#Uses for an optical isolator

[soon-palestine]

Hostages tortured to death. Parents executed in front of their children. Doctors beaten. Babies murdered. Sexual assault weaponised. No, not Hamas crimes. This is part of an ever-growing list of documented atrocities committed by Israel in the five months since 7 October – quite separate from the carpet bombing of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and a famine induced by Israel’s obstruction of aid. And yet while the western establishment media has been chock full of the most lurid allegations of savagery directed against Hamas, sometimes with little or no supporting evidence, Israeli atrocities are excused or quickly forgotten. Accusations against Hamas are endlessly reheated to paint a picture of a supremely dangerous and bestial militant group, in turn rationalising the slaughter and starvation of Gaza’s population to “eradicate” it as a terrorist organisation. But equally barbarous atrocities committed by Israel – not in the heat of battle, but in cold blood – are treated as unfortunate, isolated incidents that cannot be connected, that paint no picture, that reveal nothing of import about the military that carried them out. If Hamas’ crimes were so savage and sadistic they still need to be reported months after they took place, why does the establishment media never feel the need to express equal horror and indignation at equivalent or worse acts of cruelty and sadism being inflicted by Israel on Gaza – not five months ago, but right now? Israel's torture of doctors, its sexual assaults of Palestinian women, it's leaving premature babies to die after its forces stormed a hospital. Where is the outrage? This is part of a pattern of behaviour by the western media that leads to only one possible deduction: Israel’s five-month-long attack on Gaza is not being reported. Rather, it is being selectively narrated – and for the most obscene of purposes. Through consistent and glaring failures in their coverage, establishment media – including supposedly liberal outlets, from the BBC and CNN to the Guardian and New York Times – have smoothed the way for Israel to carry out mass slaughter in Gaza, what the World Court has assessed as plausibly a genocide. The role of the media has not been to keep us, their audiences, informed about one of the greatest crimes in living memory. It has been to buy time for US President Joe Biden to keep arming his most useful of client states in the oil-rich Middle East, and to do so without damaging his prospects for re-election in November’s US presidential vote. If Russian President Vladimir Putin was a madman and a barbarous war criminal for invading Ukraine, as every western media outlet agrees, what does that make Israeli officials, when every one of them supports far worse atrocities in Gaza, directed overwhelmingly at civilians? And more to the point, what does that make Biden and the US political class for materially backing Israel to the hilt: sending bombs, vetoing demands for a ceasefire at the United Nations, and freezing desperately needed aid? Worrying about the optics, the president expresses his discomfort, but he carries on helping Israel regardless. While western politicians and commentators worry about some imaginary existential threat those brief events of five months ago pose to the nuclear-armed state of Israel, Israel is quite literally wiping Gaza off the map day by day, quite undisturbed.

[keferon]

Part 4 of Drift/Deadlock and Hot Rods adventure in the mecha au!

Here comes the Sun do do do do- here comes the Sun at Mach five.

———————————————————————

Deadlock needed to kill something. Badly.

He’d kept it together through Ratchets confession. And he kept a relaxed mischievous banter going from the Hangar all the way to Ratchets makeshift clinic. When they finally arrived in Dead En-

The refugee camp. It was called a refugee camp and nothing else.

Deadlock almost transformed in the fragging middle of a refugee camp.

The memory snuck up on him okay?

Ever since he cracked open that one, tiny, memory from before he was Deadlock, pieces of Drift kept floating to the surface.

He gave Ratchet a quick goodbye, saying he needed something to eat. And sped off before the medic could question him.

He needed violence and isolation. Needed to reset his whole damn processor and banging his helm against a hard-organic-stick-thing? Whatever the fuck. Frag? Ugh. It wasn’t working.

He was shaky, couldn’t focus. His chassis felt like it was put inside a vise and someone who hated him had control of the handle.

Ratchet had been a breath of fresh air when Deadlock hadn’t even known he was buried alive. And since then the medic had been stubbornly digging him the rest of the way out.

It. Just felt good.

Being cared for. Being able to relax around someone. And knowing with absolute certainty it wasn’t just an act.

He got used to it. Comfortable with a certain level of vulnerability. Then Ratchet brought in Hot Rod.

If Ratchet was a breeze that slipped inside Deadlocks mental fortress, then Hot Rod was a Fragging bunker busting missile. None of it felt like he deserved it.

Ratchet laid out his spark for judgement. Because Ratchet, amazing and wonderful and impossible Ratchet, didn’t want Deadlock to be stuck with someone like him.

Something shitty inside him whispered, “What if Ratchet doesn’t want to be stuck with someone like him?”

He ignored it. Pushed it down. He didn’t leak coolant over slag like that. He didn’t need people like Ratchet or Hot Rod in his life. He just really, really wanted them in his life. For completely selfish Decepticon-y reasons.

You’d die for them you know.

Shut up.

Deadlock’s processor wouldn’t stop spinning.

He felt exposed.

He felt like slag.

He felt like Drift.

So Deadlock set out to do the most Deadlock thing he could think of.

———————————————————————

Deadlock fucked up.

Deadlock fucked up very badly.

Snow was getting caught in his optics, melting on contact into a slush that made it that much harder to see.

The fragging swarm of quintesson scouts surrounding him were not having that same problem.

They moved in a pack. Smaller and smarter than the standard issue quints that normally devastated the planet, these things unfortunately had a tiny sense of self preservation which made mowing them down that much more difficult.

Deadlock was forced to constantly turn on his peds to avoid the majority of the quints that kept going after his back. There wasn’t a moment he wasn’t beating them off with the stock of his rifle. He couldn’t switch to any close range weapons because if he stopped fighting them off for even a second, the quints would rush him all at once, forcing him to continue.

Couldn’t stop moving for the same reason.

They kept trying to get behind him. Snapping barbed tendrils at the backs of his knees, the gaps of his armor. Trying to force him down.

If I fall I’m dead.

Deadlocks vents were screaming. A brave little fragger went for his face, Deadlock swung his rifle like a bat.

Distraction.

Shooting pain went through the back of his left knee joint. Something with barbs was forcing it apart. Something tore.

Deadlock immediately brought down the barrel through an eye socket and pulled the trigger. Didn’t have time to register if the quint was dead before another one came at him from the opposite side. His peds dragged furrows through the earth and snow. Spinning. He had to keep spinning.

He was slowing.

If I fall I’m dead.

The quints redoubled their efforts to get behind him. More lashes at his back. Another quint darting the other direction. Didn’t even attack. But Deadlock wasn’t ready for the feint and swung at empty air.

The pack leapt at his back as one.

I’m going to die.

Deadlock wedged his rifle between him and the ground. The quintessons tore into his back but the weight was too much to throw off without help.

I’m not gonna see them again.

The rifle dug into his pauldron.

I don’t want to die.

A tendril wrapped around his neck. He clawed at it.

I don’t want to die like this.

One of them was dragging a ped backwards. Forcing his weight onto his injured knee.

I don’t want to die alone.

Drift screamed.

For a moment, from the corner of his blurry optics, he saw a light growing brighter and brighter.

“Huh”, Drift thought deliriously. “I always figured the last light you see before death would appear in front of you.”

IMPACT against the mob at his back sent Drift and the quintesson scouts scattering across the ground.

He fell.

He wasn’t dead.

Deadlock scrambled into an upright kneel, ignoring the lightning like pain shooting up his knee.

Leaning on his rifle, Deadlock saw another mech. Orange and gold with propane blue lights, he had multiple quints trapped in a bear hug. What hit him the hardest was an EM field overflowing with wild, unrestrained joy.

“HOT ROD?!?”

The mecha pilot only got about half the squirmy, bite-y little scrappers in the hold. The other half were quickly shaking off probable Roddy-induced concussions and began leaping at the nearest, newest prone target.

Hot Rod waved.

“Hey dude! Holy shit, that gun looks awesome!” Deadlock looked on in disbelief as more quintessons piled onto Hot Rod.

“What are you doing?! Rod get up!” Deadlock lurched to his feet, his last few thoughts repeated like a skipping track.

I was going to die. I was going to die. Hot Rod is going to die.

The cybertronian rushed towards the mecha. Hot Rod released the remaining quints who quickly turned to join the crushing mass subsuming him.

Hot Rod raised a hand, “Stop! Stop! Don’t get closer!”

Deadlock stopped just short of where the quints would turn on him. “Are you insane?! I’m trying to help you!”

“Just trust me!” Half of Hot Rod’s helm was covered in blackish tendrils. “And then help me in about five seconds!” Orange and gold disappeared under the writhing mass, the light snuffed out before Deadlocks optics.

He finally subspaced his rifle, switching to duel short range handguns that were both messy and loud. He counted five, fucking human seconds.

Something happened to the mass. The squirming suddenly stopped, and in the gaps of the knots surrounding Hot Rod, Deadlock saw something start to glow.

In the next instance, the quintessons exploded off of the mecha. Partially from the act of fleeing, entirely because Hot Rod was completely engulfed in flames.

“WOO! Now the party can get started!” Hot Rod wasted no time in engaging duel flamethrowers and began chasing after the remaining quints with manic glee.

Deadlock stopped questioning shit and started shooting with a vengeance.

Soon enough, the field around them was littered with the quintesson scouts burned and shredded remains.

Deadlocks vents were finally kicking down from maximum and he finally managed to wipe the stupid slagging slush out of his optics.

For the moment his eyes were offline, Deadlock felt a spike of happy that almost bowled him over. A half second before Hot Rod physically bowled him over.

Deadlock’s overtaxed fight or flight systems just gave the fuck up and let the tackle happen.

Hot Rod had him in a tight enough embrace he wasn’t sure he could have gotten away anyways.

“Holy shit I thought you were going to die.” Hot Rod crushed him to his chassis. The twin waves of Worry and Relief were doing things to his processor again. Deadlock (Drift?) was still feeling the aftershocks of it all. Memories skipped again. I’m going to die.

Dea-Dri- he wrapped his shaking arms around Hot Rod. Later, he could just say his knee gave out. Everything was spinning. Wait. No. Hot Rod picked him up and was spinning with him.

“You’re so lil now!” Hot Rod was ecstatic.

Deadlock was back. “Put me down. Gently.”

Hot Rod acquiesced, but seeing Deadlock nearly fall on his own, took the liberty of slinging one of his arms over his shoulders.

“M’kay. You look like shit. Need help walking back to Ratchets? Or can you drive?”

Deadlocks knee and entire back ached, but it wasn’t so debilitating once he’s had a chance to process it for a click.

“Uh, I think I’ll be okay to drive once I get to a road.” Hot Rod pulled him a little more securely into the supporting hold and started walking in the direction of the nearest road.

“Man, that’s still so cool you can do that. I wish I could turn into a car.”

Deadlock snorted, “Oh I’m sure if you keep practicing you’ll figure it out. Try stretching.”

