I am not there. I do not sleep.

She/Her; mostly a Star War and a fanfic. Will yell about Dawn of the Jedi. Also, occassional cross stitch.

[bloodilymerry]

Bird of Prey Masterpost

Stories

In chronological order

All the cameras have left - Sentinel Prime takes a short holiday at the urging of his lover, and comes to a realization

It's time to take a stand - Hot Rod and Deadlock switch sides

But the bird flew off instead - Cyclonus, rebuilt and brainwashed by Unicron, faces the Great War

Of quiet birds in circled flight - Cyclonus and Armada join Perceptor and Beachcomber in an archeological dig

Birds of a Feather - Impactor finds out that not all of the members of Prima's rebellion are as dead as they appeared to be

Today is always gone tomorrow - Episode re-write: S3E12 (Surprise Party): Hot Rod and Daniel decide Ultra Magnus could use a birthday party. Cyclonus meets Paragon

Can I play with madness? - Episode re-write: S3E13 (Madman's Paradise): Daniel and Flamewar end up running into a Quintesson

Now face the funk now blastin' out your speaker - Episode re-write: S3E17 (Carnage in C-Minor): Soundblaster ends up on the most wonderful of planets. If only Galvatron weren't there too.

Suddenly I've reached tomorrow - Cyclonus and Paragon, and the search for a hobby

A birdsong shatters the still - Heatwave takes the new recruit on a simple mission

Lost in time, returning to the light - Episode rewrite: S3E22 (Dweller in the Depths): Airachnid discovers the Dweller in the Depths. It is not to her liking.

The earthquake is a-comin' but you don't wanna hear - Galvatron tries to invade Tlalakan

Worldbuilding

History

History of Cybertron

History of specific groups: Dinobots and Predacons

History of specific groups: That Fucking Cursed Production Line

History of specific groups: Exarchon's Cult

History of specific groups: Jhaixus's Science Group

History of specific groups: Overlord's Party

History of specific groups: Search and Rescue

Titans and colonization

Religion

Burial Rites and Mourning

Society and culture

Primes and the Matrix

Language

Language history

Grammar: Pronouns in Cybertronian

Grammar: Honorifics

Locations

Alien worlds: Lashi and Eurythma

Dire Wraiths, Galador and Elonia

[amarcia]

@jedijune // Compassion

✨🌙  ART LOG ->  @404ama

[prokopetz]

I understand that you were aiming for a morally grey protagonist, but in practice what you've ended up with is more of a moral beige.

[prokopetz]

@ancient-tree-with-deathwish replied:

how do you distinguish grey from other colours beyond black and wite?

Distinguishing features of moral beige:

The protagonist is constantly agonising over Hard Choices; however, circumstances always conspire to prevent them from actually having to make those choices, so in practice they're just angsting over stuff they might have done.

The text exhibits a recurring pattern whereby the protagonist seems to to have made a Hard Choice, but new information is reliably revealed shortly thereafter which retroactively establishes that whatever they did was the morally upright course after all.

The protagonist's moral impulses are straightforwardly heroic, except in one specific context which lacks any clear real-world analogue; for example, being prejudiced against telepaths.

The protagonist's actions are consistently reasonable based on the information available to them – they're merely operating on bad information basically all the time due to a bizarre conspiracy and/or a series of increasingly implausible misunderstandings.

The protagonist always ends up doing the right thing (for some fuzzy value of "right"), but, like, they're really grumpy about it.

[vale-gaai]

[mikeybooch]

I feel like by now we've all seen the medieval marginalia of nuns diligently picking phalluses from a tree. These illustrations were drawn by 14th century artist Jeanne de Montbaston who worked alongside her husband Richard. To the best of my knowledge, there is no clear reason for the inclusion of these illustrations, but perhaps there was some contextual evidence that was lost to time.

In any case, I decided to illustrate these industrious ladies in my own style amidst a flurry of medieval inspired phallic references and symbols of virility and fecundity. By my estimation, there are about 130 phalluses in this picture.

