another thing im interested in, is that since we're so interested in technology, is that humans eventually become a techno-organic species then become a transformers like species from there.Like transformers can help out with that and eventually we all evolve into one metal transforming species?

Sorry it took me so long to get around to this one.

Personally I love the idea of both humans and Cybertronians getting the Uncanny valley reaction to each other, for Cybertronians its more of a 'why do I feel sudden dread near these little creatures, have my people done something to them, does it have something to do with the Quintasons.

For humans it's more of the freeze up, don't look don't acknowledge, treat it like your in the Appalachians reaction to them the first time they ever see a Cybertronian becuase the closest thing outmind and body can relate something so similar and different is fear.

____

Cybertronians are very fascinated by our body structure, like out of all the different species in space some little backwater planet has a species so similar to them. Some believe it Primus' doing others believe it's just the way the planet evolved over time.

I happen to very much like the earth is Unicron in some aspects and love the idea of Unicron being such a petty little bitch who made humans becuase he wanted to one up Primus with his creation. (Gets even funnier with human x Rung stuff) cause now Unicron has to suffer knowing that primus is interfacing a human or the fact that humans and Cybertronians are getting it on that much all becuase he was a petty bitch.

______

I don't think humans would ever become a fully techno organic race but I do very much love the idea of how our technology advances for those with disabilities, its much more small stuff then us having advances weapons under our skin. I happen to really love the idea of having cybernetic prosthetics, and other advanced technologies along that line. Cybertronians being a lead into helping humans develop was to help re make or structure joint with much safe surgery then the metal pins we use.

So I don't think it would go full cyberpunk style but I do like the idea of us going the more cyborg route than the techno organic.

___________

But also along that line there are always going to be those who fear things they don't understand both on the human and Cybertronian side. If you guys have ever played Detroit become human it's a great aspect of how I think people would very Cybertronians outside of the fact of the fear of them being aliens.

But i also love the idea of Cybertronians fearing the shit out of humans over the experience they have had with other organic races, (quintasons). Seeing what we do with old cars, how we pull them apart when somethings wrong, I feel like alot of bots would fear being undercover on earth due to just what humans can do to cars.

So honestly I think k the cybertronians fear us more than them due to just watching what we do with the stuff around us, while our fear of them stems from uncanny Valley and the fear of aliens. But once we get to know then it's all a down wards spiral to freak intercourse.

[witchofthesouls]

I love the "humans into Cybertronians" trope, so we should have more work about the weirdness that's humanity, especially as an animal, and how it translates into their Cybertronian frame.

I mean, Earth is very much a Death Planet/Space Australia goes really well with the "Unicron is Earth" subplot. Might as well lean really into it.

Like tolerance to toxins and disease, so it's not just a wider range of possible substances to consume but even capable of figuring out how to prepare toxic ingredients into edible dishes that won't kill other Cybertronians as well as greater resistance towards certain pathogens as infectious disease a massive driving force when it comes to evolution. I think it would be fascinating to explore the effects of the genetic mutations transferring over, like how the very genes that increased survival with bubonic plague (Black Death) is capable of withstanding of the Cybertronian-equivalent, Rust Plague or Cosmic Rust. Funny enough, those mutations that allow that resistance to plague are also associated with developing autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

So now, more potential storylines for disabilities and how they're perceived between humans and Cybertronians, especially how each side approaches it.

Transformation capabilities are incredibly important to them. It's deeply entwined in their cultural/societal framework, so a cyberformed!human with no T-cog is the disability to them.

Look at the massive difference between Ultra Magnus losing a hand versus Starscream and Bumblebee losing their T-cogs; physical disabilities have workarounds or even straight-up fixes as long there are enough resources (Breakdown's eyepatch and Ultra Magnus' claw).

It doesn't matter the training or capabilities. Agent Fowler's military record and June Darby's medical experience would be considered secondary as they're severely handicapped and more vulnerable compared to them. Then there are other angles to utilize of the biological and cultural differences, especially with the popular fandom idea of sparklings and canon Functionism, so would it really be a huge surprise if those cyberformed!humans were coddled or infantilized since humans barely last a single year in a Cybertronian lifetime? That has to be beyond frustrating on so many levels.

And vice versa, like imagine a humanized Megatron gets taken out by celiac disease or being severely lactose intolerant?

[in1-nutshell]

Hello! Can I make a request?

Like let's say a teacher called in sick and the students were allowed to leave early, but there is a problem…

Arcee, Optimus, bumblebee, and Bulkhead are away on a mission, everything was going fine until they got attacked by Decepticons.

Ratchet is at the base, but he can't leave because what if the others needed him to open a spacebridge and he wasn't there?

The only one available is Maxima, she had left the base early to go and strech her tires.

What if Team Prime had no choice but to let Maxima pick up the kids?

Just imagine faces of everyone upon seeing a freaking monster truck at school and not only that, but also seeing Miko, Jack, and Raf get into said truck!

HA! Love this concept!

Hope you enjoy!

Maxima picks up the kids from school

SFW, Platonic, Slight Familial, Cybertronian reader

TFP

There were times that Maxima hated having the alt mode she had.

