#pre cybertronian civil war

[lets-try-some-writing]

I swear I would die for a fanfic or writing of Alpha Trion experience with feral bitey Orion who has no respect for his ancient ways or scrolls and like the experience of finding him.

Coming right up my dear anon! I may have messed with your prompt just a little bit. Sorry for how short this is.

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"Orion Pax." Alpha Trion put down his quill with a sigh as he looked over his shoulder. The feral monstrosity was at it yet again.

"Primus below, give me strength." He knew exactly what to expect, but it still prompted him to sigh as he looked at the hole in Orion's crib. He had, yet again, bitten his way through the metal bars and clambered his way to freedom. Alpha Trion would need to get a cyber-hound kennel or get a custom crib made from something far more sturdy than whatever the crib was currently made of.

This was the third crib just this stellar cycle.

"Archivists, be on the lookout for Orion Pax. He has escaped his designated space yet again." He sent the message over the private channel used by the Archives. He could almost feel the collective groan of his students as they put down whatever they were doing to find the wayward sparkling traversing the Archives.

He wandered the halls while rubbing his face in exhaustion. Ever since taking in Pax, there had been no peace in his once restful workspace. Orion cried throughout most of his recharge cycle, and barring that, he was plotting yet another escape attempt. It was draining on body and spark alike. Especially when Orion was found chewing on a record dating back to the early Quintesson era.

"Sir, we've located him?" He perked up at the voice coming across his commlink, but he frowned at the almost questioning tone. Was the archivist not sure?

"You do not sound confident." He remarked simply as he strode in the general direction of the archivist's signal.

"Well, we have found him, but he's... in the ceiling?" That was not a good sign. Alpha Trion all but sprinted until he found the archivist and a few others crowded around the base of a huge pillar. It held up the fifth archival level and extended more than sixty feet into the air. Looking up, Alpha Trion wanted to bang his helm against the nearest wall.

"Do we get a ladder?" The question hung in the air as Orion Pax clung to the very top of the pillar, his little clawed digits digging into the metal as he chewed on a datapad. Why he climbed up the pillar and why he was eating a datapad was beyond Alpha Trion. He stopped bothering to ask questions after a certain point.

"Yes, get the ladder." Alpha Trion sighed and died a little inside as, before he knew it, he was teetering precariously on a ladder with the aid of more than a few archivists as he reached out to grab his ward. The feral sparkling purposefully kept scooting around the pillar to avoid his grasp, growing as he did so. Alpha Trion had half the mind to shoot him with a dart gun just to make him loosen up. However, he was not fond of the idea of actually hurting the little monster.

A half groon and more than a few scratches later, Alpha Trion held his screeching ward by the leg upside down as he carefully worked back down the ladder. The archivists vented in relief and one was quick to grab an energon crystal for the screaming sparkling to chew on. The moment Alpha Trion put it in his intake, Orion's optics cycled down and he contented himself by crunching his way through the crystal.

It was a momentary break from what was likely to be a long few cycles of chasing Orion down while a new crib was made.

[gardenofchrome]

Now who designed him like this 😭 Jumpscare

[fawningoveradream]

one feeling I wish I could re-live over again? Relearning and processing transfromers lore and character backstories, per every series/continuity. Also Transformers Wiki is the best, hands down. Never ever ever been on a more helpful information site before. Its clearly made with love and passion for everything transformers related. And the distinct lack of ads blocking your view from deep dive reading also are huge pointers. 

[lord-squiggletits]

The time scale of IDW1's Cybertronian civilization is fucking bizarre (positive) because they're long-lived, virtually immortal giant alien robots. Yet there are a significant number of them who have been alive since Cybertron's pre-civilization era (pre Golden Age) and even a significant number who were alive at the start of/during the Golden Age. A shitload who were born 1-0 million years before the war and a good amount during the war.

But basically what I mean is imagine that your grandparent (who's in the same state of fitness as you are btw) was alive in fucking Mesopotamia and got to hear Gilgamesh recited live, and your parent was present during the crucifixion of Jesus, and you were an adult during the European Dark ages. That's basically what generational differences among Cybertronians are like.

Like jfc I literally cannot emphasize enough that there are multiple living Cybertronians in great health who were alive for the fucking dawn of civilization and they're doing perfectly fine living alongside people who weren't born/built until like 6 million years later during Nominus/Sentinel's era. IMAGINE IF THE DAWN OF HUMANITY WAS WITHIN LIVING MEMORY AND YOU COULD ASK YOUR FUCKING GRANDPARENTS ABOUT IT JSXJANNCD

[robotsandramblings]

ok so i'll fully admit that my knee-jerk reaction to the Transformers One trailer was mostly confusion and a bit of "no wtf??". only because i wasn't expecting that level of humour and silliness.

then i went through the tag, read other people's thoughts, did some research, and realized it's meant to be this way!

the director's film history is exclusively in kids' movies. so this is going to be (mostly) a kids' movie! it's going to lean into the silliness and humour. and, as other people made me remember, so did G1! so did TFA! this is nothing new to Transformers! i love both of those series dearly!!

what also threw me off some of the characterizations/personalities, even their voices (Megatron's specifically). but i also have to remind myself that this is all pre-Cybertronian-civil war, pre-warlord Megatron, pre-hardened-by-loss Optimus Prime. it's an era rarely explored in any length or depth, except the War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron video games, and i guess the IDW comics... but (iirc) the video games already had Megatron as the "evil bad guy", and the comics made Orion Pax a serious-minded cop and Megatron was a serious-minded miner. (plus the comics were definitely aimed at a more mature reading age.) So this version of this era is simply a different and fresh look into it, and by no means an "OOC" version.

it's not going to be perfect, and it's not going to please every single one of us. but i'm going to keep reminding myself to keep an open mind, to not place too many specific expectations on it, and just enjoy it for what it is :) because in the end, as a Transformers fan, i'm just excited to have this movie at all ! ❤️

[tobi-rx]

Okay I can’t be the only one who sees this: that a Transformers/Arcane au could work.