Available to purchase on INPRNT

[kaiserin-erzsebet]

I would LOVE to hear more gripes about accuracy of portrayal of historical monarchies!!!

I have been wanting to do this for a while, because there is a lot that irks me. And this ranges across board from big budget period dramas to how people write royalty AUs, which means this isn't one specific thing I'm pointing at. And if it is helpful on a writing tips level, I'll be happy with that.

Long post under the cut:

Disclaimers:

I research 19th century European history, which has a lot of questions about what a monarchy is and why they continue to exist. That's the perspective I am bringing to this.

I probably shouldn't have to say this, but: this is not about modern monarchism. This is about history. I don't want to debate whether you think certain countries should continue to have their monarchs be public figures who are only nominally head of state.

The short version:

Monarchies are institutions. They are part of how the government functions and that should have implications for how someone writes them. A monarch is a person with a built in job that they were born into.

Monarchies are not all absolute. They can exist in a multiple forms with very different structures, and often discontent within a monarchy wants to reform the system not replace it.

My biggest advice would be this: figure out how your fictional or historical monarchy is structured. You don't have to exposit about it, but you do need to know it.

The long version:

The King has a job and there is a right and wrong way to do it.

Fantasy monarchies that draw upon history seem to have Versailles in mind in terms of an aesthetic space and royalty with a lot of power over the people around them. This also includes a lot of lounging around and looking pretty and doing lavish things. However, the issue is that this is a mental image of the dysfunction in the French monarchy close to the revolutions. You can't "Après moi, le déluge" through several centuries of government.

A King (or Queen) has a job, a really important one. They are the head of state, the highest authority in the country, and the highest judge on legal matters. At least in the platonic ideal of absolute monarchy, those jobs being concentrated into one person means their responsibility and good judgement will give the state stability and consistently.

Enlightened absolutism was exactly that: monarchs staunchly holding onto the ideals of the Enlightenment and making reforms from the top down. People who read texts about ideal government and natural rights and put it into practice.

A lot of fiction takes that and goes: Oh, so they have unlimited power and can do whatever they want. Being king means you can do what you want without oversight? That's why someone would want to be king?

And yeah, sure, in theory. But the problem with having a job is that you can do it poorly and people will object to you doing it poorly. If someone is not fulfilling obligations, it is noticeable because the state functions poorly. The premise of Robin Hood is that the king is doing his job poorly. He's overtaxing, the officials are corrupt, there's disorder. The solution? Bring back the true king who is good and fair, and thus functional.

Ludwig II of Bavaria gets ousted from his throne for being more interested in opera and extravagant building projects than ruling. Again, it is a problem and people notice.

Historically, if you want to protect from someone being bad at the job you can support the idea that there should be more oversight and safeguards: Other bodies that control parts of the government alongside the king's ability to approve or disapprove. This tactic takes away the ability to be arbitrary since laws and such are not just coming from the crowned head of state. That would be a constitutional monarchy.

Not everyone needs to be Franz Joseph, waking up at the crack of dawn and working on governmental papers and meetings until bedtime. However, if a monarch is shown in fiction lounging around or talking to courtiers all day but never doing any actual governing, I'm going to assume they are very bad at their job.

2. You're probably understanding Courts and Ministers wrong.

I run into the issue quite a bit that courts are flattened to random servants, ladies-in-waiting, and people trying to be the king's sole advisor (for malicious power grabbing reasons).

The first problem: Being at court isn't an easily accessible thing. You're probably nobility or a scion of an important family. Your presence is built on family prestige and your own skill. Yes, even people in service to the monarch. There are no random people here, because proximity heightens the likelihood of greater promotion.

For example, I'm currently doing my research on a prince from an important dynasty in the 19th century. His secretary is a Baron.

It's not impossible for someone not of noble birth to get to be at court. They could have risen up the ranks of the army or be an exceptionally skilled civil servant promoted to the rank of minister. Though depending on the time period, expect these "new men" to get pushback from nobility by blood.

Ministers also matter.

Unless your fictional monarch is one of the few people who decides (to mixed results) to do all of the thinking about government on their own, there is a cabinet and ministers.