One of the main things was that she could never go to town without raising too many questions.

This also limited her area in being a guardian or even a sub guardian!

She was given guardian duties only at the base.

Even Ratchet had sub guardian duties!

…But then again, he was an ambulance something less discrete than a monster truck.

So, forgive her for making a full stop when Ratchet told her that she needed to pick up the kids.

Maxima: “Ratchet, you do realize that my alt mode isn’t exactly… normal, right? Is there literally no one else?” Ratchet: “I know Maxima, but right now the rest of the team is out on a mission, and I cannot leave my post.” Maxima: “What if we traded places?” Ratchet: “Maxima this is not up for debate, besides your closer.” Maxima: “Then how am I—wait a minute, I got an idea! Just gotta make a quick stop…”

The kids had no idea what to expect today.

It was getting late and there was no side of their guardians anywhere.

Not even a single phone call!

A huge shadow suddenly engulfed the trio.

The trio were shocked to see Maxima’s alt mode in the drive.

The doors opened revealing Agent Fowler and Maxima’s holoform in the front. Fowler: “C’mon kids, it late.” The kids excitedly started climbing in when a shrill voice spoke. It was Sharon, one of the most annoying PTA parents to ever grace the schools’ halls. Infamously known for her calling… Sharon: “EXCUSE ME!” Sharon glared at the kids inside the truck. Sharon: “And wait do you kids think you’re doing?! Get down from there!” Maxima pokes her head out the window. Maxima: “Is there a problem ma’am?” Sharon glares at her: “Yes! This vehicle is not suitable for picking up children! I should report you for it!” Maxima: “I’m just picking the kids up ma’am. No harm done.” Sharon’s face turned red. Sharon: “My husband is a police officer! I can have you ARRESTED MISSY!” Agent Fowler’s head pokes out the window. Fowler: “Is there a problem ma’am.” Sharon: “There’s going to be a problem if you don’t pick these children in a suitable car!” Fowler: “Miss, this was the only vehicle avail—” Sharon: “I WILL HAVE YOU ARREST YOU BIG, FAT— ARGH!!!” Sharon pours her hot coffee on Maxima’s tires and spits on them. Maxima’s holoform winces a bit. That was going to be a pain to clean… Fowler shows her his badge: “Special Agent William Fowler to you.” Sharon quickly shuts up and quickly runs back to her car.

Maxima quickly got out of that town using every suitable backway she knew before speeding down the dusty road.

She had disabled her holoform once they all got to the base.

Thankfully the team had arrived a few minutes earlier

Maxima had opened the doors for the humans to get out.

Maxima is about to transform but Miko waves her arms. Miko: “Wait! Wait!” Maxima: “Huh? Miko?” Miko: “Just wait here! Boys cm’on!” The trio went off to one of the supply closets. Bulkhead: “What’s with that?” Maxima and Fowler: “Sharon.” Bulkhead and Arcee cringe at the name while Bumblebee whirled a bit angrily. Maxima: “Yeah… she spat and pour coffee on my rims.” Miko, Jack and Raf walk out with buckets of water, soap and drying rags. Maxima: “Umm, what’s all this for?” Raf: “Helping you clean the coffee, spit and dirty from your rims.” Maxima tries to ignore the swelling in her spark. Maxima: “Seriously its not—” Miko: “Shush! Play with the rubber duck while we clean.” Maxima chuckles a bit as Miko places the duck in her dashboard as the others got ready to clean her rims. Maybe today wasn’t such a bad day after all.

Visual representation of what Maxima wanted to do to Sharon when she saw muddy puddle near her the next day...

[lets-try-some-writing]

What would be TFP and TFA cybertronians both bots and cons reaction about thé paralympics. Because as you probably know CYBERTRONIAN'S.DON'T.HAVE.DISABILITIES💥💢. And dont forget tumor face(it's TFA sentinel BTW PS:I gave hum thé nickname tumor face because of his chin and his personnality),along with thé TFA elit guard and TFA blackaracnia.

I'm not going to answer this with writing because:

Cyberverse Perceptor, if I recall correctly, is blind.

Skybound Starscream is, as of the present moment, legless.

TFA Blitzwing quite clearly has a personality disorder of some flavor.

TFA Megatron was just a head for a while, and I am pretty sure that counts as being disabled.

And let's not forget Whirl and Shockwave from the comics, both of which went through empurata, which quite literally took their hands and heads away before replacing them with what essentially counts as a prosthetics.

Oh yes, and there's TFP Ultra Magnus who lost a hand and got a claw instead. Can't ignore him.

And then TFP Bumblebee is an example as well. I mean, he quite literally had his voice taken from him and uses alternative means of communication.

Of course I am not pointing this out to be rude or anything, I'm just offering up some examples. Also I don't know much of anything about the paralympics, so I don't feel like I can write about it.

[knight-says-rollout]

Would you mind telling us about more disabled Cybertronians?