Like, imagine a humanformers au where the transformers are inhabitants of Piltover/Zaun, or a transformers au where the Arcane characters are Cybertronians. I just think it could work and translate pretty well, especially given the similar overarching storyline of class struggle and war?

I think I’ll call it the Arcane humanformers au and the Arcane Cybertronians au respectively.

Not sure how I can justify the Arcane characters and the Transformers characters existing together without either making the transformers characters whatever species’ occupies the world of arcane, or making the arcane characters into cybertronians.

Idk yet how character interactions would work if I just stuck humanformers into the arcane world or if I just stuck cybertronian arcane characters into the transformers world, like it’ll take more thinking on my part that I’ll do later.

For clarification purposes I’m thinking about multiple continuities of Transformers, not just the movie which frankly launched me into the rabbit hole.

Keep in mind I am not familiar with all the transformers lore, nor am I familiar with League of Legends lore, and I’m not entirely caught up with Arcane yet.

With my preamble out of the way, hear me out:

Piltover/Zaun = Cybertron before the civil war that destroyed the planet.

Piltover and Pre-War cybertron both have a corrupt council of sorts. There’s a clear class divide, and while the Pilties/Upper caste of Cybertron live in prosperity it comes at the cost of the suffering of the Zaunites/the lower caste of Cybertron, who are the Decepticons-to-be.

Vander and Silco would probably have a similar role to Megatron as rebellion leaders, and in arcane cybertronians au, one of the early decepticon uprisings ended in disaster. Arrests, police brutality, death, etc.

Vi and Powder’s parents were among the decepticon rebels, and they were adopted by Vander, a la Optimus adopting a war orphan Bumblebee in some continuities?

I know Piltover and Zaun are still standing in League of Legends but imagine if in Arcane humanformers au, the use of hextech weapons results in the destruction of both cities, resulting in the arcane humanformers equivalent of the exodus from Cybertron in transformers.

Perhaps Piltover = Iacon and Zaun = Kaon??

The Iacon Hall of Records = Piltover Academy

And given that maybe Alpha Trion and Heimerdinger get similar roles?? Like they’re both the head of their respective academic institutions in the upper class city and also members of their councils.

If we’re going with the archivist origin for Optimus Prime/Orion Pax, he’d be the Dean’s assistant or apprentice, the Dean being Alpha Trion. If we’re going with the police origin for Pax, he’d probably play out a character arc similar to season 1 Caitlyn after meeting Megatron.

Wait, ayo? Caitlyn releases Vi from jail as their first official meeting, and in the IDW comics, police Orion Pax releases Megatron from jail as their first meeting, after Vi and Megatron were wrongfully imprisoned -

Tangent: I declare MegOP or OpMeg lesbians, it’s canon now because I make the rules /hj

The Arcane = Primus? The Allspark?

Shimmer = Dark Energon/the blood of Unicron, but also they’re both purple (referencing TFP).

arcane Cybertronians au: where Singed is studying how to use Dark Energon to bring the dead back to life, like bringing his daughter back to life, without turning her into a zombie or something, like Dark Energon does in TFP.

Cybertronian Silco giving Jinx Dark Energon in a last ditch effort to save her, and while it brings her back, she goes a little insane like Megatron in TFP. Perhaps Silco is still a drug lord? Chem baron? But instead of shimmer it’s dark energon.

Hextech = New upgrades/mods/technologies powered by harnessing the power of Primus or the allspark? Like perhaps hextech crystals are like allspark fragments in TF: Animated 2007.

Maybe in arcane Cybertronians au, the allspark was fractured long ago, but allspark fragements can be found around the planet. Or maybe allspark crystals are rare but can just be found in deposits?? I’m not sure how hex crystals work exactly in the arcane universe. But maybe the Cybertronians start using allspark fragements in their machinery and weapons and it turbocharged stuff, plus has magical properties.

Like, maybe Cybertronian Vi gets upgrades in the form of the atlas gauntlets. Perhaps Cybertronian Caitlyn gets retrofitted with a allspark powered shotgun.

Maybe Jinx’s Shark Gun, Fishbones, is like Megatron’s fusion cannon.

Maybe in Arcane Cybertronian au, Primus (the arcane) went into stasis (sleep) but with the increased use of allspark crystals (perhaps tied to the power of Primus?? I’m not sure what the relationship between the allspark and Primus is supposed to be), and a war ramping up, Primus is waking up like the Arcane does in season 2???

For Cybertronian Jayce and Viktor, I’m considering Viktor’s arc to be kind of like IDW Senator Shockwave. Like perhaps Jayce and Viktor are cybertornian senators, and also scientists of course, and Viktor is Kaon’s senator perhaps?

If we follow league canon, perhaps Cybertronian Viktor gets subjugated to Empurata and Shadowplay and becomes the Machine Herald (Decepticon Shockwave) after trying to help the lower class which he comes from? Opposing the rest of the Council of cybertron? Maybe as a senator, Cyber-Viktor was upgrading mechs, and suspected of building an army, he was punished as a result.

Perhaps Jayce would take a role akin to Ultra Magnus? I mean, Jayce has his Atlas Hammer (I think that’s what it’s called), and Ultra Magnus has his Magnus Hammer (TFA) or has the hammer of Solus Prime for a bit (TFP).