These are skilled people whose job is to think about aspects of government and be knowledgeable about them. A monarch might have many of them that argue and balance each other.

Or, you can write a particularly skilled statesman in a leading role that makes them just as prominent as the monarch if not more so. There are many historical examples of ministers who define their period:

If your monarch character isn't a strong person politically, but is intelligent, having them find a minister to take over most of the governing is a good idea. This person is promoted based on merit, even if the monarchy is hereditary.

I have rarely if ever seen fiction do a good job with a prominent minister as a character (except A Royal Affair, which everyone should watch).

Think of monarchies as whole institutions of government. They have people within them who do all the jobs of governing. But the structure of the government and the personality of the monarch can determine whether it is one person (Joseph II, Peter the Great, etc.), a prominent minister (like a Metternich or Bismarck) or a counsel or congress.

The structure can support a person not doing a lot as monarch, but you as a writer need to think what structures are around them allowing that.

3. Revolutions are scary.

There is a common trend in fiction to make your good guys pro-republic. They're revolutionaries who want to get rid of the king, so they must be good.

But here's the thing: Revolutions are a step into the unknown and have historically happened rather rarely and with very mixed results. That's because the system has to be really broken for something totally new to sound better than what you already have.

A monarchy can create a sense of stability: A fixed head of state who will be there until they die. Historically, people aren't seeking to change that. More often, the call is for a change within the existing structure. The Magna Carta or a written Constitution. Firing of Bad Ministers or the abdication of a bad king in favor of their heir. Creating elected bodies under the sovereign. These are all shifting the monarchical paradigm but keeping the monarchy intact.

And historically even the most liberal of people wanted to place restrictions of some sort on voting, especially property and gender restrictions.

There is a myriad of ways to change the system, the person at the top, or both while maintaining a monarchy. You can have a monarchy be elected as the best person among the nobility (though it didn't go that well for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth).

Completely throwing the whole thing out means risking all stability vanishing. That could be anarchy. That could mean a charismatic strongman who is also bad at governing in power. You could end up with a guillotine and rivers of blood in the streets. You could end up with a restoration eventually because Cromwell or Robespierre doesn't actually produce something people want to live under and they want the old certainty back.

People have a sense of inertia about changing government. What you have is better than what you don't know, especially if there can be internal reform. Making your character a Republican (in the Jacobin sense, not the US politics sense) means that they are a radical in most times and places and will likely be in the minority.

If there is one thing I would say is the point here is that monarchies are government systems, and thinking through how someone exists in that system in fiction is important. Being king isn't actually much of a fun job unless you're very good at delegating or very irresponsible. Unless you want to be celebrity, president, congress, and moral center of the state all in one, being king isn't a great deal.

[pocketaimee]

Completely unfazed.

[rcrisu]

Breathes in-

PIFFINs!!!

[thestitchesarchive]

sooo i'm back from playing minecraft for 4 days straight and realizing i haven't put out any gay shit for PRIDE MONTH is criminal. well here's your gay propaganda. i've missed these goobers so dearly.

[biologizeable]

I can relate to this on every level

[ceekari]

“postmortem decay set in SERIOUSLY quickly”

[bloodilymerry]

Transformers Fantasy AU: Family Trees - Scourge and Cyclonus

The woes of writing a fantasy AU for Transformers: elves and orcs reproduce sexually, Transformers don't. And wow, does the lack of female characters in the TF cast become visible.

So, now about a bunch of characters are female.

The diagrams only show sex (pink = female, blue = male), not gender - some of the characters could be trans/gender-queer. I might make Thundercracker Scourge's cousin, to keep the relation live, if I figure out who would make a good older sister for Skywarp.

And yes, I gave up in figuring out Thrust's branch of the family tree. Maybe someday, if it's gonna be relevany.

[bloodilymerry]

Yes, Sillouhette was supposed to be Shadow Strikers OG name, but there was some trademark issues. Fortunately for me, I 'm writing fanfic so I don't care, lol.

