#Sentient Infrastructure

[leonbasinwriter]

Architecting the Marketplace of Minds: Future Insights

By @leonbasinwriter | Architect of Futures | www.basinleon.com Prologue “In the void between circuits and stars, the builders whispered of futures yet to bloom.” The Architect speaks to the unseen builders: “We have laid the stones. We have etched the designs. But now, a question lingers in the digital ether: what is it we are truly building?” I. The Engine Awakens In the first etching—The…

[presidentofthelipglossclub]

yknow what i think heatwave should be the next prime he could do it.

i mean that whole time traveler episode w jules verne was already basically hyping him the hell up so like we know for sure he's like crazy famous and super duper important. in rba literally the first episode wedge goes like "are you kidding? he's basically a prime!" or something (i don't rly remember don't quote me). he's already op (quadruple changer anyone) so that helps. also let's be real he's optimus' favorite and objectively one of (if not the) best leaders out there so. he'd be a solid choice.

he'd do a damn good job too i mean he's already super popular in rba (knows and is friends with tons of the war bots), he's very compassionate (keeping laserbeak and willing to help potential decepticons), he already knows how to manage people/deescalate conflicts/solve problems (team leader of the craziest bitches like ever and then later school teacher to the runner ups), he can handle responsibility and unexpected circumstances on the fly (emergency responder), and like so much more. i mean in general i don't think anyone else could do it better.

plus it helps that the rescue bots are functionally neutrals. like they were sorta involved with the autobots but like barely. they never did anything with or for them, optimus (and later bumblebee) were the only ones they ever really talked to. i mean nobody even knew they still existed bc optimus wanted them to be secret! also what better way to show the war is truly over than by putting a civilian who actually specialized in leadership and nonviolent deescalation in charge? especially if they were thought to be a casualty of the war.

like if the guy in charge of the world was nonviolent, neutral, dead set on treating everyone equally and had experience in managing social and interpersonal relationships i'd feel pretty damn safe. also heatwave literally lived with a different species and forged genuine connection and he and his team are basically part of their family so he definitely will have no problem seeing issues through different perspectives (the body swap episode alone can prove that).

idk i AM biased bc i love him but he really would be a good choice and i think it would make sense continuity/in universe-wise.

[cherriibombfics]

Can you do a cookie run kingdom self aware au where you (the player) can't safely digest anything that they eat there as it's all practical sugar so it makes them vary sick

"ᴀ ʀᴇꜰɪɴᴇᴅ ᴘᴀʟᴀᴛᴛᴇ"

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 355

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: ɴᴏɴᴇ

ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

ᴀ/ɴ: ɪɴ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ'ꜱ "ᴊᴇʟʟʏ ᴍᴇᴀᴛ" ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ꜱᴏᴜɴᴅꜱ ᴅɪꜱɢᴜꜱᴛɪɴɢ.

ᴠᴀʀɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇꜱ x ʙᴀᴋᴇʀ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

✿ EARTHBREAD is a land of sweets both sentient and inanimate, a paradise of confections of all kinds. The cuisine, infrastructure, and culture are all sugary sweet. Unfortunately for you though it's the farthest thing from a paradise, it's hell.

✿ Within the Cookie Kingdom practically everything you eat is at least partially sweet. Whether it be bread, jampies, croissants, and even the pasta somehow, sugar is involved. You're constantly ill and it's pure torture. All you want is to experience something else.

"Why is this burger sweet? It's a burger!"

"Well, we use Bear Jellies to create the perfect bun. It takes perfect temperature control and-"

"COME ON!"

✿ Eventually you visit other neighboring kingdoms, all of which have more of the same. Sweet berry juice, sweet vanilla tea, if you still had normal teeth you're positive they would've rotted out by now. But you bite your tongue, as though to not offend anyone. That is, until you visit the Dark Cacao Kingdom.

"I apologize Baker, I understand that our traditional food is rather...bitter. I can request something more palatable if it's not to your liking."

"I have been eating nothing but sugar for months, I will welcome any other flavor at this point."

✿ To everyone's surprise you actually enjoy the bitter food, since it's a nice chance of pace. Apparently sugar is an important part of a cookie's diet, so the fact that you both don't need it as much and can't consume large amounts of it is a surprise.

✿ You're a huge hit within the Mala Tribe if you have a high tolerance of spicy food. Where most cookies would perish by simply smelling their food you rival even the most spicy cookies when it comes to your meals. You might even invited to some events held at Scovillia because of the intense arrangement of food they have.

"Eh, are you sure you want to eat that much Baker? You're crying a lot."

"If it doesn't hurt it's not worth it!"

✿ It's safe to say you spend a lot of time outside of the kingdom to satisfy your palate.

[moonlightcycle571]

I love reporter Billy, but consider this: Billy becoming an architect to fix the Rock of Eternity (ROE)

Here’s the thing about the Rock. They used to have a council, people filling their halls and people who would maintain their infrastructure.

Now there is only a ghost of a (singular) council member and the new champion.

It’s also been who knows how many centuries or millennia Roe was renovated, and no one fixed them after the battle that led to the end of the council. So they are not in good shape. The wizard was holding on by a thread, that’s how damaged they were.

Billy, having grew up with Roe as their most stable place to stay, of course noticed. He’s read the books in the Library of Eternity, has seen the scriptures of the ancient civilisations and saw the carvings on the walls of the people who used to walk here.

Having grown up homeless, Billy knew the foundations of what makes a building safe to stay in. He’s even renovated a few abandoned apartments to make it livable once he’s learned how to use magic. Which in turn, may have inspired him to study architecture.

Roe is in shambles when they meet their new champion. Roe expects to remain in that state of disrepair for the foreseeable future. What Roe didn’t see coming is the sheer dedication of the child they helped raise.

A thing about Fawcette is that there’s a mix of serval centuries style through out the city, mostly because of time distortion and well as magic and runes instilled in the buildings. Meaning they have one hell of an architect program.

Not only does Billy preserve and off the natural foundations, but he also adds new designs, carved stone to incorporate beautiful pieces to adorn the halls. Adds new runes to help Roe sustain themself better, for the magic to run smoothly. Roe is no longer in shambles. No longer unpolished and full of grime a reminder of an ancient past, and starts to resemble more on how they unused to be. Cared for, strong and carved of stone.

Just, adult Billy as an architect. And using that knowledge + magic to fix up Roe. And Roe being an ancient sentient being that feels like they finally get to have multiple spa days after centuries of abandonment.

Also an architect has a way more flexible schedule than most jobs, allowing Billy to do his Champion and Hero duties at his pace.

[sightseertrespasser]

We can ask for lore dumps?? color me intrigued. Ok, so one thing I noticed while reading your fics (specifically Odds of Survival) was “Other Aliens”. Prowl off handedly mentioned that other organic races either don’t like or are very afraid of Cybertronians. What’s the history there? From my human perspective, big robots seem cool, and with the whole Mecha thing going on there’s probably an even bigger subconscious association with Large Robots equaling safety or perhaps protection. Other aliens clearly don’t think that way and I wonder why.

