TFILF Day 7 - Worldbuilding

[leclairage]

Whoop! It's Day 7 so it's dealer's choice, and I'm choosing stories with Worldbuilding with a capital W. 

Cultural Exchange by Therrae Dasha_mte

G1, mostly
Rated G

This fic is the first in the Xenoethnography series and I cannot even express how much I love each one of the stories just, wow. Stunning. The main character is a human anthropologist (an OC I have come to love) and just, unf. Worldbuilding! There's a huge focus on language that is fascinating and detailed and nuanced and just, wow. Wow! here have the summary of the fic, it gives a good idea.

"It also didn’t help that the average glyph message was only three characters long, used no articles or prepositions, and usually had no verbs. What was the proper response to:: Curiosity; Sensation of great speed? Was it a question? A comparison?  Why, after a brief visit by National Security Director Mearing, did four different ‘Bots send:: Emphasis; overlapping? Why was a particularly bad joke by Bulkhead derided as ::Undercharged when there were actual glyphs for Not funny and Humor fail? How did any of that work?"

the ways of the stars undone by oriflamme
IDW, Starscream/Wheeljack, Starscream/Windblade
Rated T
The intricate, emotionally satisfying plot we all wish IDW had given us! It's an AU continuation of TAAO and it's focused on Starscream and Windblade, primarily, though there are a few other POV characters. This is a plot featuring Unicron that canon should have had. The ending is so unspeakably satisfying, the way its plotted just really gives you a kick at the end, but it also makes sense, like the conclusion ought to have been obvious all along. Also featuring the tag "Give Starscream Emotional Support Round 3: This Time It's Personal" which, yes. Just yes. The sequels are gorgeously plotted works in their own right, and similarly offer intense, if only this were canon satisfaction. This fic and the later ones also play a lot with the Titans and the Primes in delightful ways. 

Prima's Blessing by white_aster
G1, MegOP, Everyone/Everyone
Rating: Explicit
I was almost going to rec this tomorrow (unofficial NSFW day) but it's really stuck in my mind for the worldbuilding aspects so it's going up here. The premise is basically, the Prime and his Lord High Protector used to have the duty of holding certain orgies sacred festivals during the Cybertronian calendar. The Matrix tells Optimus that he needs to do this again. And he has to invite the Decepticons. The smut is really, really something, and I absolutely recommend that, but I really like how this leans in on the concept of 'the Transformers have a canonical deity' because that has a ton of unexplored potential. How Primus interacts with OP through the Matrix, how Primus interacts with Megatron and his role and motivations, the way that coding plays into both things, all the sub-pairings that get explored as the fic goes on... It's great.