Hot Rod laughed. It was so weird to think there was just a little guy in there. Sitting in like, a fancy cup holder. He sounded like the real thing. Moved like it too. If Deadlock hadn’t met Hot Rod the human first, the uncanny valley would have tipped him off something was wrong, but teeny tiny guy in a big person-puppet would not be his first guess.

Hot Rod stopped short, snapping his helm toward Deadlock.

“Wait. Do you ever drop off Ratchet at the shatterdome?”

Deadlock rolled his optics at the third near spark attack Hot Rod had given him that day.

“Yeeeah?”

Excitement started bubbling over.

“YOU’RE THE MOB BOYFRIEND?!” Hot Rod was stomping his peds while scream-laughing, probably because he couldn’t go for a run without dropping Deadlock.

“Dude! Dude dude dude. Pharma haaates you!”

Well that put Deadlock in a better mood. Albeit, only due to a “misunderstanding”.

“S’not like that. I just give him a lift sometimes. Make sure he doesn’t forget his lunch. Or to take care of himself. We’re not, you know.” Deadlock was pointedly looking the other direction.

Hot Rods cackled at the confirmation of the rumor, and his field steadily shifted towards mischief.

“Oooh Ratchet!” Hot Rod had begun speaking in a falsetto voice. “I love you sooo much! I’m from space but my favorite stars are the ones twinkling in your eyes! I wanna drive you to every beautiful place on this planet and when we finally come home we can watch Golden Girls while you pet my big bald metal head!”

“I’m going to punt you into a fragging Sun.”

Hot Rod laughed harder. He started making some weird wheezing noise that Deadlock hoped meant the imaginary strangling he was doing was working.

“THE UNICRON DAMNED SUN.”

Deadlock’s threatening was severely undercut by the fact that he was laughing now as well. They’d just about made it to the edge of the forest when Hot Rod asked a question that made Deadlock freeze.

“How’d you piss off so many scouts at once anyways? They’re normally way too spread out to all be grouped together like that.”

There were only two times when a pack of quintesson scouts were all gathered in the same place. When they first get dropped off, and when they gather to get picked back up.

Deadlock unhooked his arm from Hot Rod, turning behind them.

The change in air pressure made his finales tingle. Between the snow and the darkness, it was almost impossible to spot with the untrained optic. The snow had stopped falling. It was being blocked.

“Oooh shit.” Hot Rod checked the fuel levels on his flame throwers, glancing between those and the telltale green bio lights of the fuck off massive quintesson descending like the lethargic offspring of a meteor and a shark.

Deadlock brought out two of his heaviest duty guns. And then a third he handed handle first to Hot Rod. Ratchet had only warned him against encouraging Hot Rod’s stupid ideas.

Hot Rod was now looking rapidly between three points of interest.

“Wha-?”

Deadlock gave Hot Rod a gun.

“Do not tell Ratchet.”

Hot Rod held up the side arm. Focus zeroed in. Pretty nasty piece that looked more intimidating than it was. Slagged range but it packed enough of a punch to be worth keeping. Covered in spikes and blades and heavy enough to act as a crude but very nasty club, it was also one of the most over the top looking things Deadlock owned.

Hot Rod’s free hand started flapping faster and faster. His peds similarly bounced rapidly in place, until Deadlock was certain he was about to combust. Hot Rod was making A noise. One that was steadily rising in both pitch and volume. His field going supernova.

The quintesson broke through the clouds, maw open, carving up the earth before them with the bottom of its jaw. A cliffside of teeth was closing in at speed.

Hot Rod screamed.

And Deadlock followed suit.

Sprinting towards death, guns blazing and voices raised in preemptive victory, Deadlock and maybe also Drift, had a suspicion the he and Hot Rod were friends in every universe.

Much to the terror of everyone else.

———————————————————————

And that’s the soft finale to this tale!

Over the course of writing this, the story kept getting longer, but the two scenes it started with were “Hot Rod Meets Deadlock” and “Hot Rod Saves Deadlock” and then more ideas kept popping in between those two scenes.

There is more I plan on writing for these dipshits as well as Jazz and Prowl now but we’ll see what comes first.

I just wanted to say as well that @keferon you are a very talented writer and you’re the reason I was brave enough to share my own stuff. You fit so many little details into your work that just hits like a hammer down the line.

-SSTP

THE SWEET SWEET COMFORT YESSS THE SHENANIGANS!! ABSOLUTELY. Y E S. PL E A S E fklgjgidowjehrkrndhdof

Oh this is amazing. The dynamic you give them. The enERGY. It's like a candy for my soul I love it so so much ogkfhdgd I'm so happy you decided to share your writing! It's filled with joy and and I-dont-fucking-know purified enthusiasm?? I can't remember the right words rn but hopefully you get what I mean haha

[sightseertrespasser]

Odds of Survival Part 5

Customer Service Prowl.

Credit to @keferon for creating the tf mecha AU!

———————————————————————

The door behind the tactician hissed shut, isolating him from the outside world.

Prowl had a short walk, 11.2 clicks, to the communications terminal. He took exactly as long as was necessary. Not a click sooner.

Injury warning messages were manually silenced. He’d neglected his own self repair for lower priority tasks before. This was no different.

Shutting Tacnet off from working on the Jazz Mystery was a greater struggle. It’d been so long since Prowl had gotten to work through a puzzle like this, it had him booting up long dormant scripts he hadn’t used since working as a detective. The mental stretching warmed him up. It felt good. But it wasn’t what was currently required of him. He shut off that branch of his processor too.

Tactical estimates only.

For now.

Like packing up his room, Prowl “got into uniform”.

Optic hue shifted to within the parameters of the socially accepted spectrum.

Doorwings lifted high and almost pressed together, neither spread out in intimidation nor lowered in submission.

Helm tiled forward 24 degrees to cast the maximum level of shadow over his features while not obscuring vision.

Prowl reached the terminal like a silent storm.

He nodded the minimum angle required to be interpreted as bowing for the manifestation of War resolving on the screen.

“Lord Megatron.”

He glared from beneath his chevron, pricks of light in a darkened room.

“What are your demands?”

———————————

The course of action Megatron required tactical support for was frankly amateur. The solution incredibly simple.

Sentinel Prime had once more prodded the leader of the revolution into a vengeful fury, so now Megatron wanted to, of course, retaliate violently.

The correct course of action was to not engage.

It was clearly a trap designed to whittle away their limited resources, which would have been idiotic even if the Quintessons were not a factor in the equation. Since they were however, it lowered Prowls opinion of both leaders even further that they’d even considered reigniting the civil war at a time like this.

No, what truly challenged Prowls strategic prowess wasn’t the request itself, but how to tell Megatron “That is an idiotic idea and how dare you expect me to entertain it.”

The trick, after much trial and error, was to not tell him at all.

“There are 24 optimal targets for a retaliatory attack Lord Megatron. 8 of which would yield material gain if taken and 3 of which would yield additional territory.”

All three of the territorial land grabs overlapped with the material gains category. However, when phrased correctly, it both implied even more options for Megatron to pick through and forced him to choose from plans Prowl had decided in advance.

Megatron gave the illusion of consideration.

He selected the land grab options, for the obvious purpose of irking the standing Prime. It took one to know one and megalomaniacs despised having their property made smaller. Stolen goods were numbers on a page. A map was a picture of what was lost.

“Very well. For the most expedient retaliatory strike, the mining depot on ES 9-B33 will be ideal for your conquering.”

Prowl had the mining depot mission lined up for close to a vorn. It was on the edge of Cybertronian territory, minimally guarded and would provide the Decepticons with a cache of ever needed raw materials. And while it was a great boon for their small faction, to the sprawling colonial power of Cybertron, it was hardly worth notice.

Which meant Sentinel and the Functionalist government shouldn’t waste resources on restarting the Civil war (66%).

Megatron, satisfied in his ignorance, ordered Prowl to draw up the assault plans immediately.

Prowl was sorely tempted to tell the deception to “do it himself” and not just to get him out of the picture for a time.

It was a very rare thing for Tacnet to come up with 100% certainty. However, Prowl could say, with terrible absolute certainty, that nothing short of a true Prime, or maybe an exploding star, could take Megatron in a fight.

The mech had forced Prowl to reset his parameters of what a cybertronian could physically survive no less than 13 times. At least 5 of those being assassination attempts from Starscream, whose preferred method of execution was “beyond all reasonable restraint.”

Until further notice, Megatron was an immovable piece of the board that required skillful circumvention.

“The plan will be drafted in 4 breems Lord Megatron.” Prowl dipped his helm and did not break eye contact until the screen went dark.

Prowl connected to the communications system, pinging Soundwave for the most recent updates on ES 9-B33, layering the new information over his original outline.

Once received, it required only a fractional amount of processing power to run through which decepticons were available for action, filter out those not suited for the job and sort the minutiae of coordinating supply ships to reroute to arrive at the depot as the assault team would be wrapping up.

Will softened by boredom, temptation won out and Prowl turned the bulk his processing power to Jazz.

Details laid out plainly, it painted a concerning picture.

Jazz was a highly skilled combatant, he solely exists to kill Quintessons by his own admission.

And he loves music.

Jazz speaks a language neither Prowl nor Bluestreak have ever encountered, Jazz himself having never interacted with Common, let alone standard Cybertronian.

Jazz was exceptionally sociable, even going as far as to try and play card games with hostile organics. Yet even pressed chassis to chassis, not once did Prowl detect an EM field.

And he’s a shameless flirt.

Jazz had many unusual physical attributes, such as abnormal ranges of motion, multi jointed legs, and in spite of all his injuries, Prowl hadn’t seen so much as a drop of energon.

Jazz possessed a disturbingly high pain tolerance, and was at best accustomed to substandard medical treatment, if not outright abuse.

And he’s never felt a kind touch before.

When Bluestreak had asked about him, Prowl had told his brother that Jazz was an alien mechanical lifeform and to not harass him unnecessarily. Between his physical bizarreness and lack of common knowledge among cybertronians, it was a natural conclusion.

But something hadn’t been quite right ever since Prowl had rescued the mech. There was this nagging inconsistency with Jazz’s behavior.

He was very curious about Prowl, yet seemed far more in awe of the other alien life forms and ships they’d been traveling with. There was also the immediate (and somewhat overwhelming) familiarity with which Jazz conducted himself around Prowl.

It was almost as if…

Jazz doesn’t consider Prowl to be alien (88%).

If he thinks Prowl is the same species as him, then would that mean Jazz doesn’t realize he’s the alien?

Unless.

An alternate, unpleasant theory began to weave.

Unless Jazz isn’t an alien at all.

Prowl finished the assault plan and sent it with a harsh hand. Re-opening his comms to the backlog of messages from Bluestreak, he scrolled back to something his brother had said when he’d been repairing Jazz’s visor.

BLUESTREAK: [WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF.]

Too far.

PROWL: [Please do not comment aloud.]

BLUESTREAK: [Is he really fully in recharge? Just like that?]

PROWL: [No. Jazz is still conscious. He’s not completely limp either just… very sedated.]