Oh boy would I

For this list let’s focus on physical disabilities, both because they’re the most commonly dismissed by the fandom and bc if we try to cover everything we’d be here all day (that can be another list, maybe, if y’all want)

This isn’t going to be comprehensive bc I’m tired but!! I will aim for a broad variety of examples nonetheless

Bumblebee - You all know him, you all love him. He’s the most obvious and most well known example of a disabled Cybertronian character.

In many iterations he is mute

Not by choice but because he lacks a voice box. Bee physically isn’t capable of speech and depending on the version has different tools to work around that. Sometimes he uses his radio to repurpose song and radio dialogue into speech, in cyberverse he also makes use of the internet for clips. In the aligned continuity (tfp and connected media) he speaks in binary, a very simplified form of language using beeps and buzzes, but still lacks a real voice and can’t form words.

In IDW he has a cane

At one point in the comics Bumblebee was shot by a human protester and as a result used a cane for a good bit of time. I haven’t had the chance to read that far into IDW yet so I’m not sure how long he had the cane for but it was enough time that it’s a solidified part of the charcaters history. I’ve seen little models of the cane for sale, to be paired with bee figures.

TFP Ultra Magnus - everyone’s favorite awkward commander, despite his popularity he’s surprisingly overlooked when it comes to this discussion

An amputee, he lost his hand

During an energon raid with wheeljack, magnus’ hand was crushed. Ratchet couldn’t save it and had to amputate, replacing it with a hooked prosthetic. I call it a prosthetic rather than replacement part because despite him being able to move it, it’s not a hand. Not in the way he had previously, and he has to relearn how to use it at all.

I think that’s an important distinction to make when discussing disability and transformers. Some bots might have only ever had one hand, or no legs, or etc but that’s always been their level of ability and since they Are robotic. Yeah they might not have the same capabilities as another bot but that’s a hard metric to go by. Seekers can fly but a grounder isn’t disabled because they can’t fly too, it’s a different standard.

WFC Shamble - far lesser known than Magnus, and reasonably so, this background character is Also missing a limb

Amputee, leg edition

His prosthetic is a lot less fancy than magnus’s, it’s a simple peg leg. Put em together and you get a pirate. Not much to say about him since i don’t know how he lost the leg, just that he did.

Shadow Striker - Most awesome lady in cyberverse. Unlike the above two, she Was able to get actual replacement parts rather than prosthetics. Despite this, she is both shown throughout the show and implied to have

Impaired mobility

Chronic pain

She was able to get replacement parts yes but they were needed because she was blown up. The limbs she was given were kinda just what the others could Find and as such are mismatched and don’t fit her very well. Her motor skills took a blow especially when it comes to combat, something she used to excel in. Her new limbs are described as unstable and prone to malfunction. The loss of mobility and implied chronic pain that come along with her situation are rough, but she makes do.

SG Soundwave - my favorite little guy, he’s in a bit of a different situation than the previous.

Bad Joints ™

His body was entirely overhauled multiple times, successfully, but the latest frame change was done with conflicting metals. Earth and Cybertronian materials clash in his joints, making them prone to getting stopped up. The most affected hinge being the one on the door to his tape deck. It is so prone to getting stuck that his cassettes refuse to dock with him at risk of getting trapped. To work around this, Soundwave has the aid of a personalized case he carries around that they dock in instead.

IDW Sunstreaker - speaking of assistive devices, this guy was (for a time) a wheelchair user! Or,, hoverchair.

Temporary,,, paraplegic? Correct me if another term fits better

Taking this moment for an aside to say hey!! Lookit that, both canes and hoverchairs are things that canonically and casually exist on cybertron!! It’s not too wild to assume there are bots out there who use them long term!! Yes both characters on this list were repaired eventually but they’re also both very popular old characters from an action based franchise and hasbro doesn’t have the balls to make something like that permanent yet. We the fandom are not hasbro. We can do whatever we damn want with our OCs. It’s canon that ur little guy can use mobility aids.

Ok, PSA over, anyway yeah Sunny’s body was basically wrecked and alpha trion was able to repair all of him except his legs. This put him in a hoverchair for a good amount of time.

Finback - he’s a con, a pirate, who developed a “metal wasting disease”

He’s on permanent life support

The disease is going to kill him eventually, and it’s explicitly stated that he’s come to terms with the idea of his death. In the meantime he’s using pretender tech, kinda like fancy armor, to reinforce himself and boost his immune system

Perceptor - for a microscope, the fact he’s got vision issues in multiple continuities is kinda ironic

He’s fully blind in cyberverse

He lost an eye in IDW

Between the two we get to see both routes taken to work with this. Adaption and technological aid. In cyberverse he uses his scope to compensate for the loss of vision Toph-style. In IDW he built himself a monocle that basically replaces the pieces that are missing.

Now we get into the uniquely Cybertronian disabilities, one’s that don’t quite translate to human conditions

Transmutate - is a beloved bot from beast wars

They can’t transform, they don’t have an alt mode

I’m hazy on the details of their character but afaik they came from a damaged stasis pod. Described as deformed and handicapped for their both their lack of an alt mode and general appearance, they are probably the oldest explicitly disabled Cybertronian character

Xaaron - from G1 is in a similar situation

He can’t transform, it would kill him

Unlike transmutate he does have an alt mode, a tank, but after thousands of years without transforming he is no longer able to. The new stress it would cause on his body would kill him.

