#transformers fan colony

[cuppajj]

I don't think I'm gonna go anywhere with this (unless I jinx it) but I just got a cool idea for a fan colony: basically angels and demons. they're two civilizations, consisting of birdformers and batformers, created by one titan who split into two. The angelic formers live in the sky while the demonic ones live underground. They've been at war with each other for thousands of years and the surface of the planet is considered the neutral zone where killing is allowed on both sides

edit: I jinxed it

[thenamesblurrito]

"and scrambled to fake it til he makes it " i wonder if anyone back on cybertron remembers him? imagine contact between planets happening again, and the truth being revealed

this isn't really what you asked but it's what unfolded in my head when i read it

secret dweebus Trionic being jumpscared by the arrival of Cybertronians, getting skeeved out being around "his" people again, awkward and avoidant and sweating despite having nothing to hide. meanwhile whatever records of Trionic that Cybertron has would only be of a mediocre, low level cabinbot who only put in the bare minimum of effort and was generally considered a moderately stupid layabout, which does not fit with the respected patriarch of civilization here on Aventuras and which is utterly rejected by the vast majority of Aventuri citizens, who only know him as wise and mentorly

i think Trionic did once met Ultra Magnus specifically, pre-war and crash, when Magnus happened to be on the same ship one time and lectured him for neglecting his duties as a crewmember for two hours straight. this, however, is Minimus in a Magnus corpse, with no experience with pre-crash Trionic except for what old paperwork may remain. ironic that Trionic is nervous and imposter syndrome-y around Ultra "Minimus 'imposter syndrome' Ambus" Magnus, who doesn't even know him and is pretty much in the same built up fake-identity-became-real boat as he is

[obeyond-the-starso]

Slowly coming together hhh

I promise I’ll get this done, schools been a pain already

[thenamesblurrito]

OF COURSE I KEYSMASH IN DELIGHT THIS IS MARVELOUS LOOK I'LL DO IT MORE AHDGHDLHLJFLDSJLDKGHLGKFSJD~!!!

Colony concept by @thenamesblurrito, adapted with permission.

And by permission, I mean I showed a rough draft of this to them and they immediately started smashing the keyboard in delight.

[obscuresubmarine]

Tiamat and Jormungandr

For some reason my titan oc post has been gaining traction lately, so I thought I'd finally add another installment of lore for y'alls. This time it's some more about the titans-their personalities, physicality, etc. Enjoy! (also please forgive me I still don't know how to make the drop down thing so this is just going to be a wall of text)

Tiamat:

Tiamat is a very kind and caring Titan, absolutely adoring her ‘children’ and constantly keeping an eye on them as they grow and change with time. As any good mother should, she shepherds her flock through her Cityspeaker and continues to create new life within her mighty body every few hundred thousand years. She has not forgotten her titanic clash with Jormungandr, but she believes that she and her children are quite safe from the warmongering Titan on Sumakkalon. This sense of safety comes from the fact that all Titans have a degree of ‘interconnectedness’; it allows Tiamat to determine that Jormungandr is indeed still alive, but he is far enough away that their bond is very stretched and thus is a safe distance away. However, she does not care for the exploits of space outside of trade with other races for the betterment of her children, as she still knows that there is danger lurking amongst the stars. Thus, Sumakkalon maintains a pseudo-isolationist policy, only nurturing trade relations with other colonies and species as opposed to political and military alliances. Her children mean everything to her, and if needed she will unleash a fury like no other to defend them. However, she also wholeheartedly believes in the power of her children and is quite happy to let them march through time on their own. Though she helps them with her quarterly speeches, she purposely remains cryptic in order to let her children grow on their own and forge their own path in life instead of simply following her orders. She is incredibly proud of what the Sumakkalonians have become, and she looks forward to seeing them continue to innovate and evolve. She also feels quite blessed that her children pay attention to her and venerate her so much-she quite enjoys all of the religious ceremonies that they do!

If Tiamat must rise again and fight, she possesses vast strength and knowledge with which to do so. She wields a massive spear as her weapon. Tiamat’s lower half in robot mode takes on the form of a gigantic snake’s tail and her face is fashioned into a snarling snout. Buildings stack to form great ‘wings’ jutting from her shoulders as well. Fingers form deadly claws, fangs line her snout, and piercing yellow optics gaze on all below her. Her plating is as tan as the desert sand, accented by earthy brown, brilliant Turkish blue, and shimmering gold.

Though she maintains a consistent presence in Bahamut and the rest of Sumakkalon, Tiamat is still technically slumbering. Her body is dormant and her mind is active, but that means she cannot maintain herself other than her routine, biological maintenance systems. More extensive maintenance is necessary, as the harsh sun and semi-arid climate wear on her armour over time. Thus, the Servants of the Mother make sure to take care of her body inside and out.

Within Tiamat’s body are countless rooms, with her body being so vast that there are many rooms that even the most dedicated of the Servants cannot find. However, certain rooms hold particular significance:

Temple of the Mother-The central dome of Tiamat’s ziggurat mode, the Temple of the Mother is an auspicious ritual space in which the monthly Devotionals, the Parental Bonding, the Passing On, and the quarterly Judgements are held. It is open to the public during these events, but only these events. Other than those specific times, the Temple of the Mother is open to the Voice of the Mother, the Sacred Blades, and the Servants of the Mother only.