It did take a bit to remember Sideways existed - he hasn't shown up in anything since... whenever he was introduced I think. I guess he just doesn't have the charisma that Scourge and Cyclonus have.

[bloodilymerry]

TF Fantasy AU: Family trees cont - Arcee and Tailgate; Whirl; Ultra Magnus

Some changes to Ultra Magnus's family tree - Delta Magnus and Preasidia Magna are now his biological parents, and Pyra is his biological sister. And they both get adopted by Minimus Ambus (who is still a tiny halfling, so imagine a tiny dad with his enormous children). Hadn't decided how it happened yet, and if Minimus is a bachelor or who gets to be the mom/other dad/other parent.

Also, Whirl's family tree is Whirl's all the way down. And since Great Grandpa Whirl, it's all female Whirls. (I also had fun in picking all the helicopters for the family).

Meanwhile for Tailgate, I even managed to find a Tailgate recolor - Rook!

[stargirlintermission]

Said that I wasn't going to rant but there's something so horrible about Skybound not giving Elita her G1 team, despite clinging so much to the sunbow cartoon, and then having almost all of her interactions with the few female characters there are be negative ones

[bloodilymerry]

Transformers Fantasy AU: Family Trees - Scourge and Cyclonus

The woes of writing a fantasy AU for Transformers: elves and orcs reproduce sexually, Transformers don't. And wow, does the lack of female characters in the TF cast become visible.

So, now about a bunch of characters are female.

The diagrams only show sex (pink = female, blue = male), not gender - some of the characters could be trans/gender-queer. I might make Thundercracker Scourge's cousin, to keep the relation live, if I figure out who would make a good older sister for Skywarp.

And yes, I gave up in figuring out Thrust's branch of the family tree. Maybe someday, if it's gonna be relevany.

[leiaham]

First Post!

I deleted my old tumblr because... man idk why it was covid-times and the prefrontal cortex was not in the room with us!! Anyways, I was reminded by my lovely friend @repecca that tumblr exists, and that some of my work has been going around on here, so I decided to post some of my work up officially! Starting off with my most notable (?) work to date, here's my LOTR: The Middle Kingdom Project. Now, it's been over a year since I posted this, and at the time I was... really searchingfor myself artistically, and I decided to go all in on something that I'd been ruminating on for a long time.

So, hello, again. I'm Leia. I do visual development/BG design, and I'm also a writer of things. I love fantasy and transformative work. It's nice to meet you.

[angelfoodcakewith7minutefrosting]

Just kiss already, omfg.

[ahemahemwhimer]

sorry to use your post but i’ve had this the backburner since first watching that episode.

inspired by ‘i depend on you’ by @/sometimes317 on twitter!

[thestitchesarchive]

The Christmas Special: (very loosely) Cyclonus/Ultra Magnus/Scourge/Paragon

Magnus wasn’t entirely certain if this was a good idea. Not so soon after the treaty, when the wounds of war were so fresh. 

But it hadn’t really been his idea to begin with, but rather Daniel’s and his parents’. He was duly aware of the human traditions of celebration back on Earth: humans were always finding new reasons to make merriment and an excuse to bring their loved ones together. But the sentiment did not come nearly as easily to the likes of him, and he was certain it was even more foreign to the Decepticons he was on his way to, as was the tradition of gift-giving.

It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, Carly had encouraged him. Just something small. It’s the thought and the effort that counts the most.

Something small. Well, of course- that was about all that could be afforded to prisoners on probation. He stopped at the gates of the secure ward and transformed back into his root mode, taking care that his trailer didn’t squash the three little boxes that he had brought with him. The guards at the steps waved him in without a word, but he was still stopped at the checkpoint.

“We’re going to need to check those boxes, sir.”

“Of course,” Magnus replied, his faceplate flustering a little as the guards perused the garish foil wrapping. Perhaps the decorating of the parcels had been an unnecessary flourish. He could almost feel Cyclonus scoffing at the frivolity of it, calling him stupidly sentimental for his adherence to human customs. But he would be lying if he told himself he didn’t miss that sort of reaction from the mech.

