#no one brings up the age thing with bulkhead

[dizzying-faust]

I'm in the minority that dislikes Blitz//bee that isn't related to Bumblebee's age.

[lets-try-some-writing]

What about TFP meeting IDW OP and Megs? I feel like everyone would get whiplash

They would.

Meeting IDW

TFP wasn't quite sure what to expect when it came to meeting IDW. Most were thinking the leaders of the alternate universe would be akin to their own, which they were correct to a degree. Others were prepared to meet either a mad psychopath or leaders far too young for their own good. None save for Optimus expected to see a set of leaders who were both just so... tired.

When Optimus met his IDW counterpart they didn't need to even speak to understand. They were both tired, only pushed on by duty and both weighed down by their sins and weakness. IDW Optimus was exhausted with everything after millions of years of conflict that seemed to only push them further to extinction. TFP Optimus in comparison was more hopeful, largely because he had the touch of Primus and relics of the age of old to aid him. However both were exhausted and wished for rest, both had tried and largely failed to pass the burden on only for it to return. There was no escape, not until their shared duty was done.

This was their reality, and they took solace in the fact that they suffered through it together.

Team Prime looked at their alternate Prime and found him to be akin but oh so very different from their own. He had the same stoicism, but he was damaged in a slightly different way. Where their Prime kept things hidden away behind the Matrix, this Prime showed visible frustration, anger, and confliction. He seemed to not know who he was, what his purpose really was, and what the point of it all happened to be. In short, to the team he was a masterful leader, commander, and soldier... but a damaged mech so worn down by war that seeing their Bumblebee and Smokescreen was akin to watching an actual angel of Primus descend. Such innocence was near unheard of and it was a blessing to IDW Optimus.

Ratchet got along with the alternate Prime just fine, but he only grew more worried for IDW Optimus with every passing moment. The Prime was grim but dutiful, uncaring of himself but oh so attentive to others, and wanting nothing more than to rest but forcing himself to continue on. There was little Ratchet could do for this Prime, but it did help somewhat to show IDW Optimus the hope their universe had in their relics and the Allspark. That seemed to bring the alternate Prime joy.

The Wreckers were largely conflicted when it cane to the alternate Prime. IDW Optimus thought similarly. Bulkhead was not a bot IDW Optimus knew personally and had only heard the designation a grand total of two to three times during his work. The Wheeljack he knew was far different than the one before him and it more often than not left the alternate Prime unsure how to act. Ultra Magnus was similar but not the same to his counterpart, there was something about him to IDW Optimus that set him apart, a spark of hope that seemed to be present in all of the TFP bots. It was something most of IDW Optimus's people lacked after so long of nothing but endless war.

Arcee was quite a different bot from her counterpart. She was still tortured, but she hadn't met the wrath of the council like IDW Optimus's version of her. She was angry, but she had youth and the ability to move past it. She was pained and weighed down by loss, but she had a family to keep her up. It was something IDW Optimus wished for his Arcee, if only to ease her pain.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen were unsure how to act around IDW Optimus. To them he was almost like the logical conclusion of their own Prime if the war dragged on. He was the end that awaited their Optimus should nothing change, and that frightened them. IDW Optimus was wise, strong, and well meaning, but he was not the same. He did not show the same joy, the same life that theirs did. On IDW Optimus's end, he saw the two young bots before him as a strange but wonderful gift. Two little lights amid the darkness of war, young bots who were eager, hopeful, and awaiting a future where their home was restored.

IDW Optimus was strange to the team in a rather unexplainable way. He was their Prime if there was no hope in Primus, and watching that possibility stand before them brought the team a degree of discomfort.

Their reality was built on the truth of mythology and science blending together in every work and action. But IDW Optimus lived in a reality where mythos was a thing of the past and science was a convoluted and painful thing. It was not a world the team wished to live in and pitied the alternate Prime for having to endure.

As for IDW Megatron? His interaction with his TFP counterpart was... poor to say the least. The alternate Megatron had seen the worst of reality, he had committed enough crimes and heresies to beat the many sins of whole worlds. He was tainted, haunted, and had long seen how far he had fallen and taken a step back to rethink his ways. His TFP counterpart was in comparison the embodiment of his darker days when he was still lost in his desire for vengeance. The alternate Megatron saw his counterpart as a lost spark consumed by rage like he was so long ago. As such he saw it as his duty to try and drag TFP Megatron back toward the truth, something that was far more difficult than he would have liked.

His counterpart was intelligent, increadible so and very well spoken. TFP Megatron was far from stupid, but he was lost, and for that reason IDW Megatron tread lightly around his counterpart. Much of his interaction with his counterpart was composed of debate and trying to remain free of conflict. He wanted his alternate self to see all the hurt he had caused, he wanted to help him before it was too late. TFP Megatron's Optimus was just as merciful as IDW's. If he would only repent and work to fix things...

It was a slow and very uphill battle.

TFP Starscream was more than terrified of Megatron's alternate self. The mech was a monster, huge and towering yet somehow soft in his steps and haunted in a way that TFP Megatron was not. He didn't even try to kill the other Megatron, instead hiding behind his own in terror. IDW Megatron for his part found his counterpart's second in command a pitiful thing that was just similar enough to his Starscream to be familiar but odd enough to be strange. He didn't bother trying to focus much on Starscream aside from keeping him out of harms way.

TFP Soundwave looked to the alternate Megatron in confliction. This Megatron was scarred and wore the Autobot badge, yet he fought for the values and freedoms the Decepticons wanted. He was a threat, one that Soundwave would have preferred to eliminate... but he was also a hope. IDW Megatron was living proof that Megatron could get back on the right track and lead them to victory, a true victory. IDW Megatron for his part found the spymaster to be... concerning. He was not like IDW Megatron's Soundwave, he didn't have the same spark of loyalty or the same disposition. All in all, he was someone IDW Megatron tended to avoid.

Knockout and Breakdown were not mecha IDW Megatron was directly familiar with and as such after the initial panic on their parts, he got along with them well enough. He could still be snappy, but he was a welcome relief from his counterpart and upon sharing his numerous frame changes, gained Knockout's interest. It certainly helped that Breakdown being respectful was a welcome change from the constant irritation that was Rodimus.

TFP Shockwave was concerning simply because IDW Megatron had exactly zero sway over him. The scientist saw the alternate Megatron as a fascinating specimen and IDW Megatron wanted nothing to do with him. He had dealt with enough scrap with his own Shockwave to know to leave the mech alone. His Shockwave was bad enough with just science, but this one had access to old magic as well. IDW Megatron had no desire to get involved in that.

When it came to Arachnid, IDW Megatron's first instinct was "Burn it with fire". He hated her on instinct and thus stayed as clear of her as possible. It wasn't his place to kill anyone in the alternate universe he found himself in, but Primus he wanted to punt her into a wall after hearing of some of her war crimes. He wasn't much better but she did it for fun, and that enraged him.

As for the Vehicons? IDW Megatron quickly found himself protective of them. They were clones that didn't ask to be forged and were treated as disposable despite serving such a vital function. With that said IDW Megatron devoted a good chunk of the time he wasn't spending trying to get his alternate self back on the right path with them. They were a good bunch who served because they knew no other path. They reminded him of his fellows in the mines, they deserved better.

[annabelle-creart]

As an answer of this post

And this post

And this post

And this post

Ladies and gentlepeople:

Beautiful💖

And yeah, I give Soundwave a redisigne because I wanted him look more like Heatwave, but I liked too much the Prime disigne to leave it

And of course, Sune is an edgy boy

He needed both his mask and tentacles anskjssk

And now: lore

“The day 3 waves come into the world, the sun will burn everything, the electric storm will replace the bright days and the only sound will be the suffering of the fallen”

A old man with really firmly believings thought the best would be kill them, but instead, they were separated. It was normal to separate twins sparks because they saw them as one and not as a whole, probably that’s why they never get how connected two or more sparks can get to the point of the shared feelings, you know Bulkhead and Boulder could, but Heatwave, Shockwave and Soundwave were a different whole thing

Soundwave since a sparkling was shy, couldn’t get the rest, except cats and animals, all his life he had been in love with animals, an introvert who prefered pass the day reading or petting a pet rather than playing with Heatwave or Shockwave, they were the active ones, but Shockwave and Soundwave were the clever ones

Shockwave was active, sociable, kind and loving, with high hopes and great dreams, always getting in trouble and wondering for the future, he loved reading but he prefered action and experimentation, which wasn't good all the time

And Heatwave was aggresive, weird, a clown with the skin of a soldier, always searching problem and rescuing his brother from their own experiments

But one day they couldn't stand anymore see them together, and with "they" I refer to the people in general, the triplet were about to have Sissi's age and nobody wanted them in any part, Primus knows why

And then Shockwave was called

He could live the life he always wanted, but couldn't see his brothers anymore, he only told Heatwave and he kept his promise to not to tell to Soundwave and of course, to never leave alone the other...

The eones passed but the feeling remained, they were so connected that sometimes they could talk by their minds, thing that they lost with the time, Shockwave was named senator and called Soundwave to help him, but Heatwave was raised in the mines and end up as a rescuer, search him was hard and trying to bring him was harder

This part you know it already, Megatron was called on congress and both Shockwave and Soundwave were there, Heatwave saw it through tv, and while Heatwave felt bretrayed by Megatrons speech, Soundwave and Shockwave were obssesed with it.