Mother’s Mind- This holy chamber is the space that contains Tiamat’s brain module and is only accessible by the Voice of the Mother, who only enters the chamber to speak directly with the Titan. No one other than the Voice of the Mother and their Sacred Blades know where the chamber is. The walls are a beautiful Turkish blue and are covered in golden lights, and right before the brain module sits a lavish rug and a small altar on which the Voice of the Mother lies to begin their communion with Tiamat.

Pool of An- A very plain chamber, the tan walls are decorated only with a relief of the golden optics of Tiamat gazing down at the pool. This relief is meant to symbolize the Mother watching over her unborn children. The lights in the room are very dim so as to not irritate the children. At the center of the circular room lies a pool of sentio metallico, and deep within the depths of that pool lies Tiamat’s hotspot. The sparks emerge from the hotspot directly into the sentio metallico, thus allowing them to begin forming bodies as soon as they are born. This chamber is always guarded by only the most pious and trustworthy members of the Fangs of the Mother, and only Warming Sun can open the doors to access it (she is the only one that Tiamat approves of for opening the doors).

Pool of Nintinugga- When a Sumakkalonian dies, their lightless spark casing is brought to this pool by Psychopomp, leader of the Ashes of the Mother. Once the spark casing is placed within the pool, its essence is reabsorbed into Tiamat’s life-giving systems and will essentially be ‘reincarnated’ by having aspects of its essence go into the forging of newsparks in the Pool of An. The dimly lit chamber the pool is in is a deep Turkish blue and decorated with a relief of a spark being eaten by Tiamat and its essence travelling down into her ‘womb’; a representation of the ‘reincarnation’ cycle. Only Psychopomp has access to this chamber, though it is heavily guarded by the Fangs of the Mother.

Fire of Ereshkigal- This chamber is quite different from the others, as it is brightly lit and decorated with semi-precious stones like jasper and lapis lazuli that have encrusted the walls into gemstone swirls and calligraphy. In the center lies a pit of molten metal, sentio metallico heated to boil by Tiamat’s internal heating system. The sparkless body of a dead Sumakkalonian will be placed in the molten metal by Spirit and Temporal, the two Ashes of the Mother whose job it is to ritually burn the bodies of the dead so that their metal may be recycled back into Tiamat’s systems.

Jormungandr:

Jormungandr is an incredibly fierce and warrior-like Titan who loves nothing more than to fight and conquer. He fully believes in the rule of the powerful and strong, and so takes on the opinion that his children should be equally as strong as he. Strangely enough, this belief in the strongest shall survive creates within him a strange kind of honour. He will pay great respect to any foes who he deems strong and mighty, instructing his children to do so as well. They still must win over these other civilizations, but they will most certainly not be forgotten by Jormungandr. On the other hand, he has no problem telling his children to crush obviously weaker societies under their pedes. They do not deserve to live, in his mind. Furthermore, no one holds a grudge like Jormungandr. He still despises Tiamat for her weakness and especially for her taking his right optic, so he is constantly monitoring the interconnectedness of the Titans to ensure that she is still somewhere out there. She must be, so he and his children can kill her and every single one of her wretched spawn. He knows she’s still out there, as do his children, so he remains satisfied that he will have the pleasure of killing her one day. This grudge, along with his general militancy, is the reason why he encourages his children to be so war-like along with traveling the stars so much. He wants them to be prepared for all sorts of battles that will inevitably come when he finally finds Tiamat, and he wants them to find her in the first place. Unlike the Sumakkalonians, the other Titan is not a legend to them. Jormungandr has told them Tiamat exists and must be stopped, and they believe him. As such, he has carefully cultivated the culture of Bua Iss into a war-mongering, star-traversing one in order to further his own ideology and thirst for revenge.

Outside of his hunger for battle, Jormungandr is actually quite caring and protective. Like a wolf father, he cares for his children with a viciousness and protectiveness unrivaled by even Tiamat. This protectiveness makes him a very chatty Titan as a result, as he is constantly wanting to help his children thrive and rise up as the most dominant people around. He can be quite gruff with them though, as he fully believes in tough love. He encourages his children to face defeat with an open mind and courage, as defeats are simply learning opportunities and signs that one needs to educate oneself to improve. He also encourages the Bua Issans to constantly search for new experiences and opportunities, as growth and education are key to domination. One needs to know their enemy to thoroughly defeat them! He is incredibly proud of his children and all that they have accomplished, seeing great things for them in the future. He also knows that they will always have a future, as every hundred thousand years or so his hotspot brings forth a new generation of Bua Issans. Furthermore, he knows that they will always be protected by his beloved pets Huginn and Muninn, absolutely massive raven-shaped drones who stand sentinel at the mouth of the fjord.

If push must come to shove, or if the Bua Issans find Tiamat, Jormungandr will rise again from his slumber to sound the horn for war. Wielding a truly massive skeggøx (bearded axe) as his weapon, Jormungandr has a truly impressive amount of knowledge about warfare and the ferocity to match his skills. In robot mode, his lower half looks like the tail of a sea serpent complete with gunmetal grey, black, and dark blue plating to match. His torso resembles a very heavily armoured warframe build, and his helm looks like a horned Viking helmet.

