BoxySnail

I made some silly Transformers video edits ages ago. Hiii

[saccharine-saturnnn]

An open letter to tf con chicago

Hey y'all, its been a week and a half since tfcon Chicago. I've taken time to think and calmed down a bit. If you read my original post, I was angry because the crowd had surged on me and I had actually gotten injured. I was overstimulated, angry, and had spent 1000 bucks to get up there.

Would I change my angry post? Yeah, I would maybe include less profanity... but my anger still stands. I'm not rich by any means, I had spent a year saving and giddying because Transformers means so much to me.

It was there for me when I was at my lowest, the characters were still Starscream, still Optimus, still the same one that got me through my lowest... and I didn't get to enjoy the con meant specefically for them. You could imagine how upsetting that was for an audhd person who is unwell about the series.

I mentioned getting injured, that and people were just flat rude. I tried to get to a small artist's table and got shoved back for "cutting in line for the bigger artist" when I wasn't. All in all, I know this is a fan run convention, but its just... ouch.

I truly hate getting personal, but this series means so much to me. To have my first big con expierence ruined was just... gutwrenching.

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Shouki: A TFCon 2025 comic

Someone please make Autobot Shouki fanart for this poor young woman

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Summary for folks who weren’t able to attend the TFCon Chicago 2025 Q&A:

* The founder brought up the overcrowding right away, one or two others did too (one specifically mentioned mobility aids I think), and I brought up recent Tumblr posts & the anxiety/autism overstimulation aspect just for good measure

* They definitely got WAY more turnout than planned for, perhaps their most turnout ever, for a con they expected would fizzle out after a few years (likely meaning when the Bayverse movies ran their course)

* This IS a fan-run convention, not run by greedy corporation or anything. So it’s probably just some well-meaning middle-aged dads celebrating their childhood nostalgia, who got in waaay over their heads (see more after cut)

* They had to close general admission at one point, which meant losing potential revenue I assume, which sounds like it was a lose-lose on both sides

* This had been their go-to Chicago venue for years, but next time they’re in Chicago they will choose a better venue

* We were also encouraged to send feedback to the email on their website (this is an option for those who couldn’t show up to the closing panel)

Wider context for newcomers to the fandom…

Transformers has been kind of a niche fandom, and (in my experience) originally/mostly straight men (now in their 40s-50s) nostalgic for their 80s childhood. I was part of the wave of new fans introduced by the ‘07 movie. TF Prime, IDW comics, Bumblebee and now TF: One seem to have caused a SIGNIFICANT growth spurt in the fandom recently. (Also a rise in prominence of queer and female fans, and the kind of fans who simp for robots.)

Which I LOVE to see. I was once a teenage girl/queer college kid, who felt like a tiny minority in a niche fandom. (I literally questioned my sanity as a teenager for crushing on a f*cking cartoon robot man who TURNS INTO A DAMN CAR. If 2010 me knew 2025 me would be in a bustling irl artist alley of merch for that shit, she’d have had a heart attack!) It brings me SUCH joy to see the fandom thrive and grow, and see so MANY people I can RELATE to!

I’m so sorry to those who had a bad experience at TFCon. I REALLY hope this doesn’t put you off of the fandom.

This was my first successful attempt to attend a national-scale TFCon. I hope to attend again (Orlando 2026?) and this time, plan an intentional something in advance. Like a social mingle event/space for queer/trans/female fans like me, or a designated quiet space where neurodivergent attendees can go when they need to escape the overwhelm. (I considered offering to the official TFCon team to be an accessibility advocate of some sort, but most of what I know is lived autism experience, I have zero qualifications in things like event planning or ADA compliance.)

That said, if you have ideas for pre-planned accessibility and inclusion resources for the next TFCon (in addition to the obvious “big enough venue”), I’d be curious to hear them!

If I do attend another TFCon maybe I can put work into making them happen?

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let’s see how this goes 😅

[madamadamiu]

I had an absolute blast at tfcon today! It was wonderful to meet everyone and I am so grateful for all the fanart I recieved! They will be put up into my office so I can see them every day💚

However, while I enjoyed the event, the table spacing and crowd control was not safe at all. The aisles between booths in the artist alley were not even 2 meters across, and there were multiple chokepoints due to the lack of open exits(there were only 2 single doorways on each side of the entrance!). People who had crutches, canes, or wheelchairs struggled to even move through the packed crowds. Space is a critical element for EVERYONE to enjoy themselves, especially when it comes to the TF fandom where there is a higher concentration of large cosplays.

