regarding the colony worlds

I strongly believe that Ratchet and Wheeljack did not, in fact, meet for the first time in the doppleganger episode in S1, which we may be led to believe in that episode. I do think they go way back, and we can read a lot of that from episode "Triage".

First of all, they seem a bit too cought up in their petty conflict for two guys who just don't match each other's energy (or, well, match the energy all too well...), it is super visible from Ratchet's side. We know he can be petty but also that he usually can quickly surpress his personal grudges when the cause depends on it, even if he has to put up with Megatron himself. Here he spends greater part of the episode bickering with Wheeljack, making a fuss about things that really aren't problems (my absolute favourite example of that is the "Make up your mind! Are we walking or are we driving?" line after Wheeljack makes TWO STEPS XD). You can't convince me this can come from simple mismatch of characters.

Second of all, there is this general sense that they know each other better than just from one prior meeting and reputations alone. This is well shown in the scene where Wheeljack is injured and says "I'm sorry" to Ratchet, Ratchet getting instantly alarmed. Ratchet knows Wheeljack well enough to know how uncharacteristic for him it is to apologize. This isn't something you learn that quickly about a person, and not something that sits so deep in your mind that it can provoke such instant reaction. No, it requires to actually know a person, and to know them well.

And at the end, again about the pettiness, it gets a separate paragraph because I just find it super funny. So the entire bit with Ratchet not wanting to be called "doc" doesn't make much sense. I mean, team prime calls him that, for example Bulkhead does, and Ratchet never expresses any negative reaction to that nickname. Unless it's Wheeljack using it. Here we can have two explanations, either it's like with the first example of pettiness I provided, and Ratchet is just making a fuss over anything he can, because of some previous conflict between the two, or... a more interesting option. That this nickname is a reference to something when Wheeljack says it, and he says it on purpose, to get a rise out of Ratchet. In that second interpretation we can even assume Wheeljack is the one who inspired Bulkhead to use the nickname, Ratchet not knowing that. It is of course a stretch to assume that, but it would be quite funny.

The fandom love for Skybyte is totally deserved and I'd say this show is home to some of my fave TF siblings (the Autobot brothers Side Burn, X Brawn, and Prowl and Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime to be precise). This show is also home to my fave Ultra Magnus when it comes to cartoon/show appearances. Wasn't really able to get into Scourge tho. He's interesting lore-wise, but he seems to be a little a overhyped by some TF fans IMO.

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.

I figured this out upon reviewing the show and it became more noticeable each time but there are several details that solidify my theory that the Decepticons were initially going to be the focus.

In contrast to the Autobots, they have better written personalities

Their animation is often more fluid in movement and style than any of the Autobots and humans

They have the best array of expressions

Their designs are much more unique and visually pleasing, not to say the Autobots aren't but you know what I'm talking about regarding it.

Their interactions with each other, although usually scheming, evil, or dysfunctional, are better portrayed than the "family" mentality of the Autobots to where they actually feel like a terrible but effective team...when they aren't fighting amongst themselves.

They have better motives and arguably are right in some aspects of their argument against the Autobots', they are just way crueler than they needed to be about it.

Their humor is better without them having intentional funny personalities and split evenly between each Decepticon whereas the Autobots' fun demeanor comes off a bit forced with Ratchet carrying most all of the funny moments in the group much to his chagrin

There are probably more I haven't noticed yet but I could probably find more in later rewatches but I always found it funny that the Decepticons have way better animation and expressions than the Autobots and to me, that makes me think that the writers and animators were probably more fond of the Decepticons than the Autobots. The most noticeable change is right as Rock Bottom (S1 Ep 19) hit, they got an influx of money to improve animation and that's when the Decepticons started getting awesome little gimmicks like Starscream emoting with his wings and all that. The Autobots didn't get much improvement so that kind of says something.

1.) People hate the show cuz humans are back in the main cast

2.) People hate the show for being “woke” because the main human cast are POC

3.) The show ends up being average or slightly above/below average, but fans interpret it as being worse than its actual quality because they hype-mongered and nit-picked the trailers to death and thus set themselves up for disappointment (whether they realize it or not)

4.) By some miracle, the show actually ends up being above average/top tier content and fans throw a big party in celebration.