#the Terran’s deserve their show

[trashhole]

Tfe season 2 situation hot take

you can stone me, cancel me, send me threats for this I don’t care I’m saying my opinion.

Earthspark isn’t ruined just because your blorbo isn’t in it or isn’t perfectly written.

Tfe is about the terrans.

Everyone jumping to conclusions because of a rotten tomatoes synopsis that’s 2 sentences each is craaaazy. We haven’t even seen batch two and you guys are saying the season is trash? People worked hard on this to make something and we’re judging it before we’ve even watched it.

Have hope, not everything in life is immediately bad, and I’m sure the tfe team worked hard to make something great even if it’s not perfect.

And if the whole show is ruined to you because your side characters blorbo isn’t done justice you were never watching the show for it’s main purpose anyway so don’t expect it to cater to you. You can be mad but don’t be surprised. It’s not about them and never was.

I love idw but it’s not the end of the world that I won’t see my faves in tfe, because that’s not what it’s for. Ultimately it’s about the terrans, and the plot will suffer if they aren’t the general main focus. (Especially Robbie, bro is 2d, flat, and static. He needs to join an emo band.)

TLDR: stop sending hate to tfe before we even know what batch 2 looks like, it’s about the terrans not your faves y’all look like clowns for this, my daughter twitch did not die for your sins just for y’all to ignore her smh 😤/hj - sincerely, that one guy who drew almost exclusively tfe starbee for half a year

[fleshandwires]

she's so important to me (crying sobbing)

[katzske]

Thoughts on Earthspark Season 2 (first half)

Spoiler Free:

I must admit I’m dissatisfied.

The animation and rendering definitely looks cheaper. Sometimes it feels like frames are missing, animations not polished, scenes not fully rendered. 2d and 3d poorly blends. It’s quite noticeable unfortunately. Characters also do the TFP Megatron stare now.

That being said, time was taken to revisit old models of characters and give them a new appearance. (4 i’ve noticed) It makes sense given a lot has changed during one year time skip.

The writing often feels either like exposition dumping or naruto filler episodes. I was never at the edge of my seat even during the climax. I ended up skipping through episodes due to the lack of relevant plot information.

Something ES managed to maintain were carefully composed shots that make great still images. While that’s nice for screenshots and redraws, I also feel like it’s the only unique aspect of ES’ animation style that remained. The rest, as previously mentioned, has lost quality.

Character Details I’ve noticed and want to talk about (spoilers ahead)

half of season 2 part 1 is filler. optimus trailer episode, great america with cosmos, a pachycephalosaurus-truck fighting mushrooms, hashtag taking ten years to dispose of hard drives…. each episode did have a few minutes of either cute or important moments. but the majority is a waste of time.

I was hoping that we would learn more about the decepticons. now that they’re free, what are they up to? how are their dynamics? how did season 1 finale change their perception on things? would they try to convince the terrans THEY are the good guys? nothing like that though.

There is no satisfying character development for starscream. ES Starscream was perfect to explore a more neutral version of him, who does not do bad things out of pleasure, but due to necessity; following his desire to be free. In the show he mentions he wanted to get rid of his oppressors (in his eyes autobots and humans), but a real “bruh” moment was when he told Hashtag the only reason he opened up to her last time was to tell her “take care of yourself first”. It completely disregards the fact he came to help in the season 1 finale after reflecting on Hashtags words. It also aggravates me that the writing could have been a very easy fix. “hey i’m not being selfish by destroying this town. im doing this for the decepticons, we have lived under the control of the autobots and then of humans. this needs to stop, we deserve freedom and i will do anything it takes.”

the show managed to establish some friction between starscream and shockwave but for deception standards it was very tame. overall i think it was written okay; he purposely let the Terrans escape with the fragments, and he bailed on Starscream once he went bonkers. I hope that he gets to be a Decepticon leader in the second half; i don’t think we have seen that in any TF TV show before. i also like that his antennae and eye color give away his emotions now.

i feel like the autobots are treated even worse than the decepticons this season ngl. they merely exist; and when they do have the spotlight it’s often for comedy.

why the fuck did shockwave not wait for hashtag to just dump the hard drives and leave. if someone walked up to me yelling “give me your trashbag” as i’m trying to dispose of it i’d be weirded out too lol.

i hope the chaos terrans don’t return. aftermath imo was, plot wise, redundant. spitfire at least was interesting and had an impact.

i wish there were more interesting fights like in season 1 instead of, oh no they’re hitting the trailer with sticks, oh no we are an abomination of dinosaur and vehicle for what feels like 15mins straight. i miss seeing soundwave slay.

[beemochi-art]

Kaaaahhh!! *falls & eats the curb and drops all of my chaos Terran doodles.* BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING I KNOW CARS ISN’T DREAMWORKS!! I already got erm actually-ed. Spitfire and Am my poor doomed kids.

For both their designs I took a lil spin on it. For Am this the way I like to draw him. He acts gross so now he can look gross. He also doesn’t look baby in the show so meh, No further comments.

For Spitfire I gave her features that make look stronger and meaner even tho she’s mostly supposed to look just like Twitch. To me there is no point in drawing her just like twitch because the evil twin thing can be ruled out because they are completely different colors and they also went with the body swap thing. So I think making her look stockier and emo is more fun. I should draw a side-by-side comparison sometime.