Broadside - continuing with the subject of alt modes, this clumsy boy is a boat! That’s not a good thing.

He’s very prone to motion sickness

As you can imagine, chronic sea sickness isn’t the most helpful thing when you are the boat. This brings in the entirely new element of mobility issues that are inherent to alt modes. A bot that functions fine in root form might not in alt mode and vice versa.

Trailbreaker - is another instance of this. He’s not a fast car by any means but that doesn’t stop the fact

His frame has a very high energon cost

Possibly the least fuel efficient autobot, he’s got an outlier ability on top of it all that only further increases his required energon intake. He needs to pay more attention to his energon levels and refuel more often overall.

G1 Knockout - yes that’s right the shiny medic himself is on this list, though not for the same reason as his tfp version, g1 knockout still lives up to his name

He’s prone to fainting

A knockout in the more literal sense, he faints when he gets too excited. Fully collapses and everything. Since he’s a fall risk, his teammates take care to keep an eye on him.

Annnnd Yknow he probably should’ve been earlier in the list along with the “human-ish” issues but I’m tired, it’s late, and I’m bringing this list to a close

Im sure there are more characters that I didn’t mention but I hope this helped! Thank you for the ask

[mechdyke-after-hours]

INSIDE THE TOWER OF GOLD

⚠️ WARNINGS!! ⚠️

mild transformers one spoilers, non-con, drugged sex, mild violence

THIS IS A NON-CON FIC. if you don't like any of the above tags PLEASE just scroll onwards.

once again another messy ficlet or whatever! but I want that mech's pussy destroyed... so... :)

Second part is here! heed the warnings!!

Sentinel Prime had all he ever wanted. Power. Money. Respect. Fame. Everything he ever dreamed was in the palm of his servo. And he LOVED it. He loved broadcasting himself in front of Iacon and letting all of the other, less important, Cybertronians see his glorious frame. He preened and polished himself constantly, making sure his plating was shiny enough that it was practically a mirror. He was the picture perfect heroic prime, as far as the citizens of Iacon were concerned.

But of course, it wasn't enough for Sentinel. It could never be enough. Which is exactly why he held the most luxurious parties he could. Free from anyone he felt too far beneath him. The best energon money could buy, triple filtered high grade and a pack of Syk. The little patches were arranged delicately on a platter, a warning card placed at the front explaining the effects, HEAVILY encouraging mechs to not take more than one and explaining how to properly use them. Avoid applying patches to the helm or chassis... the usual scrap that was only there to avoid possible lawsuits. Not like anyone would ever dare to try, but better safe than sorry.

The party was going perfectly, as it always did. He already knew he wasn't going to take anything or drink too much, since he was required at the surface tomorrow morning. He mostly just stood around, a small glass of high grade balanced between his digits that he sipped at between conversations with mechs he didn't care to learn the names of.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't jump when a servo suddenly pressed against his back. He bristled, but kept his cool, his derma curled as he forced a smile onto his face. He stayed polite, keeping up the conversation with the mech. Sentinel felt a familiar helmache coming on. His legs started to feel weak, his vision going slightly blurry. He kept up the conversation as well as he could, but his speech was starting to get slurred, his voicebox glitching. Next thing he knew, his vision was spinning and he was collapsing to the floor, the glass in his servo shattering against the floor.

Sentinel's optics slowly started to flicker online, a strange ache and pressure blooming from his crotch. He tried to move his arms, he was completely paralysed. His vision was blurred, his hearing muffled. He reset his optics, and his audials. Once. Twice. The world around him slowly started to gain some clarity. He glanced down between his legs, only to be slightly horrified at what he saw. His interface panel had been forcefully pried off. Small glowing blue droplets of energon stained his plating, mixing with splatters of pink. His array was aching and burning, feeling impossibly stretched and loose. Sentinel Prime was never a mech to pray. But in that moment, he prayed.

He glanced down at his frame. Syk patches littered his arms and his chassis. Enough to have him completely paralysed, but not enough to cause his frame to go into full system reset. His arms and legs were useless, unable to kick or push, he had to just lay there uselessly as his valve was used and abused. The swirling mix of pain and pleasure swam through his systems. His comms had been disabled, his HUD blinking a warning about needing repairs. Someone was moaning and whining, and he became aware that it was his own voice. Mechs were lined up, servos running over his once untarnished and shiny plating, now defiled and sticky. He tried to protest, but his voicebox failed him.

Sentinel sobbed, or at least he thought he did. He was vaguely aware of another round of transfluids filling his valve, dripping down onto the luxurious padded sofa beneath, now stained and torn. The mech pulled out, only to reach down and scoop up the spilling transfluids, shoving them back into his valve. He could barely make out the words being said to him, his processor taking twice as long to work. "Hah! C'mon, Prime! Keep that load in ya pretty lil' valve. Why don't you open that gestation chamber for us and we'll spark ya up, huh? Maybe then you'll actually be useful for something!" Came a sneering voice from above him. He bit his derma hard enough that he tasted energon.

