#im honestly surprised by the lack of “sparkbonding assassination” takes

[witchofthesouls]

Are divorces a thing in cybertronian culture? Like, spark bonding is basically marriage but more extreme in the sense that their literal souls are being bound together, but can it be broken? If it is but very rare I’d imagine that their version of divorce is seen as very shocking (possibly even seen as blasphemy to some religious bots) to others.

Because of the variety of relationships on Cybertron, which can be different between city-states and caste, there are several kinds of marriages that are accepted throughout the planet.

Conjunx Endura is the legal process of it. It's mainly based on the Acts of Affirmation and other additional regional concessions.

Because Iacon is the birthplace of Functionism, the city-state requires the pair to register as "Primary" and "Secondary" Conjunxes. By their mandates, it's the party with the higher caste that becomes the Primary Conjunx. If both are from the same caste, then the one with more wealth and/or political acumen.

Polyhex, unlike her sister-cities, mainly relies on legal paperwork to declare their statuses. This is due to their highly unstable terrain and loosely connected towns and villages. While still a passionate and artistic culture, it created a cold, very pragmatic mindset when it comes to relationships. Their courts that involve family matters can be viciously ugly for different reasons.

Legal spouses have the option to split and go separate ways.

Mecha can have multiple Conjunxes.

Bonded by spark marriages are a whole other shebang. While highly romantic with many spiritual and religious connotations, it's a permanent thing until death... with the surviving party following their bondmate soon after.

Despite what the media depicts, a deep connection isn't formed with a single passionate, yet shallow press. That could yield a sparklet but not a solid bond.

It's mainly due to the highly coveted Resonants status. It's where two (or more) sparks are ridiculously compatible with each other to the point the separate sparks immediately latch into a deep connection, overwhelming the respective mecha's wishes.

Bondmates have the unique ability to ping each other's general location. It isn't a specific set of coordinates, but they can get a pull to a direction, no matter the distance and suppression tools.

Highly-tuned and well-established bondmates would have the capability to 'feel' each other's emotional states.

Throughout Cybertron's history, many parties have taken advantage of spark marriages, both for personal and political gain, such as two warring parties reconciling with two high party members spark-bonding.

The most (in)famous pair are Megatronus and Solus. While the most widespread tale is their tragic romance that ended with Megatronus killing Solus, there are tales and myths of them taking more lovers, separate and together.

Because of the highly risky nature and uncomfortable level of raw intimacy, this extreme kind of political marriage usually has witnesses to the initial martial bed. Both to verify the authenticity and to mitigate any potential assassination or murder-suicide during the orns-long bonding sessions. (The closest equivalent would be a secluded month-long honeymoon and consummation ceremony. Traditionally witnessed by a senior priest and medic team to vet it and to use their considerable combined strength if necessary...)

There had been tales of survivors, but that usually included the necessity of another intimate sparkbond to stabilize them.

Vos and Praxian do have records of survivors within triads and trines. Researchers of the city-states have proposed that the trine bonds allowed the backlash to be shared with two others. The immense stress would be painful yet not fatal, provided the two members were alive.

Seekerkin cities have a specific relationship status for successful heat-induced couplings.

Much to Vos, Praxus, and Polyhex's annoyance and bemusement, other city-states reclassify this kind of status as a "marriage" as they gave up trying to figure this out in addition to Seekerkin's convoluted social structures and kinship-ties.

Heat-couplings have protected statuses in regards to sharing medical information, finances, and can define custody between the carrier's and sire(s)' flocks.

An 'annulment' can happen should the sparklet(s) fizzle out before dropping down.