Shockwave was seen as a problem, so they replace his head

And nobody

In all Cybertron history

Felt how much it hurted not to have feelings as much as the Wave Triplet

Because it wasn't just not to have feelings, it was a rage, a burn of rage inside their chests, but only Heatwave and Soundwave could sense it, Shockwave never did

You also know this part, the Sigma-17 were into an exploration and get lost in space

And when both Soundwave and Shockwave couldn't feel Heatwave's spark they get so angry they almost destroy and entire autobot army by themselves...

The war was still raging and Megatron killed Shockwave to stop his madness and became an autobot, just before escaping Cybertron with destiny to Earth, Soundwave knew this too late and almost get killed by Megatron too, like Starscream. Whatever, Soundwave got lost only with the twins, Rumble and Frenzy, just kids who needed him, and Ravage the cat and Laserbeak the bird, now his spark wasn't so alone going on Earth... but 30 years later he felt something again...

[And as a fun fact: Heatwave couldn't tell Soundwave and Shockwave about Boulder, but his spark was too noisy for Boulder to not to figured out before, so, yes, in Earth was the first time Boulder and Soundwave met]

[Edit: Soundwave's favorite activity was to make jokes to Heatwave with Shockwave, but they were really bad at it, Heatwave was a better joker than them but they never understand o get the jokes without crying so Heatwave decided to be their joke bottle to protect their feelings... the problem is that Soundwave found a better joke friend now that Shockwave is gone: Kade]

[its-elioo]

Incorrect quotes (RnM fanfic related)

Part 2, Part 3

Rainbow: When I get murdered, can you make sure I become an unsolved case?

Sideswipe: What?

Rainbow: I want to be on Buzzfeed Unsolved.

Sideswipe: Can we go back to the part where you said “when I get murdered”?

-

Sunset: I want to be a caterpillar.

Optimus: Explain?

Sunset: Eat a lot, sleep for a while, wake up beautiful.

Optimus: You are aware that they have a lifespan of two to five weeks, correct?

Sunset: That’s another highlight.

Optimus: Sunset, no—

-

Bumblebee: I’m not mad, I just want to know why you need a fake ID.

Fluttershy: *mumbles*

Bumblebee: What was that?

Fluttershy: …You need to be over 18 at Petco to hold the puppies.

-

Optimus: You are very mature for your age, Sunset.

Sunset: Thanks, it’s the trauma.

-

Rainbow: Sibling relationships are weird.

Rainbow: Like, I’d give Sideswipe my life on a dangerous mission without a second thought but there’s no way in hell that I’d give him a single fry from my McDonald’s meal.

-

Rarity: *hurts herself*

Rarity: SH-oot!

*Knock Out and Sideswipe look at each other in confusion*

Sideswipe: What was that?

Rarity: I don’t swear.

Knock Out: Why not?

Rarity: It’s not ladylike. No well-mannered woman does it.

Rainbow: *walks by in the background and stubs her toe*

Rainbow: FUCK!

Rarity: …most of us anyway.

-

Twilight: Excuse me, who’s in charge here?

Ratchet: Well, usually whoever yells the loudest.

-

Rarity: We can’t kill him!

Knock Out: Not with that attitude, we can’t.

-

Fixit, gesturing to Twilight: Sir, that’s my emotional support human.

-

Pinkie: You call it a near death experience-

Rainbow: We call it a vibe check from God!

Ratchet: *optic twitches*

-

Sunset: When I asked if my day could get any worse it was rhetorical question. NOT A CHALLENGE!

-

Sunset: I stopped a murder today.

Optimus: Good job, Sunset. I’m proud of you. How did you do it?

Sunset, staring seriously and ominously at Optimus: Self-Control.

-

Bulkhead: What are your superpowers again?

Applejack: Super-strength, agility and stamina, yo mamma jokes-

Bulkhead: Yo mamma jokes?

Applejack: Well Bulk, I’m an orphan so they can’t say anything back.

Bulkhead: Kid—

-

Ratchet: How would you rate your pain?

Twilight: Zero stars, would not recommend.

-

Rainbow: Hey, Ratch.

Ratchet: *sighs* Yes?

Rainbow: If you say the words “control alt delete” do you just, like, straight up die?

Ratchet:

Ratchet: Every day I convince myself humans are intelligent life forms and every day I am proven wrong.

-

Sunset: I’m willing to do a lot of things.

Sunset: But admitting to Optimus that I’m cold after he told me to bring a jacket is not one of them.

-

Everyone else: Knock Out, no!

Knock Out: Knock Out, yes!

Rarity: Knock Out, no.

Knock Out: Knock Out, no.

-

Fluttershy: *staring blankly at a wall*

Bumblebee: Fluttershy? What’s wrong?

Fluttershy: Did you know that rap stands for ‘rhyme and poetry’?

Bumblebee:

Bumblebee: *sits down and joins Fluttershy in staring at the wall*

-

Arcee: You’re okay, right? You’re not hurt?

Twilight: No, no, no, I’m fine! Totally fine, no, no, I’m fine.

Arcee: Really? Because you’re repeating your words you look pale and you look like you’re about to topple over.

Twilight: Yeah, you might wanna catch me.

-

Twilight: [holds up a cauliflower in front of Ratchet] What is this?

Ratchet: … a cauliflower?

Twilight: [turns to Pinkie and Smokescreen] Okay, now tell him what you think it is.

Both: Ghost broccoli!

-

Rainbow: I’m ten times funnier than you.

Sideswipe: Ten times zero is still zero.

Rainbow: Well, jokes on you, I can’t do math.

-

Arcee: You’re up early this morning.

Twilight: …

Arcee: You never went to sleep, did you?

-

Rainbow: You’re an attention-seeker.

Sideswipe: What?! I’m the total opposite of an attention-seeker. I’m the best there ever is, I do not- hey, don’t look away when I’m talking here!

-

Knock Out: Do you think I don’t like you? I do. I would kill for you!

Knock Out: Please ask me to kill for you.

Rarity: …First of all, calm down.

[burnwater13]

Peli Motto speaking with Din Djarin near his ship, where it was parked in her repair bay, in Mos Eisley, on Tatooine. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 2, The Passenger. Calendar by DateWorks.

Grogu didn’t really know if Peli Motto was an excellent judge of character or not. She didn’t seem to care even the least little bit that his guardian was a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter. It seemed absurd to Grogu to think that a person like Peli didn’t have at least a couple bounty fobs active, given her razor sharp business practices. Or maybe she blamed Treadwell and the Pit Droids for that? Whatever she did, Grogu was always expecting someone to bring a fob to her and say something about being warm or cold. But she was fearless.

Even when that obnoxious, wannabe bounty hunter, held her at blaster point, Peli still had sharp words for him as well as for Din Djarin when he came back and saved them both. Now she was right back at it convincing them that she knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who would help them for the right price. It sounded like a game show. Or a trick that Grogu’s friend Ian played on some of the more gullible Jedi Knights when they were on Coruscant. 

Given what both Ian and Peli were like, Grogu wouldn’t have been a bit surprised to find out that she was Ian’s long lost sister, or cousin, or aunt, or mother. They were two people who were cut from the same bulkhead. Tough as beskar and twice as useful… for a price. 

Ian would charge people chores and snacks, and sometimes, if the ‘job’ was particularly onerous, he would find a way to get a day off from lessons. Grogu wondered about that, but considering how hard it was for some of the masters to even see him in a room full of younglings, he had no cause to worry about being present or not. The few times he was with Ian on some sort of secret mission, the affected instructor just took it for granted that he/she simply failed to notice him.

He could well imagine that Peli had been the same way when she had been that age. Haggling with vendors over a black melon while she was surreptitiously filling her pockets with cava nuts. If Ian had been with her, Grogu had no doubt that the cart would get knocked over by an ‘unseen’ force and they would have both ‘helped’ that vendor put everything back in place, all the while filling their pockets with whatever thing(s) they valued most. Ian was a sucker for cava nuts and Grogu was certain that Peli would have been able to sweep up all the loose credits. That poor vendor would never know what hit them when the two of them then used those swept up credits to buy things that were too big to just walk away with. 

Knowing that they both had that streak of independence, as Ian had called it, made missing Ian a little easier, because any time Grogu saw Peli, he would immediately think of his friend and feel certain that if anyone could get away from Coruscant with all of the Emperor’s forces chasing them, Ian was that one person. Just the thought of that made Grogu laugh. 

He’d helped Ian leave the Jedi Temple because his friend had a bad feeling about something that day. He’d told Grogu not to worry. He’d be fine. 

“Listen, Kid. Those guys will confuse you for Master Yoda more times than there are planets in this galaxy. That means they’ll be twice as afraid of you as they would be of me. I gotta go now, while the odds are in my favor.”

Grogu remembered nodding his head and being sad. Ian was his best friend and if he was leaving, Grogu didn’t want to stay behind.

“Naw, you gotta stay. Master Beq will know something’s up if we’re both gone. I just need a good head start. No one here will ever let anything bad happen to you. You aren’t just special, you’re unique. Now hand me that blaster that you lifted from Master Drallig. I’ll need where I’m goin’.”

Grogu had handed Ian the blaster and then opened the roof hatch to the arboretum and closed it after Ian was racing across the roof to the  mini-air taxi that Ian had obtained somewhere, somehow. Grogu hadn’t asked because he really never thought he had enough time for the whole story. Much like Peli, Ian was always happy to spin a yarn out if he thought that would impress someone. Grogu was rarely the person that Ian cared to impress. It was usually the other way around.