Another fat spike pressed against him, the golden folds of his valve parting and wrapping around the thick metal rod. He held back a noise as thick ridges stretched his calipers to the limit, and then some. His spike twitched, before he overloaded with a loud cry, shooting transfluid up across the shiny dark blue of his chassis. The mech above him laughed cruelly, forcing Sentinel's intake open before spitting directly onto his glossa. "Dirty mech. Cumming while being passed around like shareware. If only Iacon could see their beloved prime now, with a nobody's spike shoved up his pretty cunt." Sentinel overloaded again.

The mechs manhandled him. Positioning him in whatever way they wanted. He was on all fours presenging himself like some sort of mechanimal in heat, and with the way he was panting he may as well have been. He didn't remember offlining his optics, but they shot open when a spike started to press against his intake. A rough hand squeezed at his cheek plates, forcing his mouth open. A mech of his status shouldn't be doing something as lowly as sucking spike... but it seemed he didn't have a choice. His intake hung open, the blunt tip of a spike pressing against his glossa. It slipped in further, until his nose was pressed against plating. His throat cabling felt tight, his glossa pressed flat against the floor of his intake as he drooled oral lubricants onto the floor beneath him. His tanks lurched as the mech started thrusting brutally, surely bruising the sensitive rubber of his throat. A servo wrapped around his neck and squeezed, causing him to gag even harder, an obscene bulge visible through the soft plating. His optics rolled back as tears of coolant spilled down his cheeks.

Sentinel didn't remember passing out again. But next thing he knew, he had woken up. A datastick was next to him as well as a single printed photo, his abused and whored out frame covered in Syk patches. A threat of blackmail if he'd ever seen one. He fumbled as he plugged the datastick into one of the ports on the inside of his arm, quickly uploading the footage to an encrypted folder deep in his memory banks. He groaned, as he checked his internal chronometer. He was going to be late. He couldn't be late. The quintessons would kill him if he didn't get them their energon on time, or worse, expose his treachery to all of Iacon. He gritted his denta, standing up and peeling the used Syk patches off of his plating as he trudged to the washracks with a groan, and a massive helmache.

Solvent washed over his frame, feeling like fire against his still exposed tender valve and spike housing. He scrubbed quickly, removing most of the evidence. Buffing off paint transfers and scrubbing away as much dried transfluid that he could. He rushed, turning off the shower and drying off, being careful around his exposed delicate areas. He picked up his discarded modesty panel from the floor of the main room, retrieving a welding kit from his emergency kit and getting to work. His welding job was shoddy, much more used to having people fix him up, but it'd have to do. He needed to address the people of Iacon, before heading to the surface. He just hoped quintessons didn't have the ability to smell transfluids.

[earthstellar]

Transformers Posts for Disability Pride Month 2023

Since I’m disabled and obviously love Transformers lmao, I’m probably going to be talking a lot about disabled bots and disability in various Transformers continuities etc. a bit more than usual this month! 

So, this is going to be my compilation post, to gather up everything in one spot. (Plus I’m linking some of my older posts which touch on the theme of Cybertronians and disability.) 

New Posts for 2023: 

TFP - Cane User Ratchet 

IDW 1 - Caminus: The Disabled Titan 

IDW 1 / Various - Headcanon: Hearing Disabled Megatron 

Old Posts: 

Various - Cybertonian Sign Language and Chirolinguistics 

TFP - Soundwave and Multimodal Communication (Including Non-Verbal)

More will almost certainly be added as the month goes on! 

[justordinarygirl]

Crushed bird

Starscream x reader

The art was made by me, specifically for this….. can I call it creative? I don't speak English, but I translated it for you. Possible triggers: Cripples, trauma, blood, lengthy text. Please enjoy. ^^

It was some kind of miracle that not a single tear slipped down the dark faceplate. Not that you were a crybaby yourself, not at all, even as a child it wasn't hard to smile your way through the first scars, cuts and burns, but looking at Starscream's unconscious body, lying on the cold floor of the ship like a used doll, it was hard not to feel a heavy and pressing lump in your throat.

The thick metal of his frame is crumpled everywhere, the usually strong and graceful figure of the seeker now resembling crumpled and trampled origami. There were so many dents and paint cracks spreading from the impact that it was hard to recognize him as an air commander, were it not for the familiar colors of the plating and the bent in the wrong direction but still gorgeous white wings.

The view was limited with such a tiny, especially compared to Cybertronians, human stature. Starscream still towered over the fragile organic figure, even unconsciously lying on his back with his manipulator torn off and oozing azure-colored energon. Any fear was chased away by chest-scorching pity, until, shuffling his feet, you circled around and stopped a serious distance from the seeker.

Shards of the yellow glass of his naked cockpit scattered throughout the compartment, turning into fine crumbs. Your eyes traveled to the pool of energon from his chest plates to the torn out interface plate, where Megatron finally released all his tension and frustration, wiping his manipulators on the disabled Starscream and leaving the room.