Prowl mentioned he was so far in space because the Decepticons needed more allies, so they either have none, or very very few. Does the Functionalist Cybertron have alien allies or does the hate and fear towards Cybertronians run so deep that other species won’t even consider allying with any of them? Something I see commonly is Sci-Fi stories is some sort of alien council thing of like large groups of different species. Is that a thing in your world too? How are other species being affected by Quintessons? I’m very interested in what’s happening all around space.

The short version of why other alien species don’t like Cybertronians can be summed up as a consequence of ✨Colonialism.✨

Led by Sentinel Prime and the Functionalist Council, Cybertron is effectively an intergalactic colonist power. They show up to planets, determine their value and pretty much do whatever they want after the fact.

When Cybertronians first encountered organic life, there was a huge amount of debate over whether or not something organic could be considered “alive” or “deserving of rights”. And well, it benefited the cybertronians to define organics as not being people. You can’t steal from a lesser form of life, and those gentle sparked civilians who’ve never seen an organic in person can rest easy when the natives are exterminated from a prospective planet because they aren’t experiencing actual pain like what sentient beings can feel.

That narrative is strongly encouraged by the Senate and Prime. A lot of people know it’s mostly crap, but so what? Are you going to lose your job over the civil rights of goldfish?

If a planet has a fairly substantial population and infrastructure, the government might chose to offer cybertronian “protection” in exchange for favorable trade and commerce. At best, an alien species can expect to export to cybertronian space at a loss.

At worse? Those species aren’t relevant anymore.

Seriously. Flip through the Transformers wiki list of alien species and count how many have “endangered” or “extinct” attached to their descriptions.

The colonialism is a huge factor in how Cybertron is viewed. But even if you remove that from the equation, most people aren’t really that comfortable with the sudden presence of an alien that’s functionally impossible to stop from doing whatever they want.

One cybertronian having a bad day could completely destroy a small human town like a kid kicking over sandcastles. Your house? Gone. Your grocery store? Decimated. What can you do? Nothing. That shit is terrifying. Cybertronians are practically indestructible and organics are so unbelievably delicate by comparison.

That’s not to say it’s impossible for organics to win that kind of fight, but it always takes a shitload of fire power. Think about what it’d take to win a fight against a literal car, and then add in the factor that the car can stand up and shoot you in the face.

Now if you’re a human being, you’re probably thinking of high powered rifles, grenades and other forms of improvised explosives. If you think you can beat one in a straight fight, you are filled with hubris. They aren’t just walking walls of metal, cybertronians have access to all the same weaponry as you but scaled up by a factor of ten.

Killing a cybertronian is like killing a dragon. It’s the stuff of legends.

In short, Cybertronians aren’t well liked by the rest of the galactic community due to a combination of their government actively being a hostile condescending superpower and the general consensus that one on one, an organic can’t do shit to stop a cybertronian from hurting them.

There are alien civilizations allied with Functionalist Cybertron, especially since the emergence of the Quintesson invasion. It’s definitely uncomfortable but at least individually Cybertronians can be reasoned with, bribed, blackmailed etc. Even shitty people are still people.

Whereas the Quintessons are just unilaterally an all consuming force. They don’t talk, they don’t threaten, they don’t respond to anything other than violence and even then only with more extreme violence.

As it stands, the Functionalists have all of the “useful” alien civilizations taken in as allies in exchange for cybertronian protection. Since they’re pretty much the only ones with a powerful enough military to actually repel the Quintesson invasion. There probably is an intergalactic council of Cybertrons Allie’s but it’s purely performative. Sentinel and the Council are the ones who really decide things.

The Decepticons didn’t exactly found their revolution on giving organics similar rights either, with much of High Command openly hating organic life (cough, Starscream, cough) on top of that.

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Prowls been arguing for awhile that they literally can’t afford to be picky anymore.

So Prowl, master of charm and diplomacy that he is, has been completely fucking up every offering of allyship he’s tried to initiate.

What’s making things worse is the sheer limitations he’s having to work with. The Decepticons physically do not have the manpower to offer dedicated support to any prospective allies. The one time Prowl did manage to Hard Logic his way into convincing a settlement into allying with them, it was with the promise that the Decepticons would send help in the event of an attack. When that eventually did happen, Prowl ran the numbers and worked out that the losses that’d be incurred were more than the economic benefit the settlement could provide, so no help was sent.

Of course, that story got out, and now the Decepticons are even more disliked by the galactic community than before. And the argument of “well they should have made themselves worth protecting” is not the thing potential allies want to hear, Decepticon Tactician Prowl.

Now as far as humanity goes, Cybertrons history of colonialism and “organic’s aren’t people” rhetoric hasn’t reached Earth yet so this is 100% the best possible chance any Cybertronian has ever had of actually being liked by aliens.

Especially given the current environment of earth in the mecha universe, most humans are already primed to look at a 30ft tall robot and think “big friend”. There’s a reason Prowl and Deadlock have been so flabbergasted by their humans showing zero fear around them. To these guys, it’s like a Disney Princess moment where wild song birds decide to perch on your shoulder.

Super weird and definitely not the norm, but far from an unwelcome experience.

[mochifiction]

I Saw Transformers One Early Last Week. Let’s Talk About It!!! (SPOILER FREE)

EXPECTATIONS

I’m going to be honest, I had very very low expectations for this movie for a multitude of reasons. The first was the cast, particularly choosing celebrity hires instead of professional voice actors for a franchise where dialogue delivery means SO MUCH historically and the present. I like Chris Hemsworth, I do, but I am so attached to Orion Pax that I did NOT see him as someone fit for the role. I was also afraid of it becoming a WFC situation where the VA tries TOO HARD to be Peter Cullen. I am also a huge fan of Elita One, and Scarlett Johansson was not my first choice by any means. The one thing giving me hope was the fact that Scarlett and Chris interact SO WELL in their films together and in press releases and they do give off that Orion and Elita energy sometimes. Regardless, I was skeptical.

