#cybertronian culture

[earthstellar]

One thing that I really liked in IDW 2 was the concept of Going Immersant.

Given the immensely long average lifespan of Cybertronians, it makes sense:

If nothing kills you, and you live long enough to have experienced all of what you feel you reasonably can in this lifetime, and you feel content with the life that you have had, and it seems time to retire--

--Why not return your knowledge and the entity of your self to the core of your planet, where your energy and your components can be reused and your memories and knowledge can be subsumed into the greater whole?

Plug in with the stray cables that stick out of the cavernous expanses deep beneath the surface of Cybertron, let yourself get situated, and allow yourself to daydream as the crystals grow around you and gradually consume you. It is not painful. It is a process of sharing.

Each daydream then enters the great memory bank of Primus, at the heart of the world, the core of life itself for your species. Your experiences become part of the eternal record of experienced Cybertronian life. You join your God himself, frame and processor, as you combine with him within the physical form of your planet.

Primus created you, and as you are subsumed into the crystalline forms that surround you, you will go on to sustain Primus in some way. An unending cycle.

Perhaps you feel something, leeching up from deep within the crystal mass, some unique energy meeting you halfway, the cables that snake their way into your ports like vines carrying some ancient data, older than yourself, older than the Rust Sea, older than the Hydrax Plateau, older than the Titans.

Maybe you cannot decipher it, yet. But it comforts you. It reminds you that you are not alone, after your visitors have gone. Where there is digital noise, there is something to produce it. You will meet it soon--

--After countless years of a peaceful rest, knowing that at the end of your endlessly long existence, your life will go on to benefit others.

And for as long as you are able, you still remain present, as well. Just not above, on the surface. For some time, others can still come and visit, speak with you, consult with you-- Although as your memory banks purge into the greater whole, you begin to falter in this waking realm.

And that is OK; To rejoin with Primus and re-enter the Well of All Sparks as an ancient elder, a repository of experience and wisdom, is to become a teacher to all. Even in peaceful, gradual death-- And even then, your energy and materials and thoughts remain somewhere, deep within the planet.

Returned. Recycled.

Eternal, in some shape or form.

It's just a really beautiful concept.

Without any natural death, Cybertronians have the option to simply return to Primus, return to the core of the planet, in a half-waking state.

At peace, gracefully and with intent.

All of what they have experienced and all that they are, all of their memories and feelings, all of the metals and compounds that make up their frame and armour and protoform, all of it can be taken in and absorbed.

The option is there, to emerge once more.

But for most, this is the final calling.

To go immersant is to enter peace, to become a living state of meditation until the very end for you as an individual. To have full agency over how you pass on, to make the decision and consciously know. To be happy with that. To relax into your fate, as you see fit.

To make the decision to be recycled, to contribute all that you are, to return your energy to the crystalline matter that fuels your world and your people and your God, who in turn fuelled you and will thus go on to fuel all those subsequently churned out by the Well.

To merge with your living planet on an atomic level, on an esoteric level.

I wonder if the fully immersant aren't dead in the traditional sense. Perhaps they are offline, to those in this world. Perhaps their frame is vacated as their data is absorbed. But that data is not lost, necessarily.

It's just a very beautiful end of life option for Cybertronians, and I do hope the concept is revisited in some form in the future.

#codexa #idw transformers #idw 2 #orion pax #idw orion pax #maccadams #maccadam #just thinkin' #cybertronian culture #immersant

[witchofthesouls]

There should be more cultural clashes between the Autobots and their human allies/pals, especially on the language front. Yeah, Spike's name is hilarious, but there's more.

The film Car and its sequels would make the 'bots either super interested or, if it's a sparkling fic, really uncomfortable.

Not because of the plot or anthromorphic features. Because of the soundtracks. "Life is a Highway," "Real Gone," and "Ride" sound like sex songs to them. Not the wink-wink-it's-inferred, it's straight-up sex. Like they ain't prude, but damn squishes, y'all roll like that?

'Driver' and 'rider' can be sexual euphemisms to Cybertronians. It's their equivalent to 'pitcher' and 'catcher.' Similar to 'crash' and how long it can be slang for 'extreme overload' because a mecha reboots or glitches out.