Oh wait what if some hextech weapons in arcane are artifacts of the Primes?

What if in Arcane Humanformers au, the Primes wielded powerful magic artifacts whose power is closely tied with Wild Magic/the Arcane, and that is part of what is triggering the Arcane to wake up?

Anyways, that’s all I got for now.

If anyone else wants to add anything please use the tags and tag me cause I’d love to see what other people might come up with if interested! :D

[witchofthesouls]

Relating to this post:

I definitely see the point y'all are going with and I raise you the aftermath of the Quintesson Invasion. All the imbalances and weaknesses left by the Divine Family Drama™️ and Prima's unchallenged vision were exploited. And things were made so much worse after they left because the attitudes and divisions the Quintessons encouraged were still there after they were gone.

It had to act as an intensifier and catalyst for all the issues raised by Prima's unchalanged supremacy and vision. That's patern for colonial powers and it's how things shake out when colonial powers leave. Which were interestingly enough Ratchet's formative years. I doubt it's coincidence.

If you follow pre Quintesson Invasion Warlord Soundwave as a theory he may well be one of the only mechanisms still alive who actually remember what life was like before. That he follows Megatron so absolutely through horrific personal pain says a lot in that context. It speaks not just about friendship, toxic personally loyalty, and potential fear of Megatron's wrath. It screams to the heaven below and the hell above that Prima's prideful vision unable to be chalanged and contested by the full contingent of his Siblings has damned their species.

It's implied in places that Orion Pax and through him Optimus Prime for all his staggering naivety was the first Prime to try to work on fixing things from within and not become a shity corupt individual. Who saw the status quo as something in need of fixing inspite of being given the Matrix. It was too little to late but he strove earnestly for it. In TFP he's literally the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Prime. Maybe Optimus' moral code and reformer bent is from the echos of his Divine Self, clashing with Prima's Matrix. Maybe just maybe Optimus gives us a vision of what cybertron could have Prima's vision counterbalanced by his sibling's insights and not steamrolled over them.

Sorry, I don't think I've heard of that Soundwave theory. I'm way too in love with Soundwave growing up in the Pits of Kaon to part with it.

Due to a lot of other influence from fanfics (oriflamme's "the triumph of time" series, Therrae's "Xenoethnography" series, and ss-shitstorm's works, just name a few and all on Ao3), I built up my own extensive lore, particularly for Aligned/TFP. When it comes down it, Cybertron had broken down on a fundamental level that can be traced back to the first Cybertronian Civil War from the Thirteen Primes.

I truly believe that there was something way deeper to the tragedy between Solus and Megatronus, as in she wasn't a doomed figure but the main architect to a long game.

Solus and Prima share fire motifs between the sun and the forge, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they had other similarities that Megatronus (Prima's own twin, formed from his very shadow) had recognized and reacted to. Meaning he understood her at a fundamental level, and she leveraged that. She convinced him, and he followed through it because that was his own nature.

As Prima rules from above, Megatronus rules from below.

Together, all are one.

Prima and Megatronus were supposed to be a reflection of a functional Primus and Unicron as they both mimic two beings from one entity. They were always meant to function as a binary.

When Megatronus chose self-exile and never returned, it broke something critical inside Prima, and there was no one left to stop him. The Quintessons essentially took advantage of the damages left by policies from Prima himself as he essentially attacked the very things that tied Megatronus to him in a vain attempt to bring back his shadow. That's why the Wilders and Predacons refer the Guiding Hand as the Forceful Hand. That's why the myths are so contradicting. That's why his siblings' touches had been stripped away. That's why Cybertron's once lush biomes and ecosystems had been ripped from the very roots. Prima had a narrow outlook on how things should be, and it reflected in the society he had built and how the modern Cybertronians perceived Primes because Prima's Champions were the only ones left. So, it became easy for malicious or manipulative forces to fake the Primacy or utilize the Matrix as a 'legitimacy' test as there were no other acknowledged lineages. (At least by the city-states.)

Optimus as the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Prime is a fascinating concept, but the execution flopped unless the ultimate point was supposed to be Optimus' sacrifice to kickstart the Well as Thirteen and some of his siblings had done. It would emphasize how the past echos into the future, but it also leaves so much room to rebuild all the patterns that led to that catastrophic damage. History repeats.

That's why I tend to give Alpha Trion such a side-eye since 1) he fucking stepped aside and allowed shit to spiral out of control, and 2) he basically interfered with Thirteen's (re)ascension by tying him directly to Prima via the Matrix. Prima's Domains and Aspects differed from Thirteen's, who's more centered on connectivity with mortals and Primes rather than absolute, divine might.

Personally, I wish there were more fics that explored that mech from the Wastelands into a city-state as a blank slate and his journey into Thirteen again. The Matrix's reformation of Primes is a callback to how Prima was the God-king and undisputed ruler of Cybertron, so it basically turns mortals into Escanors (which is fucking hilarious and fitting as Escanor is the Lion Sin of Pride in the anime Seven Deadly Sins and wields a godly weapon that leverages the power of the sun) to reflect the zenith of Prima's authority, the Prime of Light and Eldest Sun. Because Thirteen didn't have a Primal Artifact, his own apotheosis would be absolutely far more spiritual journey. Something like a quiet, slow build revelation instead of intensive fanfare. Maybe a ghost story as he's fated to find and reconnect with his siblings.

[therightrighthand]

So this became a classic case of 'a sketch gotten out of hand' and my white whale for the past week! Transformers are tricky beasts, robots with proportions and mechanical elements that aren't quite accurate, with lots of vague joints/ligaments that piece them all together.

