So, in the midst of drawing transformers, I got it in my head that I must turn it into a character design project and start making human designs.
Naturally, I start with my favorites. Which is Blitzwing, Astrotrain, and my beloved OC, Smokestack. More about them HERE and HERE
Smokestack's human design came instantly. Then he became a kid so I could have Blitzdad. Then I started crafting backstories, and it became a whole thing. I'll make another post to get into more detail with that.
More notes under the cut.
Overall, this managed to escalate into something separate from transformers and these are now all OCs in their own right.
Gunther Arnold Kriegsler, aka "Blitz" or "Blizter". He's a veteran with PTSD, particularly from the time he spent as a prisoner. He escaped with the help of Andrei Tomaski. The two are now best bros and roommates. Then social worker people call and tell Blitz that his now-deceased girlfriend had a kid while he was away, so now he's suddenly a dad of a four year old son he didn't know he had. And he doesn't really know what to do about it.
Samson Kohler (he has his mom's last name). Born while Blitz was a prisoner, mom dies when he's four. He bounces around foster homes for a little while until Blitz returns and gets to move in with his dad. He LOVES trains, hyperfixated actually. He is autistic about them, and I don't use that description lightly. He especially likes steam trains. He can tell you all about the 4-4-0s and the 2-8-0s and what the various personnel do. He taught himself math so he could count the wheels, and he could read the word train before any others. Blitz always has the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song stuck in his head now. Their house has become overrun with train stuff.
I'm unsure of if I should still be tagging this as transformers since it sorta evolved itself out of it. But I am for now. Maybe I'll stop after I post the various other human designs I've come up with.
Don't mind me, just posting my boy who loves trains with an autistic passion.
So the Big Boy Engine 4014 came by my place during the summer and I had to go see it(I drew this back when it came, but just now getting around to posting it). Hearing its whistle coming out of the canyon was so...ghostly. It's so different from modern trains.
I couldn't help but think about how excited Samson would be to see it. His friends would want to hang out, but trains are more important, and Samson will not be bothered to explain himself.
The teddy bear is named Casey Jones. No, it has nothing to do with TMNT. Casey Jones was a real historical train engineer. Pretty famous guy in train circles. Of course Samson would know about him.
Long story short, in the face of an imminent crash, he slowed the train enough that he was the only fatality(despite driving a passenger train) and injuries were minor. He became the heroic subject of folklore in "The Ballad of Casey Jones."
Just my beloveds being an unconventional family. Nothing quite like a train obsessed boy, his unhinged dad, and an uncle who isn't actually related to them. Oh, and a dead mom who may or may not be haunting the narrative. It's fine.
Blitz was a POW for about 4 years until his buddy Andrei saved him. I'm undecided if Andrei was already his friend who came to rescue him, if they were both prisoners and escaped together, or if Andrei was a kind stranger who showed up.
I also haven't decided why he was held prisoner. I say POW cuz it gives an idea of the vibe I'm going for, but I don't know if I want an actual war to be going on. I needed him to suddenly be a single dad through no fault by him or his girlfriend. She thought he was dead, but now she's actually dead.
The first images are his POW times, and the last is a bad PTSD day afterward.
I doodled some lore for my human designs. They're just transformers-inspired OCs at this point. I'm not tagging it as tf now cuz it's hitting a grey area, and I don't want to spam the tag with stuff tf fans don't care about.
Explanations under the cut to reduce clutter
Blitz was a POW for a few years. In that time, his girlfriend had their kid that he was unaware of. He finally gets back, and she's gone and died somehow(it isn't very relevant, so I never decided). The son, Samson, bounces around foster homes for a bit, until social workers can get a hold of Blitz and break the news to him that he's a dad. He and his best buddy/roomate, Andrei, were cleaning their guns at the time, because the scenario was funny to me and my sister, @angelfishcake
Samson is obsessed with trains. It's his autistic hyperfixation, essentially. He learned to count so he could identify the types of steam engines (albeit you cannot comprehend his methods based on what he does with his hands. His math is a mystery, but he gets there somehow). He will grow up to be a train engineer, with a focus on steam engines.