unicrons-chaos

[unicrons-chaos]

TFMR Daily random facts - Day 08

Random Worldbuilding/Character facts about Transformers: mobius run universe

Random facts about Neocybex (2-2/3)

Many Dialects of Neocybex - 2/3

Urayan

According to the linguists, there might have been a theoretical common ancestor of all dialects that exists on the planet. If this so-called "proto-dialect" ever actually existed, then Urayan is probably the closest among all its descendant dialects. For such reason, Urayan is ometimes referred to as "the firstborn of all dialects".

From pronunciations to grammatical structures, Urayan influence can be found throughout dialects that are spoken in regions bordering Uraya, such as Praxian, Altihexian, Protihexan and many more. Even Iaconian has quite a number of Urayan-originated words in its lexicon.

Cybertronians often say Urayan is one of the easiest foreign dialect to learn. Urayans can say the same thing about alomst every other dialects they come across.

Camien

A variant of Urayan spoken in the colony planet of Caminus. Camien originated from old Urayan, which was the dialect the first settlers used.

Thanks to the settlers' strong effort to preserve their Cybertronian heritage, the dialect could be preserved in near perfect condition for a very long time while the mainland Urayan went through various altercations. After some time, the difference between these two became distinctive enough to be considered seperate dialects.

One thing curious about Camien lexicon is that it contains words that even Camiens aren't sure what they exactly mean. For example, they have two words that describes their companions within their familial unit: 'Brother', and 'Sister'. They know who to call a sister or a brother, but when they are asked "why is this person a 'brother/sister'?", they can't provide any explanations. They know it by experience, but they have no idea why it works like so. It's like gendered nouns in European languages, where one knows a 'chocolate' is a 'female' but can't explain why it is so.

As to why there are words with such concept despite the fact that Cybertronians have no biological gender, it still remains a mystery to this day.

Vosian

Before the Grand Unification, All that's known about Vosian was that it is a 'language of flying barbarians'. But once the city-state's rich and uniqe culture was revealed to the world in forms of art, music, architecture and glamorous Vosian upper class lifestyle, the dialect also gained equal recognition and popularity.

Vosian has unique accents that makes the speech sound 'melodic' and 'elegant'. On the other hand, there are people who finds these accents rather 'distracting', or 'overly pompous'.

Vosian dialect is divided into two kind: High Spire Vosian, and Common Vosian. High Spire is the speech of royals, nobles, scholars and other people of high status, while Common is literally the speech of common folks. High spire sounds more smooth and refined, wheras Common sounds more rythmic and lively.

According to the survey conducted by several large universities across Cybertron, Vosian was recorded as third most popular foreign language to study, next to Iacon(1st place) and Urayan(2nd place).

Groundframes or flightframes without visible wings (i.e. Helicopters) may never be able to properly speak Vosian no matter how much they study. This is because there's another important form of Vosian other than sopken or written.

Vosian Wingspeech 

Vosian wingspeech is a type of body language that is delivered through movements of back-mounted wings. Whenever a Vosian speaks, Wingspeech follows too.

In Common Vosian, the wingspeech is little more than gestures that emphasize certain meanings or feelings. Wing movements involved in the speech often happenes unconsciously, so even those who are not familiar with reading wings can approximate the meaning of the movement.

Things are different in High Spire Vosian, where the wingspeech is called "Courtyard Speech". It started as some fancy form of secret handshake that royals used to communicate without nobles overhearing them, and then later widely spread to the upper class in general.

The speaker moves their wings consciously in a series of complicated motions, as if building a sentence in spoken language. Thanks to this, a Vosian noble can speak two different things at once. Often the nobles would speak something and then speak something that contradicts their spoken words. In this case, it's better to bet on the Wingspeech being the real message.

There's only one kind of groundframes that can learn Wingspeech, and that's Praxians. Thanks to the doorwings they are born with, they can learn how to speak Wingspeech up to some level. They are surprisingly good at reading someone's Wings, despite the fact that Praxians themselves have never invented their own wingspeech. 