When it came down to the more popular artist alley/special guest booths, the lines would crowd in front of the other artists so that people trying to buy from them would have to crowd through in order to reach them. This lack of line control is a disservice not to the attendees, but to the vendors and artists who work hard to bring such a large event to life.

I hope that next year, there will be enough feedback for the organizers to acknowledge that it’s time to get a larger venue. The more space, the happier people are, the longer they stay, and the more money they spend. It would ultimately be for everyone’s benefit.

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There will be a Q&A with the convention organizer, in the panel room, at 4 pm Sunday!

If you’ve had concerns about overcrowding/safety/accessibility, that may be a productive space to bring it up.

(I have mild autism, and at times the con could get close to overwhelming, but I thought that was just the normal con experience. It’s unfortunate to hear it’s not normal, and was causing accessibility issues. 🙁 I’m sure having cosplays with big wingspans was frustrating too)

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Was anyone else at TFCon Chicago disappointed that a Bayverse movie was chosen for their big screening? 🥲

(edit) I might try to pull off a small TF: One watch party tomorrow (Sunday). 6 pm?

I only have an iPad, but I have a hotel room to myself with enough seating for maybe ~7 people

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I asked Bob Budiansky (as he autographed my copy of Car Wash of Doom) if his original concept of Ratchet as a female character involved remaking the character’s visual design, or using the exact same visual design.

He said the same design, just with a female personality.

And it’s dawned on me

(unless I’m mistaken and he was looking at the animation-accurate design, but something tells me not)

that this means he probably looked at this

(the toy-accurate G1 Ratchet design, as shown on TFWiki)

and said

“yep, this is a female character”

and honestly that would be progressive AF

No soft feminine curves? No hot pink or pastel color palette? No being automatically assigned a male counterpart to be the girlfriend of?

Just a red-and-white box that unfolds into a faceless abomination with guns and arms?

Now that’s female representation I could have related to.

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Collection of figures with the wrong names that I saw at tfcon Toronto (part 1)

😭😭😭 who made up these names????

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Ah yes, my beloved Military Strategist Harry. The greatest Harry of all time

[robobrainrot]

Badge of Honor for all my fellow Bots & Cons that braved the hour+ wait to get @plushi 's merch

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Can attest that the plushi merch line was just as long in Chicago 😂

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Unexpected panel moments

1. The voice actor for G1 Devastator’s heartfelt venting about the frustration of trying to find work as a black voice actor in the 80s that wasn’t playing an offensive black stereotype

2. Someone beating me to the “is it true you intended Ratchet to be female, but that idea was rejected because ‘Transformers can’t be female, they’re meant for boys’?” question at Bob Budiansky’s Q&A

3. The plot twist of Bob alleging it was a woman who told him this

4. Bob telling us he’s never watched any of the G1 animated series (in 40 years??)

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TFCon’s artist alley did NOT disappoint. 😍

Breakfast Club x Lost Light poster: THE Casey Coller(!)

Circuit Breaker poster: also Casey Coller (❤️ the badass G1 female human representation)

Autobot canvas bag: @starryreni

“War Machine” and “Woman are my favorite guy” zines: Art by ZEKM aka ZEKMart

Chat Noir, Beachcomber, shakeable ‘cons in fishbowl keychain: skeletondeer aka skelliedeer

Also more by starryreni, rammyroe, and dewhander

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Leaked Hasbro brand guide pages specifying Prowl’s astrological sign and a Goode Homolsine projection of Cybertron were not on my bingo card of “things to expect to see at a TFCon panel” but here we go

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edit: saved! Thank you to the kind stranger who hot glued my glasses for me!

Chicago TFCon-

I broke my glasses frame yesterday and could really use superglue 😅 If someone could help me attain some I’d be so grateful (and can pay it back somehow)

I just feel silly walking around wearing 1/3 a pair of glasses. I don’t have a car and may not have time to walk to a store without missing con events 😭

[sgrplmjnxxx]

TRANSFORMERS ONE SPOILERS‼️‼️⚠️⚠️

Background/underrated/referenced bots sightings appreciation post.

Some pics I got from the movie:

Red Alert baby!!!