He remembered going back to their room and sighing. He went over to his sleeping couch and found a flimsy covered with neat printing that laid out exactly how many credits, snacks, and chores Grogu had owed Ian with a note at the bottom of the page that said ‘Paid in Full’. A small set of dice rested in the flimsy. Grogu smiled at them. They were Ian’s favorite possession. Now they were his. He slipped them into his pocket and promised himself that the next time he saw his friend he’d give them back. He was happy that in his own case he was an excellent judge of character. Just like Peli. 

[smokescreenimusprime]

So I’ve seen a lot of fics and posts offhandedly having Smokescreen be an enforcer or Elite Guard again once the war is over and Cybertron is is rebuilt, but I would like to bring this alternative to the table:

Smokescreen becoming an Archivist

Think about it. He spent years in the Archives learning under Alpha Trion himself. He probably knows the Archives better than anyone else at the moment. He’s very experienced when it comes to guarding and handling the Relics. And as Cybertronians start returning to the planet, they don’t need fighters, they need people to fill literally every other job

There’s also the irony of it. After all, Orion Pax was once an Archivist

So what if when they return to Cybertron and start rebuilding Smokescreen is left sort of….. floating. Everyone else has important jobs they’re doing, Magnus is trying to organize everything, Ratchet and Knockout are trying to put together a medical team, Bulkhead is heading the reconstruction efforts, Arcee and Bee are scouting out the structure of the cities-

And Smokescreen doesn’t know what to do.

Maybe for a while he runs messages between people and delivers datapads, but after a server is set up there’s no need for that either and he’s just left drifting again. His only specialty was being a guard, but right now there isn’t anyone important or vulnerable enough for that so he’s just. Stuck

so what if he starts wandering around Iacon’s ruins.

What if he finds himself in the Archives

the whole place is an absolute mess. Entire sections have been knocked over, shattered datapads litter the floor, offices have been ransacked and all datapads of worth have long since been taken. The restricted areas in the back are basically empty and the relics rooms aren’t even there any more, buried under rubble. The walls are stained with age, rust and smoke……

….. but looking at it all, he can remember how it used to be. Most of the walls are decently intact, and surely it wouldn’t hurt to clean up a bit. Alpha Trion would throw a fit if he saw the Archive’s current state, and the least Smokescreen could do was organize all the remaining datapads

But from there what started as a way to fill the free time he had became more and more complete. He would sweep and scrub the floors until they looked new, rebuilt the shelves of datapads, cleaned fixed the datapads that survived-

And the next thing he knew, the Archives looked like they used to. It’s far from perfect…… but it’s familiar. And amongst the datapads left behind, he finds things of use which he shares with everyone else. Old construction techniques, a law books, medical textbooks, all a tad outdated but providing a foundation for them all to build off of instead of just going in blind with only their memories for a guide

the Archives ends up becoming a bit of a social hub for civilians too. It’s one of the few repaired “recreational” buildings, and once the road there is fixed and sturdy it’s popularity only increases. Some offer datapads to add to the Archive’s collection, a few even write datapads.

And Smokescreen is happy

[witchofthesouls]

Following up on that take about TFP Megatron, this is something I’ve wanted to talk about for awhile. When Optimus became amnesiac after the battle with Unicron and went back to Orion Pax, did anyone else notice the strange, tenderness and delicateness of their relationship? Especially with Megatron being so uncharacteristically patient with Orion?

it could be Megatron just manipulating Orion or me reaching as a MegOP shipper, but I think when Orion came back, so did Megatron’s feelings for him.

Megatron hates Optimus prime, but he loves Orion Pax. And I think if he could, he’d get rid of the former and keep the latter.

What’s your take?

I think it can swing one way or the other or even both. Megatronus/D-16 and Orion Pax had forged an alliance among the lower classes and like-minded individuals to bring change to the dying and oppressive state of the Golden Age of Cybertron. 

The Decepticons were dangerous. Not in violent acts, but what they represented. Fundamental and irreversible change to the status quo of Functionism. That mecha should not be corralled and defined by their own functions, determined by their frames. (Which makes me kinda side-eye the advertisements that Megatron enjoys My Little Pony, but that’s a different story.)

When Ratchet recalls the events that led up to the War, he says, "It was here that [Megatronus] begins to reveal his true colors." But we should also take into consideration of Ratchet’s biases and that he’s an unreliable narrator; he describes a young Orion Pax finding out the corruption and inequality through his work in the Iacon Hall of Records and being moved to mentor the miner-turned-gladiator. In the Aligned novels, Orion hailed directly from the Wastelands, outside the safety from the walls of a city-state, the guy didn’t even understand Neocybex or whatever language the city-dwellers used.

I’ve seen takes with Orion being very ignorant by his own high-caste status and was mainly pushed by his own innate goodness and idealism, but I have yet to see takes on Orion’s unique position being from the absolute boonies and snatched up by Alpha Trion. I mean, you’re telling me that a very respectable individual in a very important position adopts a literal feral barbarian man/child and no one makes a comment? I don’t think so!!

Ratchet has his own ingrained prejudices: it’s shown how he speaks about the locals on Earth and how he dismisses Bulkhead not being a scientist as well as how all the Autobots fell apart when their Prime was taken away from them. 

So back to Ratchet’s recall: the Autobots view Megatron as the megamanic that doomed their society, but the Decepticons view him as their liberator from chains.

Megatronus demanding to be named the next Prime is a power move on his part. Not in a way to consolidate absolute power, but it puts the old guard in a really tough position. The massive crowd against them won’t be swayed by pretty words or empty promises, but like Pits, they’re going to validate the uprise with the holiest of relics. Personally, I truly believe that the Senate endorsed Orion to break the revolution and its base. 

I also think that Megatronus and Orion, while on the same team for a better, had played cards too close to their sparks, and believed the other mech to betray the cause. I mean, he wasn’t kidding that Orion would have made a great Decepticon, but there arise so many misunderstandings from this.

Honestly, the whole thing is really damn tragic when it’s broken down.

Megatron is really tsundere when you think about it. For all of his harshness, he does care, deep, deep down.

Why else would he demand sets of partners on missions after MECH got Breakdown? Why else the Vehicons were color-coded after he latched a car off the deck of an air-bound Nemesis? Why else he kept taking back Starscream? 

Optimus-to-Orion brought out some of Megatron’s past before the wretched meeting, but he still manipulates the situation to keep him in the dark: decode the library and how Cybertron became a wasteland.

Megatron is not Megatronus/D-16, just as Optimus is not Orion Pax. They are very two different people shaped by what happened. If anything, it just hammers the tragedy of what happened.

[favesgrave]

since i am so normal i started up an earthspark warrior cats au and then my friends (hi friends @echoblaze5 @benadrylcandlewhack @velvety-vixen @badgerdigsbones @satellitedish38) brainstormed more ideas for it so big thanks to them. anyways here's the stuff under the cut:

okay so i'm still chipping away at actual plot but the current sort of story is that megatron (he's called stoneheart in this au and badger came up with that name so ty badger) led his own clan that was basically the decepticons and went to war with the autobot clan. at a certain point he has a bit of a change of heart and is like "so guys. maybe this fighting isn't worth it"

his warriors are understandably like "dude what the fuck do you mean. we've been fighting for YOU and now you're backing out. traitor" and he ends up getting chased out. optimus (who i havent thought of a name for yet) is like "oh you silly goose. if you want peace then come on over and live with us!!!"

it's. a big adjustment.

he goes from stonestar to stoneheart and literally no one but optimus trusts him because they used to be pretty tight

also this has no big impact on the plot but i thought it'd be cool if autoclan (that is NOT their actual name i am working on it!!!) lived in a cave on a mountain and decepticlan (again not their name) lived on an island in a lake to sort of resemble how things were in g1. you know with the ark in the mountain and the nemesis underwater. yeah you get it

ANYWAAAYSSS. decepticlan's a bit messy after they drove out stoneheart because they didn't really think that far ahead, it all just kind of happened. starscream (who i'm gonna call finchshriek for now) is like "guys i'm the deputy so duh i'm the leader"

back in autoclan barn cats dot and alex join with their apprentice-aged kits robby and mo!!! most of the humans r probably kittypets (suggested by echo) but the maltos are barn cats and they r small enough to lay on fluffy ears

everyone loves fluffy ears

eventually dot and alex have two more kits, twitchkit and thrashkit! because yeah if we can have kits with the prefix "flip" then they can keep their names

stoneheart's been a warrior in autoclan for a while now and optimus is like "hey. hey watch this" and makes him twitchpaw's mentor when the time comes

okay pretty much everyone was talking about this (except me cuz i was drawing) but miko is a hardcore kittypet with a spiked collar and her owners put pink streaks in her fur. she follows bulkhead around a lot and talks his ear off. and we came to the conclusion that bulkhead is also a valid warrior name!!!!

also elita is the deputy of autoclan. i might name her something like rosethorn

twitchpaw and thrashpaw's warrior names r twitchflight and thrashkick

nightshade, jawbreaker, and hashtag also exist. nightshade already has a warrior name so that one was easy. jawbreaker might be called something like boulderjaw (or who knows might just say fuck it and keep jawbreaker) and for hashtag, we settled on the prefix "flash"

jawbreaker's mentor is gonna be grimlock. hashtag's will be rosethorn

i just thought of this while typing but i think the dinobots could all just be a random litter of kits wheeljack found abandoned in the wounds and he'd adopt them

speaking of wheeljack!!! he is missing an ear and has a bobtail because velvet said so and is absolutely correct. that's kinda it for him for now

bumblebee is called beestrike!!! as an apprentice he was friends with breakdown (who i might call blueleap or blueskip cuz he's got a fearless attitude or whatever) and they'd meet up at gatherings and sometimes in secret by sneaking out of their camps. ben was like "bee could be like how graystripe was whenever he saw silverstream and make little cat biscuits" and yeah that's pretty much him. once the war breaks out their friendship becomes strained and even when there's peace, it's gonna be a little awkward at first

i dont know if i'd bring knockout into the au but he was easy to think of. he's decepticlan's medcat and is named scarletshine

this was probably unintelligible but i had to make the post somewhere

[goodlucktai]

tmnt prompts you say….. :3 how about some 2k12 leo and mikey cos i just adore the way u write their dynamic ✨✨

x

Honeycutt isn’t always easy to understand. He’s very enthusiastic and demonstrative, and surprisingly expressive given that the only parts of his face he can emote with are the digital lenses of his eyes, but there are times when his mind works in mysterious ways that baffle even Donatello, who understands their android guardian best. 

