#grave rave >>> megatron. TO ME !!!!

[woolydemon]

your tags on the transformers post are divine

I FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS but thank you,,,

those were from largely internalized thoughts abt transformers characters the fandom focuses on, that I've withheld bc i didnt think ppl would respond to it well,, I feel less insane knowing other ppl feel similiarly or at least agree

(the post btw for reference bc this ask has been stuck in my inbox for a while, but it was sent to me shortly after I posted it)

[brandwhorestarscream]

hey do you want to talk about timeline 5 of hindsight i remember you mentioning that it was your favorite

*cracks knuckles* alright here we go! I've been sitting on this ask for awhile and have been super depressed struggling to answer it, but I think I'm finally ready! I can't get super far in and tell you what happens in the new future that Arcee and Galvatron arrive to, but I can tell you all the fun backstory and set up that was developed for this timeline!

Some of this is probably gonna sound nonsensical, but just bear with me. In the previous timeline, Galvatron and Terminus abandoned Kaon in an attempt to protect their sparkling. Galvatron, now bearing the touch of Vector Prime, was tracked and found by Alpha Trion, and the three of them became wards of the Temple of Prima in Iacon

It's at the temple that the timeline diverges again: Galvatron-3 (the one from the Combiner Wars timeline) goes back in time after Megatron's unfortunate death and confronts himself in the temple. At this point he's lived multiple lives and had his sparkbond to his son shatter multiple times: he's unstable and desperate. Gives himself from the past yet another grave warning, and at this point, Galvatron-4 (belonging to the 5th timeline) is well on his way to intense clinical paranoia. He's veen visited by himself from the future three separate times, and each version of himself bears new scars and an increasingly haunted look in his optics. Raving at him to protect their son, don't let anything happen to him, please, you have to protect him! The first time, it was to stop a home intruder from shooting their son. The second time, it was to prompt him to forget the seekers, forget everyone in Kaon, and just run. And now, the third time, he's told to keep Megatron was from politics, don't ever let him out of your sight--and Galvatron takes it to spark. This has all happened in a very short amount of time for him, only a few days, and if the future is that bad, he needs to take precautions

Megatronus of the 5th timeline of Hindsight grows up extremely isolated. He's kept under lock and key in the temple, so much to the point that he hasn't been outside since he was a sparkling. He has no memories of ever wandering beyond the temple's walls. In exchange for their sanctuary, Galvatron is expected to study theology and the Covenant while Terminus minds their son, and Megatronus's carrier throws himself into learning everything he can about Vector Prime. The cybertronian god of time, Alpha Trion claims he bears his touch, and with the three different visitations from himself, surely no one but Vector can be responsible. He's exceptionally studious to the point of obsession, and the Acolyte of Prima plus the priests of the temple praise him for his faith and devotion. Galvatron devours everything he can about the mech that can leap through time, and eventually, comes to pledge himself as the god's Acolyte.

The Acolytes of Cybertron are an elite group, the Chosen Ones of the gods, those who commune with the divine to hear their words, caring for their temples and serving them in every way, shape, and form. Galvatron isn't doing this out of love for religion, but out of love for his child: he thinks that the only way he can possibly protect his sparkling is to figure out and harness the power of time jumping, as he did in the future. If he can forsee and prevent disasters before they happen, sweet Megatronus's life can be preserved

On the flipside, Megatronus grows up watching his carrier devoted everything he has to the gods, and it surprises no one when he begins to mimic him. Between wanting to be like his mama and the priests' gentle attention, he grows and blossoms into an exceptionally dedicated, pure-of-spark member of the church. Counting his prayers each and every day, memorizing all 182 commandments (13 for each original Prime + Primus), and helping around the temple however he can. Sheltered, graceful, and brimming with faith, he's the epitome of the holy virgin archetype. He'd be happy to spend his entire life in his pristine little bubble... until one day, Alpha Trion visits when with his young apprentice in tow 🤭

Orion and Megatronus hit it off immediately, when they're young teenagers--Orion is starstruck by the beautiful, glittering mech before him, with the softest optics and warmest smile he's ever seen, and suddenly, studying theology doesn't seem so bad! They make fast friends, with Orion coming to visit the temple routinely. Years pass and they grow into best friends with tender feelings shared between them 💖

I could ramble about their love story for hours, but we need to keep moving. When Megatronus is a young adult, nearly out of his juvenile stage, he and Orion make a discovery. Communication with the Temple of Megatronus in Kaon was lost centuries ago, before either of them were even born. Alarmed, they go to investigate, and Megatrons is horrified at what he finds. Kaon is like hell on earth--this is his very first time outside the temple, and he's never witnessed such widespread suffering. People are starving, and have no shelter, there are orphans milling about every alleyway. The air is thick with smog that burns their vents and optics--some mecha are even going blind from all the pollution. He can't stand to see it, and vows to do something about it

That starts with giving out the energon he'd originally brought as an offering, and making a beeline for the temple. It's fallen into horrible disrepair, and the only reason it was never razed is because its technically still a holy building and the local government can't touch it. Megatronus works tirelessly to repair it, with Orion's help and much to his carrier's chagrin, opening its doors to offer sanctuary to the people that need it. He gives them fuel and a warm place to sleep, and after word spreads through the grapevine that he's legit, the less fortunate flock to him. It breaks his spark to see so many people in such horrible condition, and starts working with Orion to fix it. It starts as a lot of charity work but grows over time, as does his popularity. The Senate is exceptionally unhappy with what he's doing, advocating for a better life for everyone, but unlike in Timeline-0, they can't lay a finger on him. Not when he's doing protected religious work, and when his carrier if the officially recognized Acolyte of Vector Prime. The Acolytes hold the same political immunity as acting Primes do, as those who speak with and are favored by the gods. They can't do anything to him.