“And what is the purpose of these non-essentials?”

“They’re a small formality I was advised to bring to the occupants of Block Delta-A.”

“Go right on ahead, then.” The guard inspecting his packages gave him an amused scoff and closed the boxes back up, handing them back. Magnus gave him a nod and continued past the checkpoint, but not without one further remark from the mech. “And a ‘happy holidays’ to you too, heh.”

He made his way down the courtyard to the low-security ward, which was decently unoccupied. Not enough of the surrendered Decepticon forces had qualified for such preferential treatment, and the few that did had taken the opportunity just a few months in to flee Cybertron at their earliest and most unsupervised convenience, which happened to be just last week. It was a setback which had put a damper on their currently-shaky amnesty and given him plenty more reports to dig into back on base, which, if not for the urging of his human companions, he would currently be strut-deep within. 

But no matter. He had arrived. Alerted to his presence at the threshold, the door pager chimed to the occupants within the apartment, and a moment later came the pounding of footsteps down the hall as the door slid open.

“Magnus?”

It had been nearly too long, but the face of his old rival remained the same as he had ever remembered it. That stern, analytical gaze lingering over his own, and then trailing down to the festive packages in his arms. Magnus stepped forward, unsure how to open. “Cyclonus. … Merry Christmas.”

“Christmas?” The jet made a face. “What is a ‘Christmas’?” 

“Oh, don’t stand around in the doorway all afternoon!” A voice carried from down the hall, a second pair of pedes thumping towards them in response. The masked face of Paragon peeked out from around the corner, waving to him and beckoning him forth. “Come in, come sit down!”

Cyclonus gave him and his gifts one last questioning glance, then led the way in without another word.

“Long time no see to the both of you.” Magnus remarked, making his way inside to the common room. The apartment was tidy but rather sparse: being on probation did not make for a great allotment of decorations, it seemed. The brightest colors in the room surely were his company.

“Yes. I suppose being an Autobot commander leaves very little time in your schedule for visitation?” Paragon shrugged, seated on one of the couches against the opposite wall. Before him on the low table was a pile of datapads and stylus in varying colors, which he was clearly working on. 

“Not much. There is still quite the backlog of bureaucracy for me to sort through in the wake of the war’s end, but I suppose a break was in order.” He sat down on the couch opposite to the mech and his mess, and Cyclonus lingered in the space for a moment before joining Paragon on the other side. “It’s a human custom. The holiday of Christmas, they call it.”

“That explains your colorful packages, then,” Cyclonus said, his frame leaning ever-slightly towards Paragon on the seating across from him. He’d been working on his shows of affection, Magnus mused quietly. “Such noisy patterns. Only a human could create a packing cover that could be seen from the next star system over.”

“And it’s those same humans who urged me to bring you these gifts. There’s one for each of you here, not in any particular order.” Magnus said, stacking the three boxes in a relatively uncluttered corner of the table. “Where’s Scourge? Is he here?”

“Out with the Cybertron search parties hunting for those recent runners. As am I, though our work here is far less mobile.” Paragon helped him declutter the zone, stacking his padds into neat piles and pulling the parcels to the center of the table. “Though I suppose far less exciting. But such is the life of a liaison; Cyclonus has at least been of great help.” 

He took the jet’s hand in his as he said this, squeezing it tightly, and Magnus and him shared a brief glance. They still hadn’t talked about the nature of their relationship–relationships?–yet; not in the midst of Galvatron’s demise, and all the treaty-signings, and the trials, and the unresolved tensions from all of the surrendered–and at-large–Decepticon troops. If anything, he was glad Cyclonus had Paragon there to fill in the gaps for him. And Scourge. Primus knew he needed some sort of familiarity in this new world. 

“I’m glad to hear it. Well, if Scourge won’t be back for some time, why don’t you open these up now?” 

“Of course. I think a break is in order with good company. Cyc, would you like to start while I bring us some energon?”

