have some of my headcanon rambles about transformers sparklings from my notes app!!! i was Thinking at like 6am the other day
as a sparkling grows, they will take on physical characteristics from the mechs surrounding them.
this is how you can end up with an adoptive family in which the child looks like the caretakers (simulating an organic family unit).
however, it is very rare for a sparkling to look identical to one or more of their caretakers -- usually, they will have their own unique frame with only a few shared traits.
this process only occurs during the very early stages of a sparkling's life; if they were originally cared for by one mech, but later by another, they would most likely only retain characteristics of the first and not the second.
culturally, sparklings choose their own names, commonly around the end of sparklinghood (but can take more or less time, depending on sparkling).
it's frowned upon in most places to give a mech a name, rather than allowing them to find their own, even for cold-constructed mechs (CCs).
until they are ready to choose their own, a sparkling will be given a neutral "placeholder name". the placeholder itself varies depending on culture and language, but common ones are diminutive variations of sparkling and it's associated words (i.e. "sparklet", "bit/little bit" "bitlet" etc). CCs are often given number designations as a substitute for this.
some mechs will change their name later in life. this is accepted more in some places than others, as some mechs believe, often for religious reasons, that the first name a sparkling chooses is their "true" or "sacred" name (that their name was placed in their mind by primus or, as ratchet would say, some other sentimental nonsense).
the length of sparklinghood varies wildly between different mechs, usually depending on frame-type. generally, the larger the frame-type, the longer it takes for the sparkling to mature; a minibot might take only a matter of months to mature, while a warframe could take years.
other complications can make a sparkling take longer to mature, such as malnutrition, extended distress, lack of affection/touch, etc etc (essentially, normal baby necessities).
cybertronians are highly social beings; a sparkling will die without receiving affection and touch regularly.
physical touch is the bare minimum, but preferably a sparkling needs to feel the EM fields of their "safe mechs" (i.e. caretakers and other mechs they've been raised around). it can be incredibly distressing for and even stunt development of a sparkling to not be able to feel the EMFs of any of their safe mechs. it can, for one, lead to a sparkling not knowing how to use and control their EMF later in life.
a sparkling's frame/alt mode-type are influenced heavily by their surroundings -- both their environment and their caretaker(s); a sparkling raised in the wilderness is very unlikely to have a supercar alt mode-type, unless their caretaker(s) have supercar alts. a sparkling with multiple mini-bot caretakers is far more likely to be a mini-bot than any larger frame-type.
some mechs choose to undergo a surgery to change their frame/alt mode-type later in life. this was outlawed under the rule of the functionists, as it was seen as "rejecting your function". it is now far more commonplace and accepted, and frame surgeons no longer have to perform their work in secret, nor is it necessary for mechs to keep their 'type change secret -- not that that information is owed to strangers, of course. many mechs still choose to keep their private life private.
anyways these kinds of headcanon are very fun for me to write. i like thinking about hyperfixations, shockingly
i'd love to hear y'all's thoughts and additions in the comments and reblogs!! (please be nice to me though)
(also go check out the series 'subharmonics' by neveralarch on ao3, they use frame-type as a trans allegory which is a headcanon i immediately snatched. really great fics, i find them very interesting)
