#age of...

[karanseraph]

Ages of Cybertronian History

I'm trying to work through my writing process in public again here, but it does sometime help me to organize thoughts.

I'm still writing The Life and Times of Skywarp. It's close to reaching 400K words and is nowhere near finished. I think this meandering style of writing I often do comes from not pre-planning. Like, if I already knew the major pivotal events in his life, I could skip ahead to the next one and summarized what had happened in between. But I don't necessarily know the order of events in this fan continuity.

Some existing ages (from TFWiki, that can happen differently in various continuities):

Age of Evolution (simple machines, a macguffin, or god happened)

Age of Primes (The Thirteen in charge)

Great Cataclysm/Age of Extinction (Cybertron altered, Predcons die)

Age of Firstforged/Knights/Origins (Non-Prime Legendary figures)

Dark Age (A period of warlords, tribes or city-states at war)

Age of Wrath (Bots vs Quintessons at some point)

Age of Internment (Time(s) of internment for particular group(s))

Golden Age (Time(s) of energy prosperity and peace)

Age of Expansion (Colonization by Cybertronians)

Age of Rust (A Rust Plague Pandemic at some point)

Great War (Time(s) of war, often Autobot vs Decepticon)

Combiner Wars (Time of combination and violent division)

Great Exodus (Most Cybertronians abandon Cybertron)

Great Shutdown (Cybertron and those on it stasis locked)

Pax Cybertronia (Time of peace perceived as forced, probably)

Beast Wars (something techno-organic, probably)

Great Transformation (something esoteric and technorganic)

How I think these exist in my fan-continuity, so far:

Age of Evolution (Simple machines made planet that self-actualized, or religious lore is true.)

Age of Primes (Primes and Predcons co-exist, not all friendly, first contact with other dimensions)

Great Cataclysm (southern hemisphere altered, most Precons die, Unicron theorists suggest...)

Fall/Decline of Primes (Primes turn on each other, die or leave, Maximo made Maximals on his farm, other dimension knowledge lost)

Age of Origins/Warring States (rise of warlords and city-states)

Age of Internment (prejudice against remaining Predacons and Maximals, biped/vehicle supremacy)

State Games (Attempted non-violent resolution between states)

Time of Seduction (First Contact with Quintessons introduces interstellar commerce, xenocultural influence, establishment of senate)

Age of Wrath (Poductization of Cybertronians leads to rebellion and war against Quintessons, enables different Cybertronians to work together against common enemy.)

Golden Age (post-war freedom from productization categories/classifications, mostly egalitarian, trade between city-states, some shipping trade with other planets, but increasing senate corruption)

Age of Expansion (Space Bridge Corps and Titan Projects race to serve needs/wants to expand and attain resources/goods without Quintesson reliance, rediscovery of other dimensions kept from general public)

Age of Games? (political maneuvering on Cybertron and colony worlds, prejudice against constructs and outliers, increasing calls for representation, new State Games, Rise of The Ascent in south rivaling Polyhex Province and Greater Iacon, use of shadowplay and propaganda, factions as politics)

Age of Rust (expansion leads to Rust Plague pandemic. Space bridge technology blamed and defunded, isolationism and purging of xeno population on Cybertron, killing of wildlife believed to carry disease, trade disruption, assistance from another dimension aids in discovery of cure but exposes previous coverup.)

War (factions as identity, conflict between super-powers tips into war between factions, further detabliized infrastructure, exhausted resources)

Great Exodus (most of remaining population abandons Cybertron as resources dwindle)

Time of Seeking? (State of war between factions continues, piracy, seeking resources and artifacts, attempts to locate lost colonies, galactic reputation of Cybertron terrible, a particular collision in the Sol System.)

Something I've been trying to figure out is if war starts before or after Rust, but in this version, it's like they start with cold war, attempt to deal with Rust, and then only when getting the cure break into active combat?

IDK how much this makes sense.

[mj-says-hey]

[sixofclovers]

hecate

[solrookera]

PSA

Just a heads up, there are bots going around on AO3 accusing people of using AI. Considering the timing, this is likely AI bros' retaliation for AO3 users calling them out for scraping their work. Examples of what you might be sent:

Screenshots from here.

If you get a comment like this, just report for spam and delete.

Edit: apparently they're also using people's usernames to try to make the spam seem more authentic, so if you get a guest comment from someone you recognise, it's likely not them.

[theunfairfolk]

the spirit is unwilling and the flesh it feels not so good also

[stealingpotatoes]

it’s eunuch Tucker’s adoptiversary and defacto birthday today <3

[mattsmemes]

[hussyknee]

If I tell you this is a horror dance number it still won't prepare you. That last move was so terrifying even the judge was like "Let go! Let go!" If you told me they're actually possessed I'd believe you.

The music is a remix of the song Mere Dholna from the Bollywood movie Bhool Bhulaiyya, a remake of the classic Malayalam horror-comedy Manichitrathazhu. It's about a young bride that seemingly becomes possessed of Manjulika, a dancer of the ancient royal court whose tragic death has turned her into a vengeful spirit, one who evokes the wrath of the goddess Durga Kali. In the iconic scene that is repeated across remakes, the groom and his family discover his bride dancing in the dead of night in a manic, disassociative fugue, wearing a moth-eaten dancer's costume and a face smeared in kohl, ash and vermilion. She's hallucinating that she's Manjulika dancing carefree for the court with her lover. The upbeat music is deliberately incongruous with the pathos and creepiness of the scene in reality, especially as it crescendos in the bride's head to the moment when the king decapitates Manjulika's beloved in a fit of jealous rage.

This specific number is by the all-male troupe B Unique, performed for the Indian reality talent contest Hunabaarz. It's a modern fusion based on Bharatnatyam that turns up the creep factor by 200% and is basically a showcase of contortionism and synchronicity. One of the most perfectly choreographed and executed dances I have ever seen. Truly incredible!

The group is still taking their work across the world's talent shows. And yes, that guy is hypermobile enough to do that with his neck. XD

[astronnova]

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[neosatsuma]

jury-rigged. even keel. by the board. three sheets to the wind. loose cannon. son of a gun. pipe down. taken aback.

[hansoeii]

the honda odyssey, huh?

[septemberkisses]

the fact that i'm no longer the same age as the protagonists of novels and films i once connected to is so heartbreaking. there was a time when I looked forward to turning their age. i did. and i also outgrew them. i continue to age, but they don't; never will. the immortality of fiction is beautiful, but cruel.

[khloodsadek]

[rocketcomics]

pure love

[arttsuka]

Big challenges