Paragon stood, leaving his partner’s side, and Cyclonus obliged his orders, eyeing the fat little box on the top of the stack. Magnus nodded him on as he plucked it off the pile, pulling the top off to reveal a small, glimmering assortment of energon goodies. 

“They’re sweets, not ration-grade.” Magnus quickly explained, knowing the mech would probably offer some scoff. “They’re meant to taste nice. I didn’t know what kind you might like, so… these are my personal favorites. I can only assume you might have a similar taste.”

“I see. I suppose we’ll find out.” Cyclonus said, picking out one of the fuschia-colored jellies and holding it up to inspect before placing it gingerly in his intake, and pausing. “Mm. It does taste nice. Your intuition was correct.”

Magnus smiled softly, relishing the jet’s widened-opticked approval as he chewed. “Those pink ones are the best kind. If you like them, maybe I can bring you some more. … Schedule and ration cap permitting.”

“I’d like that. It has been some time since we last saw each other. And unless your circumstances have changed since our sentencings…”

“They haven’t.” Magnus stopped him. “And they won’t unless you say otherwise. Are you still with both Paragon and Scourge? They still treat you well?”

“Yes, both of them, and they treat me just as well.” Cyclonus hesitated. “If that doesn’t put you off of a continued relationship.”

“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Perhaps when we have Decepticon integration fully figured out, which, by the looks of your living room table, isn’t going to be for some time. But it’s something I’m willing to work for. To wait for.”

Cyclonus’s face softened, digits thumbing over the rim of the box of goodies. Magnus gazed back wistfully.

“I’m not butting in, am I?” Paragon’s voice cut the thickening silence, holding a tray with three energon cubes atop it. And just as soon as the moment had started, it was over.

He had to remind himself to take it slow. It was his first time seeing Cyclonus in almost a year and a half and he still wasn’t sure how being an Autobot internee was going to affect his perception of him, or how the rest of Autobot command would take his cavorting with such high-ranking former Decepticons. He wasn’t sure if it helped that he and Paragon were both the liaisons chosen to represent their former army in the reintegration decisions: which was to say, their prison sentences. 

But as of now, he was merely a commander paying a courtesy visit to some working inmates in regard to a holiday, and those problems could wait. Especially as Paragon pulled the lid off the second present, revealing a custom-made chess set.

“An Earth game of war. The rules are intuitive; every piece can move in a certain way, and your goal is to capture the enemy ‘king’,” he explained, pointing out the relevant pieces as Paragon laid them out on the embossed gameboard. “I figure fellow officers like you could appreciate some strategic stimulation now that you’re all cooped up in these quarters.”

“How thoughtful! There really isn’t much else to do around here, so the enrichment is appreciated.” Paragon chuckled, twirling a pawn between his fingers before setting it back in its place. “Well, seeing as you’ve brought it to us, I assume you can teach us how to play? How about you play us now? Cyc and I against you, just like the old times.”

“It’s a two-player game, but I’ll take you both on.” Magnus chuckled. “You two will catch on quick. Once you do, I’ll show you the Cybertron variations of the game and leave you with that. Now, do you want to make the first move?”

Cyclonus gave his tank partner a nod, and with the faintest hint of a smile playing on his lips, picked up a pawn.

–

Annoyingly, those two picked up the game of chess much more quickly than he’d anticipated. 

He had (in the back of his processor) hoped that the two would make a few more mistakes so he could school them with his experience before they got too good, but as a team they were a nigh-unstoppable force. They played a few rounds over the course of the hour, then Magnus showed them his two favorite variants, and the scene loosened up to mid-game conversation again. 

“And that’s checkmate. Well played for your first time at the Athenian Three-Prong.” Magnus said, capturing Cyclonus’s last rook. 

“You were a good challenge.” Cyclonus toppled his piece in defeat and held out a hand for his opponent to shake. “And you’d better come back to visit soon so I can best you at your own game.”

Magnus took his hand, squeezing it tight. “You can count on it.”

“So, what’s in the last box?” Paragon asked after a moment. “Should we open it now?”

“Of course.” Magnus said. Paragon acknowledged happily, passing the box to Cyclonus to do the honors. The lid came off, and the pink hand reached inside to retrieve a pen and slate set.