So just imagine, some of the Cybertronians reevaluating their neighbors, especially when they find dating app profiles going, "I like Pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and long car rides under the stars."

Random 'bot/'con: all right, all right, let's see how's that endurance

#transformers #cybertronian culture #cultural misunderstandings #culture clash #my thoughts #fic ideas #valveplug #maccadam

[nervous-introvert]

Transformers thoughts

Since cybertronians are silver as protoforms and gain color later in life, does that mean silver ones like Megatron have the cybertronian equivalent of a babyface?

Did Megatron ever find himself in a situation where a bartender asked THE LORD OF THE DECEPTICONS to show his ID because they thought Megs didn't look old enough to drink!?

This randomly occurred to me and I can't stop thinking about it.

#transformers #maccadam #cybertronian culture #megatron #imagine that poor bartender's shock when they realised they asked MEGATRON to see some ID

[lets-try-some-writing]

idea

Considering that tfp cybertronian don't have lips like humans,to """kiss""" eachother, they basicly bonk heads together like cats with a light electric current running between them.

I LOVE THIS IDEA

I swear I've written about it before, but here I go again.

Keeping in line with my personal headcanon that touching is just a way to bond, I can see Bumblebee hurrying to bonk his helm against everyone he likes. Arcee gets one, Bulkhead had to kneel down to get one, Ratchet gets two happy bonks, Optimus gets one long bonk. The kids are even offered the bonks but Bee has to be very careful so as to not accidently hurt them. Smokey doesn't get bonks, nor does Ultra Magnus. They are too new or important for him to feel comfortable.

Arcee doesn't do helm touches. That's for sparklings and very close pairs. No instead she does leans. She will rest her helm against the leg or torso of those she likes. No hugs here. Just a light touch. She's a tad too short for most other interaction anyway.

Bulkhead is very gentle with everyone he does helm touches with. He doesn't touch Ratchet with a ten foot pole and he is VERY conservative with the touches he offers Optimus. The Prime will get light touches like the ones Arcee offers. Bumblebee often gets full blown helm touches. Arcee doesn't like getting helm touches so Bulkhead instead touches her back whenever he can. Wheeljack though? Whenever he's at base Bulkhead and Wheeljack will butt helms like rams. He might pat Magnus's shoulder, but that's all. Smokey gets no helm touches, but shoulder touches are acceptable.

Ratchet isn't particularly stingy about touching. He's a medic after all. It is literally his job to stick his digits everywhere. But when he's feeling particularly touchy he will offer helm touches to Bumblebee and Optimus exclusively. He knows them the best and so is far more comfortable touching them. Bulkhead and Arcee get back touches and in Bulkhead's case, hip and torso touches as well. Ultra Magnus is in a similar boat. Smokescreen is too new for serious touching, but Ratchet is willing to throw him a bone due to his youth and will give him back touches as well when he's feeling down.

Technically the rules state that it is heretical for anyone to touch the Prime without going through various rituals, but Optimus gave everyone the green light so now he will go about touching his team whenever he feels like it. Helm bonks go for whoever he trusts and is comfortable with it. Back, arm, and pretty much anywhere else touches go for the rest of the team. Smokescreen never emotionally recovered when Optimus spontaneously decided he trusted Smokescreen enough for the rookie to get touches.

Ultra Magnus will only touch his Wreckers, Ratchet, and Optimus. He may give Bee a few touches, but its RARE. He will touch helms with Optimus and Bulkhead, even Wheeljack eventually. It is all a matter of trust, one which he first engaged in begrudgingly but now secretly really enjoys.

Smokescreen both REALLY wants touches but also isn't entirely sure about what to do. Standard dictates that touches are reserved for close companions. But the war meant that the usual time it takes for trust to build has significantly shortened. He spent several weeks totally touch starved until Bulkhead accepted him first. The rest of the team followed suit and poor Smokescreen has never gotten so much physical affection in his life.