Spoiler S2 rant* I get a little bit into delulu land so bear with me.

Jokes aside. I liked the chaos Terrans and the way they were handled wasn’t right. I hope they are able to make a comeback In the future and get redeemed because they deserve it. I feel really bad for them. It’s like they were labeled as Chaos and not to be trusted from the beginning I don’t think anyone truly understood them. I get that the chaos Terrans had wronged the Malto’s multiple times from the start but I think the way they went about handling them was so laxed. They just let the decepticons have them so they could be further influenced into the wrong path. It’s like they were doomed from the start.

After all they were just kids. I’ve been labeled as the bad, dumb, asshole kid before. Most of my school days I was in special ED and I was also pretty high energy too. So I can relate, if you are already labeled as bad or dumb why try to be anything else? Or trying to be cool and hanging around the wrong crowd just to be taken advantage of in the end.

They weren’t completely chaos either. They listened to the Decepticons. Following orders till the very end, if they were chaotic like their name implying would they just not listen to anyone and do whatever they wanted without any care of anyone else? Here’s what I think. The chaos Terrans (mostly Spitfire.) we’re trying to impress what they perceived as the cooler badder bots. That’s some kid shit, most kids try to get in with the group of cool kids. Why not stay with the Maltos? Cause that’s not cool to them. Do you want to hang out with the teachers pet or steal and break shit.

In defense of Aftermath. He’s capable of playing nice, he’s not evil. Him and Jb had a relatively good day with each other. He didn’t out right attack on sight. I think he took the water cause he didn’t want to seem like a looser in his heavily flawed mindset. Am is more of an impediment of Chaos, he just smashes and breaks shit cause he can. Honestly I think if you him just take him to a rage room he’d be fine.

In defense of Spitfire (who is a wayy more complicated case.) She was literally born that morning how was she supposed to know not hurting humans was an autobot rule. I think deep down she was jealous of Twitch’s family and opportunities. She has a competitive spirit and I think she wanted that mission to impress the bigger bots (even if she was rude to them.) when she was in Twitch’s body and said things like Chaos Terrans are bad and not to be trusted I wound if she was projecting what she thought they were thinking about her already. When she was cast out and went with the decepticons was they don’t like me and they don’t like you either so I’ll just hang with you guys. With that being said she’s naive too (it’s fine BECAUSE SHES A KID.) see the way starscream tells her good job or touches her shoulder, she wants his approval and to make him just like all kids with their parents. And then when she is ultimately betrayed, she’s a deer in headlights, shocked and afraid, probably realizing that she provided the weapon needed to killer her and her brother. She looked up to Starscream. Showing her fear and shock by being betrayed like that really showed us that Spitfire is so much more than just a bad guy. It really made me sad when she was screaming and saying no, god she needed help.

None of the chaos Terrans had gotten the opportunity to really learn or get to find something they like to do. The other Terrans had plenty of time to think about an alt mode, learn lessons get nurtured and cared for. The chaos Terrans had to get their alt modes immediately both out of necessity. Most of the time Am was just wandering around bored, he wasn’t being nurtured or taught anything. The cons didn’t care about them at all, neither did the autobots or Maltos that much. 

Saying Chaos Terrans are going to chaos or decepticons are gonna do what they do. Is super incorrect. It’s just labeling and not expecting anything more from these individuals which goes against the entire point of season one.

HOLY CRAP IF YOU READ ALL THIS. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk. Hopefully Some of this made sense.

[deadgirlrolling]

Tf earthspark season 3 spoilers and rant in no particular order

OMG!!@!!!!! THEY BROKE UP!!!!! 💔 listening I ship breakbee and everything but! I'm kind of glad they broke up don't kill me

Ok ok!! Prowl!! Was adorable!!!! I loved him!!!! He was so cute!!!! Especially when he gave Megatron that hug

Poor Robbie!!! His GF was a FREKEN!!! Alien!!! Like what do you do in that situation!!

I missed the kids fr!!!!

Also at first when bee was crashing out I thought Prowl had done something to bee but when it was about the mission I was like oh "everyone knows about the breakup huh"

A lot of relationship drama this season

Ngl thought more Autobots would show up

And!! I loved!!! When Prowl was pressing Optimus about the Terrans, bee immediately fought with Prowl for his kids bee was so ready to punch him just because he was saying that his kids aren't qualified for that job at hand

(What bee really wanted to say to prowl)

Bee: BITCH!!!! Gets my kids and dad's name!! Out yo motherfucking mouth!!!

Also love Dottie and Alex's relationship they are the best 👌

Also breakdown I'm sorry but you don't deserve Bee!! You don't!! He tried to help you!! And you're going to backstab your so-called FRIEND??? (Let's be fr Bee was in love with Breakdown) but I also believe that Breakdown was in love with Bee at one point but he would sacrifice Bee and his relationship in a heartbeat CAUSE HE DID!!!!