BLUESTREAK: [Just from holding his face? C’mon Prowl, that’s weird. This is weird. You found a weird, weird mech who definitely has a thing for you.]

PROWL: [He does not have a “thing” for me.]

BLUESTREAK: [Oh yeah? What are you getting from his EM field then?]

PROWL: [Nothing. He doesn’t have an EM field Bluestreak. Jazz is an alien and likely doesn’t have all the same traits as a cybertronian.]

BLUESTREAK: [Are you sure? I mean, the anesthetic worked fine. And he looks pretty cybertronian to me.]

BLUESTREAK: [Maybe he has field atrophy? You had that once. I couldn’t feel you even if I was touching you.]

That was when Prowl had been apart of the decepticon High Command. He’d spent multiple Vorn isolating himself, doing nothing but churning through battle plans and inventory logs and reconnaissance reports with little rest. Then there was the first time he crashed.

A minor setback at first. Almost immediately Prowl went back to work. Over and over again, he’d bypass previous limitations of the decepticon military. With each success, the bar was placed a little higher, with is successive crash, the recovery took a little longer.

There were always improvements to be made. He’d long moved on from the most needed structural changes to continuously finer tuned modifications to how the entire faction operated. He sharpened Megatrons rebellion scrap into keen edged blades.

Prowl did anything for the edge.

Even down to the smallest percent.

Even down to the smallest decimal point of a percent.

At Prowls worse, when he had just started to tip over to spending the majority (51%) of his waking time in recovery from continuous Crashes, he had come up with a strategy that would give the decepticons a 0.04% advantage in the long run against the Quintessons.

Repairing critically damaged ships was not cost effective. If a ship’s structural integrity fell beneath 14%, Prowl had instituted a script to cause the ship to self destruct. Therefore causing maximum damage to surrounding attackers in a final blow.

Prowl stared at his reflection in the black glass.

You couldn’t see the break in his nose anymore, Smokescreen had punched him in the medbay so it was fixed fairly quickly.

0.04%

Bluestreak was stuck in the medbay for a quarter of a Vorn.

Prowl straightened, optics returning to his default blue. The injury warning messages eeked back into his processor, causing his doorwings to shake briefly before Prowl allowed them to drop.

If the Functionalists had someone like him in their employ, then Jazz may not be an alien at all.

———————————————————————

To all the folks who picked up on the clues, good job! There’s no Optimus and there’s no Autobots. Yet.

There’s more to how Prowl got into his current situation later and I’m sure Jazz will be “totally cool” with Prowls past life choices. And current life choices. And general sense of ethics.

Bluestreak knows Prowl’s responsible for blowing him up and uses it to blackmail him constantly once their relationship got better again.

(Cybertronian timescales are weird, but a Vorn is basically a “year” for them, and fifty years for a human. A breem is pretty consistently 8 minutes.)

-SSTP

[revelboo]

hiya! just a lil guy in your inbox who is trying to get into writting, this stuff is hard hard but i get so baffled by how fast you do your work! im genuinely suprised you havent got burned out while im out here chipping away at my first fic... whats your secret 👀?

I’m just doing these for fun, so I don’t get too worried about making them perfect and Twitter’s word limits got me used to writing short and concise. I know with novels, just getting started can be the hardest part, that first chapter intimidating and serious fanfiction is probably the same. I’ve absolutely skipped ahead to scenes I was excited to write and then came back to the harder chapters before. I tend to just stick ‘888’ in the middle of a manuscript along with a sentence like (something happens) that way I can search for the 8’s later to fix it instead of getting stuck trying to write that one scene or chapter that I’m just not feeling at the time.

Even if it Kills Me Pt 23

Armada Starscream x Reader

• Painfully aware of him as you slide into his cupped hands and he ferries you down onto the floor of his habsuite before turning to go get food, you don’t regret what you did, but you can’t stop from feeling awkward about it. And the mini-cons are all staring at you, chirping softly among themselves to make you positive they know exactly what you and Starscream did while they were out. They’re grown, you remind yourself. Not that it makes it any better that they know you slept with their giant roomie.

• Venting as you sit crosslegged and put your face in your hands, he shoots the mini-cons a look and they fall silent, little faces innocent as they look up at him. And he’s not buying it at all. Lowering himself to sit with you and them, he nudges you with a box of your food before distributing energon to the waiting mini-cons. Why won’t you meet his optics? Watching you dig out a handful of your human food to eat, your silence bothers him. Still overthinking things? Dealing with hangups as you’d called them?

• You can feel his optics on you and that awareness twists to heat and need to your embarrassment. Is it just because you like him and he didn’t change after sex? That he’s still treating you the same, not like a belonging now? Chewing your dry cereal, you wonder if it had ever really been love with your ex. He’d been sweet until he’d managed to isolate you from everyone else and you’d been so infatuated, you’d not realized what he was doing until those bridges were burned and by then you’d been too ashamed to ask for help.

• Where did your thoughts go just then? Your expression emptying to make his wings fidget. “I thought we could go out,” he says to distract you because he hates when you go distant like that. Afraid you’re remembering painful things. “That you might like some sun?” And there’s a small smile. Spark aching when you look up at him, smiling like everything’s okay when it’s clearly not. Knows smuggling you in and out of the base increases the risk of getting caught. Of the Autobots kicking him out and losing the only place he’s ever felt truly safe, but he wants you to be happy. He’s not sure when that became more important than his own happiness.

• “I’d love that,” you manage, forcing a smile for him because he worries and broods when you’re unhappy. And it would be nice to feel the sun on your skin, the breeze in your hair. Leaning against his leg, you watch him tip up his own energon cube to drink. It’s still so strange, to have someone that’s not family looking out for you, to care if you’re happy or not. This is what love should be, you’re sure of it this time even if it scares you. Because loving him gives him the power to hurt you and you’re so tired of being hurt. He wouldn’t. You know that, trust him, but that fear is still there.

Previous

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Namib Sand Geckos: these nocturnal geckos have biofluorescent markings that emit a bright, neon-green glow when exposed to the moonlight

This species (Pachydactylus rangei) is found only in the Namib Desert, which stretches across Namibia, Angola, and South Africa; the geckos typically inhabit the arid, coastal region known as the Skeleton Coast.

In order to escape from the blistering heat of the desert, they use their webbed feet to burrow down into the sand during the day, and then emerge only at night, when the temperature has finally dropped. The webbing on their feet also enables them to run more easily across the dunes.

Namib sand geckos are covered in translucent scales, but they also have a strangely colorful appearance, as the colors/shades of their circulatory system, spinal column, internal organs, and optical membranes remain partially visible through the skin, producing various shades of pink, dark blue, purple, magenta, orange, and yellow.

They also have several distinctive markings running along their lower flank and encircling their eyes; these markings are known to fluoresce when exposed to UV light (including moonlight), emitting a bright, neon-green glow.

Some researchers have theorized that the biofluorescent markings may act as a signal to other geckos, allowing them to locate one another in the vast, desolate expanse of the desert, as this paper explains:

The fluorescent areas of P. rangei are concentrated around the eyes and along the lower flanks. This positioning is practically invisible to predators with a higher perspective (e.g. birds and jackals), but highly conspicuous from a gecko’s perspective. As P. rangei is sociable but generally solitary, and occurs at low population densities, such a signal might serve to locate conspecifics over greater distances ...

Encounters in P. rangei might serve purposes beyond mating opportunities: as the Namib desert has extremely low precipitation, fog is a key water source for its flora and fauna. Fog condenses on the bodies of the geckos, and they lick it from their faces. In husbandry, we have observed individuals licking water from conspecifics, taking advantage of a much greater available surface area.

Additionally, after short periods of isolation, the geckos run to meet each other. The combination of vital hydration with socialisation might reinforce signals that enable such meetings, and the cost of visibility to predators with higher vantage points, might constrain the signals to regions best visible from eye-level and below.

The Namib sand gecko is the only terrestrial vertebrate that is known to use an iridophore-based form of biofluorescence (you can find a more detailed explanation of that mechanism in the article mentioned above). The fluorescent dermal markings are also unique to this species.

Sources & More Info:

Scientific Reports: Neon-green fluorescence in the desert gecko Pachydactylus rangei caused by iridophores

Animal Diversity Web: Pachydactylus rangei

Dr. Mark D. Scherz's Blog: A Neon-Green Glowing Gecko!

Australian Geographic: Skeleton Coast - Namibia's strange desert dwellers

[quirekey]

Can i request an Orion x gn!reader x d16 but the two try to fight for readers attention and friendship?

<3 pleeeeeeeaaaassse?

Live laugh Orion x Reader x D16 fr dude, I love this request dude I WAS WAITING FOR THIS

[ ORION PAX ] x [ GN!READER ] x [ D16 ]

[ Orion pax x D16 x Cybertronian!GN!reader ]

You were a pretty quiet Cybertronian Miner. Socialising wasn’t something you enjoyed and you preferred the peace and quiet instead of the constant bustling that you will hear. Not having any connections did make your job more lonely since every-bot had someone to call a friend while you are working your aft off in the mines.

After working in the mines for a while, these two mechs named Orion Pax and D16 turned out to become your closest friends you ever had yet. The three of you guys always got into some sort of trouble that was started by Orion and you three are inseperatable in the mines.

Overtime, the two have become possessive and each wanted one-on-one time with you and only you. It’s not that they were not friends anymore, they just had a disagreement on who should talk to you.

D16 thinks it’s unfair how Orion can just pull you away from him just to get in trouble by the higher-guards. D16 thinks that it’s rude to pull you away from what you are already doing and assumes that you just wanna talk to him instead of going around since it’s better to stay by the the rules instead of rebelling.

Orion thinks that it’s unfair because D16 is constantly bickering and yapping to you about whoever his new interest or idol is and nothing else. Orion assumes that you think it’s boring and it’s better to get your body moving and frame in shape instead of being isolated in the mines.

They’re both fair reasons but they keep vouching for you and assuming what you want, you’re just too scared to speak up. The two are now constantly fighting over you since they always want your attention and that you enjoy only their company.

“D, you have kept them inside of this isolating waste for so long! It wouldn’t hurt to at-least go outside and get some real light in your optics!”

“Well, I want to keep (Y/N) safe unlike you. You always get them into trouble and you guys could get punished! This is for their safety.”

“Well, you’re only online for so long.”

“At-least I’ll be online for longer than you.”

“And at least I am actually doing something with my life instead of staying in the mines.”

D16 just scoffed and walked off. D16 still cares for Orion but doesn’t want to admit it due to their friendship being at stake. Orion just smirked and shrugged at you, basically not caring one bit about the guy he used to hang out with every klick (minute).

“(Y/N), why is D now so down? He’s changed.”

“I’m not sure…”

You lied to him, you knew both of their secrets to a T but it was best to not share. You are pretty observant so you took some mental notes overtime and you’d reflect over them. Both D16 and Orion Pax are always fighting for your approval and friendship but seemingly their actions prove otherwise. They are way more affectionate than your regular friends and some could never be considered as platonic unless you are really close with them. You didn’t mind their affection but it was strange that they wanted you and only you.

