#crosscutting

[what-have-i-unleashed]

so uhhhhh long post ahead

(cw: emotional manipulation, toxic relationship, survivor's guilt, if there's anything more please tell me)

underverse-adjacent, so it's cross being in the same team as nightmare and killer only. xchara is there too but his presence does nothing to comfort cross.

cross is touch-starved because he was stuck in the empty world for such a long time, and he also craves interaction with another person. and ink used to be that for him until cross realized he could not depend on ink for his goal (restoring xtale) and he felt somewhat betrayed by that notion. this man has trust issues now, not only with other people but also with himself. can he trust himself to be attached to another person? can he trust his decisions, when his past actions only brought him more grief than they're worth?

enter nightmare and killer, who do not care about the morality of his idea to steal and hack the codes of other universes to create his own. in fact, they're enabling him and xchara, only because their goals intersect. but that is more than anything he could hope for. after xtale, after the situation with ink, finally someone is on his side, silently assuring him that what he's done is for the greater good.

killer… does not like cross, mostly because of the whole xchara thing. but someone has to teach the newbie on how things work around here, and it's not going to be nightmare for sure. so he takes cross under his wings, pointing out how things are done. his teaching leaves a lot to be desired though, mostly because he's a cryptic asshole who just won't say directly what he means.

but as cross gets to slowly hang around killer, being mentored by him, he starts to observe how killer carries himself and feels a nagging thought probing at his mind, a thought definitely not from xchara at all. killer is the only source of affection cross can have in this situation - killer is free with his physical affection, always touching cross like patting cross' head, glomping on him, or resting his arm over cross' shoulders. cross likes these gestures from killer, but he cannot show it because he knows what killer will do upon seeing a weakness. his morality and killer's are different - they shouldn't be compatible.

and yet, that nagging thought gets louder and louder in his head. why does he look at killer too much? why does he anticipate any form of praise from killer? why does he hate it when killer contradicts him? one day, xchara will bluntly tell cross that he has an obsession with that guy. it's exhausting watching cross acting like a complete middle schooler with a crush who adamantly denies it. and like, there's no freaking way, right? there's no way a person like cross can have a crush on a sadistic multiversal terrorist. he has better tastes than that!

and like, cross is partially right. he has better morals than that, but it doesn't stop his soul from latching onto the first person who can offer him some physical and emotion comfort, however little there is. but also... cross likes the idea of killer, because he doesn't really know killer. he's in that queer phase of "do i like that person - or do i want to be them". killer is, for all his flaws, a good soldier. he's dutiful by nightmare's side and an excellent fighter. he's decisive, witty, and scarily smart. everything cross aspires to be, his ideal self. he doesn't want to be unsure, he doesn't want to be scared, he doesn't want to be weak. cross' conflicts within himself are multiple, and no doubt nightmare and killer take notice of that.

cross wants to be decisive and self-assured, but he also wants to be told what to do, to follow someone's will. because he's scared of himself - he's still not processed the guilt over his decisions and actions in xtale. he wants control but he also craves guidance, so if he's wrong, at least it's not his fault this time, right?

and killer would play with his head like that. "it's ok, i can show you", "it's ok, it's up to you", "i'll take responsibility for this". if cross listens to killer, then every mistake is on killer's shoulders and not his. "you don't have to feel guilty, because i will be your sacrificial lamb" type of situation. but also, cross will feel he owes killer for this, and he'll stay, over and over and again and again, despite all the horrible things they've done, despite all the times killer guilt-trips him into doing something not in his morality. but it's okay, because it's killer's hands guiding him to do it, and cross will do it if only to make killer happy with him.

and i think sometimes killer will use his wiles to get cross to agree to be his lab subject. cross has such a fascinating soul, and killer won't mind tormenting xchara for a bit. killer will assure cross that this is just something to strengthen cross, to make him a better soldier. a little bit of praises and surefire conviction will get cross relax in his presence. nightmare sure has found a perfect toy for his bloodhound, something that will keep his interests up and boredom away in the down time.

[murderinthemoshpit]

how my crew looks

[trypoed]

Such a great plot 😳😳😳

[coco9728]

Find the correct answer below, after answering the quiz question. And no cheating please!😁

The answer is 4!

Scott is seen to use 4 grapple packs when abseiling down the mine.

Though later in the episode he also uses 1 grapple pack to rescue Marion Van Arkel from the falling elevator. So that's 5 grapple packs in total for the entire episode.

Plus, at the very end of the episode Scott is seen using (hmmm, maybe a lazer pack?...) for his grapple gun to (is he welding?...with no protective gear!...) seal the uranium mine.

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic #503 - "Home Is Where The Laser Core Is"

Originally posted on June 16th, 2010

Story - Juan Pablo Osorio Art - Oscar Choquecota Letters - Franco Villa Edits - Zac DeBoard Diaclone designs - Benjamin Galley

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

Later revised and annotated for Transformers: The Lost Seasons

wada sez: The first of three strips written to bring a Transformers Animated character into Sunbow continuity; I've bumped up the other two, which were originally posted not long after, for a better reading experience. Bulkhead’s group here has a mixture of origins, as explained in the comments on deviantART, but includes a couple of Diaclone bots, who were slightly redesigned by Galley for the sake of variety. The blue bot is actually a Brazilian character, Camaro, who was renamed "Sprint" after Windcharger's preliminary name. In the final panel, the bots present are the main cast of Animated, and to cement the homage Ratchet is seen fixing his forehead chevron, a cheeky reference inserted by Choquecota. Bulkhead’s original design was done by Choquecota, and Osorio wrote the whole story based on it; later, Osorio would create a separate character model for Bulkhead along similar lines for The Lost Seasons, which was widely shared online and seems very likely to have inspired the later official release of the G1-style Legacy Bulkhead. See below for all of this relevant artwork.