Like I said I do like breakbee but let's be honest it's has way!!! More angst than people like to admit

Also kind of sad it didn't show much of Bee and Prowl's relationship cause Bee definitely must have trusted him a lot considering this is connected to G1

Me when breakdown betrayed bee

[starburstminibot]

Hey, anon who asked bout the "how things were before Breakcheck was born"

First of all: I read the tags, don't ever apologise for info dumping, I love the dump and will eat it all. I am thoroughly enjoying this au and would love to read/see more of it

Secondly: It's quite alright for not doing art, as much as I do enjoy your art very much and love to see how you draw these characters, I also very much enjoy reading about it

Thridly: You are so right, the writers dont know shit and you get it alot mlre, and i LOVE how you are writing the issues between the 'Cons and 'Bots. Like there is sooo much they just, didn't explain. Megs being the one to become good and the other cons are left to be the bad guys??? PUH-LEASE

And even if they were to no longer be the bad guys, there is SO MUCH to their relationship that is skimmed over, like, c'mon

Anyhow, eating up your au OP. Breakcheck is best boy and I love seeing this goober and his story on my feed, writen or drawn out

Do not give me permission to yap bc i will not stop and you will regret it I promise /lh

IM SO FERAL??!>{£|! OUGHH IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT SO MUCJ BC IM GOING INSANE THINKING ABOUT IT

Also… I’m going to give possibly a hot take and it’s that Earthspark genuinely pisses me off sometimes. Because how dare they introduce such an interesting concept of a post-war setting with a redeemed Megatron and complex Decepticon/Autobot relationships and expect me to care about the Terrans.

I still like the Terrans, i think they are so silly goofy, and I like the idea of new characters to explore. But THE BACKGROUND PLOT IS SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING TO ME. The human alliance that turned out to be anti-cybertron??? Mandroid literally killing bots and experimenting on them?? grimlock getting mind controlled and having ptsd??? The rest of the Decepticons fighting for power and seething in rage of their leader’s betrayal??? Megatron trying to navigate his new life while being repentful of his past actions while also not crumbling under the guilt of his mistakes??? The fact that they are stranded on an alien planet and can’t go home?????? STARCREAM’S ABUSE GETTING RECOGNIZED????

they keep introducing these really interesting plots and then abandoning them for the sake of the Terrans getting more screentime.

I think these things would be easier to juggle if there weren’t so many of them tbh. I would rather just have Twitch and Thrash be these new Cybertronians that can guide the viewer through these complex plots because like us, they weren’t around for the war. They have a fresh untainted perspective on life.

(Dont get me wrong, I love Hashtag, JB, and Nightshade, but sometimes it feels like there isn’t enough screentime to flesh them all out and they end up getting characterized to one singular trait) (if all of them are around, I would rather them have their own focus show without the background plots of Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee, ect.)

Also they are REALLY trying to hit the family theme over our heads. They keep saying “family this family that” but deadass they talk about being a healthy family more than they actually act like it. Show me how much they love each other instead of putting it in every other line of dialogue.

Ok that is all, I didn’t mean to go on such a rant LMAO. I still like Earthspark, just sometimes it feels like they are trying to be two different shows and they are stuffing more into the plot than they have time to flesh out. (Breakdown, Starscream, and pretty much all the Decepticons deserved better)

[eleanor-second-floret]

So, we visited Erin (the red haired girl who tried to run off with me in the park) today. Mistress Aurelia was bristling with thorns when she had to see her, she didn’t want to take me but I didn’t let her go without me.

Apparently she hadn’t been taking her medicine, which made her even more paranoid according to the vet. They had her on a stricter regimen for them now, which made her seem better. She also hadn’t been taking her class G’s… she said “I don’t deserve them”. I think I might have overreacted telling her that she doesn’t have to justify herself to have them. I had almost climbed on top of her bed as I said that.

Mistress gave her some Class D’s to ask questions. She said she was scared, she said she wanted to escape. Not just the helianthus. She wanted to escape her thoughts, her feelings, herself. She said when she saw me in the park that I seemed pretty, so she latched onto me and impulsively had to take me with her to escape.

I really wasn’t expecting it, but she started talking about how much she didnt want to be in the hospital. I dont know why, but Mistress Aurelia said she would be in charge of Erin’s wardship. I kind of begged her to bring her home with us tonight, so she’s coming home with me :3 im excited, and Aurelia did seem to calm down after the answers she got from the Class D’s.

I can’t wait to show her the Hab. Maybe it will be easier to not run away if she’s got some people with her to help it feel less lonely? I wonder if Aurelia is going to make us sleep in different rooms for a while to keep an eye on her.

Continued from

[cityzenshark]

The worst message Earthspark has done is making an alien war invasion equal to immigration, and demonizing natives & locals for being defensive and having resentment of invaders.

It's the epitome of demanding victims of house robbery to forgive the robbers, as if the stuff stolen can simply be bought again and trust that they will not be misused (passports, ID, private documents, cherished heirlooms, pricy devices, etc.). More accurately, demanding victims of war to forgive and befriend invaders who brought death and destruction to their homes because if they don't, to our protagonists' morality, they'll be worse than said invaders.

The Terrans & kids could've felt the slightest semblance of how the general humanity feels about Transformers after Swindle and especially after Tarantulas snuck into their farm and kidnapped their parents. Sure, he made amends but before that, he wouldn't even listen to Nightshade until after they fought him.

Don't get me started on Starscream. Sure it's implied he was mercilessly abused by Megatron, but it doesn't mean what he did to Earth during the war is suddenly forgivable and how he along with other Earth-hating Decepticons "deserves" to make Earth his home just because the Terrans say so.

