k-she-rambles

[k-she-rambles]

here y'all go, first crack at the tf one reverse Orion Pax fic before it makes it to AO3. TF One, set in a future series on Earth; what if Megatron lost his memories of the second half of the film?

Optimus groaned and ran diagnostics as he came out of shutdown. A mine cave-in had not been, as Spike liked to say, "on his bingo card" for today. Minor dents, it seemed, except for the leg. That was going to be an issue getting out of here.

Earth had a suprising amount of energon for a planet that didn't run on it. The Decepticons were efficient at harvesting it, but their mine construction skills and safety protocols when it came to exposing the locals to smelting byproducts left a lot to be desired.

Optimus had led a small team of Autobots to seize the mine before more people got hurt.

And then he'd let Megatron bait him underground. Like an idiot.

Optimus heard the faint whirs and hums of another bot coming out of shutdown. No doubt Megatron would blame him for the cannon blast that got them into this mess, but he couldn't move. They'd have to work together or wait together.

Megatron actually pinged him for a status update, like a bot passing a friend in the commissary who wasn't able to stop and talk, which was vaguely alarming.

Optimus struggled to a more or less sitting position. "Are you injured?"

"No," said Megatron. "Maybe. Dented my helmet pretty good, but I'm operational."

Optimus sighed. No upper hand. "Better than me, then. My left leg is damaged."

"Why are we the only ones here? Slow cave in or were we just stupid?"

"The rest of our crews thought discretion was the better part of valor and hung back. And we were stupid."

Megatron snorted "And then I followed you into this mess. Typical. I'll let Elita kill you, since you're already hurt."

Something about this interaction wasn't going the way Optimus expected. "No fear of that. And I followed you."

"Huh. The mineral composition is strange. No cyberluminescence at all."

Optimus stared at Megatron in the dim light from their frames. "Earth doesn't go in for cyberluminescence --have you not learned anything about the planet we found refuge on?"

"Earth? Earth. That primate-infested mudball in sector seven? I must have hit my head harder than I thought. Orion, why in the pit are we taking refuge on Earth?"

"We are not --" Optimus' systems stuttered "What did you just call me?"

"You need to tell me right now what the pit is going on, Pax. Everything's wrong. I tried to send an SOS but I didn't recognize 80% of my contacts. You're not even on the list. My frame mass is wrong. Your frame mass is wrong, and I --"

"I think you might have hit your head harder than you thought, Dee," said Optimus quietly.

Megatron would have cursed him at the old name.

"Yeah?" said D-16 belligerently. "How hard do you figure?"

"We got these upgrades four million years ago."

D-16 was silent for a moment. "Four. Millennia."

"Yes."

"Well that's just fantastic. I wake up in a dark hole with you and I'm old as pit and you're --Pax? Whoa hey."

Dirt and stone trickled down ominously as D-16 managed to flip his frame around and crawl towards Orion Pax. He hadn't heard that sound coming from Pax's systems in ages; not since the third week on their mining crew when the squad leader before Elita had gotten impaled by a defective pneumatic brace in a cave-in.

Orion had been right there, with the body, and it had taken hours to dig back to them.

"Hey, focus on me, Pax, don't you dare crash on me." D-16 cast a headlamp over Orion's leg. "Focus on my voice. Hah. Just 'damaged', that's the last time I believe a status report from you. I'm going to isolate that leg from the rest of your system; there's no way that's not a major fuel leak."

He reached to brace himself on Orion's shoulder and Orion flinched, suddenly alert, a battle mask snapping closed around the lower half of his face.

D-16 blinked at the flat glare being leveled at him.

And the small energon blade in Orion's hand.

"You have a t-cog."

"Everyone has a t-cog," said Orion. "Back. Up."

Come to think of it, the constant feeling of something missing in his chest was gone. He felt strong and whole. And exasperated, but that wasn't new. Pax was in enough pain to not be thinking clearly.

"I'm old as pit, everyone has a cog, and something's crawled up your tailpipe, apparently." D-16 rapped Orion on the helm. "Knock it off. I'm not letting my best friend bleed to death on some precious dirt clod that I'm supposed to know all about."