Touching reaffirms bonds. There is nothing weird about it. The whole process is just to solidify companionship. Despite that eventually being explained to the humans, they will never not blush when the team will nonchalantly stick their servos in places humans would see as being very reserved. Arcee is the worst offender in their eyes since she is often too short to reach anything except the legs and crotch of taller bots.

#transformers #maccadam #transformers prime #team prime #optimus prime #ratchet #bumblebee #ultra magnus #wheeljack #bulkhead #arcee #smokescreen #cybertronian culture

[knight-says-rollout]

Would you mind telling us about more disabled Cybertronians?

Oh boy would I

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

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

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

In many iterations he is mute

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

In IDW he has a cane

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

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

An amputee, he lost his hand

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

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

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

Amputee, leg edition

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

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

Impaired mobility

Chronic pain

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

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

Bad Joints ™

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

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

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

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

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

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

He’s on permanent life support

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

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

He’s fully blind in cyberverse

He lost an eye in IDW

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

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

Transmutate - is a beloved bot from beast wars

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

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

Xaaron - from G1 is in a similar situation

He can’t transform, it would kill him

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

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

He’s very prone to motion sickness

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

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

His frame has a very high energon cost

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

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

He’s prone to fainting

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

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

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

#transformers #maccadam #bumblebee #sunstreaker #sg soundwave #shadow striker #tfp ultra magnus #WFC shamble #broadside #trailbreaker #transmutate #xaaron #finback #perceptor #knockout #cybertronian biology #cybertronian culture #disabilties #long post #Cybertronian disability

[weldingmetal]

Organicfacer

So we call ourselves monsterfucker and robotfucker and what not but how would this happen if transformers were real?

So I wrote this little blurb. This could be for any continuity I think. Send me requests and I’ll see what I can do. Also tell me if ya want to be tagged.

this was inspired by @robot-horde

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So the Cybertronian and human relations were going as well as they could.

Although there were some protests from humans and a few problems here and there everything went as well as it could. It was recently released that Cybertronians could freely explore earth and whatnot if they did not cause destruction…however there was something the government failed to mention and the bots under all circumstances didn’t expect.

Humans will try to fuck anything that they can.

This led to very…. Interesting revelations. No one knows exactly the bot and human that started everything although many have their money on Hot Rod.

Whoever it was it happened like this. A lonely human sick of their species decided to take a chance and a bots curiosity was burning bright which led to the human confirming that they were a robot fucker and the bot realizing that he could probably never fully go back to hard metal digits.

Thus the term “Organicfragger/organicfacer” was coined on one of the many Cybertronian group chats.

Apparently with the widespread public discovery that the two species genitalia was compatible came many expected and unexpected events.

A human/bot relationship flag

Sites dedicated to Human/bot erotica

Cheesy inaccurate romance novels by Cybertronian and humans alike

Facebooks moms complaining only to do a 180 and always be looking for a bot s/o

Men being mad that femme bots don’t want them.

Memes

TV shows

Cybertronians and humans who only date each other for clout.

The car washing businesses skyrocketing.

So in other words it would be nothing short of sexy chaos

#( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) #hope you guys like this #there would be so much bot/human dating drama #I would live for it #maccadam #transformers #humans are space orcs #humans are weird #transformers prime #valveplug #cybertronian biology #cybertronian culture #robot fucker

[aviatrix-ash]

Still making that digital copy of the complete allspark almanac

Thought I'd do like a mass post with all the Cybertronian tech, lifestyle & culture world building goodies I could find in there.

#maccadam #transformers #tfa #transformers animated #complete allspark almanac #tfa world building #cybertronian culture #tfa prowl #tfa optimus #tfa megatron #tfa starscream #tfa shockwave #tf archive #tfmedia #oh..strika 😳.. i wish i could do that 😔

[novafire-is-thinking]

Cybertronian Color Psychology

I wasn’t planning to write an essay on Cybertronians and color psychology just yet, but here I am doing just that, thanks to a recent discussion with @onewingedsparrow.

Basically, my thinking revolves around what kinds of meanings Cybertronians might have assigned to certain colors and how they differ from human color associations. We already know that colors can mean entirely different things to different human cultures (e.g. black and white can both be associated with death depending on where you come from).