Your longing for the humiliated seeker, so reminiscent of a machine-crushed bird, filled your heart as your dry lips stretched into a line. In the quiet hum of Nemesis, thoughts flowed in a free river until a lurching sound came from his side and sparks flew from torn wires, the current not traveling to the right parts of the body. The optics activated and blinking scarlet light making his broken form even more pitiful as he slowly began to roll over onto his side with a painful groan. The seeker's insides creaked pitifully and loudly with the movements, a protruding piece of the manipulator endoskeleton sagged under the heavy weight of the fighter and made a crunching sound, causing Starscream to shriek and immediately choke on his energon. The horrifying sight made you step back a few steps, crunching the glass under your soles.

The wide-open optics stared straight at you. You swallowed saliva and froze in response.

Starscream didn't immediately realize what he was looking at. The noise ahead of him made cold terror fill his processor, already expecting the torment to continue. But slowly he recognized his organic pet and his faceplate contorted with hatred for all living things. With an effort, the mech forced his second, still intact, manipulator to reach for the tiny figure, gloating as he watched the fear flash in the organic eyes. That's right. That's the way it should be. He is Lord Starscream, a scholar and a great warrior, capable of inspiring fear, capable of making those around him shake with terror in any condition. No one can break him, especially a dirty digger. Seekers are born to bathe in the stars and dive into the clouds while this gray glitch digs in the mine. Everything will fall into place one day, he'll prove it to everyone.

All strength left his frame and the manipulator fell to the floor with a thud, barely touching the human's skin with his middle finger. The mech wasn't thinking of killing organics at all, and no, it wasn't attached to this mammal, not by a single millimeter, hes… just wouldn't. Too much energon was lost and a pet was useful, sometimes. Starscream hissed at the sharp pain between the servos and ducked to the purple floor, sticking grains of glass sand to his dark cheek. Warm and trembling human palms pressed against the metal finger, your fear receding into the background again, giving way to a desire to comfort, at least as best you could. A lazy but wary gaze followed your movements, the incomprehensible touch on his manipulator and the flesh approaching his faceplate now.

Hardly remember the days when Starscream was condescending …to anyone at all, much less an animal.

And now, with his frame lying on the dirt floor, weakened and unable to fight back in any way, the helmet was filled with images of possible taunts at him. She could just kick him, she could get her slender fingers between the joints of his armor and proceed to tear him from the inside out wherever she could reach, cut the main wire around his neck and leave him choking in an empty room, though no, she'd burn herself with his energon, then set him on fire, spit at him or…

«Is there anything I can do to improve the situation, Starscream?»

…improve? She's laughing at him, trashy, that's even worse.

«If you're useful enough to grow me a new limb and rebuild my body. If not, just lost» he hisses, speak the words in a language the beast understands through the dentoplates.

«The door doesn't open in front of a human, I can't call a doctor, but, you know, I can just hang around, touch heals both body and soul.» you babble quietly over it, vacillating between resentment and affection.

Touching? Oh, yes, he'd been healed enough already, no part of his body was left untouched. He almost hated any hint of touching him, reminding him of the scratching, the squeezing, the feeling of humiliation after every contact and the nasty manipulators trying to tug at his wings time after time as if it were some mandatory item on their list. Not if she even reached out to him, wanting to stick something in the sockets so she could laugh with the others as if his existence meant nothing, he'd find the strength to throw it at the wall.

Starscream was silent now. In response to your suggestion, he only wrinkled his lips and stared into the void, clearly withdrawn into himself again, into his thoughts as he had been for so many days before.

At first, when the Decepticon's optics first fell on you, it was hard to make out. In him, in his hints of something in his gestures and phrasing of words, in his facial expressions, too. To distinguish a frown and clenched jaw, when irritated, from a squinted look and a slight movement of the lips to the side, when worried, as if it required education in a special institution, but so far it was possible to grasp everything possible on the fly. It was impossible not to recognize that there was an incredible charm in every emotion. In offense or in mockery. Sometimes, almost always, you wanted to get closer to those eyes and lips, but he towered over you like an impregnable fortress, all the time. He still did, but now the roughness of his thin, supple metal face was more noticeable than ever. The energon had a tendency not to dry out for a long time, so the seeker's forehead still glistened with blue liquid. His stare into the void is no longer so much angry as tired, and if he were human, his face would clearly be adorned with huge bags of sleep deprivation. A lot of sleep deprivation.

He almost flinched in surprise when the humans fingers touched him again, shaking dust and crumbs of glass from him. The black streaks sliding from his optics to his lips were like eternal tears that couldn't be wiped away. Close. He's so close now and so quiet, nice and warm to the touch, as if beckoning even closer. Is it wrong to touch him? Wouldn't he compare touching himself without permission to the horrors he'd been forced to endure?

"Can I kiss you?" somehow that very sentence comes off your lips on its own. Hes so soft and smooth and yet it's made of goddamn metal, and you don't seem to have fully analyzed your desire to touch it with your lips before you asked.

"Do what?!" his voice rose so high that he almost squeaked out the middle of his question. Is he shocked at the audacity? Or does he really not understand? Your eyes flickered nervously, searching for some clue in his facial expressions, but in vain.