So when I made one with the compulsion to try and make every shape and part work, I fell down the rabbit hole when I was meant to be doing HD2 and commission work. Whoopsielol.

--

Lore: Deliverance (Yep, another Del). A former field general of the Cybertronian army pre-civil war, specialising in oversight battle strategy whilst providing supporting firepower from above. Decorated in her achievements defending Cybertron, she eventually turned traitor in the Civil War, siding with the Decepticons and her destruction in the conflict.

Left deactivated on the fields of battle, a mysterious alien presence re-activated her spark, giving her a corrupt un-life as a Necroticon. Now, she gathers more fallen from the civil war to carry on her work in defending Cybertron and its new enemy. The Autobots, and the Decepticons.

--

Follow my socials and art discord on my Link.tree Do not use, repost or claim (rp) my art/character Art © @The-Red-Right-Hand

[nova--spark]

Earth 101 : A Manual for the Visiting Cybertronian

Chapter Five: Human Mythos and Folklore

Humans are a young species compared to us, their lives amounting to one century when compared to our own millennium of years we exist in.

While they are young however, their mythology and folklore tales are some of the most astounding I have seen, in all my centuries of time within the Iacon Archives.

I have studied the great tales of the Knights, of utopias, of the great 13, Primus, Unicron, the AllSpark, the Guiding Hand and so many more, that my mentor too once studied in her years.

Many a great civilization was built upon these myths, as they are the stories of their people.

Earth too, and humanity as a whole, have tales of all kinds.

Many various religions of the terran planet are labeled ‘creation myths’.

That a deity, known only as God, spoke the world into existence, and crafted each aspect of their universe over 7 days.

Some speak that the world is one of many, as various other worlds were the product of war and death.

Some speak of reincarnation, that life persists even after the end and all are reborn, and so too is the world.

It is curious how no two stories are ever the same, and yet, at the same time, they are similar in little ways.

Nonetheless, human mythos is a vast range of emotions of all sorts, some range from cautionary tales, some life lessons, some just for entertainment, or passing on of legacies, of cultural importance of all sorts.

Humanity was built on oral storytelling, eons ago, when their people had no method by which to physically record their history. Even then, a large majority of written history and stories of their existence as a whole has been lost to time, due to tragedies.

One such event I was able to study was the famed burning of the Library of Alexandria, which had not just copies but original manuscripts of various human stories, histories, and even possible inventions that could have skyrocketed humanities development.

It is a tragic loss, not unlike some of our own on Cybertron, as many archival halls were decimated.

Knowledge is powerful, and in the right or wrong hands, can be a tool to aid, or weapon to destroy.

Of the many stories I studied from humans, I found a handful which were quite peculiar, yet interesting.

In the Latin American folklore, there exists the story of ‘La Llorona’, which translates to ‘the Weeping Woman.’ There are many varieties of this story, but the key points pertain to a woman who was perhaps a mistress of someone, had children with the man of her affections, but he refused to marry her because of this. She would go on to drown her children on his orders, to marry him finally, only for him in the end to refuse and damn her instead. She would drown in the same river, in her wedding dress,and became a ghost, a wandering Spark if you will, desperate then to find her children, as she would not be allowed entry into the afterlife without them for her crimes, walking the river’s edges at night, wailing for her dead children.

A tragic tale, this story serves as warning for the children who would play by the river at hours far too late, as they would be warned the Llorona would snatch them, confusing them for her OWN children, and drowning them in the river to take to the afterspark.

Other stories tell of creatures that disguise themselves as humans, and be it for malicious reasons, or benevolent, they will interact with humans in various ways.

The country of Japan is apparently known for many a myth wherein items came to life as ‘yokai’ and gained sentience.

Perhaps this is a lingering remnant of our ancestors who at some point touched upon Earth during expeditions long prior.

Upon some research into what is known as the Greek Pantheon, I have reason to believe that possibly, even knowledge of our very own 13 may have touched upon Earth, as there are many parallels to the long gone gods of our people.

There also remains evidence that our most prehistoric ancestors, the Predacons, said to have one day resided on Earth in an eons ago expedition, have left their very mark upon human mythos, as the tales of great dragons of many shapes, gryphons, all great manner of fantastical beasts that have become vital to many a human mythology.

There is great evidence in this manner, that Cybertron and Earth have been long intertwined, even before we as Cybertronians ever left our home to seek refuge here.

Though I remain in the Archives, every visit to Earth I have made in research capacity yields a great many new records, and evidence to this idea being true.

I have studied not just humanity’s ancient mythos, but some of their more recent stories.

By this, I mean the stories many people write now in the modern day.

Humans, long ago during what was a great war that befell their planet, developed what was known as ‘comic books’, which were stories told in pictures and text, on parchment of sometimes little to no color, or vibrant color of all kinds.

The characters within these stories have long become iconic to people, boasting names which become quite wondrous, yet fill hope in people.

‘Superheroes’ is the title these characters are called by, as they are meant to be the peak of humanity, soldiers, guardians and great minds who protect Earth.

Though they are fictional, they are nonetheless impactful, telling meaningful stories of love, loss, protection, and many more.

One could argue that human comic books are now the modern retellings of mythology, or rather it’s newest form by which they can tell stories.

Most interesting is that they have even developed comic books of our own kind, telling rather compelling stories here and there, by which humans can connect with us more and more.

It warms the sparks of many, to see that humans connect with us in such a manner.

That , as our planet flickers to and fro from life and death in our war, they attempt to keep our stories alive in their very own ways, and spread word.