It gets to a point where D16 gives you small kisses on the cheek when he walks by or Orion brings you somewhere empty then asks you to cuddle. You never declined because you didn’t mind but it was hard to pick between the two. You knew they liked you and you liked them back, the problem was that they didn’t want to share.

You just walked away from Orion and thought to yourself

‘Why did this have to happen to me…?’

Well you’re lucky enough that I enjoyed this because now I’m gonna continue this overtime… bigger poll than normal that’s for sure.

[techhiz]

Can do Resquest TFA Longarm/Shockwave with femme cybertronian reader, where both are married and the reader is a housewife and is also pregnant and she doesn't know that Longarm is a decepticon spy but one day when she goes to the elite guard because Longarm forgot something but she discovers him in his true form and Longarm kidnaps her and puts him in the nemesis where later Bumblebee helps her out, and Y/N visits Shockwave in the prison letting him see the Sparkling

Deceptive Ties.

Y/N hummed softly as she moved about the cozy quarters she shared with Longarm Prime, her sparkmate. Life as a housewife in the heart of Cybertron wasn’t always exciting, but it was filled with moments of warmth, like preparing his energon cubes or decorating their space with trinkets and mementos. And now, with their sparkling on the way, her days were filled with a sense of purpose and quiet joy.

She placed a hand on her gently rounded abdomen, a smile tugging at her lips. Their sparkling’s arrival was only a few cycles away, and the anticipation filled her spark with both excitement and nerves.

“Y/N,” Longarm’s calm and familiar voice called from the doorway, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Longarm! You’re back earlier than usual!” she exclaimed, moving to greet him. He smiled, his gentle demeanor masking the darker truth that lay beneath.

“I needed to grab something before heading to a meeting with Ultra Magnus. Important Elite Guard matters,” he said, leaning in to place a kiss on her helm.

“Take care, love,” she said softly, watching as he left.

Hours later, Y/N realized Longarm had forgotten a data pad. “He’s always so organized. This isn’t like him,” she mused. Deciding it might be important, she resolved to take it to him.

Arriving at the Elite Guard headquarters, she was met with the usual pleasantries and directed toward Longarm’s office. As she approached, she noticed voices inside and paused, not wanting to interrupt.

Her optics widened as the conversation unfolded.

“I’ll report to Megatron shortly,” the voice said, its tone chillingly different from Longarm’s usual calm cadence.

Y/N peeked in and gasped silently. Before her stood a figure she barely recognized—Longarm, but in a new form, darker and more menacing. His frame was bulkier, his optic a glowing crimson. Shockwave.

She stumbled back, unable to process what she had seen. The mech she had bonded her spark to, the father of her sparkling, was a Decepticon spy.

The slight noise of her movement alerted Shockwave, who swiftly turned. His optic locked onto hers.

“Y/N…” His voice was devoid of pretense now, cold and calculating.

Before she could flee, Shockwave closed the distance between them, grabbing her wrist.

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” he growled.

“Let me go!” she pleaded, struggling against his grip.

“I can’t,” he said flatly, his optic softening for just a moment before hardening again. “You know too much now.”

Despite her protests, Shockwave used his abilities to create a ground bridge, pulling her through to the Nemesis. The dark, imposing warship was a stark contrast to the home they had shared.

“You lied to me!” she cried, her voice trembling with anger and betrayal. “Everything we had—was it all a facade?”

Shockwave’s expression flickered with guilt. “Not everything,” he admitted. “I did love you, Y/N. I still do. But my allegiance to the Decepticon cause comes first.”

Her spark ached at his words, but she refused to let him see her break.

The Decepticons were quick to isolate her in a secure chamber, though Shockwave ensured she was treated with care. Despite his actions, he couldn’t bear to see harm come to her or the sparkling.

Days turned into weeks. Y/N grew more withdrawn, her spark heavy with sadness. She spent her time speaking softly to her unborn sparkling, finding solace in the life she carried.

One day, she overheard the Decepticons planning an attack. Determined to escape and warn the Autobots, she used the little freedom Shockwave allowed her to send a coded distress signal.

Bumblebee was the first to intercept the signal. His energetic nature and determination drove him to act quickly. With the help of Optimus and the team, they launched a daring mission to retrieve Y/N from the Nemesis.

The battle was fierce, but Bumblebee managed to locate Y/N’s chamber.

“Y/N! I’m here to get you out!” he called.

Relief flooded her systems as she ran to him. “Thank you, Bumblebee,” she whispered.

Shockwave appeared, blocking their path.

“Leave her, Bumblebee. She’s safer here,” he said, his voice void of emotion but his optic betraying his internal conflict.

“She belongs with the Autobots!” Bumblebee retorted, shielding Y/N.

A tense standoff ensued, but Optimus arrived, forcing Shockwave to retreat.

Back at the Autobot base, Y/N was safe but emotionally shattered. The weight of Shockwave’s betrayal and the safety of her sparkling consumed her thoughts.

Weeks later, Shockwave was captured during a mission and imprisoned in a high-security facility.

Y/N visited him one last time, her sparkling cradled in her arms.

“This is your sparkling,” she said softly, her optics filled with sorrow.

Shockwave’s crimson gaze softened as he looked at the tiny mechling. “I’m… sorry,” he said, his voice breaking.

“You should have chosen us,” she replied, her voice firm but filled with pain.

As she turned to leave, the sparkling cooed softly, unaware of the weight of the moment.

Though life was never the same, Y/N found strength in her sparkling and the support of her Autobot family. The past lingered, but she vowed to protect her child from the shadows that had once consumed her life.

Shockwave remained a prisoner, haunted by the life he could have had.

[oddthumbswetsleeves]

Hiding - Oneshot

Inspired by this post by @crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington <3

“Have you heard from B today?”

Elita-1 looked up from her datapad at her former-incompetent-subordinate turned leader. He looked stressed, or maybe nervous? It was hard to tell ever since he received the matrix.

“No. I haven’t seen him since the last time he messed up putting the supplies in storage.’ She looked back at the forms she was filling out. “He’s probably avoiding us cause he’s embarrassed.

“Embarrassed?” Optimus sounded confused. Elita realised she had neglected to tell the prime about B’s latest incident.

“He put a lot of the supplies he was sorting into the wrong places. I mean, seriously! I gave him possibly the easiest job I could have, and he still messed it up.” Optimus didn’t look like her answer had put him at ease. “He’ll be fine. If he’s embarrassed it might teach him to listen a little more.”

“Just-“ They met optics, “Tell me if you see him, or if you can get through to him. He won’t answer my comms.” He sighed. “I’m worried.”

He definitely looked nervous now.

“Yeah, sure.” Elita went back to reading. Optimus was silent for a moment, as if he wanted to say something else, but left quickly.

Once he was out of audial-range she tried B-127’s comm, certain Optimus was exaggerating. B never missed an opportunity to blabber.

“B”

Nothing

“B-127, respond.”

Still nothing

“B, this isn’t funny. Answer me.”

Silence

Elita never thought she would be able to use that word to describe the yellow bot. She started feeling slightly worried before it was replaced with something else.

How dare he hide away from his duties as an Autobot because he was embarrassed. He wasn’t the only one struggling with his new status. Being the Autobot commander and essentially second-in-command of Cybertron was exhausting. Every moment she wasn’t recharging or refuelling she was working. B was not going to get away with skirting his duties.

She was gonna find him.

Where the frag was he?

Elita had spent nearly half the orn asking around for the little mech. No one had seen him since she had. Not Jazz, not Ratchet, not even Prowl, who was usually aware of all Autobot activity. The other scouts had gibed her about B-127’s unrivalled skills in what they called “Extreme Hide and Seek”.

“If B’s hiding from you there’s no chance you’ll find him” one taunted. Primus, she hated being around the scouts, nosy bunch.

“Wait, why do you think he’s hiding from me?”

“Why else would you be looking for him? He’s told us about how busy you are.” Another one answered.

“Well, you’re not helping!” She stormed off before they could peeve her off more.

Elita was definitely getting hangry, so she decided to stop to get energon before anyone could risk mentioning it to her. Everyone had really been enjoying the abundance of it. The decreasing rations had been affecting the cogless bots hard. She remembered after being transferred to waste management seeing how some of the supervisors were stealing others rations off the delivery lines for themselves. That was one of the first things she fixed, especially since many of the bots on lower levels didn’t leave their stations during their breaks. Mostly the bots on the sub-

The sub-levels

“The best hiding spots are ones that other bots don’t know exist.” B-127 told her that once while he was training to be a scout. He was mostly talking about places that taller bots couldn’t get to, but almost no one knew about the 10 extra sub-levels.

“Scrap”

The elevator rattled more the lower it went. It was also getting noticeably hotter. The doors opened and after stepping out they surprisingly didn’t close behind her. Strange. She didn’t say anything at first, trying to hear any noise that wasn’t coming from the furnace.

She felt isolated.

Even though Elita knew she could contact anyone she wanted instantly, there was just something about the room emanated loneliness, but B had to be here.

She looked around. The room was small, nothing besides the furnace, the conveyor belt, and the trash chute.

Unless…

One of the walls seemed to have a handle, and when she moved it... Another room! She pushed it over.

What on Cybertron?

The walls were lined with multicolour string lights. The room had a table and chairs, but in the chairs were 3 piles of trash. They were kind of bot shaped. She guessed one of these were what “Steve” was, who Orion supposedly killed and D-16 insisted wasn’t real. Primus this guy was weird. Just before she turned away, she saw it. There was something golden-yellow barely poking up from behind the table. Elita had to stop herself from groaning. Some hiding expert he was.

“B” He didn’t move. Elita crossed her arms.

“B-127 I can see you.” He slowly ducked out of view. Elita’s face scrunched up, “Get out here right now or so help me, I will drag you back up to Iacon by your finials.”

The bot cautiously stood up, looking anywhere except her face. Neither one said anything for a few moments. Elita tapped her finger against her arm, making sure B could hear it. He still did not say anything. Elita started feeling nervous again, B didn’t even recharge this quietly. She wouldn’t show it though, he wasn’t getting any pity from her.

“Well?” she prompted.

“Why are you down here?” He asked quietly.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Elita leaned forward, but B still didn’t look up. “Why are you hiding? Do you think I’ll just forget your screw-up if I don’t see you for a few orns?”

“I’m not hiding. You know I’m here now, you can go back to work.” He fidgeted with his servos.

“What, so you can keep sulking here?”

“I’m not sulking.” His voice was low, but a bit rough.

Had he been crying?

“Then why are you down here?”

“You were really mad at me the last time I messed up. You said I was running out of chances.”

“So?” Her gaze steeled. His breath hitched.

Was he going to cry again?

“Well, that’s what supervisors used to say to me before I would get demoted” their optics met, “and you were a supervisor…”

“So, you came down here?” She gripped her arms a bit tighter.