«A kiss. Um, well, a comforting gesture between people, you know, like a pat on the shoulder…no?» while you took the effort to explain yourself, Starscream's eyebrow arched questioningly and only had enough air in his venting system, causing an unpleasant tickle in his throat, to charge at the mere thought that he (he!) needed comforting as you, with a quick exhale, simply pressed your lips to the tip of his nose for a brief moment.

Starscream had forgotten what he was going to say.

«What was that? What did you do, meat?» seeaker’s emotions weren't clear, his eyes like they could melt you at any second.

«It's a kiss. I heard… it helps wounds heal faster.» It was a bad idea, wasn't it? He'll get angry, damn impulsiveness, you always had to ruin everything!

«Your slag kiss doesn't work!» He said the new word with a sneer, stretching the s, but didn't shout.

After thinking about something for less than a minute, Starscream spoke again in a tired and hoarse voice:

«You should try it again, just to be sure. That's an order, do you hear?»

I want you to know how much I really love him…I would give my life for this birdy brat.

[sonicasura]

Considering all the shenanigans that happen in every iteration where Autobot-Decepticons duke it out on Earth and they can connect to the Internet... I am legitimately surprise neither piss off a hacker.

At best, clashes between both sides result in minor property damage alongside disturbing the peace. You know that's saying something if this is the preferred option. Plus the whole planet is caught in the crossfire when you take groundbridges and airships into account.

There are people smart enough to hack government systems so whose to say a Cybertronian is safe? A spiteful technical genius could load up a virus where everybot affected feels the dreadful pain of menstruation. Why upload a kill switch when you can be petty as fuck with period cramps?

Even more savage if the hacker has a countermeasure where trying to remove the virus just upgrades it. To what? How about stimulating the pain women feel going through childbirth. There are machines that programmed to do it like in this clip from Impractical Jokers where Q gets strapped to this device for his punishment.

Offender starts at level one as there are 8 stages. Every attempt increases the intensity by a stage. Pretty sure the 2nd or 3rd stage is enough to make one submit.

Probably the most embarrassing(for Cybertronians) yet hilarious(for the hacker) way to end a war. Both sides have to play nice if they want this 'feature' disabled. It's easy to flip it back on in seconds so no psyches.

Humans are bloody space orcs. We come in many flavors with spite and pettiness being some. To do something like this is possible.

[bloominglegumes]

earthspark season 2 head in my hands,,,

maybe ill delete this later but i want to just get some thoughts out

spoilers below

ok i absolutely love what they set up in season one, every member of the malto family was used so well to compare and contrast with the experiences of the cybertronian characters familiar to us, these tired war veterans and resentful past allies ,,, like one of the big ones in my head right now being their choice to use bumblebee, The Kid Appeal Transformer, making him switch out of being a soldier and into a mentor (not sergeant, not commander, just unqualified older sibling-type position) for a herd of kids who have practically no concept of war and its implications was so so juicy. it's been repeated in practically every bit of transformers media ever that bumblebee is the designated little guy, the friendly one, the autobot who most easily makes friends with aliens, we've seen it in g1, in idw, in bayverse, tfa, tfp, cyberverse, i'm sure there are more versions that i can't think of at the moment

what they did to bumblebee in earthspark was essentially still put him in this best friend role, but the twist was how bumblebee did not even want to be there and didn't know a thing about kids and i loved it and i know many other people loved it as well.. even if the earthspark characters were roughly developed from their g1 base, this bumblebee was so clearly more used to being on a battlefield than just hanging out, he struggled with interactions that weren't like the 'ready to jump into a fight in an instant' dynamic that he was used to, though still having that sort of fuzzy playfulness that bumblebee is always written with ykyk

i think the writers made some really fascinating choices in taking some darker elements like in the idw comics and sort of filtering it for the audience through the malto family, but not baby-padding the real emotions behind the characters' experiences if that makes sense?? take megatrons grief and guilt for instance, the presence of the kids didn't diminish the reality of what he'd done or the consequences, but they sort of worked like a frame to have megatrons actions recounted in a particular direction. thrash's unwillingness to deal with the aftermath of a war the terrans had no part in was so.so real, ik i say it all the time but it was, the characters and the relationships between them were written with this real and intimate nuance that i really wouldn't normally expect from a show targeted for kids, not to mention the very clear and loving representation for poc, lgbtq+ identities, immigrant experiences, disabled ppl,,,

dont even get me started on the visuals, the sound design, the animation quality,,, i've only loosely been in animation college for a bit, i know there's still so much i don't know, but for sure i feel like earthsparks quality was pretty insane for regular series episodes

plus their character designers knew what they were doing + went so hard in the best way,,and the action scenes were beautifully choreographed, every character had their own unique movements and fighting style (think of the soundwave fight in decoy or megatron + optimus against skywarp + novastorm in age of evolution) in a way that i think definitely rivalled tfp in its intricacy and life-feeling. the camera work was stunning, the acting was on point and consistent for each character, the 2d effects were vibrant and gorgeous and so full of life, i'd say earthsparks effects are one of its most distinct stylistic choices and its so so excellent and i adore every smoke cloud and smear and electric zap and ghgruhgf

which is why it breaks my heart seeing season 2 open with such a noticeable decrease in quality,, breaks my heart that they didnt receive enough of a positive reception or whatever exactly it was that led to the earthspark team having to trim down and cushion their story

i still think earthspark is a really fun transformers show with a delightful cast, amazing voice actors, and i don't want to bash any particular member of the crew for things beyond their control. there's no doubt in my mind that the current team on earthspark is full of incredibly skilled artists, and i'm sure many people, including myself, will continue to enjoy the series going forward,, i'm just. disappointed that its not the best that it could have been.

