#cybertronians

[michaela-o]

Prowler won ya all🥹🫶🏻

[cheschesterpossum]

Humans are cats but what if Cybertronians are dogs?

Im going crazy over how big of an impact human can make on a bot. Despite humans so much short lived compared to them, they formed a bond that could last forever.

A self indulge hc of mine: human's bond with their alien robot buddies have an effect on the spark as well, leaving a permanent print on it if the bond goes deep. Their bot buddy want to sparkbond, but that's physically impossible, so a part of the cyb's spark would always look out and yearn for their human buddy.

So whenever their human bud is around or is found somewhere, could be from a distant or they hear their voice- the spark goes "OMG OMG LITTLE AMICA/CONJUX IS HERE, THEY'RE HERE THEY'RE HERE THEY'RE HERE <33333"

You would have to get used to being randomly picked up or snatched, and seeing your robot friend in their alt-mode appearing outside your front yard.

If some bots are weird or unhinged enough, they'd lick your face idk.

Considering humans are a lot smaller and more fragile, cybs tend to get protective over their charges. Is like scary dog privilege, your personal bodyguard. Being able to trust someone so big and dangerous to not hurt you, the dream.

A bit territorial/possessive over their human. I think their equivalent of barking is aggressively loud honking toward eachother. Get a leash or something if your cyb have rabies.

Megatron: fleshie, just because I tolerate you a little more than the other, doesn't mean I will give you special treatment-

Human: who's a good warlord?

Megatron: meeeeeeeee (〃´ω`〃)

[icecream4starscream]

Hasbro just really hates Starscream, don't they?

[bringmethepeculiar]

While I adore the widely accepted notion that Sire and Carrier are gender neutral equivalents to a mother and father in Cybertronian society, I also feel like the concept of robo reproduction and the typical nuclear familial structure makes them too culturally human to be a robotic alien race.

SO

I raise you this concept:

In Cybertronian society, the typical way a sparkling is raised is with the ‘It Takes a Village’ mentality. Since bots all come from hotspots and have no biological attachments like humans, it’s typically the group of grown bots that are most commonly in contact with a sparkling that raises them. These bots, however many there are, are considered ‘Sires’.

And a bitlet can have a LOT of Sires.

The easiest way to translate the term Sire into a human term would be ‘uncle/auntie’ but also simultaneously ‘mother/father’ as well as an honorific similar to ‘sir/ma’am’ with a deeper emotional connotation. A sparkling will differentiate the bots that helped raise them from others who didn’t by calling them ‘Sire (YourNameHere)’ or just ‘Sire’.

Now, Carriers. Carriers are comparatively much rarer and it’s entirely possible that a sparkling has no one they consider to be their Carrier. A Carrier is often one individual in particular who formed a particularly deep emotional connection with the sparkling and is the person the sparkling holds in the highest regard.

Carrier can be (very) roughly translated as ‘Mother/Father’ as well as ‘Mentor/Guardian/Caretaker’ and is called as such because they have, both literally and metaphorically, carried the sparkling with them in their life. Their bitlet is as much a part of their life as they have been in the bitlet’s.

An example of this social structure can be seen with Bumblebee.

He has Elita, Jazz, Moonracer, Chromia, Ironhide, and Ratchet who he refers to as Sires, but Optimus is his one and only Carrier.

[lets-try-some-writing]

A more humorous concept.

Cybertronians, despite being non-organic in origin, do in fact have to shed their bulky outer armor every now and then. Old plates get brittle or otherwise damaged over time, and while rather energon consuming to regrow, sometimes it just has to happen, especially if rust or other nasty stuff has gotten into it. The missing plates regrow in relatively short order and the shedding only occurs after sufficient damage it taken or once every few vorns or so. Sometimes, the plates can even be removed by a medic with a quick visit if they are loose enough. The only problem with this? Everyone experiences something a little different.

Poor Ratchet suffers from what amounts to alien chickenpox. In order to get all his old armor off, he claws at it like there's no tomorrow. He will die before being caught trying to drag himself along the ground or rubbing himself up against various textured surfaces to get old armor off, but it has happened. It still happens when he's pretty sure he's alone. Optimus was there to watch Ratchet roll around on the Archive carpet many times.

Arcee is lucky in that all her old armor tends to drop within a few hours, but without it, she can't regulate her internal temperature very well. To compensate, she practically turns into a space heater as her systems kick into overdrive. The kids can't touch her without getting burned and the team are left yelping whenever she touches them when they aren't prepared for it.

Bulkhead is forced to endure losing his plates agonizingly slowly. He'll lose a plate, a new one will grow in. He's in a near never ending state of shedding. And so, much to Miko's horror, he'll just lose pieces sometimes. He's not all that concerned since the shedding, while continuous, is so slow. But the humans? It still startles them to hear an ominous THUNK out of nowhere and see a chunk of metal on the ground.

Ultra Magnus, much to his chagrin, turns into a beacon every time he sheds. His already vibrant colors come in even brighter as new armor grows into place. And so for a few weeks, he looks like an exotic fruit of neon blue, bright red, and blinding silver. Sunglasses are required.