[granatu888]

I‘m sorry but…

[flyboytracy]

[cherrytimemachine]

Tidbits of Cybertron and the culture.

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector,

Hello! It's a simple question but I wanted to ask- can two forged Cybertronians come out looking the same, or will they each be unique?

Dear Fraternal Forger,

Certainly. We can look to the examples of Crosscut and Skids, Hoist and Trailcutter, Dominus and Minimus Ambus, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, or Ratchet and Ironhide. It's one of the many ways Cybertronians can count others as their siblings.

[zephyrrhiesfyrian]

*slides into your dms* pssst, babe, I got that good stuff.

Jk, it's more MTMTE screenshots and their file names on my computer. :D

a big himbo <3

his brain must hurt from being so confused all the time

First Aid burns with the fury of god himself

rodimus executes the most powerful of squats

tailgate do you even know how to fire a weapon?

pls give crosscut a pat on the back for being absolutely adorable

theatre nerd go brrrrr i wanna go see his play >:(

valid

he carryin' tailgate :>

i wish i could be this effortlessly sexy ;-;

OBJECTION!!!

mirage is disgusted by these peasants

"no talk me angy"

[transingthoseformers]

Also, Megatron has gotten involved in a new art scene that is exploding under the new government with poetry and essays and plays.

He and Crosscut and a few other more lit focused Cybertronians get together. He ends up dealing with the Camiens a lot as the more "artistic" representative, and they are all interested. This is how he meets Nautica and some of the other Sorority members.

Megatron kind of collects Camien "ducklings". Starscream teases him about this but since he has adopted baby Windblade he has no room to comment. They are working on swordfighting together.

Yessssssss ohh that's gotta be so fun

It's a Renaissance sort of situation isn't it

Oooo, yes yes

Awww! yESS!

[thelastgherkin]

LEGACY EVOLUTION Deluxe Crosscut

More like this:

Thrilling 30 Deluxe Class Crosscut

Legacy: Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection Deluxe Class Diaclone Universe Burn Out

Kingdom Deluxe Class Road Rage

[nightpool]

the Detroit airport has an elevated people mover? just, like, in the hallways next to the gates? how has nobody told me this

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic #538 - "Lament"

Originally posted on September 3rd, 2010

Story, Script, Letters - Seb Script - HdE Art - Roy Stiffey

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

wada sez: This Crosscut spotlight is absolutely the funniest Mosaic I've read in ages. On deviantART, Seb said: “Well, my dictionary defines 'soliloquy' as "the act of a character speaking to himself so as to reveal his thought to the audience" (whereas 'colloquy' would be a regular conversation between 2 parties). Technically, Crosscut doesn't 'speak' here, which makes this a 'monologue' instead of 'soliloquy', but since the piece is all about big words, the latter one sounds way more 'literate' ;p”. HdE added: “With LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS, Roche and Roberts gave us the horrors of war, musings on insanity, sacrifice, betrayal and a huge helping of death and destruction. With LAMENT, Seb and HdE give their audience... big words. And waffle. Lots of waffle. Mmm... waffles... [...] Our intention here was to put Crosscut over as being far-too-verbose and serious for his own good. But hopefully, you can still feel a pang of pity for him at the end.” See below for a mirrored version of Seb’s full commentary for the strip, originally shared to his own deviantART account, along with clean colors and even an Italian translation.

Now to explain the not-so-pure motivation behind this piece, sigh.... :) Mainly, there are two reasons:

1) I was always amazed (not always positively) by how TF fandom takes pride in (sometimes even competitive) knowledge of insanely obscure trivia, situations and characters from within the franchise. In 25+ years, said franchise has accumulated an insane number of somethings than can, depending on the case in question, be labeled as a character, "character", pitiful excuse for a "character", and pitiful excuse for a word "character". No matter, for as long as someone is "official" (appeared in some officially sanctioned part of the franchise), poor he/she/it "deserves some love", regardless of the fact that 2 minutes of someone's mental effort can result in a MUCH better "character".

This is only partly "derogatory", for I myself indulge in such things. I'm poking fun at myself as well. :D

Now, I knew this had to be pulled of with a Mosaic starring Crosscut - a (let's face it) pitiful excuse for a word "character" who appeared only on 2 panels of a Marvel TF issue from '86, the first one depicting him in a glow of energy while testing the Space bridge, the second one depicting him explode into pieces due to Bridge's faulty fuel line....but one thing had set him apart from all the others "hi-then-die" guys - he was NAMED.

So, the idea was giving that sorry li'l dude a back-story most profound, not knowing what it'll be. And it waited....

2) I had a discussion with HdE about overly serious and over-the-top writing bursting with pathos that can be seen in writing in general, and how a whole lotta NOTHING can be disguised with big, dramatic words. The talk (d)evolved into a hilarious exchange of pretentious and verbose pseudo-poetic ramblings, and thus the idea of Crosscut the Poet was born!

I compiled that pompous mumbo-jumbo, adapted it for the situation, added quite an amount of equally verbose pretentious fillers, distributed it among the panels and sent the draft to HdE. He Shakespeare-ized the ramblings even further (which I didn't think was possible, but it was!), added several additional juicy passages, and VOILA!

All the script needed was master Roy to bring this fragile beauty and innocent vulnerability to life! :)

...and here it is - a blank slate given the deepest depth imaginable. ;)

[waffle-bubbles]

Today I met an archivist

… She was nothing like like Jonathan Sims

[flyboytracy]

the floor is lava