Okay but a lot if it goes into like, my own OCs and stuff bc that's just how I roll. ...downhill, tumbling ass over head on this pile of OCs.
@Petra TELL ME ABOUT YOUR OCS TELL ME ABOUT THE BIOLOGY LISTEN I HAVE A 14 PAGE CLIFFNOTES VERSION OF THE VERY VERY INTRICATE MERFORMERS AU BACKGROUND @KaidaShade IS RPING WITH ME For real tell me everything I'm probably like going to take notes.
@TheOwlet So my first bit of headcanon biology has to do with Devisen twins. So we know that even 'normal cybertronians' can be twinned and more specifically have split sparks. The Last Stand of the Wreckers miniseries explains that split sparks are like overlapping nervous systems and sensory impressions can leak through, and severely split sparks can even result in the death of one twin when the other dies. Now, overlapping nervous systems in two separate bodies are NORMALLY going to be a disadvantage. You can zone out at weird times from the feedback, you've got to make sure the other person is safe to keep yourself safe, etc. There's two cases where it'd be a distinct physical advantage though, one being combiners, and the other being... devisen twins. Because each pair of twins shares one alt-mode! When they're transformed, their nervous systems HAVE to overlap and be able to work together coherently, so given how split sparks work in LSotW, it makes intuitive sense to me that they all have split sparks. Spoiler: Optimus Prime 4 or 5 I think Honestly I was genuinely disappointed when one of the devisens in Optimus Prime got killed and his twin sister didn't just seize up immediately, but maybe since shared alt-mode and split sparks are like, their specialty cyberbiologically instead of just a weird mutation things are a lot smoothed out? Maybe it's a range and some pairs are linked life-and-death and others aren't? Maybe there's long term damage? I wanna find out, morbid as that sounds!
By the way, that could also explain why combination is so fucking hard to properly maintain without going nutty. Your nervous systems have to be able to work together, it's totally not just a willpower or personality thing.
yo, @TheOwlet I herd u like transformers OCs We've got a whole terrible RP-subforum for a longrunning adventure of a few very sort of determined diplomats of all factions on a mission to rekindle connections with the Galactic Council, ideally without shit being carpet bombed from orbit. (it's vaguely canon compliant with IDW but we shuffled a couple timeline things around for convenience) It's over here
@IvyLB ohhhhhh @Petra: Ok so question, does that mean that if a devisen twin survives the death of their other half they're essentially mode locked forever? (also does that mean that they're all automatically combiners and if so where is the distinction between a combiner and devisen twins)
@TwoBrokenMirrors has @Ghost!Pocket in that set up annnnnnd think the answer was "yeah root-mode-locked forever"
@TheOwlet Yes. They can turn into something, but only half of that thing. What are you going to do as half a plane? Fall, mostly. Devisen twins aren't combiners, although the distinction is blurry. I play it as rather then combining their personalities into a new person, they just communicate really really fast when sharing a body.
1) depressing af jesus christ also nobody let Shockwave near those people oh god 2) I'm experiencing a serious case of archive panic about the rp thing, where do I start reading?
@Petra Right, so more like being drift compatible but like... from birth? Whereas combiners have to kinda consciously make it work? (Oh god I fee like I need to get deeper into the source material someone hand Cyberbiology 101 please)
(Pretty sure Pocket's modelocked yeah. Or at least he never tried transforming after Pick died because yeah who wants to be half a magpie Though really they're supposed to be split-sparked enough that one dies, the other dies too)
@TheOwlet Yeah, basically! Also Combiners have the tendency to get really stupid or single-minded. This is canon. Bc they're the combined persona of 5 people, but those 5 people are all focusing on one thing, or if they aren't then the combiner can be really scattered... Also I don't think cybertronian combiners are natural in the source material? They can happen if you activate the enigma of combination, but you're not like... born voltron's arm.
the main thread that contains the actual RP is here the other threads are supplementary material planning and so on most important references to look up if you feel lost or something is this that should be the biggest things!
@TheOwlet The plot of the rp is p soap-opera-ish but that's part of the fun of it. Just jump in from the start!
@Petra I heard about that, that combiners in battle are essentially 'point them in the right direction (aka wherever your enemy is), take cover and hope they don't get turned around' which does make sense because if you're 5 brains crammed into the same body it's either going to be a clusterfuck or someone clubbing everyone else into submission. you can't run that democratically. 'Enigma of combination' who is allowed to name these things? But I suppose it makes sense if they're artificial, but I reckon there's gotta be something like a dormant potential for it and you can't just turn anyone into a part of a combiner? (also, question: once you're part of a combiner, do you retain your normal alt?)
@Petra it's ok I'm down with soap opera I'm in like 3 different transformer AUs rn and half of them are soap opera af i love it.
Blame the 13 primes. The Enigma is literally some bit of cybertronian tech so ancient and so advanced and so from the age of the primes nobody can quite figure out how it works, just that it makes combiners happen. I... think you retain your alt, too. using pre-built combining frames and frozen baby sparks the Decepticons tried to make a combiner during the war. This failed, and now there's 5 guys out there who literally turn into body parts and nothing else. Like, they can successfully transform, they're just not a viable combiner. We learn this through Ambulon, who is a leg.
