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Really if you think about it the common rule is that the smaller something are, the more concentrated the chaos and spite is.

And with humans compared to cybertronians thats a LOT of spite.

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One of the goals when writing 'A Navigator's Star' –besides having Skyfire | Jetfire team up with a human pal– is to expand upon the shuttle frame specefic worldbuilding the way people often do with seekers or speedsters.

Because *clenches fist* ~spaceships cool~.

So of course i have written a ton of shuttle specefic headcanons in preperation for this, heres a few:

- Shuttles occupy the akward position of having an alt thats designed near equal to their sparkless counterparts on cybertron, non-sentient shuttles were very much a thing there. Which as far as vehicle types and non-titans go, is very unique. It wasn't until coming into contact with the broader galaxy (and earth in particular) that other cybertronians alts got intentional designs for passengers (as much as i like the idea of cybertronians being somewhat fated to meet the little guys tm, having that empty space for seemingly no reason. The focus is on shuttles in this fic so their the only ones originally with passenger accomendations). Shuttles in contrast have been like that from the very start. Now which came first; the shuttleformer or the sparkless shuttle? thats the question the functionalist governments have troughoutly burried the answer for.

- Owing to that Shuttles has some very old embeded instincts regarding passengers, one being: keep them safe, they are trusting you to carry them responsibly. And two: NO FIGHTING IN THE HOLD >:(. Way back in the day uppity passengers got kicked out at the nearest stop. Unfortunately the functionalists made such things more....difficult.

- In less..depressing scenarios. When a shuttle is fond of someone they often get the subcouncious desire to carry them around places. Its a way to show affection.

- Their grounder equivelant are trainformers who are somewhat even rarer than shuttles due to roads being so prelevant. However that dosen't completely negate the need for larger distance transport, even for people, and the reigning efficency of putting many small guys in one big vehicle instead of spread out all over the place. Also cargo. Additionally it frees up shuttles from ferrying stuff that could be easily covered by a train. Trainformers are built even more solidly than shuttles due to the no flying thing, unless your Astrotrain .

- Expanding on that last point Shuttle class sizes are about as big as a "regular" cybertronian gets before they start getting into combiner or straight up titan territory.

- If you were to put it into earth ecosystem terms, titans are like giant coral colonies -foundations of a whole ecosystem in of themselves, too large to be completely indevidual- a shuttle is more like megafauna, big to the point they attract smaller creatures to form partnerships with them for protection, food and a free ride (looking at you remora fish) in exchange for parasite removal. More mutualism less a whole enviorment in of themselves. Everyone else is the smaller guys of various sizes (minibots are cleaner shrimp lmao). Also some become like anemones where they house the clownfish and work togheter for survival in the larger coral reef.

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Today i am being self indulgent. So heres some little hcs/imagines i have written for Jetfire|Skyfire and the human companion oc of mine. Their name is Avila.

If you want to read more about them the fic for them is here

- Avila once asked Wheeljack to help them create magnetic boots, wanting to suprise Jetfire with them. Turns out the two should have test ran it more - as they had to spend an hour prying themself out of the secured boots and then get the shoes unstuck from Jetfire's shoulder. Much to the shuttle’s bemusement.

- the rare times Avila gets overwhelmed or just feels off kilter on solid land they go to Jetfire to ask if he's got time for a flight. Jetfire -well used to this habit of theirs by then- has a bunch of blankets and pillows in his subspace. Tucked away for them to create a nest in his hold while he takes them both for a leisure flight. He rarly minds as its a reminder to stretch his wings as well.

- due to their abilities Avila is able to climb outside Jetfire's shuttle alt while mid-air as long as its within a breathable atmosphere and relatively stable. The first time they did this to perform an emergency repair on him they forgot to mention this *quirk* of theirs and nearly gave him a panic attack. (Jetfire, frazzled, dident think to ask why they wanted him to open his side door; just assumed they would be holding on and keeping a safe distance like a reasonable person. Which they then forgot to warn him before proceeding to CLIMB OUTSIDE. absolutely the last time he opens a door without thinking just cause they ask and are about to do something insane without explanation.)