The bark of laughter was staticky and slightly hysterical, and D-16 didn't like it one bit. "Pax."

Orion closed his eyes and turned his head away. Do it."

Very little made the Orion Pax he knew flinch. Fear made him stubborn and curious instead. He took it as a call to rise to the occasion rather than a warning he was about to do something monumentally stupid. The first time he'd been chased out of the Archives after hours, he'd come back to barracks glowing, practically vibrating out of his plating, and D-16 had had to pin him to the mat three times before he was sure Pax wouldn't drive Elita crazy in the morning.

Something else was glowing now.

"Is that the Matrix of Leadership?"

"No," Orion drawled, his eyes still closed. "It's fancy decal. I've grown vain in my old age."

"Har har." Orion Pax was carrying the Matrix of Leadership. That explained something, but what exactly D-16 couldn't guess.

Isolating a limb from the rest of a bot's system was certainly easier when your hands could transform the tools you needed. D-16 heard the change as Orion's fuel pressure balanced out.

"Better?"

Optimus opened his eyes. "Much better. Thank you." He noticed the knife in his hand, and transformed it away. "I apologize."

"So," said D-16, settling back against the same wall Optimus was leaning against. "Maybe while we wait for rescue you can tell me how you just happen to have the Matrix instead of Sentinel Prime."

"It's a long story," Optimus hedged.

"Do you have anything better to do? Tell me the story, Pax."

"You won't like it."

"You know, you beating around the slag-heap never ends well for me."

Optimus sighed. "You're right. I never apologized for tricking you into that race. I'm sorry for decieving you."

D-16 looked at him, startled. "Thanks."

"I will be as honest as I can be, though I'm warning you now, some of this will be hard to hear. What's the last thing you remember?"

What did he remember? "Train. Definitely a train. Primus, the surface of Cybertron is beautiful."

"It was," Optimus agreed. "We found the location on Bee's map, where the Primes fought their last battle."

"We found the Matrix."

"No. The Matrix had vanished in the absence of a worthy holder. We found a survivor."

"You're kidding."

"Alpha Trion was injured but still alive."

"Incredible. What then?"

"We...discovered some things about the circumstances of the Primes' last battle."

D-16 rolled his eyes. "Do not coddle me, Pax."

Orion finally retracted the battle mask. In the dim light from their frames, D-16 could see Pax was deeply unhappy.

"You didn't take it well, the first time. You said it was my fault for you learning something that you couldn't do anything about. Forgive me if being stuck underground with you in a violent rage is not my idea of a good time."

"When would I ever --never mind, I can see myself saying that. Listen, Pax. We have cogs now --still dying to hear about that, by the way --so I can do whatever I want about whatever I find out."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Oh, so you don’t trust me, is that it?"

The mask snapped into place again.

D-16 sighed. "I promise to hear you out completely and I will not blame you for things that aren't your fault."

Orion tapped his fingers on his knee. "Dee, can you name the thirteen primes?"

"Orion Pax."

"Humor me. We have a little time."

D-16 grumbled and listed them. "Zeta, Prima, Solus, Megatronus, Alpha Trion, Micronus, Alchemyst, Leige Maximo, Amalgamous, Vector, Onyx, Nexus, and Quintus. Happy?"

"Where is Sentinel in that list?"

D-16 paused. The thirteen Primes fought their last battle, with Sentinel Prime the only survivor. The Primes took enough of the Quintesson leadership with them that Sentinel was able to drive them off planet for good, but Zeta and the Matrix had been lost; slowly, as some pessimists said, killing the planet.

But Sentinel wasn't on the list. The Primes were created by Primus directly. How could he be a fellow Prime to the others unless he was made a Prime in title only at that last battle. Which meant he was either there, and knew where to find Zeta and the Matrix all along, or...or he was making the whole thing up.

"Son of the Unmaker," D-16 growled. He put his head in his hands. "You were right. Glitched-ass piece of slag. What was Sentinel lying about?"