“I’ve never had a boss who was my friend before.” He looked down at his servos, still keeping his voice low. “I just didn’t want to see your face when you decided to give up on me.” Fluid dripped from his optics.

“Give up?” Her voice was suddenly much softer. She cleared her throat. “Why would you think I’d give up on you? We’re friends, you said it yourself.”

“Megatron was Optimus’ friend, and he dropped him to the centre of Cybertron.”

Elita felt a pang in her spark. That might have been the scariest moment of her life, including everything that happened leading up to it. B had been the one to stop her from trying to grab Orion as he plummeted. In the frenzy she might have fallen after him. B had probably saved her life.

She was definitely failing to hide her pity now.

They were both silent for a while, the furnace rumbling softly behind her. Elita sighed and walked around the table. B shrunk under her gaze. This was the first time she had ever felt bad about making a subordinate scared of her. She put her servos on his shoulders, taking care to be gentle, and bent down slightly to be at optic level with the scout.

He was definitely crying.

Elita wrapped her arms around him tightly. He tentatively moved his servos up to her back. She felt him shake.

“Are you not mad at me?” B’s voice quivered. She sighed, squeezing tighter.

“I’m not sure I am anymore.” Letting go to hold his shoulders again. He sniffled and she moved her servos to cup his face. “Why haven’t you answered any comms? Optimus is practically beside himself.”

“I didn’t know you guys were calling me.”

“What?! Is your commlink broken?” She turned his helm to look at his audials. He pulled her servos away from his face. They had tears on them.

“No.” He looked towards the furnace. “I’m pretty sure no signals reach down here from the surface.

Elita’s face scrunched. She turned away, reaching a digit up to her commlink.

“Optimus, come in.”

No response. She swore quietly.

“We’re going back to Iacon before the boss starts pulling walls down to find you.” She held her servo out. B hesitated.

“He’s looking for me?”

“Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be?” B tapped his pedes nervously.

“I thought you guys were kinda fed up of me.” Elita chose not to address that. She grabbed his servo and pulled him towards the elevator. It was still open.

“How come these doors didn’t close behind me?”

“Cause they don’t open from this side. It’s so if somebot comes down here to get something they won’t get stuck.”

“But that means…” Her spark sank in her chassis.

“Yeah, I can’t call the elevator.”

She stared at him. She felt the rage she frequently had for Sentinel and his lackeys build up.

“So you planned on staying down here forever?” B started wringing his servos again.

“I dunno”

“Well how would you have come back up if I hadn’t found you here?”

“Optimus, Megatron and I climbed up through the chute.” He pointed at it. “I probably could have done that again.”

“Would you have?”

B didn’t answer.

“You’re coming back to Iacon with me.” She put a servo on his shoulder. “I cleared my schedule when I went looking for you so we can do whatever you want, ok?” She led him into the lift. He shrugged. “There are a couple movies I’ve been too busy to watch. We can watch them in my quarters if you want.”

“Sure” He smiled for the first time since she found him.

“We do have to go see Prime first. I’m a bit worried he has actually turned headquarters upside down in my absence.” B giggled. Elita felt a weight lift off her spark. Once the elevator started moving, she pulled him into another hug, more forcefully this time.

“Never scare me like that again, or I will actually kill you.”

“Okay”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Utah’s getting some of America’s best broadband

TOMORROW (May 17), I'm at the INTERNET ARCHIVE in SAN FRANCISCO to keynote the 10th anniversary of the AUTHORS ALLIANCE.

Residents of 21 cities in Utah have access to some of the fastest, most competitively priced broadband in the country, at speeds up to 10gb/s and prices as low as $75/month. It's uncapped, and the connections are symmetrical: perfect for uploading and downloading. And it's all thanks to the government.

This broadband service is, of course, delivered via fiber optic cable. Of course it is. Fiber is vastly superior to all other forms of broadband delivery, including satellites, but also cable and DSL. Fiber caps out at 100tb/s, while cable caps out at 50gb/s – that is, fiber is 1,000 times faster:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/why-fiber-vastly-superior-cable-and-5g

Despite the obvious superiority of fiber, America has been very slow to adopt it. Our monopolistic carriers act as though pulling fiber to our homes is an impossible challenge. All those wires that currently go to your house, from power-lines to copper phone-lines, are relics of a mysterious, fallen civilization and its long-lost arts. Apparently we could no more get a new wire to your house than we could build the pyramids using only hand-tools.

In a sense, the people who say we can't pull wires anymore are right: these are relics of a lost civilization. Specifically, electrification and later, universal telephone service was accomplished through massive federal grants under the New Deal – grants that were typically made to either local governments or non-profit co-operatives who got everyone in town connected to these essential modern utilities.

Today – thanks to decades of neoliberalism and its dogmatic insistence that governments can't do anything and shouldn't try, lest they break the fragile equilibrium of the market – we have lost much of the public capacity that our grandparents took for granted. But in the isolated pockets where this capacity lives on, amazing things happen.

Since 2015, residents of Jackson County, KY – one of the poorest counties in America – have enjoyed some of the country's fastest, cheapest, most reliable broadband. The desperately poor Appalachian county is home to a rural telephone co-op, which grew out of its rural electrification co-op, and it used a combination of federal grants and local capacity to bring fiber to every home in the county, traversing dangerous mountain passes with a mule named "Ole Bub" to reach the most remote homes. The result was an immediately economic uplift for the community, and in the longer term, the county had reliable and effective broadband during the covid lockdowns:

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-one-traffic-light-town-with-some-of-the-fastest-internet-in-the-us

Contrast this with places where the private sector has the only say over who gets broadband, at what speed, and at what price. America is full of broadband deserts – deserts that strand our poorest people. Even in the hearts of our largest densest cities, whole neighborhoods can't get any broadband. You won't be surprised to learn that these are the neighborhoods that were historically redlined, and that the people who live in them are Black and brown, and also live with some of the highest levels of pollution and its attendant sicknesses:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/10/flicc/#digital-divide

These places are not set up for success under the best of circumstances, and during the lockdowns, they suffered terribly. You think your kid found it hard to go to Zoom school? Imagine what life was like for kids who attended remote learning while sitting on the baking tarmac in a Taco Bell parking lot, using its free wifi:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/02/elem-s02.html

ISPs loathe competition. They divide up the country into exclusive territories like the Pope dividing up the "new world" and do not trouble one another by trying to sell to customers outside of "their" turf. When Frontier – one of the worst of America's terrible ISPs – went bankrupt, we got to see their books, and we learned two important facts:

The company booked one million customers who had no alternative as an asset, because they would pay more for slower broadband, and Frontier could save a fortune by skipping maintenance, and charging these customers for broadband even through multi-day outages; and

Frontier knew that it could make a billion dollars in profit over a decade by investing in fiber build-out, but it chose not to, because stock analysts will downrank any carrier that made capital investments that took more than five years to mature. Because Frontier's execs were paid primarily in stock, they chose to strand their customers with aging copper connections and to leave a billion dollars sitting on the table, so that their personal net worth didn't suffer a temporary downturn:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/frontiers-bankruptcy-reveals-cynical-choice-deny-profitable-fiber-millions

ISPs maintain the weirdest position: that a) only the private sector can deliver broadband effectively, but b) to do so, they'll need massive, unsupervised, no-strings-attached government handouts. For years, America went along with this improbable scheme, which is why Trump's FCC chairman Ajit Pai gave the carriers $45 billion in public funds to string slow, 19th-century-style copper lines across rural America:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/27/all-broadband-politics-are-local/

Now, this is obviously untrue, and people keep figuring out that publicly provisioned broadband is the only way for America to get the same standard of broadband connectivity that our cousins in other high-income nations enjoy. In order to thwart the public's will, the cable and telco lobbyists joined ALEC, the far-right, corporatist lobbying shop, and drafted "model legislation" banning cities and counties from providing broadband, even in places the carriers chose not to serve:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/19/culture-war-bullshit-stole-your-broadband/

Red states across America adopted these rules, and legislators sold this to their base by saying that this was just "keeping the government out of their internet" (even as every carrier relied on an exclusive, government-granted territorial charter, often with massive government subsidies).

ALEC didn't target red states exclusively because they had pliable, bribable conservative lawmakers. Red states trend rural, and rural places are the most likely sites for public fiber. Partly, that's because low-density areas are harder to make a business case for, but also because these are also the places that got electricity and telephone through New Deal co-ops, which are often still in place.

Just about the only places in America where people like their internet service are the 450+ small towns where the local government provides fiber. These places vote solidly Republican, and it was their beloved conservative lawmakers whom ALEC targeted to enact laws banning their equally beloved fiber – keep voting for Christmas, turkeys, and see where it gets you:

https://communitynets.org/content/community-network-map

But spare a little sympathy for the conservative movement here. The fact that reality has a pronounced leftist bias must be really frustrating for the ideological project of insisting that anything the market can't provide is literally impossible.

Which brings me back to Utah, a red state with a Republican governor and legislature, and a national leader in passing unconstitutional, unhinged, unworkable legislation as part of an elaborate culture war kabuki:

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165975112/utah-passes-an-age-verification-law-for-anyone-using-social-media

For more than two decades, a coalition of 21 cities in Utah have been building out municipal fiber. The consortium calls itself UTOPIA: "Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency":

https://www.utopiafiber.com/faqs/

UTOPIA pursues a hybrid model: they run "open access" fiber and then let anyone offer service over it. This can deliver the best of both worlds: publicly provisioned, blazing-fast fiber to your home, but with service provided by your choice of competing carriers. That means that if Moms for Liberty captures you local government, you're not captive to their ideas about what sites your ISP should block.

As Karl Bode writes for Techdirt, Utahns in UTOPIA regions have their choice of 18 carriers, and competition has driven down prices and increased speeds. Want uncapped 1gb fiber? That's $75/month. Want 10gb fiber? That's $150:

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/05/15/utah-locals-are-getting-cheap-10-gbps-fiber-thanks-to-local-governments/

UTOPIA's path to glory wasn't an easy one. The dismal telco monopolists Qwest and Lumen sued to put them out of business, delaying the rollout by years:

https://www.deseret.com/2005/7/22/19903471/utopia-responds-to-qwest-lawsuit/

UTOPIA has been profitable and self-sustaining for over 15 years and shows no sign of slowing. But 17 states still ban any attempt at this.

Keeping up such an obviously bad policy requires a steady stream of distractions and lies. The "government broadband doesn't work" lie has worn thin, so we've gotten a string of new lies about wireless service, insisting that fiber is obviated by point-to-point microwave relays, or 5g, or satellite service.

There's plenty of places where these services make sense. You're not going to be able to use fiber in a moving car, so yeah, you're going to want 5g (and those 5g towers are going to need to be connected to each other with fiber). Microwave relay service can fill the gap until fiber can be brought in, and it's great for temporary sites (especially in places where it doesn't rain, because rain, clouds, leaves and other obstructions are deadly for microwave relays). Satellite can make sense for an RV or a boat or remote scientific station.