#transformers worldbuilding

[unicrons-chaos]

Vector Prime, does Cybertron have seasons like Earth, and if so what are they like and what are they called?

Dear Seasonal Seeker,

When Cybertron once orbited the Alpha Centauri system many millennia ago, the early inhabitants gave names to recurring patterns. I suppose you could refer to these as "seasons", even though ours sometimes overlap with each other and exist even when our world no longer orbits a particular star:

Pulse: early Cybertronians believed that Vector Sigma, in the core of our world, would issue a large energy pulse, sometimes leading to the creation of new hot spots. The detection of Vector Sigma's pulse began the season of Pulse, and served as the beginning of our "year".

Flux: radiation from Alpha Centauri A can interfere with energon, sometimes changing its color and properties. When energon lakes turn from purple to mostly blue, almanacs record that as the first cycle of Flux.

Summer B: when temperatures rise slightly due to Cybertron's orbit around Alpha Centauri B.

Prox: every 430 Earth-years, Proxima Centauri comes close enough to where its radiation can be felt—usually a time for vacation.

Winter B, Summer A: as you can see, Cybertron has a strange orbit around the Alpha Centauri triple star system.

Collapse: Cybertron's electrical internals and metal surface turns the world into a weak electromagnet, tending to draw metal-rich ore to it as comets and meteors. Meteor rain is very common and tends to be associated with introspection.

Omni-stice: the season when light from all three stars focuses on Cybertron. It is very brief—only a few Earth days—but dazzling. It is the end of our "year". Sometimes we also celebrate the Dark Season, when far from our stars: the Omninox.

#OH THIS IS SO COOL #ask vector prime #transformers worldbuilding #seasons

[unicrons-chaos]

Would you mind telling us about more disabled Cybertronians?

Oh boy would I

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

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

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

In many iterations he is mute

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

In IDW he has a cane

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

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

An amputee, he lost his hand

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

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

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

Amputee, leg edition

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

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

Impaired mobility

Chronic pain

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

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

Bad Joints ™

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

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

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

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

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

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

He’s on permanent life support

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

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

He’s fully blind in cyberverse

He lost an eye in IDW

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

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

Transmutate - is a beloved bot from beast wars

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

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

Xaaron - from G1 is in a similar situation

He can’t transform, it would kill him

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

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

He’s very prone to motion sickness

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

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

His frame has a very high energon cost

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

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

He’s prone to fainting

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

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

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

[unicrons-chaos]

This was made for a fan community I am working on. If you would like to apply these as headcanons to your own work, go right ahead

All the human stuff is real btw, I have a source linked below that goes into much more detail on the topic.

I was planning on doing the cybertronians body language or anatomy post first but decided to go with this because the info it provides helps with the other two. its also a lot shorter than the other two so I knew I could get it done a lil faster.

Sources I used while making this lore below  

Sources I used while making this lore 

https://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/energetic-communication/■ (had to break the link because tumblr would blacklist my post just remove the cube)

Several Wikipedia Articles about em fields and magnetoreception

#transformers worldbuilding

[unicrons-chaos]

A headcannon I have is that Cybertronian does not translate very well into any Earth dialect, it is basically alien super-binary. This is espically true of names: for example in Cybertronian Blackout, Black Out, and Black-Out, would be similar but different names.

Sorry I didn't answer this immediately! That sounds fascinating as hell, and it would make a few of the instances where mecha have similar names make more sense

#i like making different cybertron languages fail to translate well into eachother #and with english they have to translate into ancient Latin and THAN english or else the words will be horribly mis translated

[unicrons-chaos]

I think we're underutilizing EM fields in TF in general. I mean, we got the romantic and plantonic ways down, but:

EM fields are one of their basic communication skills, so are there differences between age groups and classes? Like newsparks and sparklings with spikey fluctuations and pure, simple emotions; emotional regulation classes/mentoring groups/buddy systems for newbuilds because it must be intense to suddenly come to life and then having to deal with everyone else around you on top of your own newfound feelings; city-states with Rules and Regulations on how, what, and when to interact as well as cultural differences and stereotypes.