- when walking at the base Jetfire often holds them gently like a oversized hamster.

- Unless their on his shoulder like a tiny parrot

- eventually their partnership reached a level of trust where Jetfire had his pilot’s controls resized for them. (In my headcanon the reason Shuttleformers have controls even in cybertronian alt - besides often unfortunately sharing schematics with unsparked shuttles - is beacuse; even when built for it, spacefaring is dangerous and a "backup" of sorts is supposed to step in should anything knock them out)

They had proven in a very unforseen emergency incident that they could use the minibot sized controls, with effort, suprisingly compentently. However Jetfire intended it as a symbolic show, as well as to make it easier for them should something similar happen again.

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I am always thinking about cybertronians and how truly alien they are to humans in an evolutionary sense.

Cybertronians (depending on the continuity) didn't have to 'evolve' the way humans did. They don't need to hunt or grow their food. They don't have any natural predators (except spark eaters and scraplets). They didn't even need to really evolve because primus 'birthed' them.

Comparing that to humanity (how humans had to claw and fight their way to becoming the apex species, how we are both prey and predator, how our survival depended on each other), and it really shows how alien we they to one another.

(Sorry for yapping. I unfortunately have transformers brainworms, and they compel me)

Please, continue yapping 👀🌟💕

I am not an anthropologist, but I do really enjoy thinking about these kinds of things in at least a speculative fiction way.

Mech wants to scan a flight capable alt mode? Do it. It’s done. At least, get modded for a jetpack.

Humans want to fly? Cue centuries of development just to understand aerodynamics, failures upon failures of prototypes. Someone fucks up, dies trying. Someone else is crazy and determined enough to pick up where they left off, and keeps going.

Our species is built on compassion, cooperation. It’s also built on the bones of all the people who had to die to let the rest of us know that those mushrooms are poisonous, that river has crocodiles, and mixing these two things together will explode in your face.

We rely on cooperation to an incredible extent. In a way that I feel like the Cybertronians maybe wouldn’t have to. I know it’s a popular trope in some regards, but I feel like they wouldn’t have any kind of particular long term relationship of much significance with their “offspring.” Why would they need to? Why would they want to? What about their society or development would have necessitated it?

We respond to a baby crying on an instinctive level, because they evolved to cry in a way that gets us to respond. Our brains are tuned to it. They’re also tuned to think certain features are cute, because it created an evolutionary advantage of keeping babies alive. Would Cybertronians even have a reason to develop a concept of “cuteness”? (Maybe they only do so when they meet us.)

I think that in a first contact scenario, they would be confused about and struggle with the concept of family. Not just conjunxes, they get that, but - parents and kids and siblings and cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles? And that, barring traumatic situations, we keep those relationships for our entire lives?

“Pack bonding” is probably just the closest thing to it that they could verbalize. I’m not sure “family” (including “chosen family”) would ever properly translate to a society of beings who are precocial to humanity’s altricial nature. Though I think they would come to understand as best they could, over time.

One of the most remarkable parallels is, we can both love. At the end of the day, does it matter that we both got the right answer by asking different questions?

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A big ??? is, how would we change each other once we met?

Humans have such superpowered compassion that we are capable of extending it to other species. Even when there’s not really any benefit to us to do so (though it’s such an effective strategy, there probably will be some benefit.)

But there may also be benefits for the mechs to learn that compassion from us.

A lot of Cybertronians feel repulsed by organics. The ones with the strongest revulsion for humans are typically, with exceptions, Decepticons. The Autobots, who typically show compassion for humans, with some exceptions, are the ones who get our support in their war. Then the Autobots are the ones who win, who survive.

In bringing their war to Earth, they end up self-selecting for compassion among their species.