I never mind serious topics in kids show. This has been a thing for decades, and I grew up with them. Even a toddler's show like Bluey touch sensitive topics such as death & miscarriage, yet the show delivered them wonderfully.

But misinterpreting messages, total black-and-white views, lack of empathy, babying experienced soldiers who have kill counts?

No.

Just no.

Official media can't do this. Fanfics can but never the official ones.

[monocle-teacup]

1-How would you rewrite Earthspark?

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

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

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

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

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

[0wldn0]

If Bee and Breakdown talk beforehand maybe Breakdown tries to tell Bumblebee to just stay out of Menasor's way when it comes to Megatron. Maybe arguing that he did bad stuff anyway and he's kinda got it coming.

Ohh actually maybe the way he says it could be how Bee hones in on the idea that the other stunticons, while still probably not liking Megatron, aren't the ones who are out for blood (energon?).

Maybe he even calls Breakdown out on it. Pointing out hes just letting Motormaster pull him around. Again.

Oh yes definitely definitely!! 💥

I honestly really adore the dynamic between Breakdown and Bumblebee because they both have such strong values and such a strong sense of loyalty. When they're alone, this loyalty is only directed towards each other. ((aka Breakdown saving Bumblebee from the GHOST agents etc etc)) But when the factions are involved... Their values prove to be more important and so their loyalty is directed towards their respective factions. It's honestly so interesting to think about because in the show you can see they've clearly had arguments about this in the past.

Even when we're talking outside of the Breakbee ship, Breakdown and Bumblebee care for each other a lot and it is very apparent. They want to be able to live their friendship freely. They want to spend time together without worrying about the many elephants in the room. But unfortunately it is not that easy. They both have different ideals, different values, different people they've made connections with from the opposite sides, different reasons they're fighting in this war. They can't just abandon all of those things just to be with the other, it would not only be a betrayal to their factions, but a betrayal to their own selves as well.

That one scene where Bee says "No, you've made a choice." and Breakdown replies "A choice? We both made a lot of choices in the war." really sticks out to me. Because in just that one exchange you can tell that this isn't a new argument they're having. They probably talked about these things many, many times before. Most of their meetings probably ended with a sour separation because they both tried to convince the other to go with them. But it is an insult to tell someone to abandon their whole life and values behind like that, so they both would react harshly, despite really wanting to live in peace together.

SO this argument they both have in this AU would definitely not a be a new thing to them. I can see Breakdown trying to convince Bee to just take the Terrans and stay put until it's over. While Bee, not only does not like the idea of his faction being under fire as he sits and watches, is also NOT willing to let Breakdown go back to the Stunticons.

First, it is an argument about their ideals, just like many arguments they've had before. Breakdown questioning how the Autobots are willing to forgive THAT guy, and Bumblebee arguing that all the Decepticons deserve a second chance and forgiveness. Which, of course, would make Breakdown angrier because what do you mean "deserve forgiveness"? For what? For fighting for a better Cybertron? For fighting for the cause that Megatron tainted? Which would make Bumblebee argue that there is no cause anymore and they all want the same thing while fighting a pointless war.

As they speak though, I can see that this time this argument goes to a more personal level. Like the time when they last saw each other on Cybertron and Breakdown separated from Bee again to go and find the Stunticons. Bee would make a low blow about Motormaster's past treatment of Breakdown and the Stunticons. I can see Breakdown reacting in a very angry way to that, not yelling or physically threatening Bee or anything, but it is clear with the way he makes an emphasis on each word he speaks and how still he stands. He would tell Bee that he has no right to talk about the Stunticons when all Bee knows are surface level information and nothing else. Which Bee would use as a point to make regarding Megatron: Why can't Breakdown believe that Megatron has truly changed when he is so clearly defending Motormaster and her actions right in front of Bee now?

Unfortunately I can see the argument not going further from there. They are both extremely angry by this point, and they can see that the other won't budge. It is no surprise though, because they never managed to convince each other about anything regarding these topics before either. Breakdown would just leave Bee after making one last comment about Bee not getting in their way, and keeping the Terrans at bay. Bee would stare behind him for a while, still definitely angry, but there's also a deep sadness, and he's sure Breakdown is also feeling the same way.

[chemos-factories]

Angel of the Underworld commentary writeup

a couple friends do little behind the scenes posts for their fics, and since i'm unreasonably proud of this one, i thought i would talk a little about my thought processes for it! under the cut because while i don't see it getting too terribly wordy, i'd still like to spare mobile users

so! this fic, or something like it, has been in the back of my mind for. ages. i love a planetswap, and with the general gothicness of nostramo, it practically begs for sanguinius to land there and end up a sort of VtM-y, Underworld-y sort of vampire. that post the other day about goth sanguinius really was just the catalyst to actually write it.

as for his design; as i said in another post, i couldn't find a good place in the fic itself for an outfit description, but please trust that he's in one of those leather and latex with a long jacket type outfits everyone was doing in a post-Matrix world. very much selene from the Underworld series but with the fetishwear aspect turned down eeeeever so slightly. his wings, though. when i hear 'gothic angel' my brain immediately goes 'anne stokes'. her illustrations are so gorgeous, and absolutely influenced my decision to make nostraman!sanguinius's wings black.