(Example: Seekers are considered violent with animalistic tendencies because they mob. You don't mess with one. They group together to stand cohesively. Whereas Seekerkin look down/pity other frames for their loneliness, for how fragility of their social ties.)

We have neutral body language and expressions as well as "resting bitch face" and the "murder walk," so similar ways with fields?

Do certain castes/professions need certain training or Forged mecha have the innate talent to use their EM fields in a particular way that's a boon to their work?

The jarring sensation of someone immediately disappearing from close, personal range

Would Cybertronians find it terrifying to find a space that suddenly became quiet and silenced in every single way?

The immense clash by someone that severely outclasses you, being crushed beneath the wave of their own superiority and dismissal or sucked down in a whirlpool of pure terror (similar to killing intent in Naruto)

#transformers worldbuilding

[unicrons-chaos]

Cybertronian culture must have things that have complicated and wacky origins. Like, in humans the love heart symbol comes from an extinct flower that was used as an aphrodisiac (and it's extinct for that reason yeah). the words nachos and nazis come from the same root word, same origin as the name Iggy. We're Still fuzzy about the origin of fuck. The color orange is named after the fruit, before it was just called Yellowred. Some english words are Exactly the same as they were in latin. There is a mountain whose name when fully translated is just Mountain four times.

They Have to have glyphs with weird origins or that evolved from inside jokes, especially since the great Cybertronian war happened i mean I'm just correct. So many glyphs had to have entered their vocabulary that come from different alien languages with little to no translation. Glyphs that evolved and gained innuendo solely through translation errors and misspellings. Glyphs that come from a pun about extinct animals and long forgotten races among the stars. Glyphs that originally referred to some long forgotten dude who's been offline since the original predacons were alive.

#transformers worldbuilding

[unicrons-chaos]

Cybertronian language hcs

Some of my ideas. I think their communication is a constant mix of vocal, sign, and body language at the same time.

Written language

Old Cybertronian was written in runes that were clawed or carved (handy before the invention of paints and brushes)

Modern and semi-modern Cybertronian can be painted with a brush, similiar to how Asian languages traditionally were (Transformers Prime episode "T.M.I" had Bulkhead paint sigils with a mop as a brush)

Cybertronian has alphabet like in cyrillic, as opposed to symbols being words like in japanese (makes more sense at least for modern Cybertronian as it's mostly typed on devices)

Vocalized language

Cybertronians all have some sort of engines, and aside from running their internal organs, the engine is also used for vocal communication

They can growl and purr like canines and felines, and might also be able to screech

Might also be able to make more mechanical noises, like whirring wheels and grinding gears?

Sign language/body language

I think most of them had four or five fingers, so humanlike sign language is possible. It's much more widespread among abled Cybertronians than sign language is among abled humans.

Wings, doorwings, and winglets are used to emote; for example they stand up, droop, flutter, and spread in threat display (there's one problem with this hc; many of them don't have any of these)

Finials express similiarly to cat and dog ears (again a problem with the hc; many Cybertronians do not have finials)

They also have more human-like body language signals because they're bipedal and have two arms and legs

#transformers worldbuilding

[unicrons-chaos]

Here’s the Cybertronian Alphabet as it appears in Transformers Prime! 

I’ve been looking for this forever, as the script for the language used in TFP differs from several other appearances of the Cybertronian language in other TF media, but they included this alphabet chart in the first Transformers Prime Magazine! 

Since this is the only time we see any complete alphabet chart/symbol chart in any TFP canon-adjacent official material, I think this is as close as we can get to an “official” Cybertronian written/typed alphabet for this series. 