My best speculative example for Cybertronians is purple. Before I continue, keep in mind that I’m ignoring the fact that purple is a common color used for villains in fiction because that’s boring and doesn’t leave much room for deeper implications.

Megatron’s Favorite Color

When looking at human color psychology, purple is often associated with things like Imagination, Mystery, Royalty, and Spirituality. Darker shades are closely tied to different emotions and traits than are lighter shades, but as a general rule, purple is more “mystical” and abstract than a color such as green, which is more grounded and earthy.

Now, I point to the trend of Megatron and his Decepticons choosing to adorn themselves and/or their spaces with purple.

I agree 100%, Megatron.

Despite Megatron’s reputation of ruthlessness and using force and power of will to make progress, he’s often also portrayed as a charismatic individual with an affinity for wielding words in beautiful ways that capture and hold a listener’s attention—a poet in his own way. Megatron may be loud and threatening, but he’s also strategically minded; words and actions carry weight and intentionality.

What does this have to do with color? Well, I like to think that Megatron chose purple as the chief color of the Decepticon cause for a reason. I’ll present two likely possibilities.

Possibility #1:

Perhaps he chose purple because on Cybertron, or at least in his region of origin, purple was/is associated with things like Vision, Change, Power, and Rebirth—things the Decepticon movement was originally meant to embody. Both he and Soundwave—his most loyal ally and companion—have been shown to bear the color purple in multiple continuities, even if only on the Decepticon insignia.

Possibility #2:

Purple could have been a color often associated with the highest castes (similar to it’s association with earth royalty). This would mean that Megatron’s choice of color was more an act of defiance, knowing that those in Cybertron’s higher castes would be livid, or at least shocked at the sight of him and his “lowly” Decepticon dissenters flaunting the color so boldly. Of course, by the end of the war, Megatron would have effectively changed Cybertron’s deeply rooted cultural perception of the color purple forever. But even if this were the case, the color would still end up associated with Vision, Change, Power, and Rebirth.

Other Possible Cybertronian Color Associations:

(and several bots who don the colors and happen to embody some or all of the characteristics—all of which are positive since I don’t have the patience to identify and list the negative ones even though they absolutely would exist)

Red: Grandeur, Swiftness of mind and/or body, Discovery, Fearlessness

Optimus (multiple continuities)

Starscream (multiple continuities)

Rodimus/Hot Rod (IDW & Cyberverse)

Drift (IDW)

Perceptor (IDW)

Windblade (IDW & RiD 2015)

Knockout (TFP)

Blue: Knowledge/Intellect, Wisdom, Sacrifice, Honor, Creativity

Optimus (multiple continuities)

Dreadwing (TFP)

Arcee (TFP)

Ultra Magnus (TFP & IDW)

Kup (IDW)

Skids (IDW)

Brainstorm (IDW)

Green: Endurance, Steadfastness, Brotherhood, Youthfulness

Bulkhead (TFP & TFA)

Skyquake (TFP)

Boulder (Rescue Bots)

Springer (IDW*)

Hoist (IDW*)

Cosmos (IDW* & Cyberverse)

Constructicons (multiple continuities)

*I haven’t read all of IDW 1 yet and have only seen these characters a handful of times, so these correlations may be off.

Of course, not all Cybertronians of a certain color fit the listed traits or would even bother to wear a color because of any cultural associations. I’m just looking at overarching patterns and generalizing.

TL;DR It’s reasonable to believe that Cybertronian color psychology differs at least somewhat from human color psychology. Also, Decepticon purple is a thing, most likely due to Megatron and his not-so-secret poetic side.

[EDIT] Still thinking about this 4+ hours later, and I JUST realized that I totally forgot about Spectralism:

I beg thy forgiveness, Drift. I promise Spectralism holds a special place in my inner archive of beautiful and intriguing ideas to ponder. My tired brain just had a memory lapse.

^ [context: Rodimus chose purple and blue as his new colors.] Yes, Megatron is a warlord with a long history of violence. No, he’s not and never has been a Spectralist. These meanings are most likely coincidental. However, it would definitely be extra interesting if Megatron were a practicing Spectralist.