Sometimes, like today, Honeycutt watches Leo and his siblings file onto the bridge in the light of artificial morning and he tilts his head and studies them for a long moment without speaking. 

Then he claps his hands together and brightly says something like, “Good morning my friends! I have great news! Our ship needs immediate, serious, time-critical repairs!”

“What?” Leo, Donnie and April blurt at the same time, at the same volume. 

“Doc, that’s not good news,” Casey adds, looking vaguely seasick. His claustrophobia hasn’t exactly gotten better out in the vacuum of empty space. “Are we—do you—we should get you a thesaurus.” 

“April and I just ran a system check two cycles ago and everything was fine,” Donnie says, and he’s already bringing data up on that holo-gauntlet that’s been permanently attached to his arm since the second the Professor gifted it to him. “The bulkhead shields have degraded a little but—”

“Forget all of that,” Honeycutt says, waving his hands through the holographic screen until it fizzes out. Donnie looks extremely offended. “The point is, we’ll have to stop at the nearest repair station. Lucky for us, there’s one only a parsec away! We’ll use the warp drive and be there in no time. And we might as well see the sights while we’re there. Let’s make a day of it! Chop, chop!”

Leo’s siblings scurry to their stations, all but sulky Donnie, who has to be propelled there by the implacable Professor’s deceptively strong noodle arms.

“Where are we going, Professor?” Mikey calls out. He didn’t sleep well the night before, Leo can tell. There’s a shadow of something pressed over him, like the footprint of a bad dream. He didn’t bring any sunshine onto the bridge with him. 

Raphael, sitting in the console beside Mikey, gives him a sidelong look that validates the little wriggling fish of concern swimming around in the back of Leo’s mind. 

Honeycutt’s head twists on the column of his synthetic neck to face Leo’s littlest brother and his eyes smile at Mikey kindly. It’s that kindness more than anything that makes Leo continue to trust him. It reminds him of Splinter, in a way that manages not to be painful.

“We’re going to visit an old friend of mine,” Honeycutt explains cheerfully. “We may as well make the most of our sticky situation, don’t you think? Now off we go!”

They don’t land at a repair station. They land outside of what looks like the gates of a giant theme park, if Leo absolutely had to guess. Honeycutt must have called ahead, because the guards are expecting them, and not in the usual unfortunate way guards tend to expect the fugitoid. They smile and salute Leo’s family in greeting and escort them inside. 

Apparently this place is called the Battle Nexus and it’s amazing. It’s a planet-wide arena made up of all kinds of different levels and terrains, for the purpose of a multi-cultural exchange of battle tactics and training. The master who oversees the whole thing is a wizened warrior referred to as the Daimyo, who turns out to be an old friend of the Professor’s. 

The Daimyo was happy to usher Leo and his siblings into the competition—the kid-friendly version of the competition, anyway. Honeycutt very firmly steered the six of them toward their own age bracket, far, far away from anything even remotely grudge-match-shaped. 

Raph looked a little forlornly at the blood-stained brawling pit they were marched past, but he and Casey both quickly fell in with a group of rowdy aliens around their size. Donnie wasn’t remotely interested in anything until a group of medics on stand-by caught his attention with the tricorders they were holding, and then he was hounding them within an inch of their lives. Leo watched after him anxiously, but the medics seemed reluctantly charmed by his purple-banded brother, and humored his barrage of questions. Mikey was still with Honeycutt and the Daimyo, chatting at the old master like they’d known each other for years, probably securing yet another life-long ally for his family in that easy, off-handed way he always made friends. 

“Leo, come on,” April said, tugging on his arm. Her eyes were sharp and eager, glinting with that competitive edge that shined as brightly as Raph’s did at times. “They’re doing archery over that way, let’s go!”

So—it’s fun. And it only takes Leo most of an hour, if that, to realize that their ship is more than likely just fine, and it was actually very kind of Honeycutt to bring them here. It makes him feel warm and cared-for, like when he was much younger, and the shiny responsibility of leadership was still a distant dream. 

And then a certain sixth sense pings in the back of his mind, drawing his attention from the archery targets and across the meadow to where Donnie looks like he’s one second away from causing a diplomatic incident, his face a thundercloud of pure, distilled rage. He’s shouting something at a group of humanoid aliens standing around in a scattered formation, and his body is tense and still the way it is when he’s literally about to pounce on a Footbot and tear it to pieces with his bare hands. Mikey is standing just behind him, tucked out of sight. 

“Oh, boy,” April says from Leo’s shoulder, and then they shove their bows into the hands of the people closest to them and cross the field at ninja speed. 

“—worth a hundred of you,” they get there in time to hear Donnie bite out. “So you can take your stupid game and shove it right up your—”

“Donatello,” Leo says, stunned more than scolding. Did he and Raph switch bodies somehow? Leo’s not ready to deal with that today. 

But no, Donnie whirls to face him with that particular brand of wounded frustration in his bright red eyes, a look that Leo is familiar with. It’s a look that says ‘why are these people so stupid and why is it my problem?’ and it only ever precedes Donnie losing his absolute shit in a very big way. 

Raph falls in next to Leo, grim-faced and groaning, “Nooo. God, what did they do, Don?”

“We’re not staying here,” Donnie announces in lieu of an actual answer. “We’re leaving.”

“What?” Casey asks blankly. 

His confusion is completely fair, and shared three ways between Leo, April and Raph. The Nexus is amazing and they’d all collectively been having a blast like five minutes ago. Leo glances from Donnie’s face into Mikey’s, hoping he might find a cue there—Donnie and Mikey are inseparable on a good day, like two pieces of a matching set, and Mikey understands him effortlessly—but Mikey’s expression draws him up short. 

He’s not even looking at any of them. He’s looking down, half-hiding behind Donnie’s arm, quiet and impassive in a way that spells hurt. It reminds Leo of those days immediately after Dimension X, when Mikey snuck around the lair like it was full of dangers, when he kept looking at his siblings like he was trying to find cruelty where there wasn’t any. Sometimes Dimension X still creeps up on them like that. It’s never, ever a good sign when it does. 

Alarm bells start going off in Leo’s head. They’ve been there since earlier that morning, since Mikey came up to the bridge and didn’t bring any sunshine with him, but now they’re loud. 

“Dude, we literally just got here,” Raph is saying. He doesn’t sound confrontational, just honestly bewildered, but Donnie’s mouth twists like Raph just tried picking a fight with him. 

“Fine, do what you want,” he snaps. “Have fun with these idiots.”

He grabs Mikey’s hand and starts to march off with him, back in the direction of the ship. Clearly he’s ready to get himself and Mikey the hell out of here, with or without the rest of them. Leo finally kicks himself into action. 

“Hey,” he says, circling around to stand in their way. He puts a hand on each of their shoulders and says, “Talk to me.”

“They’re being mean to him, Leo,” Donnie says, too loud, boiling over. “We’re not staying here.”

It almost doesn’t make sense at first. It wouldn’t be the first time Donnie’s started talking in a foreign language just to trip his brothers up. Leo thinks maybe that’s what’s happening right now, and a glance around at the rest of his siblings only further substantiates the idea, because they all look as baffled as he feels. 

“Mean to who?” April says, brow furrowed. “Mikey?”

“But that’s the dumbest shit I ever heard,” Casey blurts incredulously.

And the thing is, Leo thinks, it really is the dumbest shit he’s ever heard. Mikey is genuinely the most likable person in the universe. The really irritating side of him is a sibling-exclusive, a baby brother perk that these complete strangers would definitely not have had a chance to experience in less than three hours of his company. 

He grew up navigating the tempers and pitfalls of three extreme, explosive personalities, courtesy of his big brothers, so he’s capable of getting along with just about anyone. He can smooth over any uncomfortable, tense situation with a smile. He rolls with the punches. Just being around him is a breath of fresh air. 

So what the fuck?

“What the fuck?” Raph says out loud, hands tightening around the handles of his sai. 

The aliens—juveniles of their species, since they’re in the same age bracket as Leo and his brothers, taller and broader than the turtles, but with a soft, round-eyed quality that they’ve yet to grow out of that gives their youth away—look markedly uncomfortable about this whole thing. They’re shuffling and avoiding direct eye-contact. 

One of them says, “We didn’t mean anything by it. It’s tradition.”

“What, like hazing?” April asks coldly. The atmosphere around her is starting to prickle, like the build-up of energy before a big storm. 