Now for the big thing: I was very nervous how they were going to handle the politics and the buildup that leads to Megatronus and Orion’s separation. It is no secret that Pre-War Cybertron in many continuities begins with a very corrupt and fascist Senate. Corrupted Senators, capitalistic manipulation and unethical abuse, dehumanization, corporal punishment, you name it, Cybertron had it. The concepts of functionalism, shadowplay, mnemosurgery, and empurata also come to mind. It is also no secret that the United States is on the brink of total fascism. A lot of Pre-War Cybertron’s themes, particularly the Decepticon cause in its early days as a movement, emphasized the elimination of the oppressive regime and reconstruction with an end to the very infrastructure that caused class division and brutalization of Cybertronian bodies. Not only this, but Megatronus and Orion’s schism often comes because of class, particularly privilege and lack thereof, which is something that often happens in revolution. Those with more privilege often think that reform can happen underneath the system that looms over them, just with a switching of a guard and elimination of a few policies. They are often ones who partook in and benefitted from the system by birth or for the sake of survival. Those who come from the lower classes want to burn the entire system down, understanding in its entirety that its very infrastructure is unstable and is not sustainable, no matter who is in power. Examples of this divide despite deep friendship and similar ideas is Andres Bonifacio and Jose Rizal of the Philippines (as a Filipino). Orion, in most cases coming from a privileged background, saw hope in simple reform after extracting the corrupt portions of the federal structure. Megatronus, who fought his whole life to be deemed as sentient, understood that the entire system was diseased and could not go on. It would just eventually continue its horrid practices. I can go on a tangent about this, as someone who studies and writes on anti-colonialism, but that’s another post for another day. My concern based on the trailers was that it would address NONE of that and there would be some watered down conflict that removed the nuances and political passion behind a lot of other continuities. The trailers, to me, were not giving me enough proof that it would be handled correctly.

Initial Experience

My theater was filled with mostly adults of various ages who were fans of different continuities. Some people were even talking about how they thought the movie was going to suck, including me with my dad, who has been a fan since G1 in the 80s and was going in blind. However, throughout the entire film, the whole theater was laughing, gasping, cheering, clapping, and screaming. Afterwards, there were people who were literally talking about how it was the movie they’d been waiting for after years of disappointment. Someone literally shouted when leaving the theater that he was so excited for September when everyone else could see it. My dad, who has not been a fan of recent Transformers material, talked nonstop about how much he loved it. Me personally, I was BRIMMING with excitement afterwards, which is huge given that I was ready to criticize the movie’s every move. Let me get into why- note this is SPOILER FREE.

Orion Pax

Believe it or not, I really liked TF1’s Orion. He was witty, had the snark of Aligned Orion, and clearly had a goal in mind: to entirely shift the status quo by breaking the class distinction. He was extremely optimistic like most versions, something that is often criticized in the fanbase, and is also criticized in the film. However, the qualities that G1 created and the Bayverse destroyed were THERE. Orion was a DORK. He was KIND. He CARED for people deeply, even if they weren’t necessarily thinking about him. He was a KNOWN PROBLEM-SOLVER. His intelligence is noted MULTIPLE times. He really is authentically Orion. I’ll do a more in-depth analysis in September.

Megatronus/ D-16

Now, THIS MAN WAS AMAZING. I am so used to the source of his anger being solely lower class-based oppression amongst other things relating to that. The film offered another option, which I will not disclose, but I thought it was a wonderful addition. I will keep my mouth shut about D-16’s personality in this film because it’s a secret, but just know this new take on Megatronus was a bit refreshing and gives new material for both fan continuity writers and fanfic writers.

Elita

I was honestly scared to see how they would portray Elita, especially with their track record of solely making her Optimus’s love interest and killing her off. I also was afraid that they would turn her into a white feminism caricature, which I can go into depth about for clarification if anyone needs it. However, the writers take feminism for Elita and take a much more in-depth route. I found her well done. She was giving mother in this film, absolutely brilliant. There will be an analysis on her as well in September, especially since they have so much intended room for her.

Worldbuilding and Additional Characters

I think that with about an hour and a half, it would have been SO HARD to create an entire world of deep political brutality and nuance like the comics directly. So, I think the writers created a framework that was good enough to convey the fascist undertones of Cybertron while also leaving so many avenues to explore and elaborate on for future films, whether they be prequels or sequels. Some characters were added in with a bit of context, but no in-depth explanations. While I would normally say that’s a downside, I think that it was actually really smart on their part. If you tried to add all of these complex stories from the comics in an hour and a half film combined with everything else, it would have likely been underdeveloped and left more questions and holes than answers. By removing that, I think that it was a smart move to expand on in their own time and with good pacing. Besides, the presence of some characters was very enjoyable and kept the audience I was with wanting more from them. Not in a “there wasn’t enough of them” way at all, but instead a “they were so cool in the short time they were here I need more now” way. Everyone in this continuity gets a new and different start. I honestly think it would give fan continuity writers motivation to continue what they’re doing, now that basic and consistent pre-war plot lines have been redone. I think for how long the movie is, they did a great job.

Additional Thoughts

I think that everything was pretty well done. The pacing was especially important, given we were supposed to witness a buildup in such a devastating “divorce”. That isn’t done lightly, and they made sure that they built it up enough to where the final blow was devastating. It was SO DEVASTATING that people in my theater were gasping left and right. The comedy was well done, as someone who hates poorly-written jokes for laughs. It fit into the characters’ personalities well, that’s what made it work well. It didn’t feel forced because that’s just how that particular character is. I also think that, as a fandom, sometimes we get too wrapped up in very specific characterizations of these individuals to the point where we refuse new ideas. I was extremely guilty of this. However, this film was truly made by someone that loved the franchise and knew exactly what the fans wanted. Brian Tyler, who did the score for TFP, also doing the score for this film was proof of that (as someone who absolutely ADORES film scores as a musician) There was a good amount of brutality within the rating of the film, so bayverse fans who are itching for something shockingly horrible are in for a surprise. I also think that it knew its boundaries well and moved not to push them while also being considerate of certain audiences who may be a bit younger. It was a good restart, especially for animated Transformers films, and I think that they can really build it into something great. This was a very sound foundation and I was not disappointed.

ALSO, THERE IS A MID AND POST-CREDIT SCENE SO DON’T LEAVE IMMEDIATELY

[too-much-tma-stuff]

You Stay Away From Her (part 11)

Previous | Masterpost | Next

It was decided that the Justice League’s official channel would work on the governmental side of the GIW, laws, and PR, leaving it to the less official channels like the younger group, and Hood and Hyena to raid the bases. It wouldn’t be the best look but they couldn’t leave them any longer knowing there might be other sentient beings suffering in there. As long as the JL’s core members tacitly condemned their actions and the teams involved were sneaky it shouldn’t hinder the repeal efforts too much. Besides, constantly having to repair damaged infrastructure and replace dead staff would make keeping the GIW running very expensive.

Danny felt much better by the end of the talk. The JL was taking this much more seriously then he had feared, and they hadn’t once brought up that he might technically be a villain since his panic attack. He felt better but he was still exhausted, and he leaned against Jason’s shoulder, taking strength from his partner as the meeting wound down. Things seemed settled and he was looking forward to going home, hopefully getting some junk food and candy, and maybe some alcohol because he needed a Drink.

“Alright, with that settled there is one more thing I’d like to discuss before we adjourn the meeting,” Batman said, leaning his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers. 

Danny bit back a groan. What more could Bruce possibly want to talk about? Danny wanted to go hooome. 

“I am under the impression that Phantasm is in need of a guardian-”

“No I’m not!” Phantasm interrupted Batman, glaring at him fiercely. 

