#anyway long live hot rod!

[martymcdie88mph]

Can you imagine if The Lonely Island put out Hot Rod the way that this trash was put out

I mean...

[singingcicadas]

Rodimus and making Necessary Sacrifices

The most famous one: blowing up Nyon

Btw Megatron could totally have saved the people in Nyon if he wanted to; he knew about Zeta's plan beforehand. All he needed to do was give Hot Rod and the citizens an evacuation alert. But he didn't because he wanted to give Optimus a good emotional impact with all the deaths and who cares about the common lowlife anyway, all they're good for is getting bodily thrown at Zeta until his weapon overloads from draining too many people.

Kimia station in Chaos Theory:

Red text bubble is Optimus. He doesn't wait for Optimus to agree before directly giving Omega Supreme orders to shoot Kimia down.

Reaction after confirming that Doubledealer is a traitor:

Using Rung as bait for the sparkeater:

The last two panels also gives us something on how he views (his own) authority. Because while he's always held a position of authority in high command, the high command is still a council. On the ship his authority is absolute.

The next three scenarios form a pattern. It always starts with Rodimus telling someone to kill a comrade, the person tasked with the killing goes 'what I don't want to do that', and Rodimus tones down the order from death to wound.

Ordering Rewind and Swerve to shoot at Fort Max:

Ordering Swerve to hurt Ore:

Ordering Cyclonus to shoot Brainstorm:

Each of these scenarios is in response to a critical situation. Rodimus' first orders of 'aim to kill' are, while extreme, not disproportionate to the level of threat presented. They're within reason and authority. And ceding from kill to wound when protested is proof that he doesn't not care. But it also shows that his first instinctual reaction towards threats is to kill first ask questions later, even if the threat used to be his friend, comrade, or compatriot, he's able to weigh the lives on a scale and make that hard decision. He's also the type of person who's very comfortable with taking the fates other people into his own hands and deciding whether they should live or die (which is why him choosing to spare Getaway after retaking the Lost Light is a sign of character growth).

His characterization is fairly consistent throughout the comics, except for this:

Everything in Spotlight Hot Rod goes against his later presentations. In his spotlight he's said to repeatedly beat himself up over one failed mission and is averse to taking responsibility towards other people for fear that he'd get them killed but in later issues he has No Problems doing exactly that. He displays no preferences for 'going solo' aside from the mission to retrieve the matrix and that's because everyone else kicked him out. When he wanted to leave on the Lost Light he made speeches to convince other people to join him despite the fact the Autobots were already outnumbered on Cybertron and taking people away would make their situation worse. Whenever he went anywhere in mtmte he assembled a team to accompany him.

This scene especially contradicts Spotlight Hot Rod in every single way. The only consistent aspect of his character is the recklessness. He forces Optimus to authorize a rescue mission, of which he declares himself the team leader, ignores Optimus' caution about keeping it clandestine and tells everyone to barge through the front door, shuts Ironhide's objections down by pulling rank, then falls into a trap and gets Ironhide killed. Mission failed too obviously, they only got Prowl out. Optimus takes responsibility for the failure and surrenders to the humans, of which Rodimus' response is: "he freaked out because he couldn't hack it" and promptly also proceeds to drop everything and leave because yay there's no one to keep me on this stupid planet anymore and whoever wants to can come with. Where. is the guilt.

That and the whole fiasco with Swindle and Menasor were probably Rodimus' worst moments lol. Overall he's the type of leader good with stressful trolley problems but bad at considering the larger or long-term implications of his actions. His flippancy towards life and death and tendency to solve problems with the bluntest approach bleeds heavily into his leadership decisions and... just how his character is in general. Thank goodness there's only one of Drift and he's gone for most of the Lost Light voyage, Rodimus really doesn't work well with too many yes-men hanging around.

[cherrytimemachine]

Character Breakdown; Rodimus

Ayeee, it's Prime time!

How I feel about this character: I love him I love him I love him. He's such a depressed mood in G1, and I love the contrast of Hot Rod being his daredevil kid who doesn't take things seriously enough and then him becoming Rodimus Prime and he no longer smiles, he's depressed, his humor is now more sarcastic and dry, and he can't take the crushing weight of the primacy. He doesn't want to be in charge, but he has to, and all he wants is to live up to what Optimus built, but Optimus is such a towering figure compared to him that no matter what he does, he can't match the same feeling people get when they think about Optimus as a leader. He knows he can't be like Optimus, he can't inspire people like Optimus could, so he doesn't try. He gives up before he starts, which is why he doesn't try to be more poised and controlled like Magnus tells him to be. Optimus is so beloved that there's no point in trying to be great because he will never be as great as Optimus, and the meta of kids in the 80s hating Rodimus because he replaced Optimus is a real life example of the narrative around Rodimus Prime.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Magnus. Magnus is my biggie. I don't mind seeing him shipped with Megs in MTMTE, but my favorite will always be G1 Rodimags. They are each other's steady presence. Both of them have doubts about their own capabilities, but the other is always there to reassure and help them along their way when they're struggling. Magnus often chastises Rodimus for his lack of tact in serious situations, but it isn't mean, he simply wants Rodimus to think more before he acts. Magnus himself is a disciplined figure who is a contrast to Rodimus's jump-into-action type thinking, and it's good for both of them to function as the other's opposite to get a well rounded thought process. Anyway this has been a Rodimags propaganda post.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Arcee and Springer in G1 definitely, and Optimus as his big brother/father figure that he looks up to but struggles to live up to his legacy. His Hot Rod dynamics are silly and sweet, and his Rodimus Prime dynamics are more stunted because he's trying to be the leader they need.

My unpopular opinion about this character: He was really unlikable in the first half of MTMTE. While I found him funny and entertaining at times, he was very self centered and often insulted others or outright ignored their concerns. He gets better when Megatron shows up because they both are forced to accommodate the other's presence when neither of them want to be around each other. Rodimus becomes less impulsive in his decisions and actively apologizes for his previous mistreatment of Drift. Still can't get over just how mean he was to Red Alert in the written portion after volume 4, which I made a whole post about.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish that the G1 cartoon took more time to actually wrap up Rodimus's character development in a satisfying way. G1 often has good ideas for a plot narrative, but because the show is supposed to be nothing more than a glorified toy commercial, they often don't treat their ideas with the care and thought that would make them actually matter to the story in the long run. The end of Rodimus's ark is that he just sucks it up and eventually he gladly hands the Matrix back to Optimus, and instead of his pre established depression and self doubt mattering more to his character in later episodes, it gets brushed off for the sake of newer characters being introduced. I did like the Hate Plague episodes, but how it ended really overshadowed all that Rodimus was stacking up to be. His development is rendered null and void by Optimus returning and taking over again. It's like nothing ever happened for Rodimus. He's back to being Hot Rod, and we don't see much of a change in how he behaves due to his experiences. Aside from that, more continuities should incorporate that idea into their versions of Rodimus. It would be great if we could see his ark done well and explore what it means to take on a position when your predecessor is so highly regarded that it's impossible to live up to his image.

[lovinglonerhybrid]

(Throws head-cannons into the wild) Go! Go be free my little ideas!

Anyway have some random ideas!

When he was still in the pits of kaon megatron and Soundwave took a small up and coming gladiator under there wings. This gladiator was heatwave who was sold to the pits as a youngling. The elder gladiators protected him and helped him save up to escape the pits and join the rescue bots.

Ironhide,Kup,and hightide all have a group chat where they complain about the young bots. That is until Ironhide got the terroir twins sideswipe and sunstreaker and kup got hotrod. Then they started to boast about how good there little cadets are doing look hot rods an outlier. Hightide felt left out untill he got the rescue bots then he was all into boasting how he had the best cadets and there all so cute and feisty. Hotrod makes a chat for the cadets forced to put up with grumpy old men and adds the rescue bots.

There are more bots on earth than most people know. Ironhide the twins along with mirage and hound have been on earth since the late 1800s when they escaped from one of shockwaves labs. The experiment he was running turned them all into beastfomers. Ironhide is a horse and had adopted a cowboy who he saved the life of named Arthur Morgan (I need him to live I’m sorry). Sideswipe and sunstreaker are wolves and mirage is a barn owl. Hound is a hound dog. They all live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere and are unaware of the other bots on earth.

Kup hotrod and drift are all in Japan and are having a wonderful vacation. They end up partnering up with Mikos older sister. Who helps them find whirl. She and whirl get along a bit to well.

Woodrow burns knew about cybertronions long before he meet prime and the rescue bots. When he went to university for his archaeology degree he had some professors who had the whole class sign an nda agreement. Those professors where Skyfire,percepter,and brainstorm. When the whent on field trips the class would all ride in Skyfire and Woodrow is so pissed he can’t brag to Charlie that he knew the aliens first.

Anyway that’s all for now. Have fun and buy gold.