Things progress slowly; its certainly not an overnight change. He spends (the equivalent of) the last of his teen years and all of his 20s slowly building the planet back up and improving life little by little for everyone around him. He gathers a massive following, with Orion at his side, and the day slavery is finally, legally abolished on Cybertron is a joyous day. He vows not to stop though, and continues working: he won't stop, not til every wrong has been righted, til everyone is happy, til the world has truly become one which the gods can be proud of.

Despite all the good he's done, he remains incredibly humble and down to earth, refusing to be tempted by any personal pleasures or rewards. Orion has spoken to him about bonding multiple times, but he always refused, saying, "How can I pursue my own happiness when others around me are suffering? There's more to be done, Orion... someday, my love, but not now."

He doesn't actually accept Orion's proposal til the day if his Sainthood ceremony. Cybertron hasn't had a Saint in so many generations people have nearly forgotten what a Saint is: someone elected and approved by all of the Acolytes, who's done an immeasurable amount of good for Cybertron, and who has demonstrated themselves to be a pure-sparked, devoted servant of the gods. A Saint's responsibility is to the flourish and success of Cybertron's people, and the Acolytes can think of no one more worthy of the title than the one who spearheaded the end of the Age of Functionism, and ushered in a new Age of Prosperity. The planet is nearly unrecognizable now, from what it had been: every citystate is clean, and everyone always has enough to refuel. No one struggles with homelessness, everyone has access to education and medical care. The economy is booming, people are happy, and violent crime has drastically been reduced. The planet could dsmn near be called a utopia, and the Acolytes want to reward Megatronus with Sainthood. He shakily accepts (read: they lovingly bully him into it and make it clear they'd accept no one else in the position 🤭) and after emerging from the ceremony with his new insignia declaring him the Saint, Orion rushes up the steps to the temple to kiss him. Grabs his servos, falls to his knees, and asks in a rush, "Will you bond with me?!"

He says yes, of course, through shocked and happy tears, and the wedding is small but the reception is grand. Megatron has thousands of adoring followers just in Kaon alone, and they all give Orion the shovel talk. Promising to bury him alive if he ever hurts their beloved Saint.

Saint Megatronus and Orion live happily as a bonded couple for quite awhile, even adopting several sparklings in need of homes. Things are going great.

But >:) because of their work to repair Cybertron, civil war never broke out. Everything ended peacefully. Because of this, there was never any cybertronian occupation of earth. There was no one there to stop Unicron's prophesized awakening. When he wakes, he breaks free of the planet, shattering earth into pieces and destroying it as he escapes his shell. The god of chaos wakes for the first time in billions of years, and is ready to resume his destructive rampage. He sends out his blood in great, gushing waves and storms, spreading like a disease across the cosmos and devouring everything in its wake, to fuel him and to help him track Cybertron. Unicron is the big bad of this timeline

Or, well. He's half of the big bad

Unicron has been trapped and asleep for over 4 billion years, and his body did what any living thing would do with that much time: it changed. The dark energon that we see in TFP was assumably spilled from Unicron's veins during his original battles with Primus and his niece + nephews. It's an old, old sample, and isolated from the body it belongs to, hasn't changed. This new dark energon that Unicron sends forth in storms and waves has evolved and mutated over time. Now his blood no longer simply reanimates corpses, rather, it mutates the living into the undead. Exposure to this new dark energon turns living mecha into raving, rabid creatures, mutating their bodies to be bigger, stronger, faster, stretching grotesquely and sprouting tentacles, ravenously hungry for the souls of the living. Unicron's blood now mutates living mecha into sparkeaters, and one of his storms is heading right for Cybertron

The world that Galvatron-4 and Arcee-5 return to is one ravaged by a vicious apocalypse, total societal collapse occurring when the whole planet was swallowed in purple rain and over 80% of the population was turned into an undead beast. Cybertron is now crawling with sparkeaters, and worse yet, self proclaimed Avatars of Chaos. Mecha that avoided mutation but were driven insane by dark energon radiation, and now are aptly described as crazy cultists that worship the Unmaker and his creations. Megatron is missing and nowhere is safe, so the two of them are gonna have a hell of a time in this new world 🤭

Anyway, i think that's a good place to wrap this up! I hope you enjoyed my rambling and it at least kinda made sense. Timeline 5 is my favorite, and I'd love to talk more about it!! 💖