But wireless services are orders of magnitude slower than fiber. With satellite service, you share your bandwidth with an entire region or even a state. If there's only a couple of users in your satellite's footprint, you might get great service, but when your carrier adds a thousand more customers, your connection is sliced into a thousand pieces.

That's also true for everyone sharing your fiber trunk, but the difference is that your fiber trunk supports speeds that are tens of thousands of times faster than the maximum speeds we can put through freespace electromagnetic spectrum. If we need more fiber capacity, we can just fish a new strand of fiber through the conduit. And while you can increase the capacity of wireless by increasing your power and bandwidth, at a certain point you start pump so much EM into the air that birds start falling out of the sky.

Every wireless device in a region shares the same electromagnetic spectrum, and we are only issued one such spectrum per universe. Each strand of fiber, by contrast, has its own little pocket universe, containing a subset of that spectrum.

Despite all its disadvantages, satellite broadband has one distinct advantage, at least from an investor's perspective: it can be monopolized. Just as we only have one electromagnetic spectrum, we also only have one sky, and the satellite density needed to sustain a colorably fast broadband speed pushes the limit of that shared sky:

https://spacenews.com/starlink-vs-the-astronomers/

Private investors love monopoly telecoms providers, because, like pre-bankruptcy Frontier, they are too big to care. Back in 2021, Altice – the fourth-largest cable operator in America – announced that it was slashing its broadband speeds, to be "in line with other ISPs":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/27/immortan-altice/#broadband-is-a-human-right

In other words: "We've figured out that our competitors are so much worse than we are that we are deliberately degrading our service because we know you will still pay us the same for less."

This is why corporate shills and pro-monopolists prefer satellite to municipal fiber. Sure, it's orders of magnitude slower than fiber. Sure, it costs subscribers far more. Sure, it's less reliable. But boy oh boy is it profitable.

The thing is, reality has a pronounced leftist bias. No amount of market magic will conjure up new electromagnetic spectra that will allow satellite to attain parity with fiber. Physics hates Starlink.

Yeah, I'm talking about Starlink. Of course I am. Elon Musk basically claims that his business genius can triumph over physics itself.

That's not the only vast, impersonal, implacable force that Musk claims he can best with his incredible reality-distortion field. Musk also claims that he can somehow add so many cars to the road that he will end traffic – in other words, he will best geometry too:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/herbies-revenge/#100-billion-here-100-billion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Geometry hates Tesla, and physics hates Starlink. Reality has a leftist bias. The future is fiber, and public transit. These are both vastly preferable, more efficient, safer, more reliable and more plausible than satellite and private vehicles. Their only disadvantage is that they fail to give an easily gulled, thin-skinned compulsive liar more power over billions of people. That's a disadvantage I can live with.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/16/symmetrical-10gb-for-119/#utopia

Image: 4028mdk09 (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rote_LED_Fiberglasleuchte.JPG

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[plaguedocboi]

Waterfalls! These gorgeous, powerful features of nature have been oddly lacking in my past lists, I think in part because their danger has always seemed more “obvious” to me. But doing the research for this list has reawakened my phobia of the water. Some of the later entries (numbers 9 and 10 especially) brought back anxieties that I thought I had gotten over long ago, but it was kind of thrilling. Like watching a particularly scary horror movie. Let’s get into it!

1. Underwater Waterfall, Mauritius

No, it’s not really a waterfall. It’s just an optical illusion caused by sand falling off the island’s slope down into the deeper water below. But it looks cool and scary, and the drop-off is 2.5 miles deep so that’s pretty impressive and I think it deserves at least a mention.

2. Blood Falls, Antarctica

There’s nothing particularly dangerous about this one, it just looks incredibly creepy. Obviously, it’s not actually blood, it’s just water that’s very rich in iron. But the really fascinating part of this waterfall is that its source seems to be a subglacial lake that contains a unique microbial ecosystem which has been isolated for two million years! These microbes are like nothing else we’ve ever observed in nature before. They live in an incredibly cold and extremely saline lake, and metabolize sulfur and iron ions with no oxygen present. They are being used as a model to study what life on ice-covered alien planets could be like.

3. Khone Falls, Laos

This waterfall is not nearly as famous as some of the others on this list, which is surprising because it’s the widest waterfall in the world, with an average width of six miles! Although not particularly tall, it is the second most powerful waterfall in the world, more than double the power of Niagara Falls! The Khone falls divide the Upper and Lower Mekong river, making travel by boat between the north and south impossible. What makes it kind of unsettling to me is that during the rainy seasons the falls are basically swallowed up by the river, turning them from a spectacular waterfall to a series of massive rapids.

4. Huntington Gorge, Vermont

When water levels are low, this river is a popular and scenic swimming spot, and the canyon has an almost otherworldly quality with its unique bends and overhangs. Unfortunately, these very features are what makes it so dangerous. Much like the infamous Strid, the gorge is full of holes, steep drop-offs, and powerful currents hidden beneath the water, which can suck people in and trap them against the cliff walls. Over fifty people have died here since the 1950s, and many more have been injured. With proper precautions, one can safely explore the gorge and swim in the river, but don’t forget that this water has swallowed up many people before you.

5. Victoria Falls, Zambia

I’m sure most of you already know about Mosi-oa-Tunya, more widely called Victoria Falls, as the largest waterfall in the world. Formed as the Zambezi river pours into a series of massive gorges, this curtain of water spans nearly a mile and falls 300 feet with such force that columns of rising spray can be seen for miles around. Despite this, the pools around the lip of the falls can be relatively tame, and locals have fished while balancing on the edge of the cliff for generations. The safest and most famous of these fishing holes is the Devils Pool, which allows you to literally swim right up to the edge of the world’s biggest waterfall. The pool is actually very safe when the correct precautions are taken, and I can only find one death attributed to the pool specifically, when a tour guide in 2009 fell while trying to help a man who had slipped and was dangling off the edge (and, honestly, I was expecting a lot more deaths given the amount of clickbait articles advertising it as the most deadly swimming hole in the world). Although that was the only death from the Devils Pool, there have been many other deaths at Victoria Falls, mostly tourists who underestimate the power of the river or get too close to the edge. So if you ever visit this spectacular waterfall, please observe it from a safe distance and follow all the rules.

6. Huka Falls, New Zealand

This is not a traditional waterfall, but rather a series of small waterfalls along a narrow stretch of the Waikato river, creating an incredibly turbulent chasm that ends in a whirlpool. The 300-foot wide river is funneled into a 50-foot wide stream, causing a torrent of water that flows at a rate of 58,000 gallons per second. Obviously, this is not an area that you should get in the water, but not everyone takes that advice. There have been multiple deaths at this waterfall, and a few narrow escapes, including two swimmers who, incredibly, survived after trying to raft down the falls on pool toys. Please, for the love of god, don’t do that.

7. Niagara Falls, US/Canada

These falls are the only place on this list that I’ve visited, and I can tell you they are certainly an incredible sight, but also rather intimidating due to their sheer size and power. These three massive waterfalls are fed by the Great Lakes and, combined, have nearly 700,000 gallons of water thundering down every second. There is also a permanent whirlpool in the river that has existed for over 4,000 years and reaches depths of 125 feet! Besides being huge and awe-inspiring, these waterfalls are known for their appeal to daredevils who have gone over the edge in barrels or, in one case, a giant rubber ball. But these famous success stories are punctuated with tragedy. Roughly 20-30 people die at Niagara Falls every year. Most of these, sadly, are suicides, but others are failed attempts to replicate the successful daredevils of the past, and others are accidental. An estimated 5,000 bodies were recovered at the bottom of the falls between 1850 and 2011.

8. Murchison Falls, Uganda

Also known as Kabalega Falls, this is the worlds most powerful waterfall. Formed as the Nile River flows from Lake Kyoga to Lake Albert, this waterfall is so strong it literally causes the ground to shake around it. Here, the Nile is constricted from a river nearly 400 ft wide to a passage only 20 ft wide, creating an incredibly turbulent and violent tunnel of water that tears its way into the pool below at 79,000 gallons per second. And this is no ordinary pool. Waiting below the falls is the highest concentration of large crocodiles observed anywhere in the world, waiting for any dead or stunned animals caught in the falls to wash into their lair. Although the waterfall and surrounding park are now a beautiful tourist attraction and wildlife refuge, the history of the falls includes tales of human and animal sacrifices, thrown in alive to appease the gods that some believed resided beneath the raging waters.

9. Bath Fountain, Jamaica

This is just a random little waterfall along a hiking trail, but the video triggered some intense bathophobia in me for the first time in a while. Like, I was scared to get in the shower after watching this. Proceed with caution:

10. Kipu Falls, Hawaii

This one scares me because, despite my research, I can’t actually figure out what the hell is happening here. Multiple people have died here; all tourists, all drownings, all of seemingly very unclear causes. Kipu Falls is a beautiful and popular swimming spot, and locals frequently dive off the top of the falls with seemingly no danger. However, five deaths over the course of five years from 2006-2011 challenged its reputation of being a safe swimming hole. All the articles I could find seem to repeat the same information; there is no current in the pool and the waterfalls are not especially powerful. Despite these established facts, all five deaths were the same. Someone jumped in, surfaced, and then were dragged back down to the bottom of the pool and held there until they died. This has resulted in a lot of speculation, including everything from a hidden whirlpool current to evil spirits. I’m just. Really unsettled by the lack of information on this one. Every article I found was published in 2011 and I couldn’t find any updates, which hopefully means people aren’t still dying here, but… what the fuck???? Was going on????? Sorry guys this one might not be as dangerous as some of the others but it freaks me out a lot so it’s getting a higher rating. I want to know what’s going on but I’m sure not going to investigate it myself.

[ihaznoclue]

Request - Maybe a bumblebee and Predaking bad day to good day?

This is requested by @kitgirl91

Pairings -> Bumblebee, Predaking x reader

Warnings -> None

Note -> These guys are not having such a great day but you are there to help

Genre -> Fluff

Bumblebee

Okay Bumblebee can have his good day and have his bad days since well he's a autobot scout after all fighting in a war right now

He can never seem to catch a break sometimes as well as the others

But today is a different day, he felt helpless that he couldn't seem to communicate with you since he lost his voice box so Raf inists that he can help you understand him

Raf told you that you should know how to understand Morse code seeming that Raf already knew Morse code

It had seemed that you were determined to understand your robot boyfriend in no time

But it did take a whole day to fully get it until raf told you that you were ready

So you started to seek out Bumblebee, asking Optimus and Ratchet since they were still up doing work and other stuff

"Bumblebee's in his room but I don't think it's a good idea going to him right now" Ratchet spoke up

"Why not?" You asked, you wanted to make sure Bee was okay

"Well he's quite the man child sometimes so right now he's Isolating in his room"

"Name, if you want to see Bee right now you can but let us know if you need anything else" Optimus said

You gave him a nod as you now started to walk to Bee's Berthroom

You knocked on the huge door and it seemed to take him a couple of seconds to finally open the door

You smiled up at him as you greeted him "Evening bee, May I come in?"