(Also comments and interactions are greatly appreciated I love all of you)

[nova--spark]

Okay, so we talked about this in DMs but I needed to share this with everyone

-•-

So Hot Rod did not inherited even a single ounce of his adoptive father’s rizz. So here is a long, hilarious, compilation of all the femmes Hot Rod has failed to flirt with

It all started when Hot Rod went to visit his older brother Bumblebee and his team. Bee seemed annoyed to have him there though that’s mostly because Team Bee causing enough chaos on their own.

It’s even worse when Hot Rod becomes friends with fellow petty criminal turned adoptee Sideswipe. All seems to be going well until Hot Rod decides to start putting the moves on SideSwipe’s crush, Strongarm. Now Strongarm doesn’t really need SideSwipe to defend her honor, she’s more than capable of punting Hot Rod back to Cybertron herself (no space bridge required). And she almost does so before Bee manages to pull Hot Rod away

He then tried his luck with Windblade

“Don’t even think about it”

“Yes mam”

-•-

Meeting Anthea’s Team was also fun

He made the mistake apparently many have made of trying to flirt with Thea in her Holoform, a mistake that was quickly corrected when she revealed she was actually human

He also tried to flirt with Proxy, who was honestly kinda impressed. Many “full-sized” bots won’t flirt with or date minicons, so she’s definitely flattered. But she did gently let him know that she was simply too old for him. She probably would’ve agreed to a date if they were closer in age though.

He also tried to shoot his shot with his bestie from the archives Alba. This being the most disastrous attempt at flirting yet. Since not only was our lovely owl lady a lesbian. She had an over protective girl friend who attempted to claw Hot Rod’s face off.

The only reason Hot Rod lived to flirt another day was because Hot Rod, in his infinite wisdom, tried to flirt with Frost Claw and managed to get away while she was trying to comprehend the audacity this man had.

When in doubt induce blind confusion.

All of these failed attempts did make it back to his family. Who was more than amused at Hot Rod’s misadventures in trying to find a girlfriend. I’m sure he’ll find someone someday!

-•-

BONUS!

Since I’ve enjoyed putting Nova’s OCs into all of the AUs I figured it’s time I offer up one of my OCs. Everyone Meet Gadget!

During a medical visit Hot Rod met a young red and white femme who was one of the many being mentored by Ratchet. Her name was Gadget. She was a bit of a chatter box going on and on about anything that came to her mind. She seemed receptive to the young mech’s advances. Though their flirting was cut off by a thrown wrench and a reminder from Ratchet to get back to work that cause Gadget to scurry off

Maybe next time 😉

I am DYING WHEEZE--

rodi you poor poor hot mess of a flirt

You tried. Also, no hate, Alba is not a lesbean, she is a demi-bean who likes ladies and gents alike. She also rejected Rodi cuz she was crushin on his dad anyway--

I mean what.

Proxy was polite for .5 seconds before laughing that Rodi cannot handle her even if he tried. Thea snorted, she's amused at the fact both Sideswipe and Rodi got so badly fooled by her bot form.

One day Rodi

One day

[theoceanoasis]

Soundrod mechpreg with rodimus being a surrogate for soundwave and they fall in love?

Rodimus needs the money for debt (he has severe anemia which leads to him having tons of medical debt & he’s fired from his job for being in the hospital so long because of the surgery he had)

Soundwave ends up learning about Rodimus severe anemia after he turns blue and passes out halfway through the pregnancy. ( they’re in love deeply by now but haven’t said it ) he rushes him to the hospital and finds out then.

Rodimus didn’t say anything because he thought the surgery worked but this new doctor reveals nothing can stop his severe anemia only help it.

Idk where to go from there but i’d love to hear your take on it

Someone write this.

Okay here me out. Instead of anemia Hot Rod has a problem with his outlier ability. Where he sometimes gets symptoms that mimic heat stroke. There's all kinds of reasons why it suddenly happens to Hot Rod but one reason is stress.

Having this problem has effected all aspects of his life and he desperately wants to change it. However the treatment for it is expensive but worth it.

He can't afford to see a proper medic who can do the job. So he goes to a shady back alleyway clinic that's cheaper.

There were complications that caused him to miss too much work and he ended up being fired. Then the clinic where he got the procedure done was sending people after him, to harass him about payment. Where he finds out they lied about how much it was going to cost and he'd have to pay more.

If he didn't get the money soon they'd kill him or worse sell him to someone who'd run all kinds of experiments on an outlier like him.

While filling out job applications. He overhears some of Soundwaves friends talking. Soundwave is a wealthy businessman who wanted to start his own family. He loved sparklings and desperately wanted to have his own. Unfortunately due to how rich he is everyone is trying to use him. Fed up with people faking interest. Not knowing he can read their minds. Soundwave finds the people around him disgusting, opportunists who will do anything to get richer. He decides to get a surrogate instead.

Hot Rod had never thought about getting sparked before. He'd always been struggling to survive. Especially because of his condition which made life harder. Coming from the slums of Nyon sparklings were a luxury and he wasn't sure about the idea of being a surrogate.

On his way home from looking for a job. He gets roughened up by the people at the clinic, who are demanding their money. Desperate he goes to the interview where he meets with Soundwave. Filling out paperwork for the position. He knew he wouldn't get chosen if they knew about his medical condition. Which is why he didn't mention it anywhere.

After all he'd gotten fixed, so it shouldn't be a problem anyway. Then he ended up getting the position. Which allowed him to pay off his medical expenses. He also got to live with Soundwave in his penthouse while he was carrying.

Soundwave able to read Hot Rods mind could tell there was something special about him. He's not like the other people around him and Soundwave wants to know more about Hot Rod. The two fall in love being in such close proximity with Hot Rod carrying. At first he was impregnated and given transfluid donations through special equipment, but later they'd do it the old fashioned way.

The two were very close and spent all their time together. They picked out things for the nursery and were both excited.

Then they found out Hot Rod was carrying twins. They'd hugged each other and someone made a comment about them being a cute couple which they didn't deny. Just looked at each other embarrassed.

At home they acted like they were a bonded couple. Without realizing it. Soundwave's penthouse had always been sort of cold. With Soundwave never actually decorating just hiring someone to make his house look good. It was now filled with Hot Rods touch which brought light and warmth into his penthouse. He usually stayed at work until really late and only came back to sleep. Because he never thought of the penthouse as his home. Not until Hot Rod showed up and brought out a better side of him.

Then one day when Hot Rod is out getting some fresh air. He's attacked. Everyone knows who he is and that he's carrying Soundwave's sparkling. Since he's one of the richest bots on Cybertron. They threaten him and demand money from Soundwave who is enraged.

He personally saves Hot Rod who'd been kidnapped. However the stress from it all made his disease act up and he ended up passing out.

Soundwave thought he was injured and rushed him to the hospital, where tests were done and his disease was revealed. Soundwave is both upset and worried because Hot Rod didn't tell him and put himself at risk when he decided to carry.

Hot Rod with tears in his optics explained everything. Desperate to stop Soundwave from leaving. The procedure he'd gotten didn't work and the doctors told him that he'd have the disease forever. However it could be managed with medicine.

He was already a high risk pregnancy when they found out he was having twins. Now he's so high risk that if Soundwave wants to take him home he's on bed rest. Which means he'll have to take care of him. Hot Rod doesn't think he will because he lied and is surprised when Soundwave does.

The two of them talk it out and Soundwave takes care of him because he can't move around and do things. He cries a little because no one had ever taken care of him before and it was really nice.

Then Hot Rod goes into labor and their both nervous because of complications that could happen. Luckily everything goes well and they have two beautiful sparklings. Hot Rod cries and then cries even more when Soundwave finally says.

"I love you."

The two of them spend the rest of their lives together raising their sparklings and just being in love.

[noodleblade]

Miscellaneous Tag Game (stolen title <3)

thank you bestie:3 @searchingfortheuniverse I'll be working on this while im on and off phone calls~

A band you don’t like that many others do: UM idk...my music taste is all over the place and I really only know the bands i think?? oh- maybe Mother Mother, only because I have not bothered to listen to their music past Junkrat hype videos and that's probably tainted my view a little. For better or for worse.

A childhood memory that you remember vividly: during a summer in greece, idk how, but I got roped into selling watermelons off the side of the road. I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7, but I remember I would put the watermelon in a plastic bag and the farmers thought it was really funny because that's such a...united states thing...to bag 1 whole watermelon in plastic. Anyways, they paid me in cucumber slices with salt.

Least favorite animal and why: HUH LEAST. I'm not a huge fan of like reptiles? Specifically those smaller than a bread box. Too fast, too squirm. Im worried I'll crush them in my hands. (im thinking of specifically florida geckos...idk they are cute but i freak out trying to hold them).

Hot fandom take: just because something is popular and fandom-wide accepted doesn't mean it is good. and not agreeing with it/wanting to engage in it doesn't mean you or your own opinions are bad. the monopoly on accepted 1 true canon is boring.