‘We are here. We existed. We remain. ‘

Dear reader, I implore you, to perhaps utilize a holoform, and someday if able to, venture into a human library, or book store.

And spend just a bit of time, seeing just how compelling some of the stories found on their shelves can be.

Both fictional, and historical can be found, and sometimes, you will be surprised to learn which is which.

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Hear me out, Hunger Games and Transformers crossover. The war between the autobots and Decepticons ended long ago they left earth to repair cybertron for what they thought was a short time. They return 200 hundred years later and they find out the hunger games happened, and some of the more rash of the Cybertronians crash into the 74th hunger games to try and stop it.

-It's painful for the cybertronians to see what has happened to Earth while they were gone. To them, two hundred years is such a short time and while they knew generations of humans would come and go in that time they somehow always thought that things would remain the same as they were when they left.

-Seeing the tyrannical government and the oppressive system that's emerged during this time apart is almost unfathomable. How could Earth change so much in just a couple of centuries?

-The obvious luxury of the Capitol versus the poverty of the Districts is uncomfortably similar to pre-war Cybertron. The upper caste had also lived in such comfortable bubbles while the lower caste, the disposables, had slaved away to provide for them. A lot of former decepticon's especially are outraged about this, recognizing themselves in the people of the Districts.

-At first, there's this conflict among cybertronians about what to do, if they even should do something. While yes, they all recognize the state of Earth right now as terrible, do they have the right to intervene? Is it morally ethically correct for them to do so?

-The two sides are these; Observe for now and DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM. The bots wishing not to intervene just yet try to calm down the bots that want to go to Earth and put a stop to this right this very moment. There are multiple heated discussions, both official and unofficial and there are even protests in the streets.

-Learning about the Hunger Games is what finally tips the scales. A group of rebellious cybertronians, a mix of former autobots and decepticons alike, decide that enough is enough and straight up crash the Hunger Games. And I mean that literally. They show up in their ships, crash into the arena and declare that from now on the games are over. Straight up just say "this is fucking wrong, you Capitol pricks are disgusting and this is coming from a race that spent 4 million years in a civil war".

[nobodys-hekatonchires]

Link

Summary:

Angstober 2024 - Day 8 Growing Pains Ratchet calls Ironhide and Jazz to his apartment after something awful happens.

Words: 5,155 Chapters: 1/1

Tags under the cut

Fandom: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply 

Relationships: Orion Pax & Ratchet & Jazz & Ironhide

Characters: Ratchet (Transformers), Ironhide (Transformers), Jazz (Transformers), Orion Pax, Alpha Trion (Transformers), unnamed Cybertronian, Optimus Prime

Additional Tags: Angstober 2024, day 8 - growing pains, Angst, Pre-Cybertronian Civil War, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Hurt, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Amica Endurae (Transformers), Pain, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Not Beta Read, One Shot

[lets-try-some-writing]

Ok so the director's commentary over Mr. Pax au

And ⭐start⭐

Half half on both

Love you!

Mr. Pax AU

I don't even remember what exactly sparked this AU, but I do know I fully intended for it to end up being more of a "Everyone and their dog thinks Op is some sort of fae". But it turned into "Everyone loves Mr. Pax because he is the best teacher ever and does not tolerate child abuse of any kind." Honestly I am not even upset about it.

The whole AU was intended to be comedic and then largely remained so but gained a bit of an undertone of loss. I mean, Optimus is teaching the tales of his people largely because a part of him fears that Cybertronians will exterminate themselves and all that will remain are the tales he tells. Yeah, depressing. A bit of a tidbit for that AU:

Bumblebee comes in every now and then to teach alongside Optimus as a teacher aid. He tells the kids he is part of the army, and he tells them the scary stories he was told when he was young to learn how to survive while keeping his sparkling self engaged. It has taken the kids a rather long time to figure it out, but they have indeed uncovered the dark truth. The stories and games Bumblebee shows to them are most certainly designed to get a child used to conflict at a young age.

Random Ramble

For my Cybertronian Civil Warfare fic, I originally intended for it to be a rather short smack down of Optimus specifically. It was intended to showcase how fragged the older bots were and how much the functionalism everyone tried to shake off still clung to them despite the whole conflict. But somewhere along the line, I decided it would be far better for the fic to turn into something a little more complicated. Optimus isn't an idiot, he is not the kind of mech to lash out without reason. When he makes a move, he is calculating. He was an archivist and lived in a very precarious political situation prior to the war.

To me it made more sense for Optimus to lash out in... quieter ways. An action more befitting of pre-war Orion Pax. This way he can still show how functionalism has lingered in him while also using his political power to benefit the world as a whole. The game is indeed a way to legally mop the floor with a bunch of kids, but it is also a way to give the people of Cybertron a harsh wakeup call. Essentially I decided that the kids are going to get dragged through hell but for everyone's benefit in the long run.

“You all fought in a war. So what? I’ve fought Cons and they weren’t even all that bad!”

This line was the turning point. Writing it really made me think about the fact that these idiot kids really haven't faced the worst. They've been STUPIDLY lucky. Now its time to change that.

[orion-nottson]

I shamelessly believe in the Decepticon cause tbh. Like sure, their honors gotten dulled and replaced by Megatron's hunger for power. But you can not deny their cause. It started off with good intentions. Like all they wanted was to rebel against an unfair, overpowered council and have equal rights for their people.

Plus, it's clearly stated pre-war Cybertron was horrible and plagued with discrimination. I hate to be a Megatron apologist. But if I was a cybertronian in the great war? I'd choose the Decepticons too.