“It’s only because he’s—” The word they use doesn’t translate directly. The universal translator they’re each equipped with does its best, spitting out young/inexperienced/stupid as the closest interpretation, and all of Mikey’s siblings go stiff with fury. 

Mikey isn’t looking at any of them. He’s got that vacant look on his face that he learned to wear after months alone in a hostile alien world, seemingly abandoned by his family, with no one to count on and no rescue coming. He had a bad night, and now he’s having a bad day, and it’s the last thing he deserves. 

Leo can’t afford this. Anything that threatens to draw his siblings away from the fold is a threat to Leo’s entire world, and he’ll neutralize that threat no matter what interplanetary consequences spring up as a result. 

It would be easy. It wouldn’t help a single thing. 

So instead he glances at Donnie, inclining his head an inch to the left. Donnie is nearly blind with anger, but he still trusts Leo—it warms Leo to the very bottom of his soul that the trust wins. He’s reluctant to let go of Mikey’s hand, but he lets it go, and that’s what finally brings Mikey to look up. 

And then Leo pounces. 

Mikey makes a startled yelping noise, driven to the ground by the weight of his eldest brother, but it quickly morphs into laughter as they go rolling shell over shell across the warm grass. It’s like being transported back into the dojo where they learned to practice ninja—muscle-memory, the way Mikey twists out from underneath him and flips over Leo’s head, landing nimbly and then diving into a forward roll to avoid his next swipe and giggling the entire time. 

To them, it’s play, in its purest form. They were learning how to jump and tumble when other babies their age were still mastering the crawl. Mikey comes alive when he’s on the move, more than any other time, and now his blue eyes are brighter than they’ve been all day. 

Leo draws him into a tight kumite bout, and each micro-sequence between the two of them is clean and precise, and each blow would be potentially lethal if it landed. That crowd of kids—the ones who hurt Donatello by hurting Michelangelo—have gone tellingly quiet. Leo splits his attention from Mikey long enough to take in their wide eyes and slack mouths, and thinks, Good. 

He can feel pride and satisfaction radiating from their siblings as he proves to this entire level of the Nexus that his baby brother is every bit the deadly assassin their father taught him to be. He can feel nothing but joy from Mikey as he’s swept up in the familiar motions, the fun, fast-paced back-and-forth.

And then Raph barrels in, and Mikey squeaks in combination terror-excitement. The others aren’t far behind. 

It becomes less about something to prove, and more about the joy of the conversation. The call and response. All of them whirling around each other in a flurry of precious Hamato clan techniques, bright-eyed and dangerous and alive. 

Alive, despite everything. Together. 

Leo doesn’t need any stupid Battle Nexus to tell him he and his siblings are champions. He knows that already. They survived the end of the world, and the end of their world, and they’re still here. 

The Daimyo finds them sprawled on the grass, breathless and vivified and poking fun at each other. The bullies have made themselves scarce, and the thundercloud on Donnie’s face has cleared into blue skies, and Mikey is laying with his head pillowed comfortably on Raph’s outstretched arm, sweet and content and unburdened for now. 

“My, my,” the Daimyo says, warm and impressed, “what a skilled group of warriors you are. I will have to give this planet of yours a visit someday soon if these are the types of people who live there.”

“We’re not typical earthlings,” Leo admits. “And it’s, um—Earth isn’t exactly—”

“Just let us know when you’re ready to swing by,” Mikey pipes up. “We’ll roll out the welcome mat.”

We’ll be there, is what he means, rolling his head to look over at Leo with a smile. We’ll all be there. We’ll do what we came here to do and then we’ll get to go home. 

“Yeah,” Leo says, feeling a little choked up. “Yes. You should see it, Daimyo-dono. It’s definitely worth the trip.”

Honeycutt comes over and settles down on the ground with the rest of them, flopping back in the dirt and starfishing his limbs in solidarity. 

“Ahh, it’s so unfortunate that we were set back a day by those repairs,” the Professor says. “But I’m glad that you children made the best of it! Your spirits give me strength, you know.”

Leo can’t help but smile at him. His whole entire world is clustered around him, bickering and throwing clumps of dirt at each other. Mikey is laughing, his own brand of sunlight putting the twin suns in the sky above them to shame. They’re so far away from where they belong it’s a joke, but somehow, right at this second, it doesn’t feel that way. 

“Thanks,” Leo says. It falls comically short. “Thank you.”

[skylarkking]

I found an old Google doc with TFA OC descriptions/profiles but no actual drawings and I found one that I now want to bring to life.

Infodump under cut

Name: Equinox

Gender: Mech

Sire: Unknown

Carrier: Unknown

Adoptive creator(s): Ultra Magnus

Human Age Equivalent: 18

Conjunx: Longarm/Shockwave

Status: Alive

Earth alt mode: Kawasaki Ninja

Faction: Autobots

Abilities: Can see glimpses of the future and has a 'spidey sense'

About: Equinox is a young autobot with a soft and fairly timid personality. He was found in the ruins of a destroyed autobot town at only a few solar cycles old by Ultra Magnus near the tail end of the war. After realizing that Equinox's creators were no doubt deceased he made the decision to take him in as his own.

As Equinox grew up, he began to develop the uncanny ability to predict things before they happened. For instance, Equinox was able to accurately predict the results of Perceptor's and Wheeljack's experiments before they knew themselves. When Equinox became an adult, he would receive visions of future events. However these visions were often cryptic and too vague for the average bot to decipher.

He would eventually enter the Autobot academy alongside Bumblebee and Bulkhead, both of whom he was somewhat friendly with. However he wouldn't really bond with them and become friends. Instead he would end up becoming attached to Longarm, aka Shockwave.

Shockwave would learn about Equinox's unique gifts and social status throughout his time at the academy and eventually the pair would both go off to become members of the Cybertron Intelligence Division.

At first Shockwave's goal was to manipulate Equinox and use him to infiltrate the Autobots. However, as time went on, Shockwave began to develop feelings for him.

This would lead to a conflict within himself that Equinox actually predicted not long after they first met. Shockwave had no clue how to deal with this. He could eliminate Equinox whenever and wherever he wished, but was that what he wanted?

It would become even more of an internal dilemma when Equinox discovers who Longarm Prime actually was, or rsther what his true form looked like. But much to Shockwave's surprise, Equinox wasn't afraid of him unlike most bots.

Equinox was fascinated by him in a way that made Shockwave even more conflicted. Equinox would often compliment him whenever Shockwave allowed him to see his true form and sometimes would play with his antler like audials.

Shockwave would then face his final dilemma when Equinox found out the whole truth about Shockwave. Instead of fighting Shockwave and trying to bring him in with force, Equinox would surrender to Shockwave.

When Shockwave questioned Equinox as to why he was surrendering himself Equinox simply told him of a vision he had that suggested Shockwave would "do the right thing in the end" and that he "trusts him no matter what."

(Note: Blurr doesn't get the squish and Ultra Magnus would be attacked by a different Decepticon because plot).

Shockwave would take him prisoner along with Arcee and bring both of them to Megatron.

Megatron would question why Shockwave allowed Equinox to live and Shockwave would reasure his master that Equinox's unique gift was too much of an asset to lose.

While Equinox was a prisoner to the Decepticons, he would be mistreated quite a bit by Megatron and the others.

Shockwave would ask why Equinox was doing this and Equinox would eventually admit that he had feelings for him ever since the academy. This revelation would turn the tables for Shockwave's fate.

Shockwave in the end would betray Megatron after Megatron attempted to deactivate Equinox. Shockwave would then grab Equinox and escape with him back to Cybertron.

Equinox then used his status as the son of Ultra Magnus to convince the Autobot High Command to pardon Shockwave, stating that "He was proof that Decepticons are not all monsters."

It would take a lot of convincing from Equinox, but eventually they would agree if Shockwave testified against Megatron and surrender whatever information he had on the Decepticons.

Shockwave, despite being Megatron's most loyal at the time, would do so. His testimony would put Megatron behind bars in the Stockades, marking the end of his connection with the Decepticons.

I really need to give Equinox a physical form now.

[iwozlegit]

B and R?

fandom meme: come at me friend.

Answering

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

|| 🍍• No one has particularly convinced per se on any ships, but just this incredible fandom in itself. It’d have to be a tie between Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime and Ratchet. For starters, my immediate perception of Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus was that they were very stark opposites, like oil and water or the opposing ends of a magnet. I didn’t see any inkling that they could work like that initially. Wheeljack, for the most part, detests not being in control, and Ultra Magnus hinders that for him by being such a prominent figure of authority. It makes sense to me that when Wheeljack was unloading his “commanders don’t like to get their hands dirty” speech to Bulkhead about Optimus, he was subtly relaying his aggravation about Ultra Magnus as well. Maybe some part of his initial aggravation comes from a backwards thought that the two commanders had ‘taken’ his most trusted friend from him during wartime. Obviously this isn’t the case, but I feel Arcee was digging there when she confronted Wheeljack about his ‘strop’. Anyways, I feel this tension that they have is really interesting, and it most certainly changes after their heated run-in with Predaking. From that point, their dynamic shifts. They entertain working together rather than against one another, and Wheeljack appears sympathetic to Ultra Magnus who initially struggles to adjust to his new ailment. They essentially come to accept and respect each other, and that growth, though small, does way too much to me and my shipping hell. Having the no-nonsense, by the book commander relaxing and letting someone else drive for a change. I’m here for it so much honestly.