Do you wear any jewelry, if so, what’s your favorite piece: I try an rotate my jewelry around but I'm usually wearing a few rings, a necklace and a pair of earrings. My favorites are the rings. They are my mom's old ones and I typically wear the same two every day. One is a gold key of greece and the other is a thin black bar but the sides have really small thin heart cut outs.

A movie others liked but you didn’t: HMMMMM probably the new star wars trilogy. felt unnecessary and i just didn't like it? big shruggies

Three things you love about yourself: my writing- its something that I enjoy the most in the world and something that I can claim as mine. I also think I'm pretty funny in a sillay way which is poggers. I like my openness to trying things. Think that's helped make me more well-rounded. I hope so at least.

A place you hope to visit in the future and why: HMMMMM. I want to visit Japan again. For a new place, I want to go to South America. Peru maybe??? Mexico would also be nice. So that's what I'm gearing up towards next.

An actor that gets on your nerves and why: Uh Matt Smith? No reason behind this. but I see his block head and kind of just look away.

Things you’re excited for in the nearby future? I have a lot of little house projects I finally feel like tackling which is exciting. Ive lived in my house for almost 2.5 years and still havent felt like parts of it are complete yet.

Least favorite ship in a fandom you’re in: oof I lowkey kind of hate saying things I don't like on here. bad experiences in the past when people were upset I didn't like a thing they did and got mad at me. But uhhh not the biggest fan of most rodimus ships? but I think mega/rod is my least favorite of them. sorry!

What’s the most toxic fandom you’ve been in? hahaahahahhahahah can you believe Game of Thrones wasn't the most toxic???? it was jjba. I got put on a ban list which was kind of funny. I also got kind of show-ponyed in a toxic discord server for a while which has completely ruined me in the ability to act normal on discord outside of my irl friends. that account is deleted but the ao3 is still circling around.

List three things you find beautiful about life: Friends and family- sometimes I want to kill but I really do love them so so much. I like creating things and creating things with people. I also really like my area as far as nature goes. the beach to swamp ratio sings to me.

Any dreams for the future? I want to go on a really long hike. Maybe like a 2 day one? (< says the person that has gone on a max 2 hour hike before). Also just working on my original fiction again. I miss those fellas.

How are you really feeling today? Motivated!!!! Im a little groggy still, but I've been really excited about life and betterment lately so its overcoming my sleepy brain.

Tags: feel free to do or not: @honkytonka, @elmonstro, @huanted-dennys, @feral-birb-husband, @solarstormstuff @anyone else who wants to!! I'd be happy to read them:3

[storm-and-starlight]

so the idea of an Earthspark fic following the bots not on Earth after the spacebridge broke has been rattling around inside my head basically since the show first came out, centering around "what if the Quintessons took advantage of Optimus and Megatron being out of the game and Rodimus had to step in", but I never really had a plot for it until about two-ish weeks ago when one just Showed Up.

I'll warn you now it just straight up doesn't have an ending, but who knows, maybe that'll show up too someday.

Anyways since I doubt I'll ever be able to write in in a way that does it justice, here's the bulletpoint outline of what I do have, under a cut bc Long

Important Backstory Notes (not, like, a prologue, just stuff that would need to be sprinkled throughout as context)

The whole Knights of Cybertron thing was well before the Thirteen Primes, enough that it's mostly fallen into legendary-type history instead of commonly-taught history, though the process is more pronounced due to how centralized information storage (and really the entire concept of information storage that isn't entirely dependent on a living being like a Titan) wasn't really a thing until late(er) in the Age of Primes, and only became standard until after the loss of most of Cybertron's Titans.

The Thirteen Primes, Prima and all the rest, rose to fame during the last Quintesson war by being generals and heroes and scientists, the figureheads of the war and the people who saved the Cybertronian species from perpetual slavery.

All but one of them, that is. Quintus Prime, researcher, scientist, who loved life in all its forms (and, some would say, who loved organic life a little too much), disappeared with his artifact the Emberstone -- the final safeguard against the loss or corruption of the Allspark -- and was later found to have defected to the Quintessons, with his technology and that of the Emberstone showing up in the Quintesson efforts.

The Primes eventually won, and beat the Quintessons away from Cybertron.

Unwilling to lose their image of planetary harmony that they worked so hard to create even before the war, the remaining Primes recorded his disappearance as a death in battle, implying that the loss of him, his Titan, and the Emberstone was simply a terrible accident), and went about rebuilding and beginning the Age of Primes.

(Timeline note: the Thirteen Primes unified Cybertron, got attacked by the Quintessons, fought in what was actually the Second Quintesson War -- the first was the initial liberation of Cybertron before the Knights set out on their explorations -- and then started the Age of Primes, which ended in the betrayal of Solus and the departure of the colony Titans.)

(post-betrayal leads into another age of unrest, before the new lineage of Primes (ones without the Matrix) begins the Cybertronian Golden Age, which really wasn't all that golden.)

Story begins millions of years later, about, oh, twenty years before the events of Earthspark

Most of section one takes place well before the spacebridge closes, and the initial journey back to Cybertron takes a few years, so from the time of Hot Rod's capture to their return to Cybertron just after the spacebridge closes is probably in the vicinity of five-to-six years.

Hot Rod, way out in the middle of nowhere on a mission, is captured by the Quintessons and presumed dead by the Autobots. He's not, but he's been enslaved by them -- however, they're still operating on their understanding of Cybertronian neurological defenses from before the Autobot-Decepticon War, meaning that their ability to control him is unable to keep up with his anti-virals and is slowly weakening over time. He gains more and more autonomy back, right up until the Quintesson ship he's on discovers Theophany (by horrible chance) and elects to begin the Quintesson resurgence right then and there.

Crucially, Crystal City hasn't been part of the war, so their anti-virals aren't at Hot Rod's level, and so nearly the entire city is enslaved and formed into the first and worst core of the Quintesson army.

In the middle of the attack, he finally manages to grab back almost full motor control, flames on, and burns out most of the adaptive nanites that are serving as a reservoir for the control code even as his anti-virals keep destroying the stuff that makes it into his processor. He flees the battle, ending up in the wastes of Theophany while Crystal City is overrun and the Third Quintesson War begins.

There is, however, one mech in Crystal City who has war-grade antivirals and manages to survive the inital assault of a non-nanite transmitted code infection (think radio broadcast) and who fled the city at Wing's request once it was clear the entire city was lost and the Knights of Light taken captive and the city destroyed.

He meets Hot Rod once they both come back to the ruins of the city for lack of anywhere else to go, and Hot Rod reveals what, exactly, happened to everyone around him. Hot Rod manages to convince Drift that they need to go and warn whoever else they can find, so they take one of the least-damaged ships in deep storage and set out to warn Cybertron.

En route to Cybertron, they slowly gather together a crew of various outcasts and misfits -- people who for one reason or another have been stationed out in the reaches of deep space, far away from Cybertron -- and even the odd prisoner (Whirl), all packed together on an ancient tiny shuttle and still desperately trying to outrun the Quintessons and make it in time to warn Optimus and Megatron.

At one point, they meet the Camien trio, Windblade, Nautica, and Chromia, who are also heading to Cybertron to ask for aid for Caminus completely unaware of the Quintesson threat, but in finding an ancient, injured Titan who's already been taken over by the Quintessons everyone learns of the risk they're all facing, and the dangers of letting this war spread further than it already has -- the destruction of Crystal City was bad, but the fact that every Cybertronian infected is another weapon in Quintesson hands is what really sinks in here.

At another point, they come across the remains of the Ark and manage to pull two people out of stasis: Cyclonus, the perfect warrior and Galvatron's right hand, and Tailgate, sanitation worker kept in stasis since the launch of the Ark as auxiliary personnel that they wouldn't have to feed since he wasn't awake.

The major climax is encountering Kimia, a secret Autobot research station under attack by Decepticons. With the Quintessons right on their heels, Hot Rod and Drift attempt to reconcile both the primarily-Autobot crew and the Decepticon squad attacking (maybe Deathsaurus's?), but negotiations keep breaking down until the Quintessons show up with an entire army of enslaved Cybertronians. Hot Rod manages to destroy their ship by crashing the entire station into it, but only a handful of people on either side survive the battle (Chromedome, Rewind, Brainstorm, Perceptor, and probably a handful of Decepticons that I haven't decided on yet), and everyone in their tiny enclave of free Cybertronians realizes that this is bigger than their old war, and that if they don't work together they're never going to survive.

End Section One

Section Two

They finally make it to Cybertron, but it's already too late -- the spacebridge to Earth is closed with most of the Autobot and Decepticon high command on the other side of it, the Allspark was lost somewhere while it closed (it's actually stuck in-between the planets in subspace, since the subspace route is still open but inaccessible with one end of the bridge destroyed, but this isn't relevant to the rest of the fic) and the Quintessons have already arrived and begun a planetary takeover -- most of the ground troops still remaining on the planet have become part of their forces.