Drift’s explanation above is an excellent example of color association in a religious context, separate from mainstream culture’s assigned meanings.

My knowledge of world religions and the significance each places on certain colors is limited, but those details are secondary to the main point—that color associations vary widely between earth cultures and religions and the same is certainly true for Cybertron, as Drift’s revelation implies.

I would love to see a future TF writer expand upon Spectralism in canon for a future comic or other media. Fanart would be taken to a whole new level. ✨ Colors always have had and always will have meaning, people. And I’m over here going nuts over the potential implications those diverse and multi-layered associations could have for a species with colors embedded in their very bodies.

Now I’m chuckling at myself because I’m realizing how much I sound like Drift with this entire post. Speculating about color—yeah, Drift and I would get along just fine. *wistful sigh* I think I need to sleep.

#the fact that I share a favorite color with Megatron of all bots has been on my mind a lot recently #so naturally I began building a whole theory around the color and Cybertronian color psychology as a whole #transformers #tf analysis #transformers prime #tfp analysis #idw transformers #tf idw #tf idw analysis #maccadam #cybertronian culture #what if: cross continuity edition #nova’s nerding out again #long post

[transingthoseformers]

You know the psychological thing called baby schema?

What would be the cybertronian equivalent of that? Whatever it is, it's propably different in bayverse than other continuities because it depends on how their babies look like.

(My take is that transformer babies are big-eyed round colorful blobs, maybe tsum tsum-like or not, and are born tiny. Now that i think about it, TFP scraplets look disturbingly similiar to that)

I had known of it but not under that name!

I like a variety of takes (again for me it depends on what situation/rules I'm working with), and it's always kinda funny to see how it applies to what cybertronians find "cute". I've seen posts about how in certain aus humans ding that "oh, it's like a baby!" button in mecha's brains, but I also find it insanely funny when cybertronians call things cute and humans are completely confused about it. My current favorite is certain devices emitting a similar EM range as sparklings, or just in general inanimate devices mimicking cybertronian EM fields.

#maccadam #transformers #tf worldbuilding? #cybertronian culture #i remember seeing at least someone suggest that the reason rid15 Grimlock is afraid of kittens is because of scraplets #I really like the underbaked blob take yes but also the scrangly menace take like we see in bayverse #definitely can't knock the classics of applying more iconic ''baby-like'' traits to them though

[just-jetfire]

Hello again! This is an anon with question about shuttles culture. You have very interesting ideas, just like the user from the reblog! I will offer some of my own, hopefully not very silly ones:

Shuttles are rarely in the company of other shuttles due to long flights, so they are more used to being in the company of other Cybertronians;

They are most often quite unpretentious to the place of rest, so it is not unusual to see recharging shuttles in hangars or even in the open air, some are recharged in alt modes;

A sign of special affection is help with washing, as it is difficult for shuttles to clean themselves because of the large wings and backpacks. Despite the presence of washes, cleaning each other is a common ritual;

The need to process data from multiple sensors in flight in the processor has led to the fact that shuttles are very good at complex and monotonous data processing in other areas. Which helped Skyfire quite a lot in his scientific work.;

Usually, the calm behavior of shuttles is a sign of either initial programming when a spark appears, or subsequent behavior correction, since a big evil Cybertronian is a big problem. Which, however, does not prevent them from periodically losing their temper under appropriate circumstances, as demonstrated by Skyfire in the cartoon.

I love these! Especially the grooming each other thing! I love that! This is awesome!!!

#transformers #jetfire #skyfire #jet answers #worldbuilding #cybertronian culture #shuttle headcanons #anon <3

[earthstellar]

Transformers Posts for Disability Pride Month 2023

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

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

New Posts for 2023: 

TFP - Cane User Ratchet 

IDW 1 - Caminus: The Disabled Titan 

IDW 1 / Various - Headcanon: Hearing Disabled Megatron 

Old Posts: 

Various - Cybertonian Sign Language and Chirolinguistics 

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

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

#disability pride month #disability month #transformers #maccadams #maccadam #caminus #idw megatron #tfp soundwave #cybertronian culture #long posts #disability in media

[witchofthesouls]

Guys, what if the TFP verse didn't have grocery stores and supermarkets?!