(Pretty sure I'd regret it later tho)

i do believe i've had this ask marinating long enough. (you taste scrumptios btw! 😋) so please enjoy this mini-essay. i've been thinking about it for. years. oh authoritarian fascist regime that is the decepticons, how intensely you've strayed from your original goal and manipulated your followers via appeals to social frustration and promises of identity... oh megatron, you never stood a chance did you? the power got to his head! 😃

...truly a you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain the dark knight christopher nolan moment in the studio today...

So, the Decepticons are often framed as the unambiguously evil "bad guys", and the Autobot cause is unanimously righteous and just for standing up against them. The Great War is often labeled as a fight between good and evil, that there are two sides that are fundamentally and morally different.

I think this is a disingenuous characterization, and very essentialist too. It omits a lot of internal history and nuance that many TF series employ (maybe with the exception of classic G1, which was your average 1980s military propaganda cartoon for kids) when attempting to answer the questions: What happened for the war between the Decepticons and Autobots to start, and for it to become how it is? Why are they fighting?

A lot of TF series throw in this backstory that the Decepticons were essentially, at the beginning at least, revolutionaries. As you said, pre-war Cybertron was rife with discrimination— Cybertronian society was plagued with severe class determinism, manifesting in cultural elitism and the institution of slavery. Inequality and unfairness were givens. There was a strict, immutable caste system with very very little class mobility (if, really, at all).

In TFP, Megatron was a slave— He had no rights, was oppressed and controlled by the elite upper class, forced to perform manual labor in mines, and was not a recognized citizen. Later, he did "climb the social ladder" to become a gladiator, but he was still, ultimately, a member of the lower caste, a nothing. Gladiators are still just as expendable, replaceable, and morally worthless as a slave. His function simply switched from forced manual labor to forced violent entertainment, and in both roles Megatron was oppressed. It's then also implied in TFP that, at the start, many Decepticons came from similar backgrounds, being members of Cybertron's oppressed and marginalized.

So the movement starts with, admittedly, very good intentions; All Megatron wants is to be recognized as an equal, to be free, to have control over his own life. He values self-determination, autonomy, and freedom. Megatron wants others in his same position to be able to choose. He wants to exist in a society not at his expense, but because he is a valued member of it. A valued member, like Orion Pax.

Orion Pax does not come from this background. He is an archivist living a very comfortable life as a member of the socially sound, from Cybertron's capitol city no less, Iacon. He isn't wealthy or a noble, but he's genteel and of an acceptable function. Orion Pax is civilized. He's one of the good ones.

This is the foundation for all the reasons why Megatronus of Kaon and Orion Pax of Iacon would eventually split, leading warring factions, calling themselves by different names. Yes, they believed in each other enough to be dear friends and allies. Yes, they called each other brother.

No, they were never equals. Orion Pax didn't have much to lose; he had the safety net of a good upbringing, a good step on the societal ladder. Megatronus could lose everything. He tasted freedom and opportunity and decided he'd never go back as long as he lived. It would be like willful suffering, a misery of knowing everything he could never have.

It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, when the ideology shifts.

Megatron is consumed with jealousy when Orion Pax is chosen to be a Prime. Of course its the respectable and civil Iaconian clerk that the Council chooses to become a Prime, this position only attainable by those worthy of it, because the level-headed and moderate Orion Pax makes a better poster child than that brutish, angry extremist Megatronus. Orion Pax is the reasonable one, he's the better orator, better at appealing to the sensibilities of the upper class because he's a member of it.

Megatronus, to the system, is still just a gladiator, a slave. He just talks too much. Is too loud, too opinionated. Didn't conform to the status quo. Why should they reward disobedience? That would set bad precedent, you see. We don't want more people to question things, don't want them to ask for more than they deserve. We all have our place in the world, and Megatronus should've learned to stay in his.

"Be more like Orion Pax, Megatronus, he does things the right way."

This decision solidified two absolutes for Megatron:

One, that Cybertron's elite will stay the elite, and everyone below them will stay below them. The caste system can no longer be changed or dismantled or reformed— It is too powerful, too deeply engrained. It must be destroyed entirely.

And two, Orion Pax was never his friend. And Optimus Prime, who stands in his place, can never be his ally.

Optimus Prime is a mere extension of the Council's will. A pawn who will never seek to disobey it.

Megatron is betrayed on two fronts: Once by the false promises of his homeworld, and then by the person he thought was his best friend and dearest ally— His brother. He realizes he has to now rally his forces around the idea that true freedom, individual self-determination and self-actualization, will come only from the elimination of Cybertron's corrupt government. If it cannot be fixed, it must be reborn.

The Decepticon cause arises from the failures and disappointments of a skewed, unforgiving, impossible system. The cards were always stacked against Megatron and his people—

"Don't you see, fellow Decepticons? They have always kept you weak. Starving! Take what should be yours— What is yours!"

It's easy to see how 'bots in Megatron's position are drawn in. They feel the heavy hand of oppression too. They have wants, needs, and desires that won't be met by elites and nobles who care less than slag about them— Take Optimus Prime and his newly-formed Autobots for example: They want the Decepticon cause to fall back in line, to keep their heads down, to conform and stay quiet.

The Decepticons are galvanized by Megatron, their frustration and sorrow weaponized into action. Any true Decepticon would follow Megatron's lead— He is their hero, after all, and he is a hero that fights back.

It's time the Decepticons bite the hand. It's time they start making noise. It's time they take down the Council, the elites, the Autobots, and Optimus Prime— All who oppose their freedom.

See... it's easy to get drawn in.

It's harder to escape.

(So yeah. You'd regret it. It should've been a warning sign that you had to start calling him Lord. Isn't that what you were fighting against in the first place? Power corrupts, after all.)