Most of these pics came from the trailer

(He mostly appears everywhere and has a lot of screen time as background character) 😭

First pic:Him playing video games omgg. Red is a pro-gamer boy😳

Fourth pic: possibly Ratchet's arm. There's Red alert and Sideswipe standing next to each other.

Fifth pic: Red was literally behind Orion and D-16

There's more clear pics and scenes of him, but we have to wait for the digital release yet.

And the most greatest discovery I found:

MY SCKRUNCKLY BLORBO INFERNO IS A RACER OMG lLEZGOO💥💥

More Interesting stuff from the Iacon 5000 leaderboard:

And that's it!!! May add something soon

[i-guess-i-like-turtles-now]

!!! MORE TRANFORMERS ONE SPOILERS !!!

Characters seen in Transformers: One, tag your faves!

(sources: the reblogged post, this, this, and my spotty recollection of brief shots from just now at the theater) (looking forward to this becoming available to stream, so I can step through it frame-by-frame like a crazy person)

Arcee seen briefly

Bluestreak? See also Prowl, might have been one or both.

Blurr, name on leaderboard (thought he would be prominently featured as a racing celebrity, like in his Spotlight comic? but only name-dropped)

Coneheads (not sure which ones, don't really care, but recognized their heads :P)

Ironhide, pretty sure I saw him?

Jazz (brief involvement, maybe one speaking line?)

Powerglide, name on leaderboard, our boi of "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide" fame

Prowl?? I thought I glimpsed him among the miners and really hope I'm right, had that red chevron on his head, and Ratchet couldn't have been in the miner crowd. Could have been Bluestreak though. Maybe both?

Ratchet, voice name drop, "paging Doctor Ratchet"

Shockwave (seen clearly, a couple speaking lines)

Smokescreen?

Soundwave (seen clearly, a couple speaking lines)

Starscream (lots of involvement)

Swindle, name-drop (our deceptive trader)

Tailgate! Name on leaderboard. Our Good Bomb Disposal Boi from the James Roberts MTMTE era

Wheeljack (face clearly seen multiple times)

Windblade! Name on leaderboard. We stan for our fan-created queen

I thought the first 2 minutes of Bumblebee were a gift, but this movie blows that out of the water

[i-guess-i-like-turtles-now]

Transformers: One praise

Minimal-spoiler version

SO many name drops and cameo appearances of characters who are fan-loved but under-represented

If the first 2 minutes of Bumblebee got you pumped, get ready for 2 hours of that

Even while staying PG for the kids in the audience (obviously the #1 intended audience), there's still a surprising amount of angst and eeriness and existential horror to be satisfying for the adults

I normally get bored by fight scenes in film, but the choreography was actually clever and fun to look at, I did not lose interest

Transformation is earned and well-applied to the choreography and plot

Pre-War Cybertron!

Definite subtle references woven in, but not to an obnoxious level

NO HUMANS

angst and feels and relationship stuff, yes please, give more

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

UNDER CUT

HIGH SPOILER version

They TOOK their COGS out as BABIES

They were literal BABIES

And now whenever I watch the movie again I will see those gaping holes in their chests in the first chunk of the movie and my heart will break for them-

They scratched the Decepticon logo into his chest?? That's probably as hardcore body horror villian origin story they could get away with as a family-friendly movie and I gladly accept it

Sort of glad Decepticon face didn't turn out to be Tarn

That hole in his chest (not talking about the cog thing) was FREAKY WHAT

The RED EYE STREAKS were SO COOL

Jazzzz

He collects pretty fandom stickers like I do!

I'm an annoying hipster who's more into the B characters than Prime & Megatron, but you can bet I was rooting for Prime and Megatron when they came into their own

Organic Cybertron???

As someone initiated into Transformers with the Furman Primus/Unicron religion (as opposed to the '86 movie manufactured-by-Quintessons religion) I appreciated that being prominent

COOL LOOKIN DEER

go-bot slander

Delightfully creepy sharkticons and quintessons

Delightfully creepy Arachnid (she got holes in her legs, I love it) (wait why are there so many hole mentions in this post that’s really weird upon reread)

[i-guess-i-like-turtles-now]

not Hasbro trying to sell me a toy commemorating that time they killed my faves… so that they could introduce new characters to sell toys of. 💀

Hasbro I’m insulted

why would I subject myself to see my faves in the throes of their agonizing deaths on my shelf every day