(nostraman!sanguinius inspiration collage. yes i've used two photos of selene from the same scene. can you blame me? its iconic.)

terran!fulgrim doesn't need too terribly much explanation. he had a rough childhood in canon. i thought he deserved to grow up in luxury and be daddy's specialest princess. and pouting about getting a new brother gave him an easy excuse to not be there for sanguinius's initial arrival on terra.

and there are actually a few lines where sanguinius watching/stalking fulgrim is foreshadowed! i draw particular attention to the lightning 'illuminating the crouching grotesques' because that's where sang is, crouched and hidden among them. if this were shot like a movie, that first flash of lightning would show them all lined up, and then the next one (that 'almost looks like a flicker of movement at the corner of [fulgrim's] vision') would show the lineup missing one... all spooky-like.

then of course, sanguinius flies over and gets in through the window, and purposefully doesn't close it behind him. he's just playing with his food now, but it's not like he learned not to on nostramo. the implication when fulgrim hears his footsteps is that he did that on purpose.

fulgrim probably could have gotten out of this encounter un-vampired, just menaced a little bit. but sanguinius looming over him, spreading his wings as if he's trapping him there... fulgrim's heartbeat kicked up to the point sanguinius noticed his pulse, and.. well...

vampire's gonna vampire.

[siphersaysstuff]

FORTY YEARS!

As we reluctantly trudge into 2025, that means we've had FOUR DECADES of Transformers toys released globally with no breaks. So for January's Patreon-backed @tfwiki picture update, let's check out some toys from each of the major franchise chunks across TF history! Strap in!

I know it's an odd choice, but G1's representative is 1993's Europe-only Lightformer DEFTWING. But I think it's a fine example of TF's subteam gimmicks, the franchise's longevity even before the nostalgia boom, global reach, and its ever-evolving aesthetic.

(And as an personal-type note, this completes the Lightformers/Trakkons on the wiki, toy-pic-wise. Finally, all user-provided pics rather than crunchy old book scans. I love it when I can complete a team/theme like that.)

Beast Wars was a drastic change meant to save a dying line. And boy oh boy did it do that. Toys like 1997's B'BOOM mix "realistic" animal styling with super-posability and play gimmickry. Oh, also? This guy, a bit bigger than a modern Voyager, was $15. How's that make ya feel?

Car Robots/Robots in Disguise translated BW tech into classic TF Earth-vehicle alt-modes... with varying levels of success. WILDRIDE, aka X-BRAWN, here in a con-exclusive clear "transitional" state from regular to "Super" mode, is one of the better attempts.

The "Unicron Trilogy" really pushed toy-play gimmickry, and Armada's Mini-Cons are easily the best representative of the era. And Armada BLACKOUT (here in Powerlinx colors) embodies the versatility of their play pattern, with dedicated interactions with Demolishor.

The live-action movies were also a huge change in TF toys, both refining complexity and working some interesting gimmick & design challenges. 2007's DROPKICK is from the tie-in video games, and is a fun angry dude. The Bumblebee movie guy too? Maybe! Why not?

Animated's radical aesthetic shift had BW levels of immediate rejection followed by sudden glowing (and deserved) praise. SAMURAI PROWL shows off the tight coordination between the show and toy teams, making a complex design into a dang fun toy!

Prime kicked off the "Aligned" era, a massive reboot that formed the foundations of TF mythology going forward. New bots kept coming like AIRACHNID, here in her TakaraTomy "Arms Micron" release. And like other newcomers, proved popular enough to jump to other series!

Cyberverse used "evergreen" designs in a further shift to more kid-aimed TFs, which had started after Prime with Rescue Bots and Robots in Disguise 2015. ALPHA TRION embodies this with a much chunkier, simpler, action-gimmicky toy.

And now it's EarthSpark, focused on a new generation of TFs... but not all of them are nice! Chaos Terran SPITFIRE embodies the increased number of female TFs in the line... and the longstanding practice of redecoed toys as new characters, being a recolor of Twitch.

40 dang years. And I'll keep on going through it to bring more toy pics throughout its wide history for as long as I can. If you like these explorations and want to help out, consider contributing to my Patreon! Every little bit helps. You can find it at

"gregstfwikipics" at patreon dot com

[isinialanat]

Help! I adopted my first floret a little bit ago and I think I'm doing something wrong! I'd really appreciate some guidance from another youngbloom with a Terran floret on how to handle everything.

My precious little cutie got picked up from one of those awful feralist ships before I adopted them. I've been making a lot less progress than I expected and not giving my beloved what they deserve makes me feel like there are thorns tearing my core apart every day ::(

The biggest issue right now is that they're absolutely TERRIFIED of the implantation I have scheduled for them. They keep saying all this stuff about how it's going to turn them into a mindless willing slave or something and it's all so so wrong but nothing I say helps. Do you have any tips that would be useful to help them get over that fear?

I've also been trying to help my floret acclimate to their life and that hasn't been going too well either- half my hab is just a big enclosure for them with everything a Terran could ever want (okay maybe not EVERYTHING but pretty close) and they haven't even explored it yet. Every social interaction, be it with another floret in the park or at the veterinarian every day, ends up with me cradling them in my vines and telling them that everything is going to be okay ::(

Even though your situation is different than mine, I know that your adorable floret went through some similar experiences and I'm just at the end of my vines in general. Thanks in advance ::)

Ah, no! I know how it feels, cradling your floret in your vines, all scared and sobby...