When transformed into his city form (which is most of the time), his torso resembles a massive Norwegian-style church with sharp points while his arms slam down in front of this ‘church’ to become two massive longhouses. His tail becomes numerous smaller buildings, typically small homes. In this mode he remains in a slumber, though his consciousness is active enough to regularly engage with the Ormstunga (cityspeaker-it means ‘serpent tongue’ in Old Norse). Throughout his body he has many, many rooms, with many of the lower levels being used as public spaces and offices. On the upper levels are the more exclusive rooms, with the most important being:

The Mindpeak: The highest point of Urnes, this chamber is where Jormungandr’s brain module is. This chamber is the only place in Bua Iss that is not accessible to the public, being reserved only for the Ormstunga. It is constantly guarded by the Gaetta, a special warrior branch of the Kind. Inside the Mindpeak, the walls are beautifully decorated with ‘tattoos’ depicting the battles Jormungandr has participated in, including his titanic struggle with Tiamat. There is also a ceremonial bed carved with the images of serpents that the Ormstunga lies down on when communing with Jormungandr.

The Ormstunga’s Chamber: A small, cozy nook that Jormungandr himself made for his Ormstunga, this chamber is on the level of the Urnes just below the Mindpeak. It is meant to be a haven for the cityspeaker in order to further their connection to Jormungandr. Personally, Sunsnow doesn’t like the chamber and prefers to be outside, as she finds Jormungandr’s presence in her mind to be oppressive. The only time she spends in it is to sleep and to complete her duties, most of which involve her standing out on the balcony extending from the chamber to allow her to address the hordes of Bua Issans.

The Timberfell: A large, open room on the same floor as the Ormstunga’s chamber, this room is utilized by the Ormstunga to complete the carving of the ceremonial skuta used in the Journey. It is absolutely filled with timber and tapestries, with the timber being used to create the skuta and the tapestries serving as inspiration for the intricate carvings woven into the wood. It is also constantly guarded by the Gaetta.

The Alarum: Unlike the other important, non-public rooms in the Urnes, the Alarum is located deep within the very foundation of Jormungandr’s torso. This is the location of the Titan’s hotspot, and thus the place where all Bua Issans are born. It too is constantly guarded by the Gaetta. The dimly lit chamber is primarily illuminated by the hotspot itself, which is located directly in the center of the room. It is covered by a pool of sentio metallico which flows down into the pool from two ‘waterfalls’. The Kind have determined that the sentio metallico is constantly being drawn through Jormungandr’s body and replenished by his systems; once refreshed, it comes into the chamber through the waterfalls. If not used, it simply flows through the Titan’s body again.

The Haugr: Another important room located within the foundation of the Urnes, the Haugr serves as a special crypt for the bodies of deceased Ormstunga. This very cold, dark, linear room is covered in intricate carvings of knots, and stone coffins line the walls of the room. There is a single pathway through the middle of the room, boxed in by coffins on either side. No one really knows how long the room is, as the only section that is lit is the one with the coffins in it, one light over each coffin. Only the bravest of the Gaetta guard this creepy room.

[qazma]

To all Transformers fans 'n' Transformer titan fan colonies out there

How big is a metrotitan?

cause I have no clue how big they are compared to other transformers or citytitans (former?)

I wanna make a fan made titan colony and I was thinking on making a Metrotitan but obviously I can't find any good references

If anyone has any info or heigh references that'd be great

[mochifiction]

As someone who agrees with a decent amount of the pre-war Decepticon party’s views in certain continuities, some of y’all new fans are starting to piss me off with your belief that D-16 was correct in Transformers One. As someone who does a lot of community organizing and writes on sociopolitical theory vs. practice, especially within the context of the anti-colonial struggle (as well as the Black struggle simultaneously or separately depending on the context), a lot of the reasons you all choose to support D-16 and diss on Orion are actually obscene and you need to crack open a book. I normally don’t like shoving theory in people’s faces, as I think that it comes with a pedantic demeanor that relies on belittling people and feeding a moral superiority complex amongst academics. However, this is one of the cases where I think a lot of people truly need to take the time to read into why D-16’s emotions and initial reactions are valid, but the decisions he makes in providing solutions are wrong. That being said, I will be writing a paper on D-16’s fall from grace in conversation with Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” because a lot of the ways in which Freire discusses how the oppressed become their oppressors in the name of liberation, which is no fault of their own in some areas, is relevant to D-16’s transformation into Megatron. A lot of you are thinking with a more pathos-based means of societal change without thinking about realism, practicality, and actually analyzing D-16’s character and why he does what he does. It is more so an attempt at self-preservation and closure from embarrassment (specifically from taking the bait and living as a conformist) than an actual attempt at political change. I also encourage new fans to get more acquainted with Transformers continuities to better round their perspectives, as a lot of this is turning into the “Killmonger was right” discourse, which is problematic for a lot of reasons as a Black scholar who discusses Blackness, representation, and political discourse often in their writing. Seeing these really bad takes spread online, not only hurts how people interact with Transformers media in the future, but arguably indicates a rise of certain short-sighted political philosophies that translate directly into activism.

[emergency-vehicle]

as like The marxist leninist transformers fan (im literally in a ML political party and do revolutionary activism in my personal time)

im telling all of u rn

it is possible that BOTH d-16 AND orion pax were right. like. im begging all of you to not think about this in black and white. BEGGING you.

i have to literally sit down and watch the movie scene by scene and take notes to write the analysis i want to, but im going to give you something VERY brief.

Iacon City is NOT a fully fascist society. It is, in fact, a colony of the Quintessons. It is the victim of Quintesson imperialism.

Sentinel's leadership is absolutely on the path to fascism, but NOT FULLY fascist. Is Sentinel himself a fascist? Yeah, probably. But his societal development is not. this is not to say he isn't an evil dictator- HE ABSOLUTELY IS.

