Thinking about an Eros!Reader who’d been with Luke Castellan since she was fourteen, he’d been her first kiss, he’d been her first boyfriend, he’d been her first time. She’d been there on his failed quest that resulted in his scar, and practically nursed him back to health herself after. They had been the couple of Camp Half-Blood for years and years, and everyone had thought one day they’d leave Camp and get married and build themselves a life together - but nothing could ever be so simple, could it?
After Luke’s betrayal, Eros!Reader had been broken, distraught, her heart had been broken into a million pieces. Still completely inconsolable a month after, one day she’d packed up her stuff, left a note on her bed in the Hermes cabin, and left. She’d moved back in with her mom in NYC, got a job at Macy’s, but continued with composing the thoughts she wrote down in her journal into songs - a habit she’d somehow picked up since Luke left.
Eros!Reader, who started singing some of the songs online, strumming a guitar to the lyrics using skills an old Apollo camper taught her. Those videos started gaining traction, and soon enough she found herself performing them at venues that kept getting bigger and bigger, starting to release a few actual singles. After the release of her first EP, using a few of the songs she’d wrote at Camp, she’d started gaining much more popularity, which caught the attention of Apollo.
Apollo, whose interest had been caught by Eros’s only half-blood daughter, girlfriend - ? - of Hermes’s precious son, who apparently has taken up a career in singing-songwriting, which is very much attention grabbing for him, because usually it’s his kids taking up that career. So, instead of coming to you as himself, he, of course, took form of the signer he’d created for this century - an early twenties, male indie singer who was steadily becoming big, and he’d introduced himself to you through your DMs.
Apollo, who by Eros!Reader’s next tour was performing as a special guest at the majority of her shows. He’d crept up on her, she’d originally thought of him as a friend, a close friend, who’d just came out of the blue, and then she’d realised who he actually is after putting the dots together, finally connecting them from what some monster said. She’d obviously freaked out, feeling exposed and lied to and embarrassed, and completely ignored him. Until one night, writing in her old journal, putting together lyrics that, for once, weren’t about Luke, but instead about him, about what had been his role in her life. She’d reconnected with him not long after that, giving him a second chance, and realised, beside his name, nothing he told her is really an outright lie, and neither are his songs, after he’d explained it all out to her.
Eros!Reader, who actually loved being on her second actual tour with Apollo, loved singing her songs with him in front of her fans, loved travelling with him by car or plane, loved looking at him with gooey eyes on stage and seeing videos online of those moments, loved hearing stories about him and his ‘childhood’, loved walking around foreign cities late at night with him, loved how she didn’t have have that lingering thought of monsters attacking at her shows, loved getting to actually know him, and most of all loved him.
Eros!Reader, who finally loved someone else, who doesn’t cry every night about Luke leaving her, who doesn’t wish Luke would come back, who finally doesn’t love Luke, who has finally found pure and genuine happiness again.
Constrains, My totally unnecessary analysis of how his flirtation and love changes from miner to Warlord.
Summary, How D-16 loves you vs how Megatron does.
D-16
D-16 in Transformers One is not the cold, untouchable warlord yet. D-16 is earnest, passionate, loyal and funny when he isn’t trying to be. Also he feels things very intensely.
That intensity is exactly what would shape his flirting.
D-16 is not smooth.
He’s a miner. A laborer. Someone who spent his life putting faith in people he admired and working hard. His emotional intelligence is actually fairly decent but his romantic intelligence is underdeveloped.
So his flirting tends to look less like charm and more like overwhelming sincerity.
Early Attraction
The first sign he likes someone is that he starts paying attention to them.
A lot.
He remembers details.
You mention liking a particular energon blend once? He remembers.
You complain your shoulder joint hurts after shifts? He notices every time you rotate it.
You mention wanting to see the upper levels someday? Three weeks later he’s pointing out routes that would get you there.
At first he doesn’t realize he’s doing anything unusual.
To him, he’s just.…Interested. Maybe just a bit curious.
Then Orion points out he’s been staring at you for half a cycle.
And D-16 immediately denies it. Semi violently as this is new to him and therefore he’s being bad at emotions.
“I was not staring.”
“You absolutely were.”
“I was observing.”
“That’s worse.”
His Version of Flirting
Protectiveness.
Not in an overbearing way initially.
More like constantly positioning himself nearby.