First thing I'd do is postpone the implant appointment. You need to respect their decisions on important matters like that and go on at a rhythm they feel comfortable, don't make the mistake of trying to go too fast like I did. A haustoric implant is a big deal, for both of you.

Florets, especially those from feralist backgrounds, need some space and time to develop trust. Why don't you organize a couple days to stay at the hab with them, try to talk things out, sort their fears? Maybe they don't like the Terran-like part of your hab because it reminds them of bad parts of their life back in the Accord, or maybe they don't trust it as theirs, thinking of it as nothing more than a facsimile or a façade.

Maybe you'll both learn something about each other. Bonding in such a personal level is very important, since you're the one person your little sophont is gonna be next to most of the time. There's no point in a haustoric implant if there's no bond for it to reinforce in the first place.

And most importantly: don't give up. Show them that you really care about their wellbeing, that you want them to be comfortable and healthy. That you love them. You've got this. 💜🪻

[otomotoelzhinee]

This might be their sweetest moment so far.

But, I can't say it feels deserved? At least, from what I gathered. This change of heart comes out of nowhere. I think it's incredible seeing Shrike try and show interest into something that Beebs enjoys. Not only that, he's getting to enjoy it himself as well. Something as simple as playing the guitar, only because he probably saw Beebs doing it and he decided he wanted to do it too, cause it's cool to him! But it also means something to Beebs, and Shrike was able to pick up on that, so he offered a time for the two of them to continue playing together. Shrike's shown to have little care for others so far. When the Lythops were murdered, he was shocked, but he was able to dismiss that part entirely the moment his ship got wrecked. As he said, that's when it became personal. He didn't care about the genocide he just witnessed anymore, that was secondary, if even a concern at this point. Beebs, however, as little as time as he had with the creatures-- Who he barely interacted with compared to Shrike, is haunted by this.

And Shrike dismisses these feelings, unintentionally perhaps, but he's still avoiding them. Despite the fact that, deep down, he does feel some remorse. But it's unclear if it's for this particular incident, or something else entirely.

I feel like it's just the subject of "regrets" that gets to him, rather than him feeling any consequences from leaving Punti and letting his family be turned to paste.

But regardless, although he doesn't care much, that doesn't mean he does not care at all for other people, nor is he "incapable" of caring. There's things he wishes he could take back, just like Beebs. How they cope with this, however, is entirely different. But I don't think this disagreement is used at all for this ep. You could argue it's because this episode is not about them, or Shrike, but about Beebs.

Beebs finding his own way to come to terms with what's happened, about his own regrets he isn't ready to speak of, perhaps accepting them, or allowing the possibility to accept, in some capacity. But not letting these stop him from continuing to seek out to do things right, not letting these regrets cloud his vision, prohibiting himself from caring anymore.

That's a sweet and incredibly powerful step to make, to continue to choose to be kind, to choose to love, no matter how many times it has hurt. To continue to lose people around you and still finding meaning in connections with others, no matter how brief.

It's a direct parallel to what Shrike is doing. Isolating these feelings from everyone, not confronting them, brushing them aside. "Things happen and there's nothing anyone can do about it, so why bother." It feels like this should've brought up a conflict of sorts between the two. But, it never does. The last segment should wrap this aspect about their relationship, at least for this episode. It should be the two of them agreeing there's things they don't want to talk about, Beebs choosing to give Shrike another chance. Even if they can't see things the same way, Beebs still trusts Shrike, he chooses to. He's seen he's not as cold as he wants to make himself out to be, and therefore chooses to spend part of his time with him, to get to know him. He's his friend, and there's so little they know about eachother, he wants to change that. Shrike, on a similar note, is incredibly excited to get to gush about one of his many terran interests. But he's always done that with Beebs, he's always given him the attention. This time, he wants to return the favor. But I'm only left wondering why. After their conversation on the bridge, Shrike is too busy bickering with Scratch and gushing over Terran stuff to have any more interactions with Beebs. During the rest of the epiosde, nobody but Beebs knows what's happening, and Shrike isn't the least bit concerned. Not even for the state of Beebs' hand.

So what made him change his mind? Why does now he care if he's bothering Beebs or not with his show?Maybe out of courtesy, because of what they just went through, to "give him a break". But that feels a bit too considerate of Shrike at this moment. It feels like I just missed a key scene that was meant to bring these issues to light, and them finding a solution to help the Agari. When Beebs can't play anymore, it should've been the moment where Beebs gets a true glimpse of who Shrike really is, the moment where he has to relay on him, unwillingly putting his trust in him to make things right in such a tense moment. But then realizes-- he can trust Shrike.

Shrike notices how nervous Beebs really is, that his arm has failed him, and all he wants is to play his guitar?! No, something else is going on, something Beebs can't explain at the moment but it means everything to him right now. And Shrike chooses to trust him and aid him. Friendship! It would've made more sense then, for Beebs to look at Shrike and say "We're getting there" when the Agari asked him if he had found his way yet.