"Pretty much all of it," said Orion. "The last battle was a trap, one the Primes almost survived until he got personally involved. Sentinel surrendered to the Quintessons in exchange for proxy leadership; and most of our energon was going for tribute. And...no one has ever been created without a cog."

The Thirteen Primes, betrayed. Murdered, their honor stolen. Every single cogless bot had been made cogless, mutilated before coming online.

"I hope your next sentence includes the fact that Sentinel is dead, Pax."

"He is dead," said Orion.

"Good." He waved a hand. "Continue."

"We went back to Iacon to show everyone the truth."

"They actually believed it?"

"Yes. Well, footage of Sentinel kneeling to a Quintesson was pretty incontrovertible."

D-16 spat in disgust.

Orion was hesitating again.

"I don't think it can get worse, Pax. Continue."

"For you, maybe," Orion muttered. "There was...civil war, after. Removing Sentinel from power and his execution wasn't enough for everyone. There were disagreements on what it would take to rebuild, and resentment became violence.

"No kidding," said D-16 sarcastically. "He caused harm to society from top to bottom. None of that explains how you got the job. Or the Matrix."

Orion opened his mouth.

Prime, come in. Calling Optimus Prime on sub channel Alpha-T-

Orion tapped his helmet. "Jazz! I read you."

Oh thank Primus, you were really giving us a scare there. Hold up while Blaster and I get a lock on your position, Prime. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper are coming to you.

"Is that Jazz?" said D-16. "Tell him you're --"

"Hold on! Jazz. I am not alone here."

Megatron's still with you, gotcha. I'll send Brawn too.

"No, I am down here with an old friend, D-16."

Silence.

You're pulling my leg.

"Unfortunately I am not. D-16 is unharmed aside from having no memories as Megatron, but I have an injured leg."

Are you safe?

D-16 butted in on the signal. "He's understating the injury, Jazz, tell Ratchet it's a 2nd degree fatigue fracture and a sliced fuel line."

How does Megatron--

"Jazz!"

Fine! I'll warn Bee an' Cliff, and I'll send a message to Soundwave to retrieve old buckethead.

"Jazz, we have to take him with us."

This ain't the time for pranks.

Orion's voice was a low rumble. "I am not leaving him behind for Starscream."

Prowl's going to have a glitch. I'm going to have a glitch. Optimus --

"I expect the Autobots to behave themselves the same way they would for an injured neutral party. He is not Megatron."

The note of authority in Orion's voice was interesting.

"Come and get us, Jazz."

[k-she-rambles]

looking for opinions both from americans and non-americans: what would you consider to be the big 4 american cities in terms of like, vibes-based cultural impact?

[k-she-rambles]

genuinely can’t stress enough if you’re in high school rn and anyone is telling you that’s the best time of your life they are lying. it gets better. hs is arguably the worst. if you can survive that you can survive anything. despite the horrors i know i’m always posting about i swear life is so much better as an adult

[k-she-rambles]

looks like the government is doing something about cults

[k-she-rambles]

Generative AI: Is just a mindless tool kind of like a drill or a dictionary

Every company all at the same time: We are excited to announce that we are officially replacing our entire quality assurance department with a lawnmower

[k-she-rambles]

further thoughts:

• how Drift is older than Ratchet and probably peers with Cyclonus, but carries himself as a peer of Rodimus instead; meanwhile Ratchet has big Old Man Energy and (while younger than several people on the Lost Light) is the only crewmember (that we know of, at first) suffering age-related medical issues.

• first attempt at holoforms and Cyclonus' self-perception as Victorian Schoolmarm (Only sane adult woman in a shipful of wacky children) vs Tailgate's self perception as a small child (doesn't know anything about anything) vs Whirl's Chaotic Evil middle-school girl (about to make Being Twelve everyone else's problem)

• Minimus exploring his identity once he gives up his title

• Rodimus' sensitivity to rejection coming out in vanity and angling for praise

something something the way self-perception is more important in IDW transformers than actual age (because they don't have childhoods, just experiences) & how memory alteration and body modification affect identity differently.

[k-she-rambles]

something something the way self-perception is more important in IDW transformers than actual age (because they don't have childhoods, just experiences) & how memory alteration and body modification affect identity differently.