[hydratedsprigs]

Transformers Outcry

I've been tinkering with this AU for like 7 months now

Pre-War

-Before the war Optimus. was a rescue worker, similar to earth firefighters.

-Named Orion Pax, duh.

-Brother was named Roller, a dockworker.

-Born as D-16, Megatron was an underground political figure and construction worker under a local labor union, before being falsely arrested for a terrorist attack.

-While incarcerated he was forced to work in the mines, and gaining a bigger political following along his fellow inmates, would later name himself after the warrior poet Megatronus Prime.

-The mines collapsed and forced Orion and the emergency rescue department to assist in a rescue effort, this leading to Orion digging out Megatronus and his crew.

-Orion stayed with them till they were cleared medically, they all talked and picked each others brains.

-The prison was shutdown due to the mining operation being illegal and retaining exonerated inmates, thanks to the efforts of Deep Cover's espionage.

-With Megatronus and his friends now freed Orion pulled some strings and they were offered positions at docks, courtesy of Roller.

-Megatronus' words would spread through all the working class bots, and he would regain his political following.

-Him and Orion would form the Robots For Autonomy political movement to do away with the government's restrictive caste system and unfair policing institution.

Inciting Events

-Deep Cover and Clampdown would take matters into their own hands with help of other likeminded bots they would build a case to arrest corrupt Police chief, Dominus Major, on conspiracy charges linking him to the corrupt prison system and the deaths of many prisoners forced to worked in the mines.

-Clampdown would unfortunately die shielding his older brother, being shot by one of Dominus' co-conspirators, his death leading to mass riots and stoking the fires of rebellion on Cybertron.

-Following the martyrdom of Clampdown, the public outcry for reforming the justice system grew and the senate took this as an excuse to exercise more lethal tactics on the rioting masses.

-This period of unrest caused the birth of the rebellion cell named The Rise and their members known as Ascenticons.

-Orion and Megatronus would work day and night with their party members to help the populous during this dire political strife, medical aid, rescue missions for those trapped under rubble and the rebuilding what had been levelled.

-The Rise would finally make themselves known, in a mass bombing so devastating that marked the end of the golden age.

The War To Birth The END

-With The Rise making themselves known to the hierarchy and the aristocracy, an all out civil war had been born over night.

-Stretched to their absolute thinnest Orion and Megatronus are all hands tending to civilians and injured combatants seeking asylum, eventually word spread of their deeds leading to more bots joining their cause, such as Optimus' friends from the rescue department Ratchet, Inferno and Hoist and the other dockworkers.

-Heralded as saviors by the rescued, Orion and Megatronus would be seen as the leaders that were needed to dismantle the broken societal system that plagues their beloved Cybertron.

-Though the pair would not leave mentally unscathed, the event now known as "War of The Risen" left them changed but unified under one opinion, that violence was tool for change.

-The process of rebuilding cybertron was now up to the people and Megatronus rallied his comrades to form the constructicons, a construction guild to generate jobs and to rehabiliate the demolished parts of Cybertron, eventually gaining the quiet attention of Senator Quietus.

-Orion would help the social side of society by expanding social programs with help of Senator Shockwave.

-All seemed to have been progressing back to how it used to be until, Sentinel Prime had gone mad, the polarizing leader of Cybertron had started a fascist insurrection and developed a method of turning Cybertronians into massive marauders, his gestapo made of the arrested Ascenticons who are now prisoners of their own minds, the procedure would later be known as Empurata.

-To save the public and their community Orion and Megatronus put aside any pacifism they had left and took up arms, forming a resistance group

-This War took it's toll, many lives lost and many more former changed, the ones who survived allied themselves with the dual resistance leaders, Sentinel's madness progressing to the point where he artificially labeled the resistance fighters as part of The Rise and calling them all Ascenticons.

-Orion and Megatronus took on the name with pride and turned it into a name that would inspire the people.

-As the war against Sentinel neared it's end Orion and Megatronus stormed his citadel with an all sorts of improvised weaponry including his old drill and a squadron made up of their most loyal friends, Ironhide, Breakdown, Skyfire, Starscream, Jazz and Deadlock.

-The group split up to disable the war machines and destroy the reprogramming labs, while Orion and Megatronus took on Sentinel themselves.

-They put up a great fight against him, until they slipped up their timing, Sentinel using Orion's axe to lop of Megatronus' right arm.

-As Megatronus fell to the ground, Sentinel used this opportunity to lay a beating into Orion that left him close to death, before Sentinel could use his prototype arm weapon, The Fusion Cannon, Megatronus would repay Sentinel's favor and take his arm using Orion's axe. Mustering up all his remaining energy Orion took Megatronus' old drill and bored a hole straight through Sentinel's chest destroying his spark, ending this war.

-As Orion stumbled over, Megatronus held his friend with his remaining arm and waited for the rest of group so they could help carry the gravely injured Orion.

Betrayals

-Orion's body was gravely damaged in the fight, left barely able to walk, he's now always accompanied by Ratchet and Megatronus.

-Both Senators Quietus and Shockwave pay the friends a visit, wanting them to speak to the cybertronian council and so they can lead together.

-As both stood before the entire senate, Megatronus began to speak, his words falling on deaf ears to the shock of the other 3 group members, they all realize the same thing the senate invited them to be their figure heads and abandon their work.

-Megatronus stormed out and Orion began to speak to the council they then try to extended a false olive branch as to appease the enraged and sickly bot, his only response was a plain fuck you.

-As he leaves Shockwave tried to follow but was immediately shot by Quietus, his fate unknown to us….for now. The eyes of the other Senate members glowing purple like Quietus'.