Jazz has escaped with a handful of special ops from both sides and is hiding down in the deep underlayers struggling to survive and start up a resistance, and the arrival of Hot Rod and his motley crew is a huge boon and a huge hassle, since most of them (yes, even the Kimia scientists) was assigned that far from the front lines for a reason. About the only ones who're really considered command material are Cyclonus, and he's still struggling with the fact that he's been in stasis for millions of years and has no desire to lead what he sees as a pack of misfits and rejects, and Ultra Magnus, who has no desire to be in command whatsoever, so Hot Rod got the job largely by virtue of being the person to start this mission in the first place.

Moreover, they can't even get off Cybertron because the Quintessons have a major planetary cordon eliminating anyone who tries to flee.

Still, they try to get a resistance going and start figuring out how to actually fight the Quintessons, rather than just escape them, and are making some progress. Slowly. The deep planetary tunnels are largely safe, and a lot of the Kimia scientists have managed to use one of Shockwave's labs to find some protection against Quintesson influence -- as long as they don't get physical access to your brain, you probably won't get enslaved! -- and are attempting work on a cure. It's starting to look like it'll be long and hard but they might even manage to win this war!

And then the judge shows up, and brings with them not just the limited number of Cybertronian slaves they have, but nearly uncountable hordes of mass-produced Sharkticons, because they have access to Cybertron's entire industrial complex and all its fabricators.

On top of that, the Quintessons have discovered the existence of the deep underlayers, and are preparing an assault on the resistance bases.

Right before the assault goes down, Drift gets a vision (he's been having weird premonitions his entire life but it's only after he started actively using them to avoid Quintessons that they've started getting noticeably stronger) and gathers together a group (definitely Hot Rod and Rung, maybe also a bunch of the Camiens/some scientists) to try to find the location of a ship he saw, one that can get them off the planet.

They've been gone less than a day but are already entirely out of range when the Quintessons attack

Magnus and Cyclonus rally, together, against the assault and and try a desperate attempt to repel it and save the scientists' work that might be the only hope to save their species.

NOTE: Prior to this, Magnus and Cyclonus had not gotten along, with both of them having an extremely rigid code that is not... entirely compatible with the other but when it comes down to the wire and both Hot Rod and Drift are off on hopeless errands, they're the only ones left to coordinate the defense and try to save what they can.

Midway through Drift and Hot Rod's journey, the planet transforms (something it has, quite notably, not done since the Age of Primes) and cuts Hot Rod and Rung off from the rest of the group, with the only way out being down deeper into the planet, past even the deep layers and down into the core.

Separated, they continue on.

Drift ends up in the Hand of Primus, way out in the middle of the wastes, the site of the last true hotspot on the entire planet (after it was harvested during the early years of the Golden Age, all new sparks on the planet came from the Allspark). Deep below the surface, underneath a strange spiky red metal formation, they find a ship literally embedded in the stone, not entirely spaceworthy but possible to get to working conditions, and with a set of unique quantum engines that might be enough to get them away from the planet before the Quintessons can shoot them down.

Leaving Nautica (and possibly any other scientists they brought with them?) to try to repair the ship and get it flying, Drift and the rest race back to the base only to find it under attack. Magnus and Cyclonus manage to punch a hole through the Quintesson ranks and start the evacuation, and they all race up through the sublevels back to the surface.

Meanwhile, Hot Rod and Rung are (apparently) desperately trying to find a way out of the deep tunnels and back to the surface, but every turn they make just redirects them deeper towards the core, and eventually Rung comes to the conclusion that whatever's at the center of the planet must want them to go to the core. As they travel, it's apparent that there's something going on with him, though he won't tell Hot Rod what (the truth is that he's regaining his memories of being a part of the long-dormant core of the planet, and he's realizing that the Core, that Primus, the heart of their world, is somehow calling Hot Rod in).

Upon reaching the core, Rung acts almost as cityspeaker for the planet, one of the many fragments of its great multi-part mind that's separate enough to speak for itself, and offers Hot Rod a Matrix -- not the Matrix, the old one, the original one, the one that Optimus Prime still carries and that was lost on Earth when the spacebridge fell -- but a new, empty one that still nevertheless holds the ancient property that the Matrix was made for in the first place -- protection against the Quintesson scourge, a way to store crucial information in a way that can't be stolen by them and is much harder to lose if groups are split up or scientists killed, and most importantly the chance at a true cure. 

Hot Rod accepts the Matrix from Rung, and becomes Rodimus Prime.

Rung, in making a new Matrix, returns to the Core and cannot return with Rodimus, who races back up through the planet desperately, trying to reach the ship before they write him off as dead and leave.

Right as Nautica and the rest get the ship's strange quantum engines online, engines that almost seem to work as a spacebridge in their own right, Rodimus appears and gets on board, and they flee the planet ahead of the approaching hordes, abandoning Cybertron entirely to the Quintessons.

End Section Two

Section Three

Now the fight has gone to the stars -- there are still the colonies, Caminus and all the rest of the titans, to consider -- though there are a couple that aren't in Caminus's or Cybertron's records at all, such as the titan of the traitor Quintus Prime, who in the last war against the Quintessons led by the Thirteen Primes that cemented them in history as a collection of heroes.

The project begun on Cybertron, with the addition of the Matrix, has mostly succeeded -- they have effective defenses against Quintesson mind control, and with the Matrix in hand the scientists are making real breakthroughs on a genuine cure, instead of something that leaves the "cured" screaming and nearly catatonic.

Rodimus, still trying to figure out what it means to be Prime and what it means to now be considered the unambiguous leader of the remaining Cybertronian forces instead of having to deal with balancing the authority of Jazz, Magnus, Cyclonus, Windblade, and several of the more prominent Decepticons, is in command and is trying to find and gather the remains of the Autobot and Decepticon fleets into something that can actually fight against the Quintessons.

He's... not the best at it.

While they're fighting and gathering new members, they intercept some kind of Quintesson communication and find out that Caminus, thought safe because of how hidden it is, is under attack. The Lost Light and the few other ships they've got (Vis Vitalis, maybe? which is another major source of character conflict, becauseRodimus still feels inadequate as a leader in the face of Thunderclash's... everything, and lets it lead him to make bad decisions) race to Caminus to try to save the city.

They try, during which there is a huge battle, but they cannot stop the Quintessons from infecting Caminus, who sacrifices himself to save his people as they all flee, and Cybertronians become a species without a home, adrift in space. At the same time, the records of the last Quintesson War are given to them by Caminus, revealing the strategies used by the Thirteen Primes and the record of Quintus Prime's treachery that nearly lost them the war -- as well as the fact that Quintus Prime's Titan is still alive -- lost, but alive.

The war continues, and Rodimus slowly gets better at learning to be a general and at gathering people together to try to survive this. They start making progress, though it's hard and often painful. Maybe Caminus is the end of the section, maybe there's something more that's less of a downer ending, I don't know, but Section Three is all about the war as it goes on in space, a tiny desperate fleet trying to beat the odds and win.

Oh also at some point the Lost Light is revealed to be a newborn Titan, the first one to be born in millions upon millions of years, who aligns herself with Rodimus because he's a Prime and also her captain.

Also Metroplex possibly shows up at some point, and he and Windblade form a very strong bond together, to the point where when he dies, not even in sacrifice but just straight up in battle, it deeply deeply affects her, to the point that not even Lost Light can help. (Might be a plot point, might not be, depends how dark I want the overall story to end up.)

End Section Three

Section Four

Years into the fight, Rodimus is a far better leader than he was -- massively depressed about the whole thing, but still learning how to be an effective general. They haven't quite been making progress, but they've been surviving and gathering together fighters from all the different colonies, and it looks like the tide might turn any day now.

Drift, prompted by visions he's been having of Quintus Prime, is working alongside Nautica and a handful of other historians to put together the true story of what happened during the last Quintesson War. The facts aren't entirely adding up -- if Quintus was truly a traitor and gave the Quintessons the Emberstone, why weren't the Thirteen Primes overwhelmed by endless armies of newsparks? Why was it only certain pieces of Quintus's hybrid technology that got integrated into the Quintessons, and not the organic-Cybertronian bonding elements that would have massively increased their ability to control Cybertronian slaves? Why did he disappear, only recorded by his technology showing up in Quintesson warships, and why did his Titan drop completely out of the spacebridge network, even though Caminus insisted that he was still alive?

He realizes that figuring this out could be the key to actually winning the war, instead of grinding along slowly getting themselves worn away by attrition the way they've been doing -- the Quintessons can constantly replace soldiers while the Cybertronians have lost every method they had of reproducing, and on top of all that any soldier captured or infected on the battlefield will turn against them.