“She’s not, not really,” Hyena chuckled, shaking his head and resting a hand on her shoulder. “She’s been on her own since just a few months after her creation.”

“And it’s not like Vlad was a good guardian before that,” Ellie added. Danny nodded. 

“But needing one or not, having one might be good for you.” Danny told her, squeezing her shoulder gently. “After everything you’ve been through, having a good guardian to help take care of you while you work through it?” She hesitated, but then she nodded, Danny was grateful for her trust.

“I would be willing too-” Batman started before Hyena interrupted him. 

“No! Not you, and not Superman!” Hyena insisted, pointing an accusing finger at their end of the table. 

“It’s not up to you-” Superman started this time, sounding offended. 

“He’s my template! My only family, I trust him and I’m not going with anyone he doesn’t like,” Ellie growled at the two of them.

Reminded of how much he loved her, Danny gave her a one armed hug. He'd forgotten how ride or die she could be. “If they’d be willing, Martian Manhunter or Wonder Woman would be best. You both have powers, and experiences in common with her. But I don’t trust you with a clone,” He said, glaring at Superman. “I speak Kryptonian, I know what Kon-El means. You’re a piece of shit!” At least he had the decency to look chagrined. “And you!” Hyena pointed at Batman. “I know how you fuck up your kids. I’m dating one of your fucked up kids! You stay the hell away from her.”

Danny saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Nightwing had rested a hand on Jason’s arm and Robin and Superboy were behind them now, Tim supporting Jason and Danny, Kon supporting him and Ellie. It took Danny a moment to realize how heavy the silence had suddenly become and process what he had just said. He looked at Jason with regret and horror, seeing Jason shake his head subtly and grab Danny’s hand. At least he wasn’t mad.

“What do you mean you're dating one of Batman’s sons?” Wonder Woman asked, soft and dangerous. 

“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Jason was either genuinely startled or doing a good job faking it. Then he scoffed and shook his head. “What am I talking about, of course he didn’t. If he didn’t tell Nightwing I was back he wasn’t going to tell any of you. 

“Yes, I was the second Robin. About six months after Joker killed me some sort of reality altering event resurrected me and I woke up in my coffin. I dug myself out, calling for my father,” Jason said, glaring across the table at Batman from behind his mask. “But because he buried me on the other side of Gotham instead of with our family I never made it home. The league of Assassins found me first. 

“It took me years to make it back, but because bty then I was already a killer, and my own person instead of an obedient soldier, he wants nothing to do with me,” Red Hood scoffed with a dismissive motion. 

“Don’t misconstrue the facts. You returned as a crime lord! You took over the drug trade in Gotham and had a body count in the dozens before you revealed to me who you were. Which you did by demanding I let you kill the Joker,” Batman said, and yikes this meeting was now a family fight. 

“Ya? And how did you respond to that B? Did you respond well OR! Did you slit your own sons throat to save a fucked up clown?” Nightwing demanded of their father. B just barely fidgeted under their stare. 

“Besides I’m making Crime Alley a better place in a way you never even tried to. Even if you love Gotham more than any of us you’d basically given up on Crime Alley because of how deep the roots of organized crime go there, and don't you try to claim otherwise! But I’m an Ally kid, was before you pulled me out of there, will be till I die. So I’m making it safer in the way that works for them! Setting up safe injection sites and rehabs, making it against the rules to sell to, or use kids, setting up safe houses for the working girls. I’m making it a safer place for the people who have always lived there. Not trying to make it the sort of place people will set up fancy coffee shops.”

“It’s against the law. You are not above the law,” Batman hissed at him.

Jason clearly telegraphed rolling his eyes at B. “Then stop being a vigilante, because what you’re doing is against the law too.”

“We’ve gotten off topic again,” Martian Manhunter butted in again, giving Batman a warning look. “I will take on the role of mentoring Phantasm. It’s been a while since I took a young hero under my wing. It will be refreshing to do it again.”

“Thank you,” Hyena said genuinely, smiling at Martian Manhunter from behind his mask.

“Ya I bet you like that,” Ellie said, lightening the mood with her teasing tone. “MM has been your favourite hero since you were a kid, and now you have an excuse to talk to him more.”

Hyena blushed and hissed at her only for her to laugh in his face. If they weren’t in public he would have tackled her and started play-fighting. As it was he resigned himself to letting her get away with embarrassing him for now. 

Manhunter chuckled gently and give Danny a very small smile. “I’m flattered to have been your favourite hero. It is a rarer honour for me then some of the others.”

“Ya…” Danny breathed, a little starstruck before he shook himself out of it and stood up. “Well, if that’s all I think Hood and I are ready to go home,” He said, giving Jason a slightly pleading look. He nodded and stood up as well, wrapping an arm around Danny’s waist. 

“That was a good meeting. Remember, if you need help with anything from the Realms, call us. Or any apocalyptic threats I guess, call us,” He reminded before ushering Danny out. The Teen Titans and the present members of the Bat-family sort of formed ranks around Jason, Danny, and Ellie and escorted them out of the room.

The adults were quiet as they left, but as soon as the door closed behind them Danny heard a cacophony of voices, and had to duck his head to hide a grin. It seemed like what Jason had said had managed to start a fight, good, B deserved it! 

Danny snuggled against Jason’s side as Tim put in coordinates and verification in the Zeta-tube to get Jason and Danny back to the Bat Cave. Before they left Danny turned and hugged Ellie tightly again. “Go back with the Teen Titans okay? And come visit me.”

“You have to come visit me too!” Ellie insisted, his voice muffled as she pressed her face into Danny’s chest. 

Danny glanced a little nervously at the assembled members of Teen Titans, “Starlight I’m not sure that they’d want me to-”

“No, it’s alright. Unless anyone objects?” Tim asked, glancing over at his team, Cassie shrugged, Bart gave him a thumbs up and a grin, and Kon nodded. “You invited me into your home, you’re welcome in mine. Especially since it’ll be hers now too. Come whenever you want,” Tim promised. “Just give us a heads up first.”

“Thank you. In that case, yes I will visit you. I promise,” He swore to her. She sniffled and nodded, pulling away from him and wiping her eyes. 

“Good, I’ll hold you to it.” She grumbled at him.

Danny bit back a laugh and nodded before finally letting Nightwing and Hood guide him into the portal. It was less scary the second time at least, even though Danny was completely exhausted. 

“I’m going to take him home,” Jason told Dick as Danny leaned more heavily against him. Now that they were alone he was done holding it together.

“Of course. Is there anything I can do?” Dick asked worriedly. Danny closed his eyes tightly and resisted the urge to cover his ears too.

“No. You can order takeout to our place if you want to, but right now he just needs space. We both do,” Jason told Dick before gently pushing Danny over to his bike and on. Danny clung to Jason, hiding against his back as he drove them home, weaving in and out of traffic and pulled up to the curb, practically carrying Danny back inside. 