D-16 represents the proletariat's rage against the oppressor. D-16 represents the quote "Either place yourself at the mercy of capital, eke out a wretched existence as of old and sink lower and lower, or adopt a new weapon [violent revolution]-this is the alternative imperialism puts before the vast masses of the proletariat. Imperialism brings the working class to revolution." (-J.V. Stalin, the foundations of leninism).

Orion, Elita One, B-127 and D-16 represent the vanguard party. Orion is NOT like lenin whatsoever, except in his representation of revolutionary optimism, but the role he takes on is similar to lenin's role in the russian revolution simply because he finds himself as the leader.

NO WHERE IN THE MOVIE DOES ORION PAX TALK ABOUT REFORM.

ORION LITERALLY SAYS "I'm thinking about what WE'RE going to do." he AGREES with D-16 that something ABSOLUTELY has to be done about Sentinel. ORION LITERALLY LEADS A VIOLENT COUP AGAINST SENTINEL.

and, something that ALL of yall with this take are conveniently ignoring, is Orion's line "The rebuilding of Iacon cannot start with an execution."

WHICH, OBJECTIVELY, FROM A HISTORICAL STANDPOINT, IS CORRECT.

Yall remember the Chinese revolution in which they overthrew the emperor (who btw was just as evil as sentinel) and then literally turned him into a street cleaner?????

it IS possible to overthrow a violent, evil dictator and then exact revenge on them, while also building a far more moral society in the process.

[theotterpenguin]

Katara's Legacy in LOK: "Healer Wife of the Avatar" (part I)

I only recently finished watching all of The Legend of Korra from start to finish. Based on the analyses I’ve read from the time the show was airing, there seemed to be a decent amount of backlash against how the adult gaang was portrayed - particularly Katara. LOK’s fanbase has grown since then, though, especially during the 2020 renaissance, and I was surprised by how many recent positive comments I’ve seen from fans on Katara’s role.

Because if you paid attention at all to Katara’s characterization compared to Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko, it’s clear just how much Legend of Korra has tarnished her “legacy” or lack thereof.

I will be splitting this analysis of lok!Katara into two parts:

First, I will break down her portrayal in the show compared to the other members of the gaang to demonstrate how Katara received the worst treatment from the writers. Though I did have problems with the other characters’ portrayals as well, I don't have time to discuss them in-depth in this post. Then, I will counter common arguments used in defense of lok!Katara’s portrayal on the grounds that they do not provide an adequate in-universe explanation for her character’s drastic change from ATLA.

For part 1, I decided to examine everything we know about the gaang after the original series only based on the information provided via Legend of Korra (excluding poor Suki, who is never mentioned at all). For each character, I will answer the question “What do we know about [character] based solely on their role in Legend of Korra?”

Sokka

Assuming we have never watched ATLA before, what do we know about Sokka based on LOK?

Well-respected for his wisdom and leadership, as he was Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, a councilman in Republic City (Representative of the Southern Water Tribe), and the chairman of the United Republic Council

Played a significant role in Yakone’s bloodbending trial - moderated the Council’s deliberations and announced their decision to find Yakone guilty

Worked together with other political/military leaders - Zuko, Tenzin, and Tonraq - to protect Avatar Korra by designing prisons for Red Lotus members that would be impervious to their bending

Toph mentioned they were friends in their youth, describing a time he was stuck in a hole when she was trying to teach Aang earthbending

Sokka, Toph, and Aang seemed to have remained friends into adulthood as they all worked together to defeat Yakone

Fond of his trusty boomerang, which he claimed to have used to win a fight against a man with combustion abilities

Due to his achievements, has a statue built in his honor in front of the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center in Republic City

Zuko

Assuming we have never watched ATLA before, what do we know about Zuko based on LOK?

Former Fire Lord and co-founder of the United Republic, who worked with Avatar Aang after the 100 years war to transform the Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations

Zuko and Avatar Aang had a rocky start, as Zuko described a time when he once hired a man with combustion abilities to kill Aang in his youth, but they eventually became close friends

Acted as Aang’s counsel and was described as being the person who knew Aang better than everyone else, leading Korra to turn to him for advice

Good friends with the Southern Water Tribe - worked with Sokka, Tonraq, and Tenzin to imprison Red Lotus members that wanted to kidnap Korra, specifically working with Unalaq and Tonraq to build a prison to hold P’Li

Years later, continued to work against the Red Lotus when they broke out of prison

Investigated the prison break of Ming-Hua, sent word to Lin Beifong to protect Korra, then flew off on his dragon to stop the Red Lotus from breaking P’Li out of prison

Fought Ghazan using his firebending during the Red Lotus break-in

Discussed the Red Lotus situation with Lin, Korra, and the others, before leaving early on Druk (his dragon) to return to the Fire Nation and protect his family

Despite being in “retirement,” remains an active participant in international relations - makes appearances as Prince Wu’s coronation and Jinora’s airbending master ceremony, along with engaging in discussions with President Raiko, Tenzin, and Tonraq about the future of the Red Lotus after Zaheer was imprisoned again

Highly respected and honored for his achievements - Bolin and Mako were impressed to meet him, statue was built in his honor in Republic City

Had a close relationship with his Uncle and his surviving family include his daughter, Fire Lord Izumi, and his grandson, General Iroh II

Toph

Assuming we have never watched ATLA before, what do we know about Toph based on LOK?