With Rodimus and Jazz and Brainstorm's knowledge (and maybe a few others, haven't decided yet), Drift fakes his death and goes flying out to search for answers, thinking that there has to be something Quintus was hiding and that it might be the answer to surviving, if not winning.

Meanwhile, Rodimus and the rest of the United Cybertronian Fleet's (name subject to change) high command find out from Jazz and his espionage corps that the Quintessons are looking for something, some kind of newly created weapon that can be used against them more effectively than anything created before (over the course of this war, they've gone on a total scorched-earth policy with regards to their planetary conquests and any species, biological or cybernetic, that even remotely gets in their way -- the new Judge created to lead this war is ruthless and angry and isn't interested in things like "public relations" -- so while there isn't really anyone who can fight back against them the way the Cybertronians can, because in terms of firepower and who's willing to get involved in this, they're kind of the only ones, it's totally plausible that there might be the last remnants of a destroyed species out there who are working on creating some kind of weapon).

Both of their paths, Drift's journey looking back through the records of the last Quintesson War and the history of the Thirteen Primes, and Rodimus's search for something to turn the tide, lead them back towards Earth, which somehow hasn't been found by either side yet, and has remained totally undisturbed. No matter how hard anyone looks, they can't find any outward sign of Cybertronian activity that might indicate Earth's location.

Drift, following the history of what happened to Quintus and his Titan and the Emberstone, finds a subspace connection that leads him to a strange system of caverns, filled with green light and old Cybertronian writing and technology that looks extremely similar to Quintesson tech and yet has somehow been neutralized without being destroyed.

Rodimus, following something (maybe some kind of connection through the Matrix?) lands in secret on green and blue planet that looks a whole hell of a lot like Earth, and traces the signal down into a system of caves.

Both Rodimus and Drift get attacked by an ancient Quintesson defense system, bioengineered monsters that feed off energon and which pursue them through the tunnels and herd them towards a central location, where bang they run into each other--

--and also into Optimus, Megatron, quite a lot of both Autobot and Decepticon High Command, and the Malto family, who are all down in the tunnels for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with either Cybertron, ancient weapons, Quintus Prime, the Emberstone, or the Quintessons, and everyone is very confused and also kind of panicked about what to do about the giant monster.

But when it arrives, the Maltos and the Terrans are able to fight it, without being affected by its energon-eating nature or the defenses it usually has against Cybertronians.

They flee down the only route they have left, deeper into the cave systems, where they pass through a massive and very strange green door into a set of corridors that look like metal, and that are decorated with icons and emblems of Quintus Prime, though woven through with Quintesson mind-control tech -- ancient Quintesson mind-control tech, not the modern kind currently in use and not even the kind of outdated tech that was used on Hot Rod before they managed to adapt to modern Cybertronian neurological defenses, but the kind that was in use back in the last Quintesson War, against the Thirteen Primes, and the pattern of the tendrils seems to be leading them somewhere.

Where it's leading them to is a massive processor chamber, one for a Titan -- Quintus Prime's titan, lost all these many millions of years.

Drift, finally, reveals what he's learned about Quintus Prime's supposed betrayal, and what really happened -- how he tried to be a double agent, learning about the Quintessons: half just for the sake of learning about them -- remember, he was most noted for his fascination with organic life -- and half for the sake of finding ways to end the war.

Before he could find a way, his Titan was overrun, exposed to an experimental piece of technology that would take over not just his mind but his body, turning him into an unending weapon that couldn't even be killed.

Quintus fled to Earth, looking for a way to save his Titan, and apparently died there.

worked against the Quintessons from the inside, stealing away secrets of their technoorganic engineering and their mind-control techology and eventually fleeing with his Titan and the Emberstone to an unknown location, and Rodimus reveals that they're here hunting a supposed "weapon" that the Quintessons are terrified of.

The Titan (name TBD) manages to tell Windblade the story of what really happened, that Quintus defected with the Emberstone to try to find a way to use it to create Cybertronians who were naturally immune to Quintesson control, who could live in peace away from the war and everything and never have to worry about being made into slaves, and all of the bots that have been trapped on Earth all this time turn to look at the Malto family -- and the Terrans.

End section four

aaaaaand that's more or less where I run out of ideas, because I have no clue how to effectively pay off this reveal with how the Terrans are supposed to defeat the Quintessons, but who knows, maybe I'll think of something

[ask-a-bot]

DP: sorry we took so long to come back, the ‘summer holidays’ have ended and we live near several schools. We were woefully unprepared for school traffic.

T: yeah there are human children everywhere. I’m terrified to walk anywhere right now.

MS: ve are doing fine for ze moment, ve don’t need anything in particular.. although very do need to find Waspinator a therapist.

W: for last time, Waspinator is fine

MS: no jou aren’t. Anyway, as for ze Vehicons… I suspect zey are reluctant to leave until Megatron haz fully recovered. Zey fret over his health in every video call.

🪣: I also think they like spending time with the Terrans. The kids have grown on them.

T: wait who are the Terrans…?

DP: oh. New Cybertronian species, native to earth. They’re younglings.

T: …WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THERE WERE LITTLE ONES?!

They are my nieces and nephews. And I have one who is neither. Come and say hello, young ones.

Hi!

This is my nephew, Jawbreaker. He likes to be called "JB", as in Mrs. Fletcher of Murder She Wrote, but I am not one for nicknames.

You like murder things? Aw! No fair! Mom won't let us watch stuff like that.

I find Murder She Wrote quite sad. The stories are always about the people and there are always lives left damaged and innocent people hurt. They are good – always good – but somewhat painful. I can understand why your mother does not permit you to watch them.

Is there anything you would like to say about yourself?

OK! I'm the only dinobot in the family. I'm big and strong and sometimes I break stuff. Like I broke the kitchen wall when I wanted to show Mom something cool. I'm learning to be more careful though.

It is a part of growing for many of us. I, too, sometimes break things.

You do?

Yes, well... Cybertronian buildings are made of metal. I am still a little... heavy handed... sometimes. Brick, stone, concrete, wood... Earth materials are easily broken. Especially when you were built to break through Cybertronian rock. I, too, must learn to be careful and gentle. It takes time.

Moving on, then. We have my niece, Twitch:

Hello! I like birds and nature, dancing and training!

I like Earth's wildlife too. Snf. And training is always fun.

Uh-huh! 😊

My nephew, Thrash:

Yeah, I'm the coolest Terran! I'm really musical and I'm a better dancer than Twitch. I'm also a lot faster!

Life does not have to be a contest, young one. You will be happier if you accept that everyone has their own skills and we are all the best at something. Twitch included.

Brrrrrrrrpt!

Thrash! That is not the way to behave.

Sorry. Not sorry.

I heard that. Do not give me reason to talk to your mother.

Ahem. We have my niece, Hashtag:

Hi! That's me. I like skating! I think I'm pretty good at it. I'm also real good at all things Internet, but I kinda get distracted by it.

And I am Nightshade! I am the non binary nibbling.

Nibbling?

Niece, nephew or other.

Ah. So, that is the word for "sister's offspring". Thank you.

I like science and I am quite good at it. Getting better at it. I have an owl alt mode and I have always liked the way they look. I like fiction books as much as I like non fiction.

Books are good.

They are!

I also have two human... nibblings. But I am not sure where they are.

Getting car sick with Hot Rod and Bumblebee.

Oh. How nice. Bumblebee's idea, I take it?

He kept saying he's faster than Hot Rod, so now they're racing.

They wanted humans with them to... uh...

Hmbph! To act as referees, probably. Human younglings are hardly likely to stay impartial, however.

That's probably what Bumblebee's counting on.

Probably.

[ask-shu-todoroki]

Hello!

I was wondering if I could ask for some relationship headcanons for Rod and Nigel please? They can be either sfw or nsfw or both!

Sure! I haven't thought about them in a hot minute because my life has been hectic the past few weeks, but I'll try my best.

Rod gets teased to this day by his C.H.R.O.M.E. friends about how he managed to outdo Finn and Leland in breaking fraternization protocol. 😛

His boss at the CIA turns a blind eye since his relationship isn't affecting his performance, and he's the best spy they have anyway.

It's a long distance relationship, but Rod always manages to visit Nigel in Royal Leamington Spa when he has the time. Or he can always snag security duty at the WGP reunion events. 😉

They're aiming to retire at the same time so they can live together. Where they're going to live, however, they're still debating about.

Rod's dominant in the relationship, that goes without saying. 😏

Their favorite romantic thing to do is to go out on a hill overlooking Royal Leamington Spa and cuddling.

Whenever Nigel is able to visit Rod in Gibraltar, Michigan, Rod takes him out for a boat ride on Lake Erie.