“I’m so sorry,” Danny muttered, his arms wrapped tightly around Jason’s shoulders, his face pressed against Jason’s chest. “I shouldn’t have brought up B adopting you, I shouldn’t have surprised you with the powerpoint, I’m sorry I had a panic attack there. I’m sorry, I’m sorry-”

“Shhh, shh shh, it’s okay Danny, it’s okay Love. It was actually kind of fun getting to throw B under the bus like that. It’s not your fault for having a panic attack either. But yes, you should have warned me about the power-point. What do you want to do about it?” Jason asked softly, not because he was actually upset, but because the quickest way to snap Danny out of a self hating spiral like this was to ‘punish him for it’, and then talk about it after.

“Whatever you want, whatever will make it right,” Danny mumbled again, he sounded distracted and vague. Jason knew that tone of voice, Danny was having another panic attack, just a dissociative one this time. 

“Danny, none of that! You have to tell me,” Jason told him firmly. 

“Take me to bed, be rough with me,” Danny mumbled.

“Only if you use the safe word,” Jason told Danny, even though he was already carrying Danny towards the bedroom.

“I will if I need to,” Danny promised, and Jason sighed. He knew that meant Danny wouldn’t use it, but all he could do was insist Danny could and should. Trying to force Danny to would be counterproductive. 

---------

The meeting had taken hours for Batman to get back under control as the rest of the Justice league went back and forth between berating him for the way he’d treated Jason and offering him parenting advice. He didn’t want any of it! They hadn’t read Jason’s file, they didn’t know just how high of a body count he had now, just how brutal he could be now. He didn’t want any of their advice, or any of their ridicule, it was ridiculous!

Constantine had tried to sneak out but Batman pinned him to his seat with a look, muttering to him that he needed to stay, Bruce wanted to talk to him alone after the meeting. Finally he managed to regain control enough to end the meeting, ‘at least till tempers had cooled and they could revisit this problem.’ He was planning to avoid that follow up meeting as long as humanly possible.

He convinced everyone else to leave and grabbed Constantine by the scruff when he tried to leave again too. Bruce had seen the look of realization on Constantine’s face while he was watching Danny before he could wipe it away. He had controlled it quickly, but not so quickly that Batman hadn’t noticed it.

“You know what he is now don’t you?” Batman growled at Constantine once they were alone. 

“What’re you talkin about?” Constantine deflected. 

Batman was not impressed.

“Hyena. What is he?” Batman demanded, glaring at the magician. 

Constantine hesitated, glancing around them and biting his lip, as if he was afraid Hyena might pop out from the shadows again. “I think so, but it’s weird and… Well, he’s right that if he had told me I wouldn’t have believed him.”

“Fine. Tell me,” Batman demanded again, he was getting impatient. 

“I think he’s a-” And then he made a series of sounds that made no sense to Batman. “It’s a bit clumsy to translate into English. Halfa, or ‘the perfect balance’, something like that. They’re… well they’re a fucking myth is what they are! The legend is that they were an immortal race of beings who were completely alive, and completely dead. Perfectly balanced between the two, incredibly powerful and almost indestructible. There were only ever a couple hundred because they had to be made not born and the way they’re made is very rare. But they were the keepers of the balance, ambassadors between worlds. 

“Everyone respected them. But that was before the king went mad, and there was this prophecy was discovered, that the True King of the Infinite Realms would be a halfa or somethin. He killed the entire race, complete genocide and no one’s heard anything from a halfa in… I genuinely don’t know, thousands of years probably,” Constantine shrugged again. “I’d heard about them. Ancient beings sometimes lament their loss, that things were better when they were around to keep the balance, but I thought it was just Boomer talk! Back in my day Bullshit! I didn’t think they were TRUE!” Constantine sounded almost hysterical. 

“If they’re keepers of the balance what’s one doing in Crime Alley serving Red Hood?” Batman said skeptically.

“Fuck if I know mate!” Constantine said. “He said he was fully human not that long ago so I’m guessing he’s a new halfa. Which… I guess it makes sense, just because all the previous were gone, the way they’re made can technically be naturally occurring. But he probably won’t have any idea about that cultural heritage, there’s no one left to teach him. 

“With what the GIW did, and he mentioned his haunt being taken, and no one to fall back on, he was a lost spirit. He probably would have latched on to anyone who gave him kindness and purpose,” Constantine explained to Batman with exaggerated patience. “It seems to have worked out pretty well for them, if not for you.

“And Bats, I know you’re not thrilled about this, but think about it. What if Hyena had latched on to someone else? Even a normal person given access to the sort of power Hyena offers, what would most people do with it? Or what if he had latched onto someone like Penguin, anyone without a good heart deep down. It could have gone a hell of a lot worse! And as it is, as long as you don’t piss them off too badly we have a powerful new alley and a counter to a type of threat the League wasn’t well set up to deal with.

“Maybe try untwisting those panties of yours about him dating your son,” Constantine accused, rolling his eyes. This time when he stormed out Batman didn’t stop him. He wasn’t sure how helpful the information Constantine had given him was, but he knew he’d gotten everything he was going to get out of the magician. 

He had his own research to do. 

[saucefunk]

oc art!

to summarise, ribcake is a sentient city that communicates through its electrical infrastructure.

[leonbasinwriter]

Explore Where Knowledge Becomes Craft in System Building

@leonbasinwriter 🛠️ Builder Guild Artifact: The Living Forge A framework for creating resilient, adaptive systems RITUAL The System-Building Ritual: “Heart of the Mountain” The Gathering of Stone: The Builder begins by sourcing raw data and foundational principles. This isn’t mere collection, but a communion with the ‘stone’ of information, feeling its weight, texture, and potential. The…

[blazing-butterfly]

FUCK I just dreamed an amazing game and then I woke up and it didn't exist.

It was a videogame that played like a board game, with a bunch of factions vying for control of a dark dystopian fantasy city. There was your classic authoritarian prophet church, a monster-hunting but probably corrupt knightly order, a demonic pyromaniac cult, a greedy engineering guild with clockpunk robots, a plague of sentient zombies living in the sewers, the dying king seeking immortality through forbidden magic... yeah the city was in big trouble no matter who won.

Like in Root there were some universal rules but each faction played differently, for example the church had to fulfill their prophecies and would lose power if they failed to come true, the knights got more glory the bigger a threat the monsters they slayed were which gave them a conflict of interest, the cult had to operate in secret by setting up schemes and keeping them hidden, the guild sold their services to other factions while building infrastructure to expand their abilities, the plague was weak in direct conflict but could easily grow its numbers, the king started strong but would steadily lose strength unless his experiments paid off, etc.

Also, the first faction to cross a certain threshold of power had to choose a crisis, like a natural disaster or city-wide riots or the appearance of a giant monster, and each of those brought new problems for all the factions to deal with. You could try to pick one that would cause more trouble for your rivals and less for you, but there were none that reliably worked in the chooser's favor. In fact, their purpose was to give players who'd fallen behind another chance to grab power in the chaos. Pretty slick game design, I think.