It would've made this last interaction between Shrike n Beebs watching cartoons all the more powerful. Without a real disagreement, without a small conflict between the two. It's still a sweet moment... But it almost feels empty, there's no resolution behind it, no real meaning. It's just a "small bonding moment", and after everything that went down, it doesn't feel like that was the point.

I've rewatched this ep for a bit and, although I loved everything we got lorewise, and getting to see Beebs be the focus-- I don't think the emotional impact hit as hard as it wanted. I wish I could say I cared for the Agari as much as I did for the Lythops in a single episode, but I didn't. I wish I could say Beebs going from "He's my friend…Or something" to staring into the possibility of considering Shrike an actual friend, got to me. But, it didn't feel like anything happened to defy that in the first place.

So, what changed?

[wwillywonka]

excerpt from my wip mcspirk sequel to trails and trials! have some spock reflecting on his friendship with pike 🤪

Jim was married to the Enterprise. That was the way it had always been and always would be.

Silver woman goddess. She. The decision was premade when the universe itself was created.

Spock understood. Spock was devoted to Starfleet, to being an officer, so therefore he was devoted to the Enterprise and devoted to Jim. Jim was the entire crew’s leader, their hero, their savior, their light. Spock looked up to him.

It had been the same with Christopher. Captain Pike was the first person in Spock’s young but already insurmountably tumultuous life to show him kindness, to accept him without judgment or reservation.

Ensign Spock, at the age of twenty, had accepted his assignment aboard the new NCC-1701 with a distinctly Vulcan lack of pride. Having graduated from the Academy early, this was simply the next step in a career, the logical place for a student of science to be, one of the first to discover all the Universe had, until this point, hidden away from the Vulcan-Terran eye. To boldly go…

He had no expectations or desires when it came to pursuing personal relationships beyond those which were necessary for him to perform his duties to the best possible efficiency. So when Captain Pike had stopped his rousing opening speech to stand before the lone Vulcan in the row of crewman standing at attention, raking a curious, warm gaze over him, then smiled-

Christopher was his first friend. At first, the Captain treated him the same as any other Ensign, greeting him warmly in the corridors, asking for his opinion and valuing it as much as the other science officers in Spock’s lab, promoting him to lieutenant within the mission’s first year and insisting Spock deserved it and Spock actually believing him….

It was nothing more than Pike being a very good, very attentive captain. But for a half-breed outcast loner with a tendency towards habitual self torment, it was more than enough.

Then, the five years were over, and they were back on Earth, and Pike invited him and a few other select officers (including Lieutenant Uhura and Nurse Chapel) for dinner at his family’s home in California and Spock felt for, the very first time, at ease.

Looking for temporary refuge from the crowded room, Spock had wandered onto a balcony and found himself overlooking a desert that reminded him, oddly, of Vulcan- of home.

“Hiya, Spock!" came Christopher's cheerful voice. "Doing okay out here?"

He looked a little tipsy, his seafoam green irises twinkling pleasantly in the light emanating from inside the house.

"Yes, Captain." He turned to look at the house and saw Uhura's silhouette flitting about the dining room. Faintly, he could hear her singing some unfamiliar Earth tune.

“You're brooding," Christopher said, without preamble. Despite the meaning behind his words, there was a smile in his voice, even though Spock wasn't looking at him.

“Not at all, Captain. I simply wanted to see for myself the place you speak so fondly of. Surely, it is worth some observation for you to reference it so often."

Christopher laughed, eyes crinkling at the edges. “Well, of course I talk about it, Spock. I grew up here. It’s my home.”

“Yes, Captain.” Something inside of him prevented Spock from pursuing what was surely to be a very personal inquiry into his own upbringing, something he had managed to, so far, avoid relaying to the Captain in any detail.

He turned, facing away from Captain Pike once more to look out at the sands, blue with night.

“You belong here, you know,” Christopher said then. “I mean, on the Enterprise. With them, with us.”

It was then that Spock finally looked at him.

“With me.”

And then, the two men stood staring at each other for exactly 7.92 seconds. Spock definitely, absolutely, completely, pointedly did not feel like unfolding his arms from behind his back and wrapping himself around Christopher’s torso nor did he desire to bury his face into Christopher’s neck and find shelter from the chill now spiraling down his spine.

Then, the ice melted, and Captain Pike was granting him one of his usual genuine, but ultimately professional, smiles. “Thanks for coming, Spock. I know it's probably not very… standard procedure to spend leave at your Captain’s house. But I figured we all deserved some fun and celebration after those five years.”

“Indeed, Captain.” And after a pause, “Thank you for inviting me.”

The first thing Captain Pike did when they were awarded their second five-year mission was recommend Spock for the position of Chief Science Officer. And they were back, once again, in the black undiscovered frontier of space.

Spock, now stationed on the bridge, found himself seeking out Captain Pike’s smiles more than was right for a Vulcan.

It was not entirely surprising, then, that Spock, around the time of their fateful encounter with Talos IV and its inhabitants, felt something within him burst and blossom with the unfamiliar sensations of -

Of what, he did not know. Or rather, he would never dare allow himself to name it. Spock knew only that he wanted something from his first Captain that could not be satiated by the shame-laced, sweat-tinged fantasies that filled his head and his hands in the dark loneliness that was 4 A.M. in his quarters.

It was illogical. It was childish. Captain Pike was twelve years older than he, not to mention his superior officer.