[Source: Transformers Prime Magazine Issue #1] 

#transformers worldbuilding

[unicrons-chaos]

Thinking ab how there’s a sort of wing-speak thing for both wings and doorwings

It’s heavily rooted in body language so I’m positive there’s similarities but fliers and praxians are Definitely socialized differently. Plus the hinges, weights, and attachment angles are different! So in certain ways they Can’t move the same

There’s definitely stuff that has different motions but mean the same thing, like for example wings fluttering would be the same as doorwings bouncing, because doorwings Can’t flutter

But what about the motions they share? A lot of outside factors influence the tone or meaning a gesture can have, and I think the detail wingspeak has would just amplify that, so with the different backgrounds a lot of the same motions probably have different meanings

Are the differences read as accents are? Like a flier from altihex looking at a praxian and the wing language translates like someone speaking with a super thick accent? The message comes across but the details are lost in translation

Or would that apply more between a flier from altihex and another from vos? While a grounder from praxis is speaking a whole different language?

How does that come into play after Vos and Praxis fall. Did it fuel the fire? “They’re all Decepticons/Autobots, they’re Bad, they don’t even use their wings/doors properly”

Idk man I feel like this is potential that Everyone is underusing, if we as a fandom are making it function as a language I demand nuance, I demand variation

#transformers worldbuilding

[unicrons-chaos]

Okay, so I'm thinking about linguistics on Cybertron, especially between city-states and caste influence.

I want to emphasize that I don't know jack shit about linguistics, so feel free to jump in if I'm using the term wrong or I'm veering into weird/silly territory.

Because of a lot of fanon interpretation and Bayverse, I'm viewing Cybertronian/Neocybex as ridiculously tonal and, unlike humans, are able to vocally include subglyphs -(sub)harmonics that closely act like written Chinese characters or Japanese kanji.

I'm really stressing the written part because Cybertronians have the capability to able to differentiate a word's very specific meaning without going through all the context surrounding it. So instead of vocally explaining that their names or meaning is "this," people already know.

Think of the name Miko and how many of us already immediately think of shrine maiden. But there are different kanji variations of Miko, so the meaning changes to exemplify certain characteristics or future aspirations.

There is a culture clash between dialects as names can rise from different conventions and inspirations. Hence, the IDW Megatron joke of his name being derived from neutron, the bomb. And TFP Megatron from the Fallen.

In terms of dialect by regional/city-state differences:

Kaon and Tarn: highly forceful and the underscores of territorality (mine versus not yours); very direct and clear cut; incorporated meanings with biolight usage and plating noise

Vos, Praxus, and Polyhex: aggressively stresses the group/flock/cohort rather than the individual (even Starscream with his me/I has a lot of accompanying subglyphs that stresses his position as the second-in-command to the Decepticons, Air Commander, and leader to the Elite Trine), very conscientious of social dynamics and ranks, pecking order is strictly held yet contains fluidity to be challenged, use of more "animalistic" noises, body language with wings/panels, expanded lexicon for spatial relationships during traveling operations

Iacon: emphasis on social hierarchy via one's occupation (aka their caste); formal and cold as it utilizes the least amount of subglyphs (viewed to be academic or stem from it); purposely more general rather than specific

I'm willing to bet the Lost Colonies of Cybertron had developed their own unique flavor of Neocybex/Cybertronian, especially without the immense pressure of Functionism.

#transformers worldbuilding

[unicrons-chaos]

I'm doing this little personal challenge where I turn on some playlist on YouTube and then draw a separate sketch for each song from it hehe

#this is dope

[unicrons-chaos]

Imagine if these 2 meet

Breakdown is 26f tall jetfire/skyfire is 24f tall. I've been stuck thinking about them and I feel like it would be interesting to see.