The last awesome thing was the soundtrack, because yeah apparently the game was made in collaboration with a band and they made a whole folk-metal-rock-opera concept album about it, complete with a vocal theme song for each faction. And it was goooood music, some of the faction themes got me teary-eyed because they showed that even though it was a deeply cynical setting there was still hope in this world.

No faction was uncompromised good BUT none were irredeemable evil either! The music didn't get much into individual characters since the game itself lacked those (except for the king, whose song was about grappling with his impending death and wishing he had time to fix his mistakes), but it conveyed that heroes and villains could be found on every side and that most people in every faction were flawed, yes, but had joy and dreams and loved ones and other things worth fighting for, and did the best they could with the deeply messed-up situation they were in.

[wastrelwoods]

having the new worldbuilding angle by junior year campaign where resurrecting dead adventuring academy students is pretty normal and there is a robust infrastructure for it and standby clerics etc etc makes it so especially funny to think back on when aguefort saw 2 freshmen die to sentient corn on their first day and was like not to worry kids! there's an easy solution to this! lemme kill the guidance counselor and then myself

[graceofagodswrath]

Ok ok ok your "Humans of Transformers franchise are space orcs" rant is out of this world.

I detest with passion when humans are reduced to pets and plot devices when instead the story could be about two alien species finding one another equally amazing/terrifying for their own respective reasons.

Here is my question: do humans and Cybertronians see how eerily similar they are? They have love of music, familial relationships, similar urban infrastructure, societal structure, financial systems, competitive entertainment, organized societies and war, colonialism, recreational intercourse, marriage...

Not to mention, why was it never addressed how similar both species look: bipedal, waists, noses, cheekbones, 5 fingers, chins, facial expressions and sense of aesthetics and beauty? Sure, humans have hair but in rather strategic places.

Veins and wires, blood and energon, metal and flesh, nanobytes and blood cells, Sparks and brain impulses, sexual organs...

Imagine Autobots arrive on Earth for the first time expecting some primitive cave-dwellers, only to encounter a less advanced mini-version of Cybertronian cities (New York, Singapore, London, Rome, Tokyo, Rio, Dubai...) and societies running on scientific, artistic and philosophical development which has no right existing on the ruthless, all-organic planet such as Earth is. Societes run by creatures who 4.000.000 (the duration of their war) years ago were hanging from the trees btw.

Autobots would be terrified.

Lemme make sure this response saves this time, cause it took me a minute to answer cause my first deleted and I had so much written I got unbelievably angry and refused to even look at the tumblr app.

But here we are.

So, this is EXACTLY what I have been thinking about for who k owe how long. It’s also the intro to this wack as fuck universe idea I’ve had in my head a while, and have kinda hinted at in my other works, but I’ve never gone into detail about.

And I still won’t.

Anyways, yes. It’s crazy that we backlit humans so much when any other sentient species is about. Transformers, TMNT, etc (I’m on a one track mind, feel free to jot down any other fandoms I can’t think of). The main theme of these stories? HUMANS SUCK. And that is severely unfair. People want to cry about how much our generation doesn’t give a shit anymore. Have you SEEN the media we feed kids???

That’s why I live Humans are Space Orcs so much. It really puts into perspective how unique and batshit our species is.

So, onto the Transformers vs humans concepts. The ONLY reason (forgoing technoism and general hate towards organics) cybertronians don’t see humanity as an imminent threat, or one in general, is because of size. WE BE SMALL AF. Can’t blame them, I get it. We do the same. Insects? Fuck them mfs.

But have you seen a botfly or tick burrow into your skin? The infection that comes form that? Have you seen ants jump a small animal as a colony and absolutely shred it? Or a spider only biting you, and the horror the venom causes (recluses and huntsman’s specifically). We have a good fucking reason for disliking these mfs.

But transformers? These are organic experiences. Worst they go through are rust infections, spark death, the works. They are not at risk the same way we are. That is why they view organics as small and inconsequential. They have no idea how hard we fight to simply stay alive.

And now the similarities. It’s understandable that they wouldn’t immediately recognize the physical, cultural, and psychological similarities between our species. Transformers are an incredibly diverse race, like any other. But specifically in physical form. Your average cybertronian holds a similar appearance to your average human. We tend to have the same features, just with different names. Eyes, noses, faceplates, ears, two arms, two legs. Sure that’s average for them too. But they are unique because of the fact that they have two forms. Vehicle mode. Their mode decides what they’re second mode looks like, which can create extreme diversity is appearance. Small, large, many limbed or not.

So the immediate similarities probably wouldn’t jump out to them in an odd way. There’s also the idea that because they’re so spread out in the universe, they’ve seen other organic races that are also similar. Pairs of every body part could be the common denominator among species.

That goes culturally too. War, love, music, government, politics, it’s all a natural form of sentient evolution. Another common denominator. It’s how it’s done that makes it unique. And the similarities between human and cybertronian culture is uncomfortably familiar.

I think that’s why cybertronians are seen being closest with humans rather than other species in the shows and comics (obviously because the audience is human and they need relation to characters but shhhh forget that for a sec). This is where the theories start.

Let’s say cybertronians begin to recognize the weird similarities between our species. The really, really weird stuff. The itty bitty details. Like:

- how we also mainstream kissing on the lips as the top tier romantic gesture.

- use verbal tone and cues for our language.

- have intensely complicated interpersonal relationships in the exact same manner.

- suffer from extreme mental health issues like depression, anxiety, PTSD (I totally headcannon that forms of adhd, autism, and ocd exist in cybertronian society, have y’all not seen my boy rodimus prime??)

- will also destroy each other in the name of our gods, until we have a common enemy.

That’s just the basics I could come up with. The only time I actually saw a moment where a transformer genuinely take a moment to realize that humans can be a threat, was in transformers prime. Episode 6 of beast wars (I think, correct me if wrong), where Miko beats the ever loving fuck out of an insecticon (I think) and upon Megatron hearing this, just goes blank Kubrick stare for a hot second. Man had an ugly realization that did not fit in with anything he had experienced his whole life.

AND THEY NEVER FUCKING ADDRESSED IT EVER AGAIN. Sick of this shit. Could’ve had the most badass character development, where the humans actually proved useful and did something (it would have fit Milo’s character so perfectly too) and scared the utter shit out of the transformers. BUT NO. They continue to be annoying as fuck.

One thing I loved about TF Prime was that it canonically turned Unicron into Earth. And humans came from the earth. Which relates humans beings and cybertronians so hard. Cousins Fr. We are the cybertronian equivalent of organics, and transformers the inorganic equivalent of humans. The individuality, the chaos, the culture, it clicks. There is so much material to really go into it.

But they never do. Don’t get me wrong, I love Transformers lord and just discovering more without humans being involved. We’re just annoying af at this point. But there is so much u tapped potential in transformers actually taking the chance to LEARN about us. But we’re just friends (pets) to these mfs.