Humanity: Adds another “Successfully Domesticated” to the list. (jk it’s more complicated than that but speculative fiction baybee)

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Bot: *returns from a mission later than normal* "hey! Sorry for being late - I know how you get worried - got held up by the traffic and Optimus said I can't break human laws so-"

Human: *In the middle of summoning a demon to rescue their bot friend, cause they thought they got taken prisoner or worse*

Bot: "What's that???"

Warlock!Human: *furiously smudging out chalk lines* ".....Nothing?..."

Idk why, but i just have so much fun pairing up more magically/ supernatural inclined humans with transformers.

Probably cause i really love fantasy and find it interesting playing around with how this very technologically centered species (who yet at the same time still have these very spiritual roots, with literal physical souls) react and contrast with more magical organic concepts.

Anyone else think this is interesting?

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Idk why, but i just have so much fun pairing up more magically/ supernatural inclined humans with transformers.

Probably cause i really love fantasy and find it interesting playing around with how this very technologically centered species (who yet at the same time still have these very spiritual roots, with literal physical souls) react and contrast with more magical organic concepts.

Anyone else think this is interesting?

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Hound (and beachcomber tho i dont know him as much) really is made for wierd nature gremlins like me. Bby i could show u such wonders.

Imagine watching nature documentaries with him! Wierd bird species! Lizards that shoot blood from their eyes! cephalopods!! THE DEEP SEA!!!!

Showing him all the wierd and wonderfull ways life has evolved on this planet, and u knooow this guy is fond of the organic, he must be stoked about the sheer amount of biodiversity present. I would love to get into discussions about the many unique survival strategies organic life has.

Imagine showing your hiking wishlist and finally going there with him. Both guiding and discovering earth with him.

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Pretty sure Cybertronians forget we're still animals

It’s an interesting concept, isn’t it? Someone “built” by evolution, and someone built by conscious decisions. Close enough in nature to understand one another, different enough that it takes effort.

Some of them probably remember all too well that we’re animals - the ones who refuse to see us as anything else. Others, treating us like mechs and having to remember we aren’t. Trying to communicate with radio and their fields. They have levels of communication we just can’t process. Maybe not even quite understanding what being an animal is like. It’s such a basic misalignment, so far beyond just different levels of technology.

Would we forget that they’re machines? Would they want us to?

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One scenario i see used rarly with the potential of human/transformer teamups is something like the advantages a horse archer would have.

Think of it. A high speed chase where one party is focused on where their going and another shooting. It would be sooo cool to have the modern image of a sentient motercycle doing risky manvouers and a guy on top that has a gun (or even better a sci-fi bow hehe) taking out their pursuers.

Even being advanced mechanical aliens idk i like to think cybertronians still would benefit from a partner taking the pressure off managing multiple things in a high stakes situasion.

Hell works with jets too! Its a common setup in sci-fi, a pilot and a gunner. Just let the human in the cockpit at the weapons systems and watch em go. Like to imagine even decepticons might start reconsidering the benefits of a human partner after that.

Cars is lil bit more akward, mabey they can stick their upper body out off the window? Definently more risky, but they'll figure something out im sure.

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Excerpt of a future chapter im working on for "The Navigator's Star"

You can read the full fic here

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With Wheeljack leading them around - pointing out various curiosities in the lab and enthusiastically explaining them - Avila almost misses how Jetfire keeps glancing at them anxiously, practically hovering over them fidgeting. They can practically hear the debate he has going on in whatever an autobot's got for a brain.

They wait until he peeks over at them again, deliberately catching his gaze and tilting their head inquierly. That seems to be the push he needed.

He closes whatever distance there still was between them. Before oh so slowly getting down on a knee in front of them. He still towers over them, but they can appreciate the gesture for what is.

He makes a sound they think might be his kind’s equivalent of clearing their throat. “There's a lot of things in the way. If you want to see better or jus-” he cuts himself off from whatever he was going to say. “…nevermind. What i'm trying to say is, if you want to i can hold you up so you may see better?”. The way he says it makes Avila think that's not the primary reason behind his offer.