He put his servo down to let you stand on it as he lifted you up and closed the door

Now walking over to the berth and he placed you down

Him laying next to you as his blue optics looked at your every move and expression

You seemed quite happy as if you had something to tell him

His whirling and buzzing of his voice was heard as he asked you what's wrong, you got fully understand him now which made you squeal

"Yes!" You screamed

Bee felt worried as he sat up as he picked you up to his face

He was then surprised by this action, you fully leaned him to kiss him as you squealed

"I can finally understand you!"

His static sounded like he was surprised and happy at the same time

Now you can finally understand him

And it's all thanks to Raf

Bonus Character

Predaking

Predaking was not very happy with Starscream's actions on trying to control him

Predaking felt abused by Starscream as Starscream slammed a pipe on Predaking's head which caused him to growl at Starscream which made him scared

Starscream gave up as he felt nothing else but to report to Lord megatron

Predaking was left alone outside the doors on the warship

It had seemed that he felt lonely and angered by Starscreams actions which Predaking didn't like

Until he heard the doors open as he though it was Starscream but a soft voice called out

Predaking looks down as he saw you, his yellow eyes softened as he transformed from his beast mode into his bot mode

He then pulled out his servos for you to stand on as he lifted you up to his face

You gave him a smile as you greeted him

"Hey big guy" You spoke

You could clearly tell he liked that as he purred

You gave a little chuckle as you gave him a little kiss

He seemed that he liked that as he nuzzled his face close to you

"Thank you my queen"

-A<3

[vhaos-chaotic-writing]

Tristella (SG Skystar songfic)

Song: TRISTELLA by Esperón. Starscream was offlined, but his spark did not went to the Well of the All Sparks - Instead, it followed the one and only bot his spark longed for. And thus, the other bot grieves.

WARNINGS: Angst and tragic romance. Character death. Using the name Skyfire instead of Jetfire. Shatter glass universe. My take on 'what happened after?'. Mentions of depression, suicide and self-loath behaviour.

All stars are the result of a balance of forces - a violent process. Starscream's death was like watching the birth of a star - bright. Loud. Painful.

Living up to his name - after getting shot by Goldbug on his back, barely missing his spark, the seeker wailed and his voice reached the stars. And Skyfire would have cried back if it wasn't the words of the seeker that managed to freeze him in place just for a moment.

The same words Skyfire always thought whenever he thought of Starscream, but desperately and coldly tried to change, but always failing to either forget it or say it outloud.

I love you.

The moment his spark got taken brutally, Skyfire's world crumbled down once again. He was doomed to always lose the one he loves, isn't he? He was scared to take his servo, to follow him, always doubting everything and himself - that's why the mech he wished to take as a conjux was now truly out of his reach. Even when he got to rescue Starscream's spark... there's nothing else for them after that. Just like any bot that was met with their demise, Starscream's bright spark was going to follow it's process and return to the Well of the All Spark...

The spark did flew from his servos once Skyfire escaped with it - and with a broken spark, the taller mech promised to do better, to end the war in the name of the mech he loved.

He was never going to aling totally to the Decepticons' cause, but he has long dettached from the Autobots - after the war ended, the Decepticons forgave his wrong doings and choices after helping them stop the Autobots. Still, Skyfire isolated himself from the new world it was being built - after all, he would rather have his voice than their causes.

Skyfire.

It started with small things - he would catch glimpses of a bright ball of light of both bright blue and orange color. Then the sight of sad yet full of love optics in any reflections for a few kliks before they disappeared. Soft whispers in the air and in the night. And finally...

You haven't been recharging - you'll catch a virus if you keep doing that!

The bright spark only produced bell-like noises - but somehow, Skyfire understood it... "I've lost my mind-" The mech said, staring at the spark that floated righ in front of his faceplate. But when his servo moved to touch the spark, it produced a giggle-like sound, to then twirl and then... disappear.

It kept appearing - either on solar cycles or the lunar cycles. At first Skyfire tried to ignore it. It was just a product of the guilt he kept carrying deep inside of his own spark, he was finally losing it. And yet, the spark kept appearing, making him company or following him. And it was just as stubborn as Skyfire.

"Leave me alone!" Skyfire once yelled, in the middle of the night, hurt and frustrated. "You are not him - he is gone! My Starscream is gone!" Even when the spark looked like him, the one he loved was no longer here... but oh, how he wished to have Starscream back, to hold him. The mech would never admit it, but after yelling at the spark, he broke down, crying his optics out and wailing (like Starscream wailed at the pain when he got shot on his back). And the spark disappeared - it left Skyfire in the darkness of his room... to then slowly start to reappear - this time, right between the mech's armplates, as if it was being held.

I may not be him - but I am what he felt about you. Even after everything, I've been there the whole time. Even when it brought him warmth or sadness, I've been there. And I'm still here, Skyfire.

With such sad eyes, the spark sang - and Skyfire wished he could actually hold the spark and kiss it. He allowed himself to cry as the spark kept him company, loving to listen the sphere of light and energy talk to him until he fell into a needed recharge he has been not allowing himself to have out of self-loath.

"I did this to you, Starscream..."

I did this to myself too, my love - everyone did this to me, and to themselves, and to everyone, too. We are culprits and innocents, at some degree.

"Even in your last moments, you forgave me for my weakness."

Deep down, I knew you were afraid.

Sometimes, whenever Skyfire would catch glimpses of the spark being a shooting star on the starry nightsky, he would ask himself if this was part of the process for a spark to go back to the Well of the All Sparks. Would his own spark look after a Starscream from another universe where he didn't die? Keeping him company and talking to him? Maybe - if it mean to attone to his sins.

Stop. It makes me sad to feel you like this, my love.

"You are not here with me - how can I not be sad?"

And yet, Skyfire would smile as he extended his servo, allowing the spark to 'rest' on it and hear his bell-like sounds, as if a lullaby it was. He wouldn't mind to have his spark go through the same process this bright spark was going through, too. He would be able to finally stop being a coward and tell Starscream how much he loved him, that his life was a gift for the seeker.

"How can I set you free?" Skyfire asked in a whisper.

I'm already free.

"Why haven't you go back to the Well of the All Spark, then?"

It was his last wish before he was long gone - to be by your side. I am not him, I am what he felt for you, Skyfire. Once the time arrives, I'll guide you to the Well of the All Spark, for him and you to meet again.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back.

His love for you has always been there, and it's still here. And will always be.

The consequences of the war haunted Skyfire until the very last day of his life. Megatron saw it with his own optics. The former leader was always fearful to visit the other mech and find him long gone by his own servos - but thanfully, got to see the other mech still alive. Oddly enough, even in the sea of depression Skyfire was drowning himself, Megatron swears he could see a light of happiness in the optics of Skyfire.

"He offlined naturally - there are no signs of his own doing to provoke it. It was peaceful." Shockwave explained. Megatron looked sadly down at the cold frame of Skyfire.

"His spark is now in the Well of the All Sparks - finally, with Starscream's" Megatron said, sadly, but hopeful.

At night, among the many other stars, a bright blue-orange spark and a purple spark pass by as shooting stars, together. They are a memory of what they were before, but happy and together, at last.

Felt a rush of inspiration, here it is! I hope you all like it! Quite tragic, poetic even.

♪(´▽｀) Vhaos out!

[keysnocar]

“Why can’t I remember?”

“…”

My Transformers AU Prime Numbers: Lore drop bellow!! More soon.

——————————————

• 37 hasn’t said much to the others about how he ended up in the middle of their scuffle with the seekers, when they’d first met him and he joined the autobots.

• He'd explained briefly that he’d worked as a miner before the war, simply “sorting mineral content data for his supervisors beneath Iacon.” It made enough sense that they hadn’t wondered about it, they needed the extra servos, he needed to get out of the line of fire amongst that squabble- it had worked out at the time.. but he really hasn’t told them anything about how he ended up in that rubble at all- much less what he was doing wandering around a half decimated city many miles off from Iacon’s remains.

It was a vague history, sure. Even though 37 had only been with the bots for almost half a vorn now, if there was something really off with him, they’d have noticed by now…right?

• Ratchet was annoyed that he avoided his regular scans and after mission medical checks, but half of the outpost avoided his scrutiny anyway. It was no use pestering a grown bot over something he seemed to insist on writing off. But now that he thought of it, had he ever done a proper scan on the bot..? Ratchet supposed It didn’t matter really, His time would be better spent helping a bot that needed it, 37 was perfectly functional to his external sensors- no matter how distant he seemed to act.

• Elita did think it was unusual how he tended to simply..disappear. The others hadn’t seemed to notice when he’d quietly walk off and into the depths of the base in the middle of energized conversation like she had. That being said, The first time she’d found him in one of the storage hangars distantly attached to the outpost- it had been startling.

- She’d gone there seeking a moment of peace and isolation- only to be greeted with the rhythmic whirr of deep venting coming from above. Sure enough, there was what she could barely make out as 37, stuck up high in the rafters between dusty shelving…apparently recharging.

- Since then she’d been the designated ‘go find 37’ bot. She guessed it wasn’t so bad being the “37 whisperer” as Blurr had deemed her. What did she know-maybe he just..liked the quiet away from everyone else, like she did? He was nice enough, anyway. Polite, well spoken when needed, and he wasn’t so loud like the others, which was a plus. It didn’t bother her to go discover one of his new hiding nooks in search of him, as long as 37 wasn’t late for patrol.

• Magnus had scolded him countless times for lingering around Jazz, Mirage, and especially Skyfire- when he was meant to be doing a rescan of a specific sector’s Decepticon activity. Did the bot truly need to follow around the larger bots just out of noticeable range like a lost pet?

- Instead of in his usual work area or wherever else he hid- Magnus of course would spot him looming just a few feet behind the larger bots every other cycle it seemed. His face fixed with an off putting, sort of guilty expression. The commander had always felt a little off about the small bot, but he did good work- remained quiet when being instructed, followed orders, and seemed quite capable with handling and keeping track of the autobots slowly growing archive of gathered intelligence. Maybe the bot was a bit uncanny, but Magnus was never one to act on premonitions of familiarity.

• Sure, Sunstreaker could have bet cold hard fuel that it was 37’s small frame he saw in the dimmed light, during his night patrol of the base. Standing there, rummaging around the energon stores quietly. A small image in the corner of his optics before he seemed to notice being watched and disappeared. Though Sideswipe teased him into believing he was simply seeing things after a few days of cautiously glancing at 37 during debriefs with Commander Magnus. Even if it had been 37, everyone was entitled to a snack now and then.

• Blurr was starting to wonder what he was even reading all the time. How could a bot possibly sit still and pour over so many datapads without wanting to pluck off a bolt or two from the boredom? Who would pick ‘just some research’ over hanging out with another bot? The aspiring racer was practically burning with curiosity about what made 37 so calm, but Blurr had just kind of gotten used to it. He guessed it was alright to not know every last detail, as long as 37 kept Blurr’s embarrassing tendency to run into debris on recon missions to himself.

