#look imagine starscream is like a stray cat to his sick little sib

[witchofthesouls]

I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this theory/trope but it’s one I’ve heard throughout my years in the fandom but it’s basically served in crumbs because that’s how rarely I’ve heard it.

The theory/trope is basically that Starscream is Megatron’s son, whether biological or adopted, and given how their canon relationship is like it’s an extremely fucked ‘father and son’ dynamic.

Depending on the continuity, Starscream both wants Megatron’s approval and for him to be gone, but no matter what continuity, Starscream knows that deep down he can never be Megatron or inspire the same loyalty and fear as he does. Basically acts the way almost every person who grew up with daddy issues acts.

Then in comes Megatron’s hybrid bitlet. Megatron doesn’t treat them the way he treats Starscream, his first child. Megatron is firm and strict with them but never lifts a hand to them and rarely raises his voice at them and doesn’t subjugate them to the same humiliation and abuse that he does with Starscream.

Starscream rarely sees the child (Megatron keeps his SIC far away from the apple of his eye and when he isn’t there to enforce it, Soundwave sure as hell does) but on the rare occasions that he has, he can see the how protective and territorial Megatron gets over them, but also how much he cares and loves them (in his own way, of course).

It very much a gives “-that means she was always capable of change, but I just wasn’t worth changing for” and “we may have the same parent but we had very different childhoods.”

Oh yeah, I've seen takes on it. It's been a while, though. It was slanted as a Megatron was a father-figure to a grieving prince (major political leverage) or direct spark-kin as an explanation why he never kills Starscream after multiple assassination attempts.

There are multiple ways to go about this scenario:

Treatment based on Megatron's future plans. Starscream is supposed to be his heir and needs that cruel edge to be the Decepticon leader, but his hybrid sibling is slotted for a perhaps different role? Fostering political ties via matrimony? An ambassador to be their voice on a galactic stage?

Treatment based on how they come into Megatron's hands. Think of it as cultural differences and age he stepped into the role of father. If he actually sparked an Elite Vosian noble, then it would be a mess. As in Megatron didn't even know about his son's existence and Starscream doesn't know his sire, only the shadow of his carrier getting sparked with a single sparklet (bad omen among the Vosians) and following his carrier on her assignments as a diplomat to other city-states. A teenage!Starscream of a high-caste will not get along with Megatron's everything. He's absolutely dismayed that his carrier would sigh fondly or sharply reprimand Starscream is "exactly like your sire!" No, he isn't! Meanwhile, hybrid sibling was born into Megatron's hands and doesn't know anything else but the ship.

Treatment based on biological quirks. I imagine that Seekerkin sparklings tend to be aggressive and prone to outbursts to their age mates because they're attempting to establish a hierarchy among them, and an overactive prey-drive still settling as they differientiate kin, strangers that are neutral, and unknown hostiles. It's the duty of overwatching adults to make sure the scraping doesn't get too out of hand and draw the boundaries of what is and isn't acceptable in play. Megatron is a damn tank/gun, and neither of them do that. So he thinks he had a wild, unruly child who was trying to savage the living daylights out of any playdate. Hybrid sib, on the other hand, has a shorter lifespan running against them. Plus, are they starting off as a human or a newspark? Do they switch in-between? Are they a tiny newborn that Megs need to mass displace down to even let them hold his pinky finger?

Difference based on health. Sibling isn't well. Megatron keeps them far away from everyone else due to their fragility. Megatron allows himself to be softer because there is no guarantee they will reach adulthood, let alone lead any part of the forces.