#universe crossover this would be funny #another funy bit would be the fact in tfp skyfire would be huge compared to his g1 self! #either way them interacting would be halarious

[unicrons-chaos]

Imao, Imagine if Prettypoison WAS Starscreams Legal/Og name and just changed it cuz it sounds like some stage name you would hear from a Str1p Club. Can't have the future 'Leader' of the Decepticon being called Prettypoison.

He totally probably still uses his og name during undercover missions.

#ok but even better #it's not his og name #but it's his alias only few people know about #rumor that he's a strip club member with that name but no one knows if he actually was or just a funny joke to harass people's mental states #the real reason is cause he's egotistical and vain and a chemist so he was nicknamed that during the science academy #not like he'll tell anyone that tho #gotta let the masses be confused so you can grab their attention when leading the decepticons and shoving megatron's helm behind the throne #transformers #maccadam #tw suggestive? #it involves strip clubs so i guess

[unicrons-chaos]

The 13th primes

So i tried last night to figure it out and finished today but this a my interpretation. Sorry for bad quality tumbr turned it to shit after uploading.

Some might be wrong but their appearances are not set in stone between continuities. The wiki also doesn't have pictures for most of the artifacts. I pick lieges for the horns and nothing more because he always has horns for some reasons. Cough cough loki core

Heres the goddamn photo

It is possible i got Alpha Trion and Amalgamous prime in the wrong spots and should be swapped with each other but it depends on what reference photos you look at.

Another update a day later is that micronus and the 13th also might be in the wrong place and should be swapped. But I'll let you all decide on that.

#none of them looked like optimus which i guess that means hes not a reincarnation of the 13th in this show #i have no idea of what the artifact i put down for micronus is because the wiki does a show but not tell of a picture with canon artifacts #buts its the same artifact so whatever #prev tags #this is cool honestly #The Covenant of Primes #The Covenant of Primus #transformers

[unicrons-chaos]

Cybertronian Colloquialisms - Primes Edition

So we've all heard "By the AllSpark!" or "What in the Pit?" or "Oh Primus" in our TF media. However, I feel like TF writers are missing out on the goldmine that is colloquialisms invoking the different Primes. So, here is a small collection of such colloquialisms, and please, feel free to add more if you have any of your own you use.

"Primus below!" - Exclamation similar to "God above!", invoking the fact that Primus is the core of Cybertron.

"Vector give me patience" - Often paired with "because if Prima gives me strength, I'm going to need bail money." The go-to for when somebot if getting on your last nerves.

"To Alchemist!" - A popular drinking toast, to thank Alchemist Prime for inventing high grade.

"The Three Below" - Refers to Solus, Onyx, and Micronus, the three Primes who formed the Well of AllSparks

"Maximum Blessings on you" - a stealth insult/curse from some dialects, where "Maximum" and "Maximo's" are nearly indistinguishable. As Liege Maximo was the Prime of Lies and Trickery, it's a fitting way to wish someone ill.

“Solus’s slag pit” - Used for something incredible, awful, and incredibly awful. Often used to refer to the latest high society fashion mess.

"Find peace or take it up with the Fallen." - In other words, calm down or screw off.

“As you say, my Liege” - A condescending remark towards a person who’s attempting to lie, cheat or mislead.

Again, if you have any primal colloquialisms you use for your fics, reblog and share them with the rest of us.

#Absolutely love this #cybertron worldbuilding #transformers #macadam #transformers worldbuilding #tf worldbuilding #the thirteen primes #primus

[unicrons-chaos]

Something stupid i made last night bc i was thinking about how aerial Cybertronians should have rats that turn into RATs (Ram Air Turbine)

RATs are deployed during emergencies on aircraft when an airplane’s primary power sources stop generating electricity (or ig in this case they run outta energon or something? Look i just wanted to draw rat/RAT)- it then generates some energy as the airplane flies

#absolutely love this op #when energon gets lost the rat can produce extra that can be transfered to the cybertronian while they fly #it's a symbiotic relationship #Vosians have them as pets traditionally #rats rats we are da rats