[jonesdel]

“ heads up ; if you hear SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER by SAM FENDER blaring, it’s most likely JONESY DELMONT making their way down the shore ! they’re 25 years old and celebrate their birthday on 04/19 - i knew they were an ARIES ! especially since they’re very DAUNTLESS and UNINHIBITED. they are from BATON ROUGE, LA, staying in SILVER SANDS and are currently working as a MECHANIC @ HOT ROD AUTO SHOP, here at asbury park. They always did remind me of sunkissed skin stained with oil smudges, unwittingly following the footsteps that were determinedly dodged, and coconut scented surfboard wax. “

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: mentions of alcohol/drugs, child neglect, & death.

⸻   BASIC

FULL NAME.    jonesy wayne delmont

NICKNAMES.    jone , delly , jd

BIRTHDATE.    april 19th , 1999

IDENTITY.    cis man , he / him

SEXUALITY.    heterosexual

LINEAGE.    joan delmont nee baker  † ( grandma ) ,  boone delmont  ( father ) ,  delayne merlotte  † ( mother )

⸻  BACKGROUND

boone delmont was a name well known to the authorities and, if anything, that only further coaxed the chief’s rebellious daughter into the dirtbag’s bed. was still just a kid himself at 15 years when jonesy was brought into the world.

unfortunately for the junior delmont, his mom passed due to unforeseen complications after giving birth, and so he was left with only his dad and paternal grandmother. considering boone was a deadbeat, on top of being in and out of jail, grandma delmont was the one to look after jonesy through his childhood.

so without having a hope in hell from the get go, jonesy was raised in the sweltering depths of louisiana in a household that always had some form of drugs or alcohol ( usually both ) at his family's disposal at any given time. therefore, he was exposed to these addictions at a very early age and would eventually follow the same path, but to a lesser degree.

as the apple of his grandma's eye, for some reason, he could do no wrong. when, in fact, he did very wrong, at any given moment. jonesy was labelled a problem child by his teachers. it started off with him being an annoying punk kid, disrupting class and clowning around with his friends. but as he got older, the problem grew with him.

fist fights were a common occurrence whenever he was in attendance at school. so if he didn't skip, he was sent home regularly. however, he never let his grandma know the difference ( if she'd even notice anyway ) and he'd stay out on the streets all day -- drinking, smoking, wreaking havoc on the city -- until school was let out and it'd be time for him to go home.

eventually, jonesy would flip a final fuck you to the system and drop out of high school. who needs big brains?? certainly NOT him. instead of pursing a fruitful career like every other kid on the block, he acquired the necessary license to become a long haul driver because 1) he wanted to travel and 2) what else was he gonna do.

rootin great rapport via walkie talkie channels with all his trucker buds, tootin his loud ass horn down the highway at every little car that tried to cut him off, jonesy was content with this way of life. until he met some guru at some bar, somewhere along the way home. then he was apparently motivated to turn his life around, going on to get his GED and then apply to a college in asbury park - a seaside town he'd stopped in between his routes to stay overnight and fell in love with.

when word spread of this, he inherited ( really was given ) a whole ass trailer home in silver sands from a relative. rumor has it some shady business was going on in there and so having jonesy live there was all a cover up to keep the cops from sniffing around. but whatever the reason, he didn't care. he got a free home, away from his grandma and dad.

without ever having any real big bills to pay, thanks to the inheritance, jonesy did well to save up a huge chunk of his earnings. he quit his long-haul job and was able to live comfortably until kicking off his new career. while attending college, he completed an apprenticeship at hot rod auto shop and then eventually got hired on.

having been a mechanic for hot rod for nearly a decade now, he's been through all kinds of ups and downs. his grandma passed away and nobody told him ( he found out by calling for a wellness check on her ), he lowkey became an alcoholic by trying to drink his sorrows away, and his house was broken into one night by a couple guys he used to run with ( he thinks ), which resulted in him almost getting shot for trying to fight off the assailants. safe to say now, he keeps a pistol tucked away for future intimidation ( which he may or may not legally own ).

⸻  HEADCANONS

spitting image of his dad, much to his dismay.

while he can still be a troublemaker and smartass at times, jonesy has very high golden retriever energy.

homeboy has no qualms when it comes to protecting his territory and his people, and is no stranger to violence.

he has a soft spot for his co-workers aka his found family. to make up for being so shitty when he was younger, jonesy does his best now to help out where he can and looks out for his own.

drives an old volkswagen van to transport his surfboards and sometimes camp on the beach with, but also owns a loud af dirtbike that he rips around on at night to 'clear his head'.

checks in on his dad every so often bc as much as he tainted jonesy's childhood, the senior delmont also showed him some sort of love in his own fucked up way.

deep down, like way deep, jonesy knows he's toeing a dangerous line between maintaining his own path and veering onto the same road his dad went down. it's terrifying, but he won't speak a word about it bc talking about feelings and being vulnerable wasn't taught in his family. so he just bottles that shit up.

[fictional-love-is-my-life]

Could you do bay Optimus, Hound, Hotrod, and megatron's reaction hc's to a transformer who doesn't know how to transform into car mode. They lived on another planet for so long after leaving cybertron after the start of the war they forgot how to? They probably could again with time, but for now no.

Optimus:

He is very understanding that the bot has been on another planet for so long. He says he understands they forgot and is not mad or disappointed about it. But he says that they really need to learn how to do it again.

He explains to the bot that the only way to move around Earth is for them to be in vehicle mode. The humans can not see them. So until then he leaves them at base and tells them not to leave for any reason.

He sets them up with one of the other Autobots and orders the Autobot to teach the bot how to transform. He tells the bot that they must practice everyday, transforming is a very important skill especially on Earth and they must be able to do it.

He is patient at first, but the longer it takes for them to learn how to transform again, he gets a little more persistent. He starts to tell them everyday how important it is and they must learn again.

Hound:

At first he thought they were joking with him. He laughed, and said 'yeah and I forgot how to drink Energon.' But then he realizes they are not joking.

He's unsure what to think. He can understand that after so long they forgot, but surely they could remember quite easily? He thought by explaining in detail he might be able to jog their memory and help them to transform sooner.

But he was wrong. It was taking much longer than he expected. He tried to be patient. Sometimes it bothered him a little, just because he does it everyday and it's so easy for him. But he tried to put himself in their frame and understand it will take them time.

He ends up passing the responsibility of teaching them over to one of the other mechs. He feels one of them may be a better teacher than him, and he has other duties to attend to anyway.

Hot Rod:

He is surprised. He thought it was such a natural response that no bot could forget. After listening to their story, and how on the other planet they did not need to transform, he understands now how they could forget. If you do not use something for such a long time, it can be forgotten.

He offers his services, and offers to teach them how to transform again.

He is very patient with them. Even after weeks of practice and getting nowhere, he is still calm about it. Each bot its different, each one learns in their own way and at their own pace. He will find out eventually the best way that this bot learns.

As soon as they do transform he is so excited and happy for them. He feels so proud of them and how hard they worked, he gives them a hug and jumps up and down with them happily.

Megatron:

He doesn't care that they can't transform. He hates the fact that he has to 'hide' when among the humans. He thinks the only reason a bot should transform is for transportation, or to use weapons (like a tank). But he doesn't think it is necessary.

If it was up to him, all Cybertronians would be able to wonder the Earth freely. He honestly doesn't care if humans see him or not.

The only reason he is not currently walking around is because the Autobots will find him, and he is not yet ready to face them.

He keeps the transformer hidden away in Africa where no Autobots will find them, and no humans will bother them. He is patient and teaches them. He gives them plenty of time to practice and figure out how to do it again.

[perchingowl]

Owl's whumpy-tober 2023 prompts

I've been thinking about whether to do whumptober or not, mainly because the prompts are much more geared towards modern day whump and I don't really vibe with that this year ^^; As such, these are my prompts for the month of October. So, let's see if I manage 31 fics ^_^

01 GETTING A LITTLE HEATED Alcohol | Fire | "It's getting hot in here."

02 HEY, WHO TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS? Broken light source | Lost | "We have been here before."

03 ON KNIFE'S EDGE Rusty Blade | Blood | "This will only hurt a bit."

04 HANGING IN THERE Rope | Dangling | "This doesn't look good."

05 BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS Drenched Sheets | Fever | "For how long have they been like this?"

