BACKSTORIES=Life

She was 7 stellar years old when her family was murdered in front of her optics...

His sister's optics shuttered as she let out a final exhale of life... And to believe she was only 10 stellar cycles...

A cube of Energon fell from him as claws slashed out his right optic...

Do these prompts sound familiar? Well, hopefully they do. These are backstories.

Backstory: "a history or background created for a fictional character"

While physical appearance is essential, backstories define your OC, or maybe even if you create the backstory for a canon Transformer.

Simple Math Equation

OC/Canon(Experience+Reaction)=Backstory

Final.

With Transformers, definitely 99.9% Cybertronians will have war within their backstory. BUT!

Each Cybertronian has a unique experience. I'll choose my OC Nightcore (TFP not TFC) as an example of how her backstory explains her today self.

NC: -.- NAH UH Ladeh I ain't tellin' those weirdos 'bout my past!

Me: Ok, you wouldn't mind if let us say I tell Jackie or Nightlock that you thought there was a specific mech you think is sexy~

NC: O.o No! They'll neva stop mockin' meh!

Good, let's start. *fake cough* I apologize for the ads pause. Hopefully you enjoyed it.

Now, in your fanfiction, when weaving the backstory throughout the story, only add the most important parts. Readers are not interested in non-relevant details about your character or the canon's.

Like Sarah from Keeper of the AllSpark. The reader will be interested in the reason behind her power but NOT the time she broke her first tooth.

Now let's start with TFP Nightcore!

1) At age 7, she watched the best friend of her sire murder her younger siblings and creators (her older siblings were in the Elite Academy, so they survived)

2) Later on, her sire's other friend decided it was time for her to join the Wreckers at age 10 (after barely overcoming her trauma)

3) She becomes great friends with Wheeljack and Bulkhead, and joined the Autobots in the Great War

4) Soon after Cybertron went dark she decided to leave for Optimus's signal of joining him on Earth (along with smashing Cons)

Now, I left out details cause I am STILL typing down her backstory. But mostly it was because they were too irrelevant. A reader would not care when she was born, but would care about the fact that she became an orphan. The reader would be more interested in the reason WHY she joined OP's team.

Backstories, if written correctly, are puzzle pieces. What makes them more interesting is that the reader will decipher them.

And to be honest with you, they are hard to make. It's alright if after a whole year your OC's/your own version of the Canon's backstory changes.

But here is another math equation: (Experience+Events = Backstory) = Current personality reason)

So with Nightcore:

(Wrecker Fighting+Loss of Family) = Reckless, Aggressive, and Determined Nightcore

FLASHBACKS

Siri and Galaxy, please define Flashback !

Both: Flashback is "a scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story." In a branch off, it means "a sudden and disturbing vivid memory of an event in the past, typically as the result of psychological trauma or taking LSD."

THANK YOU! YOU ARE REALLY HELPFUL! (Except when it comes to searching up free Transformers episodes -.-)

Alright, now we are all informed with le definition of a flashback.

BACKSTORIES ARE NOT FLASHBACKS, BUT FLASHBACKS ARE A PART OF THE BACKSTORY!

Lemie explain, Medix Style! BOO YEAH!

So, like I stated earlier, the backstory is the past, and the true story behind the said OC or canon

The flashback, however, is one way for the writer to reach this backstory.

Here is the elements/equation of the flashback:

Current Event+Memory=Flashback

Or, here is a better example, since I know there are alot of math haters (How can you hate math?!) :

A target is in front of the gun, with a person holding the trigger. Something happens, which caused the trigger to go off and the bullet struck the dummy.

Target: The Character
Alert: The Current Event
Bullet: Flashback
Gun: Memory pulled out

Understood it? ...

I'll use a scene from KOTAS instead (Am I using this book too much?)

Sarah was walking by the lockers when she heard faint banging. Curiously, she went over only to find out it was Raf. As she went to unlock the combo, she got a flashback of being thrown in the supplies closet and locked there for 2 hours.So then Raf asked if Sarah was still there, and she was shaken out of it.

Simple, and tthat's how to write a smooth flashback.

But that's one of the two basic ways. The other way to reveal the backstory is via nightmares, dreams, maybe diaries, and conversations.

DONT'S IN FLASHBACKS/BACKSTORIES

1) Do not ever leave the age and time unknown
2) NO PRESENT TENSE UNLESS DIALOGUE
3) Bad memories when talked with are NOT simple, you need to add in hesitation and other factors of telling a secret

I do not know what else to say...

Just, try and make it smooth. If you need first-hand experience, recall all the times you told someone your bad dreams or memories.

Hopefully you learned about everything about flashbacks or backstories, if you have any questions I, MeMe Medix, shall reply the best I can.

Next chapter should be... Hmm...

OOC.