• Wheeljack considered himself a bit strange, so why would he fault 37 for his quirks? He liked having a bot to bounce his equipment upgrades and calibration changes off of who didn’t immediately walk away when he started talking physics.

- Maybe 37 didn’t say much, but he always at least pretended to intently observe all the diagrams and technical details of his abysmal base upgrading hopes. Which was more than could be said of the rest of the habitants of their outpost.

- 37 was actually quite Intelligent, even in solving Wheeljack’s issues with the infrastructure Decepticon occupation interfered with. He’d suggested rerouting needed shipments for the base through the old Core Miner ventilation systems, beneath the larger cities to avoid interceptions...why hadn’t Wheeljack thought of that..?

It seems to the Autobots that 37 is... acceptably unusual.

————————————————

Aren't we all? lol

Thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far! Iva had a lot of trouble deciding how to go abt posting for this au, but I’m just going to hop and and see where it goes at this point. Gotta start somewhere :)

I wanted to include some of the other bots and their perspectives on 37, Ik it’s a strange format, but I think it does well enough to explain!

art above is mine. (This isn’t rlly edited so I might have messed up punctuation etc IM SORRY.)

@ghotstx gaslighting you into thinking this is the first time I’ve posted this

[talonabraxas]

The true origin and purpose of the pyramids

Basic theory of pyramidology is, that inside of a pyramid is accumulating and transforming universal energy called "orgon". Pyramids in their principal shape polarizing physical vacuum on both contradictory energies that is why they can act both as a transmitter or receiver, is a vibrational device which is able to receive, transform, concentrate, direct and emit energy. In an ancient Egypt they were energizing and uplifting vibrations in whole society.

Pyramid contains of a two words "pyro" or fire and "amid" or center. Pyramid is a device with fire in the center. Where center is well known king's chamber. Precisely in this center most of an energy is concentrated from where it spiraling to the top.

Builders of Egyptian pyramids used technique of harmonic resonance. They strictly observe measurements and proportions, which allows connection to the Earth's harmonics vibrations. Using words sacral geometry in a connection with pyramids we mean, that a builders were using same proportions and ratios, which we can find in nature and whole universe namely golden section (phi Φ=1.618033...)

They were also using a principles of resonance and sound to neutralize earth's gravity to be able to move a massive blocks. This effect occurs by tuning sound source to an exact frequency of a material. Pyramids where also connected to cooperative complex.

Egyptian pyramids were build mostly of limestone and crystal. Atoms of crystal vibrate at the same frequency as a planet earth, by this resonance an electric piezoelectric effect is occurring in inner mass of pyramid . Where one form of limestone is used as a isolating material the other form with magnesium is used as a negatively charged coat of an pyramid. It's acting like a massive wire. Granite is slightly radioactive which helps to ionizing air in all passages and caverns. Great Pyramid of Giza has also spiritual connection mostly to Orion and Sirius.

One of the functions of a pyramid is star gate and multiverse vortex. Pyramid as a portal allows people to reconnect with a source unity consciousness field. Energy of a pyramid reacts to operator's thoughts and intentions. It's acting like a huge amplifier for manifestation reality whatever it is healing, communication or interdimensional or astral travelling.

Energy of pyramid

Pyramidal energy of high vibrations calls cosmic is relating to torsion fields. It is favorable for human body and mind and other living beings. This energy is optically breaks, reflect and polarizing similarity to visible light. Pyramids walls attracting energy inside in all directions. This concentrated energy is affecting molecules or crystal structures of matter within a range of pyramid.

Scientists proved that no matter of a proportions, pyramids are amplifying mentioned energies of torsion fields (cosmic energies) and also energies of electromagnetic spectrum. American scientist Dr. Flanagan says, that Cheops pyramid concentrating energies in a very high frequencies and that is based on fact it has five angles. These corner angles of a pyramid concentrates and directing into energy beam where all four meets in the kings chamber.

Pyramidal energy is healthy for human organism as well as environment around and has multifunctional purpose. It strengthens the organism, heals humans and animals diseases, eases a pain of any kind, quickens healing of ambustion. Pyramid is also good for keeping a food fresh and healthy. Great for balancing a water for drinking or watering your vegetable and fruit. Softens taste of coffee, tea and quickens a germination of seeds. Growing never been faster than when you using a pyramidal energy. Strengthens a vitality, defends reproduce bacteria and microorganism which causes a break up of an organic matter. Living cells would not be affected by dehydratation as it still holds an electric charge and that is why plants or bodies would not be affected. Paradoxically if you like to slow down growth of your plants you don't give them any water they will still keeping very well under the pyramid and wouldn't need watering for a long time.

Many people have been personally convinced, that a pyramid is able to recharge our bodies when we are feeling exhausted, heals and tune our biological processes, but also gives us a tool to work with our psyche, consciousness and better connection to a higher frequencies and dimensions of reality. It's only up to us to what extend we are capable of operating these emitters. Many researchers were made in a wide range of branches as for example biochemistry, medical, agriculture, electronics or practical use for every day of life.

Pyramid Meditation and Manifestation Practices

Because of their physical properties and symbolic meanings, pyramids can be used in spiritual, meditation, and manifestation practices. Here are some ways you can use them to expand consciousness and receptivity to spiritual guidance:

1. Focus and Alignment

Just as pyramids form a point, or apex, at their top, they can represent focusing your attention in meditation. Some people find focusing on a mandala or lotus flower can help to reorient wandering thoughts in meditation. The pyramid can serve in the same fashion, whether it’s a figurine, a piece of art, or even in your imaginations.

In addition, you can focus your thoughts on moving up from the base of the pyramid, which can represent your experience in the material world to its pinnacle, which can represent a higher state of consciousness.

2. Energy Channeling

Pyramids are thought to channel cosmic energy, making them helpful tools for energy and even healing sessions. Placing a small pyramid on or near the head or body during energy and healing sessions is said to help balance and harmonize the body’s energy fields.

3. Manifestation Amplifier

The stable base and ascending sides of a pyramid can also symbolize staying grounded in the earthly plane while reaching for higher goals.

Writing down your intentions and placing them under a pyramid can be a helpful ritual in your manifestation practice. It can also serve as a request for blessings from higher powers when it comes to your endeavors.

4. Generating Creative Ideas

Given their association with enhancing focus and channeling energy, pyramids can be in creativity and problem solving when you want to channel higher energies and spiritual guidance.

In addition, the presence of a pyramid shape can serve as a visual and energetic reminder of your goals, aspirations, and unlimited capacity to create.

5. Gateways

Reflecting ancient practices, pyramids can be used as symbolic gateways during spiritual initiations or significant transitions, representing the journey from one state of consciousness to another.

This can involve meditating within or near pyramid structures to tap into transformative energies.

6. Enhancing a Sacred Space

Incorporating pyramids into the design of a creative, meditation, or other sacred space can elevate the area’s vibrational qualities. The pyramid’s base provides stability and grounding, while its ascending sides support creativity, the quest for higher wisdom, and spiritual ascension.

Energy Pyramid Real Fun, Wow!

[spacemothsota]

Do the once humans still talk to there old human friends

Hi Jaden! (Thanks for the question, and thanks again for waiting).

Unfortunately not. In fact, this question is more complex, because it has root causes and consequences for cyberformed humans. The thing is, initially, !originally!. The Cybertronians assumed that when human society becomes more progressive, the cyberformed will be able to communicate with their loved ones, family members and friends again. They conducted some negotiations to prepare the loved ones and relatives of the cyberformed and reveal this secret to them. However, this was met with resistance from the human side. The human government was righteously indignant that this creates major risks for disclosure to the public, that the union will be destroyed and the Cybertronians will not be welcome and it will not matter whether it is a Decepticon or an Autobot.

And it's not just that it was objectively really difficult, during that time a decent number of people had gathered who would have to be enlightened on the topic of cyberformation. And the fact that the human government had its own selfish thoughts and plans, which they did not seek to tell their alien guests. It was decided to isolate the cyberformed from human society, yes, at first they were still people in the eyes of the agents, but this did not last very long. The more time passed, the more agents changed. Those who initially knew that this or that mech was once a person became fewer and fewer. In addition, in order to reduce intimacy, agents were periodically changed, sent on vacation and returned. The human government created strict regulations for communication with former people in order to deliberately distance people from them mentally. (According to the principle that has been in effect for a long time "They are not us, and therefore enemies").

When a unit with secret agents was created, and every former human disappeared from the databases, the global network, they simply deleted them from "reality". "Are you human? Where is this proven? What, what data? There is none" - the government will say about what was stored on Diego Garcia or Deception, the world would simply recognize it as a fake. Cyberformed became a government secret, a trump card that could be used and, admittedly, they were good enough to hide their intentions behind one or another trick. Since all the data was mainly stored in paper form, this went past the optics of the Cybertronians and the thoughts of cyberformed people. The government's plans were to turn former humans into weapons (more on this in the next part of the lore).

Just imagine how one of the cyberformed people looks at his servos. And in his processor a ton of thoughts swarms "what is going on?" Why do former relatives of his species reject him, why can't he communicate with former friends. The loss of this contact is terrifying, so it is not surprising that cyberformed cling to each other and have extremely close bonds. No one wants to be alone… Humans and Cybertronians are social species, we need communication to live a full life!

Yeah… The next parts of the lore will be filled with angst. Hold on tight guys.

[cornertheculprit]

sometimes i hate my tendency to try to puzzle out how exactly a fictional mechanic would function irl because i just wanted to make a post about how i think the terrifyingly good gramarye eyesight (that works in tandem with the tension sensing and the focus to let them Perceive—"Their 'power' relies on eyesight combined with exceptional focus.") would affect apollo being abruptly moved from a quiet mountainous area to a metropolitan city with a bajillion people in it as a child (it would suck at first. Badly) but then i started trying to explain WHY it would suck so badly and now i'm knee-deep in articles about neuroscience and psychology and shit like "Variability in human cone topography assessed by adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy" in an attempt to somewhat explain a possible way the gramarye power could work. and you know what. fuck it. rough potential explanation of my original point with no elaboration behind it. exceptional visual acuity is where the ability to subconsciously "sense" tension comes from (they See it but they don't consciously register it because of selective filtering—"She wouldn't realize that she was subconsciously detecting this tension...") -> the other known gramaryes in the games were raised in and/or very accustomed to loud chaotic environments (we know jack shit about magnifi's childhood) so they were desensitized to all the visual noise (habituation) in a way that apollo wouldn't have been since he was raised in relative isolation in the mountains -> apollo might not have known how to employ the "focus" part of the power at that point but he had to have been absolutely miserable at first (until he also grew desensitized to it) when you consider his eyesight combined with being thrust into a giant city. his bracelet was probably clamped onto his wrist until he got used to it and was able to tune all the visual noise (People, especially. Everywhere) out. Or something. WHATEVERRRRR