If the Cybertronian diet is limited to liquid from crystal Energon, then they would be completely used to a great beast of a combination between Home Depot, IKEA, and Kay Jewelers. Like a build your own customizable personal fuel station or for the department. Maybe there's minor cultivation of different kinds of crystals that act as herbs and spices equivalent. Look at the displays of crystal decor. While it's Energon, the structures are too unstable or deemed unusable for consumption to be sold (different story for the lowest castes trapped in poverty though)

The 'bots are familiar with a job site providing room and board as well as picking up prepared food from restaurants at different price points. But if Team Prime actually looked into the history of agriculture on Earth, the immense scale and absolute variety would shock them speechless. Optimus would fall into a deep tunnel of botanical science versus the culinary arts and how a lot of veggies are basically the same plant that's been curated to enhance very specific features.

There's a new game at the base and road, it's called "Can you eat this?"

(This actually starts a lot of "lively discussions" between the kids because of cultural differences, family histories, and geographic/regional dishes and traditons.)

And if the kids ever needed to do a report on animals or plants or food, then they would receive full marks.

If the 'bots ever get enough fuel to use a holomatter, then the kids would get the delight of seeing:

Teaching Optimus how to select a good watermelon. The man is in deep concentration as he eyes for a "sun spot, a creamy other side, and a good-sounding thump."

June and Ratchet having a hissy and very heated argument over what's inside the shopping cart. The cart fills and empties between them.

Arcee staring down the produce that is and isn't organic, and then trying to figure out the difference between oranges and grapefruits without breaking them open

Bumblebee buzzing around the honey products and sweets to make puns and jokes. He's having a blast in the personal care aisles, especially with the masks and Burt's Bees.

Bulkhead is entranced by the inside Starbucks and the meat department. He's watching the baristas and counter workers deftly move to produce a new thing. He wants to learn to make a sandwich and a Frappuccino for Miko.

#transformers #transformer prime #tfp #culture clash #cultural differences #cybertronian culture #optimus prime #optimus #ratchet #bulkhead #arcee #bumblebee #jack darby #miko nakadai #raf esquivel #june darby #maccadam #my thoughts #my writing

[lets-try-some-writing]

Considering family for Cybertronians is important stuff like child support, daddy/mommy issues and whatnot would be confusing to them

Cons: We have your husband

June: You can keep him.

Bots: June??

June: And if you could would you please scare him into paying child support?

Bots,cons: ???

Oh yeah it would be confusing. Cybertronians have convoluted and complicated relationships, but let it not be said that they fail to be organized. A family on Cybertron can be anything from the Conjunxed couple and their wards to a collection of mecha related purely through paperwork, or perhaps not even through offical means. Whatever the case, Cybertronians make it a point to know their relatives when possible and to support one another if able. Regardless of the situation, if you are family, you are obliged to follow certain standards.

Any Cybertronian involved in the forging, raising, or mentoring of a newspark must be there in some capacity. Unlike humans, simple caste sharing and funding is more than enough in most circumstances. Strictly speaking, a Cybertronian doesn't even need parents, just a familial unit of some sort and a sponsor to ensure that newsparks are taken care of. Family units are loose, but the rules are not. Even Whirl would be morally obliged to at least turn up once and a while with either payment or wisdom to share with any newspark he helped create or got himself involved with as a mentor. It is not even a question on Cybertron. The scummiest mechs still know the rules, and generally speaking, it is in the best interest of all parties to follow the rules of sponsorship.

The larger the family, the more resources one theoretically has to call upon. Hence the interest in taking care of one's line. Humans though? Considering they are not functionally immortal and are not given the great equalizer that is in built weaponry, the rules are all but nonexistent. Children do not always have the power to get back at parents, and parents generally do not have as great an investment in their offspring since any offspring are not likely to bring back investment in a reasonable time frame, at least by Cybertronian standards.