06 FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE Letters | Secrets | "Why didn't you tell me?"

07 A LITTLE TORTURE GOES A LONG WAY Brass Knuckles | Pain | "Please, make it stop."

08 DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH Garotte | Fighting for breath | "Give up!"

09 CAVE-ING IN Rocks | Buried Alive | "I wish I was with you instead."

10 READY, SET, GO! Ammunition | Hunt | "Run for your lives!"

11 JUST A LITTLE UNWELL Medication | Illness | "This will help you."

12 SHOW SOME RESTRAINT Shackles | Imprisonment | "You are never getting out of that/here."

13 DREAM A LITTLE DREAM (OF ME) Roof | Nightmares | "Is this real?"

14 NOTHING TO SEE HERE Blindfold | Deprivation | "That's enough."

15 ALL WRAPPED UP AND READY TO GO Bandages | Bleeding out | "So much blood."

16 IT'S NOT THE FALL THAT KILLS YOU Failsafe | Free Fall | "I can't hold on!"

17 MUSIC TO MY EARS Table | Screams | "They always tell us in the end."

18 OVER THEIR (DEAD) BODY Spike | Pinned | "Don't move!"

19 A LITTLE SHOCK NEVER HURT ANYONE, RIGHT? Metal Rod | Electricity | "Don't touch it!"

20 ROUGH SEAS Flotsam | Dry Drowning | "Deep breaths!"

21 WHERE IS MY MIND? Ring | Mind Control | "That's not you!"

22 THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN … Bright Light(s) | Blinded | "I can't see."

23 THINGS GETTING A LITTLE HAZY Maze | Disorientation | "What is happening?"

24 THE COURT IS IN SESSION Kangaroo Court | False Accusation | "Guilty as charged."

25 FRESH OUT OF LUCK Dead-end | Cornered | "There is no way out."

26 I'M A DOCTOR, NOT A PROMPT! Medical Bag | Field Surgery | "We can't lose them."

27 ALL ALONE Bars | Left behind | "Where are you?"

28 DEAD TO THE WORLD Blanket | Fatigue | "Rest - you will need it."

29 CALM BEFORE THE STORM Open Field | Hail | "It's close now!"

30 RED TAPE Muzzle | Silence | "Shut them up!"

31 REST IN PIECES Cot | Respite | "How are you doing?"

I've made these prompts for fun and wanted to post them for reference when I upload my fics. If you want to use them, feel free to - no need to tag me. Anyway, wish me luck, the last few months have not been conductive to being a fic writer (work got bloody stressful, my laptop broke with me still not having a replacement and I have thoroughly lost track of answering to messages and comments, for which I'm very sorry).

[caiusmajor]

Trick or treat! (Early but I wanna play)

Here's an old TF G1 S3 WIP. ETA: No fertile or viable eggs are harmed in this wip.

"Does he eat your eggs?" Cyclonus asked, as if it were a normal question.

And maybe it was. Ultra Magnus didn't make a habit of talking to Decepticons. Not like this, anyway, just sitting together and talking while they waited for Cyclonus' self-repair to work enough for them to get off this asteroid.

And it wasn't weird exactly that Cyclonus was thinking of food, not the way he'd bolted down Magnus' emergency energon stores and was still licking at his own lips and claws in the hopes that some more remained there.

Decepticons were hungry. That was normal, even if nothing else about Cyclonus was normal for a Decepticon.

Cyclonus was still looking at Ultra Magnus as though he expected an answer. Magnus played the question back in his processor. "He" would usually be Galvatron, but since Cyclonus was asking about him, he probably meant -- "Rodimus Prime?" Ultra Magnus asked. "Why?"

Magnus could only picture the times Rodimus -- well, Hot Rod, really -- had made earth animal eggs for Daniel. It had been a bit of a mess but enough of them had come out edible for the tiny boy.

"Of course," Cyclonus said. "Who else? You wouldn't…." Cyclonus gave Magnus a sidelong look, the look he got when he seemed to remember that a warrior Magnus might be, he was still an Autobot "-- distribute them to the troops?" Cyclonus sounded extremely doubtful about this idea. "…Give them to the humans?"

Ultra Magnus shivered. He didn't think Cyclonus was referring to eggs laid by earth creatures, or even by the non-sentient fauna of Cybertron or Chaar. "I don't lay eggs." Hadn't in a long time, anyway. That part of his frame had been deactivated and removed early in the Great War.

But then, Cyclonus hadn't lived through the war. As mature as he seemed, Cyclonus was younger than Daniel.

"Oh." Cyclonus looked Ultra Magnus over, searchingly. "Do Autobots just not? Or does your Lord not fertilize you enough?"

"No!" Magnus sputtered. "I -- Rodimus -- he's not a Lord, Cyclonus, stop calling him that." He didn't even know where to start with Cyclonus' other assumptions about his relationship with the Prime. Didn't want to start, since he's sure it would result in getting way more information than he needed about Cyclonus' relationship with Galvatron.

"Your Prime," Cyclonus said, in a tone that suggested he might have stern words with the Prime in question about not fertilizing Ultra Magnus enough, or whatever else it was that Cyclonus believed a proper leader should be doing. "Why don't you lay eggs? I do. Scourge does. Sweep eggs are pretty good, but Galvatron says he likes mine even better," Cyclonus sat up taller and preened a little, clearly proud of producing delicious eggs.

"I --" Magnus was once again at a loss. "I had that turned off, millions of years ago. I can show you the coding if you like, it's not difficult to turn it off temporarily, although you'd need a medic for the surgery to make it permanent."

Cyclonus stared at him, first in horror, than in pity. His optics focused on Magnus' crotch in a way that made Magnus decidedly uncomfortable. "No! I'm sure you had a good reason for allowing that to happen, but never." Cyclonus' thighs pressed together hard enough to send soundwaves even through the asteroid's negligible atmosphere.

"It doesn't interfere with functioning," Magnus said defensively, and felt ridiculous. He might as well tell Cyclonus his spike worked just fine, thank you!

Cyclonus gave him a pitying look and stretched out his wings carefully. "I should be able to get us to the nearest neutral planet now." He backed away from Magnus a few yards and transformed into spacejet mode -- not the large jet mode he used to carry Galvatron, the mode that was about the same as Cyclonus' root mode. "Get on, hold tight, and don't try to open the cockpit." Cyclonus commanded.

"Thank you for the lift," Magnus said as he settled himself lying on top of Cyclonus' body, holding on as firmly as he could.

"A fair exchange for the energon," Cyclonus replied, and then there was nothing but engines and the vastness of space.

*****

"Any intelligence?" Rodimus asked.

Ultra Magnus shook his head. "Nothing useful. Cyclonus was willing to carrying me off the asteroid even after he'd taken my energon, but that kind of honor never lasts long when he's with the others."

Rodimus sighed. "With Galvatron, you mean."

Magnus shrugged. "He's got to save face with the other Decepticons, but yes, Galvatron is always the higher priority where Cyclonus is concerned." He looked down and away, awkwardly.

"Anything else?" Rodimus spoke softly, in that 'asking as a friend, not a Prime' voice he'd been learning to use lately.

Magnus shrugged again, awkward. It wasn't as though Cyclonus would have told him something and expected him to conceal it from Rodimus. "He's been producing eggs regularly. Scourge, too, and maybe also the rest of the Sweeps.

"Eggs?" Rodimus' optics had gone bright and he was leaning closer to Ultra Magnus. "We haven't had any reports of Decepticon hatchlings…." Rodimus looked sad, now, and Ultra Magnus started to regret having brought it up. He knew how Rodimus was about children -- any sort of children.

"Uh, yeah. Galvatron's been eating the eggs, apparently. Well, Cyclonus', Cyclonus mentioned he'd eaten some of Scourges -- you know how hungry the Decepticons are." Magnus shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't equipped for this sort of conversation, neither of them were, but they were the ones who had lived.

Rodimus looked stricken, one hand on his own belly, right where his egg chamber would have been -- would be? Magnus wasn't sure if Hot Rod had had the surgery, and of course Rodimus Prime was another matter -- his optics a wetter shade of blue. "They're eating eggs?"

Magnus reached out an arm awkwardly, halfway between offering a hug and trying to pat the Prime on the shoulder. He really wasn't equipped for this. "Yes. They almost certainly don't have the energy to hatch them anyway, never mind the energon and materials necessary to raise them up to Decepticon warriors." Because that was what they would be, of course. Magnus couldn't forget that any more than Rodimus could avoid picturing inert eggs as cute babies. It was good the Decepticons lacked the resources to reproduce themselves. "I offered Cyclonus the suppresant code."

"Did he take it?" Rodimus stepped forward into Magnus' half-embrace. Magnus tried to pat Rodimus' back in a reassuring manner -- he was never quite sure whether to try to put his hand on the spoiler or under it, or maybe below it? He settled for petting carefully at the bottom of the center shaft.

"No, he refused." Magnus watched carefully for Rodimus' reaction, but it was hard to tell how he took this piece of information. The Prime still seemed distressed. He patted Rodimus' back some more. "I'm not sure if Cyclonus understands what an egg is, really, other than something tasty to give Galvatron."

Rodimus laughed in the bitter way he did these days. He wrapped his arms around Magnus briefly, patted him on the back in return, and then stepped back out of reach, relieving Magnus of the connundrum of where to put his hands. "Maybe not. I can't imagine Unicron -- or any of the 'Cons -- ever gave him the 'your reproductive system and you' talk. Probably only ever got manuals for his weapons."