Previous Chief of Police in Republic City, founder of the first metalbending police force, founder of the first metalbending academy

Renowned for inventing metalbending, which is utilized for the development of modern technology and innovation in Republic City and the Earth Kingdom (particularly, Zaofu, is regarded as the safest city in the world due to it being made entirely out of metal)

To honor her metalbending achievements, there are several statues of her in Zaofu

Good friends with Avatar Aang, whom she affectionately named Twinkletoes, and was his earthbending teacher

Worked with Aang to arrest Yakone and was present at Yakone’s trial

Acted as a mentor to Korra, helping Korra face her fears and trained with her

Despite her old age and grumpy personality, Toph remained a strong fighter - easily able to beat Korra during training sessions, take down Kuvira’s sentries, and successfully break into Kuvira’s prison using her earthbending and metalbending abilities

States that her fighting days are over due to her old age, but has no problem fighting to save her family when they are captured by Kuvira (twice)

No interest in involving herself in current political problems in the Earth Kingdom, but will defend her family from political forces that threaten them

Strained relationship with her daughters (Suyin and Lin) because of how busy she was with her job, giving them too much freedom as she didn’t want to be as strict as her own parents

Covered up for Suyin’s crimes to save her reputation, leading her to retire early from guilt

Eventually repairs her relationship with her daughters - admitting she wasn’t a great mother but had great kids

Spent rest of her life living alone in a swamp, mentioning she has previous experiences with the visions it produces

High reputation in Republic City - has a statue of her built in front of police headquarters, Asami is impressed by her, Bolin calls her his hero

Aang

Assuming we have never watched ATLA before, what do we know about Aang based on LOK?

Previous Avatar before Korra, negotiated relations between people of all nations to keep peace and balance and served as the bridge between the Spirit World and natural world

Worked with his closest friend Zuko to transform the Fire Nation Colonies into the United Republic of Nations after the war

Lost his entire culture of Air Nomads to genocide during the hundred year war and was devastated - his greatest dream was frequently described as rebuilding the Air Nation and reviving Air Nomad culture

He began to do this by founding the Air Acolytes, who preserved the culture, practices, and teachings of the Air Nomads passed on from Aang

Placed all of his hopes and dreams for the future on Tenzin's shoulders, his only airbender son

Deeply connected to the Spirit World and was an esteemed spiritual leader, hoping his son would one day experience the same

Traveled the world with Tenzin so he could learn as much as possible, but was so focused on doing his duty to the world that he never had time for his other kids, Kya and Bumi, whom he had with his wife, Katara

Kya and Bumi felt like a disappointment to their father for not being airbenders and Bumi never felt connected to his father’s culture until he became an airbender later in life

Aang’s acolytes did not even know Aang had other children besides Tenzin

All of this seems to indicate Aang valued the ability to airbend the most in his children, leading to his waterbending/nonbending kids being neglected

Greatest flaw mentioned as his tendency to cut and run when things get tough

Despite all this, he was highly respected and admired by most characters in the show for all his achievements as Avatar and his wisdom

Assisted in the arrest of Yakone with Toph, a friend of his, and used energybending to remove Yakone’s bending

Gave Korra advice along with restoring her bending and bestowed upon her the ability to energybend

His grandkids (Meelo, Jinora, and Ikki) enjoyed hearing stories about his youth, such as his visit to Wan Shi Tong’s spirit library and his time with Guru Pathik at the Eastern Air Temple

Described as natural leader by Tenzin, sweet-tempered by Lin, and was good friends with Iroh

He built the air temple on Air Temple Island and in his honor, Aang Memorial Island was named after him and a statue of him was built

He’s so well-known and respected that there are even Aang-themed carnival games at the South Pole

Katara

Assuming we have never watched ATLA before, what do we know about Katara based on LOK?

Described as the best healer in the world, responsible for teaching Korra how to heal, and mentioned to be a waterbending master

Monitored Korra’s avatar training and spoke to the Order of the White Lotus when Korra was ready to begin airbending training

Declared bloodbending illegal, but was not present for Yakone’s capture or trial

Attempted to restore Korra’s bending after Amon took it, but failed

Failed to heal Jinora when she was trapped in the Spirit World

Tries to guide Korra’s healing process after she is poisoned, but is unable to heal her on her own

Worked to heal the injured after Unalaq’s attack

According to Toph, Katara didn’t get involved in the civil war taking place in her homeland because of her old age

Mentions to Korra she knows what it’s like to go through a traumatic experience but doesn’t elaborate, instead describing Aang’s trauma

Married to Avatar Aang and had three kids - Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi - and three grandchildren - Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo

After Aang and her brother died, she was incredibly lonely, prompting Kya to move to the south pole to be with her. Misses her family that has passed away.

Her kids don’t visit her much, Meelo doesn’t even recognize his grandmother. She cries when Tenzin and his family leave.

Never speaks about her own life, but Jinora asks her once about what happened to Zuko’s mom, indicating they may have known each other.

By reading those summaries, it should be obvious just how differently Katara’s character was treated by the writers compared to the others. Katara’s legacy is reduced to simply being the “healer wife of the Avatar.”

And before anyone tries to twist my words: The problem is not that she is a mother, a wife, and a healer. The problem that is all she is ever allowed to be. Her entire identity revolves around:

Trying to heal people

Being the Avatar’s wife and occasionally offering random pieces of advice about what Aang would do (instead of, you know, giving advice based on her own experiences)

Missing her family

Again, none of these characteristics are inherently negative - the problem is how poorly they are written for Katara’s character. We are told things about her that just don't match up with what is shown in LOK canon. We're told that she’s a world renowned healer, but every time we see her use these abilities, she fails. We’re told that she’s the Avatar’s wife, but he was closest to his friend, Zuko. We’re told that she’s a mother who cares about her family, but we don’t know anything about her relationship with her children (and in fact, we know far more about her children's relationship with Aang).

