There is a thing known by many titles and names. The Deep Void, the Hunger in us all, the Pit-Mouth, the Devourer, some whisper a name long forgotten- Unicron, they breath. The end given form.
It’s a silly myth, nothing but a representative force, a nameless adversary used to fill in for the threats faced by beings of legend. Nothing more, just a silly superstition, an explanation for the starless patch of sky or the ravings of madmechs.
Unicron does not appear in history, after all.
Nothing so vast and terrible could exist.
Ancient depictions of a winged planet devouring solar systems are nothing but metaphors, a visual, visceral impression of perhaps conquest or exploration or simply a commentary on how many species live on the cusp of death, such brief lifespans. Still, one has to wonder…why this image?
And why do these impressions unsettle all Cybertronians, so?
(Unicron seldom appears in art, or as pictographic runes, but as all good corrupting eldritch forces do, whatever you illustrate or describe it as…It may not stay like that should you look away. In illustrations it appears something like this, a weakened tangle of chaotic limbs/wings that is defeated and dispersed into nothingness.
Modern Cybertronians generally don’t believe in Unicron, or think it was killed ages past, but they like a good spooky story and there’s little spookier than something so ravenous it must consume planets and people, souls and all.)
Between the six major polities–those being Iacon, Praxus, Kaon, Vos, Tarn, and Crystal City–there exist several dialects native to the mecha who inhabit them. Each one is uniquely devised to reflect the culture, history, and social structure of the polity it represents.
Iacon
As the political hub and capital of Cybertron, the language is based on governmental patois.
Conversation revolves around the verbal structure of an open debate, treatise graphing, or Senate hearings.
Quick, clipped, and unerringly polite, even when it’s not meant to be.
Body mods, paint details, and personal decor imply rank, faction, caste, and political lean–it is an important abstract to the language as a whole; rarely will you find an Iaconian without one or more mods.
Body language is reserved almost to the point on nonexistence; likewise, EMF has no place in public spaces.
The language has few contractions and is always short and to-the-point among the middle- and lower-class.
Praxus
A lilting language, expressing exuberance and joy.
Colorful and overly descriptive, it is a mixing of many cultures, including its own, and thus will fluctuate from sector to sector.
Unlike Iaconian dialect, Praxian involves excessive movement and EMF patterns, and many citizens are Chirolingual; physical touch is highly important and used to convey deep emotion.
Facial expressions and motor noises–chirring, chirping, purrs, growls, and chuffing–are used intermittently with the spoken word.
Singing, though not essential, is also considered part of the local dialect.
Kaon
Brash and loud, the Kaonite dialect is less refined than the others and is considered ‘barbaric’.
Graphic use of glyphs to illustrate ideas and desires, as opposed to lengthy descriptions.
A deep, guttural language originating from vocal synthesizers attached to the engines, as opposed to vocoders, which filter air.
Excessive use of violent or wild gestures, as well as body language–flaring and tightening plating, shifting kibble, etc.
Tone is often grating, or rough, due to constant abuse of vocoders, but always passionate and exceptionally proud.
Similar to Praxus, motor noises are also common markers of the language.
Vos
As the City of the Seekers, Vosnian vernacular is heavily dependent on having a certain frametype.
Gestures play an enormous role as an integral part of the spoken language; without wings, or the knowledge of how to interpret their movements, one cannot ever properly converse in the language.
A political language, though not necessarily to the degree of Iaconian; it draws more heavily from Primal Vernacular than Basic.
Verbose, and yet articulate, the language is woven together with soft tones and a cultured, rich accent that belies a simmering passion below the surface.
A sly, secretive language preferred for making deals and negotiating contracts.
Tarn
As a militaristic polity, the language reflects the rigid social structure of Tarn in its harsh, orderly composition.
Posture alone is worth half the language; plating is always pulled tight, and facial expressions are very neutral.
Binary and code intersperse the spoken language, but EMF pulses are rarely utilized in day-to-day conversation.
Relies heavily on data emissions.
Flat and cold tones with few contractions.
The language is heavily dependent on status and military rank, which regulate how members of the different castes are to speak to one another; each caste holds a different ‘rank’, and the lower the caste, the less mecha permitted to speak to you.
Only the lowest castes rejected the strict and ordered speech, thus interring themselves in the slums where they would oft go ignored.
Crystal City
As the foremost scientific community on Cybertron, the language of Crystal City revolves heavily around binary, code, equations, and glyphs.
The language is complex, but entirely factual; some might say insufferable.
The tone is cultured, but very matter-of-fact and sometimes even described as cold or harsh.
Enunciation is key to everything, and few words have less than four syllables.
As always, there are differences between the castes themselves. The higher the caste, the more strictly one adhered to the chosen vernacular; lower castes often had their own languages, which were bastardized versions of the ‘higher’ language.
nonverbal/mute mechs communicating chirolingually! mute mechs who were chirolingual but became empurata victims and created chirolingual dialects for empurata victims!! separate dialects of empurata chirolanguage varying on number of claws, dexterity of claws.. two claws? three? bendy ones, twisty ones, etc?
chirolanguage and sign language varying with regions of cybertron just like sign language irl!! mechs creating a name for themselves in chirolanguage that is their own specific motion (a la sign language in irl d/Deaf/HOH communities)!!
mechs who alternate between chirolanguage and sign language!! a dialect of sign language for empurata victims!!!
You can’t fly with “Praxian Wings” because they are actually doorwings.
The phrase “Flying with Praxian wings” roughly translates to something both absurd and impossible. If someone is “trying to fly with Praxian wings”, it means that they are going YOLO and about to do something very stupid (i.e. drinking a cylinder full of industrial-grade energon, bungy-jumping into a smelting pit)
The feeling when you post things on the wrong blog…..
I imagine “get rekt” has a much different meaning on Earth than it would Cybertron.
Like for them it’s probably “get wrecked” as in literally crash. Like it’s a legitimatelyrude thing to say.
So imagine human friend jokingly says “get rekt” and their Cybertronian friend is absolutely horrified and offended. I thought we were friends??? Why would you say that???
And like jokes about being trash also. A human saying “I’m such trash” and Bot friend is like “WHO TOLD YOU THAT I’LL FIGHT THEM”
Not to mention frag,scrap, etc. are just regular words here (for the most part. i think there was one word also considered rude in some places?).
Basically just imagine all the miscommunication that must happen…
I was thinking about Cybertronians the other day and how their body language would work, since they’re different from humans. I would imagine that eye contact isn’t something they’re big on for a number of reasons. 1) They spend a lot of time as vehicles and therefore don’t have eyes by our standards, 2) quite a number of them have visors, like Jazz, which would make eye contact rather difficult, and 3) the size difference would make it rather difficult for larger bots to look at little bots.
So eye contact would be something saved for things like face offs and persuasions/interrogations, when intimidation is important. Or maybe when they’re expressing extremely strong emotions. And this would mostly go for mecha without visors. Like Megatron and Optimus.
Cybertronian Database 