And then there’s Optimus Prime and Ratchet…ok. I’m going to come clean, like I’m a diehard Megop shipper. They’re literally, for me, intense starcrossed lovers and it’s bittersweet Urgh delicious. But Optiratch, I’ve come to learn is also gorgeous. And the show saw fit to hit us right where it hurts, especially Ratchet’s sorrowful line: “I didn’t return to save a life, only to lose the one I care most about.” They care a tremendous amount about each other, and heck they’ve known each other for ages as well. Look how overjoyed Optimus was to hear Ratchet safe and well when he’d been taken from him them. Look how enraged Ratchet got when Megatron implied the past didn’t matter, or when Optimus was on the verge of death from the cybonic plague. The potential is incredibly evident. I feel though, like how I’m a glutton for angsty unrequited or unfulfilled Megop, I’m also that way about Optiratch. At least for the most part. It’s either the whole Ratchet pines after his leader and oldest friend, but knows Optimus’s uneven emotions surrounding the opposing factions leader and so remains respectfully silent, or the notion that Optimus can’t bring himself to enter into anything with his chief medical officer because he doesn’t want to lose another dear close friend, or (I’ll be less angsty and nice) someone just points out the small things they do for one another are totally what you do for a romantic partner rather than just an ‘old friend.’

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships

My ultimate rarepair at the moment would definitely have to be Wheeljack and Knock Out. Two very different characters from initially two different factions, who end up, in the end, on the same side. They don’t even talk in the show/movie at all! It’s a learning curve I think. My main and probably sole reason for this ship in particular is because of a wip fanfic I have that occupies the post-Predacons Rising world of Transformers: Prime, in which, without saying too much, they acquaint each other? We have Wheeljack, a mech who still not exactly overly fond of being a family man in Team Prime out of years of habit, and Knock Out who is struggling to adjust into ‘Autobot’ life and new big responsibilities after stepping away from all he’s known. A concoction of falling into old habits and entertaining some new ones. They’re not the main characters within the tale but they have an interesting story arc which I’m super excited to share soon :) Because who doesn’t love a guilty pleasure polar opposite rare pair?

[primevein]

The Prime of His Youth: Book II: Quest for Fire: Ch19: Welcome

A femme walked around the corner of the narrow streets, (at least for Cybertronians), and paused. "Windblade?" she asked.

Windblade and Smokescreen looked at her, "Chromia?" Windblade asked.

Chromia walked up to her, "You are honestly the last person I expected to find here."

"Oh?" Smokescreen excitedly asked, "We have a surprise for you." Chromia gave him a harsh but questioning look.

"Their species requires regular power down." Windblade stated. "After their rest and refreshment, it will likely be ready in 5 or 6 microcycles."

"What exactly are you doing here?" Chromia asked.

"Sworn to secrecy." Windblade solemnly stated, "You?"

"Trying to keep this city in one piece." Chromia asked.

"You do know that Cybertron has been restored?" Windblade asked, and Chromia didn't reply, "But of course, you wouldn't care."

"You like living down here?" Smokescreen asked.

"Like?" Chromia harshly asked, "I am the only thing keeping this city togther!"

"Whoa." Smokescreen stated.

"He is young." Windblade stated, "And idealistic. He was also essential to the end of the war."

Chromia looked at him intently, as if she were sizing him up. "You sure?" Chromia asked her old comrad.

"I'm sure." Windblade said with a smile.

"In that case, welcome to New Kalis." Chromia said to him, "We can use good soliders, here."

Smokescreen stood to attention and saluted.

* * *

Chromia stepped up to them, "Are your creatures awake? Ready?"

"He's waiting for you." Smokescreen replied.

* * *

Chromia walked in and the doors closed behind her. Inside she saw a small creature in purple, with femmes surrounding him. Off to the side was a large, green Cybertronian and a small creature that seemed to be of the same type. She looked back forward, with the one creature placed in front of the others, as if he were the leader. "Greetings." Chromia said to him, "I am Chromia, leader of New Kalis."

"Jack, Jack Darby." Jack stated.

"Jackjack Darby?" she asked, causing all of the femmes to snicker, giggle, or force themselves not to.

"Just Jack Darby." Jack stated, "Or Jack."

"Very well, JACK." she affirmed. "And what brings you to New Kalis?"

Jack nervously looked at her without thinking of anything he could say without revealing what they were doing.

"Just passing through." Arcee stated. Chromia looked between the other femmes, but they seemed to aquiesce to the creature and the dark blue femme. She looked over to the side, and they seemed almost disinterested. The creature waved at her. She instinctively returned the wave before looking back to her centre. "I hope you don't mind, but we kind of helped ourselves to this house."

"It was unoccupied, as much of the city is." Chromia replied.

"What happened?" Arcelia genuinely asked.

"Hm?" Chromia asked. "It was created during the Age of Wrath."

"I thought you were from Caminus?!" Miko shouted, and she looked over at her.

"And you are?" Chromia asked.

"Miko." Miko stated, and looked up at Bulkhead, "And the big guy is Bulkhead."

"Good to meet you." Chromia said, "As for your question, I was on Caminus, and left."

"Why?" Miko asked, and she could swear Chromia's eyes nearly crossed.

"That is a long story." Chromia said. She looked at Arcee before looking back at Miko, "Too long if you are just passing through." She turned back to Arcee, "The first wave of residents started with the Age of Wrath. It dimmed during the Golden Age, came up during the Age of Rust, and even more during the Great War."

"Why is it so empty?" Miko asked.

"People come and go." Chromia replied.

"Do you mind if we keep the house?" Miko asked.

"No one would miss it." Chromia stated.

"It's not like we're going to stay." Jack stated.

"Speak for yourself!" Miko shouted.

"You really want to move here?" Jack.

"This place is fantastic!" Miko replied.

"I don't want to be a downer," Bulkhead said to her, "but we're like a cycle away from the Star Bridge."

Miko frowned and didn't say anything.

"Plus we can't exactly protect it." Jack stated, "I kind of get the impression that possession is more than 9/10ths of the law here."

"There is law." Chromia said, "As much as I can maintain. If Windblade is here, I will assume nothing you do here is villainous."

"Just like that?" Bulkhead asked.

"She would not tolerate it." Chromia simply said to him.

"Probably with her sword." Arcee uttered. "You want to join the group hug?" Arcee sarcastically asked, and Chromia looked at them curiously.

"She's joking." Jack said.

Chromia looked down at him, "I take it you are the leader of this group?"

"You can say that." Jack replied.

"And what are you?" Chromia asked.

"Humans." Arcee said, cutting Jack off. "From Earth. Er, Terra. Jack and Miko, along with Raf who didn't come with, were essential to winning the war." She paused for a moment, "Without - any - exaggeration, Jack is one of the reasons Cybertron was reborn."

"And how does he fit into Cybertronian society?"

"Officially, I'm Warrior caste." Jack stated.

Chromia kneeled down to get a better look at him. He looked robust, at least for his tiny size. He was carrying weapons. She heard a noise and looked over to see Miko in her Apex armour. That would certainly explain her, but she looked back to Jack. She looked for a few moments longer, continuing the evaluation.

"Did you want to see?" Arcee asked. "Promise you won't get hurt."

"Injured." Roxana stated.

"You won't get injured." Arcee corrected.

"I will say I am curious." Chromia said. Jack strode forward, drawing his swords with the cadance of his strides. Chromia watched intently as he saluted with his sword. He drew it back, swung it forward. It extended into a whip that seemed to be contained by Energon. The whip wrapped around her legs, and she felt herself be shocked. She lost all control of her body and simply slumped down into what felt like a puddle of herself. The whip was withdrawn, but she had trouble moving at all. It took a few minutes for her to fully recover. She felt like she might be able to stand, and found him, looking up to help her. She offered him her hand, and he helped up to stand, at least as much as he could. "I'm not sure what I expected." she stated, still having trouble focusing. "So?" she said, and looked down at him, before looking up at everyone else, "How long are you planning to stay in New Kalis?"

"Do you have a blacksmith?" Arcee asked.

"That we do." Chromia stated.

"Smokescreen can take Arcelia, and at least one other warrior." Jack said.

"I like this Human." Chromia said, and turned back to the door.

Miko turned to Bulkhead, "You want to explore a forgotten, underground city?"

"Sure?" Bulkhead replied.

* * *

Bulkhead walked through the corridors with Miko on his shoulder. Behind him was Arcelia, with Smokescreen in the back. "Why am I the one in the back."

"So we can protect Arcelia." Bulkhead stated, "Still weird to call her that."

"Yeah, but why am I the one in the back?" Smokescreen asked, "Because we're doing this because?.."

"Because people step aside when Bulkhead comes through." Miko said from Bulkhead's shoulder.

Smokescreen looked at the crowd did seem to part in front of him, not sure of what to say about it.

* * *

Bulkhead stepped to the side and Smokescreen could see the blacksmith. While not tall, he was almost as broad as Bulkhead. He looked at him, and the two's eyes met. "What can I do for you?" he grumbled.

"Hand weapons?" Smokescreen asked.

* * *

Bulkhead lead the way back to the house, with Arcee and Jack standing out front. "So, what did you decide on?" Arcee asked.

"Hand axe." Smokescreen replied, "Simple, one piece, I can use my Energon to repair it. I think she called it a fire axe. The problem is that it will be a cycle before it's completed."

Arcee turned to Jack, "Jack?" she asked.

Jack just shrugged. "Waiting a day..."

"Couple of days." Arcee stated.