Katara has no characteristics, no personality outside of her relationship to others - whether she’s acting as a healer, a mother, or a wife (this is some textbook misogynistic writing). She never speaks about herself, never mentions having any friends - only ever speaking about her husband, never describes her life before being a mother or a wife, is never shown to be honored or respected in the way the rest of the gaang is, has no political titles, and has only one post-atla accomplishment to her name. This is in contrast to Aang, Zuko, and Toph - all of whom have children but are never reduced solely to being a parent, all of whom are implied to be close friends, and all of whom have made multiple important contributions to the world of LOK. Even Sokka - who is barely in the show - is shown as having more achievements than Katara. I’m not sure how anyone could see this as doing Katara’s character justice.

I want to end with this excerpt from the book Avatar: The Last Airbender: Legacy - while not from Legend of Korra, this letter written by Katara to her and Aang's son, Tenzin, is a perfect demonstration of Katara's poor characterization post-ATLA. Despite being written by Katara, this entire letter is about Aang. I'm honestly not sure why the writers didn't just have this letter written by Aang himself because there are no insights that Katara adds to it.

The letter starts with Katara saying that she hopes this letter will help Tenzin "feel the pride of [his] heritage and gain a deeper understanding of who [he is]." And yet this letter never discusses the fact that Tenzin is the son of a waterbender and an airbender, never discusses any of the lessons Katara has learned in her life or the hardships she's overcome, never mentions any part of water tribe culture, never even mentions her own brother or father or mother (family is important to Katara, but apparently the writers only think that her family with Aang matters). The letter is entirely about Aang's struggles and triumphs because post-ATLA Katara doesn't matter outside of her relationship to her husband and kids.

Part 2

[churino]

Design for prima before the uprising

A gladiator from the city of tarn forced into the profession against her will, she's known as the "warrior of light" as a joke from her niche fanbase due to her use of the foodlights in her frame to blind her oponents in battle.

With all the new recruits the autobots got recently, they begin to tell the stories of their earliest members to the new generation

As the autobots began to settle around the upper layers of allspark's citadel finally there was time for the terrans to ask questions about their origins. The autobots didn't know exactly where the terrans came from so the next set of questions was where the Autobots had come from. And that story starts with prima

Though the transformers of the modern day live exclusively aboard spaceships and colony worlds, they all trace their origin back to their homeworld of cybertron, lost and forgotten to all but the most ancient bots of them all. Cybertron was a world of inequality. In the name of growing industry the transformers saw the flora and fauna of Cybertron as insignificant and exploited them until there was nothing left to exploit, without beasts of burden or livestock to do work decided from the moment they're born, their own kind filled those shoes,

Under the caste system known as functionism transformers were assigned jobs and social status that they couldn't change, solely based on their original alternate modes. Entertainment in this era was all in service of gladiatorial combat, the popular gladiators had art and music made in their image, a creating an illusion of social mobility for them, a chrome alloy on a stick

Prima was born a gladiator in the city of tarn during the functionist era, known for quickly dealing with her opponents rather than making a spectacle,

her cold detached approach to the entertainment she was built to provide earned her very few fans, but it earned her many stern talkings from her superiors that the more sucessful gladiators never had to go through, exposing her to the burocracy, and evils of the world firsthand.

The views she formed from her abuse under the system formed the foundation of autobot ideals, the protection autonomy, the duty to give of yourself to others, and the opposition to slavery, she preached the early version of these beliefs to her audience of like.. 4 guys

But as it turned out, those were the exact people to preach to as they aided in her "assassination" the very next day for speaking out against the functionist council, allowing her to hide away from society's eye and gather with like minded bots to tear that society down

[cuppajj]

The Menders are Thalamites who turn into flora, tasked with arguably the most important job in the entire colony: overseeing the development and care of Thalamite newsparks. They are a tightly-knit community who live in the Nursery, a massive grove full of trees with pods in which Thalamites are forged in. Menders always know when newsparks are set to emerge from their pods, and thus they are always there to welcome them into the world. They are peaceful and soft spoken, and they are devout to the titan. Their community operates completely separate from greater Thalamhan; Menders never leave the Nursery, so they farm their own food and make their own fabrics, all for themselves and the newborn Thalamites in their care. They never see the outside world, but they’re content with it, always dedicated to preparing the young to find their place in it. After a Thalamite leaves the Nursery, they can never go back, and the Mender never sees them ever again. It can be hard, since they can become attached to the little ones, but they know it’s all part of their role as the caretakers of new life.