You don’t have to carry that.
He’ll walk with you.
He’ll wait. He’ll help.
Need something lifted?
He’s already got it.
Someone giving you trouble?
Suddenly there’s a very large miner standing behind you asking if there’s a problem.
The funniest part is that he genuinely doesn’t think this is flirting.
Meanwhile everyone else is watching him practically orbit around you.
Compliments
D-16 doesn’t hand out compliments casually.
When he admires something, he means it.
So if he tells you: “You did well.”
That’s not a throwaway remark.
That is praise he genuinely believes you’ve earned.
If he’s further gone?
The compliments become startlingly specific.
“You solved that faster than anyone else on the team.”
“Your welding work is cleaner than mine.”
“I’ve noticed you’re always the first one to help new miners.”
He notices competence.
Kindness. Determination.
Things he personally values.
And because he’s sincere, the compliments hit harder.
You get the feeling he really means every word.
Because he does.
Physical Affection
Before a relationship?
Accidental or what he claims is accidental.
A hand on your shoulder.
Standing close.
Leaning down to hear you better.
Offering a servo to help you climb somewhere.
The issue is that D-16 grows to be enormous once he gains a cog.
What would be normal proximity from another Cybertronian suddenly feels very intimate coming from him.
Especially when he starts unconsciously turning toward you whenever you’re speaking.
Giving you his full attention.
Like you’re the only one in the room.
Jealousy
This is where things get dangerous.
Not dangerous in a violent way.
Dangerous in a ‘he has absolutely no subtlety whatsoever way.’
Someone else starts flirting with you?
Everyone knows immediately that he’s upset.
His posture changes. His expression hardens. His responses become shorter.
Orion is sitting there watching this train wreck unfold.
“You know you could just tell them you like them.”
“I will not.”
“You literally glared at that mech for ten minutes.”
“He was suspicious.”
“He asked them what their favorite energon flavor was.”
“Exactly.”
Once He Knows He Loves You
This is where D-16 becomes devastating emotionally because his love language is trust.
Not gifts. Not words.
Trust.
He tells you things.
His fears. His frustrations. His dreams.
The things he doesn’t show or tell others.
The moment D-16 starts seeking your opinion before making decisions, you’ve crossed into very serious territory.
Because he doesn’t trust lightly.
So when he places that trust in someone, it means everything.
Megatron
The thing that makes this version of Megatron attractive is that he loves with the same intensity that he eventually hates.
Before the corruption and betrayal, D-16 is someone who throws his entire spark behind the people he cares about.
His friendships are wholehearted. His loyalty is wholehearted. His affection is wholehearted.
Which means his flirting often feels less like a game and more like someone slowly deciding that you matter.
A lot.
And once that realization settles in, he’s the type to look at you with complete seriousness and say something that leaves you speechless.
Not because it’s poetic.
Because it’s honest.
Something like: “When something good happens, you’re the first one I want to tell.”
And he says it as if that’s a completely normal thing to admit.
Meanwhile you’ve just taken critical emotional damage.
When he becomes Megatron
The thing about Megatron is that D-16 never really disappears.
He changes. He hardens. He becomes crueler, more ruthless, more suspicious. But underneath all the armor and anger, he’s still the same mech who once cared too much.
His emotions don’t get smaller. They get weaponized.
Attraction Becomes Possession
D-16 notices everything because he cares.
Megatron notices everything because he trusts almost no one.
If he’s interested in you after becoming Megatron, he’s far less likely to stumble into feelings.
Instead, he’ll study you.
Observe you. Figure you out.
Not because he’s trying to manipulate you necessarily but because trust has become a resource he guards fiercely.
The old D-16 would have walked up and started a conversation.
Megatron watches first. For weeks.
Learning. Evaluating.
Deciding whether you’re worth the risk.
And for a mech who believes almost everyone eventually disappoints him, that is a very high bar.
Flirting Becomes Deliberate
One thing I think people often miss about Megatron is that he’s actually incredibly charismatic when he wants to be.
He led revolutions. Inspired armies. Convinced people to follow him.
That’s not something an awkward miner could do without developing presence.
So unlike D-16’s accidental flirting, Megatron knows exactly what effect he has.
When he compliments someone, it’s usually intentional.
When he steps closer, it’s intentional.
When he lowers his voice, it’s intentional.