“Stationery.” He observed, rolling the thin laser etcher in his hand. “Of the more permanent kind, I take.”

“There is a novelty to permanent writing,” Paragon beamed, sliding the slates from the box to look over. “Something that can’t be erased by electric impulses. I’ve always wanted to try it.”

“And what else is here?” Cyclonus pulled one more thing from the box, a small set of colored vials. “Is this paint?”

“Gloss to highlight the etched letters. It’s also apparently frame-grade, as Arcee told me; she sends her regards.” Magnus explained. That portion of the gift was very clearly meant for someone who wasn’t currently here, but the other two filled in the gaps quite quickly.

“It’s like what Scourge wears on his digits, right?” Paragon looked to his partner. “I think he might appreciate it best.”

“He’ll whine about scuffing it up in the field,” Cyclonus huffed amusedly. “I can just hear him now, griping and getting all up and over us while we’re trying to work.”

“He’ll have plenty of paint to touch it up with, at the very least. And plenty of colors.”

“Then he’ll get all boastful about the job he did on his vanity. You think there’s any form of winning with his appearance in the limelight?”

The Autobot commander chuckled softly at his companion’s pre-emptive grumbling, finishing his energon. This was nice. Spending time without threat of destruction or skirmish and catching up in that slow, civilian way was a treat of its own. Primus knew he’d have hours of work to catch up on after his return to base, but for a moment, the worry of escapees and bureaucracy and integration felt a thousand light-years away.

But still it was a feeling far too delicate, too easily broken by the sound of pedes at the front door, the lock sliding open and the door with it. Paragon and Cyclonus rose from the couch and the attention shifted from the table at hand to the blue-plated hunter entering the scene.

“Well, speak of Unicron,” Magnus mumbled. 

“Ah! I wasn’t aware my briefing would be held here!” Scourge quipped, fluffing his wings behind him as he dashed to his partners, giving Cyclonus and Paragon each a peck on the cheek before turning to his company. “Ultra Magnus. What business brings you here?”

“I came to deliver gifts. Your timing was quite good.”

“And yours as well! I’ve just informed your high command that I, along with your search crews, have apprehended the runaways. They’re being returned to one of the wards.” Scourge announced. “They didn’t make it far, just a few dozen astromiles into the depths of the planet, not far enough to evade my scanners.”

“That doesn’t sound favorable to their case. Fleeing the planet is one thing, but infiltrating the core sounds far more nefarious.” Paragon sighed. “I’ll have to rewrite their entire case summaries to include the infraction...”

“But you caught them before they could cause any harm?” Magnus asked. Scourge nodded with a fervent excitement.

"They weren't well-armed. But it shouldn't matter either way, given their fugitive status."

“Well regardless, you’ve saved us from a great deal of possible danger with your talents. And returned just in time for me to see you all together for the first time in months." Magnus smiled. "All in all, I'd say it’s a Christmas miracle.”

“Christmas?” Scourge asked. “What’s a ‘Christmas’?”

[thestitchesarchive]

I had actual chess variant ideas thought out for the chess scene of this fic, just never shared them.

Chess is extremely formulaic, to the point where you can write a bot that plays the absolute optimal move in any given situation, and this bot will always win any match. I assume for Cybertronians, something similar could happen in their processors (especially for military/tactical officers such as Cyclonus and Magnus.)

Therefore, one must create a game of chess with such a large possibility space that predicting every single winning move would be near impossible. Which in my mind meant adding more to the win condition than “take single king”. I admit I don’t know how the optimal chessbot works, but I’d have to guess that adding essentially two more kings in Athenian Three-Prong would definitely have to complicate things.

Attrition is the better idea of the two: I think having pawns as basically civilians and allowing yourself to choose a setup is just an absolutely painful mindfuck of an idea to play, so perfect for military hardware to play around with. So much logistics… I think Magnus might be more partial to this one. Cyclonus might prefer Three-Prong more though.

[omgthatdress]

ily, menswear guy