[k-she-rambles]

Transformers "More Than Meets The Eye" comic has recently torpedoed me down the feelsy space car robots hellhole, an therefore i present a sketchy collection of Lost Light crew as homo sapiens. I had SO MUCH fun coming up with the designs! Now off to actually learn how to draw robots i guess

[k-she-rambles]

coming back to life with Transformers fanart made for my dearest darling @samcrowblack who showed me the mtmte comic and it corroded my brain. its them, its the trashcan/ptsd slowburn of all time bonus with rough human designs under the cut

[k-she-rambles]

Head cannon ask game

🍄☀️ or 🪺

food and morning or hobbies but for who?

Hmm, I'll pick a random character for now --Tenzing Tharkay from the Temeraire series.

I think Tharkay is one of those people who feels, deep down, that toast is the ideal breakfast food. Rice for breakfast will do, but he'd take the toast if he could only choose one.

He used to eat toast at breakfast while his father read aloud from the newspaper, occasionally translating if there was an English word he was unfamiliar with. He learned to imitate his father's accent perfectly, and was deeply confused when his cousins hated him more when he sounded like them.

No one knows this about him for a long time, because he spends the first decade or two of his adult life traveling across eastern Europe and Asia.

But when he gets his house back, he really feels like he's made it when he can have toast at breakfast again.

[k-she-rambles]

More headcanon and drabble prompts:

For characters:

🌱 for a nature or outdoors headcanon

🖤 for an angsty or dark headcanon

🏳️‍🌈 for a gender or sexuality headcanon

🐣 for a happy or lighthearted headcanon

🧶 for a clothing or fashion headcanon

✍🏽 for an education or learning headcanon

🎈 for a childhood or family headcanon

🌷 body part or appearance headcanon

❤️sex or intimacy headcanon

🍄food or cooking

🌖 sleep or nighttime headcanon

☀️ morning headcanon

🪺 hobbies or interests headcanon

🌲description of their routine

🐾 animal related headcanon

❄️ winter headcanon

🪶 spring headcanon

🌦 summer headcanon

🍁 autumn headcanon

🫧 for a random headcanon

💙 for another specific question

[k-she-rambles]

Superman (2025) + texts posts

[k-she-rambles]

MTMTE was so good at showing not telling that it made the dropped plots much more obvious. Like there was a whole Thing being set up about Chromedome having altered Rewind's memory. Smart choice to let it go but what were they planning???

I know I've said it a bazillion times but nothing will ever recreate the experience of going "are Chromedome and Prowl exes??? There's no normal explanation for Prowl acting like this" in issue one of MTMTE and getting to go "i KNEW it!!!" a couple issues later

[k-she-rambles]

A snake story, based on an experience I had while I was in Florida.

[k-she-rambles]

A good poem's like a breath of fresh air. A bubble of something burning Too cold, too hot, but bracing all the same. Sometimes a bright flash in the mind. This one lingers round the edges; the taste of it, the music. A sharp something glimpsed, then gone. Only the memory of shine remaining. This poet will be gone eight years. I never read her poetry while she lived, but I liked her prose Even then full of water, sun, fog, and time.

[k-she-rambles]

"Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought"

-- Tom Lehrer

[k-she-rambles]

More headcanon and drabble prompts:

For characters:

🌱 for a nature or outdoors headcanon

🖤 for an angsty or dark headcanon

🏳️‍🌈 for a gender or sexuality headcanon

🐣 for a happy or lighthearted headcanon

🧶 for a clothing or fashion headcanon

✍🏽 for an education or learning headcanon

🎈 for a childhood or family headcanon

🌷 body part or appearance headcanon

❤️sex or intimacy headcanon

🍄food or cooking

🌖 sleep or nighttime headcanon

☀️ morning headcanon

🪺 hobbies or interests headcanon

🌲description of their routine

🐾 animal related headcanon

❄️ winter headcanon

🪶 spring headcanon

🌦 summer headcanon

🍁 autumn headcanon

🫧 for a random headcanon

💙 for another specific question