Wheeljack likes to say he never sheds, but when he does, he recharges like the DEAD. Growing in new armor is very biologically taxing, and rather than suffering from other side effects, Wheeljack just takes a really long nap. He'll recharge for days at a time, getting up only to raid the fridge and then pass back out again until his armor is back where it should be. The humans have no clue he sheds armor because of this. But Bulkhead knows. He's been the one paying for Wheeljack's shed time groceries since before the war.

Smokescreen has only shed a handful of times, and all those times he was usually instructed to keep out of the way since he was in danger of being skewered without his armor. So now, whenever he sheds, despite experiencing no negative side effects, he instinctually goes to hide somewhere dark and safe until his armor grows back in. This has led to several incidents of someone screaming like a little girl as a spindly Smokescreen capitalizes on his status to scare people whenever they turn on the lights.

Bumblebee doesn't necessarily suffer whenever he sheds old armor, but he's just uncomfortable to look at. The scout tends to look like a plucked chicken whenever he loses his armor, and due to the weight shift when he losses so much mass, he hunches over oddly. In total, he looks a bit ghoulish and it actually hurts the team to witness, so usually he's given a few days off to get himself in order.

Optimus is in a similar boat to Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee on the rare occasion he sheds old armor. He always gives Ratchet a scare by going entirely grey about a week before the shed actually begins. He loses any and all color in affected areas and then proceeds to lose exactly all his armor within a few hours. Then he's left looking like a gangly half grown youngling due to the length of his arms and legs compared to the rest of his body. Megatron never ceases to mock him whenever it happens, but when Optimus's armor comes back in, his shoulders always come in bigger and sharper than before, a fact Megatron despises.

[raileurta]

When people talk about the pain of a relationship between a basically immortal transformer and a very mortal human who lives only one of their Cybertronian's years (Vorn: 83 years) I am reminded of the sorta real world example of this.

Pet rats on average tend to live 2-3 years and people will still care for them despite their extremely short life span. This is absolutely heartbreaking for owners as a lot of them see their rats or people just in general, see pets as their children/family. They can care for them to the best of their ability but they still die so soon. They can even can get sick or have a accident cutting their life span even shorter.

There's this sort of guilt that must come with it; feeling inadequate as you "failed" this being relied solely on you. Why are they dying so soon? Why couldn't I be better? Is this my fault? You can't really change nature but you can look at it from a different perspective. (Cheesey I know)

While for Cybertronians humans are just a blip for them for these people bots are there for their entire lifespan. The transformer will be a constant throughout it all and be with their person until the bitter end. They will never know a life outside of their love; The metal hands that cradle them in their own form of softness. The breeze as they feel as they sit on their shoulder. Even in the face of knowing this organic will never always be there to ride in their alt mode, scamper over their frame, or just by their side. They will still be with them; this is a privilege and a burden they must carry within their sparks.

You might find that a human can change a bot's entire perspective on life and even the world itself; because they live so short everyday is a precious one. They must make the most of the time you have left. It can't be wasted in entropy, just slugging through it. This would be a dishonor to their human and a dishonor to themselves.

Which in that case I feel the inevitable heartbreak is well worth it for the bot in the end. They just can be there, and that's the greatest gift of them all.

[story-weavr]

How might First Aid x Vortex happen?

Considering how little screen time the two have together, fanfic writers have a lot of ideas for how it might occur.

Mine involves something perhaps a bit softer:

Everyone knows Vortex is quite the sadist. In the original cartoon, he used a specialized attack with his rotors to make his enemies dizzy.

This has been expanded upon to include “advanced interrogation” skills. His delight in violence has been expanded into a sadomasochistic streak.

But for how terrifying and unhinged Vortex is, he has one weakness.

Vortex is terrified of being stuck in the dark.

Yes this is canon in the Aligned continuity and the Fall of Cybertron video game. It is an extension of his fear of sensory deprivation, perhaps stemming from the time Megatron had the Combaticons removed from their frame and put in spark prison for their attempt to overthrow Megatron.

His fear is so bad he won’t even use anesthetics, which perhaps is why gained the reputation of also being a masochist.

Now imagine the Combaticons getting caught up in a natural disaster of some kind while on duty (or perhaps they inflict said natural disaster). Vortex gets caught in a landslide and is stuck deep underground.

The Protectobots came to the area (perhaps a hurricane is ongoing and they helping to evacuate the human civilians).

First Aid, after getting some humans out, also gets stuck underground. His comms don’t work but he senses a spark signature.

In a really deep place, First Aid gets tackled.

The medic is scared at first only to find a shivering, terrified Vortex curled around him, the heli’s helm tucked close to the medic’s spark.

And so for hours, First Aid gently soothes and speaks to the frightened Decepticon while treating him as best as he could.

When they finally get out thanks to the other Protectobots, Vortex leaves.

He leaves longing for that warm presence in the dark that did not mock him, but whispered words of care and encouragement.

He leaves those touches soft and gentle rather than rough and careless on a body already in dull pain, previously the only sensation tethering the soldier to reality.

He leaves with the image of a light peaking through the earthen ceiling onto First-Aid as the two were finally dug out.