That’s why I love TF Earthspark so far. Transformers ingrained into human culture because they’re not from Cybertron, and cybertronians having to adapt to human culture because they have no where else to go. Granted, it’s a kids show. There’s only so much they can do. But I’m excited for where it’ll lead. It really shows how much of threat and ally humans are, and how we are just as diverse as cybertronians.

I need to write another fic about cybertronians meeting humans their size from our world tho. Need to continue my old piece. Would give me so much life. Y’all help motivate me, college draining my ass.

[thegremlininyourcloset]

hi. I’m both introducing a headcanon and an AU based off said headcanon

giving this a cut cause it’s pretty long

So since Steph’s home life was so rough as a child, I tend to think that she spent a lot of time avoiding it.

like, she’d do pretty much everything to minimize the time spent at home

so what’s a traumatized teenager to do when they wanna avoid something?

that’s right!

Loitering.

Cause, we know that Steph lived in the suburbs (though I am a believer in Hinn-Raven’s headcanons about her living in the Narrows when her father isn’t around)

And since she is able to do vigilantism both in the suburbs and in Gotham City proper, we can assume that she lives close to the city—probably in walking (or at least parkouring/grappling distance)

And you know what city’s have?

public transportation. Even in cities like Gotham where the infrastructure mostly sucks, buses and maybe trains still probably exist

So essentially, I’m saying that Steph spent loads of time wandering around Gotham as a child

And therefore had a pretty decent insider knowledge of the city and its people to eventually repurpose towards Spoiler

But of course, I promised y’all an AU

And I am a pretty high fan of the concept of eldritch/sentient Gotham and a cryptid Batfamily

And I am also a massive fan of Stephanie Brown

So I raise you: Steph with a funky connection to Gotham

The city started to take notice of the spirited, driven, clever girl walking her streets

Or perhaps

Steph was simply…drawn to the city.

Perhaps it’s as a combination of the two.

Maybe Gotham talks to her.

Maybe Gotham was the reason Steph managed to dodge death at the hands of Black Mask

(Or maybe She was the force that brought Steph back)

Maybe that was why Steph returned to both Gotham and crime fighting even though she had the perfect out

(and it would also serve as some truly excellent contrast with Bruce, who is usually given the strongest connection to Gotham in AUs like this. Something something the poetry of the vigilante B tried to stop the very most being the only one with a connection to Gotham rivaling his own.)

@fictfrenzy @themoonwitch-mustspeak

[forsaken-headcanons]

Ugrgrhrugrhu Builderman headcanons because he's my babygirl pookie bear sweetheart ice cream with a cherry on top

(TW for breakdowns mentioned ig?)

Builderman wasn't intended to actually have sentience, he was just made in order to deal with the more miniscule issues like glitches, FAQs, errors, and stuff that aren't that important for the other admins to deal with.

It was mostly known around HQ and even most of the Robloxians that he wasn't alive and just.... y'know, an AI, but a few of the admins, most notably Shedletsky, treated him like he was one of them and like he had sentience. Because of this, he started to gain more consciousness and eventually got convinced by Shedletsky to ask Roblox himself if he could program him some sentience, to which he - rather hesitantly - said yes to.

Gets all blushy when it comes to compliments. He doesn't know how to properly receive them, so he just tries to make up another one to tell the person that complimented him. This only further flusters him since people tend to recompliment him again and he gets really embarrassed about it. (Also he blushes gray/grey so there's that ^^)

JACK 👏 OF 👏 ALL 👏 TRADES 👏 let me tell you this previous sweetheart now pessimistic compact silliness of an AI is naturally talented in ANYTHING. Either that or he just... knows how to do everything in a mediocre way !!! He doesn't get why a lot of people compliment him about his skills when he just says it's "nothing much."

Builderman used to be a really cheery and smiley type of guy, but there was one time when he was walking around HQ, staring outside the windows, and he saw some fucked up shit happening (can't really decide what it is so it's up to reader's interpretation), and that caused him to spiral and start to have a more negative outlook on the world around him.

Builderman also does not favor being alone, and tends to latch onto one person at a time to talk to. This is because whenever he's left alone, he tends to get drowned in his own thoughts and spirals into a mental breakdown, which causes him to overheat and maybe even crash. It takes him a few days to recover, and he feels guilty once hes recovered because he truly believes that it might've put a whole burden on the admins to take care of him.

Doesn't actually need to sleep, but does so just to get his mind off of things. Also he can sleep for as long as he wants to, but he usually sets an alarm so he won't oversleep.

His initial design by the admins was that he was supposed to have a tail, but it got scrapped since they thought it would create too much issues. He also had shark teeth back in his early days of creation, but the admins had to replace them with normal teeth since Robloxians reported that they got a bit too freaked out with them. Needless to say, he was pretty bummed out when he found out about both.

Was VERY affectionate back in his early sentience, especially to Shedletsky, but learned to be more closed off ever since that Shedletsky crash out I mentioned in the last pile of hcs I sent.

Usually specializes in creating infrastructures like buildings, factories, houses, or anything like that. He once tried to create a sentient person on his own (John Doe), but when his creation got corrupted, he freaked out and sent it to the Banlands. Yes, he felt guilty, and he couldn't stop thinking about it for days on end, but he never told any of the admins and just waited until they found out themselves.

(y'all could never tell who my favorite characters are)

- ⛑️🍗 anon

I share so many of those headcanons. The ones that I didn't have are now yoinked from you.

He's my favorite character as well. I'm so glad more people are paying attention to him.

[natequarter]

in regards to my time lord companion oc: the whole thing starts when, for one reason or another, the time lords get caught in some sort of bureaucratic muddle which requires calling the doctor back. or he just wants to go back, i dunno. how he gets there (this is fifteen) isn't really important. what is important is that he and his current companion, a historical companion from the 1550s because i say so, happen to do some unprompted sneaking around in the citadel.

and, because the time lords suck... they stumble upon a series of time lord bodies, held in stasis. as it turns out, there were too many war-loomed soldiers left behind after the time war for time lord infrastructure to cope with, so they were put in stasis, and have been slated to be destroyed (because the time lords, again, suck, and generally do not consider these soldiers to be 'sentient' or equal in the same way they would ordinary time lords). the doctor tries to break the stasis, but only succeeds in breaking the machine full stop - defence protocols kick in, and only one (un)lucky soldier is actually revived.

which is a problem for the doctor! he now has on hand even more paperwork and dead people, as well as one traumatised, badly confused time lord for whom the war ended more or less a minute ago. as anyone would in that situation, the doctor fucks off out of gallifrey, and now has two companions with absolutely no familiarity with modern day earth!

as it turns out, his new time lord companion also doesn't have a name, or, like, a sense of identity at all, and so the doctor sets about trying to help them get used to living life outside of the influences of 1. war and 2. gallifrey, but also slowly begins to repair his relationship to traditional gallifreyan culture upon realising that this kid has... no experience with any of that whatsoever. they don't know gallifreyan law, procedure, music, literature, ceremony... any of it. meanwhile, his other companion is busy trying to get them into twentieth century scifi, because apparently that's what escaped tudor criminals are really into these days. are multicoloured stickers an acceptable substitute for the all-consuming guilt of outliving the sole reason you exist? the doctor is about to find out!

also they cannot for the life of them decide on a name, and are slowly growing their hair out. it's a metaphor. for stuff. the doctor happens to see a lot of himself in them, but he's also hopelessly out of his depth dealing with a victim of the very planet he keeps on trying to dodge, and it takes him time to get comfortable with actually... engaging with his past, so to speak. but it does get better, and they do find their own identity, and even a name - and eventually, become just as good as the doctor at this saving the universe business.

oh, and they're not going back to gallifrey for a long while yet.