The Cybertronians on Earth simply do not understand the plethora of broken homes amongst humanity. Even Megatron, while largely uncaring of the fleshies, is a tad confused when it comes to the lack of fathers or mothers in homes. Children murdering parents isn't anything new. Cybertron wasn't much better once one got into the higher castes. But parents abandoning their young? That's new. It was a code of honor on Cybertron for a mentor or caretaker to do everything their power to at least make an attempt to provide.

Jack's situation in particular gained the collective confusion of Bots and Cons alike. How could a Sire abandon his creation? Entirely too. It was strange. So strange in fact that Shockwave was momentarily interested in possibly testing the resiliance of the human family structure since, according to his assessment, some family units matched Cybertronian ones in strength where others were all but nonexistent.

It was nigh on culturally impossible to fully comprehend. The Cybertronian family is a messy thing, but even for the functionally immortal, there are rules.

Optimus: Your Sire left you? Without a word?

Jack: Yeah. Dad left when I was young and hasn't come home since.

Arcee: No financial aid? No instructional holovids? Nothing?

Jack: Nope. Haven't heard from him since I was little.

Ratchet: That's ridiculous! Your Sire should not have been given a warrant to engage in any mentorship, much less creation!

June: You can say that again.

#transformers #maccadam #transformers prime #team prime #optimus prime #ratchet #arcee #june darby #jack darby #cybertronian culture

[knight-says-rollout]

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 #wingspeak #doorwings #seekers #all fliers actually but. tumblr tags have biases #praxians #cybertronian culture #cybertronian language #I’m imagining the crack that could be accomplished with this #insert a game of gossip-telephone between the Decepticons and Autobots that gets increasingly ridiculous due to mistranslation #all of them are ‘eavesdropping’ on wing based communications and Everyone is confused #‘what do you mean they were talking about gun food. what does that even m e a n -‘ #‘I’m positive skywarps actually plotting something against thundercracker this time’ ‘that’s what you said the last 3 times.’ #‘why would TC need to fly north what are the autobots planning that hangs on us sending him North?’ #‘is a Decepticon dating smokescreen???’ ‘no ok That One you’re definitely reading wrong’ ‘yeah ur right’ #‘dude starscream they just called Decepticons smelly can I please fight em’

[weldingmetal]

how to cybertronians view hair? What would they think of the different types and hair styles?

I think they would view hair like they view kibble. Kibble is the extra bits cybertronians have that allows them to transform or something else. An example would be bees door wings or knockouts wheels. Kibble can also have cultural meaning like bots from different places tend to have different kinds of noticeable kibble, or for traditional or religious reasons.

They can be genetic as in they came with them or they can be replaced and upgraded. To them it is an extension of a humans being that can be changed and modified much easier than kibble. Examples would be hair die, braids, hair extensions, you name it. Not to mention how hair holds eons of memories and culture.

I honestly think they would find hair very beautiful and amazing that it exists. They would love to pet hair all day but they don’t want to be rude.

#cybertronian biology #cybertronian culture #humans are space orcs #humans are weird #maccadam #transformers prime #transformers #haso transformers #Like I know they would find it attractive #God forbid you die your hair a bots paint job #They will blush and scream in silence

[zoomzooml]

[Worldbuilding] Protoforms and sparklings - basics.

Apologies for any translation errors. I'm doing my best to avoid them, but due to the fact that I'm a sleep-deprived human disaster they can still occur. Sorry!

PROTOFORMS

How are they created?

[Text under picture]

Vector Sigma in the depths of the planet creates a new Protoform and gives it a spark. The protoform is a primitive mechanism, resembling a mechanical larva, whose main purpose is to protect the spark during its first period of life.

The protoform digs its way to the surface. The tunnels they leave behind are barrenly small and usually collapse back quickly.

The protoform, after getting to the surface, leaves the underside in the soil, sticks to its place, and grows "roots" that will take up minerals and resources needed to build the actual organism.

The armor becomes a cocoon that grows as the organism inside grows and develops. As the mechanisms and organs of the body become more advanced, it begins to be called Sparkling.