The terrifying part? He doesn’t waste words.
Imagine spending weeks wondering whether Megatron even likes you.
Then one day he looks at you and says: “You’ve become important to me.”
That’s it.
No buildup. No warning.
Just a statement.
As if he’s informing you of a fact.
Becomes Much More Protective
D-16 would help because he wanted to.
Megatron helps because he has decided you are his concern.
That distinction matters.
If you’re hurt, he takes it personally.
If someone threatens you, he remembers.
If someone disrespects you, he remembers that too.
The difference is that Megatron’s version of protection can become intimidating.
Not necessarily toward you.
Toward everyone else.
The room gets noticeably quieter when he enters.
People become careful with their words.
And eventually you realize that some of that caution exists because everyone knows you’re important to him.
Vulnerability Becomes Rare
This is the biggest change.
D-16 wore his emotions openly.
Megatron absolutely does not.
If he loves you, you become one of the very few who gets to see cracks in the armor.
Moments when the exhaustion shows.
Moments when the anger slips.
Moments when he stops being the leader and becomes a tired, lonely mech carrying far more than he should.
The catch is that these moments are precious precisely because they’re so rare.
He doesn’t tell you everything.
He doesn’t even tell you most things.
But the things he does tell you? Nobody else hears them.
Ever.
Jealousy Gets Quieter
And therefore much worse.
D-16 sulked. Megatron observes.
You might not even realize he’s jealous at first.
He’ll simply start asking questions.
Who was that?
How long have you known them?
Do you trust them?
The questions sound casual. They’re not.
Because unlike D-16, Megatron has learned how to hide his reactions.
Mostly.
The giveaway is that he suddenly becomes very interested in whoever has your attention and that’s rarely a comfortable experience for them.
Physical Affection Changes Dramatically
D-16’s affection is spontaneous.
Megatron’s is deliberate and surprisingly private.
In public, he tends to maintain control.
In private, however?
That’s where the intensity comes back.
He’s the type who rests a hand against yours during strategy meetings without looking at you.
The type who automatically pulls you closer when he’s exhausted.
The type who stands with you in silence because words feel unnecessary.
Megatron doesn’t strike me as someone who needs constant affection.
He needs certainty.
The knowledge that you’re still there.
That you chose to stay.
The Most Dangerous Part
The most dangerous thing about being loved by Megatron isn’t his temper.
It’s his loyalty.
Because despite everything, despite the war and the bitterness and the choices he makes, Megatron remains someone who loves absolutely. I will fight anyone who disagrees.
There’s very little middle ground.
If you’re important to him, you’re important.
Period.
And that is as beautiful as it is terrifying.
Because Megatron is not a mech who knows how to care halfway.
When he lets someone into his spark, they become part of the foundation holding him together.
Which means betrayal hurts him far more deeply than he’d ever admit and loyalty means more than almost anything else.
The really heartbreaking part is that his romantic love would still carry traces of D-16.
Every once in a while, when he’s tired, when his guard is down, when he’s alone with someone he trusts completely, you’d catch a glimpse of the miner he used to be.
A crooked smile. A dry joke. A moment of genuine excitement over something small.
And for a few seconds, you’d see the mech Orion Pax once called his best friend.
Then the moment passes, the armor goes back on, and Megatron returns.
But those rare glimpses? Those are probably the moments he’d never intend for anyone else to see but the ones that would mean the most to him.
the streets are saying that helly saying "i am her" is an indication it's in fact helena? idk guys, i don't love it. i feel like the show wouldn't pull the same trick twice? but maybe they would because lumon would? sigh. i just thought that helly finally had something to fight for and so she did. like why would she be selfless when (innie) mark didn't even wanna leave in the first place, he kinda made that clear when he had that whole conversation with his outie.
i am just Saying cabby has had Narrative Events with all the other bright lights and is not aware of the emotional impact lightbulb had on any of them beyond the surface level stuff so im just saying they should meet like Yesterday like Right noiw
Its such a lovely feeling whenever people tell me that a particular song reminds them of me. These are the kind of things I want to be associated with, like leaves leaving slight impressions on the surface of a pond. I want to be the girl you think of when you bite into a cupcake and remember how I burnt a batch and still ate them, or when you see a book in a store and are reminded of how I used to carry it around everywhere. These narcissistic tendencies to dream I won’t suppress, it’s so pure.