Wheeljack is too absorbed in his lecture about a particularly complex looking machine in the corner to have noticed the exchange happening behind him. Avila squints a bit at the giant before them, puzzling through what his real meaning is.

Thinking back on it, he has seemed on edge ever since they entered the lab, but it didn't ramp up until that device started smoking. Hmmm…

They suppress a smirk, awww. He's worried. And anyway, he's not wrong about their vantage point being less than stellar.

Mind made up, they step easily into his open palms. The surface under them tense a little in surprise, stunned at how readily they accepted. Large blue optics stare in wonder down at them, blue like the sky.

For being made of metal his palms are surprisingly soft, an almost silicone-like feel to the padded areas. His fingers - large they may be - still has the look of someone who works on delicate things for a living. The hands of a scientist.

They don't quite get his astonishment. They have already trusted him to carry them in his vehicular form; this is no different no?

Large metal hands oh so delicately cup around them, lifting them up carefully and holding them close to his chassis securely. There's a pleasant hum emitting from its center Avila can so barely feel. They want to press their hands to that metal surface and put their ear against it so they may hear it better. For such a large being Jefire is incredibly gentle, everytime they see him he always seems to be moving so carefully through the world.

It was a quality they picked up from him the second they stepped into the transformed shuttle. They have been in many ships and aircrafts before, the encompassing metal walls have always brought a sense of security to them.

Jetfire as an aircraft however is like nothing they've experienced prior. There's a life to the metal now, and an encompassing gentle presence watching over them. There was no question he would do everything in his power to keep them safe. Not just in the security of a well crafted vessel, but as an active will and mind behind it all.

They have never felt such a soul in what they navigated before. It feels right.

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In my personal headcanons, since shuttleformers are so big with a ton of hard to reach specialized systems for space travel they tend to instictively seek out smaller lifeforms to partner with aka: megafauna with their lil cleaner buddies.

Basically what im saying is that a transformer with a shuttle alt would be looking at mechanically inclined humans and immidiately go pspspsps

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An excerpt from my fic: A Navigator's Star.

Jetfire | Skyfire & Original human character

You can find the full fic on ao3 here

Now the human stands alone in his cockpit. Mainly sized for a minibot to comfortably inhabit, they have more than enough room. Standing feet firmly planted in the center of the room they look out through the glass and point a sure finger into the storm.

“to the left there, where the two hurricanes twist around in a spiral. It's not exactly visible from this angle but there's a point where an opening big enough to slip through will form at regular intervals. Do you see it?”

For a moment Jetfire isn't sure what they're talking about, the wind coming from all sides throwing any senses he has into disarray. But then. There! He spots it, where the pillar of wind first looked like a muddled mess he can now see where it seems to split and weave on itself. Like a strand of organic dna. He zooms in on where the human indicated, sure enough. There's a spot where the twin pillars seem to twirl further apart then elsewhere.

He flicks a light on in its direction to indicate he's seen it. The human nods, a small smile on their lips. “Good, now get in position, keep your speed low and wait for my count. On go you gun it”.

“3”

Jetfire pushes forward to the tornados, engines mostly off to keep an even glide.

“2”

He braces himself, systems humming in tune with the howling wind.

“1”

He activates his atmospheric engines, pushing them to their full strength. He can feel Avila gripping the pilot’s chair bracing themselves.

“GO!”

And Jetfire dives.

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In all his time flying this might be one of the more dangerously reckless things Jetfire has ever done, icey trips non withstanding. Generally he considers himself to be a reasonably cautious mech, though his curious nature can admittedly get the better of him. He prefers not to take unnecessary risks when he can. That said it often vanishes when helping others. Like say, navigating a tornado storm from the pit.