[thornyfluff]

Senator Soundwave and cassettes in childcare (or lack thereof) hell.

I'm trying something new... the comic strip will be posted tomorrow--- Stay tuned!

-----------------------------------------‐--‐------------------------------------------------------

Title: Soundwave: Signals of a Working Dad

( “Fine. I’ll Just Be Evil Then.”)

Cybertron’s towers shimmered in the golden light of Iacon’s energy grid, but Soundwave’s optic sensors twitched with mounting stress. His console pinged with diplomatic memos, classified updates, and worst of all—a rejection from yet another daycare center.

"RE: Application for Cassette Unit Supervision

We regret to inform you that your children are classified under 'military-grade espionage tools' and therefore ineligible for SparkSprouts Learning Core."

Soundwave’s vocalizer buzzed in frustration. He was a Senator, a pillar of Cybertronian law and order, yet no institution would take in his small herd of sentient cassette children—each of whom had enough destructive capability to warrant their own defense subcommittee.

Ravage had eaten through a file clerk’s desk last week. Laserbeak had imprinted on a data archivist and now refused to stop following him into the wash racks, chirping emotionally. Rumble and Frenzy had started a minor seismic event during nap time. The nap was canceled. The floor is still cracked... And the caregivers are still traumatized.

He couldn’t blame the facilities. But he also couldn’t keep dragging them to the Senate.

“Senator Soundwave,” crackled a panicked voice over the intercom, “your cassette units are in the ventilation system again. Rumble is—wait—Frenzy just launched himself out of an air duct. Is he—IS THAT A DETONATOR?”

He disconnected the call without comment, which was Soundwave for “I am internally screaming.” Then came the final straw. An emergency Senate meeting. High priority. High stakes. Attendance mandatory. No dependents allowed.”

Soundwave sat very still. Shoulders slumped. Optics dimmed. His spark ached in that slow, quiet way familiar to every working caregiver stuck in a system built by bots who clearly never had to wipe unidentifiable goo off the inside of a political briefing data pad.

Across his screen blinked another security memo: Civil unrest. Riots in Kaon. Broadcasts from Megatron again—raging about the elite and how the Senate catered only to the pristine few.

Soundwave wasn’t sure who the “elite” even were anymore. It definitely wasn’t him. Not forged in the Hall of Records. Not groomed by Primes. Not sipping high-grade energon from crystal flutes while somebody else took the spawnlings to enrichment programming.

He had clawed his way up from the shadow circuits, raised five cassette children while climbing the political ranks, and now? Now he couldn’t even get into an emergency session without a babysitter.

...Then came the final insult: An emergency Senate meeting. High alert. All Senators required. No dependents (OR CASSETTES) allowed.

He tried to reason. Briefly.

“Surely—there is a secure observation chamber—”

“Soundwave,” they interrupted, “we are on the brink of civil war. This is no place for... your cassette situation.”

“Senator Soundwave,” said the automated message, “Reminder: Today’s emergency Senate meeting is classified. No dependents allowed. Attendance is mandatory. Failure to appear will result in loss of voting privileges and probable disciplinary review.”

That was it. Not the clogged air vents. Not the Senate’s thousand-page parenting waiver forms. Not even Ravage getting banned from the cafeteria for hunting the microwave.

It was being told—once again—that his family was a “situation.”

He rage-quit the entire political infrastructure of Cybertron.

He stared at the screen. Slowly. Deliberately. He pressed a button. He activated his surveillance . system. It was the sound and sight of five cassette children screaming in unison while dismantling a vending machine.

He attached the file to his RSVP.

“Regretfully Declined. Kindly and collectively Eat My Entire Aft. Sincerely, Soundwave.”

Then, with the calm of a mech who’d just finally decided, “You know what? To the Pit with this,” he opened a comm line and dialed Megatron.

Megatron: “Soundwave. About time. You ready to rise up?”

Sondwave: “Negative. I’m ready to never fill out another daycare application form EVER again.”

M: “...You bringing the cassettes/children?”

S: “Affirmative. All of them. Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage.”

M: “You know we’re starting a violent uprising, right?”

S: “They love those. It's Frenzy’s favorite. I am tuning out of the bureaucratic daycare hellscape that is the Senate.

S: You want me, you take them.”

M: “Can they follow orders?”

S: “Sometimes. It's hit or miss.”

S: “They come with snacks and skills.”

In the background: *Frenzy screaming into the vents for absolutely no reason while buzzsaw and laserbeak eat through the cabling in the wall they're destroying for a nest*

M: “That’s beautiful. Welcome aboard.”

S: “Do Decepticons have healthcare?”

M: “Not really. But we’ve got free refueling and a crying/napping room behind the munitions closet.”

S: “Acceptable. Are dependents allowed to attend meetings?”

M: “They can run HR, for all I care.”

S: “I’m in.”

That night, as the Senate descended into bureaucratic chaos over who was going to draft the Emergency Parking Zoning Act of 405-B, Soundwave reclined in a dark corner of the Decepticon base. Buzzsaw nibbled at Energon snacks. Rumble and Frenzy dropkicked a punching bag labeled “Sentinal Prime.” Ravage dozed atop a crate labeled "Explosives (Definitely Not Toys)."

Soundwave sipped from a cube of high-grade fuel. He’d had enough of trying to be the perfect Senator. Now? He was a Decepticon.

They had a bring-your-minions-to-work policy. And braver babysitters with ball-bearings here. War was hell. But so was parenthood. At least here, the snacks are free and the cassetes could finally be loud. He felt vindicated.

The Senate could keep its rules, panels, and its “no cassettes allowed” elitist energon nonsense. Soundwave was a Decepticon now, and honestly? It came with free dental and part-time daycare (health and safety not guaranteed but frag if he was worried about that on a single mom’s discount ener-mojito-gon night).

And that's why Mamawave became a Decepticon. Corperate and political Cybertron hates families and the working parent.

(much like another planet we know...😤)

I swear--- the older I get, the more I agree with IDW Megatron...

--- I say we start a movement! Like---

Moms And Megatron Against the System! (MAMAS) 🫡🫡🫡

The comic I made if it: