Earthsparky

"It is a gift to know yourself so well, so young, take pride in that."

Mo: I was just thinking about doing that.

Hashtag: Me too.

Twitch: Question, how difficult would it be to bowl in a bee suit? 


Megatron: Not that hard, I don't think, as long as you can move. 


Optimus: I'd assume as hard as it is to bowl in a maid outfit. 


Optimus: Wouldn't be any harder, but you'd get some WEIRD looks. 


Thrash: Are. Are you speaking from experience. 


Optimus: No! 


Optimus: 


Optimus: ....Maybe.

Megatron: I don’t know, I love you, talk to you later. 


Optimus: Alright, I love you too, I'll ask Dot. 


I never make memes because I suck at making them, but I thought I'd try my hand at making one for TFE. This is so heavily inspired by that famous TFE meme that I first saw posted on reddit and then saw posted again on here. I felt that it needed a part 2 because the TFE haters have been extra exhausting lately. 😩

*This isn't just a meme post, this is also a scene playing in my head and basically a jumble of thoughts. Can you guess which character I represent? 🤣

EarthSpark haters: This show is woke garbage! The character designs are horrible and the voice acting is subpar! This show is grooming children and forcing gender politics onto our precious children blah blah blah! 😡😤

EarthSpark: A refreshing new take on the TF franchise that redefines what it means to be family, through the lens of a beautiful POC family that adopt a new species of Transformers called "Terrans". The Terrans are born on earth and are adopted into the loving Malto Family, where they form a strong bond with the Malto Kids, Robby and Mo. Although the show's main target audience is children, the enjoyment of this show is not limited to kids because many EarthSpark lovers are not kids, and this show is meant to be wholesome and action packed.

This adaptation shows the viewers that Decepticons are not inherently bad and being bad is a choice. We see that some Decepticons just want to live in peace and do not want to harm people, but because of the insignia that they wear, they are forever branded as the villain. However, despite this, some Decepticons are genuine friends with Autobots in this show, showing that at the end of the day, Decepticons and Autobots are still the same species and friendship goes beyond a label.

The first piece of TF media to introduce a non-binary character (the main cause of all the hate that TFE receives 😑), that is such an amazing character whose personality does not centre around their gender identity. As seen in the new batch of episodes released on March 3rd, that EarthSpark haters conveniently did not watch.

People who haven't seen it: I mean, it's pretty hard to form an opinion when we haven't actually watched the show yet. But we find the amount of hate that this show receives absolutely ridiculous. To hate on a show that you know nothing about, beyond the selective parts that you choose to hate is just sad. Maybe try watching the show first before you bash it? How do you know that Nightshade's personality will "centre around them being non-binary" if you haven't even watched the show yet? 🤨

How is this show "woke garbage"? Do you just have a problem with POC being the main humans? Or do you foolishly expect every piece of TF media to be identical to the G1 series or [insert preferred TF adaptation here]? Did you know that adaptations are meant to be a retelling of an existing story by incorporating new elements to further expand the story and offer a new take? Did you know that it's okay to add a variety of different characters from all walks of life, whether they are LGBTQ+, POC, disabled, non-binary, etc? These people exist in real life and it's good to teach kids this so that if they identify as any of these, they will know that it's normal and that they are not alone. They will feel seen!

We may watch TFE because it looks interesting and we like the Transformers franchise, and we want to see Transformers being Transformers! Or we may not watch TFE, but we won't bash it because we have not seen it!

EarthSpark lovers: We find the amount of hate that this show receives quite sad, because we absolutely love the direction that this show is going! We haven't had a TF show centred around family bonds since TFA! We really like the idea of a brand new species of Transformers being born on earth, and we like that they are adopted into the Malto Family vs just being seen as friends. This adds more depth and makes these characters even more interesting.

We find it cool that although the Terrans are these highly advanced, highly intelligent robotic beings, they still act like children and have their childish moments that consist of sibling rivalry, innocent naivety caused by them only being online for what, a few weeks in S1A? and other adorable childish moments.

This show may be marketed towards kids, but the amount of positive messages and themes shown is beautiful. Even more "sensitive" topics are present in this show, which is wonderful because kids should know about them.

Teamwork

Family bonds

Friendship

Giving second chances

Healthy discussions on gender identity

Racism

We like that TFE has given us G1 Daddy Optimus back, with his goofy dad moments. Too funny! And why is Bumblebee handsome AND adorable at the same time?!! 🥺🥺 He's just so precious in this adaptation!

We like the little details like Mo wearing a bonnet to bed to protect her gorgeous curls, or Robby being a hard-core gamer. Or Alex wanting to share his Filipino culture with his children and pass down traditions that he and his grandfather shared. We like that Dot is passionate about animals and enjoys bird watching. She's also a war veteran and has a disability, but she's still a badass! We like the Malto Family as a whole because they are such a nice family and they must be protected at all costs!!!

Ultimately, it is impossible to narrow down everything that we love about TFE in one post, because there is just SO MUCH GOOD with this show!

The character designs

The voice cast

The positive messages

The Terrans

Representation for POC

Representation for non-binary people

Daddy Optimus

Uncle Megatron

Uncle Bumblebee

Aunt Elita-1

Big sister Arcee

Not all Decepticons are bad

Dot and Megs' friendship

And many, many, MANY more things!

Here is the TFE meme I drew inspiration from:

I can't seem to find the original reddit post anymore. Did it get deleted? But anyway, this meme is beautiful and if you're the OP of this meme and you see this post, thank you! I was thinking the same thing when I first saw this scene from "H.O.U.S.E. Rules".