The twin forces on either side threaten to sweep him away, but just as the human said it would, the brief gap created affords him enough space. Clearing it just as it closes behind him. Random debris picked up by the winds ping harmlessly of his thick shielding, he pays it no mind.

Past the wall of wind the great whirling columns continue, forming a corridor around him. As he weaves, dives and rises the human calls out one snap direction after the other. Finding safe gaps he didn't even think of. Everytime an obstalance appears they find a way around it. Sometimes it feels like they know how the wind moves without even having to see it.

Shots start to join the other obstacles he's dodging. Jetfire is honestly a little surprised it took the decepticons this long to notice them. Then again the chaos around them seemed to keep them more than a little occupied. Whatever is causing this phenomena is scrambling any energon signal detection as well.

Jetfire is getting sense that the decepticons have been just as caught by surprise as the autobots. From what little he got to scan in between frantic tornado dodging, the ground below is littered with stray equipment and what he swears is a large mounted laser used for mining. Were they trying to break the artifact open?

Luckily for him there's no way the seekers are flying in this, if a shuttle is in danger of being blown away a jet stands no chance.

A moment of reprieve is granted when the twister he just dove by decides to do an abrupt turn. Heading in the direction of the gathered cons, sending every mech running to get out of the way and ceasing any firing.

The human gives a whoop of celebration from his cockpit. There's a wide grin stretched across their face as they return to their previous spot in the center.

“Brilliantly executed! You're a great flier Jetfire!”

His spark warms unbidden at the compliment, and a sudden sense of bashfulness makes him search for any distractions. Flying is just what's expected of him, people rarely pay much attention to it. Competency is just a given, right?

“It's nothing really, I'm just following your directions”. For some reason that seems to disquiet the human. They drift into a pensive silence.

A stray shot forces him to sharply bank to the side, a spike of worry shoots through him as he realizes the human had been standing without anything to hold onto to keep them from being thrown off their feet. Yet a quick frantic check of his internal cameras confirm they impossibly kept their balance somehow. For every turn he does it is like they are anticipating the movement and leaning into them, shifting their minute weight to catch the momentum of the forces upon them.

Unfortunately as Jetfire sails past the last column of wind he senses something rapidly approaching from his other side. One of the decepticons must have finally managed to get the laser working. The shot is too close for him to dodge in time without sending himself and subsequently everyone on board spiraling into the physics defying tornados.

He has no choice but to pull his plating tight and hope nothing vital gets hit. He readies himself for the incoming pain and allows for a moment to switch his full attention to his inward sensors rather than outward.

Something searing makes contact with his fuselage and then… dissipates?

Startled he flicks numerous outside cameras and sensors around, just in time to catch the beam as it sails off in a different direction, exploding a rock tossed by a nearby tornado.

Wh- how?! It was a direct hit! There's no way it had just glanced by him! It's as if the moment the plasma made contact with his plating instead of punching through it had bounced straight off in another direction.

Reflected.

“Are you okay there? Jetfire?” A soft hand on his inner hull snaps him out of his spiraling processor. The human has a proper frown of concern on their face since the first time he ever saw them. They are looking straight into one of his interior cameras.

…How did they know where to look without being told?

For a nano-klik he could swear he caught a feeling of something tense and strained from them. Seperate from their weak em field.

Then their expression lifts and they step away from the wall, a spot of warmth lingers from where their hand had been.

His speakers crackle as he attempts to process what to even answer in this situation.

“I- yeah, i'm alright, the shot must have just missed me, thank you for the concern, but there's no need to worry”. The autobots in his hold never caught what was supposed to have happened. Jetfire sees no need to worry anyone else.

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once again thinking about falling asleep in a transformer's chest compartment or cockpit where i have room to stretch out and snooze while their humming mechanisms are my white noise to help me sleep

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You get your first introduction to one of the real creepy mechs like Sunder. And shudder and say, oh great, new sleep paralysis demon unlocked

Your mech friends are going, what? So you tell them:

You know, like when you wake up in the middle of the night and you can’t move, but you’re semi-conscious and full of dread and fear because there’s a demon sitting on you or in your room just staring at you. Sleep paralysis demon.