[thenamesblurrito]

here's some Aventuri mecha! they also happen to be the first TFOCs i ever made but this is my favorite iteration of them. only time i've ever managed to give them a design i like. Mantis, Quetzal, and Seraph are a sibling trine from Jubilee, capital of Divinex, menial laborers under jurisdiction of the High Court. each of them have calcite inclusions (that's the patterning on their armor there), which is a less common but mundane mineral. they're on the petite side for Aventuri frames, so you aren't going to see mecha much thinner, lighter, or more delicate than this

Mantis is a loadbearer, which in Divinex means she's consigned to a form of state-run indentured servitude. since her sister is a cityspeaker, Mantis often works with her as a member of the construction and repair teams in Triumpha's underbelly. she has no other outlier power (beyond typical Aventuri extremophilia), but her surprising strength and durability are formidable enough. despite this, she is very meek, often simply trying to make herself small and unnoticed, deferring to others, remaining quiet and speaking only when spoken to. in a self-fulfilling mixture of nature and nurture, Divinexi culture has successfully convinced her that since she enjoys manual labor well enough and isn't confrontational at spark to speak out against anyone bossing her around or snubbing her for being a loadbearer, she clearly must be suited for and destined to never rise above this station, a civil servant to the end. she tries not to dwell on the grim daydreams of stealing someone's corpse and identity and running away to be someone else, a bloody, wistful fantasy for many loadbearers

Quetzal doesn't have a special sparktype or notably rare abilities. her outlier power is hard-light projections, from illusions to forcefields to flashbangs. her bright colors and brighter powers fit her personality very well, as she is the cheeriest and most optimistic of her sisters, more outgoing than the other two combined. but she's tired. more often than she'd like to admit, her smile is forced and her upbeat tone is false. it's hard not to be worn down when she, as the "normal" one in her trine, is responsible for negotiating her family's indenturement. the contract of civil servanthood for Mantis and Seraph could be overseen by someone else, but Quetzal stepped in to be their handler instead in the hopes that she could at least stick up for the two of them in a demanding society. her own job is as a personnel coordinator for many repair and maintenance teams beneath Jubilee, fitting for a people person like her, but trying to make sure everyone is treated well without favoring her own siblings unfairly is an emotional drain that is slowly killing her cheer

Seraph is a cityspeaker, and a damn good one too. she hid her aptitude for awhile, pretending that the hard-light projection outlier power she shares with Quetzal was her only ability, but it didn't last. now she uses that hard-light to display maps and diagrams of Triumpha's internals directly to repair crews, highlighting the areas the Titan feels worst and projecting maintenance plans for everyone to follow along. unlike her sisters, she is not resigned to her lot, but isn't rebellious about it. she is sullen, quiet, and bitter, preferring the company of half-lucid Triumpha to any others, sometimes even her family. she's hardly about to start a revolution, and doesn't even complain to her Titan or her fellow cityspeakers, but everyone definitely feels her cold shoulder on a good day, and heated, biting sarcasm on a bad one. her life will get better. her life will get better, not out of dutiful obedience like Mantis or strained optimism like Quetzal, but out of stubborn spite

here's sort of a rough example of their alt mode. they can transform their raptorial wing-arms to rotors in root mode, not unlike ES Twitch

[obeyond-the-starso]

“An interesting.. adventure.”

[ckret2]

Decided to shake up the constant Gravity Falls asks on the blog (even though I adore them). What is your favorite transformers continuity? And what's your favorite character from that continuity?

Tough call, but probably IDW1. The comics had room to get expansive in ways the show-based continuities couldn't, and I like that feeling of bigness to the universe. It introduced a lot of my favorite Transformers lore: forged vs cold constructed bots, Functionism (especially as a critique of marrying religion to conservative politics), empurata, really creative uses of holoforms, conjunx endura & amica endura (and queer bots, let's give it up for queer bots!!), the complex network of lost colonies, the idea that the gods definitely officially existed BUT they were just guys, the DJD...

All the work that went into immediate pre-war culture with the turbulent corrupt senate and the corrupt Primes was terrific. LSOTW and SOTW are just so damn good, MTMTE up through Remain In Light was brilliant, and Getaway's coup was great. I'm thrilled we got a look at Cybertron's relationships with the rest of the galaxy and it turns out they're hated, because that makes perfect sense but we never really see that. The post-war politics on Cybertron were really fun. I was skeptical IDW could pull off writing about a post-war Cybertron—I assumed within a year they'd default back to restarting the war—and then that ended up being when the whole series really started to shine.

Introduced some characters I love—Drift, Tarn, Stardrive, Windblade, and Pharma stand out off the top of my head. Amazing artwork, especially whenever Milne had the pen. ABSOLUTELY LOVED seeing Starscream get to rule Cybertron. Even though they had trouble committing to it, I appreciate that they had the balls to make Optimus morph into a well-intentioned villain. Love the tragic former senator Shockwave characterization. Love the lonely logical Prowl who can see the Autobots' flaws too clearly for his own good and in his desperation to compensate for the rest of the army morally compromised his way into becoming the villain. Love horrible amoral Tarantulas with his small shining moments of love and tenderness.

Although by the end it was getting really bloated with other Hasbro property crossovers, I did like some of the crossovers they introduced: GI Joe slid in pretty seamlessly—probably helps that TF & GI Joe crossovers have an established history—and I was surprised a how much I liked Rom. And even though the sheer quantity of crossovers got tedious, the concept of going "they've all been dragged into this story because they were all affected by Cybertron's past colonialism" is GREAT.

Love that they ended the story by swinging from "yay look at all these fun new colonies for us to play with!" to "oh my god the Autobots are colonizers." LOVE that they ended with Unicron—every longform Transformers series could end with Unicron and I probably wouldn't complain—and that they let him eat some planets, let him eat half the cast, LET HIM EAT CYBERTRON... and characterized him not as some random bogeyman but specifically as the karmic vengeance for Cybertron's past colonial crimes. Love that the only way to stop him was not by killing him, but by acknowledging that Cybertron was wrong and showing him compassion.

IDW didn't always get things right with their attempted grand messages about politics and injustice and oppression and colonization—but, hell, even when they didn't quite hit the bullseye I love that they were playing with that dartboard.