"Couple of days," Jack repeated, "to reduce our chance of dying is probably worth it. I'll get the girls to settle in." He looked at each and they nodded their heads.

"I can take over, if you want?" Smokescreen asked Arcee.

"Thanks." Arcee sincerely said.

Arcee followed Jack inside. Smokescreen stood across the doors from Bulkhead, Miko still on his shoulders, "So, like, you guys always do that?"

"Do what?" Bulkhead asked.

"Have her just sit on your shoulder?" Smokescreen asked

"Not ALL the time." Bulkhead replied, "But, you know?.."

* * *

Jack and Arcee walked inside. "Girls?" Jack asked. Sirenia and Roxana turned towards him. Arcelia stopped and turned around to look at him, "We'll be here for a cycle. So, settle in."

"And, if we want to go and explore?" Roxana asked.

"It's a?.." Jack asked.

"A little dangerous." Arcee replied

"I'd honestly rather spend time with..." Roxana said, looking at Jack, "And my sisters."

Windblade walked down the stairs, "Has my counterpart returned?"

"Your counterpart?" Arcee asked.

"You and Jack are paired. Miko and Bulkhead are paired." Windblade said.

"He's outside." Arcee said.

"If you'll excuse me." Windblade said, and walked to the door.

[invaderdoom78]

Concept: Ratchet and Wheeljack adopt one of their human charges and said charge develops a romantic relationship with Dreadwing.

~ It had started out as a joke as Wheeljack and Ratchet were the two bots that you gravitated towards the most. Even though no one was aware of the fact that the two bots were involved with each other, just thinking that Wheeljack’s flirting with the medic was to mess with him, not him meaning the things he said.

~ Wheeljack because he was supportive of anything you were interested in trying and Ratchet because of how much of a mother-hen he was to you and the children, despite his adamant denial of it.

~ Wheeljack also took you out to demolition derbies, on off-roading drives, and on some of the more dangerous things Ratchet wouldn’t let you, or the other children, do; while the medic helped you with school work and made sure that you were properly rested and feed.

~ You even had your own room in the base and on the Jackhammer despite the fact you were of age and already had a shitty apartment, that you were barely able to afford between school costs and the fact that you only had a retail job to support yourself with, that was given up the moment the lease was up.

~ This is also what lead to Ratchet and Wheeljack making the effort to act like a real family unit with you, going out to dinner, going to the movies, taking a day trip somewhere when they could, things like that.

~ You never asked how they got the money, just assuming that Agent Fowler somehow managed to create some kind of a budget for the Autobots to use for the kids.

~ You were also the only one who got to witness Wheeljack and Ratchet being affectionate with each other.

~ It often happened when you and Wheeljack were watching T.V. together, you sitting on his shoulder, and the medic would walk past; the wrecker pulling Ratchet down into his lap to get him to take a break and spend time with the two of you.

~ Despite Ratchets' slight overprotectiveness he would always give into you when you’d ask him to groundbridge you out into the wilderness alone, so you could get a break from the desert and the confinement of the base.

~ That was how you met Dreadwing, out in the middle of nowhere as he wanted to explore the planet he was now living on to learn a bit more about it.

~ The first meeting was incredibly tense, but regardless of Dreadwing knowing that you were with the Autobots, he did not attempt to harm you.

~ Apparently, he couldn’t bring himself to attack someone who wouldn’t be able to defend themselves, even if it was just taking you to the Nemesis.

~ Eventually the two of you started talking to each other.

~ Surprisingly it didn’t have anything to do with the Autobots or Decepticons but rather him expressing his curiosities about Earth.

~ He liked your laugh.

~ Eventually the two of you started meeting up whenever Dreadwing managed to get a few hours to himself.

~ Dreadwing would often carry you in his palm as he walked with you.

~ At first he was reluctant to join you on dates that would take him into areas that were populated with other humans but he eventually relented.

~ He did enjoy that he was able to be more gentlemanly towards you now that you were the same size; opening doors for you, pulling out your chair, things like that.

~ He’d even occasionally send presents to your work, nothing super flashy just things like cards, boxes of candy, a flower.

~ That’s how the Autobots found out you had a boyfriend because normally when a bot, or occasionally June, would come to pick you up from work they’d wait outside for you, but today Bulkhead was picking you up after he’d gotten Miko from detention and she wanted to come in and buy something and one of your co-workers snitched of you. Then Miko told everyone at base.

~ After that Miko was constantly teasing you about how you’d smile at your phone when you messaged Dreadwing, never letting them catch a peek at the screen even though his name was saved as something else in your contacts; even after Wheeljack joined in, joking that he’d take your phone away.

~ You two were able to keep who you were in a relationship with a secret for months, until.

~ Ratchet happened to overhear a phone call between the two of you when he was passing by your room in the base, instantly recognized the Decepticon’s voice.

~ He didn’t confront you about it though, despite knowing that it was Dreadwing, he was going to wait for you to come to him about it. Instead, he chose to confront Dreadwing about it, knowing the Decepticon was civil enough to have a conversation about this without having to worry about being ambushed.

~ The conversation was tense but there was never a hint that it could turn violent on either end.

“You know you can’t keep this up forever, at some point you’re going to have to make the choice between Y/N and the Decepticons. You know just as well as I that they won’t be safe aboard the Nemesis”

“I am... aware of that, and I have been thinking about it”

“You better make sure that you make the right choice then. Wheeljack already has it out for you, he doesn’t need a reason to make you his top priority”

~ With that the two parted ways and Ratchet contemplated what he should do next. He wanted to talk to Wheeljack about it, but he knew that the wrecker wouldn’t listen to him. He’d be out for blood.

~ Eventually he decided to take you out for a drive so he could try and coax you into telling him about your relationship so he could talk to you about his concerns for your safety, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it when he saw you smiling at whatever message Dreadwing had just sent you. He didn’t want to put any more strain on the relationship than he already had.

~ What no one could have predicted, however, was that Deadwing would have to make his decision much sooner than anyone could have guessed.

~ You’d been captured by a group of Eradicons on one of your nature walks. They were holding you in one of those jars, still putting up a fight despite the fact that it was obvious that you wouldn’t be able to get out of the glass tube so the Vehicon gave you a shake, causing you to smack your face against the glass and your nose to start bleeding.

~ Dreadwing had to use all of the strength he had to be able to contain his rage and keep a straight face.

“Lord Megatron, allow me to watch over the prisoner”

~ Megatron didn’t give it any thought at all, allowing the bulky seeker to do as he pleased.

~ Dreadwing didn’t acknowledge your presence until the two of you were alone.

“Are you alright, darling?”

~ Dreadwing helped you out of the container, gently setting you down on his work desk; examining your nose and your now slightly swelling eyes, as best he could with your size difference.

~ Once he was certain the damage to your nose was minimal he rested his fore-helm against yours as he caressed your cheek with the back of his digit.

~ That’s when he made up his mind.

~ He hid you in his subspace before grabbing the Forge of Solus Prime so he could return you to the Autobots as well as give them a peace offering.

~ The entire flight to the coordinates Dreadwing had given to the Autobots was tense, both of you worried that Soundwave would catch on and you’d be ambushed.

~ Thankfully that didn’t happen.

“What the frag did you do to them, you bastard!”

~ When Wheeljack saw you, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead all had to hold him back before anyone was able to have a conversation about what was happening.

~ Once Wheeljack had calmed down enough that it only took Bulkhead keeping guard over him, Dreadwing handed the Forge over to Optimus and you to Ratchet before making his request to switch sides.

~ Despite Wheeljack’s adamantly imploring that Dreadwing shouldn’t be allowed to join the Autobots, Optimus accepted his request.

~ That was when he realized that you’d been continuously glancing over at Dreadwing the entire time and that the bulky seeker kept his optics on you when not addressing anyone.

~ Wheeljack was able to put two and two together and he was pissed and stormed off.

~ The others caught on as well, but Ratchet shut them down before they could even think up questions to ask as he took you to your room so you could rest.

~ It didn’t take nearly as long as everyone had thought it would be before Wheeljack came back, it hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours.

“They aren’t allowed to be alone together!”

~ And that was all he had to say about the situation; not treating you any differently than before, while completely ignoring Dreadwing, even if the two of you were together.

~ Dreadwing respected Wheeljack’s wish, no matter how much Ratchet and Optimus insisted that he didn’t have to when the wrecker wasn’t at the base.

~ Wheeljack didn’t start acknowledging Dreadwing until Ratchet started forcing them all on family outings together.

“Come on, sunshine. I-“

“I don’t want to hear it! He was willing to switch sides for them, the least you can do is try and make an effort”

~ And he did, he hated every minute of it, but he eventually learned to deal with it.