Fox News decided to talk about nightshade so now a ton of transphobes are review bombing the show, on google the rating dropped all the way down to 2.7 stars

The emberstone is a relic of Quintus prime, who also used that same relic to create the quintessons, who have been known to have some sort of ability of mindcontrol over cybertronians during the invasion and have judges to provide a verdict of justice(most of the time unfairly).

So I find it interesting how earrhspark focuses a lot on terrans who were also a race created by the emberstone then there's mandroid who uses mindcontrol chips to control cybertronians because he wants to rid earth of them, since the Cybertronian war caused him to lose so much which in a way is his own twisted sense of justice.

Interestingly enough(there are some spoilers of the leaks to ep 19-26 down)

There is a rumor that Mandroid will also have his own sharkticon army in s1 finale, sharkticons are known to be soldiers for the quintessons.

*Door opens*

Optimus: what are you doing here?

Megatron: Running away from my problems…

Optimus: *Moves aside* come on in.

I’m not saying he’s gets it from his dad but

Ok the results are out, the 3 charecters I'll write a charecter sheet on for my earthspark au is Thundercracker, Bumblebee and Starscream.

Since they had the most votes, which is kind of a relief I actually know how to write them. Especially Bumblebee I've had his story down for a couple of months.

Drawing I’ve made for JordilianV of their OC with Earthspark Megatron. Ty again!

Get 20% off all TF images till May 12, 2023

Like y'know those charecters sheets which provide fun facts and background information on certain charecters in the au.

Select 3 charecters and I'll tell you a few things about them and their role in my au and what they have been doing in the post war setting.

You know, every so often I think I should update my pirated copy of CS2.

Then I see things like this, and remember that I don't need it more than I need it, you know?

Tarantulas: Your Alt-Mode is You 

Tarantulas explicitly states that an alt-mode isn’t needed to “complete” one’s self, but rather, it is an expression of who a bot is at their core.

Their personality, personal concept of identity-- To Tarantulas, an alt-mode is an outward embodiment of these things, and a deeply personal, natural choice.

And we can reasonably assume that Tarantulas may see alt-modes as holding a deep significance, as he relates it directly to the way someone both perceives and presents who they fundamentally are to the world around them as well. He does not change his alt-mode because he is Tarantulas, and this is who Tarantulas is. 

This train of thought is more along the lines of alt-modes not necessarily being a process of choice between X options, because a good alt-mode is just who you are; Your personality will shine through, you will know innately what suits you best, and there is no strict right or wrong because no two bots are really the same. 

So for example, two bots might end up with the same make and  model of a vehicular alt-mode, but there may be differences like paint job or custom elements like nitro boost/energon boost or fuel injection/energon injection etc. which further distinguish the individual’s identity. 

Bumblebee: Your Alt-Mode is a Choice 

Contrast this to Bumblebee, who also feels an alt-mode is important, but has also been shown to have changed alt-modes at least once while on Earth.

With Bumblebee, while he does encourage the younger bots to start thinking about alt-modes and helps get them used to the concept, he himself has switched alt-modes to one more suitable for the mission at hand. 

He does essentially encourage them to find an alt-mode that feels right, but it may be the case that he himself had to choose a new alt-mode out of necessity-- Lending a possibly more utilitarian feel to choosing an alt-mode in certain circumstances. 

“Picking out” an alt-mode implies choice in a more considered way, rather than letting your personality guide you entirely. (If I recall correctly, I’ll have to re-watch it to be sure, but I think this specific phrasing is used by Bumblebee and/or the kids in S1, and I can’t remember who said it or if there was any “correction” of any kind provided by Bumblebee or any of the older bots.)

Now, we don’t really know how Bumblebee might personally feel about it. Yet, anyway. 

It may have been purely a necessary difficulty, owing to his need to protect himself, carry out his mission, and stay hidden. A hard choice, but still a choice. 

It might also have something to do that he got a bit older over time on Earth, and may have simply felt as though he was growing out of his original alt-mode, and took his mission as an opportunity to try out a new “look” of sorts-- Which would also be a bit in line with Tarantulas’ reasoning, of an alt-mode reflecting the self. 

It could be a little of both, which is most likely. 

After all, his new alt-mode for his mission does retain his original colour scheme, thus leaving his paint job and colours in root mode essentially intact, thus retaining some identity.

Which is important to point out, since his whole mission is to go into hiding, yet his current alt-mode retains clear visual similarities to his original one! 

It is still true that he did choose a new alt-mode, and when he’s talking to the kids about their own alt-modes, he seems to have a little bit more of a set process to everything. 

It certainly isn’t a strict process, but there’s clearly a little bit of a methodology or approach to thinking about it that he tries to introduce to the kids, which feels a little more “stiff” compared to the more self-oriented approach Tarantulas has. 

Inevitably, choosing an alt-mode is still an expression of identity. 

Both of them emphasise the importance of an alt-mode, and emphasise that it isn’t the end-all be all.

Yes, it’s important. But it’s not the end of the world if it takes you some time. If you have to think about it. If you have to work it out. If you struggle at first, or if you don’t. 

Because ultimately in the end, you will end up picking something for yourself, and whatever your own unique internal process was when considering your alt-mode or working towards sorting it out, it was right for you. 

Whether your alt-mode is purely an expression of yourself and your individual characteristics, or if your alt-mode is a more calculated choice with other things in mind, because you are making the decision, it is still a reflection of you. 

All of this having been said, it’s super interesting to consider the differences in how individual Cybertronians/bots might think about their alt-modes, or what they think/feel about having alt-modes at all.