According to an earlier post, "[Sparkling creation] starts with at least two sparks merging together. This type of merge is normally intentional and very draining for all bots involved. "
what do you mean by *normally* intentional?
Is Ratchet going to have to teach Jazz and Prowl sex ed?
Happy Valentine's Day! (hope this question didn't weird you out)
Thank you for the ask! I loved seeing this cross my feed, I love talking about stuff like this :]
Sparkmerge stuff below the cut:
Sparkmerging is a deeply intimate act. Two bots share their very being with their partner or with trusted friends. Everything about a bots exitance is shared with whoever they are merging with. Most of the time, merges are just to share in that act of intimacy and trust. Merging multiple times can even cause bonds to form.
If a bot wants to create a sparkling, it's a little different.
Normally, creating a sparkling is a very intentional act. It takes a lot of energy from both parties to create a new spark. This amount of energy is built up over time into a large charge during the merge and absorbed by one of the two bots.
Sometimes a pair can be a little over-eager and might push too much energy into the bond by accident, creating a new spark. This is fairly rare and more common with newer pairs.
Ratchet is going to have to give all of them the talk down the line ;]
Sparkmeld, or more loosely, sparkmerge, is the act of combining two or more sparks into a single life force. In most cases, this is brief link that only lasts a few minutes.
Most Cybertronians consider this a very intimate act. Not only are you sharing your life with someone, but you're also trusting them as completely as you can, baring the one thing that keeps you alive and giving them full access to your frame.
In Earth terms, it's a BIG deal.
Physical Effects
When two sparks combine, the resulting spark, usually, reaches an equilibrium between their power levels. For example, if you combine two sparks, one with a Radiance of 3.4 Lux, the other with 6.2 Lux, like Knockout and Breakdown:
Then while merged, the spark would eventually equalize out to 4.8 Lux, and look like this:
The longer the two are melded, the closer the component sparks would be in color on separation, which temporarily effects their energon output. In Knockout's case, he would burn through more energon until he leveled out, but also get a power boost. In Breakdown's, he would conserve more energon than usual, but be more tired as a result. This lasts for roughly a day, as the sparks slowly return to their original Radiance levels.
While melded, the component sparks don't exist individually. There is one spark, in control of both frames it's linked to, and it exists as one being with a fusion of personalities between the two.
In the case of most sparkmelds, the varying Resonance will force a split after a few minutes of contact, as too much energy is lost to sustain both at once. If the component bots have synchronic Resonance (i.e., their cpnk matches), the meld can last indefinitely.
Synchronic Resonance is what allows combiner teams like Devastator to exist. Rather than fighting itself for resources, the melded spark of the Constructicons behaves as if it were always one entity, adding the components' energies together rather than trying to find equilibrium between them.
Note: Unlike in popular fandom, merging sparks in the MoL continuity does NOT create a perpetual mental/emotional link between bots. There is no permanent change from melding a spark, it exists as an experience.
Sparkmeld and Nexuses
Some (not all) Nexuses are punctuated by a sparkmeld after they've been pledged. In the case of a Nexus of Concord, this is a vital component, albeit it works a bit differently; members of a combiner team will finish their vows off with a test run of their combined form.
Nexus bonds that involve a sparkmeld:
Nexus of Confidence
Nexus of Concord
Nexus of Stability
For these Nexuses, melding is considered fair game to request of your partner after they're pledged. Some bots do it once, then never again, others meld any time they want company; the frequency varies uniquely between each set.
Nexus bonds that do NOT involve a sparkmeld:
Nexus of Apprenticeship
Nexus of Adversity
Nexus of Protection
Since the role of these Nexuses is to teach or protect another bot, rather than understand how they think, melding has no use (and is often impossible, in the case of Metrotitans).
It is EXREMELY uncommon for a bot to want to merge outside of a Nexus, namely because the level of trust it entails often demands a familiarity that would lead to a Nexus in the first place. Still, it's not completely unheard of; especially in wartime, some bots want to know what the experience is like before they die on the battlefield, while others just want someone to share some solace with.
Medical Sparkmeld
In the case of extreme emergency, sometimes a bot might house someone else's spark in their own chamber to keep it alive during an intensive operation.
This is typically a last resort. A frame can't survive very long without its spark powering it, and removing a spark, however temporary, means that the bot will require a long recovery period afterwards. On top of this, the person housing the spark has to have a synchronic Resonance with the patient being operated on, or the chamber will reject the added energy.
When this does happen, the housing donor loses their individual consciousness in favor of the meld (albeit without the memories of the detached frame). Putting it into layman's terms, they become a one-frame combiner.
Note: Putting this into even more understandable terms, they're a Steven-Universe-style fusion. Two components, two minds, but the sum of their parts is a whole new person.
Appendix: Sparkmeld and the Matrix of Leadership
The spark of Optimus Prime, by technicality, can be considered a more permanent meld. Orion Pax's spark took on the Matrix of Leadership's directives and purposes; as such, Optimus isn't Orion, but Orion forms a vital part of who he is.
Hi! This is part of my worldbuilding series for my own continuity that I dreamed up while I was bored at work. I'm probably going to make a dozen or so posts like this. Thanks for reading!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Drift | Deadlock/Rodimus, Drift | Deadlock/Rodimus Prime
Characters: Drift | Deadlock, Rodimus (Transformers)
Additional Tags: Spark Sexual Interfacing, Fluff, no real explicit stuff here, just two gals being pals, bros being bros and doing it in the soul
Summary:
There are other ways – better ones, really – to show that you care for something.