[maka-moved]

ok i don’t usually post any “hot takes” on media or anything like that here but i’m just gonna say it outright: calling bumblebee from tfa a minor or “minor-coded” is ableist as hell. not only is he canonically 1000s of years old, but he has also served in the military (or at the very least went to bootcamp), and yeah i know the autobots suck but i doubt they’re “deploy child soldier” level of  bad.

i rarely see people bring this up whenever discussing bumblebee’s apparent age though, instead they bring up stuff like his “mental age” or his mannerisms, but there’s a MULTITUDE of issues with this. people usually cite bee’s impulsive, indecisive, and quick to excite nature as signs that he’s “mentally a child” while completely ignoring the fact that these traits are commonly seen in adults with ADHD and autism.

while i don’t think it was entirely intentional on the creator’s part, bee DOES seem to exhibit these symptoms, along with others such as emotional outbursts (specifically when he disobeys optimus), trouble focusing/listening to orders, and accidentally coming across as rude or mean when communicating with others. additionally, bee’s experience in boot camp is one that i’m sure many people with adhd and autism can relate to as it’s unfortunately common for neurodivergent people to get ostracized in school or the workplace for not understanding the unspoken “social rules.”

if it hasn’t become clear by now, my point is that referring to a character which is clearly not a child as such JUST because they show these traits is deeply infantilizing towards neurodivergent people. i mean, if bumblebee is a minor, then wouldn’t bulkhead, wasp, and ironhide be minors too? and yet only the most obviously neurodivergent bot is considered a child by the fandom.

and before anyone brings up human error, take a look at this.

if bee was a child before human error, why is it that bulkhead points out that “bumblebee was a kid” like something had been changed? not to mention, i think the biggest thing people tend to look over about human error is that it’s not their actual human forms, it’s an illusion created by soundwave, not really the most credible source imo. also, if human error was actually true to the autobots, then bulkhead would be a football player, which he clearly isn’t (unless there’s some hidden lore about bulkhead’s involvement in cybertronian sports that has never been released to the public, but that’s a stretch).

tl;dr bee isn’t a kid, he’s neurodivergent, you guys are just willfully ignorant.

[erimeows]

A package is left from each of the TFA bots; it's a miniature action figure of themselves! Complete with weapons and just by folding certain parts of the body it can turn into their respective vehicle modes!

How does each bot like their gift?

Optimus Prime: Optimus doesn’t really like his appearance, so on one hand, looking at is is rough, but he does appreciate the thought behind the gift and keeps it tucked away somewhere secure so no harm can come to it.

Prowl: He admires the engineering behind such a complicated figure and fiddles with it when he’s bored but doesn’t show it off or anything. He will tell others about it if such a subject comes up in conversation, though.

Ratchet: When did he get so... old looking? Ratchet kinda laughs at first because oh my God, it really captures how he looks, but that includes capturing just how much he’s aged over the past few years and the feeling is bittersweet. He does appreciate the thought, but he probably just transforms it into vehicle mode and leaves it like that on a shelf.

Bumblebee: COOL! It has his electric blasters and everything! He shows it off to everyone and carries it around anywhere he thinks it’s safe from being damaged... Out of everyone on Team Prime, he’s definitely the most proud of his. 

Bulkhead: He blushes upon receiving it and isn’t sure how to react. A figure of him? Really? That’s so... sweet. He doesn’t transform it because he’s afraid to break it, but it’s usually displayed alongside some of his art pieces around the base.

Jazz: Another earth invention? Neat! Super neat, even. He carries it with him everywhere in a storage compartment to show to his friends and coworkers and gets pretty good at transforming it back and forth.

Sentinel Prime: He’s one of those guys that keeps it in the box because “it’s such a rare piece” and “I’d hate for my likeness to get damaged! Look at it, I’m so beautiful >:D”. It remains locked in a safe at all times because he loves it so much and doesn’t want any harm to come to it.

Ultra Magnus: He has an embarrassing amount of trouble transforming it, so it stays in bot mode, but he does like it. While he plays with it every once in a while between doing tasks to fidget with something, he usually keeps it somewhere in his room like on a nightstand or dresser top. 

Megatron: A figure of him, complete with weapons and an accurate depiction of his vehicle mode? A collector’s item that no one else is allowed to touch, he silently adores it and sticks it on the highest shelf in his room in alt mode. 

Starscream: “What a silly gift... It looks nothing like me!” He grumbles, even though it looks exactly like him and he’s utterly in love with it. He plays with it all the time, polishing it and transforming it back in forth, but only when he’s in private because he doesn’t want anyone to know about it.

Blitzwing: He just has a lot of fun with switching the faceplates back and forth between the bot mode (the figure came with all three! amazing!) and fiddling with it in his spare time. While he does show it off at first as Random, Icy and Hothead are very protective of it and usually don’t want to bring it out in front of others.

Lugnut: “it’s so small!”, literally the thing is the size of one of Lugnut’s digits and it’s so tiny that the only one who can transform it for him is Swindle- sometimes Blackarachnia. But hey, he appreciates the thought behind it and thinks it’s really cool... Can he have one of Megatron, too? Please?

Shockwave: Oh, it has both vehicle modes, his regular bot mode, and his Longarm Prime mode...? Impressive, really. He’s astonished by how well-made it is and transforms it a couple times before screwing with it to add even more features, as he does.

Blackarachnia: It has her previous body and vehicle mode as well as her current body and spider mode, which is bittersweet. She constantly switches between the four but usually only messes with it when she’s alone at night and in thought about something. 

Swindle: He almost considers selling it. “It’s a rare collector’s item, right? Some of the ladies who are so very interested me would be happy to have such a beautiful, accurate figure of me.” But he ends up liking it too much and doesn’t end up selling it. He does keep it locked away and in the box, though.

Lockdown: “Heh... Cute,” is his only response. He doesn’t take it out of box or play with it, but he does take the box out to look at every once in a blue moon, as it’s a very sentimental and sweet gift that gives him a happiness boost on the rare occasion that he needs it.

[bots-and-cons]

K, so I was just bawling my eyes out so kinda angsty but very stereotipical idea. Reader is a dead teen(miko's age), they ask the bots for help to lay down and rest, in the process they become friends, so after various months,a year maybe. They find the missing item, a thing she was attached to in life, put it in the top of her grave in the forest(who is covered with forget-me-not flowers) and she finds also her ghost dog who is waiting for her and she is all like: "Hey pal, do you think mom is waiting for us? She will be mad we got late again" and vanishes while walking away. Headcannons for Optimus, Ratchet and Bulkhead. Pls

I freaking love this, this is such a great request and I love that it makes me kinda sad. I kinda made this so it was in the same au as the grim reaper stuff, so I tagged this with the reaper au tag as well. I’ve been watching Supernatural, so I kinda used the ghost trope from that with this, also only the Optimus one went like you wanted, but I like them anyway

~Bulkhead~

•You just kinda started appearing at the base, first it was just a glimpse in the corner of his optic or slight footsteps echoing behind him when there was no one else around

•You were pretty lost when you first started appearing, you didn’t know where you were or what had happened to you

•When you started to remember you were dead, you started appearing more frequently and one day you gathered the courage to ask Bulk for help

•You appeared before him when he was alone and explained your situation, Bulk was like “What?” and brings you to see the rest of the team, hoping they might have some idea on how to help you

•None of the other bots really know how to react or what to do, so Miko and Bulk start doing some research with the assistance of Raf

•You’re thankful for the help and you disappear somewhere for a while again, before appearing in front of them again

•Miko finds out the whole “being tethered to an object thing” and everyone starts turning the base upside down to find something you could be attached to

•No one finds anything for months, and you just have to adjust to living at the base, because the object is the and you can’t leave

•Eventually it turns out one of your parents worked at the base when it was still used by the military and Miko finds something of yours in one of the lockers, that your parent had kept after you passed

•When Miko shows it to you, you know right away that “this is it” and now it’s just upto them to find out where you’re buried

•You had forged a good relationship with Bulk especially, and he comforted you a lot when you were having some existential crisis about being a ghost, and never being able to move forward

•The rest of the team decided to let you pass on in peace, so Bulk and Miko were the only ones there when they placed the item on your grave

•You disappear with tears in your eyes and waving at them as you walk away from them

~Optimus Prime~

•He started hearing crying and whispers at the base, and he didn't really know what to think of it

•Miko of course was the first one to suggest the base was haunted

•Optimus didn't really take her seriously, but oh boy was he wrong not to

•When you first appear, your presence is pretty unstable, because you've died recently and have no idea what you're doing with the whole ghost thing

•Optimus learns how to sense when you're in the room and stuff like that

•When you first appear and start talking to him he is trying to stay very calm but in his head he's like "dear Primus what is happening?"

•He is tired, he is stressed, and he doesn't even really mind that you're a ghost

•What does bother him, is that you seem to grow more restless with each passing day, you want to be put to rest, you want to see your passed loved ones again and you're tired of feeling so alone

•Optimus does his best to help you find what you're tethered to and when he eventually manages that

•When you tell him where you're buried, he goes there, and places the stuffed dog toy on the grave

•A ghost dog appears, startling him a bit when it woofs at you and you pet it

•”Mom is gonna be mad at us for being so late again, huh?”

•You disappear with a wave and a thank you

•Optimus feels oddly relieved and kinda sad that you're gone, but in the end he is happy you've moved on

~Ratchet~

•Ratchet thought he was finally losing the last of his neural network, because he was hearing and seeing things

•But it ended up being you, a ghost, which didn’t really make him feel any more sane

•When you appear on his shoulder or hand, he almost falls on his aft because you surprised him pretty badly

•He asks Raf if humans have the ability to just appear and disappear like that, even though he already knows they don’t

•When you start talking as a disembodied voice, that’s also pretty freaky, but that’s just because you don’t know how to make yourself appear for long times yet

•But when you learn how to and you’re able to properly communicate, you tell him what’s going on

•You tell him there is something in the base that’s keeping you there, even though you don’t know what it is or where it is

•Ratchet helps you find the item and brings it to your burial site

•You appear again and there is like this deep sigh, but it’s not coming from you, it’s more like in the air around you

•There is this calm feeling that comes over Ratchet as well when you disappear into a mist

•You’re crying and a faint “thank you” hangs in the air after you’re gone