a lot of season 2's writing just felt like.a regular kids show??? feels almost similar to cyberverse's fluctuation in tone throughout each of its seasons, s1 was full of generically-kid-friendly humour and gags, then sort of shockingly plummeted into that whole arc with starscream and the allspark monsters,, like, either direction would be fine and fun, but it's just the sudden change that makes it oofy for me ;-;

from just looking at the visuals, the character animation is less crafted and careful than it is in season 1,, i can really only describe it as it now being closer to what i'd think of as 'regular tv animation, made to be released on a schedule', rather than 'oh my god look at that secondary action replay replay now'. the characters movements are stiffer, less weighted, less natural-feeling, and if you're looking for it, it's clear where they loop animation or sort of sneak their camera shots to simplify actions, like a few fight scenes that had sections simplified into slowmo hit poses rather than being fully animated,, again its more or less fine for any other tv series, but it just feels off after being used to the look we had in s1

then the character animation goes hand in hand with the character writing + the dialogue, also just feeling like a lot of the original story they wanted to tell has been padded up and swaddled with more lighthearted, universally acceptable, safe plots. the goals and obstacles that came up in each episode didn't have the same emotional depth as in s1, where the main leads of each ep gained some sort of insight after their experiences + had some sort of vulnerability exposed, yknow yknow??

there are still traces of some juicier bits in there, like for instance i really like the section with the quintesson executioner causing mo to begin doubting quintus prime's intentions, then later the titan being all 'quintus is a prime and you should respect him' in a decently menacing way,, and i am glad that they had hashtag call out starscream and reminded him of their earlier conversation, i really hope they do something with those, but my point still stands that there were few parts of s2 i felt had some deeper meaning that can be built upon in the future.

i feel like the decision to make a timeskip was somewhat of a cop out as a means of explaining away how robby + mo have full control over these cybersuits now, how the maltos aren't shown having any more intra-family or identity-related conflict, how the decepticons all decided to follow starscream and go right back to fighting, etc etc, like 'oh well a year passed, things happened, this is just how things are now' like??? what happened to all that delicious heavy emphasis on growth and the choice to become better as a person and connecting to other people that was in s1,,

i know the decepticons wouldn't all have suddenly decided to buddy up with the autobots, but timeskipping a year and just reverting to the typical autobots vs decepticons dynamic we've had forever, without ever again really showing the thought processes of any of the characters in depth regarding the return to hostilities, when they just spent the whole previous season establishing how everyone is handling the aftermath of the war,,,, its like they've suddenly been turned back into generic cartoon villains instead of the unique individuals with their own thoughts and motives that they were introduced as,,

[diverting for a sec here im also just so sad that theres been nothing to fuel my enjoyment of megatron being very estranged from his high command,, barely anything to fuel the divorced-remarried 3p megoplita dynamic like,,,,, starscream praised soundwave and shockwave both individually, op and megatron had another one of those finishing-each-others-sentences moments, op called his and elitas relationship "complicated" and i love that, but please i'm begging here elaborate,,,give me more drama to work with,,]

even when there are like.objectively horrible scary things happening, like mo going 1v1 against the quintesson, cosmos being fully conscious trapped in alt mode for 15 years, jawbreaker essentially fusing with aftermath and getting betrayed and all their cavewater stolen (is that not an issue??) ,, i feel like the characters are remarkably.unreactive???? maybe its just another timeskip cop out, ~a year has passed so they've gotten used to it~, except they all still clearly behave like the children they are,.

and it seems to be turning earthspark from being, in my opinion, one of the most emotionally charged + mature transformers series out there rn into just. i'm going to say it again, it's just starting to feel like a generic kids show, unless whoever controls this show at hasbro can get it back to the high standard it started itself at.

i've read news of nightshade's pronouns being cause for negative reception, and some reviews of s1 say earthspark is too 'woke', that kids shouldn't be watching shows pushing that type of agenda. i'm not sure if that's the main reason for this big change in s2 for the much 'safer' writing, or if there's more that i'm just not aware of right now, but like. man. i hate.creativity trying to survive capitalism the show is about love and family and cool robots wtf is wrong with people who genuinely hate that

i know i won't make much of an impact with just this post, i doubt anyone is still reading this,, but seriously, earthspark is clearly a love letter made by tf fans for tf fans, in such a wonderful, gorgeous package, and it really breaks my heart so much to see all the great things established in season 1 practically go to waste. i haven't said this enough before, if you enjoy earthspark, please support it through official means however you can, leave good reviews or buy their stuff, just let the decision-makers know they can profit from making this show better,, i really hope it survives to complete the story they want to tell