Mech friends, visibly and audibly trying not to charge all their weapons: oh that’s. hm. don’t like that

You’re like yeah! They’re worse than the hat man. But the benadryl spiders are awful too

Mechs absolutely bristling. Fighting to remain calm so they don’t scare you. Interesting. Tell me more about this hat man and his spiders. how are they getting past the perimeter. you’re sleeping in my alt mode from now on btw

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Skyfire | Jetfire headcanons for the fic im working on. Im trying to mix some elements from other continueties into his G1 character. And ofc my personal prefernces. im mainly calling him Jetfire due to Skybound.

- he dosent mind carrying others in his shuttle form in of itself as much as he hates it being forced to be his job and all people see him as. If its people he cares about it can be a theoretically pleasant experience, but he never really got to figure that out before his last journey. It brings him a lot of mixed feelings.

- he was forged originally for military transport and got some training in the role, but managed to get into the sciences trough excelling in space exploration which is how shuttles usually gets out of working as transport due to their unique space capabilities as a frame class. (A few continueties gives him a more military background, though hes always a scientist in some way)

- he knew Orion Pax before the expedition that landed him in the ice, they met through Lacons academia with Orion working with them as an archivist (librarian!Optimus ftw!). It took him a moment to actually recognize Optimus when he first properly met him face to face, hes quite different from the Orion he knew. (Based on his pre existing friendship with Optimus in Skybound). Hes unsure on how to approach him now that hes a Prime and has experinced a whole war as the leader of one of the factions while Jetfire was gone.

- He did not actually know Starscream all that much before they got paired on Jetfire's last expedition missons, they grew to be friends over them. Starscream was much more nicer back then.

- Shuttles differ from other flightframes in that they are made for both space travel and long hauls. Some smaller flightframes like jets might get modifications to withstand the heat of atmospheric entry and the power to escape the gravity, but they are rather expensive and energy demanding. Starscream had these modifications before their expedition and was the only reason he managed to make it barely back to Cybertron. Before that he did largerly rely on Jetfire to actually make it across large swatches of space in something resembling a efficient manner.

- While Jetfire specialized on the more larger scales of space exploration and alien planets, he has a passion for xenobiolgy and finds the Earth to be absolutely fascinating. Unfortunately the trauma of being frozen there for so long gets in the way of him properly enjoying it. Its something he struggles with.

- His background pre-sciences does mean he kinda knows how to fight. At least in the role of a large air support. But he does not enjoy it nor are he particulary good at it. He did also carry weapons for self-defense as an scientist for his exploration mission, an unfortunate nessecity required by the academy in his opinion. (Using elements again from that he does participate in fighting in some way in most continueties)

- Hes pretty awful at standing up for himself, but will stand up for others easily. Jetfire is the rather self-sacreficing type. (He literally let himself get reburried in ice again to save others in his first episode in G1). It breaks his spark to see decepticons terrorizing inoccent humans and destroying vunrable enviorments just beacuse they can. (Skybound!Starscream is particulary bad in that area, the series really went hard in that direction wow)

- He finds humans to be very interesting (and quite frankly adorable, though he keeps that to himself in case it would be taken as offensive), but he worries a lot about acidentally scaring (or primus forbid hurting!) them due to his size and can end up a little akward around them due to it. Regularly sized cybertronians are allready big to humans to begin with. Hes very sweet when he frets though.

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So as it turns out writing silly small imagines and au concepts are appearntly a gateway drug to full blown fanfiction writing, i am now planning out a multichapter story and it. Just. Keeps. Growing.

I have literally never written full longform fanfic before ho boi. Watch out transformers fandom i have no idea what im doing.

Also Jetfire/Skyfire whyyy must your name be so difficult to figure out.