The protoform can also build a cocoon on vertical walls; extremely rarely and only under exceptional conditions on the ceiling.

A fully built sparkling hatches from a cocoon. It is already at its maximum size (not including artificial expansions, rebuilds or upgrades) and has a full range of natural and instinctive abilities, such as transformation or movement.

Medical units with appropriate training perform hygiene and initial examinations and clean up the cocoon's shell, which will later be recycled.

It's worth noting that there were places on Cybertron where emerging organisms were a large percentage of the whole lot. Maturation Centers* were placed there. They were in charge of taking care of the sparklings in the first months of life to detect developmental anomalies, censusing the hatchlings, bringing them into the system and giving them identification (usually numerical), and looking for suitable places to send the young ones, which would provide further care and upbringing.

[*Maturing in terms of physical independence and presence in the census and institute’s system.]

Cursory information about cocoons and protoforms.

TAKING CARE OF THE COCOON

If the cocoon nests in an unsafe place, with nutrient deficiencies in the soil or simply threatening to be trampled, the cocoon should be moved. The first choice should be to transplant to a relatively better, safer place.

However, if the cocoon shows signs of disease it should be quarantined. If it shows difficulty in extracting materials from the soil, it may be necessary to place it in an incubator.

A malnourished or diseased cocoon can be recognized by a dull color of the armor, slowing or stopping of growth or discoloration. The shade of the armor may go gray and/or become covered with pinkish or yellowish spots. The armor may weaken and delaminate, and the roots may wither. The body proper of the protoform (the blob inside armor) also becomes discolored, grayed or yellowed.

If the cocoon is not threatened by anything, it should be left alone, being checked from time to time.

SPARKLINGS

After hatching, sparklings are noted for their many colors, which are usually pastel or near-pastel. As they age, the colors mostly dim or are covered with another color of choice, for aesthetic, cultural or regulatory reasons.

Individuals with several colors appear, usually in ombre-like form. However, they are rare.

The colors of protoformal tissue, like the face, can range in grays (also called blues), reds or, in rare cases, golds.

Probable colors of optics can be found almost anywhere on the color wheel, usually in bright and light shades.

Behaviorism

Young sparklings precociously observe and analyze. They will stay still observing surroundings. At the beginning many of them will not show emotion with their body, face or voice, most likely because they are not yet familiar with function of this and action. If the phenomenon they are interested in moves, they will follow it with their gaze, but they will not move their head unless absolutely necessary. Their staring may be repulsive to some. Learning about the environment seems to take priority over learning about the extent of their own body and capabilities.

Sparklings have full control over their body, but as some actions are instinctive and already coded others must be learned.

When this perennially quiet period of their lives is over the so-called period of heightened activity usually begin, in varying intensity. Now that they've learned the basics from observance it's time for experimentation, experience and exploration, which usually manifests itself in sticking their noses where they shouldn't, touching what they shouldn't, dropping and throwing objects, entering strange, theoretically inaccessible spaces and the like.

For the young, vocalization is rarely the first choice for communication. Rather, they rely on the simple language of the electromagnetic field for their initial period of life, sometimes reaching far into the period of heightened activity. This contains the means for very simple communication and is often supported by body language.

Already at the moment of hatching, the Transformer has information about its alt-mode and the ability to transform. In most cases, it will use this only after it enters a period of heightened activity. The alt-mode information is one of the primal codes, analysis of them is one of the evidences of the evolution of Transformers.

UPBRINGING

The vast majority of offspring are raised in the brood, and raising them is a communal task. Typically, multiple caretakers take turns caring for them, sometimes fulfilling different upbringing functions. If a sparkling manifests unusual talent in a certain field, it may receive individual upbringing by a specialist(s) in that field. [An extension to the topic is planned.]

FROM ME

The colors of these scribbles are completely different on the laptop and on the phone, so I don't know if they are as I think they are. Sorry if I accidentally hurted anyone's eyes lol

#Transformers Cheesy Fan Continuity #TFCheesy #transformers #maccadam #worldbuilding #cybertronian biology #cybertronian culture #long post #sparkling #protoform #my things #plant babies lol