Favorite character from IDW is Prowl (albeit not without stiff competition). I'm a gleeful Prowl apologist. Yeah he did those terrible things but he was right tho. I started picking up RID & MTMTE right when Prowl got Devastatored, and that was both the thing that made me go "oh hold on the comics are doing something interesting" and the thing that made me take notice of Prowl as a character for the first time in my life lmao. BIG fan of his messy lovelife. (Personally I go "he's too good for Chromedome" and then ship him with the Constructicons and Tarantulas, who are objectively far worse than Chromedome.) He's endlessly fascinating to me, one of my favorite characters to read and one of my favorite characters to write.

Right up there is Starscream—averaged out across all continuities, Starscream's probably my #1 favorite Transformers character, and IDW Starscream is my favorite Starscream, a perfect blend of the bombastic G1 campy villain and the wary, competent, resilient TFP schemer. And Tarantulas rounds out my top 3, I loved him in Beast Wars and then SOTW 3 happened and I had to stop at nearly every panel Tarantulas was in to go "oh my god, this is canon? They got away with that??" Read like a fanfic in the best possible way. "We were each the muse to the other" still has an iron grip on my heart. "I want YOU. I want US." God. SOTW 3 is a masterpiece of literature. Here, do you want a 130k no-war AU where Prowl and Tarantulas are paranormal investigators together? You can have it. For free.

I just spent a lot of time singing the praises of IDW but shoutout to Armada and Energon/Super Link (I preferred the fansub over the dub) for getting me into Transformers, wouldn't be in this fandom today if not for Starscream's beautifully melodramatic redemption arc in Armada. I'm not saying they're good. I'm saying I love them. Totally different thing.

[obscuresubmarine]

Titan/Colony OCs

Since everyone in the fandom these days seems to be making titan/colony ocs, I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring. Introducing: SUMAKKALON and BUA ISS, with their titans TIAMAT and JORMUNGANDR.

Sumakkalon is loosely based around ancient Mesopotamian cultures like Sumer and Babylon, with a bit of the Ottoman Empire thrown in their for kicks. Its citizens all have mythological creature alt-modes, and religion is very important in this colony. Tiamat, the titan, transforms into a walled ziggurat compound with some elements of the Hagia Sophia (like the massive minarets) while her robot mode resembles a naga mixed with her depiction in ancient reliefs like the one below.

Bua Iss is based off of ancient Nordic cultures, specifically the Vikings, thus making it a war-focused culture. All of the citizens turn into snow-and-ice worthy altmodes, whether they be animals or vehicles. The titan Jormungandr also resembles a naga, but his upper half has a humanoid face as opposed to Tiamat's lion-like head. He turns into a Norwegian stave church along with some Viking longhouses.

Here's a stave church

Both titans have an intense rivalry with each other, though the citizens of Bua Iss feel it more strongly.

So yeah, that's the basic introduction to my two colonies. More info will be coming though! Unfortunately no art of them though, I'm not that good at art:(

[blueikeproductions]

It always seemed like the staff on EarthSpark didn’t fully understand what they were doing, as the “G1.5” setting could be rife with other characters related to G1.

For example, the show, at least at first, was big on allegories between Transformers and humans, and considering official media and thirsty fans, you’d think some humans in-story would have romantic relationships with TFs.

So I thought it’d be funny if Astoria was present, with her openly dating Powerglide, with Powerglide being the stepdad to Astoria’s daughter. Astoria’s company is a big shareholder in GHOST, and wants to see results in apprehending all evil Decepticons on the planet after their role in her father and previous husband’s demise following a botched energy scheme. Like many, she’s not particularly pleased at Megatron’s presence, and more than once has said she wants him arrested too once matters are settled. Astoria fell for Powerglide the moment he saved her and her daughter Charlie from their collapsing company building. Charlie’s a little unsure about Powerglide at first, because she thought he was a Decepticon Jet, but was won over by the plane’s charm and that he took her into the clouds to see the beauty of it all.

Charlie is best friends with Max, the son of GHOST agent Alanna and Autobot Seaspray. The two kids often tag along with the Witwiccans (Phoenix and Grahm’s Terran group) and the Maltobots. The two don’t receive Cyber Sleeves though, probably due to being too young for the responsibility.

Beachcomber I saw as a victim of Mandroid’s reprogramming, one of several Autobots and Decepticons forced into the Arachnamech faction. Upon being freed of that, he becomes another mentor figure to the Terrans, passing on his laid back “hippie” way of thinking to the more high strung Phoenix, Ethan, Jawbreaker, Thrash and Camshaft.

He’s one of the few Autobots Dot actually likes, as they both bond over a shared love of nature.

Gears is trans in this version of events, though in story it’s not really dwelled on. The only real hint she is beyond just being another gender bend like Skywarp and Frenzy is Gears remarking she got an overhaul during the Earth conflict and never felt better. Something about upgrading from a stick shift, as a confused Thrash would describe it. Gears is still a bit of a grump though, annoyed at Megatron being an Autobot and having an existential crisis at the possibility the Transformers stuck on Earth are the only ones left in the universe. It’s this moment that sees Hashtag use her internet power to send a signal out into space to see whether or not other Autobots still exist. Gears is pleased to later learn Cybertron is ok, but sour at it being under Decepticon control at the moment. She also is surprised to hear the Colony Worlds are for the most part still intact after the Cosmic Rust incident, and several are actually descendants of Quintus Prime like the Terrans.