So he said nothing, and he suffered and grew angry at such an un-Vulcan reaction and grew angrier still as he internally punished himself for experiencing any feeling in the first place.

And then, any chance Spock had at telling Christopher anything at all swiftly came to an end.

And he’d gotten himself put on trial out of loyalty to the first person who’d ever shown him he deserved to be loved.

So Spock brought him back to Talos IV, back to the illusions, back to her. He could give Christopher Pike that, at least.

There was something quite different about refusing to do something and no longer having the choice to change one’s mind.

He did not dwell on it often, but his first crew on the Enterprise had, too, been his first assignment aboard a starship, and it held a place within his memory that he did not wish to see damaged by the Pulosians.

To think Christopher was no longer himself, that he was very likely dead by now…

Spock had not and doubted he would ever allow himself to go down that mental path. It was illogical to wallow in that which was already etched into the arteries of time.

Christopher was gone.

[klemsk-a]

TL;DR

S2a undermines the concept of redemption so badly it makes me want to cry.

Megatron changing for the better is interesting because it’s complicated. He used to be a warlord, a tyrant, people suffered directly as a consequence of his actions. Unfortunately ES fails to show us these consequences. The closes we have are Starscreams words and that is far from showing us anything.

There are no flashbacks, no actual conversations. Nothing but the present and most of it is from childrens perspective.

This lack of nuance is frustrating. For all we know Megatron might’ve acted exactly the same, but changed factions therefore he is a good guy know.

And this “autobots = good, decepticons = bad” morality is so on the nose in s2a it’s actually kind of pathetic.

The new season needed a villain, and all the hatred for cybertronians apparently evaporated (everybody else just had a change of heart ig and the only 2 people who actually disliked them are dead) and the cons were “always” bad so it doesn’t matter.

It allows the writers not to think about Megatron and problems accompanying his redemption because his victims are terrible so… it’s all fine, don’t worry 👍.

Perhaps it isn’t this way and I majorly misinterpreted the show.

The existence of the chaos terrans really makes me doubt it tho. It also makes me incredibly mad.

Aftermath literally comes into existence, has no idea what’s going on, who is everyone and they’re all fighting. So he does too. And immediately gets called terrible, basically the evil version of the terrans.

WHAT KIND OF MESSAGES IS THAT?

That because you aren’t from a perfect family you’re evil? That is what I got out of it.

Terrans = whole Emberstone = good

Chaos terrans = broken Emberstone = bad

For a show about acceptance and empathy that is a terrible plot point 😀

The episode with Aftermath and Jawbreaker (was extremely boring imo but that’s not important) gives you the impression they’re going to further develop Aftermath. Have him questioning orders and thinking about his choices. But no, he STOLE the entire water from a cave in one tank (how did he even manage???)

Spitfire is an even worse example.

On her first day alive, she gets told that if she wins a race she gets to go on an autobot mission.

She wins, by endangering Alex, and they tell her she won’t get the reword. It’s all understandable but the writers clearly don’t know anything about raising children or children in general.

Yes Spitfire did a bad thing and has to be taught that her behaviour was bad. No they cannot be mad at her for not immediately understanding and agreeing with them. That’s why children (especially toddlers) are infuriating. They don’t know better so you have to teach them, but they will find a loophole to help them get what they want (obviously depends on a child but we are rolling with Spitfires personality). Now depending on what they’ve done to get to it you either reward them or punish them. Because they don’t necessarily understand what they did wrong, even if it’s obvious to you, it can be hard to explain in a way that satisfies a child.

Spitfire lashing out and attacking Twitch is common for kids who believe that someone got something they deserved. It’s especially common if a kid has problems with aggression.

That could’ve been an interesting character development and a good message. Sometimes children won’t be easy to deal with (as all the terrans are, sure they can make bad decisions but ultimately they don’t cause much problems), sometimes they have unpleasant personalities or behavioural problems but it doesn’t make them evil. Being there and loving a child isn’t enough to raise them, discipline is needed and so is patience.

But no.

Aftermath and Spitfire are chaos terrans so they are evil by proxy. Too bad lol.

Twitch and Thrash needed to learn everything. So did Nightshade, Hashtag and Jawbreaker. There was a great deal about self discovery.

Aftermath and Spitfire already have alt modes (at least Spitfire I don’t actually remember Aftermath) and they are just terrible, no good people.

Case closed, problem solved.

Oh. And then they died so…

Unlucky 🤷‍♀️

Redemption in media, especially kids media is important. It sends a message that you can in fact mess up in life, make a couple (hundreds) of mistakes and still come out on top.

But redemption is earned, and it can be (and often is) hard to changed for the better (as opposed to changing for worse).

You shouldn’t change for those you have hurt but so it won’t happen again, so you won’t hurt others again.

Some will come back, some will not.

It IS important that you try nonetheless.

Because no matter what explaining isn’t excusing and no one is born evil.

This show is so FRUSTRATING to me because I cared, and still do obviously (I wrote two versions of this but accidentally deleted the first one so had to write one again).

I really hope S2b will be back on track about acceptance and redemption.

I think Starscream deserved better but sincerely hope they (autobots) will get a hold of him, and him and Megatron will actually talk.

At least let Starscream have his father-daughter relationship with Hashtag, please 🙏.