-This instance would drive a hole between the friends, ultimately resulting in the following events.

The Roots Dig In

-Orion's recovery has been arduous but he can easily walk on his own with a cane.

-He hasn't seen Megatronus since that day, always wondering what his friend is up to, and if he's okay.

-Megatronus' ideals had been made a mockery in front of a man who almost died for said ideals and dreams, he has learned that the system is unwilling to change and that it has to be replaced, by any means necessary.

-Behind the scenes Megatronus has revived the rise and the ascenticons as a terrorist cell, in a desperate attempt to prevent the rise of another senate and corrupt government.

-He has abandoned the bot he once was, buried him along with his name, he will henceforth be known as Megatron.

-But he has one more thing tied to his old life he must bury in the past

-For the first time in 5 years, equivalent time, Orion and Megatron reunite, but this reunion was one to end the ties that bound them as friends.

-Orion pleads with Megatron to not do anything rash, and to not throw away all of what they fought to achieve.

-Megatron disappears into a crowd, Orion struggling to chase after him, stumbling and losing him.

-Orion would go back to doing social work to the best of his ability, Megatron hasn't been seen in public since that day.

-Roller would takeover the construction guild, multiple constructicons would start to go missing.

-One day explosions suddenly wracked the cities, multiple senate offices blown sky high.

-Orion scrambled to lead rescue operations and delegate medical outposts, until he received an emergency distress from Roller at the docks, going to his brother's aid he rushed down to see the place swamped with injured, he got to work alongside medics.

-He then heard a familiar voice behind him, it was Megatron, they talked then Orion asked the burning question, if he was responsible for this, he said not a word, the fury and betrayal in Orion's eyes could burn a star, Megatron then transformed into a crude fighter jet, it was there that Orion knew, that Megatronus was truly dead and was buried that day in the senate, as tears formed in his eyes, he wasn't allowed the moment of mourning as he had to inform everyone of the grave news.

-Days would go by and rescue crews were overwhelmed by the frequency of these attacks, when things started to die down, then the rescue department was targetted for an attack, Orion was in his office with roller when the explosion nearly claimed their lives, the brothers gravely injured.

-Megatron wasn't responsible for this attack, Quietus had been pulling the strings for a few bombings, this one being his handywork.

-Megatron had him imprisoned to deal with later.

-When the brothers powered back on in the medical bay they would learn of Megatron's defacto rule of Iacon.

-Then a transmission would start playing of Megatron, announcing that he's dissolving the ascenticons, to form The Decepticon movement effective immediately.

-Orion knew this was a sign of the end.

-Alpha Trion would enter the brothers' room, the wise old robot would offer them council, and a propositon, their bodies were absolutely ruined, but Alpha Trion would reveal to them a project that had been worked on in secret, co-developed with the medical and science coalition, the brothers would be rebuilt into new bodies.

-That day Orion and Roller were transported and rebuilt into, Optimus and Optronix.

-For the first time in years Optimus could walk on his own without help.

-Optimus would take a walk back to Rescue Headquarters, finding a tattered banner of the Robots For Autonomy movement, ripped to shreds, the only words surviving being 'bots' and 'auto'.

-Optimus would relay all currently able bodied party members to form a commity for something important.

-Optimus would form the The Autobots with it's inaugural members being Ratchet, Optronix, Ironhide, Jazz and Deep Cover.

-The newly formed autobots had one goal and it was to stop the decepticons' assaault on cybertronian cities.

With this we end off a now mythical past to a bloodied one that's been storied hundreds of times.

EDIT: rewrote and proofread some more lines.

[ao3feed-skystar]

Eternal Flame

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/81kPgas by ShadowChaosControl The first in a series of stories covering pre-war Cybertron. This story covers the beginning of an unlikely romance between Senator Starscream and a down-on-his-luck scientist named Jetfire. Set 18 years before the Great War Named for the 1989 song by The Bangles. Words: 478, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Series: Part 2 of Pre War Cybertron Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, The Transformers (IDW Generation One) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Starscream (Transformers), Jetfire | Skyfire (Transformers), Megatron (Transformers), Proteus (Transformers) Relationships: Jetfire | Skyfire/Starscream (Transformers) Additional Tags: Pre-Cybertronian Civil War, Iacon City (Transformers), Romance, Alternate Universe, Political Drama, Drama & Romance read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/81kPgas

[thenamesblurrito]

"and scrambled to fake it til he makes it " i wonder if anyone back on cybertron remembers him? imagine contact between planets happening again, and the truth being revealed

this isn't really what you asked but it's what unfolded in my head when i read it

secret dweebus Trionic being jumpscared by the arrival of Cybertronians, getting skeeved out being around "his" people again, awkward and avoidant and sweating despite having nothing to hide. meanwhile whatever records of Trionic that Cybertron has would only be of a mediocre, low level cabinbot who only put in the bare minimum of effort and was generally considered a moderately stupid layabout, which does not fit with the respected patriarch of civilization here on Aventuras and which is utterly rejected by the vast majority of Aventuri citizens, who only know him as wise and mentorly

i think Trionic did once met Ultra Magnus specifically, pre-war and crash, when Magnus happened to be on the same ship one time and lectured him for neglecting his duties as a crewmember for two hours straight. this, however, is Minimus in a Magnus corpse, with no experience with pre-crash Trionic except for what old paperwork may remain. ironic that Trionic is nervous and imposter syndrome-y around Ultra "Minimus 'imposter syndrome' Ambus" Magnus, who doesn't even know him and is pretty much in the same built up fake-identity-became-real boat as he is