Magnus made himself chuckle -- it wasn't funny that Cyclonus had been deprived that way, but he knew when Rodimus was trying to lighten the mood.

Suddenly Rodimus asked, "Was he egg-heavy when you saw him?" All the sardonic humor was gone from his voice, the sad yearning back in force. Rodimus' hand had slid back to his belly, and his optics had slid down to look at Magnus' waist.

Magnus shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know, Rodimus. I'm not a medic, and I don't have a lot of experience with egg-heavy mechs."

"Of course, yeah. Just wondering." Rodimus' hand moved away from his belly and his optics moved back up to focus on Magnus' face. "Some of the Paradronians have hatchlings," he said, wistful. "But the parents don't like me being near them. Something about having blown up their planet." He laughed bitterly again.

"You saved them from the Decepticons, Rodimus!" Magnus said, earnestly. In this, at least, he felt he was on firmer ground. "You did what you had to do, they'll realize that and warm up to you soon I'm sure."

Rodimus smiled, sincere but still sad. "Thanks, Magnus. I wish I had your confidence in me." He backed away a bit more until he was leaning on his cluttered desk. "Anything else to report?"

"Not about Cyclonus, but I've got a few things to share about Karkas III."

When the Autobots had cleaned up after Unicron and found themselves in near-undisputed possession of Cybertron, Rodimus Prime had gone to First Aid for a full medical scan.

"I want you to look at my reproductive system," Rodimus said, once they were in a private room together. "Unicron only KNOWS what the Matrix may have done to it."

"Of course," First Aid plugged into his medical port and got to work.

Rodimus watched anxiously.

Rodimus couldn't stop thinking about Cyclonus' eggs. He'd lie alone in his berth at night, hand on his empty belly, thinking about all those eggs. Eggs growing inside Cyclonus, nourished and fertilized by Galvatron. Eggs that would never get to hatch, or grow up.

[masochistikkitty]

I know it's morally wrong to want a stalker that's utterly and completely obsessed with me; but I just can't help the longing of feeling paranoid with every step I take. Always locking my window at night, making sure I take a different way home from work everyday. Only for all my attempts to shake off my stalker fail when a regular customer at the cafe I work at pulls me into his car. His hand on my mouth and a knife to my neck so I couldn't move. He slowly and diligently ties my wrists and legs together before holding a white cloth to my nose. My eyes start to flutter shut with black spots clouding my vision.

When I come to, all I can see are pretty lights and pink, of course it's all blurry and I can't make out what it is but I enjoy the sight anyway. My head lolls back and my eyes eventually adjust and I see fairy lights weaved carefully through wire bars and sheer pink fabric draped over the top. I tilt my head curiously and purse my eyebrows before trying to get up using my arms to prop me up, but they wont move. I look above my head and see handcuffs restraining my arms to the corners of..what looks like... A cage? Why am I in a cage? Why am I handcuffs? And just like that, vague memories of what happened last night, or an hour ago, how long have I been asleep? It's all coming back to me. My eyes start to blur with tears as I hopelessly pull at the restraints, cry's starting to softly fall from my lips.

"oh you're awake." A voice says as I snap my head towards it. Footsteps come close to where I am and I see him. He's smiling.

"Do you like it?" He says while looking around the interior of the cage.

"I made it just for you." I couldn't answer. Who would?

"Sorry about the handcuffs, I know it hurts, but it's just a precaution." A precaution for what?

He walks over to where my feet are and opens the cage. With it being open, I have a clear view of the rest of the room. It appears to be a living room, a nice one at that. There's even a fireplace. I see him pick up what looks like a poker, but it has a design at the end of it. He holds the end of it with the design over the flame. No. No. He's not going to do what I think he's going to do is he? I begin to squirm, my legs kicking out though there's not much I can do.

"You know, I've been watching you for a while." He says while examining the rod, it was a glowy red near the end.

"And I think you're absolutely perfect." He says admiringly while walking towards me.

"But you would be even more perfect if you were mine."

"This is going to hurt."

He grips my thigh and pulls me towards him while pulling off my pants at the same time. He then lifts up my shirt and I wriggle around in a pathetic attempt to get away. He grips my waist and presses the hot end to my skin right above my panties.

A scream lurches from my stomach up to my chest and out of my throat. Tears spring from my eyes and I kick my legs but he's too strong for me.

After what feels like an eternity he pulls it away from my skin and throws it behind him.

"Aww kitten, I'm sorry, but I had to!" He says condescendingly while my body twists and turns, my cries still sounding throughout the room. Tears stream down my face as his hands creep up my bare thighs, his finger tips playing with the hem. He brings his face over mine and kisses my forehead.

"You're mine now and that means that you don't have to worry about anything anymore because I'll take care of you."

At those words, I feel a small sense of relief. This is going to hurt, but it's so good for me. It's exactly what I need.

[lordsofcorbina]

Cross your T’s and Dot your I’s.

Randy and I headed out to get on this current tuna bite that’s happening just outside our shoreline. I could see in the distance Mount Soledad while we were out on the water. The hot bite has been hugging our coast from La Jolla to Oceanside. I saw a pic of a tuna boil taken from shore.😯

Our first stop was near a bit of a crowd but the birds were working hard so we decided to give it a shot. We kept our distance and brailed a healthy

amount of bait to try and stir up some action. We were in 74 degree water so we figured the schools moving around this area were Yellow Fin Tuna.

Reports had them between 20 to 40 pounds.

Soaking a line I go for my lightest rig to hedge my bet on just getting bit. I handled many tuna in the 20 to 30 pound range on my Graphtech Light Bass Stick rated 8 to 12 pound and OG Calcutta 400.

I have a light wire Mutu #4 circle hook tied directly to the mono.

Randy is fishing something a little heavier but he’s using a fluorocarbon leader.

Fishing side by side Randy gets bit and has a fish on. Unfortunately it comes off a short while later.

Well I’m no dummy so I wind in my line cut off my hook and quickly tie in a nice long 20 pound fluorocarbon leader.

I get rigged up and pin on a bait. I have the bait outside the rod tip and about to make a cast and I feel some flat spots along the mono. Sometimes flat spots are just that and if give the line a good stretch they will disappear and hopefully the line integrity is intact.

So I give the line a stretch and it smooths it out but it’s not ideal. I decide to not chance it and peel all the line out of the top of the rod, cut off the dead spots and proceed to tie in a new leader.

I tie in the new leader with a triple surgeon knot instead of the usual double but when I pulled it tight it did not lay down perfectly. So once again I cut off the leader and have to retie.

Three tries, I finally get this right! We tried for a long soak and neither one of us gets a sniff.

So we decide to run up to another spot.

The water is like a lake the only draw back is the lack of any kelp paddies and the water was often dirty to very dirty.

Reports though have shown the tuna have been willing to bite in this dirty water.

So we are cruising along and I see a actual piece of kelp but it’s smaller than a trash can lid. More like the size of a 5 gallon bucket.

Randy says let’s fish it since there’s no other game in town. We actually had to circle back to find the tiny kelp patch. I went pretty heavy brailing a few scoops of bait on this kelp button.

I grab the bass stick, pin on a fresh bait and flip it out towards the kelp. The bait takes off, oh great a lively bait and then the line just surges off the reel. Whoo hoo, I’m bit, I start counting in my head, once I get to about 7 I flip the reel in gear and feel the weight of the fish and he starts smoking my little Calcutta.

Line is disappearing rapidly and before long I’m down to less than a third of my spool.

Finally the fish slows down and I apply some pressure and get him coming my way. I start speed winding to gain back some line. When I’m at about 50% capacity I feel a little relief. I then check my drag thinking it may be to loose to get smoked by a Yellow Fin Tuna like that. Nope feels just about right it’s not overly loose or overly tight for the line.

My confidence is short lived as the fish makes another gnarly surge and dumps all that line and more back off the reel. I mutter, “oh man I’m going to get spooled here”. Randy hears me and says what? You’re getting spooled? I said yeah he’s trying. Randy asks what size line are you fishing? Ummmm 17 pound straight mono 🤷🏻‍♂️

Anyway, three laps around the boat, twice I almost got spooled and finally we end up chasing the fish with the boat to keep the pressure on without adding undo pressure.

Bingo-Bango… it turns into an epic Blue Fin tuna battle.

The fish tried all the Blue Fin tricks, trying to spool me, running directly back at the boat, running straight out along on the surface. While fighting the fish up in the bow, Randy in the stern asks if I needed a gaff yet. Nope I have him at deep color. Seconds later the fish rockets up and starts thrashing on the surface and now I’m yelling for a gaff. WTF the first time I’ve had a tuna do that. Then it drives back down to deep color and we go back into the end game.

Props to Randy for being steady at the helm chasing down the fish.

I also ended up landing a 25 pound YFT on normal gear and lost a nice YFT. That fish chewed through the leader right at the boat.😢 😎